Monthly Archives: March 2024

New York University will host Zaheer Ali as the keynote speaker at the annual Liberal Studies Student Research Colloquium, on Friday, April 5, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. at the Eisner & Lubin Auditorium at the NYU Helen & Martin Kimmel Center for University Life (60 Washington Square South).

Zaheer Ali is the inaugural executive director of the Hutchins Institute for Social Justice at the Lawrenceville School and an executive producer of American Muslims: A History Revealed,a film series for PBS Digital Studios launching this fall.

For Ali, oral history is key to cultural preservation. Storytelling, he says, serves as a powerful medium for marginalized voices and challenges notions dictated by the mainstream discourse. His keynote address, Listening as Creative Act: Story-Listening for Social Change, will discuss the role of storytelling in advancing social justice and explore the importance of listening to everyones stories and its pivotal role towards nurturing inclusive communities.

Alis scholarship explores the use of oral history to preserve voices from the past and to change the mainstream narrative. One of his works is Flatbush + Main, an award-winning monthly podcast that covered Brooklyns past through historical archives and oral history. His work on Malcolm X was featured in CNNs documentary Witnessed: The Assassination of Malcolm X (2015) and Netflixs documentaries Who Killed Malcolm X? (2020) and Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali (2021).

Ali, a former adjunct professor at NYUs School of Professional Studies, has received a Soros Equality Fellowship from the Open Society Foundations for his work to leverage the power of storytelling and listening for social change.His work was recognized with the 2021 Special Jury Social Justice prize from the GLAMi Awards and the 2021 MUSE Award from the American Alliance of Museums.

The keynote address is free and open virtually to the public. Registration for the webinar is required on the Zoom registration page. For more information or to request accessibility accommodations, please email lsdeansoffice@nyu.edu or call 212.998.7120.

About NYU Liberal Studies Liberal Studies at NYU is recognized for its interdisciplinary, global liberal arts curriculum, experiential learning and small, seminar-style classes. It offers the best of both worlds: a small college experience nestled within a large urban research university. Liberal Studies has the second largest entering first year undergraduate class each year at NYU. Its classes are small; its presence is large and far-reaching.

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NYU to Host Zaheer Ali at the Annual Liberal Studies Student Research ColloquiumApril 5 - NYU

Around 1970, an unprecedented movement emerged across major American cities calling for returning control of urban government to the neighborhood level. Although conservatives had long embraced neighborhoodism, a distinguishing feature of this political trend was its newfound appeal to Democrats who were disillusioned by the turbulent urban transformations of the first postwar decades. Using New York City as a case study, this white paper shows how this new neighborhood liberalism reordered the priorities that urban liberals expected of their elected officials and, in so doing, remade American cities to a degree that scholars are only beginning to understand. On no issue was this influence clearer than that of urban growth. Whereas large-scale pro-growth projects had been at the heart of the mid-century liberal vision, the new generation of neighborhood liberals saw growth as an outdated obsession that had wreaked self-evident harms on vulnerable urban communities. Subsequently, New Yorkers enacted laws and implemented processes that slowed the pace of growth by requiring neighborhood input in the real estate development process. By the eighties, anti-growth politics and neighborhood protection had become the common dialects through which New York liberals tried to make sense of, and stake claims within, their citys shifting political environment. Yet neighborhood liberalisms achievements were not necessarily those that its initial proponents anticipated or desired. Although the devolution of land-use policy brought stability to city life for a fortunate few, the restrictions on urban development that marked the era of neighborhood liberalism set the stage for the severe housing shortages that New York and similar cities would experience in the twenty-first century.

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Power to the Neighborhoods!: New York City Growth Politics, Neighborhood Liberalism, and the Origins of the ... - Joint Center for Housing Studies

Defying prevailing opinion among a substantial section of Canadian big business, the Opposition Conservative Party, led by the far-right MP Pierre Poilievre, joined in giving unanimous consent to a union-backed, Liberal-NDP sponsored anti-scab bill on its second reading in Parliament on Feb. 27.

Now in committee before a final vote after which it will head to the Senate, Bill C-58 would amend the Canadian Labour Code to limit the ability of federally regulated employers to use replacement workers during a labour dispute, while further limiting workers ability to strike. The limit on scabs would not apply to workers in the federal public service, under the argument that these workers are not replaceable.

Tabled by Liberal Labour Minister Seamus ORegan and universally touted by the New Democratic Party (NDP), the bill has been boosted by the union bureaucracy as historic and a major advance for working people in Canada. It is possible that the Conservatives will change their stance on the final vote on the bill, but this would not block its passage in the House of Commons, where the minority Liberal Trudeau government enjoys a majority thanks to the backing of the NDP through their confidence and supply agreement.

