1. New from FMEP

2. Gaza

3. Region//Global

4. River to the Sea

5. U.S. Scene

6. Activism//Universities

7. Perspectives//Long Reads 

NEW FROM FMEP

The Attack on Academic Freedom (Occupied Thoughts Podcast)

FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Professor Sahar Aziz of Rutgers University about the current attacks on academic freedom and why the US House of Representatives is investigating Rutgers and its Center for Security, Race and Rights, which Sahar directs. They also discuss the dangers of exceptionalizing Israel and the future of American universities more broadly.

Why Palestine Is Part of (& Central To) the Movement for Climate Justice (Occupied Thoughts Podcast)

FMEP Fellow Rania Batrice speaks to Mary Annaïse Heglar, a climate justice writer and essayist. The two discuss the intersection of the movement for Palestinian liberation and the movement for climate justice, why and how the two converge around indigineity and people’s relationship to the land – – as well as a holistic vision for organizing for justice that centers the ongoing settler colonialism happening in Palestine.

FMEP Legislative Round-Up: May 3, 2024 (Lara Friedman)

1. Bills, Resolutions; 2. Congress Continues to Stoke Hysteria Over Student Protests for Palestinian Rights; 3. Letters; 4. Hearings & Markups; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements See also the Legislative Round-Up from April 26, 2024

Settlement & Annexation Report: May 3, 2024 (Kristin McCarthy)

“1) IDF Dismantles Outpost; 2) Smotrich Accuses Netanyahu of Freezing Settlement Construction, Despite Major Advances; 3) U.K. Sanctions Lehava, Hilltop Youth; 4) Bonus Reads”

GAZA

Israel will invade Gaza’s Rafah ‘with or without’ a hostage deal, Netanyahu says (NPR)
“”The idea that we will halt the war before achieving all of its goals is out of the question. We will enter Rafah and we will eliminate the Hamas battalions there — with or without a deal — in order to achieve the total victory,” Netanyahu said, according to a statement released by his office. More than a million displaced Palestinians have fled to Rafah, the city along the Gaza Strip’s southern border with Egypt. For months, Israel’s military has vowed to stage an offensive there in order to combat what it says are Hamas operatives and infrastructure located there. Fearing a high civilian death toll and a worsening of Gaza’s already dire humanitarian situation, aid groups and international leaders, including the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, have urged Israel to scale back its plans or cancel the offensive entirely. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military offensive since Oct. 7, health officials in Gaza say.” See also from Al Monitor: CIA chief arrives in Egypt ahead of Hamas delegation, for Gaza talks; Hamas returns to Egypt, Israel cabinet convenes amid Gaza cease-fire push; Pressure builds for Gaza cease-fire as Israel readies to invade Rafah; Families of Hostages Threaten to ‘Lay Siege’ to Israeli Leaders if Deal Falls Through (Haaretz); U.S. hasn’t seen moves needed to support Rafah invasion, Austin says (Jewish Insider); Qatari Official Says Israeli Operation in Rafah Would Prevent Hostage Deal (Haaretz); Blinken warned PM that Rafah op would likely shut closing window for Saudi deal – officials (Times of Israel); Israel’s Far-right Minister Smotrich Calls for ‘No Half Measures’ in the ‘Total Annihilation’ of Gaza (Haaretz)

Exclusive: USAID officials say Israel breached US directive on Gaza aid (Devex 4/26/24)

“Israel is in violation of a White House directive requiring recipients of American military assistance to comply with international humanitarian law and permit the unimpeded delivery of U.S.-funded humanitarian support, USAID officials concluded in a confidential United States paper reviewed by Devex.” See also World Central Kitchen resumes aid work in Gaza (WaPo); Dangers for Palestinian aid workers stall deal on US-built Gaza pier (Al Monitor); Cost of Gaza pier increases to $320m, US official says (Middle East Eye); Gaza is the most lethal place in the world to be an aid worker (New Arab);

A Gaza team went to repair a telecoms machine. An Israeli tank fired at them (Yuval Abraham//+972)

“The repair operation was coordinated in advance and in real time with the Israeli military, which also sent the team a detailed map of the area specifying the routes they were authorized to take. The Palestinian men completed the repair job and, by early afternoon, had set off on their return journey to the city of Rafah. But then, without warning, an Israeli tank fired a shell directly at one of the team’s clearly-marked vehicles, killing two technicians…Witness testimony and video footage from the scene, along with the map that the army provided to the technicians and testimony from an Israeli intelligence source, reveal that the army killed the Paltel employees despite the team closely following instructions. This incident did not receive nearly as much publicity as the Israeli army’s shooting of three Israeli hostages waving a white flag in December, nor the drone strikes that killed seven World Central Kitchen employees driving in clearly-marked vehicles last month. But the killing of the Paltel employees has several parallels with these other two incidents. It, too, shines a light on two recurring features of Israel’s seven-month onslaught in Gaza: the disorderly coordination between Israeli forces on the ground, and the army’s trigger-happy conduct toward anyone found inside designated “kill zones” where those forces are operating.” See also Israeli airstrikes take place in Gaza areas Israel had designated as ‘safe zones’ (NBC News); Israeli strikes kill at least 40 Palestinians in Gaza, as ceasefire talks begin (Reuters 4/29/24);

In war-battered Gaza, residents grow angry with Hamas (WaPo)

“More than six months into the war in Gaza and with dimming hopes for a cease-fire deal, Palestinians there are growing more critical of Hamas, which some of them blame for the months-long conflict that has destroyed the territory — and their lives…while the majority of Palestinians in Gaza blame Israel for their suffering, according to polling conducted in March, they also appear to be turning their ire toward the militants. In interviews with more than a dozen residents of Gaza, people said they resent Hamas for the attacks in Israel and — war-weary and desperate to fulfill their basic needs — just want to see peace as soon as possible…The anger mounting now in the enclave appears centered on stalled cease-fire talks, with Hamas insisting on a permanent truce and Israel’s full withdrawal from Gaza before it hands over any hostages.”

We’ve shown Gaza’s suffering for over 200 days. Don’t look away now (Mohammed R. Mhawish//+972)

“The Israeli government wants us to be voiceless. It continues to forbid foreign journalists from entering and reporting inside the Strip. And it has attempted to silence Palestinian journalists directly: the Israeli army repeatedly texted and called my phone in an attempt to coerce me to stop writing and to abandon my journalistic responsibilities. It was tempting to prioritize my safety, but I couldn’t ignore the oppressive conditions my people are facing. If Palestinian journalists were to stop doing our job, who would fill the void? The mainstream media cannot, and will not, champion our struggle as we do. As long as their notion of “neutrality” reigns supreme, our suffering and dismissed humanity fall on deaf ears. In today’s context, neutrality equates to siding with the oppressor while witnessing the oppressed get killed on live broadcasts, their deaths unjustly rationalized under the flimsy pretext of the powerful’s right to “self-defense.”’

“We’ve Become Addicted to Explosions” The IDF Unit Responsible for Demolishing Homes Across Gaza (Bellingcat)

“It’s estimated that more than 50% of Gaza’s buildings have been destroyed or damaged and approximately 1.7 million people have been displaced since the offensive began…behind each ruined building, each demolished minaret, each pile of rubble, there is a decision and an action which has been carried out by a specific unit or person. We used social media to track a single IDF combat engineering battalion, 8219 Commando, as they moved across Gaza, demolishing tunnels, houses, and mosques…We noticed that soldiers from 8219 openly posted about their experiences inside Gaza, providing a window into military operations that rarely opens when looking at official sources. One member of 8219, a captain, wrote posts about his experience in the form of a war diary, noting where they were, and what they destroyed. These posts, combined with social media posts by other members of 8219, include videos, pictures and statements describing the unit’s experience of war. We geolocated each video or image of a demolition, verifying exactly where it took place. We then used satellite imagery from Planet Labs to determine when the demolition had occurred. We used all these sources to build up a picture of where 8219 went, what it demolished and why.” See also A U.N. report says rebuilding all the homes destroyed in Gaza could take 80 years. (NYT)

War on Gaza: Prominent Palestinian doctor tortured and killed in Israeli detention (Middle East Eye)

“Adnan al-Bursh, a Palestinian surgeon and professor of orthopaedic medicine, was killed by torture while in Israeli detention, according to a statement from the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society. In what has been termed a “deliberate assassination”, Bursh, 50, died in the Israel-controlled Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank on 19 April, according to the Palestinian Civil Affairs Committee, and his body remains withheld…Bursh was the head of orthopaedic medicine at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City and had been arrested in December, around the same time that he had reportedly been wounded by Israeli bombardment at the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza…Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian Territories, said today that she was “extremely alarmed” at the death of the prominent doctor.” See also ‘We were tortured and starved’: Released Palestinian prisoners reveal horrific levels of oppression in Israeli jails (New Arab)

REGION/GLOBAL

ICC demands end to threats against court amid Gaza war probe (Al Jazeera)

“The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement on Friday that all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence its officials must cease immediately. While the prosecutor’s statement did not mention Israel, it was issued after Israeli and US officials have warned of consequences against the ICC if it issues arrest warrants over Israel’s war on Gaza.” See also Israel tells U.S. it will punish Palestinian Authority if ICC issues warrants (Axios); ICC warns against intimidation amid rumors of warrants for Israel PM, others (Al Monitor); Israel braces for ICC warrants against Netanyahu, Gallant (Al Monitor); Scoop: Congress threatens ICC over Israeli arrest warrants (Axios); Scoop: Senators meet with ICC over concerns about possible Israel arrest warrants (Axios); What will happen if the ICC charges Netanyahu with war crimes? (Kenneth Roth//The Guardian)

Turkey stops all trade with Israel over ‘humanitarian tragedy’ in Gaza (Guardian)

““Export and import transactions related to Israel have been stopped, covering all products,” Turkey’s trade ministry said late on Thursday. “Turkey will strictly and decisively implement these new measures until the Israeli government allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.”’ See also Israel says will limit Turkish trade with Palestinians, seek sanctions against Ankara (Times of Israel); Houthis say they will target Israel-bound ships anywhere within their range (Al Jazeera); Colombia will break relations with Israel over its actions in Gaza, Petro says (NPR); As Turkey Cuts Trade Ties, Israel’s Isolation Grows (NYT)

Gaza ‘freedom flotilla’ blocked in Turkey (Middle East Eye)

“A “freedom flotilla” aimed at delivering aid to Gaza was blocked in Turkey on Saturday after being denied the use of two of its ships, which organisers blame on Israeli pressure. The coalition of NGOs and other associations said it was unable to set sail after the West African country of Guinea-Bissau withdrew its flagged vessels, according to AFP.” See also Rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas meet in China (Al Jazeera)

RIVER TO THE SEA

This Wasn’t an Uncontrolled Mob of Settlers. It Was a Well-orchestrated Assault (Amira Hass//Haaretz)

“30 members of a single family were among the Palestinians attacked by settlers in the village of Al-Mughayyir in the West Bank in April. Their descriptions of those terrifying moments indicate that this was anything but a spontaneous attack” See also The Attack on This West Bank Village by Jewish Settlers Was Anything but Spontaneous (Haaretz Editorial Board)

Since the War Began, Entire Areas of the West Bank Have Been Emptied of Their Communities (Hagar Shezaf//Haaretz)

“October 7 brought settler violence to a head in the West Bank: 18 Palestinian herding communities have since been uprooted from their homes, with the residents now living in makeshift dwellings on the outskirts of other villages, impoverished and anxious for the future..According to estimates by researcher Dror Etkes from the Kerem Navot nongovernmental organization that monitors the Israeli settlement and land management policy in the West Bank, there are currently some 125,000 dunams (31,000 acres) in the area that Palestinians are de facto prevented from entering due to fear of violence, and due to the restrictions imposed by the settlers and the army.” See also Israeli Settlers Aren’t Content With Expelling Palestinian Shepherds, They Also Steal Their Sheep (Amira Hass//Haaretz); Shin Bet Arrests Israeli on Suspicion of Murdering Palestinian During Riots After Murder of Teen in West Bank (Haaretz)

The orchestrated persecution of Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian (Shahrazad Odeh//+972)

“On April 18, Israeli police arrested Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, a renowned Palestinian scholar and my former academic supervisor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. They kept her in detention overnight — in conditions designed to break her spirit, like other Palestinian political prisoners — before a court ordered her release, rejecting the police’s demand to extend her time behind bars. The arrest and ensuing interrogations are the latest phase in the Israeli authorities’ crusade against the professor, who is a vocal advocate of Palestinian rights and an outspoken critic of Zionism. Shalhoub-Kevorkian’s incarceration was clearly intended to be as cruel and dehumanizing as possible. According to her family, police officers raided her house in the Old City of Jerusalem without warning, searching and confiscating her books, papers, notes, and interview transcripts. During her interrogation and detention, the officers subjected the 64-year-old to ill-treatment and practices that amount to forms of torture: she was strip-searched, yelled and cursed at, and thrown in a cold, isolated, and urine-smelling cell infested with cockroaches; the cell was kept illuminated throughout the night with bright, buzzing lights to prevent her from sleeping; and for some of the time her hands and feet were shackled…The hearings show that the arrest warrant and interrogation were instigated directly in response to her interview on the Makdisi Street podcast last month, particularly regarding her remarks calling to abolish Zionism.”

 

U.S. SCENE

U.S. diplomat explains why she quit Biden administration over Gaza war (WaPo)
“Nearly seven months into the administration’s unstinting support for Israel in its war against Hamas, [Hala] Rharrit became the first career diplomat to resign in protest of what she called a policy that will set back Washington’s interests in the Arab world for a generation. She told The Washington Post she felt the continued flow of U.S. arms to Israel was enabling the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and inflaming anger toward Washington in the Arab world. Inside the State Department, she said, diplomats are afraid to express viewpoints contrary to official policy, unlike most other issues during her career, where robust discussion was the norm.” See also Exclusive: Some US officials say in internal memo Israel may be violating international law in Gaza (Reuters 4/27/24)

US finds five Israeli military units guilty of ‘gross human rights violations’ (Middle East Eye)

“The US has found five Israeli units guilty of gross human rights violations, the State Department said on Monday. The State Department said it had confirmed “individual incidents of gross violations of human rights” against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank before the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October. “After a careful process, we found five Israeli units responsible for individual incidents of gross violations of human rights. All of these were incidents much before October 7th and none took place in Gaza,” State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said Monday. “Four of these units have effectively remediated these violations, which is what we expect partners to do… For a remaining unit, we continue to be in consultations and engagements with the government of Israel.” Patel said the findings would not impact arms transfers.” See also Attorneys inside and outside the administration urge Biden to cut off arms to Israel (Politico)

US House passes controversial bill that expands definition of anti-Semitism (Al Jazeera)

“If the bill were to become law, it would codify a definition of anti-Semitism created by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That is a federal anti-discrimination law that bars discrimination based on shared ancestry, ethnic characteristics or national origin. Adding IHRA’s definition to the law would allow the federal Department of Education to restrict funding and other resources to campuses perceived as tolerating anti-Semitism. But critics warn IHRA’s definition could be used to stifle campus protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, which has claimed the lives of 34,568 Palestinians so far.” See also US House okays bill codifying controversial antisemitism definition amid campus tumult (Times of Israel); House passes bill to expand definition of antisemitism amid growing campus protests over Gaza war (AP News); ACLU Urges House of Representatives to Oppose Anti-semitism Awareness Act (ACLU); House vote on IHRA codification likely to divide Democrats (Jewish Insider);

How US violates its own Leahy Law to ensure military support for Israel (Ali Harb//Al Jazeera)

“Named after retired US Senator Patrick Leahy, the rules under the Foreign Assistance Act prohibit military assistance to forces engaged in gross violations of human rights…Leahy rules require cutting off units that commit gross violations of human rights from US funding…Has the Leahy Law ever been applied to Israel? No.” See also Leahy Law: Here’s What You Need to Know About the Law Roiling U.S.-Israel Ties (Haaretz)

The Anti-Defamation League Has Abandoned Some of the People It Exists to Protect (Slate)

“But the ADL, under the leadership of Greenblatt, is insisting on conflating anti-Zionism and antisemitism, and it has made this conflation central to the ADL’s work. This has not only muddied the waters of its own antisemitism research, it has also undermined the safety, security, and pluralism of American Jews. For example, the ADL reportedly mapped protests for a cease-fire led by the Jewish groups Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow as antisemitic incidents. The ADL also, in its report on antisemitism this year, updated its methodology to include certain anti-Israel incidents in its calculation of how much antisemitism had risen. This not only makes it more difficult to see what the actual year-over-year change in antisemitic incidents was—of course an increase will seem more dramatic if you are now counting incidents that you weren’t before—but it also arguably undermines the rest of the ADL’s reporting on antisemitism. If the group tracking antisemitism considers pro-Palestinian speech or differences in foreign policy preferences to be motivated by antisemitism, how seriously will those who disagree with the ADL on foreign policy take its calls to tackle antisemitism? At least as troubling as the new research methods, though, are the statements and posture of Greenblatt himself.” See also Large Jewish organizations boycotted a meeting with the education secretary because progressive Jewish groups would be present (Ron Kampeas//JTA); ADL Director Jonathan Greenblatt: “First, President Shafik must invite NYPD back on campus or @GovKathyHochul should direct the National Guard to protect our kids.”

 

ACTIVISM//UNIVERSITIES

What’s Really Happening on College Campuses, According to Student Journalists (Politico)

“Over 50 schools. Nearly 2,000 arrests. One canceled graduation ceremony — so far. We’re in the midst of the most widespread campus unrest since the 1960s, sparked by the war between Israel and Hamas. Over the last two weeks, campus protests have escalated, with pro-Palestinian tent encampments set up in public spaces, triggering counterprotests and, on more than 30 campuses, clashes with police. With so many incidents taking place in so many places, it’s hard for anyone to grasp what’s really happening at America’s universities right now. So POLITICO Magazine reached out this week to top student journalists, who have been reporting on the turmoil at the ground level for weeks and months. As neutral observers able to interact with all sides, they can provide unique insights, even as they watch friends get arrested or worry if their graduation ceremonies will even take place. Over email and phone calls the past week, editors-in-chief of campus publications from 13 different colleges and universities told us how support for Palestine has surged over the last seven months, how their peers define antisemitism and what the political consequences of these protests might be. They come from a wide variety of campuses all over the country, but collectively, the group painted a picture of students fighting to be heard by leadership — both on campus and nationally.” See also Manhattan DA investigating after officer fired gun inside Columbia University – as it happened (Guardian); I’ve Covered Violent Crackdowns on Protests for 15 Years. This Police Overreaction Was Unhinged. (Natasha Lennard//Intercept)

Palestine is Everywhere 

“An interactive map of Gaza Solidarity Encampments around the world…Students throughout the United States have set up encampments on their campuses in solidarity with the Palestinian people. They are protesting their universities’ investments and complicity in the ongoing genocide, occupation, and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. This map captures the emergence of widespread support for the Palestinian resistance as more colleges and universities rise up each day. The students will not stop until their demands are met.”

