How to Fight ICE & Norm Finkelstein's Hope for the Future

I just want to close by what this means

for Gaza. I mean, I think in some ways

it's obvious, but I want you to address

it. Uh, Israel has seized what 56 58% of

Gaza, which is, I mean, already one of

the most populated spots on the planet.

It's blocking any kind of reconstruction

aid as I mentioned in the introduction.

Uh as you right humanitarian aid is at

uh subsistence level at best. No clean

water, no medical facilities. Uh people

are not living in dwellings. What what

is what's going to happen?

>> But there are I look I've always said

because I'm careful about this out of

deference to my parents suffering.

There's no silver lining in a h in a in

a genocide. There's no silver lining.

So, I'm not going to look for a silver

lining.

I'll just say in addition,

we should pay attention

to phenomena like the Mamani phenomena

that was a huge blow

to Israel and its supporters.

Uh and we have to in my opinion as you

remember Chay Gavar saying in the 1960s

one two three many Vietnams. [snorts]

Well right now we need one two three

many mammies on the local level strike

while the iron is hot and try to get

elected into office people who are

unequivocal on the question of Israel

and Gaza and the West Bank obviously. Uh

so that's something to do. It's

something to do. Uh one of the things

that struck me

I'll just mention too because this may

seem far a field but I don't believe

it's far a field at all. I've been

reading a lot of Charles Sumner the

great abolitionist

who was really a person of extraordinary

intellect and extraordinary character

and a number of things come to mind. I

was reading one of his speeches last

night

where he says, "Everything looked

hopeless for the struggle against

slavery until he said, "We finally won

the battle for free speech." was a very

deep insight for me coming reading it in

him because he said there was a period

where states had successfully

successfully

illegalized abolition societies.

So you had lost the right to free

speech. But he said over a decade we

struggled the abolitionist movement we

struggled and he said we've won the

right to free speech. And for him

this was a turning point. He said now

victory was inevitable.

Why was it inevitable? Because he said

we can match any one of their arguments

when it comes to free speech. Once we

have they have to confront us in the

battle for public opinion,

we are going to win. That's why they

crushed the free speech.

And to me, beginning in the spring of

2024, when I met with students and I

spoke and I talked to audiences, I kept

saying, "You have to rest back that

right to free speech."

Because if we win that right,

we're going to win. We're going to win

the battle. They have nothing to stand

on anymore. So that to me is another

lesson.

One of the things we have to do now in

addition to one, two, three, many

manies. One of the things we have to do

is we have to put at the top of the

agenda to win back that right to free

speech. What did Manny do yesterday, his

first act of office? He cancelled the

IRA definition, the International

Holocaust Remembrance Association

definition of anti-semitism, which was

just a writ to cancel free speech.

That's what IRA was. First act, cancel

IRA, annul it. It's over. You know, that

was a good victory because our strongest

weapon right now is free speech. That's

why the Bill Aman's

the

uh the whole crowd of them the bill

Jewish supremacist billionaires on the

upper east side that's why their

objective was to crush on college

campuses the right to free speech

because they know that if you have that

free speech they lose they lose. So I

thought it was a deep insight by Sumar

when he said it looked hopeless. It

looked hopeless. It looked hopeless

until he said we had won the right to

speak because he said from any angle

we're going to win. They have no leg to

stand on. Another interesting thing to

watch him is

in 1850

uh the US signed into law the fugitive

state slave law. He didn't consider it a

law because he said it was illegal under

the constitution. He meaning sum. So he

refers to it as the fugitive slave act

because he thought it was illegal under

the constitution. In any case it was

interesting to read because he said he

was very eloquent. He was mesmerizing.

You know, back in those days, people in

Congress, I know you're gonna find it

hard to believe, they gave three-hour

speeches. They gave three-hour speeches.

You know what?

Sumner never looked at notes,

>> memorized everything. No, it was a very

impressive standard. I was humbled. I

was humbled. I did not recognize

the degree of erudition,

the command of language back then in the

US. In any case,

Sner said was asked once in Congress by

one of the southern states, I think it

was Virginia, the person from Virginia,

he said,

"Will you implement the Fugitive Slave

Act?"

And he replied,

"Is thy servant a dog that he will carry

out such an act?" And that created a

huge halaloo. "Is thy servant a dog that

he will carry out such an act?" Meaning

Sumar was advocating

he has an oath of office to uphold the

constitution.

and was now summoner saying he was not

going to uphold the law. So create and

he gave it one of his most famous

speeches and he dwelled on it and

dwelled on it and dwelled on it. The

fugitive slave act and you know they

called those who enforced the slave

hunters uh they called them blood

hounds. Fred Frederick Douglas called

them biped blood hounds.

Why do I mention all this? Because that

fugitive slave law

is in the fugitive slave law says states

have to give up runaway slaves who have

fled to their states. So somebody flees

from South Carolina to uh uh Virginia,

not South Carolina to Massachusetts,

Massachusetts has to give up the slave.

Okay.

And that fugitive slave law was our ice.

>> Yeah,

>> it's our ice. It's exactly the same.

Biped blood hounds.

And they summon the wherewithal

some with grand audition going through

the constitution to try to explain why.

But at the end of the day, with all due

regard for him, a lawyer is a lawyer.

They find they make a case. You can make

the same case as he made not to enforce

the fugitive slave law. I'm sure you can

make the same case uh to not enforce ICE

and not give up these people. He made

basically the same arguments. He said,

"You have a right to a trial by jury."

He said, "A slave has the right to a

trial." Well, then so does an

undocumented worker have the right. So

there's a lot that we could still do

know and there's actually in my opinion

speaking humbly because I'm only now

reading this. I'm too old to read what I

would love to have read Sumner's

collected works run to some 20 volumes

and I would really love to have but I'm

not read them. That's not going to

happen. Um there's a lot to learn from

our own history and you know what's the

most important thing to learn? When Sar

was asked

what's needed now, what do we need now?

You know what his answer was?

Backbone,

backbone

and more backbone.

He said, "We need three things. Backbone

and backbone and more backbone." And

that's the bottom line. Backbone. If we

have the backbone and we have the

numbers in our sight, we can win. I I do

believe that. I I don't say these

things. These are not uh exhortations

to raise the hopes and spirits of the

masses. I really believe it. I really

believe it. The biggest challenge now

for Mdani obviously he needs competence

and obviously

he needs uh efficiency there's no

question but the most the biggest

challenge is very is my opinion it's the

last thing he said in his speech I wish

he had emphasized it more but it did

come at the very end he said this is not

[laughter] the end this is the beginning

we've got to organize

If we organize and organize and organize

and we have backbone and more backbone

and Mark Bak, it could happen. I don't

know how far he can get.

You know, these people in power.

I'll be I won't be surprised if they

blow up a subway tunnel and blame it on

him. No, serious buddy. When you got

that kind of money, you're not giving it

up. You're not giving it up. If Mr. M

Donnie, I don't know. But if Mr. Mani

thinks he's going to seduce them with

his smile, that's not going to happen.

And they don't really fear him.

They fear they fear an energized

population. They want hopeless,

despondent

people for the poor to be hopeless and

despondent.

>> [snorts]

>> So that's what they fear that this these

people are entertaining

hope

that they may get a piece of the pie. So

with a combination of organize,

organize, organize and backbone,

backbone, backbone, we could do things.

We could do things. I'm not going to say

maybe I'll be wrong and maybe the there

are ways to undo

the horror that was inflicted on Gaza. I

in this case you I'll use the cliche

I'll be glad to be proven wrong.

>> Great. Thank thanks Norm.

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