Yet another video shows 5,700 dislikes to 528 likes.
American Faith could not find a recent video posted to the White House YouTube channel with more likes than dislikes.
Screenshot taken from the White House YouTube channel on November 12, 2021
BACKGROUND:
YouTube announced this week it will be removing the dislike counter function from its videos, making the number of dislikes a video receives only visible to the channel account holder but not to the public, accrding to TechCrunch.
Mainstream media outlets say Joe Biden won the most votes in U.S. history (here).
I suppose they're doing this to protect Brandon. YouTube is removing the dislike count on all videos across its platform https://t.co/yfBVwpJwGk via @techcrunch
Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara claimed decision made if ‘verdict doesn’t go positive’
The Chicago Police Department has canceled one regular day off this weekend for all full-duty officers to “enhance public safety,” a decision reportedly made to brace for possible upheaval ahead of a potential verdict in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse in Wisconsin.
“To enhance public safety and to address current crime patterns, all full-duty sworn members will have one regular day off canceled this upcoming weekend between November 12, 2021 through November 14, 2021,” the Chicago Police Department told Fox News in an emailed statement.
The statement to Fox News did not provide specific reasons for the canceled days off.
While the department didn’t provide an answer when asked if a potential verdict in the Rittenhouse trial factored into its decision, local reports said that Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara claimed otherwise.
“That’s not the way [CPD] needs to be ran. But that’s what happens when you put a hack in charge of doing the mayor’s bidding in the second spot […] It just doesn’t stop with this guy. [Carter] is such a pathetic leader. I don’t even know how he looks himself in the mirror." 2/2
— Fraternal Order of Police – Chicago Lodge #7 (@FOP7Chicago) November 10, 2021
Catanzara posted a video to YouTube accusing the city of violating an agreement in which it must provide advanced notice before the regularly scheduled days off were canceled, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
“There was no notice,” Catanzara said in the video. “They do not get to just keep saying, ‘We need manpower just in case a verdict doesn’t go positive’ and, all the sudden, there’s upheaval.”
“That’s not the way this department needs to be [run],” Catanzara continued. “But that’s what happens when you put a hat in charge of doing the mayor’s bidding in the second spot. And you know who I’m talking about. It just doesn’t stop with this guy. He is such a pathetic leader. I don’t even know how he looks himself in the mirror.”
Catanzara was referring to First Deputy Police Supt. Eric Carter, according to the paper.
Rittenhouse faces a slew of charges including two counts of homicide for shooting Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, with an AR-15 during the August 2020 protests and riots that erupted after police shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. The third person Rittenhouse shot, Gaige Grosskreutz, survived and testified Monday.
Rittenhouse was also charged with possessing a weapon by a person under 18, and multiple counts of reckless endangerment.
The largest Baptist and Methodist schools are among the first to challenge the requirements for employees as unauthorized and unconstitutional.
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Asbury Theological Seminary are among the first major Christian institutions to legally challenge COVID-19 vaccine requirements issued by the Biden administration.
The two Kentucky schools, representing the largest seminaries in the Southern Baptist and Methodist traditions, filed a petition Friday against a policy mandating employers with 100 or more workers require COVID-19 vaccination or weekly testing, which President Joe Biden announced the day before.
“This seminary must not be forced to stand in for the government in investigating the private health decisions of our faculty and employees in a matter involving legitimate religious concerns,” said Albert Mohler, president of Southern Seminary in Louisville. “We are glad to join with Asbury Theological Seminary in taking a stand against government coercion.”
According to the rules issued Thursday, private-sector employers with 100 or more workers must require COVID-19 vaccination or weekly testing. These requirements will take effect January 4 under an emergency temporary standard from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Several states with Republican governors have also vowed to challenge the OSHA regulations in court, calling them an unconstitutional power grab by the federal government.
“The Biden administration’s decision to mandate vaccines through an OSHA emergency rule is unlawful and compels employers like our clients to intrude on their employees’ personal health decisions and divert resources from their important mission of training future ministers,” said Ryan Bangert, senior counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing the two seminaries.
In a federal lawsuit filed with the US Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, Southern and Asbury claim that the administration doesn’t have jurisdiction over employment practices at religious institutions and didn’t have the constitutional authority to issue the vaccine mandate over employers.
Last year, months into the pandemic, Southern had its campus community sign a covenantagreeing to comply with coronavirus precautions around masking and social distancing; by this school year, masks were optional and vaccines “strongly encouraged.”
