President Barack Obama speaks at the Righteous Among the Nations Award Ceremony, organised for the first time in the U.S. by Yad Vashem, at the Embassy of Israel in Washington
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Steven Spielberg and President Barack Obama embrace
Posts Tagged ‘israel
by @zizii2
No mincing words. Killing the #IranDeal is a vote for war with Iran. Listen Bibi & Schumer: War with Iran erases the single obstacle to the total conquest of the Middle East by ISIS Sunni Extremists. How do we know this? One word, Iraq. If we think it’s bad enough that Iraq today is overrun by ISIS that we toil at great expense to reclaim; it will be a Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade compared to what the region will look like if we get embroiled in war with Iran.
We will in effect be acting as ISIS’ turbocharged cavalry and bombardiers. I repeat. We will be fighting ISIS’ war for them by demolishing their arch Shia enemy. More than a decade ago, America’s dangerous stupidity in waging the Iraq War created the vacuum that led directly to the rise of our worst nightmare; ISIS/ISIL. Now we will be both their cannonballs and fodder.
But our tunnel vision predated GWB’s Mid-East blunder in the maniacal miscalculations we made in backing Saddam Hussein against Iran during the Iran/Iraq War all because our fee fees were hurt about the ouster of the Shah in 1979 (not to mention the horror we committed in 1953). As surely as there exists the law of gravity, we nuked ourselves in the foot each and every time we dabbled in the Middle East by creating cancerous power vacuums as we zoomed in and out detonating blowback ordnance on our own heels.
The NeoCon cabal, their Military Industrial Complex puppetmasters, plus their myopic Democratic Party bedfellows may satisfy their immediate greed, but America will be crippled and isolated permanently in its hubris.
Continue reading ‘Listen Bibi and Schumer: #IranWar = ISIS Caliphate’
01
Aug
15
Rise And Shine
President Barack Obama samples fudge offered by Squirrel’s Den fudge shop owner LaDonna Secrist, left, during a stop in Mansfield, Ohio, Aug. 1, 2012. Photo by Pete Souza
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More than 180 evangelical leaders endorse Obama’s carbon reduction plan thkpr.gs/3686725 http://t.co/dD9JAhMN1o
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ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) August 01, 2025****
Jack Jenkins: More Than 180 Evangelical Leaders Endorse Obama’s Carbon Reduction Plan
More than 180 evangelical Christian leaders signed a letter this week backing President Barack Obama’s plan to reduce carbon emissions from power plants, the latest effort in a growing faith-based environmental movement to curb the effects of climate change. On Thursday, theologically conservative faith leaders sent a letter to President Obama endorsing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP),
a sweeping, historic project unveiled in June and set to be officially released next week. Signers of the letter, which was posted on the Evangelical Environmental Network’s website, framed their support in explicitly moral terms. “We see overcoming the climate challenge as one of the great moral opportunities of our time, a chance to fulfill the Great Commandments to love God, our neighbors, and ourselves,” the letter read. “It is God’s love that calls all of us to take on this challenge. That is why we write to offer our support and encouragement for your efforts to overcome the climate challenge.”
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Documents show trooper who arrested Sandra Bland once disciplined for "unprofessional conduct": apne.ws/1DgKpD1
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The Associated Press (@AP) August 01, 2025****
Terry Wallace: Trooper In Sandra Bland Arrest Had Been Disciplined
The Texas trooper who arrested Sandra Bland after a confrontation that began with a traffic stop was once cautioned about “unprofessional conduct” in a 2014 incident while he was still a probationary trooper, according to documents released Friday. The Texas Department of Public Safety released Encinia’s personnel file in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from The Associated Press. Encinia had been with the department for a little over a year. For the most part, his file was unremarkable. He received “competent” ratings in all of the evaluations that were released.
