NEW FROM FMEP
“The Elimination Project:” Israel’s Effort to Systematically Dismantle Palestinian Collective Life (New Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with B’Tselem Executive Director Yuli Novak about B’Tselem’s newest report, “The Elimination Project,” which “looks at the current reality not as a collection of isolated incidents or specific harms, but as part of a comprehensive mechanism of elimination that works to dismantle the conditions for continued Palestinian existence in the West Bank, while deepening Jewish control and supremacy in an irreversible manner.” Yuli and Ahmed discuss the report, which draws from more than 2,000 interviews with Palestinians since October 2023 as well as three decades of B’Tselem’s work in the West Bank. They also talk about growing incitement to violence and the upcoming Israeli elections.
FMEP Legislative Round-Up October 2, 2026 (Lara Friedman)
- Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters & Reports; 3. Hearings & Markups; 4. Selected Members on the Record; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements
Settlement & Annexation Report: October 2, 2026 (Kristin McCarthy)
WEST BANK: E-1 Tender Postponed; Five New Settlements Inaugurated; Fourth Village in Masafer Yatta Demolished; INTERNATIONAL SCENE: UN Updates Business Database; U.S. Legislation Related to Israeli Settlements; STATE-BACKED SETTLER TERROR: 150 Settlers Violently Prevent Return of Family to Home in Jalud; BONUS READS
GLOBAL/REGION
How the stabbing incident unfolded on Israel-bound flydubai plane | Deconstructed (The Guardian 10/1/26)
“An Israel-bound flydubai flight from Dubai made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after one of the co-pilots allegedly stabbed his captain in an apparent attempt to crash the plane. Israeli passengers intervened to stop the attack, restraining the co-pilot, while a reserve crew was able to stabilise the plummeting plane and ultimately land it safely in Saudi Arabia. The motive remains unknown, as international teams open investigations into the incident.” See also Co-pilot in flight stabbing had ‘Islamic radical indoctrination’, says Netanyahu (The Guardian 10/1/26); ‘Hero’ pilot, plumber and dentist among those who saved flydubai flight to Israel (The Guardian 9/30/26); Airlines Set to Bring Israelis Back From U.A.E. After FlyDubai Cockpit Attack (NYT 10/2/26); Investigators Seek to Determine How a Weapon Entered FlyDubai Cockpit (NYT 10/1/26); A FlyDubai Passenger Details All-Out Effort to Restrain Attacking Pilot (NYT 9/30/26); How FlyDubai attack exposes gaps in Israel-UAE security ties (Al Monitor 10/2/26); Trump Suggests Iran Was Behind Suspected Flydubai Hijacking Attempt, Warns Tehran (Haaretz 10/1/26); Report: Flydubai terrorist was banned from flying by Oman over suspected radicalization (TOI 10/2/26); In first, senior UAE official calls flydubai plane attack an ‘act of terrorism’ (TOI 10/2/26); The wounded captain, the bound attacker, shouts for a doctor and a pilot: New video shows chaos on flydubai flight (TOI 10/2/26); Suicide by plane or terrorism? Speculation over motive in flight 1073 attack (The Guardian 10/2/26);
US sends third aircraft carrier to Middle East amid stalemate in Iran war (The Guardian 10/1/26)
“The US military is dispatching a third aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East, as President Donald Trump warned new strikes against Iran could be on the horizon.”
On secret UAE visit, Netanyahu asked MBZ to deny pre-Oct. 7 warnings (Al Monitor 9/28/26)
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly traveled to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday to ask Emirati President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed to deny a Sept. 8 report that Abu Dhabi had warned the Israeli leader about a looming Hamas threat ahead of the group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack, Al-Monitor has confirmed…UAE’s official news agency confirmed the visit later on Monday. It said that Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohammed discussed ways to strengthen the bilateral relations.” See also Netanyahu Visits Emirati Leader After Reports on Warning About Hamas Attack (NYT 9/28/26);
Report: Egypt’s Intel Chief Came to Israel to Warn of Major Hamas Attack 11 Days Before Oct. 7 (Haaretz 9/26/26)
Egypt’s intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel, came to Israel 11 days before Hamas’ October 7 massacre and delivered a warning that the armed group in Gaza was preparing for a major attack and that the window of opportunity to prevent a disaster was closing, The Atlantic reported on Friday. According to the report, which cites Israeli, Egyptian, Arab, U.S. and European officials briefed on his visit, Kamel recommended that Israel grant Hamas economic concessions to prevent a confrontation. He warned that if Israel did not change its course, “Gaza is going to blow up in your faces,” the report said, citing a former Israeli official later briefed on the visit.”
