NEW FROM FMEP
Gaza Genocide, Disinformation, and the Death of Truth (New podcast episode)
FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Dr. Assal Rad and Professor Marc Owen Jones — two of the most prominent voices and most astute analysts of the role that media and disinformation have played post Oct 7, 2023 — and continue to play through the present day, in manufacturing consent for Israel’s war on Gaza as well as its wider military campaigns and territorial expansion in Lebanon and Syria. The conversation centered on Dr. Rad’s article, How Western Media Has Manufactured Consent for Atrocities, From Iraq to Gaza ( published 3/4/25); and Professor Jones’s peer-reviewed analysis in Third World Quarterly, Evidencing alethocide: Israel’s war on truth in Gaza (published 3/1/25). See also FMEP’s Lara Friedman on Owen Jones (UK) YouTube series: Trump LIES His Crackdown Is About Protecting Jewish Americans – Lara Friedman Exposes TRUTH
Staying Home or Having “Gaza on their mind in the ballot box”: Revisiting the 2024 Elections (New podcast episode)
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with political strategist and former FMEP Fellow Rania Batrice together with Maya Berry, Executive Director of the Arab American Institute, and Margaret Zaknoen DeReus, Executive Director of the IMEU Policy Project. They discuss the role of Israel’s genocide in Gaza – and the U.S.’s facilitation of it through weapons and political support – in the 2024 elections, drawing from newly available data, including the IMEU Policy Project’s January 2025 poll, which shows that “Gaza was a top issue for Biden 2020 Voters Who Cast A Ballot For Someone Besides Harris.” They look at voter behavior among Arab Americans and in many other communities, at relationships between the Democratic Party and grassroots activists, and at the ways in which Arab Americans have been blamed for the Democratic loss.
FMEP Legislative Round-Up March 14, 2025 (Lara Friedman)
- Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. Hearings; 4. Selected Members on the Record; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements
Settlement & Annexation Round-up: March 14, 2025 (Kristin McCarthy)
West Bank Settlement & Outpost News; East Jerusalem Settlement News; Gazafication of the West Bank; State & Setter Terrorism; The U.S. Scene
GAZA
Starvation Is Not a Negotiating Tactic (Megan Stack//NYT 3/13/25)
“Israel has clamped Gaza back under near-total siege, barring desperately needed humanitarian aid and other goods from entering the hungry and bomb-decimated enclave. Food, medicine, tents, fuel — for the past week and a half, supplies have not been permitted into Gaza, where some two million Palestinians are trying to survive in the wreckage. And Mr. Netanyahu keeps tightening the screws: On Sunday, Israel cut off the last trickle of electricity into Gaza, forcing a key desalination plant that provides drinking water to slow operations. With hunger setting in, people reduced to living in tents or in the precarious shelter of half-crushed buildings, and clean water and fuel in vanishing supply, it feels too generous to say that Gaza is on the brink of collapse; in many respects, Gaza has already collapsed. Israeli officials are essentially starving Gaza as a negotiation tactic. Rather than proceed on the agreed-upon schedule to the second phase of the cease-fire, Mr. Netanyahu is now demanding a seven-week extension of the preliminary stage.” See also Israel cuts off electricity supply to Gaza, affecting a desalination plant producing drinking water (AP 3/9/25); Israel outlines plan to control all aid entering Gaza (WaPo 3/5/25); Rights groups call on Israel to restore Gaza electricity (WaPo 3/10/25)
U.S. gives Israel and Hamas new proposal to extend Gaza ceasefire (Axios 3/13/25)
“White House envoy Steve Witkoff presented an updated U.S. proposal for extending the Gaza ceasefire deal by several weeks in return for additional hostage releases by Hamas and the resumption of humanitarian aid to Gaza, four sources with direct knowledge tell Axios. The proposal is an effort by the Trump administration to buy more time for negotiations and prevent the resumption of the war during the holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish holiday of Passover, two sources said.” See also Israel-Hamas Talks Deadlocked as Trump Envoy Turns to Ukraine (NYT 3/13/25); Israel, US at odds over Trump envoy’s ‘one-off’ talks with Hamas (Al Monitor 3/10/25); US slams Hamas offer to release American Edan Alexander (Al Monitor 3/14/25); Gaza ceasefire in doubt as Israel tightens grip on aid (Al Monitor 3/12/25)
