The ‘Palestine exemption’ to free speech

The BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) Movement has as its goal to “end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law.” An overview of its mission states:

Israel is occupying and colonising Palestinian land, discriminating against Palestinian citizens of Israel and denying Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homes. Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, the BDS call urges action to pressure Israel to comply with international law.

BDS is now a vibrant global movement made up of unions, academic associations, churches and grassroots movements across the world. Eleven years since its launch, BDS is having a major impact and is effectively challenging international support for Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism.

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Police propaganda and deception

That the state of policing in the US is appalling is pretty much a given. Their propensity to use excessive, even lethal, force in situations that do not demand it, especially when they are dealing with poor people or people of color, has been well documented. They then close ranks, aided by prosecutors, to prevent any justice being meted out to the offending officers so that it is big news when a police officer is even fired or indicted, let alone convicted of a crime.
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What might a matriarchy look like?

All societies tend to be male dominated in pretty much all walks of life, such as running the government and businesses. Governments that differ widely in ideology are often similar when it comes to the subordinate roles played by women. Given that the world is not in great shape, it is natural to speculate how things might be different if women ran things. Unfortunately there are no models of such structure.
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Second acts for abusers

While there have been several cases of high-profile people losing their perches because they sexually harassed and abused people over whom they had power, one cannot help but wonder if after some time has elapsed and they fade from the headlines, they will slowly creep back into positions of prominence. Sometimes, they move quickly into new positions where they still exercise power over people, thanks to the ‘good old boy’ network that protects its own.
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Hindu extremists get mad over a film

Hindu extremists in India are threatening violence if a new Bollywood film Padmavaat is released that they allege depicts a romance between queen Padmaavati and a 14th century Muslim ruler Alauddin Khilji. They have not seen the film and the filmmakers say the film does not show this and have offered an advance screening to allay their fears. But hell hath no fury like an enraged religious extremist and now that they have got worked up, they are not going to calm down easily.
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Apologies without accountability are meaningless

If you have hung around much at all with Christian evangelicals like I have done in the past, you will have noticed that they love redemption stories. The sentiment of “I once was lost and now am found”, as expressed in the hymn Amazing Grace is a surefire winner with that crowd, to the extent that they will even exaggerate the extent of their past sins in order to make their salvation sound even more dramatic. I know because I have heard the testimonies of people I knew well.
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