However, in an evaluation that covered September and October 2014, his supervisor noted that Encinia “was given a written counseling for unprofessional conduct … for an incident occurring while at a school in Austin.” The documents provided no additional details and a Department of Public Safety official did not return a phone call seeking comment Friday night. The evaluation goes on to say, “In the future, Trooper Encinia should conduct himself at all times in a manner that will reflect well upon himself, the Department, and the State of Texas. This supervisor will ensure that this is done by meeting periodically with Trooper Encinia.”
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18-month-old baby burned alive in reported fire bomb attack by radical Israeli settlers thkpr.gs/3686621 http://t.co/CybR7R8dsH
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ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) August 01, 2025****
AP: Suspected Jewish Extremists Burn Palestinian Child To Death
Suspected Jewish assailants set fire to a West Bank home on Friday and burned a sleeping Palestinian toddler to death in an attack that drew Palestinian rage and widespread Israeli condemnation. The attack, which threatens to set off another violent escalation, shines a light on the growing lawlessness of extremist Jewish settlers that Israel is either unable or unwilling to contain. The extremists have for years staged attacks against Palestinian property, as well as mosques, churches, dovish Israeli groups and even Israeli military bases.
The attacks, known as “price tags” because they exact a price for Israeli steps seen as favorable to the Palestinians, have stirred fear in Palestinians and frustration among critics who say Israel has not done enough to quell the assaults. “This is a direct consequence of decades of impunity given by the Israeli government to settler terrorism,” said Palestinian official Saeb Erekat. “This is the consequence of a culture of hate funded and incentivized by the Israeli government and the impunity granted by the international community.”
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Tara Culp-Ressler: Some Of The Videos Targeting Planned Parenthood May Be Illegal, Court Rules
An anti-abortion group that has so far released four inflammatory videos accusing Planned Parenthood of profiting from the sale of “aborted baby parts” will not be allowed to publish additional footage featuring a California company that facilitates fetal tissue donation, thanks to a temporary restraining order issued by the Los Angeles Superior Court. The court order issued this week blocks the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) from releasing video footage featuring employees who work at StemExpress, a biological company that partners with some Planned Parenthood clinics to help transfer fetal tissue donations to medical research facilities.
The unfolding controversy plaguing Planned Parenthood has been focused on this type of tissue donation, which CMP misleadingly characterizes as trafficking in baby parts. Planned Parenthood emphasizes that it’s simply helping patients who choose to donate fetal tissue, which can play a role in helping scientists develop treatments for degenerative diseases. The national women’s health organization has condemned CMP’s secret recordings for potentially violating the privacy of staff and patients at their clinics.
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President Barack Obama disembarks Air Force One upon his arrival at Mansfield Air National Guard Base in Mansfield, Ohio, Aug. 1, 2012. Photo by Pete Souza
31
Jul
15
Rise And Shine
President Barack Obama meets with bicameral congressional leaders and the chairs and ranking members of congressional national security committees to consult with them about ongoing U.S. efforts to respond to the conflicts in Ukraine, Iraq, Gaza, Syria, and other issues, in the Cabinet Room of the White House. July 31, 2014. Photo by Pete Souza
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All Times Eastern
10:00AM: President Barack Obama receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
1:00PM: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Josh Earnest and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz
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President Barack Obama greets four of the nine 2014 Kavli Prize laureates with representatives from the Kavli Foundation and other guests in the Oval Office. July 31, 2025 Photo by Pete Souza
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Bradley Burston: I Live In Israel, In Iran’s Shadow. I Voted For Obama. I’m Glad I Did
I live in Israel. I live in the shadow of Iran. I hold American citizenship as well as Israeli. I pay taxes to both countries. I vote in the elections of each. In 2008 and 2012, I voted for Barack Obama. I’m glad I did. I’m glad not only because of landmark changes to America on his watch, not only because of moments of inspiration, of unexpected hope, of enfranchisement, of movement on issues long dismissed as immutable. I’m glad because I believe that no one but this president would have tried, and succeeded, to land a deal with Iran on nuclear weapons.
