Links - 29th June 2024 (2 - Hamas Attack Oct 2023)

Should governments legislate 'bubble zones' around places of worship? Some say yes - "the Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council called for city council to undertake more consultation with the Muslim and Arab communities, saying establishing a 100-metre buffer zone around places like schools and places of worship needs to allow for what the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects as peaceful assembly. The letter also raised concern about the zone capturing other activities and questioned what enforcement could look like, underscoring it should be "proportional and non-discriminatory." "Proceeding with the law as is in the current context of the war on Gaza will only be perceived as an attempt to limit freedom of speech and silence pro-Palestinian voices," it wrote"
Of course, if you protest outside a mosque, that is Islamophobic hate speech and you need to be arrested

LILLEY: Canadian Jews have to take unreal steps to feel safe, that's wrong - "Imagine having to corral a dozen or more cops to hold a news conference in public on a busy Toronto street – or having to ensure that police and private security are at every single community event you hold. That’s the reality for Toronto’s Jewish community. It was like this, to a degree, before Oct. 7, but it has only increased since then. I’m not sure people who aren’t Jewish can understand the lengths their fellow citizens need to go to in order to feel safe these days. As a non-Jew who has been to several events, synagogues and community meetings over the last several months, it’s quite shocking. A point I keep making is that I’ve been going to Mass at Catholic churches across the country my entire life, I’ve never seen a cop at Mass unless they were attending. Most Canadians don’t see cops in their places of worship, but for Canada’s Jews it’s now standard – people don’t think about it but they should... The news conference was just over a week after a Jewish girl’s school in the north end of Toronto had several bullets shot into it. There have been multiple synagogues attacked, Jewish businesses attacked and that is on top of the attacks on individuals ranging from young students to senior citizens."

Forever the victim: Even if Hamas is defeated, Palestinians will blame external powers - comment - "The anti-Israel response to the IDF rescue of four hostages on Saturday suggests that haters of Israel will learn nothing from the eventual defeat of Hamas in Gaza. It seems they will engage in conspiracy theories and victimhood narratives rather than advocating for peace with the Jewish State. The end goal for anti-Israel factions has long been the abolition of the Israeli state and the establishment of a Palestinian state “from the river to the sea.” Despite the failure of Arab legions to destroy Israel over the past 75 years, mainstream anti-Israel contingents have never faltered from this ultimate goal, be it expressed through the veneer of a demand for a Palestinian right of return or the framing of complete “decolonization.” While protesters post-October 7 have called for an immediate “permanent ceasefire” in Gaza, they do not use the word peace, explaining through common chants that there is “no peace on stolen land,” and “we don’t want two-state, we want 48.” The unfettered pursuit of Israel’s elimination is informed by intricate conspiracy theories to explain the failure of the tired armed approach. Usually, anti-Israel activists blame outside powers for interfering in wars and conflicts. Thus, if Israel hadn’t been helped by Britain, the French, or the Americans, surely Israel would have been defeated in all the previous wars. Each time, victory had been within reach, yet stolen away. These theories about how Palestinians and Arab actors were cheated out of victory are coupled with narratives of victimhood to not only explain yet another defeat, but to justify the righteous fury that fuels the desire for nothing less than maximal demands. Poor, unorganized, Arabs who welcomed Jews as guests were unable to defend themselves against proto-Israelis armed by the British. In 1967, Israelis only won the Six-Day War because they were flying French jets and caught Egypt by surprise. THE CAPTURE of Israelis as hostages has represented one of the greatest victories of the anti-Israel movement in years. Yet, an Israeli military success in the rescue of four hostages cannot be explained or accepted in the framework of a pending Hamas victory. According to the anti-Israel narrative, the IDF is composed of poorly trained killers who are only good at shooting unarmed children. Once again, the only explanation for Hamas’s failure is foreign intervention. Soon after the rescue of Shlomi Ziv, Andrey Kozlov, Almog Meir Jan, and Noa Argamani, Palestinian and anti-Israel pundits began to spread the theory not only that US special forces had aided in the operation, but the American humanitarian pier was used as a launching pad for the military forces. Once again, Western actors have deceived Arab peoples, this time by promising aid deliveries through the floating pier, only to use it to steal their prizes. THE UNFAIRNESS of this underhanded move is reinforced by claims that the IDF and US special forces conducted a massacre, slaughtering more than 270 Gazans and injuring 400 more – which is supposed to be taken as fact despite the refutation of other such massacres. The IDF’s brutal success not only took the lives of dozens of Palestinians, but, according to Hamas, more hostages were supposedly killed in the operation than rescued. To further cement the unfairness and victim narrative, anti-Israel activists claimed that the hostages were IDF soldiers, terrorists, and Nazis, making them legitimate prisoners of war. Anti-Israel actors like UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese, who had referenced the involvement of foreign troops, sowed a story in which Israel in its unfairness could have played according to Hamas’s rules and secured the freedom of more hostages through a ceasefire deal – but preferred to engage in mass murder instead... In 2023 and 2024 anti-Israel activists believed that victory against Israel had never been closer. In the hours after the October 7 massacre, anti-Israel activists took to social media to proclaim that the attack would be celebrated as a future Palestinian national holiday, signifying the supposed weakness and crumbling of Zionism. At the May 24 Detroit People’s Conference for Palestine, speakers bragged how Hamas was supposedly humiliating the IDF on the battlefield, transforming Gaza into “the graveyard of the Merkava tank, the Namer troop carrier, the D9 bulldozer, and the occupation.” The infamous chant “from the river to the sea Palestine will be free” has been regularly altered to “from the river to the sea, Palestine is almost free.”... Since the beginning of the war, anti-Israel operatives in the West have laser-focused on the complicity of the US and other countries by arming Israel. They have pushed for arms embargoes and boycotts because they believe that if they disconnect the US from Israel, then Palestinians will finally be able to achieve the victory that has been repeatedly stolen from them... Israel is an illegitimate, settler-colonial state, therefore its people couldn’t possibly have the will to match Hamas freedom fighters without US aid. Everyone and everything but Palestinian intransigence will be to blame for the inevitable defeat of Hamas. Lost in stories of foreign powers or Israeli brutality taking advantage of Palestinian vulnerability, there will be no reflection on how Hamas shouldn’t have slaughtered and raped its way through southern Israel, or shouldn’t have taken hostages, or ignored the opportunity available every day for eight months to surrender and release its captives. The path of compromise, of peace, of accepting that there is no Palestinian future in which Israel does not exist alongside them, will never be considered, nor will be the consequences to be found on the path of violence be considered. Their suffering in the wake of a war Hamas began is not a consequence of its action, but one more bout of unfair victimization inflicted on them by Israel and the US – and so they will continue to endure them. Hamas supporters will forever hold onto the fleeting moment of October 7, and, as always, promise themselves that next time victory will be theirs, if only it wasn’t for those meddling kids in the White House."

Pe'er Krut: Anti-Israel tirade at Ontario high school shows Jews are targets wherever they go - "students at St. Theresa of Lisieux Catholic High School in Richmond Hill, Ont., were unwittingly ushered into an assembly where a guest speaker, introduced simply as a surgeon, projected graphic imagery from the Israel-Hamas conflict. Accompanying the visuals were a series of unfounded claims about the war, according to an anonymous letter shared by the Jewish Educators and Families Association of Canada. Students thought they were attending a mass. Instead, around 300 of them listened as the speaker engaged demonized Israel and fed them a steady stream of false and misleading information. After corroborating the story with several students, both Jewish and non-Jewish, I learned the extent to which students were shocked and disturbed by the assembly. Without warning, photos of children with their limbs cut off were projected on a screen. The speaker gave a one-sided perspective of the conflict, and presented opinions like, “Israel is the top-hated country in the world” as fact. The speaker further implied that the October 7 massacre was justified, stating, “When these children grow up, how do you expect them not to hate Israel?” The speaker’s appearance, unlike other assemblies at the school, was not listed on the school’s website or calendar."
If you oppose left wing indoctrination and incitement to hatred in school, you are not a decent human being

Trudeau fiddles as Canadian Jewish institutions burn - "Other than Trudeau’s social media posts talking about fighting Jew-hate, what actions has he taken to combat it? None. Instead, he has doubled down on his efforts to combat Islamophobia. And he has invited more Gazans into Canada, the overwhelming majority of whom support Hamas, according to a poll by a leading Palestinian research group. If any other minority group in Canada had their children’s schools intentionally shot at twice in one week there would be inquiries, task forces and a special rapporteur. But apparently not when Jews are the victims. There are, however, a number of steps that can be taken to protect Canadian Jews and denormalize Jew-hate. We need a parliamentary committee to investigate the funding sources of the groups supporting these illegal activities across Canada. Police departments throughout the country should be called on to actively enforce the law. Every Jewish institution should be given 24/7 armed protection. Every student in Canada should be afforded a proper education. Not just about the Holocaust — that should have been mandatory years ago. We need more history, less twistory. The history of Israel dates back to 1273 BCE. Canadians should also remember that they, too, have the power to make a difference by filing police reports when they see hate taking place in their neighbourhoods. Trudeau can say this is not who we are as Canadians. But when someone shows you who they are — especially when someone consistently shows you who they are — believe them."
Not that he made many posts anyway. Getting votes from Muslims and left wingers is more important than cracking down on hate and violence

