Free Speech, Hate Speech and Campus Boycott Israel Campaign

[From article]
The Netherlands has just declared the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement against Israel to be free speech. Israel is furious; but for classic conservatives, there is no easy answer to this issue.
“Statements or meetings concerning BDS are protected by freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, as enshrined in the Dutch Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights,” [Dutch Foreign Minister Bert] Koenders said Thursday...-- Jerusalem Post
"Limits on the concept of freedom of speech?" Sounds detestable. Who gets to decide those limits?
Boycotts have been a major part of the Western social arsenal for centuries. History has been swayed by boycotts.



The Boston Tea Party led to a sense of American identity and the American Revolution
The Irish led boycott against eponymous Captain Boycott resurrected Irish nationalism and put Britain on notice that the Gaels were not beaten.
The Jews themselves unsuccessfully tried to boycott German goods in the 1930s, in hopes of toppling Hitler.
In Mandatory Palestine, both the Arabs and Jews tried to boycott each other. Labor Zionism was predicated on Jewish exclusivity.
Blacks led a boycott of the Montgomery Bus line to desegregate buses.
In NAACP vs Claiborne Hardware, 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld boycotts as protected speech.
So boycotts have an honorable history. It is with trepidation that any Western government should intervene to stop them. Normally, they are a vital part of the democratic process. At least Sweden thought so, as well.
...Sweden had been the only European government to recognize that BDS is a civil society movement and that governments should not try to impede it. -- Electronic Intifada
But other nations in Europe have judged in favor of Israel. They agree with the Israeli government that BDS is hate speech intended to bankrupt the Jewish state into dissolution, just as South Africa was broken.



In October 2015, the French high court declared BDS illegal.
French law prohibits targeting of nations for discrimination -- Times of Israel
While one applauds France's preference for the Israeli position, the Muslim world asks why it is deemed okay for the French to draw nude pictures of Mohammed, insulting Islam, in Charlie Hebdo, but peaceful boycotts against Israel are now taboo. Of course, France is less inclined to appreciate Islamic calls for free speech after the Islamic attacks in Paris. Since when were the Muslims ever peacefully in favor of free speech? At least the French did not shoot up BDS organizations.
The fact remains, however: even though Islam obviously does not respect free speech; should the French have restricted free speech; albeit for a different purpose? Though Islam is despicable, free speech has taken a hit in France.
[. . .]
I do not support BDS, but I do support free speech; and so I am in a quandary.
Such restrictions on free speech come to no good. After WWII, with the Holocaust in mind, European countries passed laws protecting minorities from hate speech. Instead of protecting Jews, the laws ended up protecting Muslims from criticism. Michel Houellebecq was hauled into French court for merely criticizing the literary merits of the Koran. Geert Wilders was hauled into Dutch court. Brigette Bardot was regularly in and out of court. And this is just a short list.
Laws intended to protect Jews ended up protecting the enemies of Jews.
[. . .]



I do not support BDS; but I do support the First Amendment. I want Israel to live, but I do not want dangerous restrictions put on free speech. Such laws always backfire. Ask Michel Houellebecq or Geert Wilders.
There is no easy answer to this problem. BDS is starting to hurt Israel. Agrexco, an Israeli agricultural firm, went bankrupt. Sodastream suffered a setback from BDS. BDS is rearing a generation of anti-Israel intelligentsia on campuses all over the Western world. If left unchecked BDS will snowball. Israel is right to fight it.
[. . .]
I have no easy answer to this. I do not want to see Israel hurt or go under, but neither do I want free speech restricted. If one says BDS is an agent of Arab foreign policy -- and it may be -- and therefore should be illegal; how long would AIPAC hold up to similar scrutiny?
No one had expected the Arabs/Palestinians/Fakestinians to fight on this long or this determinedly. And it seems that no one will be allowed to take a neutral position. Will the West have to prioritize whether the Jewish state or Free Political Speech is the superior value? One's opinion on Israel is no longer confined to theory. It now seems Western democratic institutions and practices will be adversely affected.
The Arabs demand free speech to destroy Israel, but scream and shoot if Mohammed is criticized. Zionists wants free speech to criticize Islam, but will sue and if possible, prosecute, if one advocates BDS. We in the West no longer have the option to tell the opponents to take it elsewhere.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/05/bds_and_free_speech.html

May 30, 2016
BDS and Free Speech
By Mike Konrad

Anti-BDS Growing In Countering Anti Israel Propaganda

[From article]
At the recent Stand With Us conference, it became obvious that the anti-BDS movement is becoming empowered.
[. . .]
California has a closeness with Israel: over two billion dollars in trade, over 1500 companies do business in Israel, and Governor Brown signed a memorandum of understanding in 2014 to increase collaboration and trade with Israel.”
More and more opponents of BDS are putting the movement on the defensive. People are recognizing that one of the important battlefields is the terrain of college campuses.
[. . .]
There is no strong leadership on campus that says anti-Semitism is not okay, so we need to stand up for ourselves. I warn my fellow students who are not Jewish, anti-Semitism, which is also anti-Zionism, is a canary in a coalmine. The first piece of discrimination starts with the Jewish people and goes forward to others.”
[. . .]



a former Israeli intelligence officer, told of how she was disrespected when trying to speak at the University of Florida. “Their goal is to erase the state of Israel. They called me a baby killer. I hope the opponents of BDS become active and are not afraid to fight for what is right. I truly believe that many of those Americans who protest don’t know the facts, while believing random lies.”
[. . .]
But the supporters of BDS are going beyond free speech with intimidation and political/legal harassment. People should reflect and applaud those who speak out and take action to secure the victory of truth. Those mentioned in the above article need to be supported and admired for standing up to injustice with strength and fortitude.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/04/fighting_bds.html

