Max Blumenthal

Archive Link: https://archive.is/bJVPi

Since emerging in America from seemingly out of the blue in 2020, the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) has become one of the trans-Atlantic establishment’s most effective tools for censoring online speech. Its founder, Imran Ahmed, has nurtured close ties with the Biden White House since moving to Washington DC, targeting its political enemies with calls for their removal from social media. Back in his hometown of London, Ahmed was an influential advisor to the neoliberal wing of UK Labour, helping sabotage the leftist insurgency of Jeremy Corbyn and place his ally, Keir Starmer, in charge of the party.

Ahmed has been embroiled in controversy since journalists Paul D. Thacker and Matt Taibbi published internal CCDH documents showing he held private meetings with influential Democratic lawmakers throughout 2024 to advance a plan to “kill Elon Musk’s Twitter.” The billionaire Twitter/X owner and his allies in president-elect Donald Trump’s inner circle retaliated by accusing the British operative of violating laws against foreign interference in American politics.

However, internal CCDH emails obtained by The Grayzone reveal that while Ahmed nurtures ties to the Labour government in Britain, the self-styled “anti-hate” campaigner also enjoys a secret, “collaborative” relationship with a rogue foreign government whose leadership currently stands accused of genocide by the International Court of Justice, and is wanted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.

In an email dated June 12, 2024, Ahmed thanked Efrat Hochstetler, the Public Diplomacy Counselor of the Israeli Embassy in the US, for his “continued support of [CCHD’s] work.” He then introduced himself to Marco Sermoneta, Israel’s consul general in San Francisco, to “emphasize the importance of our collaborative efforts in combating hate and lies online.”

Ahmed appears to enjoy a working relationship with at least one figure who fits this mold. He is Trevor Chinn, a multi-millionaire British auto industry baron who is a top funder of Israel lobby activities in the UK.

As Paul D. Thacker and Matt Taibbi revealed, Ahmed emailed Chinn on June 4, 2024 – one day after he met with the Israeli embassy’s Hasson and Hochstetler – to set up a rendezvous. Copied on the email was Louise Jacobs, a British Zionist activist who serves on the Board of Governors of the Israeli government-controlled Jewish Agency for Israel.

Posing as a grassroots “social movement” composed of anonymous citizens concerned with misinformation, Ahmed’s group successfully knee-capped one of the most popular pro-Corbyn, antiwar outlets, The Canary UK, by organizing a boycott of its advertisers.

In 2021, CCDH registered as a non-profit in the US, and its founder settled down just a few blocks from the US Capitol in Washington DC with his new American wife. He quickly homed in on the enemies of the Biden White House, branding influential critics of its Covid restrictions as “The Disinformation Dozen,” and earning a shout-out from then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki as she successfully clamored for Facebook to ban their accounts.

CCDH’s report relied on the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA)’s notoriously expansive definition of antisemitism, which equates condemnation of Israel’s discriminatory system of apartheid with hatred of Jews. Among the examples of antisemitism listed by the IHRA is, “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.” The definition has been exploited so rampantly by the Israel lobby, that its author, Ken Stern, complained that “right-wing Jews are weaponizing” his work.

Ahmed has made no secret of his far-reaching censorship objectives. He has disclosed to journalists his “five-year plan” to demonetize any content creator who engages in what CCDH defines as “hate speech.” As his report attacking pro-Palestine Facebook groups makes clear, he sees little distinction between expressions of “hate” and advocacy for the rights of Palestinians living under siege and bombardment.

What Ahmed has failed to tell the public is that his crusade to censor and punish online Palestine solidarity activism is an outcome of his secret collaboration with the state of Israel – and that it may have been financially incentivized by the Israeli government as well.

Timestamp: 01:10:00 Max Blumenthal Joins

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/24200164

#MOATS PODCAST

About channel:

Straight talking, straight forward. @WorkersPartyGB Seven time Parliamentarian

@MaxBlumenthal

The first thing Trump-endorsed GOP speaker Rep. Mike Johnson does in 2025 is tuck a special measure into the House rules package shielding Benjamin Netanyahu from prosecution for genocide. So this is what "America first" means in practice.

@RepThomasMassie

The United States is a sovereign country, so I don’t assign any credibility to decisions of the International Criminal Court. But how did a bill to protect Netanyahu make it into the House rules package to be voted on immediately after the Speaker vote? Where are our priorities?!