‘You were right’: Ed Miliband tells critics Labour was wrong on Gaza (The Guardian 9/28/26)
“Ed Miliband will tell campaigners and party members who raised the plight of Palestinians they were right that Labour’s approach had not been enough, saying he was heeding the calls of millions of people by imposing sanctions on Israeli settlements…He will say there is a “fundamental and wider lesson from Israel and Palestine about how we have changed our approach as a party”, saying Labour will succeed “because of, not in spite of, our progressive values”.’ See also Royal College of Nursing cuts ties with Israeli drug company (Guardian 10/2/26: “It acted after coming under pressure from campaign groups Nurses for Palestine and UK Healthcare Petitions to Royal Colleges (UKHPRC) to end its relationship with Teva UK.”) See also ‘Not befitting of a democracy’: Greens rally against UK Palestine Action ban (New Arab 10/2/26);
U.N. Releases New List of Companies It Says Do Business With Israeli Settlements (NYT 9/25/26)
“The United Nations on Friday released an augmented list of over 200 firms it said were involved in business with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and whose activities it deemed harmful to Palestinians’ right to self-determination. The move spotlights an issue inflaming tensions between Israel and Western governments imposing sanctions because of extremist violence against Palestinians and the expansion of Israeli settlements considered illegal under international law…The updated catalog came two weeks after Britain, backed by a dozen other countries mainly from Europe, announced restrictions on trade with the West Bank settlements, which it condemned as threatening any possibility of achieving a two-state solution and have led in some areas to ethnic cleansing, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said.” See also UN Adds 61 Companies to Israeli Settlements Blacklist Over Alleged Palestinian Rights Violations (Haaretz 9/26/26);
GAZA
New Google Maps images reveal massive scale of devastation in Gaza (The Guardian 10/1/26)
“An update to Google Maps has revealed the extent of devastation during the three-year Gaza war and the severity of the continuing humanitarian crisis faced by the territory’s 2.3 million inhabitants. The images were taken in June this year and show further destruction of homes, businesses, places of worship and infrastructure since a fragile ceasefire came into effect almost 12 months ago. They show huge tented camps lining much of the shoreline, often within a few metres of the sea. Gaza’s once busy main port, now badly damaged and empty of fishing boats, is surrounded by makeshift accommodation. Any available open space in Gaza City is packed with shacks, tents and huts…Major neighbourhoods in Gaza City such as Jabaliya and Shuja’iya, which were targeted in repeated Israeli offensives, are clearly now uninhabitable…The town of Rafah appears to have been almost entirely reduced to rubble and Tel al-Sultan razed to the ground…More than 2.1 million displaced people are living in tents and temporary shelters in Gaza, where about 82% of structures – roughly 200,000 buildings – have been damaged, with about two-thirds of those destroyed, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa.” See also Israel Keeps Expanding Into Gaza Despite Cease-Fire, Satellite Images Show (NYT 9/28/26);
Palestine (Drop Site 10/1/26)
“Over the past 24 hours, eight Palestinians were killed and 26 injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 74,040 killed, with 175,168 injured. Since October 11, 2025, the first full day of the so-called ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 1,439 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 5,052, while 834 bodies have been recovered…In Gaza City, the remains of 105 Palestinians recovered from beneath 16 residential buildings in the Yarmouk area bombed on October 25, 2023 were buried in a mass funeral on Thursday. The recovered bodies included 37 children and 38 women. More than 8,000 bodies remain beneath rubble across the Strip, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense. Israeli strike kills Palestinian journalist in Gaza, bringing journalist death toll to 263…”
Germany Offered to Fund Their Education. It Won’t Help Them Leave Gaza. (Karim Natour//Drop Site 10/2/26)
“Students from Gaza with German scholarships and admission letters are caught in a visa rule they cannot possibly meet…Twenty-three-year-old Ranin Al-Madhoun…studied German intensively and won a competitive scholarship from the German Konrad Adenauer Foundation. But she is stuck in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City. The scholarship, funded with public money, would pay her more than €1,000 a month to pursue a master’s degree in business administration at Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences in western Germany. But the German Embassy in Cairo, which handles visa applications from Gaza, requires applicants to appear in person—an impossible requirement for someone who cannot leave the Strip…Drop Site identified other students from Gaza either hold German scholarships or have been admitted to German university programs but cannot leave to take up their places…By contrast, some Western countries have helped students leave Gaza through government-coordinated evacuation programs. Italy has evacuated more than 200 students through a state-run university corridor since September 2025, and Ireland around 70 since August 2025. Some of these countries are now tightening access.”
