IT MATTERS

COMMENTARY BY LUCY MANESS WARNER

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

 

 

HATE OPERATES LIKE AN ADDICTIVE DRUG. IT TEMPORARILY MAKES US FEEL POWERFUL AND IMPORTANT, AND WHEN WE GET TOGETHER WITH OTHER HATERS WE KNOW THAT (FINALLY) WE BELONG. WE ARE ACCEPTED AND A PART OF SOMETHING GREATER THAN OURSELVES, SECURE, TRIUMPHANT. IN OUR GROUP OF HATERS WE ARE ALLOWED TO EXERCISE CRUELTY WITHOUT BEING PUNISHED FOR IT. THE WORSE WE BEHAVE, THE MORE LIKELY WE ARE TO BECOME A HERO TO SOME OTHER HATE-GROUP ACOLYTE.

 

THESE DAYS, WOULD-BE KILLERS GO ON THEIR FAVORITE INTERNET HATE SITES AND COMPARE NOTES, READING THE INSANE RANTS AND GLOATING OF OTHERS, GAINING THE COURAGE TO DO SOMETHING THEMSELVES. A CERTAIN PERCENTAGE OF THOSE WILL BE INSPIRED TO TAKE THEIR AR-15 TO TOWN, WHEN THEIR BOSS FIRES THEM OR THEIR WIFE WALKS OUT, AND PUNISH SOMEONE WHOSE SKIN IS THE WRONG COLOR OR WHO PRAYS THE WRONG PRAYER FOR THE WAY THEY ARE FEELING. THAT IS HOW HATE WORKS. WE ALLOW IT INTO OUR MINDS AS A BOOST TO OUR EGO AND IT TAKES ROOT, EMERGING WHENEVER WE FEEL INSECURE. WITH DRUGS WE ARE USING A CHEMICAL, BUT WITH HATE IT IS A THOUGHT THAT MAKES US FEEL BETTER AGAIN. PERHAPS ONE DAY PSYCHOLOGISTS WILL LOCATE A PLEASURE CENTER IN THE BRAIN THAT IS ACTIVATED BY OUR ANGER. 

 

IN THE USA THE SITUATION IS COMPLEX. WE HAVE A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO SPEAK DESPICABLY TO AND ABOUT OTHERS, JUST BECAUSE WE HAPPEN TO FEEL ANGRY, IGNORED OR UNDERRATED THAT DAY. IT IS NOT A CRIME TO BE A BAD PERSON. WHEN THE RIGHT TO "FREE SPEECH" IS DEFINED MORE CLEARLY, I BELIEVE WE WILL HAVE A BETTER HANDLE ON CONTROLLING THE SITUATION THAT HATE SPEECH PLAYS TODAY. SPEAKING DAMAGING WORDS NEEDS TO BE A CRIME AND NOT JUST A TORT. A TORT IS A NEGLIGENT OR INTENTIONAL HARM DONE TO ANOTHER THAT IS NOT SPECIFICALLY PUNISHABLE BY PRISON. THE VICTIM HAS TO FILE A LAWSUIT IN ORDER TO GET RELIEF, WHICH WILL PROBABLY BE A MONETARY PAYMENT. LAWSUITS ARE EXPENSIVE, SO MOST PEOPLE WILL NOT SUE OVER AN ISSUE. THEY HAVE TO RESORT TO HIDING IN THEIR HOME TO ESCAPE THREATS, INSTEAD. THE GEORGIA ELECTION WORKERS WHO WERE ESSENTIALLY CURSED BY DONALD TRUMP ARE A CASE IN POINT. HIS WORDS WERE POWERFUL.

 

THE FOLLOWING BBC ARTICLE ENCOURAGES ME. FINALLY AUTHORITIES ARE BEGINNING TO TAKE SERIOUSLY THE NATURE OF THE SITUATION AND MAKE ARRESTS. THAT IS LONG OVERDUE, IN MY VIEW. THE DANGER TO EVERYTHING WE HAVE ACHIEVED IN AMERICA IS TOO GREAT FOR US TO DO OTHERWISE. THIS ACTION BY POLICE IS APPROPRIATE, AND I WANT TO SEE LEGAL CHANGES MADE THAT WOULD TAKE AWAY THE GRAY AREA ON WHAT SHOULD BE "ALLOWED SPEECH." THE SAYING THAT "WORDS CAN NEVER HURT ME" IS ABSOLUTELY FALSE, A LIE PROPAGATED BY BULLIES, AND HARMS DONE IN THAT WAY SHOULD HAVE CONSEQUENCES.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67280174  

Cornell student held over threats to Jewish classmates

Published 3 hours ago [NOVEMBER 1, 2023]

By Brandon Drenon

BBC News

 

Related Topics -- Israel-Gaza war

 

PHOTOGRAPH -- Cornell's campus featuring a building, IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES

 

Police in New York have arrested a Cornell University student who is accused of posting violent threats to Jewish classmates over the weekend.

 

In a series of posts to a website called Greekrank, a user with the name "hamas" threatened to shoot Jewish students at the prestigious university.

 

Patrick Dai, 21, is in his third year at the university.

 

Police say he made threats to bring a gun to campus and rape Jewish women and "behead any Jewish babies".

 

Mr Dai has been charged by the FBI with posting threats to kill or injure another using interstate communications.

 

The crime is punishable by up to five years in prison. He is scheduled to appear in court in Syracuse on Wednesday.

 

Officials say he posted that he planned to attack a university building that housed a kosher cafeteria and is next to the Cornell Jewish Center.

 

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she was "committed to combatting hate and bias wherever it rears its ugly head".

 

The Cornell Daily Sun, the college newspaper, first reported on a series of antisemitic comments left on the website Greekrank.

 

The platform, which is not affiliated with the university but is used by many of its students, covers fraternity and sorority life on several campuses.

 

One post from the commenter named "hamas" was titled "if i see another jew".

 

The post used slurs to refer to Jewish people and threatened violence, stalking and rape against Jewish men, women and babies.

 

The user threatened to bring a gun to campus to kill Jewish people.

 

In a statement, Cornell University said: "We remain shocked by and condemn these horrific, antisemitic threats and believe they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

 

The university said that police will maintain a heightened security presence on campus in the coming days.

 

Molly Goldstein, co-president of the Cornell Center for Jewish Living, told CNN: "Jewish students on campus right now are unbelievably terrified for their lives.

 

"I never would have expected this to happen on my university campus."

 

The threats against Cornell's Jewish community arrive amid reports of rising antisemitic incidents around the country.

 

Speaking to a congressional committee on Tuesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers that antisemitic abuse was reaching "historic levels" in the US.

 

"Our statistics would indicate that for a group that represents only about 2.4% of the American public, they account for something like 60% of all religious-based hate crimes," Mr Wray said of Jewish Americans, noting that the figure had probably risen since the Israel-Gaza conflict erupted on 7 October.

 

On Monday, the Biden administration announced that it was working to combat antisemitism and other hate speech on campuses by increasing communications with local, state and federal authorities.

 

Responding to a surge in hate crimes, Ms Hochul, who visited Cornell early this week, said $50m (£41m) will be made available for police to help prevent and solve such crimes, as well as $25m in security funding for at-risk community groups and cultural centres.

 

"Let me be clear: we cannot allow hate and intimidation to become normalised," Ms Hochul said on Tuesday.

 

The Israel-Gaza conflict has increased tensions among students on US campuses.

 

Related Topics

Israel-Gaza war

Universities

United States Capitol

Antisemitism

 

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