Category Archives: racism

Donald Trump’s antisemitism comments: too little, too limp, too late | Lucia Graves | Opinion | The Guardian

His maddening insistence on Tuesday that really, he denounces antisemitism “whenever I get a chance,” simply isn’t reflected in his actual record.Remember when, during an appearance with the Israeli prime minister last week, Trump was asked if his rhetoric contributed to a rise in antisemitism? He responded, inexplicably, with a self-congratulatory riff on his Electoral College victory. A day later, when a Jewish reporter asked about that very issue, he sniffed that he was: “very insulting.” He then told that reporter to “sit down.” He did – but the rest of us shouldn’t.

Source: Donald Trump’s antisemitism comments: too little, too limp, too late | Lucia Graves | Opinion | The Guardian

How I dealt with masked men with guns pounding on my door | +972 Magazine – Deja vu of you know who…

Late one night last month I was shaken from my bed by Israeli riot police pounding on the door to our house. At first, I thought the noise was from people in the building fighting over a parking spot again. But when I heard shouting in Hebrew and the neighbor screaming, and when I felt my room shaking from the blows to the door, I realized it was serious — another terrible incursion by black-clad, masked invaders.I leapt out of bed in a panic, opened the door and was faced with around 20 masked riot police, armed with assault rifles and terrifying expressions. I was scared to death. One of them asked me, in Arabic: “What’s your name?” Using my most Ashkenazi accent, I responded: “My name is Sulimmm… Suliman. Who are you looking for, sir?”He fixed his eyes on me intimidatingly, and asked whether I know someone by the name of Mohammed (the officer mentioned a family name as well, although I’ve forgotten it). I answered cautiously, “Sir, I’m new to the area, I don’t know anyone in the neighborhood or even in the building, and I don’t speak to anyone.” I tried talking without an Arabic accent and emphasized certain consonants, so that he would know I speak Hebrew well.Unfortunately, my answers didn’t convince anyone. The masked cop invited himself into my apartment, pushed me against the wall and glanced toward my room. Two more officers accompanied him and asked me for my ID, as if it weren’t enough that I have to identify myself to them every day at the checkpoint.I showed them my identity card and prayed to God that they’d leave. One of them scrutinized me to make sure that I was indeed the person on the identity card, then gave it back to me. I have no idea how he came to the conclusion that it was me, given that it was the middle of the night, I’d just been asleep, and looked somewhat like The Joker from “The Dark Knight.”Eventually they left and continued on their way to intimidate the neighbors. I’ve actually gotten used to these monthly invasions, but this time it was different. It was so serious that I was afraid I’d lose control and react to the humiliation, which in turn brought the terrifying thought that protesting even a little would lead them to put a bullet in my head and tell the world that I had tried to snatch one of their weapons. Who knows? Anything is possible in this country.

Source: How I dealt with masked men with guns pounding on my door | +972 Magazine

Israel destroys drinking water pipeline in Jordan Valley – PNN

Israeli military bulldozers destroyed, Monday, a drinking water pipeline that was funded by The United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the Central Plains of the occupied West Bank.Mo’taz Bisharat, a Palestinian official in charge of Israeli colonies’ file at the Palestinian Authority in central West Bank, said many Israeli army jeeps and bulldozers invaded the area, during early morning hours, and destroyed a drinking water pipeline, providing water to Palestinian communities along the al-Hadeediyya and ar-Ras al-Ahmar areas.Bisharat added that the pipeline provided clean drinking water to 47 families, and extended on 8.5 kilometers.He also stated that the pipeline’s installation and equipment costs were 12500 euros, provided by the UNICEF to enable access to clean drinking water, and added that the soldiers confiscated large sections of the pipeline.

Source: Israel destroys drinking water pipeline in Jordan Valley – PNN

Head of the AfD Frauke Petry meets with Russian officials in Moscow | Germany | DW.COM | 20.02.2017

Frauke Petry, the prominent co-chair of Germany’s nationalist AfD party, met with senior Russian politicians in Moscow at the weekend.In a statement issued on Monday, the office of the populist politician said she traveled to Moscow to discuss cooperation between German and Russian regional assemblies. She also met “on the sidelines” with Duma speaker and Putin confidant Vyacheslav Volodin as well as deputy speaker Pyotr Tolstoy.

