Jeff, as you and I have discussed, we have a no jerks policy here, and in your very first post you take a completely unfounded shot at me. I've taken the post down and if it happens again I'm going to ban you from the platform. You can make your case here without denigrating others, and please come with data and not opinions. Thank you. S
But I remind you that we have the capacity to reach about 13 million people who are unregistered but trend heavily Democratic to radically expand our base. 60% of unregistered voters have never been asked to register! They're waiting to hear from us!
To win in 2024, FT6 will reach out to millions of unregistered likely Democrats using a one-of-a-kind database and every outreach method possible (phone and text, postcard, email and targeted ad, and in-person too), where new Democratic voters will make the most impact – in the most flippable states and districts.
Thank you for your comments about the student protests, now not only against Israel, but seemingly pro-anarchy. I wonder if you or your readers can help me solve this puzzle:
1) Where did all these tents come from? Who’s paying for them? It’s hard to believe that camping supply stores, online or actual, could have supplied these hundreds or thousands of tents so fast once the protests started.
2) Aside from their stated intent, are these protests being funded and promoted as a way to distract protesters from the Trump trials and from the threats to democracy from Trump, MAGA, the current SCOTUS majority, and Leonard Leo and his right-wing colleagues?
3) Do the original protesters even care about the precarious state of American democracy? What are they doing to defend our country against authoritarianism, bigotry, and corruption?
I think you've answered some of your own questions - especially the 2nd one. It's pretty apparent that right wing forces will exploit ANYTHING to see what sticks in order to try to damage Biden- and distort the truth ( Flood the zone with shit in the tradition of Bannon). So we must counter message as efficiently as possible, but in a way that doesn't simply involve repeating what the right does/says - because that can backfire. Messaging guru Anat Shenker Osorio always makes the point that if you merely push back ( ei simply saying these protests are NOT legit or aren't real) and don't make a counter point, you end up inadvertently fanning the flames of the right's bad faith arguments.
I like ASO's messaging, too, Jarrod, especially about going with values. How can protesters agitating for the rights of Palestinians ignore the rights of the campus community members they are trampling? What do these protesters value? Only Palestinian lives, but not Israeli or Jewish? Do they think they'll have rights in a Hamas-led Palestinian government? Do they think they'll have rights if they don't do anything to prevent Trump from being elected? The questions are endless.
So it's back to work to elect Biden and defeat MAGA at every level of government.
Absolutely ! It's pretty obvious the bad actors infiltrating g these protests are doing the same damn thing bad actors did with the BLM protests. I also know you can dislike Biden's handling of the situation and still 100% support him. We just cannot let it stand in our way or overwhelm us. I can just see now - " if Oligarchs think they can manipulate us into turning on each other while they work to snatch away our rights, they have another think coming !" Or something like that. In some of my postcards - I have gone SLIGHTLY off script - and used some ASO phrases I've heard her use in interviews and framed the script with those structures/phrases. I've tried to make the reader the protagonist. I really hope it helps.
Be careful when debating on values that the audience you are trying to influence *actually shares* those values. Sometimes I think it would be easier to meet people who are on the bubble in our elections, who have to be low information people hiding under rocks and clearly haven't chosen one set of values over another, by talking to them in the simplest possible naked self-interest terms, not in terms of high-minded idealistic values that no longer may be shared in common. Our side is better than their side on all the naked self-interest terms for most typical, normal people, hands down, no contest. Show me a libertarian or free-market conservative who is not independently a millionaire a couple times over, and I'll show you a naif, chump, and fool. Yet millions of such kool-aid drinkers are out there.
I am also concerned about their tunnel vision. Our local chapter in Columbia SC have signs calling Joe Biden , Genocide Joe. This group is being run by one of my oldest friends. I have known her since I was 18. I am now 68. Her grandfather emigrated from Lebanon in the 30’s and worked in the coal mines of Republic Pennsylvania. He was a good union Man. Leslie is wonderful. Bibi Netanyahu has got to be stopped he is tearing the world apart.
I think there is a limit to the value one can get from investigating and looking into outside, non-student support for on campus pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli, trending to pro-Hamas at times demonstrations. Amplifying the attention paid to it cooperates with the Fox news agenda and neglects coverage and attention of things that matter more to the broader public, including the young and even the college student population. Protect life, physical safety and property and freedom from harassment, as well as punitive approaches to speech including public unpopular speech.
