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Two Hyde Park students call for Palestinian ceasefire and freedom after receiving anodyne City Council resolution honoring them for their activism
By adamg on Thu, 12/07/2023 - 1:41pm
Flynn before realizing why Mohamed (l) and Blackmon were getting the congratulations he'd signed.
The Boston City Council yesterday officially congratulated two New Mission High School students for their activism without realizing that that involved organizing a walkout at the Hyde Park school last week to call for an end to Israeli warfare in Gaza and freedom for Palestine.
"From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!" student Aliyah Mohamed said at the conclusion of her thanks for the "official resolution" of congratulations the council bestowed on her and Kameela Blackmon, in a proclamation on parchment with a gold seal signed by Council President Ed Flynn and City Clerk Alex Geourntas that recognizes their "incredible achievement in activism, organizing and leadership."
Some councilors refused to pose with the students for the customary post-award photos after their remarks; Councilor Frank Baker (Dorchester), for example, rushed past them and into the council offices as other councilors went up to Flynn's podium for photos.
Baker exits, stage left, narrowly avoiding a collision with Ricardo Arroyo, heading to the podium:
Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson (Roxbury) had asked Flynn to issue an official proclamation for the two students, but did not provide any details of what their "incredible achievement" consisted of. Her resolution praises them for their "commitment to fighting for what you believe in is a testament to your strength and determination and urges them to "keep up the outstanding work and continue to be the beacon of hope and change that you are. "
Mohamed said she decided she had to do something after, she said, school officials took down a Palestinian flag. She thought it was done out of a "lack of understanding and ignorance," so she printed up some fliers about the situation in Palestine, with quotes from leaders such as Malcolm X, and passed them out.
She said her resolve to do something was further strengthened when a teacher "questioned the legitimacy of non-Palestinian students advocating for Palestine." She said she went to the school principal, who she said backed the teacher, which convinced her to start working on a walkout to express support for Gazans.
"We must advocate for the liberation of Palestine and for the future of Palestinian youths," she said, calling for continuing protests until that happens. She concluded: "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!"
Blackmon, New Mission student-body president, said she was accepting the congratulations "on the behalf of the children of Palestine," whom she said have been suffering under decades of Israeli actions and who now face "the murdering of thousands of mothers, babies and generations of families."
She said that as of Tuesday, 7,112 Palestinian children had been murdered by Israeli attacks.
She said that while she condemns the killing of Israelis on Oct. 7, "the current rate of daily killings of children over the last 60 days in Palestine would equate to all of the children of Boston Public Schools being dead by Nov. 16, 2024. Stop and think about that."
She added, "our humanity calls on us to take action and speak up when others are suffering," and asked the councilors: "How can we be equipped to look up to our leaders and politicians in our government as vocal advocates if we're being shunned for exercising that same right? What kind of future can we imagine if the adults who are supposed to protect us are silencing us instead?"
Watch their recognition and thanks:
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 The resolution awarded the students | 63.31 KB |
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Comments
If Fernandes Anderson pulled
If Fernandes Anderson pulled this one purposely, she should resign. If she was the one who got pranked (and was so clueless as to not see she was being used), she should resign. Hating the Jews is not an "incredible achievement."
Questioning Israel
And questioning the damage that Israel is doing to children like them is absolutely not the same as "hating jews".
Please get that straight.
Get some education on the
Get some education on the phrase used. The meaning is easy to find on Google.
Education
I'm sorry. Are you referring to the 1977 Likud platform which advocated Israeli sovereignty from the river to the sea?
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/its-time-to-confront-israels-ver...
Questioning Israel from everyone sounds not right
From what you say, it's clear that you only repeat what you hear on the antisemitic media. If you are not from there (I am) and don't understand what happens there (and look aside when terrorists lunch tens of thousands or rockets indisciminately to civilians and gang rape girls and cut their breasts while raping them and cut open the belly of pregnant woman riping off her baby and roasting a baby in the oven and burning families... And more... Much more). Stay aside and let the ONLY democracy in middle east defend themselves. We could not defend ourselves in 1939 but we do it now. You don't want to help? Ok. Don't get involved them.