April 28, 2016
Fighting BDS
By Elise Cooper

Anti Israel Propaganda At Vassar College

[From article]
Jasbir Puar, an associate professor in the Women and Gender Studies Department at Rutgers University [is] widely known as a tenured professor of anti-Israeli rhetoric, a key figure in the academic and cultural boycott of Israel, and a proponent of the resolution of the American Studies Association to boycott Israeli academic institutions. Indeed, Puar introduced her lecture by congratulating the Vassar Students for Justice in Palestine, who had proposed a BDS resolution to be voted on in March.
[. . .]
The current tuition for Vassar students is $63,000 a year. Two questions can be asked. Did those students who attended the lecture get their money's worth, and are they instructed at Vassar in a peculiar kind of language that can grasp the "prehensive forms," which no one else outside Poughkeepsie can penetrate?
No official transcript was made, because of a ridiculous excuse for the need for "congeniality and respect." Thus, the world will never know the full extent of the wit and wisdom of Puar.
[. . .]
The bizarre presentation, if one can possibly understand Puar's convoluted language, appears to be that Israel's occupation has resulted in the maiming and stunting of the Palestinian population, and that BDS is both necessary and a step toward armed resistance against Israel.
[. . .]
her main purpose was to continue her condemnations of Israel and her calling for boycotts of Israel.

[. . .]
since the movement's real purpose is the elimination of the State of Israel.
[. . .]
It is an unfortunate truth that many in American faculties have disgraced themselves in two ways. One is by sponsoring anti-Israeli rhetoric, whether out of anti-Semitic beliefs or not, or at least not responding to vicious attacks. The other is to make clear the lack of intellectual substance, as well as the dishonesty, in some of the presentations at sponsored events.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/02/the_need_for_honest_discussion_at_american_colleges.html

February 26, 2016
The Need for Honest Discussion at American Colleges
By Michael Curtis

Anti Israel BDS Academics, Are Anti Semitic

[From article]
As [Associate Professor of Political Science at Syracuse University Miriam F.] Elman told her audience, “in the Middle Ages Jews were hated for their religion, in the 19th and 20th centuries they were hated for their race and today they are hated for their nation-state.”
Excepting some fringe student groups enthusiastic about boycotting Israel, the BDS movement is mostly absent from the academic scene in Rochester. The president of the University of Rochester, Joel Seligman, is a vocal critic of the movement. And while there are academics in town who sympathize with the movement enough to sign statements, at the moment BDS has no visible academic advocates in Rochester.
[. . .]
Elman is no firebrand rhetorician, but rather a level-headed, meticulous scholar. She focused on the differences between legitimate criticism of Israeli policies and anti-Semitism, which “is not in the eye of the beholder.” Anti-Semitism “crosses the line” surpassing the merely uncivil to constitute an assault on Jewish identity. We see it when historical and cultural links between Jews and Israel are refuted and when Israel is singled out for scrutiny like no other nation on earth. Most of all, we see it when three age-old stereotypes of Jews are projected onto the entire nation of Israel: the lust for power and control, the lust for blood, and the portrayal of Jews as animals, inferior to non-Jews. This rhetoric is the lifeblood of the BDS movement.
[. . .]
Elman noted the correlation between anti-Semitic activity on college campuses and campuses with active BDS movements. She shocked her audience with examples of high-profile academics like Judith Butler, Steven Salaita and others who “couch their assaults on Israel in the language of human rights” and use their skills to construct a narrative portraying Israel as the ideological successor to Nazi Germany. Scholars refer to this ugly slur as “Holocaust Inversion” – which, in the words of Manfred Gerstenfeld, is “the portrayal of Israelis and Jews as modern-day Nazis.”
[. . .]



Perhaps most unexpected was Elman’s critique of Jewish groups involved in the BDS movement. Most people are familiar with the 2,000 year history of Christian anti-Semitism and the 1,400 year history of Islamic anti-Semitism, but it seems counterintuitive that Jews could oppose the existence of Israel.
[. . .]
the American Historical Association voted 144 to 55 against joining ranks with the BDS movement. The AHA’s decision is praiseworthy, but it runs counter to the current tide. The BDS movement is growing, and it has been endorsed by the world’s most famous academic – Steven Hawking. And even though BDS votes may actually be illegal, and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) opposes academic boycotts, many academic associations are moving ahead with efforts to impose full economic and academic boycotts of Israel, including barring their colleagues (who may not share their alacrity for anti-Zionism) from collaborating with Israeli scholars.
[. . .]
There are no conservatives in BDS ranks.
The BDS movement is an outcome of the New Left’s dominance in American academia, especially Middle East Studies. Naturally, BDS gained momentum as its proponents gained rank within their respective institutions.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/02/fighting_the_bds_movement.html

February 25, 2016
Fighting the BDS Movement
By A.J. Caschetta

Bill Introduced In Congress to Fight Anti Israel Propaganda

[From article]
On October 10, 2015, a bill was introduced in the U.S. Congress to counter the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. By the U.S.-Israel Trade and Commercial Enhancement Act, U.S. trade negotiators are instructed to discourage potential trade partners from engaging in economic discrimination or participating in or promoting acts of BDS against Israel. The bill seeks to eliminate the politically motivated boycott and barriers on Israeli goods, services, and other commerce imposed on the State of Israel.
President Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress should relate this firm statement to the shameful behavior of the European Union. It is generally assumed that the EU and Israel share common values. Yet on January 18, 2016, the European Council of the European Union issued yet another of its fatuous conclusions on the Middle East peace process. It was "deeply concerned about the continuing cycle of violence" in Israel and the Palestinian territory in recent months. It recalled the special significance of the holy sites and called for the upholding of the status quo put in place in 1967 for the Temple Mount/al-Haram al-Saharif.
With the moral equivalence that it illustrates to perfection, the EU urged "all parties" not to worsen the situation by way of incitement or provocation and called on all parties to condemn attacks when they occur.



The remembrance by EU ministers and officials of things past is uneven, if not schizophrenic. Absent from its memory is any note of the unprovoked Palestinian violence that has "worsened" the situation in recent months. The EU memory is steeped in the Palestinian Narrative of Victimhood. There is no hint in it of the corruption and inefficiency of Palestinian authorities and the intent of some to start Intifada III, let alone their refusal to come to the negotiating table for peace. Above all, not a word is said or thought about the Palestinians wielding knives to stab innocent Israelis to death. The EU did not point out that since October 1, 2015, Palestinians have killed, by stabbings, car-ramming, and attacks by guns, 24 Israelis and a U.S. citizen. Israeli soldiers, in defense, have killed 93 terrorists, and another 50 died in clashed with Israeli security forces.
What is present in a full way is the reiteration of EU opposition to the policy of Israeli settlements, which it considers illegal and an obstacle to peace.
[. . .]



