https://sputnikglobe.com/20240502/us-senator-calls-for-palestinian-protesters-to-be-added-to-terrorist-no-fly-lists-1118220031.html
US Senator Calls for Palestinian Protesters to Be Added to Terrorist, No-Fly Lists
US Senator Calls for Palestinian Protesters to Be Added to Terrorist, No-Fly Lists
Sputnik International
On Monday, US Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) called for pro-Palestinian protesters to be put on a terrorist watch list and the TSA’s No Fly list.
2024-05-02T04:09+0000
2024-05-02T04:09+0000
2024-05-02T12:17+0000
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marsha blackburn
rick scott
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palestine
columbia
new york police department (nypd)
hamas
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israel-gaza conflict
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On Tuesday, US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) condemned comments from Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) calling for students engaged in pro-Palestinian protests to be added to a terrorist watch list and be banned from flying in the United States.Omar said Blackburn’s suggestion was “insanely dangerous” and would label “Americans protesting against a foreign country accused of carrying out a genocide with our tax dollars as terrorists.”Protests have been breaking out at college campuses across the country. Over the weekend, police aggressively acted to remove encampments at several colleges, leading to numerous arrests. Since October 7, more than 1,000 students, educators and other supporters have been arrested at college protests.At least 34,500 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its campaign on Gaza, a number that is almost certainly a low estimate because an unknown but undoubtedly vast number of bodies remain under the rubble of destroyed buildings and homes. Israel’s actions have been described as a “genocide” by multiple human rights organizations and heads of state, including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who brought a genocide case against Israel to the International Court of Justice.Blackburn is not alone in her desire to see pro-Palestinian protesters targeted by federal officials. Multiple Republicans and Democrats have urged US President Joe Biden to take action against them. Also on Tuesday, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) sent a letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland, asking what his office is doing “to investigate and prosecute the leaders of groups like US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, or Within Our Lifetime?”Scott claims that the groups “are conspiring to violate the civil rights of a religious minority.”That at least one of the groups that Scott demanded an investigation into is part of that religious minority did not seem to pierce the consciousness of the junior senator. In a post on X later in the day, he labeled the encampment at George Washington University “anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish.”The application of the term antisemitism to peaceful protesters is Orwellian, Kavanaugh argued. “It’s what Orwell said about politics in the English language, you’re turning words into their opposites and you’re using and you’re making it difficult to say things correctly, and therefore to think about things correctly,” Kavanaugh explained. “They’re cheapening it entirely and they’re trying to say it’s hateful antisemitism, these protesters are hateful, represent hateful antisemitism when [a great number of them] are Jews and Jewish organizations are in the leadership of this.”Ultimately, the reason for the intense crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests in America stems from the deep-rooted belief, particularly among the older generations, that Zionism is inseparable from Judaism.“And that’s what the young kids don’t have so much. They didn’t know anything about it and now they know about it. ‘This is ridiculous. This is colonialism. And we’ve been taught… to reject colonialism and we reject this,” Kavanaugh said.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240502/scott-ritter-student-protests-among-most-important-things-to-happen-in-us-in-decades-1118216879.html
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protesters are terrorists, does the first amendment protect protesters? does being pro-palestine make you antisemitic? protests in us, protestors in capitol, pro-palestinian demonstration, pro-palestinian protest, pro-palestinian protestors, support palestine, genocide, students protest, fight zionism, fight zionists, save palestine, free palestine, stop rafah invasion, stop israel
Tuesday night, a massive group of NYPD officers broke up the Pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia university, arresting hundreds. It was the latest in a string of strict crackdowns by US authorities on campus protests.
On Tuesday, US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) condemned comments from Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) calling for students engaged in pro-Palestinian protests to be added to a terrorist watch list and be banned from flying in the United States.
“Any student who has promoted terrorism or engaged in terrorists[sic] acts on behalf of Hamas should be immediately be [sic] added to the terrorist watch list and placed on the [Transportation Security Administration] No Fly List,” Blackburn wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday.
Omar said Blackburn’s suggestion was “insanely dangerous” and would label “Americans protesting against a foreign country accused of carrying out a genocide with our tax dollars as terrorists.”
Protests have been breaking out at college campuses across the country. Over the weekend, police aggressively acted to remove encampments at several colleges, leading to numerous arrests. Since October 7, more than 1,000 students, educators and other supporters have been arrested at college protests.
“The stupid thing that Columbia did, they had a peaceful group of small people on the campus, setting up an encampment, not bothering anybody, not preventing anybody from doing anything,” Dr. Jim Kavanagh told Sputnik’s The Critical Hour on Wednesday, “and they repressed it and they came in and arrested them, and it spread like wildfire.”
At least 34,500 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its campaign on Gaza, a number that is almost certainly a low estimate because an unknown but undoubtedly vast number of bodies remain under the rubble of destroyed buildings and homes. Israel’s actions have been described as a “genocide” by multiple human rights organizations and heads of state, including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who brought a genocide case against Israel to the International Court of Justice.
“It’s a colonial mindset that [Senator Blackburn] has,” explained author and independent journalist Esther Iverem. “It’s a colonial mindset of all the people who are thinking that this can stand, that Israel can rule forever… with the barrel of a gun and just keep the indigenous people in this constant state of desperation.”
Blackburn is not alone in her desire to see pro-Palestinian protesters targeted by federal officials. Multiple Republicans and Democrats have urged US President Joe Biden to take action against them. Also on Tuesday, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) sent a letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland, asking what his office is doing “to investigate and prosecute the leaders of groups like US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, or Within Our Lifetime?”
Scott claims that the groups “are conspiring to violate the civil rights of a religious minority.”
That at least one of the groups that Scott demanded an investigation into is part of that religious minority did not seem to pierce the consciousness of the junior senator. In a post on X later in the day, he labeled the encampment at George Washington University “anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish.”
The application of the term antisemitism to peaceful protesters is Orwellian, Kavanaugh argued. “It’s what Orwell said about politics in the English language, you’re turning words into their opposites and you’re using and you’re making it difficult to say things correctly, and therefore to think about things correctly,” Kavanaugh explained. “They’re cheapening it entirely and they’re trying to say it’s hateful antisemitism, these protesters are hateful, represent hateful antisemitism when [a great number of them] are Jews and Jewish organizations are in the leadership of this.”
Ultimately, the reason for the intense crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests in America stems from the deep-rooted belief, particularly among the older generations, that Zionism is inseparable from Judaism.
“And that’s what the young kids don’t have so much. They didn’t know anything about it and now they know about it. ‘This is ridiculous. This is colonialism. And we’ve been taught… to reject colonialism and we reject this,” Kavanaugh said.
