A group of self-proclaimed “democratic socialists” announced in a tweet on Thursday that they will hold an anti-Israel rally on Saturday at 2pm at Market Square in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The announcement of the rally comes as Israel has repeatedly had to defend itself from attacks throughout the week. Hundreds of rockets have been fired at Israeli cities, almost each day, by pro-Palestine forces. The rockets have struck businesses, homes, and buildings throughout various cities.
A graphic presented in the tweet sent out by the Knoxville chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America states, “Take a stand against Israeli aggression, ethnic cleansing, and illegal occupation of Jerusalem and the rest of Palestine.”
THIS SATURDAY AT 2PM, MARKET SQUARE pic.twitter.com/zYSxUJtnu2
— Knoxville DSA 🌹 (@KnoxvilleDSA) May 13, 2021
The unproven claims made by the group are not the first statements made in opposition to Israel. A glimpse at the Twitter account of the group that is organizing the rally shows multiple posts that demonstrate hostility towards the Israeli people.
“Free Palestine,” one tweet reads.
Free Palestine.
— DSA (@DemSocialists) May 12, 2021
Additionally, the group retweeted a tweet offered by Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14) criticizing President Joe Biden, a member of her own political party, for stating “Israel has a right to defend itself.”
“Blanket statements like these with little context or acknowledgement of what precipitated this cycle of violence – namely, the expulsions of Palestinians and attacks on Al Aqsa – dehumanize Palestinians & imply the US will look the other way at human rights violations. It’s wrong,” Rep. Ocasio-Cortez wrote.
Blanket statements like these w/ little context or acknowledgement of what precipitated this cycle of violence – namely, the expulsions of Palestinians and attacks on Al Aqsa – dehumanize Palestinians & imply the US will look the other way at human rights violations. It’s wrong. https://t.co/afCgoGdiMG
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 12, 2021
President Biden and his administration has offered little support to Israel. Instead, Biden said he hoped to see “de-escalation.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to the Palestine President on Wednesday and expressed “his belief that Palestinians and Israelis deserve equal measures of freedom, dignity, security and prosperity,” according to a statement released by the Department of State.
At least 7 individuals have been killed and more than a dozen have been injured in Israel throughout the course of these attacks.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for the Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Image “Knoxville Democratic Socialists of America” by KnoxvilleDSA.
You deserve the government you elect…these are the words of Thomas Jefferson. The people of Knoxville have allowed this to happen and even support it! They deserve the government they have elected!‼️
I’ve lived my entire life in Knoxville (over 60 years). It wasn’t that long ago that there was a huge annual ‘I Love Jesus’ parade and a solid Republican majority. Now all that is gone – the University of Tennessee has become a cancer that has infected the entire city. The once conservative city now has two socialist on the city council, a huge annual gay parade, and the city council has voted (unanimously) to give $1 million dollars for black reparations. I now live just outside of city limits in the county – however, it is only a matter of time before this cancer spreads and I’ll have to move again.
Wow! Is that so? That seems too good to be true. Leftist influence in Knoxville, however, is nothing new. Over fifty years ago, the police arrested over 250 protesters during May of 1970 to protest Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia during a Billy Graham rally that Nixon attended. During the 1960’s, several protests against the anti-male draft law occurred on the Main Campus against General Hershey. The UT system abolished compulsory ROTC (which was also anti-male like the draft law) in an unsuccessful attempt to trim the sales of antiwar activism. During the 1940’s, the Republicans who served East Tennessee, while not leftist, were still well to the left of the Reagan/Goldwater types by their opposition to draconian increases in the draft during the Korean War, support for federal anti-lynching laws during the 1940’s, and support for civil rights laws between 1957 and 1960, and a refusal by the two Republican Congresspersons in 1956 to sign the pro-segregation Southern Manifesto. These two Congresspersons not only survived, but thrived. Knoxville, despite its Republicanism, repudiated Barry Goldwater in favor of Lyndon Johnson (better than Roosevelt ever did in Knoxville and Knox County!). When I lived in Knoxville between 1978 and 1983, the campus area had a mixture of liberal and conservative students and faculty representing all of the political spectrum. My neighborhood of Fort Sanders was a counter-culture hippy enclave back then when housing was still cheap.
My point, Dean, is that the progressivism that you deride in Knoxville is not as new as you think. East Tennessee has always had a rebellious streak even before the Civil War to the rest of the Southeast.
the creature on the right says it all in one picture
Sad, knoxville used to be a nice place to live and enjoy but not any longer. It’s leaders are becoming anti Christian, anti American, depraved and standing against all that is good, true, and pure. Just another casualty of a democrat society.
This is the face of true racism.