Images:

[Reply by ThomasMassie with more information]

@RepThomasMassie

Here is the text of the proposed House rules package. Special protection provision for Netanyahu is on page 35 of 36.

Link: https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20241230/119th%20Rules%20Package%20for%20Circulation.pdf

Source: https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1875787968360960347

Short Summary

1. The discussion centers on accountability and the legal implications of Hunter Biden's recent pardon by President Joe Biden.
2. Speakers emphasize that "no one is above the law," yet express skepticism about the legitimacy of the charges against Hunter, which involve lying on a gun application.
3. They suggest the charges may be minor and politically motivated to distract from more serious allegations related to Hunter's business dealings in Ukraine.
4. The conversation touches on the timing of Hunter's lucrative position at Burisma and questions whether his actions were illegal or simply overlooked in a corrupt system.
5. The speakers critique the media's portrayal of Biden's adherence to the rule of law, contrasting it with Donald Trump's approach to pardoning family members.
6. They express irony and humor regarding the situation while highlighting perceived injustices stemming from Biden's foreign policy decisions, particularly in Gaza.
7. The discussion critiques the political motivations behind the pardon and the broader implications of corruption within the political system.
8. The speakers criticize Joe Biden for his past tough-on-crime policies, particularly regarding drug offenses, and highlight the hypocrisy of his actions concerning Hunter.
9. They mention serious allegations against Hunter, including human trafficking and drug solicitation, that were not investigated, suggesting a cover-up by the Biden administration.
10. The speakers raise concerns about Hunter being pardoned retroactively for actions dating back to 2014, indicating potential corruption and conflicts of interest regarding Biden's political connections.

The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate on Joe Biden breaking his pledge not to pardon his son, and whether the move was connected to Project Ukraine corruption.

Independent news and investigative journalism on politics and empire.

The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate discuss the years of spying and sabotage operations deployed by Israel's Mossad intelligence services against successive ICC prosecutors.

Independent news and investigative journalism on politics and empire.

In an interview with The Grayzone's Oscar Leon, former Bolivian President Evo Morales explains why he believes US agents and members of the Bolivian government led by his former Minister of Finance, Luis Arce, were behind the recent attempt to assassinate him, and why they want to silence him and crush the grassroots social movements he represents.

Morales also addresses the challenges of confronting North American imperialism and advancing the integration of the South American continent.

#TheGrayzone

Independent news and investigative journalism on politics and empire.

Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate discuss the liberal meltdown over the latest round of Trump picks, and what they mean for his second term agenda, particularly on the world stage. They will also cover the latest from Gaza, Lebanon, and highly revealing comments by Tony Blinken on Ukraine.

Independent news and investigative journalism on politics and empire.

The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal, Anya Parampil and Wyatt Reed assess Trump's initial round of Israel First foreign policy picks, and how top donors like Miriam Adelson dictated the selections through his transition team.

Independent news and investigative journalism on politics and empire.

Max Blumenthal and Wyatt Reed discuss the shocking psy-op that ensued in Amsterdam, where Israeli football hooligans instigated violence, then played victims of a pogrom, then Anya Parampil joins to discuss Trump's re-election and the sordid history of his top foreign policy picks.

Independent news and investigative journalism on politics and empire.

@MaxBlumenthal

She shut down anti-genocide protesters with her focus group tested line but she’s not speaking now

[Video: https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1821352438856556544/vid/avc1/1280x720/7ytOz_3ukeYo1_cP.mp4]

Source: https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1854048133904298262

Join The Grayzone's special election night stream, as Max Blumenthal, Aaron Mate, and some possible surprise guests vote like their lives depend on it.

Image: The Handmaid's Tale insurrection, January 6, 2025

Independent news and investigative journalism on politics and empire.

Edit: added some timestamps below

Some Timestamps:

1. 11:14.000 - 44:34.500 Briahna Joy Gray Joins
2. 44:50.000 - 1:31:43.000 Michael Tracey Joins
3. 1:32:22.000 - 2:16:56.000 Ali Abunimah Joins, Founder of The Electronic Intifada
4. 2:22:14.000 - 3:08:11.000 Jimmy Dore Joins

@MaxBlumenthal

Our documentary shredding Israel's genocidal post-Oct 7 lies, Atrocity Inc., is now live

@TheGrayzoneNews

Atrocity Inc: How Israel Sells The Destruction Of Gaza

Watch @MaxBlumenthal's new documentary takedown of the media deceptions and hoaxes Israel pushed to manufacture consent for its genocidal assault on Gaza

In collaboration w/ @propandco & @sutjhally

Edit: added screenshot

Screenshot:

Atrocity Inc.