Hamas ‘ready’ to hand over Israeli captive and four bodies held in Gaza (Al Jazeera 3/14/25)
“The Palestinian group Hamas has announced it is ready to free Israeli American captive Edan Alexander and hand over the remains of four other dual nationals, after holding indirect talks with Israel. Hamas said in a statement on Friday that its delegation received a proposal from mediators on Thursday to resume ceasefire negotiations, and the group’s reply “included its agreement to release the Israeli soldier Edan Alexander, who holds American citizenship, along with the remains of four others holding dual citizenship”. See also US slams Hamas offer to release American Edan Alexander (Al Monitor 3/14/25); ‘Absolute fear’: Israeli hostage describes abuse during 505-day Hamas captivity (The Guardian 3/12/25); Israel slams Hamas ‘manipulation’ after it says it will free 1 living, 4 slain hostages (Times of Israel 3/14/25)
Dread haunts Gaza as airstrikes dent hopes of renewed ceasefire (The Guardian 3/8/25)
“Fears of a return to war in Gaza are intensifying this weekend, with faltering diplomatic efforts and almost daily airstrikes by Israeli forces in the devastated territory. There has been relative calm in Gaza since a ceasefire for prisoners deal between Hamas and Israel came into effect in January, pausing 15 months of conflict. However, the first phase of that agreement expired more than a week ago and a second phase has stalled, leaving Gaza plunged into a “grey zone” of uncertainty…So far, the IDF has limited itself to a series of airstrikes across Gaza, though these appear to be increasingly frequent.” See also Four killed in Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, medical sources say (Haaretz 3/14/25)
Israeli attacks on Gaza maternity wards and IVF clinic ‘genocidal acts’, says UN (The Guardian 3/13/25)
“Israel’s systemic attacks on women’s healthcare in Gaza amount to “genocidal acts”, and Israeli security forces have used sexual violence as a weapon of war to “dominate and destroy the Palestinian people”, a UN report states. The 49-page report on sexual and gender-based violence was drawn up by the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem, and presented to the UN human rights council. It details attacks on maternity wards and other healthcare facilities for women, the destruction of an IVF clinic and controls on the entry of food and medical supplies into Gaza that together “destroyed in part the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in Gaza as a group”. Israel’s actions amounted to “two categories of genocidal acts in the Rome statute and the genocide convention, including deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians and imposing measures intended to prevent births”, the human rights council said. The report found that Israel’s security forces had made certain forms of sexual and gender-based violence part of “standard operating procedures”, including forced public stripping and nudity, sexual harassment including threats of rape, and sexual assault. The “pattern of sexual violence” that Israeli forces used, including cases of rape and sexualised torture, constituted war crimes and crimes against humanity, the UN said.” See also ‘No rules’: Gaza’s doctors say they were tortured, beaten and humiliated in Israeli detention (The Guardian 2/25/25); On the frontlines of hell: Testimonies from Gaza’s doctors (New Arab 3/10/25); U.N. report accuses Israel of sexual violence, ‘genocidal acts’ in Gaza (WaPo 3/14/25);
Israel’s far right says new office to oversee mass transfer of Gazans (WaPo 3/9/25)
“Israel will open an office under its Defense Ministry to manage the mass displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to other countries, far-right lawmakers said Sunday, as they pitched their mounting effort to depopulate the territory as being closely aligned with President Donald Trump’s own vision to “clean out” and redevelop the enclave…“Various officials in the [Trump] administration told me again and again, ‘We will not allow 2 million Nazis to live just beyond the fence,’” he said, referring to Palestinians. “Not too long ago, it was taboo to speak about people leaving Gaza, but now the people who were crazy are the most realistic,” Smotrich added. “Not only is it realistic, but it’s the only plan that’s realistic.”’