At its campus in Wilmore, Kentucky, Asbury also “strongly encourages full vaccination.” Since July, it has reported 28 positive COVID-19 tests among students and staff, with three attributed to on-campus exposure.
While evangelical schools have promoted vaccination and hosted vaccine clinics, few have required the shot for students or employees. Though white evangelicals have been most likely to continue to refuse the vaccine, a majority had gotten the shot by June.
“The fact that the largest US seminaries of the Baptist and Methodist traditions are here standing together against this mandate should send a clear and urgent message to Christians and to the nation,” Mohler said.
Though confirmed viral cases and deaths have fallen sharply since the start of the year, average case numbers are still at about 70,000 new infections a day and confirmed viral deaths at more than 1,200 a day.
“Too many people remain unvaccinated for us to get out of this pandemic for good,” Biden said as he announced the policy Thursday.
(Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth) I was born in 1950. Mom moved back to New York City with my two brothers and me in 1955, and we became New Yorkers.
I watched the South Tower “top off” in ’71. Mom had worked close to the Empire State Building during the War and would mention when we were growing up how, on a foggy July day in 1945, a B-25 had flown right into it. In ’78, I was watching the antenna being attached to the North Tower and remarked to my first-grade buddy that somebody “sure could run into those big things.”
Many veteran New Yorkers were rubbed the wrong way by their design. Manhattan is actually a small piece of real estate. Interwoven neighborhoods. People walk there. Shoulder to shoulder. I tended to stay far away from them even though I worked in a little theatre only 15 or so blocks away for 12 years.
At age 51, I permanently moved away with my younger sons two weeks before September 11, 2001. The towers were indelible reference points to me by then. To all of us.
On the day of the attack, I was in Boston with my eldest in a café having breakfast, with the pickup parked and packed, ready to go to Montreal for a gig. There was a little TV hung to the molding of a wall. Someone said, “Look.”
Being a general aviation pilot, my first thought was, “That’s no small plane. And no accident.” My next thought was of family and close friends. We called and, thank goodness, they were all okay. My third thought was about the borders. I assumed the borders would be closed immediately. I had a contract in Montreal to get to that day. I prayed that they would stay closed so that my contract wouldn’t force me to go to Canada only for the borders to be closed again, leaving me stranded from my kids.
Then the second plane hit. I started thinking about those lost. The massiveness. A completely new kind of shock entered my life. I hoped with all my heart that the first responders would be okay. Then the towers fell. And the world changed.
Unbelievably, the border did open up again the very next day. I was floored. The contract said I had to go. I hugged my kid and drove, shattered.
In my case, the journey toward understanding started with an unusual emotional experience. Ten days later, on the film set in Montreal, it seemed a nightmare that no one was stopping, even on their own, let alone as a group, to absorb this paradigm shift. Where was the ritual of mutual care when something massively terrible happens? I felt alone. A catastrophe of infinite meaning had taken place, and we were routinely going about our professional duties, saying nothing about it. Maybe it was just too big. Moviemaking is myopic like that. But it seemed wrong. Deep emotional turmoil filled me. Worry for my children.
It was a busy scene involving over a hundred people. As I returned to what they call “start marks” for another “master shot” (of the whole scene before tighter “coverage” setups begin), I stopped. And I suddenly couldn’t remember where I was. What city was I in?
Then my body just “went” to New York. It was “there,” floating high up inside one of the imploding towers. I was trying to catch the falling bodies in my arms. Trying to pick them from out of everything and grab them to my chest to save them, but everything was passing through me — the immense pieces of concrete and superstructure mingled with the bodies of my fellows. I couldn’t catch them. They went through my arms. Everything did. I was what they call “losing it.”
A crew member came up and said, “Mr. Hurt, we’re ready.” I had no idea what he meant. The man asked, “Are you okay?” I heard his voice and said, “I don’t think so.”
They led me to a trailer outside. Some caring people came to talk to me for a little while. The administration wanted to get the set back to work. One person, a fellow actor, seemed to understand. She recognized that I was going into deep shock.
I left the set and they sent a doctor. Someone wrote “possible TIA” (transient ischemic attack) on a piece of paper. But months later, after scans, that was completely ruled out. What happened was not a physical problem.
