#noah hurowitz

[allatariel]

Call your reps and tell them to vote NO on HR 9495 so they aren't labeled as "terrorist organizations" by bigots in power

[xtruss]

Statue of Liberty Shut Down by Protesters Calling for Gaza Cease-fire

— By Noah Hurowitz | New York Magazine | November 6, 2023

Jewish Voice for Peace protesters gather at the Statue of Liberty on Monday, November 6. Photo: Stephanie Keith

Hundreds of activists staged a sit-in at the Statue of Liberty on Monday afternoon, demanding an immediate end to the Israel-Hamas war.

Dressed uniformly in black, the protesters with Jewish Voice for Peace gathered on the pedestal shortly before 1 p.m. when they dropped massive banners with calls for a cease-fire and other slogans, such as “The Whole World Is Watching” and “Never Again for Anyone.” The group sang “Cease-fire now” and occupied the national monument for about 20 minutes before dispersing. The protest, which the group said included more than 500 people, continued on a ferry headed back to Manhattan.

“We came to the Statue of Liberty today because we are inspired by the words of our Jewish ancestor, Emma Lazarus, that are etched into the monument,” said Jay Saper, an JVP organizer. “Those words compel us to take action to support the Palestinians of Gaza yearning to be free. And we will continue to take action until we bring about a cease-fire and until Palestinians are free.”

U.S. Park Police officers speak to a Jewish Voice for Peace organizer. Photo: Noah Hurowitz

Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani said he joined the protest as a “New Yorker of conscious.”

“This is one of the greatest symbols of New York City and our supposed commitments to universal values of liberty and freedom and respite,” he said. “And yet what we’ve seen is our country allowing for a genocide to take place.”

Mamdani, a socialist representing Queens, has protested across the city over the past month and was arrested alongside a colleague during a similar demonstration outside the Brooklyn home of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

“How many children have to be killed until we can finally see a position of cease-fire from our White House and federally elected officials?”

Activists with Jewish Voice for Peace rallied in front of the Statue of Liberty on Monday to call for a cease-fire in Gaza. Credit: Dave Sanders for The New York Times

The Statue of Liberty protest is the latest high-profile action by the Jewish-led group that has long organized against Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. On October 27, they led thousands to occupy Grand Central Terminal during the Friday rush hour, bringing the transit hub to a standstill.

Monday’s action was planned in secret with the mostly young activists blending in with sightseers as they made their way patiently through security in time to board the 11 a.m. ferry from lower Manhattan to Liberty Island. They quickly scarfed down breakfast sandwiches and chatted among themselves with a happy, nervous excitement. “This is the most touristy thing I’ve ever done,” one young man said to a friend as he disembarked, clutching a green foam Lady Liberty crown in his hands. On the island, more small groups convened, taking last-minute trips to the bathroom and taking headcount.

Activists from Jewish Voice for Peace return to the ferry after occupying the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Photograph: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

With attention-grabbing acts of civil disobedience, Jewish Voice for Peace has taken center stage in protest efforts to pressure the U.S. to stop Israel’s military campaign against Hamas since the militant group massacred more than 1,400 people in Israel on October 7. Since then, more than 10,000 people have been killed in Gaza, a majority of them women and children, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry. Israel’s self-described siege of the enclave has cut off approximately 2.3 million Palestinians from supplies of water, fuel, and food. Jewish Voice for Peace describes the ongoing campaign as “unfolding genocide.”

The group said it is trying to intensify pressure on the Biden administration to curb Israel’s war. “We are outraged that over 10,000 Palestinians to date have been killed, over 4,000 children, with U.S. funding, with U.S. bombs, and with U.S. protection from international accountability,” said Elena Stein, the director of organizing strategy.

So far, the Biden administration has pressed Israel for a “pause” to allow greater humanitarian relief to enter Gaza and to buy more time for negotiations to secure the release of 240 hostages held by Hamas. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuffed the request over the weekend as ground troops pressed deeper into Gaza.

As the death toll in Gaza has skyrocketed, New York City in particular has become a crucible for both sides of the fight with numerous protests across the five boroughs by pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli activists, as well as bitter exchanges on college campuses and in Times Square.