The EU, like the U.N. General Assembly, holds Israel to a double standard. No censure applies to other territorial conflicts such as those in northern Cyprus (Turkey), Western Sahara, Kashmir (India), or Tibet (China). This is now shown in a dramatic way. The EU decided on November 11, 2015 to issue guidelines for the labeling of exports originating from Israeli settlements in the West Bank. They cannot be labeled "Made in Israel." The EU says the objective of the labeling policy is to distinguish between goods made inside the internationally accepted borders of Israel and those outside. Britain, Belgium, and Denmark already do this.
There are seven factors the EU should have considered.
The first is the humiliating analogy of its boycott with Nazi Germany, which was the last country in Europe to label Jewish products.
[. . .]
The third basic issue, referring to recognized boundaries, is that most of the Arab countries and certainly the Palestinians do not recognize the legitimacy of the State of Israel, let alone borders.
[. . .]



A sixth factor is that more than 20,000 Palestinians work in the settlements at a salary considerably higher than in Palestinian-run enterprises. They may consequently become unemployed as a result of the EU proposal, which is in effect a form of boycott.
A seventh factor is that the very imbalance of the EU on the Middle East itself prevents it from playing the larger role in the Middle East peace process that it desires.
At a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on January 18, 2016, the ministers finally agreed on a joint statement on the degree to which they should stress a distinction between the country, Israel, and its occupied territories. Even the final softer text expresses that all agreements between the State of Israel and the EU must unequivocally and explicitly indicate they are not applicable to the territories occupied by Israel since 1967.
[. . .]


Margot Wallstrom, Sweden's minister of foreign affairs, in her office in Stockholm.

the person most in favor of a stronger text against Israel was the Swedish foreign minister, Margot Wallstrom, who has already called for an investigation not of the Palestinian terrorists wielding their knives against Israeli civilians, but of how Israel deals with the knife-attackers.
President Obama and Congress now have the opportunity to implement the October 2015 bill. They should inform the EU that its boycott, call it what you will, will not be tolerated.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/01/speaking_truth_to_the_european_union.html

January 22, 2016
Speaking Truth to the European Union
By Michael Curtis

Use of Corporations For Boycotts

Does that mean that when Macy's and Amazon boycotted Donald Trump a stockholder can sue them? When employees of universities, tax exempt corporations, use their property for similar political activity isn't that too a violation of IRS, Treasury Department tax laws and state revenue laws? And what about the PR flack for the White House stating in unequivocal terms that Trump is not qualified to be president while the flack was working in the White House. Isn't that an illegal use of public property, an act defined as political activity? Not that violating laws is any concern to this lawless administration? 

[From blog]

On December 2, The Wall Street Journal published an Op-Ed by law school professors Eugene Kontorovich and Steven Davidoff Solomon, “Those Israel Boycotts Are Illegal.” In it, the professors take on the increasingly frequent boycott resolutions under consideration at –and approved by many– academic associations such as the American Anthropological Association and the American Studies Association. They note:
The moral myopia and academic perversity of these boycotts have been widely discussed. Less well understood is that in many cases they also are illegal. Under corporate law, an organization, including a nonprofit, can do only what is permitted under the purposes specified in its charter.
Boycott resolutions that are beyond the powers of an organization are void, and individual members can sue to have a court declare them invalid. The individuals serving on the boards of these organizations may be liable for damages.
[…]
Saying that organizations cannot act beyond the purposes specified in their charters is no mere legal nitpicking. The charter is an explicit contract with members, declaring that their money will be dedicated to agreed-upon goals and that their group will not turn into a motorcycle club or a political party.
On its face, an academic boycott undermines academic freedom, a broad-based education and the exchange of ideas. That’s stupid. Holding only Israel to some imaginary standard and holding Israeli academics responsible for Israeli policy, whatever one thinks of it, is clearly immoral. Academic associations don’t seem to care about this. A couple of well-prosecuted lawsuits might, however, make them take notice.

Posted by SC at December 3, 2015 12:28 PM

http://blog.camera.org/archives/2015/12/academic_boycotts_of_israel_no.html

December 03, 2015
Academic Boycotts of Israel Not Just Stupid and Immoral, Also Illegal

Iceland Joins Palestinians Opposing Israel

[From article]
The mayor of Reykjavik, Dagur Eggertsson, is presiding over the decision of his municipal council to remove all Israeli products – not just those from inside the "Green Line" some countries have taken issue with.
Having once been to Iceland for several weeks, I cannot now revoke that visit, but I can promise never to visit again. As a consequence of the dark northern city's unwarranted boycott of all Israeli products, moreover, an ill-advised illegal shunning of Israeli goods and produce, I shall make it my business to bruit this unwarranted, foolish, and adamantly malign act of total freeze-out of a member-nation of the U.N.
[. . .]
Many nations condemn, like Iceland, [. . .] how Israel, [. . .] defends herself in a stringent and careful manner, warning opponents when a strike is in the offing, advising civilians to take shelter via leaflets dropped from the air, even emailing and personally phoning local indigenous before letting loose any ordnance. What army in the history of the world has gone to such lengths to avoid civilian losses?
Israel is in fact a country that provides freedoms unexampled in any of the other nations surrounding this tiny, beleaguered nation. Israel provides freedom of movement, freedom for all women to work and educate as they please, freedom to marry whomever, freedom from forced conversion,
[. . .]
Israel amiably ensures freedom to travel and the touted freedom to disagree vociferously with the government. Voting is easy and universal, and litigation is prompt, fair, and universally acclaimed for a justice system that is vigorously impartial.
[. . .]
Looking for fit subjects to boycott? [. . .] any of the clashing nations of Africa or of South America. Regard, maybe, the officious, dictatorial fiefdom of Cuba.
[. . .]
The clear bias is stunning, where Israel has been singularly brilliant at helping the world in medicine, physics, engineering, robotics, health care, automation, electronics, math – all the sciences, in fact. And most of the arts.
Fact is, such bigotry is hard to square with Israel's outstanding human rights record. Israel is usually the first to help, as it did in Haiti after the earthquake that leveled the island, or Nepal, where crack medical teams arrived with field hospitals and rescued thousands, without payment of any kind, for months.
[. . .]
Mayor Eggertsson [. . .] I have to assume they are willfully ignorant, never reading a history or current newspaper to learn of these differences between democratic Israel and undemocratic others.
[. . .]
How about our boycotting Iceland?