RIVER TO THE SEA
Israeli Supreme Court overturns Joint List, Ra’am, Cassif election ban (New Arab 10/2/26)
“Israel’s Supreme Court has overturned the ban on several Palestinian parties and a Jewish-Israeli candidate from running in the upcoming elections by Israel’s Central Elections Committee (CEC), with rights groups telling The New Arab this is further evidence of anti-Palestinian racism being used as “election propaganda”. In a decision announced on Friday, the court allowed the Joint-List—consisting of Hadash, Ta’al and Balad – alongside Ra’am, as well as Hadash MK Ofer Cassif, to run in the upcoming election set for 27 October…The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Adalah), which was representing all who had been banned by the CEC, told The New Arab that the court order “confirm what we argued before the court: the motions against the Joint List, Ra’am and MK Ofer Cassif rested on old, irrelevant, distorted evidence that fell far short of the ‘critical mass’ of evidence required by law.” “This entire process was a deliberate attempt to delegitimise Palestinian citizens and their parliamentary representatives, and to turn racism against Palestinians into election propaganda,” Adalah said, adding that the same scrutiny of the process was not offered to Sami Abu Shehadeh, “who was unjustly pushed out of the elections in an unprecedented and dangerous move by the Supreme Court.””
Arab Party Leader Formally Drops Knesset Run After Disqualification Hearing (Haaretz 10/2/26)
“Balad party leader Sami Abu Shehadeh told Israel’s Supreme Court on Friday that he is withdrawing his candidacy in the 2026 Knesset election after the court signaled it is inclined to allow his disqualification. Abu Shehadeh’s decision came after Supreme Court President Isaac Amit suggested he withdraw rather than await a ruling on the appeal against the Central Elections Committee’s decision to bar him from running.. The party said the decision was made out of political responsibility and to avoid what it described as serious consequences for Arab political activity and parliamentary representation. It also criticized the court for announcing that most of its judges were inclined to uphold the disqualification before issuing a formal ruling. The withdrawal means the justices will no longer need to rule on whether a candidate can be barred from running based on a single publication rather than an accumulation of evidence indicating consistent support for terrorism…Balad, which announced its leader’s decision late on Thursday, said that, this “is not the end of Sami Abu Shehadeh’s political struggle, nor is it the end of Balad’s struggle. Sami Abu Shehadeh will continue to head the party, Balad will continue its project, and the Joint List will continue its struggle to strengthen Arab representation and contribute to the downfall of the Netanyahu-Ben-Gvir government.” In the hearing, Abu Shehadeh vehemently disputed the allegation that he supports armed conflict against Israel, citing 30 years of human rights activism. When asked if he regrets publishing the article, Abu Shehadeh affirmed that he was…In the conclusion of the hearing, Abu Shehadeh said, “I call on all the justices and request to give me the opportunity to be elected again on the basis of what I believe in as a human who fights for human rights of all humans and is interested in forwarding freedom, justice and equality for the two peoples.”’ See also Palestinian MKs in Israel have long faced election bans. This time is different (Samah Watad//+972 Magazine 9/30/26)
Palestinian, 19, Shot Dead by Settlers, Another Wounded, in West Bank Attack (Haaretz 10/2/26)
“The 19-year-old was shot by a settler from an unauthorized outpost near Kobar, according to a security source. Settlers said he and another Palestinian had thrown firebombs, but an initial inquiry found the shooting occurred before the alleged attack.” See also West Bank mayor: Settlers attacked Palestinians who tried to open gate to leave village, army shot dead 19-year-old (TOI 10/2/26);
Israeli forces overwhelmed by violent settlers in ‘terrorist attack’ on Palestinian family (The Guardian 9/30/26)
“More than 100 militant settlers overwhelmed Israeli security forces early on Tuesday to attack a Palestinian family as they attempted to reclaim their homes which had been seized by settlers in the West Bank village of Jalud. Three Israeli security officials were injured and houses were set on fire. The impotence of the Israeli military, the scale of the assault and the injuries inflicted on Israeli security officers by settlers prompted unusually harsh condemnation from Israeli politicians and commenters.” See also Settlers Block a Palestinian Family From Returning to Their Home [Video] (NYT 9/29/26)
West Bank settlers attack Israeli activists as Netanyahu claims ‘hoax’ (Al Monitor 10/1/26)
