Subscribe here to receive this once-a-week post by email
NEW FROM FMEP
FMEP Legislative Round-Up February 7, 2025 (Lara Friedman)
- Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. Hearings; 4. Selected Members on the Record; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements
Settlement & Annexation Report: February 7, 2025 (Kristin McCarthy)
- East Jerusalem Settlement Plans to Watch; 2. Israel Pushing Raze Palestinian Homes in Sheikh Jarrah, Build New Settlement Enclave; 3. High Court Orders Zanuta Return, Again; 4. High Court Orders Investigation Into Settler Municipal Councils; 5. Settler Population Grew 2.3% in 2024; 6. Trump to Decide on West Bank Annexation In Four Weeks; 7. Bonus Reads
Mapping Life & Land: Beirut Urban Lab (Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP Fellow Dr. Nour Joudah speaks with Ahmad Gharbieh, professor at the American University of Beirut and co-founder of the Beirut Urban Lab, an interdisciplinary research space. They discuss the process and value of critical cartography, which analyzes maps as instruments of power, looking at who has the authority to create maps and what is included and represented within them. And they speak about Beirut Urban Lab’s critical mapping of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, its invasion of southern Lebanon, and attacks on Beirut, and the links between mapping and policy-making.
“Centering Human Life, Disrupting Injustice Without Replicating It”: Introducing 2025 FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi (Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP’s Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with Hilary Rantisi, one of FMEP’s 2025 non-resident Fellows. They discuss Hilary’s work as a longtime educator seeking to teach the critique of power, her childhood and many years living in the West Bank, and how she understands the dynamics of the current moment in the context of Palestinian history and identity, highlighting the Palestinian values of sumud – steadfastness – and return. Hilary also discusses the challenges of false accusations of antisemitism undermining the telling of Palestinian lived experience, such as by the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which weaponizes accusations of antisemitism to quash critique of Israel and advocacy for Palestinian rights.
GAZA
Trump doubles down on kicking Palestinians out of Gaza (Politico 2/6/25)
“U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated Thursday that Palestinians should be removed from Gaza after Israel’s war on the coastal enclave is done. The Palestinians should be resettled into “far safer and more beautiful communities,” fitted with “new and modern homes,” Trump said in an early morning post on Truth Social. The forced evacuation would give Palestinians “a chance to be happy, safe, and free,” he added. Trump called the project “one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth,” which he claimed would not require any U.S. military presence.” See also Trump says Israel would hand over Gaza after fighting is over, no US troops needed (Reuters 2/6/25’); Netanyahu endorses voluntary migration of Gaza Palestinians: ‘A remarkable idea’ (JTA 2/6/25); Trump’s Gaza Takeover Would Violate International Law, Experts Say (NYT 2/5/25); UN chief warns against ‘ethnic cleansing’ after Trump’s Gaza proposal (Guardian 2/5/25)
Trump shocks supporters with US ‘own’ and ‘rebuild’ Gaza plan (Responsible Statecraft 2/4/25)
“In remarks that sent shock waves across the American political spectrum, left and right, Trump said he wants the U.S. to empty the Gaza strip of its nearly two million inhabitants, and develop it like a property owner. In fact he said he wanted the U.S. to “own it” and did not rule out sending our troops to get the job done. Here’s the video. “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too,” he said, with a smiling Benjamin Netanyahu next to him. “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out. Create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area. Do a real job, do something different.” He claimed that leaders all over the Middle East think it’s a great idea and that it won’t be a rebuilt place for “a specific group of people” but for people “all over the Middle East.”’ See also What is making Gaza ‘uninhabitable’? Unexploded bombs and more. (WaPo 2/6/25)
From Saudi Arabia to Australia and China, world leaders denounce Trump’s plan to ‘take over’ Gaza (Al Monitor 2/5/25)
“Saudi Arabia, a key US ally in the region, swiftly rejected Trump’s latest comments, expressing its “firm and unwavering” support for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. In a statement released shortly after Trump’s remarks on Wednesday, the Saudi Foreign Ministry affirmed Saudi Arabia’s “unequivocal rejection of any infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, whether through Israeli settlement policies, land annexation or attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land.” The ministry stressed that just and lasting peace in the region can only be achieved once Palestinians obtain their legitimate rights under international resolutions, “as has been previously clarified to both the previous and current US administration.” The statement called on the international community to ease the suffering of the Palestinian people, “who will remain committed to their land and will not budge from it.”…Egypt was also quick in rejecting Trump’s proposal even as the US president expressed confidence that Cairo and Amman would accept his plan to relocate Gazans to their territory. “They won’t tell me no. I want to remove all the residents of Gaza,” Trump said on Tuesday. “It will happen.” On Wednesday, Cairo expressed its continued support for the “legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.”…In a phone call on Wednesday, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani agreed on the need to rebuff any attempts to displace the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, stressing the necessity of ensuring Palestinians remain on their land…Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas strongly rejected Trump’s calls to take over Gaza and relocate Palestinians, calling them a “serious violation of international law.”…Meanwhile, Hamas leaders have come out in force to denounce Trump’s remarks. Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri rejected the idea of removing Palestinians from Gaza, warning that his group “would not allow these plans to pass.”…In Israel, Trump’s comments were met with praise from several leaders, including far-right officials…China rebuffed any plans to seize Gaza and forcibly transfer the Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters on Wednesday. He affirmed that Beijing “has always believed that Palestinians governing Palestine is the fundamental principle for postwar governance in Gaza.”…Elsewhere in Europe, several countries also rejected plans to displace the Palestinians.” See also Rubio heads to Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Israel on first Mideast visit (Al Monitor 2/7/25); Trump’s proposal to displace Gazans may impede efforts with Saudi Arabia (WaPo 2/7/25)
