CENSORSHIP SPREAD: Betrayed By Their University, Jewish Student Group Takes A Courageous Stand
From silencing of TV news anchors to violent police crackdowns of pro-Palestine peace demonstrations, fascist state control is spreading.
Notice the chill in the air? No, it’s not the coming of winter, it’s the coming of fascist state control and manipulation of the news. It is the chilling slow strangle shutting down of any questioning or dissent of the US/Israeli Zionist genocide in Gaza and pretense of American democracy. It is the icy silencing of TV anchors and corporate massaging of the news. The definition of Zionism, a radical fascist perversion of Judaism, is being stretched and twisted to broaden the silencing of dissent or even questioning of the official propaganda narrative.
This latest example of what happened to a Jewish student group seeking to host a film critical of the Israeli government is just the latest example. And note, this incident occurred at a state-funded university pressured by donors and political extremists, not a private school. The cowardice and betrayal of academic freedom, inquiry and debate at US universities is especially grotesque. Expect the fascist clampdown to spread.
Mark Taylor
DeMOCKracy.ink
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Jewish UPenn Students Could Face Discipline For Screening Film Critical Of Israel
“That kind of caving toward the dominant strain of thinking on a controversial issue is precisely the kind of intellectual tunnel vision that a university should seek to avoid, combat and provide space to escape.”
By Matt Shumann
HuffPost (11/30/23)
A Jewish student group at the University of Pennsylvania is facing potential disciplinary action for screening a documentary critical of the Israeli government.
Multiple universities have now attempted to stop student screenings of “Israelism,” an award-winning film that features the stories of American Jews who have traveled to Israel and subsequently reexamined their relationship with the country and with their own pro-Israel religious educations in the United States after seeing how Israel treats Palestinians.
Students from Penn Chavurah, a progressive Jewish group on campus, hosted a screening of the film Tuesday night, even though the university refused to permit access to a venue. Nearly 100 people packed into a classroom to watch the documentary, according to Jack Starobin, a board member and organizer at Chavurah.
“It’s moments like these where we’re counting on strong leadership to stay true to this university’s values, and that’s where I think the failing has been on the part of Penn administrators,” Starobin, a senior at Penn, told HuffPost.
“We are honestly baffled and deeply disappointed by UPenn’s continued attempt to censor progressive Jewish voices, at the exact time when nuanced conversations about Jewish identity and the root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are most needed.”
A screening of the film, which was released in February, was scheduled for Oct. 24 but was postponed after Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent retaliatory attacks on the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
Starobin said he’d been in talks with university administrators for weeks about holding a screening this month instead. A few days ago, the university denied organizers’ request for event space to hold the screening, suggesting it be delayed until February. Administrators never provided any specifics behind their reasoning, Starobin said. …
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/university-pennsylvania-hunter-college-israelism-screening_n_6568e323e4b028b0f3cf8517
Here Is The Trailer To The Banned Film, “Israelism”. Watch The Movie If You Get The Opportunity