Striking deals to end protests, a few colleges agree to review investments in Israel (Times of Israel)

“Anti-war demonstrations ceased this week at a small number of US universities after school leaders struck deals with anti-Israel protesters, fending off possible disruptions of final exams and graduation ceremonies. The agreements at schools including Brown, Northwestern and Rutgers stand out amidst the chaotic scenes and 2,300-plus arrests on 44 campuses across the nation since April 17…Deals included commitments by universities to at least review their investments in Israel or to hear calls to stop doing business with the Middle East nation, a longtime US ally.” See also Brown University board to vote on Israel divestment following agreement with protesters (JTA)

From UCLA to Columbia, Professors Nationwide Defend Students as Politicians and Police Attack (Prem Thakker//The Intercept)

“The faculty intervention at UCLA is just one of the latest examples of college professors putting their bodies and livelihoods on the line in defense of their students who are protesting their tax and tuition dollars contributing to a plausible genocide. At schools across the country, faculty have locked arms to form a protective barrier in front of their students and have been arrested and brutalized themselves.“This moment has actually brought faculty together in a way I’ve never experienced in 20 years on campus. I’ve found myself working closely with colleagues I’d never met before,” Columbia University history professor Nara Milanich told The Intercept. “People have dropped everything to support students and respond to this moment.”’ See also I’m a UCLA professor. Why didn’t the administration stop last night’s egregious violence? (David Myers//Forward); Statement from History Professor Steve Tamari; when St. Louis County police arrested him at the Washington University protest, they broke his hand and nine of his ribs; Letter to Columbia President Minouche Shafik (Robin D.G. Kelley//Boston Review): “You are keeping no one safe, except for your donors, trustees, and the university’s endowment.”; ‘They’re Obviously Not Antisemitic Protests’: Jewish Yale University Professor Speaks Out (Zeteo); Listen to Columbia History Professor Rashid Khalidi address students on May 2, 2024 (Middle East Eye); As Police Clear Encampments, Professors Arrested Along With Students (Inside Higher Ed); “A Student Rebellion Against the Hypocrisy of Their Elders” – USC Prof & Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Viet Thanh Nguyen (Zeteo)

UCLA clashes: Pro-Palestinian protesters attacked by Israel supporters (Al Jazeera)

“A demonstration against Israel’s war on Gaza at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) turned violent when a vigilante pro-Israel mob attacked a solidarity encampment occupied by peaceful pro-Palestinian protesters. Witnesses said the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) only intervened after nearly four hours of the attacks, which started overnight into Wednesday when masked pro-Israel counter-demonstrators, who appeared in their hundreds from outside the university campus, hurled fireworks into the encampment. The attackers, carrying Israeli flags, then tried to tear down the pro-Palestinian camp, assaulting students with pepper spray, sticks, stones and metal fencing. Police stood by, failing to protect students, who re-commandeered the metal fencing thrown at them to shield themselves, said Joey Scott, an investigative journalist speaking to Al Jazeera from the scene.” See alsoAfter violent night at UCLA, classes cancelled, UC president launches investigation into response (LA Times 4/30/24); Four UCLA student journalists attacked by pro-Israel counterprotesters on campus (LA Times 5/1/24); Fresh chaos, arrests on US college campuses as police flatten camp at UCLA (Reuters)

The Student-Led Protests Aren’t Perfect. That Doesn’t Mean They’re Not Right. (Lydia Polgreen//NYT)

“What I saw were moving, creative and peaceful protests by people seeking to end the slaughter in Gaza, where more than 34,000 people have died, a majority of them women and children…But while reporting on the protests up close gave me insight into how unsettling some aspects of activism can be, it doesn’t mean the protesters’ actions are misguided. These young people seek a worthy cause: to end what may be the most brutal military operation for civilians in the 21st century…On campus, I spoke to Muslim and Arab students who told me how frightened and angry they were. I spoke to Jewish students who participated in the pro-Palestinian protests and scoffed at the notion that the protests endangered them. I also spoke to Jewish students who told me that they felt the protests targeted them as Jews and made them fear for their safety…Whether you are watching student protesters on social media or experiencing the protests in person, the way you understand these protests depends on your perception of what they are protesting. It could not be otherwise. If you feel that what is happening in Gaza is a moral atrocity, the student protests will look like a brave stand against American complicity in what they believe is genocide — and a few hateful slogans amid thousands of peaceful demonstrators will look like a minor detail. If you feel the Gaza war is a necessarily violent defense against terrorists bent on destroying the Jewish state, the students will seem like collaborators with murderous antisemitism — even if many of them are Jewish.” See also White House condemns student takeover of Columbia U building and protesters’ use of ‘intifada’ (JTA); Jewish Organizing at Columbia’s Encampment (Jewish Currents); Columbia Students File Civil Rights Complaint After NYPD Arrests, National Guard Threat (Palestine Legal);

How the Right Turned Protest Into A Criminal Enterprise (Mother Jones)

“America’s police forces are at war with college students. Inspired by students who set up encampments on Columbia University’s lawn, more than 90 college campuses across 40 states have set up similar actions to protest their schools’ investments in Israel. Some have set up camps, while others have staged sit-ins or occupied buildings, but nearly all have been confronted by highly militarized police departments brought in by administrators. At least 2,200 people have been arrested so far, according to the Appeal, and not all of them are students. Texas state police attacked and arrested a photojournalist after falsely claiming he pushed an officer. Another 28 people were arrested by Georgia police at Emory University last week, including an economics professor who was violently assaulted after questioning an officer’s conduct. University leaders, like Columbia president Minouche Shafik, might claim to support their students’ right to political expression, but their willingness to unleash police on pro-Palestinian protests empowers a longstanding, escalating campaign to criminalize dissent.” See also READ: Joe Biden’s remarks on civil unrest and nationwide protests (CNN)

Inside NYU’s generation-defining protests for Palestine (Naim Mousa//+972)

“New York University (NYU), where I study, has seen the largest pro-Palestine protests in its history, with hundreds of students erecting an encampment on campus in solidarity with Palestinians and protesting against what they perceive as the university’s complicity in Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza. Yet the reporting surrounding these protests has been riddled with false accusations and misinformation, including claims that the encampment made the campus unsafe and violated university policies. Having participated in and been witness to the protests myself, I want to set the record straight.”

Israeli media’s inevitable hysteria over U.S. campus protests (Anat Saragusti//+972)

“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen news coverage as shallow as the Israeli media’s coverage of the pro-Palestine demonstrations on college campuses across the United States in recent days…The conflation of these distinct concepts [antisemitism, anti-Israelism, pro-Palestinianism] creates a sense among Israelis that Jews are being widely persecuted in New York City. It suggests that the Israeli news correspondents standing at the entrance of the Manhattan campus are on an information-gathering mission of national importance, reporting from behind enemy lines and peering into the depraved core of anti-Jewish hate. This is the same media ecosystem that, for nearly seven months, has utterly neglected its most basic duty to show viewers, listeners, and readers in Israel what their military is doing to Palestinians in Gaza. Only those Israelis who choose to consume foreign media understand that the student-led protests are indicative of a huge and rapidly proliferating wave of demonstrations in solidarity with Palestinians and against Israel and Israeli policy in Gaza, not an inexplicable outburst of antisemitism. These two trends — the Israeli media’s unbending self-censorship in its coverage of the devastation in Gaza, and its framing of the pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the U.S. as antisemitic — are closely linked. Simply put, those who are not aware of what Israel is doing in Gaza cannot understand the reaction of those who are.”

Anatomy of a Moral Panic (Adam Haber and Matylda Figlerowicz//Jewish Currents)

“The discourse around the “new antisemitism” shares this three-part structure [of moral panics]. First, the theory’s proponents acknowledge that antisemitism has a long history as a mode of hatred and discrimination. Yet there is an explicit attempt to present it as new, modifying its meaning so it can be specifically marshaled to support the Israeli state. Secondly, this “new antisemitism,” the argument goes, is bad in itself, but it is also a warning sign of other social ills—most of all, of the dangerous radicalization of the left, and of the impending rise of other forms of hate. And, finally, the rise of antisemitism is posited as self-evident, clear for anyone to understand; yet the source of antisemitism is presented as opaque, such that expert analysts of the “new antisemitism” are required to reveal the purported threats of left-wing movements. This script recurs again and again in moments when Israel faces increased international criticism for its violence against Palestinian people. Like other moral panics, this one is a sign of a crisis—in this case, the crisis of Zionism, but also US imperialism more broadly. Now that an unprecedented number of people have joined the movement protesting US support for what many experts have classified as genocide in Gaza, it’s no surprise that the wheels of the “new antisemitism” narrative machine are furiously turning. The theory of moral panics can help us understand its mechanisms of repression.”

PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS

The Palestinian Resistance Isn’t a Monolith (Bashir Abu Manneh//Jacobin)

“As Palestinians reckon with the genocide being inflicted on them and their prospects for national liberation, it does them a disservice to flatten their political diversity and complex ongoing debates.”

Why human agency is still central to Israel’s AI-powered warfare (Sophia Goodfriend//+972)

“Following +972’s ‘Lavender’ exposé, international law and AI experts explain how Israel’s top brass and global tech firms are implicated in the slaughter.”

Yes, it is genocide (Amos Goldberg,* translated from Hebrew by Sol Salbe//Medium)

“What is happening in Gaza is genocide because the level and pace of indiscriminate killing, destruction, mass expulsions, displacement, famine, executions, the wiping out of cultural and religious institutions, the crushing of elites (including the killing of journalists), and the sweeping dehumanisation of the Palestinians — create an overall picture of genocide, of a deliberate conscious crushing of Palestinian existence in Gaza.” *Amos Goldberg is a Holocaust and genocide researcher at the Hebrew University

As a Palestinian American, I can’t vote for Joe Biden any more. And I am not alone (Ahmed Moor//Guardian Day)

“For many, myself included, a vote for Biden is simply impermissible – the extent of the moral calamity is so great as to render a vote for Biden a vote for complicity. Our values in this country – freedom of speech, enterprise, equality before the law – are unique among countries and are worth fighting for. In the best expression of America, our values are regarded as inviolable, and they provide a roadmap for our activism. This country is bigger than Trump or Biden and while elections matter, they only gain meaning as a way of expressing our values. We cannot be the source of arms that destroy the lives of millions of people. We cannot abet a famine.” See also 5,000 miles away, a Michigan mayor at the center of the Gaza storm (WaPo)

‘Where Is the Palestinian Gandhi?’ (Nicholas Casey//NYT)

“Issa Amro, who has been arrested and beaten for simple acts of defiance, is trying to pursue nonviolent resistance in the West Bank at a time when violence has become inescapable.”

1. New from FMEP

2. Gaza

3. Region//Global

4. River to the Sea

5. U.S. Scene

6. Media//Activism

7. Perspectives//Long Reads

NEW FROM FMEP

What does it mean for the U.S. to condition aid to Israel? (Occupied Thoughts podcast recorded 4/25)

FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with analyst Seth Binder about the technicalities of U.S. aid to Israel. They discuss the ways in which U.S. aid to Israel works differently from U.S. aid to other countries, the legal requirements & questions surrounding U.S. aid to Israeli military units that commit human rights abuses, and the question of whether, and in what ways, the debate over conditioning aid to Israel is changing.

Dead, Disabled, Displaced, Detained, Orphaned: The Toll of Israel’s War on Palestinian Children (Webinar & Podcast recorded 4/25)

2023 FMEP Fellow Dr. Yara Asi spoke with experts from two premiere Palestinian human rights organizations: Hamdi Shaqqura from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), a Gaza-based organization which continues to operate and collect data in Gaza even under the most difficult circumstances; and Miranda Cleland from Defense for Children International-Palestine, which focuses on the rights of Palestinian children under Israeli occupation.

Settlement & Annexation Report: April 26, 2024 (Kristin McCarthy)

1.Smotrich Directs Government to Prepare to Fund & Service 68 Illegal Outposts 2. U.S. Balks on Designating Israeli Military Unit Named in Annual Human Rights Report3. U.S. Publishes 2023 Human Rights Report 4. Bonus Reads

GAZA

Israel intensifies strikes on Rafah ahead of threatened invasion (Reuters)

“Israel stepped up airstrikes on Rafah overnight after saying it would evacuate civilians from the southern Gazan city and launch an all-out assault despite allies’ warnings this could cause mass casualties. Medics in the besieged Palestinian enclave reported five Israeli airstrikes on Rafah early on Thursday that hit at least three houses, killing at least six people including a local journalist.” See also Signs Suggest That Invasion of Rafah Is All but Inevitable (NYT 4/24/24); Satellite images show Israeli forces gathered for Gaza escalation (Al Jazeera); Israeli security chiefs in Cairo to discuss possible Rafah invasion (Al Monitor); Israel warns Egypt: “Last chance” for hostage deal before Rafah invasion (Axios)

Israel could still force an exodus into Egypt (Ishaan Tharoor//WaPo)

“For weeks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has signaled his intent to launch a full-scale offensive into Rafah, the southern Gazan city that’s now home to more than a million Palestinians seeking safe haven in their war-ravaged territory. Netanyahu and his allies want to wipe out militant group Hamas’s footprint in the city — no matter the skepticism of experts who reckon the Islamist organization is far from defeated or the concerns of foreign diplomats and aid workers who fear the calamities for civilians that would follow the Israeli onslaught. A major move would trigger the frantic flight of hundreds of thousands of Gazans, many of whom arrived in the city after their homes and neighborhoods elsewhere in Gaza were pulverized by the Israeli military in its post-Oct. 7 war against Hamas. For months, there’s been speculation over whether Egypt would allow tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee to safety in the Sinai desert. Cairo is not keen to admit a refugee influx, given both its own internal security concerns and larger Pan-Arab worries that the Palestinians will be blocked from returning to their homeland like a previous generation of Palestinian refugees. On Tuesday, Volker Turk, the United Nations’ human rights chief, said leaders around the world “stand united on the imperative of protecting the civilian population trapped in Rafah.”’

Israeli strikes on southern Gaza city of Rafah kill 22, mostly children, as US advances aid package (AP News 4/21/24)

“Israeli strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight killed 22 people, including 18 children, health officials said Sunday, as the United States was on track to approve billions of dollars of additional military aid to Israel, its close ally. Israel has carried out near-daily air raids on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has sought refuge from fighting elsewhere. It has also vowed to expand its ground offensive against the Hamas militant group to the city on the border with Egypt despite international calls for restraint, including from the U.S. “In the coming days, we will increase the political and military pressure on Hamas because this is the only way to bring back our hostages and achieve victory. We will land more and painful blows on Hamas – soon,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.”

War on Gaza: Hundreds of bodies unearthed in Khan Younis hospital mass graves (Middle East Eye 4/21/24)

“The Palestinian civil defence on Sunday said it has found hundreds of bodies of Palestinians buried in mass graves by Israeli forces in the courtyard of Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. At least 200 bodies had been retrieved from two mass graves in the medical compound as of Sunday noon local time. As the search continued, rescuers estimated there to be at least 400 bodies. The Gaza government media office said some of bodies found had been decapitated, and had their skin and organs removed. According to Al Jazeera, the bodies of children, elderly women and young men were among those found. Rescue teams said some bodies had their hands bound behind their backs, suggesting they were executed and buried on the spot…The mass graves were discovered weeks after Israeli troops ended a three-month invasion of  Khan Younis, during which ground forces repeatedly attacked Nasser hospital. The hospital, Gaza’s second-largest and the “backbone” of the health system in southern Gaza, was put out of service after deadly Israeli raids in February, when 10,000 people had been sheltering at the medical complex.” See also UN rights chief ‘horrified’ by mass grave reports at Gaza hospitals (BBC); Nearly 200 bodies found in mass grave at hospital in Gaza’s Khan Younis (Al Jazeera); Reports of mass graves at Gaza hospitals ‘horrify’ UN rights experts – video (The Guardian); Mass graves in Gaza show victims’ hands were tied, says UN rights office (UN News); Almost 400 bodies have been found in mass grave in Gaza hospital, says Palestinian Civil Defense (CNN); U.S. Presses Israel for Information on ‘Disturbing’ Reports of Mass Graves at Gaza Hospitals (Haaretz); U.N. Calls for Inquiry Into Mass Graves at 2 Gaza Hospitals (NYT)

‘We’re Aware of the Location’: Aid Groups in Gaza Coordinated With I.D.F. but Still Came Under Fire (NYT)

“Visual evidence and internal communications obtained by The Times show six aid groups based in Western countries, including Israel’s strongest allies, had humanitarian sites hit by Israeli strikes, even after the locations were shared with the I.D.F.”

Israel has yet to provide evidence of Unrwa staff terrorist links, Colonna report says (The Guardian)

“Israel has yet to provide supporting evidence of its claims that employees of the UN relief agency Unrwa are members of terrorist organisations, an independent review led by the former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna has said. The Colonna report, which was commissioned by the UN in the wake of Israeli allegations, found that Unrwa had regularly supplied Israel with lists of its employees for vetting, and that “the Israeli government has not informed Unrwa of any concerns relating to any Unrwa staff based on these staff lists since 2011”.

Countries are reinstating funds for UNRWA — but not the United States (WaPo)

“UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, on which more than 1.7 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip rely, has faced existential challenges for months. The embattled organization struggled to address the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip as a cascade of countries suspended funding over allegations that several employees were involved in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks. But most of the key countries that paused funding to UNRWA have since reinstated it, citing the acute humanitarian situation and the agency’s new assurances of oversight in its operations. Part of that reconsideration came after a highly anticipated independent review of the agency published Monday found that Israel had not provided evidence for allegations it also made that a significant number of workers within the agency are tied to militant groups. Still, some others have maintained their suspensions. That notably includes the United States, by far the largest donor to UNRWA, contributing nearly half the agency’s yearly operating budget. But, even if the Biden administration wanted to reconsider supporting UNRWA, its hands are tied. Republicans in Congress tacked on a year-long funding ban to a government spending package that passed last month. Even as the war continues, U.S. funding for UNRWA is prohibited by Congress until at least March 2025.”

Mortar attack on Gaza coast spotlights risk to U.S. pier mission (WaPo)

“Militants launched mortars at Israeli forces in Gaza as they prepared for the arrival of a floating U.S. Army pier dispatched to facilitate delivery of humanitarian aid, U.S. officials said Thursday, an incident that underscores the mission’s vulnerabilities. The attack on a “marshaling area” for the pier caused minimal damage, and occurred while U.S. ships involved in the operation remain a ways off shore, said Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman. The pier is under construction by U.S. troops — though “nowhere near mortar range,” he said — and expected to be put into service by early May.” See also US troops begin constructing Gaza pier, aiming to have it operational by early May (Times of Israel); Gaza-based militants attack Israeli forces preparing for US pier (Politico); A US-led effort to bring aid to Gaza by sea is moving forward. But big concerns remain (AP)

US and 17 other countries with hostages in Gaza call for their release in exchange for a ceasefire (Ron Kampeas//JTA)

“The Biden administration released a call from the leaders of 18 countries with citizens held hostage in Gaza calling for their immediate release in exchange for “an immediate and prolonged ceasefire” that would lead to the “end of hostilities.” Israel, which has the most citizens among the more than 130 hostages still held in Gaza, is not among the participants in the joint call. While the statement hews to conditions Israel has accepted for a hostage deal in the short term, it does not refer to Israel’s other goal in the war, which is to remove Hamas from power…The Biden administration’s leadership in the joint call is significant because President Joe Biden Biden has, since the outset of the war, repeatedly backed Israel’s twin goals: the release of the hostages and the removal of Hamas. But the war has progressed and the devastation on civilians has mounted, Biden has faced calls from among Democrats to press Israel into a ceasefire, and tensions have mounted between the Israeli and U.S. governments.” See also 18 countries demand hostage release; US: There’s a deal on the table, Hamas rejected it (Times of Israel); Egypt sends delegation to Israel, its latest effort to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas (AP); Hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s family approves publication of Hamas propaganda video (Times of Israel); Qatar passed U.S. proof-of-life of Israeli-American hostage on Monday (Al Monitor); White House issues photo of Biden meeting freed hostage Avigail Idan: ‘She’s remarkable’ (Times of Israel)

REGION/GLOBAL

Hezbollah launches deepest attack inside Israel since Gaza war began (Al Jazeera 4/23/24)

“The Lebanese group Hezbollah says it has launched drone attacks on Israeli bases north of the city of Acre in retaliation for the killing of one of its fighters, marking the deepest attack into Israeli territory since the Gaza war began…The Israeli military said it had no knowledge of any of its facilities being hit by Hezbollah, but had said earlier that it intercepted two “aerial targets” off Israel’s northern coast. Later on Tuesday, Lebanon’s official news agency NNA said at least two people were killed and six others injured after an Israeli air raid hit a residential area in the southern Lebanese town of Hanin.”

Recognition of Palestinian statehood is not the panacea it’s made out to be (Yara Hawari//Al Jazeera)

“As the genocide in Gaza rages on, various European countries, including Spain and Ireland, have indicated that they are moving towards recognising the State of Palestine…Currently, most countries in the Global South, but only very few in the West, recognise the State of Palestine. As it stands, recognition of the State of Palestine is a political and symbolic move – it signals the recognition of the Palestinian right to sovereignty over the West Bank and Gaza. In reality, no such sovereignty exists – rather as an occupying force, the Israeli regime maintains de facto control over both territories and effectively controls everything that goes in and out, including people…Some Palestinians and international human rights organisations argue that recognition is a crucial step towards securing Palestinian fundamental rights and one that offers more legal avenues to hold the Israeli regime accountable. Yet it is difficult to envision how recognition of a state that does not exist would change the reality on the ground for Palestinians facing systematic erasure. In fact, it is pertinent to ask whether some states are pushing for this symbolic political move amid an ongoing genocide to avoid taking much more tangible actions, such as arms/trade embargoes and sanctions on the Israeli regime, to support Palestinians and reaffirm their right to sovereignty.”