“Israeli settlers attacked Jewish and Arab activists accompanying Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, injuring several, amid continued reports of settler violence that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has characterized as the work of a small group of “juvenile delinquents.”…The attack took place in Janta, south of Bethlehem, as Palestinian farmers prepared for the annual olive harvest. Israeli and international activists often accompany them to help deter attacks and facilitate access to their land, a practice that activists and humanitarian organizations call “protective presence.”…Speaking to CNN on Wednesday night, Netanyahu described settler violence in the West Bank as “vigilante actions” and said the issue had been exaggerated. “The settler-violence thing is a tremendous hoax,” Netanyahu said, adding that there were “about 150, 200 juvenile delinquents who are doing this.”’ See also A Holiday at a Settler Outpost: a Raid, Beatings and a Near-Fatal Attack (Haaretz 9/26/26); Report: Israeli Settlers Torch Vehicles, Spray Graffiti in West Bank Village (Haaretz 9/25/26); Jewish Man Pepper-Sprays Christian Child Who Was Cycling in Jerusalem on Yom Kippur (Haaretz 9/26/26)
Cruelty, Deprivation, Indignity: My 22 Months in Israeli Prison (Drop Site 10/1/26)
“Palestinian journalist Mujahed Al-Saadi documents his harrowing experience in Israeli detention two years after being arrested from his home in Jenin…Al-Saadi was abducted from his home in Jenin by Israeli forces and thrown into administrative detention, where he was held without charge or trial for nearly two years. He was released on July 14, 2026…Nearly 40 Palestinian journalists are currently imprisoned by Israel, the majority of them in administrative detention. We asked Al-Saadi to write about his harrowing experience in Israeli prison. Below is that account. It is the first in a two-part series. The second, to be published in the coming days, is about Al-Saadi returning to Jenin to find the refugee camp there destroyed by the Israeli military and all of its residents displaced.”
‘I’d rather die than go back’: A Palestinian teen’s 10-month nightmare in Israeli jail (Jared Hillel//+972 Magazine 9/30/26)
“At 15, Zaid was separated from his parents, beaten, and starved. He is just one of hundreds of Palestinian children detained amid a post-Oct. 7 surge…Zaid is just one of hundreds of Palestinian children that have gone through the Israeli prison system in recent years. At the end of June 2026, according to Israeli human rights group B’tselem, the Israel Prison Service (IPS) was holding 376 Palestinian minors on “security grounds,” as well as 94 for being in Israel illegally. Three years earlier, according to a UN report, a third as many Palestinian minors were being held in Israeli prisons — suggesting a sharp rise since the October 7 attacks. Interviews with Zaid and his family, another detained teenager, and child rights advocates show how that system operates, from arrest through interrogation and prosecution: children taken from their homes, pressured to confess, repeatedly remanded in custody, subjected to severe prison conditions, and cut off almost entirely from their families.”
U.S. SCENE
Record Number Vote to Raise Hell Over Settler Violence in West Bank (Blaise Malley//Responsible Statecraft 9/29/26)
“Every Senate Democrat but one voted to advance a resolution that would have forced the State Department to produce a report regarding violence against American citizens, as well as other Israeli violations of human rights, in the West Bank. With only Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), however, crossing party lines to support the measure, the resolution failed by a vote of 47-51. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who has consistently been the lone Democratic holdout on a series of Iran war powers votes, once again broke with his party. Though the resolution ultimately failed, the vote count is nonetheless yet another sign of congressional Democrats’ rapid movement on questions regarding the U.S.-Israel relationship. When Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), one of the co-sponsors of the bill voted on today, introduced similar legislation in January 2024, it failed by a vote of 72-11.” See also Democrats in Congress Embrace a More Punitive Posture Toward Israel (NYT 9/29/26); Israeli Settlers Killed His Constituent. Fetterman Is Sole Democrat Against Investigating Them. (The Intercept 9/30/26)
Rights, faith groups urge Congress to block $2.8B bomb sale to Israel (Al Monitor 10/1/26)
“More than 50 human rights, faith-based and foreign-policy organizations are urging Congress to publicly oppose the Trump administration’s proposed $2.8 billion sale to Israel of some of the US military’s most destructive conventional weapons. “Failing to do so would amount to a blank check for further catastrophic harm and human rights violations,” groups including Human Rights Watch, Oxfam America, Amnesty International USA and the Episcopal Church said in a letter sent to congressional offices Thursday that was exclusively shared with Al-Monitor.”
