The USA is seeing unprecedented hate crimes against Jews and unprecedented anti-Jewish bigotry at all levels.
Jewish kids at school try to pretend they are not Jewish. Jewish adults try to pretend not to be Jews.
Do you think there is nothing the USA can do about this?
I think it is clear that many young Americans and young people around the world now hate Jews. And many even want Jews killed. It is perhaps better that these opinions be expressed openly and continually in public so that the public knows and understands the extent of this problem and can begin to address this via respectful loving dialogue.
Where do you think this massive Jew hatred comes from?
The old Christ killer charge?
The sin of not following and accepting Jesus as the Messiah of the Jews?
The sin of being far too successful in every sphere of of life, (including being massively overrepresented among billionaires, millionaires, Hollywood, entertainment, art, dance, music, corporate executives, co-founders of companies, members of founding teams of companies, angel investors, venture capitalists, private equity, I Bankers, asset managers, consultants, technologists, scientists, inventors, product developers, process innovators, top academic performers.)
I think the sin of being too successful is an outgrowth of global cultural marxism, post modernity, critical theory wave and the theory of disparate impact. People think that Jews must be cheating or oppressing or exploiting or being "white towards" or being "nazi towards" or supporting the patriarchy towards others. How else can Jews be so successful. I don't know how this theory can be fought.
I would note that a whole lot of Jewish Democrats, Jewish leftist, Jewish wokes support Gov Abbot's move. Jews feel vulnerable to attacks and Jew hatred all over the world (outside of some asian countries such as India, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam) at the worst level since the holocaust.
Wow! I totally disagree with these sentiments. This is not a question of policing speech. College campuses have become hotbeds of both antisemitic speech and actions. Jewish students are not simply being thin skinned about negative opinions about the Jewish people or Israel, but are being verbally and physically threatened because of their nationality. Bullying and intimidation focused on one group’s race or ethnicity is not free speech—particularly when it is accompanied by physical actions. The so-called pro Palestinian protests are not just expressing disagreement with Israeli policies or approaches to war fighting, they are aimed at intimidating Jews. If you want to understand the difference between free speech and verbal bullying and intimidation substitute black for Jews; and say that blacks are parasites and the KKK should be allowed to kill them all.
I disagree with your disagreement. There are laws in existence against bullying, harassment and violence, why is a special law needed to protect Jewish students from such acts? Without these new laws if a Jewish student is harassed the authorities cannot act?
Saying "Blacks are parasites" is wrong and condemnable but should not be illegal, schools should deal with such speech using their institutional policy, it shouldn't be mandated by the government.
Saying the KKK should kill all Blacks is calling for a specific action against Blacks, that's no longer free speech. Calling for the death of Jews is not free speech either and there are laws to deal with all that
These are not legal issues per se but about colleges’ rules governing the free exchange of ideas on their campuses and in their classrooms. Most advocates of free speech would concede that bullying, intimidation and threats are not a legitimate form of free speech debate. The reality is that some groups on campus are cocooned from any criticism or thoughts that don’t conform to some ideological framework based on marginalized people. Jews have not only not been provided these of protections, but have been the targets of both physical and verbal bullying and intimidation. In this environment the governor calling on campuses in the state to provide a safe environment for Jewish students to participate in campus life is far from hypocritical . He is asking campus authorities to provide a minimum of safety for all students—including Jews. If so-called pro Palestinian supporters want to engage in an actual debate on Israeli policies on the Gaza war that would be an example of a free speech exchange. Most Jewish students have nothing to do with Israeli policies. So why are these clearly despicable antisemitic acts of intimidation being directed at Jewish students and people? Again bullying and intimidation are not free speech. The free exchange of ideas does require agreement or conformity but it does require that all can participate in the dialogue without fear of physical or verbal bullying or intimidation. I would expect this simple principle to be applied for all groups on college campuses.
None of these addresses my concern with the governor's executive order. You say some groups are cocooned from criticism, does the executive order address that to ensure no group is cocooned, I mean it's Texas, what's the likelihood that what you're saying is true, but even if it's true, the response should not be to expand the net to cocoon more group, but to drop it all together
If Jews are targets of physical and verbal intimidation, are the authorities helpless to come to their aid without this executive order?
How does the executive order ensure safety in Jews in campuses that they wouldn't have had without the executive order, does the school choose which demographic to protect and which not to? What does this safe environment for Jewish students entail, can you give me a description of what the school has to do differently as a result of this executive order in order to protect Jewish students?
