On the media

NYU law student who defended Hamas’ terror attack refuses to say if she has empathy for ‘brutalized’ Israelis | Fox News  

. . ."Workman, who reportedly identifies as nonbinary, previously came under fire for writing in the newsletter SBA Weekly shortly after Hamas' terrorist attack that "Israel bears full responsibility for this tremendous loss of life" and "this regime of state-sanctioned violence created the conditions that made resistance necessary," adding, "I will not condemn Palestinian resistance."   "Since that statement, Workman was forced to step down as the organization's president and lost a job offer from international law firm Winston & Strawn LLP." . . .

“What’s harsh, is dropping in on a music festival and slaughtering a bunch of young people just trying to enjoy an afternoon” (legalinsurrection.com)  . . ." Kirby: “What’s harsh — what’s harsh is the way Hamas is using people as human shields. What’s harsh is taking a couple of hundred hostages and leaving families and anxious, waiting and worrying to figure out where their loved ones are. What’s harsh, is dropping in on a music festival and slaughtering a bunch of young people just trying to enjoy an afternoon. I could go on and on. That’s what’s harsh. That is what’s harsh and being honest about the fact that there have been civilian casualties and that there likely will be more is being honest, because that’s what war is. It’s brutal. It’s ugly. It’s messy. I’ve said that before. President also said that yesterday. Doesn’t mean we have to like it. And it doesn’t mean that we’re dismissing anyone of those casualties each and every one is a tragedy in its own right…It would be helpful if Hamas would let [Gazans] leave….We know that there are thousands waiting to leave Gaza writ large and Hamas is preventing them from doing it. That is what is harsh.”. . . 

Some of the People Defending Hamas Are Using the Same Argument the Nazis Tried After the Holocaust (legalinsurrection.com)  

"The ‘Dresden defense’  I am a historian (like Khalidi), interested in the origins of ideas and arguments. It turns out that Khalidi’s premier talking point has a very specific genesis.

"It figured in the case for the defense in the Einsatzgruppen Trial, conducted by the Nuremberg Military Tribunal from late 1947 to the spring of 1948. The Einsatzgruppen were the paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany, which carried out mass murder by shooting in Nazi-occupied Europe. They destroyed well over a million Jews, and two million people all told. After the war, their surviving senior commanders were put on trial at Nuremberg, charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes.

"The chief defendant, SS-Gruppenführer Otto Ohlendorf, had been commander of Einsatzgruppe D, which carried out mass murders in Moldova, southern Ukraine, and the Caucasus. An economist and father of five, he had supervised the killing of 90,000 Jews. Ohlendorf imagined that he had a moral conscience. The killers under his command, he told a U.S. Army prosecutor, were prohibited from using infants for target practice, or smashing their heads against trees." . . .

“Look how many I killed with my own hands! Your son killed Jews!”

Listen to a phone call of a Hamas terrorist calling home, bragging about how many people he massacred.

The whole world needs to hear this. pic.twitter.com/Xv0ykyxvrF

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 24, 2023

Victor Davis Hanson: Does Iran realize its own growing danger?

From Joe Biden?

 Victor Davis Hanson

For the first time in decades, there is no nation that can restrain Israel from destroying Iran’s pawn Hamas — not after it butchered 1,400 Jewish citizens while radical Palestinians in Gaza keep celebrating the slaughter and promising more such savage mass murdering.

"Iran understandably believes it is riding quite high. 

"It is flush with cash. It hints it almost has the bomb — and might use it soon.

"The Iranians are bragging about their new tyrannical allies like Russia and China.

"Iran boasts of now being the self-proclaimed leader of jihad on behalf of all Muslims. It gloats that it is feeding the Russian war-machine by exporting its own drones.

"Tehran proudly supplied and funded Hamas’s savage murdering of Jewish children in Israel.

"It eggs on its other pawn Hezbollah to launch a reputed 100,000-Iranian-supplied missiles into Israel.

"It constantly provokes the U.S. — mostly by veiled threats to unleash anti-American terrorists in the Middle East and perhaps inside America itself.

"But above all, Iran is giddy over the appeasing Biden administration." . . .

"Biden resurrected the unhinged Obama administration plan of empowering a “Shiite crescent” — of Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah, including Hamas.

