Mark Ruffalo received support from more than 170 Jewish public figures in an open letter on Tuesday, calling accusations of antisemitism against the actor an "outrageous smear campaign."

The letter was signed by his fellow creatives Hannah Einbinder, Abbi Jacobson, Gina Gershon, Kate Berlant, Joel Coen, Ilana Glazer and more.

Read the full open letter, below:

"We are Jewish artists, writers, creative professionals, faith leaders and thinkers who have, in response to the outrageous smear campaign against our respected colleague Mark Ruffalo, a simple message to share with the world: Enough! Enough with the false and dangerous weaponization of charges of antisemitism against those who are brave enough to point out the obvious: that the assault on the Palestinian people and the assault on our liberties at home are deeply interconnected, and there is nothing antisemitic about recognizing that fact.

The proposed merger of Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery is no mere combination of two huge multinational companies. Yes, it will destroy thousands upon thousands of livelihoods. Yes, it will further consolidate the oligarchic control of our media (witness the gutting of CBS News). Yes, it will strangle competition and creativity in film and television production and distribution.

But it will do all this and more as part of a larger project of tech-driven domination, a project Larry Ellison and his partners have never been shy about trumpeting - and one they themselves have explicitly linked to their support for the ongoing depredations being visited on the people of Palestine and their silencing of critics of those horrors. We all saw this after their Trump-brokered takeover of TikTok - a takeover they openly proclaimed was in large part motivated by their desire to boost pro-Israel propaganda. Larry Ellison personally, with his astonishing purported $350 million in funding and pledges to the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, has been Blair's major backer as Blair assumes an influential role in the Trump-concocted "Board of Peace" takeover of Gaza, a territory which has become an open-air laboratory for AI-driven killing and control technologies like the ones celebrated by former Oracle CEO (and current Oracle and Paramount board member) Safra Catz.

The AI road to WarnerMount runs through Gaza, and Ellison has often let us know the Orwellian world he has in store for us as he consolidates control over what we watch and how we watch it, knowing that as we watch he and his corrupt cohort will always be watching us: "Citizens will be on their best behavior because we're constantly recording and reporting."

Pointing out the crucial connections between what is happening in Gaza and what is happening in Hollywood is the exact opposite of antisemitism. It is, for us, the very essence of Jewish ethical duty. According to a recent Washington Post poll, 61% of American Jews now agree that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza; and four in ten even agree that these crimes amount to genocide. Do those attacking Mark Ruffalo as an antisemite seriously believe that all these American Jews are antisemites too? Or that we don't see the connection between, on the one hand, the criminal impunities that have led the US and Israel into unending disaster and, on the other, the oligarchic powerplays of the Musks, Ellisons, Thiels and others who are working to dismantle our democracy?

But the virulence and falseness of the slanders they direct towards their critics is evidence of the increasing weakness of their position, based as it is on innuendos. Today, more and more people of conscience are joining together, to loudly and univocally proclaim: The time is over for spurious charges of antisemitism to be trotted out, this time in the defense of war, oligarchy, and AI domination. That tired playbook has run its course.

We stand proudly with Mark Ruffalo, and with all decent people who are bravely rising and speaking truth to power."

More to come…

*excerpt from JD Knapp's article*

Full Article here:

https://www.thewrap.com/culture-lifestyle/culture/mark-ruffalo-jewish-support-antisemitism-smear-campaign/

This follows a trend of the IDF intentionally targeting educational services In Gaza. Israeli military operations have directly hit or damaged over 85% to 90% of all school buildings in the Gaza Strip since October 2023.

NBC news crew and Palestinian women attacked during an interview by Israeli settlers.

James Fishback is removed from Miami Dade County Commission meeting for saying they should invest taxpayer funds in American teachers and firefighters rather than send it to Israel.

Ironically followed by a lecture on the First Amendment.

