University Professor's Speech on How Real Progress is Made.

Richard Mellor

Free speech is not yet dead in the United States. There are many, many, people that will be inspired by these comments from Derek R. Peterson, Professor of History and African Studies and outgoing Chair of the Faculty Senate, at the University of Michigan commencement of 2 May 2026.

 

We will see more and more of this as the US government, as well as western governments in the UK, and Germany in particular, attempt to silence any reference to Israel’s genocide in Palestine and the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous population there. The relentless attempts to conflate Judaism with Zionism in order to undermine opposition to Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from the region, are being rejected by young people in particular.

 

The vast majority of the people in the US are opposed to US imperialism’s forever wars and in particular the most recent unprovoked and illegal attack on Iran by Israel and the US as well as Israel’s ongoing devastating war on Lebanon. Opposing the assault on Iran does not indicate support for the Iranian regime.

 

We in the US are also being kept in the dark about the actual deaths and destruction of US bases in the Middle East as the strongly censored and corporate controlled US mass media covers for the massive failures and wasted lives and resources, costs that are borne by the US taxpayer. Some $30 billion has been spent in the Iran venture and the Trump Administration is asking Congress for another $1.5 trillion for the misnamed defense budget. 

 

Thank you Professor Peterson.