Bradley Burston: I live in Israel, in Iran's shadow. I voted for Obama. I'm glad I did. - haaretz.com/blogs/a-specia…
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Chemi Shalev (@ChemiShalev) July 24, 2025I believe that Barack Obama is making the best effort that anyone is, to keep my family safe from the possibility of an Iranian nuclear weapon. And what about Benjamin Netanyahu? Don’t I trust him? Don’t I trust him to keep us safe, to safeguard Israel’s vital interests, to keep war at bay? No. Not at all. Absolutely not. Barack Obama could have taken the easy way out, and ducked the most difficult foreign policy challenge of his presidency – a nuclear Iran. Instead, against all odds, against some of the most stringent pressures American politics can dish out, he has driven forward. Thank you, Mr. President, for this deal.
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The #IranDeal is a historic agreement that should be supported by Congress. Here's why: vanhollen.house.gov/media-center/s…
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Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) July 30, 2025I am confident that the #IranDeal will verifiably prevent a nuclear-armed Iran and make the world a safer place. 1.usa.gov/1JySxQs
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David E. Price (@RepDavidEPrice) July 30, 2025****
Nicholas Kristof: Why The Naysayers Are Wrong About The Iran Deal
You doves think that a nuclear deal will empower reformers in Iran and turn it once more into the pro-American and pro-Israeli power it was under the shah. But sanctions relief may just give this regime a new lease on life. Iran’s people are perhaps the most pro-American and secular of those of any country I’ve been to in the Middle East. (On my last trip to Iran, I took two of my kids along, and Iranians bought them meals and ice cream, and served them illegal mojitos.) The public weariness with the regime’s corruption, oppression and economic failings is manifest. I would guess that after the supreme leader dies, Iran will begin a process of change like that in China after Mao died.
Look, even you admit that this is a flawed deal. So why risk it? As Rick Perry says, “No deal is better and safer than a bad deal.” We have a glimpse of what might happen. In 2003, Iran seemingly offered a comprehensive “grand bargain” to resolve relations with the United States, but George W. Bush’s administration dismissed it. Since then, Iran has gone from a tiny number of centrifuges to 19,000, getting within two months of “breakout” to a nuclear weapon. The point: Fulmination is not a substitute for policy, and a multilateral international agreement achieves far more protection than finger-wagging.
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Samuel Vincent Ramone Dubose, 9, talks about his father's death at a #BlackLivesMatter rally on Wed. #SamDubose @WCPO http://t.co/2YMNMr4WOA
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Taylor Mirfendereski (@TaylorMirf) July 30, 2025almost one year post-Ferguson, national conversation on policing - across political & racial spectrum - has changed
twitter.com/deray/status/6…
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Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) July 30, 2025****
Michael McLaughlin: Officers Involved In Samuel DuBose Shooting Were Sued In Earlier Death Of Unarmed Black Man
Two University of Cincinnati police officers involved in a colleague’s recent fatal shooting of Samuel DuBose also were on hand for a 2010 struggle with a psychiatric patient who later died. Officers Eric Weibel and Phillip Kidd were among seven University of Cincinnati police officers and other officials named in a lawsuit alleging the wrongful death of Kelly Brinson, a 45-year-old mentally ill university hospital patient. Hospital staff summoned officers to help subdue Brinson, who became agitated when put in seclusion, according to court documents first reported by The Guardian. Kidd and Weibel gave written statements that they restrained Brinson, while another officer used a Taser stun gun on him.
Brinson went into cardiac arrest and died days later, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. The Hamilton County coroner ruled Brinson died from natural causes. His family settled the lawsuit for $638,000. Both officers also were involved in the July 19 traffic stop that led to the death of DuBose. Kidd gave statements to investigators that he saw DuBose, 43, drive away and drag Officer Ray Tensing before Tensing shot the motorist. Weibel wrote in a report that Tensing’s uniform looked like he’d been dragged. Footage from Tensing’s body camera, however, appeared to show that DuBose wasn’t driving away when the officer shot him, as Tensing and Kidd had claimed.