A Cheat Sheet to the Middle East’s Web of Friends and Enemies (Daniel Levy, Graphics by Gus Wezerek//NYT)

“To keep track of what is going on between some of the key players, we sketched out a social network of friends, enemies and frenemies involved in the region. Examining the web makes it clear how snarled and precarious the current situation is…America’s options remain circumscribed while it continues a lockstep alliance with an Israel that appears unwilling to shift course on the Palestinian question and is increasingly internationally defined as an apartheid regime. Israel’s campaign in Gaza — the killing of some 14,000 children, according to the Gazan health ministry, the devastation of cities and the humanitarian crisis, all while the United States has continued to arm Israel and support it at the United Nations — may only exacerbate America’s troubles. Amid current tensions, it’s hard to imagine a transition toward regional de-escalation that would include rights and justice for Palestinians. But the magnitude of the current war in Gaza has upended calcified strategies, and that could be a harbinger of previously unlikely openings.”

 

RIVER TO THE SEA 

Israeli military intelligence head resigns over Oct. 7 Hamas attack (WaPo)

“Israel’s top military intelligence chief said Monday he would step down and retire because of his department’s failure to anticipate Hamas’s Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israeli towns along the Gaza border. Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva is the highest-ranking leader to resign over the assault, the deadliest one-day attack in Israel’s history.”

13 killed in Israeli raid on West Bank refugee camp, officials say (WaPo)

“At least 13 people were killed in a days-long raid by Israel’s military in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said Saturday, adding that one of those who died was a 15-year-old boy.
The operation began Thursday in the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarm, a city in the northern part of the West Bank…According to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah, a number of dead and wounded were inside the camp Saturday but Israeli forces prevented ambulances from reaching them. Soldiers detained an ambulance crew at the entrance of a hospital in Tulkarm on Saturday and also blocked emergency vehicles from entering the camp on Friday, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said. “Israeli forces … have caused extensive destruction to civilian infrastructure during their military raid of Nur Shams refugee camp,” the charity group Medical Aid for Palestinians said Saturday.” See also Israeli Operation in West Bank Refugee Camp Leaves Massive Destruction in Its Wake (Haaretz); Israeli raids cause ‘worst destruction in decades’ in Tulkarem (Al Jazeera)

‘Political arrest’ of Palestinian academic in Israel is civil liberties threat, say lawyers (The Guardian)

“The arrest and interrogation of a leading Palestinian legal scholar based at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem marks a new threat to civil liberties in Israel, her legal team and employer have said. Prof Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian was detained by police on the afternoon of 17 April over comments made on a podcast more than a month earlier and held overnight in conditions her lawyers described as “terrible” and designed to humiliate. “This case is unique,” said Hassan Jabareen, her lawyer and the director of the human rights organisation Adalah. “This is not only about one professor, it could be a [precedent] for any academic who goes against the consensus in wartime.”…Although there have been widespread detentions of Palestinian citizens of Israel who publicly criticised the war in Gaza, this is the first time an academic has been targeted over speech related to their work…All prosecutions relating to freedom of speech have to be approved by the attorney general’s office, so her detention was signed off at the heart of government. Police said they were investigating Shalhoub-Kevorkian on suspicion of incitement to terrorism, violence and racism over comments on a podcast published in early March. Jabareen said: “They could have asked her to come to the police station for two or three hours to discuss, investigate. To carry out the arrest like that, as if she was a dangerous person, shows the main purpose was to humiliate her. It was illegal, that’s why the magistrates court accepted my argument that she should be released and the district court confirmed it.”

U.S. SCENE

Biden signs bill that includes funding for Israel, aid for Gaza (WaPo)

“President Biden signed a $95 billion foreign aid bill Wednesday after the Senate approved it in a 79-18 vote Tuesday night. The measure contains $26 billion in funds allotted for Israel, which the White House said would “help ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against the very real threats it faces from Iran, as well as Iran’s proxy groups.” It also includes humanitarian aid for Gaza and other places.” See also Netanyahu thanks U.S. for new military aid, vows to escalate in Gaza (WaPo); David Satterfield to step down as US envoy for Gaza aid (Al Monitor)

A look at the protests about the war in Gaza that have emerged on US college campuses (AP)

“The students are calling for universities to separate themselves from any companies that are advancing Israel’s military efforts in Gaza — and in some cases from Israel itself. Protests on many campuses have been orchestrated by coalitions of student groups. The groups largely act independently, though students say they’re inspired by peers at other universities. A look at protests on campuses in recent days: Columbia University…University of Southern California…Ohio State University…University of Texas at Austin…George Washington University…Harvard University…California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt…Emerson College…New York University…Emory University…Northwestern University…Yale University…Fashion Institute of Technology…City College of New York…Indiana University Bloomington…Michigan State University East Lansing Campus…University of Connecticut…University of Pennsylvania…” See also Johnson says he’ll push Biden to call in National Guard to quell Columbia unrest (Jewish Insider); Ilhan Omar’s daughter suspended from Columbia University over Gaza protests (Al Monitor);

The Crackdown on Campus Protests Is Happening Everywhere

(The Nation)
“Across the US, pro-Palestine students have faced repression, suspension, and arrest. We asked more than a dozen students to share how their schools have restricted the right to protest.” See also Campus protests for Gaza are proliferating — and so is the repression (+972); Inside the Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia (The Nation)

With eyes on US college campuses, students stress: ‘Gaza is why we’re here’ (Al Jazeera)

“But the students at the heart of the movement say the reason they began their demonstrations – the pressing need to end Israel’s deadly bombardment of Gaza – risks being lost amid a cacophony of voices and distractions. “Gaza is why we’re here. Gaza is why we’re doing this,” said Rue, a student at The New School in New York City who asked to only be identified by her first name due to a fear of reprisals…The students issued a list of demands to their respective universities, including divesting from any companies that may be profiting from the Gaza war or providing the Israeli military with weapons and other support. They have also urged an end to reprisals against students who have spoken out in support of Palestinians and for administrators to pledge not to send police or other law enforcement agencies onto the campuses to break up their protests…Hundreds of students have been arrested across the country since the encampments began.” See also Professors arrested as police use ‘violence’ to clear university camp (Al Jazeera); Students vow to continue Gaza protests after California, Texas arrests (Al Jazeera); Gaza protests grow at US colleges, thousands demonstrate in Brooklyn (Reuters); Harvard Suspends Palestine Solidarity Committee Amid Wave of Protests on College Campuses (The Crimson);

Texas tramples First Amendment rights with police crackdown of pro-Palestinian protests (FIRE – Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression)

“UT Austin is a public, state-run university, and as a result it is open to free public expression. How can someone unlawfully occupy a space they have every legal right to be in? How can acting on the First Amendment right to gather and demonstrate in this public space be reasonably interpreted as an intent to “disrupt and create disorder,” as the statement UT Austin released today claims?…Abbott and UT Austin’s egregious response to peaceful protest and protected speech on campus doesn’t just violate the very state law Gov. Abbott signed — and to which, as a public university, UT Austin is beholden. It also violates the fundamental First Amendment rights of all citizens, including college students and faculty at a public university, to speak freely and loudly on issues of interest and concern. Such a disproportionate show of force meted out based on the content of protected speech is flagrantly unconstitutional, not to mention excessive and unfair, no matter how offensive, hateful, or wrong those in power may consider the speech.” See also U of Pennsylvania bans Students for Justice in Palestine from campus (Ynet); Over 130 arrested at NYU ‘liberated zone’ as anti-Israel encampments sweep US campuses (Times of Israel); Emory in Atlanta Is Latest University to Crack Down on Protests (NYT); Encampments are not ‘inherently unsafe.’ Princeton should not arrest or expel students for them. (Daily Princetonian Editorial Board)

US holds off on sanctioning Israeli military units accused of human rights violations in West Bank before start of war with Hamas (ABC News)

“The Biden administration has determined that three military battalions with the Israel Defense Forces committed “gross human rights violations” against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank but will remain eligible for U.S. military aid regardless because of steps Israel says it’s taking to address the problem, ABC News has learned.” See also Israel presses the U.S. to reconsider sanctions against IDF battalion (Axios)

Amid growing campus protests, House to vote on codifying Trump’s antisemitism executive order (Jewish Insider)

“The House is scheduled to vote next week on the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act, the latest move by top House lawmakers to respond to growing anti-Israel protests on college campuses over the past week. The bill would codify the Trump administration’s 2019 executive order instructing the Department of Education to treat antisemitism on college campuses as a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and to utilize the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism in assessing cases of antisemitism. The Biden administration has continued to enforce the Trump order.” See also Pelosi calls for Netanyahu’s resignation (Axios); Summer Lee wins primary battle over Bhavini Patel in Pittsburgh (Jewish Insider)

PM Netanyahu Responds to Antisemitism in US Campuses (YouTube)

“What’s happening in America’s college campuses is horrific…Antisemitic mobs have taken over leading universities. They call for the annihilation of Israel. They attack Jewish students. They attack Jewish faculty. This is reminiscent of what happened in German universities in the 1930s. It’s unconscionable. It has to be stopped. It has to be condemned and condemned unequivocally.” Bernie Sanders to Netanyahu: ‘It Is Not Antisemitic to Hold You Accountable’ (Common Dreams)

Majority in U.S. Now Disapprove of Israeli Action in Gaza (Gallup)

“After narrowly backing Israel’s military action in Gaza in November, Americans now oppose the campaign by a solid margin. Fifty-five percent currently disapprove of Israel’s actions, while 36% approve. All three major party groups in the U.S. have become less supportive of Israel’s actions in Gaza than they were in November. This includes declines of 18 percentage points in approval among both Democrats and independents and a seven-point decline among Republicans. Independents have shifted from being divided in their views of the Israeli military action to opposing it. Democrats, who were already largely opposed in November, are even more so now, with 18% approving and 75% disapproving. Republicans still support Israel’s military efforts, but a reduced majority — 64%, down from 71% — now approve.”

State Department Arabic spokesperson resigns in opposition to US policy on Gaza war (Times of Israel)

“The Arabic language spokesperson of the US State Department has resigned, citing her opposition to Washington’s policy related to the war in Gaza, in at least the third resignation from the department over the issue. Hala Rharrit was also the Dubai Regional Media Hub’s deputy director and joined the State Department almost two decades ago as a political and human rights officer, the department’s website shows.” See also Another ex-State Department official alleges Israeli military gets ‘special treatment’ on abuses (AP)

“Kill All Arabs”: The Feds are Investigating UMass Amherst for Anti-Palestinian Bias (The Intercept)

“The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has opened an investigation into the University of Massachusetts Amherst in response to a complaint that alleges that the school took months to address the harassment of Palestinian and Arab students. In the previously unreported civil rights complaint, 18 students said that they have “been the target of extreme anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab harassment and discrimination by fellow UMass students, including receiving racial slurs, death threats and in one instance, actually being assaulted.” The result, the students said, was a hostile environment for all Arab and Palestinian students, those perceived to be Palestinian, and their allies on campus. Among the most chilling allegations involves a student yelling “kill all Arabs” at fellow students protesting Israel’s war on Gaza.”

MEDIA//ACTIVISM

Gaza aid flotilla plans to challenge Israeli blockade, organizers say (WaPo)

“A flotilla of ships bound for the Gaza Strip is preparing to sail from Turkey in the coming days, organizers say, on a mission aimed at breaching Israel’s naval blockade and highlighting the lack of aid reaching Palestinians in the besieged enclave. The organizers, gathered under the banner of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, have participated in similar missions for years, an effort that gained worldwide attention in 2010 after an Israeli raid on a flotilla that included a Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara, killed 10 people and sparked a diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Israel…The latest flotilla mission, which will include a cargo ship carrying more than 5,000 tons of aid, comes as global attention on Gaza’s worsening humanitarian crisis has waned, shifting to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran.”

Police Arrest Rabbis Near Gaza-Israel Border at a Rally to Highlight Starvation (NYT)

“Seven rabbis and peace activists were arrested on Friday near the border with Gaza after they tried to bring food supplies into the territory, according to two participants and the campaign group that organized the effort. The detainees were among a group of roughly 30 rabbis and activists from Israel and the United States who were stopped by police officers as they tried to reach the Erez crossing, a major transit point between Israel and northern Gaza. Organized by Rabbis for Ceasefire, a peace movement based in the United States, the effort was intended to build support for a truce and to highlight rising reports of starvation in Gaza. A global authority on food security, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative, has predicted an imminent famine in northern Gaza, the area of the territory closest to Erez. The protest was timed to coincide with the week of Passover, a Jewish festival that celebrates the biblical story of the liberation of Jews from slavery in ancient Egypt…The effort was largely symbolic and the organizers expected it to fail given the restrictions along the border; the supplies will now be donated to needy Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Rabbi Spitzer said.” See also ‘Not like other Passovers’: hundreds of Jewish demonstrators arrested after New York protest seder (The Guardian)

PEN America awards called off after writers’ Gaza boycott (BBC)

“Prominent literary group PEN America has cancelled its annual award ceremony after dozens of nominated writers withdrew in protest of the war in Gaza. The group, which is dedicated to free expression, announced on Monday that it was cancelling next week’s event. Nine of the ten writers nominated for a PEN book award had withdrawn from the contest because of its alleged lack of support for Palestinian writers…Of the 61 authors and translators nominated for a prize, 28 withdrew their books from consideration, according to a statement from the group.”

Sheryl Sandberg’s new film testifies to Hamas’s brutal sexual violence on October 7 (Times of Israel)

“Following a world premiere in New York on Thursday, “Screams Before Silence,” former Meta chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg’s new documentary on the systematic sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas against Israelis on October 7, is now available for open-access online viewing. The hour-long film, created in cooperation with Israel’s Kastina Productions, provides first-hand accounts from survivors, freed hostages, first responders, and legal, medical, and forensic experts. Sandberg is present throughout the film either interviewing individuals in a studio or accompanying them to October 7-related sites.”

PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS

I got out of Gaza. But I’m still trapped by the war (Mahmoud Mushtaha//+972)

“A sense of anxiety and anger crept into my heart when I left the Gaza Strip earlier this month. Even now, here in Cairo, my conscience still wrestles inside me: how could I leave my mother, father, and siblings amid such suffering? How could I leave them to bear the burden of war alone, while I flee to safety, trying to save myself from the shards of destruction? It was a difficult decision to make, transcending the limits of pain and sorrow. I wasn’t just leaving behind a piece of land, but leaving behind my roots, my identity, and my loved ones. But in that moment of choice, the necessity of survival overcame everything else, even if it meant shedding parts of myself. Israel’s war on Gaza has lasted over six months, stealing our lives with every passing day. Six months of killing, hunger, fear, displacement, and homelessness. Six months that have stripped us of everything, and destroyed our future. War is mentally exhausting and physically draining. It is the worst thing in existence. A life in war is unlike any other life; you are internally shattered, yet you must hold yourself together, because it’s not the time to fall apart or wonder why it is all happening. You cannot allow the war to waste the sacrifices and efforts you made for years to build your future. The responsibilities we must carry are massive…“One member of this family must survive after the war, so that our name doesn’t get wiped off the population registry,” my father said, hiding his tears, when I told him I was considering leaving Gaza.”

We need an exodus from Zionism (Naomi Klein//Guardian)

“What I want to say to you tonight at this revolutionary and historic Seder in the Streets is that too many of our people are worshipping a false idol once again. They are enraptured by it. Drunk on it. Profaned by it. That false idol is called Zionism. It is a false idol that takes our most profound biblical stories of justice and emancipation from slavery – the story of Passover itself – and turns them into brutalist weapons of colonial land theft, roadmaps for ethnic cleansing and genocide…It is a false idol that has led far too many of our own people down a deeply immoral path that now has them justifying the shredding of core commandments: thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not covet.”

What Happened to the Joe Biden I Knew? (Nicholas Kristof//NYT)

“Gaza has become the albatross around Biden’s neck. It is his war, not just Benjamin Netanyahu’s. It will be part of his legacy, an element of his obituary, a blot on his campaign — and it could get worse if Gaza cascades into a full-blown famine or violent anarchy, or if a wider war breaks out involving Iran or Lebanon…Consider just one example of America’s fingerprints on this war under Biden’s leadership. In January, the Israeli military dropped a bomb on a compound in Gaza used by the International Rescue Committee, a much-respected American aid organization that is supported in part by American tax dollars. The International Rescue Committee says that the near-fatal strike was caused by a 1,000-pound American-made bomb, dropped from an American-made F-16 fighter jet. And when an American-made aircraft drops an American-made bomb on an American aid group in an American-supported war, how can that not come back to Biden?”

From the river to the sea, Israel is waging the same war (Orly Noy//+972)

“Rather, the assault on the Strip is an integral part of the organizational logic of Israel’s apartheid regime between the river and the sea — a regime that many Israelis hope will continue to be in “great shape” after the war is over…The categorization of Palestinians into separate classes — citizens inside Israel, permanent residents of East Jerusalem, occupied subjects in the West Bank, prisoners in the Gaza ghetto, and refugees in exile — is at the heart of Israel’s policy of divide and conquer. It effectively negates the existence of the Palestinians as a single and organic people, while keeping them all under the rule of Jewish supremacy. While Israelis may regard these categories as unrelated entities, this manipulation has never taken hold among Palestinians themselves, whose national identity does not recognize these artificial borders, even as those borders force upon them different rights and experiences. As such, the disaster in Gaza is not seen in Jaffa, Nablus, or Shu’afat refugee camp as an external event, but rather as a direct and intimate injury to a limb of the Palestinian body politic. The inverse is also true: the realities in Jenin refugee camp, East Jerusalem, and Umm al-Fahem cannot be understood independently of what is happening in Gaza. Since October 7, Israel has been waging an all-out war not only against the residents of Gaza, but against the entire Palestinian people. True, in Gaza, this war is being waged with such unprecedented cruelty as to be called a genocide. But if we see the Israeli regime as a hand with five fingers, each gripping a different part of the Palestinian people, it becomes clear how this hand has clenched into a single iron fist.”

Remembering Walid Daqqa, a prisoner with a ‘heretical belief in life’ (Anat Matar//+972)

“I met Walid almost two decades ago, after I established the Israeli Committee for Palestinian Prisoners together with Tamar Berger and Sanaa Salama-Daqqa — Walid’s upstanding and ever-determined wife and a good friend of mine. When Walid first heard from Sanaa about our small project, he wrote to me, marking the start of a years-long political, personal, reflective, and philosophical correspondence. In order to convey even just a glimpse of the unique character of the person we lost this month, I want to share some excerpts of what he wrote to me from within the prison walls. But before I do so, it’s important to explain the circumstances that led him there. The four-decade campaign of incitement against him — which has continued and intensified after his untimely death — obscures the man who walked the path of truth.”

Explained: The Israeli Extremists Who Want to Rebuild the Temple, and the Government Ministers Who Back Them (Haaretz)

“They dream of rebuilding the Temple, re-instituting animal sacrifices, and a Jewish religious monopoly over one of the world’s most contentious, incendiary sites, the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa Mosque. Once a fringe movement, its activists are now backed by Itamar Ben-Gvir and other far-right extremists in Netanyahu’s government. This is the story of the Temple Movement.” See also Temple Mount Activists Arrested for Attempt to Sacrifice Goats Praise Ben-Gvir’s Illegal Intervention to Free Them (Haaretz)

Palestinian artists stifled as Israel ‘weaponizes fear and fame’ (Mariam Farah//+972)

“Indeed, although fighting in the current war is concentrated in Gaza, it has sparked a crisis for Palestinian citizens of Israel — and artists in particular have been caught in the crosshairs. Their freedom of expression stifled, Palestinian artists have faced attacks by the state and its Jewish-Israeli citizens in the form of incitement, discrimination, legal prosecutions, and physical threats. Often, this has come as a result of the mere expression of solidarity with the people of Gaza or of peacefully opposing Israel’s brutal onslaught…Israel’s restrictions on Palestinian culture and art long predate the current war. They were prevalent at the state’s founding and have ebbed and flowed ever since. But the crackdown since October 7 is so severe that numerous critics say its closest analogue is the era of Israel’s military rule over Palestinian citizens, which lasted from 1948 until 1966.”