You could exclude all outside influences, and exclude all statements that are textbook antisemitic and you could still have demonstrations of thousands with signs and slogans and petitions with demands "politely stated" whose acceptance the practical effect of acceptance is a) Israel has no means to defend itself, b) Israel liquidates itself as a coherent nation, c) no realistic means of self-defense against terrorist or guerrilla groups willing to use the groups they claim to "protect" as human shields. The demonstrators would feel confidently 100% in the moral right. I've had over 100 conversations in person and online where people have imposed those idealistic moral standards and restrictions on the USA and Israel in my lifetime.
People who "feel confidently 100% in the moral right" are the source of many of the world's problems, whether they're family, friends, or justices on the Supreme Court.
No silly, the opposite. "*Protect* life, physical safety and property and *freedom* *from* harassment, as well as punitive approaches to speech including public unpopular speech."
*Protect* *freedom* (including freedom of speech, even unpopular speech) *from*, harassment and punitive approaches.
Punitive approaches can include a range of things like overzealous police responses, mob responses, employment blacklists, donor leverage bullying, etc.
Universities have to walk the line of maintaining student services, common use areas, and policing rampant hate speech or harassment, even if it comes from protestors doing 1st Amendment activities. Nor are Universities obligated to meet the substantive demands of the protestors for financial management on the protestors say-so alone. But crackdowns and police involvement more often escalate situations and their visibility than increase it, as does the search for outside agitators.
Looking forward to the end of the school year and summer!
I keep reading in CNN how Trump’s pole’s are higher than Biden, saying people are overall happy with what Trump did as a president and believe Bidens administration has been a failure.
I worry about these protests spilling over to the Democratic Convention in Chicago and I'm old enough to remember how harmful that can be. I also suspect that there's some amount of Russian involvement. Trump sure was quick to jump on them and exaggerate their impact. Praying for a cease fire.
David Frum has an interesting article about this in The Atlantic. Not sure I can provide a link without your running into a paywall, but he basically says 2024 is nothing like 1968.
I wouldn't spend too much time comparing it to 1968. Granted I was not around for that, but I honestly think it's more a case of people on the right trying g to make it seem so.
The difference is that in 1968, protests were infiltrated by FBI and CIA spies, but in 2024 they are infiltrated by Rightwing chaos agents bent on creating violence. It is already documented that such people created most of the violence at Black Lives Matter protests. So even though the scale of the student protests is nothing like Vietnam war protests, the Right is now well-organized to create violence and blame it on Democrats.
And don't forget about Daley's jack-booted police's role in helping foment the violence in 1968. Their brutality was reprehensible; big difference from now.
I'm not sure I see a big difference. The 1968 protesters were peaceful until Rightwing police turned it into a violent riot, and all the public saw was "Riot at Dem convention," and Nixon won. Now, the Right is actually involved in infiltrating and possibly even coordinating these protests and know that if they can get gullible students to demonstrate at the DNC convention, they can make sure it becomes violent.
I was there in '68 and you are right. There is no comparison. These protests are very small. They could even be contrived by people wanting to hurt Biden.
Yesterday I was commuting home from work by train. I noticed in front of me an older gentlemen accompanied by his wife in a motorized wheelchair. On the back of it hung a double sided sign. The first side read "Biden loves America, Trump loves Putin", the second said " Republicans, vote for Joe, your friends won't know!" I began talking to him, and asked if he'd heard of Simon Rosenberg. After some back and fourth he suddenly says " Wait a minute ?! He's on Substack right ?! I read Hopium ! "
Pamela, that is absolutely uncalled for. Not one single one of us is “for wholesale slaughter & ethnic cleansing” and how dare you frame it that way. Disrupting a university commencement won’t solve the problems in Gaza, and neither will antagonizing every potential ally to the cause.
Thank you Steve. I have to admit every time these threads light up about Gaza , my anxiety goes through the roof and I'm genuinely wondering what some of the noisemakers on here are trying to accomplish? Healthy dialogue is one thing but this....
Best comment today. Love this! You never know what conversation you will hear when riding on a train. Was a commuter for years & heard all kinds of things.
Thank you ! It was definitely the highlight of my day. Seriously though the way these threads light up sometimes, it makes me wonder if I should keep peeking on here. Yet I feel the need to take in all positivity I can, and also to help by sharing all I can. We have to in the face of the torrents of exhausting, demoralizing headlines that get hurled at us on a daily basis.