The bill is seen by both parties and the union tops as a key component to patching up the Liberal governments progressive credentials ahead of an impending election. It was part of the joint measures that the two parties agreed to when they forged their governmental alliance to provide, to use words of NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, stability following the outbreak of the NATO-instigated Ukraine war.

Beyond electoral considerations, the bill reflects the close corporatist relations between the state, union bureaucracy, and big business that prevail in Canada.Since coming to power in 2015, the Trudeau Liberals have developed unprecedentedly close ties with the union bureaucracy, whose cooperation in suppressing the class struggle is highly valued and sought by key sections of the ruling elite.

The unions have embraced the Liberals pro-war, pro-austerity agenda, and have been rewarded with strong representation in some of the governments most important policy areas. For example, when the Liberals renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement with the fascist-minded US President Donald Trump to prepare the economic basis for the continents twin imperialist powers to wage war against their rivals, top union officials acted as semi-official government advisers. In return for the services he had rendered to the bourgeoisie, Canadian Labour Congress President Hassan Yussuff was appointed to the Senate by Trudeau upon his 2021 retirement from the leadership of Canadas largest union federation.

Today is a great day for workers and a bad day for big bosses who want to exploit those workers, NDP leader Singh declared following the Feb. 27 vote. This is a bill that gives workers the ability to negotiate for fair wages.

The United Steel Workers (USW) leadership called last months unanimous consent vote a significant step forward for workers rights in Canada. And USW National Director for Canada Marty Warren explicitly welcomed the support of Poilievres Tories, declaring in a statement, The vote on the anti-scab bill is an important victory for federally regulated workers. The all-party support is a recognition of the importance of this legislation

In his statement, Warren admitted that the bill contains provisions which would hinder and even outright block the ability of a significant section of workers to strike through their designation as essential employees, and that it will not come into effect until 18 months after it receives royal assent.

Ultimately the architects of the Liberal-NDP alliance see Bill C-58 as another tool in the hands of the state to regulate and limit the class struggle, as they strive to subordinate the working class to their policies of austerity at home and aggression and war abroad.

With the support of the unions, the NDP intends to tout this as a victory for workers. One that results from its backing for a reactionary government that is assisting Israels genocide in Gaza and plays a key role in NATOs war against Russia in Ukraine. At home, the Trudeau government has urged the maintenance of high interest rates to impose the cost of rearmament and enriching the wealthy on working people through real wage cuts.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce (CCC), Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, and the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses have all actively opposed the anti-scab legislation. The Globe and Mails editorial board, the mouthpiece of the Bay Street financial elite, stood up for the right of management to use scabs to ruthlessly break strikes and declared the bill a terrible idea.

After the February 27 vote, the CEO of the CCC, Perrin Beatty, bitterly complained, bad news for Canada, for Canadian families, and for Canadian workers. This will exacerbate our productivity problem, further erode our global reputation, and keep us from simply getting things done.

Poilievre, for his part, deliberately played coy, refusing to state clearly his partys position on the bill. As polls underscore the widespread popular revulsion with the Trudeau government and the likelihood of a Conservative sweep if an early election were called, the leader of the Opposition has been making phony appeals to workers and reaching out a hand to the union apparatus, posturing as a man of the people.

Speaking last week before the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, Poilievre, mimicking the lies of other far-right would-be autocrats like ex-British Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Donald Trump, declared, When Im prime minister, my obsessionmy daily obsessionwill be about what is good for the working class people of this country.

In so far as Poilievre has gained traction for such reactionary phony appeals, it is above all due to the unions and NDPs systematic suppression of the class struggle. They have isolated strikes, when they have been unable to prevent their breaking out, and imposed one sell-out contract after another, while politically subordinating the working class to the big business Liberal government and its agenda of austerity and war.

The lurch of official politics to the right, the promotion of identity politics by the Liberals and NDP, and the Trudeau governments spearheading of savage attacks on workers to pay for war abroad are fueling growing hostility to the so-called progressive parties and trade unions. Their anti-worker record has created a political opening for Poilievre, long notorious for serving as former Prime Minister Stephen Harpers attack dog, to preposterously present himself as an advocate of working Joes. No matter that Poilievre has a long record of supporting the use of emergency back-to-work laws to break strikes, vows to increase military funding by $20 billion per year to meet NATOs 2 percent of GDP target, is promising to get tough on crime and is whipping up backwards anti-LGBT sentiment.

The Conservatives are making demagogic social appeals on the question of continued high inflation and the housing crisis, while promising to axe the Liberals carbon tax, which Poilievre falsely presents as a main driver of inflation. The ability of the far-right Poilievre, who came to lead the party in the aftermath of the fascistic Freedom Convoys occupation of Ottawa which he stridently supported, to seek support from broad sections of the population underscores the real danger present in the current political situation. To the extent that the Liberal/NDP/union alliance retains its political stranglehold over the working class, the only beneficiaries from the deepening capitalist crisis and Canadian imperialisms turn to imperialist war will be Poilievre and the political far right.