Jordan ready for war with Israel if Palestinians are expelled into its territory (Middle East Eye 2/4/25)
“Jordan is ready to declare war on Israel in the event that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attempts to forcibly expel Palestinians into its territory, Middle East Eye understands. The warning comes in the wake of repeated statements from US President Donald Trump that he would like to see Jordan and Egypt take in Palestinians as part of a move to “clean out” the Gaza Strip. Well-placed sources in Amman and Jerusalem told MEE that the last thing Jordan wants is war and it is eager for a peaceful solution. But they are adamant that the Jordanians will close the border if refugees begin to cross into the country. If the Israelis seek to re-open it, that would be “a casus belli,” one source said. The Jordanians are under no illusion they could win a war with Israel, but believe they would have no choice but to fight.” See also Egypt said privately warning Trump’s Gaza plan endangers peace treaty with Israel (TOI 2/6/25); Trump’s bid to push out Gazans is an ‘existential threat’ to Jordan, say analysts (TOI 2/6/25); Trump proposal to displace Gazans draws swift backlash in Arab world (WaPo 2/5/25); ‘Worst nightmare’: Egypt and Jordan put in impossible bind by Trump Gaza plan (Guardian 2/6/25)
‘Gaza is not for sale’: Palestinians dismiss Trump’s ethnic cleansing plan (Mahmoud Mushtaha//+972 2/5/25)
“Trump’s words, uttered with characteristic nonchalance, have sparked shock and outrage around the world. Some dismiss his proposal as just another soundbite. Others warn of the deeper ramifications for regional stability. Human rights groups call it a clear violation of international law. Yet in Gaza, most people barely blinked. Fifteen months of relentless Israeli bombing and siege have left the Strip in ruins. Hunger is everywhere. The healthcare system has collapsed. Even with the ceasefire, there is still a severe shortage of clean water and fuel, and no way out. Besides, Palestinians have heard this kind of talk for generations: statements by Israeli and Western leaders that treat our land and lives as something to be bargained over, taken away from us, or wiped off the map altogether. The idea of “owning” Gaza isn’t just an absurd political statement, but represents the latest iteration of a century-old campaign to erase Palestinian existence…In the streets of Gaza, Palestinians responded to Trump’s words with a mix of anger, exhaustion, and dark humor. Many who spoke to +972 see it as yet further evidence that global powers treat their lives as disposable. Others worry that such rhetoric could pave the way for even more displacement.”
Israeli military to prepare ‘voluntary departure’ plan for Gazans, echoing Trump proposal (WaPo 2/6/25)
“Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that he has instructed the military to draft a plan to “allow voluntary departure” of Gaza residents from the enclave — days after President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal for the United States to “take over” the Gaza Strip and remove all the people living there…Katz cited Spain, Ireland and Norway — governments that have criticized Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza and which are unlikely to agree to cooperate with Trump’s proposal — as places that could take in Palestinians. Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said in response: “No one should enter into a debate about where the Palestinians, and in particular Gazan Palestinians, should go. The land of the Gazan Palestinians is Gaza.”’ See also Israel’s defense minister tells the army to prepare to relocate Palestinians from Gaza (NPR 2/6/25)
Population Transfers Approved by America? It’s on the Table. (Daniel Levy//NYT 2/4/25)
“It is hard to exaggerate the traumatic resonance of displacement and population transfer in collective Palestinian memory. This history helps explain the Palestinian determination to remain in the newly devastated territory and the widespread outcry to this relocation proposal and its long-term radicalizing potential…Mr. Trump’s relocation idea joins a long list of Washington’s illusions about settling the conflict in the Middle East: that Israel is more likely to make peace if treated with indulgence in response to accusations of violations of international law; that resistance to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories has a military solution; and that normalizing Israel’s relations with Arab states, with which it is not in conflict, can work as an end run around dealing with Palestinian dispossession and denial of self-determination and rights. In the current environment, suggestions of depopulation, whether intended as a practical proposition or not, cannot be taken lightly…These displacement plans do not end with Gaza. The West Bank, where Israel is escalating military operations, is considered by many right-wing extremists in Israel to be the real prize, and Jordan the preferred destination for Palestinians living there. None of this offers a future of security for Israelis, either. They risk creating an even more destabilized environment for those neighbors being called on to absorb the relocated Palestinians, and the displacements would serve as a rallying cry and recruitment lure for resistance movements across the region.” See also For Trump, Gaza becomes latest target of U.S. manifest destiny (Ishaan Tharoor//WaPo 2/4/25)
Bomb the area, gas the tunnels: Israel’s unbridled war on Gaza’s underground (Yuval Abraham//+972 2/6/24)
“The Israeli army intensively bombarded residential areas in Gaza when it lacked intelligence on the exact location of Hamas commanders hiding underground, and intentionally weaponized toxic byproducts of bombs to suffocate militants in their tunnels, an investigation by +972 Magazine and Local Call can reveal. The investigation, based on conversations with 15 Israeli Military Intelligence and Shin Bet officers who have been involved in tunnel-targeting operations since October 7, exposes how this strategy aimed to compensate for the army’s inability to pinpoint targets in Hamas’ subterranean tunnel network. When targeting senior commanders in the group, the Israeli military authorized the killing of “triple-digit numbers” of Palestinian civilians as “collateral damage,” and maintained close real-time coordination with U.S. officials regarding the expected casualty figures. Some of these strikes, which were the deadliest in the war and often used American bombs, are known to have killed Israeli hostages despite concerns raised ahead of time by military officers. Moreover, the lack of precise intelligence meant that in at least three major strikes, the army dropped several 2,000-pound bunker-buster bombs that killed scores of civilians — part of a strategy known as “tiling” — without succeeding in killing the intended target.”
