Rosa Brooks, former Pentagon official, reviews a gushing book on Israeli military achievement in The New York Times and dares to tell readers that more than half US military aid in the world goes to a country that demolishes Palestinian homes and expands settlements, in violation of international law.
A military court in Gaza imposed heavy prison sentences on eight Fatah members last week for “harming revolutionary unity” according to the revolutionary criminal law of the PLO. Palestinian human rights organizations condemned sentences as unjust and charges as vague and – and the confessions were made under torture.
Here in Israel we’re experts in Muslim bans. We’ve banned Palestinians, who we said didn’t even exist, from returning to their homes, for 7 decades. We just had to. Jewish State, you know. We’ve banned Palestinians from reunifying families. We’ve banned them from being full citizens. And liberal Zionists hold the bag for us.
An eight-year old American girl in Yemen’s Bayda province was killed along with 14 other civilians on Sunday during the Trump administration’s first counter-insurgency operation. An American soldier was also killed during the fighting, which was ordered by the president without being fully briefed, according to critics from within the armed forces who–in an unusual move–leaked to the press.
Israeli police evacuated more than 200 Israeli settlers Wednesday from the West Bank outpost of Amona, dragging families with young children out of the illegal community that was built more than a decade ago. It may seem that justice prevailed in favor of the original Palestinian landowners, but for many it is not a victory. Amona residents will ultimately be relocated in adjacent plots of land, which also belong to Palestinians.
Who would have thought the Holocaust would become a central issue in the first weeks of the Trump administration? This year the White House statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day changed radically; Jews mysteriously disappeared from the Holocaust. And yet, in the White House It appears that a Jewless Holocaust is being coupled with an Israel First foreign policy. The early days of the Trump Administration are full of surprises.
A bill to declare the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization has now been introduced in Congress. This action against the Muslim Brotherhood is about political repression in this country, not just abroad. In the US this law will be used to sweep up and act against groups in the Muslim Community. Groups like CAIR, the Muslim Student Association, and American Muslims for Palestine will be some of the first groups attacked, even if there are no provable links to the Muslim Brotherhood. Concerned about a Muslim Registry? This is the registry.
If Trump’s first week as president exceeded our worst fears, his second week confirmed that we are truly in a state of emergency. However, we have also secured some real victories of late. Nada Elia writes that Trump’s presidency should teach us one thing: When we organize, and mobilize, and are determined to do whatever it takes to shut it down, then we can shut it down.
Just a few feet from the White House, a “White House Mass for Muslim refugees” was organized recently to stand in solidarity with the Muslim community. This Mass organized by the Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, a local advocacy group in Washington D.C. brought together a cross-section of DC’s residents. There were signs that read “Christians supporting Muslims” or “No ban, No Wall” “We are ALL Immigrants” “Our huddled mass welcomes your huddled mass” and “Refugees welcome”. This crowd of people brought together public-spirited Catholics, Muslims and others, with a passion for social justice.
Five years ago the United Nations made a shocking declaration about the future of the Gaza strip: it will no longer be “a liveable place” by the year 2020. How do the people of Gaza respond to these warnings? “The international community always states there is a crisis in Gaza and then raises alarming statements. We were afraid in the past, but today people have become more cold-hearted,” said Adnan Abu Shamala, 87, a scrap vendor in a Gaza city bazaar. “I was in Amman four years ago where people were laughing loudly in every coffee shop. I met people there and I told them that I have not even smiled since six years due to the bitter life in my homeland.”