Boots & Sabers

The blogging will continue until morale improves...

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Category: Foreign Affairs

Netanyahu Meets With Biden and Harris Separately

by | 0656, 26 Jul 24 | , | 2 Comments

What is a foreign leader to think?

Vice President Kamala Harris — who is seeking to succeed Biden — met with Netanyahu later in the day and took the lead in addressing the public about their discussions.

 

She has been more outspoken than Biden about killed Palestinian civilians and called on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid in, and later stressed the importance for Israel to avoid more civilian casualties in Gaza.

I ask the question sincerely. Now, Netanyahu is an old hand and knows the nuances of American politics very well. He’ll be fine. But it is extremely weird and unsettling for the President and the Vice President to meet separately for foreign heads of state and give different messages. How is a foreign leader to interpret that? Who is speaking for America? Who’s policy is in force?

It may seem obvious that it is the president’s, but is it? His brain is mush and he can’t effectively communicate. Biden clearly allowed his VP to meet separately. Is the foreign leader to interpret that as the meeting with the president was for show and the meeting with the VP was the real one? If Biden is already acting as the president in setting and leading America’s foreign policy, then was that power delegated from the president?

This is not normal. This is not right. We should not pretend that it is.

Alleged Sabotage Disrupts Rail Traffic Before Olympics

by | 0640, 26 Jul 24 | , | 0 Comments

Olympics are going to be entertaining in many ways.

French rail company SNCF says 800,000 passengers have been affected by what the country’s Prime Minister Gabriel Attal described as “acts of sabotage”.

 

A series of fires caused the disruptions early on Friday morning, hours before the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.

 

Several high-speed TGV lines have been hit to the west, north and east of the capital and SNCF has warned the disruption could last for days. Eurostar has also warned customers of longer journey times and cancellations.

Gazans Continue to Attack

by | 0649, 1 Jul 24 | | 0 Comments

Why are people telling the Israelis to stand down when the Gazans won’t? It is worth noting that the Gazans are filtering back into areas that the Israelis have left to stage more attacks. It confirms that the only way the violence ends for Israelis or Gazans if for Israel to reestablish full control of the region. It won’t be easy or painless. But it is necessary for peace.

CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) – The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group fired a barrage of rockets into Israel on Monday, in an apparent show of force as Israeli tanks pressed their advance deeper into Gaza amid fierce fighting, residents and officials said.

 

The armed wing of Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-backed ally of Hamas, said its fighters fired rockets towards several Israeli settlements near the fence with Gaza in response to “the crimes of the Zionist enemy against our Palestinian people”.

The volley of around 20 rockets caused no casualties, according to the Israeli military. But it showed militants still possess rocket capabilities almost nine months into Israel’s offensive it says is aimed at neutralising threats against it.

 

In some parts of Gaza, militants continue to stage attacks on Israeli forces in areas that the army had left months ago.

Coup in Bolivia

by | 1700, 26 Jun 24 | | 1 Comment

These two things can’t possibly be related, can they?

In 2005, Morales, an Aymara India rode discontent with foreign-backed coca eradication programs into the presidency. For more than a decade he made a name for himself as the unyielding and insurgent leader of the coca-growers union. His defiant, leftist rhetoric electrified Bolivia’s long-marginalized indigenous majority. Morales spoke of nationalizing industries, empowering labourers, and forcibly redistributing land held by wealthy elites.

 

For some, he became a champion of the oppressed. For others, a dangerous demagogue threatening free markets and private property.

 

The socialist policies he implemented are credited by supporters with fueling economic growth and lifting many Bolivians out of poverty. His Movement for Socialism (MAS by its Spanish initials) party has dominated elections for two decades, giving him a 14-year-run as president.

And the coup…

Bolivia, a country of 12 million people, has seen intensifying protests in recent months over the economy’s precipitous decline from one of the continent’s fastest-growing two decades ago to one of its most crisis-stricken.

Let’s see…. for 20 years a socialist party has been in control. They implemented socialist policies and drove their once-flying economy into recession. And now civil unrest is manifesting as a coup.

Are you watching, America? We’ve seen this story play out the same way dozens of times. Yes, it can happen here. It already is.

EU Shifts Right

by | 2111, 9 Jun 24 | | 0 Comments

It’s a move in the right direction. Bear in mind, however, that when the media calls people “right wing,” they mean moderates from 10 years ago.