For me, the overriding fact was supremely simple. It was that, to my knowledge, big buildings just couldn’t fall down that way, under any circumstances. It had never happened because, well, it couldn’t happen. I kept finding myself saying to others, “But, look, buildings like that can’t pulverize to dust in mid-air and just fall down smack straight into their own socks.” No building constructed anything like them in the history of the whole world had ever fallen down like those buildings fell, except for one cause. In earlier days, I’d done some light construction work. I’d seen a couple of smaller things (like big silos) brought down. It was a kick. I asked how it was done. The answer? “Very, very carefully.”
A day later I was back at work. Another week later, and by sheer coincidence, there we were, filming on location in NYC. Prior to 9/11, a reservation had been made for us to stay at a hotel 12 blocks north of Ground Zero. I asked the young elevator man as we first went up to the room if he’d lost anyone close. Surprised and instantly in tears, he said, “My uncle. He was the window-washing machines overseer. Never missed a day.” Off my room, there was a patio. I could look down the avenue and see the site, smoldering in the night lights. In horror, I knew what it was partly made of. We all did. What I didn’t know at that time: Thermite keeps burning a long time. At night, I’d go down. They let me through the barriers because I was recognized. I’d talk to and hug the first responders.
It never left me. The discrepancy. The difference between the story we were told to believe and its impossibility.
I felt alone until 2013. Then I couldn’t stand it anymore, and I started digging. Digging for truth in the rubble of the official lie, then in another heavier layer of rubble that lay in my own mind, installed there by our mass media.
It took a while but, finally, I found pieces of evidence online. Mixed in among all the nonsense, there was sane and reasoned evidence. One of the sources, the strongest one by far, a source supported by thousands of responsible, honest, honorable, grounded, normal, respectful people — professional architects and engineers all around the world — was Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth. An amazing act of courage and compassion meets us there when we can bring ourselves to seek the answers.
Why did I wait so long, like so many others, to start digging? It astonishes me, until I look at the size of what happened and also at my inability to believe that my government could have betrayed the families of those killed that day by not giving them the first thing they were owed: the truth.
It relieves me immensely to have given my name and my artistic advice as an executive producer of the new film The Unspeakable. I also deeply respect the definitive film SEVEN about the “other” building so few know of that also, somehow, fell neatly, “smack straight into its own socks” that day. An impossibility in any way but one.
The Unspeakable is about a horror that was committed upon innocent people and about their friends and loved ones struggling to heal while the truth is suppressed by those we are supposed to be able to trust. It’s also about the attempt to break the individual human heart and spirit — but how it cannot be broken in some.
The meaning of such evil acts can’t really be measured in numbers. The measure is taken one mother or father or sister or friend at a time. The question is not how could anyone do this to so many, but how could anyone do this to anyone.
The human heart has been the focus of my life’s study, so it is to the cause of these families and friends and this humbly heartfelt film that I add my name. I’m grateful and, again, very relieved to join with them in profound sorrow for their loss and to be a part of speaking their unspeakable truth.
I don’t suppose or pretend to know who or how or why this thing was done. But I feel it must begin with one step. NIST, our National Institute of Standards and Technology, must be brought to account for lying to all of us.
A Michigan city known for its large immigrant population just became the first in the U.S. to be run entirely by Muslim elected officials.
What are the details?
Residents of Hamtramck, Michigan, located just outside Detroit, recently elected a Muslim mayor and three more Muslim city council members, the Detroit Free Press reported. So, beginning in January, all six of the city council positions will be held by Muslim members.
“Five of them are immigrants and one is a convert to Islam with ancestral roots in eastern Europe,” the Free Press added, noting that Hamtramck — which used to be a Polish Catholic enclave — now boasts a majority population of residents who claim either Arab or Asian ancestry.
According to census data, more than two-thirds of the city’s roughly 28,000 residents speak a language other than English in their homes.
Various Muslim groups told the Free Press that Tuesday’s historic election made Hamtramck the first city in the nation to elect all Muslims to its political posts. Likewise, the Council on American-Islamic Relations confirmed that assessment to Axios.
What are they saying?
Council members insisted in conversations with the Free Press that they would not let Islam influence their governing decisions.
“It’s important to remember that although we all happen to be practicing Muslims, we are elected through the processes set forth by the United States, Michigan, Wayne County, and Hamtramck,” Amanda Jaczkowski, one of the three newly elected Muslims, said.
She continued, “We will all take an oath … to protect the Constitution of the United States, and that includes the concept of separation of church and state. I believe strongly in that separation, and although I will bring the Islamic values of honesty and integrity to the table, the policies that I promote and affirm will be what is best for all people of Hamtramck.”
