As Donald Trump reshapes U.S. foreign policy in his second term, Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s far-right are seizing the moment to pursue their colonial goals. Trump’s support for Israeli expansionism emboldened Netanyahu to escalate Israeli violence in the occupied West Bank. Qassam Muaddi has filed a couple of stories the last week detailing the shocking military escalations in the West Bank, displacing over 40,000 Palestinians there.
In Gaza, the tentative ceasefire remains in place despite efforts by Netanyahu’s coalition to sabotage it. We are nearing the end of the first phase. Reports indicate that serious negotiations for the second phase have not started. Michael Arria rounded up reactions to Trump’s related “histrionics.” Hamas appeared to have called his bluff and won. Jordan and Egypt made it plain to Trump that his ridiculous ‘plan’ to ethnically cleanse Gaza is off the table. Trump even had to issue a video praising Jordan’s King Abdullah as damage control after the two met in the Oval Office. But, as Mitchell Plitnick notes, the plan “is already taking on a life of its own in Israel.”
Mohammed El-Kurd, our Editor-at-Large, released his highly anticipated nonfiction debut, Perfect Victims and the Politics of Appeal, published by our friends at Haymarket Books. It is an incredible read, and I think it will be referred to for many years as a critical anti-colonial text. Abdaljawad Omar interviewed Mohammed about the book for the site, and I encourage you to read it along with the book. I hope everyone reading this picks up a copy soon. Purchase yours through Bookshop.org. Those sales will report to bestseller lists, support your locally-owned bookstores, and give us a dollar or two for the referral.
in solidarity,
Dave Reed, Publisher
Must-read: Palestine and politics of anti-appeal: an interview with Mohammed El-Kurd
Abdaljawad Omar interviews Mohammed El-Kurd about his new book, the struggle of narrating Palestinian resistance without dilution, and the contradictions of writing for an audience one refuses to appease.
Catch-up
🇵🇸 Tareq Hajjaj: Hamas politburo member Ismail Radwan tells Mondoweiss that Israel’s violation of the ceasefire’s humanitarian protocols “attempts to achieve what it could not achieve through its criminal war of extermination” in Gaza.
🚧 Mitchell Plitnick: Arab leaders face increasing pressure from the White House to support the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. As they prepare an alternative proposal for Gaza it seems unlikely they can satisfy both Trump and their own citizens.
🚨 Yumna Patel: Yara Hawari and Abdaljwad Omar discuss Israel’s attempts to sabotage the fragile ceasefire, emerging questions about post-war governance in Gaza, and what this means for the future of Palestine.
🇺🇳 Malak Hijazi: Gaza cannot survive without UNRWA and the life-saving services it provides. That is why Israel’s attack on the UN agency is an attack on Palestinian existence.
📈 Michael Arria: A new poll shows that Americans are more supportive of the Palestinians than they have been since at least 2017. Also in The Shift, Trump’s hostage demands made headlines, but Netanyahu returned to the ceasefire agreement in response to Hamas pressure.
⛺ Sam Carliner: Princeton students are heading to trial over charges from the school’s Gaza solidarity encampment last spring. Despite intimidation from the university, the activists are insisting on defending their right to protest for Palestinian liberation.
🇮🇱 Qassam Muaddi: Israel’s ongoing assault on the West Bank is not to wipe out the Palestinian resistance. It is to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their homes and set the stage for annexation.
🇺🇸 Michael Arria: Last month Donald Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at canceling the visas of foreign students who advocate for Palestine. Mondoweiss talked to legal experts about its possible impact and the wider attacks on Palestine advocacy in the U.S.
🇮🇱 Mouin Rabbani: Trump is threatening to let “all hell break loose” after Hamas paused the release of Israeli captives in response to Israeli violations of the ceasefire. But make no mistake, this is exactly what Israel wants.
🇵🇸 Qassam Muaddi: The forcible displacement of over 40,000 people in the northern West Bank is repeating scenes from Gaza and stoking fears of ethnic cleansing. “The most important thing is to stay in our home,” a resident of al-Far’a refugee camp tells Mondoweiss.
Re: “🇺🇳 Malak Hijazi: Gaza cannot survive without UNRWA and the life-saving services it provides. That is why Israel’s attack on the UN agency is an attack on Palestinian existence.”
Just a comment on the whole UNWRA thing:
What is the strongest predictor of who will carry out an act of terrorism on U.S. soil?
“U.S. Military Service Is the Strongest Predictor of Carrying Out Extremist ViolenceThe mass murder in New Orleans and Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas fit a troubling pattern among U.S. vets, research says.”**
“Armed, angry and apocalyptic: Christian Nationalism and the U.S. military”***
We all have plenty of gripes about the U.S. military and foreign policy, but no one is suggesting that we get rid of it because it’s a hotbed of violent Christian nationalism and neo-nazi sympathizers; no, we just say the army needs to get rid of those folks, or re-educate them. But when it comes to UNWRA – which has tens of thousands of employees – the discovery that some of them may have ties to Hamas is seen as a sign that the entire organization need to be scrapped.
Another example of double standards.
**
https://theintercept.com/2025/01/02/military-veterans-extremism-attack-new-orleans-vegas/
***
https://www.au.org/the-latest/church-and-state/articles/armed-angry-and-apocalyptic/
RE: “Israel’s ongoing assault on the West Bank is not to wipe out the Palestinian resistance. It is to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their homes and set the stage for annexation.” ~ Qassam Muaddi
MAX HASTINGS: At Bibi Netanyahu’s dinner table in Jerusalem, I listened with crawling dismay to Bibi talking about the future of his country. ‘In the next war, if we do it right we’ll have a chance to get all the Arabs out,’ he said. ‘We can clear the West Bank, sort out Jerusalem.’ He joked about the Golani Brigade, the Israeli infantry force in which so many men were North African or Yemenite Jews. ‘They’re okay as long as they’re led by white officers.’ He grinned. ~ from ‘Going to the Wars’ (London: Macmillan, 2000), page 259 ~ https://www.amazon.com/dp/1035057336/
P.S. CONTEXT: In the late 1970s, historian Max Hastings interviewed Benjamin Netanyahu extensively after the Netanyahu family recruited him to write an official biography of Bibi’s brother Yoni.
How Britain supported Zionism and prevented Palestinian freedom
Long read: British rule in Palestine during the 1920s and 1930s enabled Zionist colonisation at the expense of Palestinians.
Alongside Balfour’s declaration, the articles of the mandate were heavily stacked against Palestinians. Nowhere was there any reference to Palestinians as a people with national or political rights. In fact, seven articles were devoted to assisting Zionism.
For example, Article 2 provided for self-governing institutions but only to Palestine’s Jewish minority (the yishuv). The Zionist movement, organised in Palestine as the Jewish Agency, was explicitly designated as the official representative of the country’s entire Jewish population, even for Jews who considered themselves non- or anti-Zionist.
No such representation was ever afforded to the Arab Muslim and Christian majority.
Meanwhile, Article 4 gave the Jewish Agency quasi-governmental status as a “public body” with wide-ranging powers in economic and social spheres and the ability “to assist and take part in the development of the country.” It also afforded the Zionist movement international diplomatic status, something never granted to Palestinians.
https://www.declassifieduk.org/how-britain-supported-zionism-and-prevented-palestinian-freedom/?
A theory toward understanding Trump and Gaza. See for 6 min. at 7:50.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5CSkv9Sdt8