Rachel Kantz Feder
@KantzFeder
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Intellectual history, Shi'ism, modern Iraq and Iran, Pittsburgh Salad
Joined August 2020
This refusal to appreciate that Israelis now take its enemies' stated genocidal threats quite seriously - with many viewing the war in existential terms - is bizarre and unproductive. There's additional reporting on it.
This is one for the “DC foreign policy wonk returns from foreign trip and repeats what government handlers told him in own words” Hall of Fame.
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@muhammadshehad2 You forgot the part about how Noa Argamani's "civilian" captor was a journalist who worked for Al-Jazeera and Palestine Chronicle.
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@magi_jay Instead, scholars insist that the actions of Hamas represent the collective interests of the Palestinians.
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Creator of the 1619 Project either doesn't know or can't acknowledge the role of brown people in the enslavement of black people. You can't be serious.
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Interesting. This tactical shift away from overt support for armed resistance seems to be too little too late though. They're not withdrawing their dedication to the principle of "resistance by any means," just recognizing it was horrible PR.
The BDS movement released a statement yesterday supporting student encampments, while also cautioning Western activists against advocating for armed resistance, arguing that this invites state repression and harms the solidarity movement
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Happy to share my brief article on aspects of Iraqi public debate surrounding normalization with Israel. Many thanks to @bfriedy and @JoshuaKrasna for their work on this publication, The New Normal? Arab States and Normalization with Israel.
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Just in case the dehumanization isn't sufficient, here's more "context" for raping women of all ages, defiling corpses, and slaughtering babies to name but a few atrocities defended as mere "actions" of "fighters." Don't know if it's more dehumanizing to Israelis or Palestinians.
Columbia/Barnard faculty have signed an open letter supporting our students, making the point that identifying with the suffering of Gazans and historically contextualizing the current war in Israel/Gaza is not anti-Semitic. Please read and share.
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So sickening.
💥Protesters block trucks carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza at the Tarqumya crossing, vandalizing & pillaging their contents. No mounted police. No batons. No water cannon. Security personnel were present and declined to intervene. (Neta Hamami Tabib)
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Only Arash could provide such a thorough and measured take!.
For Haaretz, one of my favorite newspapers, I wrote about the visit to Israel by Reza Pahlavi and what it could mean for the Iranian opposition. Let me know what you think! .
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Jewish anti-Zionists discovering they can't call out real-time atrocity denialism on the left without being accused of racism. Sad state of affairs.
@SanaSaeed I actually wasn’t primarily speaking to Palestinians or Muslims or Arabs. I was speaking to the left. That’s why I said “we.”.
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So happy for @liora1000! What an honor!.
Honoured and grateful to be the recipient of the 2022 Latifeh Yarshater book award of the Persian Heritage Foundation @ThePHF_ at the 13th Biennial Iranian Studies Conference @AIS_1967 Salamanca, Spain. Thank you @CambridgeUPLib for all your efforts & support.
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@tparsi Weird. PressTV admits Hamas is in the West Bank.
An Israeli airstrike on Tulkarm and its refugee camp in the occupied West Bank killed nearly 20 Palestinians, including a senior Hamas military leader. Follow us on Telegram:
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Unhinged stuff. The basic recognition that Israelis' views of Hamas and Iran have changed is justifying genocide.
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Presidential Candidate Jill Stein speaking to 9/11 conspiracy theorist of AE9/11 Truth on September 10, 2024. Reminder that 9/11 Truther activism flourishes in the Green Party and on the far-left (and usually overlaps with anti-Zionism and antisemitism). Just at a glance:
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Sorry but the criminalization of homosexuality in Iraq isn't on Israel and US policy on Gaza. Needless to say, the forces behind this legislation have been at play well before Oct. 7.
I have so much to say about how we ended up with such a law, nothing happens in a vacuum. LGBTQ+ rights in the region are seen as a Western product, and being anti-LGBTQ+ is the newest symbol of being anti-Western. Considering the West response in Gaza, you should get the idea.
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@Pale_0ntologist There's no reason to single out Jewish safety regardless of who's saying it. My reading age niece shouldn't have to question her security on her way to school through DePaul. "No one is free until Palestine is free" would have been just fine - if that's the intended message.
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So gross because he knows perpetrators called their own actions a 'Jew hunt' and this wasn't merely a response to Israeli hooliganism however racist and abhorrent. He knows there are videos of attackers searching for Jews and Israelis and there's evidence it was planned.