Purposeful
She 100% did this purposefully
She has been retweeting loads of people that claim to be anti-Zionist that are 100% also anti-Semitic. And I don't mean that because they're anti-Zionist they're anti-Semitic - I mean that these people she's retweeting are saying things about Jews that are 100% anti-Semitic.
There is nothing about
There is nothing about advocating for Palestinian liberation and to stop the mass deaths and oppression of Palestinians that is "hating Jews." It's advocating for basic human rights.
"From the River to the Sea"
Is advocating for the extermination of all Jews living in their ancestral homeland. Even the name "Palestine" is derived from Hebrew. If these girls just wanted to advocate for basic human rights, they would not repeat that slogan. Claiming the entirety of the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean must be judenrein is calling for genocide of the Israeli people. It is advocating for Hamas to finish the job started by Hitler.
Counterpoint:
No, it’s not.
Swastikas didn't originate with the Third Reich
So clearly they're just okey dokey, too, right?
The KKK uses the cross. . .
. . . so anyone displaying or wearing the cross around their neck must be into white power. Great logic.
Context matters
In contemporary western culture, the swastika has a specific meaning. I would never use such a symbol, but I'm not about to tell a follower of Hinduism that they shouldn't, or what it means when they do.
I find that phrase repugnant
Be it uttered by supporters of Hamas or supporters of that other group that uses it, Likud, the ruling party of Israel.
The name "Palestine"
does not derive from Hebrew. It appears to be of Greek or possibly Egyptian origin, referring to the Philistines.
Keep going
Who named the Philistines?
Let's Say You're Right
In your mind, what is the appropriate, politically correct way to protest the ongoing massacre and displacement of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank?
Don't use the slogan "From the river to the sea", to start with
Given that people don't even agree on what it means, it is terrible messaging.
I noticed you didn't answer
What is the "appropriate" language?
Personally, when I read people like Sock Puppet complaining about a controversial slogan I hear the same sort of disingenuous tone-policing that I hear when people complain about the words "Black Lives Matter." They want to deflect from the very real injustices that people using the chant are trying to protest.
You win
Between this
And the college presidents this week in Congress, it's clear that those who lead are just utterly soft, ignorant, and gutless.
The sad part is that it's all entirely voluntary. There's no draft or slavery for the president of Harvard, or for Boston City Council. Was whatever these jobs offer worth it to look like a complete ass?
The video of the college
The video of the college presidents in Congress is trippy to watch. The Republicans tried hard to box them into a corner, demanding they answer in yes/no answers and trying to put words in their mouth to get them to say the sound bite. But, the Presidents are pros and knew the act and were careful to answer the question they wanted to answer.
I'm not sure when the U Penn president is getting so much heat. Her testimony wasnt really very different from Harvard's or MIT's presidents. Her delivery was weakest, basically reading off a page, not nearly as well spoken as Harvard.
I wouldn't have said "yes" or "no"
I would have said "Your party nominated a credibly accused rapist for President, ran a pedophile for Senate, and a concussed football player who thought he could arrest people with an honorary police badge for Senate. I don't even have to address the HJ in a theater. Stick your moral stand up your (expletive)."
Walkout?
Keep walking.
It's a disgrace that the Boston City Council would give kids a prize for advocating genocide.
Questioning Israel's Attacks
Is not advocating genocide.
Quite the exact opposite.
Some paint-chip eaters. . .
. . .buy the spoon-fed propaganda that everyone who uses the “river to the sea” slogan is calling for the mass murder of Israelis.
While despicable mass-murder enthusiasts in Hamas have uttered this phrase, most people, including the teen activists, use it to assert that the people of the West Bank and Gaza deserve to live peacefully and free in a non-apartheid state.
There’s no excuse for a first-world military for killing 7,000 children, and these students point that out. So the only play the simpletons have is to gaslight with false accusations that teenagers are the “real” genocidal maniacs.
An Intentional Choice
No one using “From the River to the Sea” is unaware of the objections to the phrase at this point, or the fairly obvious reasons for them.