“Religion is not inside the [City Hall] building,” current Councilman Mohammed Hassan added. “It’s outside in the mosque and temple and the church. Not in City Hall.”
Another newly elected council member, Khalil Refai, made it clear that this focus would be on local policy issues.
“I ran for office to solve everyday issues facing our community,” he said. “Fixing our sewers and lead pipes, finding creative ways to increase city revenue, and creating a more transparent, inclusive City Hall are all important issues we heard during the campaign. I am looking forward to solving these issues with my colleagues. I am a proud Hamtramckan, and I love living in a community that has people with many different religious backgrounds.”
What else?
The incompatibility between Islamic Sharia law and American constitutional law has been a subject of controversy in recent years as more and more Muslims are elected to governing posts in the United States.
While many Muslims — including some members of the U.S. Congress — appear to serve without issue, some argue that conflicts between the two systems can and will continue to arise.
The Australian medical technology company Ellume has recalled over 2 million of its at-home COVID-19 tests over potential false positives.
The recall, defined by the FDA as Class I, is “the most serious” of the types of recalls. “Use of these tests may cause serious adverse health consequences or death,” the FDA notes.
The test, according to the FDA, “detects proteins from the SARS-CoV-2 virus from a nasal sample in people two years of age or older.” It “is available without a prescription for use by people with or without COVID-19 symptoms” and “uses an analyzer that connects with a smartphone app to show users how to perform the test and understand the test results.”
A spokesperson for Ellume told The New York Times the root cause of the problem has been identified.
“Ellume has investigated the issue, identified the root cause, implemented additional controls, and we are already producing and shipping new product to the U.S.,” said a spokesperson. “Importantly, not all of the positive results of the affected tests were false positives, and negative results were not affected by this issue.”
As reported by NPR, “The company first informed the FDA about the defect in some lots in October. On Wednesday, the FDA said it had identified additional lots that have been affected by the manufacturing defect.”
Last month, Dr. Sean Parsons, the company’s chief executive, said that the company had created more measures to stop the problem from happening again.
“I’m very sorry that this has happened,” he said. “We’re all about chasing accuracy, and to have these false positives is disappointing.”
The FDA described the reason for the recall, stating:
Ellume is recalling certain lots of the COVID-19 Home Test because they have higher-than-acceptable false positive test results for SARS-CoV-2. The reliability of negative test results is not affected. For these tests, a false positive test result shows that a person has the virus when they do not have it and could lead to:
Delayed diagnosis or treatment for the actual cause of the person’s illness, which could be another life-threatening disease that is not COVID-19.
Further spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus when presumed positive people are grouped into cohorts (that is, they are housed together) based on false test results.
The person receiving unnecessary COVID-19 treatment from a health care provider, such as antiviral treatment, convalescent plasma, or monoclonal antibody treatment, which can result in side effects.
Disregard for the recommended precautions against COVID-19, including vaccination.
Isolation, including monitoring household or close contacts for symptoms, limiting contact with family or friends, and missing school or work.
There have reportedly been 35 cases reported where the devices showed a false positive, but it is unknown how many false positives the defective devices actually demonstrated.
As reported by CNN, “In February, the Biden administration announced a $231.8 million award for Ellume USA for production of its at-home tests for the US. But demand for home tests has remained high and supply limited. This fall, the Biden administration announced billions more dollars to help make more tests available.”
“You know, we didn’t have vaccines that block transmission. We got vaccines that help you with your health, but they only slightly reduced transmission,” Gates says.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has called for a “new way of doing the vaccines” against viruses like COVID-19 given that they do not “block” transmission.
Gates said the “economic damage” and death toll from COVID-19 was “completely horrific.”
Gates expects the world’s experience with COVID-19 to lead to larger research and development budgets to better prepare for a future pandemic.
“You know, we didn’t have vaccines that block transmission. We got vaccines that help you with your health, but they only slightly reduced transmission,” he said during a Policy Exchange discussion published on Nov. 5. “We need a new way of doing the vaccines. We didn’t get much in the way of therapeutics.”
Gates said in 5 years he hopes to write a book, titled, “We are ready for the next pandemic.”
A year after the election day in 2020, concerns still linger about election integrity in many states. This does not mean the election results are deeply in question, but it does suggest a need for more secure election processes next cycle.