1. New from FMEP

2. Gaza

3. Region//Global

4. River to the Sea

5. U.S. Scene

6. Media//Lawfare//Quashing Criticism of Israel

7. Perspectives//Long Reads 

NEW FROM FMEP

Dead, Disabled, Displaced, Detained, Orphaned: The Toll of Israel’s War on Palestinian Children (Upcoming webinar on 4/25)

Israel’s war in Gaza and the increased violence in the West Bank – now known as the “Quiet War” – have affected Palestinian children in particularly horrific ways. Human rights researchers have documented these specific harms: Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 13,800 children, turned 19,000 into orphans, and made more than 1000 into amputees. More than 1 million children have lost their homes. Dozens of children have already starved to death, and up to 60% of the children in northern Gaza are experiencing acute malnourishment in a famine that is spreading at the fastest rate of starvation on record anywhere in the world, and which may constitute the war crime of deliberate starvation. As UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini put it, “This war is a war on children. It is a war on their childhood and their future.” And in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Palestinian children continue to face arrest and detention, home demolitions and expulsions. Over the past six months, increased violence at the hands of the IDF and the IDF-backed settlers over the past six months has killed 117 Palestinian children. In this webinar, public health expert Dr. Yara Asi will speak with experts from two premiere Palestinian human rights organizations: Hamdi Shaqqura from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), a Gaza-based organization which continues to operate and collect data in Gaza even under the most difficult circumstances; and Miranda Cleland from Defense for Children International-Palestine, which focuses on the rights of Palestinian children under Israeli occupation.

FMEP Legislative Round-Up: April 19, 2024 (Lara Friedman)

1. Bills, Resolutions
2. Emergency $$/Weapons for Israel Back on the Agenda (& more!)
3. Letters
4. Hearings & Markups
5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

Settlement & Annexation Report: April 19, 2024 (Kristin McCarthy)

• Israeli Courts Order Two Significant Evictions in East Jerusalem, Presaging Mass Forced Displacement in Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan
• Supreme Court Green Lights Eviction of Shehadeh Family from Batan Al-Hawa Home
• Israeli Court Orders Eviction of the Diab Family from Sheikh Jarrah Home
• Lower Aqueduct Settlement Plan Published Tender
• Ir Amim & Bimkom: Israel Has Accelerated East Jerusalem Settlement Building Since Oct 7th
• Ben Gvir Seizes Authority Over East Jerusalem Housing Demolitions
• New Plan to Massively/Strategically Expand the Ariel Settlement Industrial Zone
• Smotrich Designates Symbols for Four Outposts Previously Approved for Retroactive Legalization
• The U.S. & E.U Unveil New Sanctions Targeting Settlers & Settler Entities
• Bonus Reads

Updates on Gaza & Looking to the Future: Mass Depopulation & Continued Violence (New podcast episode)

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, political analyst Khalil Sayegh joins FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart to look at the current situation on the ground in Gaza, where Sayegh’s family is located, including a discussion of the military and political dynamics of both Israel and Hamas. Looking towards the future, Sayegh discusses the ways the in which Israel has made Gaza unlivable and has no plan to make it livable again, thus creating the conditions for mass depopulation of Gaza and laying the groundwork for continued armed Palestinian resistance.

RESIGNED: The Former Biden Admin Officials Who Left Their Jobs Over Gaza (FMEP webinar recorded 4/12/24)

Featuring Tariq Habash, former official at the U.S. Department of Education, Josh Paul, former official at the U.S. Department of State, Annelle Sheline, & former official at the U.S. Department of State in conversation with FMEP Fellow Rania Batrice. Paul, Habash, and Sheline come together for their first joint public appearance and conversation over their individual decisions to resign from their jobs in the Biden Administration over the President’s policy on Israel, Palestine, and the ongoing war in Gaza. We discuss the Biden Administration’s policy and decision-making, and the possibilities for changing course, as well as the personal stakes, choices, and costs of public protest against the U.S.’s close embrace of Israel and its brutal war on Gaza.

GAZA

1.7 million Palestinians forcibly displaced in Gaza: UNHCR (PressTV)

“The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) has announced about 1.7 million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced inside Gaza due to Israel’s genocidal war against the people of Palestine. UNHCR spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said during a press conference at the United Nations office in Geneva on Tuesday that “resolving the catastrophic situation experienced by civilians in Gaza must remain a priority.”…She said that “Israel continues to impose unlawful restrictions on the entry and distribution of humanitarian assistance, and to carry out widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure.” Shamdasani added, “There are about 1.7 million forcibly displaced people in Gaza. These people live in terrifying conditions and under constant threat.”’ See also Thousands of Palestinians attempt to return home to northern Gaza, but face Israeli fire (CNN); Six months into the war on Gaza, over 10,000 women have been killed, among them an estimated 6,000 mothers, leaving 19,000 children orphaned (UN Women)

‘It’s death there’: babies and children hit hardest as famine tightens hold on Gaza (The Guardian)

“Even if the war in Gaza ended tomorrow, for some of the Palestinian territory’s children, it would not help. Hunger and malnutrition have already claimed an estimated 27 young lives, and for many more, it may be too late to reverse the excruciating toll that starvation takes on small, growing bodies…UN-backed food insecurity experts assessed in mid-March that famine n Gaza could set in between later that month and mid-May. Last week, Samantha Power, the head of the US humanitarian and development agency, USAid, became the first American official to confirm publicly that in some areas, famine had already taken hold…Malnutrition is spreading at record pace among children, according to the World Food Programme. More than 90% of young children and pregnant and breastfeeding women are subsisting on two or fewer food groups – mainly bread – with no access to fruit, vegetables, milk or proteins. Almost half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million is under 18, and the effects of starvation may follow those who survive for the rest of their lives: their brains and bodies, without the nutrients needed for growth, cannot properly develop, leading to health problems such as poor eyesight and learning difficulties later in life.” See also U.N. official says Israel systematically impeding Gaza aid distribution (CBS)

Israel still plans to launch Rafah assault, Netanyahu tells western diplomats (Guardian)

“Benjamin Netanyahu has told western diplomats that he will go ahead with a ground offensive on Rafah in southern Gaza, and has also suggested that Israel’s anticipated reprisal for Iran’s missile and drone salvo will be aimed at Iranian interests rather than Tehran’s proxies. The Israeli leader has sought to assure anxious allies that Israel’s response to Iran will be measured, while also claiming he will flood Gaza with aid and ensure that civilians and aid agencies are given ample opportunity to flee Rafah, the last relative refuge for at least 1.4 million displaced Palestinians. The UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, accepted on Wednesday before meeting Netanyahu that some kind of Israeli action against Iran was now inevitable. Western officials said the emphasis on an attack on Rafah – Hamas’s last military redoubt in Gaza – reflected the renewed confidence with which Netanyahu was viewing the politics of the Middle East, after western allies rallied round Israel after the Iranian attack. Some of the pressure to ostracise Israel has eased.” See also U.S. and Israel hold high-level talks on Rafah amid Iran tensions (Axios); US remains unconvinced by Israel’s plans for Rafah after second meeting (Times of Israel)

Israeli army broadcasts intimidating sounds to lure, kill, and forcibly displace civilians in the Nuseirat camp (Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor)

“As part of its ongoing genocide, which started on 7 October 2023, the Israeli army is using new disturbing techniques to intimidate, lure, and target Palestinian civilians in the central Gaza Strip’s Nuseirat refugee camp. Testimonies from camp residents, which were provided to the Euro-Med Monitor team, confirm that the sound of women screaming and babies crying was heard late at night on both Sunday and Monday. When some of the residents went out to investigate and tried to help, they were shot at by Israeli quadcopter drones. The sounds they had heard were in fact recordings playedby the Israeli drones, with the intent of forcing the camp’s residents out into the streets, where they could be easily targeted by snipers and other weaponry.”

Israeli Troops Separated a Gazan Grandma From Her Family. Her Death Will Haunt Her Descendants (Amira Hass//Haaretz)

“When they despaired of finding her outside, family members returned to the burnt house, searching more thoroughly. Only a metal frame remained from her bed, and there, among the ashes and soot left by the mattress and clothes and chest of drawers, they found bones. Her bones, apparently. Before they were found, the IDF spokesman told me that the army wasn’t familiar with the case. An army that knows about every money changer in Gaza so it can kill him with a drone missile cannot locate the soldiers who entered a house with a known address on a specific date. Did the soldiers shoot the grandmother who wasn’t theirs? Did she die of hunger or thirst, bedridden, completely alone after years in which she had been surrounded by dozens of grand- and great-grandchildren? What set the house on fire? Did she suffocate in the smoke and die before the flames reached her, or was she burned to death? These are questions that will forever torment her extended family, in Gaza and overseas, passing from generation to generation.”

How Gaza’s Largest Mental-Health Organization Works Through War (New Yorker)

“Dr. Yasser Abu-Jamei on providing counselling services to Palestinian children: “When relatives are killed, we try somehow to calm the child and then ask questions: What are you going to do tomorrow? What are you going to do the day after tomorrow?”’ See also A trauma surgeon on why Gaza is the worst of war zones (Economist); Satellite images reveal the destruction of hospitals in Gaza (Al Jazeera)

Palestinian paramedics said Israel gave them safe passage to save a 6-year-old girl in Gaza. They were all killed. (WaPo)

“A Washington Post investigation found that Israeli armored vehicles were present in the area in the afternoon, and that gunfire was audible as Hind and her cousin Layan begged for help, as well as extensive damage caused to the ambulance, are consistent with Israeli weapons. The analysis is based on satellite imagery, contemporaneous dispatcher recordings, photos and videos of the aftermath, interviews with 13 dispatchers, family members and rescue workers, and more than a dozen military, satellite, munitions and audio experts who reviewed the evidence, as well as the IDF’s own statements…The Post’s review also found that the ambulance was discovered along a route provided by COGAT, an arm of the Israeli Defense Ministry that generally coordinates safe passage for medical vehicles with the IDF…The IDF denied that any coordination had taken place, repeating its assertion that its forces were not in the area. It did not comment on two detailed timelines of the incident, or on the expert findings, provided by The Washington Post.” See also Gaza’s IVF embryos destroyed by Israeli strike (Reuters)

REGION/GLOBAL

Israel conducted strike on Iran, senior U.S. official says (Axios)

“Fars news agency, which is affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported explosions were heard in the city of Isfahan in central Iran near an Iranian air force base. Iranian state TV reported several drones were shot down by air defenses in Isfahan. Iran issued a notification early Friday morning local time closing the air space over western parts of the country. Iranian state news agency IRNA reports Iranian air defense systems were activated tonight in several places in the country. The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, said early Friday morning that there was “no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites.”’ See also Iran says no retaliation planned, as both sides seek distance from Isfahan attack (Times of Israel)

Isfahan, apparent site of Israeli strike, is home to Iranian nuclear facilities (WaPo)

“The Israeli military carried out strikes on Iran early Friday, an Israeli official said, in retaliation for an Iranian barrage of missiles and drones launched last Saturday — but the scope appeared limited.
Iranian state media said that Iran’s air defense systems intercepted “three small drones” in Isfahan province. The provincial capital in central Iran is famed for its ornate Islamic architecture, but the province is also home to sensitive facilities, including a military base and key nuclear labs.Here’s what to know about Isfahan and why it was a target.” See also Israel’s limited strike on Iran appears designed to avoid escalation (WaPo); Israel, Iran at a draw after Isfahan attack, ready to return to covert war (Al Monitor); How Iran-Israel tensions have escalated since the war on Gaza: A timeline (Al Jazeera); Tehran plays down reported Israeli attacks, signals no retaliation (Reuters); Israel’s Strike Was Smaller Than Expected, and So Was Iran’s Reaction (NYT); Muted Initial Response to Strike Suggests Iran and Israel Want to Avoid Escalation (NYT);

U.S. Distances Itself From Israel’s Strike in Iran, Focusing on Deescalation Efforts (Haaretz)

“Hours after Israel’s apparent retaliatory strikes against Iran, the United States is officially taking a hands-off approach – trying to distance itself from any reported military action while maintaining support for Israel’s right to self-defense. In the first public remarks from a senior U.S. official since the strikes, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken repeatedly declined the opportunity to discuss the strikes except to link the Biden administration with deescalation efforts instead of military action. “The U.S. hasn’t been involved in any offensive operations. What we’re focused on is our work to de-escalate tensions. You saw Israel on the receiving end of an unprecedented attack, and our focus is making sure Israel can defend itself while avoiding conflict,” he said at a press conference in Italy following a meeting with G7 foreign ministers.” See also Biden admin unveils new sanctions on Iran for “unprecedented” Israel attack (Axios)

US vetoes Palestinian membership at United Nations (Al Monitor)

“The United States used its veto on Thursday to block a Palestinian bid for full membership at the United Nations, a move that underscored American isolation over its support for Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip. By a vote of 12 in favor, the United States against and 2 abstentions (the United Kingdom and Switzerland), the Algeria-sponsored draft resolution failed to pass the council. Thursday’s vote marks the fourth time since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks that the United States has exercised its veto authority on the Security Council to shield Israel from resolutions. It abstained from, rather than vetoed, a cease-fire resolution in March, as domestic and international pressure mounted over the administration’s Gaza policy. To be admitted as a new member, Palestine needs the approval of at least nine Security Council members and no vetoes, followed by a two-thirds majority in the General Assembly. After its first failed membership bid in 2011, the UN General Assembly voted to upgrade Palestine’s status to “non-member observer state.” Like the Vatican, Palestine can’t vote in the General Assembly but can participate in UN bodies, such as the International Criminal Court. The United States had hoped to persuade other member states to vote “no” on the draft resolution so that it could avoid using its veto. The Biden administration maintains that before UN membership, there must first be a negotiated agreement between the Palestinians and Israel, which in 1967 captured the territories the Palestinians seek as part of their independent homeland.” See also ‘Blatant aggression’: Reactions to US veto of Palestine’s UN membership bid (Al Jazeera)

Palestinian Perspectives on Escalating Iran-Israel Relations (Fadi Quran,Fathi Nimer,Tariq Kenney-Shawa,Yara Hawari//Al Shabaka)

“While simultaneously carrying out its ongoing genocide in Gaza, the Israeli regime attacked the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria, on April 1, 2024, killing seven Iranian officials. According to Iran, Israeli forces were intending to target a meeting between Iranian officials and Palestinian militants discussing resistance strategies in Gaza. Following the bombing, Iran promised to retaliate—and it did so 12 days later on April 13, 2024, with the launch of over 300 drones and missiles toward Israel. Between Israel’s US-funded Iron Dome air defense system and direct military support from the US, the UK, France, and Jordan, the vast majority of Iran’s barrage was intercepted before impact. Shortly after, the Iranian mission to the UN stated that the matter “can be deemed concluded.” While it remains unclear how and when Israel will respond to Iran’s operation, regional dynamics have undoubtedly already shifted. In this roundtable, Al-Shabaka analysts Fadi Quran, Fathi Nimer, Tariq Kenney-Shawa, and Yara Hawari offer insights on the regional impact of Iran’s recent maneuver and situate the ongoing genocide in Gaza within this broader context.”

Why did Iran attack Israel? What to know about the strikes, U.S. response. (WaPo 4/15/24)

“More than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles were launched by Iran in the first full-scale military attack on Israel by Tehran. Around 99 percent of the projectiles were intercepted, according to Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israel Defense Forces spokesman. Some of the projectiles fell inside Israeli territory, and one damaged a military base in the country’s south, Hagari said. A young girl who was seriously injured in the attack underwent surgery and was moved to the pediatric intensive care unit, according to Israel’s Soroka Hospital. Hagari said “a coalition” of countries helped Israel with intercepting the projectiles. The U.S. military helped Israel take down “nearly all” of the drones and missiles, Biden said. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Britain’s Royal Air Force shot down “a number of Iranian attack drones,” while Jordan’s cabinet said it “dealt with” objects that flew through its airspace overnight. France also contributed technological support, Hagari said. Tehran’s attack on Saturday was “four-pronged,” according to a report by the state-run Tasnim News Agency, originating from sites in Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen. The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, called Tehran’s attack “more successful than we had expected” and warned that any retaliation by Israel would draw a more forceful response. At a United Nations Security Council meeting Sunday, Iran and Israel traded blame over the recent escalation. Iran’s ambassador said the Iranian attack was a “necessary and proportionate” response to an earlier Israeli strike on an Iranian consular building in Syria, while his Israeli counterpart said Iran’s actions “crossed every red line.” See also Iran launches massive drone and missile attack against Israel (WaPo, 4/14/24); U.S. Intercepts Dozens of Iranian Drones and Missiles Aimed at Israel (NYT); Iran’s Attacks Bring Long Shadow War With Israel Into the Open (NYT); Iran Launches Aerial Attack on Israel (NYT)

As Iran and Israel collide, will Palestinians pay the price? (Ghousoon Bisharat//+972)

“‘There is a real possibility that in return for Israel de-escalating with Iran, the United States may give Israel a freer hand in Gaza, specifically with regard to Rafah,” [Middle East Institute’s Khaled] Elgindy warned, referring to a planned ground invasion of the Strip’s southernmost city. In the eyes of the Biden administration, Elgindy continued, “so long as the costs are borne primarily by Palestinians, then it’s acceptable. The moment that the costs escalate beyond Gaza and the Palestinians … then it becomes more dangerous.” But this line of thinking, he added, cannot evade the fact that the prospect of an all-out regional war “grows more likely with every day that passes without a ceasefire [in Gaza].”’

Qatar ‘reevaluating’ Hamas-Israel mediation role amid mounting criticism (Al Monitor)

“Qatar’s prime minister said on Wednesday that his country is reevaluating its mediation role between Israel and Hamas.“At this point right now, we are reevaluating our role as mediators and how the parties are engaged with this mediation,” Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said during a press conference with his Turkish counterpart in Doha. In an apparent jab at pro-Israel members of Congress and some Israeli officials, Sheikh Mohammed accused “politicians with narrow interests” of harming Qatar with their “destructive statements.” Qatar, which for more than a decade has hosted Hamas’ political office in Doha, has helped lead the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian militant group. As the hostage talks stalemated, Republicans and increasingly some Democrats have accused Qatar of failing to leverage its relationship with the US-designated terrorist group that it’s sheltering.” See also C.I.A. Director Blames Hamas for Stalled Peace Talks (NYT);

Israel Has Used Exploding Drones in Previous Attacks on Iran (NYT)

“Iranian officials said that the Israeli strike on Friday morning was carried out by small exploding drones, a tactic that would follow a well-established pattern in Israeli attacks on Iranian military targets. As Israel has targeted Iranian defense and military officials and infrastructure, small drones — specifically ones known as quadcopters — have been a signature of those operations. Quadcopter drones, so named because they have four rotors, have a short flight range and can explode on impact. The drones might have been launched from inside Iran, whose radar systems had not detected unidentified aircraft entering Iranian airspace, Iranian officials said. If the drones were launched within the country, it demonstrates once again Israel’s ability to mount clandestine operations in Iranian territory. Israel’s military has not commented on Friday’s strike. Though it rarely claims responsibility publicly for attacks against Iranian targets, several attacks in recent years have used drones.”

Scoop: Biden told Bibi U.S. won’t support an Israeli counterattack on Iran (Axios 4/14/24)

“Biden told Netanyahu the joint defensive efforts by Israel, the U.S. and other countries in the region led to the failure of the Iranian attack, according to the White House official. “You got a win. Take the win,” Biden told Netanyahu, according to the official. The official said that when Biden told Netanyahu that the U.S. will not participate in any offensive operations against Iran and will not support such operations, Netanyahu said he understood.” See also Blinken: Escalation with Iran is not in U.S. or Israel’s interests (Axios)

Miscalculation Led to Escalation in Clash Between Israel and Iran (NYT 4/17/24)

“Israel was mere moments away from an airstrike on April 1 that killed several senior Iranian commanders at Iran’s embassy complex in Syria when it told the United States what was about to happen. Israel’s closest ally had just been caught off guard…Publicly, U.S. officials voiced support for Israel, but privately, they expressed anger that it would take such aggressive action against Iran without consulting Washington. The Israelis had badly miscalculated, thinking that Iran would not react strongly, according to multiple American officials who were involved in high-level discussions after the attack, a view shared by a senior Israeli official. On Saturday, Iran launched a retaliatory barrage of more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel, an unexpectedly large-scale response, if one that did minimal damage. The events made clear that the unwritten rules of engagement in the long-simmering conflict between Israel and Iran have changed drastically in recent months, making it harder than ever for each side to gauge the other’s intentions and reactions.”

