FightBackBetter.com Lives Up to Its Name….and Then Some.
FightBackBetter. com (fbb.com) surely has found a way to fight back in a way not only different , but perhaps better than some. Of course, not everyone is in a position to use the same tactics, but this author believes that we can all learn something and be inspired by fbb.com editor, Bob Witanek. His saga is not yet complete, so we should also support his work by sharing it on all our social media platforms and making sure we speak out in defense of that work, when possible and necessary. And it certainly seems necessary now!
Unlike many of our organizations, including this author’s own, the Green Party of New Jersey (GPNJ), fbb.com is laser-focused on all things from the on-going genocide in Gaza that impact on NJ and its residents. Not that being concerned about other issues is wrong, because it’s not. It just means that fbb.com is ready at a moment’s notice to issue a statement of response, to start a petition, and to influence members of both political parties, as well as third parties such as GPNJ, to take important positions against on-going efforts to silence opposition to the on-going U.S.-Israeli genocide in occupied Palestine and Gaza. All of us in New Jersey must be prepared to protect our freedom of speech.
New Jersey is facing a very real threat against our freedom of expression when it comes to what’s happening in Palestine. The current administration and its supporters have already embarked on a very dangerous course, having U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) kidnap, detain and deport people who are legitimately and legally in this country, just because they have spoken out in defense of Palestinian human rights and against the on-going brutal genocide of the Palestinian people, both in Gaza and on the West Bank. It probably goes without saying (but this author is taking nothing for granted these days), that if students in the U.S. legally can be sent to ICE detention centers and who knows exactly where else?) that no one is safe. For that reason, we must all support one another and prevent these gross violations of human rights.
This should not be a left and right issue or a liberal and conservative issue. No, in actuality, all people in the U.S. who value their 1st amendment rights to freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom to peaceably assemble, and freedom to petition for a redress of grievances, should be horrified at what’s happening and motivated to prevent further attacks on the 1st amendment.
When I started my now 45 year career as an activist, that was one of the cardinal rules we honored. Our work was issues-based first, not political party based. All those who wanted to jump on (or off) our work on any particular issue was more than welcome to do so. At times that meant that when fighting against one of 21 proposed garbage incinerators in New Jersey, for example, sometimes our closest allies in the town or county governments were from Republican-controlled town councils or Freeholder boards and sometimes they were from Democratic majority controlled town or county governments. What was most important was whether or not a garbage incinerator represented something good for the community or something harmful to the community.
In the last 40 years so, it seems that the state of New Jersey and the country have descended into hyperpartisanship, so much so that the line between what is right and what is wrong no longer seems to matter.
But FightBackBetter.com has resuscitated the key strategy of organizing around an issue first, and letting allies jump on and off as they see fit, as long as the people are in the lead. Attacking the 1st amendment is wrong, whether it’s by trying to pass legislation like the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism (A-3558 or S-1292) which would have a chilling effect on opposition to the genocide being committed by Israel and the United States in Palestine by conflating criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism or sending ICE agents to round up people who are in the US legally who oppose said genocide.
When FightBackBetter.com editor Bob Witanek announced his intention to run for Assembly in Legislative District 16, he must have hit a very sensitive nerve. His central issue is opposition to the two bills mentioned above, and he smartly used his candidacy to try to put pressure on his Democratic Party opponents who had invited the public in their district to attend a public meeting to learn more about their policy agenda. Bob Witanek was also trying to pressure their Republican opponents. The erosion of free speech should be a concern of us ALL.
Instead of simply responding to a constituent’s concerns, Assemblyman Roy Freiman appeared to misuse his position in the NJ Assembly to attempt to intimidate Bob Witanek, to accuse him of “bribery” for pressuring the incumbents into changing their minds on the usefulness of the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism. It’s always been my understanding that Bob Witanek was using a tried and tested method of organizing – announce one’s position on an important measure, then be ready to educate, inform, and bargain on that position, to try to change the minds of one’s opponents.
It’s a sign of the dangerous times we live in — that this strategy was used to find fault with the person using it, rather than to argue the merits of the proposed bill. Out of 80 members of the NJ Assembly, about 55 have already signed on to it, making me more than a little bit worried about the direction in which NJ is headed. It’s not too late to change course and stand up for free speech, as the FightBackBetter.com editor is currently doing. I urge people to come to Bob Witanek’s defense NOW, before the Assemblyman or NJ Office of the Attorney General files what I would view as frivolous and unwarranted charges against Witanek.
Thank you Madelyn!