A disturbed Canadian set himself on fire. Of course, Israel is blamed - "A prominent Manitoba Muslim group bafflingly pointed the finger at Israel after a tragic self-immolation incident at a Winnipeg mosque over the weekend, exploiting a troubled young man’s mental health to take shots at the Jewish state over its war against Hamas in Gaza. In a written statement released on Sunday, one day after a minor reportedly set himself on fire inside Winnipeg Grand Mosque, the board of the Manitoba Islamic Association wrote, “Though we cannot speak to the details of what occurred for this youth, what we can say is that (we) remai(n) increasingly concerned about… factors that may have impacted his well-being,” as well as mental health in the broader Muslim community... The group also insinuated that discrimination played a part in driving the youth to despair, writing “We cannot have mental health in the context of a racist, Islamophobic and genocidal world.” It encouraged politicians to “speak up against barriers to mental health care” for Muslim Canadians who’ve been traumatized by the scenes from Gaza. And while the Manitoba Islamic Association released a “correction” on Monday night apologizing for wording in the statement that “may (have) contribute(d) to misconceptions and misunderstandings,” the group’s immediate reaction to the suicide is still a worrying example of the “blame the Jews” reflex that has reasserted itself in some circles since Oct. 7. Interestingly, neither statement made any mention of the emotional trauma endured by Jewish Canadians, including scores of Jewish children, over the past eight months. Nowhere, for example, do the authors call out the spate of shooting incidents that have taken place at Jewish schools since Oct. 7, including two shootings in the span of five days to close out May. A recent survey of Jewish Ottawa area students in grades 6–12 found that seven in 10 felt unsafe at school due to their religious identity. Nor did the authors’ purported concern for the “mental health and well-being” of all Canadians stop them from peddling the very far-fetched genocide claims that have been weaponized by the roving thugs who’ve vandalized Jewish-owned businesses and tried to intimidate residents of predominantly Jewish neighbourhoods. The Islamic association’s insinuation, in its first statement, that Israel is committing genocide in the Palestinian-held West Bank, most of which lies more than 100 kilometres away from the theatre of war, was particularly outrageous. Curiously, the correction issued by the group on Monday made no apologies for misrepresenting details... Authorities had not, as of Tuesday morning, said whether they had found a suicide note at the scene or come across any material, such as social media posts, providing any insight into what motivated the young man to set himself on fire. However, the board of the Manitoba Islamic Association wrote in Monday’s corrective note that he “suffered from severe mental illness” and subsequently “experienced a mental health crisis which caused him to lose touch with reality,” suggesting that his challenges were known within the community... both self-immolation incidents south of the border took place near diplomatic missions of Israel. Conveniently, the first statement didn’t address the question of why a young man who was distraught over Israel’s actions in Gaza would instead choose a notable Muslim landmark as the site of his symbolic act of self-immolation. (The Winnipeg Grand Mosque is, in fact, Manitoba’s oldest and most historic mosque.) Further, it was highly irresponsible for the Islamic association to potentially plant a seed in the minds of other vulnerable youth by suggesting, without any evidence, that negative emotions over the war in Gaza drove the young man to take his life. Young people have been found to be especially susceptible to suicide contagion, a well-known phenomenon in which one suicide can trigger a spate of copycat suicides. If the group’s professed concern about the mental health of young Muslims is genuine, they certainly have a funny (and counter-productive) way of showing it."

Canada: Muslim family’s home set on fire due to support for Palestine - "Police in Canada are treating an arson attack on a Muslim family’s home as a hate crime as the family had been outspoken about their support for Palestinian rights... “It is indeed an Islamophobic hate crime, but it is also an anti-Palestine hate crime,” the owner of the home said. “It is sad to see our home in native Canada, our country, reach that dangerous level of taking away our freedom of speech.”"
If this is an "anti-Palestine hate crime", that means "anti-Zionism" is an anti-Israel hate crime

Jewish parents rally outside Toronto school board meeting on 'anti-Palestinian racism' - "Dozens of Jewish audience members chanted “shame” after the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) voted on Tuesday night to clear the latest hurdle incorporating the concept of anti-Palestinian racism within its broader anti-discrimination strategy... Larry Maher, a parent of TDSB students, said he was “speechless for once” following the proceedings. “The adoption of anti-Palestinian racism is going to enable those to weaponize against anyone that practices Judaism and or supports Israel. Regardless of ethnicity or religion. It’s a tool to silence!”... “Tonight, the TDSB approved a strategy for anti-Palestinian racism, and then immediately decided to send a letter to the Minister of Education asking for guidance on how to keep geopolitics out of schools,” Aaron Kucharczuk, a father of three children in the district, told the National Post by phone. Prior to the vote, hundreds of concerned Jewish community members rallied outside the TDSB main office, alleging they were denied the right to speak during the meeting on the negative implications of the term... “It seems apparent that the desire to include a definition on anti-Palestinian racism (and this urgently) is a virtue signalling move meant to further polarize and divide Israeli, Palestinian, Jewish and/or Arab students given that there is no indication that anti-Palestinian racism has occurred as a form of discrimination within the TDSB,” said Jess Burke, the director of diversity, inclusion and training, at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs... The concept of anti-Palestinian racism is of particular concern to Jewish activists because, according to Kucharczuk, there is no clear definition in the initiative of what constitutes anti-Palestinian racism. “The only definition of anti-Palestinian racism that I’ve seen, and it’s one that is frequently cited amongst advocates, says denying the Nakba or trying to silence or exclude Palestinian narratives is a form of anti-Palestinian racism”... “Adopting this definition of anti-Palestinian racism also means you’re going to have to adopt Nakba Day because any resistance to the idea that it should be taught in schools is racist; is a form of anti-Palestinian racism. So they are linked in that way,” said Kucharczuk... Schools have become a political faultline for many Jewish parents in the wake of October 7. JEFA has collected testimonials from students and parents who have been directly impacted by antisemitism in Toronto public schools. “Antisemitism has been a huge problem at the TDSB. Their own data says that last fall incidents of antisemitism tripled,” Kucharczuk said earlier this month. Regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s meeting, Kucharczuk feels that the whole ordeal has been largely a distraction from the worsening situation of antisemitic hate crimes within Toronto public schools."
If you are against calls for Jewish genocide, or want accurate history about Palestine taught, this is anti-Palestinian racism
Weird how anti-Zionism is still not racism, though
Only "minority" voices need to be heard

TDSB seeks to enshrine anti-Palestinian racism concept - "When asked why enshrining a concept such as anti-Palestinian racism at a time when TDSB schools are experiencing skyrocketing antisemitism is a priority, Ryan Bird said the board was meeting a need. “We have heard from students and the community that there is no recognition in our resources on the lived experiences and identities of Palestinian students and staff,” Bird said. He said the board is considering a similar push to include anti-Israel racism within the update but has not yet made a decision on it... Kucharczuk lives near Faywood Arts-Based Curriculum School, a TDSB school that saw nearly 200 adults escort a Jewish child to class in May after he was subjected to harassment without intervention from administrators. The student’s mother told the Canadian Jewish News that her child was physically intimidated and told they would “do to him what Hamas did to Israel” and “We need to kill you all, and you need to bow down to us.” Schools have become a political faultline for many Jewish parents following the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7. A coordinated string of anti-Israel walkouts in late October saw teachers look on as students chanted, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Other high-profile incidents include a Grade 9 student giving a Nazi salute and a female high school student being threatened because of the ongoing conflict. In February, a TDSB bathroom was graffitied with a swastika, “Hitler was right,” and “#KillTheJews.” “If anything, there’s lots of data to support lots of anti-Israeli sentiment in schools, and not really data to support anti-Palestinian sentiment in schools,” Kucharczuk said... Kucharczuk shared with the Post an upcoming presentation he plans to make before the board, which highlights the politicization of TDSB classrooms, such as handouts advocating for the sanctioning of Israel and teachers decorating classrooms with Palestine scarves. According to his calculations, antisemitic incidents comprise 15 per cent of total incidents within the TDSB despite Jewish students making up just 3.5 per cent. His presentation also points to books in TDSB libraries that feature graphics that have removed Israel from maps."