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/09/how_about_boycotting_reykjavik.html

September 24, 2015
How about Boycotting Reykjavik?
By Marion DS Dreyfus

Updated: NBC Bans Broadcasting Trump Pageant, US Rep. Joins Boston Columnist In Personal Attacks; NASCAR Moves Meeting

Posted June 30, 2015 9:09 PM ET; Last updated July 6, 2015 8:17 PM ET



NBC indicates it does not support the U.S. Constitution. The purpose of the First Amendment, i.e., the concept of free speech is to protect speech you hate. NBC interprets the idea as protecting speech they love and censoring speech they do not like. Bad enough for an individual, but this is one of six major broadcast corporations which used to keep Americans and others informed. Now they mislead and confuse. Shameful.

Glad to see that U.S. Rep. Capuano uses personal attacks to help inform voters in his district. Just what is needed in a one party state. Keeping voters and taxpayers dumbed down helps incumbents keep their jobs. 

[From article]
“I know plenty of people like that, and at any local bar, you can find some loud-mouth jerk at the end of the bar who’s willing to say such stupid, idiotic things,” the Somerville Democrat told Boston Herald Radio “Morning Meeting” hosts Hillary Chabot and Scott Ferson. “The fact that he’s running for president, I actually think if I was a Republican running for president I’d be embarrassed that he was in the field — and being taken seriously by some people.”
[. . .]
Trump’s comments on Mexican immigrants are not only unnecessary, Capuano said but “insulting,” especially given Trump has refused to back down from them.
“For him to double down and say, ‘I meant it’ — fine, you meant it, but now you go down as an official jerk in my book,” he said .
[. . .]
He is exciting on some level, he’s a celebrity and he does say crazy, stupid things. He will attract some people.”

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2015/07/mike_capuano_compares_donald_trump_to_loud_mouth_jerk_at_bar

Mike Capuano compares Donald Trump to ‘loud-mouth jerk’ at bar
Monday, July 6, 2015
By: Matt Stout
Boston Herald

* * *

It is perplexing that journalists who ridicule billionaires, speak for everyone else. How do they know what others think? Atkins says "Few would argue that Trump is anything but a fringe candidate. It pains me to even waste good newspaper ink writing about him." Really? How does she know what Trump thinks? Instead of answering claims about criminals entering the United States committing crimes Americans won't commit, journalists and politicians join in personal attacks. Immigration is only one issue which these two powerful groups refuse to discuss facts and policy so that voters and taxpayers can make responsible decisions to keep themselves safe. Using polling numbers this early is lame at best. In 2013 the NYC mayoral election was won by about 20 percent of eligible voters. The issue is a dumbed down population which is a product of misguided journalists who use personal attacks (like this one) and cute talk instead of factual arguments to keep voters informed. 

[From article]
Few would argue that Trump is anything but a fringe candidate. It pains me to even waste good newspaper ink writing about him.
Still, it seems Trump honestly thinks he speaks for a large swath of Americans yearning for a candidate who speaks truth to power and who won’t let political correctness stand in the way. Who he actually speaks to is a tiny segment of the populace who mistakes bigoted drivel for frankness and egotism for authority. Remember, he was the king of the anti-Obama birther movement. Everything about him, including his professed business acumen and even his hairstyle, is artificially inflated for effect.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/columnists/kimberly_atkins/2015/07/atkins_gop_must_deal_with_donald_trump_train_wreck

Atkins: GOP must deal with Donald Trump train wreck
Trumped-up pol a monster of GOP's creation
Monday, July 6, 2015
By: Kimberly AtkinsBoston Herald

* * *

[From article]
The presidential hopeful placed ahead of perceived front-runner Jeb Bush in a new aggregated 'poll of polls' with 13.6 per cent support compared to the former Florida governor's 13.3.
The rise comes as public figures and businesses continue to admonish Trump because of the comments saying that those crossing the border from Mexico illegally were 'rapists'.
Former Republican candidate Mitt Romney told CNN Saturday that the businessman 'made a severe error in saying what he did about Mexican-Americans'.
Trump defended the remarks,and used an interview on Fox and Friends Saturday morning to take a dig at fellow presidential hopeful Marco Rubio.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3149611/Donald-Trump-polls-Republicans-defends-comments-immigration-despite-increasing-opposition-Mitt-Romney-saying-remarks-hurt-GOP.html

Trump comes up top in 'poll of polls' of Republican voters - despite growing backlash over his anti-immigrant comments
'Poll of polls' shows Trump ahead of front-runner Jeb Bush
He defended comments calling Mexican immigrants 'rapists' despite some saying that phrases in his presidential campaign announcement were racist
Former candidate Romney said that Trump made 'severe error' and hurt the Republican party with the remarks
He also blasted candidate Marco Rubio for being 'weak on immigration'
By CHRISTOPHER BRENNAN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 15:04 EST, 4 July 2015 | UPDATED: 17:45 EST, 4 July 2015

* * *

[From article]

On the same day one of its top sponsors called on NASCAR to take a stance against Trump, the motorsports series said it will not hold its season-ending awards ceremony at the Trump National Doral Miami.
'We looked at everything we saw coming down and what we heard from our sponsors and our partners and what we feel we should be doing, and that's what led us to the decision today,' NASCAR spokesman David Higdon said Friday at Daytona International Speedway.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3148982/NASCAR-distances-Donald-Trump-remarks.html