If people were calling for the liberation of Gaza and the West Bank, they would say that, and not include the whole of Israel. Choosing to take on and repeat Hamas’ language of choice is another telling decision on its own.
Those continuing to use or defend the phrase are doing so quite intentionally, even in this thread.
Meh.
The objections to the phrase are gaslighting.
The slogan existed for decades before the founding of Hamas.
Advocating for genocide?
These kids are advocating against genocide, not for it.
Lesson learned, elected
Lesson learned, elected officials should have some concept of why they are giving people resolutions.
For what it is worth, I do not fully disagree with giving these two students resolutions but it does make the council look rather silly if they did not have any concept of what their activism was. It should be customary for the lead sponsor to include some basic info about the back ground of the recipients and rationale. It cheapens other resolutions they give if people knew they were just throwing these things around like free candy at a parade.
Was only matter of time that
Was only matter of time that this slogan is shouted from the City Hall.
The kids are all right
They are more empathetic and informed than most of our leaders.
Homer Simpson won the
Homer Simpson won the “Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence.” This is no less meaningless than these kids’ “incredible achievement.”
Even young Jewish Americans...
According to a recent Brookings Institute poll taken after October 6th, 33 % of young Jewish Americans find the policies of the Israeli government repugnant.
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-generation-gap-in-opinions-toward...
Good
for those students.
Shame on you
for praising calls for genocide.
They are calling to stop
They are calling to stop genocide, not calling for it.
10/7
Was a preview of what “River to the sea” would look like.
And...
Right now, we're just witnessing what Likud promised in 1977...
Boiling things down is fun!
The kids are alright
Scratch that the kids are amazing.
Run away!
Here's the audio of Frank fleeing.
I think those students should've been running
Seeing Rapey Ricardo advancing on them.
Disgusting. And it’s not lost
Disgusting. And it’s not lost on me that on the eve of Hanukkah they shout a racist slogan that calls for the destruction of Israel.
This was planned.
If they want to help the Palestinians, organize donations and relief efforts.
I’m also curious what their stance is on Sudan, the Uyghur genocide(an actual genocide), Ukraine, and the powder keg about to go off in Serbia. Or do they only care if it involves Jews and they feel it’s acceptable to now say the quiet parts out loud.
I'm seeing
More suggestions that (expletive) teenagers are calling for genocide than I'd like. Of course, the number I'd like is to be zero. What an ugly look. Just as bad as people making personal attacks against Greta Thunberg. Imagine being an adult, and going after a high school girl.
I guess City Council and the college presidents aren't the only gutless ones. Nor are they the only ones who hate kids. Then again, I'm not surprised. Just this week, we bandied about the idea that it's normal to make them spend three hours a day commuting to and from school.
But who are we kidding? Concern for kids ended when a bunch of kindergartners were mowed down at Sandy Hook, and we did jack (expletive) about gun availability.
Stop impregnating women.
10/10
No notes.
If you live in Boston
and think that this was beyond the pale, make a respectful call to Councilor Fernandez Anderson's office at 617-635-3510.
She'll be on the ballot in 2 years
And at the end of the day, what's what responsible governing is about.
I’m sure they were just as
I’m sure they were just as devoted to the Palestine movement before this conflict… before it was picked up as a fad by the ultra left Trump fearing crowd. I bet if you asked if they condemn the genocide of Jews they would have a similar beat around the bush response of those fine Ivy League presidents. BLM is dead and PLM is alive!
News flash
You're betting a couple of teenagers weren't politically active until the atrocities of Israel became front page news for them to discover?
They should make you a member of MENSA for that deduction.
But they'd probably take points off your application for missing the part where Adam wrote "She said that...she condemns the killing of Israelis on Oct. 7" since you said " I bet if you asked if they condemn the genocide of Jews..." and then went on to blather about things completely off topic.
Keep trying though. I'm sure you'll figure this all out eventually.
From the River to the Sea
From the River to the Sea means they feel for Israel, sure. That just equates to we love all. You are so darn smart, sheesh. Nothing gets past you.