As usual, thank you for keeping me sane especially with the polling. Saying that, what do you make of the Muslims and some younger voters claiming they will not vote for Biden bc of his stance on Israel? I think this is so short sighted and dangerous. The younger voters in particular claim that they are for women and lgbtq rights, saving our climate, increasing gun safety laws, etc. Trump has recently said that he’ll expel more Muslims. What do they think is going to happen to those rights that they claim are so important? Most importantly they’ll lose their freedoms. Thank you! https://www.reuters.com/world/us/no-ceasefire-gaza-no-votes-muslim-americans-tell-biden-2023-10-31/
BTW, I’m canvassing for Michael Feggans this weekend.
We will have work to do bringing some voters back into our coalition, but we have time, and I think we are doing the right thing here. We need to have a serious debate about Israel-Gaza inside our coalition. It's healthy, needed. Thank you for working for Michael - he is an impressive guy.
Thank you! You’re correct that we need to have serious debate. I just hope for those who see Israel as the oppressor will want to have such a discussion.
We've already seen what happens when Muslim voters return to voting for Republicans (they were heavily Republican until 9/11 showed them what Republican base voters thought of them): the 2022 Michigan gubernatorial election. East Dearborn's Muslims went Republican en masse because of Democratic support for gay rights, yet this was more than offset by the gains Democrats made with suburban voters:
Thank you for the daily "dose of hope" and the reminders to do whatever we can. I have been making donations weekly to Virginia. Will make them daily until the election. Although they are small, it makes me feel I am making a difference. That helps me.
Shanda, thanks for sharing this. But all I am sharing are direct translations of the many media appearances Hamas spokesmen are making right now. There can be no bias in that, unless the argument is the translation is misrepresenting what is being said. I am not using MEMRI's analysis, or their interpretation of what is happening. All of the things these Hamas leaders are saying in these videos are 100% consistent with their charter and public statements for decades.If you can find evidence that the translations are misrepresenting their words I will be happy to stop using the clips.
I understand your point and it is well understood that Hamas has consistently failed to acknowledge Israel's right to exist. However, I can't let this go...
"...But all I am sharing are direct translations of the many media appearances Hamas spokesmen are making right now. There can be no bias in that..."
Well... yes there can be. Selectively editing videos can achieve quite a bit. And as you suggest, translations can be misleading. I'm not saying that MEMRI did either of these things in this case. The point is because they are not considered a credible source, I have to allow for the possibility they have altered or edited this video. And either dig into this and look for more credible sources that make this same point, or dismiss it.
Since Hamas spokesmen are appearing in many places, choosing an unbiased, highly regarding media outlet to source your clips should be relatively easy to do. And since I look to you as a credible source, it's incumbent upon you to do that work. Not me.
Why muddy the water?
btw, for the record my bias is that Hamas is the much greater of two evils here (Netanyahu being the lesser, and neither Israel or the civilians on other side making the list at all) so don't mistake my comment as in any way saying I can't believe the HAMAS spokesperson said this. Or won't believe he said this. My concern is that we need to walk the walk. There is so much disinformation/misinformation (i know there's a diff, but I can't remember what it is right now :D ) out there, I want the sources I rely on to be squeaky clean.
I have reached out to other researchers in the disinfo space to get their read on MEMRI and will report back. One ran this clip through an independent translation service and it matched word for word. But a few additional comments:
I've been working this space for decades, including years working in the television news business itself as a producer/writer. I have done hundreds of Arab language interviews on Al Jazeera and other Arabic language sites (all translated from English) and am familiar with the political discourse in the region. I have been watching the videos produced by MEMRI for weeks now, and I've decided to use them because they are simple cuts of live video interviews - not edited, not manipulated - translated. While there are ways to manipulate information and play games, simple cuts of live interviews is about as straight ahead as you can play information in this day and age. I have watched many interviews over the last few weeks and the words from the Hamas reps have been remarkably consistent, over and over, again and again. We don't have access to Hamas in English easily because they cannot handle an interview by a Western journalist, as you can see here when this same spokesperson turned off a BBC interview he found uncomfortable - https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-official-storms-out-of-bbc-interview-when-asked-about-israeli-civilians-killed/. It is important we hear from them when they think they are speaking to a home town, favorable audience not a hostile one, where they are far more careful. You will note that when I share video on here it comes from a wide variety of sources - including Fox News - because a person speaking direct to camera is one of the hardest things to manipulate or fake. It is their words, in this case translated.
Thank you, Simon I'm really glad you've got to tell Joy's sudience what's really happening. That if the republicans get in control, we will have a national abortion ban.
Every single non MAGA voter needs to hear this over and over. I know there are a lot of other reasons, But this might be the most powerful for the Largest number of people. Keep up the excellent work... We need you!
