@jmeosbn@mas.to
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

jmeosbn

@jmeosbn@mas.to

How can the UK be a liberal ‘democracy’, when the govt seeks to remove people’s rights and is mostly unaccountable?

⚠️ Warning: often uses too many commas, and is fond of semicolons; I’m working on the former.

“𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘦’𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺” – 𝘈𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘛𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘬𝘰𝘷𝘴𝘬𝘺 (𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺)

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

jmeosbn, to random
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

Caulfield seems to sincerely believe the conspiracy theory, but refuses to acknowledge that; or that she’s wrong.

These are the people Sunak thinks will save us in his fearful future – I’m terrified.

— ‘there is no suggestion of charging people for driving further away … nor has there ever been, the council’s leader, Zoe Nicholson, said.
…
Caulfield told the BBC: “That is the policy, though … that is the model of 15-minute cities … which is what that theory is about.”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/may/13/uk-minister-maria-caulfield-faces-calls-to-refer-herself-to-ethics-adviser-over-false-15-minute-city-claims

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

@Wen @KathyJones

I think this is worse.

Others have cynically used this idea as cover to get rid of transport policies they don’t like.

She seems to have bought into it beyond reason. What else does she read online that she zealously takes as fact and has influenced her work in govt.

She’s the health minister ffs. 🤦🏻‍♂️

jmeosbn, to random
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

A great article on the GOP’s Phoney War on antisemitism, and its enlistment in a very real and wider campaign against democracy.

— ‘Foer and Bash are right that American democracy is imperiled. But as the draconian crackdown on non-violent student protests makes clear, accusations of antisemitism are not themselves evidence of liberal decline, but rather the tip of the spear in a frightening illiberal project serving the agenda of an emboldened, autocratic right wing.’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/11/us-university-protests-antisemitism-free-speech

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

Antisemitism shouldn’t be tolerated and, as well being wrong and hypocritical, it’s counterproductive.

It’s made harder though by the political abuse of the term itself.

Everyone would, ideally, debate (or not) reasonably and without taking offence – a lot to ask from students – but that itself may be reported as antisemitism.

It’s understandable why people would want to avoid that. 🤷🏻‍♂️

— ‘some of what they describe is social ostracism and being made to feel unwelcome’

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/may/12/gaza-campus-sit-ins-fearful-jewish-students

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

@KimSJ

Yes, it’s also way more visible. I don’t “read” social media, so I’ve avoided much of the graphic horror, but it’s objectively clear that Israel has committed atrocities.

It’s just as clear that its extremist govt doesn’t give a single fuck. Not for civilians (“terrorists”), not for allies, not for hostages.

The US / UK are also more responsible for this situation, so we are more outraged when our own craven and hypocritical govts are pained to even acknowledge reality.

jmeosbn, to random
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

It would be an outrage if Israel’s “assurances” are treated as credible, and their obstruction of supplies and various glaring atrocities are ignored.

But if they are “cleared”, and only then attack Rafah, Biden will be humiliated.

— ‘the state department is also due Wednesday to deliver a formal assessment to Congress … assessing whether the IDF are conducting its campaign in accordance with humanitarian law – in other words, whether the IDF is committing war crimes.’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/07/biden-israel-palestine-policy

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

Finally. Biden has done the very least he could have done, at the very latest.

A “pause” that is a “policy decision” and (ostensibly) isn’t due to any legal determination.

— ‘There is nervousness in the administration about making legal judgments in case they are used against Israel in legal disputes before the international [courts].

… conversations in recent months have focused on how the Israeli military’s use of certain munitions diverges from the Pentagon’s …’

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/08/us-signals-to-israel-more-arms-shipments-could-be-paused-rafah-offensive-gaza

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

They already have supplied the weapons – Israel hasn’t run out of US bombs – they already have triggered a humanitarian disaster – is he not watching the fucking news?! – and they already have “gone into Rafah”, closing the border and purposefully making that situation worse.

— ‘The US president … made clear his administration would not provide the weapons for an offensive on Rafah, which the US, the UN and other aid agencies warn would trigger a humanitarian disaster.’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/08/biden-israel-weapons-shipment-rafah-invasion

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

The UK and allies need to show more courage – and less craven hypocrisy – by holding allies to the same standards as adversaries.