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Zeba Blay: How White People Sound When They Argue About Racism
On July 27, the Black Girl Dangerous Twitter account shared some hilarious — but also painfully accurate — examples of what white people sound like when they dismiss the experiences of people of color. Mia McKenzie, creator of the Black Girl Dangerous organization was behind the series of tweets, prefaced by noting, “I’ve been saying publicly for like four years that IDGAF what you think about shit you don’t experience.” She then described a series of ridiculous scenarios in which people speak about or disagree with experiences that they have no first-hand knowledge of.
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House Democratic Leaders Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., and Steny Hoyer, D-Md., present a birthday cake to President Barack Obama during a meeting with the House Democratic Caucus at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., July 31, 2013. Photo by Pete Souza
President Barack Obama meets with from left: Rob Nabors, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy; Kathryn Ruemmler, Counsel to the President; Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, and Chief of Staff Denis McDonough in the Rose Garden of the White House, July 31, 2013. Photo by Pete Souza
President Barack Obama greets HUD staff following remarks at the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C., July 31, 2014. Photo by Pete Souza
04
May
15
This Is Why They Protest
Racism doesn't usually look like someone shouting slurs, it's looks like people eagerly looking for a reason why a black kid deserved to die
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Lou Schumaker (@LouSchu) December 24, 2025I March beacuse I'm EXHAUSTED! #BlackLivesMatter #WhyIMarch http://t.co/iAHH3vCtvV
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Kiri Laurelle Davis (@KiriLaurelle) April 30, 2025****
What separates the police from burglars, murderers, etc., who do innocent citizens harm? At this point, they are one and the same
Watch the @BaltimorePolice assault this peaceful protestor last night. He left on a stretcher. #BaltimoreUprising http://t.co/6bWgSpIaGS
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deray mckesson (@deray) May 03, 2025If you think this is an appropriate response to breaking curfew, you might be a fascist. Video via @deray: http://t.co/i2Qh1skLL1
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Keegan Stephan (@KeeganNYC) May 03, 2025****
Violent actions by the police sent a Black protester to the hospital but the white protesters breaking curfew get pleaded with. Welcome to America
Y'all, listen to this. You must. This is the 3rd warning. An additional 5 minutes. #BaltimoreUprising http://t.co/LeAstcU9In
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deray mckesson (@deray) May 03, 2025Police literally beat black protestors last night requiring one to leave on a stretcher & pleaded with white protestors. #BaltimoreUprising
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deray mckesson (@deray) May 03, 2025****
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John Perry Barlow (@JPBarlow) May 02, 2025
Mya Hall
Rekia Boyd
Tanisha Anderson
Yvette Smith
Miriam Carey
Shelly Fry
Darnisha Harris
Malissa Williams twitter.com/derrickwestt/s…
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Race Jones (@Shugnice) May 01, 2025****
For those saying “technically, it could happen.” Because you know, Black people are supermen and superwomen who can break our spines in two places, crush our larynx, break our leg, and cause a brain bleed all while handcuffed (arms behind our backs) and lying face down in a van. Miss me with that BS
Freddie Gray, while handcuffed, managed to inflict injuries that no human being can inflict on themselves.
BREAKING: All Credibility.
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(@hubbit) April 30, 2025Think #FreddieGray self-inflicted his injuries?
Try crushing your own larynx and get back to me.
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5'7 Black Male (@absurdistwords) April 30, 2025****
If Freddie Gray lived, he would've likely been placed in jail for a crime he didn't commit vox.com/e/8306896?utm_… http://t.co/zCUXvaDmO2
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Vox (@voxdotcom) May 04, 2025NYPD paid over $428 million in settlements over five years j.mp/1E5vWnb http://t.co/a5NKnNvHDE
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(@MuckRock) May 03, 2025****
To protect and serve? Yeah, right
Black Youth: "Why so many of y'all out here?"