Can't speed away fast enough: NASCAR becomes latest business to distance itself from Donald Trump after Mexican remarks
NASCAR will no longer host awards ceremony at Trump's hotel in Miami
It responded to letter from sponsor about 'bigoted and racist comments'
Trump has defended comments saying that immigrants from Mexico are 'bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists'
By ASSOCIATED PRESS and DAILYMAIL.COM REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 16:36 EST, 3 July 2015 | UPDATED: 11:36 EST, 4 July 2015

* * *

[From article]
Mexico is “sending people that have lots of problems, and they are bringing those problems to us. They are bringing drugs and bringing crime and their rapists,’’ Trump asserted during his campaign launch earlier this month.
NBC said it will now no longer air the annual Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, which were joint ventures between NBC and Trump.
Trump has already said he wouldn’t be appearing on the network’s show “The Apprentice” because of his presidential bid.
But NBC said the spinoff “Celebrity Apprentice” will continue without him.
[. . .]
“You have to stop illegal immigration. I know NBC might disagree with me, but you cannot have illegal immigration. You do not have a country if you do. I told NBC I can’t change my stance. My stance on immigration is correct.”

http://nypost.com/2015/06/29/nbc-drops-donald-trump-over-comments-about-mexicans/

NBC drops Donald Trump over comments about immigrants
By Kate Sheehy
June 29, 2015 | 2:34pm

Israel's High Court Agrees, Boycotting Is Terrorism

[From article]
“High Court upholds part of Anti-Boycott Law, strikes part and splits on ‘1967 Israel'” Jerusalem Post, April 15, 2015
Anti-boycott bill becomes law after passing Knesset
Politics: The brouhaha over the boycott bill
Court had preciously frozen law that imposes sanctions on any individual or entity that calls for an economic boycott of Israel’s settlements in the West Bank or of Israel itself.
[. . .]
The High Court of Justice on Wednesday upheld two core parts and struck down one core part of the Anti-Boycott Law, and in a close 5-4 ruling upheld lawsuits against boycotters of “1967 Israel.”
The rulings that preserved core parts of the law came in a 9-0 vote on the authority of the finance minister to impose fines or withhold funding from Israeli NGOs calling for boycotts of businesses in all or parts of Israel, and a 8-1 ruling on the ability to file lawsuits against those NGOs.
One justice declared all lawsuits against boycotts unconstitutional.
American-born Justice Neal Hendel called free speech the “lifeblood” of democracy and reviewed American law, noting that it has no provision for lawsuits against boycotters.
At the same time, the court voted 9-0 to strike down as unconstitutional a core part of the law that would have allowed punitive damages in such lawsuits.
[. . .]
Construction Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi) said the verdict is “a clear proof that attempts to harm the State of Israel via boycotts are unacceptable. Israel has a right to defend itself not only from harm to its security, but also from economic harm.”
[. . .]
The Anti-Boycott Law was passed in July 2011, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abstaining but allowing it to go forward, and imposes sanctions on any individual or entity that calls for an economic boycott of settlements in the West Bank or of Israel within the Green Line.

http://pamelageller.com/2015/04/israels-high-court-rules-that-boycotts-bds-are-terrorism.html/

Israel’s high court rules that boycotts (BDS) are terrorism
ByPamela Geller
on April 15, 2015

Alan Dershowitz Upset That Congressional Democrats Plan To Boycott Speech by Netanyahu

Democratic Congressman

[From article]
"As a liberal Democrat who twice campaigned for President Obama, I am appalled that some Democratic members of Congress are planning to boycott the speech," wrote Dershowitz in the opinion piece.
"This controversy is not mainly about protocol and politics — it is about the constitutional system of checks and balances and the separation of powers. Under the Constitution, the executive and legislative branches share responsibility for making and implementing important foreign-policy decisions.
[. . .]
"Congress has a critical role to play in scrutinizing the decisions of the president when these decisions involve national security, relationships with allies and the threat of nuclear proliferation."
[. . .]
Leading Democrats are concerned that Netanyahu will use the speech to persuade congressional Democrats and the public against supporting the administration’s current nuclear talks with Iran, aimed at curtailing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear weapons program.
But Dershowitz wrote, "Congress has every right to invite, even over the president’s strong objection, any world leader or international expert who can assist its members in formulating appropriate responses to the current deal being considered with Iran regarding its nuclear weapons program.
[. . .]
"Indeed, it is the responsibility of every member of Congress to listen to Prime Minister Netanyahu, who probably knows more about this issue than any world leader, because it threatens the very existence of the nation state of the Jewish people."
He continued, "Congress has the right to disagree with the prime minister, but the idea that some members of Congress will not give him the courtesy of listening violates protocol and basic decency to a far greater extent than anything Mr. Netanyahu is accused of doing for having accepted an invitation from Congress.
Dershowitz also said that Obama "should urge members of Congress to do their constitutional duty of listening to opposing views in order to check and balance the policies of the administration."

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Alan-Dershowitz-netanyahu-speech-congress/2015/02/24/id/626522/

Dershowitz: Democrats' Boycott of Netanyahu 'Appalling, Irresponsible'
Tuesday, 24 Feb 2015 09:11 AM
By Drew MacKenzie

CA Teacher's Union Supports Boycott of Israel

Resolution voted by 17 percent of the union members. New York's Mayor de Blasio was elected by 18 percent of New York City voters. One supporter of resolution stated that Israel is "the far more powerful country." There are about a 1.2 billion Muslims, in 49 Muslim dominated countries who want to destroy Israel a nation of about 8.2 million. Is this about the majority trying to destroy a minority, and preventing the minority from defending itself?