What has the UK done to fulfil its obligations to the ICJ regarding Israel’s noncompliance?

This could be one small point of leverage.

— ‘Cameron’s claim … could be challenged on the basis that the scale or supplier of the arms is immaterial …

Cameron [also] argued the UK and its allies had to show more courage in facing down adversaries.’

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/09/david-cameron-says-uk-will-not-follow-us-in-withholding-arms-sales-to-israel

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

Cruder than these weapons is Israel’s warfare – it says it needs them to eliminate Hamas; by flattening every block in Gaza?

— ‘A surprise was that the US was even considering supplying the 1,700 500lb bombs and in particular the 1,800 2,000lb bombs … powerful enough to blow up a small apartment block and leave behind a crater 12 metres wide.
…
CNN, using satellite imagery, concluded that 500 large impact craters had appeared in Gaza during the first month of the war …’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/09/does-israel-need-more-us-arms-for-a-rafah-offensive

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

The US confirms its complicity in Israeli war crimes.

— ‘Van Hollen … called it “contradictory”, pointing out that it found evidence of violations while it accepted Israeli assurances of compliance to be “credible and reliable”
…
“While the administration reaches this general conclusion, it fails to do the hard work of making an assessment and ducks the ultimate questions that the report was designed to determine with respect to compliance with international law.”’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/10/us-weapons-israel-human-rights-law

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

So predictable. They must have moved on this the minute the US confirmed its wilful ignorance of the use of its weapons, and blocking of its aid, against US and humanitarian law.

To paraphrase Trump: if you don’t look for evidence, you can pretend there’s no war crimes.

— ‘More than 150,000 people have already fled the southern city …

Many have gone to an “expanded humanitarian zone”, designated by the IDF … where conditions are “horrific”, according to aid workers.’

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/11/israel-orders-central-rafah-residents-to-evacuate-as-major-offensive-looms

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

Cameron poses the question, to immediately give HIMSELF a non-answer.

The missing part is him ignoring the advice and making the UK complicit.

— ‘One source had predicted privately that a ban on the sales of offensive weapons had been imminent, but was subject to debate with Downing Street.
…
[Cameron said] “is there a serious risk of a serious breach of international humanitarian law? The answer up to now has been that we’ve allowed the export licencing to continue.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/12/david-cameron-banning-arms-exports-to-israel-would-help-hamas

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

Blinken will know that international law does not allow atrocities in any instance – not even in retaliation for other atrocities, no matter how barbaric.

It certainly doesn’t okay killing civilians in the dozens, imploding entire apartment blocks, just in case there may be terrorists hiding underground.

— ‘the US was avoiding any firm assessment over a potential breach because Hamas “hides behind as well as underneath civilian populations, in schools and hospitals”.’

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/12/us-politicians-criticize-israel-gaza-war

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

— ‘Israeli forces have carried out at least eight strikes on humanitarian convoys and their facilities in Gaza since October, even after aid organisations provided their coordinates to the Israeli authorities …

Belkis Wille, a director at HRW, said: “… Israel is blocking access to critical life-saving humanitarian provisions, and … attacking convoys that are delivering some of the small amount that they are allowing in … there should be accountability for these crimes”’

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/14/israel-strikes-aid-groups-gaza-october-human-rights-watch

jmeosbn, to random
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

Governments and businesses suspend democracy when their own private interests differ.

— ‘“It didn’t seem like any kind of measures were taken to de-escalate,” Khawaja said. “It also just seems completely unnecessary. This was by all accounts, a non-violent protest … camping out on the lawn … It’s not any different from everyday life on campus.”

As Columbia announced it would be holding classes remotely, students on campuses across the US launched their own protests.’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/22/columbia-university-protests-shutdown

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

— ‘While some notable violent clashes have recently taken place, such as on the University of California (UCLA) campus, where demonstrators and counter-demonstrators fought at a student encampment overnight on 30 April, the overwhelming majority — 99% — have remained peaceful …

… in cases where student demonstrators have gathered unopposed, police have intervened against pro-Palestine demonstrations more than four times as often as pro-Israel demonstrations.’

https://acleddata.com/2024/05/02/pro-palestine-us-student-protests-nearly-triple-in-april-acled-brief/

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

Except that, as the person that first called in police to violently break up a protest, she not only sparked off many more protests but set the trend for riot police being called on to campuses across the US.

