F**king Mondays: Killing Jews For Progress, Gaza Ceasefire Hope, And Elon Musk's Great Replacement Fail
The woke left is racist, antisemitic, and beyond redemption.
Welcome to another edition of “F**king Mondays"! In the round up today:
The woke left is racist, antisemitic, and beyond redemption
A leader of the pro-Palestinian Columbia University protests has been expelled after a video surfaced of him declaring that “Zionists don’t deserve to live.” Reported The New York Times:
The student, Khymani James, made the comments during and after a disciplinary hearing with Columbia administrators that he recorded and then posted on Instagram.
The hearing, conducted by an administrator of the university’s Center for Student Success and Intervention, was focused on an earlier comment he shared on social media, in which he discussed fighting a Zionist. “I don’t fight to injure or for there to be a winner or a loser, I fight to kill,” he wrote.
A Columbia administrator asked, “Do you see why that is problematic in any way?”
Mr. James replied, “No.”
He also compared Zionists to white supremacists and Nazis. “These are all the same people,” he said. “The existence of them and the projects they have built, i.e. Israel, it’s all antithetical to peace. It’s all antithetical to peace. And so, yes, I feel very comfortable, very comfortable, calling for those people to die.”
And, Mr. James said, “Be grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists.”
James, who is gay, announced his pronouns during the hearing as “he, she, they,” called the meeting with administrators “dumb” and declared he hoped they kicked him out because he has been meaning to “travel to South America”. In a previous public statement, James said that the language he was using about the protests was “very intentional” and that it was rooted in “de-colonial thinking.” James has also openly admitted that he “hates white people,” and that it isn’t possible to be racist towards them because they control the “power structures” in society.
While James does not represent the majority of the pro Palestinian protestors at Columbia, it is worth noting that he was an appointed leader spokesperson for the movement. He is also the poster child for everything wrong with it — a fact many on the far left do not want to address.
It is of course impossible to be a Zionist and a Nazi/white supremacist, and the people James believes are anti-colonial resistance fighters would torture him or throw him off a building. But these are all irrelevant details in the far left’s never ending quest to fight white/Jewish colonialists oppressing black and brown people all over the world.
One thing that also struck me about James wasn’t necessarily the extreme positions he took, but how deeply unoriginal he is. James regurgitates woke left ideology in the way extreme religious zealots do. There is no thought, no attempts at nuance, and no more than a surface level understanding of the topics he speaks about. Columbia University is ranked #12 by US News, and if this is the kind of student they are churning out, the US education system has a very, very serious problem.
Radical identity politics is now less of a political movement and more of a fundamentalist religion. It has its own tortured language (“structural racism”, “gender nonconforming”, “cisheteropatriarchy”, “homonormativity”, “minoritized” etc, etc), appointed apostles, and a theology that cannot be questioned. People like James are not so much radical political activists then, but more narcissistic cult leaders sabotaging activist causes for personal gain.
The conflict in Gaza is tragic beyond belief, and the need for a political solution is desperate. Protests against Israel are not without merit, but agitators like James are doing immense damage to them. Sadly, the pro Palestinian movement is becoming less about the Palestinians, and more about the spoiled militants demanding all the attention.
A breakthrough in ceasefire talks?
Israel’s has apparently dramatically softened its stance on a ceasefire deal with Hamas as they prepare for a ground operation in Rafah. Reports the Guardian:
Israel is reportedly willing to accept the release of just 33 hostages in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails, and a second phase of a truce that includes a “period of sustained calm” – a new response to Hamas’s repeated demand for a permanent ceasefire.
It is also reportedly open to discussing the return of Palestinians to their homes in the northern half of the strip, and the withdrawal of troops from the military corridor that now divides the territory.
Hamas has also softened its stance on wanting to kill every Jew in the Middle East by declaring it is now in favor of a two state solution. Reported the AP:
A top Hamas political official told The Associated Press the Islamic militant group is willing to agree to a truce of five years or more with Israel and that it would lay down its weapons and convert into a political party if an independent Palestinian state is established along pre-1967 borders.
The comments by Khalil al-Hayya in an interview Wednesday came amid a stalemate in months of talks for a cease-fire in Gaza. The suggestion that Hamas would disarm appeared to be a significant concession by the militant group officially committed to Israel’s destruction.
It is hard to know how serious either side is about any of the above, but the change in language seems significant. If Israel invades Rafah, the humanitarian cost will be so extreme Israel risks losing even US support. It would be enormously damaging for Israel in the long term too, but Netanyahu has his own motives centered more on his own survival than anything else, so still a distinct possibility. My guess is that both sides understand how bad this could be so are moving tentatively towards at least a temporary cessation in the violence. It’s too early to get excited, but there is reason for hope.
Elon Musk's great replacement theory fail
Elon “falls for every right wing conspiracy ever conceived” Musk has a minor quibble with the “Great Replacement Theory”. I’ll let Caroline Bueno’s clap back speak for itself:
Ukraine needs more help
Money and weapons are apparently on the way after Congress finally voted to send aid to Ukraine, but it is getting very, very difficult for the Ukrainians to defend their territory. Via CNN:
Vladimir Putin’s forces have made further gains in at least three locations along the eastern front in Ukraine – including for the first time in several months an advance in the northern Kharkiv region – highlighting again Kyiv’s need for ammunition and weapons from the United States and other allies.
Russia’s tactical advances are now daily and reflect the new tempo on the battlefield since the fall of the industrial town of Avdiivka in February.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in Kyiv recently that more announcements from NATO countries are coming, and that it is not too late to turn the situation around.
With far right political movements surging in Europe and the US, pro Ukraine leaders face a very tricky predicament balancing support for Ukraine with their domestic troubles. Thankfully, it does seem there is a renewed sense of urgency and new, innovative alliances are being forged to provide Ukraine with the means to repel Putin’s troops. The Ukrainians have the will to fight, but without the means, it is now clear Russia can win their war by attrition. This is of course what Putin is banking on, so the current infusion of cash and weapons can help turn the tide and give Ukraine a fighting chance.
See you next week!
Please consider supporting The Banter by getting a Banter Membership. You’ll get access to Members Only articles, our locked archive, The Emergency Meeting Podcast, and Member chat threads. You’ll also be supporting truly independent media. Thank you!
Listen to the latest episode of The Banter Roundtable Podcast:
An Open Letter to That Guy:
Hey Dipshit,
This isn't helping. Please shut up and go away.
Sincerely,
An actual Arab
My sister sent me a reel of what I guess was a pro-Palestinian protestor. I say guess because she couldn’t even tell a reporter why she was there or what the protest was about. 🤷🏼♀️