Rahim Mohamed: TDSB's 'anti-Palestinian racism' plan is unnecessary and troubling - "curious is the TDSB’s use of the term “anti-Palestinian racism” in lieu of the more inclusive “anti-Arab racism.” The Palestinian National Charter itself defines Palestinians as “those Arab nationals who, until 1947, normally resided in Palestine.” Statistics Canada concurs, classifying Canadians who self-identify as Palestinian as Arab visible minorities in its most recent departmental standard . What sense, then, does it make for Toronto-area schools to treat acts of prejudice against Palestinian students differently than, for example, acts targeting their Egyptian and Syrian classmates? In separating Palestinians from other Arab population subgroups, the TDSB is unwittingly perpetuating harmful anti-Palestinian tropes that are rife throughout the Arab world. Arab leaders have, for decades, leaned on the notion of Palestinian alienness to justify legal discrimination against Palestinian minorities. Singling out Palestinians as a racial community further perpetuates the notion that they are somehow different from other Arabs. Conceptual issues aside, it’s hard to discern what problem the TDSB is trying to solve with the changes. Palestinians are a microscopically small minority within Toronto, comprising just over 4,000 residents. There’s no indication that Palestinian students enrolled in the city’s public schools, who number in the low thousands at most, are currently discriminated against in any way. Meanwhile, Jewish students in Toronto and other major Canadian cities face almost daily harassment as antisemitism spikes across the country. Just last month, the story of Eitan Cohen, a Toronto teen who’d been harassed so badly that he needed to be escorted to school by other members of the Jewish community, made international headlines . Thousands of parents have complained to the TDSB of “ escalating antisemitism ” in recent months, with reported incidents including children taunting their Jewish classmates with Nazi salutes and drawing Swastikas on school property. The TDSB has now bafflingly chosen to risk fanning the flames of antisemitism even further. TDSB spokesman Ryan Bird conceded this week that there’s currently no universally accepted definition of anti-Palestinian racism, meaning what constitutes discrimination against Palestinians is subject to interpretation. School board officials haven’t said, for example, whether arguing against a two-state solution in class, or arguing Israel has a right to defend itself, would constitute discriminatory speech in violation of the new policy. What about arguing that Israel has a right to exist, given the false, but common, claim by anti-Israel protesters that Zionism itself is racist? Further, would the new anti-Palestinian racism provisions protect students harassing their Jewish classmates with objectionable slogans like “From the River to the Sea”? Again, by not even considering the possibility of such questions, the TDSB is opening the door to even more antisemitism in Toronto’s schools."

Green Party candidates ‘shared antisemitic slurs and conspiracy theories’ - "Green Party general election candidates have shared “antisemitic” slurs and conspiracy theories, backed pro-Palestinian protests at Auschwitz and justified the October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel.  On Thursday night party officials were examining a dossier featuring nearly 20 candidates who have shared offensive material online. Among them were individuals who compared Zionism to cancer and claimed the Hamas atrocities on October 7 were a false flag orchestrated by Israel... The Greens believe they are on course for their best general election result yet in their push to become a mainstream party, and are polling at 7 per cent, according to YouGov.  But the party has been battling claims of antisemitism since controversy erupted at the May local elections over statements by its councillor Mothin Ali, who won in a ward in Leeds.  On October 7, when Hamas launched a surprise offensive against Israel, involving the massacre of about 1,200 people, the vast majority of them civilians, Ali said that Palestinians had the right to “fight back”. He later apologised for the upset caused and said he did not support violence.  However, an analysis of prospective election candidates reveals that several others have made similar antisemitic comments appearing to justify October 7.  On October 7, Adam Pugh, the candidate for Deptford & Lewisham North in London, wrote on Twitter/X that “there is no peace without freedom. Resist”. He separately posted the image of a Palestinian flag and wrote: “You don’t have to be neutral when it comes to apartheid, colonisation and genocide.” Three days later Pugh complained about the BBC’s “gutter journalism” on the war in Gaza and said: “They have a clear agenda to dehumanise Palestinians and paint Israel as the victims here.” On October 18, before the full-scale invasion of Gaza, he described the Israel Defence Forces as “genocidal maniacs”.  When news broke on October 12 that the Royal Navy was sending two vessels to the Mediterranean to support Israel Pugh wrote: “I hope they sink.” Last week, when three other candidates were accused of antisemitism, he wrote: “Either they haven’t discovered my tweets yet or I’m not being vocal enough.” Kefentse Dennis, the Green equalities and diversity co-ordinator, and candidate in Birmingham’s Perry Barr constituency, said rocket attacks launched before the October 7 massacre were an example of “Palestine defending itself as it is legally allowed to”.  On May 6, when pro-Palestinian demonstrators disrupted a remembrance march to honour the victims of Nazi atrocities at the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, Dennis wrote on X that “it’s because never again means never again”. He also called for a boycott of Israel in the days after the October 7 attacks. Simon Anthony, the Green Party candidate for Barking, east London, compared Hamas to the French Resistance and said the October 7 terrorist massacre was the “current Palestinian home guard outburst”.  In a post on Twitter/X from May 15, he wrote: “Hamas is terribly similar to what the ‘Home Guard’ and the French Resistance would have been called if the UK had lost the Second World War.”  He also liked a tweet marked by its author as “Hamas official statement”, and a message saying “every time the Palestinians fight back, they are accused of being ‘terrorists’”.  Nataly Anderson, who is standing in Woking, Surrey, shared her suspicions that the October 7 attacks were “orchestrated” and claimed that there were connections between human traffickers and the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. She said: “We are seeing links between the institutional kidnapping of children and the state of Israel. It is very unfortunate that the victims of the Holocaust turn into the predators.”... Nida Alfulaij, the Green candidate for Brent East, west London, and the chief executive of the People’s Trust for Endangered Species, a charity based in Battersea, liked posts online which suggested that Israel and the United States, but not Hamas, were terrorists.  She also liked a post which suggested the October 7 attacks were not antisemitic, criticised Jordan for shooting down Iranian drones which were heading for Israel, and praised George Galloway for his by-election win in Rochdale. Chris Brody, standing in Chingford & Wood Green, north London, shared an article on Facebook on October 21 which claimed the Hamas attack may have been a “false flag engineered to open the way to the genocide of the Palestinian people of Gaza”. The post has since been deleted... “I do not, under any circumstances, support violence of any type by anybody,” he said. “I condemn all forms of violence. Supporting a group does not and should never be used as an indication of support for every action taken by any member of that group.”... The Green Party website emphasises that its goal is to bring about a fairer, greener country (Fiona Hamilton writes). It highlights its concerns about the cost of living crisis and the climate and environment issues at the heart of its ideology. The party says that it stands for fairer and greener homes, schools, childcare, transport and water.  But for several months many of its councillors, members and now prospective parliamentary candidates have appeared much more focused on public statements about the crisis in the Middle East... Mothin Ali, who described getting a seat on Leeds city council as a “win for the people of Gaza”, had previously been involved in the harassment of a Jewish university chaplain driven from his home. He has apologised... Others appear convinced that Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader, has been the victim of a smear campaign over his failure to address antisemitism in the party. It illustrates how some, dissatisfied with Labour’s crackdown on the issue, have shifted allegiance to the Greens.  Only last month the Board of Deputies of British Jews said it was increasingly concerned about the Green’s lack of due diligence around their candidates, adding that “if the Green Party does not start showing some principle on this, it risks its wider agenda sinking into a growing cesspit of racism”."

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Jumps on Stage to Cardi B at Rally in Viral Video - ""We know that the absolute leveling of Gaza is being paid for with the funds that are being kept from our health care, our schools. We cannot support that anymore. We can't. It's not extreme. It's not fringe. It's not bigoted to want everybody to be protected."... A spokesperson for Latimer's campaign told The New York Times: "Jamaal Bowman's divisive and dishonest attacks, combined with his antisemitic dog whistles, are why voters are turning against him in droves.""
Of course, the US funding Palestinian terrorism is good, but funding self defence against terrorism is bad
When left wingers accuse other left wingers of using dog whistles. At least this is the first admission I've seen that "anti-Zionism" is a dog whistle

The legal hurdle the IDF faces in killing participants in October 7 massacre - "The report stated that the military interpretation of laws of warfare asserts that only those who belong to a combat force can be purposefully eliminated during a war."

Hamas fires at UNICEF mission for reuniting children with parents in Gaza
Why would the Zionists do this?!

The Original Social Justice Warrior / No Christian beliefs on a Christian sub-reddit / Love is in the air

"The Original Social Justice Warrior. The liberal arts student who blamed the privileged class for his failures. *Adolf Hitler*"

"Reddit Lies @reddit_lies: "r/Christian bans Christian beliefs. The absolute state of Reddit"
"Effective immediately, we have added Sub Rule 5: "LGBTQ+ Inclusive." Here is the full text of the rule: "This space is inclusive & welcoming of LGBTQ+ Christians. It is prohibited to question the character, faithfulness to God or sincerity of LGBTQ+ Christians. Debate against the inclusion & equality of LGBTQ+ Christians is not allowed. This includes asserting that it's a sin to be in an LGBTQ+ sexual relationship. While all Christians are welcome here, we ask that you refrain from voicing a non-affirming position in this sub in order to help us maintain an inclusive & respectful community space.""