Guy who supports genocide in Gaza & the killing of Arab kids is calling me a Nazi because I pointed out that his fellow genocide supporters from Israel went on a violent anti-Arab rampage in Amsterdam and he doesn’t want you to know that. He’d rather call everyone an antisemite.
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This is obscene.
On the first day of classes, anti-Israel protestors interrupted @Columbia’s “History of Modern Israel” class and handed out flyers showing a boot crushing a Star of David. Columbia is out of control. And to be clear, there is no “academic freedom” to disrupt classes.
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Nasrallah has an interesting take on antisemitic conspiracies about Jewish control of America. And harsh words for "the Arab lobby" in the US.
#ICYMI: Hizbullah Sec.-Gen. Hassan Nasrallah: The U.S. Can Force Israel to Do Anything; Arabs Invented the “Joke” That the Jewish Lobby Controls America in Order to Excuse Their Financial Ties with the U.S. and Their Refraining from Fighting Israel #Hizbullah #Lebanon
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Children in this conflict are dying of cardiac arrest. Literally heart breaking. 9-year-old Ashdod girl dies after suffering cardiac arrest during rocket siren via @timesofisrael.
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@Bad_bureaucrat It appears to be Nina Turner's van.
It should really be a bigger story that antisemite Nina Turner's campaign van now has a swastika/Star of David on top where her head used to be. Classic antisemitic Holocaust inversion.
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@mariaressa @Doranimated You want more people to hear you fail at doing the antizionism-not-antisemitism act?.
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@BenjiZion @ZBNFL @Alysha_Clark @JBell_19 @jasiri_x @1hood @DrLaurenA @treeoflifepgh @HCofPGH Actually, anyone concerned abt antisemitism (left+right), anti-Black racism, and Black-Jewish relations should watch. Unlike other panels on antisemitism that have included problematic speakers, this one honestly addresses the tension and facilitates growth. Banner is incredible!.
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What an unforced error. Vandalizing the iconic and beloved Cathedral of Learning is probably the best way to turn Pittsburghers against your cause in a split second.
Pitt police report that a couple windows were broken. There are some spray painted messages on the building itself. Pitt police also described finding a tomahawk and are concerned that protestors might have further weapons.
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@OmarBaddar Sure. If you notice Israelis feel different lately about the country's enemies you're automatically selling genocide. There's no other option.
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For weeks now, Iran, Ilhan Omar's daughter, and student protests at Columbia and beyond have upstaged Gazan civilians. Congrats to these pro-Palestine advocates and their "burn Tel Aviv to the ground" spectacles for providing Bibi with a reprieve.
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@librarianmer Students ARE NOT demanding a hostage release! How dare you liken their protests to ours.
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@KareemRifai And she's still engaging 9/11 Trutherism:
Presidential Candidate Jill Stein speaking to 9/11 conspiracy theorist of AE9/11 Truth on September 10, 2024. Reminder that 9/11 Truther activism flourishes in the Green Party and on the far-left (and usually overlaps with anti-Zionism and antisemitism). Just at a glance:
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This obfuscates connections forged since the early 2000s. Tehran has brought such forces together in international conferences as late as 2019 and worked to fuse their ideas through the independent media ecosystem - with the help of Russian propagandists.
Neo-Nazis are showing up at pro-Palestine protests in an attempt to push anti-Jewish conspiracy theories and tropes into the mainstream. Here’s what you need to know about them. 🧵1/6.
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@Jonathan_K_Cook He concluded "there was zero sexual violence" on Oct. 7th. Blatant atrocity denialism, and nothing more.
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There is no monolithic "The Hostages' Families." If you claim one view represents "the families," you are unfamiliar with the discourse or elevating whatever supports your own critique. My pics of Sunday's *simultaneous* events: l: event at Hostage Square, r: Begin protests.
There are two ways of interpreting this:. 1) The Hostages’ families, like average Israelis, don't care about Palestinian lives; they just want their family members back. 2) The hostages' families do care about Palestinian lives, but they figured unless they make it seem the.
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Hard to believe this isn't an intentional effort to fuel the denialism of Hamas's atrocities committed on 10/7. Intentional or not, it's gross and embarrassing.
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First thorough reporting on internal dynamics within the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, evolution of the protests, and efforts to maintain unity among the hostage families. #Bringthemhomenow.
There is no monolithic "The Hostages' Families." If you claim one view represents "the families," you are unfamiliar with the discourse or elevating whatever supports your own critique. My pics of Sunday's *simultaneous* events: l: event at Hostage Square, r: Begin protests.
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"בשביל זה כמובן צריך מדיניות חוץ."