Poilievres open hand to the union bureaucracy makes clear that he is ready to continue their ever closer integration with the state. A model for this is seen at the provincial level in Ontario where Tory Premier Doug Ford has made inroads with the union bureaucracy, in particular among the construction trades. The unions in turn have worked to prop up Fords government, scuttling a developing general strike movement in late 2022 after the premier pre-emptively illegalized a strike and imposed a concessions contract on education support workers.

However, Poilievre would combine any outreach to the bureaucracy with the adoption of openly authoritarian forms of rule and brutal state repression. The Conservatives have repeatedly attacked the Trudeau government for not cracking down more harshly against the anti-Gaza genocide protests and are eager to put paid once and for all to any political taboo on the use of the notwithstanding clause to trample on democratic rights.

Since becoming leader, he has assiduously courted the most openly far-right forces, including the supporters of Maxime Berniers Peoples Party, and made a point of championing Rebel News. It should not be forgotten that his political allies in the leadership of the Freedom Convoy advocated the creation of a military-style junta to eliminate all remaining COVID public health measures. Poilievre would have no hesitation in mobilizing such forces to use violence against a growing working class movement, including in opposition to Ottawas involvement in a rapidly developing third world war.

The debate over the anti-scab law makes clear that the workers confront an across-the-board conspiracy to suppress the class struggle from the far-right Poilievre to the social democratic NDP and their backers in the trade unions in the interest of capital. The passage of the anti-scab billrife with measures which further bind workers within the pro-business collective bargaining systemwill not advance workers interests one step forward.

The working class must assert its own independent interests by fighting for a political break with the Liberal/union/NDP alliance, the chief obstacle to the mobilization of the working class against capitalist austerity and war. This requires the struggle to form rank-and-file committees in every workplace and neighborhood to break free from the nationalist union bureaucracies, which tie workers to the Canadian capitalist political establishment.

Workers must fight to develop ties with their class brothers and sisters across provincial and international borders. Above all, the advancement of workers interests requires the adoption of a socialist and internationalist perspective to guide the fight for the transformation of society to meet the needs of humanity and not private profit. This is the perspective which the Socialist Equality Party (Canada) is fighting for, and we strongly urge all workers to contact us today to join and help build it.

Sign up for more information about how to join or build a rank-and-file committee in your workplace

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Canada's Conservatives back NDP-Liberal anti-scab legislation that undermines the right to strike - WSWS

For years, the Yimbytown conference was an ideologically safe space where liberal young professionals could talk to other liberal young professionals about the particular problems of cities with a lot of liberal young professionals: not enough bike lanes and transit, too many restrictive zoning laws.

The event began in 2016 in Boulder, Colo., and has ever since revolved around a coalition of left and center Democrats who want to make Americas neighborhoods less exclusive and its housing more dense. (YIMBY, a pro-housing movement that is increasingly an identity, stands for Yes in my backyard.)

But the vibes and crowd were surprisingly different at this years meeting, which was held at the University of Texas at Austin in February. In addition to vegan lunches and name tags with preferred pronouns, the conference included even celebrated a group that had until recently been unwelcome: red-state Republicans.

The first day featured a speech on changing zoning laws by Greg Gianforte, the Republican governor of Montana, who last year signed a housing package that YIMBYs now refer to as the Montana Miracle.

Day 2 kicked off with a panel on solutions to Texass rising housing costs. One of the speakers was a Republican legislator in Texas who, in addition to being an advocate for loosening land-use regulations, has pushed for a near-total ban on abortions.

Anyone who missed these discussions might have instead gone to the panel on bipartisanship where Republican housing reformers from Arizona and Montana talked with a Democratic state senator from Vermont. Or noticed the list of sponsors that, in addition to foundations like Open Philanthropy and Arnold Ventures, included conservative and libertarian organizations like the Mercatus Center, the American Enterprise Institute and the Pacific Legal Foundation.

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The Surprising Left-Right Alliance That Wants More Apartments in Suburbs - The New York Times

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United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe

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PARKER: Clarence Thomas, liberal racism and the ongoing denigration of Black conservatives - Kankakee Daily Journal

Hollywoods awards season has finally ended and in perfectly normal election-year fashion: Tinseltown freaking out over former President Donald Trumps possible return to the White House.

Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel got a retort from Trump after he blasted the former president and his Republican allies. Kimmel responded, Well, thank you, President Trump. Thank you for watching. Im surprised youre still isnt it past your jail time?

But his shruggable performance was far outdone by the angry venting of actor Robert De Niro, who stepped up his attacks on Trump.