2 gays with Pride flag in Paris: "Love"
Muslim man with 2 hanging dead bodies wrapped in white cloth in Muslim country: "... is in the air"

Links - 29th June 2024 (1 - Justin Trudeau)

Matthew Lau: Pretty much everything the Liberals do makes us poorer - "Compared to 0.7 per cent growth in Canada from 2015-Q3 to 2024-Q1, real GDP per capita is up 15.7 per cent in the U.S. in the same time period. Where the 0.7 per cent comes from matters, too. In real per capita terms, some components of GDP — mainly government — expanded while others contracted. Alarmingly, business investment, which drives productivity and standards of living, is down 13.9 per cent. This includes real per capita reductions of 15.2 per cent in residential structures, 18.4 per cent in machinery and equipment, and 19.3 per cent in non-residential structures, with an increase in intellectual property investment not nearly enough to offset the reductions in other categories. To understand why business investment and economic performance in Canada are so poor under the Trudeau government, let us consider the following representative example of its economic strategy. The government believes many families struggle with the cost of caring for young children, which is a legitimate concern. A reasonable solution, which the Harper government implemented in 2006, is to send money to families with young children and let parents buy for their children what they need. After the Liberals expanded that program, they could have left it at that, but what have they done instead? The government initiated a national takeover of child care, effectively expropriating child care entrepreneurs’ businesses by flooding their sector with public money and then controlling private companies’ revenues and operations. The result is child care entrepreneurs’ investments have been wiped out or severely reduced, control of their business operations have been wrestled away by government, and they are unable to properly serve their customers (the families), as evidenced by the drastic reduction in parental options and widespread shortages. When the federal government behaves in so unaccountable a fashion towards business owners, it is no wonder people are reluctant to invest in Canada. Personal income tax hikes, capital gains tax hikes, payroll tax hikes, annual carbon tax hikes, special taxation of financial institutions, threats of special taxation of grocery stores, and significant uncertainty about what future tax hikes might take place given the explosion of public debt, all exacerbate the problem. As the private sector struggles, from October 2015 to April 2024, public sector employment grew 24.7 per cent. That is more than double the 11.5 per cent cumulative private sector and self-employment growth. An area of particularly large government expansion, reflecting Trudeau’s enthusiasm for raising taxes, is the 47.3 per cent increase in staff at the Canada Revenue Agency from 2015 to 2023. It is a very rapid rate of growth, although outpaced by the 408.7 per cent headcount increase at the federal department of Women and Gender Equality over the same period. These statistics are not encouraging."

Opinion: Fed up with economic issues, many young voters are moving to the right - The Globe and Mail - "Ginny Roth, a public relations consultant and devout Conservative, reckons that more than 75 of the 117 Tory MPs in the House of Commons are the same age as leader Pierre Poilievre – who is 44 – or younger.  Many young voters, especially young men, are moving to the right. They are now far more likely to support the Conservative Party than the Liberal Party. This confounds some older voters, who mistakenly assumed that each generation would be more progressive than the one that came before.  The reason for the disconnect is simple. As Ms. Roth put it when she moderated a panel of young Conservative politicians last week that was hosted by the Canadian Club of Toronto: “Politics is dominated by homeowners.”  That is, the political discourse in the media, the academy, the public service, the cultural industries and the like is largely controlled by older, well-off citizens who own their homes, who profit from rising housing prices and who aren’t affected by high interest rates because they’ve paid off the mortgage... As Simcoe North MP Adam Chambers, one of the panelists, explained: “A bunch of young people were just told for two years that they had to put their life on pause for a virus that wasn’t really going to affect them, but they had to do it for the good of the community.”  And they did. They locked down, obeyed the rules, got their vaccines.  “Then they re-emerged to find houses completely unaffordable, the economy’s completely different, and by the way, we just doubled the national debt and they’re responsible for paying for it,” Mr. Chambers said. “So of course they’re frustrated.”... Frustration over housing affordability, interest rates, inflation and declining real wages have powered a massive swing toward the Conservatives among younger Canadians.  On the day of the 2021 election, according to an Ipsos poll, 38 per cent of voters 34 and younger supported the Liberals, while only 24 per cent supported the Conservatives. In contrast, the two parties were tied at 32 per cent among voters who were 35-54. (Older voters heavily favoured the Conservatives, as they traditionally do.)  Compare those numbers with an Abacus poll released this week. Among voters 29 and younger, the Tories are ahead of the Liberals 36 per cent to 21 per cent. Among those 30 to 44, the gap is 41 per cent to 21 per cent. (The online survey of 2,125 adults Feb. 15-21 had a comparable margin of error of plus-or-minus 2.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.)  Round it out, and it’s safe to say that support for the Liberals among younger voters has fallen by more than half since the last election.  Liberal strategists say they have to do a better job of communicating their policies. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accuses Mr. Poilievre of stoking fear and anger.  But that’s not the root of it. Younger voters were facing affordability changes before the pandemic. The aftershocks of the lockdowns made things much worse for them. They blame, in part, the Liberals and Mr. Trudeau... Mr. Poilievre latched onto the inflation issue long before Liberals or even the Bank of Canada acknowledged the danger. He threatens to compel municipalities to allow more housing construction or be punished. He vows to “Axe the tax. Build the homes. Fix the budget. Stop the crime.” Simplistic, yes. But as was said at the Canada Club event: Simple isn’t easy."

The Trudeau Liberals have eroded all five pillars of prosperity - "What explains Canada’s dreadful performance? As set out by Arthur Laffer, of Laffer Curve fame, prosperity has five pillars: restrained government spending, low taxes, minimal regulation, sound money and free trade. The Liberal government has rejected, undermined or neglected each of the five. Our weak record and disheartening prospects have not been caused by external forces but by dysfunctional government policies. Canada is blessed by enviable geology and geography — immense natural resources and a friendly superpower next door — which Canadians too frequently take for granted. Because our border is safe and our population well off by world and historical standards, progressive politicians feel free to obsess about issues irrelevant or actually harmful to economic growth, jobs, affordability, a sound currency, security and national unity. Let’s review the litany of debilitating missteps, starting with the size and role of government... Out of 61 US jurisdictions and Canadian provinces, the top three personal marginal income tax rates are imposed by Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Ontario. Nine Canadian provinces rank in the top 10, all are in the top 15, and Canada ranks fifth out of 38 OECD countries. Corporate income tax rates are also higher here than in the U.S., the U.K. and the OECD on average. High taxes damage affordability, reduce competitiveness, discourage innovation and entrepreneurship, accelerate capital flight and weaken productivity. The proposed increase in the capital gains inclusion rate for both individuals and companies and the phase-out of accelerated capital depreciation will seriously exacerbate those negatives. Since 2015, intrusive regulations have proliferated across the economy, imposing burdensome compliance costs that are particularly harmful to small and medium- sized enterprises. The resource industry, which accounts for 19.2 per cent of GDP and 58 per cent of merchandise exports, has been targeted by draconian regulation deliberately designed to block energy projects. The result is an opportunity loss in the hundreds of billions of dollars and mounting. A stable money supply is critical for economic stability. To cope with out-of- control government spending, the Bank of Canada expanded the money supply dramatically, pushing it to $3.6 trillion, 83 per cent more than when the Liberals took office... Free trade had been a cornerstone of Canada’s economic policy for decades, promoting growth and prosperity. But last year Canada lost bragging rights as America’s biggest trade partner to Mexico. Instead of pursuing our comparative advantage in natural resources, Liberal policies purposely stymie the development and export of oil and gas. In a memorably inane comment, the prime minister claimed there was never a strong business case for liquified natural gas. The government should leave the assessment of business cases to business. Barriers to interprovincial trade, a related problem, have continued to elude meaningful progress despite repeated promises. The Montreal Economic Institute estimates that removing those barriers would yield an average increase in Canadians’ incomes by 5.5 per cent, or $1,800. According to the IMF, it could boost GDP by $80 billion. The government’s score for supporting the mainstays of prosperity is zero for five. Rather than correcting course, Justin Trudeau seems increasingly disconnected from reality and fixated on maintaining a perfect losing streak. Doubling down on big government, high taxes and hostility to resource development will do the trick."

Opinion: Internet bills should itemize Justin Trudeau’s new streaming tax - "Whatever the official name for it ends up being this is a tax. It will cost Canadians money. And everyone knows it, including the prime minister. Maybe not the prime minister of 2024 but certainly the prime minister of 2018, who, in response to NDP pressure to tax streaming services, sensibly refused, saying : “The NDP is claiming that Netflix and other web giants are the ones who will pay these new taxes. The reality is that taxpayers will be the ones to pay those taxes.” Well, that was then and this is now. Justin Trudeau’s 2018 logic has been thrown out the window... Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre recently told corporations not to rely on lobbying behind the scenes to influence policy. If businesses want policies to change, they need to convince voters so voters will in turn convince politicians."

Liberals playing with inclusion rates is divisive politics at its worst - "the government ignored almost every single recommendation made about the proposals by very qualified people and great organizations. The Joint Committee on Taxation of the Canadian Bar Association and CPA Canada made some excellent technical recommendations . They were mostly disregarded. Some organizations, such as the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), were very vocal about how damaging the proposals would be to their members. They were ignored. In response to criticisms from the CMA, Freeland suggested doctors should simply ask for more money from their applicable province since it would share in the extra tax revenue increases. Wow. In other words, politics, as always, trumps good policy. The second thing that will be remembered is the offensive and misleading messaging. This included the long-debunked taxpayer application rate of 0.13 per cent, the inaccurate tax comparison of an investor’s gains to a nurse/plumber’s salary and the aggressive messaging about how the capital gains increase was necessary for “intergenerational fairness.” Upon release of the material, Freeland went one step further and basically asserted in a bizarre “speech” that the capital gains proposal was necessary to help hungry kids and pregnant teens in what was an obvious shot at potential political opposition to certain of the government’s Robin Hood income-redistribution programs. The most offensive quote in her speech: “Do you want to live in a country where those at the very top live lives of luxury, but must do so in gated communities behind ever higher fences, using private health care and airplanes because the public sphere is so degraded and the wrath of the vast majority of their less privileged compatriots burns so hot?” The class warfare message here is dangerous and offensive. There is no straight line between the capital gains inclusion rate proposal and “higher fences.” There is no good tax policy at play here. Instead, this is politics at its worst and, unfortunately, it will contribute to continued divisiveness... Those who have been successful will continue to look for greener pastures outside Canada. The foreign investment dollars the country so desperately needs (and I don’t mean handing out subsidies to foreign corporations) will continue to dry up. Entrepreneurs and startups will look elsewhere. I’m seeing it in droves. It’s sad. All in the name of ugly politics and at a time when Canada has a significant productivity problem . “The more people who are dependent on government handouts, the more votes the left can depend on for an ever-expanding welfare state,” the esteemed American economist Thomas Sowell is quoted as saying. “The real goal should be reduced government spending, rather than balanced budgets achieved by ever-rising tax rates to cover ever-rising spending.”"
The Trudeau government using wedge issues as usual
Trust the experts - when it helps the left wing agenda