Protests at the Statue of Liberty are relatively rare given the high security at the site, but the monument has drawn dissenters since its unveiling in 1886, beginning with women’s suffragists. The statue continued to draw small groups of protesters, including a three-day occupation by antiwar Vietnam vets in 1971 and a sit-in at the statue’s crown in 1979 by 40 Muslim students against the shah of Iran. (A year later, Croatian nationalists set off a bomb after hours in a museum.) The most recent protest until now was on July 4, 2018, when an activist scaled the base of the monument to protest the Trump administration’s family-separation policies at the border. Eight people were arrested after a four-hour standoff and the evacuation of thousands of tourists.

When asked if the protest took them by surprise, one U.S. Park Police officer said with a chuckle, “To put it mildly, yes.”

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Noah Hurowitz at The Intercept:

Donald Trump has made no secret of his desire for revenge.

On the campaign trail, he joked about being a dictator on “day one” in office, pledged to jail journalists, and threatened to retaliate against political foes who he felt had wronged him. Now, just days after he secured a second term in the White House, Congress is already moving to hand a resurgent Trump administration a powerful cudgel that it could wield against ideological opponents in civil society. Up for a potential fast-track vote next week in the House of Representatives, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, also known as H.R. 9495, would grant the secretary of the Treasury Department unilateral authority to revoke the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit deemed to be a “terrorist supporting organization.” The resolution has already prompted strong opposition from a wide range of civil society groups, with more than 100 organizations signing an open letter issued by the American Civil Liberties Union in September.

[...]

No Evidence Needed

Under the bill, the Treasury secretary would issue notice to a group of intent to designate it as a “terrorist supporting organization.” Once notified, an organization would have the right to appeal within 90 days, after which it would be stripped of its 501(c)(3) status, named for the statute that confers tax exemptions on recognized nonprofit groups. The law would not require officials to explain the reason for designating a group, nor does it require the Treasury Department to provide evidence. “It basically empowers the Treasury secretary to target any group it wants to call them a terror supporter and block their ability to be a nonprofit,” said Ryan Costello, policy director at the National Iranian American Council Action, which opposes the law. “So that would essentially kill any nonprofit’s ability to function. They couldn’t get banks to service them, they won’t be able to get donations, and there’d be a black mark on the organization, even if it cleared its name.”

The bill could also imperil the lifesaving work of nongovernmental organizations operating in war zones and other hostile areas where providing aid requires coordination with groups designated as terrorists by the U.S., according to a statement issued last year by the Charity & Security Network. “Charitable organizations, especially those who work in settings where designated terrorist groups operate, already undergo strict internal due diligence and risk mitigation measures,” the group wrote. “As the prohibition on material support to foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) already exists, and is applicable to U.S. nonprofits, this proposed legislation is redundant and unnecessary.” If it proceeds, the bill will go to the House floor in a “suspension vote,” a fast-track procedure that limits debate and allows a bill to bypass committees and move on to the Senate as long as it receives a two-thirds supermajority in favor. [...]

Pro-Palestine Groups at Risk

In the past year, accusations of support for terrorism have been freely lobbed at student protesters, aid workers in Gaza, and even mainstream publications like the New York Times. In unscrupulous hands, the powers of the proposed law could essentially turn the Treasury Department into an enforcement arm of Canary Mission and other hard-line groups dedicated to doxxing and smearing their opponents as terrorists. With very few guardrails in place, the new bill would give broad new powers to the federal government to act on such accusations — and not just against pro-Palestine groups, according to Costello. “The danger is much broader than just groups that work on foreign policy,” said Costello. “It could target major liberal funders who support Palestinian solidarity and peace groups who engage in protest. But it could also theoretically be used to target pro-choice groups, and I could see it being used against environmental groups.

HR9495 needs to be opposed, as this civil liberties-violating bill could broadly define any organization a “terrorist supporting organization”, such as pro-reproductive rights/abortion access, pro-LGBTQ+, pro-Palestine, and progressive groups such as Indivisible.

[andrewtheprophet]

Protesters Calling for Gaza Cease-fire: Revelation 11

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR UPDATED NOV. 6, 2023 Statue of Liberty Shut Down by Protesters Calling for Gaza Cease-fire By Noah Hurowitz Jewish Voice for Peace protesters gather at the Statue of Liberty on Monday, November 6. Photo: Stephanie Keith Hundreds of activists staged a sit-in at the Statue of Liberty on Monday afternoon, demanding an immediate end to the Israel-Hamas war. Dressed uniformly in…

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

In a scene that’s become all too familiar this year, a car rammed through a group of Black Lives Matter protesters in New York’s Times Square on Thursday night, hitting several pedestrians and cyclists.