Gaza War Led to Deaths of More Than 3 Dozen Hostages, Officials Say (NYT 3/8/25)
“They are among the 41 hostages killed since being taken captive by Hamas and its allies during their Oct. 7 attack on Israel, according to an analysis by The New York Times of forensic reports and military investigations into their deaths, as well as interviews with more than a dozen Israeli soldiers and officials, a senior regional official and seven relatives of hostages. Some were killed by Hamas, some by Israeli fire, some their cause of death unknown. The losses — and most acutely, the scale of them — are now at the heart of an anguished debate within Israeli society about whether more people could have been brought back alive if a truce had been reached sooner.”
REGION/GLOBAL
US, Israel looking to resettle Gaza’s Palestinians in Somalia, Somaliland, Sudan: Report (Al Monitor 3/14/25)
“Following President Donald Trump’s February proposal to relocate Gaza’s residents elsewhere for an unspecified period, US and Israeli officials have reportedly approached Sudan, Somalia and Somaliland to explore the possibility of resettling displaced Palestinians in Gaza. What happened: On Friday, the Associated Press cited US and Israeli officials as confirming that such requests had been made to the three African nations. According to US officials, it remains unclear how far these discussions have progressed, and they noted that Israel has been leading the talks. The report also cited sources in Sudan who stated they had declined such offers, while sources in Somalia and Somaliland said they were unaware of any such discussions.” See also Sudan rejects US request to discuss taking in Palestinians under Trump’s Gaza plan (The Guardian 3/14/25)
Israel’s two-pronged Lebanon strategy: Pursue border deal, strike Hezbollah (Al Monitor 3/14/25)
“Israel this week confirmed its engagement in US-mediated talks with Lebanon to settle their territorial disputes, but at the same time it continued to launch aerial strikes at targets in Lebanon. This policy of trying to “hold both ends of the stick” reflects surprising pragmatism by the Israeli government toward decades-old border disputes with Lebanon, while also signaling its desire for strict enforcement of the Nov. 27 ceasefire, which Israel accuses Hezbollah of constantly violating.” See also Katz: IDF will stay at 5 points in southern Lebanon regardless of border dispute talks (TOI 3/14/25); Yemen’s Houthis Renew Blockade on Israeli Ships as Deadline Expires for Gaza Aid (Drop Site 3/12/25)
Israel confirms strikes in Syria’s capital, says targeted Islamic Jihad: What we know (Al Monitor 3/13/25)
“The Israeli military stated that it struck a center in Damascus on Thursday that it said was used by the Palestinian armed group Islamic Jihad. The Syrian government said three civilians were wounded in the strike, while Islamic Jihad denied they were targeted.” See also Israel to occupy Syrian southern territory for ‘unlimited time’, says minister (The Guardian 3/12/25); Hundreds reported killed in sectarian violence in Syria’s Alawite heartland (WaPo 3/9/25); Days of Massacres Ravage Syrian Coastal Areas (Drop Site 3/14/25)
Germany’s Antisemitism Czar Cancels Participation in Israel’s ‘Combating Antisemitism’ Conference Due to European Far-right Invitees (Haaretz 3/14/25)
“Germany’s antisemitism czar has canceled his participation in the International Conference on Combating Antisemitism in March, organized by Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Ministry, after it was revealed that representatives of several European far-right parties were invited…French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, who was set to deliver the keynote speech at the conference’s opening dinner, has also withdrawn from the event upon learning that France’s far-right National Rally party leader, Jordan Bardella, would be attending, Le Monde reported…Far-right leaders invited to the conference, to be held in Jerusalem, include, alongside Bardella, member of the European Parliament Hermann Tertsch of Spain’s far-right Vox party; MEP Charlie Weimers of the far-right Sweden Democrats party; MEP Marion Maréchal, granddaughter of National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen; and MEP Kinga Gál, of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party.” See also National Rally Leader Heads to Israel, a First for French Far-Right Party (NYT 3/13/25); French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy also withdraws from Israeli government-organized conference over far-right attendees (Haaretz 3/14/25);
