#Michael's Oct. prompts

[elvendara]

MYSME FICTOBER DAY 1

@mysme-fictober

Michael's edition

1 October 2023—GHOST

He wrinkled his nose as the wine touched his lips. Warm. Had he really been sitting here long enough for it to no longer be cool. With a sigh he set the glass down and rubbed at his temples. Standing he stretched his long legs and ran a long-fingered hand through his short dark hair. A glance towards the glass with storm grey eyes had him rethinking picking it up. With a sigh he did and swallowed what remained. No sense letting it go to waste.

Making his way to the kitchen he had to slow down, feeling the effects of the alcohol finally. Outside his home it thundered, the rain tattooing a discordant melody all around him. He stopped midway, eyes on the floor, grazing his stockinged feet. Slowly and with great hesitation, his eyes made their way to the portrait hung prominently on the wall. His normally vibrant eyes darkened as tears welled up. Pain struck him in the chest with the deafening beating of his heart.

There he stood, behind his late wife Lillie and their son. The boy was no more than six in the portrait, he was now a young man in his prime, away at University. He had taken after his wife in features and coloring. His auburn hair being the envy of many. It was often difficult to look at his son, seeing his wife’s eyes reflected back at him. In the last year they had seen each other only twice. At the funeral, and for Christmas. The boy had a life of his own after all. Jumin was happy for him, but he also thought that the reason he didn’t see him more was because it was too hard for him to see his father so sad.

An unbelievable amount of people thought a year was long enough to grieve, so now he spent much of his time alone with his own thoughts. He finally let himself gaze upon his wife. Certainly, since the portrait was taken, she had thickened around the middle, etched some fine lines around her face, even grown a few grey hairs, just as he had. But she had always been beautiful in his eyes. Her honey brown eyes stared back at him, that kind and benevolent smile radiant on her face. He remembered what it felt like to run his fingers through her thick hair, and the smell of her shampoo. She rarely wore perfume, but the smell of her hair lingered on the pillow, the sheets, her clothing, and in the air if she had recently been there.

His body broke into shuddering cries as the thunder and lighting continued to roar. It was as if the world grieved with him. The wind howling and destructive as if his insides tore through the countryside. He dropped to his knees, the glass shattering on the wood floor.

“Jumin.” The whisper carried in the wind, fluttering and disjointed. “J…u…m…i…n…” the elongated syllables hung in the air, surrounding his broken body.

He blinked and startled as the scent of Lillie’s hair wafted across his nose. Rising to his feet quickly he turned, unsure of what was happening. Had he finally lost his mind?

A loud clap of tunder sounded directly above his head as lightning flashed through the windows as if paparazzi stood outside with flashing bulbs. It startled him and he wrapped his arms around his head, a soft whine escaping his mouth.

“Jumin…”

“Stop! Please! No!” he stammered, choking back more sobs.

“My love.” Lillie’s voice was soft and soothing. Just the way she sounded when she was about to scold him for something.

“L…Lillie?” he dropped his arms and turned towards the voice. In the hallway stood his wife. He knew she wasn’t really there, she was dead. Dead and gone, never to return. But there, there she was anyway, all he had to do was reach out and touch her. She looked healthy, not at all the emaciated thing she had become as the disease ate her from the inside out. He had wasted no money on finding someone, somewhere to help her. But cancer didn’t care about money.

She smiled at him and held her arms open. He stepped into those welcome arms, unaware of the glass pressing through his socks and into his skin. Blood trailed as he took several steps, but he was beyond physical pain. She wrapped her arms around him, and he buried his head into her soft bosom. He missed the feel of her. Her perspective on anything and everything. She was his rock, his sounding board, his conscience. He loved her and he missed her.

“My love, you have so much more life to live. Don’t shut yourself away like this.” She cooed into his hair, her fingers tangled in the strands.

“I miss you so much. How…how can I go on?” he sobbed.

“You must. I know you loved me, I felt it every single day. You know what it is to love and be loved. Those who care about you are worried. Our son is worried. You must be strong my love. Not only for you, but for me and everything I will now miss. You must be there for our son, for our grandchildren, if there will be any, for our friends and family. You have grieved alone too long. You need to start living, even if it hurts.”

“I…I can’t! I don’t want to! I want to be with you! Take me with you!” he pleaded.

“It’s not your time. Don’t let it run out like this. Live! Live my love! Live!” he voice was stern but kind as it faded into nothing, as did she.

“NO!” Jumin screamed and dropped to his hands and knees. “NO!” he slammed his fists into the floor with force. He collapsed as the storm continued to rage outside. Once his body was spent of tears he sighed and took several deep breaths.

Live? Could he? Without her at his side? He thought about her words, about how much time he still had to live, about his son and his future. Yes, life was for the living. He would hold onto that small straw.

[hufflewaffle55]

Oct. 5th

Prompt: Since I’ve been on my D&D kick with Roleslaying with Roman, what would any Halloween- or spooky-themed character be in a D&D world? What would be their race? Their class? Their backstory??

Michael Myers, my beloved, in the world of D&D. His race is unknown and he will be the last person to tell you it. His class is obviously the Rogue and his backstory is as mysterious as his race. But if I would put a little bit thought behind it, he wilo be something like an urban legend.

[amomentsescape]

Michael Myers Masterlist

All Slashers

The Slashers Reach to You Bringing Home a Kitten

The Slashers React to You Being Harassed

The Slashers Say I Love You for the First Time

The Slashers' Night Time Routine with Reader

The Slashers with a Feminine Witch & Vampire Hybrid

The Slashers with Reader Who Wants to Kill with Them

The Slashers Making Halloween Treats with You (Oct 2023 Prompt)

The Slashers Creating a Personal Carnival for Reader

The Slashers Spend Halloween with Reader

The Slashers Doing Christmas Activities with Reader

The Slashers with Stressed! Reader During Finals Week

The Yandere! Slashers with Reader Who Sleepwalks & Tries to Leave

The Slashers Reacting to the Death of Reader

The Slashers React to Custom Made T-Shirts

The Slashers React to Reader Ending Up in the Hospital

The Slashers Taking a Bubble Bath with Reader

The Slashers React to Reader Getting Pregnant

The Slashers React to Couple's T-Shirts

The Slashers with Reader That Loves Baking

The Yandere! Slashers with Reader That's Pregnant & Super Clingy

The Yandere! Slashers with Pregnant Reader That Gets Kidnapped

The Slashers with Overwhelmed! Reader That's in a School Play

The Slashers with Reader That's Insecure About Their Body

The Yandere! Slashers with Patrick Bateman-esque Reader

The Slashers with Reader Who's Secretly an Eldritch Horror

The Slashers with Crow-Like Reader

The Yandere! Slashers with Mermaid! Reader

The Slashers with Sweet and Dangerous! Reader

The Slashers with a Secret Admirer

The Slashers with Winged! Reader

The Slashers with Funny Sleepwalking! Reader

The Slashers with Ovulating! Reader

The Slashers Being the Protector (Rather than the Killer)

The Slashers with Reader Who Has Prosthetics

The Slashers with Sick & Pregnant! Reader

The Slashers with Stronger! Reader

The Slashers with Rude & Arrogant! Reader

Headcanons

Michael Taking You with Him HC

RZ! Michael Going Through a Corn Maze with You (Oct 2023 Prompt)

[loganslowdown4]

Extras & Headcanons

April - November 2024

Smash States Remus Meme

Notification Short Meme (Guys with Glasses)

Unread Flag

Roman Eating his Jam Promo

Virgil Purple Eyeshadow

Join Me, No Thinking

My Incorrect Quote GIFs

Speculation On Janus’ Single Light

Logan Voicing Janus, Roman & Remus

Magic Change Janus Gif

Janus’ GRWM Makeup Video Reaction

Janus’ GRWM Canon Explanation

Roman’s Gonna Be 10!

Happy Pride!

Cake Incorrect Quote Day After Roman’s Birthday

Drag queen or wrestler twin prompt

Sanders sides text posts part 21 ❤️

Me & Janus Snap Transformation

sanders sides text posts part 22 🔪

TS 2018 t-shirt Designs

Delicious In Dungeon on Real Or Fake Anime (My Prompt!)

