thegrayzone.com
thecradle.co
thecradle.co
From the link:
Jill Stein on democracy in crisis, movement building, and ending Israel's war on Palestinians
Green Party leader and US presidential candidate speaks to MEE about her vision for America, should she win in Novemberwww.middleeasteye.net
www.middleeasteye.net
These words really did fully align with the way I see the world of politics. I struggle to try and understand the mental gymnastics people need to do to participate in this virtual reality political pantomime we are being subjected to.
More great comments that shatter the illusion of party politics (which is believed by "people who are not being honest with themselves as they lack authenticity") by this Australian journalist. I share them with you, dear fellow forum members, in the hope that you will "take these words of wisdom and hold on to them....you'll become a more authentic human being for doing so."
www.caitlinjohnst.one
www.caitlinjohnst.one
www.jillstein2024.com
www.caitlinjohnst.one
www.caitlinjohnst.one
www.jillstein2024.com
www.jillstein2024.com
www.jeffsachs.org
www.jeffsachs.org
www.jeffsachs.org
www.caitlinjohnst.one
Stupid conservatives do not have enough wisdom to understand that the political system and elections are illusions. And the platforms of political parties are illusions. And the application of the platforms is an illusion. Unwise conservatives look at what the (illusory) Democrats do, how they put into practice their illusory program, look at the program of the only independent and anti-genocide candidate, Jill Stein, then look at the platform (and words, and actions) of the Republicans, and cannot understand that they are all the same.
More great comments that shatter the illusion of party politics (which is believed by "people who are not being honest with themselves as they lack authenticity") by this Australian journalist. I share them with you, dear fellow forum members, in the hope that you will "take these words of wisdom and hold on to them....you'll become a more authentic human being for doing so."
...The Problem Isn't The US Having The Wrong President, The Problem Is The US Empire's Existence
Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix
This “Jill Stein needs to drop out” nonsense is so tedious and stupid. Democrats literally JUST saw what happens when your party’s candidate drops out: they’re replaced with another candidate. That’s what would happen if Stein dropped out. If you don’t think third parties should be allowed to exist in America, just say that. Don’t invent some fictional alternate reality universe where Jill Stein emerges out of nowhere every few years to steal votes from Democrats like some villain in a video game and where getting rid of her would get you those votes back.
Stein shows up as a presidential candidate because she’s the most popular candidate in a political party Americans created because they wanted that party to exist. Your argument isn’t with Jill Stein, it’s with Americans who don’t like your shitty imperialist political party. Either convince them that war and injustice are awesome or stop being such murderous tyrants.
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A new poll from the Council on American-Islamic Relations has Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein beating Kamala Harris among American Muslims in three key battleground states, with an especially large lead in Michigan.Democrats Have Decided To Just Ignore American Muslims This Election Cycle
Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley):
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To call this a night and day difference would be a severe understatement. Clearly Muslim Americans are seeing something they care deeply about this election season which the rest of the population has decided doesn’t matter very much.
That something is of course the US-backed genocide in Gaza, which the Biden-Harris administration has been forcefully supporting for nearly a year. Stein opposes these atrocities, while Harris is currently serving in the administration that’s making them possible.
Pledge to Stop Genocide
Sign and share the Pledge to Stop Genocide: abandon pro-genocide candidates!
..Nobody Would Vote For Any Of This Bullshit Without Extensive Manipulation
Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley):
So now we’re seeing a US election where two tyrannical capitalist warmongers are squaring off against each other, appealing to the votes of America’s two mainstream political factions which are only mainstream because vast fortunes have been poured into propaganda manipulations to make them mainstream. Then you’ve got candidates like Jill Stein saying normal, sane and common sense things about peace and justice while being framed as an extremist lunatic by the consent manufacturers of the mainstream press. And when Stein loses in this aggressively manipulated information environment within this aggressively manipulated electoral system, it will be framed as evidence that her politics were seen as too fringe and kooky for the mainstream public.
..Israel's "Shared Values" With The West Are Tyranny, War And Genocide
Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix
Vote or don’t vote in whatever way you want. No matter who you vote for, you’ll get tyranny, war and genocide.
Vote for Harris and you’ll get tyranny, war and genocide.
Vote for Trump and you’ll get tyranny, war and genocide.
Vote for Kennedy and you’ll get tyranny, war and genocide.