A documentary by Max Blumenthal that takes us through the events of October 7th and the meticulously manufactured lies that came out of Israeli media. Atrocity Inc. takes a deep look at the mechanisms behind the propaganda created to serve Israeli goals.

Source: https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1843320308654387634

Independent news and investigative journalism on politics and empire.

The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal on the dangerously arrogant and clueless thinking paving the path to regional war.

Independent news and investigative journalism on politics and empire.

At Rage Against The War Machine in Washington DC on September 28, 2024, Max Blumenthal slammed Joe Biden's endorsement of the Israeli attack that killed hundreds in order to assassinate Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and outlined how Greater Israel has grown to encompass the heart of the US political establishment.

Independent news and investigative journalism on politics and empire.

Max Blumenthal and Anya Parampil discuss an upcoming CNN special attacking anti-imperialist influencer and self-described "MAGA communist" Jackson Hinkle, and what it says about the relationship between the US security state and a failing corporate media.

#News, #Democrat Politics, #Jackson Hinkle, #cnn, #lawfare, #pressfare, #russiagate, #putin

@MaxBlumenthal

While sucking up to Genocide Joe’s press secretary & propagandist Jen Psaki, Mehdi did not dare ask if she considered her boss a war criminal. Careerists like him are more comfortable slapping that label on the targets of Washington, and leveraging it to bully antiwar activists.

[Image of Jen Psaki and Mehdi]

@mehdirhasan

Me: "Vladimir Putin is a war criminal in your view? And Assad is a war criminal?"

Jill Stein: "Uh, yes. In so many words."

Me: "What does that mean, 'in so many words'?"

My exchange with the Green Party candidate on war crimes.

Full interview: https://zeteo.com/p/exclusive-mehdi-interviews-jill-stein

[Video, https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1835747356777594881/pu/vid/avc1/1280x720/rQKi7Jat8DlAiz5D.mp4]

Source: https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1836229790921101355

Edit: added comment for correction of tweet

@MaxBlumenthal

*Linsey Davis co-hosted the debate, not Kristin Welker. I watch political coverage on ABC maybe once every 4 years, so forgive the mistake.

@MaxBlumenthal

Trump supporters are deluding themselves if they think he won the debate. Trump fell for the bait Kamala's handlers set for him at every possible point, spent much of the debate on the defense, stammered, spewed references that only extremely online members of his base would recognize, and got clobbered on abortion. When Kamala taunted Trump about the size of his rallies, he stumbled cluelessly into her trap.

If Trump had entered the debate with an actual strategy, he would have responded that after Kamala's massive, elaborately staged campaign launch in Oakland in 2020, she failed to win a single delegate, wasted tens of millions of donor money, and was only installed as the Dem nominee by the media and party elites. (That critique only came in latter half of the debate, when it was too late, and most viewers' perceptions had solidified). Similarly, when Kamala cited Goldman Sachs and Wharton to tout her economic credentials, Trump had an easy opportunity to hammer home Goldman's role in the foreclosure crisis that destroyed the lives of millions of hard working Americans. Instead, he grumbled that he graduated from Wharton, before veering off track again. When Kamala predictably raised Trump's call for executing the Central Park 5, he could have reminded voters of how she boasted of jailing massive numbers of Black youth for truancy and marijuana possession. On foreign policy, Trump should have homed in on Dick Cheney's endorsement of Kamala for a redux of his demolition of Jeb Bush in the 2016 primary debates. He had two hours to put forward a critique of a candidate who was not well known to most swing voters, to paint her as a media created phony and reckless warmonger afraid of her own record, and he failed.

Trump supporters are correct that the moderators, David Muir and Kristen Welker, orchestrated the debate in Kamala's favor, never fact checking her and feeding her one alley-oop after another, while relentlessly cornering Trump. Muir and Welker clearly saw the Beltway press corps' disappointment with Dana Bash and Jake Tapper for failing to ruthlessly fact check Trump in the first debate, and seized the chance to burnish their status. In the past, Trump would have recognized the moderators as a second opponent, and blasted the fake news media for its shameless bias. But the Trump of 2016, whose campaign was propelled by a popular sense of anti-establishment betrayal after the Iraq war and financial crash, is a ghost. If he somehow makes it into the Oval Office after this performance, he will be focused on personal survival, with his agenda hijacked and subverted by the forces he once thundered against.

