Resist censorship of Palestinian voices!
In September, I co-led an online open classroom of international activists discussing gender, justice and resistance. You did not see it – you could not, in fact – because Zoom censored it. Facebook and YouTube blocked it, as well.
Caving to pressure from Israel’s apartheid apologists, these massive platforms silenced important Palestinian, Black, Jewish and South African feminist activists.
Hundreds of students brought together by my colleague, Professor Tomomi Kinukawa, and I were robbed of the critical education they deserved.
What subject, and whose opinions, are so threatening as to provoke these efforts to silence us? We both know the answers: Palestine and its advocates.
This is a great time to give to Mondoweiss. A generous donor has offered $20,000 if we match that by dollar for dollar by Sunday, December 20.
As a Palestinian scholar, writer and researcher, Zionists and white supremacists have long sought to muzzle me. Now they are widening their nets considerably.
In the past few months alone, more than 120 pro-Israel groups have lobbied Facebook to censor criticism of Israel.
The UK Labour Party is trying to crush solidarity with Palestine. Among members suspended by the party was Jeremy Corbyn, a lifelong defender of Palestine and racial justice advocate.
Trump’s State Department launched a bid to label major human rights organizations as “antisemitic” and governments worldwide – including the U.S., Germany, the UK, and Canada – have adopted a twisted definition of antisemitism that shuts down citizens’ free speech.
Why is this happening now? We both know. It’s because more people understand that Israel’s settler colonial project is built upon the erasure of Palestine and Palestinians.
As Adalah Justice Project’s Sumaya Awad writes in Mondoweiss: More young, diverse, and working class people in the U.S. are “rapidly drawing the connections between Palestine, mass incarceration, austerity, and the immigration crisis; in other words, between Palestine and all the other major political flashpoints …” of justice.
Each U.S. election cycle brings more candidates willing to stand up for Palestine. Polls show that more Democrats support cutting U.S. military aid to Israel because of its human rights abuses. Trade unionists, scientists, students and academics worldwide are building solidarity with Palestine. Black Lives Matter and other movement leaders are calling out Israeli occupation for what it is: apartheid.
This is huge: The tide is turning and we must press forward. It’s why your support for Mondoweiss is more important than ever.
You know that Mondoweiss calls out the tortured logic of politicians who put Israel’s interests before justice and freedom. It publishes Palestinian voices silenced by corporate media, and spotlights Jewish and Israeli voices challenging the land theft and human rights abuses carried out under the banner of Zionism.
Your gift centers the voices who support justice in Palestine. Can you support Mondoweiss with a contribution today?
Your gift spotlights Israel’s destruction of an entire Palestinian village during a pandemic while Washington looks the other way. You help families locked down Gaza connect with the world.
With your support we share in the joy farmers experience when they taste the season’s new olive oil and we witness the terror when armed Israeli settlers attack during the harvest. Your support connects courageous, committed activists from Gaza City to Louisville to Soweto to Buenos Aires.
As I write to you today, with a pandemic raging worldwide, there’s a lot about the future we don’t know. But whatever happens, there’s one thing we do know. The fundamental injustice upon which Israel is conceived and built – the erasure of Palestine – continues and must be resisted.
Mondoweiss sounds a clarion call to right that injustice.
Out of a fog of colonial narratives and muzzled voices, Mondoweiss is a beacon of truth and sumoud. You can keep that beacon shining. Thank you!
Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi
Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi is an Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies and Race and Resistance Studies and the Senior Scholar at the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies at San Francisco State University.
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“While these threats may be merely political theatrics by the outgoing Trump/Pompeo administration, they do reflect a dramatic weaponization’ of the term ‘anti-Semitism’ by the pro Israel lobby in Canada & the USA in an attempt to ‘chill’ any criticism of Israel.
“One of the legal tools that is being used is a document called the ‘IHRA definition of anti-Semitism‘ which goes far beyond traditional definitions of anti-Semitism, – hostility toward or discrimination against Jews – to include many examples of statements critical of the State of Israel.
“But as the term anti-Semitism is increasingly used against a broader & broader range of Israel’s critics, so too, does the pushback. Established human rights organizations like Amnesty & Human Rights watch are sputtering with anger at this attempt to smear them. “It’s shocking, confusing, offensive, troubling. I am almost speechless,”
“Andrea Prasow of Human Rights Watch said of the Trump/Pompeo proposal. ‘Widespread rejection in North America of IHRA definition…”
“Over 30 Jewish groups – including non-Zionist, anti-Zionist and liberal Zionist groups from around the world have also signed a statement calling on legislative bodies to reject the definition.”
From Canada:
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https://canadatalksisraelpalestine.ca/2020/12/14/anti-semitism-accusation-increasingly-used-to-shield-israel-from-criticism-but-backlash-develops-in-canada-and-around-the-world/
“CANADA TALKS ISRAEL, PALESTINE” Dec. 14/20
“ANTI-SEMITISM” ACCUSATION INCREASINGLY USED TO SHIELD ISRAEL FROM CRITICISM, BUT BACKLASH DEVELOPS IN CANADA AND AROUND THE WORLD.”
EXCERPT:
“The Trump administration is considering branding Amnesty International as ‘anti-Semitic’ because of its repeated criticism of human rights abuses by Israel. One of the legal tools Trump uses is the so-called ‘IHRA’ definition of anti-Semitism. But resistance to the IHRA definition is growing in the USA, in Canada & around the world…
“In October, NBC News reported that The Trump administration is weighing a proposal to brand prominent human rights organizations as ‘anti-Semitic‘. Backed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the proposed declaration would take aim at Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Oxfam & possibly other rights groups that have criticized the Israeli government over its policies toward Palestinians. Pompeo followed that up by announcing that the U.S. would also brand the boycott movement against Israel (BDS) as ‘anti-Semitic‘ & bar any groups that participate in it from receiving government funding.” (cont’d)
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Prof. Abdulhadi complains of being silenced, while right here on MW Phil Weiss expresses support for BDS (which includes an academic boycott) without even a sense of irony. Looks like the boycotters don’t like being boycotted.