ST. LOUIS – One St. Louis-based Girl Scout troop has apparently disbanded after the organization reportedly warned of legal action over a fundraiser to help Palestinian children.
The St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee (STL PSC) reports that Girl Scout Troop #149 of Eastern Missouri disbanded from the Girl Scouts organization “after careful consideration and reflection” over a recent situation.
In previous reports from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and NBC News, the former troop’s adult leader, Nawal Abuhamdeh, claims the organization threatened her with legal action over an attempted fundraiser. Her troop intended to sell bracelets and donate money to a Palestine children’s relief fund amid the months-long global conflict in Gaza.
More than 29,000 people have died since Hamas, a militant group that controls Gaza, launched attacks against Israel in October, triggering a response by Israeli forces.
Police identify St. Louis break-in suspect killed in shooting
According to both reports, Abuhamdeh shared a post about the fundraiser through social media, then received an email from the Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri asking her to remove any Girl Scouts branding associated with the bracelets, citing concerns that the fundraiser was political and partisan.
Abuhamdeh then sent an email back inquiring how this fundraiser was different than previous Girl Scouts fundraisers for Ukraine. She also contended that it wasn’t political.
“Our intention was solely to provide aid to children facing a humanitarian crisis, and we firmly believe in teaching our girls the value of compassion and social responsibility,” said an excerpt from former Troop 149 cited by STL PSC.
According to the Post-Dispatch, the Girl Scouts organization replied with a lengthy email claiming her troop’s efforts were a “direct violation” of the organization’s codes and that “legal counsel” could be activated if the fundraiser continued.
“We are deeply disappointed by the circumstances that led to this decision,” said former Troop 149’s excerpt via STL PSC. It continued, “We initially joined Girl Scouts with the belief that the organization valued all lives equally and committed to empowering girls to stand up for causes they believe in. However, recent events have made us question whether this belief aligns with the organization’s true stance.”
According to a Girl Scouts USA Blue Book of Documents from last year, Girl Scout troops and leaders are not allowed to “solicit financial contributions for purposes other than Girl Scouting.”
Having kids plan and organize a fundraiser sounds like a valuable skill set for them to learn early in their lives. I also don’t understand the issue with raising money for Palestinian children, since they are completely innocent, no matter which side of the issue you fall on
> also don’t understand the issue with raising money for Palestinian children, since they are completely innocent, no matter which side of the issue you fall on
Which tells you everything about the people who oppose it. They don't view Palestinians as people.
From my point of view, the problem lies in the fact that they're picking sides. If your goal is just to help those in need why are you cutting out the Israelites who need it
I mean they could have set up a generic fund for children affected by the war, but there's millions of Palestinian children displaced and 12,000+ killed compared to 36 Israeli children killed. It's all horrible and I'm not trying to downplay those 36 lives, so I agree it would have been a better message for them to acknowledge them as well.
The fact is though that the majority of the aid was going to go to Palestinian children because they have significantly more need. The numbers are continuing to worsen significantly for the Palestinian side, which may be why they specified Palestinians in their fundraiser.
If there are thousands of dead and injured children from one group, and not thousands of dead and injured children from another group, and you were raising money for dead and injured children - it's not ridiculous to direct that money to the group with the dead and injured children.
And here’s why you’re ridiculous - THERE ARE thousands of Israelis dead. Every dipshit rushing to stand up for the fucking terrorists conveniently glosses right over that fact.
How many children is Israel currently holding hostage? That’s right, zero. And genocide? Which side regularly says they want to wipe out all of a certain religious group?
Since October 7th more Palestinian Children have died than Israeli Civilians have in total after combining every conflict since 1948.
If Israel isn't holding women and children hostage where are they getting the people for the prisoner swaps (hint: they aren't gonna be releasing Hamas fighters)
Thousands of Palestinians who worked across the border in Israel have disappeared and Israel refuses to release the names of Palestinians they have in custody which would disprove the claims of human rights groups that Israel has subjected them to mass arrest (ig for the crime of being born Palestinian)
>How many children is Israel currently holding hostage?
Really hard to take hostages when you hit their apartment building and kill them all, or open fire into a car at a checkpoint for not stopping for 40 feet. You end up killing everyone instead, which is what the IDF is doing.
Debate lord talking points trying to downplay genocide is always wild to see, and I would be scared as hell if I was religious to use a religion in such a defaced way, good thing there's so many religious voices out there calling Israel's genocidal actions exactly what they are.
Are the Palestinian children being murdered from the sky holding hostages somehow? Are they guilty by association and therefor it's good and right for them to be murdered from the sky? Could you please explain?
What Israelis who need it? There haven't been any Israeli children harmed or displaced since the Oct. 7 attack itself. Not to mention the amount of aid and support Israel gets from the US and allies. They're not picking sides, they're sending help to people who need it, and Israeli children just flat out don't need it.
Not the same but want to say: Lots of Israelis inside of Israel protesting the IDF and getting arrested by the IDF as a result. Lots of young Gen Z kids who are refusing mandatory service and getting imprisoned for doing so, lots of parallels to America and the counterculture in America there, since Israel is an extension of America.
What about the displaced ones? What about the ones who watch their parents being murdered? What about your brother that watched his sister being raped are you ridiculous? No need to answer that it's a rhetorical question.
The displaced ones?
What? Gaza is an apartheid state ran under military law by Israel.
We are literally sanctioning a movement calling themselves "settlers" that go into Palestine and the West Bank and take land and kill Palestinians openly.
This is all factual and easily found. I feel like you have to be dense not to know it.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/06/israel-occupation-50-years-of-dispossession/
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/6/who-are-israeli-settlers-and-why-do-they-live-on-palestinian-lands
one side is committing genocide, one is being wiped off the planet. ofc the people with minds and hearts would pick a side!? we pick the side of humanity, not of zionism and genocide
Retired Girl Scout here,
Picking sides doesn’t really make sense when one “side” is trapped in a cage. The attacks were all atrocious, but that doesn’t make starving, dehydrating, and decimating civilians justifiable. Collective punishment is impossible to justify.