Indivisible Marin’s very informative State of Play is tonight. Lots of great campaign updates, voting information and winning strategy here. Join us! https://mobilize.us/s/lTdWqc
A clear distinction needs to be drawn between peaceful "Pro-Palestinian demonstrators" and what in reality are "Pro-Hamas demonstrators". The latter are explicitly supporting the massacres and terrorism carried out by Hamas, calling for total leveling of Tel Aviv, the destruction of Israel, and the murder of Jews and Zionists in the USA and elsewhere.
A clear example of the latter is these statements by Khymani James, the leader of the protests at Columbia University. I think (and hope) you will be shocked. (James’ claim that he "misspoke" is absurd.)
We know that the student protests have been infiltrated by many non-students. Their associations and motives need to be exposed by investigative journalists. It seems increasingly clear that a significant number of these outside provocateurs have clear ties to pro-Hamas organizations.
However, in my opinion the first type of demonstration, of peaceful Pro-Palestinian protestors, is legitimate free speech and should NOT be subject to police crackdowns – which is why the distinction is so important.
The distinction is vital also in order to deny Republican attempts to use this as a wedge issue, cleaving Democrats into illusory "Pro-Israel" and "Pro-Palestinian" camps.
.
This article by Hamza Howidy, a Gazan, gives a great insight into Hamas’ rule and intolerance for Palestinian opposition and dissidence – ironically enough, especially student voices!
Here is an interview with Professor Shai Davidai where he shares his views on "Pro-Hamas protests", his futile attempts at dialog with the leadership of Columbia University, and the university president’s untruths before Congress. Davidai names names and documents the ties between American pro-Hamas organizations and the student protests.
I agree. Thank you for pointing this out AS. We should know who's behind these protests, who is infiltrating and who they're associated with-- and soon.
Thanks sharing that Tweet. I know these kids - they were climate protestors and have switched to Hamas. I have friends at left climate orgs who have told me the organizers there are no longer doing climate work, just this. These kids have unionized several environmental orgs - a good thing - but have turned the unions into “cultural revolution” type organizations where colleagues are accused via HR of many things (now I am told anyone who is Jewish and speaks up for Israel is formerly accused of being a racist to HR). I know of one org that is essentially moving operations from the US because no work is being done
All this said, the thing is that they are quickly - through their actions - becoming irrelevant. The issue of Gaza is incredibly important but these kids really do not care about Gaza, they view this issue as another extension of the other (left cultural wars). But, just like with other worthy - e.g., DEI - issues the tactics and extreme personalization, vilification of any perceived opponents is what becoming the focus (rather than any policy outcome).
Simon is right. The majority of kids who actually care about the future of Palestinians are going to be pretty quickly turned off by this (they’ve seen this show below). This is the later stages of “Occupy Wall Street”, etc. It’s too bad - this debate (which has too long been dominated by AIPAC) needed a push from the other side but things are devolving.
I know people who I would say are Independent, patriotic but on fence Trump voters, now blaming Joe Biden for the protests and see the left as "Pro-Hamas" . It doesn't make any sense and I think these protests are being infiltrated by other groups like a few others here have said. Thankfully we have had none of this on the campus I work at.
That’s Fox News et al. at work. Right wing media repeats those talking points over and over, and it works, which is why I’m always grateful for Simon’s repetition here. Our side don’t hear our points (which unlike theirs, are actually truthful) repeated often enough.
Yes! I don't watch Fox ever, so when I hear this stuff from others I wonder "What happened to your brain?" "Where have your critical thinking skills gone?" They've lost them! Sigh.
Independent doesn't equal moderate or centrist. It means people want to present, or misrepresent, themselves a certain way. They could say independent because they think it sounds cooler, or they don't want to displease anyone they talk to. Or because they are mostly Republican or mostly Democratic but have eclectic or varied views agreeing with the other Party on one or two things. Or they could be independent because they are ideologically *very* conservative or liberal and don't think either party is *pure enough*. I think the most common reason people tell people they are independent is they are lying, but they are leaning the opposite Party of whoever they are talking to and don't want to alienate that person.
Bottom line about "your people". They also might be in the tank for Trump and lying about being on the fence to waste your time or get attention. At least if this is the one issue they obsess on over and over.
Your time is better spent on people who haven't expressed an opinion one way or the other.
Anyway, in case they are not diehard Trumpers lying, and are really "gettable" for the Democrats this year, Zap 'em with a one two punch of "Remember that Trump blamed the Israelis for it right after the attacks and pissed Israelis off" (it's easy to find the news clips and tempest in a teapot from then) and ask a hypothetical: Quick quiz: Between Joe and Don, which guy do you think would be more likely to sell out Israel for a big hunk of cash or hotel business from Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Qatar? Just to ask the question is to know the answer.