Karrot Kings & That Mixtape Journal

All Editorial Looks So Far (June 2024)

sanders sides text posts part 23🧊

Crofter’s PB&J Bars Recipe

Logince Edit Commission from Ashley

June Almost Over

Cockroaches for Remus

sanders sides text posts part 24 🤧

Roman Editorial Look Question (Patreon livestream June 2024)

My Little Logince Moment in IQ 4

The Little Anxceit Wave (IQ4)

Moceit Flirting Virgil’s Face (IQ4 meme)

Incorrect Quotes Volume 4 Reaction Video

The Giggle in the Ferris Quote

Stress Ball Quote IQ4 Without Subtitles

Then Beg IQ4 without Subtitles

sanders sides + text posts part 25 🐙

All Editorial Looks Update

Remus 🤝 Tank Tops

Janus as Dr Horrible

sanders sides + text posts part 26🙏

Remus Aesthetic Candle Holders B&BW Fall 2024

How To Be Perfec - Michael Schur Morality Book Very Similar to POF:SVSR

Name Spelling: Brandon’s Eyes lol

Sanders sides + text posts part 27 💤

Small Sides: Thomas Tweet 2019

Virgil Going To His Room/My Quote/My Journey On YouTube

Logan Angst Meme Template

Consumer My Soul Meme

Sanders sides + text posts part 28 🗣️

Virgil/Gideon on a Skateboard

Goldfish In A Condom Meme

2024 Nuclear Family Meme

Zander’s Fanders (Girls5Eva)

Prince & Knight Children’s Books (Roman)

Canadian Money (Spyro Livestream Sep 2024)

My Characters Read Your Tweets YT Reaction

Agatha All Along Purple Line (Sep 18)

Birthday Post!

Thomas’ Dreams Part 1

Thomas’ Dreams Part 2

Thomas’ Dreams Part 3

Thomas’ Dreams Part 4

Thomas’ Dreams Part 5

Thomas’ Dreams Part 6

Moving On/Inside Job Comparison

Famous Battle (Logan/Princey Rap)

Sanderstober Day 5 Writing Prompt

Comfort Show (Halloween Costumes Collage)

Matilda/Core 4

‘Yours’ Reaction Video

sanders sides + text posts part 29 🎧

8th Anniversary coming up!

sanders sides + text posts part 30 📖

When Is It Enough? Roman Speech Redux (where I fell in love with him)

All 6 Sides Collage NBSC

Roman & Logan in NBSC

Roman Thomas & Virgil FWSA vs NBSC

sanders sides + text posts part 31 🧅

Nightmare Before Spirit Christmas Reaction Video

You Can Conjure Puppies feat. my Scottie

Rewatch Sanders Sides Meme

Sides As Tarot Cards (Happy Halloween!)

Oct 31 vs Nov 1 Roman Meme

Pain In 4 Pictures (November 1st)(The Time Of Year…2018 TS Short)

It’s Her Month (November)(Mean Months TS Short)

Logan’s 10th Anniversary

Logan Appreciation Day

Give Me Crofters

Mr Fuzzy Dukexiety Headcanon

Lily Padton but He’s Jason Funderberker Headcanon

Logan’s Birthday Video Logince Moment

Virgil At A Meeting Headcanon

Sanders Sides All The Extras 5

First Anniversary Logan Playing Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

Spirit Christmas Really Is Like Halloween Taking Over Christmas

Danny Devito’s 80th Birthday!

Happy 8th Anniversary to Way Too Adult

Happy 5th Anniversary to Are There Healthy Distractions

[mariacallous]

Israel is framing its decision to close down the Jerusalem bureau of Al Jazeera as a matter of security—suggesting that the network’s coverage of the war in Gaza includes regular incitement against the Jewish population that could lead to attacks on Israelis. But rights activists and media watchdogs are warning that the move could be part of a larger crackdown on press freedoms in the country—potentially targeting Israeli journalists and outlets as well.

One Israeli official, speaking two days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet voted unanimously to shutter the station that provides the most intensive coverage of the devastating Israeli military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, said the decision was made on the recommendation of security officials and deliberations in a cabinet subgroup dealing with political and security affairs.

The official told Foreign Policy that Al Jazeera was “a favorite platform for Hamas, especially since the outbreak of the war, to incite public opinion against Israel and for carrying out attacks against its citizens.”

“Al Jazeera is not a media organization in the accepted sense of the word. It has a very extremist agenda in all its broadcasts,” the official said, describing it as an instrument of the Qatari government, which partially funds the network.

The network denies the allegations and is challenging the decision in an Israeli court, along with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. “Sanctioning one of the biggest media channels in the world is a huge thing. It’s something done by dictatorships. Democracies don’t shut down media channels,” said Hagar Shechter, an attorney for the rights group.

Al Jazeera has said the closure is a “criminal act that violates human rights and the basic right to access information.” It charges that Israel is targeting and killing journalists as part of an effort to conceal its actions. The closure affects both English and Arabic broadcasts of Al Jazeera.

At least 92 Palestinian journalists have been killed during the war, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. That numbers includes two Al Jazeera staffers, according to the news organization’s Ramallah bureau. The network also alleges that Israel two years ago deliberately killed its Palestine correspondent, Shireen Abu Akleh. Israel denies targeting journalists. Its own probe determined her killing was an accident, most likely as a result of Israeli fire.

The closure comes amid other steps by the Netanyahu government that have raised concerns over freedom of expression in Israel, including the far-right coalition’s pushing of an amendment to the 2016 counterterrorism law that would lower the bar for the statements that could be construed as punishable incitement.

According to Haifa-based rights group Adalah, more than 150 Palestinian citizens of Israel and East Jerusalem residents, many of them students, have been indicted for incitement since the war began. Prominent human rights lawyer Michael Sfard said the social media posts that prompted action from law enforcement authorities ranged from “benign statements of support” for residents of Gaza to supporting or contextualizing Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack against Israel.

In one case, Hebrew University academic Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian was arrested at her home last month after the airing of a podcast episode in which she called Israel’s operations in Gaza a genocide and urged the elimination of Zionism. After she spent a night in jail under what her lawyers said were harrowing conditions, judges in two hearings found there were no grounds for the arrest and released her. Police said the case remains open.

Al Jazeera can still be accessed in Israel via YouTube and private satellite and will keep up its reporting on Gaza. Staffers at Israel’s leading media watchdog, The Seventh Eye, say that the ban appears not to be motivated by security and that its real purpose seems to be to serve the political interests of Netanyahu and his allies in the most right-wing coalition in Israeli history.

The step is seen by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel as the quiet continuation of the judicial overhaul that Netanyahu’s government had tried to implement before the war in Gaza—prompting mass protests. Government critics had described the overhaul as a thinly veiled attempt to weaken political oversight and make Israel less democratic.

Oren Persico, a staffer at The Seventh Eye, said the government is using the new law as a “signal of intent” to act against not just foreign networks but Israeli journalists and outlets as well. “This is the first step in something that could become a snowball,” he said. He noted that during the drafting of the law some legislators from Netanyahu’s Likud party and far-right allies called for the bill to be broadened to include Israeli outlets deemed harmful to state security.

The Kan public broadcaster, a kind of Israeli version of the BBC, is frequently criticized by members of Netanyahu’s government and already facing pressure. Avraham Hasson, the spokesperson for the communications minister, said the government wants to make sure the public network “serves the entire public and gives expression to all views in the nation and to the range of views.” He stressed that this is unrelated to Al Jazeera’s closure.

Eliyahu Revivo, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, took issue with Al Jazeera for “presenting one narrative”—referring to Jerusalem as occupied and to terrorists as martyrs—and for reporting live from Gaza “in a way that can harm army actions.”

“They cover things in a false and distorted way, and this increases the international pressure on us. They harm Israel’s standing,” he said.

But Yaakov Amidror, a retired major general who headed Israel’s National Security Council, said that in security terms “there was no need to close Al Jazeera. I think the world without Al Jazeera would be a better place, but it’s not in our power to stop its broadcasts. This step adds nothing.”

Al Jazeera said in a statement Sunday that Israeli allegations were baseless and that it adheres to professional standards. It has repeatedly rejected any allegations of bias and ties to Hamas.

Asked about Israeli accusations made to Foreign Policy that staffers are linked to terrorism, West Bank bureau chief Walid al-Omari responded: “I am leaving the lies to the liars and the incitement to the instigators.”

