Tag Archives: princeton

Kiosks and Cowardice

Posted on by under activism, anarchism, cancel culture, Fatwas, moralism, Neutrality and Complicity

I wrote this in May, but forgot to post it. I happened to notice it today while cleaning out old files. It seems a fitting start to the academic year.

In Princeton, where I live, there are two kiosks on Nassau Street, the main drag, on which people put up up flyers of various sorts, sometimes announcements of cultural events, sometimes flyers of a more political nature. Most but not all of the political flyers tend to the left of the political spectrum, and some of these target either the municipality or the University. The kiosks are deeply resented by elites at both institutions, who regard them, with predictable hauteur, as “eyesores.” Despite determined public opposition, the local town council has voted to demolish the kiosks and replace them with something that it can (in the words of one proponent) “control.”

They’re still there for now. The stated rule governing them is that flyers are taken down on the first of every month. Today is the 22nd of May. And yet, as I walked through town this morning and then this evening, I found all of the flyers systematically taken down on both kiosks. Continue reading →

The Immigrant Trust Tour: Montgomery

Posted on by under activism, migrant defense

Notes on Migrant Justice

As readers of this blog know, I’ve been involved in Resistencia en Acción’s campaign for a municipal level resolution, in Princeton, in favor of the Immigrant Trust Act. The ultimate aim of the campaign for municipal-level ITA resolutions is, of course, passage of the Act itself. The idea is to exert pressure on the state legislature through the municipal councils on the premise that the council resolutions provide a multiplier effect for public opinion.

The precedent here is the state law now in effect prohibiting the use of single-use plastic bags in retail sales, which passed through a decade-long campaign of citizen advocacy via the passage of local ordinances and resolutions. Whatever you think about that particular law–some love it, some hate it–it provides proof of concept for the strategy behind the campaign for the ITA municipal resolutions.* Continue reading →

Resistance in Action (5)

Posted on by under activism, anarchism, migrant defense

A Response to John Heilner

Toward the end of the August 11 Princeton Council meeting at which Princeton’s ITA Resolution was adopted, John Heilner, a Princeton resident, offered a comment that has now been transcribed in the August 13 issue of TapInto Princeton and in the August 13 issue of Town Topics (updated on August 18). Though Mr Heilner’s comment has not to my knowledge elicited very much public comment, I think it demands comment. To put the matter bluntly, I regard his comment as both incoherent and irresponsible, and am amazed that a Council that has spent the better part of the last six months lecturing us about matters of facticity and tone has received it with such apparent equanimity. Continue reading →

Resistance in Action (4)

Posted on by under activism, anarchism, migrant defense

More Botched Reporting from Town Topics 

In an earlier post here, I took issue with Town Topics’s defective reporting on the ITA municipal resolution campaign in Princeton. In quoting exclusively from members of the Princeton Council in its reporting on the July 28 Council meeting, I argued, the paper functioned essentially as a PR mouthpiece for the Council rather than as an expression of bona fide journalism. I sent a shorter version of that post as a letter to the editor of Town Topics, but it wasn’t printed. The paper’s most recent reporting on the August 11 meeting makes an attempt of sorts to remedy the problem, but still falls woefully short.  Continue reading →

Resistance in Action (3)

Posted on by under activism, anarchism, migrant defense

Second Statement to the Princeton Council on the ITA Resolution

This is my second statement to the Princeton Municipal Council on the issue of the ITA Resolution (August 11). For my first one (July 28), go here. For recent news coverage of the adoption of the resolution, go here and here. I’m in the middle of writing up a more comprehensive account of the press coverage of the campaign for the Princeton ITA resolution, and will post it when I can. 

Hi, my name is Irfan Khawaja. I live in Princeton.

I wanted to thank you for the wording of this resolution. I’ve read them all, and the resolution you’ve adopted is probably the best of the bunch.   Continue reading →

Resistance in Action (2)

Posted on by under activism, character based voting, migrant defense

The Princeton ITA Resolution Passes

Part 1 of this series. 

Well, readers, it passed: the “Princeton Resolution of the Mayor and Council of Princeton Supporting the Passage of the Immigrant Trust Act” passed unanimously tonight, 5-0, with two absences. Having read the texts of several of the ITA municipal resolutions out there, I would say that Princeton’s is probably the best of the bunch: the strongest, clearest, and most explicit about its political aims. Continue reading →

Resistance in Action (1)

Posted on by under activism, anarchism, migrant defense

The Princeton Immigrant Trust Resolution

For the last two months, activists with Resistencia en Acción (including myself) have urged Princeton’s Mayor and Council to pass a municipal resolution in favor of the Immigrant Trust Act (ITA), a piece of pro-migrant legislation introduced last September in the New Jersey state legislature but currently stalled there. About a dozen New Jersey municipalities have adopted municipal resolutions urging passage of the ITA, and efforts are under way to persuade other municipalities to pass it as well. Continue reading →

‘Town Topics’: PR as Journalism

Posted on by under activism, migrant defense

I read with interest but also dismay Town Topics’ coverage of the public comments portion of the July 28 meeting of the Princeton Town Council. The article begins with a brief overview of the issues covered. It goes on to quote Mayor Mark Freda, then quotes Council President Mia Sacks. A long excerpt then follows of the Council’s July 28 statement regarding a recent set of ICE detentions in town. Continue reading →

Chris Hedges: Statement to Princeton Town Council

Posted on by under activism, migrant defense

By Chris Hedges, transcribed by Irfan Khawaja, posted with Hedges’ permission
Thank you Mr Mayor and Council members, for allowing us to speak. I know it’s probably been a bit uncomfortable, but listen: everybody in this room is alive, vital, committed, impassioned, honest, and courageous. It’s what makes Princeton a great community, and before I begin, I just want to say how much I admire the integrity and the courage and the commitment of my neighbors to stand up for their neighbors which, as a former seminarian, is of course the fundamental Biblical injunction: we are enjoined to love our neighbor, not our tribe. Continue reading →

Divestment and Complicity

Posted on by under activism, cancel culture, moralism, Notes on the Anti-War Movement, Palestine

I’ve reproduced a comment of mine below the fold from the website of Princeton Alumni Weekly, responding to critics of the student divestment campaign described in my previous post. One critic had said: “I fail to see why students on campus should vote on how the University invests its funds.” Another had said: “Students shouldn’t be ‘running’ the University any more than alumnae/alumni should. Leave investing to the experts hired by the University to manage the endowment funds.” Continue reading →