— ‘This week’s eviction of students resulted in more than 200 students being arrested. It will be difficult to build bridges after such a rupture.

Maybe the troubles now erupting at the UCLA will distract from Columbia’s travails. Shafik must be praying they do.’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/03/minouche-shafik-uk-peer-columbia-university-president-gaza-protests

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

When individuals use speech interpreted as antisemitic (both real or perceived), it’s used by politicians to call out the whole “pro-Palestine” protest movement, nationwide, as “hateful, antisemitic, terrorist supporting”.

When an entire group is blatantly hateful, racist, and/or violent, towards those protesters, it’s “protests must be lawful” – if mentioned at all.

Then there’s the violence dished out by police for the former, and the lack of arrests for the latter.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/04/university-of-mississippi-counter-protesters

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

It’s Israel that’s being protected.

— “There were many Jews involved in this protest, and none of us saw any signs of antisemitism.”

… she wanted to push back on political claims that the campus crackdowns were related to making sure that students and faculty are safe, or effective in protecting them from antisemitism. Her son showed her a tweet … that noted the irony: “A great way to fight antisemitism is by beating up the former head of Jewish studies on campus.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/04/police-tactics-us-campus-protest-crackdowns

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

— this protest ‘is centered on one thing: moral outrage at the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent people – most of them women and children.

To interpret these protests as anything else – as antisemitic or anti-Zionist or anti-American or pro-Palestinian – is to miss the essence of what’s going on and why.

Most of the students and faculty I’ve spoken with found Hamas’s attack on October 7 odious. They also find Israel’s current government morally bankrupt …’

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/may/05/police-crackdowns-war-protesters

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

— ‘Like the press and the police, the president performed several sleights of rhetoric. He mixed violent acts with non-violent acts. He conflated school policy with law and illegality with lawlessness, a word connoting anarchy …

Biden also declined to specify who committed any of the acts he condemned, letting the impression float that the culprits are the anti-war protesters.
…
Vigilantes staged an assault on unarmed civilians and the state let it happen.’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/article/2024/may/06/ucla-protester-mob-attack

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

Ignoring the support of Jewish students for Palestinians and the harassment they’ve received for not being unconditionally supportive of Israel – implying obligatory allegiance – is in itself antisemitic.

These students haven’t forgotten anything – they are the ones protesting a genocide today.

— ‘The narrative that the Gaza solidarity encampments are inherently antisemitic is part of a decades-long effort to blur the lines between criticism of Israel and antisemitism’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/07/biden-israel-commitment-pro-palestine-protests

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

They’re not “counter-protesters”, they’re bigoted thugs.

— ‘about a dozen men carrying Israeli and Australian flags entered the campsite, smashing a marquee, …

Four days later, they claim, many of the same people – reportedly, mostly, allegedly middle-aged men from outside the university – again attended the camp, leading Monash to call the police.
…
Downey claimed that the same man entered the camp on Tuesday with the support of a few dozen counter-protesters …’

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/may/08/monash-university-pro-palestine-camp-police-investigation-gaza-solidarity-ntwnfb

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

Clearly the admin care only about the business and the faculty and staff actually care about the students.

— ‘“We are outraged at the university’s failure to protect its students from vigilante and police violence and its refusal to uphold its stated values” …

Susan Slyomovics, an anthropology professor, read a statement on behalf of 75 Jewish faculty and staff, saying Block had “misused Jews” by suggesting the encampment had to be dismantled to prevent antisemitism …’

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/09/ucla-faculty-chancellors-resignation-campus-protests

jmeosbn,
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

— ‘An analysis [found] fewer than 20 demonstrations with any serious interpersonal violence or property damage [and] at least 70 instances of forceful police intervention …

Nearly half … categorized as violent involved protesters fighting with law enforcement during a police intervention, …

Acled … found two instances of property damage serious enough [such as broken windows and furniture] to disqualify the demonstration as peaceful [at Portland State and Columbia] …’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/10/peaceful-pro-palestinian-campus-protests

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