On Friday, De Niro pleased Bill Mahers audience by blasting Trump. Vote for Trump and youll get the nightmare. Vote for Biden and it will be back to normalcy, he began.

To laughter and applause from Mahers Los Angeles studio audience, De Niro marveled at how anyone could support Trump. He called the poll-leading former president a total monster who will install a dictatorship. More insults followed: sociopathic, psychopathic, malignant narcissist, as well as an idiot and clown.

From Fridays Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO:

ROBERT DE NIRO: The bottom line is: Its Biden vs. Trump. We want to live in a world that we want to live in and enjoy living in or live in a nightmare? Vote for Trump and youll get the nightmare. Vote for Biden and it will be back to normalcy.

The guy is a total monster, and anybody, I dont understand it. I guess they get behind the kind of logic: They want to f*** with people, screw them because theyre unhappy about something. Hes such a mean, nasty, hateful person. Id never play him as an actor because I cant see any good in him nothing, nothing at all, nothing redeemable in him. Whoever the people are who want to vote for him, and they look like intelligent people around there, for some reason, it cant be, it cannot be. If he wins the election, you wont be on the show anymore. Hell come looking for me. Theyll be things that happened that none of us can imagine. Thats what happens in that kind of a dictatorship which is what he says. Lets believe him. Take him at his word.

Hes a sociopathic, psychopathic, malignant narcissist. He is a dangerous person the people who somehow think hes going to be the answer to their prayers, whatever those are.

BILL MAHER: Did you know him as fellow New Yorkers?

DE NIRO: Never wanted to know him.

SEE THE LATEST POLITICAL NEWS AND BUZZ FROM WASHINGTON SECRETS

MAHER: Never wanted to, you must have crossed

DE NIRO: He was an idiot. He was a clown. He was a clown in New York.

Brent Baker, the vice president of research and publications for the Media Research Center, explains our weekly pick: Rants like this from pretentious Hollywood celebrities probably drive more to vote for Trump than dissuade anyone from supporting him. How many care about the all-too-predictable left-wing political views of lefties in Hollywood who always denounce the Republican candidate and advocate for the Democratic one? Not anyone who is drawn to Trump.

Rating: FIVE out of FIVE SCREAMS.

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Liberal Media Scream: Hollywoods freaks over Trump - Washington Examiner

(March 8, 2024 / JNS)

Turning points in history arent always obvious or easily recognized by those living through them. But the significance of Oct. 7 and the way the events of that awful day and the terrible reactions to them around the worldare such that few Jews have been unaware that they are living through a crucial moment in the history of their people. The horrific attacks on Jewish communities in southern Israel carried out by Hamas and its Palestinian supporters constituted the largest mass slaughter of Jews since World War II and the Holocaust. The rampage of murder, rape, torture and kidnapping began a war in which Israelis have been forced to defend their homes and families against a genocidal foe. But of perhaps equal significance is the impact this has had on Jews elsewhere, particularly those living in the United States, most of whom had thought of themselves as largely immune from the scourge of Jew-hatred that had been a constant theme of millennia of Jewish history.

The post-Oct. 7 surge of antisemitism has shaken that complacency and created what can only be termed a crisis of faith among secular Jewish liberals unlike anything they have previously encountered. As a cover story in The Atlantic magazine made clear, its not just the mobs on college campuses and in the streets of major cities that chanted for the destruction of Israel (from the river to the sea) and for terrorism against Jews wherever they lived (globalize the intifada) that has rattled American Jewish liberals. Its the realization that the capture of much of the educational system, popular culture and even government by left-wing ideologies is not just aimed at toppling traditional ideas about Western civilization and America; its a direct threat to Jews.

Thats the basic truth at the heart of Franklin Foers gloomy Atlantic essay, The Golden Age of American Jews Is Ending. As a member-in-good standing of the Washington liberal establishment, Foer, currently an Atlantic staff writer and a former editor of The New Republic, as well as the older brother of novelist Jonathan Safran Foer, is well-placed to speak to the collapse of self-confidence on the part of much of American Jewry in recent months. And though he gets some of it wrong in his attempt to place recent events in the context of the last century of American Jewish history and antisemitism, hes certainly right about one thing.

The end of American exceptionalism

The shift in the way many American elites think has created more than just some uncomfortable moments for the large percentage of Jews whose lives are built around their unquestioned place in the life of the nation. Foer credits the widespread acceptance of Jews in virtually every sector of American lifeacademia, business, culture, governmentto the heyday of a particularly inclusive brand of American liberalism that reached its peak in the late 20th century. The replacement of that belief system by the new orthodoxy of critical race theory, intersectionality and the woke catechism of diversity, equity and inclusion not only seeks to change American society for the worse; it marks the end of the very aspects of American exceptionalism that made that golden age for Jews possible.