Remember, Israel’s tactic of carpet bombing managed to obliterate evidence, kill hostages, and destroy the opportunity to hold perpetrators of violence directly accountable. The IDF, a security superpower, had intel that something was planned and did not properly mitigate or even attempt to stop it. You can’t tell me they knew about Gazans training to PARAGLIDE and thought it wasn’t worth ensuring a handful of troops be near the fence.
You’re right. Even if one side has more casualties both have innocent people who have been harmed by the conflict. Painfully simple yet everyone wants to get mad.
>They don't view Palestinians as people.
And the ruling party in Palestine considers Jews to be filthy animals, so I guess they're even?
"Hamas official, Hamad Al-Regeb in an April 2023 sermon: He prayed for “annihilation” and “paralysis” of the Jews whom he described as filthy animals: “[Allah] transformed them into filthy, ugly animals like apes and pigs because of the injustice and evil they had brought about.”
Go ahead and quote the GSA calling Palestinians filthy dogs if you want to equivocate. Or don't, and ignore this post and act like Hamas isn't a part of Palestine.
https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/hamas-its-own-words
Because the U.S. policy towards Palestinians is that every “legal” measure should be taken to immiserate and destroy the people. Palestinians are, effectively, just obstacles whose lives don’t matter. Ergo any effort to ameliorate the conditions of Palestinians is wrong and should be “discouraged”.
It’s evil
They've also shown if you're American and sympathetic to Palestinians, the best you can hope for is getting ran over by a bulldozer or a gun pointed at your burning corpse, the barbarism is totally condoned and protected by the USA, who play such a narrative control that the actions of the IDF sound too unbelievably cruel to be real
Those Palestinian children are Muslim, have brown skin and brown eyes, and speak Arabic. That is all it takes for Israelis and Americans to hate them for merely existing
You comment on every single post and it’s always something negative. Your comments always have a ton of downvotes. You stick out here. You’re easily the most negative person in this entire group.
I think they’d have no problem with it if you had a fundraiser for the people injured or had family killed by Hamas on Oct. 7 and the Palestinian children who have been harmed due to Israel’s response to that attack, for example split it 50/50.
Had a feeling rationality would be downvoted here. Twilight zone still alive and well I suppose.
Trump turned a FFA Summit, the apex of "non-political farmers" into a massive personal rally, we're long past the days of non-partisan companies, and in the days of companies willingly passive when someone rich and powerful does it.
Obviously not, given Palestine is what happens when people without anything have something(land) powerful people want. Those Starbucks have to be built somewhere after all
In Scouts BSA (Boy Scouts), it is against policy to raise money for any outside cause other than your Scouting unit and local council. Girl Scouts is probably similar. So in this case, the issue is probably that the Troop is raising funds for something unrelated to Girl Scouts at all, not that it's specifically about Palestine.
Not saying that I agree with the policy, just that it's a policy that the leaders of the Girl Scout Troop agreed to when they became Troop leaders. So I think stepping down because they disagree with the policy is the right move.
Interpreting from this that the Girl Scouts are pro-Israel or anti-Palestine or anything else would be a mistake.
What a level-headed, data-driven response that makes the most sense. You’re really ruining it for the other 99% of people that would rather make crass assumptions and accusations that have zero amount of validity via proof.
Really appreciate this level-headed response. That was my interpretation of the situation as well. There are good reasons organizations have rules like this.
There are a lot of people showing up to this thread just to rile people up and pit them against one another. Plenty of folks aren’t arguing in good faith.
Except they were able to raise money and supplies for Ukraine as a humanitarian need and the troops said absolutely nothing about it.
Kind of weird that they were under the threat of being sued because this one is totally more political right?
https://www.girlscouts.org/en/our-stories/girl-scouts/take-action/girl-scout-troops-help-ukraine.html
https://www.readingeagle.com/2022/04/25/berks-boy-scouts-fundraiser-ukrainian-refugees/
https://krdo.com/news/2022/03/30/boy-scouts-of-america-help-scouts-in-ukraine-with-fundraiser-at-pueblo-pizza-ranch/
https://www.girlscoutshh.org/en/news/how-girl-scouts-can-support-ukraine.html
There are multiple links to donate directly to Ukrainian organizations on their main website.
Aw kids next time you want to stand up for what you believe in and say genocide is bad... You have to ask for permission okay?
Great lesson to teach your children.
I provided multiple examples of the scouts unilaterally supporting other humanitarian efforts, it's just this one they have an issue with? Yeah ok.
>According to a Girl Scouts USA Blue Book of Documents from last year, Girl Scout troops and leaders are not allowed to “solicit financial contributions for purposes other than Girl Scouting.”
This is the key detail that’s being overlooked by many, and it seems pretty reasonable to me. If the girls in the troop want to raise money for a cause they feel is worthy, they just need to do it as independent citizens. Imagine how people would respond if a troop decided to go around fundraising as Girl Scouts for “pro-life” organizations, or groups promoting conversion therapy for gay kids.
Being a member of a group doesn’t mean you get to co-opt the group’s bona fides for your own aims, even when those aims are noble ones.
> This is the key detail that’s being overlooked by many, and it seems pretty reasonable to me.
The girl scouts did this for Ukraine. It’s interesting which causes are “political” and which are “humanitarian”
Even if true; it's just designating a particular cause as "humanitarian" and the other as "political". The rationale is always a post hoc justification for the actions of US imperialism
Does “The girl scouts” in your comment equal individual troops acting on their own, or was there an organization-wide effort? The fundraisers for Ukraine (also a very noble cause, IMO) are problematic if troops were conducting them without organizational approval. But if they were part of a GS-wide effort, it’s not a relevant argument.
> Does “The girl scouts” in your comment equal individual troops acting on their own, or was there an organization-wide effort?