Morning Joe went all in this morning on the Protestors electing Trump again. It is time for Dem leadership to clearly state these pro Hamas Protestors do not speak for democrats anywhere. Otherwise, these young people will end up electing Trump just like the youth elected Nixon in 68. And Trump in 2016.
And it is clear that most young people care about what most voters care about - jobs jobs jobs and their future. Not what these elite students are protesting.
Thank you Simon for such a thorough evaluation. I was confused when I saw the protestor's masks this morning on MSNBC. But of course, hiding their identity is the reason. The kids are being used, and I hope the administration of these schools can find a way to expose what's really going on. So much depends on it. Thank you for everything you do.
Plus many US colleges have numerous students and generous funding from Arab countries. It's a tangled web of competing interests, especially of not offending the various interests involved.
Thank you for commenting on campus protests. I do think administrators have their hands full these days. I’m glad the school year is ending. If we can get a ceasefire I believe the problem will take care of itself. But I have noticed that even though this resistance is sometimes compared to South Africa, as in the movement to divest, the tactics are not at all the same as the South Africa movement. Students need to be informed about how effective peaceful resistance can be. And the outsiders to these campus protests need to be called out.
Your thoughts on the protestors are exactly what I needed to read to help clarify my position. I abhor the loss of life and the use of food as a weapon of war, yet cannot in any way support Hamas. Thank you. And here’s hoping other campuses do as Tufts is doing to protect the rights of ALL students.
I'm not at all sure that "The Protestors Are Blowing It, Big Time". While the letter from the President of Tufts does conclude with a reasonable discussion of the need for protest as well as dialog, the main argument seems to be that these protests are somehow incompatible with Commencement festivities. But I don't see how an encampment prevents Commencement. The two can co-exist.
I have no way of knowing the true stuation at Tufts or other campuses, but yesterday I visited the encampment at UNM, in Albuquerque, with my step-daughter, who works there. A cluster of tents, next to the duck-pond; a number of signs, banners and chalk writings on some sidewalks, none advocating violence or disruption.
Protests are messy and rarely have a single unified message. I strongly recommend reading this article by Peter Beinert about this movement, and the conflicted feeling that Jews have on this issue:
Let's not tar all those protesting the war in Gaza with the brush that our MAGA opponents are using. In any protest movement there will always be an extreme minority. Let's remember that this is an important issue for an important segment of our coalition, and we do ourselves no favors in discounting their views or, even worse, falling for the MAGA narrative.
We actually do know the true situation at Tufts. The President just spelled it all out for you in this letter. The protestors are on the place where commencement takes place, and there can be no scenario where a few dozen protestors disrupt commencement for thousands of students and their families. It's ridiculous to even imagine something like that would be appropriate. As for my views, they are mine, not MAGAs, and everything I wrote here is backed up by real world events. If the protestors wanted to distance themselves from those making very extreme arguments it's easy to do, but these actions that have been documented on campus after campus are coming from the core protestors without challenge.
See my message about engrossing people in civil disobedience about *other things* of more immediacy to Americans, where public opinion is with our side and it could keep it in the news.
Jeff, as you and I have discussed, we have a no jerks policy here, and in your very first post you take a completely unfounded shot at me. I've taken the post down and if it happens again I'm going to ban you from the platform. You can make your case here without denigrating others, and please come with data and not opinions. Thank you. S
Simon: Maybe you can have someone with authority at the DNC contact me. My cause this morning is SSI recipients who are registered Republicans. I'm asking their lawyers, who are usually the most trusted and most authoritative people in their likes, to convince them to switch. https://danielsolomon.substack.com/p/political-suicide?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=742145&post_id=144123211&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=zc69i&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
I have other projects like this: Amish. Veterans.
But I remind you that we have the capacity to reach about 13 million people who are unregistered but trend heavily Democratic to radically expand our base. 60% of unregistered voters have never been asked to register! They're waiting to hear from us!
To win in 2024, FT6 will reach out to millions of unregistered likely Democrats using a one-of-a-kind database and every outreach method possible (phone and text, postcard, email and targeted ad, and in-person too), where new Democratic voters will make the most impact – in the most flippable states and districts.
https://www.mobilize.us/ft6/?event_type=17&show_all_events=true
Simon,
Thank you for your comments about the student protests, now not only against Israel, but seemingly pro-anarchy. I wonder if you or your readers can help me solve this puzzle:
1) Where did all these tents come from? Who’s paying for them? It’s hard to believe that camping supply stores, online or actual, could have supplied these hundreds or thousands of tents so fast once the protests started.