"Most Jewish students have nothing to do with Israeli policy" that is true, but does Israel shock claims all Jews all over the world know that? Do American Jews like Ben Shapiro who have been fervently pro-Israel know that?
My friend you must be living in a very different country than the one I’m in. I guess the governor could have issued an executive order saying that there should be no protection against bullying and intimidation for any group. However, that would be pretty silly.
The point is that colleges—especially the most elite selective schools including state public colleges—have extended extraordinary limitations on free speech to protect the feelings of certain favored protected groups; blacks, Latinos, LGBTQ individuals. Using the wrong pronouns can be considered a form of bullying or intimidation or hate speech. Using language that sounds like the “N” word—it is ridiculous that using the actual word is verboten—is a reason for being cancelled and drummed out of polite society. However, these same protections are pointedly denied to other groups—especially Asians and Jews.
What is happening on college campuses from progressive social justice student warriors and their professors is not an exercise in free speech or the free exchange of ideas. Calling for genocide against the Jews is not a debating position. It is intended to intimidate, bully and isolate Jewish students, professors and community members. To equate a public official declaring that such behavior is unacceptable in civilized society—especially on a college campus—is not embracing wokeness or attempting to limit speech we don’t like. The governor is in essence is saying there are rules to debate and dissent—and calling for genocide against a group for no other reason than their ethnicity and religion violates these rules. Arguing that defining acceptable rules for debate and the free exchange of ideas is the same as hate speech codes propagated by the progressive left is a category error.
Let me be clear, I do not endorse these restrictions on speech in pursuit of a favored political agenda. I’m not arguing that they should be extended to other groups. I’m arguing that verbal—and in some instances physical—intimidation and bullying are not methods of promoting the free exchange of ideas or expressing dissenting opinions. To the extent that the governor is demanding that college leadership promote rules and norms for the civilized free exchange of ideas and dissent that cover all students and all subjects to me is admirable.
But I don't think he knows how intense and visceral Jew hatred is right now in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Central America, Caribbean, South America, Europe, Russia, Australia and large parts of the muslim world.
The USA remains orders of magnitude better for Jews than Latin America, England and many parts of Europe and. Lets hope it stays that way.
John FosterBey, is there any data on who is engaging in abuse of Jews right now? Any specific ethnic groups?
The USA is seeing unprecedented hate crimes against Jews and unprecedented anti-Jewish bigotry at all levels.
Jewish kids at school try to pretend they are not Jewish. Jewish adults try to pretend not to be Jews.
Do you think there is nothing the USA can do about this?
I think it is clear that many young Americans and young people around the world now hate Jews. And many even want Jews killed. It is perhaps better that these opinions be expressed openly and continually in public so that the public knows and understands the extent of this problem and can begin to address this via respectful loving dialogue.
Where do you think this massive Jew hatred comes from?
The old Christ killer charge?
The sin of not following and accepting Jesus as the Messiah of the Jews?
The sin of being far too successful in every sphere of of life, (including being massively overrepresented among billionaires, millionaires, Hollywood, entertainment, art, dance, music, corporate executives, co-founders of companies, members of founding teams of companies, angel investors, venture capitalists, private equity, I Bankers, asset managers, consultants, technologists, scientists, inventors, product developers, process innovators, top academic performers.)
I think the sin of being too successful is an outgrowth of global cultural marxism, post modernity, critical theory wave and the theory of disparate impact. People think that Jews must be cheating or oppressing or exploiting or being "white towards" or being "nazi towards" or supporting the patriarchy towards others. How else can Jews be so successful. I don't know how this theory can be fought.
I would note that a whole lot of Jewish Democrats, Jewish leftist, Jewish wokes support Gov Abbot's move. Jews feel vulnerable to attacks and Jew hatred all over the world (outside of some asian countries such as India, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam) at the worst level since the holocaust.
Wow! I totally disagree with these sentiments. This is not a question of policing speech. College campuses have become hotbeds of both antisemitic speech and actions. Jewish students are not simply being thin skinned about negative opinions about the Jewish people or Israel, but are being verbally and physically threatened because of their nationality. Bullying and intimidation focused on one group’s race or ethnicity is not free speech—particularly when it is accompanied by physical actions. The so-called pro Palestinian protests are not just expressing disagreement with Israeli policies or approaches to war fighting, they are aimed at intimidating Jews. If you want to understand the difference between free speech and verbal bullying and intimidation substitute black for Jews; and say that blacks are parasites and the KKK should be allowed to kill them all.