Deaths from Israel’s attacks on Gaza close to 62,000 as missing added (Al Jazeera 2/3/25)
“Authorities in Gaza have updated the death toll from Israel’s war on the enclave to 61,709, having added thousands who are missing and now presumed dead. The head of the Gaza Government Information Office told a news conference that the bodies of 76 percent of the Palestinians killed in the conflict have been recovered and brought to medical centres. However, at least 14,222 people are still believed to be trapped under the rubble or in areas inaccessible to rescuers. Speaking at Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital, Salama Maarouf told reporters that among the death toll are 17,881 children, including 214 newborn infants.”
Jabaliya Is Now a City of Rubble (Abubaker Abed//Drop Site 2/5/25)
“The destruction in northern Gaza is beyond imagination. On Sunday, I made the journey from my home in Deir al-Balah to Gaza City, my first time north after 15 months of Israel’s genocide. The three-hour, 16-kilometer walk was an arduous trek through debris and dust—that is all that is left. Every block looks like it has been hit with several powerful earthquakes. The sheer scale of it affected me physically. No building was spared in the Israeli assault…I am still in northern Gaza—sleeping inside the wreckage of one of my friends’ homes. The rain is torrential and threatens to waterlog us at any point. Israeli drones are buzzing overhead. The nightmare hasn’t ended. I am desperate for a cup of clean water here, for a plate of food. Donald Trump should know that these living conditions are better for me than living in a castle anywhere else in the world.”
Gazans dreamed of returning to Rafah. The reality is a nightmare (Ruwaida Kamal Amer//+972 2/4/25)
“Few have gone back to Gaza’s southern city, where Israeli forces on the border are still firing at civilians. Those who have barely recognize their own homes.”
Hamas names three Israeli hostages to be released after alleging ceasefire breach (Guardian 2/7/25)
“Hamas has named the three hostages to be released on Saturday under the ceasefire deal as Eli Sharabi, Ohad ben Ami, and Or Levy. The release of the names was delayed by several hours after Hamas accused Israel of delaying the delivery of aid and other equipment in breach of the terms of the ceasefire Israel dismissed the claims it had delayed aid supplies as “completely unfounded”. It said it had allowed thousands of trucks carrying food, aid, and shelters into Gaza. Global aid agency the Norwegian Refugee Council said humanitarian efforts in Gaza remained in an “emergency crisis setting”.” See also Hamas releases U.S. hostage Keith Siegel; Rafah crossing reopens for Gazan patients (2/1/25); 183 Palestinian security prisoners released after Hamas sets free 3 civilian hostages (TOI 2/1/25); Palestinian prisoners sent to Egypt, Turkey as Tunisia declines: What we know (Al Monitor 2/5/25); Rafah crossing reopens for Gaza’s sick and injured children after months of closure (Guardian 2/1/25); Over 100 journalists sign letter requesting Egyptian authorities to allow access to Gaza through Rafah crossing (Sharif Abdel Kouddous//Drop Site 2/3/25)
U.S.A.I.D. Turmoil Threatens Key Aid Supplies to Gaza, Officials Say (NYT 2/7/25)
“With almost all U.S.A.I.D. staff set to be placed on administrative leave by Friday night, there will be only a handful of officials left to sign off on and audit hundreds of millions of dollars in outstanding payments to the agency’s partners on the ground in Gaza, raising alarm about how those groups will fund their operations. Of more than 200 officials in the agency’s Mideast team, just 21 will remain in post to manage its entire regional portfolio, according to an internal agency email reviewed by The New York Times. The team that organizes emergency aid supplies in dozens of crisis zones around the world each year, of which Gaza was just one, is down to just 70 staff members from more than 1,000. This is expected to slow or prevent the delivery of food packages to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, as well as tents, mattresses, blankets, hygiene kits and medical treatment, according to three officials and an aid worker. All four people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the news media. While the aid agency does not operate inside Gaza, it has provided roughly $1 billion in aid to international aid groups on the ground since the war began in October 2023 — about a third of the total aid response, according to the United Nations. Hundreds of millions of dollars have yet to be disbursed and now may never be transferred to United Nations agencies and other major aid organizations, three officials said. “They’re making an already fragile cease-fire more fragile,” said Dave Harden, a former U.S.A.I.D. mission director for Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. “Lifesaving aid to Gaza is going to be disrupted.”’