According to Just the News, election integrity group VoterGA filed an Open Records Requests regarding the alleged destruction of ballot images from the 2020 election in Georgia. Their findings were stunning.
VoterGA said 74 Georgia counties had failed to produce the images, and it said 56 counties confirmed “most or all of the images” had been destroyed.
The images were automatically created by Dominion Voting Systems machines for tabulating votes, Just the News reported. The outlet said these images are “crucial for election records.”
Ballot images for people who voted in person are stored on compact flash memory cards. For ballots that were mailed in, the images are stored on flash drives.
After the elections, the most populated counties use scanners to transfer the images to the Election Management Server. Less populated counties manually upload the flash drives and cards to the server.
According to Just the News, federal law requires these images to be kept for 22 months post-election. In Georgia, state law dictates that the images be kept for 24 months.
Despite that, the election integrity group said the images are nowhere to be seen just 12 months after the 2020 presidential election.
“At least 28 counties admitted having no original images at all and 22 of those counties only had recount images that some claimed are the same as originals,” VoterGA said.
Even if the recount images are the same as the originals, VoterGA said they are not as useful. Recount images lack original timestamps and meta data that the original images have.
For that reason, Just the News reported recount images are invalid for audits since “they can be changed by tampering between scans.”
The mere fact that many counties could not provide ballot images does not necessarily mean the election results were inaccurate. However, it does cast even more doubt on an already suspect election process in Georgia.
One of Georgia’s largest counties, DeKalb, has experienced a litany of issues since the election. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, DeKalb County elections director Erica Hamilton was placed on leave without explanation in early September, and she later resigned.
In addition, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger opened a probe into DeKalb County drop boxes from the election, according to a separate article from Just the News.
“The investigation includes not only whether DeKalb County properly complied with the documentation required by the State Election Board but also whether the actual procedures used by DeKalb adequately protected chain of custody for ballots returned to drop boxes,” the secretary of state’s office said in September.
When Georgia passed new laws to shore up future elections, leftists went crazy and accused them of suppressing minority voters. Major League Baseball even moved the All-Star Game out of Atlanta because of the new regulations.
In order to ensure American confidence in elections, malpractice must be addressed quickly and thoroughly. The latest issue in Georgia is another reminder that we still have a long way to go in the fight for election integrity.
Hunter Biden’s text messages from December 2018 reveal concerning discussions about dealings in Russia and Communist China.
In a December 2018 text message exchange between Hunter Biden and his lover Hallie, the widowed wife of his late brother Beau Biden, Hunter describes feeling “very alone” in dealing with issues regarding his ex wife and children, the suspicious deaths of rich business partners, the arrest of foreign high-profile clients in Communist China, and his suspected involvement in business dealings in Russia “with Vladimir Putin directly.”
National File has obtained over 800 pages of text messages sent or received by Hunter Biden in 2018 and 2019. The text messages were retrieved from the infamous laptop abandoned by Hunter Biden at a Delaware computer store that was eventually delivered to the New York Post. In this article and in future coverage of the Hunter Biden text messages, National File has preserved typos and other original language from the text messages to preserve authenticity. National File has retracted and will retract sensitive information as necessary.
On December 14, 2018, Hunter Biden described feeling distraught about a multitude of concerning issues during a text exchange with his then-lover Hallie Biden, the widow of Hunter’s deceased brother brother Beau Biden. In the messages, Hunter complained about “feeling alone” in dealing with his financial troubles in regards to paying for what he described as “an enormous alimony,” including costs for his children and his own personal expenses.
At 7:00 a.m. Hallie texted Hunter “I can’t stand you right now but god I miss your touch and your face,” to which Hunter responded “Why hallow are you so mad Hallie.” Two hours later at 9:13 a.m., Hallie said “Because you should be doing everything in your power to be sober before anything else. If you are not able to do it on your own then you need to go away. You still want to do it your way – which isn’t working – time and life are passing by.”
At 10:31 a.m., Hunter responded with a large paragraph outlining his concerns with his business dealings in Russia, Communist China, Vladimir Putin “directly,” his client, the “chief of intelligence” of Communist China, and how his father Joe Biden was running for President of the United States.