Al Jazeera’s coverage has been drawing Israeli ire for years but especially since the start of the war in Gaza. The station, by its own count, has 22 employees in Gaza—an area Israel has kept closed to independent foreign media coverage since Oct. 7.

In a sample of its coverage on a recent day, the network prominently aired an unedited video furnished by the press office of Hamas’s military wing. It showed a fighter winding wires to launch missiles, and then missiles sweeping through the sky. A similar video, this one with music, came from Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s media office. And it highlighted that the Palestinian resistance was still able to strike at Israel.

The network routinely refers to the Israel-Hamas war as an Israeli genocide, accuses Israel of deliberately targeting civilians, and airs graphic images in the aftermath of Israeli attacks. Israel accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields, but the country has come under increasing criticism—including from allies—for the high death toll among civilians in Gaza.

Matti Steinberg, an independent researcher of Palestinian politics and a former senior advisor to Israel’s Shin Bet security service, said closing Al Jazeera was unjustified. “In my view, it’s to hide what’s going on in Gaza from people in Israel.”

“They have their own perspective, but when it comes to factual precision they are more accurate than the Israeli media,” he said.

[gacmediadaily]

The most wonderful time of the year — holiday movie season, of course — is almost here, and it's looking to be just as jam-packed as ever.

PEOPLE can exclusively reveal that Great American Family will be releasing 20 new original Christmas movies in the 2023 season, up two from last year. And they'll filled with all the merriment, twinkle lights, and stars fans have come to enjoy.

Danica McKellar, Chad Michael Murray, Candace Cameron Bure, Trevor Donovan, and Jen Lilley are among the favorites returning for the festivities, which includes round-the-clock holiday-themed entertainment and will kick off on the network on Oct. 20, The first new movie debuting on Oct. 21.

See the full lineup — along with the network's descriptions — below.

12 Games of Christmas, starring Johnny Ramey and Felisha Cooper: A group of old friends and neighbors are transported into a Christmas-themed board game during a Christmas party.

A Christmas Blessing, starring Lori Loughlin, James Tupper, and Jesse Hutch: A TV chef (Loughlin) is divinely inspired to take over her late aunt’s charity with help from a new friend (Hutch) and handsome business associate next door (Tupper).

A Christmas Commission, starring Sarah Fisher and Simon Arblaster: Two rival realtors (Fisher and Arblaster) are forced to work together to sell one special house before Christmas.

A Christmas for the Ages, starring Natasha Bure and Cheryl Ladd: Prompted by their youngest granddaughter (Bure), four generations celebrate family and what Christmas was like in the '40s, '60s, '90s, and present day.

A Dash of Christmas, starring Broadway’s Laura Osnes and Christopher Russell: A marketing exec (Osnes) must learn a recipe to get her dream job and ends up entering a holiday bakeoff with a dream baker (Russell).

A Model Christmas (working title), starring Ash Tsai and Joey Heyworth: While on a charity press tour, a model (Tsai) ends up stranded by the weather at the family home of the driver (Heyworth) she hired to assist her for the week.

A Paris Christmas Waltz, starring Jen Lilley and Matthew Morrison: A novice dancer (Lilley) pairs with a professional (Morrison) to enter a renowned dance competition…in Paris! The next story in The Christmas Waltz universe, the highest-rated Christmas rom-com of 2020 (which starred Lacey Chabert and Will Kemp).

A Royal Christmas Holiday, starring Brittany Underwood and Jonathan Stoddard: In search of her big break, a reporter (Underwood) arranges a Christmas interview with a European Prince (Stoddard) visiting the States. Will the reporter’s big story become her love story?

A Royal Christmas Romance (working title), starring Danica McKellar and Damon Runyan: When a European Duke (Runyon) arrives in the U.S., he realizes that his bags have been lost in transit. He has no choice but to be styled, and ultimately inspired, by Bella (McKellar), the owner of a local boutique.

A Time Capsule Christmas (working title), starring Jillian Murray and Daniel Lissing: A father (Lissing) bonds with his daughter and stumbles upon an unexpected romance (Murray) while tracking down the original owner of a Christmas time capsule.

Bringing Christmas Home (working title), starring Jill Wagner and Paul Greene: A professor of military history (Wagner) teams with an antique store owner (Greene) to track down the original owner of a historic WWII uniform and the love letters left in its pockets.

Christmas on Windmill Way, starring Christa Taylor Brown and Chad Michael Murray: To save her family's legacy windmill, a woman (Taylor Brown) must remind her ex-boyfriend (Michael Murray) of the best of their hometown.

Destined 2: Christmas Once More, starring Shae Robbins and Casey Elliott: In this sequel, Theo (Elliott) continues to miss connecting with his girlfriend, Kim (Robbins) as he attempts to propose at Christmas.

Mistletoe Moments, starring Susie Abromeit and Liam McIntyre: With her career on the line, a decorator (Abromeit) must work with an unexpected partner (McIntyre) to showcase a house for an upcoming Christmas gala.

My Christmas Hero, starring Candace Cameron Bure and Gabriel Hogan: An army reserve doctor (Bure) tracks down her family's military history with the help of a new romance (Hogan).

Our Christmas Wedding, starring Holly Deveaux and Drew Seeley: In the sequel, roles reverse as Nicole’s boss plans newly engaged Nicole (Deveaux) and Michael’s (Seeley) wedding in two weeks at Christmas.

Peppermint & Postcards, starring Ella Cannon and Christopher Russell: When a Christmas letter concerning her love life goes viral, one mom discovers that romance might be right at her door.

Santa, Maybe (working title), starring Aubrey Reynolds: Can theater director Lila (Reynolds) rise to the challenge of putting on the perfect Christmas ballet, while also discovering her office Secret Santa in the process?

The Christmas Regift (working title), starring Erin Agostino and Marshall Williams: A city manager (Williams) recruits the help of a childhood friend (Agostino) in setting right his town's Christmas Charity event, while she sets to work setting him up with her close friend.

‘Twas the Text Before Christmas, starring Merritt Patterson and Trevor Donovan: An unexpected text message sent to the wrong number (Patterson) sets into motion a Christmas tradition with a new family (Donovan) over three separate years.

Great American Christmas begins Oct. 20 on Great American Family. Fans can track the movies they want to see using the Christmas Movie Checklist App

[rgbtimes]

Select Board votes 'no report' on ceasefire resolution after brief recess due to audience disturbance

The Select Board -- after hearing from more than a dozen recognized speakers about the controversial ceasefire resolution due to go to Special Town Meeting on Wednesday -- went into recess and left the room at 7:40 p.m. Wednesday. This occurred after Board Chair Steve DeCourcey more than once warned disruptive audience members in the room -- to no avail -- not to shout out from the gallery. The board soon returned and, on a motion by Eric Helmuth and a second by Len Diggins, voted 5-0 for "no report."

What that means, DeCourcey said and Town Council Michael Cunningham affirmed, was that the proposed resolution -- Special Town Meeting Article 5 -- is to now become "the main motion" before Town Meeting members, who are the only people authorized to actually adopt -- or not -- any given article. DeCourcey emphasized that he had previously spoken with Cunningham to confirm that, while an advisory opinion from the board to Town Meeting is generally traditional on articles, it is not required.

Diane Mahon said she appreciated the audience but advocated for continual respect from all and to all going forward. "We do thank you for coming out," she said.

Recently endorsed by the town's Human Rights Commission, Special Town Meeting Article 5 seeks an immediate permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, release of all hostages and other related measures; the commission voted, 8-1, to support this on April 24.

The board meeting ended just after 7:50 p.m., about five minutes later than planned. It had been scheduled to go only until 7:45 p.m. because of Session 3 of Town Meeting at 8 p.m. -- and the article was not, per the board agenda, scheduled to receive a vote; that article and four others are scheduled to go Wednesday, May 8, to Special Town Meeting.

At the meeting, those who spoke in favor of the resolution exceeded the number who spoke against, as is common practice at government meetings, each person was alloted three minutes. At least a dozen other people, some attending in person, others via Zoom, had hoped to speak as well but could not due to the time constraints, so their positions remain unknown. It was not certain whether this is what prompted the crosstalk nor what views might be held by those speaking out of turn, and neither the identity of those calling out nor what they said was intelligible to this reporter watching over Zoom.