RIVER TO THE SEA
Child deaths surge amid ‘Gazafication’ of West Bank, report says (The Guardian 3/10/25)
“Israel has brought the military tactics of its war in Gaza to the occupied West Bank, where Palestinians face mass forced displacements, a surge in airstrikes and a sharp rise in attacks on children and other civilians, a Palestinian-Israeli rights group has said. B’tselem has detailed the impact of Israel’s most intense operations in the area for at least two decades in a report that describes what it calls the “Gazafication” of Israel’s occupation there. Israeli airstrikes in the West Bank since 7 October 2023, the beginning of the Gaza war triggered by Hamas’s attack on southern Israel, have killed more Palestinians than during the violence of the second intifada of the 2000s, with children killed at a rate unprecedented during the territory’s occupation, according to data collected by B’tselem over more than two decades.” See also Despair Haunts Ramadan for Palestinians Displaced in West Bank (NYT 3/11/25)
Israeli police raid Palestinian bookshop in East Jerusalem twice in a month (The Guardian 3/11/25)
“Israeli police have raided the leading Palestinian bookshop in East Jerusalem for the second time in a month, detaining one of its owners for several hours and seizing some of its stock…The confiscated books included titles on the work of British artist Banksy, and others by the Israeli historian Ilan Pappé and the US academic Noam Chomsky…In February, Imad’s son Ahmed Muna, 33, and another brother, Mahmoud Muna, 41, were detained for two days, then held under house arrest for five days, but have not been charged. Police cited a children’s colouring book as evidence of incitement to terrorism in the shop.”
The Forces That Didn’t Come, the Command That Collapsed | IDF Investigation Into Nir Oz Reveals an Exceptional Failure – Even Compared to Oct. 7 (Haaretz 3/14/25)
“The head of the investigation team, Maj. Gen. (res.) Eran Niv, concluded that “the IDF’s failure to protect Nir Oz is particularly severe, partly because IDF forces only managed to reach the community after the last terrorist had already left.” Niv added, “No other community faced such a deadly combination of a severe situation on one hand and a complete absence of military forces on the other.” In the massacre, 41 Nir Oz residents were killed, along with six others who had fled to the kibbutz from a nearby party. Seventy-six residents were kidnapped to Gaza, including nine bodies. Thirteen hostages were murdered while in captivity, and today, five Nir Oz residents remain alive in Gaza alongside the bodies of nine others.” See also 72.5% of Israelis believe Netanyahu should take responsibility for Oct. 7 and resign (TOI 3/9/25)
U.S. SCENE
Nearly 100 Protesters Backing Khalil Are Arrested Inside Trump Tower (NYT 3/13/25)
“About 150 demonstrators affiliated with a progressive Jewish activist group packed into the lower level of Trump Tower Thursday to protest the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and former Columbia University student…The protesters held aloft cloth banners printed in red and black lettering. One read: “Free Mahmoud, Free Palestine.” They chanted, their words reverberating against the coral marble tiling. “Fight Nazis, not students,” they repeated. Ninety-eight of the protesters were later arrested, according to John Chell, the Police Department’s chief of department…Plans for the event came together in 36 hours, said Sonya Meyerson-Knox, a spokeswoman for Jewish Voice for Peace. “As Jews, we know our history,” she said. “We know what happens when authoritarian regimes start scapegoating people and start taking away rights; we know exactly where that leads.”’
