I'm sure you're right on putting agitators in there, on both sides. But I think backing an agitator and backing an organization that has roots going back 100 years is different. You have to admit that Israel is a functioning crazy democracy (proporitional representation isn't helping) that has both crazy settler parties and radical Arab parties. But does the US execute Hamas leaders that Hamas has accused of homosexuality, did the US write the Hamas charter? The enemy of my enemy is a horrible way of making alliances but if Hamas is aligned with Qatar/Iran and now Russia and then China, how would it benefit the US to support Hamas? Are you saying they want to create a reason to blow back against enemy Iran? My comment on Germany in the 30s and the slow acceptance of normified anti-semitism doesn't have much to do with this. You are right what you say about free speech, some are better than others. We are moving against it in Canada, that's for sure. I certainly have not been afforded free speech. One weapon against free speech is applying hate laws which are simply too vague and can be manipulated. My examples is.very personal but calling Hamas nazis, and saying I stand with Israel should not be called a hate crime. But they are and I am about to be fired for it. My accusor while loving Hamas and the Houthis and hating the west is very good at hitting the triggers of 'safespace,' with fake accusations of violence and moving every criticism into protect categories. If you critisize anyone who is brown on their politics you are automatically a racist according to him. I probably agree with you more than you think, you write well and go deep. But if the US was trying to support Hamas to get them to do an atrocity so they could blow back on Iran why are they now trying to fence sit and are deathly afraid of losing the Muslim vote? Seems like bad strategy. I don't believe in some good guy/bad guy simple polarity in the middle east anymore and I have much to learn obviously. My point though was just saying that Israel should be able to exist and that Hamas are bastards, that's not a deep political thought granted, but I left trying to figure out the Middle East a while back, I'm a guy without a lawyer fighting a multimillion dollar organization that plays extremely dirty. And as you note there are backroom moves that we may never see in geopolitics, I am still trying to figure out how a known antisemite could walk into a room of five senior executives and get away with calling me a violent threat to children (exactly his words) and leave those executives so angry and hateful to me they want to destroy me. There are pieces missing to my personal puzzle and there are pieces missing to the story in Gaza as you note. I hope you are wrong but you might not be wrong.
Thanks for the post and comment. I just saw it...sorry for the time lapse. Of course, I agree, but I'm not sure we're trained to ue reason any longer. We're subject to the perpetual gaslighting that you mentioned, and educated (?) accordingly.
I wish there was a way I could help you. I write letters, go to rallies for Israel and Jewish students but I still feel powerless. It does seem like the fix is in. As a former union rep in my field let me say, please have everything clearly documented including date and all the evidence in order. I have a feeling one day, you will win.
Liberals behind an administrative tribunal, with its proof of “on the balance of probabilities” is a dangerous creature. Decision-makers’ weigh evidence with the same probative value as innuendo and concepts of “social justice” and “wokeism”. As a lawyer, I have been before them and have to expect and prepare strategies to meet a railroading process. Obviously, the court process is a far superior forum for achieving truth and justice.
I agree with a previous commenter who points out the dangers of an unregulated social media. When people used to organize themselves to tackle issues they met, they knew to whom they were talking and they checked each other with real, provable evidence. This position is not taken lightly by a Classical Liberal person, but the anonymity and unregulated medium is dangerous to truth. It spreads absurd accusations, ignorance and dangerous vitriol that others will believe and rally behind. Donald T’s ongoing campaign against truth and justice is a perfect example. People defending Israel are isolated by a few anti-Semitic posts that don’t tell the whole story but enrage people and create mobs with lies and half-truths. It is anti-intellectual.
You are, quite frankly, a scholar being abused by this mob. Do keep us informed. You may have lost some friends or frightened associates, but you have gained many, many more.
I came across your horror story while posting a blog on my Substack. Franz Kafka would have used it for another "Metamorphosis." My main purpose here is to let you know that some people are concerned for what happened to you and for you as well.
I would like to know how this develops, and I'm sure that there are opportunities for PR. As for help, I wonder if you've tried the Simon Wiesenthal Centre? You mentioned about visiting Israel. When you return, if you're looking for a career job, perhaps some of the Hebrew institutions, or the ones being developed by conservative movements like Hillsdale College might be worth trying? My name is Anthony Dayton in case you'd like to get in touch
Thank you for your kind post. I will message you directly on you Substack, I'm not sure if this message here is public. Strangely enough, the screaming into the wind frustration of perpetual gaslighting, of having people simply ignore your complaint that there is nothing like due process going on offers up its own unique pain. People say forget it, but we are trained to use reason, to search for justice, today was quite trying.