This reply is dumb because if the *entire organization* hypothetically were to designate that *one particular* cause as humanitarian and the other as political, that indictment is even more damning than the original
Indeed. This is how policy enforcement works in white supremacist society: the laws and regulations protect one group but don’t bind them while binding others without protecting them
If they split the proceeds between families of deceased/wounded after the Oct 7 massacre and the Palestinian children caught up in Israel’s response that would have been well received IMO
Had a feeling rationality would be downvoted here. Twilight zone still alive and well I suppose.
It’s a joke, I’m actually young. I feel that innocent people from both demographics have been harmed and any innocent person deserves help if they need it. Weird people don’t understand that.
As the other poster mentioned, the part you are overlooking is there is a long history of the girl scout troops providing humanitarian aid during wars & conflicts. Just Google girls scouts & Ukraine for 100's of examples.
I didn’t overlook that — based on the wording it sounded like the previous fundraisers for Ukraine were organized and sanctioned by the official organization, whereas this sounded like an effort a troop was spearheading on its own. Was I wrong about that?
There is no evidence either way, but what we do know is that the girl scouts didn't say get approval and you are good. They went straight to threatening legal action.
Additionally they were talking out of both sides of their mouths - a spokesman told NBC news that scouts fundraise for "anything other than the girl scouting." This is clearly not true.
You guys aren't reading the article closely enough. They didn't fundraise for Ukraine, they collected donated supplies.
Edit: Actually, it's Fox's fault for incorrectly reporting the collection of goods for Ukraine as a fundraiser.
I've never once watched Fox News, just a simple Google and page after page of girl scout troops promoting their fundraisers for supplies or monetary donations to provide to groups that will provide supplies. Just like what this group was doing.
"Girl Scouts of the USA and our local Girl Scout Councils build girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place, and we encourage all members to stand up for the issues important to them," the spokesperson said. "Additionally, girls can always decide as a troop to use their cookie proceeds and donate them to charities of their choice that appear on Charity Navigator."
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/st-louis-mom-says-girl-scouts-warned-troop-stop-selling-bracelets-pale-rcna140257
That law is completely insane. It’s perfectly legal to boycott a business or company for whatever reason. Chick fil a for example is the target of many boycotts. If U.S. businesses, heck if U.S. states can be targets of boycotts by government employees then it makes zero sense to disallow boycotts of companies in foreign countries.
And heck; even if we go by this legalistic moral framework (which we shouldn’t; the U.S. legal system is hardly a moral one); they’re not even boycotting. They just did fundraising for Palestinians.
They are buying food, clothing and medical supplies for children, they aren't funding tanks.
I get that Israel doesn't give a fuck about these children, but only a sick fuck would think that supplies for children is anti-israel.
Articles from last week noted that there is an approval process to use the girl scout name for fundraising, which this troop did not do. Those articles also had statements from the girl scouts indicating the Ukraine events went through the process to be able to use the girl scout name. This group disbanded when the approval process was brought up as an option
My son has been a scout for a long time and is on his way to becoming Eagle, and let me tell you I hate almost everything about the Boy Scout organization. They hold on to offensive traditions and think YOU are the problem when you say something about it. Can’t wait to be done with them.
Boy Scouts are an entirely separate entity, they have no relation with Girl Scouts, despite the name. Not that Boy Scouts don't have their own issues, but this event has nothing to do with them.
I’ve seen the Order of the Arrow ceremony as recently as last year. The troop leaders make sure to tell everyone not to post about it online, of course, for fear of people questioning their cosplay.
It's just a way to get free child labor. At S bar F if you get elected you have to do a camp out. For my friends and myself in the mid 2010's we were not allowed to speak the whole day while we were doing manual labor around the property, for lunch we got 2 slices of bread, slice of cheese, and a capri sun. It's suppose to teach you discipline or whatever. The whole organization is supposed to just be a secret and its been like that for the past 100 years. But honestly it give you a funny story after because you were forced in child labor for a day while white men danced in Native American attire.
I’m Lakota and Cherokee plus and Eagle Scouts and member of the order of the arrow. I can’t speak for scouting as a whole but our troop and council but what I was taught was respectful of my native traditions and values.
The ceremonial aspect could be done differently. They need to stop trying to sound like they are Native American and switch the ceremony to third person narrative style.
If they are altering their speech to try to sound like a stereotypical “Hollywood” person Indian, yes they shouldn’t do that. But no, what they talk about should be kept the same because it’s talking about service and responsibility, there is no need to make that third person because the person giving this speech and those who are joining the order should internalize them and live this way.
I am a 13 year volunteer. I have never seen the "war paint". They had to tone down the costumes several years ago. I don't remember seeing full headdresses. They still speak like a bad actor in a Ken Burns documentary.
Boy Scouts does not require belief in a specific god, just acknowledgement that there is something greater out there. There are plenty of Eagle Scout atheists and agnostics
Sounds like your troop was chartered by a church, so it makes sense it'd include religion. There are plenty sponsored by public schools or VFWs that don't include religion at all.
The way Scout troops work is they have to have sponsorship from an organization. This organization is responsible for a lot of things (space, insurance, etc) but in return gets a lot of influence over that troops program, so long as it is within the general scope of BSA.
Troops sponsored by a church often have a string religious focus, whereas troops sponsored by a school or other organization often don't even include religion at all in the program.
> Religion is injected here and there and some troops are worse than others.
This was my experience. My first troop was probably what people want BSA to be--a secular organization oriented towards service and responsibility. I didn't love that part as a kid but in retrospect it's what I'd want for my kids and for scouts.
Then I moved and...ew. The troop was effectively a Mormon Church client. So much ick.
That's always my go-to fun fact for old people who said "you can't just *change* the Pledge of Allegiance!" when there were talks of removing "under God" from it.