EDITORIAL: Trudeau’s record of deficits keeps growing - "Defenders of Liberal budgeting argue government deficits starting in 2020 are explained by the pandemic and its lingering effects on the economy. But the Trudeau government was never close to recording a balanced budget prior to the pandemic, despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s pledge to do so. In the 2015 election that brought him to power, Trudeau said that, under his leadership, Canada would have a balanced budget with a $1-billion surplus in 2019 — the year before the pandemic hit... the federal deficit in 2019, far from Trudeau’s prediction of a $1-billion surplus, turned out to be a $39.4-billion deficit. In fact, the Trudeau government blew Trudeau’s predictions of what the deficit would be every year during his first term in office."

Meme - Pierre Poilievre: "What happened 9 years ago..."
"Real GDP per capita 1995 = 100
*US and Canada rising in unison from 1995 to 2015*
Trudeau took office November 4, 2015
*Divergence, with Canada doing the same as in 2015 with the US doing much better*

Meme - Jay Vas @jayvas: "Dear Canada: this is a really sad graph.
The widening gap between public, private and self-employment
The largest growing government departments are: Canada Revenue Agency: grew by 34% since 2019. Employment and Social Development Canada: grew by 56% since 2019. Does anyone see the irony in Employment and Social Development Canada being one of the largest employers in Canada? It employs 45,000 people. To put that in context, that's almost 2x the amount of people Rogers Communications employs. Why does the ESDC need 45,000 people? They are a top 20 employer in Canada, and their mandate is to... help Canadians with employment (I guess in a sense they are achieving that mandate, lol). All these gov employees and we don't even have a dedicated federal department for small business and entrepreneurship. The US Small Business Administration has 4,000 employees and they effectively administer critical programs to support small businesses and entrepreneurs."
Left wingers hate the private sector, so they see the debt-fuelled growth of the public sector as good

If economy had stayed at 2015 trends, we'd all have an extra $4,200 - "If the economy had stayed where it was heading in 2015, Canadians would all be earning an extra $4,200 per year, according to an illuminating new report by Statistics Canada. This roughly means that if the Canadian economy had merely spent the last nine years sticking to its usual rate of growth, Canadians would have experienced a natural increase in their paycheques larger than any number of Trudeau government benefits, including the $500 one-time top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit offered in 2022, or the $650 per child currently offered to eligible families as part of the Canada Dental Benefit. The Statistics Canada report — authored by researchers Carter McCormack and Weimin Wang — adds to a growing body of literature showing that Canadian productivity is dropping fast, resulting in noticeable decreases to income and living standards that are set to continue dropping for the foreseeable future.  Everyone from the Bank of Canada to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce to the OECD have now issued increasingly dire warnings about Canada’s “productivity problem.” Earlier this year, the Bank of Canada’s senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers warned that lagging productivity was now a national emergency. “You’ve seen those signs that say, ‘In emergency, break glass.’ Well, it’s time to break the glass,” she said at a March speech in Halifax... Historically, Canada’s high rate of capital investments has been most important towards increasing its per-worker productivity. As an example, a Canadian worker with a $100,000 bulldozer is going to produce much more for the economy than a Canadian worker with a shovel.  But McCormack and Wang highlight 2016 as the year when Canadian businesses dramatically cut back on how much capital they were investing in each worker... while GDP per capita was already on the decline, the report also cites the “shock of the COVID-19 pandemic” at pushing it into overdrive.  In a 2022 analysis on the COVID-19 lockdown, Wang concluded that while Canadian GDP was quickly able to return to pre-pandemic levels, GDP per capita was never the same.  Which isn’t to say that federal policy hasn’t contributed to Canada’s ever-shrinking productivity rates.  For one, the researchers point to “near-record population increases.”... Perhaps most damning for Canada is that the U.S. — a country that has similarly been hammered by COVID and low 2014 energy prices — has not experienced anything close to the falling productivity seen by Canadians."
Clearly, if you opposed covid lockdowns, you were a heartless monster who just wanted grandma to die

Premiers warn against Ottawa encroaching on provincial jurisdiction - The Globe and Mail - "It adds that the federal government should pledge to hand over fair shares of funding to provinces and territories that don’t want to comply with Ottawa’s demands... Peter Graefe, an associate professor of political science at McMaster University in Hamilton, said in an interview that Mr. Trudeau’s approach to federalism is more interventionist and involves less consultation with provinces than the approaches of any of his predecessors going back to at least the 1990s. The result, in Friday’s letter, has been some pushback from the provinces, he said.  “If you have a very strict understanding of the Constitution, they’re overreaching,” Dr. Graefe said. “They’re reaching into areas where the Constitution doesn’t say they have the power to do it.”"

For the first time in 12 years, government debt costs will surpass GST revenue - "Still, the Liberal government’s budget and its proponents have rightly emphasized that although public debt charges have risen significantly in absolute terms, they remain low in relative terms. For instance, at about 1.8 percent of GDP today, they’re far lower than they were in the 1980s and 1990s when they hit as high as 6.5 percent."
Good luck if interest rates rise again. Also the last time the debt was so high, it was another Trudeau's fault

For the first time in 12 years, government debt costs will surpass GST revenue : r/canada - "Services are already lacking and our federal government employees grew by more than 40%. Imagine that. The sad thing is there are many people who want the government to take over more things like grocery stores, housing etc. when they can’t even do their jobs now "
"This. If your public sector explodes like this, you had bettter be getting more or better service.  Full stop."
"There is a case that the public service needed to grow - both with the ballooning population but also because we were near historical lows prior. We still aren’t at historical highs for the public service compared to population…  But the ballooning isn’t even necessarily in the people delivering results for the public. The exponential growth of the public sector is primarily in admin staff. There are departments in which the admin staff outnumber the actual boots on the ground with deliverables for the public. More and more of these department’s staffing budgets and running costs go to admin when they need to actually be expanding other positions to meet deliverables…  But it’s admin who decides what each department needs, and of course they are going to prioritize more admin because they don’t necessarily have any understanding of the demands placed on frontline staff.  You see this provincially in hospitals as well. And it’s not just a public sector problem: the bloating of administration in both public and private sectors is a massive reason why Canada’s productivity lags…"
"The public sector model is partially flawed in Canada right now. We as an economy have become very unproductive, but have somehow justified a growth in our public service.  In the private sector companies are incentivized to identify areas of improvement and efficiency gains. The public sector based on how budget is allocated are incentivized to do the exact opposite, they use all their budget so they get more next year. What actually happens is an easy lever is to just hire more people to consume that remaining budget, what this leads to no new services or improvements for the public. :/"
"there’s actively people who want the government to set up a crown corporation to run grocery stores. Which is hilarious because they think it would be cheaper than a Loblaw. Clearly they haven’t shopped at the LCBO lately to see how cost effective the government is when running retail"
"The government should just stay in there lane and focus on doing their job well instead of trying to over regulate and do their jobs plus everyone else’s jobs poorly. Things like using common sense with population growth numbers, making Canada an attractive place to do business, etc.  We desperately need more companies investing in Canada and we desperately need more landlords (private capital) investing in our housing market. That is literally the only way out of this mess. On one hand the government says we need these things but on the other they do everything they can to discourage them."
"Unfortunately, the mismanagement of spending over the last eight years has been at levels we’ve never seen in this country. We’re not talking about spending on services. The complete inefficiencies and cost of scandals is just astonishing. This Trudeau government has by all means, played the unemployment rate more than any other prior government. They hire significant numbers of public sector workers just to help bring that unemployment rate down. But that only creates giant, massive bloat."
For the first time in 12 years, government debt costs will surpass GST revenue : r/canada - "Bingo. You are absolutely correct. We have a 100,000 new government workers since Trudeau took power. Almost double!!  The Alberta government posted that 90% of new private sector jobs in the country were created in one province: Alberta.  I'm now blocked from the Alberta Reddit page for stating this information, and my post was deleted as it was deemed non factual. The info came from the globe and mail and the Alberta Minister himself. Go figure. That page is nothing but NDP socialists with a serious hate for Smith. What they don't realize is Smith is standing up for Alberta's oil and gas economy that also will include hydrogen moving forward. Meanwhile the liberal government is doing everything possible to shut it down."

Canada Proud on X - "Remember when we had a prime minister who actually liked our country, its people and history?"
"Harper's Canada Day VS Trudeau's Canada Day"

Wonder why you’re broke? - YouTube - "Take a listen to the guy who’s been running things for 8 years."

