The Abolition of the First Amendment

[snot]

Chris Hedges recounts how he and others trying to testify their objections to New Jersey's adoption of a law that would criminalize "antisemitism" based on the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which conflates anti-Zionism with antisemitism, were harassed and had their microphones muted:

"I have had numerous relationships with Israeli journalists and political leaders,” I went on. ... Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, who served in the Israeli army and writes for the newspaper Haaretz, has called for sanctions to be imposed on Israel to stop the slaughter in Gaza, saying ‘Do to Israel what you did to South Africa.’ Omer Bartov, who served as an Israeli company commander in the 1973 war, is Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University,” I said. “He stated in an article on July 15 in The New York Times that his ‘inescapable conclusion has become that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.’

“These kinds of statements, and many more I can quote from Israeli colleagues and friends, would see them under this bill criminalized as antisemites,” I added.

Committee chairman Robert Karabinchak...muted my microphone, banged his hammer for me to stop and allowed gaggles of Zionists, who openly harassed and insulted Muslims in the room, to jeer and shout me down.

There I was arguing that this bill would curtail my free speech, at the same time I was being denied free speech. ...

Other speakers opposing the new law were also silenced; details at https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/abolishing-the-first-amendment?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=778851&post_id=169478563&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=k9lfs&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

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