I volunteer for another organization and do some social media work for that organization that has a decent size reach. I am putting out a lot of action items of many groups outside that organization for Virginia - phone banking, text banking, canvassing, ballot curing transportation to the polls. Hoping all of that helps to reach even more volunteers.
Not sure what to make of the fact that my group has joined VA phone banks run by the VA Dem's and in the last couple of weeks, including tonight, they keep running out of numbers to call. Is this because there are too many volunteers or because they don't have their act together to load enough phone numbers into the dialer?
Hi Simon. I have been actively canvassing on Long Island in the Nassau County and Suffolk County local races. While the groups I belong to (Swing Left and Move On) along with the candidates themselves and their campaigns have been very active, there has been little if any activity by the New York State Democratic Party including the Nassau and Suffolk County Democratic Party. I live in NY 03. We are being greatly outspent by the Republicans that shows in the daily barrage of mailers I receive from the Republican Party. I have heard that the Republican Party has allocated $2 million for these local races for the County Legislatures and other local offices. Volunteers along with candidate campaigns cannot effectively counter a Political Party willing to spend millions while our Democratic Party sits on the sidelines. The early voting has been heavily Republican so unless there is a miracle don’t be surprised Wednesday morning to hear about another red wave on Long Island.
I was in the city on Tuesday, while heading up Park to GCS I was on 35th waiting to cross the street. While waiting, there was a young man waiting, too, wearing a yarmulke. When the light turned, we started to cross the street, when a nice looking we’ll dressed man looked at this young man, pointed to the yarmulke and said, “please stay safe. Take that off”. It was jarring…in all my years in the city, that had never happened…the young man was now ahead of me, and I noticed he had slipped off his yarmulke and placed it in his pocket.
As usual, thank you for keeping me sane especially with the polling. Saying that, what do you make of the Muslims and some younger voters claiming they will not vote for Biden bc of his stance on Israel? I think this is so short sighted and dangerous. The younger voters in particular claim that they are for women and lgbtq rights, saving our climate, increasing gun safety laws, etc. Trump has recently said that he’ll expel more Muslims. What do they think is going to happen to those rights that they claim are so important? Most importantly they’ll lose their freedoms. Thank you! https://www.reuters.com/world/us/no-ceasefire-gaza-no-votes-muslim-americans-tell-biden-2023-10-31/
BTW, I’m canvassing for Michael Feggans this weekend.
We will have work to do bringing some voters back into our coalition, but we have time, and I think we are doing the right thing here. We need to have a serious debate about Israel-Gaza inside our coalition. It's healthy, needed. Thank you for working for Michael - he is an impressive guy.
Thank you! You’re correct that we need to have serious debate. I just hope for those who see Israel as the oppressor will want to have such a discussion.
We've already seen what happens when Muslim voters return to voting for Republicans (they were heavily Republican until 9/11 showed them what Republican base voters thought of them): the 2022 Michigan gubernatorial election. East Dearborn's Muslims went Republican en masse because of Democratic support for gay rights, yet this was more than offset by the gains Democrats made with suburban voters:
https://twitter.com/brent_peabody/status/1719330691979071808?
Thank you for the daily "dose of hope" and the reminders to do whatever we can. I have been making donations weekly to Virginia. Will make them daily until the election. Although they are small, it makes me feel I am making a difference. That helps me.
Simon, About that horrifying video from Memri TV... I was moved to check the source:
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/middle-east-media-research-institute-memri/
and then I checked the source of the bias rating site, as best I could, and then I looked at major media outlet ratings on the site as a sanity check.
TL;DR Memri TV is not a site you should be sharing with your readers.
Respectfully, shanda bahles
Shanda, thanks for sharing this. But all I am sharing are direct translations of the many media appearances Hamas spokesmen are making right now. There can be no bias in that, unless the argument is the translation is misrepresenting what is being said. I am not using MEMRI's analysis, or their interpretation of what is happening. All of the things these Hamas leaders are saying in these videos are 100% consistent with their charter and public statements for decades.If you can find evidence that the translations are misrepresenting their words I will be happy to stop using the clips.
I understand your point and it is well understood that Hamas has consistently failed to acknowledge Israel's right to exist. However, I can't let this go...
"...But all I am sharing are direct translations of the many media appearances Hamas spokesmen are making right now. There can be no bias in that..."
Well... yes there can be. Selectively editing videos can achieve quite a bit. And as you suggest, translations can be misleading. I'm not saying that MEMRI did either of these things in this case. The point is because they are not considered a credible source, I have to allow for the possibility they have altered or edited this video. And either dig into this and look for more credible sources that make this same point, or dismiss it.