[From article]
A local branch of the United Auto Workers has become the first U.S. labor organization to join the international movement to boycott Israel, according to liberal groups.
UAW Local 2865, which represents teaching assistants at the University of California, voted to join it on Dec. 4, saying that Israel was engaging in "ongoing human rights violations" against the Palestinians.
A total of 66 percent of the members backed joining the movement, which supporters call "Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel." Only 2,168 members participated in the Dec. 4 vote, a small fraction of Local 2865's reported 13,000 members.
[. . .]
there is something about the way the Israeli government has acted about this all that has been an injustice, especially since they are the far more powerful country," Skylar Covich, a University of California-Santa Barbara graduate student and Local 2865 officer, told the liberal magazine In These Times.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/uaw-teachers-branch-joins-boycott-of-israel/article/2558031

UAW teachers branch joins boycott of Israel
BY SEAN HIGGINS
DECEMBER 31, 2014 | 5:00 AM

Updated (2): Harvard University Votes To Ban Israeli Soda Making Machine; Ban Repealed

Posted December 14, 2014 9:08 PM ET; Last updated December 27, 2014 2:04 PM ET


The Political Israeli Machine At Harvard University

[From article]
Oh, fudge. That’s not what happened here at all. What happened here is that HUDS committed a cardinal sin in a bureaucracy, large or small: they made a potentially controversial decision without first clearing it with the front office. Faust and Garber found out HUDS had cut off SodaStream only after reading about it in the Crimson! The big fish hate surprises and will remind the guppies who owns the pond.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/12/harvard_now_loves_israel_.html

December 25, 2014
Harvard now loves Israel?
By Arnold Cusmariu

* * *


According to this report "at least" one person questioned the petition. The standards for investigating this matter is curious: “These machines can be seen as a microaggression to Palestinian students and their families and like the University doesn’t care about Palestinian human rights.” and "the machines and their association with the disputed territory could be offensive to Palestinian students." It is not surprising on campuses where irrational arguments by leftist autocrats, Israeli and America hating individuals prevail. Be careful what you wish for. Curious also that there is no sentiment about Muslim beheadings, shootings by Muslim fanatics, and threats to civilians across the globe. Misguided priorities at best.



* * *

Updated December 23, 2014 4:25 PM ET

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/12/18/HUDS-statement-sodastream/

Dining Services 'Mistakenly' Factored Politics into SodaStream Decision, Spokesperson Says
By MEG P. BERNHARD
Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
December 18, 2014

* * *

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/12/18/huds-sodastream-garber-response/

University To Investigate Dining Services Decision To Suspend Purchases from Israeli Company
Garber Says He and Faust Were Previously Unaware of Decision
By MARIEL A. KLEIN and THEODORE R. DELWICHE
Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
December 18, 2014

* * *

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/12/17/huds-soda-stream-suspend-purchase/

HUDS Suspends Purchases from Israeli Soda Company
By KAMARA A. SWABY
Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
December 16, 2014

Harvard University, US Corporations Sponsor Anti Israeli Panel

Informative comments
[From article]
My invitation to “Harvard Arab Weekend” promised to provide a “mosaic of perspectives and insights on the most pressing issues in the Arab world.” Many of the panels appeared worthy of the conference’s corporate support from McKinsey & Co, The Boston Consulting Group, Booz Allen Hamilton, Bank Audi, Strategy&, and the energy giant Shell. And yet featured prominently on the conference agenda was a panel devoted to the destruction of Israel: “The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement: Accomplishments, Tactics and Lessons.”
[. . .]
The panel’s moderator, Ahmed Alkhateeb, began by noting that a primary goal of the BDS movement is “promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties” in what is today Israel. As President Barack Obama pointed out in 2008, this goal stands in opposition to a “two state solution” and “would extinguish Israel as a Jewish State.” And in an op-ed published in Al Akhbar newspaper, Cal State professor As’ad AbuKhalil, an outspoken advocate of the BDS movement, affirmed that “the real aim of BDS is to bring down the state of Israel.” This is the “unambiguous goal…[and] there should not be an equivocation on the subject.”
[. . .]
Student organizers of the panel told me that Chomsky would provide the “anti-BDS” perspective, and he was introduced as the only voice on the panel to be critical of BDS “tactics.” But Chomsky would have none of it: “It’s interesting that I’m introduced as someone that has criticized BDS tactics; actually I have strongly advocated for BDS.”
Chomsky also encouraged anti-Israel activists to take a phased approach toward the annihilation of Israel as a Jewish state: “The one-state option is a good idea in the long run but there’s only one way that I can imagine we can reach it, and that’s in stages.”
[. . .]
Harvard administrators allowed an event promoting an end to the national existence of the Jewish people to take place under Harvard’s auspices;

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/11/18/harvard-bds-panel-support/

Reckless Sponsorship of Anti-Israelism
By SARA K. GREENBERG
November 18, 2014

NY Homosexual Supremacists Boycott Heterosexual Shop

Homosexual supremacists claim offense at this sign.


Italian restaurant Gallo Nero, which is located in New York's West Village neighborhood, came under fire after putting up the sign that read: 'Big STRAIGHT Ice Cream'
[From article]
A restaurant has been branded 'homophobic' for posting a sign outside that reads: 'Big STRAIGHT Ice Cream' - a play on the popular Big Gay Ice Cream chain, which has a location nearby.
Italian restaurant Gallo Nero, which is located in New York's West Village neighborhood, put up the sign over the weekend, prompting dozens of passers by to comment on it via social media.
Once Big Gay Ice Cream got wind of the sign, they tweeted a photo of it with the caption: 'If you pass by @galloneronyc maybe you could pop in & let em know what you think of this advertising campaign,' causing a heated Twitter firestorm.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2756987/We-sell-Big-STRAIGHT-Ice-Cream-Restaurant-sparks-outrage-hanging-homophobic-sign-store-window.html

'We sell Big STRAIGHT Ice Cream': Restaurant sparks outrage for hanging 'homophobic' sign in store window
By MARGOT PEPPERS FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 16:42 EST, 15 September 2014 | UPDATED: 16:42 EST, 15 September 2014

Boycott Israel Academics Jeopardize US Taxpayer Grants

[From article]
Six directors of taxpayer-supported Middle East Studies centers at American universities have signed a public letter pledging "not to collaborate on projects and events involving Israeli academic institutions." However, as Winfield Meyers of Campus Watch reports:
As heads of U.S. Department of Education Title VI National Resource Centers, the directors are administrators of bodies required by the Higher Education Opportunity Act to give "assurances" that they will "maintain linkages with overseas institutions of higher education and other organizations that may contribute to the teaching and research of the Center."
[. . .]
These academics should be under close scrutiny, and their centers’ funding cut off, if they violate the terms of their grants by acting on their personal animus agaist Israel.

http://americanthinker.com/blog/2014/09/middle_east_studies_directors_put_on_the_spot_over_academic_boycott_of_israel_pledge.html

September 5, 2014
Middle East Studies directors put on the spot over academic boycott of Israel pledge
By Thomas Lifson

Muslim Boycott Of Jewish Made Products

[On the Internet]

Iran's Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged the Muslim
World to boycott anything and everything that originates with the
Jewish people. In response, Meyer M. Treinkman, a pharmacist, out of the kindness of
his heart, offered to assist them in their boycott as follows:

"Any Muslim who has Syphilis must not be cured by Salvarsan discovered
by a Jew, Dr. Ehrlich. He should not even try to find out whether he
has Syphilis, because the Wasserman Test is the discovery of a Jew. If
a Muslim suspects that he has Gonorrhea, he must not seek diagnosis,
because he will be using the method of a Jew named Neissner.