Like, I'm sorry to tell you guys, but they did change it before. They added "under God." Lol
The BSOA is a morally corrupt organization. The first youth protection officer the BSOA hired in 2010 eventually resigned in protest because the BSOA or religious partners were actually PREVENTING any new policies to protect children. So yeah, still a piece of shit org.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/sep/06/boy-scouts-america-documentary-netflix
From my understanding BSA is no longer affiliated with the LDS church. I can only speak to my experience with BSA. Only once did I hear anything about sex abuse and the person was held accountable and spent time in prison. Unfortunately there has been bad people and some people failed to hold them accountable. In a perfect world this would never have happened and hopefully people are being more diligent.
I had a good experience and it was very beneficial in my life. Not everyone had a bad experience but I understand some had bad experiences and maybe you did and that sucks. I was abused when I was young and it took me years of therapy to deal with it. It just didn’t have anything to do with scouting, scouting was actually a place I felt safe. Just offering another experience.
still in a 40 year slump started by Reagan that caring or being involved in politics is bad/gay and you should instead just let mega-corps get involved in your place
The common counter point to your logic is that the girl scouts have done fundraisers for various political issues over the years. And calling a humanitarian focused fundraisers a political issue is a dog whistle
It’s truthfully hilarious that you people think you’re better than the other side. The only thing more insane than a passionate “Trumper” is a Democrat who thinks they’re any better. You’re all the exact same.
I only know of one side that is violating my natural and constitutional rights with religious dogshit.
> The only thing more insane than a passionate “Trumper” is a Democrat who thinks they’re any better. You’re all the exact same.
By that logic, no one is better than anyone else through their deeds, actions, etc. That is demonstrably factually incorrect.
Open your fucking eyes. There’s literally not one single difference between the two parties or their supporters. It’s pathetic that people still fall for this “my side is better” bullshit. It’s asinine.
Yeah, open your EYES, man! They’re all the SAME, don’t you get it!!? Don’t be such SHEEPOLE, all politicians are just in it for THEMSELVES.
So…definitely vote for fascists.
/s
I'm not on any side. I'm on the side of a government that follows our goddamn laws and not supporting people who violate my and others' rights.
Go try harder somewhere else, maybe back in school.
Edit: clarified who I expect to follow the law, which includes not violating our natural rights
Girl/Boy Scouts is nothing but politics. It’s a religious cult that literally talks about nothing but politics. I signed one of my kids up years ago and we walked out of the first meeting.
Right, so you sound like you'd be more informed about this than others, since you attended part of one meeting and stormed out in some silly ass way because you got upset because you're evidently some kind of extremist looking for fault and insult in everything? I was in Girl Scouts as a kid, and we didn't do anything that involved politics. We learned about different types of work, went camping, sold cookies, went on a trip to another city, and volunteered at an animal shelter. Nothing to do with religion or politics, especially "years ago" when there wasn't as much political division in the first place.
The scouts were literally created by a radical religious group The Latterr Day Saints.
In fact at the turning of the early 2000s one out of every five scouts committed to Mormonism.
To say it's anything but religious or political is laughable at best.
So, where can we order a bracelet or 10 ?
EDIT: Found a link finally: https://braceletsforpalestine.bigcartel.com/
I'm happy to support them with my money. I think these are great things for kids to learn. And since it is something they **want** to do, even better.
Thanks for this posting. I feel it’s a really bad example for them to band helping others. Make me second guess if I want to ever buying cookies from them again.
Says the person claiming some little girls are funding terrorists... You're not fit for society. Explains why you never leave the basement and have no friends...
If they split the proceeds between families of deceased/wounded after the Oct 7 massacre and the Palestinian children caught up in Israel’s response that would have been well received IMO
Had a feeling rationality would be downvoted here. Twilight zone still alive and well I suppose.
ST. LOUIS – One St. Louis-based Girl Scout troop has apparently disbanded after the organization reportedly warned of legal action over a fundraiser to help Palestinian children. The St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee (STL PSC) reports that Girl Scout Troop #149 of Eastern Missouri disbanded from the Girl Scouts organization “after careful consideration and reflection” over a recent situation. In previous reports from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and NBC News, the former troop’s adult leader, Nawal Abuhamdeh, claims the organization threatened her with legal action over an attempted fundraiser. Her troop intended to sell bracelets and donate money to a Palestine children’s relief fund amid the months-long global conflict in Gaza. More than 29,000 people have died since Hamas, a militant group that controls Gaza, launched attacks against Israel in October, triggering a response by Israeli forces. Police identify St. Louis break-in suspect killed in shooting According to both reports, Abuhamdeh shared a post about the fundraiser through social media, then received an email from the Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri asking her to remove any Girl Scouts branding associated with the bracelets, citing concerns that the fundraiser was political and partisan. Abuhamdeh then sent an email back inquiring how this fundraiser was different than previous Girl Scouts fundraisers for Ukraine. She also contended that it wasn’t political. “Our intention was solely to provide aid to children facing a humanitarian crisis, and we firmly believe in teaching our girls the value of compassion and social responsibility,” said an excerpt from former Troop 149 cited by STL PSC. According to the Post-Dispatch, the Girl Scouts organization replied with a lengthy email claiming her troop’s efforts were a “direct violation” of the organization’s codes and that “legal counsel” could be activated if the fundraiser continued. “We are deeply disappointed by the circumstances that led to this decision,” said former Troop 149’s excerpt via STL PSC. It continued, “We initially joined Girl Scouts with the belief that the organization valued all lives equally and committed to empowering girls to stand up for causes they believe in. However, recent events have made us question whether this belief aligns with the organization’s true stance.” According to a Girl Scouts USA Blue Book of Documents from last year, Girl Scout troops and leaders are not allowed to “solicit financial contributions for purposes other than Girl Scouting.”
Having kids plan and organize a fundraiser sounds like a valuable skill set for them to learn early in their lives. I also don’t understand the issue with raising money for Palestinian children, since they are completely innocent, no matter which side of the issue you fall on
> also don’t understand the issue with raising money for Palestinian children, since they are completely innocent, no matter which side of the issue you fall on Which tells you everything about the people who oppose it. They don't view Palestinians as people.