"This American idea of a radical bloc would supposedly birth “creative tension” and thus on autopilot balance the dominance of our friends in Israel and the Gulf regimes with our new Iranian clients. Yet the logical result of such madness was the massacre we saw in Israel.

"Biden put pro-Iranian envoy Robert Malley — now under FBI investigation — in charge of begging Iran to restart the disastrous Iran Deal.

"The anemic Biden administration has reportedly replied only four times to some 83 Iranian attacks on Americans." . . .

. . ."And such a retaliation would be welcomed by Iran’s numerous enemies, privately applauded by its small number of supposed “friends,” and largely shrugged off by its even fewer allies." . . .

Updated: Chants 'calling for the murder of Jews' were shouted at me during Cooper Union protest

 Chants 'calling for the murder of Jews' were shouted at me during Cooper Union protest, student recalls (msn.com)

"Personally, I don't feel threatened by pro-Palestinian rallies or anything in that sense," Lent said. "Everyone has their own right to be doing that, but I definitely did feel threatened when there were chants calling for the murder of Jews being chanted at me from my fellow students." 

The university president acknowledged the incident in a press release saying while "there is room for productive debate and dissent," there is "no tolerance for hate or threatening conduct."

"On Wednesday, there was a planned student walk-out outside of the Foundation Building, part of a larger effort across New York City and nationally," the statement said.  "Students convened in front of the Foundation Building at 1 p.m.; it was a peaceful protest. However, we want to make clear that language displayed on the protest signs may have suggested that the students were speaking on behalf of the college – they were not. The signs carried and posted on the sidewalk in front of the building represented the views of those who created them."

"The president said the university "(condemns) discrimination of any kind, including antisemitism and Islamophobia" as well as  "hateful and threatening acts of any kind – written, spoken, visual, or physical."

"The New York Police Department said there was "no direct threat" to the Jewish students during the ordeal.

"There was no damage, and there was no danger to any students in that school," an NYPD official said.

"The official claimed the students were not barricaded.

""The doors are open but closed," the official said. "A school administrator thought it was prudent to close the doors and place private security as the protesters were coming down the stairs." . . .

UPDATED: Harvard supports terrorism - Don Surber (substack.com)   Palestinians invaded Israel on October 7 — a holy day for Jews — and raped women, tortured men, murdered grannies, beheaded babies and burned people alive.

"The reaction by Harvard was to hold a vigil three nights later for Palestinians. Harvard’s anti-Semitism is so strong that I am surprised that Hitler wasn’t a graduate. Maybe World War I interrupted his classes on Aryan Studies and Teutonic History.

"The heads of more than 30 student organizations signed a letter supporting Palestinian terrorism because somehow Jews are the villains in their scenario. This presented a public relations problem as it turns out large donors are not crazy; they do not support rape, torture and murder." . . .

Johnson as Speaker Changes Everything

AF Branco - Townhall

Johnson as Speaker Changes Everything - American Thinker   . . ."With a President and Senate now firmly under Deep State control, Johnson’s likelihood of success seems remote. That could change, depending on market forces and the potential for domestic terrorist attacks to shift the political dynamic. History establishes that democracies are innately fragile, enduring but a couple of centuries. Their usual demise is via the temporary stimulus provided by inflation. Once that party ends, economic reality intrudes and the party in power gets blamed. This occurred in 1932 with Hoover, or in 1980 when Carter played the scapegoat. With the Middle East on fire, we are entering a period of political danger for not only Democrats, but Republicans as well. The blame for current economic conditions now hangs around Biden’s neck. The less Johnson’s fiscal initiatives succeed, the better for Republicans in the long run. A debt commission keeps the spotlight where it belongs -- on Biden’s planned chaos. If Biden vetoes House bills slashing spending, he drags his party down with him.

"Legislatures in democracies are typically loath to curtail spending/debt orgies. The public demands bread and circuses. However, there is now so much fat that substantial savings could be realized without having to touch third-rail sectors such as Social Security or Medicare. With the House highlighting impeachment and debt, the coming months should be entertaining. With Johnson’s soft touch and civility, we may see a good cop/bad cop routine featuring him and Trump.

. . ."House Speaker Mike Johnson Credits Bible for His Worldview (ijr.com)

“Someone asked me today in the media, they said, ‘It’s curious, people are curious. What does Mike Johnson think about any issue under the sun?’ I said, ‘Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it – that’s my worldview.’ That’s what I believe and so I make no apologies for it.” Johnson, who was once an attorney for the Christian legal group the Alliance Defense Fund, further emphasized it was his “personal worldview.”