Hunter Biden wrote:
You’re right Hallie and I find myself (because I’ve chosen to alienate all my friends and family and employees and you and the kids and my kids etc…) very alone in dealing with rebuilding an income that can support an enormous alimony and my kids costs and myself, dealing with the aftermath of the abduction and likely assassination (that’s what the NYT’s suspects) of my business partner the richest man in the world, the arrest and conviction of my client the chief of intelligence of the people’s republic of China by the US government, the retaliation of the Chinese in the ouster and arrest of the US suspected CIA operatives inside China, my suspected involvement in brokering a deal with Vladimir Putin directly for the largest sale of oil gas assets inside Russia to China, a tax bill that Eric left hanging over my business and
And Dads running for president
Hunter added that he was upset with Hallie, her children, the Biden family, and his friends for losing respect for him. “And finally your conclusion that you your kids the family my friends have lost all respect for me and therefor owe me nothing until I can prove to them that I’m sober and deserving of respect trust or common courtesy,” he wrote.
Hallie explained to Hunter that if he focused on being sober that his life will get better and become more manageable, noting that his last few months being “partially” sober had resulted in his life still being “chaotic.”
“If you focus on sobriety – full focused sobriety, everything else will fall into place in your life. It will all become manageable as they say. You have spent months partially working on sobriety and the result is that life is still chaotic and you still aren’t completely sober. It’s not about proving you are sober, but living sober,” Hallie wrote.
“Hallie I really do love you but you’re really so insanely arrogant and unwilling to see that my client,” wrote Hunter, appearing to not finish the rest of his message.
“Arrogant?” Hallie asked. “You have been in Boston over a month. If you are not 100% sober, then you need to recognize that you need inpatient hunter,” she wrote a few hours later. Hunter did not respond until the following day.
In October 2020, The Sun released a report detailing what appears to be Hunter Biden echoing similar concerns about the apparent Chinese spy chief and missing wealthy business partner.
“I have another New York Times reporter calling about my representation of Patrick Ho – the f**king spy chief of China who started the company that my partner, who is worth $323 billion, founded and is now missing,” he reportedly said on the audio recording. Last year, the New York Post reported that “The missing business partner Biden allegedly references appears to be Ye Jianming, founder of CEFC China Energy,” and added”The company is in hot water over several allegations about the Biden family stemming from information found on his laptop.”
National File previously uncovered an erratic text message exchange between Joe Biden and Hunter Biden on February 24, 2019, which revealed that Hunter told his father that if he did not run for President of the United States in 2020, then Hunter would “never have a chance at redemption” from his self-described reputation as “a f**ked up addict that cant be” trusted.
National File has over 800 pages of previously unreleased Hunter Biden text messages and intends to publish more in the coming days. National File confirmed the authenticity of the text messages using multiple methods and with assistance from the Marco Polo research group.
I was born in a Chinese reeducation camp, where my mother was detained in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, which many Uyghurs call East Turkistan. For most of my life, I tried to forget the horrific experiences my mother and I had during my early childhood. But it seems the past is repeating itself — and with a vengeance.
When I was born, the Uyghur region — like the rest of China — was in the throes of Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution. It was a period of totalitarian zeal: Almost anyone suspected of not being adequately communist was beaten, jailed or killed. Religious and ethnic minorities were particular targets.
Mao’s zealots, called the Red Guards, came to the traditional Uyghur homeland to enforce the brutal policies of the tyrannical regime. The Red Guards burned religious texts, destroyed mosques, banned Uyghur-language books and ordered millions of Uyghurs — including my mother — into reeducation camps to be indoctrinated in Maoist doctrines and to be “reformed” through hard labor.
While arbitrary reeducation on a large scale experienced a lull following the end of the Cultural Revolution, forced labor programs have remained a human rights concern in China in spite of the economic reforms of the following decades.
Now, some half a century later, China is targeting the Uyghur population with a new fervor. According to the US Department of Defense, China has detained possibly as many as 3 million Uyghurs in detention camps. Meanwhile, based on satellite imagery, CNN reports China has been destroying traditional Uyghur cemeteries. And, according to the accounts of several Uyghur women, it is incorporating an extensive forced sterilization program.
Having experienced the reality of living under this regime, and now watching with horror as these atrocities are visited on my Uyghur brothers and sisters, it’s difficult for me to comprehend how any Western actor could push for greater dialogue or engagement with such a regime.
How cheap are the lives of my people to the international community if it ignores reports of the Chinese government’s attempt to commit genocide against the Uyghurs? Democracies and nongovernmental organizations alike must do significantly more to support the Uyghur struggle — even if it comes with an inevitable backlash from the Chinese government.