LONDON — Populist, far-right parties could have a bigger hand in European policymaking over the next five years after initial results from the EU election on Sunday suggested the parliamentary landscape is being redrawn.

 

Gains for the nationalist Identity and Democracy (ID) party — and losses for the Greens/European Free Alliance — could leave centrist parties dependent on the right for key votes in the 720 seat European Parliament.

The Parliament has, in the past, been led by a strong majority of centrist parties, who typically vote together on issues to win a majority in the 720 seat chamber. Indeed, the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) is once again projected to win the most parliamentary seats and retain its dominance in the chamber.

 

But a centrist coalition led by the EPP might now depend on support from the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) to pass certain legislation, with research firm Eurasia Group describing the ECR in a pre-election note as potential “key players.”

 

[…]

 

Immigration will remain front and center of the policy agenda in the next Parliament, with right-wing parties expected to advocate for increased border security and a tougher stance on arrivals from outside the EU.

Mexico Continues to Slide

by | 1135, 8 Jun 24 | | 0 Comments

The Socialists continue to push Mexico into financial oblivion. This is why they support allowing their criminals and poor to cross into the United States. They need the inflow of money from expats and the outsourcing of social welfare to the American taxpayers.

But most worrisome to markets is that López Obrador’s Morena party won a two-thirds majority in Congress, which would allow them to pass changes to the Constitution, like the judicial reform, as well as mandates for a series of yet-unfunded government benefit programs.

 

López Obrador pledged Friday to continue to press for 20 constitutional changes, including one that would undo the country’s current system of individual retirement accounts and the elimination of most independent government oversight and regulatory agencies.

 

Sheinbaum has spoken by phone or in person this week with officials from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the head of the BlackRock investment company, after the peso plunged and the stock market briefly dipped on Monday.

Olympians Bringing Own ACs to Paris

by | 1109, 8 Jun 24 | , | 1 Comment

Normal people do not want to abandon modern life and modern conveniences for the sake of the climate change zealots – nor should they be forced to. And in this case, once again, it will be the poor countries who suffer most for the egotism of the rich countries.

PARIS – For all the steps Paris organizers have taken to put on the greenest Olympics ever, their boldest measure – the one they’ve touted again and again – pertains to the dorms in the Athletes’ Village. The rooms don’t have air-conditioning. Because of other cooling measures, organizers have assured, the athletes won’t need it.

 

But in a farcical turn, when the Games start next month, an Olympic Village designed to showcase sustainability will be more of an energy hog than organizers had hoped.

 

That’s because portable air-conditioning units will be everywhere. Wheeled in. Shipped in. Ordered by visiting countries that want their athletes to sleep well and perform at the highest level – even if it means a larger carbon footprint.

 

Worried about what potentially could be the world’s hottest year on record, wealthier nations have effectively undercut Paris’s marquee sustainability measure, signaling that, yes, they care about environmental aims – but not if it risks the comfort of their athletes. Some of those athletes are accustomed to temperatures cooler than what the dorms might have provided and raised concerns to their national Olympic committees.

 

“It’s a high-performance environment,” said Strath Gordon, the chief of public affairs for the Olympic committee of Australia, one of the countries opting for the ACs.

 

[…]

 

“We don’t have deep pockets,” said Donald Rukare, a lawyer who is president of the Uganda Olympic Committee. Rukare mentioned a sweltering international sports competition in Turkey a few years ago, where athletes stayed in rooms without air-conditioning. Some federations shipped in portable units; Uganda did not. “Because we didn’t have the money,” he said.

IDF Frees Four Hostages

by | 0929, 8 Jun 24 | | 0 Comments

Awesome.

Four hostages kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova music festival during the 7 October attacks have been rescued in a daylight raid deep in central Gaza.

 

Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrei Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, were freed during a “high-risk, complex mission” from two separate buildings in the Nuseirat area, the Israel Defense Forces said.

 

The IDF said the four are in good medical condition and have been transferred to the ‘Sheba’ Tel-HaShomer Medical Center, where they have been pictured embracing family members waiting at the facility.

 

[…]

 

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said the mission was based on “precise” intelligence and that Israeli forces came under fire during the operation.

 

One special forces officer was wounded in the Gaza hostage rescue and later died in hospital, Israel police said.

Few comments. First, this is why the war continues. It all could have ended months ago had Hamas released the hostages and surrendered. Hamas is the aggressor and they will not stop until someone stops them. That is what Israel is doing… stopping them.