Mahmoud Khalil Speaks With Attorneys for First Time Since Detention (Drop Site 3/12/25)
“Mahmoud Khalil was finally able to speak with his legal team after a judge in the Southern District of New York ordered the Department of Homeland Security to allow a call of at least an hour. Prior to that, the Columbia University graduate and pro-Palestine organizer had no meaningful contact with his lawyers since Department of Homeland Security agents detained him and told him his green card had been revoked on Saturday night. Attorneys representing Khalil declined to give details of Wednesday night’s call, with another planned for Thursday. Following his detention on Saturday, Khalil—who was a lead negotiator on behalf of the April 2024 Gaza encampments at Columbia University—was handcuffed and forced into an unmarked vehicle. After being initially taken to the ICE’s New York City Field Office, he was taken to an ICE detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He was then taken to the facility where he remains today—the Central Louisiana Detention Facility. Prior to tonight’s phone call, Khalil was unable to call his lawyers except for a brief interrupted call on March 10, when he called his lawyer and confirmed he was in Louisiana…Access to Khalil was limited, his legal team argued, in part because of the decision to move him from a New Jersey Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility to a notorious detention center in Louisiana. According to DHS’s “Notice to Appear,” which is dated March 9, the day after his detention, he was to be deported based on a rarely used provision of federal immigration law allowing the Secretary of State to remove individuals whose presence it believes “have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.” Following the outcry over his detention—which is broadly seen as an attack on First Amendment rights and on the rights of legal permanent residents—Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the Trump administration planned to revoke green cards, not only visas, of so-called “Hamas supporters” “so they can be deported.” A DHS spokesperson added that Khalil had been detained with an administrative warrant for alleged “activities aligned to Hamas.”’ See also Judge halts deportation of Palestinian activist whose arrest was celebrated by Trump (Politico 3/10/25); Trump calls arrest of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil ‘first of many to come’ (The Guardian 3/10/25)
Effort to deport Columbia student rests solely on Rubio determination (WaPo 3/12/25)
“As the Trump administration moves to deport Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil, the government has so far provided just one reason for doing so: Secretary of State Marco Rubio has determined Khalil’s presence in the United States could have “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.” See also Marco Rubio Personally Signed Off to Detain Mahmoud Khalil on ‘Foreign Policy Grounds,’ Sources Confirm (Zeteo 3/11/25)
If Trump Can Deport Mahmoud Khalil, Freedom of Speech Is Dead (Natasha Lennard//The Intercept 3/10/25)
“There is no going back from this point: President Donald Trump’s administration is trying to deport a man solely for his First Amendment-protected activity, without due process. By all existing legal standards, this is illegal and unconstitutional: a violation of First Amendment protections, and the Fifth Amendment-protected right to due process. If Khalil’s green card is revoked and he is deported, no one can have any confidence in legal and constitutional protections as a line of defense against arbitrary state violence and punishment. Khalil’s arrest marks an extraordinary fascist escalation.” See also Columbia Bent Over Backward to Appease Right-Wing, Pro-Israel Attacks — And Trump Still Cut Federal Funding (Natasha Lennard//The Intercept 3/8/25)
Mahmoud Khalil’s Detention Is A War on Terror Milestone (Spencer Ackerman//Forever Wars 3/10/25)
“On Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration will revoke “visas and/or green cards” of what he called “Hamas supporters” to expedite their deportation. ICE’s bureaucratic parent, the preeminent post-9/11 creation called the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said that Khalil was in fact “arrested” for leading “activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.” “Activities aligned to… a designated terrorist organization” is a construction previously unheard of in the generation-long history of tortured official circumlocutions designed to obscure lawlessness in the guise of counterterrorism. When Israel’s genocide in Gaza began and accordingly provoked campus protests against it last fall, the Anti-Defamation League urged administrators to investigate protesters for the absurd claim of providing material support to terrorism. Thinking about this for 10 seconds unravels it: what material thing is a broke college student demanding their university divest from Israel supposed to be providing Hamas, whose funding Israel itself facilitated? But what DHS said Sunday night goes far, far further. Now the detainable/arrestable offense is anything “aligned” to the presumed prerogatives of a designated terrorist organization. In this case, that’s a series of protests on behalf of the position that Palestinians have the right to stay alive. And advocacy for Palestinians here is deliberately indistinguishable from “activities aligned to” Hamas.” See also Khalil Sues Columbia and Lawmakers to Keep Activists’ Names Secret (NYT 3/13/25); Trump to label violence against Tesla dealerships ‘domestic terrorism’ in show of support to Musk (New Arab 3/12/25)