Speaking strongly in favor of the resolution was Arfi Jayanti. "It's nothing but pro-humanity," she said, intended "to support peace in the Middle East." She was one of several speakers who mentioned severe food shortages in Gaza in the Israel-Hamas war that began Oct. 8 -- and to refer to the overall situation as an "atrocity" and a "genocide." She also said, "We Americans are complicit -- we sponsored it," possibly referring to recently approved billions of dollars of federal funding for Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine. She concluded by saying, "I support ceasefire of all wars."

In a statement Monday, resolution co-author and Town Meeting Member Sarah McKinnon expressed her thoughts.

"This ceasefire resolution is a grassroots endeavor to engage local government by reaching out to federal leaders, who have thus far remained unmoved by individual daily calls, meetings with staff and petitions over many months regarding the conflict in Gaza and Israel, which has now developed into a grave humanitarian crisis. I interpret the Select Board's 'no report' vote as a neutral position; this is consistent with [its] recent commentary on another resolution in this year's warrant (Article 66), in which Helmuth suggested that the resolutions are properly the voice of Town Meeting. The hope is that Town Meeting members will recognize that this resolution is also locally relevant and one of many recommendations coming from the AHRC process, which involved commissioners [and] the town's DEI director as well as a broad diversity of more than 100 community members."

Organized Jewish community's perspective

In a telephone interview hours before the meeting, Rabbi Avi Bukiet, co-founder of the Center for Jewish Life, the only Jewish institution in town, told that he has long been aware of the article, to which he has been consistently strongly opposed.

"The most important reason is that we believe that this will just bring conflict and division in the community. It has already brought conflict and division within the community, within the Town. And there’s no actual practical measures that the town is taking to address what is going on right here. Forget about what’s going on 10,000 miles away in a foreign conflict!"

He continued, "So we are just asking that they refocus their attention to the goings-ons and the strife that may be happening right on their doorstep, whether it’s discrimination, whether it’s antisemitism that has rocketed, or Islamophobia. Hate of all kinds. But the point is that this is what they should be focusing on -- and not at all anything that has to do with something that they have no impact on. So that is what we are asking them to do in no uncertain terms -- and we are asking them to listen to us and to not make a severe mistake in this process.”

At the meeting itself, Bukiet reiterated these points. He also described his center as having been targeted more than once by unmistakable antisemitism -- from having received a swastika in the mail when it first opened to his personally experiencing vile verbal slurs to the building having been victimized twice by arson in 2019.

[thefeletimes]

Select Board votes 'no report' on ceasefire resolution after brief recess due to audience disturbance

The Select Board -- after hearing from more than a dozen recognized speakers about the controversial ceasefire resolution due to go to Special Town Meeting on Wednesday -- went into recess and left the room at 7:40 p.m. Wednesday. This occurred after Board Chair Steve DeCourcey more than once warned disruptive audience members in the room -- to no avail -- not to shout out from the gallery. The board soon returned and, on a motion by Eric Helmuth and a second by Len Diggins, voted 5-0 for "no report."

What that means, DeCourcey said and Town Council Michael Cunningham affirmed, was that the proposed resolution -- Special Town Meeting Article 5 -- is to now become "the main motion" before Town Meeting members, who are the only people authorized to actually adopt -- or not -- any given article. DeCourcey emphasized that he had previously spoken with Cunningham to confirm that, while an advisory opinion from the board to Town Meeting is generally traditional on articles, it is not required.

Diane Mahon said she appreciated the audience but advocated for continual respect from all and to all going forward. "We do thank you for coming out," she said.

Recently endorsed by the town's Human Rights Commission, Special Town Meeting Article 5 seeks an immediate permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, release of all hostages and other related measures; the commission voted, 8-1, to support this on April 24.

The board meeting ended just after 7:50 p.m., about five minutes later than planned. It had been scheduled to go only until 7:45 p.m. because of Session 3 of Town Meeting at 8 p.m. -- and the article was not, per the board agenda, scheduled to receive a vote; that article and four others are scheduled to go Wednesday, May 8, to Special Town Meeting.

At the meeting, those who spoke in favor of the resolution exceeded the number who spoke against, as is common practice at government meetings, each person was alloted three minutes. At least a dozen other people, some attending in person, others via Zoom, had hoped to speak as well but could not due to the time constraints, so their positions remain unknown. It was not certain whether this is what prompted the crosstalk nor what views might be held by those speaking out of turn, and neither the identity of those calling out nor what they said was intelligible to this reporter watching over Zoom.

Speaking strongly in favor of the resolution was Arfi Jayanti. "It's nothing but pro-humanity," she said, intended "to support peace in the Middle East." She was one of several speakers who mentioned severe food shortages in Gaza in the Israel-Hamas war that began Oct. 8 -- and to refer to the overall situation as an "atrocity" and a "genocide." She also said, "We Americans are complicit -- we sponsored it," possibly referring to recently approved billions of dollars of federal funding for Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine. She concluded by saying, "I support ceasefire of all wars."

In a statement Monday, resolution co-author and Town Meeting Member Sarah McKinnon expressed her thoughts.

"This ceasefire resolution is a grassroots endeavor to engage local government by reaching out to federal leaders, who have thus far remained unmoved by individual daily calls, meetings with staff and petitions over many months regarding the conflict in Gaza and Israel, which has now developed into a grave humanitarian crisis. I interpret the Select Board's 'no report' vote as a neutral position; this is consistent with [its] recent commentary on another resolution in this year's warrant (Article 66), in which Helmuth suggested that the resolutions are properly the voice of Town Meeting. The hope is that Town Meeting members will recognize that this resolution is also locally relevant and one of many recommendations coming from the AHRC process, which involved commissioners [and] the town's DEI director as well as a broad diversity of more than 100 community members."

Organized Jewish community's perspective

In a telephone interview hours before the meeting, Rabbi Avi Bukiet, co-founder of the Center for Jewish Life, the only Jewish institution in town, told that he has long been aware of the article, to which he has been consistently strongly opposed.

"The most important reason is that we believe that this will just bring conflict and division in the community. It has already brought conflict and division within the community, within the Town. And there’s no actual practical measures that the town is taking to address what is going on right here. Forget about what’s going on 10,000 miles away in a foreign conflict!"

He continued, "So we are just asking that they refocus their attention to the goings-ons and the strife that may be happening right on their doorstep, whether it’s discrimination, whether it’s antisemitism that has rocketed, or Islamophobia. Hate of all kinds. But the point is that this is what they should be focusing on -- and not at all anything that has to do with something that they have no impact on. So that is what we are asking them to do in no uncertain terms -- and we are asking them to listen to us and to not make a severe mistake in this process.”

At the meeting itself, Bukiet reiterated these points. He also described his center as having been targeted more than once by unmistakable antisemitism -- from having received a swastika in the mail when it first opened to his personally experiencing vile verbal slurs to the building having been victimized twice by arson in 2019.

[theglobeaid]

Select Board votes 'no report' on ceasefire resolution after brief recess due to audience disturbance

The Select Board -- after hearing from more than a dozen recognized speakers about the controversial ceasefire resolution due to go to Special Town Meeting on Wednesday -- went into recess and left the room at 7:40 p.m. Wednesday. This occurred after Board Chair Steve DeCourcey more than once warned disruptive audience members in the room -- to no avail -- not to shout out from the gallery. The board soon returned and, on a motion by Eric Helmuth and a second by Len Diggins, voted 5-0 for "no report."

What that means, DeCourcey said and Town Council Michael Cunningham affirmed, was that the proposed resolution -- Special Town Meeting Article 5 -- is to now become "the main motion" before Town Meeting members, who are the only people authorized to actually adopt -- or not -- any given article. DeCourcey emphasized that he had previously spoken with Cunningham to confirm that, while an advisory opinion from the board to Town Meeting is generally traditional on articles, it is not required.

Diane Mahon said she appreciated the audience but advocated for continual respect from all and to all going forward. "We do thank you for coming out," she said.

Recently endorsed by the town's Human Rights Commission, Special Town Meeting Article 5 seeks an immediate permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, release of all hostages and other related measures; the commission voted, 8-1, to support this on April 24.