Israel to extend water agreement with Jordan (Ynet)

“Following Jordan’s involvement in the western coalition’s efforts to intercept all missiles and drones fired from Iran toward Israel, it appears Israel has decided to reciprocate; Energy Minister Eli Cohen is widely expected to extend the Jordanian-Israeli water agreement for an additional year.” See also Israeli gas exports to Egypt grow despite tensions over Gaza war (Al Monitor)

Germany bars doctor who worked in Gaza, shuts down Palestinian conference (WaPo)

“A prominent British Palestinian doctor said he was “forcibly prevented” from entering Germany on Friday, with the Palestinian solidarity conference he was slated to speak at shut down by police who detained dozens of activists in the process. Ghassan Abu Sitta, a reconstructive plastic surgeon who spent 43 days tending to the wounded in Gaza City last year, said that he was questioned for three hours at Berlin’s airport before being told he was not allowed to enter the country. He said he had also been informed he was not allowed to record any videos that could be shown in events in Germany this month…The pro-Palestinian conference at which Abu Sitta was due to speak was broken up by police shortly after he was turned back at immigration. It accuses Germany of being complicit in “Israeli apartheid and genocide” on its website and was scheduled to include speakers such as former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis and Irish politician Richard Boyd Barrett, both known for their Palestinian activism. Germany has thrown full support behind Israel during its war in Gaza, with the country’s security seen as paramount to the state given Germany’s Holocaust history. It is the second largest arms supplier to Israel after the United States, with Nicaragua lodging a case at the International Court of Justice earlier this week alleging that Germany is aiding genocide through its deliveries. Berlin has called the case “grossly biased.”’ See also ‘Tomorrow is a Palestinian day’ (Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah//Mondoweiss)

14 troops, 4 civilians wounded in Hezbollah drone attack on northern border town (Times of Israel)

“Fourteen soldiers and four civilians were wounded as an explosive drone fired from Lebanon struck a community center in the northern border town of Arab al-Aramshe on Wednesday, medics and the military said.” See also Hezbollah launches missiles and drones at northern Israel, wounding 14 Israeli soldiers (Reuters)

Israeli strikes in Lebanon kill three including Hezbollah commander, sources say (Reuters)

“Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Tuesday killed three people including a Hezbollah field commander, Lebanese security sources said, an uptick in violence after at least a week of relative calm in more than half a year of hostilities.” See also Lebanon says Israeli agents likely killed Hezbollah-linked currency exchanger near Beirut (AP)

In landmark ruling, Argentine court says Iran and Hezbollah were responsible for 1994 Jewish center bombing (JTA)

“An Argentine court has ruled that Iran and Hezbollah were behind the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, a landmark development in the reckoning over the antisemitic attack that may open the door to international legal action. In a nearly 800-page ruling, the country’s highest criminal court said on Thursday that Iran directed the 1994 bombing of AMIA, which killed 85 people, and defined the attack as “a crime against humanity” and Iran as “a terrorist state.” The bombing was, at the time, the deadliest single attack on Jews since the Holocaust. It came two years after a bombing at the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires killed 29.”

RIVER TO THE SEA

Homes burned, animals killed: Palestinians describe Israeli settler rampage (WaPo)

“Al-Mugghayir, West Bank — The attack by Israeli settlers on this Palestinian village was the worst anyone here could remember. There were pools of dried blood on the rooftop where assailants shot a man dead; a pile of lambs with their necks slit was thick with buzzing flies. At least two Palestinians were killed in the rampage across West Bank villages near Ramallah over the weekend, according to residents, monitoring groups and paramedics, fueled by calls for retribution after a 14-year-old Israeli shepherd went missing in the surrounding area and was later found dead. The Israeli military said he was the victim of a “terrorist attack.” Hundreds of settlers roamed the roads and hillsides of al-Mughayyir, eyewitnesses said, throwing stones and firing on residents. They set homes and vehicles ablaze, including a firetruck that had been called to put out the flames engulfing a family business. Palestinians threw rocks back at the attackers, they said, but were easily outmatched.” See also West Bank sees biggest settler rampage since war in Gaza began as Israeli teen’s body is found (AP); ‘The soldiers opened the way for the settlers’: Pogroms surge across West Bank (Oren Ziv//+972); Israeli settlers kill two Palestinians in West Bank, officials say (Guardian)

Courts Order Evicting 35 Palestinians From East Jerusalem Homes; Properties to Be Allocated to Israeli Right-wing Groups (Haaretz)

“Two Israeli courts ordered in the last few days the eviction of 35 Palestinians from their homes in the East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhoods, ruling in favor of right-wing Jewish nonprofits…Israeli law only allows Jews to reclaim property based on ownership rights dating back to before Israel’s establishment, and both eviction cases were the result of claims made by right-wing Jewish activists. It is estimated that about a third of the real estate in West Jerusalem was owned by Arab Palestinians prior to Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, but that property was transferred to the Israeli government and to private ownership in accordance with the country’s abandoned property law. Palestinian owners have no legal right to have it returned to them.”

Revealed: Israel has sped up settlement-building in East Jerusalem since Gaza war began (Guardian)

“Israel’s government has accelerated the construction of settlements across East Jerusalem, with more than 20 projects totalling thousands of housing units having been approved or advanced since the start of the war in Gaza six months ago, planning documents show. Ministries and offices within the Israeli government are behind all the largest and most contentious of the projects, sometimes in association with rightwing nationalist groups with a history of trying to evict Palestinians from their homes in parts of the city…“The fast-tracking of these plans has been unparalleled in the last six months,” said Sari Kronish, from the Israeli human rights organisation Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights. “While many government bodies were shuttered or had limited operation following 7 October, the planning authorities continued to plough forward, advancing these plans at unprecedented speed.”’

West Bank: Israel Responsible for Rising Settler Violence (Human Rights Watch)

“The Israeli military either took part in or did not protect Palestinians from violent settler attacks in the West Bank that have displaced people from 20 communities and have entirely uprooted at least 7 communities since October 7, 2023, Human Rights Watch said today. Israeli settlers have assaulted, tortured, and committed sexual violence against Palestinians, stolen their belongings and livestock, threatened to kill them if they did not leave permanently, and destroyed their homes and schools under the cover of the ongoing hostilities in Gaza. Many Palestinians, including entire communities, have fled their homes and lands. The military has not assured displaced residents that it will protect their security or allow them to return, forcing them to live in precarious conditions elsewhere.” See also US announces further sanctions on far-right Israeli settlers (Middle East Eye); West Bank at boiling point as Palestinians take up arms against settlers (Al Monitor)

U.S., EU Sanction Prominent Far-right Israeli Activists, NGOs That Fundraised for Previously Sanctioned West Bank Settlers (Haaretz)

“ The U.S. announced Friday its third round of sanctions against extreme right-wing Israelis involved in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, including Bentzi Gopstein, a prominent far-right Israeli activist who is considered close to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. The European Union also announced new sanctions on four Israeli settler activists and two extreme right-wing organizations, including the Lehava organization led by Gopstein…The EU also imposed personal sanctions on far-right activists Meir Ettinger, Elisha Yered, Neria Ben Pazi and Yinon Levy. Yered previously served as an assistant to Knesset member Limor Son Har-Melech of the Otzma Yehudit party…The U.S. Treasury Department is additionally designating the Mount Hebron Fund and Shlom Asiraich NGOs for their roles in established fundraising campaigns for two settlers – Yinon Levi and David Chai Chasdai – who have already been sanctioned by the U.S.”

The thousands of Palestinians Israel arrests, tortures, holds even in death (Al Jazeera)

“Local monitors say at least 9,500 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank are in captivity, a sharp uptick from the 5,200 who were in prison before Israel launched an assault on Gaza in response to an October 7 attack on Israeli communities and military outposts led by the Palestinian group Hamas. Since then, Palestinians have been arrested for actions as innocuous as raising a Palestinian flag or social media posts expressing empathy with victims in Gaza, where more than 35,000 people have been killed in Israel’s devastating war.” See also Gaza detainees ‘urinated on, made to act like animals’ by Israeli forces, Unrwa says (Middle East Eye); Israeli minister Ben Gvir calls for execution of Palestinian prisoners to ease overcrowding (Middle East Eye); Ben Gvir forms police team targeting left-wing activists in the West Bank – report (Times of Israel)

Prominent Palestinian academic arrested in Israel for ‘incitement’ (Middle East Eye)

“A prominent Palestinian academic already suspended from her university position over anti-Zionist comments has been arrested on “suspicion of incitement”…Adalah, an advocacy group which campaigns for the rights of Palestinians in Israel, said: “The arrest of Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian is an egregious violation of her rights, motivated by an agenda of incitement, political persecution, and racism. “Her opinions and speech are protected under the right of freedom of expression and academic freedom. The decision of the State Attorney’s Office to pursue an investigation against her flagrantly violates her right to freedom of expression, contradicts the rule of law, and appears to be unduly influenced by the radical right-wing.”’ See also Court releases Hebrew U. professor held for incitement, call her arrest unjustified (Times of Israel); International Academics’ Statement on the Arrest of Professor Nadera Shalhoub Kevorkian

U.S. SCENE

Military Aid to Israel Cannot Be Unconditional (NYT Editorial Board)

“The U.S. commitment to Israel — including $3.8 billion a year in military aid, the largest outlay of American foreign aid to any one country in the world — is a reflection of the exceptionally close and enduring relationship between the two countries. A bond of trust, however, must prevail between donors and recipients of lethal arms from the United States, which supplies arms according to formal conditions that reflect American values and the obligations of international law. Mr. Netanyahu and the hard-liners in his government have broken that bond, and until it is restored, America cannot continue, as it has, to supply Israel with the arms it has been using in its war against Hamas…Pausing the flow of weapons to Israel would not be an easy step for Mr. Biden to take; his devotion and commitment to the Jewish state go back decades. But the war in Gaza has taken an enormous toll in human lives, with a cease-fire still out of reach and many hostages still held captive. The eroding international support for its military campaign has made Israel more insecure. Confronted with that suffering, the United States cannot remain beholden to an Israeli leader fixated on his own survival and the approval of the zealots he harbors.”

Blinken Is Sitting on Staff Recommendations to Sanction Israeli Military Units Linked to Killings or Rapes (ProPublica)

“A special State Department panel recommended months ago that Secretary of State Antony Blinken disqualify multiple Israeli military and police units from receiving U.S. aid after reviewing allegations that they committed serious human rights abuses. But Blinken has failed to act on the proposal in the face of growing international criticism of the Israeli military’s conduct in Gaza, according to current and former State Department officials. The incidents under review mostly took place in the West Bank and occurred before Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. They include reports of extrajudicial killings by the Israeli Border Police; an incident in which a battalion gagged, handcuffed and left an elderly Palestinian American man for dead; and an allegation that interrogators tortured and raped a teenager who had been accused of throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails. Recommendations for action against Israeli units were sent to Blinken in December, according to one person familiar with the memo. “They’ve been sitting in his briefcase since then,” another official said.” See also Blinken says he’s made decision on Israeli human rights violations in West Bank (WaPo); Democrats Question U.S. Claims that Israel Isn’t Violating International Law Using American Weapons (The Intercept)

Anti-woke Republicans attacked Columbia University. It capitulated (Alisa Solomon, Marianne Hirsch, Sarah Haley and Helen Benedict//The Guardian)

“As Jewish faculty at Columbia University, we watched with alarm as our president, Minouche Shafik, appeared before the House education and workforce committee on Wednesday to answer questions about antisemitism on our campus. While we are deeply concerned about antisemitism, we are also disturbed by the ways the hearing – like those in December, and surely those to follow – used specious charges of rampant antisemitism to advance an illiberal agenda. We were shocked that President Shafik capitulated to its mendacious premises and failed to stand up for fundamental academic principles of honest intellectual inquiry and free expression. Most galling was the absence of any acknowledgment of the relentless devastation in Gaza: the urgent reason for the student protests that the committee caricatures and condemns as antisemitic…The campaign against the independence of higher education has now found incendiary fuel from a new ally: a longstanding, well-organized movement to stifle pro-Palestinian speech in American theaters, art spaces, literary venues and schools. For decades, this effort has relied on the false premise that any expression of a Palestinian narrative is an attack on Israel’s very existence, and that any support of Palestine is pro-Hamas.”

Adams, NYPD announce over 108 arrests during ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ sweep (Columbia Spectator)

“Mayor Eric Adams, alongside top New York Police Department officials, announced during a press conference on Thursday afternoon that police had made more than 108 arrests during the sweep of the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on South Lawn. Captain Jaclyn Keane confirmed at the press conference that all 108 arrested were charged with trespassing, and two were additionally charged with obstruction of governmental administration. The arrests came shortly after University President Minouche Shafik announced the suspension of the protesting students and authorized the NYPD to enter campus and “remove these individuals” from South Lawn…In her letter to the NYPD on Thursday, Shafik wrote that she had “determined that the encampment and related disruptions pose a clear and present danger to the substantial functioning of the University.” When asked to characterize the protests, Chief John Chell said the “clear and present danger” was identified by Columbia, not by the NYPD. The NYPD reported no violence or injuries associated with the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.” “To put this in perspective, the students that were arrested were peaceful, offered no resistance whatsoever, and were saying what they wanted to say in a peaceful manner,”Chell said.” See also Columbia University students stage Vietnam-era anti-war protests for Gaza (Middle East Eye); Palestine Legal Statement on McCarthyist Congressional Hearing With Columbia University President (Palestine Legal); Republicans Wanted a Crackdown on Israel’s Critics. Columbia Obliged. (Michelle Goldberg//NYT); Ilhan Omar’s daughter suspended from Columbia University over Gaza protests (Al Monitor)

Wave of pro-Palestinian protests closes bridges, major roads across U.S. (WaPo)

“Pro-Palestinian demonstrators blocked roads, highways and bridges across the country Monday, snarling traffic and sparking arrests from coast to coast in what some activists declared to be a coordinated day of economic protest against the Israel-Gaza war. The disruption appeared to span the country for much of Monday. Protesters in San Francisco parked vehicles on the Golden Gate Bridge, stopping traffic in both directions for four hours Monday morning, while hundreds of demonstrators blocked a highway in Oakland, some by chaining themselves to drums of cement, California Highway Patrol representatives told The Washington Post. In New York, dozens of protesters stopped traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge and held demonstrations on Wall Street, according to ABC7.Pro-Palestinian protests were also reported in Philadelphia, Chicago, Miami and San Antonio. Demonstrators’ targets ranged from major highways such as Interstate 5 in Eugene, Ore., to a countryside road leading to an aircraft engine manufacturer in Middletown, Conn. Protesters also blocked roads leading to O’Hare International Airport in Chicago and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington state, prompting travelers to walk their suitcases across roads on foot…Protesters have stalled traffic, closed streets, disrupted daily life and interrupted events in major U.S. cities intermittently since the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war, but few have concurrently or consecutively affected travel in as many parts of the country as on Monday. Activists on social media called the Tax Day demonstrations a coordinated day of economic protest against the Israel-Gaza war. Among the banners that protesters unfurled across the country’s highways were calls to “stop the world for Gaza” and for the United States to stop sending arms to Israel.”

Cotton Urges Citizens to Forcibly Confront Pro-Palestinian Protesters (NYT)

“Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, on Monday urged people whose routes were blocked by pro-Palestinian protesters to “take matters into your own hands” and confront the offenders, endorsing the use of physical force against peaceful demonstrators.”

US bill on fighting antisemitism draws rare bipartisan support in Congress (Times of Israel)

“Republicans and Democrats in US Congress are uniting to pass a bill that would create a national coordinator of the fight against antisemitism — though it faces competition from another Republican-backed bill that seeks to define antisemitism. The bipartisan Countering Antisemitism Act, introduced last week, is meant to advance US President Joe Biden’s national strategy to fight antisemitism, rolled out nearly a year ago. The plan focused on action across the executive branch, demanding reforms in federal agencies from the Education Department to the Department of Agriculture…Lara Friedman, the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, noted on X, formerly Twitter, that the bill’s section on higher education cites a 2019 executive order on antisemitism by President Donald Trump. “That EO, as a reminder, centers on enforcing the IHRA definition, including its examples as part of Title VI, as a means of repressing/punishing/chilling criticism and activism targeting Israel and/or Zionism on US campuses,” she said.”

USC cancels pro-Palestinian valedictorian’s speech, citing fears of threats (WaPo)

“The University of Southern California announced Monday that it will not have its valedictorian, who is Muslim and pro-Palestinian, speak at its commencement because officials worry about keeping the event safe amid fears of threats.” See also Statement by University of Southern California Student Asna Tabassum, Class of 2024 Valedictorian (CounterPunch)

MEDIA//LAWFARE//QUASHING CRITICISM OF ISRAEL

Leaked NYT Gaza Memo Tells Journalists to Avoid Words “Genocide,” “Ethnic Cleansing,” and “Occupied Territory” (The Intercept)

“The New York Times instructed journalists covering Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip to restrict the use of the terms “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” and to “avoid” using the phrase “occupied territory” when describing Palestinian land, according to a copy of an internal memo obtained by The Intercept. The memo also instructs reporters not to use the word Palestine “except in very rare cases” and to steer clear of the term “refugee camps” to describe areas of Gaza historically settled by displaced Palestinians expelled from other parts of Palestine during previous Israeli–Arab wars. The areas are recognized by the United Nations as refugee camps and house hundreds of thousands of registered refugees. The memo — written by Times standards editor Susan Wessling, international editor Philip Pan, and their deputies — “offers guidance about some terms and other issues we have grappled with since the start of the conflict in October.”’

Google Fires 28 Employees Involved in Protest of Israeli Cloud Contract (NYT)

“Google fired 28 workers on Wednesday after dozens of employees participated in sit-ins at the company’s New York and Sunnyvale, Calif., offices to protest the company’s cloud computing contract with the Israeli government…Years before the dismissals, tensions had been simmering between the company’s management and some activist employees over Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion Google and Amazon deal to supply the Israeli government with cloud services, such as artificial intelligence. That discord had deepened since the war in Gaza began in October. Google recently fired an employee who disrupted an Israeli technology conference in New York. And the company is even planning to make changes to a corporate forum because employees were bickering about the conflict.” See also ‘Googler Against Genocide’: Tech giant orders arrest of workers protesting contract with Israel (Middle East Eye); STATEMENT from Google workers with the No Tech for Apartheid campaign on Google’s mass, retaliatory firings of workers: (Medium)

PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS

Why Israel-Iran War Is a Lifeline for Netanyahu (Mairav Zonszein//Foreign Policy)

“Direct conflict between Israel and Iran could bolster Netanyahu at a time when he has lost the trust of Biden, his fellow cabinet ministers, and much of the Israeli public. The U.S. government is not going to seriously consider conditioning aid to Israel in the middle of this debacle. Instead of isolating and alienating Netanyahu, which seemed to be the trend, Washington must now engage and deepen cooperation with him. With more world leaders publicly backing him against Iran, Netanyahu may be able to draw out the Gaza operation—continuing to dangle the threat of a Rafah invasion and keep up the appearance of negotiations for a cease-fire, when it has become evident to many that he is not interested in one. Meanwhile, he can stall any push for elections that might replace him—all while the world’s attention turns to uncharted territory in the Middle East and the danger of a wider regional war.”

Is This Israel’s Forever War? (Keith Gessen//New Yorker)

“Foreign-policy analysts whose careers were shaped by the war on terror see troubling parallels.”

Iran is acting more rationally than Israel — for now (Lior Sternfield//+972)

“Had Iran wanted to seriously escalate its conflict with Israel, its response to the Damascus embassy bombing would have looked very different.”

Six months after October 7, a lament for the paths not chosen (Haggai Matar//+972)

“I write to Israelis who believe they have no place in their hearts for Gaza, to understand how we got to this terrible war — and how we must get out of it.”

October 7: The single deadliest day in Israeli history (Haaretz)

“How Hamas attacked Israel, the parents who rescued their children, the extent of the massacres, the conspiracy theories and the intelligence failure”

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, political analyst Khalil Sayegh joins FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart to look at the current situation on the ground in Gaza, where Sayegh’s family is located, including a discussion of the military and political dynamics of both Israel and Hamas. Looking towards the future, Sayegh discusses the ways the in which Israel has made Gaza unlivable and has no plan to make it livable again, thus creating the conditions for mass depopulation of Gaza and laying the groundwork for continued armed Palestinian resistance.

On April 24th, Khalil Sayegh posted that his 18 year old sister in Rafah, Lara Sayegh, was killed in Gaza and his mother is currently in a coma. We offer our deepest condolences to Khalil and continue to be grateful for his voice and analysis.