‘Nobody can protect you,’ Columbia dean warns foreign students after Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest (The Forward 3/13/25)
“Amid the fallout at Columbia University over the Department of Homeland Security’s arrest of recent graduate Mahmoud Khalil, one comment stood out: “Nobody can protect you.” The remark came from Jelani Cobb, dean of Columbia’s prestigious journalism school, and was directed to a group of international students on visas who are a few months away from graduation. Cobb and Stuart Karle, a First Amendment lawyer and adjunct professor at Columbia, cautioned the graduate students against posting commentary about the Middle East on social media or reporting on Gaza, Ukraine or the protests against Khalil’s arrest, the first in what President Donald Trump has pledged will be many more detentions and possible deportations of non-citizens who participated in campus demonstrations against Israel even when they did not violate any laws.” See also Columbia suspends and expels pro-Palestinian students who occupied building (BBC 3/14/25); SCOOP: Emails Show Mahmoud Khalil Asked Columbia for Protection a Day Before He Was Detained (Zeteo 3/10/25); Columbia University expels, suspends and revokes degrees of 22 students (Middle East Eye 3/14/25)
Scoop: State Dept. to use AI to revoke visas of foreign students who appear “pro-Hamas” (Axios 3/6/25)
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio is launching an AI-fueled “Catch and Revoke” effort to cancel the visas of foreign nationals who appear to support Hamas or other designated terror groups, senior State Department officials tell Axios…The effort — which includes AI-assisted reviews of tens of thousands of student visa holders’ social media accounts — marks a dramatic escalation in the U.S. government’s policing of foreign nationals’ conduct and speech. The reviews of social media accounts are particularly looking for evidence of alleged terrorist sympathies expressed after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, officials say.” See also Yale Suspends Scholar After A.I.-Powered News Site Accuses Her of Terrorist Link (NYT 3/12/25); At Harvard Talk, Former Israeli PM Joked He Would Give Exploding Pagers to Protesters (Harvard Crimson 3/10/25)
U.S. Arrests 2nd Person Tied to Pro-Palestinian Protests at Columbia (NYT 3/14/25)
“A second person who took part in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University has been arrested by U.S. immigration agents after overstaying a student visa, federal officials said on Friday, the latest turn in the crisis engulfing the Ivy League institution. The person, identified by the authorities as Leqaa Kordia, is Palestinian and from the West Bank. She was arrested in Newark on Thursday, officials said. Her student visa was terminated in January 2022, and she was arrested by the New York City police last April for her role in a campus demonstration, the Homeland Security Department said in a statement. The agency also released a video on Friday that it said showed a Columbia student, identified as Ranjani Srinivasan, preparing to enter Canada after her student visa was revoked.” See also Pro-Israel group says it has ‘deportation list’ and has sent ‘thousands’ of names to Trump officials (The Guardian 3/14/25)
Mahmoud Khalil’s abduction is a fascist move — and universities must respond (Dima Khalidi//+972 Magazine 3/11/25)
“As Trump implements ever-harsher crackdowns on Palestine advocates and on higher education as we know it in the United States, universities must see that capitulating to his threats will not release them from the administration’s crosshairs. (Columbia has learned that lesson 400 million times over.) Rather, they are surrendering a primary arena for critical inquiry, debate, and resistance to those whose primary agenda is to crush it. The question is: will they reverse course and fight for the rights and freedoms of the students and faculty who make them vibrant, diverse places to imagine and build a just and viable future? To do the latter, universities must make some fundamental shifts…As in past eras of domestic and global upheaval, students are the bellwether of undeniable political shifts. Universities should embrace their role as facilitators of those shifts rather than being the authors of their own ruin by serving as handmaidens of a Trumpian agenda. If they don’t, we will only have them to blame for their complicity in the political persecution of Mahmoud Khalil and the many others being targeted for their political dissent.” See also Mahmoud Khalil’s Abduction Is a Red Alert for Universities (Dima Khalidi//The Nation 3/11/25);