Rebel News on X - "Justin Trudeau says his infamous comments about "anti-vaxxers" being "racist and misogynist" was "taken out of context." The PM then says polarization during the pandemic was "amplified deliberately with misinformation and disinformation.""
Ironic.

Canada cannot afford another lost economic decade - "It’s fair to say that the government’s economic policy agenda has done little to abate the twenty-first century trends of slow and sluggish growth and has arguably exacerbated them.   The Trudeau government has advanced an economic strategy of what Lakehead University economist Livio Di Matteo calls extensive growth—that is, a set of policies (such as high immigration and deficit-financed increases to cash transfers) that have grown the total size of the economy but contributed to stagnant and even declining living standards.   Immigration policy is a good (or bad) example. It’s not just that the government has increased overall immigration. It’s also shifted the composition towards lower-skilled newcomers which can distort business investment decisions and depress productivity. There’s a long-run risk here that if business investment doesn’t rise and immigration levels remain high, the Canadian economy will transition to a more labour-intensive one that has lower productivity and living standards relative to our peers. Government policy, in other words, has contributed to an economic imbalance: it’s shifting the economy from a capital-intensive model to a labour-intensive one.   At the same time, high population growth is causing demand to outstrip supply in key areas such as housing, health care, and childcare. So, too, are the Trudeau government’s well-intentioned yet ultimately flawed policies like the $10-a-day childcare subsidies that have increased demand in a sector over which the federal government has little regulatory authority to similarly boost supply. One of us can attest to how bad the situation has gotten after recently being quoted waitlists of one to two years for childcare in downtown Toronto. Similar challenges have been reported across the country.   It’s increasingly clear that Canada needs to shift from state-centric economic development under the Trudeau government that has relied on government consumption and population growth to eke out marginal growth to a bold supply-side agenda that pulls investment into the economy to boost supply in key areas and ultimately increase productivity and living standards. We must move our overall growth model from one of extensive growth (driven primarily by government consumption and high levels of immigration) to one of intensive growth (which is dependent on capital investment and rising productivity). One might think of the difference as stimulative versus sustainable growth. We’ll be back in the future with some policy ideas that ought to form the basis of such an agenda.   But the first order of business is to understand the magnitude of the challenge and the risks of not confronting it. Canadian living standards are now what they were in 2014. That amounts to a lost decade. The overwhelming imperative of our politics and policy must be that it doesn’t extend to a second decade. We cannot afford to learn of the consequences."
The left hate private enterprise and economic growth, so

Procurement awards reviewed after ArriveCan team named 'unsung heroes' - "The award was meant for 'innovative and effective' procurement during the pandemic, but the ArriveCan team’s work has been severely criticized by the auditor-general"

Links - 28th June 2024 (2 - Critical Race Theory)

Asian Americans Emerging as a Strong Voice Against Critical Race Theory - "According to CRT's victimization ledger, all whites are oppressors, and all "people of color" are oppressed. CRT argues that unequal economic outcomes among different races in our society result from white power and white privilege. Asian Americans punch a big hole in that worldview. As a group, their economic achievement has surpassed that of all other racial groups, including whites. Last year's Department of Labor statistics even showed that the median weekly earnings of Asian women surpassed white men's earnings.  Values drive Asian Americans' economic success. Many believe in education attainment, stable marriages, delayed gratification, hard work and meritocracy. CRT attacks all these as "white" values, and the people who practice them as acting "white."  Because Asian Americans' economic achievement and educational attainment resist CRT narratives, irritated activists have tried to eject Asian Americans from the "people of color" category. Last November, the North Thurston public school district in Washington state released an "equity report" in which it grouped white and Asian American students together, while placing everyone else in the "students of color" category. The school district only apologized after an outcry from the community's Asian American families. Even as victims of hate crimes, Asian Americans discredit CRT's assertion that racial prejudice only goes one way—from white people to people of color... CRT activists blame white nationalism for these hate crimes against Asian Americans. However, all perpetrators in these cases were non-Asian minorities. Asian Americans are concerned that CRT activists intentionally ignoring this inconvenient truth may result in the government misallocating resources and failing to protect Asian American communities from hate crimes.  Asian Americans have felt the most harm from CRT in education. Activists claim that teaching math and science perpetuates "white privilege." They're more interested in indoctrinating kids with identity politics, intersectionality and race struggles. In an elementary school in Cupertino, California, where 94 percent of the students are non-white, a math teacher told third-graders in a math class that they live in a white-dominated culture, and had them rank themselves according to their "power and privilege" on an identity map. Chinese parents organized a protest, demanding the school stop teaching racism to their children and start teaching actual math instead. One Chinese parent explained that CRT's emphasis on dividing society into oppressors and oppressed based on skin color reminded him of the bloody class struggle in Mao's Cultural Revolution. Asian parents are also alarmed about attempts to change admissions standards for colleges and top high schools at the expense of Asian American children. CRT activists have been pushing for lowering admission standards—or the complete removal of difficult entrance exams—to top high schools because "too many Asians" are in good schools, and Asians are so "over-represented" that these schools are not "diverse."... Many Asian Americans believe education is the way to achieve upward mobility and the American dream. They see any attempt to limit their children's access to quality education as unjust exclusion. That's why CACAGNY calls CRT "today's Chinese Exclusion Act" and "the real hate crime against Asians."  In an increasingly intolerant environment, calling out CRT takes tremendous courage. Those willing to speak up may face economic and reputational consequences. Asian Americans have spoken fearlessly and taken the lead to expose CRT's divisive and destructive nature. The rest of us should follow their example and join their effort to stop this harmful ideology from tearing apart our society."

Critical race theory is invading the nursery - "Back in the 1990s, the Commission for Racial Equality ran a billboard advertising campaign. ‘There are lots of places in Britain where racism doesn’t exist’, ran the slogan, alongside a picture of babies of varying skin tones, each with the word ‘here’ emblazoned across their forehead.  How times change. The hysteria that greeted last week’s publication of the government’s Race and Ethnic Disparities report suggests this advert would be inconceivable today. It is no longer acceptable to claim there might be any place in Britain where racism does not exist. And this includes babies. Researchers have apparently discovered that babies display biases in favour of their own race from just nine months old... Newly published guidance from Birth to 5 Matters, a coalition of teaching unions and charities, recommends that nursery staff should receive training in ‘white privilege, systemic racism, and how racism affects children and families in early-years settings’.   The key message is that under no circumstances must nursery teachers ignore differences in skin colour and treat all those in their care the same way. Doing this, the guidance warns, ‘simply allows the continuation of bias in a society which disadvantages people from black and minoritised groups. Instead of a colour-blind approach to race, more proactive anti-racism is needed.’ This involves ‘encouraging dialogue and conversation about difference’ in order to ‘evoke children’s strong sense of fairness’ through getting them to ‘recognise racist behaviours and develop anti-racist views’. It also requires staff to ‘break down false assumptions about everyone being able to succeed on their merits’.  The exact details of particular lessons are not spelled out. Perhaps white babies will be fed last or left to cry for longer in order to compensate for their inherent privilege. Or perhaps black babies will be prevented from crawling until they learn they won’t succeed simply through effort and ability. Or maybe all picture books will be thrown out and replaced with Ibram X Kendi’s Antiracist Baby .  One thing’s for sure: graduating nursery won’t mark the end of lessons in racial thinking for today’s tots. For decades, schools have challenged racism and promoted multiculturalism. In the wake of last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, this has been ratcheted up with staff training, curriculum reviews, revamped reading lists, special assemblies, workshops and guest speakers. Schools can sign up to any number of anti-racist schemes offering lesson plans covering topics such as ‘the Windrush generation, activism, British identity, and diversity in the arts and science’. But this hasn’t stopped the teaching unions from arguing that still more must be done. They are calling for black history to be ‘taught across all subjects including maths, geography, food technology, science and music’... The emphasis campaigners place on the school – and now nursery – curriculum suggests adults have been written off as irredeemably racist. In a bid to construct society anew, anti-racist activists prefer to plough their efforts into children who are less likely to raise awkward questions. Sacrificing education itself in the fulfilment of this quest is considered a small price to pay. Unfortunately for young children, the teaching unions, as well as an array of charities and activists, seem only too happy to exploit them as unwitting pawns in their social and political experiment."