Don’t want tyranny, war and genocide? Go ahead and try to elect someone like Jill Stein or Cornel West who stands against tyranny, war and genocide. But have no doubt that the system is rigged to prevent that from succeeding, and you’ll get a president who stands with tyranny, war and genocide."
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She, Jill, was even arrested for her anti-Zionist stance, despite being Jewish, as Karlysymon is indignant here:
Considering that...Abbott issued an executive order in March requiring that Texas universities punish anti-Semitism on campus using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism,....should be a worrying development. And if this legislation/definition doesn't even protect Jewish people who protest the state of Israel (like Jill Stein who was arrested), then we have to ask WHO or WHAT is this legislation/definition designed to protect?Palestinian Resistance Launch Major Attack on Israel: What Happened? – LIVE BLOG
ICJ rules against halt of German arms exports to Israel The World Court has ruled against issuing emergency measures over German arms sales to Israel. “The circumstances are not such as to require the exercise of its power under the article 41 of the statute to indicate provisional measures,”...vigilantcitizenforums.com
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*Did you get it?
Anti-Semitism is real and bad, real evil, the spread of dangerous disinformation about jews, which "as we know from history" if not stopped could lead to "monstrous consequences" and so on. And antizionism is a legitimate opposition to Israeli (their "genocide over Gaza", for example).
So mixing legitimate criticism and positions against zionism with the illegitimate bad far-right nazi antisemitism (which is real and we need to fight it) is bad, insidious zionist trick to defame, silence and deter legitimate critics of zionism (which is real evil).
Antisemitism is a legitimate evil.
(Just as legitimate an evil as antiislamism, antiblackness, antipalestinian racism, anti-homo and anti-trans, and other anti. And it will be a cemented evil if or when Israel is restrained, condemned, etc.?)
***
Meet Butch
Professor Butch Ware is a lifelong activist and educator specializing in the history of empire, colonialism, genocide and revolution.
Professor Butch Ware is a lifelong activist and educator specializing in the history of empire, colonialism, genocide and revolution.
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With his Ph.D in history from the University of Pennsylvania, Ware is a leading academic authority on the U.S. Black Radical Tradition, Africa and Islam. Since 2004 Professor Ware has been a full faculty member at Northwestern, Michigan, and now UC Santa-Barbara, teaching in History, Black Studies, and Islamic Studies.
(excerpts from the long program)
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PEOPLE
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HEALTHCARE
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Advance reproductive rights and codify Roe v. Wade
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Launch an urgent national program to rebuild the U.S. epidemic/pandemic response:
Review and update the 2006 Pandemic Preparedness Act (last updated prior to COVID in 2019) to ensure U.S. pandemic preparedness is fully funded.
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Strengthen the infrastructure for accelerated emergency distribution of information, medications, vaccines, and treatments
Fund and provide high-quality personal protective equipment such as N-95 type masks and all diagnostic testing (including viral load testing) free at local pharmacies
Mandate and provide funding for high-quality air filtration code improvements for all public transportation, public buildings, schools and businesses
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Establish policies that will eliminate SARS-CoV-2 transmission in schools, healthcare facilities, and on public transportation
Further study the Novavax protein-based COVID-19 vaccine to determine safety and efficacy for children under 12; remove restrictions if findings allow
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Fully fund research into the causes, prevention and treatment of long COVID
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PRISONS AND POLICING
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A Jill Stein administration will:
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Fully legalize cannabis for recreational and medicinal use with similar restrictions to alcohol.
Release nonviolent drug offenders from prison, remove drug offenses from records, and guarantee both pre- and post-release support
Ensure drug treatment on demand
Begin the process of legalizing hallucinogens (LSD, psilocybin and other related substances) and fund studies on their medicinal benefits.
Begin the process of decriminalizing personal possession of hard drugs - treat drug misuse as a health problem, not a criminal problem
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End the epidemic of gun violence with common-sense gun safety laws:
Ban the sale of assault rifles and establish a buyback program
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Create standardized digital records of gun registrations and sales
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REPARATIONS AND THE AGENDA TO FACILITATE BLACK LIBERATION
A Jill Stein Administration will guarantee as a human right reparations to the descendants of African slaves for the historic crime of enslavement. Reparations is a cornerstone of the Black Agenda, but reparations is far from the only policy needed to begin to redress what has been stolen from the Black community over 400+ years.