In Michigan, a Progressive House Candidate Courted J Street. Then He Pulled Away. (Alex Kane//Jewish Currents 10/1/26)
“William Lawrence, the Democratic nominee in a tight race for a House seat in Lansing, Michigan, wanted an endorsement from the liberal Zionist group J Street during the Democratic primary campaign this summer. He didn’t get it, after the organization opted not to endorse anyone in the contested primary. But once he became the nominee, and a J Street endorsement was on the table, Lawrence, an unabashed progressive, pulled back. According to a source with knowledge of the conversations between the campaign and J Street, one reason for the reversal was that a Lawrence staffer feared the endorsement would lead to Palestinian rights advocates tagging the candidate as a recipient of pro-Israel funds. Other sources close to the campaign said Lawrence, who is the co-founder of the climate-focused Sunrise Movement, declined to continue pursuing the endorsement for a number of reasons, including because he did not want to prioritize J Street over other more urgent campaign matters during the general election. Lawrence’s shift on the potential J Street endorsement is a sign of the challenges the liberal Zionist group faces as it tries to relate to the new class of Democratic insurgents, who are wary of running afoul of pro-Palestine sentiments among younger voters.”
Republicans Are Road-Testing an Anti-Muslim Strategy (Alex Kane//Jewish Currents 9/29/26)
“Amid tight US Senate races in Michigan and Texas this fall, American Muslims have faced a torrent of bigotry…Jewish Currents spoke to Saher Selod, the director of research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, to talk about the role of Islamophobia in American politics today…”Every reaction has a counter reaction. [When] Trump ran on very overt anti-Muslim rhetoric and then became president in 2016, it influenced other Republicans. Now it’s very normalized. It encourages more Muslims to organize and become politically and civically engaged. Our data shows that voter registration for Muslims is on the rise. More Muslims are running for office, and in response to that, we’re seeing more Islamophobic attacks on these candidates. We’re in this incredible moment with charismatic and popular Muslim candidates like Mamdani and El-Sayed, and a rise in attacks against Muslims. It’s very contradictory, but it makes sense in a lot of ways because when you have that increase in attacks, people are going to respond. Nobody takes it sitting down.”
Ex-Biden Officials Are Desperate for a Gaza Scapegoat (Connor Echols//Responsible Statecraft 9/29/26)
“In his new book, “Crossing the Red Line,” journalist Akbar Shahid Ahmed offers the first comprehensive opportunity to evaluate this scapegoating exercise. Across more than 300 pages of excruciating detail, Ahmed narrates the many small decisions that allowed Israel to pursue a campaign numerous scholars and human rights organizations have since deemed a genocide. What emerges is a portrait of fecklessness — a story of an ever-shrinking group of officials who consistently refused to restrain Israel, ignoring the advice of their own experts and the fury of their own party’s voters. As the next presidential election cycle looms, Ahmed’s extraordinary work allows us to ask a thorny question — one that many progressive Democrats are already grappling with: Should anyone who served at the highest levels of the Biden administration ever enter government again?”
Prosecutors allege long-running scheme to raise money for Hamas (NBC 10/1/26)
“A purported media representative for Hamas has been accused of funneling roughly $1.7 million to the terrorist organization from donors in the U.S. and elsewhere who believed they were giving humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to a federal indictment unsealed Thursday. Saleem Alzaq was indicted by a federal grand jury in New York and was charged with money laundering and violating sanctions, according to the charging document. He was believed to be in Gaza. Two brothers in the U.S. were also charged in connection with the long-running scheme to raise money for Hamas, by disseminating propaganda and soliciting donations for “the poor and orphans in Gaza” via social media, court records show. Abdel Adhami and Omar Adhami were arrested last month in Louisiana, but the details of their charges were unsealed only after they made their first court appearances, court dockets show.
ICE targets an anti-Israel protester — this time, a Hasidic Jew (NY Jewish Week 9/30/26)
“Yehonatan Ovadia, an Orthodox Jew from the anti-Zionist Satmar Hasidic sect, has joined a number of protests around New York and New Jersey against Israel. Now, he’s at risk of being deported there. Ovadia, 35, is originally from Israel and moved to the U.S. on a temporary religious worker visa in 2022, according to the text of a lawsuit requesting Ovadia’s release. His legal status in the U.S. was revoked earlier this year in connection with a November 2023 protest that he attended during which an Israeli flag was taken down from the town hall of Ramapo, New York.”