Since leaving China in 1995 to seek political freedom and pursue graduate education, I have made it my mission to speak out against the horrors perpetrated against the Uyghurs, despite the serious consequences I have had to pay. I have not seen my mother or father for more than 17 years. The Chinese authorities have prevented my ailing and aging parents from leaving to reunite with their American children and grandchildren. Though my parents have never been given a clear reason for this, I strongly believe it is because of my criticism of the Chinese government.
Nury Turkel’s parents stand with him at his law school commencement in May 2004.
As a lawyer, human rights advocate, and now vice chair for the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), I have advocated for human rights and religious freedom in China and around the world for many years. And, in these capacities, I have seen real progress in raising awareness of the atrocities perpetrated in the Uyghur region. But to have any meaningful impact, the world’s leading democracies must pursue a bolder strategy aimed squarely at hitting China where it hurts — weaponizing import bans and strategic investments.
Appallingly, many of the products enjoyed by Western countries are made by interned Uyghurs in China. According to several reports, Uyghur forced labor contributes significantly to the world economy — particularly solar-panel manufacturing and cotton-growing industries. In a liberal international order, there can be no room for forced labor. The US Senate has taken serious steps forward on this issue by passing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which establishes broad import bans on products from the Uyghur region. The US House of Representatives, which passed an earlier version of the bill in 2020, must now move quickly to pass this bill, so that President Joe Biden can sign it into law.
Note: The “Freedom Score” is a numerical score, out of a maximum of 100, that is based on assessments of political freedoms and civil liberties. Freedom House provides assessments for 195 countries and 15 territories. Territories are chosen based on a set of criteria that includes how the area is governed, whether conditions on the ground differ significantly from relevant countries, and whether the boundaries are expected to remain sufficiently stable for year-on-year comparisons.
Our European partners — another enormous market for Chinese products — must follow suit, and the United States should encourage our allies to join us in rooting out this evil practice. While the European Union is currently crafting due diligence protocol to address human rights violations within EU supply chains, it has not given a strong enough indication that it will adopt broad import bans for products produced by Uyghur forced labor.
Europe endured the worst of the horrors of Nazism, fascism and communism — and should understand the consequences of failing to act in the face of a regime that seeks to eradicate minority groups. If the EU is to have any credibility as a moral leader, it must ban the import of products from Xinjiang.
Indeed, such bans, which go further than many of the existing sanctions already in place, can go a long way toward mitigating the atrocious crimes that Beijing is committing in the Uyghur homeland. Consider some of the US sanctions, which are already proving to be effective at chipping away at two things the Chinese party leadership cares most about — economic interests and public image.
Banning the import of agricultural products — such as cotton and tomatoes — has fractured the supply chains for the fashion and food industries. And the enforcement measures behind these sanctions have also created pressure points for US companies, forcing them to recognize the risks of doing business in China while also facing administrative, legal and reputational risks in the United States. In addition, public naming and shaming through the use of sanctions has sent a powerful message to Beijing that perpetrators of human rights abuses cannot remain anonymous.
That’s not to say that this is a risk-free proposition for the countries implementing such a ban. Italy is one of the leading global importers of goods from Xinjiang, and it may be challenging for such a country to cut itself off from Xinjiang products, even if it would like to. That’s why it’s critical for powerful economies like the United States and other democracies to invest in viable alternatives to China’s forced-labor products, thereby making it easier for countries to diversify their supply chains.
This June, the US Senate passed the US Innovation and Competition Act, which designates $250 billion to boost American scientific research, design and semiconductor manufacturing. The United States and its democratic partners should consider similar legislation to boost the manufacturing of products that have until now been dominated by companies operating with forced labor in Xinjiang.
Both Donald Trump‘s and Joe Biden‘s administrations have labeled China’s actions toward the Uyghurs as a genocide, and the Canadian, British, Dutch and Lithuanian Parliaments have concurred. State signatories to the United Nations Genocide Convention are obliged to take action to halt genocide when it occurs and punish the perpetrators. Yet so much more remains to be done to address the continuing horrors of Xinjiang.
This cuts to the legal and moral core of the liberal international order. The dual strategy of import bans and domestic investment may not be a panacea, but it is undoubtedly a meaningful step in the right direction. After watching a lifetime of abuse by the Chinese regime, such actions give me at least a glimmer of hope that Uyghur lives mean more to the international community than platitudes.