Among American Jews, a Schism Over ICE Arrest of Columbia Activist (NYT 3/11/25)
“A few hours after news broke on Sunday of the arrest of Mr. Khalil, who has not been accused of having contact with Hamas, the Anti-Defamation League, a century-old organization committed to fighting antisemitism, released a statement applauding the “swift and severe consequences for those who provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations.” See also ‘Shalom’ becomes new ‘You’re fired’ as Trump takes drastic action at Columbia (The Forward 3/10/25); ‘Smokescreen Antisemitism’: How the Trump-fueled Arrest of Mahmoud Khalil Endangers Jews (Jamie Beran//Haaretz 3/12/25); I grew up under a terrifying authoritarian regime. Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest is right out of their playbook (Columbia Professor Marianne Hirsch//The Forward 3/12/25)
Florida mayor seeks to evict cinema for showing Oscar-winning No Other Land (The Guardian 3/13/25)
“The mayor of Miami Beach is attempting to evict an independent cinema from city-owned property after it screened No Other Land, the film about Palestinian displacement in the West Bank that just won the Oscar for best documentary.” See also Miami theater will fight mayor’s proposed eviction over “No Other Land” screening (Axios 3/13/25)
Christians Are Pressing Trump to Clear a Path for Israel to Annex the West Bank (NYT 3/8/25)
“Evangelical Christian leaders who delivered votes to President Trump are now pressing him to declare that Israel can claim ownership of the West Bank, based on a promise God made to the Jews in the Bible. They are seeking a way to pave a path toward annexation of territory that is widely viewed internationally as intended for a future Palestinian state…Prominent evangelical supporters of Mr. Trump are mounting a multipronged approach to pressure the president — making appearances in Israel, petitioning the White House, pushing their ideas at a key evangelical conference and building congressional backing.”
Illinois landlord found guilty in 2023 murder of six-year-old Palestinian boy (Guardian 2/28/25)
“A jury found an Illinois landlord guilty of murder and hate-crime charges on Friday for a brutal 2023 attack on a Palestinian American family that killed a six-year-old. Joseph Czuba, 73, was charged in the fatal stabbing of Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen, on 14 October 2023 in Plainfield, about 40 miles (64km) from Chicago. Authorities alleged that Czuba had targeted the family – who had been renting rooms in his house – because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas that erupted on 7 October 2023.”
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
Killed, Unidentified, Handed to Israel: The Heartbreaking Case of One Anonymous Gazan Woman (Sheren Falah Saab//Haaretz 3/6/25)
“This is a short saga of the body of a Gazan woman that was brought to Israel two weeks ago, as part of the exchange of hostages, both living and deceased, for Palestinian prisoners. It was thought to be the body of Shiri Bibas, but forensic analysis conducted in Israel discovered that the woman’s body sent by Hamas was not Bibas – and there was no match with any other hostage…The saga of the unidentified woman reflects a dark, bottomless abyss. To die. To be buried. To be handed over as a corpse. But no one knows who she is, what her world was like, or her name…The body of the Gazan woman was returned to Gaza on Thursday. This happened quietly, far from TV screens and curious eyes, with no ceremony and with no audience to watch it being delivered. “Nobody was waiting there, except for two Red Crescent workers who received the body from the Red Cross. There were no relatives or other people there. The body was wrapped in a white bag, and was taken for burial – with no details given about where in Gaza the burial took place,” said a source in Gaza.”
The ADL and the Heritage Foundation are helping to silence dissent in America (Ahmed Moor//The Guardian 3/13/25)
“The tax code ensures that we subsidize special interest groups, such as the Israel lobby, even as it skirts the ordinary mechanisms of democratic policymaking and accountability. Today, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a rightwing Israel advocacy group, has taken the lead in seeking to undermine bedrock American freedoms in support of Israel. The Heritage Foundation’s Project Esther roadmap explicitly describes its goal of having “foreign [‘Hamas Support Network’] leaders and members deported from the US”…Khalil’s detention – a shocking assault by the Israel lobby on American freedom – is not the first time that constitutional rights in this country have been assailed by a president. Abraham Lincoln famously suspended habeas corpus during the civil war, this country’s first major constitutional crisis. But this may be the first time that a dramatic erosion in Americans’ constitutional liberties has been engineered by policymaking organizations that are subsidized by the public but are accountable to no one at all.”
