RSS
‘The Zionists Always Get Their Way’: Libertarian Party of Michigan Posts Antisemitic Cartoon Depicting Jews as Puppet Masters
A cartoon tweeted by the Libertarian Party of Michigan on May 8, 2024 that has since been deleted. Photo: Screenshot
The Libertarian Party of Michigan on Wednesday posted an antisemitic cartoon depicting Jews as puppet masters who control both the Democratic and Republican parties in the US.
The graphic was posted on multiple social media platforms, but gained particular traction on X/Twitter, where it received widespread blowback but also a chuck of support — garnering over 1,000 likes before it was ultimately deleted.
The Libertarian Party of Michigan did not respond to The Algemeiner‘s request for comment for this story.
“I know some people think of me as ‘libertarian.’ I have used that word to describe myself at times,” journalist Brad Polumbo wrote in response to the graphic. “But please understand that I have no affiliation whatsoever with whatever the f–k this is.”
Max Abrahms, a professor of political science at Northeastern University, wrote, “I’ve found that foreign policy libertarians are more likely to (1) view themselves as smart, (2) view themselves as smarter than they are, (3) condescend when they’re dilettantes on national security issues, (4) and yes have issues with Jews.”
This is not the first time the Libertarian Party has been accused of promoting antisemitism. In August 2022, the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire posted a now-deleted tweet reading, “Six million dollar minimum wage or you’re antisemitic,” in a reference to the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
Then, a few months later, the national party tweeted out a depiction of Sam Bankman-Fried — the fraudster who ran FTX — that many argued was antisemitic.
Additionally, the Mises Caucus wing of the Libertarian Party invited an activist named Bryan Sharpe (or Hotep Jesus), who many consider antisemitic, to speak at its convention back in 2021. A Mises Caucus leading member said, regarding the invitation: “I don’t actually think that someone who is trying to be a truth-seeker and understand what’s going on — and asked the question about whether or not Jews run Hollywood is an antisemite.”
Many observers have pointed out that it is important to make a distinction between the Libertarian Party and people who generally think of themselves as libertarian, arguing the latter merely describes a worldview that prioritizes liberty in economic and social affairs. Meanwhile, the party is seen by many to have been taken over by extremists.
Liz Wolfe, a journalist at Reason, noted she believes “the better question is ‘What’s going on with the Libertarian Party?’ Certainly not the same as libertarianism.”
“I mean, I don’t feel like their antisemitic posting represents what I value,” she continued. “Far from it.”
The post ‘The Zionists Always Get Their Way’: Libertarian Party of Michigan Posts Antisemitic Cartoon Depicting Jews as Puppet Masters first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels
View of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90.
i24 News – Sweden will no longer fund the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) and will instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Scandinavian country said on Friday.
The decision comes on the heels of multiple revelations regarding the agency’s employees’ involvement in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
Sweden’s decision was in response to the Israeli ban, as it will make channeling aid via the agency more difficult, the country’s aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, said.
“Large parts of UNRWA’s operations in Gaza are either going to be severely weakened or completely impossible,” Dousa said. “For the government, the most important thing is that support gets through.”
The Palestinian embassy in Stockholm said in a statement: “We reject the idea of finding alternatives to UNRWA, which has a special mandate to provide services to Palestinian refugees.”
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel thanked Dousa for a meeting they had this week and for Sweden’s decision to drop its support for UNRWA.
“There are worthy and viable alternatives for humanitarian aid, and I appreciate the willingness to listen and adopt a different approach,” she said.
The post Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Pope Calls Gaza Airstrikes ‘Cruelty’ After Israeli Minister’s Criticism
Pope Francis waves after delivering his traditional Christmas Day Urbi et Orbi speech to the city and the world from the main balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, December 25, 2021. Photo: REUTERS/Yara Nardi
Pope Francis on Saturday again condemned Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, a day after an Israeli government minister publicly denounced the pontiff for suggesting the global community should study whether the military offensive there constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people.
Francis opened his annual Christmas address to the Catholic cardinals who lead the Vatican’s various departments with what appeared to be a reference to Israeli airstrikes on Friday that killed at least 25 Palestinians in Gaza.
“Yesterday, children were bombed,” said the pope. “This is cruelty. This is not war. I wanted to say this because it touches the heart.”
The pope, as leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, is usually careful about taking sides in conflicts, but he has recently been more outspoken about Israel’s military campaign against Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
In book excerpts published last month, the pontiff said some international experts said that “what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide.”
Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli sharply criticized those comments in an unusual open letter published by Italian newspaper Il Foglio on Friday. Chikli said the pope’s remarks amounted to a “trivialization” of the term genocide.
Francis also said on Saturday that the Catholic bishop of Jerusalem, known as a patriarch, had tried to enter the Gaza Strip on Friday to visit Catholics there, but was denied entry.
The patriarch’s office told Reuters it was not able to comment on the pope’s remarks about the patriarch being denied entry.
Israeli officials were not immediately reachable for comment on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, and the Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The post Pope Calls Gaza Airstrikes ‘Cruelty’ After Israeli Minister’s Criticism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
IDF Pledges to Implement Lessons from Failure to Intercept Houthi Missile
Iranian-backed Yemeni terrorist leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi. Photo: Screenshot
i24 News – The Israeli military said on Saturday that while the investigation into the failure to intercept the missile that hit Tel Aviv early in the morning was still ongoing, some lessons were already being implemented. The ballistic missile, fired by Yemen’s Houthi jihadists, landed at a playground in a residential area, leading to 16 people sustaining injuries from glass shards.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said that “some of the conclusions have already been implemented, in regards of both interception and early warning.”
The spokesperson added that “no further details regarding aerial defense activities and the alert system can be disclosed due to operational security considerations.”
The Houthis have repeatedly fired drones and missiles towards Israel in what they describe as “acts of solidarity” with Palestinians in Gaza.
The post IDF Pledges to Implement Lessons from Failure to Intercept Houthi Missile first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login