As chaos unfolds in the U.S. under the Trump administration’s crackdown on dissent, Israel is taking full advantage—resuming its brutal attacks on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank while the world looks the other way.
While Trump expands his war on student protesters and free speech, Israeli forces have escalated military assaults and deepened the siege. In Gaza, Tareq Hajjaj reported on the discovery of 14 first responders buried in the sand—killed and discarded by Israeli forces during a rescue mission in Rafah. Hala Al Khatib, Hend Salama Abo Helow, and Taqwa Ahmed Al-Wawi offered personal testimonies from a population forced once again to survive the unthinkable. And Qassam Muaddi reminded us that Palestinians are not simply victims but a people whose voices continue to resist dehumanization—even when the world refuses to listen.
Meanwhile, U.S. institutions—from Congress to elite universities—are enabling and echoing this violence. Michael Arria reported on the Senate’s rejection of Senator Bernie Sanders’s attempt to block weapons sales to Israel. At Columbia, Tamara Turki documented how ICE and NYPD are targeting student activists. “Columbia is willing to give the Trump administration whatever it wants,” one student told us. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep pushing too.” And in Louisiana, Mahmoud Khalil remains locked in ICE detention, where supporters say his case is a bellwether for political repression to come.
This is why Mondoweiss exists: to cover the full scope of Israel’s violence, and to show how global systems—from the U.S. to Europe to China—help make it possible. This week’s stories examine how that power operates in plain sight. Craig Mokhiber writes that U.S. attacks on Yemen are designed to protect Israeli impunity. Mjriam Abu Samra and Sara Troian expose how Palestine isn’t an exception to the liberal global order—it’s the rule. And Susan Abulhawa torches PEN America’s complicity in a scathing open letter that everyone should read.
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In the words of Qassam Muaddi: “ Our words disturb many of those in power, and that alone is a testimony to the fact that we are doing something. This is another reason why we should continue to do it. ”
Thank you for standing with us.
Dave Reed, Publisher
Must read: ‘The dam has been broken’: Thousands expected in DC for Palestine march
Michael Arria: On April 5, thousands are gathering in Washington D.C. to stand up against the U.S.’s continued support for the genocide in Gaza and the Trump administration’s wave of domestic suppression.
Catch-up
✍️ Qassam Muaddi: Sometimes I wonder if journalism is as pointless as politics. But when I speak to families in Gaza, I am reminded that in the face of global indifference, there is a duty, even if just to my own conscience, to try and change this horrible reality.
🇺🇸 Michael Arria: The Senate has rejected a pair of resolutions from Senator Bernie Sanders aimed at blocking weapon sales to Israel.
🌐 Mjriam Abu Samra and Sara Troian: The colonization of Palestine is not an anomaly in the liberal global order but its most glaring indictment. It exposes the hypocrisy of an international system that decries colonialism while institutionalizing and legitimizing it.
✒️ Susan Abulhawa and Nancy Kricorian: Read Susan Abulhawa’s scorching letter to the head of PEN America where she takes a blowtorch to the organization’s continued complicity with Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
🇺🇸 Sam Carliner: “This is about Palestine and this is not about Palestine,” said New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice director Amy Torres at a recent rally in support of Mahmoud Khalil. “This is about this administration. . . going after every single one of us.”
🇾🇪 Craig Mokhiber: Yemen’s Red Sea blockade in defense of Palestinians is squarely supported by international law. But the country is being ruthlessly bombed by the U.S. to ensure Israeli impunity for its continued siege and genocide in Gaza.
✊🏽 Michael Arria: “Rather than silence dissent, the government’s actions have only emboldened voices demanding that basic rights be respected here, in Palestine, and beyond,” says CUNY CLEAR attorney Mudassar Toppa.
🧑🏽🎓 Tamara Turki: Columbia students are banding together as ICE and the NYPD target Palestine activism. “[Columbia] is willing to give the Trump administration whatever it wants,” one student tells Mondoweiss. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep pushing too.”
🇵🇸 Tareq Hajjaj: A group of Civil Defense and Palestinian Red Crescent crews in Gaza disappeared when they went to Rafah on a rescue mission. A week later, the bodies of 14 first responders were found dead and buried in the sand by the Israeli army.
☪️ Hala Al Khatib: For Palestinians in Gaza, this Eid was supposed to be a symbol of resilience and hope after months of war. But Israel’s renewed attack, which broke the ceasefire, has crushed even our smallest dreams.
👩🏽🏫 Adam Sanchez and Marcy Winograd: The Anti-Defamation League’s flagship “No Place for Hate” program brings the organization’s Israel advocacy into K-12 schools across the country under the guise of anti-bias education. Administrators and educators should be on alert.
🇨🇳 Zhang Sheng: Chinese foreign policy on Palestine has reflected the disjunction of two eras: revolutionary Maoist support for Palestinian liberation vs. the more recent “balanced approach” accommodating Israel. The Gaza genocide, however, could prompt a new path.
🇵🇸 Hend Salama Abo Helow: We had just begun rebuilding our lives when Israel shattered the Gaza ceasefire. Now we are once again on the edge of death and I can only ask, Why are we not allowed to survive?
🇵🇸 Taqwa Ahmed Al-Wawi: Driving through Gaza for the first time since the war started, nothing was recognizable anymore. But Gaza was still there, making me realize that it was stronger than the war. It will still be there once the darkness passes.
🇵🇸 Qassam Muaddi: The voices of Palestinians who protested against Hamas in Gaza are not only a reminder of the unbearable suffering that has been inflicted upon them but also of the fact that those subjected to that suffering are an entire people and not Hamas.