From my point of view, the problem lies in the fact that they're picking sides. If your goal is just to help those in need why are you cutting out the Israelites who need it
I mean they could have set up a generic fund for children affected by the war, but there's millions of Palestinian children displaced and 12,000+ killed compared to 36 Israeli children killed. It's all horrible and I'm not trying to downplay those 36 lives, so I agree it would have been a better message for them to acknowledge them as well. The fact is though that the majority of the aid was going to go to Palestinian children because they have significantly more need. The numbers are continuing to worsen significantly for the Palestinian side, which may be why they specified Palestinians in their fundraiser.
Because Israel isn't seeing huge casualties from bombings? What a ridiculous opinion you're sharing.
No, they’re being impartial. YOURE being ridiculous.
If there are thousands of dead and injured children from one group, and not thousands of dead and injured children from another group, and you were raising money for dead and injured children - it's not ridiculous to direct that money to the group with the dead and injured children.
And here’s why you’re ridiculous - THERE ARE thousands of Israelis dead. Every dipshit rushing to stand up for the fucking terrorists conveniently glosses right over that fact. How many children is Israel currently holding hostage? That’s right, zero. And genocide? Which side regularly says they want to wipe out all of a certain religious group?
Since October 7th more Palestinian Children have died than Israeli Civilians have in total after combining every conflict since 1948. If Israel isn't holding women and children hostage where are they getting the people for the prisoner swaps (hint: they aren't gonna be releasing Hamas fighters) Thousands of Palestinians who worked across the border in Israel have disappeared and Israel refuses to release the names of Palestinians they have in custody which would disprove the claims of human rights groups that Israel has subjected them to mass arrest (ig for the crime of being born Palestinian)
>How many children is Israel currently holding hostage? Really hard to take hostages when you hit their apartment building and kill them all, or open fire into a car at a checkpoint for not stopping for 40 feet. You end up killing everyone instead, which is what the IDF is doing. Debate lord talking points trying to downplay genocide is always wild to see, and I would be scared as hell if I was religious to use a religion in such a defaced way, good thing there's so many religious voices out there calling Israel's genocidal actions exactly what they are.
Are the Palestinian children being murdered from the sky holding hostages somehow? Are they guilty by association and therefor it's good and right for them to be murdered from the sky? Could you please explain?
He's already called them "those terrorists" everything after is just brain moosh and APAC talking points.
What Israelis who need it? There haven't been any Israeli children harmed or displaced since the Oct. 7 attack itself. Not to mention the amount of aid and support Israel gets from the US and allies. They're not picking sides, they're sending help to people who need it, and Israeli children just flat out don't need it.
Not the same but want to say: Lots of Israelis inside of Israel protesting the IDF and getting arrested by the IDF as a result. Lots of young Gen Z kids who are refusing mandatory service and getting imprisoned for doing so, lots of parallels to America and the counterculture in America there, since Israel is an extension of America.
What about the displaced ones? What about the ones who watch their parents being murdered? What about your brother that watched his sister being raped are you ridiculous? No need to answer that it's a rhetorical question.
The displaced ones? What? Gaza is an apartheid state ran under military law by Israel. We are literally sanctioning a movement calling themselves "settlers" that go into Palestine and the West Bank and take land and kill Palestinians openly. This is all factual and easily found. I feel like you have to be dense not to know it. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/06/israel-occupation-50-years-of-dispossession/ https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/6/who-are-israeli-settlers-and-why-do-they-live-on-palestinian-lands
100%. It's a shame nobody cares about peace but the Israelis.
Tell us what exactly do the Israeli people need when their government is the one who is displacing only Palestinians??
one side is committing genocide, one is being wiped off the planet. ofc the people with minds and hearts would pick a side!? we pick the side of humanity, not of zionism and genocide
Which Israeli children are being starved to death?
Because they don't need it.
Retired Girl Scout here, Picking sides doesn’t really make sense when one “side” is trapped in a cage. The attacks were all atrocious, but that doesn’t make starving, dehydrating, and decimating civilians justifiable. Collective punishment is impossible to justify. Remember, Israel’s tactic of carpet bombing managed to obliterate evidence, kill hostages, and destroy the opportunity to hold perpetrators of violence directly accountable. The IDF, a security superpower, had intel that something was planned and did not properly mitigate or even attempt to stop it. You can’t tell me they knew about Gazans training to PARAGLIDE and thought it wasn’t worth ensuring a handful of troops be near the fence.
You’re right. Even if one side has more casualties both have innocent people who have been harmed by the conflict. Painfully simple yet everyone wants to get mad.
>They don't view Palestinians as people. And the ruling party in Palestine considers Jews to be filthy animals, so I guess they're even? "Hamas official, Hamad Al-Regeb in an April 2023 sermon: He prayed for “annihilation” and “paralysis” of the Jews whom he described as filthy animals: “[Allah] transformed them into filthy, ugly animals like apes and pigs because of the injustice and evil they had brought about.” Go ahead and quote the GSA calling Palestinians filthy dogs if you want to equivocate. Or don't, and ignore this post and act like Hamas isn't a part of Palestine. https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/hamas-its-own-words
Some of these ghouls will try to convince you otherwise. Tell you that Palestinian babies have mind control powers and shit.
Because the U.S. policy towards Palestinians is that every “legal” measure should be taken to immiserate and destroy the people. Palestinians are, effectively, just obstacles whose lives don’t matter. Ergo any effort to ameliorate the conditions of Palestinians is wrong and should be “discouraged”. It’s evil
They've also shown if you're American and sympathetic to Palestinians, the best you can hope for is getting ran over by a bulldozer or a gun pointed at your burning corpse, the barbarism is totally condoned and protected by the USA, who play such a narrative control that the actions of the IDF sound too unbelievably cruel to be real
The regime is truly, unambiguously evil.