Nevertheless, though Foer recognizes that Jews like him were wrong to think that antisemitism was primarily a feature of the American right, he is still far too much a product of a partisan mindset to fully recognize what has happened and why. His potted history of the last 100 years of Jewish life on American shores and the rise of antisemitism in the last quarter-century is determined to be evenhanded when it comes to apportioning blame for the current problems of the Jews.

It is this failure to be clear-headed about the problem that is at the root of a pessimistic conclusion about the end of the good times for American Jewry that, though the post-Oct. 7 atmosphere would seem to validate that belief, should not be entirely accepted. Thats because there is a path for preserving Jewish acceptance. But it must be predicated on Jews breaking ranks with their erstwhile allies on the left and not merely expressing resentment at their betrayal, as Foer does.

Instead, it will require a recognition that if liberalism is to be saved, the failure of liberals to defend both Western civilization and the Jews against the intersectional left must be acknowledged. That must be followed by both a full-throated rejection of woke antisemitism and an alliance with conservatives, who are the only force in this country willing or capable of rolling back the leftist tide that is endangering Jewish security. Whether Jewish liberals are capable of either the self-awareness and honesty to confront the truth of their predicament in this matter is doubtful. But the alternatives are something that most Jews are equally unprepared to live with: an acceptance of their status as a despised minority rather than one that is valued or packing their bags to seek a better life elsewhere.

What created the golden age?

Foers misunderstanding about what made the golden age possibleepitomized in his essay by the 1978 prime-time television tribute to Israels 30th birthday at which Barbra Streisand chatted with Golda Meir and then sang Hatikvahis key to his unwillingness to think sensibly about how to defend it. While he sees Jewish acceptance in America as solely the product of mid-20th-century Democratic Party politics, this is a mistake. The immigrant community that came of age in the 1930s and that had seemingly overcome all traditional obstacles to advancement by the dawn of the 21st century (when Sen. Joe Liebermans nomination as Al Gores running mate seemed to elevate Jews to unforeseen heights) was overwhelmingly supportive of the Democrats and political liberalism.

While Jews faced a different set of problems than other ethnic/religious immigrant groups, their ability to prosper in American society was the product of the same process that led to the integration of other communities that had arrived in large numbers from Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like the others, what the Jews needed was a country where the rule of law was unquestioned, and religious tests were prohibited. American exceptionalism was based on the nations adherence to Western values enshrined in its founding documents about equal opportunity as well as a belief in merit over entitlement based on race. It was those fundamental principles and, contrary to Foer, not Franklin Roosevelts favor or a liberal Supreme Court that banned school prayer, that protected Jews.

And it is precisely the toppling of those principles by the neo-Marxist critical studies movement and the political vanguard that, as Foer admits, has put its heretofore extremist theories into practice throughout American society that created the situation threatening Jews today.

Where Foer particularly fails in his analysis is his inability to see the profound difference between the impact of extremist right-wing haters and the intersectional left, whose rage at Israel and the Jews could no longer be ignored after Oct. 7.

Right-wing antisemitism exists. It has made itself felt in demonstrations like the neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Va., in August 2017, whose tiki torches reminded Jews of Adolf Hitlers Nuremberg rallies and online hate. The lone-wolf shootings by right-wingers, such as the murderous attacks on synagogues in Pittsburgh in 2018 and Poway, Calif., in 2019, were tragic and truly frightening.

But attempts to shoehorn a narrative about former President Donald Trump or Republicans enabling these extremists was a partisan smear. Those, like Foer, who treat criticism of leftist billionaire George Soross interventions in American politics particularly his financing of the campaigns of local prosecutors who were not interested in jailing criminalsas antisemitic are dishonest and undermine efforts to combat real Jew-hatred.

The left really does hate Jews

By contrast, the political lefts enshrining of notions about Jews being white oppressors who should be fair game for terror and genocide in Israel, and intimidation and insults in the United States, has been mainstreamed throughout culture, journalism and politics in a way that has never happened with the right-wing variant of antisemitism.

Foer confesses that he thought left-wingers who attacked Israel were not a problem because he assumed that they were the equivalent of liberal Zionists like him who dont like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or his government. And even now, he is reluctant to accept a definition of antisemitism that rightly includes anti-Zionism.

But as he has realized since Oct. 7, the intersectional left reserves its sympathy for Palestinians who want to destroy Israel and slaughter its people, not well-meaning left-wing Jews who want a two-state solution. And they have no compunction about extending their animus towards the overwhelming majority of Jews who are not willing to renounce Zionism or declare their opposition to the existence of the one Jewish state on the planet. If advocacy for Jewish genocide is no longer unthinkable even on campuses like Harvard, then its clear that there is little room for the kind of self-confident Jewish existence throughout elite institutions or in the public square where liberal Jews thought they were once so much at home.