2) Aside from their stated intent, are these protests being funded and promoted as a way to distract protesters from the Trump trials and from the threats to democracy from Trump, MAGA, the current SCOTUS majority, and Leonard Leo and his right-wing colleagues?
3) Do the original protesters even care about the precarious state of American democracy? What are they doing to defend our country against authoritarianism, bigotry, and corruption?
I think you've answered some of your own questions - especially the 2nd one. It's pretty apparent that right wing forces will exploit ANYTHING to see what sticks in order to try to damage Biden- and distort the truth ( Flood the zone with shit in the tradition of Bannon). So we must counter message as efficiently as possible, but in a way that doesn't simply involve repeating what the right does/says - because that can backfire. Messaging guru Anat Shenker Osorio always makes the point that if you merely push back ( ei simply saying these protests are NOT legit or aren't real) and don't make a counter point, you end up inadvertently fanning the flames of the right's bad faith arguments.
I like ASO's messaging, too, Jarrod, especially about going with values. How can protesters agitating for the rights of Palestinians ignore the rights of the campus community members they are trampling? What do these protesters value? Only Palestinian lives, but not Israeli or Jewish? Do they think they'll have rights in a Hamas-led Palestinian government? Do they think they'll have rights if they don't do anything to prevent Trump from being elected? The questions are endless.
So it's back to work to elect Biden and defeat MAGA at every level of government.
Absolutely ! It's pretty obvious the bad actors infiltrating g these protests are doing the same damn thing bad actors did with the BLM protests. I also know you can dislike Biden's handling of the situation and still 100% support him. We just cannot let it stand in our way or overwhelm us. I can just see now - " if Oligarchs think they can manipulate us into turning on each other while they work to snatch away our rights, they have another think coming !" Or something like that. In some of my postcards - I have gone SLIGHTLY off script - and used some ASO phrases I've heard her use in interviews and framed the script with those structures/phrases. I've tried to make the reader the protagonist. I really hope it helps.
Be careful when debating on values that the audience you are trying to influence *actually shares* those values. Sometimes I think it would be easier to meet people who are on the bubble in our elections, who have to be low information people hiding under rocks and clearly haven't chosen one set of values over another, by talking to them in the simplest possible naked self-interest terms, not in terms of high-minded idealistic values that no longer may be shared in common. Our side is better than their side on all the naked self-interest terms for most typical, normal people, hands down, no contest. Show me a libertarian or free-market conservative who is not independently a millionaire a couple times over, and I'll show you a naif, chump, and fool. Yet millions of such kool-aid drinkers are out there.
I am also concerned about their tunnel vision. Our local chapter in Columbia SC have signs calling Joe Biden , Genocide Joe. This group is being run by one of my oldest friends. I have known her since I was 18. I am now 68. Her grandfather emigrated from Lebanon in the 30’s and worked in the coal mines of Republic Pennsylvania. He was a good union Man. Leslie is wonderful. Bibi Netanyahu has got to be stopped he is tearing the world apart.
With some help from Putin
They chant Genocide Joe at Trump rallies. I don’t know if they know what that refers to
Woah 🤯
Your local chapter of WHAT?
That's what I was thinking ? And in SC?
I think there is a limit to the value one can get from investigating and looking into outside, non-student support for on campus pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli, trending to pro-Hamas at times demonstrations. Amplifying the attention paid to it cooperates with the Fox news agenda and neglects coverage and attention of things that matter more to the broader public, including the young and even the college student population. Protect life, physical safety and property and freedom from harassment, as well as punitive approaches to speech including public unpopular speech.
You could exclude all outside influences, and exclude all statements that are textbook antisemitic and you could still have demonstrations of thousands with signs and slogans and petitions with demands "politely stated" whose acceptance the practical effect of acceptance is a) Israel has no means to defend itself, b) Israel liquidates itself as a coherent nation, c) no realistic means of self-defense against terrorist or guerrilla groups willing to use the groups they claim to "protect" as human shields. The demonstrators would feel confidently 100% in the moral right. I've had over 100 conversations in person and online where people have imposed those idealistic moral standards and restrictions on the USA and Israel in my lifetime.
People who "feel confidently 100% in the moral right" are the source of many of the world's problems, whether they're family, friends, or justices on the Supreme Court.
“…as well as punitive approaches to speech including public unpopular speech. “
Are you saying “unpopular speech” should be punished?