Second, I’ll admit, I thought all of the hostages were dead by now. The horror that must have experienced is unimaginable.

Third, it is notable that the hostages were being held in civilian houses protected by Hamas fighters and supporting civilian residents – if one can even articulate a difference between who is formally Hamas and who is just casually Hamas. And those differences fluctuate from moment to moment. Asking the IDF to tell the difference in real time is an unreasonable standard.

Fourth, I’ve been trying to think of how I would react – how most Americans would react – in a similar situation. Israel essentially gave Gaza to the Palestinians years ago. They have been self-governing while Israel continues to manage the borders. Israel has provided financial, infrastructure, and logistical support for the improvement of the Gazan condition. The Palestinians elected Hamas and have overwhelmingly supported them ever since. Over the years, Gazans have launched rockets and terror attacks into Israel.

Where is there a similar situation in America? The federal government has essentially ceded millions of acres of land to many Native American Tribes. They are effectively self-governing within the borders of the reservations. The taxpayers of the nation provide financial, infrastructure, and logistical support for the improvement of the Tribal condition. What if one of the tribes launched an attack on Summerfest, killed over a thousand people, raped old women and children, took hundreds of hostages, and retreated to the reservation? Would you support bringing down the full force of the U.S. Military on Tribal forces until every single hostage was freed? Would you support continuing the action until the people who launched and supported the attack are dead or in prison? Would you support a reconsideration of allowing the same people who launched the attack to continue to hold the reins of power and exercise self-governance?

I would. Most Americans would. That is what Israel is facing and why most Americans support them.

Zelensky Stumps for Biden

by | 0907, 3 Jun 24 | , | 1 Comment

He knows who is buttering his bread. You’ll forgive me if I put little stock in the opinion of a wannabe dictator welfare queen.

‘Does (Trump) want to become a loser president? Do you understand what can happen… the institutions of the United States will become very weak – the US will not be the leader of the world anymore.’

[…]

 

‘A ceasefire is a trap,’ he said, adding that Putin would humiliate Trump by violating the terms of any deal to ‘go further’ in Ukraine and pursue his own goals.

 

He said that failure to continue providing Ukraine with aid and military support would degrade America’s reputation as a powerful world leader.

 

‘This is not about him [Trump], as a person but about the institutions of the United States. They will become very weak. The US will not be the leader of the world any more… in terms of international influence it will be equal to zero,’ the Ukrainian president declared.

 

He also warned a Trump decision to end US support of Kyiv could embolden other countries and groups with nefarious intentions to risk waging wars of their own.

 

And finally, he confirmed that he remains in close contact with former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whom he said he was ‘using as an instrument’ to hold informal talks with the US, and apologised for doing so.

New Mexican President. Same as the Old Mexican President.

by | 0732, 3 Jun 24 | | 0 Comments

Under this leadership, Mexico will continue to slide into being a Narco-state.

She has said that it is important to tackle what she says are the roots of the violence and has promised to invest in welfare programmes to prevent poor young Mexicans from being recruited by criminal groups.

 

On relations with Mexico’s northern neighbour, the United States, which at times have been testy under her predecessor in office, she said she would ensure there would be “a relationship of friendship, mutual respect and equality”.

 

But in a reference to the many Mexicans living and working in the US, she promised to “always defend the Mexicans who are on the other side of the border”.

Pumping taxpayer money into welfare does not solve the “root causes” of crime. Locking up crappy violent people solves the root causes crime. History has shown this to be the case time and time again. If you want to see an American city with a hollowed out core riddled with crime, look to the ones with giant welfare roles.

Why? Simple. First, welfare murders the work ethic and creates a culture of dependence, entitlement, and resentment. These are the cultural predicates of a criminal mind.

Second, free government money being carelessly pumped into neighborhoods fuels crime. Criminals know how to work the system to get money and the money readily flows into the drug trade. In Mexico, with the cartels controlling entire cities, it is child’s play for them to reroute the money into their pockets.

In regard to her comments about Mexicans in America, until we here a Mexican government talk about creating a culture and economy that will keep their citizens home instead of fleeing to the United States for a better life, Mexico and Mexicans will continue to suffer. He goal should not be to defend her citizens who illegally fled to another country to escape the hellhole that is their homeland. Her goal should be to encourage them to come home and build their own country.

Despite the international celebration of Mexico electing its first woman president, it looks like it will just be more of the same.

Oh, and don’t forget this. The cartels are ensuring that the Mexican legislature and local governments are staffed with their supporters.

