Palestine college student protest megathread

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Because social media misinformation-induced brain rot has radicalized them into rabid anti-Semites just looking for an excuse to join a pogrom (the ones that weren’t already like this, that is).  

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Gets outsized attention because its an important site for 3 world religions.

This. And we're funding the more morally questionable side, unlike Ukraine.

Imagine actually believing Hamas is the less “morally questionable side”

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Lol, you're doing it again

Do all Zionists deserve to die, Horus?

That remark was referring to what Crane very correctly stated about GMac's mentality. Nothing more, nothing less.

Besides, no matter how I answer you've already made up your mind up as to how you think I feel. So I'm not going to play your game.

I mean, it’s not a game.  Either you do or you don’t.  It’s simple question and your refusal to answer it is an answer in and of itself.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Lol, you're doing it again

Do all Zionists deserve to die, Horus?

That remark was referring to what Crane very correctly stated about GMac's mentality. Nothing more, nothing less.

Besides, no matter how I answer you've already made up your mind up as to how you think I feel. So I'm not going to play your game.

I mean, it’s not a game.  Either you do or you don’t.  It’s simple question and your refusal to answer it is an answer in and of itself.

No actually, you don't get to ask leading questions over, and over, and over and then when the person gets sick of playing with you, declare they finally revealed their true intentions. Wth.

Cool, but that’s not what happened.  Britain33 asked based on Horus’ comments whether or not Horus believes all Zionists deserve to die.  Given his posts and attitude, it is a perfectly reasonable question.  It should be easy to answer…unless the answer is “yes,” in which case obviously he wouldn’t want to admit that.  This reminds me of how pppolitics had to be dragged kicking and screaming into even very half-heartedly condemning Hamas was bad.

Horus could’ve easily responded “of course not” or even “no, what the hell is wrong with you?”  He could have said “no” and argued that movements shouldn’t be judged by the worst representatives they have to offer.  He could have said any number of things, but instead he went out of his way to make a point of refusing to answer.  That exchange alone says a lot about him and none of it good, regardless of whether he believes all Zionists deserve to die (and to be clear, I’m not saying he does).

This isn’t “Fuzzy wants to know why you haven’t condemned the Grand Mufti;” it’s a simple question that should be very easy to answer and one that is extremely germane to the thread conversation.

Yes, the average protester cannot be expected to distinguish between the two, and given how Jewish students are in fear for their personal safety (and in some cases, their very lives) around these Palestine protesters, to all intents and purposes we have to confront the reality that the word 'Zionist' is synonymous with 'Jew', and that there is no real difference between the two out in the real world, judging by the behavior of protesters.  So when you are condemning Zionism, you are condemning Judaism as a whole as well.  

There are A LOT of people who do not mean "jew" when they say "Zionist". Don't get it twisted. I do understand though that from the perspective of protecting one's safety, you have to kind of assume that somebody saying it means "jew". It's far better to be safe than sorry, and not assume a situation or person is safe when they are potentialy not. Even in 9 out of 10 you encounter people don't mean "jew" when they say "Zionist", the 10th person could mean that and could harm you.

There are definitely a significant number of people who really do just mean “Zionist” when they say “Zionist,” but between the Trumpists and the anti-Semitic left, I’d argue that about two thirds of the time people do mean “Jew.”  I definitely think you see it used as a pejorative term for “Jew” on the right more than on the left, but it still happens quite a bit on the left too.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Yes, the average protester cannot be expected to distinguish between the two, and given how Jewish students are in fear for their personal safety (and in some cases, their very lives) around these Palestine protesters, to all intents and purposes we have to confront the reality that the word 'Zionist' is synonymous with 'Jew', and that there is no real difference between the two out in the real world, judging by the behavior of protesters.  So when you are condemning Zionism, you are condemning Judaism as a whole as well.  