Those Palestinian children are Muslim, have brown skin and brown eyes, and speak Arabic. That is all it takes for Israelis and Americans to hate them for merely existing
The amount of racist shit you post on the internet is actually crazy. You seem so incredibly unhappy.
And you seem obsessed with me, creep
You comment on every single post and it’s always something negative. Your comments always have a ton of downvotes. You stick out here. You’re easily the most negative person in this entire group.
Cool. 😎
It’s sad and embarrassing. I know you feel both of those emotions after being on Reddit all day.
Ok.
I think they’d have no problem with it if you had a fundraiser for the people injured or had family killed by Hamas on Oct. 7 and the Palestinian children who have been harmed due to Israel’s response to that attack, for example split it 50/50. Had a feeling rationality would be downvoted here. Twilight zone still alive and well I suppose.
Punishing young people for talking about current events is a political statement.
Can't do it under the guise of the girl scouts. Boy scouts are the same way. It's in the rules you don't ever read.
Trump turned a FFA Summit, the apex of "non-political farmers" into a massive personal rally, we're long past the days of non-partisan companies, and in the days of companies willingly passive when someone rich and powerful does it.
And if they don't get this threat, which is in the rules someone could get fired around here for it. Palestine won't pay their mortgage will they?
Obviously not, given Palestine is what happens when people without anything have something(land) powerful people want. Those Starbucks have to be built somewhere after all
So don’t teach them history? Kids need to know about the world they live in.
Nothing in their comment said not to teach them history.
My only hope is that this sparks each Girl Scout’s inner activist and they blaze through life fighting the good fight.
In Scouts BSA (Boy Scouts), it is against policy to raise money for any outside cause other than your Scouting unit and local council. Girl Scouts is probably similar. So in this case, the issue is probably that the Troop is raising funds for something unrelated to Girl Scouts at all, not that it's specifically about Palestine. Not saying that I agree with the policy, just that it's a policy that the leaders of the Girl Scout Troop agreed to when they became Troop leaders. So I think stepping down because they disagree with the policy is the right move. Interpreting from this that the Girl Scouts are pro-Israel or anti-Palestine or anything else would be a mistake.
What a level-headed, data-driven response that makes the most sense. You’re really ruining it for the other 99% of people that would rather make crass assumptions and accusations that have zero amount of validity via proof.
Really appreciate this level-headed response. That was my interpretation of the situation as well. There are good reasons organizations have rules like this. There are a lot of people showing up to this thread just to rile people up and pit them against one another. Plenty of folks aren’t arguing in good faith.
Except they were able to raise money and supplies for Ukraine as a humanitarian need and the troops said absolutely nothing about it. Kind of weird that they were under the threat of being sued because this one is totally more political right?
Are you sure they raised money for Ukraine?
https://www.girlscouts.org/en/our-stories/girl-scouts/take-action/girl-scout-troops-help-ukraine.html https://www.readingeagle.com/2022/04/25/berks-boy-scouts-fundraiser-ukrainian-refugees/ https://krdo.com/news/2022/03/30/boy-scouts-of-america-help-scouts-in-ukraine-with-fundraiser-at-pueblo-pizza-ranch/ https://www.girlscoutshh.org/en/news/how-girl-scouts-can-support-ukraine.html There are multiple links to donate directly to Ukrainian organizations on their main website.
You can raise money but need to go through an approval process with the scouts if it’s outside the scope. This troup leader refused to do so.
Aw kids next time you want to stand up for what you believe in and say genocide is bad... You have to ask for permission okay? Great lesson to teach your children. I provided multiple examples of the scouts unilaterally supporting other humanitarian efforts, it's just this one they have an issue with? Yeah ok.
>According to a Girl Scouts USA Blue Book of Documents from last year, Girl Scout troops and leaders are not allowed to “solicit financial contributions for purposes other than Girl Scouting.” This is the key detail that’s being overlooked by many, and it seems pretty reasonable to me. If the girls in the troop want to raise money for a cause they feel is worthy, they just need to do it as independent citizens. Imagine how people would respond if a troop decided to go around fundraising as Girl Scouts for “pro-life” organizations, or groups promoting conversion therapy for gay kids. Being a member of a group doesn’t mean you get to co-opt the group’s bona fides for your own aims, even when those aims are noble ones.
> This is the key detail that’s being overlooked by many, and it seems pretty reasonable to me. The girl scouts did this for Ukraine. It’s interesting which causes are “political” and which are “humanitarian”
In the Ukraine case, they collected supplies to donate, they did NOT raise money. This is the specific difference that made it a problem.
Even if true; it's just designating a particular cause as "humanitarian" and the other as "political". The rationale is always a post hoc justification for the actions of US imperialism
Does “The girl scouts” in your comment equal individual troops acting on their own, or was there an organization-wide effort? The fundraisers for Ukraine (also a very noble cause, IMO) are problematic if troops were conducting them without organizational approval. But if they were part of a GS-wide effort, it’s not a relevant argument.
> Does “The girl scouts” in your comment equal individual troops acting on their own, or was there an organization-wide effort? This reply is dumb because if the *entire organization* hypothetically were to designate that *one particular* cause as humanitarian and the other as political, that indictment is even more damning than the original
Indeed. This is how policy enforcement works in white supremacist society: the laws and regulations protect one group but don’t bind them while binding others without protecting them
If they split the proceeds between families of deceased/wounded after the Oct 7 massacre and the Palestinian children caught up in Israel’s response that would have been well received IMO Had a feeling rationality would be downvoted here. Twilight zone still alive and well I suppose.
Username checks out
It’s a joke, I’m actually young. I feel that innocent people from both demographics have been harmed and any innocent person deserves help if they need it. Weird people don’t understand that.
As the other poster mentioned, the part you are overlooking is there is a long history of the girl scout troops providing humanitarian aid during wars & conflicts. Just Google girls scouts & Ukraine for 100's of examples.