I disagree with your disagreement. There are laws in existence against bullying, harassment and violence, why is a special law needed to protect Jewish students from such acts? Without these new laws if a Jewish student is harassed the authorities cannot act?
Saying "Blacks are parasites" is wrong and condemnable but should not be illegal, schools should deal with such speech using their institutional policy, it shouldn't be mandated by the government.
Saying the KKK should kill all Blacks is calling for a specific action against Blacks, that's no longer free speech. Calling for the death of Jews is not free speech either and there are laws to deal with all that
These are not legal issues per se but about colleges’ rules governing the free exchange of ideas on their campuses and in their classrooms. Most advocates of free speech would concede that bullying, intimidation and threats are not a legitimate form of free speech debate. The reality is that some groups on campus are cocooned from any criticism or thoughts that don’t conform to some ideological framework based on marginalized people. Jews have not only not been provided these of protections, but have been the targets of both physical and verbal bullying and intimidation. In this environment the governor calling on campuses in the state to provide a safe environment for Jewish students to participate in campus life is far from hypocritical . He is asking campus authorities to provide a minimum of safety for all students—including Jews. If so-called pro Palestinian supporters want to engage in an actual debate on Israeli policies on the Gaza war that would be an example of a free speech exchange. Most Jewish students have nothing to do with Israeli policies. So why are these clearly despicable antisemitic acts of intimidation being directed at Jewish students and people? Again bullying and intimidation are not free speech. The free exchange of ideas does require agreement or conformity but it does require that all can participate in the dialogue without fear of physical or verbal bullying or intimidation. I would expect this simple principle to be applied for all groups on college campuses.
None of these addresses my concern with the governor's executive order. You say some groups are cocooned from criticism, does the executive order address that to ensure no group is cocooned, I mean it's Texas, what's the likelihood that what you're saying is true, but even if it's true, the response should not be to expand the net to cocoon more group, but to drop it all together
If Jews are targets of physical and verbal intimidation, are the authorities helpless to come to their aid without this executive order?
How does the executive order ensure safety in Jews in campuses that they wouldn't have had without the executive order, does the school choose which demographic to protect and which not to? What does this safe environment for Jewish students entail, can you give me a description of what the school has to do differently as a result of this executive order in order to protect Jewish students?
"Most Jewish students have nothing to do with Israeli policy" that is true, but does Israel shock claims all Jews all over the world know that? Do American Jews like Ben Shapiro who have been fervently pro-Israel know that?
My friend you must be living in a very different country than the one I’m in. I guess the governor could have issued an executive order saying that there should be no protection against bullying and intimidation for any group. However, that would be pretty silly.
The point is that colleges—especially the most elite selective schools including state public colleges—have extended extraordinary limitations on free speech to protect the feelings of certain favored protected groups; blacks, Latinos, LGBTQ individuals. Using the wrong pronouns can be considered a form of bullying or intimidation or hate speech. Using language that sounds like the “N” word—it is ridiculous that using the actual word is verboten—is a reason for being cancelled and drummed out of polite society. However, these same protections are pointedly denied to other groups—especially Asians and Jews.
What is happening on college campuses from progressive social justice student warriors and their professors is not an exercise in free speech or the free exchange of ideas. Calling for genocide against the Jews is not a debating position. It is intended to intimidate, bully and isolate Jewish students, professors and community members. To equate a public official declaring that such behavior is unacceptable in civilized society—especially on a college campus—is not embracing wokeness or attempting to limit speech we don’t like. The governor is in essence is saying there are rules to debate and dissent—and calling for genocide against a group for no other reason than their ethnicity and religion violates these rules. Arguing that defining acceptable rules for debate and the free exchange of ideas is the same as hate speech codes propagated by the progressive left is a category error.
Let me be clear, I do not endorse these restrictions on speech in pursuit of a favored political agenda. I’m not arguing that they should be extended to other groups. I’m arguing that verbal—and in some instances physical—intimidation and bullying are not methods of promoting the free exchange of ideas or expressing dissenting opinions. To the extent that the governor is demanding that college leadership promote rules and norms for the civilized free exchange of ideas and dissent that cover all students and all subjects to me is admirable.
Charles means well.
But I don't think he knows how intense and visceral Jew hatred is right now in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Central America, Caribbean, South America, Europe, Russia, Australia and large parts of the muslim world.
The USA remains orders of magnitude better for Jews than Latin America, England and many parts of Europe and. Lets hope it stays that way.
John FosterBey, is there any data on who is engaging in abuse of Jews right now? Any specific ethnic groups?