New signs and an anti-Zionist letter
The successor to my Congresswoman, Jan Schakowsky, must not be a Zionist
Here is the sign I was displaying today. This replaced a sign about the Israel/Iran war that seems to have come to a probably temporary halt as Netanyahu is not satisfied.
I was very happy to have another parker, my name for people who see me, park their cars and walk up to talk. This person turned out to have a house one block from the house I used to own and knew people in the old neighborhood that I know. Not only that but, being an atheist as I am, how could we not bond for 20 minutes while several approving horn honks and a few screaming Zionists provided a background.
I always ask if a person has seen the movie Israelism and read the book Our American Israel, two items every American should see/read. In this case it was yes and no. We both expressed joy at the outcome of the NYC Democratic Party primary in which Mandani won though he had to endure the expected accusations of antisemitism, the desperate effort of Zionists to stop anyone who doesn’t praise Israel from winning in US politics. That Mandani won handily gave rise to tomorrow’s sign…which has a little goof on the final word placement.
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I have just written a letter to the editor of the Evanston Roundtable insisting that the replacement for our current Congresswoman, Jan Schakowsky, must not be a Zionist as she is. In case they do not publish the letter, here it is…
Whoever succeeds Jan Schakowsky as our 9th District Representative should not be a Zionist. Jan has spent many years doing good things for we the people but her support of Israel over the years, protecting that country from all consequences military or diplomatic and allowing it to flout international law has created the entitled, arrogant and belligerent state that represents the antithesis of what the US once stood for, liberty and justice for all, dragging the US down with it to supply and protect genocide.
No American politician should support ethnic supremacy anywhere on the globe. To be a Zionist and say one is for liberty and justice for all is hypocrisy as the two philosophies are antithetical. I have written Mayor Biss twice asking him to tell me if he is for ethnic supremacy (Zionism) or liberty and justice for all (both emails available for anyone to see). He remains silent. I have also written the (last) city council members with the same question and they, too, did not respond (email available for anyone to see).
There is tremendous fear of saying anything against Zionism for the fierce response any politician can expect. I have myself received a death threat for being openly anti-Zionist. Anti-Zionism is not anti-semitism. Jewish Americans are as welcome to hold political office as any other Americans, but Zionism is a refutation of the very founding principle of the United States and has no place in American politics at any level.
There is no such thing as being progressive except for Palestine. Ignoring this has brought America to the lowest point in its history. Breaking the tight grip of Zionism, from the local level all the way up to the presidency must be a top priority for we the people. We have forgotten what America should be all about. The change will not come from the top, Joe Biden the proof of that. All candidates for the 9th District seat must be asked where they stand on this fundamental issue.
just so, clif! all of chris hedges' publications are must-read contributions to our broader, deeper understanding of the political, religious, military, fascist, and societal zeitgeists that have evolved [devolved?] since WWII.
Hello kindred followers of Clif being on the front lines, there’s some each of us can do on another front… I just received a legislative alert from Congress.gov notifying me that H.R. 1007, the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2025, has one new cosponsor – aka, sellout – bringing the total to 79. The bill’s sponsor is Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), whose top contributor for the 2023-24 period was AIPAC, to the tune of $392,669.
The AIPAC-pushed bill seeks to use “the definition of antisemitism set forth by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance for the enforcement of Federal anti-discrimination laws concerning education programs or activities, and for other purposes.” In other words, to give some half-a**ed legal excuse to pick up more Mahmoud Khalils and others who so much as pass gas within a quarter-mile of the word “Israel” being uttered.
Legal experts, knowledgeable academicians, and Holocaust scholars alike have denounced the IHRA definition of antisemitism as vague to the point of being unusable; deceptively conflates anti-Zionism and criticism of Israel, both political matters, with antisemitism directed at the religion of Judaism; and stifles freedom of speech and academic freedom of inquiry and discussion. Even the main drafter of the definition, Kenneth Stern, objects “to its use as disciplinary tool by governments or public bodies” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9092927/.
Of course none of this matters to AIPAC, nor is it likely to stand up against AIPAC dollars, arm- twisting, intimidation, and overall ruthlessness to get this passed, although there is some hope of putting an end to this nonsense by writing your representative in Congress.