Tidbits – Apr.3 – Reader Comments: All Out for April 5th – Hands Off!; Thousands Protest ICE Abductions; Trump Signs Order Ending Union Bargaining Rights for Federal Employees; the New Definition of Antisemitism; Public Sector Labor Struggles;

Reader Comments: All Out for April 5th - Hands Off!; Thousands Protest ICE Abductions; Trump Signs Order Ending Union Bargaining Rights for Federal Employees; The New Definition of Antisemitism; Public Sector Labor Struggles, Then and Now; and more..

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Tidbits - Reader Comments, Resources, Announcements, AND cartoons - Apr. 3, 2025,Portside

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Resources:

  • Israeli Students Protest in Front of Knesset in Jerusalem  (Standing Together)

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Announcements:

  • April 5, 2025 – Hands Off! – Remove, Reverse, Reclaim!  (Indivisible, 50501 Movement and the Women’s March and hundreds of national, regional and local organizations)

  • Public Sector Labor Struggles, Then and Now  --  Online  --  April 8  (Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations)

 

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Grilled Cheese  --  Cartoon by Nick Anderson

 

Nick Anderson
April 2, 2025
Pen Strokes

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Re: Thousands Protest ICE Abduction of Tufts Student As Trump Attacks at Universities Intensify
 

The targeting of foreign students at Columbia, Tufts, Georgetown, and other universities has led to outcry among academics, particularly as the ICE abductions have taken place alongside threats from the Trump administration to pull funding...

"She was abducted by armed agents of the state because she dared take a stand against genocide," said one supporter of Rumeysa Ozturk.     

More than 600 members of the Harvard University faculty signed a letter to the school's governing board Wednesday warning that "ongoing attacks on American universities threaten bedrock principles of a democratic society, including rights of free expression, association, and inquiry."

"Universities cannot pretend to hold higher education sacred while repressing students and faculty, undermining free speech and academic freedom, and prohibiting dissent," reads the letter.

Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

And then they came for ____  --  Cartoon by Lalo Alcaraz

 

Lalo Alcaraz
April 1, 2025
https://www.pocho.com

 

Free Speech Brouhaha  --  Cartoon and Commentary by Clay Jones

 


 

The so-called free speech absolutists and champions are deporting people for what they say.

Clay Jones
March 30, 2025
@claytoonz

 

Re: Call It the ‘Dismantling Government Act’: House GOP Advances Bill Backing Musk-Led Destruction
 

"This bill would rubber-stamp unchecked abuses of power even further," said the leader of one government watchdog group.

Aaron Stephens
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Re: Democrats Just Flipped a Massively Pro-Trump District
 

Democrats scored key victories in Pennsylvania.

Daniel Bolser
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Granny Over the Cliff  --  Cartoon by John Darkow

 


 

John Darkow
March 27, 2025
Columbia Missourian

 

Re: Trump Signs Order Ending Union Bargaining Rights for Wide Swaths of Federal Employees
 

Am I the only one questioning whether the president even has that authority? What's wrong with this country? Have we forgotten what we're supposed to do to tyrants or wannabe tyrants?

Maurice Gioseffi
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Maurice, in answer to your question, I guess that makes two of us...because it's driving me nuts to see all the violations of Constitutional Law that he's committing and getting away with. I think part of the problem is that, as they say, "the wheels of justice move very slowly", and although he's being sued by many, and there are numerous cases before judges, it takes time for these things to "work their way through the system". Only problem: who's going to "enforce" a judgement that says he's committed a crime... or his copotus has

Mary-Alice Strom
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Re: Trump Threatens Iran With ‘Bombing the Likes of Which They Have Never Seen’
 

If Trump doesn't destroy the global economy with his trade war, starting a war with Iran will. Will his billionaire backers restrain him?

John Thompson
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Re: The New Definition of Antisemitism Is Transforming America – and Serving a Christian Nationalist Plan
 

Redefining antisemitism in the law was never about Jewish safety. It is about consolidating authoritarian power under the veneer of minority protection.

The unique position of progressive Jews offers a way to push back against the rise of the far right in the US, both with regard to Israel-Palestine, but also more broadly. Recognizing the unique harm caused to Jews by the new definition of antisemitism allows us to develop new ways to combat it.