That news would have been grim enough, but as reporters and internet sleuths looked into the attack, which was widely shared on social media, they found a connection between the car and NYPD officers who were at Times Square that night.

Black Lives Matter protesters weren’t the only ones in Times Square that evening. Anti-BLM protesters wearing MAGA gear showed up to counter-protest. At one point, NYPD officers encircled the handful of counter-protesters, forming a human wall between them and the BLM demonstrators.

Shortly after the attack, rumors began circulating that the police may have been involved.

On Friday morning, New York-based journalist Noah Hurowitz shared a video that appeared to show NYPD officers escorting at least two pro-Trump counter-protesters into a black Ford Taurus. Not long after the car takes off, the crowd can be heard yelling.

[prolesmoneysex]

I know how to end the drug war! Privatize law enforcement!! Law enforcement to attack drug dealers because the privatized law enforcements client became an addict.. Or, the privatized law enforcement means war but people aint paying to end the drug war or maybe people are.. 

[no-terfs-no-swerfs-no-fascists]

People want the nazis out!

Alright but can we talk about how Greece's far right neo-nazi party Golden Dawn, with over 400,000 voters was charged as a criminal organisation and was kicked out of parlement today?

[guncelkal]

The story of El Chapo's escape from prison in a laundry cart and his triumphant return to Sinaloa

The story of El Chapo’s escape from prison in a laundry cart and his triumphant return to Sinaloa

The cover of El Chapo: The Untold Story of the World's Most Infamous Drug Lord Noah Hurowitz In 2001, the Sinaloa cartel kingpin known as El Chapo escaped from Mexico's Puente Grande maximum-security prison. He is now serving a life sentence on Colorado. This is an excerpt from El Chapo: The Untold Story of the World's Most Infamous Drug Lord, by Noah Hurowitz. The book is available now. See…

[youressentialsblog]

The Untold Story Of The World’s Most Infamous Drug Lord’ – CBS DC

The Untold Story Of The World’s Most Infamous Drug Lord’ – CBS DC

(CBS Local)– At one time, Joaquín Guzmán aka “El Chapo” was one of the most powerful drug traffickers in the world. After escaping jail multiple times, the former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel was sentenced to prison for life in 2019 for criminal charges stemming from his involvement in the drug trafficking business in Mexico. Photo Credit: Simon & Schuster Writer and author Noah Hurowitz spent…

[jasoncanty01]

Golden Dawn: the rise and fall of Greece’s neo-Nazis

[elkue]

NYPD was failing to provide complaint forms until a reporter visited every single precinct to get action

“The city agency tasked with investigating complaints against the NYPD plans to streamline its mail-in system after an investigation by the Village Voice found officers at dozens of police precincts were unable or unwilling to provide complaint forms when asked.”

Report for the Village Voice by Liam Quigley and Noah Hurowitz.

https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/03/06/you-can-finally-complain-about-the-police-at-a-precinct/

[onemanbandstand]

The Closing of DNAinfo/Gothamist

The sudden and pointed shuttered of the DNAinfo and the entire Gothamist network hits me on personal, professional, and political levels. LAist was the first blog I ever wrote for, I started writing for them at 20 in college in DC. They put out a call for movie reviewers, I wrote in, they let me write review movies but also write about the Obama-Clinton primary, video games like Passage, a bizarre ten minute game I still think about regularly, the lack of kosher hot dogs at Dodger Stadium, whatever I could think of. All of that’s gone now, which sucks. But beyond nice memories being destroyed in the archives, what a fucking travesty. The work Noah Hurowitz at DNAinfo was doing on crime, just to name one beat, was fucking stellar. I learned about truck drivers abusing the streets and the cops letting it happen, about real estate deals, about spice hitting Myrtle-Broadway, about what was happening not only in Bed-Stuy but in parts of city I’ve barely been in. It was stellar journalism that was clearly working, shuttering it can only be seen as an act of intimidation. There are so many wars being fought in media, many of them without the burden shared among all workers. Men like Joe Ricketts and Leon Wieseltier have lorded their power over writers and reporters for years, and while aspects of racism and class haven’t been in the forefront of discussions about media environments in recent months they’re as prevalent as they ever were. Those of us who have done the least fighting in these other battles are the weak links in the human chain surrounding the next Ricketts bulldozer. It can only happen as a unified push, I believe this now more than ever.