1. New from FMEP

2. Gaza

3. Region//Global

4. River to the Sea

5. U.S. Scene

6. Lawfare//Redefining Antisemitism to Quash Criticism of Israel

7. Perspectives//Long Reads

NEW FROM FMEP

RESIGNED: The Former Biden Admin Officials Who Left Their Jobs Over Gaza (Webinar/podcast recorded 4/12/24)

FMEP is honored to host Josh Paul, Tariq Habash, and Annelle Sheline for their first joint public appearance and conversation over their individual decisions to resign from their jobs in the Biden Administration over the President’s policy on Israel, Palestine, and the ongoing war in Gaza. We discuss the Biden Administration’s policy and decision-making, and the possibilities for changing course, as well as the personal stakes, choices, and costs of public protest against the U.S.’s close embrace of Israel and its brutal war on Gaza.

FMEP Legislative Round-Up: April 12, 2024 (Lara Friedman)

1. Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. Hearings & Markups; 4. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

GAZA

Aid ‘still not reaching Gaza’, as top US official warns famine has started (Guardian)

“A promised surge in aid into Gaza that Benjamin Netanyahu promised Joe Biden a week ago has so far failed to materialise, aid workers say, as the US aid chief confirmed that famine is beginning to take hold in parts of the besieged coastal strip. The increase in the number of truck crossing into Gaza claimed by Israel conflicts with UN records and already appears to be faltering…Aid officials say the amount of food getting into the coastal strip is far short of what is needed to fend off an impending famine, particularly in the north. On Wednesday, Samantha Power, the head of the US humanitarian and development agency, USAID, became the first American official to confirm publicly that famine had already got a grip in at least some parts of Gaza.” See also ‘It’s an established fact’: US envoy says most Gazans at risk of imminent famine (Times of Israel); Few Signs of Progress on Aid to Gaza After Israeli Pledges (NYT); 

‘The colors and joy have disappeared’: Gazans return to decimated Khan Younis (Ruwaida Kamal Amer//+972)

“Thousands of Palestinians have returned to the city of Khan Younis in recent days after the sudden withdrawal of Israeli forces on Sunday. What awaited them was a scene of total devastation, such that many were unable to even recognize their old homes and streets. Entire neighborhoods have been decimated by bombing, shelling, and bulldozing, leaving barely a trace. Khan Younis is now a city of rubble and ash. Before the war, the city and its surroundings were home to approximately 400,000 people, making it the Gaza Strip’s second largest municipal area after Gaza City. That number more than doubled within the first weeks of the war, as Israel ordered all residents of the northern Strip to evacuate southward, even as it kept bombing Khan Younis. When Israeli troops fully besieged the city in early February, many Palestinians were forced to escape through a so-called “safe corridor,” which entailed abuse and humiliation for those who made the journey. With the army vacating Khan Younis in recent days, the city’s former residents were eager to return after two months or more to see what was left of it. Walking the once bustling and now virtually indiscernible streets, many were shocked by what they found.” See also Palestinians return to destroyed homes in Khan Younis after Israeli withdrawal (The Guardian); Civilians return to Khan Younis – in pictures (Guardian); Khan Younis ‘smells like death’ as Palestinians return to devastated homes (Al Jazeera); ‘There’s no more life’: Khan Younis residents return to find former neighborhoods in ruins (CNN); Israel Withdraws Troops From Southern Gaza as War Hits 6-Month Mark (NYT)

The disappeared of Gaza: tens of thousands missing in territory since start of war (Guardian)

“After six months of war, tens of thousands have disappeared in Gaza, their whereabouts unknown to their relatives or friends. The International Committee of the Red Cross has recorded more than 7,000 cases of missing persons since the start of the conflict in Gaza…Artillery bombardment and airstrikes have reduced entire blocks of flats or tenements to rubble across much of the territory, burying many whose deaths have gone unrecorded. Some of the dead have been placed in makeshift graves by strangers…Some of the disappeared, especially badly traumatised children or the psychologically ill, may still be alive, but unable to find their relatives after being separated.”

Numbers That Stagger the Imagination: There’s No Way to Quantify the Suffering in Gaza (Amira Hass//Haaretz)

“Due to the limitations of the human imagination (as opposed to the imagination of warmongers and weapons developers), and in the absence of a different dictionary, there’s no real way to describe the destruction and loss in Gaza after six months of war. Theoretically, it would be sufficient to view the hundreds if not thousands of video clips that show the trembling children – unable to control their trembling – after Israeli bombings: in hospitals, in the street, some of them sobbing, some unable to utter a word. Covered with dust and bleeding. That’s one detail that’s sufficient to represent the disaster…As of late January, 17,000 children are walking around the Strip without adult accompaniment, according to UNICEF. Their parents were killed, they weren’t extricated from among the ruins. Or the children got lost during all the mass marches to the south. And that’s not including the 14,000 children (of about 33,000 known dead) who were slain so far by Israeli bombings. Added to them are thousands of children who have lost limbs, are suffering from burns, are walking around with wounds that have become infected in the absence of bandages and medicine, and will suffer from PTSD for the rest of their lives. What’s their future? It’s impossible to quantify the suffering… “Palestinians in Gaza now make up 80 percent of all people facing famine or severe hunger worldwide,” according to the joint interim report of the World Bank, the European Union and the United Nations, which was published last week.” See also Gaza’s Carnage Through the Eyes of Palestinian Photojournalists (Rolling Stone); 

Three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Israeli strike (Al Monitor) 

“Al Jazeera Arabic reported that three of Haniyeh’s sons and several of his grandchildren had been killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the Shati Camp, in northern Gaza.” See also An Israeli airstrike in Gaza kills 3 sons and 4 grandchildren of Hamas’ top leader (AP)

Dying for a bag of flour: Videos and eyewitness accounts cast doubt on Israel’s timeline of deadly Gaza aid delivery (CNN)

“The 27-year-old was surrounded by hundreds of other Palestinians who had gathered for an aid delivery on February 29 when Israeli soldiers accompanying the humanitarian convoy opened fire. More than 100 people were killed and 700 injured, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The tragedy, which has become known among Palestinians as the “Flour Massacre,” is one of the single deadliest mass casualty events to take place in Gaza since Israel launched its assault on the strip following Hamas’ October 7 terror attack…CNN collected testimonies and videos from 22 eyewitnesses, many of whom had traveled from other cities across Gaza in the hopes of finding something for their families to eat. When the convoy passed through an Israeli checkpoint on Al Rashid Street, the main north-south route designated by the Israeli military for humanitarian aid, survivors recalled Israeli troops opening fire on crowds as they tried desperately to reach the food aid. Many said they were undeterred by the bullets, believing that if they weren’t killed attempting to get the flour, they would die of hunger instead…But CNN’s analysis of dozens of videos from the night and testimonies from eyewitnesses’ casts doubt on Israel’s version of events. The evidence, reviewed by forensic and ballistic experts, indicated that automatic gunfire began before the IDF said the convoy had started crossing through the checkpoint and that shots were fired within close range of crowds that had gathered for food.” 

Crutches and chocolate croissants: Gaza aid items Israel has rejected (WaPo)

“Israel is under growing pressure to ramp up aid to Gaza, where its military operations and siege have brought mass displacement, hunger and disease. In recent days, Israeli authorities say, they have increased the number of food and aid trucks entering the enclave, after President Biden warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that U.S. support for Israel depends on the measures it takes to protect civilians and aid workers. But in the six months since the start of the war, Israeli authorities have also denied or restricted access to a number of items, ranging from lifesaving medical supplies to toys to chocolate croissants.“I think it’s unprecedented,” Shaina Low, a spokeswoman for the Norwegian Refugee Council in the Palestinian territories, said of the Israeli restrictions. “It’s just nothing that aid agencies have ever had to deal with.”’

Before WCK strike, aid groups had warned of peril to Gaza relief workers (WaPo)

“For months, aid groups in Gaza warned that the system used to coordinate their deliveries with Israel’s military was broken, putting the lives of relief workers at risk…Over the past six months, humanitarian organizations, including Doctors Without Borders and the U.N. relief agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), have publicized at least nine accounts of aid convoys or buildings coming under attack, despite their routes or coordinates being shared with Israeli authorities in advance. Nearly 200 Palestinian aid workers have been killed, according to Humanitarian Outcomes, an organization that tracks aid-worker deaths. “What’s increasingly clear is that the deconfliction process is a fiction,” said Ciarán Donnelly, a senior vice president at the International Rescue Committee, which operates in Gaza. “It doesn’t provide any guarantees of safety.”’ See also UNRWA USA resumes funding to the UN agency for Palestine refugees, providing $5 million in support for life-saving humanitarian relief in Gaza (UNRWA USA); Statement From Anera’s President on Resuming Operations in Gaza (Anera); UNICEF worker describes attack on Gaza aid convoy (Al Jazeera); 

Israel’s Account of Attack on Aid Convoy Raises Wider Legal Questions, Experts Say (NYT)

“Israel’s account of its attack on a World Central Kitchen convoy raises significant legal questions even if the strike was the result of a series of mistakes, experts say. The Israeli military announced on Friday that its preliminary investigation had revealed a string of errors that led to the deaths of seven aid workers. It took responsibility for the failure, saying that there were “no excuses” and citing “a mistaken identification, errors in decision-making and an attack contrary to the standard operating procedures.” But the description of events that has emerged raises broader questions about the military’s ability to identify civilians and its procedures for protecting them, legal experts told The New York Times — including new concerns about whether Israel has been complying with international law in its conduct of the war in Gaza more generally.” See also Top IDF commander in aid strike wanted to block humanitarian supplies into Gaza (The Telegraph); Israel sacks 2 top IDF officials, citing ‘serious failure’ in strike on Gaza aid workers (Al Monitor)

Hamas Does Not Have 40 Hostages Who Meet Terms of Potential Swap With Israel, Official Says (NYT)

“A senior Hamas official said on Wednesday that Hamas did not have 40 living hostages in Gaza who met the criteria for an exchange under a proposed cease-fire agreement with Israel being negotiated…International negotiators have proposed an initial six-week cease-fire during which Hamas would release a first group of 40 hostages — including women, older people, ill hostages and five female Israeli soldiers — in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons as well as other demands.”See also US, Israeli officials fear most hostages held by Hamas are dead — report (Times of Israel); Hamas says it is studying cease-fire proposal after negotiators leave Cairo (WaPo) 

Against the magnitude of death, our pens feel powerless in Gaza (Ibtisam Mahdi//+972)

“Israel’s onslaught made me a refugee, a bereaved sister, and a mother to starving children. My journalistic endeavors have become almost impossible.” 

Inside Israel’s Bombing Campaign in Gaza (Isaac Chotiner interviews Yuval Abraham//New Yorker) 

“Since the war began in Gaza, more than six months ago, the Israeli magazine +972 has published some of the most penetrating reporting on the Israel Defense Forces’ conduct. In November, +972, along with the Hebrew publication Local Call, found that the I.D.F. had expanded the number of “legitimate” military targets, leading to a huge increase in civilian casualties…Then earlier this month, +972 and Local Call released a long feature called “Lavender: The AI Machine Directing Israel’s Bombing Spree in Gaza.” The story revealed how the Israeli military had used the program to identify suspected militants, which in practice meant that tens of thousands of Palestinians had their homes marked as legitimate targets for bombing, with minimal human oversight…The author of both stories was Yuval Abraham, an Israeli journalist and documentary filmmaker. Abraham co-directed the documentary “No Other Land,” about the daily struggles of Palestinians in the West Bank.” 

REGION//GLOBAL

Biden vows ‘ironclad’ US commitment to Israel amid fears of Iran attack (Guardian)

“Joe Biden has vowed that US commitment to defend Israel against Iran was “ironclad” as concerns rose in Washington that a “significant” Iranian strike could happen within days, in retaliation for the bombing of an Iranian consular building in Damascus. US and allied officials fear that a strike is imminent and could come in the form of a direct missile launch from Iran, rather than an attack through a proxy like Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel has vowed to respond in kind to such a direct strike, raising the prospect of a regional war, which US officials now believe is more likely than at any point since the beginning of the Gaza conflict on 7 October.” See also Israel threatens to strike Iran directly if Iran launches attack from its territory (AP); Biden Administration Fears Iran Might Target U.S. Forces Over Israel Strike (The Intercept); CENTCOM chief begins Israel visit, coordinating for possible Iran attack (Al Monitor); Iran’s Khamenei says Israel ‘will be punished’ for Syria consulate bombing (Al Monitor)

Scoop: Iran warns U.S. to stay out of fight with Israel or face attack on troops (Axios)

“Iran sent a message to the Biden administration through several Arab countries earlier this week: if the U.S. gets involved in the fighting between Israel and Iran, U.S. forces in the region will be attacked, three U.S. officials told Axios…A U.S. defense official told Axios the U.S. is moving additional assets to the region to bolster regional deterrence efforts and increase force protection for U.S. forces.” See also Iran signals it will limit response to Israel attack to avoid escalation (Axios)

Gulf states warn US not to launch strikes on Iran from their territory or airspace (Middle East Eye)

“The US’s Gulf allies are working overtime to shut down avenues that could link them to a US reprisal against Tehran or its proxies from bases inside their kingdoms, according to a senior US official who spoke with MEE on condition of anonymity. As tensions flare, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman and Kuwait have raised questions about the intricate details of basing agreements that permit tens of thousands of US troops to be stationed across the oil-rich peninsula. They are also moving to prevent US warplanes from flying over their airspace in the event the US conducts a retaliatory strike on Iran.” See also U.S. Sends a Top General to Israel Amid Fears of Iranian Strikes (NYT); Iran’s Retaliation Likely to Be Limited, but Errors Could Lead to War, Experts Say (NYT)

France, India, Russia, UK issue travel warnings over Israel-Iran tensions (Al Jazeera)

“Countries including France, India, Russia and the United Kingdom have warned their citizens against travelling to Israel, the Palestinian territories and, in some cases, the wider region amid threats of an Iranian attack in response to a strike this month on its consulate in Damascus.” See also France, Canada, Australia warn citizens against travel to Israel, Lebanon, Iran (Al Monitor); 

The U.S. issues new travel guidelines, warning that Iran will avenge the killings of senior commanders. (NYT)

“The U.S. State Department on Thursday barred its employees from traveling to large parts of Israel, the first time the U.S. government had restricted the movement of its employees in this way since the war in Gaza began more than six months ago.” See also Report warns Iran could launch major drone and missile attack within hours (Times of Israel, 4/12/24)

Leaders of Jordan, France and Egypt: Cease fire now in Gaza (King Abdullah II, Emmanuel Macron and Abdel Fatah El-Sisi//WaPo)

“The war in Gaza and the catastrophic humanitarian suffering it is causing must end now. Violence, terror and war cannot bring peace to the Middle East. The two-state solution will. It is the only credible path to guaranteeing peace and security for all, and ensuring that neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis ever have to relive the horrors that have befallen them since the Oct. 7 attack. In light of the intolerable human toll of the war, we, the leaders of Egypt, France and Jordan, call for the immediate and unconditional implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2728. We underline the urgent need to bring about a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.”

What to know about the Palestinian bid to become a full U.N. member (WaPo)

“The Palestinian Authority is pushing for global recognition of a Palestinian state by asking the U.N. Security Council to reconsider its application for full membership.” See also US readies another veto as Palestinians seek elusive UN membership (Al Monitor); Ireland says moving closer to recognising Palestinian state (Reuters)

At U.N. Court, Germany Fights Allegations of Aiding Genocide (NYT)

“Germany on Tuesday defended itself at the International Court of Justice against accusations that its arms shipments to Israel were furthering genocide in Gaza, arguing that most of the equipment it has supplied since Oct. 7 was nonlethal and that it has also been one of the largest donors of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. At the U.N. court in The Hague, lawyers for Germany said that the allegations brought by Nicaragua had “no basis in fact or law” and rested on an assessment of military conduct by Israel, which is not a party to the case…On Monday, Nicaragua had argued that Germany was facilitating the commission of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza by providing Israel with military and financial aid, and it asked for emergency measures ordering the German government to halt its support. The court is expected to decide within weeks whether to issue emergency measures.” See also Israel’s security at core of German foreign policy due to Holocaust, ICJ hears (Guardian)

Indonesia ready to normalize ties with Israel as part of bid to join OECD – official (Times of Israel)

“Indonesia could normalize ties with Israel as part of a deal to smooth the entry of the world’s most populous Muslim nation into a global forum for developed countries, an Israeli official said Thursday…The OECD began the process of adding Jakarta to the 38-nation forum in February, but Israel had reportedly objected to its accession due to the lack of diplomatic relations. Countries must receive unanimous support to join the bloc, which is dedicated to advancing economic growth via neo-liberal fiscal policies.”

Germany detains Gaza surgeon Ghassan Abu Sittah and ‘refuses him entry’ (Middle East Eye)

“Prominent British–Palestinian surgeon Ghassan Abu Sittah said authorities in Germany have detained him and are refusing him entry into the country. Abu Sittah was due to speak at a Palestinian conference in Berlin on Friday. The surgeon said he had been invited to the conference to speak “about my work in Gaza hospitals”.”

RIVER TO THE SEA

Detention Figures & Update (Military Court Watch March 2024 Newsletter)

“According to data issued quarterly by the Israel Prison Service (IPS), as of 31 December 2023, there were 8,308 Palestinians (West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza) held as “security prisoners” in detention facilities including 137 children (12-17 years). In the case of children there was an 11% increase in the number compared with the previous month and an annual increase of 15% compared with 2022. Forty-nine children were held in administrative detention without charge or trial – 1,178% above the 16-year average. According to the IPS, 49% of child detainees and 74% of adults were unlawfully transferred from the occupied West Bank to prisons in Israel in December in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and Rome Statute…Since 7 October 2023, 37 adult Palestinian detainees have died in Israeli custody (10 in IPS facilities, 27 in Israeli military custody). Adult and child detainees report harsh conditions including violence in prison and while being transferred to military courts. Evidence of violence and medical neglect appears to be corroborated by doctors working in field hospitals and autopsies conducted since 7 October.”

While War Rages in Gaza, the West Bank Has Undergone a Metamorphosis (Gideon Levy & Alex Levac//Haaretz)

“In the past six months, the occupied West Bank has undergone a metamorphosis…It’s impossible to overestimate the depth and breadth of the changes wrought in the West Bank in these months. Most of them, if not all, are probably irreversible…Some changes are immediately apparent to anyone who travels around the West Bank, others are less visible. The West Bank is shuttered and besieged. Practically all Palestinian cities and villages have some, or even many, access roads that have been sealed off. Indeed, most of the locales’ ubiquitous iron entry gates were locked by the Israel Defense Forces on October 8. With such a system of gates and other barriers, a total lockdown of the West Bank can be implemented within a short time…Life has become intolerable for three million people. It’s not only the time that is lost in prolonged travel from place to place; it’s also the fact that one never knows if one will reach one’s destination amid the galling wait and the indignities at the checkpoints. Along with the locked gates have come dozens of ad hoc roadblocks erected by soldiers, which suddenly appear and then disappear; when they are in place, traffic becomes a nightmare for any Palestinian who encounters them. The West Bank has gone back in time almost a quarter of a century, to the period of the second intifada, but this time without the intifada…Some 150,000 West Bank Palestinians who were formerly legally permitted to work in Israel have been prohibited to do so since October 8. The consequences for the Palestinian (and the Israeli) economy are obvious. Likewise, the consequences of forced idleness among tens of thousands of people are equally clear and predictable…At the same time, a quiet population transfer continues, bit by bit but systematically, especially of the weakest residents – those of the pastoral communities, mostly – at both poles of the West Bank: the Jordan Valley in the north and the South Hebron Hills on the other side…Hundreds of Palestinians, mostly children and teenagers, have been killed, most for no apparent reason. Soldiers deployed in the West Bank seem to have become more trigger-happy than they were before.” See also Israeli Troops Shoot and Kill a Palestinian Shepherd Reading the Quran on His Land (Haaretz); Israeli Army Kills Two Palestinians in West Bank Clashes (Haaretz); One dead as settlers rampage in West Bank (Al Jazeera); Palestinian Killed, Three Israeli Soldiers Wounded in Clashes During Search for Missing 14-year-old Israeli (Haaretz); Israel declares record amount of occupied West Bank as state-owned land in 2024 (Middle East Eye)

Terminally ill Palestinian prisoner Walid Daqqa dies in Israeli custody (Al Jazeera)

“Imprisoned Palestinian novelist and activist Walid Daqqa, who was suffering from cancer, has died in Israel’s Shamir Medical Center, according to the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs. Daqqa was from Baqa al-Gharbiyye, a predominantly Palestinian city in Israel, and had served for 38 years in Israeli prisons, the commission added, before saying that he had died as a result of a “slow killing” policy carried out against ill prisoners by the Israeli prison administration.” See also Israeli Police Weigh Investigating Tel Aviv University Professor for Eulogizing Walid Daka (Haaretz); Amnesty International urges Israel to return body of Palestinian who died of cancer in custody (Amnesty)

Opinion | Dear President Biden, Are You Okay With Israeli Settlers Using American Weapons? (Amira Hass//Haaretz)

“In March, 147 attacks by Israeli Jews against Palestinians in the West Bank were recorded, an average of five per day…But the pattern is familiar from many similar incidents in which Israelis with the outward characteristics of observant Jews (kippot, sidelocks, tzitzit dangling from their undershirts) attack Palestinian farmers, old and young. They have also assaulted Israeli activists against the occupation, including women – including older women, and rabbis. Let’s say it for the millionth time: The pattern, established for decades, shows that the authorities – who do not prevent, arrest, detain, prosecute or punish anyone – want the attacks to continue…FYI President Joe Biden: Their guns are U.S.-made, and the goal is for these weapons to terrorize people…In March there were 147 recorded attacks. In February, 145. In January, 108. Last October saw a record number, as expected, 408. In June, 184. In total, in the past 12 months, 1,926 attacks by Jews against Palestinians were recorded. Let this number sink in: 1,926. All kinds of attacks were committed: armed men invading villages – tents, vineyards, fields and springs; mere threats with guns; damage to trees and property; thefts of livestock; rocks thrown at homes and cars; people beaten bloody, their bones broken; and killings – with or without an escort of armed soldiers for protection of the invading settlers.”