REGION/GLOBAL
Trump imposes sanctions on ICC, accusing it of targeting US and Israel (Guardian 2/6/25)
“Donald Trump has signed an executive order that authorises aggressive economic sanctions against the international criminal court (ICC), accusing the body of “illegitimate and baseless actions” targeting the US and Israel. The order grants the US president broad powers to impose asset freezes and travel bans against ICC staff and their family members if the US determines that they are involved in efforts to investigate or prosecute citizens of the US and certain allies…Israel’s prime minister strongly applauded Trump’s move. Netanyahu posted: “Thank you, President Trump, for your bold ICC executive order. It will defend America and Israel from the anti-American and antisemitic corrupt court that has no jurisdiction or basis to engage in lawfare against us.”…The order signed by Trump on Thursday suggests the US will target specific individuals listed in an annex to document, but it was not immediately clear which individuals were included.” See also Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court (White House 2/6/25); Israel follows US in boycotting UN Human Rights Council (Al Jazeera 2/6/25); EU chiefs chastise Trump for sanctioning the ICC (Politico 2/7/25); Netanyahu presses Senate lawmakers to pass ICC sanctions legislation (Jewish Insider 2/6/25); Schumer says Trump’s ICC executive order removes provisions Democrats objected to (JI 2/6/25);
Netanyahu: ‘The Saudis can create a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia’ (Jerusalem Post 2/7/25)
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Saudi Arabia had enough land to provide the Palestinians with a state in a Channel 14 interview on Thursday. “The Saudis can create a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia; they have a lot of land over there,” he said. When questioned about a Palestinian state as a condition of normalization, Netanyahu said he “would not make an agreement that would endanger the State of Israel.” “Especially not a Palestinian state. After October 7? Do you know what that is? There was a Palestinian state, it was called Gaza. Gaza, led by Hamas, was a Palestinian state, and look what we got – the biggest massacre since the Holocaust,” the prime minister said. The interview was conducted during Netanyahu’s Washington visit, which began with a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump in which the president announced his plan for the US to control the Gaza Strip. Additionally, the two discussed the potential for normalization with Saudi Arabia, with Netanyahu saying, “I think peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia is not only feasible, I think it’s going to happen.” However, shortly after the press conference, the Saudi foreign ministry stated it would not discuss ties with Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
Google Lifts a Ban on Using Its AI for Weapons and Surveillance (Wired 2/4/25)
“Google announced Tuesday that it is overhauling the principles governing how it uses artificial intelligence and other advanced technology. The company removed language promising not to pursue “technologies that cause or are likely to cause overall harm,” “weapons or other technologies whose principal purpose or implementation is to cause or directly facilitate injury to people,” “technologies that gather or use information for surveillance violating internationally accepted norms,” and “technologies whose purpose contravenes widely accepted principles of international law and human rights.”…In a blog post on Tuesday, a pair of Google executives cited the increasingly widespread use of AI, evolving standards, and geopolitical battles over AI as the “backdrop” to why Google’s principals needed to be overhauled.” See also WhatsApp says journalists and civil society members were targets of Israeli spyware (Guardian 1/31/25)
In Southern Lebanon, Protests Are Growing Against the Israeli Occupation (Bilal Ghazeye//Drop Site 2/4/25)
“Barred from returning home, displaced civilians from southern Lebanon are setting up camps outside their villages where Israeli troops remain.” See also US demands Hezbollah be omitted from Lebanon government (Al Jazeera 2/7/25); US envoy visits Lebanon, says US ‘grateful’ to Israel for defeating Hezbollah (Al Monitor 2/7/25); Trump administration imposes first Iran sanctions since taking office (Al Jazeera 2/6/25)
Netanyahu gives Trump ‘golden pager’ in apparent reference to Lebanon attack (Guardian 2/6/25)
“In photos circulating online, the golden pager can be seen mounted on a piece of wood, accompanied by a golden plaque that reads in black lettering: “To President Donald J. Trump, Our greatest friend and greatest ally. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.” Israeli media reported that the Israeli prime minister, who is wanted by the international criminal court for war crimes, also gave the US president a regular pager. The gift was reportedly a nod to Israel’s deadly operation last September against Hezbollah, during which thousands of handheld pager beeper devices and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah detonated simultaneously across Lebanon. The explosions killed at least 37 people, including children as young as nine years old, and left thousands wounded.”