'Queers For Palestine' March in Solidarity with Hamas

  American Thinker    . . ."There is hope on the internet for “Queers for Palestine:” -- provided they actually emerge for their leftist bubble and take in realistic insights from individuals who wish to warn them about their suicidal position: One commentator on “X” reminded the gay community that “Israel (has) LGBTQ rights considered the most developed in the Middle East. Meanwhile being gay is a criminal offense in the Gaza.”

"Another succinctly wrote the one line many think to themselves as they watch the passing gay parade for Palestine: “Y’all have no idea who you’re supporting.”

"Dr. Jordan Peterson offered an incisive remark in summing up the “Queers” protest calling it a “staggeringly incomprehensible spectacle” and “suicidal” as well as a testimony of how far “leftists will go to tear down everything in the West that is worthy.”

"Equally absurd, but less well known to the public, is the nonexistent logic of gays carrying signs that read “Free Palestine,” or “Stop the Occupation.” They would be well schooled to learn Israel does not wish to cross over into Gaza territory: But how can Israelis ignore a neighbor striving for its total destruction and aiming thousands of missiles into the heart of its country on an annual basis?

"Now, Hamas, has exceeded themselves both in training and global financing to execute an assault that has been likened to atrocities as brutal and horrifying as those who constructed the perfect edifice of evil: the Nazis.

"The images of children murdered in front of their families in the most barbaric fashion and the random slaughter of Israeli citizens wherever they made a prime target, has been photographed for the world to see.

"Israel would certainly be complicit in its own destruction should it ignore the most recent round of Hamas’ barbarity, and -- if ignored -- invite the prospect of the terrorists making good on their genocidal threat to launch their own version of the “Final Solution.”

"Their next target may include some of their most enthusiastic supporters."

Joy Reid and Her Guests Blame Israel for Hamas’s Massacre

For all of the complaints about the closed border between Israel and Gaza, or the separation barrier between Israel and the West Bank (the so-called “apartheid wall,”) now it’s undeniable what happens when those walls are breached.  

 CAMERA  "Hamas’s barbarism was on full display last Saturday. On Shabbat and the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, Israelis were slaughtered in the streets, babies and the elderly were kidnapped, and teenage girls were raped and taken as war booty to Gaza. The images that came out the same day were reminiscent of ISIS, the death toll of Jews the highest in a single day since the Holocaust.

"Even as news organizations such as the New York Times have, in the past, made ridiculous claims like “Hamas Gives Peaceful Protests a Chance,” Israel and its supporters have always known that this was the enemy we faced; that given the opportunity, they would not hesitate to engage in unspeakable cruelty. Attempts to explain this to reporters who ran cover for Hamas were often to little avail. But all week, images that shock the conscience have been circulating on social media and the reality can no longer be denied.

"Now even the New York Times has provided its readers with graphic depictions of what has occurred. Its blog included the now-famous video of Israeli Noa Argamani being abducted on a motorcycle, a photo of burned out cars in the aftermath of the attack on the rave, and a video compilation of the beginning of the attack on the rave, with people running for their lives. A news article included accounts from three separate people describing the moments when their loved ones were abducted. A video on Tuesday’s digital front page described in detail “How Hamas’s Massacre in Sderot Unfolded.” The Washington Post, CNN, and the Atlantic all prominently featured graphic accounts of what had occurred. Tablet and Rolling Stone have published interviews with eyewitnesses to the rave massacre.

"At one news outlet, however, the most prominent feature of its reporting was victim-blaming. On Monday evening, October 9, MSNBC aired an episode of Joy Reid’s program that would have been right at place if it had aired on Iranian state TV instead. Her guests Peter Beinart, Ayman Mohyeldin, Ali Velshi and Lt. General Stephen Twitty ignored Hamas’s dedication to genocidal violence as expressed in its charter and in its leaders’ rhetoric, omitted any mention of offers of Palestinian sovereignty and independence, and sought to imply that the carnage was inevitable due to Israel’s actions – therefore excusing and justifying Hamas’s barbaric attack." . . .