As well as a new president, voters were also electing all members of Mexico’s Congress and governors in eight states, the head of Mexico City’s government, and thousands of local officials.

 

And it was local candidates in particular who were targeted in the run-up to the vote.

 

The government says more than 20 were killed across Mexico, although other surveys put the total at 37.

Mexican Officials Angry at Woman Who Keeps Finding Cartel Victims

by | 1924, 1 Jun 24 | , | 0 Comments

A fallen state.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican volunteer searcher criticized in the past by the government has found more human remains in Mexico City and officials have attacked her for it — again.

 

The existence of clandestine body dumping grounds is sensitive for Mexico’s ruling Morena party. Morena, which is running the former Mexico City mayor for president in Sunday’s elections, claims the kind of violence that plagues other parts of the country has been successfully combatted in the capital.

 

But volunteer searcher Ceci Flores, who has spent years searching for her two missing sons, says that’s because officials haven’t bothered to look for bodies. It’s a common complaint by relatives of missing people in many parts of Mexico, where drug cartels and kidnap gangs use shallow pits to dispose of the bodies of their victims.

On Thursday, Flores posted a video showing what appeared to be human femurs and craniums in the tall dry grass of a hillside on the city’s east side. She suggested there were at least three bodies, and noted there could be more on the hillside.

Netanyahu Reiterates War Goals

by | 1922, 1 Jun 24 | | 0 Comments

Clear. Specific. Morally correct.

But a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office on Saturday said Israel’s goals — “the destruction of Hamas military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel” — would need to be met before a permanent ceasefire can begin.

 

“Under the proposal, Israel will continue to insist these conditions are met before a permanent ceasefire is put in place. The notion that Israel will agree to a permanent ceasefire before these conditions are fulfilled is a non-starter,” the statement said.

China Cracks Down in Hong Kong

by | 0704, 30 May 24 | , | 1 Comment

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, we see the full expression of the logic of using government force to “preserve Democracy.” They just convicted people in a political party for campaigning saying that they would use a constitutional power to veto budgets they didn’t support. In order to prevent a “constitutional crisis,” they silenced, arrested, and now convicted politicians. If you think that this would never happen in America, you haven’t been paying attention.

HONG KONG — Fourteen pro-democracy activists were convicted in Hong Kong’s biggest national security case on Thursday by a court that said their plan to effect change through an unofficial primary election would have undermined the government’s authority and created a constitutional crisis.

 

After a 2019 protest movement that filled the city’s streets with demonstrators, authorities have all but silenced dissent in Hong Kong through reduced public choice in elections, crackdowns on media and the Beijing-imposed security law under which the activists were convicted.

 

[…]

 

In a summary of the verdict distributed to media, the court said the election participants had declared they would use their legislative power to veto the budgets.

Under the city’s mini-constitution, the chief executive can dissolve the legislature if a budget cannot be passed but the leader would have to step down if the budget is again vetoed in the next legislature.

 

In the full, 319-page verdict, the judges approved by the government to oversee the case also said if the plan to veto bills would lead to the dissolution of the legislature, it meant “the implementation of any new government policies would be seriously hampered and essentially put to a halt.”

 

“The power and authority of both the Government and the Chief Executive would be greatly undermined,” the court said in the verdict. “In our view … that would create a constitutional crisis for Hong Kong.”

 

[…]

 

Observers said the subversion case illustrated how the security law is being used to crush the political opposition following huge anti-government protests in 2019. It also showed that Beijing’s promise to retain the former British colony’s Western-style civil liberties for 50 years when it returned to China in 1997 was becoming increasingly threadbare, they said.

Israel Cuts off Smuggling Tunnels Fueling Hamas

by | 1928, 29 May 24 | | 0 Comments

Good.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military said Wednesday it seized control of a strategic corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt to cut off smuggling tunnels as it tries to destroy the militant Hamas group in a war that is now in its eighth month.

 

The capture of the Philadelphi Corridor could complicate Israel’s relations with Egypt, which has complained about Israel’s advance toward its border. Israel says the corridor is awash in tunnels that have funneled weapons and other goods for Hamas — despite a yearslong blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt.

 

Israel also deepened its incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands have been seeking shelter from fighting, and where intensifying violence in recent days has killed dozens of Palestinians. The military said that a fifth brigade — up to several thousand soldiers — joined troops operating in the city on Tuesday.

Biden’s $320 Million Pier in Gaza Sinks

by | 1725, 28 May 24 | , , | 1 Comment

While it is easy to laugh and/or roll your eyes at yet another expensive, wasteful, ridiculous stunt-gone-bad by our hapless president, there is a real worry here.

TEL AVIV — The U.S. military has been forced to suspend aid deliveries into the Gaza Strip by sea after its temporary pier system off Gaza suffered damage in bad weather, the Defense Department confirmed Tuesday.

 

[…]

 

The damage is the latest setback to the temporary pier system, which President Joe Biden announced during his State of the Union address in March and became operational just two weeks ago.

 

Over the weekend, four small U.S. military boats involved in ferrying aid broke from their moorings in bad weather, U.S. Central Command said. Two of them washed up on the coast of southern Israel near the city of Ashdod, while the other two beached in Gaza.

 

An American service member also remains in critical condition in an Israeli hospital after having suffered noncombat injuries on the pier last week, a U.S. defense official said. Two other service members sustained minor injuries.

 

The temporary pier, known in military parlance as a Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore capability, was designed to get more aid into Gaza and help fend off famine, which the U.N. says has broken out in the north of the besieged Strip.

While the policy to put this pier in was idiotic, we should expect our military to be able to execute it well. They did not. Our mighty American military appears incapable of an engineering feat that should be well within their abilities. We’ve been building temporary piers for the purpose of landing supplies in a war zone since the Civil War. Yet it’s sinking within a week? What if there were Americans under fire on the other end of that pier waiting for supplies?

The policy was bad, but the execution should have been flawless.

US to Pay For Internet for Africa

by | 0727, 24 May 24 | , | 0 Comments

It may be a worthy goal, but why is this a goal for the American taxpayers? We’re broke.

WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris is announcing the formation of a new partnership to help provide internet access to 80% of Africa by 2030, up from roughly 40% now.

 

[…]

 

Harris, the first female U.S. vice president, is also announcing that the Women in the Digital Economy efforts to address the gender divide in technology access have now generated more than $1 billion in public and private commitments, with some U.S. commitments pending congressional approval.

Russians Launch Another Space Weapon

by | 2119, 21 May 24 | , | 0 Comments

Well, that’s disconcerting.

The United States has assessed that Russia launched what is likely a counter space weapon last week that’s now in the same orbit as a U.S. government satellite, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder confirmed Tuesday.

 

“What I’m tracking here is on May 16, as you highlighted, Russia launched a satellite into low Earth orbit that we that we assess is likely a counter space weapon presumably capable of attacking other satellites in low Earth orbit,” Ryder said when questioned by ABC News about the information, which was made public earlier Tuesday by Robert Wood, deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

 

“Russia deployed this new counter space weapon into the same orbit as a U.S. government satellite,” Ryder continued. “And so assessments further indicate characteristics resembling previously deployed counter space payloads from 2019 and 2022.”

 

[…]

 

When asked if the Russian counter space weapon posed a threat to the U.S. satellite, Ryder responded: “Well, it’s a counter space weapon in the same orbit as a U.S. government satellite.”

Aid Stolen Before Reaching Gazans

by | 1942, 21 May 24 | , | 0 Comments

Garsch… Who could have possible predicted that supplied would be stolen before ever reaching the intended people. /shockedfface. Despite the effort by CNN to sanitize the report and attribute the thefts to “desperate Gazans,” only Hamas has the internal force to affect such interceptions. Once again, Hamas is stealing from their own people.

None of the aid that has been unloaded from the temporary pier the US constructed off the coast of Gaza has been delivered to the broader Palestinian population, as the US works with the UN and Israel to identify safe delivery routes inside the enclave, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

 

Several desperate Gazans intercepted trucks delivering aid from the pier over the weekend, leading the UN to suspend the delivery operations until the logistical challenges are resolved.

 

[…]

 

Asked whether any of the aid has been delivered to the people of Gaza, Ryder said, “As of today, I do not believe so.” He added that aid had been held in an assembly area on shore, but as of Tuesday had begun getting moved to warehouses for distribution throughout Gaza as alternative routes have been established.

 

[…]

 

Over the weekend, as trucks began moving the aid delivered off the floating pier, CNN reported that a group of men in Gaza intercepted the aid, saying they did not trust that it was actually meant for the Palestinian people.

Federal Officials Condemn ICC

by | 0731, 21 May 24 | , , | 1 Comment

It’s good to see the entire federal government united and correct in their condemnation of the ICC.

