ROYALSTON, Mass. The recent death of 1960s anti-war and New Left activist Rennie Davis is the inspiration for this article. Without judgment or advocacy, I want to explore the varied shifts in consciousness that have taken place in the lives of several people who, like Davis, were peace and social justice activists during the Vietnam War era.
Only a short time before his death, at age 80, Davis received some media attention because of a new movie about the 1969 Chicago Seven trial. In an obituary written for
The Rag Blog, my college friend, activist and professor Jonah Raskin wrote, “Rennie was a man with a deep moral consciousness who aimed to follow the dictates of his heart and his head no matter where they might take him.”
Rennie Davis, Chicago Seven activist and New Left leader, dies at 80
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Columna de Sergio Muñoz Bata sobre la situación de Estados Unidos - Columnistas - Opinión
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The
New York Timesran a long article about the campus debate over Israel that highlighted Zoom’s cancellation of talks by Leila Khaled, because she had participated in two hijackings 50 years ago. Titled, “What Zoom Does to Campus Conflicts Over Israel and Free Speech,” the article placed Palestinian activism outside the normal range of political activism on campus, portraying supporters as leftwing crazies who are opposed by rightwingers– and watch out for the antisemitism!
The article fits into the larger
NYT narrative of the Israel/Palestine discourse: People aren’t motivated by oppression or apartheid, it’s a conflict between two equal sides over there.
What Zoom Does to Campus Conflicts Over Israel and Free Speech
As battles over Israel and the Palestinian territories have migrated online, technology has scrambled the debate.
Clashes erupted in 2018 at a student celebration of Israel in Washington Square Park in Manhattan.Credit.Mack DeGeurin
Published Jan. 22, 2021Updated Feb. 10, 2021
Leila Khaled is a two-time hijacker, a member of a Palestinian group on the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations. So it came as a shock to Javier Cohen, a senior at New York University, to find her speaking on an N.Y.U. webinar last semester.
In the video, Ms. Khaled calls Israel an “apartheid state” practicing terrorism against Palestinians and vows to pursue “all means of struggle, including armed struggle” against it.