University of Texas Instantly Shuts Down Anti Israel Protests

a reply to: Degradation33

They're doing fine all things considered.

How ignorant of you! And you'd consider all the protests an asset like your Likud tacticians did with Hamas?

We want our money back!

a reply to: TheWoker

Okay, they are doing better than we did in Iraq. We killed 320 civilians a day. Ar highest estimate, 2 months ago, IDF was at 250. And it's way more dense in Gaza than in Iraq.

Their Shock and Awe was simply less deadly than ours at its most brutal and offensive. And because I didn't show anger towards Iraq civilian deaths, it would be low integrity (and hypocritical) to give Israel crap for a WAY more justified conflict.

I'm immune to being pandered to on this for the most part. Like walking by The Girl Scouts with a pantry full of Somoans and Tagalongs.

But everyone is welcome to their opinions.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: CriticalStinker

I can't think of any time where advocating the death of Jews would be acceptable.

If "protestors" and posters (ahem) want to align with such a movement, then that is on them.

I’ve hear many people in real life and on this site talk about a possible civil war and say they would be happy to see the other side smoked. Both sides. I’ve heard the punch a Nazi from the left when they implied anyone counter protesting them was a Nazi.

None of those people were arrested for wishing harm on their own countrymen.

But I’m supposed to all of a sudden blanket people from many different states because we have a handful of examples of abhorrent views.

So anyone who is expressing an opinion aside from full support of Israel is wishing death, rape, genocide, and doesn’t have the right to express their views because they’re guilty by association.

We can criticize our own country, any other country, but we have laws in certain states about not even being able to boycott Israeli goods if they want to work for the state.

It’s insanity, and again, I personally side with Israel against any other country in that region. But not at the cost for a single right here.

originally posted by: TheWoker
Her own fault? What's the crime, Sherlock?

That teacher was arrested for interfering with the legitimate arrest of the protestor who was breaking the law.
Interfering with the police is a crime ... Sherlock. Everyone knows this ... Sherlock.

Code Library

130.05 OBSTRUCTING, IMPEDING OR INTERFERING WITH POLICE OFFICER.

It shall be unlawful for any person to obstruct, impede or interfere with any police officer in the execution of his or her office or in the performance of his or her official duties.

a reply to: CriticalStinker

That is the sentiment of most immigrants coming from terrorist supporter countries, in Michigan Palestine's wants the dead of America.

Soo this is what is going on in the US, is no a lie and is not "random" they all hate America, their reason to be in America is not a better life, but to start to destroy with their hamas agendas and other terrorist organizations the demise of the mighty US, they think they can bring us down from within and their terrorist butt kissing elected politicians.

originally posted by: CriticalStinker


I’ve hear many people in real life and on this site talk about a possible civil war and say they would be happy to see the other side smoked. Both sides. I’ve heard the punch a Nazi from the left when they implied anyone counter protesting them was a Nazi.

None of those people were arrested for wishing harm on their own countrymen.

But I’m supposed to all of a sudden blanket people from many different states because we have a handful of examples of abhorrent views.

So anyone who is expressing an opinion aside from full support of Israel is wishing death, rape, genocide, and doesn’t have the right to express their views because they’re guilty by association.

We can criticize our own country, any other country, but we have laws in certain states about not even being able to boycott Israeli goods if they want to work for the state.

It’s insanity, and again, I personally side with Israel against any other country in that region. But not at the cost for a single right here.

You sir, in my opinion, have the clearest view on the matter here. Much applause of your understanding the center of the issue. Its not about whether you like or dislike israel, but have the right to express disapproval of any country and its policies. And you even have the right to believe #ty things too, like racism and sexism. Or even that kids should be diddled, like NAMBLA. And its also legal to believe in antisemitism itself, and express those beliefs, regardless of what they are.

Israel somehow getting special privilages and protection from criticism is wrong. And just because some protesters might be behaving illegally or in a threatening manner, most of them werent, and are having their rights stepped on.

Ive seen and heard Americans all over the place talking about violence against other Americans all the time too in a political context. Or strongly veiled hints and imagery about wishing harm and misery on those groups they dont like. And its all protected by the first amendment. And they have the right. And if we have the right to trash or wish harm to other Americans, we also have that right to do the same about other countries. Im not talking about whether it is morally right or wrong, only that it is a right to be that way.

