On December 15, 1791, Congress passed the 1 st Amendment to the United States Constitution (found in the Bill Rights). The Supreme Court has ruled that citizens have a right to express themselves freely without fear of retaliation from the government except if such speech will cause a direct and imminent harm. Speech like yelling “fire” in a crowd when there is no fire is an example of the exception to the right of freedom of speech. The Supreme Court has also noted the term content neutrality means the government cannot censor or restrict expression just because some segment of the population finds the content offensive.
On November 7, 2023, the United States House of Representative voted and passed a Censure Vote levied against Representative Rashida Tlaib, the sole Palestinian American in Congress. Representative Tlaib to censured for playing video on social media where the audio heard exclaimed “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. Apparently, this term is offensive to some people. Particularly the Jewish community and Zionist and Tlaib’s colleagues demand that she be silenced because they were offended.
The sentiment behind the phrase “from the river to the sea” has been taking out of context. The phrase originally gained traction in the 1960’s during which time Palestinians pushed to be free from the oppression of all sorts from Israeli as well as from Arab regimes. Recently, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the Jewish Community and Zionist in Congress are taking the phrase to mean the total elimination of the Jewish people.Zionist/Zionism is a worldwide Jewish movement that resulted in the establishment and development of the State of Israel and that now supports the State of Israel as a Jewish homeland. Anyone found in
opposition to the State of Israel is deemed an antisemite and could face civil and federal criminal lawsuits/charges.
Many in the United States have been pressured to recant statements regarding Jewish people. Mere criticism of the Jewish people has a whole is considered Anti-Semitism and violates federal law.
Entertainers such as Nick Cannon, Whoopi Goldberg, Kyrie Irving, Marc Lamont Hill, Kanye West and Ron Dalton, the author of the book and film entitle From Negroes to Hebrews, have all been asked to recant statement. All but two of the above-mentioned recanted their statements. Rep. Tlaib and Ron Dalton did not walk back any statements and stood on their human right of freedom of speech.
Is the ADL using bully tactics to abridge the rights to free speech of the American people and others around the world? Why are the Jewish people considered special and cannot be criticized? Why do the American Government continue to support the State of Israel without regard to the many people around the world pointing out Israel’s continue abuse and war crimes against the people of Palestine?
These are hot button topics and no one in Washington seems to have the answers. Censorship should not be the answer to the looming question of human and civil rights abuses from governments. Freedom of Speech should be honored even if the opinion expressed hurts someone’s feelings. Where there is no imminent threat of danger, freedom of speech should not be abridged. What makes the Jewish people special and their actions cannot be criticized?
By Achoti Tamar, Editor
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