תגובה היא לא (רק) תקיפה צבאית ישירה. יחד עם העברת הטילים של לרוסיה - צעד שהוגדר מראש לאיראן ע״י המערב כקו אדום - יש הזדמנות למהלכי בידוד של האיראנים שאולי לא היו כמותם שנים. בשביל זה כמובן צריך מדיניות חוץ.
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Are any pro-Palestine activists calling on Hamas to release the fuel to hospitals in Gaza? This shouldn't be so hard.
NBC News: Hamas is stockpiling 200,000 gallons of fuel to supply rockets and support electricity for its elaborate network of underground tunnels. This as hospitals and relief organizations in Gaza warn they’re perilously low on fuel.
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@muhammadshehad2 Whaaaaaaat? The Thai hostages "were accidentally abducted," held for nearly 500 days, and Hamas released them "without getting any concessions from Thailand." Anyone can see this one is about Hamas's narrative, and you apparently get that.
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An under-discussed implication of the attacks is that Hezbollah will be expected to provide financial assistance to thousands of its injured operatives. That's quite a burden.
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Really dangerous situation at UCLA. No security in sight.
Chaos ensues on @UCLA campus as fights break out and firecrackers being tossed at a pro-Palestine encampment site. Yesterday a female Jewish student was beaten to concussion by pro-Palestine protesters.
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We've reached "10/7 was a military offensive that killed a number of civilians" level of denialism and moral amnesia. Can't wait for his next book, Righteous Military Offensives: A Neo-Marxist Global History of Kidnapping Babies and Burning Families Alive.
I appreciate what this adds to the discourse but I continue to believe we are all ill-served by the idea that 10/7 was a Bataclan-style terrorist attack rather than a military offensive that killed a number of civilians.
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Gallant just leveled dramatic criticism of Netanyahu's refusal to plan for Gaza. Histadrut Chairman Arnon Ben-David needs to turn up the heat on this disastrous government now.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare that Israel will not have control over Gaza after defeating Hamas.
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@ijbailey How about redirecting some of the energy that went into this unfortunate analogy to condemning the fact that hostages were held captive by a "civilian" journalist and doctor. There's plenty of outrage to go around.
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Too late.
The Judith Butler quote on Hamas & Hezbollah as social movements & part of global left is from 2006. After October 7, Butler wrote: "In fact, I do condemn without qualification the violence committed by Hamas. This was a terrifying and revolting massacre.".
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"Religious fighters before anything else." But scholars will continue denying that religion plays a role here. It's obviously not the only factor and this is stating the obvious, but religion matters for the resistance and for Israeli extremists.
The Palestinian people and their resistance are free of people that present themselves as demons ,running around naked with LGBTQ flags and a Keffiyeh. There are boundaries and limitations. The Palestinian resistance are religious fighters before anything else.
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Fighting for the same thing? This genre of takes is so disingenuous. If only the students called for the release of our hostages instead of their provincial demands and maximalist slogans. Our pain and protests have nothing to do with the student movement. Such exploitative BS.
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My highschool in Squirrel Hill was also defaced on the anniversary of this massacre. Seeing any similarities between the Free Palestine 'by any means' crew and white supremacists yet?.
Today in Squirrel Hill, the Pittsburgh neighborhood where 11 Jews were murdered at a Shabbat service on Oct. 27, 2018 — five years ago tomorrow.
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@arash_tehran Can't locate the video, but I watched it unfold live and I definitely heard one of the attackers cite the Jewish woman (whatever her actual injury/motivations). Same attacker also cited the protesters' documented behavior of restricting certain students' access to public space.
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Wth is the anti-war left doing imploring Iran to attack Israel? Pro-regime journalists are trying to help Tehran see its way to the off ramp. Depraved keyboard warmongering.
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@muhammadshehad2 As pointed out, this was not confirmed.
This kind of blew up, so let me clear up the confusion as to where things stand as of now. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝: . 🔸Abdallah Aljamal was a journalist for the Palestine Chronicle, a US-based 501c3. 🔸He was the spokesperson for Hamas's Ministry of Labor. 🔸He was NOT a journalist.
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@arash_tehran I also saw a video in which they were (in addition to hurling racist drivel) framing it as a reaction to protesters preventing students from accessing entries. One called the encampment "Jim Crow.".
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Ok, but no more complaining that there's too much talk about Jewish safety.
So frustrated w gaslighting that this is about Jewish safety & not protection of imperial war, access to resources in Middle East, & profit for weapons manufacturers. In what universe do the police protect a racialized minority? It’s not true now or ever. #Gaza #StudentIntifada.