Scholars and activists who have studied and formulated propositions for Reparations itself have put the minimum cash value of reparations at $12 trillion, to be paid to those who claim legitimate descendancy from enslaved Blacks prior to the Civil War. This number is derived not only from the stolen labor prior to 1865, but also from the reneged promise of Field Order 15, commonly referred to as “40 acres and a mule”, which was never made good upon.
We don’t need any further debate on whether reparations should be paid. They should, without question, as they were in 1988 to those impacted by WWII Japanese internment camps. The Stein administration will confer with Black community leaders on who qualifies, how they qualify (historical records exist), how much they will be paid in cash, and how those payments will be made.
There are other policies essential to the overall Black Agenda, as slavery was not the only historic crime against the Black community in America. We recognize both historic and existing racism in America, While it has been addressed in legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to this day an end to systemic racism has never been realized. Many of these essential policies, such as universal healthcare, immigration, policing, and free public college education, are addressed in other areas of this platform. Furthermore, it should be noted that the Black Agenda is a progressive agenda.
In addition to ensuring Reparations, a Jill Stein Administration will:
Direct all federal agencies to consider and include race and ethnicity as part of all of their initiatives and other programs implemented with federal dollars
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Coordinate with Black-led formations including, but not limited to, the Black Hive at Movement for Black Lives to codify proposals and demands included in their Black Climate Mandate
Coordinate with Black-led formations including, but not limited to, the Black Alliance for Peace to promulgate their Zone of Peace strategies that combat and dismantle larger structures and interests that generate war and state violence—colonialism, patriarchy, capitalism and all forms of imperialism both domestically and internationally
“Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” -Fannie Lou Hamer
2SLGBTQIA+ RIGHTS
A Jill Stein Administration will guarantee the human rights of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
Violent attacks on transgender women (particularly Black and other transgender women of color), recent stripping of state protections, lack of legal protection after negative court rulings, and long-standing historical inequities continue. We will end the acceptance of a violent culture that devalues the humanity of our 2SLGBTQIA+ siblings. We will fight for the liberation of 2SLGBTQIA+ people around the world.
Here’s how:
Support the Equality Act, the PRIDE Act, the Every Child Deserves a Family Act, and other bills to prohibit discrimination by the U.S., the military, state or local governments, or private industry
Support the PrEP Access and Coverage Act (until universal healthcare is implemented).
Develop and implement 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusive public education to combat bullying
Include 2SLGBTQIA+ history in school curricula, provide school and community trainings and 2SLGBTQIA+ specific school counseling
Federally prohibit the harmful practice of “conversion therapy”
Fund housing relief programs for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth, who are disproportionately represented in unsheltered populations
Remove punitive and cumbersome legal name change requirements and fees
Declare trans murder and suicide rates a national emergency
De-gender or add nonbinary gender options to all Federal public documents
De-gender school dress codes, and guarantee protection from discrimination as a result of dress in workplaces
Publish the original Equal Rights Amendment in the National Archives, effectively bringing it into law.
Prohibit insurance companies from denying trans-affirming procedures
Remove “transmedicalist” language from all educational materials relating to trans individuals
Specifically prohibit disciplining or firing trans employees for acknowledging their gender/pronouns with customers, clients, or other individuals in the workplace
Legally prohibit mutilative surgeries on intersex infants
Pass legislation to mandate that police adopt policies to ensure fairer interactions with transgender people, especially transgender women of color, who are disproportionately impacted by disparities in policing
Outlaw misgendered imprisonment nationwide and end “gay panic” and “trans panic” defenses for violent crimes
Prevent and repeal any legislation that purports to protect religious liberty at the expense of the rights of others
Jeffrey Sachs endorses Jill Stein
Jeffrey Sachs endorses Jill Stein: "The true hope for foreign policy sanity and a fair economy is the lead peace candidate, Jill Stein. The main work for peace activists in the next few weeks is to ensure that Stein is indeed on the ballot in every state"
*Professor at Columbia University, is Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. He has served as adviser to three UN Secretaries-General, and currently serves as an SDG Advocate under Secretary-General António Guterres.
More Jeffrey:
a world-renowned economics professor, bestselling author, innovative educator, and global leader in sustainable development.
Sachs is widely recognized for bold and effective strategies to address complex challenges including the escape from extreme poverty, the global battle against human-induced climate change, international debt and financial crises, national economic reforms, and the control of pandemic and epidemic diseases.