Trump wants campuses to fight antisemitism. Here’s how they should actually do it (UCLA Professor David Myers//The Forward 3/13/25)
“…an effective initiative to combat hate on campus, with antisemitism as a focal point, must also acknowledge that anti-Palestinian discrimination is a key, but often-obscured, part of the equation. One is hard pressed to think of any formulations of support for Palestinian freedom that do not trigger an accusation of antisemitism — not to mention, under Trump, the risk of expulsion, arrest or deportation. It’s absolutely essential that any initiative to combat hate on campus, in today’s world, focus not only on antisemitism, but anti-Palestinian discrimination as well. In this regard, we must push back against Khalil’s detention and forcefully resist any efforts by the federal government — and our own institutions — to arrest or deport students because they engaged in unpopular political speech.” See also Trump’s Columbia attacks won’t stop antisemitism. So why are Jewish leaders applauding? (Rabbi Jill Jacobs//The Forward 3/10/25); The Trump administration is gutting colleges’ best tools to fight antisemitism (Lila Corwin Berman//MSNBC 3/9/25); Why Did Trump Just Tell Reporters that Chuck Schumer ‘Is Not Jewish Anymore,’ That He ‘Has Become a Palestinian’? (Ben Lorber//Religion Dispatches 3/12/25); Education Dept. layoffs cut half the staff investigating campus antisemitism (JI 3/13/25)
This Is the Greatest Threat to Free Speech Since the Red Scare (Michelle Goldberg//NYT 3/10/25)
“But the fact that it was easy to see this ideological crackdown coming shouldn’t obscure how serious Khalil’s detention is. If someone legally in the United States can be grabbed from his home for engaging in constitutionally protected political activity, we are in a drastically different country from the one we inhabited before Trump’s inauguration.”
Palestine and an Expanding BRICS: Swaying the Global Order (Ahmad Alqarout//Al Shabaka 3/11/25)
“BRICS, a bloc of emerging and fast-growing non-Western economies named after its core members (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), has recently extended its reach to the MENA region in pursuit of a multipolar world. Egypt, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) joined the bloc in 2023, while Saudi Arabia has maintained an active role as an invited nation. In August 2024, BRICS invited the State of Palestine to apply for membership—an unusual move considering Palestine is not an emerging economic powerhouse like existing members. This commentary examines the evolving ties between MENA countries and BRICS, focusing on the prospective Palestinian membership in the bloc and the group’s rationale for extending the invitation. It argues that BRICS membership can reconfigure the discussion around Palestinian sovereignty beyond the bounds of US alignment with Israeli policies. As the commentary details, BRICS membership could also greatly benefit the Palestinian economy by bolstering cooperation among members in areas driving economic development, including the energy and logistics sectors and artificial intelligence (AI).”
Settlers Took Over an East Jerusalem Home. They Didn’t Know Who They Were Messing With (Nir Hasson//Haaretz 3/6/25)
“Imagine that a right-wing group that aims to Judaize the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah takes over your grandfather’s house, pockets the tenants’ rent money and tries to evict them. But this time the group provoked Michael Ben-Yair, a former attorney general.”
Thanks to Its Regime, Israel Is Losing the Justification For its existence (Michael Sfard//Haaretz 2/18/25)
“Any flirtation with the concept of the state as an end in itself – as an entity with its own purpose rather than as a means – is a dangerous flirtation with fascism. It may seem innocent at first, but it ultimately leads to gulags where regime opponents are imprisoned…The Israeli regime of 2025 suppresses criticism. When my parents shared with me their experiences in communist Poland, where the regime canceled theater performances, censored books and imprisoned those who dared criticize it, I counted myself fortunate to have been born in a country where none of this occurred. Well, it’s happening now. It has always happened to Palestinians, on both sides of the so-called Green Line. Now, it’s happening to everyone and it’s happening big-time…Israel is a racist state, it supports ethnic cleansing, devours its critics, harbors contempt for its non-Jewish citizens and shows no compassion for its innocent civilians who have been taken hostage. It’s like a bank that robs its clients and then incites against them. What justification remains for its existence?”