Why I Cancelled And Refunded A Paid Subscriber

My human rights advocacy is not for sale, and never will be

This is a short piece this Sunday afternoon but its message applies in perpetuity.

I deeply cherish each of you who subscribe to Let’s Address This, share this content, engage in robust dialogue, and build this community. I’m likewise deeply grateful to those who generously invest as paid subscribers. Your gracious support allows me to speak truth to power unapologetically. As you know, this platform is not funded by billion dollar corporations, it’s funded by ordinary working people. My promise is to never relent in upholding justice, no matter the situation, and always speak truth to power. And that’s something so sacred for me, that I wanted to take a moment to emphasize it’s importance. Let’s Address This.

The Point of Conflict

As corporate media continues to devolve into state media, and the Trump regime continues to gut public broadcasting, it is more important to me than ever before that my readers have accurate, timely, actionable information on the key human rights issues that impact us all. These are just some of the many reasons why I cannot ignore the extraordinarily harmful and destructive claims that anyone but ordinary working people are funding this human rights project. Consider this post below from a former paid subscriber. I explain later why they are a former paid subscriber.

I will always welcome honest debate and robust dialogue. But I cannot accept attacks on this community and whitewashing of genocide. There is so much to unpack here.

1. Yes, what Israel is doing to Palestinians is a genocide, as attested to by every major human rights organization in the world, including the overwhelming majority of genocide scholars, Israeli and Jewish scholars of the Holocaust, as well as the UN Commissions responsible to report on genocide.

2. It is not “blood libel and propaganda” to call something a genocide, when it is in fact a genocide. See previous comment.

3. The “Hamas” accusation is a favorite of those defending genocide. Apparently any criticism of the Israeli government means someone is “Hamas.” Recently, as Israelis courageously protested against the Israeli government, the government responded by accusing Israeli citizens of “being Hamas.” It is beyond absurd.

4. The accusations that the journalists Israel has killed are “close to Hamas” is another example of this absurd allegation. In reality, the Israeli government has killed more journalists than killed in all global conflicts combined. And given that the Israeli government is enforcing an international media blackout, it should be obvious to anyone with integrity that killing Palestinian journalists, while blocking international journalists, is not what functioning democracies do—its what aspiring autocrats do.

5. Israel’s intentions of committing genocide are well documented, and I have written dozens of pieces providing that evidence.

My Response

Here is how I responded to this person—whose name I have kept hidden because I have no desire to further engage them. I write this for the benefit of the Let’s Address This community who is committed to universal human rights. I wrote:

I’m not sure why you decided to become a paid subscriber while also defending genocide and accusing me of being “paid by Hamas.” That’s an absurd and outrageous accusation. It’s also an insult to the dozens of leading Jewish and Israeli scholars who call this a genocide. You have zero evidence for your backwards propaganda claims. You can either remove them, or I’m happy to cancel your paid subscription and refund you every penny. Your call.

I gave them three days to retract and delete. I didn’t even ask for an apology. Simple retraction and that would be enough. The person refused, and as far as I can tell, doubled down. Therefore, I proceeded as promised with the following message:

I am returning your paid subscription. I do not need support from people denying genocide, promoting disinformation, and pretending that they can do so while insulting people just because they are paid subscribers. My human rights advocacy is based in absolute justice, in demonstrable facts, and in the recognition of the human dignity of all people, Jewish and Muslim, believer and non-believer. If you think you can violate that because you are a paid subscriber, you are deeply misinformed.

And with that, I returned every single penny this person had ever spent subscribing to Let’s Address This. My human rights advocacy is not for sale, nor will it ever be for sale. Especially as we watch corporate media fall in line to the demands of oligarchs and an aspiring autocrat in the White House, it is critical I make clear to my readers that some of us will never bend the knee.

Conclusion

My human rights advocacy is driven by one thing and one thing alone—absolute justice for all humanity. That requires facts, truth, integrity, and an unrelenting commitment to human rights no matter the cost. I cannot express in words how grateful I am to the 144,000+ subscribers to Let’s Address This, and the growing community of paid subscribers. It is truly a blessing, one I cherish immensely, and it is a trust I protect as a priceless gift. So my simple message is, thank you all for supporting my content, thank you for investing as paid subscribers, and most of all, thank you for your trust and partnership as we build this beautiful community of activists committed to universal human rights and absolute justice.

You are making all the difference in the world. Let us continue to partner to build that more just world every person on this beautiful Earth deserves.