Yes, thank you, I just spoke with a Jewish fellow prof (after months) and I guess I am just different when it comes to speaking up. He called out another prof for allowing rampant cheating (so she was part of it) and he regrets it. I think there are some things you can't be silent about, I will call out the uni on matters of academic integrity and of course on ethical issues, like the condemnation of butchers and the existence of a nation. If that bothers people that's on them. But the system is now based on customer service, just make the students happy, if you offend them, the problem is yours, not theirs? I also love the irony of a man who hates the West, hates reason, wants an Islamic state everywhere, a theocracy - but who nevertheless is skillful at playing the victim and hitting all the victim narrative talking points. The school endorses someone whose core being is antithetical to the entire existence of the university. But they are too foolish to see it. I guess this isn't Emperor's new clothes in this case . . but it's still crazy.
Much respect. My favorite book as a child was the Emperor's New Clothes, that child was my hero & longed for the day where I too could be free to speak. I've often wondered about people who, like you, stand up & speak out. What made them into the person they are. We can all say, oh I would too- until the time comes & we stay silent. I also wonder about those who stay silent when they see their friends & colleagues go through these ordeals. I see this happen so frequently now in my work as an employee of a govt agency. I've been on both ends - the targeted & the audience & it was not easy but remembering my children were watching reminded me of my childhood hero. Our institutions are being led by far too many people willing to sell out & pretend the Emperor is well dressed & his fancy new outfit is covered in truth
I have thought about the same story over and over in the past few months. Will someone please let these nuts.know that they are walking around in their underwear!
Thanks, there is a lot of historical evidence, and the Hamas Charter isn't Jew-friendly. They are upset over me saying, "If you stand with Palestine," etc. I believe I wrote the Palestinian gov., but the screenshot is a jpeg that can be changed in two seconds. For a joke, after we changed it to say, "If you stand with Israel, you stand with Hitler," you can't see that it's been altered. But I was talking about the gov., and the Pal people are pretty pro-Hamas if you look at the polls.
Apparently the current situation is not as clear cut as some make it out to be, and the number two paper of record, for whatever reason, wanted us to know that as far back as 2014.
It seems that Israel took the same approach as the USA during the Soviet/Afghanistan conflict - that is to say supported a radical organization for political reasons that later slipped the leash. Talking about the Mujahideen of course, which later morphed into Al Qaeda and Islamic State. The analogy to Hamas is unmistakable. The term used by western analysts is 'blowback' - the unintended consequences of supporting questionable organizations for purely political reasons. This has been the USA's stock in trade for decades, and unfortunately it seems that Israel fell into the same trap of political expedience without considering the long-term consequences.
Your professional situation is in some ways similar to that of Julie Ponesse at Western.
The main issue is not your particular stand, but that you failed to recognize the prerogative of nearly every western institution, which is to follow whichever way the political wind is blowing at the time. In short, there isn't a western institution left that actually stands for free speech anymore, which has been the case for decades now. It's a hard way to find out, and you have my sympathy, but at least now you know.
One point I would make. Given the absolute nature of the powers that presently be, it would not be unusual for them to place agitators among legitimate protesters with the aim of discrediting them. A single person shouting 'death to the Jews' could very easily achieve that effect, especially when amplified by mainstream media, who are also in the same camp as the aforementioned institutions. I think we saw something similar in Wash. DC on Jan. 6, and probably in the trucker's freedom convoy as well. Some of the people the media focused on in those events were truly cringe-worthy, but I doubt they represented the true nature of the majority of participants who acted out of sincere convictions, misguided or not.
Unlike you I'm relatively insulated from the effects of expressing my opinions, but I still lost several friends by taking the same position as Julie Ponesse on the vaccines. Seems they weren't as supportive of free speech as I thought. Most people aren't when it goes against their own deeply held beliefs unfortunately. I also lost a friend for supporting Trump - not because I'm a fan - I can't stand the guy actually - but because of the principle involved, i.e. equality before the law. Needless to say, I'm a lot more careful these days in how I choose my friends.
The statement regarding "standing with Hamas is standing with Nazis" may not be eloquent, but it is absolutely true. Truth has a way of slicing through the rhetoric, and it also can make you lose friends, but then you also may gain some.