The progressives who are enabling antisemitism are now a potent force in politics in way that is unthinkable about the right, where the Republicans have become a lockstep pro-Israel party, and philosemitism is baked deep into the political DNA of the evangelicals that liberal Jews fear more than antisemitic members of the left-wing congressional Squad.

Foer discusses the possibility of Jews fleeing to places like Germany for a safer existence, but that shows that hes even more clueless about the situation in Europe. The red-green alliance between the surging population of Islamist immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa, and left-wing elites who agree on targeting the Jews, is particularly potent in Western Europe. Pointedly, Foer doesnt discuss the one place that remains, even after Oct. 7, the most likely and the safest destination for Jews: Israel. There, they can defend themselves and hold their fate in their own hands.

What has happened since Oct. 7 is merely a confirmation of so many other trends in which traditional liberals have proven unable or unwilling to defend the Western canon in academia, the institution of the family against gender indoctrination as well as the principle of equal opportunity against the DEI doctrine that mandates its destruction. So, it is no surprise that they have similarly either abandoned the Jews against those attacking them or shown themselves too weak to oppose them. President Joe Bidens willingness to pander to antisemitic voters in Americas jihad capital in Dearborn, Mich., is merely the most prominent example of this.

Foer also fails to grasp that as dire as the situation may be for Jews, it is not a foregone conclusion that a defense of that golden ageor at least the widespread acceptance of Jewsis doomed to failure. Granted, rolling back the intersectional and woke racist doctrines that have taken hold of so many American institutions and sectors of society, will be a daunting task. But its not impossible.

The progressives long march through U.S. institutions by which they promoted their doctrines was never voted on by the American people, and most oppose it. And the power of the government that enabled it can prohibit it just as easily. In this fight, Jews are not alone. The political right is committed to defeating woke ideology primarily because it is a threat to America and the West. Actions like the banning of DEI in Florida illustrate how the tide can be turned.

Only by winning the fight for the West and American values that liberals have punted on can exceptionalism be restored. But if liberal Jews are to play a role in stopping a movement that is targeting them, then theyll have to overcome their abhorrence of conservatives and finally join the fight opposing the woke left.

Thats something that will be impossible for people like Foer, as well as the legacy organizations like the Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee, which are too committed to their traditional political allies to do what is necessary to defend Jews. What they dont realize is that if they continue to refuse to treat the battle against woke ideology as an existential struggle that should take precedence over every other domestic concern, theyre not just guaranteeing an illiberal future for this country where antisemitism will continue to be mainstreamed. They are also effectively ensuring that the days of America as a safe haven for Jews really are over.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS (Jewish News Syndicate). Follow him: @jonathans_tobin.

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Why liberals failed in the fight against antisemitism - JNS.org

Dear readers,

Welcome to EU Elections Decoded, your essential guide for staying up to date and receiving exclusive insights about the upcoming EU elections. This is Max Griera, writing from Bucharest. Subscribe here.

In todays edition

Ahead of Renew Europes grand electoral launch on 20 March, Euractiv took a sneak peek at their lead candidates and manifesto, which focuses on competitiveness, defence, and the need to shift from creating new Green legislation to implementing the existing laws and give the industry breathing space.

The several factions composing the liberal group in the European Parliament will gather on 20 March to launch the joint Renew Europe Now platform, including a 10-point electoral programme and a team of three lead candidates to guide them through the elections.

While the liberals have stayed silent on their campaign plans, their joint electoral plan is starting to take shape. And, as their grand electoral launch approaches, Euractiv was briefed by a well-informed source on the Renew manifestos content.

The common points, which bring together the priorities of ALDE, EDP, and Frances Renaissance the most important liberal factions -, outline the general priorities the liberals will follow in the campaign and the upcoming legislative term, such as defence, farmers, rule of law, and the EUs reform.

However, it seems the manifesto will lack specific policy proposals, instead agreeing on the lowest common denominators and leaving some ambiguity for future flexibility on specific files.

The common priorities focus on boosting Europes competitiveness, to face off against competition from China and the US, while looking inward by embracing a Made in Europe strategy. Such a standpoint echoes ALDEs manifesto, reported by Euractiv, which affirms the EUs single market needs to be completed

We advocate for a frictionless single market that ensures an equal and competitive business environment at the EU level, the ALDE draft manifesto states, while criticising the outgoing Commissions management of the internal market.

In doing so, ALDE also casts doubt on the performance of the commissioner in charge of the internal market, Frenchman Thierry Breton, though any mention of a neglected internal market has been ditched from the Renew manifesto, possibly as a result of French pressure.

On the Green Deal, echoing the regulatory pause called for by French President Emmanuel Macron, the manifesto places a strong emphasis on the need to move away from further regulation and ensure that the implementation of Green Deal files does not hamper Europes businesses.