The State Department was out with a longer statement that denounced the court for pairing Israel with Hamas.

 

‘We reject the Prosecutor’s equivalence of Israel with Hamas. It is shameful. Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that carried out the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and is still holding dozens of innocent people hostage, including Americans,’ Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

 

And White House spokesman John Kirby noted that ‘we don’t believe the ICC has any jurisdiction in the matter.’

 

House Speaker Mike Johnson blasted the ICC and threatened to hold sanctions against the court.

 

‘The ICC has no authority over Israel or the United States, and today’s baseless and illegitimate decision should face global condemnation,’ he said.

 

‘Congress is reviewing all options, including sanctions, to punish the ICC and ensure its leadership faces consequences if they proceed. If the ICC is allowed to threaten Israeli leaders, ours could be next,’ he added.

 

Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik was in Israel when the decision came down.

 

‘As Bibi leads @Israel through one of the darkest moments in its history, we must stand unequivocally with Israel against Iran and their proxies who seek to destroy the only democracy in the Middle East,’ she wrote on X.

UWM’s disgraceful appeasement

by | 0722, 21 May 24 | , , | 0 Comments

My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. Here you go:

Most Americans have stood aghast as a wave of antisemitic and pro-Hamas protests swept through our universities. We thought that such hate was the stuff of 1905 Russia or 1938 Germany, but here we are witnessing it in 2024 America amongst those who are supposed to be our future. Many universities responded deplorably, but none more so than the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

 

Hamas has been clear about their goal to wipe out Israel and the Jews who live there since their inception. Everything they have done — including the October 7 massacre — has been to further that goal. While one can criticize Israel’s response to the attacks and wish for peace, the campus protests long since descended into the hateful rhetoric of, and support for, Hamas.

 

Some universities took immediate action to clear out illegal encampments and threatening protesters. Some universities offered minimal appeasement coupled with a firm rejection of hate. Then there is UWM, which decided to weigh in with full-throated support for Hamas and has encouraged a campus culture where Jewish students can no longer feel safe.

 

The protests and encampment at UWM was instigated by the UWM Popular University for Palestine Coalition (PUPC), whose coalition includes the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Muslim Student Association (MSA), Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Un-PAC, and Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA). These groups range in interests from communism to overthrowing capitalism to ending our republic to the destruction of Israel. All of their interests coalesced around supporting Hamas in their terrorism against Jews.

 

These groups are well-funded and well-organized. In return for ending an encampment that was already illegal, UWM Chancellor Mark Mone and the UWM leadership gave these communists and Hamas supporters a seat at the table. Mone agreed to have the UWM Foundation release financial statements to the PUPC and meet with them to discuss where the Foundation invests.

 

Mone also agreed to “study” whether UWM should end studying abroad in Israel and pressured the Water Council, on whose board Mone serves, to end relationships with two Israeli companies. Mone agreed to forgo any punishments for the protestors’ encampments despite the violation of state law. He agreed to further meetings and a working group with PUPC for a “series of campus conversations and educational opportunities.” That’s eduspeak for “spreading Hamas propaganda.”

 

Most egregious was Mone’s statement on behalf of UWM condemning Israel for responding to Hamas’ violent pogrom of October 7. Calling Israel’s war in Gaza a “plausible genocide,” Mone calls for a ceasefire in Gaza without any precondition for Hamas to release hostages or stop their violence against civilians. Mone voiced this condemnation with full knowledge that Hamas started the war, raped and killed civilian women and children, and has repeatedly rejected a ceasefire. Mone’s statement is indistinguishable from those issued by antisemites and Hamas supporters that were camping on the UWM campus.

 

Rightfully, Jewish groups Hillel Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, and the Anti-Defamation League Midwest, condemned Mone’s UWM for appeasing PUPC. After reminding us that Mone has refused to meet with Jewish students despite a surge of antisemitic incidents on campus since October 7, they say, “Chancellor Mone gave protesters who fueled hate and violated school policies at UWM a seat at the table and even invited them to nominate individuals and faculty to serve on key university committees and working groups … the chancellor’s decision to grant immunity to individuals who mocked and broke school rules and the law sets a dangerous precedent for future incidents on campus.” Indeed, it does.

 

When given an opportunity to educate young adults and reject antisemitic, terrorist, and communist activists, UWM and Chancellor Mone chose to support and enable them. This choice is a disgrace that succors a culture of hate on the UWM campus.

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