If so, what’s an example of unpopular speech? What kind of punishment? From who?
No silly, the opposite. "*Protect* life, physical safety and property and *freedom* *from* harassment, as well as punitive approaches to speech including public unpopular speech."
*Protect* *freedom* (including freedom of speech, even unpopular speech) *from*, harassment and punitive approaches.
Punitive approaches can include a range of things like overzealous police responses, mob responses, employment blacklists, donor leverage bullying, etc.
Universities have to walk the line of maintaining student services, common use areas, and policing rampant hate speech or harassment, even if it comes from protestors doing 1st Amendment activities. Nor are Universities obligated to meet the substantive demands of the protestors for financial management on the protestors say-so alone. But crackdowns and police involvement more often escalate situations and their visibility than increase it, as does the search for outside agitators.
Looking forward to the end of the school year and summer!
I keep reading in CNN how Trump’s pole’s are higher than Biden, saying people are overall happy with what Trump did as a president and believe Bidens administration has been a failure.
I don’t understand this.
Are you able to clarify here?
I addressed this in my post yesterday.
Thank you, very helpful, sorry to take your time, I know you’re busy
I worry about these protests spilling over to the Democratic Convention in Chicago and I'm old enough to remember how harmful that can be. I also suspect that there's some amount of Russian involvement. Trump sure was quick to jump on them and exaggerate their impact. Praying for a cease fire.
Simon has addressed this in recent posts. The scale of these protests is not nearly the same as Vietnam in 1968
David Frum has an interesting article about this in The Atlantic. Not sure I can provide a link without your running into a paywall, but he basically says 2024 is nothing like 1968.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/the-plot-to-wreck-the-democratic-convention/ar-AA1nR90t
That is a very worrying. I had not put that together, but was already nervous just about the location of the convention.
I wouldn't spend too much time comparing it to 1968. Granted I was not around for that, but I honestly think it's more a case of people on the right trying g to make it seem so.
The difference is that in 1968, protests were infiltrated by FBI and CIA spies, but in 2024 they are infiltrated by Rightwing chaos agents bent on creating violence. It is already documented that such people created most of the violence at Black Lives Matter protests. So even though the scale of the student protests is nothing like Vietnam war protests, the Right is now well-organized to create violence and blame it on Democrats.
And don't forget about Daley's jack-booted police's role in helping foment the violence in 1968. Their brutality was reprehensible; big difference from now.
I'm not sure I see a big difference. The 1968 protesters were peaceful until Rightwing police turned it into a violent riot, and all the public saw was "Riot at Dem convention," and Nixon won. Now, the Right is actually involved in infiltrating and possibly even coordinating these protests and know that if they can get gullible students to demonstrate at the DNC convention, they can make sure it becomes violent.
Let's help see that it does not !
Nixon won because the electorate was not ready for sanity.
I was there in '68 and you are right. There is no comparison. These protests are very small. They could even be contrived by people wanting to hurt Biden.
Yesterday I was commuting home from work by train. I noticed in front of me an older gentlemen accompanied by his wife in a motorized wheelchair. On the back of it hung a double sided sign. The first side read "Biden loves America, Trump loves Putin", the second said " Republicans, vote for Joe, your friends won't know!" I began talking to him, and asked if he'd heard of Simon Rosenberg. After some back and fourth he suddenly says " Wait a minute ?! He's on Substack right ?! I read Hopium ! "
Pamela, that is absolutely uncalled for. Not one single one of us is “for wholesale slaughter & ethnic cleansing” and how dare you frame it that way. Disrupting a university commencement won’t solve the problems in Gaza, and neither will antagonizing every potential ally to the cause.
Thank you Steve. I have to admit every time these threads light up about Gaza , my anxiety goes through the roof and I'm genuinely wondering what some of the noisemakers on here are trying to accomplish? Healthy dialogue is one thing but this....
love this!!!!!!!!!!!
What a great story! Now that gives me hope.
Best comment today. Love this! You never know what conversation you will hear when riding on a train. Was a commuter for years & heard all kinds of things.
Thank you ! It was definitely the highlight of my day. Seriously though the way these threads light up sometimes, it makes me wonder if I should keep peeking on here. Yet I feel the need to take in all positivity I can, and also to help by sharing all I can. We have to in the face of the torrents of exhausting, demoralizing headlines that get hurled at us on a daily basis.
"Republicans, vote for Joe, your friends won't know!"