The board meeting ended just after 7:50 p.m., about five minutes later than planned. It had been scheduled to go only until 7:45 p.m. because of Session 3 of Town Meeting at 8 p.m. -- and the article was not, per the board agenda, scheduled to receive a vote; that article and four others are scheduled to go Wednesday, May 8, to Special Town Meeting.

At the meeting, those who spoke in favor of the resolution exceeded the number who spoke against, as is common practice at government meetings, each person was alloted three minutes. At least a dozen other people, some attending in person, others via Zoom, had hoped to speak as well but could not due to the time constraints, so their positions remain unknown. It was not certain whether this is what prompted the crosstalk nor what views might be held by those speaking out of turn, and neither the identity of those calling out nor what they said was intelligible to this reporter watching over Zoom.

Speaking strongly in favor of the resolution was Arfi Jayanti. "It's nothing but pro-humanity," she said, intended "to support peace in the Middle East." She was one of several speakers who mentioned severe food shortages in Gaza in the Israel-Hamas war that began Oct. 8 -- and to refer to the overall situation as an "atrocity" and a "genocide." She also said, "We Americans are complicit -- we sponsored it," possibly referring to recently approved billions of dollars of federal funding for Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine. She concluded by saying, "I support ceasefire of all wars."

In a statement Monday, resolution co-author and Town Meeting Member Sarah McKinnon expressed her thoughts.

"This ceasefire resolution is a grassroots endeavor to engage local government by reaching out to federal leaders, who have thus far remained unmoved by individual daily calls, meetings with staff and petitions over many months regarding the conflict in Gaza and Israel, which has now developed into a grave humanitarian crisis. I interpret the Select Board's 'no report' vote as a neutral position; this is consistent with [its] recent commentary on another resolution in this year's warrant (Article 66), in which Helmuth suggested that the resolutions are properly the voice of Town Meeting. The hope is that Town Meeting members will recognize that this resolution is also locally relevant and one of many recommendations coming from the AHRC process, which involved commissioners [and] the town's DEI director as well as a broad diversity of more than 100 community members."

Organized Jewish community's perspective

In a telephone interview hours before the meeting, Rabbi Avi Bukiet, co-founder of the Center for Jewish Life, the only Jewish institution in town, told that he has long been aware of the article, to which he has been consistently strongly opposed.

"The most important reason is that we believe that this will just bring conflict and division in the community. It has already brought conflict and division within the community, within the Town. And there’s no actual practical measures that the town is taking to address what is going on right here. Forget about what’s going on 10,000 miles away in a foreign conflict!"

He continued, "So we are just asking that they refocus their attention to the goings-ons and the strife that may be happening right on their doorstep, whether it’s discrimination, whether it’s antisemitism that has rocketed, or Islamophobia. Hate of all kinds. But the point is that this is what they should be focusing on -- and not at all anything that has to do with something that they have no impact on. So that is what we are asking them to do in no uncertain terms -- and we are asking them to listen to us and to not make a severe mistake in this process.”

At the meeting itself, Bukiet reiterated these points. He also described his center as having been targeted more than once by unmistakable antisemitism -- from having received a swastika in the mail when it first opened to his personally experiencing vile verbal slurs to the building having been victimized twice by arson in 2019.

[corienow]

Select Board votes 'no report' on ceasefire resolution after brief recess due to audience disturbance

The Select Board -- after hearing from more than a dozen recognized speakers about the controversial ceasefire resolution due to go to Special Town Meeting on Wednesday -- went into recess and left the room at 7:40 p.m. Wednesday. This occurred after Board Chair Steve DeCourcey more than once warned disruptive audience members in the room -- to no avail -- not to shout out from the gallery. The board soon returned and, on a motion by Eric Helmuth and a second by Len Diggins, voted 5-0 for "no report."

What that means, DeCourcey said and Town Council Michael Cunningham affirmed, was that the proposed resolution -- Special Town Meeting Article 5 -- is to now become "the main motion" before Town Meeting members, who are the only people authorized to actually adopt -- or not -- any given article. DeCourcey emphasized that he had previously spoken with Cunningham to confirm that, while an advisory opinion from the board to Town Meeting is generally traditional on articles, it is not required.

Diane Mahon said she appreciated the audience but advocated for continual respect from all and to all going forward. "We do thank you for coming out," she said.

Recently endorsed by the town's Human Rights Commission, Special Town Meeting Article 5 seeks an immediate permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, release of all hostages and other related measures; the commission voted, 8-1, to support this on April 24.

The board meeting ended just after 7:50 p.m., about five minutes later than planned. It had been scheduled to go only until 7:45 p.m. because of Session 3 of Town Meeting at 8 p.m. -- and the article was not, per the board agenda, scheduled to receive a vote; that article and four others are scheduled to go Wednesday, May 8, to Special Town Meeting.

At the meeting, those who spoke in favor of the resolution exceeded the number who spoke against, as is common practice at government meetings, each person was alloted three minutes. At least a dozen other people, some attending in person, others via Zoom, had hoped to speak as well but could not due to the time constraints, so their positions remain unknown. It was not certain whether this is what prompted the crosstalk nor what views might be held by those speaking out of turn, and neither the identity of those calling out nor what they said was intelligible to this reporter watching over Zoom.

Speaking strongly in favor of the resolution was Arfi Jayanti. "It's nothing but pro-humanity," she said, intended "to support peace in the Middle East." She was one of several speakers who mentioned severe food shortages in Gaza in the Israel-Hamas war that began Oct. 8 -- and to refer to the overall situation as an "atrocity" and a "genocide." She also said, "We Americans are complicit -- we sponsored it," possibly referring to recently approved billions of dollars of federal funding for Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine. She concluded by saying, "I support ceasefire of all wars."

In a statement Monday, resolution co-author and Town Meeting Member Sarah McKinnon expressed her thoughts.

"This ceasefire resolution is a grassroots endeavor to engage local government by reaching out to federal leaders, who have thus far remained unmoved by individual daily calls, meetings with staff and petitions over many months regarding the conflict in Gaza and Israel, which has now developed into a grave humanitarian crisis. I interpret the Select Board's 'no report' vote as a neutral position; this is consistent with [its] recent commentary on another resolution in this year's warrant (Article 66), in which Helmuth suggested that the resolutions are properly the voice of Town Meeting. The hope is that Town Meeting members will recognize that this resolution is also locally relevant and one of many recommendations coming from the AHRC process, which involved commissioners [and] the town's DEI director as well as a broad diversity of more than 100 community members."

Organized Jewish community's perspective

In a telephone interview hours before the meeting, Rabbi Avi Bukiet, co-founder of the Center for Jewish Life, the only Jewish institution in town, told that he has long been aware of the article, to which he has been consistently strongly opposed.

"The most important reason is that we believe that this will just bring conflict and division in the community. It has already brought conflict and division within the community, within the Town. And there’s no actual practical measures that the town is taking to address what is going on right here. Forget about what’s going on 10,000 miles away in a foreign conflict!"

He continued, "So we are just asking that they refocus their attention to the goings-ons and the strife that may be happening right on their doorstep, whether it’s discrimination, whether it’s antisemitism that has rocketed, or Islamophobia. Hate of all kinds. But the point is that this is what they should be focusing on -- and not at all anything that has to do with something that they have no impact on. So that is what we are asking them to do in no uncertain terms -- and we are asking them to listen to us and to not make a severe mistake in this process.”

At the meeting itself, Bukiet reiterated these points. He also described his center as having been targeted more than once by unmistakable antisemitism -- from having received a swastika in the mail when it first opened to his personally experiencing vile verbal slurs to the building having been victimized twice by arson in 2019.

Dennis Blain

[fnptimes]

Select Board votes 'no report' on ceasefire resolution after brief recess due to audience disturbance

The Arlington Select Board -- after hearing from more than a dozen recognized speakers about the controversial ceasefire resolution due to go to Special Town Meeting on Wednesday -- went into recess and left the room at 7:40 p.m. Wednesday. This occurred after Board Chair Steve DeCourcey more than once warned disruptive audience members in the room -- to no avail -- not to shout out from the gallery. The board soon returned and, on a motion by Eric Helmuth and a second by Len Diggins, voted 5-0 for "no report."

