After two and a half years of living abroad, Abdelrahman Abuabed decided it was time to visit his family. He arrived in Gaza days before the May escalation between Hamas and Israel. “A terror-stricken burden of waiting for the next massacre looms over every house in Gaza and an insane feeling of wishing it will be far away from you and from anyone you know.”
The U.S. embarked on the “war on terror” with Israel as a model. Occupy Muslim lands, bomb civilians to defeat political opposition. It didn’t work in Afghanistan; and the U.S. withdrawal will force the Israel lobby to come up with new messaging to maintain the false belief that Israel and the U.S. face the same “bad neighborhood.”
At a family gathering last May, everyone in Basma Ismail Kurd’s family was looking forward to her niece playing doctor. But after the last escalation between Israel and Hamas, and witnessing death and destruction around her, she no longer wants to become a physician. What do you tell a ten-year-old who has witnessed carnage around her, when you’re also traumatized yourself?
Mohammed el-Halabi is accused of diverting World Vision aid money in Gaza to Hamas, yet as his trial closes no evidence has emerged that any funds ever went missing. In his first interview since his arrest in 2016, el-Halabi tells Mondoweiss, “the claims that the Israeli prosecutor has issued against me are fabricated and aimed at stopping the humanitarian work I and others are doing for the people of Gaza.”
The United Church of Christ resolution abandoning the two-state solution and calling Israel’s continued “oppression” of Palestinians a “sin” that demands action by people of faith has alarmed the American Jewish Committee and for good reason: Other Protestant churches are sure to follow, with measures that pose a real threat to apartheid.
Palestinians plan to continue protests at the fence separating Gaza and Israel this week, following clashes over the weekend where 24 protesters were wounded. “We can’t stand doing nothing while our people are suffering death due to Israeli siege,” Talal Abu Zarifa explained.
During its recent attacks on Gaza, Israel targeted several high-rise towers that housed dozens of media outlets. Over the course of a week, photojournalist Mohammed Talatene worked out of three towers that were destroyed by Israeli airstrikes. Then his house was bombed. His story mirrors that of many journalists across Gaza.
“Assigning the label ‘terrorist organization’ to Hamas hides a more complicated truth that Hamas is a reflection and result of the untenable and unjust status quo.”
After every ceasefire, Rana Shubair tries to imagine leading a normal life. In Gaza, the bar is set low and means not living under raining bombs. “Mama, who broke our house?” the neighbor’s three-year-old asked. His mother ignored his question. The following day the toddler announced, pleased that he had figured it out, “The Israelis broke our house.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s progressive allies, in Congress and outside, rushed to her defense. Had this exchange happened just a few years ago she would have been left to twist slowly in the wind, alone. Instead, more than 50 progressive U.S. groups said clearly that “the repeated targeting of Rep. Omar is rooted in sexism, racism and anti-Muslim bigotry.”