(Fiery but mostly peaceful) "Velshi also claimed that “when Gaza launched this attack, Hamas said it was about what was going on in the West Bank, in addition to other things.” Of course, what’s been going on in the West Bank are counter-terror operations. But those who want to kill Jews don’t like it when Jews defend themselves.

 WATCH: Here Are the Media Outlets That Uncritically Regurgitated Hamas Propaganda (freebeacon.com)  (Joy Reid again...and again)   "Reporters and major news outlets claimed without evidence that Israel blew up a hospital in Gaza. They were wrong."

Cancel Culture Comes for Hamas Lovers on Campus; exposing the rot in higher education that took hold long ago.

. . . Tabia Lee, a former DEI director at De Anza College in California, says diversity programs are helping drive this trend. She says that by the logic of “critical social justice,” Jews are “white oppressors” and unworthy of support. When she tried to make her campus more inclusive for Jews, she was called a “dirty Zionist” and later fired. Today the bravest, most daring, and dangerous thing a student could do is openly wear a Star of David on campus. 

How would Orwell feel about today's college campuses?

The American Spectator | USA News and Politics   "Progressives and the universities that produce them are suddenly and unexpectedly paying a price for decades of Israel hating on campus. Who knew?

"Major university donors and board members are breaking affiliation with schools that have soft-peddled Hamas terrorism. They are calling schools to account for outrageous ideas being expressed by students and faculty regarding the October 7 terror attacks in Israel. 

"Granted, anti-Israel views have been the standard for years on many campuses, so it is nothing new. But in the wake of the worst day for Jews since the Holocaust, campus antisemitism is getting a fresh look. 

"The day after Hamas slaughtered over 1,200 people in Israel, more than thirty “Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups” released a statement holding “the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.” This is the same type of virtue-signaling nonsense they might have trumpeted after any incident in that part of the world, without criticism or question.

"But this time the kids misread the room. “Blame Israel” did not quite work when Hamas operatives were busy streaming videos of killing families, throwing young women into trucks to haul back to Gaza for unspeakable abuse, or dragging the corpse of one of them through the streets behind a motorcycle.

"By October 9, bipartisan Harvard alumni members of Congress weighed in denouncing the letter. Former Harvard President and Clinton-era Treasury Secretary Larry Summers posted he had “never been as disillusioned and alienated” from Harvard, particularly due to the “silence from Harvard’s leadership.”

"And it got better. Billionaire hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman called on Harvard to release names of members of the pro-Hamas groups (probably the same students in most of them) so companies don’t “inadvertently” hire them. Other business leaders and investors chimed in also wanting the names, and on October 11 Accuracy in Media exposed the group members — “Harvard’s leading antisemites” — on a truck mounted with a digital billboard. 

"Later three pro-Hamas students from Harvard and Colombia lost job offers from the firm of Davis, Polk, and Wardwell because their actions were “a direct contravention of [the] firm’s value system” and they needed to maintain “a supporting and inclusive work environment.” The president of the NYU Student Bar Association likewise lost a job offer from Winston & Strawn. It must have been quite a surprise for these progressives to see the standard cancel culture lingo being used against them."

 

Has leftism finally jumped the shark? - Lewis Dovland   "The current pro-Palestinian rallies on American campuses (which, in reality, are an anti-Jewish hate-fests) are an eye-opener for a growing number of people on the left. The latest Israel-Palestinian protests may be the final canary in the coal mine that will begin to turn the tide and crush leftism from our society. That’s because it exposes its source for all to see—our corrupted educational system.

We’ve all seen the rapid acceleration of the ‘woke’ culture, which has dominated society and become untouchable in the past three to four years. Push back, and you get crushed—job, reputation, life.

"But cracks in leftism have started to appear. The COVID-19 pandemic happened. The all-too-smug teachers’ unions erred when they saw an opportunity to get paid for not working while harming students in their key educational and socialization growth years by shutting schools, Each K-12 year is critical for developing children into well-rounded, productive citizens (anathema to totalitarians who want obedient, unthinking proles).

"As the pandemic dragged on, schools went online. For the first time, parents got to see what little Sally was learning, and they rebelled, flooding school board meetings with demands to stop the CRT and LGBTQ+ indoctrinations." . . .

Lewis Dovland is a passionate observer of America’s future direction with a focus on exposing the “Big Picture” end goals of the progressive Marxist movement and how we can prevail.