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Achieving the Two-State Solution in the Wake of Gaza War — Jeffrey D. Sachs
by Jeffrey Sachs and Sybil Fares Peace can come through the immediate implementation of the two-state solution, making the admission of Palestine to the United Nations the starting point, not the ending point. The two-state solution is enshrined in international law and i
April 6, 2021, Rockefeller FoundationOne for All: An Action Plan for Financing Global Vaccination and Sustainable Growth — Jeffrey D. Sachs
Overview The ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic are well known. Defeating and reversing them will require an immedi- ate burst of revitalized multilateralism and creativity operationalizing the financing tools and institutions readily at hand. We must act swiftly to achieve a global vaccination rate
One for All: An Action Plan for Financing Global Vaccination and Sustainable Growth
The G20 Must Act Now to Vaccinate the World — Jeffrey D. Sachs
It is imperative that the G20 finance ministers' meeting in Venice this week act to provide the COVID-19 vaccines needed to achieve worldwide comprehensive adult immunization by early 2022. Given current production, this should not be a problem, so long as a global plan is quickly implemented. J
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"...Then you’ve got candidates like Jill Stein saying normal, sane and common sense things about peace and justice"Nobody Would Vote For Any Of This Bullshit Without Extensive Manipulation
Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley):
~~~
"great commentary is from an Australian journalist"
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"words of wisdom"
and the states split, or split anyway, or, or, or...)
www.middleeasteye.net
Perhaps there are some who are more interested in the puppets while others are interested in the puppeteers? IMHO, as I've mentioned earlier, I believe Israel is acting like a spoiled and demon possessed child is because with the BRICS gaining more traction, they know their reign will be ending soon. It'll leave the West in the dust while it continues to fund the murdering thousands of innocent Palestinians with our government leaders who are bribed, blackmailed or threatened into supporting Israel.
Our fight for Palestinian liberation and an end to antisemitism is deeply intertwined with the struggle for trans liberation and an end to transphobia.More CJPME:
This joint report provides recommendations to the Canadian government regarding the renewal of the federal Anti-Racism Strategy. It argues that Canada's strategy must address antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Palestinian racism together hand-in-hand using an intersectional framework. This is a joint submission from Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association (ACLA), Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV), and Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council (CMPAC).
Combating Anti-Palestinian Racism and Antisemitism: An Intersectional Approach to Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy
This joint report provides recommendations to the Canadian government regarding the renewal of the federal Anti-Racism Strategy. It argues that Canada's strategy must address antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Palestinian racism together hand-in-hand using an intersectional framework. This is...www.cjpme.org
Issued May 2024
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CONTENT OF CANADA’S ANTI-RACISM STRATEGY AND IHRA HANDBOOK
1. CANADA’S ANTI-RACISM STRATEGY AND ASSOCIATED HANDBOOKS/GUIDES MUST RECOGNIZE SETTLER- COLONIALISM AS A CENTRAL FEATURE AND FOUNDATION OF RACISM WITHIN CANADA AND WITHIN ISRAEL
Both Canada and Israel are settler-colonial states, created as an outcome of British imperialism. Given this intersectional history, Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy must approach racism through the lens of settler-colonialism and therefore antisemitism and anti-Palestinian racism, like all forms of racism, must be understood within the structure of settler-colonialism present in Canada.
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2. CANADA’S ANTI-RACISM STRATEGY MUST INCLUDE A DESCRIPTION OF ANTI-PALESTINIAN RACISM
..Handbooks and guides should be consistent with an anti-racist approach that includes a definition of anti-Palestinian racism, along with other definitions of racism and discrimination. Importantly, anti-Palestinian racism must be understood as distinct from, but in instances intersectional with Islamophobia (anti-Muslim racism). Conflating anti-Palestinian racism with Islamophobia, erases the identity and experiences of Palestinians as well the root causes of the racism they experience.
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3. CANADA’S ANTI-RACISM STRATEGY AND IHRA HANDBOOK MUST RECOGNIZE THE INTERSECTIONS AND STRUCTURAL IMBALANCE BETWEEN EFFORTS TO COMBAT ANTI-PALESTINIAN RACISM AND ANTISEMITISM
The recent rise in antisemitic, anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian, and Islamophobic incidents cannot be separated from the escalation of racism and xenophobia we are seeing throughout the world; phenomena linked to the diminution of liberal democracy as it is influenced by the effects of ethnonationalism, surveillance capitalism, and environmental breakdown. Fighting and educating against antisemitism must be part of a larger struggle against white supremacy, eurocentrism, and all forms of group hatred and discrimination.