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Looking forward to moderating this talk today. Not too late to register!
the ACIS webinar will host Dr. Arash Azizi on the topic of the Israel Debate in Iranian Politics between 1947-1979, which will take place on Wednesday, January 15, 2025 at 4:00 PM (GMT +2).for registration: .
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Can't imagine the courage it must have taken to do this. Amit Soussana is a hero.
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"We should not be balanced in our outrage. Not against the Palestinians by the way. She (Rep. Jayapal) said Palestinians. It's against Hamas." - Mimi Rocah's distinction is apt. Those who conflate and depict Hamas' brutality as a "Palestinian counteroffensive" do a disservice.
.@JoyceWhiteVance: "If women aren't safe in Israel, then women aren't safe anywhere. If we can blame women who were attending a concert for the policies of a nation. and use that to justify rape. Women are not safe anywhere."
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From Day 1, this👇is what has been missed by those in the US (ill or well-intentioned) quote tweeting pics of our protests. Many of us at Begin Gate-even some in We Are All Hostages shirts-doubt Hamas's intentions. Stop using us to support your anti-Israel/Bibi/whatever pos.
Many Israelis took to the streets across the country tonight in support of the hostages and their families because they love their country, are proud of its social contract and democracy, and wanted to make clear to our depraved enemies that, unlike them, we sanctify life.
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@ori_goldberg I also condemned the violence from the pro-Israel side. Having said that, a Jewish woman was beaten unconscious hours before and someone was tased. The protests might have started out peacefully but certainly didn't remain so.
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This is so deranged. David Irving here demands granular details about the nature of Soussana's sexual assault but doesn't understand why more survivors haven't come forward.
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For Blood and Soil but for Palestine graffiti sent to me from my highschool bestie in Pittsburgh. Unreal.
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@tlecaque This is a relevant detail but it doesn't explain why they also targeted Jewish-owned restaurants.
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@omarsuleiman504 His essay, "Zionist Logic," is profoundly antisemitic - just like the cartoon recently posted by Harvard faculty for Palestine. His truth telling included raw hatred for Jews and classic conspiratorial thinking about Jews and power.
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Just this app doing its thing.
Eden Golan has been officially included in the infamous Ukrainian (NGO) database “PEACEMAKER” designated for [pro-russian] “terrorists, separatists, mercenaries, war criminals, and murderers.”
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@YairWallach And what about the @MESA_1966 statement that mentions 10/7 without condemning it directly? What's the adjective for that?.
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@susanabulhawa Come on. Do you really believe this or do you just think your audience is this gullible?.
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Oh wow. Neocon appointments have a lot of people on this app uber mad at Jews and all, but this is something.
Why are we allowed to dislike every religion on earth, even hate those religions if we so choose, except one? Why are we allowed to say negative things about Muslims or Catholics or Hindus but if we saying anything negative about Jews it’s “brazen anti-semitism”.
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Lots of "Malcolm X on Palestine' posts for his bday yesterday. Scholars and activists love to invoke his 1964 article" Zionist Logic"-a deeply conspiratorial and classically antisemitic essay. This is my favorite antizionist-not-antisemitic line from the" Zionist Dollarism" part.
🧵 Malcolm X — happy birthday 🎉 🎂 🎊 🥳 — was model for Refaat Alareer 🪁👊 🖊️ . Wrote in The Egyptian Gazette in 1964: “The Israeli Zionists are convinced they have successfully camouflaged their new kind of colonialism. … The modern 20th century weapon of neo-imperialism is.
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Inevitably, the release of this footage will be attacked as Israeli propaganda, erasing the struggle of the families to influence the Israeli public and government. Dreading the depraved reactions.
Harrowing Video Released: Nahal Oz Abduction Reveals Terror Faced by Captive Female Observers. The parents of the five female observers kidnapped from the Nahal Oz base, who remain in Hamas captivity, decided today (Wednesday, May 22nd), to release the video footage of their
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@_ZachFoster @harari_yuval @KevorkAlmassian Are you seeking out alt-right platforms or are you just unaware and willing to speak to any anti-Zionist?.
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Yes, Dugin's reception with some hardline Iranian circles is notable. His think tanks were "Friends" of Talebzadeh's international conferences - meetings of 9/11 Truthers, white supremacists, and far left groups. He sees Iran as a critical political and spiritual ally to Russia.
