"Leading civil rights organisations have condemned Harvard Kennedy School’s denial of a position to the former head of Human Rights Watch over the organisation’s criticism of Israel.
The American Civil Liberties Union called the refusal of a fellowship to Kenneth Roth 'profoundly troubling'. PEN America, which advocates for freedom of expression, said the move raises serious questions about one of the US’s leading schools of government. Roth also received backing from other human rights activists.
But the Kennedy School found support from organisations that have been highly critical of Roth and HRW, particularly over the group’s report two years ago that accused Israel of practising a form of race-based apartheid in the Palestinian occupied territories. ...
Roth told the Guardian that Harvard’s move was a reflection of 'how utterly afraid the Kennedy School has become of any criticism of Israel' under pressure from donors and influential supporters within the school of Israel’s rightwing government."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/08/kennedy-school-human-rights-watch
-->This is a sickening story of how the moral stench of Zionism has permeated the halls of America's most prestigious university. Equally troubling is the fact that America's most influential newspaper, The NYT, didn't cover the story.
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Common Dreams:
"Despite acknowledging 'tremendous' public pressure to impose a ban on bump stocks, a firearm attachment used in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, a federal appeals court on Friday rejected a 2019 Trump administration rule barring people from owning the instruments.
In a 13-3 ruling, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled that the ban violated the Administrative Procedure Act and that the U.S. Congress must act to ban bump stocks rather than the executive branch.
The majority, made up mostly of judges appointed by Republican presidents, said that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) at the U.S. Department of Justice wrongly interpreted a law banning machine guns when they extended that ban to bump stocks in 2019, two years after a gunman killed 60 people and injured hundreds of others in a shooting at a concert in Las Vegas."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/bump-stock-ruling
-->Another shameful story about the failure of our nation to control assault weapons. Why didn't the NYT cover this story either? Perhaps our "newspaper of record" cares about America's image abroad almost as much as it cares about Israel's.
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The New York Times:
"CARACAS, Venezuela — The opposition legislature in Venezuela voted on Friday to terminate its interim government, ending the leadership of Juan Guaidó, who for years had served as the face of resistance to the country’s authoritarian government.
The vote was a blow to the United States, which had steadfastly backed Mr. Guaidó. It was the second and final vote this month to determine the fate of the interim government, whose influence has waned in recent years as President Nicolás Maduro has held onto power, Mr. Guaidó failed to cement his popular support and the opposition fractured."
-->This is a sad little story about a US backed coupe in Venezuela that didn't work. Sure, the NYT is still spewing anti-Venezuelan propaganda. According to the newspaper, "socialist ideals [have] gutted the country’s democratic institutions and left much of the populace impoverished." No mention of the devastating US blockade or the Pentagon's funding of Guaidó's attempts to overturn the election of President Maduro. And let's not forget the pages of wildly favorable coverage that Quaido got in the NYT when he proclaimed himself president.