On migration, the liberals have opted to reject the harsher stance of the European Peoples Party and embrace a humane, clear, and stable approach. However, the manifesto seems to play on ambiguity by broadly calling to help the countries of departure to handle migration flows, as well as further migrant talent integration.

Among other points, the manifesto also brings back Europes reform debate by demanding to reopen the EU treaties to get rid of qualified majority voting, and turn the Commission into a proper democratic government.

Such a perspective likely draws on the manifesto of the European Democratic Party, a member of Renew, seen by Euractiv, which contains 300 actions to be taken after the EU elections.

With a strong pro-European narrative, the EDP manifesto proposes implementing the conclusions of the long-forgotten Conference on the Future of Europe, and the direct election of an EU president with transnational lists.

Just like the Socialists and the centre-right parties, the liberals have also embraced the pro-farmers rhetoric as their own, echoing the pledges that the Renew Europe groups president, Frances Valrie Hayer, made after being elected the groups chief.

Brussels is also waiting to see who will head the Renew Europe Platform in the campaign, as the liberals are the last EU political force to make their pick.

As reported by Euractiv on Tuesday (7 March), the liberals have now confirmed they will have a Team Europe composed of three Spitzenkandidaten to represent each liberal faction: ALDE, EDP, and Frances Renaissance.

What we know so far is that MEP Sandro Gozi will almost certainly become the lead candidate from EDP, while Commissioner Breton seems to be the frontrunner to represent Frances Renaissance.

ALDE members have been struggling to find their pick and have pushed their deadline, initially set last week, to reach an internal agreement.

While ALDE members would like to see Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas as their lead candidate, it is unclear whether she will agree. Read more on the liberals lead candidate team here.

The European Peoples Party congress in Bucharest has elected Ursula von der Leyen as the lead candidate, who has now shifted to campaign mode. The Congress also approved the EPPs electoral manifesto, which shapes the partys policy priorities for the coming five years. Here are some bits Nick Alipour and I gathered on the ground.

Security first. The EPP has included security and order as a core tenet of their manifesto and already applied it in practice during the congress. Upon arriving at the airport, congress attendees received a spooky notice explaining what to do and not to do- to stay safe in Bucharest. The party even set a special password to give in case you found yourself calling 112.

Dissent and von der Leyen scepticism. The Austrian delegation announced they would not vote in favour of the manifesto as it is opposed their views on energy and Schengen, while Frances Les Republicains decided not to vote in favour of von der Leyen, arguing that she does not represent well the party values: Many colleagues, and a substantial number, in fact, including German colleagues, () have thanked us for being the spokesperson for their own reservations, an official from Les Republicains told us. Read more.

Melonis party joining EPP? While von der Leyen has pondered the idea of some members of the nationalist ECR group joining the EPP, Italys centre-right MEP Salvatore De Meo told us that his party, Forza Italia, wants Giorgia Melonis party Fratelli dItalia with whom they currently govern to join the EPP. Read more.

Migration controversy. The manifesto promises a crackdown on migration by endorsing the UKs controversial Rwanda model to send migrants to third countries while processing asylum applications, which von der Leyen endorses fully, she said in a press conference. The UKs scheme with Rwanda, announced by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, was deemed to conflict with international law by the UKs Supreme Court.

Romania to be rewarded with significant Commission portfolio. Romanian EPP Vice-President Sigfried Muresan told Euractiv that his country will be rewarded for their pro-Europeanness with a portfolio in the areas of foreign affairs, defence, or enlargement. However, it is unclear whether Romanias commissioner will be nominated by the socialists or the centre-right, as they are governing together in a grand coalition.

Romanias opposition stages campaign. The Romanian liberal party USR staged a PR campaign across Bucharest, criticising the centre-right party PNL for having allied with the socialist PSD to govern. USR demands that EPP delegates in Bucharest clarify with PNL leaders how they jumped on the S&D ballot. We are witnessing a festival of the absurd: people who vote PNL will actually send social democrats to the European Parliament, said Ionu Moteanu, USR vice-president and spokesperson.

Ahead of EU elections, security is the magic word for the socialists. Citizens want more security in Europe no, its not von der Leyens latest pitch but what came out of the latest European Socialist Party congress in Rome. Eleonora Vasques has more here.

French left party LFI unveils EU election list, and its all about the perfect balance between new and old faces. The list is still incompletetwo spots are still vacantand needs to be approved by 15 March. Read Clara Bauer-Babef and Paul Messads full coverage here.

Greeces data watchdog investigates MEPs mass emails to voters abroad. The issue has sparked an intense debate in Greece, considering that postal voting will be applied for the first time in the EU elections in June. Sarantis Michalopoulos has you covered.