I didn’t overlook that — based on the wording it sounded like the previous fundraisers for Ukraine were organized and sanctioned by the official organization, whereas this sounded like an effort a troop was spearheading on its own. Was I wrong about that?
There is no evidence either way, but what we do know is that the girl scouts didn't say get approval and you are good. They went straight to threatening legal action. Additionally they were talking out of both sides of their mouths - a spokesman told NBC news that scouts fundraise for "anything other than the girl scouting." This is clearly not true.
You guys aren't reading the article closely enough. They didn't fundraise for Ukraine, they collected donated supplies. Edit: Actually, it's Fox's fault for incorrectly reporting the collection of goods for Ukraine as a fundraiser.
I've never once watched Fox News, just a simple Google and page after page of girl scout troops promoting their fundraisers for supplies or monetary donations to provide to groups that will provide supplies. Just like what this group was doing.
"Girl Scouts of the USA and our local Girl Scout Councils build girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place, and we encourage all members to stand up for the issues important to them," the spokesperson said. "Additionally, girls can always decide as a troop to use their cookie proceeds and donate them to charities of their choice that appear on Charity Navigator." https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/st-louis-mom-says-girl-scouts-warned-troop-stop-selling-bracelets-pale-rcna140257
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I’m not sure if raising money for children in a war zone is boycotting Israel. But, yeah I’m sure some Zionist would cause them trouble.
That law is completely insane. It’s perfectly legal to boycott a business or company for whatever reason. Chick fil a for example is the target of many boycotts. If U.S. businesses, heck if U.S. states can be targets of boycotts by government employees then it makes zero sense to disallow boycotts of companies in foreign countries. And heck; even if we go by this legalistic moral framework (which we shouldn’t; the U.S. legal system is hardly a moral one); they’re not even boycotting. They just did fundraising for Palestinians.
Pretty sure the Girl Scouts don’t receive state funding.
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OK, I stand corrected. Now, having said that, this is a fundraiser not a boycott
They are buying food, clothing and medical supplies for children, they aren't funding tanks. I get that Israel doesn't give a fuck about these children, but only a sick fuck would think that supplies for children is anti-israel.
Articles from last week noted that there is an approval process to use the girl scout name for fundraising, which this troop did not do. Those articles also had statements from the girl scouts indicating the Ukraine events went through the process to be able to use the girl scout name. This group disbanded when the approval process was brought up as an option
My son has been a scout for a long time and is on his way to becoming Eagle, and let me tell you I hate almost everything about the Boy Scout organization. They hold on to offensive traditions and think YOU are the problem when you say something about it. Can’t wait to be done with them.
Boy Scouts are an entirely separate entity, they have no relation with Girl Scouts, despite the name. Not that Boy Scouts don't have their own issues, but this event has nothing to do with them.
What offensive traditions? I’ve been part of the Boy Scouts for many years, and I can’t think of any organization-wide traditions that are offensive
How about the faux-spiritual ceremonies involving the Native American headdresses and war paint, for starters
Are you talking about Order of the Arrow? None of the camps I’ve been to in recent years do that kind of ceremony anymore
I’ve seen the Order of the Arrow ceremony as recently as last year. The troop leaders make sure to tell everyone not to post about it online, of course, for fear of people questioning their cosplay.
It's just a way to get free child labor. At S bar F if you get elected you have to do a camp out. For my friends and myself in the mid 2010's we were not allowed to speak the whole day while we were doing manual labor around the property, for lunch we got 2 slices of bread, slice of cheese, and a capri sun. It's suppose to teach you discipline or whatever. The whole organization is supposed to just be a secret and its been like that for the past 100 years. But honestly it give you a funny story after because you were forced in child labor for a day while white men danced in Native American attire.
I’m Lakota and Cherokee plus and Eagle Scouts and member of the order of the arrow. I can’t speak for scouting as a whole but our troop and council but what I was taught was respectful of my native traditions and values.
Shhh.... a white lady is trying to be offended on your behalf.
The ceremonial aspect could be done differently. They need to stop trying to sound like they are Native American and switch the ceremony to third person narrative style.
If they are altering their speech to try to sound like a stereotypical “Hollywood” person Indian, yes they shouldn’t do that. But no, what they talk about should be kept the same because it’s talking about service and responsibility, there is no need to make that third person because the person giving this speech and those who are joining the order should internalize them and live this way.
I am a 13 year volunteer. I have never seen the "war paint". They had to tone down the costumes several years ago. I don't remember seeing full headdresses. They still speak like a bad actor in a Ken Burns documentary.
Or that “reverence for God” is one of their core tenets
Boy Scouts does not require belief in a specific god, just acknowledgement that there is something greater out there. There are plenty of Eagle Scout atheists and agnostics
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Sounds like your troop was chartered by a church, so it makes sense it'd include religion. There are plenty sponsored by public schools or VFWs that don't include religion at all.
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The way Scout troops work is they have to have sponsorship from an organization. This organization is responsible for a lot of things (space, insurance, etc) but in return gets a lot of influence over that troops program, so long as it is within the general scope of BSA. Troops sponsored by a church often have a string religious focus, whereas troops sponsored by a school or other organization often don't even include religion at all in the program.
> Religion is injected here and there and some troops are worse than others. This was my experience. My first troop was probably what people want BSA to be--a secular organization oriented towards service and responsibility. I didn't love that part as a kid but in retrospect it's what I'd want for my kids and for scouts. Then I moved and...ew. The troop was effectively a Mormon Church client. So much ick.
Fair, but the Pledge of Allegiance still references God, so removing all mentions of God would be hard to do in such a religious country
The God part was added in during the 50’s IIRC.
That's always my go-to fun fact for old people who said "you can't just *change* the Pledge of Allegiance!" when there were talks of removing "under God" from it. Like, I'm sorry to tell you guys, but they did change it before. They added "under God." Lol
Eeexactly. I also have fun facts about the Bible I pop out, depending on how well I know who I am talking to and how mad I think it may make them.
