Ah, Freedom

when will we do something about this particular cancel culture

There was an essay version of this, but honestly I don’t think any essay writing is necessary - the systematic silencing of Palestinian and Palestine-supporting voices is happening, no one is even pretending that it’s not happening, and it’s a direct threat to the basic principles of free expression that are supposed to apply to everyone and every topic, no matter what. A bunch of the people who have dined out on free speech for years are saying nothing because Zionism is more dear to them than civil liberties, and now it’s time for all of us to state our basic allegiances when it comes to free expression. I include that snippet from an interview with an Israeli settler because it’s an unusually frank statement of what many people support without explicitly saying so: that Palestinians must live under Israeli rule without basic democratic rights, in perpetuity. You either think everyone who lives under the power of a government should have democratic representation in that government, or you don’t. A principle is a thing you believe all the time. For fifteen years I’ve defended the free speech rights of people I deplore. Some supposed defenders of free expression cracked in a day. You believe in it all the time, or you don’t believe in it at all. It’s up to you.