RIVER TO THE SEA
Israeli military sets off massive explosions, destroying buildings in Jenin (WaPo 2/2/25)
“The Israeli military blew up at least 20 buildings in the West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday, staging controlled demolitions that thundered across the region, where troops have been battling local militants in an operation dubbed Iron Wall. Footage from local news channels showed the simultaneous explosions erupting in the northern West Bank and sending plumes of smoke towering over Jenin city and its adjacent refugee camp. Videos of the aftermath showed extensive damage on the ground: homes turned to ash and rubble, cars destroyed and small fires still burning amid the debris…The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it was evacuating people who were trapped and providing them with medical care. On Saturday, at least five people were killed in Israeli strikes in the Jenin area, including a 16-year-old, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.” See also Violent Israeli raids forcibly displace 26,000 Palestinians in West Bank (Al Jazeera 2/6/25)
Israel Plans Jewish Neighborhood in Sheikh Jarrah, Putting Dozens of Palestinian Families at Risk of Eviction (Haaretz 2/4/25)
“The Jerusalem Municipality is advancing a construction plan for a Jewish neighborhood in the Sheikh Jarrah area of East Jerusalem, whose population is overwhelmingly Palestinian. According to the plan, dozens of Palestinian families are expected to be evicted, and 316 residential units and public buildings will be constructed in their place. The neighborhood is planned to be built on lands that have been at the forefront of legal battles in recent years between Sheikh Jarrah’s residents and settler organizations, accompanied by protests and violent confrontations. Residents and civil society organizations claim that the purpose of the plan is to displace Palestinians from the neighborhood…The new plan is part of several Jewish construction projects that Israel has started promoting in East Jerusalem and beyond the Green Line, coinciding with the change in the U.S. administration and the re-entry of Donald Trump into the White House.” See also Israeli Settler Indicted After Opening Fire on Palestinian Family Harvesting Olives in the West Bank (Haaretz 2/7/25)
Oscar-nominated ‘No Other Land’ is a jolt of moral clarity (WaPo 2/6/25)
‘“No Other Land,” the Oscar-nominated documentary (and odds-on favorite to win), is the record of an atrocity: the erasure of a people from the land on which they’ve lived for centuries…“No Other Land” documents Israelis bulldozing houses, schools and entire villages in the West Bank, forcing Palestinian families to move into caves, and shooting anyone who objects too vociferously…Since no U.S. distributor has worked up the nerve to pick up “No Other Land,” the film is being released on an ad hoc basis in major markets. As an act of citizen journalism, it’s a document as damning as they come, and it lands in this endless, bitterly complex struggle like an argument that refuses to be rationalized away. “Aren’t you ashamed?” shouts one of the Palestinians as a man cuts her village’s water. Her cry ripples out far beyond the West Bank, Israel and the Middle East.” See also ‘No Other Land’: An Eye-Opener About the West Bank and the Movies (NYT 1/31/25)
U.S. SCENE
Inside Trump’s Hastily Written Proposal to ‘Own’ Gaza (NYT 2/5/25)
“When President Trump announced his proposal for the United States to take ownership of Gaza on Tuesday, he shocked even senior members of his own White House and government. While his announcement looked formal and thought-out — he read the plan from a sheet of paper — his administration had not done even the most basic planning to examine the feasibility of the idea, according to four people with knowledge of the discussions, who were not authorized to speak publicly…Inside the U.S. government, there had been no meetings with the State Department or Pentagon, as would normally occur for any serious foreign policy proposal, let alone one of such magnitude. There had been no working groups. The Defense Department had produced no estimates of the troop numbers required, or cost estimates, or even an outline of how it might work…It is unclear whether Mr. Trump previously discussed the matter in any detail with the Israelis…In his second presidential term he has put his imperialist impulses on display. He has said he wants the United States to buy Greenland, refusing to rule out military force despite the existence of a U.S. base there. He has said he wants to take back the Panama Canal and that Canada should become America’s 51st state. He has said he thinks the United States should be entitled to Ukraine’s natural resources as repayment for all the military aid America has sent to help the Ukrainians defend themselves against the Russians. Mr. Trump views foreign policy as a real estate deal maker.” See also Trump’s Gaza ‘Riviera’ echoes Kushner waterfront property dreams (Reuters 2/5/25); Trump’s Gaza Plan Reflects Broader Push for Annexation of Palestinian Land (NYT 2/6/25)
‘He’s lost it’: Trump call to take over Gaza blasted by Democrats, boosted by loyalists (TOI 2/5/25)
“US President Donald Trump’s declaration on Tuesday that the US will take over the Gaza Strip and resettle its roughly 1.8 million residents elsewhere was welcomed as a “miracle” by members of the Israeli government and endorsed by some of Trump’s most stalwart allies in the US — but rejected as “crazy,” “dangerous,” and “insane” by Democrats, as foreign countries assured the press their positions on the conflict hadn’t changed…Following Trump’s comments, members of his administration lined up to support the proposal…In the US Congress, some of Trump’s fiercest allies began rallying around the proposal…Trump’s remarks were also met with early skepticism from many Republicans, including some who are typically supportive of the president…Among Democrats, the rejection was unequivocal…Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen — among the harshest critics in Congress of Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza — said on MSNBC: Trump “just said that it will be United States policy to forcibly displace 2 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip — that is ethnic cleansing by another name…And Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who is of Palestinian descent, wrote: “Palestinians aren’t going anywhere. This president can only spew this fanatical bullshit because of bipartisan support in Congress for funding genocide and ethnic cleansing. It’s time for my two-state solution colleagues to speak up.”’ See also West Bank? No, Judea and Samaria, Some Republicans Say. (NYT 2/4/25); Trump’s Gaza plan suggests his pro-settler advisers are in the ascendant (Guardian 2/7/25);