I would definitely prefer Israel over the other crazy muslim countries in the middle east too, but otherwise, I dont really care about them, and personally, if it was up to me, Id forget the whole middle east all together and let them go back to blowing each other up over religion. Im sick of the middle east and the same problems with them that never change, and we wasted too much time and money there, and the whole place is just a mental dumpster fire. The way that they created Israel was dumb and just asking for trouble, and the whole thing is a never ending drain. There are other problems more important.

Edit to add: I really like the racoon in your picture. He looks cool.

a reply to: burritocat

Thanks for the kind words.

I think protests test our rights to free speech. Often times, protesters make it hard to defend the right to speech because they’ll have incredibly abrasive tactics and views. We’ve seen some cross the line and go outside of speech, and people absolute should be arrested and charged for violence or destruction of property.

I’ve never been the type to go out and protest, but for those that do, as long as they stay within the law than more power too them even if I’m strongly against their position.

This issue on where the line goes isn’t a new one either. There were coal strikes back in the 1920’s in West Virginia that had people arrested which eventually escalated into a conflict between the miners and the military. We saw McCarthyism and the Vietnam protests challenge our view on free speech. During the protests of confederate type statues coming down we saw Americans come up with punch a Nazi. Even people who just wanted to preserve history or be careful about white washing deemed racist or Nazi sympathizers. And on Jan 6th, many got in trouble even if they didn’t enter the House, some people who were just protesting.

So both sides of the political spectrum have been targeted, and the list I gave was an incredibly small sample of such. In more intimate experience, I saw a non partisan issue get such treatment when people on my near community were pushing back when eminent domains was expressed on their property for a pipeline. There were stories about them getting arrested on their own property for staying in a treehouse to stop bulldozers. Slivers of their land taken at market valley, not the whole property, no royalties. They had a sliver taken down the middle which would lower their property value and make it harder to sell. Some were farmers with large cattle pastures or people with generational parcels of land. The local and state police sided with an out of town company over the people every time.

It’s easy to say you don’t care if the boot comes down on the people with abhorrent views. But one day, that will happen when not everyone agrees with a cause that you do support, or financial motivation wins out over.

It’s an all or nothing game. Either the free speech outside direct threats or inciting of violence is protected, or the goalposts are constantly fluid.

a reply to: CriticalStinker

You are absolutely right, and Im very glad you brought up January 6th, because thats a good example. Many people who are pro Israel were also in support of the January 6th protests, so its a good comparison to what has been done now. Same thing. Use the bad behavior of some people to justify persecution and arresting everyone at the protest, even if they were there peacefully. It wasnt cool on Jan 6th, so why should it be cool now? And then reverse it. People who oppose Israel and protest Israel usually also think the Jan protestors were idiots, and cool when they all got stomped, but not now?

Everything has become Freedom for me, but not for thee, and I think thats how we will lose Freedom for All. Because one side will stand by while the other side gets beat up and thrown in jail, and will even support it. And then the hammer falls on them, and they end up the same way. Isnt there some sort of saying that goes like: The forest got smaller and smaller, because the axe, being made of part wood, convinced the trees he was one of them. Something like that, but its pretty deep, I think.

That is really crappy what happened to those people near you, but is also a good example of what happens when people dont care, and why the cops arent your friends, ever. I dont believe like some of the antifa loons that all cops are assholes and are just bad people because they are cops, because its not true. But they do work for the government enforcing their laws, including all the bad ones,, and rarely stand up to injustice. And will always side with the rich and powerful. Even if they are in your community and have known you since school.

I protest in other ways, like when I shop, or how I vote, and like everything else, even those choices are under threat. All choice is being threatened, and that should concern everyone.

a reply to: marg6043

What do Michigan Muslims have to do with UT college students?

a reply to: CriticalStinker

it’s the only free and democratic country in the region.

When we talk about Israel being the only democracy in the Middle East, we often forget Lebanon.

A state that is only a state for a part of the population and for another part applies specific laws for exclusion and apartheid, is not a democracy, it is another of the lies that have been etched in stone.

No country or state will be a democracy as long as racism, supremacy and occupation are promoted, that is another thing, even if the media incessantly repeats "the only democratic state in the Middle East."