McAuliffe Calls Critical Race Theory a 'Right-Wing Conspiracy.' His Union Ally Says It's Needed to 'Teach the Truth' - "Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe calls critical race theory a "right-wing conspiracy." One of his largest campaign backers says it's needed to "teach the truth."  McAuliffe in June dismissed concerns over the teaching of critical race theory in Virginia schools as a "right-wing conspiracy … totally made up by Donald Trump" and Republican opponent Glenn Youngkin. Just one week later, however, National Education Association (NEA) president Becky Pringle said her educators "are not going to back down" from including critical race theory in public school curriculum.   "We are not going to be afraid to teach it, because we know that to not teach it, we are not telling the truth," Pringle told CBS News... In addition to Pringle's pledge to fight for critical race theory, the NEA has partnered with the New York Times to distribute copies of the controversial 1619 Project "to educators and activists around the country to help give us a deeper understanding of systemic racism and its impact." NEA delegates in 2019 also directed the union to "incorporate the concept of 'White Fragility' into NEA trainings/staff development" and "educate members and the general public about the importance of reparations" at a total cost of $113,500.   But the NEA is not the only major teachers' union backing McAuliffe while championing critical race theory.       The American Federation of Teachers in April sent the Democrat $25,000 just days before union president Randi Weingarten defended teaching the 1619 Project in public classrooms. Weingarten called the project a "factual version of oppression in America," despite objections from prominent historians over its numerous "errors and distortions." Months earlier, the union leader pledged to send lesson plans stemming from the 1619 Project "directly to educators."
From 2021. Literally "this is not happening, and it's good that it is", on critical race theory being taught in schools

Battle Over Critical Race Theory - WSJ - "According to a recent YouGov survey, of the 64% of Americans who have heard about critical race theory, 58% view it unfavorably, including 72% of political independents.  That’s a major liability for the political left. Sensing that they are losing control of the narrative on race, left-leaning media outlets have launched a furious counterattack. Liberal pundits at the New York Times , Washington Post, MSNBC and elsewhere have begun spinning a new mythology that presents critical race theory as a benign academic concept, casts its detractors as right-wing extremists driven by racial resentment, and portrays legislation against critical race theory as an attempt to ban teaching about the history of slavery and racism. All three charges are false. First, critical race theory isn’t an exercise in promoting racial sensitivity or understanding history. It’s a radical ideology that seeks to use race as a means of moral, social and political revolution. The left-leaning media has sought to portray it as a “lens” for examining the history of racism in the U.S., but this soft framing obscures the nature of the theory, which maintains that America is an irredeemably racist nation and that the constitutional principles of freedom and equality are mere “camouflages,” in the words of scholar William F. Tate IV, for white supremacy. The solution, according to prominent exponents of critical race theory such as Ibram X. Kendi, is to abolish capitalism and install a near-omnipotent federal bureaucracy with the power to nullify any law and silence political speech that isn’t “antiracist.”  Second, the grassroots movement against critical race theory is nonpartisan, multiracial and mainstream. Parents have revolted against critical race theory training at high schools in liberal cities such as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The most successful campaigns have been led by racial minorities who oppose the manipulative and harmful practices of critical race theory in the classroom. Asian-Americans in particular have argued that critical race theory will undermine merit-based admissions, advanced learning programs and academic standards.  Third, state legislation about critical race theory bans a specific set of pedagogies—not teaching about history. Left-leaning media outlets have claimed that bills in states such as Idaho, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas would ban teachers from discussing racism in the classroom. This is patently false. The legislation in these states would simply prohibit teachers from compelling students to believe that one race “is inherently superior to another,” that one race is “inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive,” or that an individual “bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race.” The same bills explicitly say that teachers may and should discuss the role of racism in American history, but they may not shame or treat students differently according to their racial background.  This issue isn’t going away. Critical race theory has taken a dominant position in many elite institutions, including public-school bureaucracies and the graduate schools training new teachers and professors. Parents, honest journalists and lawmakers should continue to combat the wave of misinformation, share stories about the damage critical race theory is doing to their communities, and develop a plan to combat it in local institutions. Critical race theory is a dangerous ideology that will take the nation into racial retrograde; Americans should have no hesitation in opposing it."

Supporting Elsa Tuet-Rosenberg shows how Australia’s institutions have been capture by activists | The Australian - "Elsa Tuet-Rosenberg, one of the activists involved in the doxxing of 600 Australian Jewish creatives, has a contract with the Australian Human Rights Commission with her company, Hue.  Given this company is in receipt of public funds, and produces materials to be used in Australian schools, it is worth examining its work and overarching philosophy, and whether it is compatible with the AHRC’s remit.  The first thing one notices about Hue’s website is that it does not limit itself to anti-racism. “Too often conversations about ‘Inclusion & Diversity’ are tokenistic and one dimensional,” the website reads. “The systemic nature of power & oppression is ignored, and there is no real investment in meaningful change.”...   At first glance, one might wonder what gender affirmation has to do with racism. Why would a consulting agency dedicated to issues of race be in the business of transgenderism? It’s an important question because the answer sheds light on the all-encompassing nature of modern progressive activism.  Today’s activism is shaped by a philosophical worldview known as critical theory. Developed by post-WWII academics such as Theodor Adorno and Herbert Marcuse, critical theory is an analytical framework that aims to identify and dismantle systems of power. It takes Karl Marx’s critique of capitalism and extends it into other domains, including race, gender, sexuality, nationality and indigeneity. Systems of power that need to be dismantled include white supremacy, patriarchy, cis-heteronormativity, colonialism and capitalism. This preoccupation with power is why social justice activism today comes in a package. The civil rights movements of the past focused on tangible results, such as making changes to legislation that would promote dignity and equality for all.  But since racial, gender and, later, marriage equality have become formally enshrined by law, the focus of activists has shifted from the concrete to the abstract, with the goal now being to “dismantle power”.  From the critical theory worldview, dismantling one system of power works towards dismantling other systems. This is why students carrying banners that read “Queers for Palestine” see no contradiction: it’s power that needs to be dismantled, not rights that need to be won.  This gets us back to the AHRC. The AHRC’s remit is not to dismantle power. It is a statutory body funded by the Australian government and is tasked with ensuring compliance with Australian law, namely the Racial Discrimination Act. As an instrument of power itself, any attempt to “dismantle power” would become self-contradictory. The clash of worldviews doesn’t stop there, however.  The Racial Discrimination Act of 1975 states: “It is unlawful for a person: (a) to refuse to allow another person access to or use of any place, by reason of the race, colour or national or ethnic origin of that other person or of any relative or associate of that other person.”  But a visit to Hue’s website, (which is linked to by the AHRC) suggests this rule has been superseded. Hue offers events and workshops for “people of colour only”. One event, titled “Power & Resilience (People of Colour only)” purportedly “creates a safe space for people of colour at your organisation to share, reflect, connect and learn without the impact of the white gaze … the session also explores strategies for coping and wellbeing under oppressive and racist systems”.  Yet the Racial Discrimination Act does not include carve-outs allowing certain groups of people to be exclusionary or racist towards other groups of people because they feel they are living under “systems of oppression”. The legislation itself is blind to race – it simply prohibits discrimination. It’s worthwhile asking: does Hue – and the AHRC more broadly – see itself as above the law? Unlike the Racial Discrimination Act, the critical theory definition of racism is not colourblind. Any condemnation of racism is determined by the identity of the actors engaged in it, rather than by the racism itself. And this selective condemnation also applies to rape, torture and murder...   In the critical theory worldview “land defence” now outranks prohibitions against mass rape and mass murder. The mistaken notion that today’s social justice activists are passionate advocates of equality and dignity for all, rather than the carriers of a radically sectarian moral framework, has allowed establishment institutions such as the AHRC to be duped into giving them access and influence.  Activists with Tuet-Rosenberg’s worldview have effectively taken over institutions across corporate, non-profit and government sectors. Centre-leftists have no match for their zeal, and quickly find themselves defenestrated whenever there is conflict.  With companies such as Hue in receipt of public subsidy, the Australian taxpayer is now funding a revolution."

The Moment in 1986 When Critical Race Theory Ousted the Civil Rights Movement - "[MSNBC's] segment – headlined “The GOP’s Fact-Free Freakout Over Critical Race Theory” – portrayed CRT as unobjectionable: “It’s a way of looking at race,” Crenshaw said, smiling. “It’s a way of looking at why, after so many decades – centuries, actually – since the emancipation, we have patterns of inequality that are enduring.” Crenshaw’s benign description has been adopted by many news outlets. They portray critical race theory as a rarefied tool used almost exclusively by law school professors, a “scholarly framework that describes how race, class, gender, and sexuality organize American life.” The claim that CRT is rarely taught outside the upper reaches of the academy is belied by numerous examples of its influence, including California's Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, a nearly 900-page teaching guide for K-12 educators adopted in March, which refers to CRT throughout. It says teachers and administrators “should familiarize themselves with current scholarly research around ethnic studies instruction,” notably “critical race theory.” Critical race theory also informs the New York Times’ 1619 Project, which "aims to reframe the country's history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of the United States' national narrative." It is now taught in thousands of public school classrooms across the country. The modesty of Crenshaw’s claims also fails to square with the combative account of the origins of CRT presented in the 1995 book “Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the Movement,” a textbook edited by Crenshaw and fellow radical academics Neil Gotanda, Gary Peller, and Kendall Thomas. In a foreword, the scholar and activist Cornel West declares that CRT is not just an academic approach but a “politically committed movement.” The radical intent of this activist ideology is apparent in its rejection of “traditional civil rights discourse,” promoting race-consciousness over yesteryear’s ideals of integration, assimilation and color-blindness. Given the chance, the key proponents of critical race theory turned on their baffled white allies, publicly accusing their fellow progressives of racist recidivism. That confrontation, at an obscure academic conference over 30 years ago, did much to shape today’s angry racial politics... The race-crits shared with the crits the view that the law is just power politics draped in robes. But the factions split over whether society was constructed on class or on race. The original crits thought of race as an expression of class, not as a distinct category...  The race-crits viewed their erstwhile allies as just another group to be judged by the color of their skin – which, for most radical left-wing intellectuals at prestigious law schools, happened to be white. “At its inception in the late ’70s, Critical Legal Studies was basically a white and largely male academic organization,” according to Crenshaw. She described the crits as “a predominantly white left.”  The race-crits’ insistence on seeing the world in black and white would soon lead the radicals to splinter...   Crenshaw, writing without irony, noted that the race-crits’ assault on CLS as a white institution “drew a surprisingly defensive response.” Was it really so surprising?  The crits sputtered that they were “allies rather than adversaries” and that their collective energies were best saved for the common cause of tearing down traditional institutions... Once they were largely freed of the stodgy views of the white radicals, the academics who practiced critical race theory developed an ideology that rejected the old-fashioned liberal goal of integration. They argued that integration meant the loss of African American identity and culture and likened assimilation to genocide. They embraced color-consciousness and black nationalism; they dismissed the old ideal of color-blindness as a sort of false-flag operation, calling it “an ideological strategy by which the current [Supreme] Court obscures its active role in sustaining hierarchies of racial power.” Kimberlé Crenshaw is notable not only for her role in critical race theory, but also in developing the concept of “intersectionality.”... Critical race theory is nothing if not ambitious. It “questions the very foundations of the liberal order,” according to CRT pioneer Richard Delgado. He writes that critical race theorists reject core tenets of classical liberalism including “Enlightenment, rationalism, and neutral principles of constitutional law."... Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, recently defended schools and schoolboards against activist parents who she claimed were trying to stop teachers “from teaching students accurate history.” But critical race theory isn’t about teaching history. It is an ideological movement, one that discourages integration, rejects color-blindness, and scoffs at the rule of law.   For example, in a 2015 journal article, critical-race scholars and practitioners Maria Ledesma and Dolores Calderon celebrate CRT as a “revolutionary project” and encourage elementary schools to disparage color-blindness as “dog whistle racism.”   Critical race theory came into its own by accusing friends and colleagues of racism. If that’s how allies are treated, should it be any surprise that parents and lawmakers opposed to what they see as the radical indoctrination of children should find themselves accused of racism too?"
So this is where the left wing talking about lying that CRT is about teaching accurate history comes from

