The new Israeli government this week moved forward on plans to build 3000 more settlement units in the West Bank; and yesterday the State Department issued its strongest opposition to the plans since Joe Biden took office, calling the plans “unacceptable.” The State Department spokesperson said yesterday the U.S. “strongly” opposes the expansion of settlements.
Israel is facing widespread backlash for its dangerous decision to label six Palestinian human rights groups as terrorist organizations. “Supporters of Israel often say to critics, ‘Stop singling out Israel. Stop picking on Israel. Treat Israel like any other country,'” Mehdi Hasan said on his MSNBC news program. “Well, okay then. Let’s condemn them for doing this then because when our other allies, like Turkey or Saudi Arabia or Egypt, crack down on human rights groups, we condemn them for it. We criticize them. So why give Israel a pass?”
The percentage of scholars who believe that Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory constitute one state “akin to apartheid” jumped from 59 percent to 65 percent following reports by two leading human rights organizations stating as much.
Mondoweiss founder and senior editor Phil Weiss speaks to Khaled Elgindy about the first meeting between President Joe Biden and newly installed Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
A senior Israeli official told Axios that Joe Biden assured Naftali Bennett that the U.S. will continue providing cover for Israel’s not-so-secret nuclear arsenal.
Activists showed up outside The White House today to protest the arrival of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. “Biden is actively endorsing a right-wing leader of an apartheid state,” said Palestinian Youth Movement’s Laura Albast.
Ever since the United States began its withdrawal from Afghanistan, the mainstream media has implemented a full-court press in support of continued occupation.
Biden’s speech defending withdrawal was a terrible exercise in imperial hubris.
A month after Osama bin Laden was killed Barack Obama declared that the United States was reaching its goals in Afghanistan and that he’d begin withdrawing troops. By 2016 he went back on that promise. Joe Biden’s speech defending the U.S. withdrawal was a terrible exercise in imperial hubris, but it reflected an attitude that has been consistent across the U.S. political class since 9/11.
The Biden administration wants $1 billion to restock Israel’s Iron Dome system. Will Congress give him what he wants?