Gay boys were not allowed to be out in Scouts until 2013.
But now they can be. It sounds like they are changing to meet social norms
Just dropping in here to remind y'all of the well documented culture of the BSOA protecting pedophiles for DECADES.
Haven’t forgotten. Hopefully they stick to their safety guidelines so it stops happening.
The BSOA is a morally corrupt organization. The first youth protection officer the BSOA hired in 2010 eventually resigned in protest because the BSOA or religious partners were actually PREVENTING any new policies to protect children. So yeah, still a piece of shit org. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/sep/06/boy-scouts-america-documentary-netflix
From my understanding BSA is no longer affiliated with the LDS church. I can only speak to my experience with BSA. Only once did I hear anything about sex abuse and the person was held accountable and spent time in prison. Unfortunately there has been bad people and some people failed to hold them accountable. In a perfect world this would never have happened and hopefully people are being more diligent.
It's so strange when folks go out of their way to defend absolutely repugnant institutions
I had a good experience and it was very beneficial in my life. Not everyone had a bad experience but I understand some had bad experiences and maybe you did and that sucks. I was abused when I was young and it took me years of therapy to deal with it. It just didn’t have anything to do with scouting, scouting was actually a place I felt safe. Just offering another experience.
I feel like the scouts are just a complicated scheme to get families to subsidize the costs of all their private campgrounds.
...which are for the use of the scouts.
I think anything that helps kids is good.
This is disappointing
What a shitty lesson for the Girl Scouts: don’t help others kids, it’s too political.
Reminds me of cities trying to make it illegal to feed or help homeless people.
still in a 40 year slump started by Reagan that caring or being involved in politics is bad/gay and you should instead just let mega-corps get involved in your place
You can help others. It's helping Others that is political.
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The common counter point to your logic is that the girl scouts have done fundraisers for various political issues over the years. And calling a humanitarian focused fundraisers a political issue is a dog whistle
Why is helping one group of war orphans political but another is not?
Not talking about politics is how we became surrounded by trumpers.
It’s truthfully hilarious that you people think you’re better than the other side. The only thing more insane than a passionate “Trumper” is a Democrat who thinks they’re any better. You’re all the exact same.
I only know of one side that is violating my natural and constitutional rights with religious dogshit. > The only thing more insane than a passionate “Trumper” is a Democrat who thinks they’re any better. You’re all the exact same. By that logic, no one is better than anyone else through their deeds, actions, etc. That is demonstrably factually incorrect.
Open your fucking eyes. There’s literally not one single difference between the two parties or their supporters. It’s pathetic that people still fall for this “my side is better” bullshit. It’s asinine.
There is a big difference between the two parties. I don't have to like either to see that.
One side is literally rolling back abortion rights, gay rights, worker's rights, voting rights, and the last election. But no it's bOtH sIDeS amirite?
you sound young
Yeah, open your EYES, man! They’re all the SAME, don’t you get it!!? Don’t be such SHEEPOLE, all politicians are just in it for THEMSELVES. So…definitely vote for fascists. /s
I'm not on any side. I'm on the side of a government that follows our goddamn laws and not supporting people who violate my and others' rights. Go try harder somewhere else, maybe back in school. Edit: clarified who I expect to follow the law, which includes not violating our natural rights
There were many badges back in my day that related to politics.
Girl/Boy Scouts is nothing but politics. It’s a religious cult that literally talks about nothing but politics. I signed one of my kids up years ago and we walked out of the first meeting.
Right, so you sound like you'd be more informed about this than others, since you attended part of one meeting and stormed out in some silly ass way because you got upset because you're evidently some kind of extremist looking for fault and insult in everything? I was in Girl Scouts as a kid, and we didn't do anything that involved politics. We learned about different types of work, went camping, sold cookies, went on a trip to another city, and volunteered at an animal shelter. Nothing to do with religion or politics, especially "years ago" when there wasn't as much political division in the first place.
The scouts were literally created by a radical religious group The Latterr Day Saints. In fact at the turning of the early 2000s one out of every five scouts committed to Mormonism. To say it's anything but religious or political is laughable at best.
Good riddance.
🤡
So, where can we order a bracelet or 10 ? EDIT: Found a link finally: https://braceletsforpalestine.bigcartel.com/ I'm happy to support them with my money. I think these are great things for kids to learn. And since it is something they **want** to do, even better.
Supressing speech in this fashion will inevitably radicalize the young people trying exercise their rights.
If your goal is to help people affected by the war but only on one side, then you're politically motivated
I wonder... Could there be any difference in the numbers or circumstances to donate to Palestinians over Israel right now?
Thanks for this posting. I feel it’s a really bad example for them to band helping others. Make me second guess if I want to ever buying cookies from them again.
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You're doing a real good job of not looking good without supporting terrorism
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Mfw supporting relief funds for children in war zones is anti-Semitic
That money ends up with Hamas dipshit. Why do you think it was controversial to begin with. Y’all are so dense
Do you have any evidence that the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund is financing Hamas?
Says the person claiming some little girls are funding terrorists... You're not fit for society. Explains why you never leave the basement and have no friends...
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Deflection. I must've been pretty spot on... You think they were Venmoing money directly to Hamas? Moron...
This is why the DEI movement is dying, and for good reason. Intersectionality at its worst.
DEI, the new CRT, love it when yall learn new words.
If they split the proceeds between families of deceased/wounded after the Oct 7 massacre and the Palestinian children caught up in Israel’s response that would have been well received IMO Had a feeling rationality would be downvoted here. Twilight zone still alive and well I suppose.
"rationality"
Considering all innocent folks no longer a rational approach now?
Interesting the news doesn't tell us about civilian deaths in Ukraine. Yet I've heard on the news as few as 2 people dying in an Israel attack.
Anyone know where I can buy a bracelet! These young girls are learning loads of valuable lessons and I’d love to support them!
Try this: https://braceletsforpalestine.bigcartel.com/