If you read Mondoweiss, you know there’s a battle brewing on Capitol Hill and it’s fueled by a deep rumble of powerful truth-telling.
You know that polls show most Democrats support U.S. pressure on Israel to curb human rights abuses; that 15 courageous members of Congress have signed onto the most extensive legislation ever to end US complicity in human rights violations in Israel.
Courageous because when AIPAC flexes its political muscle, some of the country’s most progressive lawmakers close ranks with their peers to oppose conditions on aid to Israel.
You know that more members of Congress attend the annual AIPAC conference than any other DC event besides the State of the Union; that even Rep. Ro Khanna – who led the fight to restrict Trump’s war powers and pushed for an end to the war on Yemen – is a card-carrying member of the Progressive Except for Palestine club.
But if you read Mondoweiss and Michael Arria’s newsletter, The Shift, you also know that the breeze of change is blowing – not only across the country but also deep inside the Beltway
This week Michael reports on two board members for the lobbying group Democratic Majority for Israel who were called out for sidling up to anti-Palestinian bigotry and genocide on social media. The key words here are “called out.” When it comes to Palestine, bigotry and genocide are nothing new; being called to account – and backing down – is what’s different now.
Because you read Mondoweiss, you know that the august Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has declared the “peace process” a failure and is calling on Washington to use the levers of U.S. foreign policy to emphasize human rights and “freedoms guaranteed by international law.”
There was refreshingly honest language about this during an online discussion of the Carnegie Endowment’s new report.
“The existing scaffolding is collapsing in front of our eyes and cannot deliver.” (Daniel Levy of the Carnegie Endowment)
“The largest mass movement in American history is focused… on ending American apartheid… and the focus of this movement is not just ending racism and militarism in the U.S. but beyond the U.S. borders as well.” (Salih Booker of the Center for International Policy
“The trendlines in Israel are in the direction of greater authoritarianism and denial of civil liberties and equal protection. The resurgence of parties advocating Jewish supremacy have been mainstreamed.” (Carnegie Endowment Fellow Zaha Hassan)
All this week we’ve been talking to you about the front lines in the struggle for Palestinian rights. You read Mondoweiss; so you know the front line is here in the United States, and that we are one of the only media outlets to comprehensively cover this struggle.
So I’m asking you: Please keep Mondoweiss here, on the front lines of justice, so that you – and others – will know.
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How the Media Cracks Down on Critics of Israel ❧ Current Affairs
The Guardian, “How the Media Cracks down on critics of Israel” By Nathan J. Robinson, Feb. 10/21
EXCERPT:
“It is widely recognized that critics of Israel, no matter how well-founded the criticism, are routinely punished by both public & private institutions for their speech. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has documented a pattern by which ‘those who seek to protest, boycott, or otherwise criticize the Israeli government are being silenced,’ a trend that ‘manifests on college campuses, in state contracts, & even in bills to change federal criminal law’ & ‘suppress[es] the speech of people on only one side of the Israel-Palestine debate.’
“The Center for Constitutional Rights has shown that ‘Israel advocacy organizations, universities, government actors, & other institutions’ have targeted pro-Palestinian activists with a number of tactics ‘including event cancellations, baseless legal complaints, administrative disciplinary actions, firings, & false & inflammatory accusations of terrorism & antisemitism’ & concludes that there is a ‘Palestine exception to free speech.’
“The effort to keep critics of Israel quiet sometimes takes the form of explicit government action—there is an open campaign to criminalize speech critical of Israel & some states even require oaths from government employees promising not to boycott Israel. But as Israeli journalist Gideon Levy notes in the Middle East Eye, it often comes in the form of baseless (& offensive) accusations that criticisms of Israel are definitionally anti-Semitic. In the United States, academic critics of Israel have had job offers rescinded or been otherwise kept from teaching, & CNN fired academic Marc Lamont Hill over his call for a free Palestine. In Britain, there has been a years-long absurd campaign to tar former Labour leader (& critic of Israeli government policy) Jeremy Corbyn as an anti-Semite. (cont’d)
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Human Rights Watch notes that the United States government has wielded unfounded accusations of anti-Semitism against it & against other human rights groups like Amnesty and Oxfam that have exposed Israel’s shoddy human rights record. Within Israel itself, the free speech rights of Palestinians are brutally suppressed, & even Jews supportive of Palestinian rights are regularly harassed by the state. Abeer Alnajjar of Open Democracy wrote last year about how ‘major, mainstream news media outlets are sensitized against any reference to Palestinian rights or international law, and any criticism of Israel or its policies.’”
Meanwhile, Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip increasingly suffer and die under the boot of Zionist fascists!!:
Video: Gaza hospitals short of oxygen for COVID-19 patients | The Electronic Intifada
Video: “Gaza hospitals short of oxygen for COVID-19 patients” The Electronic Intifada, April 23/21
Video: Gaza hospitals short of oxygen for COVID-19 patients – YouTube
EXCERPT:
“COVID-19 cases in Gaza have skyrocketed in recent weeks.“In March, active coronavirus cases in the Gaza Strip more than tripled.
“During that month, Gaza’s health authorities confirmed the first cases of the more transmissible B117 variant first discovered in the UK, which has caused major surges in many countries.
“UN monitoring group OCHA has noted a significant increase in patients being admitted to intensive care units and requiring ventilation in the occupied West Bank and Gaza in recent weeks.
“Gaza’s health sector has been devastated over the course of the Israeli blockade, assisted by Egypt, that is now entering its 14th year, and successive Israeli military assaults.
“Human rights groups have warned that the pandemic would stretch Gaza’s medical system beyond capacity.
“There is no doubt that it took a further hit with the coronavirus over the last year.
“Health authorities in the Gaza Strip have reported a shortage in oxygen supplies for COVID-19 patients, especially during surges of cases.”