Iran Smuggles Arms to West Bank, Officials Say, to Foment Unrest With Israel (NYT)

“Iran is operating a clandestine smuggling route across the Middle East, employing intelligence operatives, militants and criminal gangs, to deliver weapons to Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to officials from the United States, Israel and Iran. The goal, as described by three Iranian officials, is to foment unrest against Israel by flooding the enclave with as many weapons as it can. The covert operation is now heightening concerns that Tehran is seeking to turn the West Bank into the next flashpoint in the long-simmering shadow war between Israel and Iran. That conflict has taken on new urgency this month, risking a broader conflict in the Middle East, as Iran vowed to retaliate for an Israeli strike on an embassy compound that killed seven Iranian armed forces commanders.” See also Fatah blames Iran as intra-Palestinian violence rocks West Bank (Al Monitor)

U.S. SCENE

Gaza War Turns Spotlight on Long Pipeline of U.S. Weapons to Israel (NYT)

“In the fall of 2016, the Obama administration sealed a major military agreement with Israel that committed the United States to giving the country $38 billion in arms over 10 years…Now that military aid package, which guarantees Israel $3.3 billion per year to buy weapons, along with another $500 million annually for missile defense, has become a flashpoint for the Biden administration. A vocal minority of lawmakers in Congress backed by liberal activists are demanding that President Biden restrict or even halt arms shipments to Israel because of its military campaign in Gaza. Mr. Biden has been sharply critical of what he on one occasion called “indiscriminate bombing” in Israel’s war campaign, but he has resisted placing limits on U.S. military aid. The process of arms delivery to Israel is opaque, and the pipeline for weapons to the country is long.” See also Nancy Pelosi Among 40 Democrats Urging Biden to Halt Pending Israel Arms Sales, Condition Aid (Haaretz); In Potential Game-changer, Top Democrat Won’t Grant Biden Rubber Stamp on Pending F-15 Sales to Israel (Haaretz); Kaine, Sanders push Biden to get tougher with Israel (Politico); 

US has seen no evidence that Israel has committed genocide, Austin says (Politico)

“’We don’t have any evidence of genocide being [committed]” by Israel in Gaza, Austin told the Senate Armed Services Committee during a budget hearing, where his testimony was interrupted several times by protesters.”

Elizabeth Warren says she believes Israel’s war in Gaza will legally be considered a genocide (Politico)

‘“If you want to do it as an application of law, I believe that they’ll find that it is genocide, and they have ample evidence to do so,” Warren (D-Mass.) said Friday while taking audience questions during an event at the Islamic Center of Boston in Wayland, Massachusetts…At the mosque, Warren said the focus on the war in Gaza should go beyond a “labels argument.” “For me, it is far more important to say what Israel is doing is wrong. And it is wrong,” she said. “It is wrong to starve children within a civilian population in order to try to bend to your will. It is wrong to drop 2000-pound bombs, in densely populated civilian areas.”’

State department sees unprecedented flood of internal dissent memos over Gaza war (The Independent) 

“State department staff sent at least eight internal dissent memos to express disagreement with US policy on Israel and Gaza during the first two months of the war, The Independent can reveal. A further memo was sent last month from the US embassy in Jordan, warning of increasing instability across the region due to Israel’s ongoing war, according to a person familiar with the matter, bringing the total number to at least nine. Such a high number of internal dissent memorandums – a formal process by which staff can express concerns internally to a policy – highlights the widespread opposition within the department to the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza. By comparison, only one internal dissent memo was filed during the first three years of the Iraq War, widely considered to be one of the United States’ biggest foreign policy disasters.” See also Biden pressure on Israel not enough, say dissenting US officials (BBC)

Democratic Coalition Sends Biden a Demand on Military Aid to Israel (NYT)

“A coalition of a dozen liberal organizations and labor unions sent a letter to the White House on Thursday night demanding that President Biden end military aid to Israel until its government lifts restrictions on humanitarian aid to Gaza, the latest indicator of shifting mainstream Democratic opinion on the war. The group includes not only progressive groups like MoveOn and the Working Families Party, but also the mainstream Democratic Center for American Progress and NextGen America, the organization founded and funded by Tom Steyer, a billionaire who ran for president in the 2020 Democratic primary. Other signatories to the letter include the Service Employees International Union and the National Education Association, labor unions that make up key elements of the Democratic Party. The letter calls on Mr. Biden to enforce the Foreign Assistance Act, which bars military support from going to any nation that restricts the delivery of humanitarian aid.” See also How the War in Gaza Mobilized the American Left (NYT); About 50 arrested for protesting Israel-Gaza war in Senate cafeteria (WaPo)

The Vicious Things Republicans Have Said about Palestinians Since October 7 (Prem Thakker//The Intercept)

“Members of Congress like Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.; Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; and Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., have long been pilloried — and even censured — by their colleagues for speaking out against Israel’s brutal treatment of Palestinians, while the media class has spilled boats-worth of ink on bad-faith interpretations of the progressive Democrats’ statements. Republicans who belittle, or even encourage, Palestinian suffering have typically generated no such equal, let alone proportional, response…REPUBLICANS’ HUNGER FOR violence began just days after Hamas’s attack against Israel on October 7. “We are in a religious war here, I’m with Israel,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., declared on October 11, in an appearance on Fox News. “Do whatever the hell you have to do to defend yourself. Level the place.” (Graham later said that no amount of civilian casualties in Gaza would prompt him to scrutinize Israel’s conduct.) Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., echoed Graham’s bloodlust on Fox in mid-October. “As far as I’m concerned, Israel can bounce the rubble in Gaza,” said the senator…In the House of Representatives, Republicans have taken glee in fantasizing about Palestinian suffering.” See also Trump says Jewish Americans who vote for Biden don’t love Israel and ‘should be spoken to’ (CNN)

6 months of war: Palestinians say the U.S. government lacks empathy for their plight (NPR)

“[Yousef] Munayyer: “You know, I think what we’ve seen on the ground is not something that surprised me, because I think, given what we know Israelis have been capable of in terms of their treatment of Palestinians within Israeli society and policy circles, I wasn’t so much surprised by how Israel was treating Palestinians throughout this war. What did, I think, surprise me was the extent to which the rest of the world – and in particular the United States and the Biden administration – were willing to tolerate the continuation of these horrors. And there’s no doubt in my mind that leverage has been available to President Biden the entire time to bring an end to this war. I expected Israel to do horrific things to Palestinians, but I also expected that at some point American leaders would find their conscience.”

LAWFARE//REDEFINING ANTISEMITISM TO QUASH CRITICISM OF ISRAEL

Enforcing IHRA Definition of Antisemitism Across the Whole-of-Gov’t (Lara Friedman’s Congressional Round-Up, 4/12/24) 

“S. 4091/HR 7921 (bill text): Introduced in the Senate 4/9/24 by Rosen (D-NV) and Lankford (R-OK), and in the House 4/10/24 by Manning (R-NC) and Smith (R-NJ), the “Combating Antisemitism Act.”…Notably, this extraordinarily far-reaching bipartisan, bicameral legislation, which would impact every Federal agency and beyond, and which is framed as an effort to support implementation of Biden’s antisemitism strategy, in actuality centers on legislating & enforcing the IHRA definition of antisemitism — in direct contradiction to the Biden Administration’s decision to NOT center/endorse/enforce the IHRA definition of antisemitism as part of its antisemitism strategy…It includes a lengthy section entitled “Countering Antisemitic Discrimination in Higher Education.” This section is devoted to weaponizing Trump’s Executive Order on Combating Antisemitism. As a reminder, that EO centers on enforcing the IHRA definition, including its examples, as part of Title VI, as a means of repressing/punishing/chilling criticism and activism targeting Israel and/or Zionism on U.S. campuses. In effect, this bill in general, and this section in particular, would pour gasoline on the fire that has already been set by congressional Republicans as they target US universities, as well as on the fire that has been set by lawfare actors waging all-out warfare with lawsuits and Title VI complaints against US campuses for failing to repress and punish pro-Palestinian activism (see table tracking these efforts). My twitter thread laying out this analysis is here.”

Columbia Is Waging War on Dissent (Katherine Franke//The Nation)

“It has reached a point where our students who stand in solidarity with Palestinians find themselves so fully constrained by a web of rules regulating their speech and expressive conduct—and a bureaucracy determined to enforce those rules abusively—that they have lost any faith that the university is truly committed to the principles of academic freedom and the robust debate of ideas. Indeed, it is difficult to avoid drawing the conclusion that the university now sees its primary constituency, to whom it owes a duty of loyalty, as outside institutional actors, such as congressional committees, foreign governments, and the NGOs and funders supporting those entities, not its students and faculty.” See also Jewish faculty reject the weaponization of antisemitism (Columbia Spectator)

PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS

Six months of this cruel nightmare (Ruwaida Kamal Amer//+972) 

“Six months have passed since Israel’s cruel war on the Gaza Strip began, and my life became one continuous nightmare. Six months with virtually no access to electricity or water. Six months without knowing what happened to countless family members, friends, and colleagues. I long for the daily routine and moments of calm that we used to complain about. For just one hour of that boring normality. We have run out of energy and our bodies can no longer bear it. The sounds of explosions do not stop. I have grown afraid of the sound of a speeding car, or anything that resembles the terrifying noise of a falling missile. Our house in Khan Younis is constantly shaking, and the doors make a banging sound as if someone is hitting them repeatedly with their fists. I have given up on looking for any glimmer of hope that the war will stop and this pain will end.”

‘A new abyss’: Gaza and the hundred years’ war on Palestine (Rashid Khalidi//Guardian)

“Some have argued that these events represent a rupture, an upheaval, that this was “Israel’s 9/11” or that it is a new Nakba, an unprecedented genocide. Certainly, the scale of these events, the almost real-time footage of atrocities and unbearable devastation – much of it captured on phones and spread on social media – and the intensity of the global response, are unprecedented. We do seem to be in a new phase, where the execrable “Oslo process” is dead and buried, where occupation, colonisation and violence are intensifying, where international law is trampled on, and where long-fixed tectonic plates are slowly moving. But while much has changed in the past six months, the horrors we witness can only be truly comprehended as a cataclysmic new phase in a war that has been going on for several generations…this is not an age-old struggle between Arabs and Jews that has been going on since time immemorial, and it is not simply a conflict between two peoples. It is a recent product of the irruption of imperialism into the Middle East and of the rise of modern nation-state nationalisms, both Arab and Jewish; it is a product of the violent European settler-colonial methods employed by Zionism to “transform Palestine into the land of Israel”, in the words of an early Zionist leader, Ze’ev Jabotinsky; and it is a product of Palestinian resistance to these methods.”

After six months of war, I fear we may lose Palestine completely (Raja Shehadeh//Guardian)

“For 75 years we Palestinians have been demanding Israeli recognition, if not an apology and amends, for the horrors committed against us during the first Nakba of 1948, when more than 700,000 were forced out of their homes in what became Israel. Now the tragedy has been compounded. Which makes me feel that I spent the last 50 years of my life getting used to the loss of the Palestine of my parents; and that I might spend the remaining years of my life trying to get used to the loss of Palestine in its entirety.”

After the Carnage (Tony Karon & Daniel Levy//The Nation) 

“If there’s a thread of continuity that runs from the 1947 UN proposal that effectively legitimized the Nakba that followed to the two-state imaginary of the Biden administration, it is the assumption that the Palestinian people have neither the ability nor the right to speak for themselves or choose their national destiny. As in colonial times when Western empires conjured up nation-states and installed handpicked rulers to govern their populations in accordance with Western needs, so are “solutions” to be imposed on the colonized people of Palestine…The starting point for any sustainable political solution to the crisis in Palestine—whatever its final design—must be that that it is founded on respect for the right of the Palestinian people to determine their own future, including choosing their own leaders, and it must recognize the Palestinians as a people with the right to live in freedom and dignity. That’s a standard all partition processes and realities thus far have failed to meet.” See also Israel: Cease-Fire, Get Hostages, Leave Gaza, Rethink Everything (Thomas Friedman//NYT)

I’m Jewish, and I’ve covered wars. I know war crimes when I see them. (Peter Maass//WaPo)

“Millions of Jews in America feel connected to Israel’s creation. Maybe our ancestors gave or raised money, maybe they went and fought, maybe they donated to Zionist organizations. What’s a Jew to do now? Everyone makes their own choices, but my experience of war crimes taught me that being Jewish means standing against any nation that commits war crimes. Any.”

What Netanyahu Must Do to Bring Home the Hostages (Gershon Baskin//NYT) 

“If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel were serious about securing the release of all the hostages in Gaza, they would have been home long ago. From his first official statements after Oct. 7, Mr. Netanyahu has placed a higher priority on destroying Hamas than on ensuring the hostages’ safety…I was one of Israel’s negotiators on that 2011 deal, and I was told many times that nothing like it could ever occur again. But holding so many hostages was a logistical nightmare for which Hamas was not prepared, which meant there was room to negotiate. From my communications with Hamas and with people in the Israeli war cabinet in the first days of the current conflict, I saw that a quick deal would have been possible to return the women, children, wounded, sick and elderly on terms that Israel could tolerate…Israel’s strategy has been a disaster. Six months into the war, Israel has destroyed a vast majority of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure. More than 30,000 Gazans have been killed, and about two million are displaced, with no homes to return to. Hundreds of thousands are at risk of dying from starvation. Throughout all that, despite amassing enormous amounts of intelligence, the Israeli military has succeeded in rescuing just three hostages (and killing three others who were trying to escape).”

Stopping Famine in Gaza (International Crisis Group) 

“The war in Gaza is far from over, but the fate of many of its residents may soon be sealed: the strip’s north may be facing the world’s worst famine, relative to population size, of the past few decades. Unimpeded, sustained and safe humanitarian access to the whole Gaza Strip, with civil authorities and civic groups allowed to safeguard aid distribution, is needed to prevent this outcome…Israel’s approach to aid distribution, especially in the north, has been a fiasco. It has not coordinated military with humanitarian action, endangering aid workers and recipients, and frequently halting convoys. It has attacked civilian police, citing links to Hamas, and compelled their retreat, which leaves supplies vulnerable to plunder, whether by profiteers or the desperately hungry. It has tried to work around the international aid system and its protocols for famine prevention and response, doling out assistance on an ad hoc basis in hopes of building a network to administer Gaza on its behalf after the war. It directs aid to big families who agree to embrace its agenda, while targeting those who refuse, risking damage to Gaza’s social fabric in a way that a U.S. official noted is reminiscent of Mogadishu in the early 1990s…The 7 April announcement that Israel has withdrawn most of its ground forces from Gaza is a positive sign. But the priority today is to address the humanitarian crisis through a surge in aid, measures to permit freer movement in Gaza, particularly for aid agencies, and reliance on civil authorities and civic groups to protect and facilitate distribution. Realistically, such steps will work only with a ceasefire. But failure to achieve a ceasefire cannot excuse inaction. Imports still should be increased to the extent possible, aid convoys permitted to pass safely and movement restrictions relaxed. Israel should stop targeting civic leaders and Gaza officials involved in safeguarding aid and overseeing distribution. True, some are linked to Hamas. But given that no other feasible option exists, the alternative is accelerating death from starvation, coming atop the already extraordinary levels of suffering in Gaza.”

1. New from FMEP

2. Gaza

3. Region//Global

4. River to the Sea

5. U.S. Scene

6. Media//Activism

7. Perspectives//Longreads

NEW FROM FMEP

“Incitement, Displacement, Destruction, Willful Flouting of International Law”: Israel’s Assault on Al Shifa Hospital (New Occupied Thoughts Podcast episode)

2023 FMEP Fellow Dr. Yara Asi joins FMEP’s Dr. Sarah Anne Minkin to discuss Israel’s March 2024 attack on Al Shifa hospital, the largest and most important medical center in Gaza, known as the heart of the healthcare system in the Gaza Strip. In addition to looking at the details of Israel’s assault on Al Shifa and the area around it, Dr. Asi discusses the destruction of Al Shifa as part of Israel’s ongoing effort to destroy the infrastructure needed to sustain any life in Gaza.

FMEP Legislative Round-Up: April 5, 2024 (Lara Friedman)

1. Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. Hearings & Markups; 4. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

Settlement & Annexation Report: April 5, 2024 (Kristin McCarthy)

1) Israel Advances Plan for New Settlement In Hebron; 2) Archaeology as Tool of Annexation & Displacement, Part 1: Israel Declares Area Surrounding Herodium Site as “State Land” 3) Archaeology as Tool of Annexation & Displacement, Part 2:  Israel Expands Jordan Valley Settler Jurisdiction to Take Control of Archaeological Site in Heart of Palestinian Village 4) Israel Police Assist Settlers Attempt to Take Control of Land in the Armenian Quarter 5) Israel Plans Sports Field of Nof Zion Settlement Enclave 6) U.S. Plans to Enforce Label Requirement for Goods From Israeli Settlements 7) Bonus Reads

GAZA

Israel to reopen Erez crossing for Gaza aid after US pressure (Al Monitor)

“Israel’s government announced on Friday that it will reopen a key border crossing with the Gaza Strip to allow for more aid into the besieged enclave for the first time since the war with Hamas erupted Oct. 7. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed the temporary reopening of the Erez border crossing with northern Gaza as well as the Ashdod port about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Gaza, along with an increase of aid coming from Jordan via the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza…The measures were approved during a meeting of the Israeli security cabinet late on Thursday, hours after a tense phone call between Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden.”See also Biden says Israel doing what he asked on Gaza aid (Al Monitor); What aid routes will Israel open into Gaza and what happens next? (Guardian)

Biden’s ultimatum to Bibi: Change Gaza policy or we will (Axios)

“President Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when they spoke on Thursday that “an immediate ceasefire” is needed to “protect innocent civilians” in Gaza and improve the humanitarian situation, the White House said. Why it matters: Biden is making his strongest push for an end to the fighting in Gaza in six months of war, and warning for the first time that U.S. policy on the war will depend on Israel’s adherence to his demands…Biden “emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable,” per the readout.” See also Biden: Israel “has not done enough to protect aid workers” in Gaza (Axios); Blinken says Israeli offers to increase flow of aid to Gaza are welcome but may not be sufficient (AP News); Israel Agrees to Open Erez Crossing for Gaza Aid After Biden Pressure (NYT); 

How Israeli strikes on a World Central Kitchen convoy in Gaza unfolded (WaPo) 

“The team had coordinated with Israeli military officials and had clearance to drive the route, WCK said. Israel Defense Forces officials said they have been working closely with WCK for months in its Gaza operations…The WCK workers wore bulletproof vests within the armored cars. The group had reportedly complained to the Israeli military days earlier that an IDF sniper had fired into a WCK car, without any of the occupants being struck…Imagery of the aftermath reviewed and geolocated by The Post shows that all of the vehicles were destroyed within a mile and a half of each other, suggesting that some had a chance to keep driving after the attack began.” See also Anera Pauses Gaza Operations Amid Rising Threats and Attack on WCK (Anera) ; Scoop: UAE pauses Gaza aid route support after Israeli strike kills humanitarian workers (Axios); Israel’s ‘unintentional’ strike on aid workers stirs global outrage (Ishaan Tharoor//WaPo); IDF says aid convoy attack was ‘serious violation’ of procedures (WaPo); In Israel’s war against Hamas rule, Gazans go hungry, aid groups retreat (WaPo); Israel sacks 2 top IDF officials, citing ‘serious failure’ in strike on Gaza aid workers (Al Monitor); New Report: Killing starving Palestinians, targeting aid trucks is a deliberate Israeli policy to reinforce famine in the Gaza Strip (Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor) 

WCK’s statement about the IDF preliminary investigation (World Central Kitchen)

“The IDF has acknowledged its responsibility and its fatal errors in the deadly attack on our convoy in Gaza. It is also taking disciplinary action against those in command and committed to other reforms. These are important steps forward. However it is also clear from their preliminary investigation that the IDF has deployed deadly force without regard to its own protocols, chain of command and rules of engagement. The IDF has acknowledged that our teams followed all proper communications procedures. The IDF’s own video fails to show any cause to fire on our personnel convoy, which carried no weapons and posed no threat. Without systemic change, there will be more military failures, more apologies and more grieving families. The root cause of the unjustified rocket fire on our convoy is the severe lack of food in Gaza. Israel needs to dramatically increase the volume of food and medicine traveling by land if it is serious about supporting humanitarian aid…We demand the creation of an independent commission to investigate the killings of our WCK colleagues. The IDF cannot credibly investigate its own failure in Gaza.”