My wife and I just returned (yesterday) from a 15 day motorhome roadtrip throughout the US southwest. We live in Northern California, we are in a conservative area and have been fending off the Palestinian goon-squad, but it is getting worse. Southern California is basically a third-world dumpsite at this point. It's trash. Roads are trash, rampant theft, raging homelessness, random violence. Southern Arizona has also descended into chaos and wilderness desert areas we used to love boondocking in with our motorhome are now well-marked with notices of potentially violent trespassers (migrants), etc. When we reached Utah, governed largely by the Mormons, we finally felt freedom and security. You can't find a liberal in Utah, they are an endangered species, so law, order, free speech, the right to keep and bear arms, and 100% public safety are dominant. When we left Utah, we suddenly felt like we were in a third-world country again.
You mentioned your friend is moving to Florida, from our experience, Florida, South Dakota, the US midwest, Utah, and a select few other locales are quickly becoming the last stands of freedom. The left is not "liberal," it is not "progressive," it only seeks totalitarian dominance over a subjugated population. It is not "tolerant" of any views but it's own. "Transgender," "Gender-Fluidity," these are as much of a fabrication from underlying mental illness as the false believe that Palestinians have any other claim to the land of Israel beyond what was a nomadic homeless tribe throughout history. The only way the west will survive is if we take a stand now to defend human freedom, defend human rights, fight back against Middle East extremist muslim terrorism, end "wokeism," and evict the Middle East fanatics from our political discourse. If their culture is so great, why did they leave? Ask yourself that, every time. We didn't have these problems until Social Media. It is becoming very evident what the problem is - get rid of your accounts, delete them, don't link any of your email addresses to that stuff. If you have a Facebook account, close/delete it. If you have a TikTok account- you may be stupid already - but try to smarten up and delete that too. LinkedIn, Twitter, are reasonably safe, but keep it professional and only use junk email addresses for it.
I'm sure you're right on putting agitators in there, on both sides. But I think backing an agitator and backing an organization that has roots going back 100 years is different. You have to admit that Israel is a functioning crazy democracy (proporitional representation isn't helping) that has both crazy settler parties and radical Arab parties. But does the US execute Hamas leaders that Hamas has accused of homosexuality, did the US write the Hamas charter? The enemy of my enemy is a horrible way of making alliances but if Hamas is aligned with Qatar/Iran and now Russia and then China, how would it benefit the US to support Hamas? Are you saying they want to create a reason to blow back against enemy Iran? My comment on Germany in the 30s and the slow acceptance of normified anti-semitism doesn't have much to do with this. You are right what you say about free speech, some are better than others. We are moving against it in Canada, that's for sure. I certainly have not been afforded free speech. One weapon against free speech is applying hate laws which are simply too vague and can be manipulated. My examples is.very personal but calling Hamas nazis, and saying I stand with Israel should not be called a hate crime. But they are and I am about to be fired for it. My accusor while loving Hamas and the Houthis and hating the west is very good at hitting the triggers of 'safespace,' with fake accusations of violence and moving every criticism into protect categories. If you critisize anyone who is brown on their politics you are automatically a racist according to him. I probably agree with you more than you think, you write well and go deep. But if the US was trying to support Hamas to get them to do an atrocity so they could blow back on Iran why are they now trying to fence sit and are deathly afraid of losing the Muslim vote? Seems like bad strategy. I don't believe in some good guy/bad guy simple polarity in the middle east anymore and I have much to learn obviously. My point though was just saying that Israel should be able to exist and that Hamas are bastards, that's not a deep political thought granted, but I left trying to figure out the Middle East a while back, I'm a guy without a lawyer fighting a multimillion dollar organization that plays extremely dirty. And as you note there are backroom moves that we may never see in geopolitics, I am still trying to figure out how a known antisemite could walk into a room of five senior executives and get away with calling me a violent threat to children (exactly his words) and leave those executives so angry and hateful to me they want to destroy me. There are pieces missing to my personal puzzle and there are pieces missing to the story in Gaza as you note. I hope you are wrong but you might not be wrong.
They were stealing like crazy.
Thanks for the post and comment. I just saw it...sorry for the time lapse. Of course, I agree, but I'm not sure we're trained to ue reason any longer. We're subject to the perpetual gaslighting that you mentioned, and educated (?) accordingly.
I wish there was a way I could help you. I write letters, go to rallies for Israel and Jewish students but I still feel powerless. It does seem like the fix is in. As a former union rep in my field let me say, please have everything clearly documented including date and all the evidence in order. I have a feeling one day, you will win.