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(read more in the link)
"This is a joint submission from Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association (ACLA), Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV), and Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council (CMPAC)."
Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV)
30+ Civil Society Groups to Canadian Heritage: Ditch Controversial Antisemitism Definition from Granting Procedures
For immediate release 7 February 2023 - Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) has joined together with 30+ other Canadian organizations to call on the federal government to abandon prospective measures that would integrate a controversial antisemitism definition into granting procedures of the Dwww.ijvcanada.org
Nine Months of Genocide in Gaza
This week marks nine months of Israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza. The latest official estimates indicate that over 38,000 Palestinians have been killed so far, though according to leading medical journal the Lancet, that number may be closer to five times that amount
Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) is a grassroots organization grounded in Jewish tradition that opposes all forms of racism and advocates for justice and peace for all in Israel-Palestine. Our strength comes from our members. IJV has active chapters in cities and on university campuses across the country.
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Thematic areas
Palestine Solidarity: IJV was the first national Jewish organization to endorse the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. We continue to support and defend BDS as well as to hold Canadian organizations accountable when complicit in Israeli oppression of Palestinians.
Anti-racism and Indigenous solidarity: IJV stands in solidarity with Indigenous peoples and with all marginalized peoples in Canada against racism, settler colonialism and white supremacy. IJV also works to combat antisemitism and distinguish it clearly from critiques of Zionism and Israeli policies.
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IJV Principles
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4. We oppose all forms of racism, including antisemitism, anti-Arab racism, anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, and intra-Jewish racism, which marginalizes Jews of colour, Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews.
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7. We strive to be inclusive, justice-seeking, democratic, and open to diverse ideas and practices.
8. We believe that true security requires justice and solidarity.
We hereby reclaim the tradition of Jewish support for universal freedoms, human rights and social justice. The lessons we have learned from our own history compel us to speak out.
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IJV Halifax condemns bigoted stickers appearing around the city
IJV Halifax condemns bigoted stickers appearing around the city
A message possibly connected to “Q-Anon,” a conspiracy theory alleging a worldwide cabal is kidnapping and abusing children. Unknown individuals are placing unattributed adhesive stickers around Halifax that promote conspiracy theories and foment hatred toward vulnerable groups, especially using
October 2, 2020
A message possibly connected to “Q-Anon,” a conspiracy theory alleging a worldwide cabal is kidnapping and abusing children.
Unknown individuals are placing unattributed adhesive stickers around Halifax that promote conspiracy theories and foment hatred toward vulnerable groups, especially using COVID-19 as a starting point.
Independent Jewish Voices condemns this spate of hate and is calling on people of good will to report these affronts so that we can monitor their proliferation and messages and take measures to stop them.
The stickers appear to be similar and may be related. The message seems to be that both the pandemic itself and the measures taken to reduce its spread are part of a secret scheme to rob individuals of their freedom. The so-called “Q-Anon” movement, originating in Donald Trump’s US is part of a reaction to the Movement for Black Lives.
Halifax has seen its share of right-wing and white-supremacist hatred of late: acts of anti-Black racism in HRM employment sites, including Fire, Police and Transit. insults to people of colour on Transit, the so-called Soldiers of Odin marching through the north end, the so-called “Proud Boys” (the same group Donald Trump, in the recent presidential debate told to “stand down and stand by”) disrupting a protest at Halifax’s Cornwallis statue, counter-demonstrations against the indigenous treaty fishery.
The proper response to all of this is solidarity – among all the groups targeted: African-Canadians, Indigenous folks, other people of colour, Jews, women, LGBTQ2+ people and immigrants.
One of the stickers targets Jewish people. As Jews, we are, of course, concerned. But it is essential to recognize that antisemitism is not an exceptional form of bigotry. People who hate, discriminate and/or attack Jews can, and also do, hate, discriminate and/or attack other vulnerable groups.
In addition, privileging the efforts to combat discrimination against one of these groups, risks further marginalizing the other targeted groups, and undermines solidarity and cooperation among them in fighting their common enemies.
Fighting and educating against antisemitism must therefore be part of a larger struggle against all group hatred and discrimination."