Breton, Hayer, Kallas, Gozi Where are the liberals leaders? While the electoral battle has already started, Renew Europe still hasnt taken the field. Internal discussions, hesitations, infighting, and contradictions noticed by Euractiv in recent weeks, surely show one thing: All bets are open. Max Griera has more insights.

French far-right: EU elections referendum against migrants, Brussels authoritarianism. France is back, Europe lives again. The Rassemblement Nationals lead candidate Jordan Bardella is ready to cooperate with fellow far-right and nationalist leaders to change the Union from within, setting aside the old Frexit dream. Alice Taylor covered the story.

*Additional reporting by Nick Alipour.

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]

Excerpt from:

Liberal Renew manifesto sneak peek and bits from Bucharest congress - EURACTIV

U.S. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) appeared on "Fox News Sunday" with host Shannon Bream Sunday and answered a question many have asked.

Bream asked if Britt was trying to relate the story of a woman she met at the border to something that happened under the Biden administration. The woman, Karla Jacinto Romero, was sex trafficked by Mexican cartels when she was 12 years old.

Britt told Bream what she said was clear.

"I very clearly said I spoke to a woman who told me about when she was trafficked when she was 12," Britt said. "So I didn't say a teenager; I didn't say a young woman, a grown woman, a woman when she was trafficked when she was 12."

During her first 100 days in office, Britt said she visited the border three times and spoke with people and border patrol agents about what was going on. She said she wanted to find out what they thought should be done to prevent similar incidents. She compared her first 100 days to President Joe Biden's first 100 days when he put in place 94 executive actions allowing more border crossings.

"Minutes after coming into office, he stopped all deportations," she explained. "He halted construction of the border wall, and he said I am going to give amnesty to millions. Those types of things act as a magnet to have more and more people here."

Britt said she hopes the story can bring light to human trafficking and crimes being committed by drug cartels coming across the border.

"The truth is and the media knows this, yet they're not covering it that human trafficking has gone up under President Biden," said Britt. "If you look back under 2018, it was a $500 million industry, human trafficking by the drug cartels. It is now a $13 billion industry."

RELATED: Left-wing TikToker Jonathan Katz downplays seriousness of human trafficking in Katie Britt hit piece

"Shannon, the drug cartels are winning under this," she continued. "This is a story of what is happening now at an astronomical rate. And we have to bring attention to it. We have to tell those stories. And the liberal media needs to pay attention to it because there are victims all the way coming to the border. There are victims at the border. And then there are victims all throughout our country and to me, it is disgusting to try to silence the voice of telling the story of what it is like to be sex trafficked when we know that that is one of the things that the drug cartels are profiting most off of."

Another issue brought up about Britt's response is the fact she was sitting at a kitchen table. Britt addressed that by saying it wasn't to make a point that Republicans don't care about women and their issues.

SEE ALSO: Watch: SNL's entirely predictable cold open mocking Katie Britt

"I think the exact opposite is true and that is exactly why I was sitting at a kitchen table," said Britt. "Republicans care about kitchen table issues. We care about faith, family, we care about freedom. We are the ones talking about the economy and the real effects of that while Joe Biden is claiming that Bidenomics is working. We know that gas is higher. We know that he's making us energy-dependent on others, which is not only hurting us at home, it's actually hurting our allies abroad."

"We know that when we go to the grocery store that things cost more," she continued. "I mean, we know that the credit card debt in this nation right now is at an all-time high, over a trillion dollars. It's the highest ever in our nation's history. We know when people are looking to buy a home for their family that mortgage rates are up.

"And so, we are talking about the issues that women care about."

To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email erica.thomas@1819news.com.

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Katie Britt calls on liberal media 'to pay attention' to border - 1819 News

An injury accident occurred on Saturday at approximately 10:25 pm at the junction of US-83 and US-64, approximately two and one-half miles north of Turpin, OK in Beaver County.

A 2010 Chevy Cobalt being driven by Luis Gustavo Hernandez, age 23 of Liberal, KS, was west bound on US-64. While a 2013 Ram 1500 driven by Luis Alberto Sanchez, age 33 of Liberal, was northbound on US-83. Hernandez failed to stop at a stop sign and struck the Sanchez vehicle. Sanchez departed the roadway to the left and rolled one complete time, coming to rest on its wheels. Hernandez was transported by Seward County EMS to Southwest Medical Center in Liberal, KS. He was admitted in stable condition with head and trunk internal injuries. He was later transferred to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, KS.

Sanchez transported by Beaver County EMS to Southwest Medical Center in Liberal, KS. He was treated and released.

A Passenger in the Sanchez vehicle, Miguel Angel Tobon, age 29 of Liberal was Not Injured.

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Liberal Man Injured in Beaver County Accident - KSCB News.net