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

And the Jeff Bezos dick pic commentary has begun

It's probably best that you're sitting down for this.

The National Enquirer threatened to publish Jeff Bezos' dick pics if he didn't rein in his personal investigator, and in response the Amazon CEO posted about it on Medium. AMI later claimed it had "acted lawfully" and would investigate Bezos' allegations. 

Taking a page out of Alexander Hamilton's revenge book, he published a lengthy post about the incident and owned up to the nudes he sent, "rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail." 

Once Bezos tweeted a link to the post, it was only a matter of time before the dick pic commentary began.

SEE ALSO: Jeff Bezos says National Enquirer threatened to reveal his nude photos

Some couldn't get over the bizarre scenario.  

Bezos Hamilton’d himself. Truly, 2019 is off to a hell of a start.

— Aaron Mehta (@AaronMehta) February 7, 2019

I can't decide what the world deserves more: presidential pee tape or Amazon CEO dick pic. 🤷‍♀️

— Annalee Newitz (@Annaleen) February 7, 2019

Twitter users also applauded Bezos — shrugging off nudes because you have the money to is truly a baller move. 

What’s the point of having fuck you money if you never say fuck you to people blackmailing you over your dick pics. Good for Bezos.

— Brian Koppelman (@briankoppelman) February 7, 2019

I aspire to one day have “fuck you, publish my dick pics” money. https://t.co/xMBmeejsuV

— Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) February 7, 2019

Bezos after submitting that Medium post. pic.twitter.com/tbBrMgNL8e

— Harry Heymann (@harryh) February 7, 2019

the real fuck-you move would have been to publish the dick pics himself imo

— Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) February 7, 2019

the national enquirer spent months trying to blackmail jeff bezos and he...just...posted on medium https://t.co/Ag7VIY6e3B

— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) February 7, 2019

Jeff Bezos is the angel of death in so many ways but god I fucken love this move so hard

— your friend Helen (@hels) February 7, 2019

What David Pecker failed to realize is that his fuck you money is the money Bezos has in the cushions of his spare couch. https://t.co/V0MziIqCIw

— Derp Digler (@DiglerDerp) February 7, 2019

Others just ... really didn't want to think about a horny billionaire's genitals. 

Gonna be so bummed when the Jeff Bezos dick pics come out and he’s hung like a donkey. Real morale killer for the rest of us guys.

— Clue Heywood (@ClueHeywood) February 7, 2019

Covering my bases by working up some draft tweets that can be used if Jeff Bezos’s penis is either good or bad

— who pixelates the boatmen? (@pixelatedboat) February 7, 2019

in retrospect, it is possible the invention of photography was a mistake

— Ariel Edwards-Levy (@aedwardslevy) February 7, 2019

There was an abundance of puns and references to Amazon's somewhat terrifying marketing practices. 

People who liked this dick pic also bought...

— David Teicher (@Aerocles) February 7, 2019

Dick-pics Die in Darkness https://t.co/btTjBGzNvR

— jon gabriel (@exjon) February 7, 2019

Because Mr. Bezos refused to reimburse me for the late shipping on my beef jerky 30 pack I am hereby publishing this photo of his manhood pic.twitter.com/oJNODfaeXt

— Samuel Hammond 🌐🏛 (@hamandcheese) February 7, 2019

There were also reactions to Bezos' use of "complexifier," which probably isn't the word he was trying to use. 

  “Source of complications” > “complexifier”

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) February 7, 2019

I like that he used the word “complexifier,” bc it means that he definitely wrote it himself and is an actual person who would get into a petty argument with a copy editor.

— Emily Nussbaum (@emilynussbaum) February 7, 2019

Jeff Bezos calls his dick “the complexifier”

— Noah Hurowitz (@NoahHurowitz) February 7, 2019

I am a complexifier of my own life

— Tom Tomorrow (@tomtomorrow) February 8, 2019

I would be less ashamed of the dick pics than of using the word "complexifier"

— Daniel Radosh (@danielradosh) February 7, 2019

Dibs on The Complexifier, a Jason Statham action thriller about a billionaire who goes rogue to destroy an evil tabloid who violated the rules of Journalism

— kang👎 (@jaycaspiankang) February 7, 2019

UPDATE: Feb. 8, 2019, 9:28 a.m. EST This story has been updated to include statement from AMI.