I’m so delighted that President Obama and Congress are moving to impose sanctions on Russia over its military intervention in Crimea. Regardless of whether one thinks this is a wise or just policy in the case of Russia, this is setting a great political precedent in the United States for considering boycotts, divestment and sanctions on Israel over its military occupation of Palestine – the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.
Until now, it has been the case that in the United States, if you talk about any kind of boycott, any kind of divestment, any kind of sanction to pressure the Israeli government to end its military occupation of Palestine, some apologists for the Israeli occupation have gone into rhetorical meltdown. Until now, we’ve collectively tolerated that the hysterical opposition to “BDS” (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) of these apologists for the Israeli occupation be taken seriously in public discourse. In New York, Maryland, and Illinois, state legislators want to punish you if you even think about boycotting one egg from the Israeli occupation. We’re all for the right of free speech – unless you misuse your free speech rights to say something bad about the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
But now, when it is proposed to sanction Russia over its military intervention in Crimea, it passes through public discourse like a hot knife through butter. No one complains that Russia is being “unfairly singled out.” No one claims that people who want to impose sanctions on Russia are motivated by an irrational hatred of the Russian people. No one claims that supporters of sanctions want to “delegitimize Russia” or “destroy Russia,” nor that supporters of sanctions “refuse to accept Russia’s right to exist.”
People are raising legitimate questions about sanctions on Russia, as they always should when new sanctions are proposed. Are they likely to be effective at achieving stated goals? Who is likely to be harmed by them, directly or indirectly? If they will harm innocent people, is that harm ethically justifiable?
But no one with any influence in public discourse is calling supporters of sanctions against Russia bad names, or demanding that they be punished for their political opinions.
Let’s draw a line in the sand. From now on, supporters of sanctions against Israel for its military occupation of Palestine must demand the same respect for our democratic rights that supporters of sanctions against Russia for its military intervention in Crimea enjoy. From now on, we must not tolerate any abrogation of our democratic rights to advocate for boycott, divestment and sanctions against the Israeli occupation. Let’s start by telling legislators in New York, Maryland, and Illinois to kill legislation abrogating our democratic rights to advocate for sanctions against the Israeli occupation. I’m looking at you, Illinois diaspora. “By the rivers gently flowing.” Stand up for our First Amendment rights.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
After the election, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
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We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
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With love, rage, and solidarity,
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