What PEN America Got Wrong About Antisemitism in Publishing (Josh Lambert & Dan Sinykin//Jewish Currents 10/1/26)
“Misleading anecdotes, flawed data, and oversimplified analyses are at the heart of a narrative of Jewish exclusion promoted by the free expression organization, the ADL, and others.“ See also ‘Dangerous precedent’: authors sue LA library over cancelled Palestine event (The Guardian 9/29/26)
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
On Israeli campuses, Palestinian students are guilty until proven innocent (Gil Gertel//+972 Magazine 10/1/26)
“A new report exposes disciplinary apartheid in Israeli academia: Arab students suspended for social media posts, while calls to annihilate Gaza go unpunished…Earlier this month, Adalah published “Apartheid in Israeli Academia,” a comprehensive report on the discriminatory disciplinary policies used against Palestinian students at Israeli universities and colleges since October 2023. The persecution involves “manufactured cases,” in which accusations and disciplinary measures preceded factual investigations, leaving Palestinian students to prove their innocence over opinions expressed beyond campus. By contrast, Jewish students enjoy complete freedom of expression, and institutions’ disciplinary committees have no authority to judge them outside the academic context. Different treatment and a different legal process are nothing less than apartheid.”
A U.S. Jewish Fund’s Ambitious Bid to Put a Settler Elite in Control of Israel’s Security (Haaretz 10/1/26)
“After backing Israel’s judicial coup, the Tikvah Fund created a program training right-wing leaders for key defense posts, including Shin Bet chief. A Haaretz investigation traces its money, network and vision of Palestinian expulsion and forever war.”
Why ‘NAZA’ terrifies Israel’s liberal elite (Sebastian Ben Daniel//+972 Magazine 10/2/26)
“The film shatters ‘respectable’ Israelis’ illusion of moral superiority: The most prestigious, highly educated soldiers are the primary culprits of genocide…The film bypasses the usual villains and goes straight for the Holy of Holies of the Israeli elite: Unit 8200, which supplies the intelligence for airstrike targets, and the Air Force, which turns those targets into ruined buildings and dead families. The people placed under moral scrutiny are not settlers but graduates of top schools and elite military units who go on to universities and high-tech companies — exactly the people liberal Israel sees when it looks in the mirror.” See also NAZA film-makers say they spoke to more than 100 sources about Israeli actions in Gaza (The Guardian 10/1/26)
How Israel is weaponising archaeology to annex the West Bank (Aseel Mafarjeh//New Arab 10/1/26)
“From Silwan in East Jerusalem to Shiloh, Tel Rumeida in Hebron, and Sebastia near Nablus, excavations have arrived alongside roads, visitor centres, and restrictions on access that turn Palestinian land into settler-run tourist sites…Palestinian researchers and archaeologists who have worked on these sites say the social and political changes that come with archaeological discoveries are already visible. They point to the price local Palestinian communities pay as new roads and tourist facilities are built, restrictions on construction and access worsen, and the area’s multilayered history is distorted…Daoud Ghoul, a researcher at al-Quds University, tells The New Arab that the West Bank’s heritage sites have become a major arena where “archaeology is used to reshape memory and place,” particularly through the way archaeological sites and their histories are presented to the public. “Take Silwan, for example,” he said, referring to the area in East Jerusalem where the archaeological site known as the City of David has become a focal point of competing historical narratives. “What is happening there reflects what colonial literature describes as the ‘logic of elimination’. It is a process of erasing memory, making the Palestinian presence less visible in the official story of the place.”’
AI weapons systems are already here. Algorithms must not decide who lives and dies (Kenneth Roth//The Guardian 10/2/26)
“As tech leaders warn about the threats of artificial intelligence, most conjure up images of AI agents running amok, such as hacking systems used to run our critical infrastructure, banks or even militaries. Yet one serious danger is mentioned less frequently – the threat posed by AI–empowered lethal weapons. Fully autonomous versions of these weapons are colloquially known as killer robots. Israel’s conduct in Gaza shows that, in an important respect, such AI weapon systems are already here. An algorithm has been deciding who lives and who dies.”
From Robert Kraft to Netanyahu, Israel’s supporters keep helping its critics (Peter Beinart//The Guardian 10/1/26)
“These men’s actions aren’t just morally loathsome; they’re politically stupid. Social science may explain the phenomenon”
An Exception in World Affairs (Aryeh Neier//NYRB 9/5/26)
“Ratko Mladić’s death in The Hague is a reminder that his present-day counterparts may not have to fear that they will suffer his fate.”