How parents are fighting critical race theory in NYC schools - "Until last summer, Harvey Goldman had no idea that his 9-year-old daughter was learning about George Floyd’s death and Black Lives Matter as well as her own “white privilege” at the $43,000-per-year Heschel School in Manhattan.  Now he’s part of an underground network of parents in NYC and around the country, many of whom are left-leaning, fighting what they believe is the undue focus on race by schools as part of the new “woke” culture.  Many are reluctant to identify themselves publicly for fear of being labeled racist. But more are coming forward after Andrew Gutmann, the father of a 12-year-old girl at Manhattan’s posh Brearley School, wrote a scathing screed to administrators about their “anti-racism” obsession and went public... Goldman, a businessman, was shocked by the amount of negative and inappropriate “anti-racist” dogma he said was being aimed at his fourth-grader and her classmates. But when he reached out to the school with his concerns, administrators were “arrogant and dismissive”... the school suggested Goldman take his daughter out of the school, he said. So he did. The family moved to Florida where his daughter is enrolled in a public school that he vetted beforehand to make sure critical race theory (CRT) was not part of the curriculum... Though the Trump administration banned the use of federal funds for CRT training sessions for US agency workers, the Biden White House last week proposed using taxpayer money to encourage schools to incorporate it in classrooms...   Many parents, like Goldman, and Bion Bartning, whose kids were enrolled in the $54,000-a-year Riverdale Country School, only got wind of the situation after Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin killed Floyd in police custody last May or when they overheard evidence of it during their kids’ Zoom classes... he formed the Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR) to combat CRT in schools and promote a “pro-human” agenda. More than 20,000 people have already joined... Bartning, who is Mexican and Yaqui on one side and Jewish on the other, said he was especially dismayed by how Riverdale and schools across the country force kids to label themselves based on their skin color. Sometimes kids are even given a palette and made to choose the color that best fits their skin...   In New York City, anonymous open letters complaining about critical race theory and bias training have been sent in recent weeks to administrators at such elite institutions as the $55,000-per-year Dalton School and the Jesuit Regis High School... a math teacher at exclusive Grace Church in Manhattan published an open letter about what he called the “harmful” anti-racism and pedagogy at the school. He was later told to stay home.  The “underground” network has spread to public schools, too. Two Manhattan mothers who have kids in city schools lead the NYC chapter of FAIR and are speaking up, like Gutmann, in part to encourage others.  Maud Maron, a public defender with four children in local public schools who is also running for City Council, said she first ran across the so-called anti-racist ideology more than five years ago as part of her work on the Community Education Council.  “It’s a really divisive, ugly orthodoxy and it’s a multi-million dollar industry as well,” Maron told The Post. “It’s also very insidious because on the face of it, who wouldn’t want to sign up to be less racist?” Maron, who said her kids have been exposed to CRT in their public schools, said the ideology “may have started with some good intentions but now it’s like a cult. If you don’t go along with them, they think you are evil. But people should know that you can survive even if you speak out. Stand your ground and say what you believe. Don’t apologize for simple truths.”... Chu said she’s been vilified for speaking out against CRT as an activist.  “I’ve been called a ‘Karen’ and they’ve tried to pressure me into not speaking up,” Chu told The Post. “It can be very stressful, physically, emotionally and mentally. It feels like a mob is descending on you and calling you a racist for fighting for the kind of education you want for all children. it’s really nasty. I’ve seen it ruin lives.”... “It’s awful what’s going on there,” she said. “The fourth graders learned about astronauts and inventors — but only black ones. They no longer learn about Thomas Edison. The math curriculum is a joke; they’ve dumbed it down. No more birthday celebrations are allowed and no holidays are allowed. They did away with Columbus Day but now they celebrate the end of Ramadan and the Chinese Lunar Year.”   Podcaster Megyn Kelly pulled her sons out of posh Collegiate last November after a letter allegedly circulated accusing white people of “reveling in state-sanctioned depravity” and comparing white children to “killer cops.”... “We are part of the silent majority — so far — who I hope can save these schools from continuing down the wrong path.”"

North Carolina Finds That Banning Indoctrination Is Hard - The Atlantic - "In numerous other states, legislators purporting to target critical race theory or “divisive concepts” have packaged sensible reforms—including prohibitions on requiring students to proclaim particular points of view—together with irresponsible clauses that are highly likely to discourage valuable instruction... Yet even harsh critics of this kind of legislation grant that North Carolina’s effort is less vulnerable to censorious abuses than those of other states... For lawmakers or parents to object to curricula that promote ideological dogma about race is neither illiberal nor authoritarian, any more than objecting to Lost Cause mythology in public schools is illiberal or authoritarian. Yet North Carolina’s relatively well-written bill illuminates a flaw in all such legislation: Any prohibition broad enough to exclude pernicious dogma risks prohibiting or chilling legitimate instruction, while any bill so narrow as to avoid a chilling effect is unlikely to effect significant change. The needle is extraordinarily difficult to thread... Democratic Representative Kandie Smith likened the bill to a “book burning” and said, “A small group of enraged individuals are looking to ban an entire concept of thought because it makes them uncomfortable.”  But if the North Carolina bill passes, it won’t ban critical race theory. It will restrict teachers from promoting seven specific concepts that may overlap at times with CRT but are far from synonymous with it—and will do so mostly by banning the promotion of racial stereotypes in public schools. Indeed, the bill is best understood as an attempt to deploy the blunt tool of antidiscrimination law, an exercise that ought to confound many of its supporters and opponents alike... In the 1993 essay collection Words That Wound—a seminal text of critical race theory—the professors Mari J. Matsuda, Charles R. Lawrence III, Richard Delgado, and Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw provide a multifaceted intellectual edifice for overriding academic freedom, free speech, and First Amendment concerns and using state power against words that degrade or humiliate in education. In an ironic twist, proponents of the North Carolina legislation could argue for its passage by citing these critical race theorists, who argued in Words That Wound that less egregious forms of racism degenerate into more serious forms; that libels against entire racial groups are more damaging than slights aimed at individuals and are best treated as “outside the realm of protected discourse”; that racist messages trigger physiological injury and devastate self-esteem; that those who are denigrated for their race or gender benefit from laws that tell them they are not imagining the harm being done to them; that “the appropriate standard in determining whether language is persecutory, hateful, and degrading is the recipient’s community standard”; and that the classical liberal insistence on viewpoint neutrality when the state restricts speech entrenches abuses by people in power. Summing up their case for narrowing the First Amendment and limiting freedom of speech, the authors of Words That Wound declare in a joint introduction that “this is at bottom a fight to gain equal access to the power of the intelligentsia to construct knowledge, social meaning, ideology, and definitions of who ‘we’ are.”  The same fight continues today, but with a noteworthy ideological flip... the bill’s opponents vastly exaggerate its potential harm when they claim, as did North Carolina’s ACLU chapter, that “rather than help young people get the most out of their education to help them grow into informed and engaged citizens, some lawmakers want to practice censorship and impose an alternate version of American history—one that erases the legacy of discrimination and lived experiences of Black and Brown people, women and girls, and LGBTQ+ individuals.” If passed, this bill will result in no such erasure... some Democrats are talking as if any step to contest preferred progressive curriculum on race is verboten––as if no legitimate disagreements exist about how best to educate and acculturate young people"
From 2021. Regulating what kids are taught in school is not about free speech, though