The establishment clause of the US constitution, for instance, prohibits the state from intervening in religious disputes. By adopting the IHRA definition into law, the US government has in effect taken sides in an intra-Jewish debate, recruiting Zionist Jews to side in a war against its ideological opponents. The redefinition of antisemitism is therefore not only an attack on political dissent – it is an intrusion into Jewish religious life.

Roy Schulman
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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No it should make you a supporter of J Street and a two state solution. For people wondering this is a good thing.

Carol Feinman
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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I agree with everything you’ve said. I do hope you recognize that Hamas wants civilians to die, that they embed themselves with civilians, don’t wear uniforms, and it’s really an impossible war for Israel to fight.

Shamar Hill
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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So... I despise Hamas.  I accept Israel's right to exist and defend itself from violent attacks.  I do NOT accept the bombing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank, the denial of humanitarian assistance to civilians in need, or the cynical and manipulated failure of the Israeli government to seriously promote either  a two-state or one-state solution for the region.  I accept that a lasting peace means that Israelis and Palestinians must each compromise something.  Israel is not and will not always be "right".  I think "religious" states are antithetical to peace, regardless of the religion involved. (I believe the City of Jerusalem should be an international territory protected for and by everyone.)   I stand for human and civil rights protected by Constitutions and international treaties.  And, yes, I hold nations who purport to be democratic to a higher standard -- including my own.  Does that make me anti-Semitic?

Chris Owens
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Criticism of Israel is definitely not antisemitic. In the IHRA definition of Antisemitism — adopted by many govts — it explicitly says that. I do think you’re lacking some crucial understanding though. Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah are committed to a one-state solution. They have no interest in compromising to create a two-state solution. The phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is actually, in Arabic, “From the water to the water, Palestine will be Arab.” A land that is Judenrein.

So, the discussion should really be, in defending itself against an invading government’s forces, determined on a genocide of the only Jewish state, what is acceptable military action? Especially when the invading govt does not abide by the international rules of war.

Matthew Bernstein
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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I would just note that Israel is not a “religious “ state - it is a state for the Jewish people, which is the common model in Europe, like where Germany is willing to confer German citizenship on persons of German ancestry displaced from Poland, Lithuanian, Russia,,etc. This model is different from the US or most countries in the Americas. The “Right of Return” in Israel extends to various people who do not meet the “religious “ 

Peter Winch
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Trump and ilk make the assumption that all Jews support Israel, which includes the actions of its current government. This assumption is in itself antisemitic. I know very few of my fellow Jews in NYC and Israel who support Netanyahu’s government and its actions in Gaza.

I feel like Kenneth Stern at Bard has a good take on this issue.

    Weaponizing antisemitism makes students 'less safe,' says drafter of definition
    
    By Kaity Kline
    March 20, 2025
    NPR
    

Lisa Pines
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Changing the spelling from anti-Semitism to antisemitism was a Zionist move designed to erase Palestinian and other Semitic peoples. Don't use the Zionist spelling.

Cass Lynch
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Israelis are trying to make Jews be so scared they come to Palestine to populate the illegal settlements.

Jennifer Nouri
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Double Headed Magalodon  --  Cartoon by DC Cartoonist

 

DC Cartoonist
March 28, 2025
Political Humor - DC Cartoonist

 

Re: How Trump Wants To Make One of the Most Dangerous Jobs in America Even Worse

(posting on Portside Labor)
 

Welcome to “The Jungle.” Again.

The president’s cruel, reckless plan to speed up slaughterhouse lines, explained in one chart.

Peter Ruark
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Re: A Lesson From Argentina’s Dirty War for Today
 

In Buenos Aires we visited Memorial Park, the monument dedicated to the 30,000 who were perished by the junta during the Dirty War. There were seven panels, for each of the seven years, organized alphabetically, with people’s ages. Nearly everyone was in their 20s, early 30s or a teenager.

My message – Those of us boomers – We have a vital role to play in organizing and fighting the MAGites march to fascism.

Please read..
All out for Saturday!!