This would actually make a great bumper sticker. A popular "social pressure" GOTV message I have seen used in postcard scripts is:
"Who you vote for is private; whether you vote is public record."
I like this !
Indivisible Marin’s very informative State of Play is tonight. Lots of great campaign updates, voting information and winning strategy here. Join us! https://mobilize.us/s/lTdWqc
Just signed up--Thanks for offering another excellent educational series.
Thanks for the heads up! I am on their email list but I must have overlooked that one.
A clear distinction needs to be drawn between peaceful "Pro-Palestinian demonstrators" and what in reality are "Pro-Hamas demonstrators". The latter are explicitly supporting the massacres and terrorism carried out by Hamas, calling for total leveling of Tel Aviv, the destruction of Israel, and the murder of Jews and Zionists in the USA and elsewhere.
A clear example of the latter is these statements by Khymani James, the leader of the protests at Columbia University. I think (and hope) you will be shocked. (James’ claim that he "misspoke" is absurd.)
https://twitter.com/Sarah_G_Barker/status/1783859290115076331
We know that the student protests have been infiltrated by many non-students. Their associations and motives need to be exposed by investigative journalists. It seems increasingly clear that a significant number of these outside provocateurs have clear ties to pro-Hamas organizations.
However, in my opinion the first type of demonstration, of peaceful Pro-Palestinian protestors, is legitimate free speech and should NOT be subject to police crackdowns – which is why the distinction is so important.
The distinction is vital also in order to deny Republican attempts to use this as a wedge issue, cleaving Democrats into illusory "Pro-Israel" and "Pro-Palestinian" camps.
.
This article by Hamza Howidy, a Gazan, gives a great insight into Hamas’ rule and intolerance for Palestinian opposition and dissidence – ironically enough, especially student voices!
https://www.newsweek.com/hamas-tortured-me-dissent-heres-what-they-really-think-palestinians-opinion-1857169
Here is an interview with Professor Shai Davidai where he shares his views on "Pro-Hamas protests", his futile attempts at dialog with the leadership of Columbia University, and the university president’s untruths before Congress. Davidai names names and documents the ties between American pro-Hamas organizations and the student protests.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/call-me-back-with-dan-senor/id1539292794?i=1000653712130
I agree. Thank you for pointing this out AS. We should know who's behind these protests, who is infiltrating and who they're associated with-- and soon.
I was about to recommend the same podcast!
Thanks sharing that Tweet. I know these kids - they were climate protestors and have switched to Hamas. I have friends at left climate orgs who have told me the organizers there are no longer doing climate work, just this. These kids have unionized several environmental orgs - a good thing - but have turned the unions into “cultural revolution” type organizations where colleagues are accused via HR of many things (now I am told anyone who is Jewish and speaks up for Israel is formerly accused of being a racist to HR). I know of one org that is essentially moving operations from the US because no work is being done
All this said, the thing is that they are quickly - through their actions - becoming irrelevant. The issue of Gaza is incredibly important but these kids really do not care about Gaza, they view this issue as another extension of the other (left cultural wars). But, just like with other worthy - e.g., DEI - issues the tactics and extreme personalization, vilification of any perceived opponents is what becoming the focus (rather than any policy outcome).
Simon is right. The majority of kids who actually care about the future of Palestinians are going to be pretty quickly turned off by this (they’ve seen this show below). This is the later stages of “Occupy Wall Street”, etc. It’s too bad - this debate (which has too long been dominated by AIPAC) needed a push from the other side but things are devolving.
Lots of broad generalizations about “these kids” and climate change activists with no evidence cited.
Thank you for posting both the article and the podcast.
I know people who I would say are Independent, patriotic but on fence Trump voters, now blaming Joe Biden for the protests and see the left as "Pro-Hamas" . It doesn't make any sense and I think these protests are being infiltrated by other groups like a few others here have said. Thankfully we have had none of this on the campus I work at.
That’s Fox News et al. at work. Right wing media repeats those talking points over and over, and it works, which is why I’m always grateful for Simon’s repetition here. Our side don’t hear our points (which unlike theirs, are actually truthful) repeated often enough.
Yes! I don't watch Fox ever, so when I hear this stuff from others I wonder "What happened to your brain?" "Where have your critical thinking skills gone?" They've lost them! Sigh.