This is one of the central points for which people are demonstrating in universities in America and around the world. Americans breaking their own constitution is not a good thing. The same people who now ask to arrest freedom of expression will already advocate for the first amendment.

The Middle Eastern sh!thole that is Lebanon

Human Rights Watch - Lebanon

Corrupt and incompetent Lebanese authorities have plunged the country into one of the worst economic crises in modern times. Nearly 80 percent of Lebanon’s population lives under the poverty line, and the government has repeatedly delayed promised reforms and social protection plans. Hospitals are struggling to provide life-saving care amid the economic crisis, and electricity blackouts last up to 22 hours per day. No one has been held accountable for the catastrophic explosion in Beirut’s port on August 4, 2020. Security forces have at times used excessive and lethal force against protesters. Women continue to face systematic discrimination and violence.

Human Rights Watch - Lebanon Stepped Up Repression of Syrians

(Beirut) – Lebanese authorities have arbitrarily detained, tortured, and forcibly returned Syrians to Syria in recent months, including opposition activists and army defectors, Human Rights Watch said today.

Human Rights Watch - In Lebanon, Women Can't Leave the Home Without Husband/Fathers Permission

LGBTQ People Digitally Targeted in Lebanon

Human Rights Watch examined the use of digital targeting by security forces and its far-reaching offline consequences—including arbitrary detention and torture—in five countries: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia. The findings showed that security forces use social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, to entrap and harass LGBT people, as well as to gather and create evidence to prosecute them

Human Rights Watch - Increasing Restrictions on Criticism; Threats to LGBT People, Refugees

Lebanese authorities increasingly violated the rights of peaceful critics, LGBT people, and refugees during 2023, as the country grapples with an acute economic and financial crisis and escalating conflict between the Israeli military and Lebanese and Palestinian armed groups in southern Lebanon, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2024.

Three and a half years after the catastrophic Beirut port explosion, in August 2020, no official has been held accountable, and implicated officials have successfully obstructed the domestic investigation since 2021. While the authorities have repeatedly refused to carry out crucial reforms needed to alleviate the consequences of the economic crisis, they have stepped up harassment of lawyers, activists, journalists, and even comedians in response to public criticisms of the government and public officials. In April and May, the Lebanese army summarily deported thousands of Syrians back to Syria.

Migrants in Lebanon

The legal status of thousands of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon, including workers from Ethiopia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, was regulated by a restrictive and abusive regime of laws, regulations, and customary practices known as the kafala (sponsorship) system.

Recruitment agencies were accused of subjecting workers to abuse, labor violations, and human trafficking and in 2020, they successfully lobbied to block a new standard unified contract adopted by the Ministry of Labor that would have introduced vital safeguards for workers. Lebanon’s top administrative court blocked the implementation of the contract, just a little over a month after its adoption, on the basis that it dealt “severe damage” to the interests of recruitment agencies.

LGBTQ in Lebanon

LGBT people continue to face systemic discrimination in Lebanon. Article 534 of the penal code punishes “any sexual intercourse contrary to the order of nature” with up to one year in prison, despite a series of court rulings between 2007 and 2018 that consensual same-sex relations are not illegal.

In August, Caretaker Minister of Culture Mohammed Mortada and member of parliament Ashraf Rifi introduced separate bills that would explicitly criminalize same-sex relations between consenting adults and punish anyone who “promotes homosexuality” with up to three years in prison.

How Lebanon Treats Syrian Refugees

Lebanese authorities continued to pursue policies and deploy tactics designed to coerce Syrian refugees to return to Syria.

Between April and May 2023, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) arbitrarily arrested and summarily deported thousands of Syrians, including unaccompanied children, to Syria, and it intensified raids on houses of refugees in neighborhoods across the country, including Mount Lebanon, Jounieh, Qob Elias, and Bourj Hammoud. Many of those forcibly returned were registered or known to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

According to the UN, there were nearly 520,000 Palestinian refugees, including over 31,000 from Syria, living in Lebanon, where they continued to face restrictions, including on their right to work and own property.

Human Rights Practices - Lebanon

Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: unlawful or arbitrary killing; torture; arbitrary arrests and detentions; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; serious restrictions on freedom of expression, including violence, threats of violence or unjustified arrests or prosecutions against journalists, censorship, and enforcement of or threat to enforce criminal libel laws to limit expression; serious restrictions on internet freedom; threats of refoulement of refugees to a country where they could face torture or persecution; serious high-level and widespread official corruption; crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex persons; existence and enforcement of laws criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults; and existence of the worst forms of child labor.