Inside Netanyahu’s meeting with evangelical leaders in Washington (Jewish Insider 2/5/25)
“The meeting — which one attendee said came at a “historic time to make decisions” — was organized by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Israel, one day before the prime minister’s meeting with Trump in the Oval Office. No meeting with American Jewish leaders had been scheduled yet for Netanyahu’s six-day visit…Christian leaders in attendance — who traveled to Washington from cities including Dallas and San Diego for the meeting — also included: Pastor John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel; Pastor Jentezen Franklin, who leads the Free Chapel; Ralph Reed, founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition; and Pastor Paula White, who was recently reappointed to serve as Trump’s lead faith advisor…“There’s one person on the planet right now who unites the evangelicals globally and that’s Benjamin Netanyahu,” [Founder of The Friends of Zion Heritage Center Mike] Evans said. “They think the world of him and he has enormous support among evangelicals, especially here in the U.S.” Evans noted that everyone in the room was a “major evangelical player that President Trump listens to and respects,” as well as “incredibly strong supporters of the State of Israel.”’ See also Why Netanyahu Met Musk and Evangelicals, Not U.S. Jews, Before His Date With Trump (Haaretz 2/4/25); Rubio’s new undersecretary of state was fired from first Trump administration over ties to white nationalists (Jewish Insider 2/4/25)
Analysis: Trump’s Gaza relocation plan signals shift in Jewish political influence (Jacob Kornbluh//The Forward 2/5/25)
“Reaction to President Donald Trump’s radical proposal to have the United States take control of the Gaza Strip and relocate its 2 million Palestinian residents hinted at a realignment of Jewish political influence in which fringe Zionist activists and their ideas are replacing the establishment groups that have long held sway in Washington. Mainstream pro-Israel groups were, perhaps, stunned into silence: the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Federation movement had not issued press releases or posted on social media by Wednesday afternoon. AIPAC, the premier pro-Israel lobbying group, did not directly respond to the Gaza proposal…Meanwhile, far-right politicians in Israel and American Zionist groups previously seen as gadflies exulted over headlines worldwide that seemed to be taking their approach seriously for the first time.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi establishes task force to prosecute Oct. 7 crimes (JI 2/7/25)
“In one of her first official acts after being sworn in on Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi established a joint task force dedicated to investigating the perpetrators of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks and seeking justice for their victims. The scope of the body’s work goes beyond the attacks that took place more than a year ago. Bondi described a need to address “the ongoing threat posed by Hamas and its affiliates, both domestically and abroad.” The remit of Joint Task Force October 7 will not be limited to terrorist violence — it is also tasked with prosecuting “antisemitic civil rights violations” and “other federal crimes” committed by Hamas supporters domestically, including on U.S. college campuses.” See also Trump threat to deport pro-Palestinian students mirrors rightwing Heritage blueprint (Guardian 2/2/25)
Right-Wing Group Sends Trump Deportation List Over Palestine Activism (TNR 1/31/25)
“A far-right, extremist group has compiled a list of foreign students and teachers that it thinks should be expelled from the United States for protesting against Israel, and turned it over to officials in the Trump administration. Betar, a Revisionist Zionist organization inspired by European fascist movements, has been using facial recognition and soliciting tips to identify protesters at rallies and encampments opposing Israel’s brutal war in Gaza over the past year…Levy told Salon that his organization has given its list to attorney general nominee Pam Bondi, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump adviser Stephen Miller, U.N. ambassador nominee Elise Stefanik, and other members of the Trump administration. The list isn’t just composed of protesters, either: Betar is targeting academics who advocate for Palestine or who teach an “alternate history” that conflicts with the organization’s worldview. This, according to Levy, includes people who advocate for a one-state solution: a single, secular democratic state encompassing both Israel and the Palestinian territories.”
Columbia students just sued the university for attacks on pro-Palestine activism (Drop Site 2/3/25)
“Three students from Columbia University filed a lawsuit on Monday morning against the school administration for their suspensions related to their pro-Palestine activism on campus. Among the claims in the complaint, the students state that the university violated its own policies during the disciplinary process, that the university targeted the students for their views, and that it violated New York’s landlord tenant laws when it evicted the students from university housing.” See also Administrators at Harvard Divinity School quit, say school condoned hate (Religion News 2/6/25)
Campaign spending at pro-Israel political action committees up in 2024 (JNS 2/6/25)
“The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which sharply boosted its lobbying last year in the midst of Israel’s war with Hamas and a corresponding surge in antisemitism, more than doubled its political action committee campaign spending as Americans elected a new president and decided whether Republicans or Democrats would control Congress. AIPAC and its affiliated super PAC United Democracy Project reported spending $95.1 million on the 2024 elections, including donations to endorsed candidates and independent advertising campaigns on behalf of them, according to new Federal Election Commission filings. That’s more than double the $44 million spent during the 2022 races and mirrors the large increase in lobbying spending last year by Jewish groups last year…AIPAC outspent every other political committee identified as pro-Israel by OpenSecrets…The RJC [Republican Jewish Coalition] and its super PAC spent $19.7 million during the 2024 elections, more than four times the $4.5 million spent during the 2022 campaigns…The third biggest PAC by campaign spending, J Street, increased its 2024 campaign spending to $14.6 million, up from $8.6 million in the previous election.”