Liberals behind an administrative tribunal, with its proof of “on the balance of probabilities” is a dangerous creature. Decision-makers’ weigh evidence with the same probative value as innuendo and concepts of “social justice” and “wokeism”. As a lawyer, I have been before them and have to expect and prepare strategies to meet a railroading process. Obviously, the court process is a far superior forum for achieving truth and justice.
I agree with a previous commenter who points out the dangers of an unregulated social media. When people used to organize themselves to tackle issues they met, they knew to whom they were talking and they checked each other with real, provable evidence. This position is not taken lightly by a Classical Liberal person, but the anonymity and unregulated medium is dangerous to truth. It spreads absurd accusations, ignorance and dangerous vitriol that others will believe and rally behind. Donald T’s ongoing campaign against truth and justice is a perfect example. People defending Israel are isolated by a few anti-Semitic posts that don’t tell the whole story but enrage people and create mobs with lies and half-truths. It is anti-intellectual.
You are, quite frankly, a scholar being abused by this mob. Do keep us informed. You may have lost some friends or frightened associates, but you have gained many, many more.
“The only thing standing between the Gazan people and a ceasefire is Hamas.” - Anthony Blinken. U.S. Secy. of State, this morning https://jewdicious.substack.com/p/passover-poland-april-19-1943
To read new canada law
https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/trudeau-to-introduce-halal-mortgage-for-muslims-in-canada-bans-foreigners-from-buying-home-for-2-years-101713326127838-amp.html
To Paul Finlayson,
I came across your horror story while posting a blog on my Substack. Franz Kafka would have used it for another "Metamorphosis." My main purpose here is to let you know that some people are concerned for what happened to you and for you as well.
I would like to know how this develops, and I'm sure that there are opportunities for PR. As for help, I wonder if you've tried the Simon Wiesenthal Centre? You mentioned about visiting Israel. When you return, if you're looking for a career job, perhaps some of the Hebrew institutions, or the ones being developed by conservative movements like Hillsdale College might be worth trying? My name is Anthony Dayton in case you'd like to get in touch
Hi Anthony:
Thank you for your kind post. I will message you directly on you Substack, I'm not sure if this message here is public. Strangely enough, the screaming into the wind frustration of perpetual gaslighting, of having people simply ignore your complaint that there is nothing like due process going on offers up its own unique pain. People say forget it, but we are trained to use reason, to search for justice, today was quite trying.
Cheers, Paul
Yes, thank you, I just spoke with a Jewish fellow prof (after months) and I guess I am just different when it comes to speaking up. He called out another prof for allowing rampant cheating (so she was part of it) and he regrets it. I think there are some things you can't be silent about, I will call out the uni on matters of academic integrity and of course on ethical issues, like the condemnation of butchers and the existence of a nation. If that bothers people that's on them. But the system is now based on customer service, just make the students happy, if you offend them, the problem is yours, not theirs? I also love the irony of a man who hates the West, hates reason, wants an Islamic state everywhere, a theocracy - but who nevertheless is skillful at playing the victim and hitting all the victim narrative talking points. The school endorses someone whose core being is antithetical to the entire existence of the university. But they are too foolish to see it. I guess this isn't Emperor's new clothes in this case . . but it's still crazy.
Much respect. My favorite book as a child was the Emperor's New Clothes, that child was my hero & longed for the day where I too could be free to speak. I've often wondered about people who, like you, stand up & speak out. What made them into the person they are. We can all say, oh I would too- until the time comes & we stay silent. I also wonder about those who stay silent when they see their friends & colleagues go through these ordeals. I see this happen so frequently now in my work as an employee of a govt agency. I've been on both ends - the targeted & the audience & it was not easy but remembering my children were watching reminded me of my childhood hero. Our institutions are being led by far too many people willing to sell out & pretend the Emperor is well dressed & his fancy new outfit is covered in truth
I have thought about the same story over and over in the past few months. Will someone please let these nuts.know that they are walking around in their underwear!
Thanks, there is a lot of historical evidence, and the Hamas Charter isn't Jew-friendly. They are upset over me saying, "If you stand with Palestine," etc. I believe I wrote the Palestinian gov., but the screenshot is a jpeg that can be changed in two seconds. For a joke, after we changed it to say, "If you stand with Israel, you stand with Hitler," you can't see that it's been altered. But I was talking about the gov., and the Pal people are pretty pro-Hamas if you look at the polls.