What that means, DeCourcey said and Town Council Michael Cunningham affirmed, was that the proposed resolution -- Special Town Meeting Article 5 -- is to now become "the main motion" before Town Meeting members, who are the only people authorized to actually adopt -- or not -- any given article. DeCourcey emphasized that he had previously spoken with Cunningham to confirm that, while an advisory opinion from the board to Town Meeting is generally traditional on articles, it is not required.

Diane Mahon said she appreciated the audience but advocated for continual respect from all and to all going forward. "We do thank you for coming out," she said.

Recently endorsed by the town's Human Rights Commission, Special Town Meeting Article 5 seeks an immediate permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, release of all hostages and other related measures; the commission voted, 8-1, to support this on April 24.

The board meeting ended just after 7:50 p.m., about five minutes later than planned. It had been scheduled to go only until 7:45 p.m. because of Session 3 of Town Meeting at 8 p.m. -- and the article was not, per the board agenda, scheduled to receive a vote; that article and four others are scheduled to go Wednesday, May 8, to Special Town Meeting.

At the meeting, those who spoke in favor of the resolution exceeded the number who spoke against, as is common practice at government meetings, each person was alloted three minutes. At least a dozen other people, some attending in person, others via Zoom, had hoped to speak as well but could not due to the time constraints, so their positions remain unknown. It was not certain whether this is what prompted the crosstalk nor what views might be held by those speaking out of turn, and neither the identity of those calling out nor what they said was intelligible to this reporter watching over Zoom.

Speaking strongly in favor of the resolution was Arfi Jayanti. "It's nothing but pro-humanity," she said, intended "to support peace in the Middle East." She was one of several speakers who mentioned severe food shortages in Gaza in the Israel-Hamas war that began Oct. 8 -- and to refer to the overall situation as an "atrocity" and a "genocide." She also said, "We Americans are complicit -- we sponsored it," possibly referring to recently approved billions of dollars of federal funding for Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine. She concluded by saying, "I support ceasefire of all wars."

In a statement Monday, resolution co-author and Town Meeting Member Sarah McKinnon expressed her thoughts.

"This ceasefire resolution is a grassroots endeavor to engage local government by reaching out to federal leaders, who have thus far remained unmoved by individual daily calls, meetings with staff and petitions over many months regarding the conflict in Gaza and Israel, which has now developed into a grave humanitarian crisis. I interpret the Select Board's 'no report' vote as a neutral position; this is consistent with [its] recent commentary on another resolution in this year's warrant (Article 66), in which Helmuth suggested that the resolutions are properly the voice of Town Meeting. The hope is that Town Meeting members will recognize that this resolution is also locally relevant and one of many recommendations coming from the AHRC process, which involved commissioners [and] the town's DEI director as well as a broad diversity of more than 100 community members."

Organized Jewish community's perspective

In a telephone interview hours before the meeting, Rabbi Avi Bukiet, co-founder of the Center for Jewish Life, the only Jewish institution in town, told YourArlington that he has long been aware of the article, to which he has been consistently strongly opposed.

"The most important reason is that we believe that this will just bring conflict and division in the community. It has already brought conflict and division within the community, within the Town of Arlington. And there’s no actual practical measures that the town is taking to address what is going on right here in Arlington. Forget about what’s going on 10,000 miles away in a foreign conflict!"

He continued, "So we are just asking that they refocus their attention to the goings-ons in Arlington and the strife that may be happening right on their doorstep, whether it’s discrimination, whether it’s antisemitism that has rocketed in Arlington itself, or Islamophobia. Hate of all kinds. But the point is that this is what they should be focusing on -- and not at all anything that has to do with something that they have no impact on. So that is what we are asking them to do in no uncertain terms -- and we are asking them to listen to us and to not make a severe mistake in this process.”

At the meeting itself, Bukiet reiterated these points. He also described his center as having been targeted more than once by unmistakable antisemitism -- from having received a swastika in the mail when it first opened to his personally experiencing vile verbal slurs to the building having been victimized twice by arson in 2019.

Halina Thomas

[xtruss]

How The ADL’S Anti-Palestinian Advocacy Helped Shape U.S. Terror Laws

Long Before 9/11, “Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐗 Groups” Like the “Anti-Defamation League 🐖 🐷 🐗 ” Lobbied For Counterterror Legislation That Singled Out Palestinians, A New Report Reveals.

— By Alice Speri | February 21 2024 | The Intercept

Students from Hunter College chant and hold up signs during a Pro-Palestinian demonstration at the entrance of their campus in New York on Oct. 12, 2023. The organization Students for Justice in Palestine held protests in colleges across the nation to show solidarity with Palestine. Photo: Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket Via Getty Images

Last October, as protests against Israel’s war on Gaza swept U.S. campuses, two prominent pro-Israel groups wrote to nearly 200 university and college administrators urging them to investigate their students for possibly violating federal law by promoting pro-Hamas, anti-Israel messaging.

The Anti-Defamation League, or ADL, and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law suggested that members of Students for Justice in Palestine, the largest Palestine solidarity campus organization in the country, may have been violating a law that prohibits people from providing “material support” — a broad category that includes money as well as services or other assistance — to U.S.-designated terror groups. “We certainly cannot sit idly by as a student organization provides vocal and potentially material support to Hamas, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization,” the ADL and the Brandeis Center wrote.

There is no evidence SJP has ever provided material support to Hamas, and the letter prompted widespread condemnation. The American Civil Liberties Union called on leaders in higher education to “reject baseless calls to investigate or punish student groups for exercising their free speech rights.”

The federal material support law has been the most frequently cited law in prosecutions throughout the U.S-led war on terror. And its invocation by the ADL was a full-circle moment for the group, which helped pass it three decades ago largely to undermine support for Palestinians in the United States. Long before 9/11, U.S. terror laws were shaped by a distinctly anti-Palestinian agenda and often promoted by pro-Israel organizations, a new report published on Wednesday reveals.

“In the history of U.S. terrorism law, Palestine is the elephant in the room,” said Darryl Li, an anthropologist and legal scholar at the University of Chicago and author of the report.

The legal analysis, co-published by the Center for Constitutional Rights and Palestine Legal, a group that fights the legal harassment of pro-Palestine activists, draws on five decades of legislative history to trace how moments of upheaval in Israel and Palestine were exploited by Israel advocates in the U.S. to expand counterterrorism legislation and enshrine antidemocratic principles in a range of domestic laws.

“Many foundational antiterrorism laws arose during or were adapted to pivotal moments in the Palestinian liberation struggle, often pushed by Israel-aligned groups to reflexively cast the veil of ‘terrorism’ almost uniquely on Palestinians,” the report notes. “The same Zionist organizations that pushed for expanded antiterrorism laws — most notably the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) — now brazenly tar all advocacy of Palestinian liberation as support for terrorism.”

Todd Gutnick, a spokesperson for the ADL, disputed the characterization as “false and a complete distortion of our position.” In an email to The Intercept, he wrote that the group’s advocacy of antiterrorism legislation was aimed at different organizations it was monitoring at the time, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and Hamas. “This advocacy did not extend to the Palestinian movement or its supporters broadly — unless those supporters were providing material support to a terrorist organization in violation of federal law,” Gutnick added.

He also dismissed criticism of the ADL and Brandeis Center’s letter to campus leaders. “We fully recognize and support students’ First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, even odious speech, and have made that clear,” he wrote. “But at a time when some SJP leaders were echoing the position of Hamas so closely and with such intensity, and in a manner that was tinged with threats of violence, we strongly believe that an investigation is warranted.”

Emma Saltzberg, the U.S. strategic campaigns director for Diaspora Alliance, an organization that fights “antisemitism and its instrumentalization,” told The Intercept that the ADL’s call for terrorism investigations is contrary to its stated mission as a civil rights group.

“Advocating This Kind Of Investigation, Criminalization Against Activists For Palestinian Rights, Is Laying The Groundwork For Future Repressive State Activity.”

“It’s an active attempt to deny Palestinian students and students who are in solidarity with them — many of whom are Jewish — their civil rights to free expression and free speech,” Saltzberg said, “and to smear legitimate political activism as outside the bounds of acceptable discourse and to attach real material penalties to that.”

She added that the effort, while focused on advocacy for Palestinians, could have far-reaching implications. “Advocating this kind of investigation, criminalization against activists for Palestinian rights, is laying the groundwork for future repressive state activity,” Saltzberg said. “And that is something that should scare people.”