Cop: "To make sure u are safe"
Youth: *Laughs*
#Texas2Baltimore http://t.co/PeU76mpHI5
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Brother Jesse (@BrotherJesse) May 02, 2025There was clear racial bias applied in the curfew. The city should be sued for violating the First Amendment. twitter.com/deray/status/5…
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George Aumoithe (@gaumwhat) May 03, 2025****
A curfew can’t even be applied as intended…*Sigh*
So... the #Baltimore curfew was lifted the day after white allies started getting arrested, huh? What a coincidence. 😒 #BaltimoreUprising
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April (@ReignOfApril) May 03, 2025After the racially disparate application of the curfew is exposed, @MayorSRB ends it immediately. #BaltimoreUprising http://t.co/IXmcDGp7rS
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deray mckesson (@deray) May 03, 2025****
This is pretty telling. #BaltimoreUprising http://t.co/NYEWvsAxZC
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R.O.N.A. (@CallMeCharizma) May 03, 2025After glaringly obvious racial disparity in execution of Baltimore curfew was made public, mayor ends curfew. twitter.com/justin_fenton/…
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Sarah Reese Jones (@srjones66) May 03, 2025****
"cops find it entertaining to see black men suffer" Where's @FOP3 gene? http://t.co/Mmg5qjE9LL” @MayorSRB
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Thurston (@SAThurstonDC) May 03, 2025WATCH: Unprovoked cop pepper sprays passive protester wearing ‘F*ck the police’ t-shirt bit.ly/1GSE0Ph @deray http://t.co/GxY6RLYo4U
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John Byrne (@johnbyrnester) May 03, 2025****
Baltimore Sun reports video camera in Freddie Gray police van was broken. In several of my excessive force cases cameras have been "broken."
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Lisa Bloom (@LisaBloom) May 03, 2025Curious if any of conservatives who generally attack teachers unions are attacking police union for defending #FreddieGray cops
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Sally Kohn (@sallykohn) May 01, 2025****
Chuck Todd is a scumbag
Chuck Todd: "The biggest worry is that CVS won't rebuild that store" (not that the police will kill you in a van)
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CANNONBALL ADDERALL (@Charles_Aaron) May 03, 2025White People Started. #BaltimoreUprising http://t.co/EGx5OayxOF
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deray mckesson (@deray) May 03, 2025****
City Life newyorker.com/magazine/2015/… http://t.co/NzjgjAsn0D
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Stacey E. Singleton (@staceyNYCDC) May 03, 2025How Western media would cover Baltimore if it happened elsewhere wpo.st/ZTFF0 #mustread
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Alex Medina (@mrmedina) May 01, 2025****
.@TIME's iconic new cover features work of 26-year-old #Baltimore photographer @byDVNLLN. buff.ly/1JUAdOU http://t.co/UA0eC4Uf8x
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The Root (@TheRoot) April 30, 2025Buck always been real. http://t.co/jt9keTFS5w
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Mr. Lucas (@Alyricz) May 01, 2025****
@deray http://t.co/TtccEFQLpD
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Obae (@It_Me_Obed) April 30, 2025Baltimore was built to be a segregated city and we are watching the inevitable fallout from that. slate.com/articles/news_…
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Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) April 30, 2025****
The police are not burdened by the need to make sense. Black folks are so demonized, racists will, literally, believe anything.