"A Muslim who has heart disease must not use Digitalis, a discovery by
a Jew, Ludwig Traube.

Should he suffer with a toothache, he must not use Novocaine, a
discovery of the Jews, Widal and Weil.

If a Muslim has Diabetes, he must not use Insulin, the result of
research by Minkowsky, a Jew. If one has a headache, he must shun
Pyramidon and Antypyrin, due to the Jews, Spiro and Ellege.

Muslims with convulsions must put up with them because it was a Jew,
Oscar Leibreich, who proposed the use of Chloral Hydrate.

Arabs must do likewise with their psychic ailments because Freud,
father of psychoanalysis, was a Jew.

Should a Muslim child get Diphtheria, he must refrain from the Schick"
reaction which was invented by the Jew, Bella Schick.

"Muslims should be ready to die in great numbers and must not permit
treatment of ear and brain damage, work of Jewish Nobel Prize winner,
Robert Baram.

They should continue to die or remain crippled by Infantile Paralysis
because the discoverer of the anti-polio vaccine is a Jew, Jonas Salk.

"Muslims must refuse to use Streptomycin and continue to die of
Tuberculosis because a Jew, Zalman Waxman, invented the wonder drug
against this killing disease.

Muslim doctors must discard all discoveries and improvements by
dermatologist Judas Sehn Benedict, or the lung specialist, Frawnkel,
and of many other world renowned Jewish scientists and medical
experts.

"In short, good and loyal Muslims properly and fittingly should remain
afflicted with Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Heart Disease, Headaches, Typhus,
Diabetes, Mental Disorders, Polio Convulsions and Tuberculosis and be
proud to obey the Islamic boycott."

Oh, and by the way, don't call for a doctor on your cell phone because
the cell phone was invented in Israel by a Jewish engineer.

Meanwhile I ask, what medical contributions to the world have the Muslims made?"

The Global Islamic population is approximately 1,200,000,000; that is
ONE BILLION TWO HUNDRED MILLION or 20% of the world's population.

They have received the following Nobel Prizes:

Literature:
1988 - Najib Mahfooz

Peace:
1978 - Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat
1990 - Elias James Corey
1994 - Yaser Arafat:
1999 - Ahmed Zewai

Economics:
(zero)

Physics:
(zero)

Medicine:
1960 - Peter Brian Medawar
1998 - Ferid Mourad

TOTAL: 7 SEVEN

The Global Jewish population is approximately 14,000,000; that is
FOURTEEN MILLION or about 0.02% of the world's population.

They have received the following Nobel Prizes:

Literature:
1910 - Paul Heyse
1927 - Henri Bergson
1958 - Boris Pasternak
1966 - Shmuel Yosef Agnon
1966 - Nelly Sachs
1976 - Saul Bellow
1978 - Isaac Bashevis Singer
1981 - Elias Canetti
1987 - Joseph Brodsky
1991 - Nadine Gordimer World

Peace:
1911 - Alfred Fried
1911 - Tobias Michael Carel Asser
1968 - Rene Cassin
1973 - Henry Kissinger
1978 - Menachem Begin
1986 - Elie Wiesel
1994 - Shimon Peres
1994 - Yitzhak Rabin

Physics:
1905 - Adolph Von Baeyer
1906 - Henri Moissan
1907 - Albert Abraham Michelson
1908 - Gabriel Lippmann
1910 - Otto Wallach
1915 - Richard Willstaetter
1918 - Fritz Haber
1921 - Albert Einstein
1922 - Niels Bohr
1925 - James Franck
1925 - Gustav Hertz
1943 - Gustav Stern
1943 - George Charles de Hevesy
1944 - Isidor Issac Rabi
1952 - Felix Bloch
1954 - Max Born
1958 - Igor Tamm
1959 - Emilio Segre
1960 - Donald A. Glaser
1961 - Robert Hofstadter
1961 - Melvin Calvin
1962 - Lev Davidovich Landau
1962 - Max Ferdinand Perutz
1965 - Richard Phillips Feynman
1965 - Julian Schwinger
1969 - Murray Gell-Mann
1971 - Dennis Gabor
1972 - William Howard Stein
1973 - Brian David Josephson
1975 - Benjamin Mottleson
1976 - Burton Richter
1977 - Ilya Prigogine
1978 - Arno Allan Penzias
1978 - Peter L Kapitza
1979 - Stephen Weinberg
1979 - Sheldon Glashow
1979 - Herbert Charles Brown
1980 - Paul Berg
1980 - Walter Gilbert
1981 - Roald Hoffmann
1982 - Aaron Klug
1985 - Albert A. Hauptman
1985 - Jerome Karle
1986 - Dudley R. Herschbach
1988 - Robert Huber
1988 - Leon Lederman
1988 - Melvin Schwartz
1988 - Jack Steinberger
1989 - Sidney Altman
1990 - Jerome Friedman
1992 - Rudolph Marcus
1995 - Martin Perl
2000 - Alan J. Heeger

Economics:
1970 - Paul Anthony Samuelson
1971 - Simon Kuznets
1972 - Kenneth Joseph Arrow
1975 - Leonid Kantorovich
1976 - Milton Friedman
1978 - Herbert A. Simon
1980 - Lawrence Robert Klein
1985 - Franco Modigliani
1987 - Robert M. Solow
1990 - Harry Markowitz
1990 - Merton Miller
1992 - Gary Becker
1993 - Robert Fogel