Powerful and first person story & family history extremely important..
Thank you

And appreciate you & Stansbury Forum, & Portside...for this & more!!

Tom Edminster
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Re: Dear America

(posting on Portside Culture)
 

California poet Marsha de la O, herself an outcast, notices the many outcasts who live in America, nobody's home.

Fred Whitehead
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Re: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Commemoration: March 25, 1911

(posting on Portside Labor)
 

First off, thank you for you work.

Secondly the article "Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Commemoration: March 25, 1911" states:

"UNITE HERE is a proud successor union to the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, the union to which some Triangle factory workers belonged. Most years, UNITE HERE staff and members gather at the union headquarters in New York to remember the victims with a reading of their names and testimony from one of the survivors."

In actuality Workers United, SEIU is the successor union to the clothing and garment unions of the past. Plus this annual memorial is organized by the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition which includes a broad section of labor, community, scholastic and other allies working together to use this memory to effect change in the present.

Take care,

Bernard

 

Israeli Students Protest in Front of Knesset in Jerusalem  (Standing Together)

 

Refuse the war on Gaza. The killing of Palestinians. The abandonment of the hostages. That was the message of dozens of students in our student chapter in Jerusalem as they protested in front of the Knesset a few days ago.

We won’t be led quietly toward more killing and death, toward more of the same catastrophic, politically motivated war that endangers us, Palestinians and Jews, on this land. We won’t be quiet as our government continues to drop bombs on Palestinians and to promise generations to come nothing but more bloodshed and war. On our streets, on our campuses, we’re choosing another way. We refuse.

Standing Together

 

April 5, 2025 – Hands Off! – Remove, Reverse, Reclaim!  (Indivisible, 50501 Movement and the Women’s March and hundreds of national, regional and local organizations)
 

 

Remove Corrupt Politicians from Office

Reverse the Damage

Reclaim Our Democracy

Eleven hundred local actions in every state, in every state capital, in large cities, in small cities and towns, organized by hundreds of local organizations and private citizens. Called to action by Indivisible, 50501 Movement and the Women’s March, and endorsed by more than 150 national and regional organizations.

Organizations as diverse as the AFT, NEA, PSC CUNY, SEIU, CWA, UAW, Greenpeace, Roots Action, Color of Change, Stand Up for Science, Consumer Federation of America, League of Women Voters answered the call; as did MoveOn, Working Families Party, Our Revolution, and Third Act.

For more information and to register for a local event, click here.  

 

Public Sector Labor Struggles, Then and Now  --  Online  --  April 8  (Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations)

 

Given the turmoil unfolding currently in the federal workforce and the ramifications for civil servants at every level of government—particularly those working in health and educational services—now would be an apt time to talk about what’s happening in terms of organizing and advocacy for public-sector workers, to help put these struggles in historical context, and to think broadly about the impact of these attacks on the public workforce and social services. This conversation will yield ideas about how communities, educational institutions, and labor groups might defend crucial public resources going forward.

Speakers:

  • Joseph McCartin is a professor of American history at Georgetown University and Executive Director of the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. McCartin's scholarship focuses on the intersection of labor organization, politics, and public policy. He is the author of more than 130 articles, chapters, and reviews in the fields of labor history and labor studies.
  • Todd Dickey is an assistant professor of public administration and international affairs at Syracuse University where his research and teaching centers on workplace conflict management, federal sector labor relations, and labor-management partnership in the public and nonprofit sectors.  From 2022-2024, Todd served as Advisor to the Chairman at the Federal Labor Relations Authority where he assisted with the implementation of the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment’s federal sector labor relations recommendations.
  • Aurora Rojer is a public school social studies teacher and secretary of the Ithaca Teachers Association (ITA). She is also co-chair of the ITA Contract Action Team, who are currently bargaining a contract.
  • MT Snyder is a MILR graduate and Field Examiner with the National Labor Relations Board in San Francisco. She is a rank and file member of the National Labor Relations Board Union and an organizer with the Federal Unionists Network.

This event is part of the ILR School's Union Days 2025.

Register  

Contact:  Michelle Chen
Contact E-Mail: mzc6@cornell.edu