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r. (@Are0h) April 30, 2025No, Freddie Gray did not have a "pre-existing spinal and neck injury." gaw.kr/l4puS5s
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(@Gawker) April 30, 2025****
This is very important. #BaltimoreUprising http://t.co/AXWQpOKrM6
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gaia ✨ (@astraeanixie) April 30, 2025Privilege allows you to define your own riots as "tea parties" in the history books! #BaltimoreUprising http://t.co/ysdHQgXhQN
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Benjamin J. Hall (@MrBJHall) April 29, 2025****
Police Shoot Two Unarmed Men 377 Times, In Car That Had Already Crashed countercurrentnews.com/2014/05/police…
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jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) April 28, 2025Yes, let's talk about looting... http://t.co/CV5tpv9OtQ
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Nessa. (@curlyheadRED) April 28, 2025****
How black social-media activists built the nation’s first 21st-century civil rights movement: nytimes.com/2015/05/10/mag… http://t.co/I0zhRQk7Ul
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Mark S. Luckie (@marksluckie) May 04, 2025"What does it do to a child to grow up knowing that you cannot simply be a child?" - @ClintSmithIII t.ted.com/WjMqgb6 #BlackLivesMatter
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TED Talks (@TEDTalks) May 01, 2025****
Nancy LeTourneau: What Can We Do?
Leonard Pitts is going to start writing a series of columns to answer the question posed to him by a 55 year-old white woman from Austin, TX who said she was heartsick about the police violence against unarmed African Americans and wanted to know what she could do. Today he reports what Rev. Tony Lee said in response. “Protests,” Lee told me in a telephone interview, “are one way that pushes people’s feet to the fire. Whatever the issue is, it’s brought to the forefront. But…there’s still need for people to do legislative advocacy, dealing with policy, whether it’s from the national to the local, showing people how to be engaged and [affecting] the policies that have such direct impact.”
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All over the world - police brutality against minorities stays consistent
DEVELOPING: Water cannons and stun grenades used on protesters in Tel Aviv on.msnbc.com/1E7sAAa http://t.co/osJ0aor6TY
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(@msnbc) May 03, 2025Ethiopian-Israelis protest in Tel Aviv over police treatment nyti.ms/1I8grlD http://t.co/tU9KmcqYzQ
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The New York Times (@nytimes) May 03, 2025****
Striking photos from Tel Aviv rally to protest police violence against Ethiopian Israelis htz.li/2jR http://t.co/EnDZ7Z2cPR
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Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) May 03, 2025Tel Aviv rush hour brought to standstill by Ethiopian Israelis protesting racism, police discrimination. http://t.co/maXZ1mM2r4
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(@joshmitnick) May 03, 2025****
Central Tel Aviv looks like a war zone; it is a watershed day in relations with Ethiopian Israelis
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Chemi Shalev (@ChemiShalev) May 03, 2025Israeli police have rarely used such force against TA demonstrators; now for the debate on whether this has anything to do with their color
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Chemi Shalev (@ChemiShalev) May 03, 2025****
Ethiopian Israelis Protest Racism And Police Brutality In Tel Aviv buzzfeed.com/claudiakoerner… Hmm....so familiar http://t.co/z0bv7Yt8az
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(@GoBrooklyn) May 03, 2025Police fire stun grenades at Tel Aviv rally by Ethiopian Israelis u.afp.com/txc
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Agence France-Presse (@AFP) May 03, 2025****
Strongest images I took tonight at the protest in #TelAviv where #EthiopianIsraelis took to the streets in thousands. http://t.co/QFekZLQ9DY
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Anna Ahronheim (@AAhronheim) May 03, 2025Why we took to the streets: Ethiopian Israelis who refuse to stay silent dlvr.it/9fcnLC http://t.co/nrlOHYYtOe
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Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) May 03, 2025****
Ethiopian-Israelis' protest against police violence is met with police violence bit.ly/1I5u2sk http://t.co/o8PGQAPsv7
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+972 Magazine (@972mag) May 03, 2025Israelis, Many Of Ethiopian Descent, Stage Mass Protest In Tel Aviv Demanding Equality For All huff.to/1catxSm
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Margie (@paeznyc) May 03, 2025