Medicine:
1908 - Elie Metchnikoff
1908 - Paul Erlich
1914 - Robert Barany
1922 - Otto Meyerhof
1930 - Karl Landsteiner
1931 - Otto Warburg
1936 - Otto Loewi
1944 - Joseph Erlanger
1944 - Herbert Spencer Gasser
1945 - Ernst Boris Chain
1946 - Hermann Joseph Muller
1950 - Tadeus Reichstein
1952 - Selman Abraham Waksman
1953 - Hans Krebs
1953 - Fritz Albert Lipmann
1958 - Joshua Lederberg
1959 - Arthur Kornberg
1964 - Konrad Bloch
1965 - Francois Jacob
1965 - Andre Lwoff
1967 - George Wald
1968 - Marshall W. Nirenberg
1969 - Salvador Luria
1970 - Julius Axelrod
1970 - Sir Bernard Katz
1972 - Gerald Maurice Edelman
1975 - Howard Martin Temin
1976 - Baruch S. Blumberg
1977 - Roselyn Sussman Yalow
1978 - Daniel Nathans
1980 - Baruj Benacerraf
1984 - Cesar Milstein
1985 - Michael Stuart Brown
1985 - Joseph L. Goldstein
1986 - Stanley Cohen [& Rita Levi-Montalcini]
1988 - Gertrude Elion
1989 - Harold Varmus
1991 - Erwin Neher
1991 - Bert Sakmann
1993 - Richard J. Roberts
1993 - Phillip Sharp
1994 - Alfred Gilman
1995 - Edward B. Lewis
1996- Lu RoseIacovino

TOTAL: 129!

The Jews are NOT promoting brainwashing children in military training
camps, teaching them how to blow themselves up and cause maximum
deaths of Jews and other non-Muslims.

The Jews don't hijack planes, nor kill athletes at the Olympics, or
blow themselves up in German restaurants.

There is NOT one single Jew who has destroyed a church.

There is NOT a single Jew who protests by killing people. The Jews
don't traffic slaves, nor have leaders calling for Jihad and death to
all the Infidels.

Perhaps the world's Muslims should consider investing more in standard
education and less in blaming the Jews for all their problems.

Muslims must ask 'what can they do for humankind' before they demand
that humankind respects them.

Regardless of your feelings about the crisis between Israel and the
Palestinians and Arab neighbors, even if you believe there is more
culpability on Israel 's part, the following two sentences really say
it all:

'If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more
violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no
more Israel ."

Benjamin Netanyahu: General Eisenhower warned us. It is a matter of
history that when the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General
Dwight Eisenhower, found the victims of the death camps he ordered all
possible photographs to be taken, and for the German people from
surrounding villages to be ushered through the camps and even made to
bury the dead.

He did this because he said in words to this effect: 'Get it all on
record now - get the films - get the witnesses - because somewhere
down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this
never happened'

Recently, the UK debated whether to remove The Holocaust from its
school curriculum because it 'offends' the Muslim population which
claims it never occurred.

It is not removed as yet. However, this is a frightening portent of
the fear that is gripping the world and how easily each country is
giving into it.

It is now more than 65 years after the Second World War in Europe ended.

Now, more than ever, with Iran, among others, claiming the Holocaust
to be 'a myth,' it is imperative to make sure the world never forgets.

How many years will it be before the attack on the World Trade Center
'NEVER HAPPENED' because it offends some Muslim in the United States?

Largest UK Grocery Retailer Stops Selling Israeli Products

[From article]
Tesco, the UK’s largest food retailer, has strongly rejected claims that the Gaza crisis is forcing it to stop selling Israeli produce and products, saying that in the case of Israeli dates packaged under its own label it had decided to stop selling them in September “for commercial reasons.”
According to the grocery chain, the dates are grown in Israel but packaged in the West Bank.
“It is clearly marked as “West Bank (Israeli settlement produce)” so customers are fully aware of what they are buying,” a spokesman told The Jerusalem Post. “As part of our regular review of our range, we will not be selling this product for much longer.”
The spokesman said that in line with the recent request from the British government on “origin of food” labeling, the dates have to be marked and sold as such, and as Tesco customers have been asking for such information, the company has to supply it.

http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Tesco-shelves-banning-Israeli-products-369366

Tesco shelves banning Israeli products
By JERRY LEWIS
07/30/2014 06:17
UK grocer ends sale of dates for financial reasons; company says origins of other products requested too but can't give examples.

CAIR Employs Stalinist Tactics

[From post]
The Connecticut chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CT) announced today that it is joining a growing coalition in calling on state officials to sever financial ties with Israel and stop investing in Israel companies and bonds because of it killing of civilians in Gaza.
According to the state treasury department the state of Connecticut has millions of dollars of investments in Israel, including $4 million bonds (as of 2011.)

https://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational/posts/10152306188852695

CAIR

Rush Limbaugh Thrives After Boycott

[From article]
"My prediction: On January 21, 2013, Barack Obama will be out of the White House and Rush Limbaugh will be on the radio."

http://blogs.dailymail.com/donsurber/archives/52900

Limbaugh rocks
March 15, 2012
by Don Surber
Daily Mail

Estee Lauder Corporation Under Attack

Estee Lauder Corporation (parent company of Prescriptives,
Mac, Bobbie Brown, La Mer, Jo Malone, Origins, Aramis, Aveda and Bumble and
Bumble) is being boycotted by a loud and ambitious campaign of the world's Arab
and Muslim community due to Ron Lauder's (Estee Lauder's President) support for
Israel.

Mr. Lauder has been extremely courageous and public in his support for the
Jewish State and has taken real personal and financial risks to inform the world
of the war that the Palestinian Authority has declared on Israel and Jews
worldwide.

Ronnie Lauder is married to Jo Carol Knopf Lauder born and raised in Wilmington,
Delaware. Her parents were humble Holocaust survivors! He also works
undauntingly for the re-establishment of the Hungarian Jewish community. A good
man!