Medical Apartheid in Israel-Palestine
Medical Apartheid in Israel-Palestine
Independent Jewish Voice Canada has applauded Human Rights Watch and B’Tselem for issuing reports finding that Israeli authorities are committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution. It is important to understand how Israeli apartheid operates as a system by denying Palestinians
May 10, 2021
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Independent Jewish Voice Canada has applauded Human Rights Watch and B’Tselem for issuing reports finding that Israeli authorities are committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution. It is important to understand how Israeli apartheid operates as a system by denying Palestinians access to healthcare resources.
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February 16, 2021: Democracy Now reported that Israel has halted the shipment of 2,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the Gaza Strip, where they were due for medical workers. The besieged territory is home to more than two million people but has yet to receive any vaccines. This comes as Israeli health officials reported a nearly 95% drop in symptomatic coronavirus infections among 600,000 Israelis who received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. About 30% of Israeli citizens have received at least one vaccine dose — the highest rate of any major nation — but that figure excludes Palestinians in the Occupied Territories who remain largely unvaccinated.
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What you can do
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Support the People’s Vaccine Campaign for an equitable and just COVID-19 global distribution plan.
People’s Vaccine Campaign:
There is no moral justification for millions to die whilst pharma billionaires line their pockets with profits gained in part from public research and investment. We cannot continue on a path where pharma shareholders call the shots and women, minorities, and people in poorer countries suffer the consequences.
Take Action for a People's Vaccine
Our best chance of ending the pandemic is ensuring that COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments are available to everyone, everywhere.peoplesmedicines.org
We must break up monopolies, improve global research capacities, and support tech transfers that ramp up production of lifesaving vaccines, tests and treatments.
Pandemics should not be a case of survival of the richest.
The Alliance advocated for the waiving of IP barriers to boost global production of COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments.Our Impact - People's Medicines
Learn about the impact the Alliance members have had over the past three years.
The Alliance has played a pivotal advocacy role in the negotiations surrounding the Pandemic Accord.
Alliance Co-Chair Winnie Byanyima and leading world figures advocate for a People's Vaccine - because no one is safe until everyone is safe
***
IJV Stands with Trans and Non-Binary People at the University of Waterloo and Beyond
IJV Stands with Trans and Non-Binary People at the University of Waterloo and Beyond
Last Wednesday, June 28, a gender studies class at the University of Waterloo was targeted in an apparent hate crime that left a professor and two students injured. This was not an isolated incident, but rather another disturbing sign of the rise of transphobia and hate in Canada. Extreme anti-t
July 7, 2023
Last Wednesday, June 28, a gender studies class at the University of Waterloo was targeted in an apparent hate crime that left a professor and two students injured. This was not an isolated incident, but rather another disturbing sign of the rise of transphobia and hate in Canada.
Extreme anti-trans policies are inflaming the United States, but Canada is showing symptoms too. This can be seen in the rise in transphobic rhetoric online and by politicians, as well as the targeting of events like all-ages drag storytime and of teaching and research critical of racial, ethnic, and gender-based intolerance. As an organization established to oppose hate, violence, and oppression, Independent Jewish Voices condemns these hate-fueled attacks and stands in solidarity with trans people all over the globe. We are proud to count trans and non-binary Jews as part of our membership and continue to work to make our organization trans-inclusive. We also recognize that our Palestinian comrades, both at home and in the diaspora, include trans and non-binary people who experience greater susceptibility to violence because of their intersecting identities.
Our fight for Palestinian liberation and an end to antisemitism is deeply intertwined with the struggle for trans liberation and an end to transphobia. It is no coincidence that those who oppose the existence of trans people also perpetuate antisemitic tropes and call for a white nationalist state. The alt-right movement is the latest stage in a long colonial history that has tried to impose a white, Christian, capitalist, patriarchal power structure on societies the world over. We see this now with groups such as White Lives Matter and their targeting of Jews, racialized people, and trans people, which makes those with overlapping marginalized identities especially vulnerable. But this type of hate is not new, and neither are the direct parallels between oppression of Jews and oppression of queer people.
In the 1940s, the LGBTQ+ community was targeted alongside Jews for systematic genocide by the Nazi regime. While both Jews and trans folks represent a small portion of the overall population, they are often highlighted by hate groups as being responsible for the social and moral decay of (Western) society.
These hate groups understand that white heteropatriarchal nationalism involves targeting of *all* vulnerable communities. We know that to oppose them, we must continue to see our struggles as interwoven. Today and every day, we stand in solidarity with our trans kin under attack and we will fight for a world where everyone is free, from Turtle Island to Palestine.
www.caitlinjohnst.one
The journalist: