I do not oppose people expressing support for Hamas, however misguided and generally uninformed I think they are. What I do object to is the attempts to shut out other voices as we saw at the PuSH festival in Vancouver or more recently with Guernica magazine. This is dangerous to our democracy. There is a good article in the April 2024 issue of The Atlantic on the resurgence of Anti-Semitism in the US (and the same thing is happening in Canada). We have to actively oppose this anti-Semitiism and not give people a pass because they pretend to be somehow progressive.
Thank you for replying. And yes I was referring to the regular weekly chants, up and down the UK, of ‘from the River to the Sea’ and pro Hamas supporters. However much I wish to classify this ‘fifth column’ as traitors, I have to agree with you, although extremely unpleasant, they are using our democracies and ‘exercising free speech’ and for as long as they don’t cross legal boundaries. I also agree also that the West is not strong enough to monitor these groups. I believe these groups will use free speech granted under our democracies until they get to power; should that happen, and I am worried this is likely in my lifetime, it will be the end of free society as we have known it. I am honestly extremely concerned about the trajectory of the so called Western democracies. But still, they are not traitors, it seems.
There has been no progress on hostage release because the US and other western countries have been pressuring Israel instead of Hamas' external funders, hosts, and allies: principally Iran, Qatar, Turkey, and Hezbollah. The US has plenty of leverage against these other players -- via carrots and sticks -- so that they pressure Hamas to deal. Instead they pressure Israel, leading Hamas to hold out for longer and demand more concessions.
I do not oppose people expressing support for Hamas, however misguided and generally uninformed I think they are. What I do object to is the attempts to shut out other voices as we saw at the PuSH festival in Vancouver or more recently with Guernica magazine. This is dangerous to our democracy. There is a good article in the April 2024 issue of The Atlantic on the resurgence of Anti-Semitism in the US (and the same thing is happening in Canada). We have to actively oppose this anti-Semitiism and not give people a pass because they pretend to be somehow progressive.
Thank you for replying. And yes I was referring to the regular weekly chants, up and down the UK, of ‘from the River to the Sea’ and pro Hamas supporters. However much I wish to classify this ‘fifth column’ as traitors, I have to agree with you, although extremely unpleasant, they are using our democracies and ‘exercising free speech’ and for as long as they don’t cross legal boundaries. I also agree also that the West is not strong enough to monitor these groups. I believe these groups will use free speech granted under our democracies until they get to power; should that happen, and I am worried this is likely in my lifetime, it will be the end of free society as we have known it. I am honestly extremely concerned about the trajectory of the so called Western democracies. But still, they are not traitors, it seems.
There has been no progress on hostage release because the US and other western countries have been pressuring Israel instead of Hamas' external funders, hosts, and allies: principally Iran, Qatar, Turkey, and Hezbollah. The US has plenty of leverage against these other players -- via carrots and sticks -- so that they pressure Hamas to deal. Instead they pressure Israel, leading Hamas to hold out for longer and demand more concessions.