Weekly Briefing: If you oppose political violence, stop arming Israel

From European leaders to big U.S. media figures, the old defenses of Zionism are losing their power. In our must-read article, Phil Weiss argues this shift is a real opening for the left, especially for anti-Zionist Jews, to speak plainly and invite newcomers into a politics of equality. The task now is persuasion and welcome, not gatekeeping. Read Phil’s piece here.

On the ground in Palestine, Israel is racing to lock in facts. After flattening Gaza City’s east, the army is now demolishing high-rise towers in the west, where displaced families have been sheltering. As Tareq Hajjaj reports, this is not about defeating Hamas and other armed resistance groups; it is about forcing the Palestinian population out. Qassam Muaddi traces a tradition of Palestinian “committed journalism” that treats reporting as part of collective defense. The colleagues we have lost were builders of public memory. Read Tareq’s report and Qassam’s letter.

Evidence alone will not move the governments backing this war. Layth Hanbali and James Smith cut through the wishful thinking: Western leaders are not confused or timid; they are acting on imperial interests. If that is true, ending the genocide means changing the cost-benefit math. That looks like sanctions that bite, legal risk for officials and executives, labor actions that slow weapons and logistics, shareholder fights, and campus and municipal divestment wins that turn elite impunity into public pain. Read their analysis here.

Israel struck Qatar’s capital, Doha, to assassinate Hamas’s lead negotiator while his delegation was reviewing the proposal from Donald Trump. Mitchell Plitnick explains how such attacks signal that no rule will restrain Israeli power, even in a capital aligned with Washington. Michael Arria reports that Qatar publicly rejected Washington’s claim that it was warned, exposing how U.S. messaging bends to cover an ally’s recklessness. Qassam Muaddi adds the obvious conclusion: bombing the negotiating team is the opposite of negotiating. In the West Bank, after a shooting in Jerusalem that killed six Israelis, Israeli analysts warn of an “explosion,” and Palestinians brace for the collective punishment they know is coming. Israel is pushing displacement in Gaza, widening intimidation across the region, and deepening military rule in the West Bank while Western governments still underwrite it.

Finally, in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s killing on Wednesday, I am reflecting on the violence that feels omnipresent in our society. Kirk styled himself as a culture warrior and gleefully cast liberals and leftists as an enemy within. His rhetoric was racist, antisemitic, transphobic, and Islamophobic. He does not leave a healthy democratic legacy. As statements poured in condemning “political violence,” it bears saying what is obvious: violence is always political because it is an exercise of power over others.

Right now, the U.S. government and governments around the world are allowing Israel to commit heinous acts of political violence in the course of this genocide. It is hypocritical for those same institutions—and for civil society groups that have refused to condemn Israel’s ethnic cleansing—to decry political violence only when it happens here. The live question is not whether our society is riddled with political violence, but who is permitted to wield it and against whom.

Broadly speaking, the left advances a vision not based on coercion but on mutual aid and shared prosperity. The right, ascendant here and around the world, treats the capacity to inflict harm as the foundation of governance. There is no way to square these visions. The answer is to organize deeply in our communities, build the power to win and hold office, and deliver real material improvements so people are not driven into a zero-sum scramble for the means of force.

If our governments were serious about ending political violence, they would stop supplying weapons to the rogue Israeli state now. The violence we export will return home to us. The inverse is also true: when we invest in peace and justice, they return as well.

Must read: From European leaders to American media personalities, Zionism’s rationale is crumbling

Phil Weiss: The breakdown of the mainstream consensus on Israel is an opportunity for the left, specifically anti-Zionist Jews, to get their message across. We must seize it and welcome those who are finally seeing the light.

Genocide in Gaza

🇮🇱 Tareq Hajjaj: After leveling Gaza City’s eastern neighborhoods, the Israeli onslaught has entered a new phase as the army flattens high-rise towers in the city’s western areas, where most civilians are sheltering. The goal is to cause a mass exodus.

🇵🇸 Qassam Muaddi: Palestinian journalists in Gaza are carrying on a tradition of “committed journalism” that began decades ago. They, like their predecessors, were killed in the line of duty because they were working for a cause.

🗳️ Layth Hanbali and James Smith: No amount of convincing and irrefutable evidence of the genocide will convince Western leaders to halt support for Israel, because it isn’t in their interests. The only thing that will stop the genocide is to make it more costly than profitable.

Catch-up

🇵🇸 Qassam Muaddi: In the aftermath of a Palestinian shooting attack that killed six Israelis, Israeli analysts and security officials warn of an “explosion” in the West Bank. Meanwhile, Palestinians are bracing for the ensuing collective punishment by Israel.

🇮🇱 Mitchell Plitnick: Israel has sent a message that its impunity extends even to attacks on states that have close relations with Washington. They need only cry “HAMAS” and any act is acceptable.

🇶🇦 Michael Arria: In response to the Israeli attack on Qatar, which targeted senior Hamas officials in the country, the Trump administration said it “feels very bad.” The U.S. government claimed it had notified Qatar of the impending attack, a claim Qatar denies.

🇮🇱 Qassam Muaddi: Amid ongoing ceasefire talks, Israel attempted to assassinate the Hamas negotiating team in an airstrike on the Doha office of its lead negotiator, senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya. Hamas officials say the negotiating team survived the attack.