Global

Sofia Orr, 19, is an Israeli teenager who chose jail over enlisting in the Israeli Death Forces (IDF). Before turning 19, Sofia was jailed three times for refusing to enlist in mandatory military service and spending her time in Neve Tzedek, which is a military prison in Tel Aviv, in protest of the ongoing Israeli war and genocide in Gaza. She believes the two sides "have to exist" and that "revenge is not the answer." This brave Israeli teenager made it loud and clear that she would continue resisting even if the government extended her jail time because it was the right thing to do. Finally, after spending 85 days in prison, Orr was recognized as a conscientious objector. 

Long before the Israeli war on Gaza and when Sofia was 15, she made up her mind not to serve in the military because, to her, the occupation and the war on Gaza and the West Bank was and is still enough reason to refuse and she would rather work advocating for peace.   

Carry Smith wrote her PhD thesis on the Voting Rights Act and challenges to the right to vote in Georgia.

Now dig this: Smith, the expert on challenges to voting rights, lost her vote because a Republican vigilante challenged her registration—along with 900 other Savannah voters—until she was forced to make an appearance proving her right to vote at a meeting of the Chatham County (Savannah) elections board. 

Half of the others challenged still lost their vote in this do-or-die battleground.

Adrian Consonery Jr. was also challenged, in this case, by officials in Cobb County, Georgia. The elections officers claimed that the signature on his drivers license “didn’t match” the signature on his ballot. Were these local pols forgery specialists?  No, they were Republicans. No problem, they told Consonery, a student in the middle of his finals; all he had to do was drive to their offices, eight hours away, and re-sign his ballot.

The sucking up to Israel and its backers by the political class in America never seems go away. Indeed, it if anything increases during the lead up to national elections. In the latest manifestation of Judeophilia, Rudy Giuliani, self-described as “America’s Mayor,” has now informed us that “They [the Israelis] are our best friends. I worked for Ronald Reagan for eight years and Ronald Reagan said that we have to always be there for Israel always because Israel is always there for us! Hamas is not there for us, the Iranians are not there for us, they want to kill us and the Palestinians are taught to kill us at two years old! They won’t let a Palestinian in Jordan. They won’t let a Palestinian in Egypt. And [Kamala] Harris wants to bring them to you! They may have good people, I don’t care, but I won’t take a risk with people that are taught to kill Americans at two! I’m on the side of Israel! You’re on the side of Israel! Donald Trump is on the side of Israel! And they [the Democrats] are on the side of the terrorists.”

In a gripping, real-life moment, the world watched as a man stood alone, his fatigues worn, his face covered with a keffiyeh, his arm severed. Armed only with a wooden stick, he raised it against a drone hovering above, defiant even in his vulnerability. It wasn’t long before a tank responded, firing a shell to silence him. This was not a Hollywood scene; it was a raw, viral image that exposed the brutal reality of Gaza.

Watching this scene unfold, I thought of the ancient story of David and Goliath, a tale passed down through centuries. In the biblical story, David, a young shepherd, faces a Philistine giant who terrorizes his people. Armed with nothing but a sling and a few stones, David steps forward alone, facing a foe who had crossed battle lines unchallenged for 40 days. But in one brave strike, he overcomes the seemingly invincible Goliath.