The Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri sent an email and said members could not raise money that represents “partisan politics” and must “stay neutral.”

  • Wooster@startrek.website
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    8 months ago

    I have to admit, my gut reaction was to ponder if this rule would be enforced if it was to raise money for Israeli children instead… but I know diddly squat about Girl Scouts and did about 5 minutes of research.

    What I learned was that money raised by Girl Scouts is intended to be spent on local community projects. So helping local kids would be cool, but not foreign. Girl Scouts doesn’t forbid one from aiding foreign needy, but you can’t do that under the Girl Scout banner/as a Girl Scout project.

    So, at the moment, I’m inclined to side with Girl Scouts on this issue. But, again, I don’t know squat about how Girl Scouts is run in practice, and if this project is being singled out or not.

      • Wooster@startrek.website
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        8 months ago

        Good point. I admittedly missed that part when I skimmed the article.

        I found the Ukraine page on Girl Scouts’s website… it certainly paints a damning picture on Girl Scouts end.

        • saltesc@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          Yep, I’m convinced. The Girl Scouts are pro children suffering. At the least they can argue they’re against relief for suffering children, or they’re massive hypocrites and shouldn’t have ever supported Ukraine. They’ll have to choose one. I’m going with the the pro blowing up and orphaning children one for now, though.

          • beardown@lemm.ee
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            8 months ago

            A lot of large organizations either explicitly or tacitly support Zionism, so this isn’t surprising.

            It’s a shame that Israel’s barbarism is once again causing people who are Jewish around the world to be causelessly scapegoated and blamed for a thing that they have no direct connection with. And many people who are Jewish are anti-Zionists. But we can’t let the Zionists conflate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism - that is a repugnant feat of hasbara propaganda

            The Gaza genocide must be opposed and it is at least positive that this seems to be waking up the world to the horrors of Zionist colonialism

    • WHARRGARBL@kbin.social
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      8 months ago

      I was troop leader for GSUSA, and you called it. The organization is very protective of its image, in order to be open to kids from ALL cultures. The rules regarding political activities under the Girl Scouts banner are clearly stated, and if there are any questions or requests for an exception, the staff is always willing to help.

      This troop could have simply cleared the plan in advance, or participated in political, humanitarian fundraisers without involving the organization. The fact that the leader decided to break the rules, take offense, disband, and publicly infer that the Girl Scouts values are questionable says a lot about who has what agenda.

      • Wooster@startrek.website
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        8 months ago

        I appreciate this level-headed take from someone knowledgeable on the topic. It’s very easy to get riled up over the issue in Gaza, and it’s important to discern where certain actions are sanctioned or not.

        That said, I suspect there were better ways to deescalate the issue on Girl Scouts’ end. Threatening litigation over a contentious humanitarian issue is begging for bad publicity. But, I’m not privy to the exchanges that brought it to that level.