Priorities

More than any other body in the government, it’s close to unanimous that nobody likes Congress. The infighting amongst the majority in the 118th has eroded people’s confidence in it getting anything substantial done. But Republicans are not exclusively at fault for short-sighted, potentially harmful bills that make us wonder if the concept of representation has died.

Consider this absurd ban of Tiktok, a silly, addictive video-based phone app whose owners happen to be located in China. Sinophobia is ballooning in popularity right now, and both parties are contributing. It’s inexplicable, save for the fact that our global hegemony is in jeopardy with projects like the Belt And Road Initiative in the works. Of course, China is easy to dislike with its well-known suppression of thought and draconian punishment of dissenters. But that has nothing to do with the Tiktok ban. Politicians seem paranoid that China will steal user information, or maybe worse, brainwash its users to be pro-Chinese. The threat seems opaque. I mean, shit- this is a weird fucking time to decide that data mining is a concern. Every tab I have open on Windows right now is seen by Zuckerfuck’s Facebook, and no one seems concerned about that. God only knows what US intelligence agencies are watching as we communicate. I guess it’s only when furriners look at our information that we freak out.

Speaking of watching, a bill is making its way through Congress which may curtail the way you speak about the state of Israel under the guise of fighting antisemitism. The line is increasingly being blurred between criticizing radical Zionism and demonizing the Jewish people. It could have implications for funding of institutions whose student population is super-pissed about US blind material and rhetorical support of Israel’s explosive, indiscriminate campaign of vengefulness against an innocent population after Gaza’s militant Hamas organization went on a killing spree last year. It’s obvious that Congress values Israeli feelings about its country over the lives of millions of Palestinians starving and fleeing from its bombs. Completely upside-down if you have any scruples at all.

So, what are the new things you may not be able to say about the state of Israel lest you be accused of being a Jew-hater? This list from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance is under consideration for being codified. Most of it is uncontroversial and poses no risks to acceptable political speech. It should be affirmed that senseless hate of the Jewish people is wrong. However, there are some bullet points that are of concern regarding the Israeli state. For example:

Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.

Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.

I’ll tarry only briefly on my own personal objections to these definitions. As a curious, reasonably educated American citizen, I’m well aware that my own country’s existence is without a doubt thanks to an extermination campaign upon the indigenous population and the slaving of another continent. We were a racist nation, and to varying degrees, still are. Project 2025 adherents find this kind of thought “anti-American”. Meh. Fuck ‘em. I am allowed to express these thoughts, read about our past and present crimes and live here. I might as well be in the aforementioned China if that is unallowable. So I’m a little wary of some unassailable right to self determination especially if it is to be done with continual violence. There’s a severe immorality attached to displacing a native population. You don’t “self-determine” on top of another people. Colonialism is evil business regardless of who does it. I’m definitely not going to spend any time here or anywhere else to protest nor question the continuing existence of Israel, though. It’d be like asking my own country to pack its bags and colonize the Moon. Nationalism happens, unfortunately. Some things cannot be undone, and the best any country can do after committing sins to become what it is to try and stop continuing them. I know about and disdain the widespread discrimination against Jews over the millennia, but nonetheless have some problems with the reestablishment of some religions’ “holy land” at the mortal expense of another differently believing ethnic people. Frankly, biblical bullshit should not predicate the existence of any fucking thing. But that’s just one asshole’s opinion. Is some Israeli policy Nazi-like? It’s been suggested in a few corners, even in Jewish ones. Needless to say, comparisons to Nazis and any group is usually way off the mark and foolish since there’s not a whole lot worse than the Nazi regime in contemporary history. But damn if the territory-occupying since independence doesn’t look like a little like lebensraum. The Netanyahu government is increasingly tolerant of fascist elements in its coalition. And what to make of this?

I stand against the continuing terror campaign against Palestinians and exhort my country to stop arming the country committing it. Responding to a war crime with more war crimes is intolerable. I’ll happily point you to the decimation of the nation of Iraq by the United States for the acts of someone who had absolutely no connection with them. I was there. My eyes got a glimpse of hell.

The larger point I’d like to make here is that you should be able to ask questions and learn history and examine for yourself the rightness or wrongness of any country’s behavior and history. Israel does not deserve special treatment in this regard. I don’t like the idea of a student being able to research and decide for itself what he or she thinks without fear of expulsion, nor do I think it a good idea to make universities even more nervous and repressive by threatening their institutions because of protests against our allies’ actions abroad. Maybe Congress should go back to what it is really good at, which is naming post offices.

P.S.: I just got wind that the chill on free campus expression just got frostier: bipartisan legislation is proposing placing “antisemitism monitors” at schools. Again, the sum total of this congressional activity is going to add up to conflating legitimate criticism of Israel with hatred of the Jewish people. Tough times are ahead for free speech.