The country suffered from endemic corruption. Although the law provides for prosecution and punishment of officials who committed human rights abuses or engaged in corruption, enforcement remained a significant problem, with perpetrators benefiting from widespread impunity for human rights abuses, including evading or interfering in judicial processes.

Nonstate armed groups, including Hizballah and Palestinian militias, operated with relative impunity, using intimidation, harassment, and occasionally violence against perceived critics and opponents. Armed members of these forces controlled access to certain neighborhoods, camps, and other areas where they effectively operated outside the reach and authority of the government.

originally posted by: HopeForTheFuture
When we talk about Israel being the only democracy in the Middle East, we often forget Lebanon.

Because it's not really a Democracy as far as how the West sees Democracy.

Lebanon is NOT a democracy as most people think of ...

Politics of Lebanon

Lebanon is a parliamentary democratic republic within the overall framework of confessionalism, a form of consociationalism in which the highest offices are proportionately reserved for representatives from certain religious communities.

According to the constitution, direct elections must be held for the parliament every four years, however after the parliamentary election in 2009 another election was not held until 2018. The Parliament, in turn, elects a president every six years to a single term. The president is not eligible for re-election. The last presidential election was in 2016. The president and parliament choose the prime minister.

The Economist Intelligence Unit classified Lebanon's political system as authoritarian in 2023.

And what is 'authoritarianism'?? Here ya' go ..

Authoritarianism

Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of democracy, civil liberties, and political plurality.[1] It involves the use of strong central power to preserve the political status quo, and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic voting.[2][3] Political scientists have created many typologies describing variations of authoritarian forms of government.[3] Authoritarian regimes may be either autocratic or oligarchic and may be based upon the rule of a party or the military.[4][5] States that have a blurred boundary between democracy and authoritarianism have some times been characterized as "hybrid democracies", "hybrid regimes" or "competitive authoritarian" states.

originally posted by: FlyersFan
THIS is how it should be done!

Reported online and on TV. Anti-Israel agitators, calling themselves a student protest, tried to do an 'occupy University of Texas' style protest just like as is going on with Columbia University. They wanted to take over the campus just the same as Columbia, and they were infiltrated by nonstudents and by organizers that were connected with other protests. The agitators would have made the campus an unsafe place for everyone, especially for Jewish students and faculty who would have been subjected to the usual calls to be genocided and threats against their lives, etc. The University of Texas would have no part of this nonsense. They immediately told the students that the 'protests' were against school rules and that anyone engaging in them would be arrested and suspended. The students held their protest anyways, and the school IMMEDIATELY called in massive law enforcement to shut it down and disperse the crowds. Well done University of Texas. That is how it should be done.

Threats of murder and rape and genocide are not protected free speech. No one has a right to tell Jewish students they should 'go back to Poland' to be genocided. No one has a right to get in a Jews face and scream 'we are Hamas. we know where you live'. That's terrorism. University of Texas took care of business ... real free speech is protected while terrorism and anarchy is not.

University of Texas Instantly Shuts Down Anti Israel Protests

University of Texas at Austin President Jay Hartzell released a statement Wednesday evening that unequivocally defended his decision to shut down an anti-Israel protest on campus, where more than 30 people were arrested.

"Today, our University held firm, enforcing our rules while protecting the Constitutional right to free speech. Peaceful protests within our rules are acceptable. Breaking our rules and policies and disrupting others’ ability to learn are not allowed. The group that led this protest stated it was going to violate Institutional Rules. Our rules matter, and they will be enforced. Our University will not be occupied," the president added.

"The protesters tried to deliver on their stated intent to occupy campus," President Hartzell continued. "People not affiliated with UT joined them, and many ignored University officials’ continual pleas for restraint and to immediately disperse. The University did as we said we would do in the face of prohibited actions. We were prepared, with the necessary support to maintain campus operations and ensure the safety, well-being and learning environment for our more than 50,000 students.

Do you seriously believe people are stupid enough to believe any of this? Its all on camera, documented. There was no antisemitism or violent behavior at that protest. You say all of those things as if we are too lazy to look into the actual footage. Abbot illegally broke up a peaceful protest, going as far as arresting a journalist just for doing their jobs.