Dugin is explicitly against the West, the Anglo, the American, he’s a Third-Worldist at heart, he’s more famous in Tehran than in Moscow, the fact that he is being identified as a " fellow conservative" just tells you how excellent his propaganda machine is.
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It's amazing that people take his journalism seriously.
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There's a fair share of misplaced optimism among Israelis and some Israel supporters, probably because many are unaware of or haven't taken seriously the isolationist, antiwar current among Republicans. A certain Russian ideologue and "maga communists" are popping bottles too.
Completely agree. She was also a very prominent voice on fighting antisemitism so I’m sure many will be very happy to see her in a position of power.
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First image of the rescued hostage, Qaid Farhan al-Qadi! Amazing news!
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Here with families to "expel the darkness" (message on the menorah). Ball is in Bibi's court whether Hamas is serious or not.
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@PamelaParesky @nytimes @nytopinion @CornelWest Gates always calls it out. But when R. Martin asked West about the contradiction in antiracism advocates’ embrace of a misogynist, homophobic bigot, the truthteller ascribed perceptions of F's antisemitism to the media. On that + F.C. Welsing's influence:
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Patten's report established gang rape, mutilation, and the rape of corpses in several locations, leaving scope and the systemic nature of the violence to be studied. That sexual violence wasn't premeditated isn't a great flex. He + the demand for Jewish voices of denial are vile.
Coming Monday, March 11. Norman Finkelstein on "PRAMILA PATTEN’S RAPE FANTASIES: A Critical Analysis of the UN Report on Sexual Violence during the 7 October Attack".
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It's hard for these students BC scholars have taught them that it's not complicated; resistance by any means; Israelis are all occupiers. And professional associations like @MESA_1966 write letters on their behalf when consequences arise.
IDK it's really not that hard to say that Hamas is evil and committed evil acts (in addition to objecting to IDF airstrikes on Gaza).
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I've never seen so much confusion over the word "rescue."
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Love my Steel City! Nice job, Allegheny County.
Rep. Summer Lee represents the bulk of Allegheny County (Pittsburgh). Another sign she's out of step with her constituents. Vote @PatelForPA, her Dem primary challenger.
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@BenLorber8 @maricohen95 @jonathan_shamir @nathangoldman @JewishCurrents Great article. Interested in the choice to omit the influence of Alexander Dugin, esp. since he has been working to unite the far right and far left. The entanglement between the right wing anti-Zionists and such foreign ideologues is an important part of the story.
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Unsurprising. Here is a DSA activist eulogizing one of Tehran's top propagandists who hosted Ritter (and some well-known Americans) in international 'conferences'. These hate fests brought the bottom of the barrel together in Iran.
Did this motherfucker just say “international Jewry?”.
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Interesting. This tactical shift away from overt support for armed resistance seems to be too little too late though. They're not withdrawing their dedication to the principle of "resistance by any means," just recognizing it was horrible PR.
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16.7 million views!? Is it that hard to accept that Israeli children are afraid of rockets? Pretty unremarkable that we write books to mediate this experience to our kids, but sure go on about it.
This is a children’s book that was written because the author was trying to explain what’s going on in Israel to his five-year-old daughter and he couldn’t find a resource with which to do it so he wrote one himself. Under the Rockets' Glow: Shira's Journey to Courage by Roman
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@arash_tehran Not all that shocking. Meir Litvak has an interesting chapter on "Jews as the Enemies of Shi'ism" in his last book on formulations of "others" in modern Shi'i thought.
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Klein's disqualification for threatening a photographer had nothing to do with Israel, but X is aflame demanding justice for him and of course blaming Jews for engineering his punishment. Will be a tense night.
The Eurovision is on the brink of implosion BC of the penchant to blame this contestant's potential disqualification on Israel. We've already seen so much petulant and hateful behavior from contestants, journalists, and fans. Sad but unsurprising.
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@VICENews This obfuscates connections forged since the early 2000s. Tehran has brought such forces together in international conferences as late as 2019 and worked to fuse their ideas through the independent media ecosystem - with the help of Russian propagandists.
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Unpopular answer, but there is plenty of scholarship and journalism on how and why Russia targets veterans. Kate Starbird, for example, has important studies on "Veterans Today" and disinformation campaigns that target the independent media ecosystem.
Anyone written or read about why it seems as if former soldiers often get radicalized but former cops rarely do?? I've known so many current and and former soldiers who get so political and devote their lives to radical action—bur I have almost never seen this happen with cops.
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@MazMHussain What patience? They started firing on the north immediately. In Israel, the critique is that the struggle against Hezbollah has been fought on their terms for 11 months.
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