🐖 🐷 🐗 Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and National Director of the Anti-Defamation League 🐖 🐷 🐗, Speaks at the ADL’s “Never is Now” Conference in New York City at the Javits Center on Nov. 10, 2022. Sipa USA Via AP

An Anti-Palestinian History

U.S. counterterrorism legislation and policies since 9/11 have predominantly targeted Muslims abroad and at home, but earlier efforts to codify terrorism in U.S. law specifically singled out Palestinians, according to the new report.

The earliest reference to “terrorism” in federal legislation dates back to the 1969 Foreign Assistance Act and involves the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which is once again under attack amid Israel’s current war on Gaza. Congress stipulated at the time that no UNRWA funding should go to “any refugee who is receiving military training as a member of the so-called Palestine Liberation Army … or who has engaged in any act of terrorism,” the report notes. The main sponsor of the provision, late New York Rep. Leonard Farbstein, singled out U.N.-run refugee camps, claiming — not unlike some legislators today — that “these camps are being used for training purposes and the young children for whom the schools are being built and who are being fed and clothed are being trained as terrorists in these refugee camps.”

While the bill offered no definition of terrorism, the reference “set down a decades-long pattern that legally inscribed the Palestinian — and especially the refugee — as the default terrorist,” the report notes.

Throughout the 1970s, Congress passed a series of laws aimed at restricting assistance to states that were hosting or otherwise supporting members of the Palestinian resistance movement. Zionist groups advocated for those laws, according to the report, and pushed for creating a mechanism to trigger such sanctions. In 1979, those efforts culminated in legislation that endowed the secretary of state with the authority to designate foreign countries as “state sponsors of acts of international terrorism.” Since then, the U.S. has repeatedly applied the label to countries in the Middle East and North Africa, excluding them from aid and trade and isolating them from the broader international community.

In 1987, weeks after the outbreak of the largely nonviolent First Intifada, Congress for the first and only time designated a nonstate group, the Palestine Liberation Organization, a “terrorist organization.” The move was part of an effort to oust the PLO from the U.S., including from the United Nations headquarters in New York City, where it had a mission as a nonstate “observer.” While the ouster endeavor failed, the congressional legislation also created the State Department’s “foreign terrorist organization” list, requiring the executive branch to make annual designations of terror groups. Within a year, the State Department added dozens of groups, many pro-Palestinian ones, to the list, which has since ballooned to include a wide range of primarily Muslim groups.

In the following years, U.S. lawmakers inscribed “terrorism” provisions in immigration and civil law, primarily in an effort to target members of the Palestinian resistance movement. In 1990, Congress amended the Immigration and Nationality Act to list “terrorism” as a basis for deportation and the denial of entry into the United States. The legislation once again singled out the PLO, noting that any “officer, official, representative, or spokesman” for the group would be considered to be engaging in terrorist activity.

Two years later, Congress passed the Antiterrorism Act, incentivizing U.S. citizens to file civil suits over acts of international terrorism abroad. The law came on the heels of the 1985 killing by members of the Palestine Liberation Front of Leon Klinghoffer, a U.S. citizen who had been onboard the hijacked Achille Lauro cruise ship. A small conservative think tank drafted the bill, and several Zionist groups, including the ADL, advocated for it. The Klinghoffer family twice testified in favor of the bill on the behalf of the ADL, according to the new report. In the first decade after the law was passed in 1992, some 63 percent of the lawsuits citing it were related to Palestine, with the vast majority brought by dual Israeli American citizens in the aftermath of the Second Intifada, the report notes.

Material Support

The ban on material support to foreign terrorist organizations alone accounted for more than half of federal terrorism prosecutions brought in the aftermath of 9/11, according to an Intercept analysis.

Federal courts have interpreted the material support statute broadly, chilling efforts to provide humanitarian aid in areas, like Gaza, where groups that the U.S. government deems to be terrorist entities operate. But while the legislation exclusively applies to support for foreign groups, it originated domestically, in the aftermath of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing by the white supremacists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.

The bombing — the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil at that time — prompted calls for sweeping counterterrorism legislation that would give the government ample powers to target domestic and foreign actors. And it was shaped heavily by the ADL.

“Responding to a deadly mass-casualty attack perpetrated by two white men with radically scaled up repression of Black, Brown, and Muslim communities is an all-too-American response.”

The Clinton administration supported a version of the legislation that included several elements from the ADL’s “counterterrorism agenda,” including bans on entry and fundraising for “members and supporters” of terrorist groups, the report notes. Members of the ADL testified in Congress in favor of the legislation, and when Republicans concerned about government overreach struck many of the terrorism provisions in the draft legislation, the ADL condemned legislators for “gutting” it. As Democrats and Republicans disagreed over expanded federal law enforcement authorities, the ADL led a campaign by a dozen pro-Israel groups to fuel fears that Hamas would fundraise in the U.S. and convince legislators to reintroduce the terrorism provisions aimed at foreign groups. In the end, the Oklahoma City bombing led to no legislative action against domestic extremism, but it set the legal foundations upon which U.S. prosecutors have targeted hundreds of people since 9/11.

“Responding to a deadly mass-casualty attack perpetrated by two white men with radically scaled up repression of Black, Brown, and Muslim communities is an all-too-American response,” said Li.

Understanding that history, he added, is essential to keeping the current war in Gaza from engendering even more draconian legislation. Already, in the aftermath of the Hamas attacks, the Biden administration has stepped up surveillance of Palestine supporters, while state governments have cited their own terrorism statutes in crackdowns against critics of Israel’s war. At the federal level, legislators have floated extreme proposals like expelling Palestinians from the U.S. and setting up a committee to investigate antisemitism.

“Since October 7, members of Congress have been trying to out-grandstand each other by proposing racist anti-Palestinian bills,” said Li. “While we must push back against the most outrageous initiatives, the proposals that seem innocuous may end up doing the most harm.”

[featurenews]

EU official warns of antisemitism in European society as fears grow over rising Islamophobia – Europe live

Michael O’Flaherty, director of agency for fundamental rights, says ‘dramatic moments in our societies trigger antisemitic responses’ ‘Pervasive and relentless’ racism on the rise in Europe, survey finds Racism is “pervasive and relentless” and on the rise in Europe, with nearly half of black people in member states surveyed by the EU reporting discrimination, from the verbal abuse of their children to being blocked by landlords from renting homes. This is not an isolated incident in Makhachkala, but rather part of Russia’s widespread culture of hatred toward other nations, which is propagated by state television, pundits, and authorities. The Russian foreign minister has made a series of antisemitic remarks in the last year. The Russian president also used antisemitic slurs. For Russian propaganda talking heads on official television, hate rhetoric is routine. Even the most recent Middle East escalation prompted antisemitic statements from Russian ideologists. Continue reading... https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/oct/30/eu-antisemitism-islamophobia-europe-live?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

[ailtrahq]

Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights — a newsletter crafted to bring you the most significant developments from the past week.The past week in DeFi was dominated by developments in some of the OG DeFi protocols, with Uniswap Foundation announcing plans to raise $62 million in new funding and decentralized oracle service provider Chainlink brushing aside concerns about changes it made to multisignature wallets.Mixin Network, which was hacked for nearly $200 million in crypto assets on Sept. 23, has now offered a $20 million bug bounty to exploiters for the return of the remaining funds, claiming a majority chunk of the stolen funds are user assets.Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov cut back his debts to $42 million and settled his entire Aave loan on Sept. 28. And crypto exchange Upbit managed to stem a flood of fake Aptos tokens from the platform and resumed deposits and withdrawals for the token.Chainlink downplays worries after users notice quiet change to multisigDecentralized oracle network Chainlink has downplayed a recent change in the number of signers required on its multisig wallet — a move that garnered backlash on social media from vocal critics.Crypto researcher Chris Blec was among several users on X (formerly Twitter) who called out Chainlink for quietly reducing the number of signatures required on its multisignature wallet from 4-of-9 to 4-of-8.Continue readingUniswap Foundation targets $62 million in additional fundingDecentralized exchange (DEX) Uniswap is seeking an on-chain vote to approve the second tranche of the $74 million funding for its developer, Uniswap Foundation.According to the Sept. 27 announcement, the second tranche of funding, with a buffer of 10% for price volatility, is worth an estimated $62 million and will be decided via an on-chain vote on Oct. 4. If approved, the funds will be used for operations and research grants. The Uniswap Foundation is responsible for growing core protocol metrics, building a pipeline for innovation and aligning incentives for stakeholders of the popular DEX. Continue readingCurve Finance founder cuts debt to $42.7 million, settles entire Aave loanMichael Egorov, the founder of DeFi protocol Curve, recently settled his loans on the lending platform Aave, reducing his debt to $42.7 million across other protocols. According to the on-chain analytics platform Lookonchain, the Curve founder deposited 68 million CRV tokens, worth $35.5 million, to lending protocol Silo and borrowed 10.77 million in crvUSD stablecoin in the last two days. Following this, Egorov swapped the crvUSD into Tether (USDT) and paid all his debt on Aave. Continue readingMixin Network offers $20 million bug bounty to hackers in $200 million hackMixin Network, a decentralized cross-chain protocol, in a message to the hacker behind the $200 million exploit on Sept. 23, has offered a $20 million bug bounty for the return of the remaining funds.Mixin Network encrypted the message with the exploiter transaction, requesting the exploiter to return the funds as the majority of the stolen funds were user assets.Continue readingCrypto exchange Upbit stems fake APT token flood, resumes servicesSouth Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit has resumed Aptos APT (APT) deposits and withdrawals after fixing an issue that saw a scam APT token incorrectly recognized as legitimate.On Sept. 24, Upbit abruptly halted Aptos token services after noting an “abnormal deposit attempt,” prompting an inspection of the wallet system. The problem appears to have originated from a newly created fake APT token called “ClaimAPTGift.com,” which had made its way to 400,000 Aptos wallets after its creation on Sept. 21.Continue readingDeFi market overviewData from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that DeFi’s top 100 tokens by market capitalization had a bullish week, with most tokens trading in the green on weekly charts. The total value locked into DeFi protocols reached $45.

7 billion.Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.

[coolrahulsarin]

Expensive San Antonio Spurs Opening Night Tickets Wow Fans

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Expensive San Antonio Spurs Opening Night Tickets Wow Fans

Fans cheer as Victor Wembanyama is selected as the first pick by the San Antonio Spurs during an NBA Draft Watch Party at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas on June 22, 2023. Frenchman Victor Wembanyama was taken with the first pick in the NBA Draft by the San Antonio Spurs on June 22, 2023, prompting wild celebrations as the Texas club reveled in the arrival of the talented teenager seen as a once-in-a-generation talent.

PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

WWE legend Ted DiBiase, also known as the Million Dollar Man, would say, “Everyone has a price.” That tagline might ring true for San Antonio Spurs fans trying to get a glimpse of rookie Victor Wembanyama’s NBA debut.

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An X post, formerly known as Twitter, shared the wild price tag of the Spurs’ home opener against the Dallas Mavericks on Oct. 25 and Spurs Nation soared.

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While most Spurs fans were outraged by the price of tickets, some were slow to throw a stone. Some of the reasons tickets are expensive are because it’s opening night, it’s the Spurs’ home opener, it’s against the Dallas Mavericks, who have NBA superstars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, it’s an inter-state rivalry and, the main reason for After all, Wembanyama is making his NBA regular season debut.

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The prices of other games are not as high, but how much would you pay to see the start of the careers of Tim Duncan or Michael Jordan? People could be paying a pretty penny to see the next great Spurs.

#Expensive #San #Antonio #Spurs #Opening #Night #Tickets #Wow #Fans

[mariacallous]

Cornell University’s Jewish interim president is facing growing blowback from higher education groups over emails published by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency last month, in which he raised objections to an upcoming class on Gaza.

Michael Kotlikoff’s remarks, which JTA reported on Nov. 11, were a violation of academic freedom, say representatives of the American Association of University Professors and the Middle East Studies Association. The episode is the latest instance of campus scrutiny over Israel shifting from protests to the classroom, more than a year removed from the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks that launched the war in Gaza.

In the email, Kotlikoff expressed his objections to a new course entitled “Gaza, Indigeneity, Resistance,” scheduled to be taught next term by Jewish professor Eric Cheyfitz, a pro-Palestinian activist who teaches in the school’s American Indian and Indigenous Studies program. Writing to a different Jewish professor, Kotlikoff said he was “extremely disappointed” with “the course’s apparent lack of openness and objectivity,” and promised to work with other departments to offer alternative courses on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

The email, which Kotlikoff says was never meant to be publicized, has prompted anger over the past week as the story gained traction in the Cornell Daily Sun, the student newspaper. 

“Kotlikoff’s remarks are an egregious threat to bedrock principles of academic freedom, as well as Cornell’s commitment to ‘any person, any study.’ They raise the specter of administrative interference in faculty control over curricular decisions and course instruction,” Risa Lieberwitz, the Jewish president of the university’s AAUP chapter, wrote in an open letter. 

Like other universities, the Ivy League school has faced numerous controversies over Israel politics and antisemitism since Oct. 7, 2023, with leaders and faculty frequently clashing over the limits of acceptable response. A student was arrested for threatening Jewish students; a professor was placed on leave for commenting that he felt “exhilarated” by the attacks; and administrators were recorded promising broader surveillance of pro-Palestinian faculty during a meeting with Hillel parents.

All this has led to deeper concerns that schools like Cornell could meaningfully curtail academic freedom in the name of protecting Jewish students, especially under a second Trump administration, as the president-elect has sworn to crack down on universities for “turning our students into communists and terrorists.”

While Kotlikoff vowed not to interfere with the class itself, his critics say his comments were a form of inappropriate scrutiny over faculty. Cheyfitz and his allies also said the professor has received hate mail as a result of his course being publicized.

Lieberwitz’s letter added that the president’s comments “suggest that, despite repeated disavowals, the leadership of the University not only intends to scrutinize the in-class activities of Cornell faculty but is actively doing so where it is deemed politically desirable.” 

Earlier this year, amid the Gaza war and calls for the boycott of Israel, AAUP dropped its longstanding opposition to academic boycotts. The Middle East Studies Association, an international group for academics focused on the region that itself endorsed a boycott of Israel in 2022 and has accused it of “genocidal violence,” also accused Kotlikoff of infringing on academic freedom.

“You are of course entitled to your opinion about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the proposed course,” the group’s president and academic freedom chair wrote in an open letter. But, they said, “your remarks may compromise the willingness of Cornell faculty to offer courses that deal with controversial issues,” as well as affect the judgment of curriculum-reviewing committees. 

Both organizations pressed Kotlikoff — who replaced Cornell’s previous Jewish president Martha Pollack earlier this year after Pollack stepped down, citing stress over campus tensions around Israel and Gaza — to apologize to Cheyfitz.

Meanwhile, the Jewish professor who prompted the row by sharing Kotlikoff’s email with JTA says he has no regrets.

“If a course such as the one on Gaza being offered by Professor Cheyfitz cannot withstand criticism, perhaps it’s its underlying premise, not the criticism, that should be scrutinized,” Menachem Rosensaft, an adjunct professor in the law school who first raised his concerns about the class with the school president, wrote to JTA on Thursday.

In Rosensaft’s view, his objections to the course have nothing to do with academic freedom. Instead, he believes the Gaza course — which promises to frame the conflict through a settler-colonial lens, one that Israel’s defenders insist does not apply to the region’s history — is analogous to classes promoting slavery, misogyny, or other values that would not be tolerated at a modern university. He wrote that the course would promote a narrative that “constitutes antisemitism on steroids.”

Speaking to Inside Higher Ed, Kotlikoff defended his right to share his personal opinions on a course. “I would not publicly comment on the decision of a curriculum committee or a colleague’s choice of course material,” he said, while adding, “if there are antisemitic, racist, other incidents that are directly related to Cornell, I certainly reserve the right to comment on those and reassure the community around those issues.”

Cheyfitz, for his part, still plans to teach the course, and says criticisms of it were based only on a brief course description. Citing a just-released report from Amnesty International, the human rights NGO, accusing Israel of genocide — a charge that Israel and its defenders reject as spurious — he told JTA that his critics would be judged harshly: “History will mark scholars like Rosensaft for what they are: apologists for genocide,” he said.

He added to Inside Higher Ed, “The backlash hasn’t been horrible.”