We Will Not Be Silenced!
Many of us have been on forefront fighting IHRA codification in NJ which will lead to extensive legal harm against millions of NJ residents who dissent from US policy of participating directly in the full scale genocide against the Palestinian people of Gaza.
What we hear from naysayers and what the supporters of these fascist proposed laws say is “we are not taking your free speech away – you will still be able to protest.” They belittle our concerns and claim that only some of our speech will be curtailed. However it is clear that is not the case in how Trump has used IHRA on the national level – he was just turned back by Harvard. Billions of funding has been restored after Harvard sued the Trump Administration. Trump tried to use IHRA fascist narrative to cut the funding over pro-Palestine student protests at Harvard.
There has been a steady stream of false accusations of antisemitism throughout NJ in response to protests on the college campuses, high school student walk outs, community protests, statements and writings, a course taught at Princeton University – they are already trying to stop our speech pre – IHRA codification. If IHRA gets codified most of the false accusations will carry and there will be massive attempts led by Trump supporters, working with the pro-Israel NJ lobby and advocacy groups and individuals, to use IHRA codification to defund municipalities, colleges, public schools, libraries and non profits.
So all of you stop saying “we are not going to take your rights away” – that is EXACTLY what you are doing!
From the specifics of what IHRA narrative falsely defines as “antisemitism” – the examples it provides – it is clear that the narrative would provide major false pretext for repression against those of us who are not afraid to say “Free Palestine!”
Even that demand “Free Palestine” the pro-Israel crowd WILL bring complaints, legal pleadings, letters of intent to sue, etc. They will argue that what we mean by “Free Palestine” is to overthrow Israel and make it Palestine so that slogan threatens Israel’s right to exist – which the IHRA narrative tries to say is “antisemitic” to do. They aim to criminalize our words so that Israel can continue its depraved slaughter and push for total Middle East War and Israel dominance over Middle East and indeed the world. Those are the concepts – the idea what they say that they are “not going to take our free speech rights away” is farcical but that does not stop them from lying.
But this video is the perfect physical metaphor for the level of our struggle in NJ right now!
On July 24, 2025, NJ Democratic Assembly speaker Craig Coughlin held an emergency session during summer recess for a legislative committee meeting to attempt to push IHRA onto the Assembly floor so the Democrats joined at the hip (and possibly other parts) to their Trump partners – can try to pass it before the November elections. The measure has been on the floor for over a year since June 2024 and a staunch opposition movement with this FightBackBetter editor in the ranks have kept it pinned from moving to the complete floor just yet – although any day that can all change!
100s of advocates of free speech turned out to Trenton to demand protection for our constitutional rights to free speech. They went inside to testify and many stayed outside to maintain a public visible presence and to protest loud and clear that we will continue to fight for our free speech rights.
And a fight it was indeed.
We were subjected to 3 major attempts to physically attack our rally which included children, women, young and old, and frail and abled. There were also about a dozen minor physical rushes and fakes. This editor participated in monitoring and physical prevention and obstruction of the attacks.
One of the attackers held a huge flag pole about 15 – 20 feet and an Israel flag. After the speaker Rabbi Weiss, a member of a Jewish tendency Neturei Karta International – Jews United Against Zionism that opposes Israel was nearly finished – the flag bearer became enraged and started shouting insults. I held up my large sign to block his audiation and he started running toward our group with the flag pole. I got between him and our people so he would have to come through me first and he skirted around the perimeter of our group with me in hot pursuit. At one point there was a flower garden and he taunted me not to step on the flowers – i did a tight wire run on the edge of the flower bed maintaining my position between him and the group. He got a little ahead of me toward the end of the perimter so I shouted to a contingency of teenagers of the Neturei Karta group to warn of the dangerous pro-Israel man charging around toward them. Fortunately there was no accident or intentional incident where anyone was hurt.
The intent was apparently to test our defenses, provoke a possible counter physical action leading to an incident leading to arrests and accusations of antisemitism. If he had dropped that flag pole onto the heads of our participants – accidentally or intentionally – any number of us could have been killed or seriously injured. I have a picture of his license plate.
The guy with the Black shirt with the red white and blue Israel star – some of whose violence was captured in the video made two charges through our group – the video shows the second one. I was in front of him both times although the second time I had to reposition when he came back for a second round. He assaulted numerous of us especially me since I was in front of him as much as possible.
In the video, Lawrence Hamm chair of People’s Organization for Progress was speaking out and providing narration of the action that WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED!
The fight outside the Statehouse was the perfect metaphor for the struggle in NJ around the IHRA issue – a fight that has a physical component. Pro-Israel operatives often participate in verbal and physical attacks and other provocative disruptions when we protest to try to stop the US – Israel genocide. Their key objective is to provoke confrontations that spin into police incidents. Most cops are extreme right wingers – there is strong police participation in fascist groups like Proud Boys and neo-nazi groups. If there is an incident the cops will likely side against the pro-Palestine protest. What we saw here is how things will roll under IHRA but once such laws pass it will increase the likelihood that the police will respond and attack us since the law will be falsely accusing us of being antisemitic, violating the public safety and civil rights of pro-Israel supporters who might feel attacked if someone disagreed with them about whether Israel’s depraved genocide is necessary to “defend” Israel’s “right to exist.”
In this case in Trenton the police had only one interest – to maintain order and after we stopped the thug pushing his way through our rally the second time – they finally came and talked him away from continuing – informing him we were permitted to be there and he was out of line.
Both the fascist attackers spent dozens of minutes complaining about this editor to cops trying to get me arrested – since I stopped them each repeatedly with some help in the second go with Red White and Blue Star guy. The police talked to me but it was more for show – they saw how I carried myself and the one told me to “stay in my lane” which was on target. I move with them if they move sideways and if they move toward I move in front and stop. The guy with the red white and blue Israel star – I probably positioned to stop him 2 dozen times and he just tried to walk right through me – thinking he was a big brute. I stopped him and on his second rodeo we had a whole crew working peacefully to minimize and prevent the violent attack.
His behavior was the perfect metaphor of how Israel behaves and the settlers behave and how they think the whole world should just get out of the way – but sir we are in your way and we are here to stay!
But bottom line – stop telling us “nobody is going to take your rights away” – it is happening already and the good news we know how to defend our own and we will not be intimidated by goons, police action or by phony laws passed by groveling servants of Israel’s genocide – apparently hoping they will some day get to congress and then they can get on the AIPAC puppet train.
