 Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order that would substantially curtail freedom of speech potentially and This is being done under the guise of protecting people from hatred and bigotry Which I know is ironic coming from Donald Trump, but nonetheless here we are. So what is this about? this is about Israel and Palestinian human rights and individuals who choose to stand up for Palestinians on college campuses So as Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman of the New York Times report President Trump plans to sign an executive order on Wednesday Targeting what he sees as anti-Semitism on college campuses by threatening to withhold federal money from educational institutions that fail to combat Discrimination three administration officials said on Tuesday the order will effectively interpret Judaism as a race or Nationality not just a religion to prompt a federal law penalizing colleges and universities Deemed to be shirking their responsibility to foster an open climate for minority students in recent years The boycott divestment and sanctions or BDS movement against Israel has roiled some campuses Leaving some Jewish students feeling unwelcome or attacked in signing the order Mr. Trump will use his executive power to take action where Congress has not Essentially replicating bipartisan legislation that has stalled on Capitol Hill for several years Prominent Democrats have joined Republicans in promoting such a policy change to combat anti-Semitism as well as the boycott Israel movement But critics complained that such a policy could be used to stifle free speech and legitimate opposition to Israel's policies toward Palestinians in the name of fighting anti-Semitism the definition of anti-Semitism to be used in the order matches the one used by The State Department and by dozens of other nations But it has been criticized as too open-ended and sweeping for instance It describes as anti-Semitic denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination and offers as an example of such behavior Claiming that the existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavor Yusuf Manair the executive director of the US campaign for Palestinian rights said Mr. Trump was trying to silence Palestinian rights activism by equating opposition to Israeli treatment of Palestinians with anti-Semitism So this is a literal free speech issue where the federal government is penalizing individuals who choose to engage in a particular political activity that they don't like that they disapprove of and He's doing this in a very disingenuous way by trying to conflate advocacy for Palestinian human rights and criticism of Israel with all anti-Semitism But what he fails to realize or does realize but doesn't care is that criticisms of Israel are Disaggregated from anti-Semitism when people call for Palestinian human rights to be respected. They're not criticizing Jewish people They're criticizing the government's actions in the state of Israel to very different things But since the issue itself is nuanced this allows people like Donald Trump to obfuscate and curtail freedom of speech because he has a political agenda and It's disgusting and for all the right-wingers who criticize Democrats for weaponizing identity politics This is the weaponization of identity politics, but they're doing it to hurt marginalized people namely Palestinians now what Donald Trump is saying as to why he's signing this now is because he has no choice Basically, he's compelled to sign this executive order because Congress refuses to take action, but ask yourself this is Action really necessary given that 27 states have already adopted Anti-BDS legislation I mean is the issue really that urgent and on top of that 14 states are considering similar Legislation and the impact that this has had on free speech has already been chilling But Donald Trump wants to go even further So let me remind you if you don't already know a Texas school teacher was figured for refusing to sign a pro-Israel loyalty pledge and Yes, this is in America not Israel a Texas city refused to give aid to victims of hurricane Harvey unless they pledged to not boycott Israel and multiple federal courts have already blocked these types of anti-BDS laws because they're unconstitutional pretty brazenly so But regardless they're still being adopted by other states in spite of how unconstitutional they are now even large companies are Trying to silence their employees that speak out on behalf of Palestinian human rights just last year CNN fired Mark Lamont Hill for speaking out in favor of Palestinians So this is a threat to free speech so if you hear anyone talking about how much they care about free speech and They're using SJWs on college campuses as the threat but not talking about this people like Dave Rubin and Tim Poole Understand that they are revealing their true colors. They don't actually care about real threats to the First Amendment The government imposing what you can or can't say on you It is absolutely not just unconstitutional But it's morally repugnant because people who support BDS They're doing so for altruistic reasons because there's no other way to get Israel to stop their illegal Occupation of Palestine so they're using a tactic that ended apartheid in South Africa with hopes that that will put pressure on the Israeli government not Jewish people but the Israeli government and and you know the apartheid that's going on in Israel currently But regardless it doesn't matter what the context is Regardless of nuance if you speak out against Israel You will be deemed anti-semitic According to Donald Trump here and the State Department's definition of anti-semitism now That's not to say that anti-semitism isn't a threat because there has been an increase of anti-semitism And this is something that should worry everyone right? But Donald Trump is targeting the wrong people here if you're truly concerned with anti-semitism What we need to do is target these far-right groups the fascists who are increasingly You know gaining more influence in the United States in other European countries. That's where the anti-semitism is coming from It's not coming from pro-peace activists because a lot of people who stand up for Palestinian human rights are Jewish Citizens or they are in the state of Israel So it's preposterous to say that any and all criticisms of Israel is tantamount to anti-semitism Because if you apply that standard to any other country, I mean think of the implication So if you say that any and all criticism of the Saudi government and their various human rights abuses is tantamount to Islamophobia Well, then we can't speak out about their human rights violations and how they literally execute LGBTQ people Or if we say that any and all criticism of the Chinese government is tantamount to racism I guess we can't speak out on behalf of all the protesters in Hong Kong who are fighting for democracy Demanding democracy. Do you understand why this is a slippery slope in a way? And I get that slippery slope is a logical fallacy But when it comes to the precedent that our government sets Really a slippery slope is something that you can't argue because once we start doing this Then understand that when we start questioning, you know the weapons deals that we continue to sell to Saudi Arabia Well, if the government doesn't like that we're speaking out against that then they can say well If you criticize Saudi Arabia, then you're Islamophobic and you hate Arabs Like this is a dangerous dangerous way to frame political discourse Like if we disagree with the actions of our government and another government abroad We should be able to vocalize our concerns without the fear that there will be repercussions for our actions That's the crux of free speech. That's what the First Amendment was created for but here we see Donald Trump brazenly violating the First Amendment of the Constitution and Probably not very many people will pay attention including mainstream media outlets like CNN who have fired their own employees For speaking out on behalf of Palestinians. So overall, I don't expect this to get much traction in mainstream media But nonetheless, we still have to talk about this because this is absolutely dangerous We're already losing civil liberties and civil rights in this country, you know, we already have the government spying on us We're doing torture. So we've already eroded the fourth and eighth amendments to our Constitution Let's not allow the First Amendment to also be, you know, taken away from us with absolutely no fight Let's actually push back and fight for what's right because those who are on the side of BDS They're taking the right stand just as people who were against apartheid in South Africa We're taking the right stand and have the right strategy to put pressure on a government who was oppressing its people I just hope that people speak out, you know on this issue if they truly care about free speech But I suspect individuals like Dave Rubin will remain silent because you know They only talk about a free speech when it benefits them They don't want to talk about it if it runs counter to their anti SJW narrative Mike is a total loser. So don't hit the subscribe button, okay? And whatever you do folks do not hit the notification bell either Mike treats me so unfairly