Thread by @JvpAction

As an elected official, Josh Shapiro has a damning history of smearing and attacking Palestinian rights advocates and free speech.

Opposition to choosing him as the VP candidate isn't about his identity, it's about his policies and rhetoric over the years. 🧵

Shapiro has taken a uniquely aggressive stance against organizers and activists who oppose the Israeli government’s genocide against Palestinians. He has compared peaceful, anti-war student protesters to violent white supremacists, including the KKK. newrepublic.com/article/184151…

Over the years, Shapiro has repeatedly conflated principled protest and speech - including the use of boycott and divestment as tools to pressure the Israeli government to end human rights violations against Palestinians - with antisemitism. thenation.com/article/politi…

Shapiro has also lent credence and support to far-right MAGA attacks on higher education and free speech, including through his public support for the GOP-orchestrated firing of the President of University of Pennsylvania.

These GOP-led attacks on universities have become a full blown McCarthyist witch hunt that has expanded to other schools. It has nothing to do with keeping Jewish communities safe, and everything to do with silencing an anti-war movement.

palestinelegal.org/news/2024/4/17…

Hundreds of thousands of Dem voters across the US have cast uncommitted or similar votes to demand that Biden stop arming the Israeli government’s genocide in Gaza. The majority of Americans want a ceasefire, and supporting Palestinian rights is popular among Dem voters.

VP Harris has an opportunity to start listening to the communities who were betrayed by Biden's unwavering support for Israel’s genocide.

Choosing a candidate who has so vocally sought to silence and attack these same people, would send a message that little has changed.