Independent doesn't equal moderate or centrist. It means people want to present, or misrepresent, themselves a certain way. They could say independent because they think it sounds cooler, or they don't want to displease anyone they talk to. Or because they are mostly Republican or mostly Democratic but have eclectic or varied views agreeing with the other Party on one or two things. Or they could be independent because they are ideologically *very* conservative or liberal and don't think either party is *pure enough*. I think the most common reason people tell people they are independent is they are lying, but they are leaning the opposite Party of whoever they are talking to and don't want to alienate that person.
Bottom line about "your people". They also might be in the tank for Trump and lying about being on the fence to waste your time or get attention. At least if this is the one issue they obsess on over and over.
Your time is better spent on people who haven't expressed an opinion one way or the other.
Anyway, in case they are not diehard Trumpers lying, and are really "gettable" for the Democrats this year, Zap 'em with a one two punch of "Remember that Trump blamed the Israelis for it right after the attacks and pissed Israelis off" (it's easy to find the news clips and tempest in a teapot from then) and ask a hypothetical: Quick quiz: Between Joe and Don, which guy do you think would be more likely to sell out Israel for a big hunk of cash or hotel business from Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Qatar? Just to ask the question is to know the answer.
Hamas probably backs those outside protestors.
or Putin.
Morning Joe went all in this morning on the Protestors electing Trump again. It is time for Dem leadership to clearly state these pro Hamas Protestors do not speak for democrats anywhere. Otherwise, these young people will end up electing Trump just like the youth elected Nixon in 68. And Trump in 2016.
And it is clear that most young people care about what most voters care about - jobs jobs jobs and their future. Not what these elite students are protesting.
Exactly. Malcom nance explains exactly that here:
https://open.substack.com/pub/malcolmnance/p/will-the-free-palestine-college-protests?r=1rfdru&utm_medium=ios
David French had a terrific piece about what colleges and universities need to do now. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/28/opinion/protests-college-free-speech.html
Thank you Simon for such a thorough evaluation. I was confused when I saw the protestor's masks this morning on MSNBC. But of course, hiding their identity is the reason. The kids are being used, and I hope the administration of these schools can find a way to expose what's really going on. So much depends on it. Thank you for everything you do.
Plus many US colleges have numerous students and generous funding from Arab countries. It's a tangled web of competing interests, especially of not offending the various interests involved.
Thank you for commenting on campus protests. I do think administrators have their hands full these days. I’m glad the school year is ending. If we can get a ceasefire I believe the problem will take care of itself. But I have noticed that even though this resistance is sometimes compared to South Africa, as in the movement to divest, the tactics are not at all the same as the South Africa movement. Students need to be informed about how effective peaceful resistance can be. And the outsiders to these campus protests need to be called out.
Your thoughts on the protestors are exactly what I needed to read to help clarify my position. I abhor the loss of life and the use of food as a weapon of war, yet cannot in any way support Hamas. Thank you. And here’s hoping other campuses do as Tufts is doing to protect the rights of ALL students.
I'm not at all sure that "The Protestors Are Blowing It, Big Time". While the letter from the President of Tufts does conclude with a reasonable discussion of the need for protest as well as dialog, the main argument seems to be that these protests are somehow incompatible with Commencement festivities. But I don't see how an encampment prevents Commencement. The two can co-exist.
I have no way of knowing the true stuation at Tufts or other campuses, but yesterday I visited the encampment at UNM, in Albuquerque, with my step-daughter, who works there. A cluster of tents, next to the duck-pond; a number of signs, banners and chalk writings on some sidewalks, none advocating violence or disruption.
Protests are messy and rarely have a single unified message. I strongly recommend reading this article by Peter Beinert about this movement, and the conflicted feeling that Jews have on this issue:
https://peterbeinart.substack.com/p/the-campus-protests-arent-perfect?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email-half-post&r=2iykul
Let's not tar all those protesting the war in Gaza with the brush that our MAGA opponents are using. In any protest movement there will always be an extreme minority. Let's remember that this is an important issue for an important segment of our coalition, and we do ourselves no favors in discounting their views or, even worse, falling for the MAGA narrative.
We actually do know the true situation at Tufts. The President just spelled it all out for you in this letter. The protestors are on the place where commencement takes place, and there can be no scenario where a few dozen protestors disrupt commencement for thousands of students and their families. It's ridiculous to even imagine something like that would be appropriate. As for my views, they are mine, not MAGAs, and everything I wrote here is backed up by real world events. If the protestors wanted to distance themselves from those making very extreme arguments it's easy to do, but these actions that have been documented on campus after campus are coming from the core protestors without challenge.
See my message about engrossing people in civil disobedience about *other things* of more immediacy to Americans, where public opinion is with our side and it could keep it in the news.