Princeton, New Jersey
5 months ago, 15 of us were arrested for protesting the University’s complicity in the ongoing genocide against the people of Gaza. 2 of us—both graduate students—were arrested on the 25th of April minutes after the launch of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment. 13 of us—Princeton students, researchers, and affiliates—were arrested on the 29th of April for participating in a peaceful protest in a University administrative building. At the time of our arrests, the university barred us from campus and evicted us from university housing, all without formal disciplinary charges. Weeks later, the university conducted a “disciplinary investigation” and sanctioned us with four years of disciplinary probation. One of us, postdoctoral researcher Sam Nastaste, remains barred from campus. These measures are far harsher than Princeton’s response to previous campus protests.
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Category Archives: Palestine
Gaza Medical Evacuation Initiative
Fajr Scientific, a Texas-based volunteer medical group specializing in surgical procedures, is organizing a series of medical evacuations for Gazan children with complex war injuries. The plan is to evacuate these children from Gaza to the United States and place them in U.S. hospitals “willing to provide essential treatment and support.” I don’t know how many hospital executives read this blog, but if you know any, or know anyone who does, please send this post along to anyone willing to have their hospital participate. Continue reading
Defiance and Compliance in Princeton (2)
Back on September 3, I posted a letter here that I’d sent to Town Topics, a local paper in my hometown of Princeton, New Jersey, asking why the paper hadn’t covered the legal proceedings against the activists who’d been arrested this past April at a Gaza Solidarity event at Princeton University. A staff writer from the paper responded, promising coverage in the future. In the three weeks since then, three issues of Town Topics have come out–September 4th, 11th, and 18th. How well has it delivered? Continue reading
Save Your Outrage
About a month ago, a woman having a mental health episode was shot dead by the police in the city of Fort Lee, New Jersey. About a week ago, schools in South Jersey were closed after shooting threats there. Before that, a shooting at a New Jersey football game caused a stir. Then a dirt bike theft and shooting incident in Dennis, New Jersey caused school cancellations. Two days ago, a burglary suspect was non-fatally shot by the police in Rumson, New Jersey. Around the same time, perhaps for comic relief, a New Jersey police officer shot himself in the leg during a drill at a shooting range in Passaic County. Back on August 9, a Jersey City activist was shot in the leg by the Israel Defense Forces in Beita, in the West Bank. To cap it off, almost exactly a month later, another American activist was shot dead by the same Israel Defense Forces in the same place. She was buried yesterday. Continue reading
Defiance and Compliance in Princeton (1)
Here’s the text of a letter I sent yesterday to Town Topics, the local paper here in Princeton. The Daily Princetonian is the campus newspaper of Princeton University. Town Topics comes out every Wednesday, so I don’t know whether the letter will be printed or not. Continue reading
No Rest Until Divest
Rally at McCosh Courtyard: Tuesday, September 3, 5 pm, Princeton University
The “disruptions” will continue as long as the complicity does. If you want quiet, try cleaning house.
Machiavelli and the Weather Underground
Anyone in the vicinity of Niagara, New York this October is hereby invited to the 2024 Conference of the Peace and Justice Studies Association, where, if you manage to brave the somewhat aggressive registration fee, you’ll be able to take in a bit of Machiavelli and the Weather Underground, among other interesting things. The conference runs October 24-27, at Niagara University near Buffalo. Continue reading
License to Kill: Israel in Tuk’u
I’m writing this at 10-11 pm Eastern time on Monday, August 12th. I’ve just received word from a friend in the West Bank village of Tuk’u (Arab Teqoa) to the effect that the Israeli military has entered the village in force, distributing leaflets that order the expulsion of the village’s population, and threatening to kill those who remain. Direct quote commenting on a video that he sent me: “It’s 4 in the morning, the soldier is spreading papers that says [sic]: [if] you leave your house, you live, if you stay you die.” (To be precise, it was 4:30 am his time when he wrote that.) The video is available as a pinned post on my Facebook feed. Unfortunately, I couldn’t directly upload it here. Continue reading
Stand Up and Shout
The New York Times, making its journalistic contribution to the national circle jerk over Kamala Harris:
When protesters first interrupted Vice President Kamala Harris at a rally in Detroit on Wednesday evening, she smiled, with a gentle corrective. “I am speaking now.”
But as the disruption continued, her patience ran thin. “You know what?” Ms. Harris said, with the sudden force and resolve of a parent in the driver’s seat who has had it. “If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.”
As the crowd roared, Ms. Harris stayed silent, jaw set, eyes fixed.
We’ve listened to these people in respectful silence for long enough. We no longer owe criminals like Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, or JD Vance any duty of civility, respect, or obeisance. We owe ourselves the self-respect that comes from active resistance to the evil they represent. Continue reading
“Nobody Gives a Shit Why You Vote…”
Oh yeah? Back in August, I wrote a post responding to the Republican presidential candidates’ debate, suggesting that the Republicans’ views were insane but not much worse than the Democrats’, so that the best bet was to vote third party. That was before October 7 and before Gaza, when my main objection was the Democrats’ involvement in Ukraine. Since then, I’ve only gotten more adamant about it: I had no intention of voting for either Biden or Trump then, and have even less of one now. Continue reading
Policy of Truth 