If zionists have to lie to sell their narrative, going as far as going after journalists (what are you so scared of people seeing?), you are not the protagonist of this story.

a reply to: FlyersFan

a reply to: FlyersFan

The Middle Eastern sh!thole that is Lebanon

Lebanon has been left in # for things like this:

IDF Commander: We Fired More Than a Million Cluster Bombs in Lebanon

"What we did was insane and monstrous, we covered entire towns in cluster bombs," the head of an IDF rocket unit in Lebanon said regarding the use of cluster bombs and phosphorous shells during the war.
Source

This is from your text:

Lebanon is a parliamentary democratic republic within the overall framework of confessionalism, a form of consociationalism in which the highest offices are proportionately reserved for representatives from certain religious communities.
Source

Shall we talk about this?

Israel has lost its ranking as a liberal democracy in a leading index for evaluating democracies.

The annual V-dem index report, which examines the democratic nature of regimes in the world, notes that Israel has entered the category of electoral democracy, due , among other things, to "the government's attacks on the judicial system along with Israel". , this category also includes Poland and Brazil.
Israeli Source

originally posted by: oldhead1967
There was no antisemitism or violent behavior at that protest..

Because it got shut down before it could start. The useful idiot protestors said they were going to do exactly what Columbia did, and those things happened at Columbia. The school forbid the antisemitic protests, yet the protestors came on campus illegally anyways. So they got arrested for trespassing ... as they should have.

originally posted by: HopeForTheFuture
This is from your text:

Yeah .. and that's not a straight up 'democracy' looks like. You whined that no one talks about people saying that Lebanon is a democracy ... because it's not a straight out democracy. Educate yourself. I gave the information. READ IT.

Lebanon has been left in # for things like this:

Wrong, as usual. Lebanon instigating problems with Israel, and Israel responding isn't the cause of Lebanons problems. Israel didn't cause Lebanons corruption, nor it's discrimination against Syrians, nor it's discrimination against LGBTQ, nor it's draconian laws, nor it's laws making it so that a woman can't leave her home without her husband/fathers approval, nor it's violence and discrimination against protestors, nor it's harassment of lawyers and journalists, nor the fact that 80% of the country lives in poverty while the corrupt flourish, nor any of the other problems I listed that make it a sh!thole. You fail, as usual.

Shall we talk about this?

Your one source claims it's a democracy. "electoral democracy".
What is an Electoral Democracy
Other sources claim otherwise.

Israeli System of Government

The Israeli system of government is based on parliamentary democracy.[1] The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of government and leader of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government (also known as the cabinet). Legislative power is vested in the Knesset. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

But whatever ... this is just you pissing and moaning and whining whataboutisraelisms ... Pffft. YOU brought up Lebanon and claimed it was a straight up democracy. I showed it's not.

4/29/2024 TRUTH from someone who has been briefed on this matter...

Israel will find, very sadly, that there are far fewer hostages than currently being thought.

That’s why it’s hard for Hamas to make a deal - They are no longer able to produce the people, because many of them are gone.

Hamas is incapable of holding Jewish people for a long period of time without killing them, and it will only get worse!

ZERO leadership from Biden. October 7th WOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED IF I WERE PRESIDENT - NOT EVEN A SMALL CHANCE!!! DJT

Source: truthsocial.com...@realDonaldTrump/112354360207601837

a reply to: FlyersFan

I said this:

When we talk about Israel being the only democracy in the Middle East, we often forget Lebanon.

The dialectical adventures and manipulation is what you put in:

and that's not a straight up 'democracy' looks like.

because it's not a straight out democracy.

YOU brought up Lebanon and claimed it was a straight up democracy.

You fail, as usual.

Your one source claims it's a democracy. "electoral democracy".

The article is based on the V-dem index report which points out how Israeli "democracy" is degraded due to the government's attacks on the judicial system along with Israel.

You fail as always fan of flyers.

Nevermind.
I'm not getting sucked off topic.

a reply to: WeMustCare

Yeah ... I started a thread on that.
USA and Israel both believe most of the hostages are dead.
Considering how Hamas operates ... mass murder, mass rape, starvation, torture,
it's not a surprise at all.

ATS Thread - US and Israel Reportedly Conclude Most of the Hostages Are Dead