XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.misc, alt.politics.republicans   
   XPost: alt.politics, soc.culture.israel   
   From: d@ray   
      
   Albany, New York – In a state where voicing your political opinion could   
   result in your arrest, a draconian new set of laws proposed by Senate   
   Republicans could make things even worse.   
      
   Just last week, Republicans quietly introduced a series of laws aimed at   
   cracking down on so-called “antisemitism” in the Empire State, following a   
   wave of backlash from the widely unpopular Israeli war on Gaza. The   
   legislation would make it a misdemeanor to tear down pro-Israel posters and   
   flyers, as well as prohibit the removal of pro-Jewish materials from public   
   property.   
      
   Republican Minority leader, Senator Robert Ortt, said the laws were   
   proposed to safeguard “religious groups” in the state, and emphasized the   
   presence Jews have in New York.   
      
   “New York is home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, and   
   it is incumbent upon us to take action to ensure nobody is ever made to   
   feel unsafe because of their religion,” said Ortt.   
      
   Some of the protected Jewish material would include the now-infamous   
   “Kidnapped” posters, which feature the names and faces of Israeli Jews   
   alleged to have been kidnapped by Hamas Freedom fighters on October 7th.   
      
   The proposed laws would also serve to redefine antisemitism under the   
   state’s current Human Rights Law, making it easier to prosecute instances   
   of incitement of violence or vandalism as an antisemitic hate crime. The   
   laws would appear to affect college students the most, a demographic most   
   engaged with anti-Zionist activism in the wake of October 7th.   
      
   Specifically, the laws would,   
      
   - Block tuition assistance for those found expressing “anti-Jewish   
   harassment.”   
      
   - Mandate antisemitism awareness and prevention training in City and State   
   colleges, under threat of losing state funding.   
      
   - Add so-called “Nazi symbols” to a list of images that would constitute a   
   crime of harassing conduct.   
      
   In New York, hate crime laws are already exceptionally harsh. As it stands,   
   displaying certain symbols in public could earn you a felony aggravated   
   harassment charge, punishable by up to five years in prison. In 2022, a   
   pro-White activist was arrested, harassed, and red-flagged under New York’s   
   unconstitutional firearm confiscation laws for a swastika sticker found in   
   public places at Albany University. The law allows for police to   
   arbitrarily deem individuals mentally unfit for possessing firearms,   
   without consulting a doctor or health professional beforehand.   
      
   The NY GOP was said to have formed a “working group” to address   
   antisemitism in March of 2023, months before October 7th. During a press   
   conference in Albany, Ortt called on Democrats across the aisle to support   
   the measures, including Jewish US Senator and Democratic Majority Leader   
   Chuck Schumer, a staunch defender of Israel.   
      
   Schumer, like Ortt, believes a wave of so-called “antisemitism” in the   
   United States is inexorably linked to Israel’s ongoing genocide of Gaza,   
   which has so far resulted in the deaths of at least 32,000 Palestinians   
   since hostilities began. While the new GOP laws have yet to be approved,   
   the chances of them being rejected appear slim, as high-powered Democrats   
   like Schumer have previously called for tougher hate crime laws to keep   
   Jews comfortable.   
      
   “Jewish Americans feel alone to face all of this — abandoned by too many of   
   our friends and allies in our greatest time of need, as antisemitic hate   
   crimes skyrocket across the country,” bemoaned Schumer late last year.   
      
   Powerful Jewish organizations and their leaders have been hard at work   
   since October 7th to stamp out a rising tide of “antisemitism” amid   
   Israel’s ongoing genocide of Gaza. Many, including Anti-Defamation League   
   CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, have raised concerns over Generation Z, blaming   
   social media apps like TikTok for the spread of anti-Zionism.   
      
   While a bipartisan measure is currently underway to force the sale of   
   TikTok to a group of Western investors where it can be more furiously   
   censored, other measures, such as the recognition of the International   
   Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism,   
   has also been floated.   
      
   The IHRA definition has been described as incompatible with the First   
   Amendment, as it lists even mild critiques of Israel as an explicit   
   antisemitic act. Some Jews have even gone on to suggest that “antisemitism”   
   be criminalized across the world to protect them from accountability.   
      
   The proposed laws in New York closely mirror several other   
   Republican-hatched hate crime initiatives in the United States, with none   
   more outrageous than Florida’s current House Bill 269. Signed by Governor   
   Ron DeSantis during a highly publicized trip to Israel in 2023, the law   
   gave local law enforcement the ability to issue hate crime “kickers” and   
   jail time to those accused of even minor infractions, like littering. The   
   bill has been widely panned as a clear violation of the First Amendment but   
   has so far gone unchallenged.   
      
   In Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order to   
   “punish” so-called antisemitic rhetoric on college campuses. Like the   
   proposed laws in New York, the order would demand that “all higher   
   education institutions in Texas review their free speech policies” and   
   “establish appropriate punishments for antisemitic rhetoric.”   
      
   In comments surrounding his executive order, Abbott specifically named the   
   concept of free speech as “an enemy,” and postulated that his goal was to   
   “punish” people for their rhetoric.   
      
   The move would pale in comparison to that of “anti-woke” Republican North   
   Dakota Governor, Kristi Noem, who, in March, signed the “strongest hate   
   crime bill in America” to “protect god’s chosen people.” The bill would   
   officially recognize the IHRA working definition of antisemitism and   
   specifically grant Jews “special privileges” in North Dakota.   
      
   Efforts to punish those for their First Amendment right to criticize Jews   
   have already begun to manifest in unexpected places. In Calvert, Maryland,   
   three middle schoolers were criminally charged over alleged comments made   
   to a fellow Jewish student. To date, no other race or religious group is   
   afforded the same level of systemic protection.   
      
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)