Since Hamas spokesmen are appearing in many places, choosing an unbiased, highly regarding media outlet to source your clips should be relatively easy to do. And since I look to you as a credible source, it's incumbent upon you to do that work. Not me.
Why muddy the water?
btw, for the record my bias is that Hamas is the much greater of two evils here (Netanyahu being the lesser, and neither Israel or the civilians on other side making the list at all) so don't mistake my comment as in any way saying I can't believe the HAMAS spokesperson said this. Or won't believe he said this. My concern is that we need to walk the walk. There is so much disinformation/misinformation (i know there's a diff, but I can't remember what it is right now :D ) out there, I want the sources I rely on to be squeaky clean.
Thanks for listening.
shanda
I have reached out to other researchers in the disinfo space to get their read on MEMRI and will report back. One ran this clip through an independent translation service and it matched word for word. But a few additional comments:
I've been working this space for decades, including years working in the television news business itself as a producer/writer. I have done hundreds of Arab language interviews on Al Jazeera and other Arabic language sites (all translated from English) and am familiar with the political discourse in the region. I have been watching the videos produced by MEMRI for weeks now, and I've decided to use them because they are simple cuts of live video interviews - not edited, not manipulated - translated. While there are ways to manipulate information and play games, simple cuts of live interviews is about as straight ahead as you can play information in this day and age. I have watched many interviews over the last few weeks and the words from the Hamas reps have been remarkably consistent, over and over, again and again. We don't have access to Hamas in English easily because they cannot handle an interview by a Western journalist, as you can see here when this same spokesperson turned off a BBC interview he found uncomfortable - https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-official-storms-out-of-bbc-interview-when-asked-about-israeli-civilians-killed/. It is important we hear from them when they think they are speaking to a home town, favorable audience not a hostile one, where they are far more careful. You will note that when I share video on here it comes from a wide variety of sources - including Fox News - because a person speaking direct to camera is one of the hardest things to manipulate or fake. It is their words, in this case translated.
That's incredibly helpful. Thank you.
Thank you, Simon I'm really glad you've got to tell Joy's sudience what's really happening. That if the republicans get in control, we will have a national abortion ban.
Every single non MAGA voter needs to hear this over and over. I know there are a lot of other reasons, But this might be the most powerful for the Largest number of people. Keep up the excellent work... We need you!
I volunteer for another organization and do some social media work for that organization that has a decent size reach. I am putting out a lot of action items of many groups outside that organization for Virginia - phone banking, text banking, canvassing, ballot curing transportation to the polls. Hoping all of that helps to reach even more volunteers.
thank you!
Thank you for lifting up the holds on military and diplomatic posts. This is an outrage.
I encourage people not to accept this as normal: it isn't. Call your Senators and register your displeasure.
And thank you, everyone, for all your efforts to help our country!
https://open.substack.com/pub/peterjanovsky/p/dear-ny-gop-reps-expelling-santos?r=1mm69&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Dear NY GOP Reps: Expelling Santos won't save your seat after you voted for Maga Mike Johnson. (Includes a link to your VA ActBlue page)
i heard you on the Joy Reid Show last night as I was walking through the house tidying up.
Not sure what to make of the fact that my group has joined VA phone banks run by the VA Dem's and in the last couple of weeks, including tonight, they keep running out of numbers to call. Is this because there are too many volunteers or because they don't have their act together to load enough phone numbers into the dialer?
Hi Simon. I have been actively canvassing on Long Island in the Nassau County and Suffolk County local races. While the groups I belong to (Swing Left and Move On) along with the candidates themselves and their campaigns have been very active, there has been little if any activity by the New York State Democratic Party including the Nassau and Suffolk County Democratic Party. I live in NY 03. We are being greatly outspent by the Republicans that shows in the daily barrage of mailers I receive from the Republican Party. I have heard that the Republican Party has allocated $2 million for these local races for the County Legislatures and other local offices. Volunteers along with candidate campaigns cannot effectively counter a Political Party willing to spend millions while our Democratic Party sits on the sidelines. The early voting has been heavily Republican so unless there is a miracle don’t be surprised Wednesday morning to hear about another red wave on Long Island.
I would suggest you follow up with Kirsten Gillibrand campaign. They are very focused on taking back NY
I was in the city on Tuesday, while heading up Park to GCS I was on 35th waiting to cross the street. While waiting, there was a young man waiting, too, wearing a yarmulke. When the light turned, we started to cross the street, when a nice looking we’ll dressed man looked at this young man, pointed to the yarmulke and said, “please stay safe. Take that off”. It was jarring…in all my years in the city, that had never happened…the young man was now ahead of me, and I noticed he had slipped off his yarmulke and placed it in his pocket.