Source: Head of the AfD Frauke Petry meets with Russian officials in Moscow | Germany | DW.COM | 20.02.2017

Why Is the GOP Still Supporting Trump? | Dame Magazine

Since Obama took office in 2008, this unholy trinity has worked overtime to undermine liberal democracy and shift the Republican Party further rightward. Wealthy oligarchs such as the Kochs and Mercers funded training and campaigns for hand-selected far right candidates, and utilized fake grassroots movements to unseat less extreme GOP candidates. They orchestrated the Citizens United case to eliminate soft money restrictions so they could further expand their influence. Far right GOP operatives undertook a coordinated effort to suppress Democratic votes through gerrymandering and aggressive voter ID laws, and gutted the Voting Rights Act by bringing carefully planned challenges to a sympathetic Supreme Court. At the same time, corporate and religious right wing media stoked a non-stop propaganda machine to gain support of the white working and middle class by appealing to racism and economic insecurity.Which brings us back to 2016. Putin saw in Trump’s candidacy a perfect opportunity to sow discord and doubt in America’s electorate and weaken the U.S. whether or not he won the election. When he defied expectations and started winning primaries, some on the far right realized that he had enough charisma and name recognition to carry the GOP nomination, and that with no clear ideology of his own (other than “what’s in it for me”) he could serve as an ideal Trojan Horse for their extremist agenda. The fact that many on the right already had a strange admiration for Putin, and that both white supremacist and fundamentalist Christian supporters had close ties to Russia probably served to lessen concern among GOP electeds that their candidate might be compromised by a foreign nation.So the next time Congress declines to investigate Russian influence or ethics breaches by the Trump administration, just remember: they’re getting exactly what they want out of this arrangement, and will continue to enact their far-right agenda as long as they have the votes. Congress, Trump, and Putin all back the same vision of a Christian, white nationalist, authoritarian world order that will protect the wealth of oligarchs while suppressing women, people of color, LGBTQ people, and anyone else they perceive as a threat to their control.

Source: Why Is the GOP Still Supporting Trump? | Dame Magazine

Why is Trump’s adviser wearing a medal of Nazi collaborators? | +972 Magazine

Gorka’s decision to publicly identify with Vitezi Rend raises questions about Trump’s adviser and the administration’s flirtations with anti-Semitism and the alt-right. It’s even more awkward that he’s the person defending the administration’s explicit omission of Jewish victim of the Holocaust from the Holocaust Remembrance Day statement.

Source: Why is Trump’s adviser wearing a medal of Nazi collaborators? | +972 Magazine

Israel map raises questions about BBC impartiality | The Electronic Intifada

The BBC has admitted to producing a misleading map of Israel in which Jerusalem is included, the occupied West Bank is annexed to Jordan and Gaza no longer exists.The map was produced as a graphic for an episode of BBC Two’s Hairy Bikers cookery series entitled “Chicken and Egg,” broadcast at the end of last year.In the episode, the motorcycling cooks visit Israel and Jerusalem – though the status of the eastern part of the city as occupied territory is not acknowledged – to learn about local chicken and egg dishes. These are all referred to as “Israeli,” even though they include platters which are clearly Arab and North African in origin, including shawarma, shakshuka and couscous.

Source: Israel map raises questions about BBC impartiality | The Electronic Intifada

#BanThis

Leila Roumani Syria-USA 34, PROJECT MANAGER, MASTERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH AT HARVARD T.H. CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

My father came in the late 1960s from Syria to do his urological residency in Ohio and Pennsylvania. He soon engaged and brought my mother along to join him in the U.S. After having my two sisters in Pennsylvania and finishing medical residency, they moved to Los Angeles, California where my father opened his first medical office and my parents delivered their third baby girl: me. We had several aunts and uncles who had settled in Los Angeles before us, so although my parents were far away from family, we still had a loving, progressive, intersectionality oriented, and social-justice minded Muslim and Arab community in Los Angeles to lean on. Today, six years into the Syrian civil war, I realize that my family would most likely be refugees if my parents had not moved to the US in the late 1960s when professional immigrants were encouraged and welcome to come. My parents proudly moved to a country that believed in opportunities for all and a ‘melting pot’ of diversity and inclusion. My parents have never missed an opportunity to vote since they were naturalized-something my father reminds us could not have happened in Syria. The US afforded my family opportunities and stability to build a better life.Why did your family come to the United States?They wanted to leave Syria because they wanted to raise their children in a country that upheld democratic ideals, free speech, and better opportunities.What would the U.S. be missing out on if you or your people were banned?My father’s sense of humor and Syrian-Lebanese food

Source: #BanThis

‘Least racist person’ Trump asks black reporter if black caucus are ‘friends of yours’ | US news | The Guardian

Minutes after Donald Trump insisted he was “the least racist person” at a press conference on Thursday, the president asked a black reporter to arrange a meeting for him with the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).The American Urban Radio Networks reporter April Ryan asked the president if he was going to include the CBC in conversations he will have about his “inner city” policies.Trump responded by repeatedly asking Ryan if she could set up a meeting with the caucus, members of which the president suggested could be “friends” of hers.Trump uses press conference to declare administration ‘fine-tuned machine’ Read more“Are they friends of yours? No, go ahead,” Trump said. “Set up the meeting.”

Source: ‘Least racist person’ Trump asks black reporter if black caucus are ‘friends of yours’ | US news | The Guardian