MSNBC’s Joy Reid opened up Monday's The ReidOut with an unhinged monologue directed at those who are critical of the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic demonstrations on college campuses as she condemned those who seek an end to the illegal trespassing and compared the demonstrators to those who marched for civil rights back in the 60s.
Reid claimed, “The government and university presidents want you to know that the right to protest is a farce. You can be tear gassed, shot with rubber bullets, tackled and thrown to the ground, and arrested. At Emory University, a shocking scene unfolded as Atlanta police and Georgia state troopers arrested protesters and released chemical agents on campus.”
Explaining a video that was being shown, Reid continued, “At least two videos have emerged of Emory professors getting arrested. This is Professor Noëlle McAfee who will join us in a few moments. The use of police force against these protesters should alarm you, and it mirrors the violence that is happening in Israel, with police responding to anti-war protesters there as well.”
Of course, Reid omitted that McAfee was arrested for disorderly conduct and not simply for being at a protest.
Moving right along, Reid went all in on the idea that young people must be taken seriously, not because they happen to have anything compelling to say, but because they are young, “Why would the state line up against our students who are the future? Especially young people like these, who are at some of the most prestigious universities in America, doing exactly what one is supposed to do in college, which is to think critically, stand up for what they believe in, and demand a better world.”
No. First of all, they are not thinking critically, they are simply regurgitating what their professors tell them. Second, if what you stand for is bigotry, hatred, and historical and geopolitical ignorance, you should not stand up for what you believe in, but repent instead.
Reid also wants to claim Israelis are being arrested for the same thing to neutralize allegations of anti-Semitism, but Israelis are protesting to bring home the hostages even if it means Hamas survives. These students are not doing that. In one of the photos Reid showed, someone was holding a sign that read "Zionism is ≠ not anti-Semitism,” but embarrassing double negatives aside, according to the State Department, under presidents of both parties, it is because anti-Zionism isn’t dislike of Benjamin Netanyahu, the current war, or Israeli administration of the West Bank, but the belief that Israel needs to be eradicated.
Somehow, Reid’s rantings were about to get even worse, “Students who are speaking out against atrocities they are seeing abroad, a war where Palestinians are getting killed in air strikes in areas that the Israeli military designated as safe zones.”
The fact that safe zones exist is proof of the protestor’s ignorance and lack of critical thinking. That Israel won’t let Hamas abuse them isn’t an indictment of Israel.
Still, Reid rolled on, “They're watching children starve while workers bringing desperately needed food are killed by sniper drones. Potential war crimes so appalling that Israel fears its leaders could soon face arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court.
Israel fears the ICC not because it has committed war crimes, but because it doesn’t trust the ICC to be impartial. Still, Reid finally got to the heart of the matter, “These actions are what these young people are protesting. As they did in reaction to Vietnam and the Iraq War, and during the Civil Rights Movement and against South African apartheid.”
There it is. There are no more legitimate civil rights battles to fight, so teaming up with anti-Semites is a small price to pay to satisfy their “Selma envy.”
Here is a transcript for the April 29 show:
MSNBC The ReidOut
4/29/2024
7:05 PM ET
JOY REID: The government and university presidents want you to know that the right to protest is a farce. You can be tear gassed, shot with rubber bullets, tackled and thrown to the ground, and arrested. At Emory University, a shocking scene unfolded as Atlanta police and Georgia state troopers arrested protesters and released chemical agents on campus.
At least two videos have emerged of Emory professors getting arrested. This is professor Noëlle McAfee who will join us in a few moments. The use of police force against these protesters should alarm you, and it mirrors the violence that is happening in Israel, with police responding to anti-war protesters there as well.
You have to wonder why. Why would the state line up against our students who are the future? Especially young people like these, who are at some of the most prestigious universities in America, doing exactly what one is supposed to do in college, which is to think critically, stand up for what they believe in, and demand a better world.
Students who are speaking out against atrocities they are seeing abroad, a war where Palestinians are getting killed in air strikes in areas that the Israeli military designated as safe zones. They're watching children starve while workers bringing desperately needed food are killed by sniper drones. Potential war crimes so appalling that Israel fears its leaders could soon face arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court. These actions are what these young people are protesting. As they did in reaction to Vietnam and the Iraq War, and during the Civil Rights Movement and against South African apartheid.