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
The Boomerang Comes Back (Noura Erakat//Boston Review 2/5/25)
“Simply put, most people have no idea to what extent this genocide is being perpetrated not only by Israel but also by the United States. For a solid majority of the center-left, what is happening in Gaza is tragic but ultimately less important than the most significant existential threat: the ascendance of Trump. During the run-up to the election, the argument goes, we Palestinian and Arab Americans should have understood that resisting fascism in the United States is the primary goal and gotten in line accordingly. But resisting fascism is our collective goal. We just know that in order to resist it, we have to fight it on two fronts of U.S. state violence: at home and abroad. Because if the United States, together with Israel, manages to disembowel the ICJ, the ICC, the UN, and a broader global order built after the Holocaust and World War II, no one is safe. The fact that Israel has committed genocide, turned humans into walking bombs in its pager attack in Lebanon, and decimated countries while the UN Security Council watches passively should concern all of us. As Colombian President Gustavo Petro warned back in December 2023, “What we are seeing in Gaza is a rehearsal of the future.”…By now, it should be clear that conservative agendas continue to use Palestine as a Trojan horse. Yet the liberal establishment has not raised the alarms. Worse, they have often served as the right’s complicit partner, oblivious to the precedents that Trump is now inheriting: broader police power, unaccountable presidential power, generalized repression, and gross restrictions on speech. The vicious culture of anti-Palestinian racism they have helped normalize strengthens Trump’s insidious narrative of migrants as terrorist threats, all as part of a massive push to facilitate deportations, ramp up surveillance, and further militarize the border…For fifteen months, Palestinians and their allies protested relentlessly and, at times, heroically, not only to stop a genocide but to salvage and preserve core humanitarian principles governing life within the United States, insisting that genocide is suicide. Surviving this next chapter demands that we see ourselves as the rest of the world sees us too.”
Palestinians have a clear message for Donald Trump over Gaza: ‘We are here, we won’t leave’ (Yara Hawari//The Guardian 2/5/25)
“In the face of all of this, Palestinians have not been passive actors – just as they never have been. Over the past 16 months, Palestinians in Gaza have also shown us what resistance to genocide looks like. They have refused to leave their homeland after massive destruction – the likes of which we have not seen in our lifetime. After Trump’s comments, Palestinians in Gaza have defiantly taken to social media to tell the leader of the most powerful country in the world that they will not leave their land. For example, the Gaza-based journalist Abubaker Abed wrote: “How can my future be decided by someone else? … We are here. And we won’t leave.” This is hardly surprising. For more than seven decades, the Palestinian people have endured systematic killing, incarceration and displacement from their ancestral homeland by the Israeli regime. Yet they have fought their erasure tooth and nail. So while Trump’s comments are alarmingly genocidal, it is clear that he underestimates the Palestinian determination to stay on their land.”
After the Ceasefire: Three Palestinians from northern Gaza reflect on returning to their devastated homes. (Jewish Currents 2/7/25)
“Jewish Currents spoke to three Palestinians from northern Gaza about what the ceasefire has meant for the prospect of rebuilding their lives. Ahmad Abu Yahia reflects on the pain of returning to a home he’d once shared with his brother Khalil (who spoke to Jewish Currents in the weeks after October 7th, 2023 and was killed by Israel soon after); Hamza Salha, who has written for Jewish Currents about his family’s original displacement from their hometown of Barbara, talks about going back to what remains of his home in Jabalia; and Maram Faraj explains why, even as she misses her home in Gaza City, her family has decided to remain in the south for now. These dispatches have been edited for length and clarity.”
A Primer on Lebanon—History, Palestine and Resistance to Israeli Violence (Lara Deeb, Maya Mikdashi, Tsolin Nalbantian, Nadya Sbaiti// MERIP Winter 2024)
For Lebanon, the 2024 assault marked the country’s deadliest days since the civil war’s end in 1990. It also took place in the context of a sequence of crises that began with the popular uprising in 2019, and its subsequent repression, and continued through the Covid pandemic, Beirut port explosion, a power vacuum and an economic collapse from which Lebanon had only just begun to recover. These crises are indelibly linked to Lebanon’s positioning vis-a-vis multiple powers in the region and beyond. In its relatively short history since 1920, Lebanon has been the object of avaricious interests driving various interventions that have been both a boon and a detriment to the tiny country. It has also been plagued by a corrupt and nepotistic political class. Since World War II, Beirut—and Lebanon more broadly—has served as a political, cultural and social refuge for Arab populations and ignominious political figures alike…This primer situates the latest Israeli war on Lebanon and resistance to it within the broader context of Lebanon’s political development and its relationship to Palestine. The primer begins by offering a historical overview of Lebanon’s formation that describes the role of external and internal forces in shaping the country throughout the twentieth century (Part I and Part II). It then details how regular Israeli violence as well as Palestinian and Lebanese resistance movements and political parties fit into this trajectory (Part III). The primer ends with an explanation of the series of recent crises that have exacerbated the devastating effects of the latest Israeli attacks on Lebanon and its ongoing ceasefire violations (Part IV).”