There are A LOT of people who do not mean "jew" when they say "Zionist". Don't get it twisted. I do understand though that from the perspective of protecting one's safety, you have to kind of assume that somebody saying it means "jew". It's far better to be safe than sorry, and not assume a situation or person is safe when they are potentialy not. Even in 9 out of 10 you encounter people don't mean "jew" when they say "Zionist", the 10th person could mean that and could harm you.

There are definitely a significant number of people who really do just mean “Zionist” when they say “Zionist,” but between the Trumpists and the anti-Semitic left, I’d argue that about two thirds of the time people do mean “Jew.”  I definitely think you see it used as a pejorative term for “Jew” on the right more than on the left, but it still happens quite a bit on the left too.

Which Trumpists do you know who regularly criticize Zionists? This is both sidesism -- the right is resolutely pro-Israel.

Thomas Massie, Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes, Candace Owens all come to mind. I don't know if you'd call them "Trumpers" exactly - I have a less kind epithet for them.

And the Christian Supremacist right isn’t making any friends by being “pro-Israel” simply because they believe all the Jews need to be sent to Israel to be killed or converted in order for the rapture to occur.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Also, this entire movement showed its true face when it organized mass rallies immediately after 10/7 celebrating the slaughter, before Israel had struck back. No matter what they say their demands are, they showed their cards on day one and they will never be allowed to cover that up.

Support for Palestine is still low. But Israel, after having suffered the second worst killing of Jews since the Holocaust (the worst was in Argentina during the dirty war, where tens of thousands of socialists, 12% of them Jews, were killed with weapons bought from the IDF) has lost an incredible amount of goodwill and the polls reflect that too. Pre 10/7 the average American was probably a soft Israel supporter, now the average American says screw em both.

https://twitter.com/USA_Polling/status/1785006429625074159

Lol, even I don't go this far.

That’s objectively insane, why would anyone support this?

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

https://twitter.com/moorehn/status/1785179761116954845

Why are Palestinians so desperate to appropriate the Holocaust for themselves

The fact that they have been recategorised as stateless basically is an attempt to strip away their national identity. Then again, you have tried to characterise me as a Hamas supporter before.

No, he hasn’t.  Literally, what are you talking about?

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

How American to kick out people cause you don’t like what they’re saying

can you list the countries that are super welcoming to people who celebrate terrorism?

I can think of one country that used to be a major power that fits the bill, but I’d probably get infracted for naming it.

What? The only one I can think of is the Soviet Union/Russia which would not result in infraction obviously.

I can give you a hint - there’s a running gag on Twitter that when someone posts the most vicious, nakedly racist anti-Semitic content about Israel/Palestine, if you check their location on Twitter, it’s inevitably the capital city. That’s all I’ll say.

Pakistan?

That’s the home or ancestral home of many of these posters, but I was thinking more of a top immigration destination.

England?

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Not usually a fan of Time magazine but this photo really sums up the protests well: a woman flashing a “peace” sign while dressed up as a terrorist.

By assuming that everyone who wears a keffiyah is a terrorist, you're directly spreading anti-Muslim hatred.

That is definitely not how a keffiyah is typically worn - it's being used to evoke Hamas here.

Which still does not erase my point.

I mean it kind of does, I think.  The point is that this is very much not how a keffiyah is typically worn, but very much a style adopted by groups like Hamas.  No one is even saying everyone who wears one in that manner is a terrorist (I certainly don’t believe that).  However, he is saying that - and I do agree with this - that in the context of the current situation, the folks in that picture (and I’d argue most folks at the college protests wearing them in that manner) are deliberately doing so to evoke Hamas imagery as a show of solidarity with Hamas and as part of the whole LARPing as Hamas “freedom fighters” thing.  

Admittedly there is a somewhat more generous interpretation that is also reasonable enough: that these are just dumb kids who have no idea what they’re talking about (how else can one explain signs like “LGBTQ for Hamas”) and don’t even know what a keffiyah is (much less how it is typically worn) and simply have some vague idea that wearing a keffiyah that way is a Palestinian thing because they saw a picture of a Hamas fighter doing so on the internet or something.