Were you aware of this?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/07/30/how-israel-helped-create-hamas/
Apparently the current situation is not as clear cut as some make it out to be, and the number two paper of record, for whatever reason, wanted us to know that as far back as 2014.
It seems that Israel took the same approach as the USA during the Soviet/Afghanistan conflict - that is to say supported a radical organization for political reasons that later slipped the leash. Talking about the Mujahideen of course, which later morphed into Al Qaeda and Islamic State. The analogy to Hamas is unmistakable. The term used by western analysts is 'blowback' - the unintended consequences of supporting questionable organizations for purely political reasons. This has been the USA's stock in trade for decades, and unfortunately it seems that Israel fell into the same trap of political expedience without considering the long-term consequences.
Your professional situation is in some ways similar to that of Julie Ponesse at Western.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/western-affiliated-ethics-prof-says-191659909.html
The main issue is not your particular stand, but that you failed to recognize the prerogative of nearly every western institution, which is to follow whichever way the political wind is blowing at the time. In short, there isn't a western institution left that actually stands for free speech anymore, which has been the case for decades now. It's a hard way to find out, and you have my sympathy, but at least now you know.
One point I would make. Given the absolute nature of the powers that presently be, it would not be unusual for them to place agitators among legitimate protesters with the aim of discrediting them. A single person shouting 'death to the Jews' could very easily achieve that effect, especially when amplified by mainstream media, who are also in the same camp as the aforementioned institutions. I think we saw something similar in Wash. DC on Jan. 6, and probably in the trucker's freedom convoy as well. Some of the people the media focused on in those events were truly cringe-worthy, but I doubt they represented the true nature of the majority of participants who acted out of sincere convictions, misguided or not.
Unlike you I'm relatively insulated from the effects of expressing my opinions, but I still lost several friends by taking the same position as Julie Ponesse on the vaccines. Seems they weren't as supportive of free speech as I thought. Most people aren't when it goes against their own deeply held beliefs unfortunately. I also lost a friend for supporting Trump - not because I'm a fan - I can't stand the guy actually - but because of the principle involved, i.e. equality before the law. Needless to say, I'm a lot more careful these days in how I choose my friends.
I went to Concordia in Moorhead for undergrad and U of MN for grad. It wasn't like that when I was there.
The statement regarding "standing with Hamas is standing with Nazis" may not be eloquent, but it is absolutely true. Truth has a way of slicing through the rhetoric, and it also can make you lose friends, but then you also may gain some.
thanks
My wife and I just returned (yesterday) from a 15 day motorhome roadtrip throughout the US southwest. We live in Northern California, we are in a conservative area and have been fending off the Palestinian goon-squad, but it is getting worse. Southern California is basically a third-world dumpsite at this point. It's trash. Roads are trash, rampant theft, raging homelessness, random violence. Southern Arizona has also descended into chaos and wilderness desert areas we used to love boondocking in with our motorhome are now well-marked with notices of potentially violent trespassers (migrants), etc. When we reached Utah, governed largely by the Mormons, we finally felt freedom and security. You can't find a liberal in Utah, they are an endangered species, so law, order, free speech, the right to keep and bear arms, and 100% public safety are dominant. When we left Utah, we suddenly felt like we were in a third-world country again.
You mentioned your friend is moving to Florida, from our experience, Florida, South Dakota, the US midwest, Utah, and a select few other locales are quickly becoming the last stands of freedom. The left is not "liberal," it is not "progressive," it only seeks totalitarian dominance over a subjugated population. It is not "tolerant" of any views but it's own. "Transgender," "Gender-Fluidity," these are as much of a fabrication from underlying mental illness as the false believe that Palestinians have any other claim to the land of Israel beyond what was a nomadic homeless tribe throughout history. The only way the west will survive is if we take a stand now to defend human freedom, defend human rights, fight back against Middle East extremist muslim terrorism, end "wokeism," and evict the Middle East fanatics from our political discourse. If their culture is so great, why did they leave? Ask yourself that, every time. We didn't have these problems until Social Media. It is becoming very evident what the problem is - get rid of your accounts, delete them, don't link any of your email addresses to that stuff. If you have a Facebook account, close/delete it. If you have a TikTok account- you may be stupid already - but try to smarten up and delete that too. LinkedIn, Twitter, are reasonably safe, but keep it professional and only use junk email addresses for it.