The PLO and Fatah both recognise the state of Israel and its right to exist, have given up armed struggle, and signed the Oslo Accords with Israel, accepting a peaceful political pathway to a two state solution.

I don’t think burying this and pretending it didn’t happen is helpful when Jews around the world are telling us right now that they are terrified and under attack

Why does Russia think anyone cares what it says at this point? Until the war ends, nobody is required to do anything for Russia.

Nothing but respect for my country deciding to impose economic sanctions on itself 🫡

Classic Mastodon moment

11

The Supreme Court on Thursday set new limits on affirmative action programs in cases involving whether public and private colleges and universities can continue to use race as one factor among many in student admissions.

The court held, in a 6-3 opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, that Harvard and UNC’s admissions programs violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.

The blockbuster cases put affirmative action, which has been used for decades by colleges and universities to address inequality and diversify their campuses, in the spotlight. The Supreme Court had repeatedly ruled since 1978 schools may consider the race of applicants in pursuing educational benefits from a diverse student body, so long as they did not use a quota system.

I think we’re all capable of recognising the important differences between burning a flag representing a particular state, or some aspect of its government or policies, and burning a Torah in front of a Synagogue, as happened frequently in Nazi Germany, or in this case burning a Qur’an in front of a Mosque.

It’s a hateful act designed to encourage hatred with the intention of turning that hatred into acts.

The person burning the Torah in front of a Synagogue is not saying “I disagree with the Torah’s rulings on x”, they’re saying "those who follow this religion are disgusting and we should do something about it."

The person who burns a LGBT pride flag is not saying “I think this movement oversteps the legitimate reach of the state”, they’re saying "those who are part of this group are disgusting and we should do something about it."

Same with the Qur’an.

It needlessly inflames tensions, encourages hatred and horrible acts towards Muslims, and both makes Muslims feel unsafe and directly contributes to making them unsafe. It’s not the sort of thing a decent, civilized society should tolerate.

Even when it both makes Jewish people unsafe and encourages an atmosphere of racism, which only ever results in one thing?

An indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court charges the China-based chemical company Hubei Amarvel Biotech Co. as well as three company executives with fentanyl trafficking, precursor chemical importation and money laundering.

Prosecutors said Amarvel Biotech used deceptive practices to evade authorities, such as advertising that it could disguise its products as dog food, nuts or motor oil to ensure “safe” delivery to the United States and Mexico.

Interesting. The US is not taking them to court for simply ‘making fentanyl’, which obviously isn’t a crime, but with specific trafficking charges and even money laundering.

In a statement, Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy, charged U.S. prosecutors with imposing a “long-arm jurisdiction," adding that the move could harm counter-narcotics operations between the two countries.

“The incident was a well-planned entrapment operation by the US side, which seriously infringed upon the legitimate rights of relevant enterprises and individuals,” the spokesperson said. “China strongly condemns it.”

Weird line to take. There’s nothing wrong with China legitimately producing pharmaceuticals which are in demand in other countries, but there is a lot wrong with money laundering and drug trafficking. It’s no use saying, ‘it’s not fair for you to catch us in the act!’