Trump’s EO to ‘Combat Antisemitism’ Wields Jewish Safety as a Weapon to Crush Palestine Solidarity (Ben Lorber//Religion Dispatches 2/6/25)
“Last week, Trump released an executive order pledging to combat antisemitism by ordering a draconian crackdown on Palestine solidarity protests. That same day, reporters leaked a memo from an agency within Pete Hegseth’s Department of Defense ordering personnel to stop marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, along with other calendrical commemorations like MLK Day and Women’s History Month—an early sign of the Defense Secretary’s efforts to implement anti-DEI policies in the military. The coincidence illustrates the grim contradiction at the heart of MAGA antisemitism: instrumentalizing Jewish safety as an authoritarian weapon with one hand, while the other systematically shreds the fabric of liberal pluralism, which has kept American Jews relatively safe. And in the week since, MAGA has moved quickly towards implementing its crusade against civil rights and dissent across campuses and communities…The MAGA movement’s antisemitism agenda is quite clearly a chilling assault on human rights and free speech. But it’s all the more frustrating and disorienting when Christian nationalists cynically position themselves as defenders of Jews while pursuing policies inimical to the safety and thriving of Jewish communities, along with our friends and neighbors.”
Gaza’s Telecommunications: Occupied and Destroyed (Ali Abdel-Wahab//Al Shabaka 2/3/25)
“For Palestinians in Gaza, who have endured over 17 years of Israeli blockade and many more decades of Israeli colonial occupation, the internet serves as a critical lifeline: a channel to communicate with the outside world and share their lived reality with an international audience. Aware of its potential, the Israeli regime has long sought to dominate and suppress the Palestinian digital landscape…Meanwhile, it trapped Gaza in the past, with only 2G access—making it one of the most digitally isolated regions in the world. Since the onset of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, these digital challenges have escalated into a full-blown crisis…This policy brief examines the devastating impact of the Israeli regime’s actions on Gaza’s telecommunications infrastructure and internet access. It situates Israel’s attack on the communications sector within the broader framework of neo-colonialism. It explains how Israel’s stranglehold on the Palestinian digital infrastructure strengthens its political and economic hegemony, which is one of the most important features of the Zionist settler colonial project. It also highlights the resilience of Palestinians resisting enforced communication blackouts. It finally offers actionable recommendations for the international community to support enhanced digital access in Gaza and break its technological dependence on Israel.”
Israel Is Not Committing Genocide in Gaza. But It May Be on the Way There (Benny Morris//Haaretz 1/30/25)
“Israel is not committing genocide in Gaza. The prosecutor in The Hague and all the learned professors, from Omer Bartov on down, who talk about a genocide, are wrong…But the genocide may be in the offing. Israel may be on the way there, already deep in the loop that leads to mass murder, shaping the hearts and minds of the public…These are the same Israelis that speak aloud or in whispers about uprooting the Palestinians from their land, about exile and transfers…They do not see Palestinians as human beings…The dehumanization that has to take root before mass murder is already here…The Jewish public appears largely indifferent to the mass killing in Gaza, including of women and children. It is apathetic toward the starving of Palestinians in the West Bank by means of banning them from working in Israel, and to the violent harassment of Palestinians there, including in the past year as were killed at the hands of settlers. The dehumanization is evident every day, apparent from the soldiers’ testimonies; from the killing of civilians in Gaza; from the brutality shown by soldiers and jailers while detainees, some from Hamas and some civilians, are led half-naked to the detention camps; from the routine of beatings and torture in the detention camps and prisons themselves. The Jewish-Israeli public is indifferent to all of it…The trigger will come – and then the genocide will follow…”
The damage of Trump’s Gaza plan has already been done (Meron Rapoport//+972 2/7/25)
“But this plan is worse than the sum of its parts. Even if it does not advance even by an inch, it has already had a profound impact on Jewish-Israeli political discourse. Indeed, it would perhaps be more accurate to say that Trump’s proposal has tapped into a deep undercurrent in Jewish-Israeli society. Standing alongside Trump at the press conference, Netanyahu was the first to welcome the president’s initiative. “This is the kind of thinking that can reshape the Middle East and bring peace,” he proclaimed. To nobody’s surprise, the leaders of Israel’s messianic right were also quick to express their own glee at the proposal, treating Trump’s press conference as if it were divine revelation. But they were far from the only ones. Benny Gantz, who quit the government over the direction of the war in Gaza, described Trump’s transfer plan as “creative, original, and interesting.” Yair Lapid, head of the centrist Yesh Atid party, called the press conference “good for Israel.” Yair Golan, leader of the Zionist-left Democrats party, merely commented on the idea’s impracticality. It was as if politicians across the Zionist spectrum had simply been waiting for the moment when ethnic cleansing would receive a “Made in America” stamp of approval before embracing it. This transferist poison will not be purged from Israel’s bloodstream anytime soon. And the consequences could be catastrophic for the entire region…Once the American president proposes transfer as a solution to the “Palestinian problem,” and once all of Israel — from the religious-fascist right to the liberal center and even the Zionist left — embraces it, the message to Palestinians is clear: there is no possibility of compromise with Israel and its American patron, at least in its current form, because they are determined to eliminate the Palestinian people.”