Source: https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1833909786024521831

@MaxBlumenthal

Here’s the clearest indication yet that Kamala Harris is Bought and Bossed by the Israel lobby, and will do nothing different than Genocide Joe

In between tired bromides, Kamala repeats the “Hamas mass rape” hoax that was fed to her by Israel lobbyists

[Video, link below]

Screenshot:

Direct video link: https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1829334485927665664/pu/vid/avc1/886x488/6clG-t6ECWKd_0xy.mp4

Source: https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1829373450726650275

@MaxBlumenthal

Here’s our mastercut from the DNC

“That’s not what’s up for discussion,” said SNL’s Keenan Thompson when asked about the Biden-Harris policy of sponsoring Israel’s genocide

To be fair, Keenan was the only DNC speaker I questioned who seemed to have a guilty conscience

@TheGrayzoneNews

WATCH The Grayzone's @MaxBlumenthal & @wyattreed13 challenge Democrat leadership and celebrity performers at #DNC2024 on the Biden-Harris support for Israel's genocide in Gaza

Featuring:

1. Keenan Thompson of SNL
2. Chuck Schumer
3. Rev. Al Sharpton
4. Stevie Wonder
5. Sen. Cory Booker
6. Wolf Blitzer of CNN
7. Kaitlan Collins of CNN
8. Rep. Steny Hoyer
9. Terry McAuliffe

[Video, link below]

Screenshot:

Direct video link: https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1827387833423654912/pu/vid/avc1/1280x720/sEb5-Zha491CE6nT.mp4

Source: https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1827402075862409323

@MaxBlumenthal

NYU has issued new rules declaring the use of the term Zionist a "code word" which could constitute hate speech

Which means NYU has made a protected group out of the apartheidist billionaires who dominate its administration and the genocidal military that occupies Palestine

[2 screenshot images of article]

p1:

[Text below]

[Headline] NYU issues hate speech guidelines discouraging students from targeting 'Zionists'

[Sub-Headline] Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activists claim targeting Zionists isn't antisemitic because not all Jews identify as Zionists; new policy shows school disagrees, given that most Jews do

By ANDREW LAPIN | Today, 5:43 am

p2:

[Text below]

New York Jewish Week via JTA – Students and faculty who discriminate against or harass "Zionists" may be violating New York University's hate speech policies, according to the school's updated guidelines for the fall semester.

In July, Meta banned the use of “Zionist” as a cover for attacks on Jews or Israelis on its platforms. Now, NYU, which like many universities became embroiled in pro-Palestinian unrest during the last school year year, appears to be the first college to take a stance on the term's use.

"Using code words, like ‘Zionist,' does not eliminate the possibility that your speech violates the NDAH [Nondiscrimination and Anti-Harassment] Policy," read NYU's new student community standards, which it published on Thursday.

Article: https://www.timesofisrael.com/nyu-issues-hate-speech-guidelines-discouraging-students-from-targeting-zionists/

Screenshot:

Source: https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1827433842480996506

@MaxBlumenthal

When you fabricate key parts of your harrowing life story for fame and marry a millionaire investment banker, there’s no limit to what you can become in America

@YeonmiParkNK

I am a survivor of a Socialist system in North Korea, and I am voting for @realDonaldTrump this November 🇺🇸

#MAGA24

[3 images of Yeonmi]

Source: https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1825374222148886718

Edit2: added screenshot; format

@MaxBlumenthal

Here’s one to grow on

Screenshot:

[Image, description below]

[Meaning of antisemitism in English]

[Antisemitism]

[noun] [(also anti-Semitism, anti-semitism)]

[A1]

[When you say that IDF soldiers are not allowed to gang rape Palestinian detainees]

Source: https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1822484298584531195

FYI:

TRT is a Turkish public broadcast service.

US Democratic Representative Cori Bush has lost her Missouri primary to Wesley Bell, a challenger funded by America's most influential pro-Israel lobby AIPAC. She's the third Congress member - who's been critical of Israel's war in Gaza - to be unseated by a candidate backed by pro-Israel groups. Max Blumenthal, author and the editor-in-chief of the news website Greyzone, explains how powerful this lobby group is in the US.

#AIPAC #Gaza #Israel