The Latest:
- Gaza death toll hits 213, including 61 children and over 1,400 injuries, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health; 24 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank
- 10 Israeli casualties, including two children; two Thai nationals
- Palestinians are staging the first general strike since 1936 across all of historic Palestine to protest Israeli strikes in Gaza and aggression in Jerusalem
- Politico reports Democrats have decided against a push to delay weapon sales to Israel
* The reporting period for fatalities and injuries is from May 10, 2021 to today.
-Updated 7:56 pm GMT
Eleven children killed in Gaza had been participating in Norwegian program to help them deal with trauma
Report from the Norwegian Refugee Council:
The Norwegian Refugee Council confirmed today that 11 of over 60 children killed by Israeli air strikes in Gaza over the last week were participating in its psycho-social programme aimed at helping them deal with trauma.
All of the children between 5 and 15 years old were killed in their homes in densely populated areas along with countless other relatives who died or received injuries.
“We are devastated to learn that 11 children we were helping with trauma were bombarded while they were at home and thought they were safe,” said NRC’s Secretary General Jan Egeland. ” They are now gone, killed with their families, buried with their dreams and the nightmares that haunted them. We call on Israel to stop this madness: children must be protected. Their homes must not be targets. Schools must not be targets. Spare these children and their families. Stop bombing them now.”
Democrats are protesting White House sale of US missiles to Israel
Rep. Gregory Meeks, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is reported to have called on the White House to hold up the sale of $735 million in missiles and bombs to Israel that the Biden administration had approved May 5. Meeks, an Israel supporter, did so after Democrats on his committee spoke out against the sale in an emergency meeting last night.
Sen. Chuck Schumer has also surprised the Israel lobby by joining 30 other senators, most of them Democrats, who are calling for a ceasefire by Israel in defiance of its plan to continue to bomb Gaza.
The liberal Zionist group J Street has called for restricting U.S. aid to the Israeli occupation but — out of step with progressive Democrats — J Street calls for “remaining committed to… the full amount of assistance currently promised to Israel.”
Update:
Democrats have reportedly decided against it. From Politico:
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) said he decided against requesting that President Joe Biden delay the $735 million arms sale after the White House offered to hold an “informational session” for lawmakers on Wednesday.
Palestinians stage historic general strike
Today, Palestinians across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory are staging a historic general strike to protest Israeli strikes in Gaza and aggression in Jerusalem.
It is the first general strike uniting all Palestinians since 1936. For more context on that uprising see this article we published last week by David Joseph Deutch, “The spirit of 1936“
Here are some photos and video being shared on social media from across Palestine:
Previous Reports:
- Live blog: Gaza death toll hits 200; Biden admin continues to block UN call for ceasefire (May 17, 2021)
- Live blog: Israel has killed 58 Palestinian children in one week of airstrikes on Gaza (May 16, 2021)
- Live blog: Israeli airstrikes target international media offices, civilian homes in Gaza (May 15, 2021)
- Live blog: U.S. blocks UN Security Council statement on conflict, and 8 Palestinians reported dead in West Bank protests (May 14, 2021)
- Live blog: Israel threatening ground invasion in Gaza, mobilizes army to police Palestinian citizens (May 13, 2021)
- Live blog: Israel kills two Palestinians in West Bank raids, Gaza death toll rises as airstrikes continue (May 12, 2021)
- Live blog: Israel levels apartment buildings, dozens dead in Gaza as Netanyahu government vows to step up strikes (May 11, 2021)
- Israel kills 20 Palestinians in Gaza, injures hundreds in Jerusalem as Al-Aqsa tensions flare (May 10, 2021)
- Hundreds injured as Israeli forces attack Palestinian worshipers in Jerusalem (May 8, 2021)
Shukran ya Hamas. Bringing Nazareth, Al Quds, Jaffa, Haifa, al Lydda, Gaza, Nablus, Ramallah. Al Khalil and all the villages and camps together. Thanks to Israel for making it possible.
Einstein said that the world is ruled by fead, greed and stupidity. Israel certainly is.
https://www.ft.com/content/0a457f38-d6f6-44ca-81d0-5b168628baaa
Speaking from Qatar, Ismail Haniyeh was already claiming a victory. “We have managed to create an equation linking the Jerusalem and Gaza fronts,” he said in a speech that was played on a loop on Arab news channels
Comment on the media handling of the situation:
While the MSM repeats the “Israel has the right to defend itself” mantra, it hasn’t, as far as I can tell, mentioned that Israel ignores all attempts at negotiation and won’t conduct talks with Hamas.
No mention in the MSM of the 2002, Arab Peace Initiative ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Peace_Initiative ), which got exactly zero minutes of discussion in the Knesset. Not even a mention, let alone a critical assessment, of, the various offers of a “hudna” by Hamas.
2 other important elements of the Palestinian nation are the refugees and the wider diaspora , where Rashida Tlaib is doing great work
https://www.ft.com/content/7c49d151-2635-41ee-9a63-73b241e048ce
Joe Biden has met progressive Democratic congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, one of the harshest critics over his response to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, as he comes under growing pressure from within his party to do more to stop the hostilities. Tlaib, a Palestinian American who is counted among the six-strong “squad” of progressive Democratic members of Congress that includes Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has urged the Biden administration to take more action to end the conflict. She has also accused Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of committing war crimes and openly violating international law. The White House listed Tlaib among those who greeted Biden on Tuesday when he landed in Michigan — home to a significant Arab American population — where he will visit a Ford electric vehicle plant. Tlaib represents a district in the state that includes the city of Detroit.
On Monday Tlaid claimed Washington was “taking orders” from Netanyahu and said the US president should condemn Israel’s military actions in an interview broadcast on the news channel MSNBC. “Americans are standing strong and . . . saying: ‘Enough, President Biden’,” said Tlaib, as she accused Biden of enabling Israel. “You will not do this on our watch. You have to speak out against this violence in a very aggressive way that holds Netanyahu and his leadership accountable. “It’s shocking, the hypocrisy of us saying that we need to be stewards of human rights, except for Palestinians,” she added. Tlaib is among progressives who want the US to condition aid to Israel according to its treatment of Palestinians, something Biden has repeatedly dismissed.