Credit to Aj+

Source: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/U87yX-LAkjw

Freedom Fuel gas stations, which the Trump administration promoted last month, sold fuel that its supplier never paid for, a lawsuit filed earlier this month claims.

The suit, which attorneys for Mansfield Oil Company filed in U.S. District Court in Eastern Pennsylvania on Aug. 19, alleges that foreign corporation KRSM obtained in excess of 1.1 million gallons of fuel from the former company’s account from May 21 through July 7.

The fuel cost nearly $4 million, the 179-page lawsuit states. But as of Aug. 17, KRSM had not paid for the fuel, despite Mansfield — a foreign corporation with offices in Gainesville, Ga. — sending revised invoices to the defendant on July 17.

While the agreement between the two companies stipulated that KRSM had to pay the invoices within 10 days of receiving them, Mansfield’s bank advised on July 28 that the foreign firm had “refused” draft requests, the lawsuit stated.

Of the roughly 1.1 million gallons of fuel KRSM obtained from Mansfield, it sold “a portion” of it to stations in the Freedom Fuel Network, per the suit.

Last month, President Trump touted 25 gas stations within the network, highlighting their lower prices relative to the national average. Amid the Iran war, the national average price of a gallon of regular gas is roughly $4.07 as of Sunday, per data from AAA.

A White House official told The Hill in July the network is a private company and has not received federal funding. The network now has 29 locations, with all located in New Jersey or Pennsylvania, according to its website.

Trump said on July 1 the network’s stations were “taking the lead” on lowering gas prices and urged other retailers to follow suit.

White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers echoed those remarks, telling The Hill last month the Freedom Fuel stations “are doing their part to answer the President’s call to lower prices at the pump.”

But the lawsuit brought by Mansfield alleges KRSM was able to sell fuel to Freedom Fuel at discounted prices and “garner such publicity” because it “never paid” the plaintiff for it.

The Hill has reached out to the Freedom Fuel Network and the White House for comment on the allegations in the suit.

KRSM is led by Syed Kazmi, who signed Mansfield’s commercial credit application in January 2022, as shown by a copy included in the lawsuit.

Under that application, Kazmi agreed that if Mansfield extended credit to KRSM and his company purchased fuel from the creditor, KRSM would be “responsible” to pay for it.

A White House official told The Hill on Sunday the administration “has had zero contact or dealings with KRSM or Kazmi.

A source familiar with the Freedom Fuel business also noted KRSM and Kazmi are not associated with the gas station network in any capacity.

*excerpt from Max Rego's article*

Full Article here:

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/6059912-freedom-fuel-lawsuit-unpaid-gas/

Lawsuit here:

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.paed.660197/gov.uscourts.paed.660197.1.0.pdf

For context, Bajrang Dal is a Hindu Nationalist group notorious for such activities, from verbal to physical abuse and violence in the name of upholding Hindu culture and morality. It all started when a private school was forced to ban these two books which led to this silent protest reading.

Ahmedabad police said they are questioning three people after a mob, allegedly of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad supporters, heckled and assaulted a group of book lovers reading The Diary of a Young Girl by Holocaust victim Anne Frank and Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai's I Am Malala in a park.

The bibliophiles had gathered at Vastrapur Garden on Thursday for a silent reading protest against a private school in the city being forced to drop those two books from its reading list.

News sources for reference:

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/others/hindu-groups-protest-malala-anne-frank-book-reading-in-gujarat-3-held-101787987443030-amp.html

https://www.deccanherald.com/india/gujarat/bajrang-dal-activists-attack-readers-in-ahmedabad-over-malala-anne-frank-books-4127067

https://www.telegraphindia.com/amp/india/in-ahmedabad-readers-of-anne-frank-and-malalas-books-told-to-prove-youre-not-muslim/cid/2177187

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/right-wing-group-disrupts-silent-reading-protest/amp\\_articleshow/133576992.cms

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/collective-backs-ahmedabad-school-that-forced-to-drop-malala-anne-frank-books-10848160/lite/