José Andrés: Let People Eat (NYT)

“Israel is better than the way this war is being waged. It is better than blocking food and medicine to civilians. It is better than killing aid workers who had coordinated their movements with the Israel Defense Forces. The Israeli government needs to open more land routes for food and medicine today. It needs to stop killing civilians and aid workers today. It needs to start the long journey to peace today…You cannot win this war by starving an entire population…Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said of the Israeli killings of our team, “It happens in war.” It was a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by the Israel Defense Forces.”

Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital after two-week raid (The Guardian)

“Israeli forces announced their withdrawal from al-Shifa hospital in Gaza on Monday after a two-week raid, amid claims from Hamas that the Israel Defense Forces killed 400 people in the compound and allegations from the Palestinian Red Crescent of torture and “executions”. According to the IDF, the facility – Gaza City’s main hospital before the war – was used to harbour Hamas fighters. The army described the operation as one of the most successful of the nearly six-month conflict and cited the killing of of 200 militants including senior operatives. The claim they were all militants could not be confirmed. However, the UN health agency said several hospital patients had died and dozens were put at risk during the raid. Palestinians who fled the facility described days of heavy fighting, mass arrests and forced marches past dead people.”

Gaza: Shifa Medical Complex witnesses one of the largest massacres in Palestinian history (Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor)

“The Israeli army carried out a massive, shockingly horrific military operation in Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City over the course of the past two weeks, indiscriminately targeting and attacking Palestinians regardless of their civilian status, professional standing, gender, age, or health condition. Though the exact number of casualties from the atrocity is still unknown, preliminary reports suggest that over 1,500 Palestinians have been killed, injured, or are reported missing as a result of the massacre at Al-Shifa, with women and children making up half of the casualties. Euro-Med Monitor is able to confirm from its initial investigation and testimonies that hundreds of dead bodies, including some burned, and others with their heads and limbs severed, have been discovered both inside Al-Shifa Medical Complex and in the hospital’s surrounding area…The attack on Al-Shifa Medical Complex is the most visible aspect yet of Israel’s systematic and carefully-crafted plan to destroy and besiege the Gaza Strip’s health sector, bring it to the brink of collapse, and deny the Palestinian population any chance at survival or medical care, or shelter.”  See also Israeli troops exit Gaza’s Shifa Hospital, leaving rubble and bodies (Reuters); Award-winning Gaza doctor’s body found in ruins of Al-Shifa Hospital (New Arab); Israeli Army Withdraws From Major Gaza Hospital, Leaving Behind a Wasteland (NYT); Inside the ruins of Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital (WaPo);

The destruction of Shifa Hospital is latest evidence of Israel’s systematic dismantling of Gaza’s health system (Medical Aid for Palestinians)

“After a two-week-long invasion and siege, the Israeli military withdrew from Gaza’s largest hospital, Shifa Hospital, on 1 April, leaving it in ruins and completely out of service. The hospital’s main surgery building, its intensive care unit, and emergency, general surgery, and orthopaedic departments have all been destroyed…Dozens of bodies, many of which were dismembered, have also been found in the hospital’s grounds…Israeli forces killed hundreds of Palestinians around Shifa, including at least two doctors, Dr Ahmad al-Maqadmeh and his mother Yusra, while they were at their home in an area nearby the hospital…Following the destruction of Shifa Hospital, at least 350,000 Palestinians in the north are now served by as few as 200 hospital beds…MAP has been warning for months that the Israeli military is systematically dismantling the healthcare system in Gaza. The destruction of Shifa Hospital is the latest evidence that this is the case.”

Gaza is going hungry. Its children could face a lifetime of harm. (WaPo)

“Gaza’s children are going hungry. More than 25 have reportedly died of complications linked to malnutrition, according to the World Health Organization. Hundreds of thousands more face starvation as Israel continues its siege. Doctors and nutrition experts say the children who survive the lack of nourishment — and the ongoing bombing, infectious diseases and psychological trauma — are further condemned to face a lifetime of health woes. Malnutrition will rob them of the ability to fully develop their brains and bodies. Many will be shorter and physically weaker as a result.”

‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza (Yuval Abraham//+972)

“A new investigation by +972 Magazine and Local Call reveals that the Israeli army has developed an artificial intelligence-based program known as “Lavender,” unveiled here for the first time. According to six Israeli intelligence officers, who have all served in the army during the current war on the Gaza Strip and had first-hand involvement with the use of AI to generate targets for assassination, Lavender has played a central role in the unprecedented bombing of Palestinians, especially during the early stages of the war. In fact, according to the sources, its influence on the military’s operations was such that they essentially treated the outputs of the AI machine “as if it were a human decision.” Formally, the Lavender system is designed to mark all suspected operatives in the military wings of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), including low-ranking ones, as potential bombing targets. The sources told +972 and Local Call that, during the first weeks of the war, the army almost completely relied on Lavender, which clocked as many as 37,000 Palestinians as suspected militants — and their homes — for possible air strikes…The result, as the sources testified, is that thousands of Palestinians — most of them women and children or people who were not involved in the fighting — were wiped out by Israeli airstrikes, especially during the first weeks of the war, because of the AI program’s decisions…In an unprecedented move, according to two of the sources, the army also decided during the first weeks of the war that, for every junior Hamas operative that Lavender marked, it was permissible to kill up to 15 or 20 civilians; in the past, the military did not authorize any “collateral damage” during assassinations of low-ranking militants. The sources added that, in the event that the target was a senior Hamas official with the rank of battalion or brigade commander, the army on several occasions authorized the killing of more than 100 civilians in the assassination of a single commander.” See also Israel offers a glimpse into the terrifying world of military AI (Ishaan Tharoor//WaPo); US looking at report that Israel used AI to identify bombing targets in Gaza (Reuters); ‘The machine did it coldly’: Israel used AI to identify 37,000 Hamas targets (The Guardian); Gaza: Israeli Strike Killing 106 Civilians an Apparent War Crime (Human Rights Watch) 

‘Not a normal war’: doctors say children have been targeted by Israeli snipers in Gaza (The Guardian)

“Nine doctors gave the Guardian accounts of working in Gaza hospitals this year, all but one of them foreign volunteers. Their common assessment was that most of the dead and wounded children they treated were hit by shrapnel or burned during Israel’s extensive bombardment of residential neighbourhoods, in some cases wiping out entire families. Others were killed or injured by collapsing buildings with still more missing under the rubble. But doctors also reported treating a steady stream of children, elderly people and others who were clearly not combatants with single bullet wounds to the head or chest. Some of the physicians said that the types and locations of the wounds, and accounts of Palestinians who brought children to the hospital, led them to believe the victims were directly targeted by Israeli troops.” See also Over 2% of Gaza’s Child Population Killed or Injured in Six Months of War (Save the Children) 

Israel Created ‘Kill Zones’ in Gaza. Anyone Who Crosses Into Them Is Shot (Haaretz)

“The number of dead Gazans is now estimated to be over 32,000. According to the army, some 9,000 of these are terrorists. However, a host of reserve and standing army commanders who have talked to Haaretz cast doubt on the claim that all of these were terrorists. They imply that the definition of terrorist is open to a wide range of interpretation. It’s quite possible that Palestinians who never held a gun in their lives were elevated to the rank of “terrorist” posthumously, at least by the IDF. “In practice, a terrorist is anyone the IDF has killed in the areas in which its forces operate,” says a reserve officer who has served in Gaza.”

Gaza infrastructure damages estimated at $18.5bn in UN-World Bank report (Al Jazeera)

“The cost of damage to critical infrastructure in the first four months of Israel’s continuing war on Gaza is estimated at about $18.5bn, a new report by the World Bank and the United Nations has found…The continuing conflict has damaged or destroyed approximately 62 percent of all homes in Gaza, equivalent to 290,820 housing units, and more than a million people are without homes. Housing accounts for 72 percent of the total damage costs, at an estimated value of $13.3bn. Public service infrastructure, such as water, health and education, account for 19 percent, while commercial and industrial buildings make up 9 percent. The energy, water and municipal sectors have suffered nearly $800m in damages and the water and sanitation system has been significantly reduced, delivering less than 5 percent of its previous output. With 84 percent of health facilities damaged or destroyed, and a lack of electricity and water to operate the remaining ones, the population has minimal access to healthcare, the report found. The education system has collapsed, with all of Gaza’s 625,000 students out of school. Damage to education infrastructure amounts to $341m as an estimated 56 school facilities have been destroyed and 219 partially damaged. Additionally, 26 million tonnes of debris and rubble have been left in the wake of the destruction, an amount that is estimated to take years to remove.”

REGION//GLOBAL

Israeli strike on Iran’s Syria consulate kills 7, including 2 IRGC generals (Al Jazeera)

“Iran has promised to respond after two commanders from its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) were among seven people killed in an Israeli air strike that flattened the Iranian consulate in Damascus.” See also Israeli strike on Iranian Consulate in Damascus kills key commander, Iran says (WaPo); Hezbollah Chief Vows ‘Definite’ Retaliation for Iranian General’s Assassination; Israeli Defense Minister: ‘We Are Preparing’ (Haaretz); Biden vows to defend Israel from Iran’s retaliation over Damascus strike (Al Monitor); US braces for retaliation after attack on Iran consulate — even as it says it wasn’t involved (AP); Israel’s Military Cancels Leave for Combat Units and Jams GPS Signals (NYT) 

U.S. tells Iran it “had no involvement” in Israel strike (Axios)

“The U.S. told Iran that it “had no involvement” or advanced knowledge of an Israeli strike on a diplomatic compound in Syria that killed a senior Iranian general, according to a U.S. official. The big picture: The rare message shows the Biden administration is deeply concerned that the Israeli strike could lead to a regional escalation and the resumption of attacks by pro-Iranian militias against U.S. forces.”

Spain to recognise Palestinian statehood by July, leader says -reports (AP)

“According to the reports, Sanchez said he expected events to unfold in the conflict ahead of the European Parliament elections in early June and highlighted ongoing debates at the United Nations. He expected Spain to extend recognition to the Palestinians by July, he said, adding that he believed there would soon be a “critical mass” within the European Union to push several member states to adopt the same position, according to EFE.”

Palestine to bid for full UN membership this month, says ambassador (Al Monitor)

“The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations said the State of Palestine will seek full membership in the organization this month, a move, he argues, will advance a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “It will send the message that Israel is not the party that decides whether we will have a state. It is the Palestinian people who will decide that,” Riyad Mansour told Al-Monitor. “This is an investment in peace and an investment in saving the two-state solution.” In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor on Wednesday, Mansour provided details on Palestine’s workings at the United Nations amid the war.

Ireland wealth fund to divest from 6 Israeli companies in blow to relations (Al Monitor)

“Ireland’s sovereign fund is divesting from six Israeli companies in response to domestic political pressure, Dublin’s finance minister said on Friday, as relations between the two countries take another hit. Finance Minister Michael McGrath said in a statement that the National Treasury Management Agency decided to divest the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund from Israeli firms that “have certain activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” The total amount divested amounts to 2.95 million euros ($3.2 million) from the following companies, most of them banks.” See also Majority of British want UK arms sales cut to Israel: poll (New Arab); Sadiq Khan says UK arms sales to Israel have ‘got to stop’ (Guardian); Global pressure grows on U.S. and Germany to stop arming Israel (WaPo)

RIVER TO THE SEA

Doctor at Israeli Field Hospital for Detained Gazans: ‘We Are All Complicit in Breaking the Law’ (Haaretz)

“A doctor at the field hospital set up at the Sde Teiman detention center to hold arrested Gazans described conditions that he said could compromise the inmates’ health and put the government at risk of violating the law, in a letter sent last week to Israel’s defense minister, health minister, and attorney general. “Just this week, two prisoners had their legs amputated due to handcuff injuries, which unfortunately is a routine event,” the physician said in the letter. He said inmates are fed through straws, defecate in diapers, and are held constant restraints, which violate medical ethics and the law. The Sde Teiman facility was established immediately after the outbreak of the Gaza war to hold Hamas terrorists, including those who took part in the atrocities of October 7, until they could be moved to a regular prison…He stressed that all the patients at the hospital set up at Sde Teiman are handcuffed by all four limbs, regardless of how dangerous they are deemed. They are blindfolded and fed through a straw.”

‘Hamas Mouthpiece’: Netanyahu Lauds New Law Allowing Him to Shut Al Jazeera in Israel (Haaretz)

“Israel’s parliament has passed a law allowing the government to halt the broadcasting of Al Jazeera, the Qatari television station, in Israel due to its coverage during the Gaza war…Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the law’s passing, saying that “Al Jazeera has harmed Israel’s security, actively participated in the October 7 massacre, and incited against IDF soldiers. It’s time to remove Hamas’ mouthpiece from our country.”He added: “The terrorist channel Al Jazeera will no longer broadcast from Israel. I intend to take immediate action in accordance with the new law to halt the channel’s activities.”’

Israel’s Top Court: Not Enough Humanitarian Aid Is Getting Into the Gaza Strip (Haaretz)

“The High Court of Justice held a hearing on Thursday to review a petition filed by human rights organizations which had demanded an expansion of the scope of humanitarian aid delivered to the Gaza Strip. They claimed that Gaza’s inhabitants were suffering from malnourishment and that Israel should supply the needs required for their survival…At the beginning of the hearing, the plaintiffs claimed that the war caused civilians in Gaza incalculable harm. Attorney Osnat Cohen-Lifschitz from the Gisha nonprofit organization said that “Israel is violating international law, leading to the spread of hunger, thirst and disease in Gaza.”

Palestinian Muslims mark sad and tense ‘holiest Ramadan night’ in Jerusalem (Al Monitor)

“Palestinian Muslims marked a tense and sombre last Friday of Ramadan in Jerusalem, with minor scuffles between worshippers and Israeli police controlling the entrance to the Al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. Some 120,000 people descended on the shrine, which dominates the Old City, officials said, with grand mufti Muhammad Ahmad Hussein urging the faithful to brave the heavy police presence because of the war in Gaza. Adli al-Agha, 53, from Jerusalem, told AFP that many people “had to flee dawn prayers” after Israeli police deployed a mini-drone spraying tear gas to disperse people chanting “Glory to God”.”

After nearly six months of war, hostages’ families join with anti-government rallies (Times of Israel)

“Tens of thousands of people turned out for mass protests across Israel on Saturday night, and the weekly demonstrations in Tel Aviv by the hostages’ families took a dramatic turn after speakers called on attendees to “take to the streets” and join the anti-government protesters in the heart of the city, announcing an apparent discontinuation of the separate gathering…Police made over a dozen arrests and deployed water cannons to disperse the demonstrations in Tel Aviv, where some protesters blocked major roads…Clashes with police were also recorded in Jerusalem, where some 200 protesters burst through a set of police barriers to demonstrate about 100 yards from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence on Azza Street, and in Caesarea where police detained protesters who blocked roads near Netanyahu’s private residence and chanted for him to resign.” See also Gantz calls for early elections in Israel, warns of ‘rift in the nation’ (Al Monitor)

The Problem Isn’t Just Netanyahu. It’s Israeli Society. (Mairav Zonszein//Foreign Policy)

“Despite blaming the prime minister, a large majority of Jewish Israeli citizens support his destructive policies in Gaza and beyond.”

U.S. SCENE

U.S. approved more bombs to Israel on day of World Central Kitchen strikes (WaPo)

“The Biden administration approved the transfer of thousands more bombs to Israel on the same day Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killed seven aid workers for the charity group World Central Kitchen, three U.S. officials told The Washington Post this week after the incident elicited global condemnation. The transaction demonstrates the administration’s determination to continue its flow of lethal weaponry to Israel despite Monday’s high-profile killings and growing calls for the United States to condition such support on greater protection for civilians in the war zone. A U.S. citizen was among the dead.” See also U.S. signs off on more bombs, warplanes for Israel (WaPo); Biden considers $18bn arms transfer to Israel, including F-15 jets: Report (Al Jazeera) 

Biden’s Increasingly Contradictory Israel Policy (Isaac Chotiner interviews Aaron David Miller//New Yorker)

“Oh, if you’re asking me: Do I think that Joe Biden has the same depth of feeling and empathy for the Palestinians of Gaza as he does for the Israelis? No, he doesn’t, nor does he convey it. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.” See also Michigan lawmaker says Gaza should be approached ‘like Nagasaki and Hiroshima’ (WaPo)

MEDIA//ACTIVISM

The Gaza Genocide in Western Media: Culprits of Complicity (Yara Hawari//Al Shabaka)

“Indeed, mainstream media coverage of the genocide throughout the West has highlighted not only deep biases in favor of the Israeli regime, but also the ease in which Palestinians are dehumanized. Former UN human rights official Craig Mokhiber has noted that intent is often the hardest thing to prove in a genocide. In the case of Israel’s assault on Gaza, however, the opposite has been true: Palestinian dehumanization is a key and clear tactic being deployed. To justify such intense and cruel violence on a people, they must first be unpeopled.”

In Masafer Yatta, our camera can be stronger than the bulldozer (Hamdan Ballal Al-Huraini//+972)

“On the evening of March 14, we set out 350 chairs in the courtyard of the school in At-Tuwani, in the Masafer Yatta region in the West Bank, preparing for a larger crowd than had ever been assembled in the small village…These guests had come to see the film, “No Other Land,” produced by Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, and myself. The film was our attempt to give people insight into the realities of our lives in Masafer Yatta: the constant onslaught of Israeli state and settler violence, and the toll it takes on us; everyday moments and interactions with our families; and the complicated relationships we Palestinians navigate with those who come here to support and resist alongside us…We’re often told that representation matters, yet I’ve never seen this as clearly as when I looked at the faces of the children of Masafer Yatta as they watched our film, waiting for their faces, their homes, and their loved ones to show up on the screen. I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea for the children to watch it — it depicts graphic violence and disturbing images of their communities. But they, too, live through this. They see it every day. It doesn’t matter whether or not they see it again on the screen. In fact, several kids told us that it was the first time they had seen their own lives laid out like a story. It gives the feeling that your story is important, that it deserves to be seen, and that people are with you.” See also Joaquin Phoenix, Elliott Gould, Chloe Fineman and More Jewish Creatives Support Jonathan Glazer’s Oscars Speech in Open Letter (EXCLUSIVE) (Variety) 

PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS

The Two-State Solution Is an Unjust, Impossible Fantasy (Tareq Baconi//NYT)

“Repeating the two-state solution mantra has allowed policymakers to avoid confronting the reality that partition is unattainable in the case of Israel and Palestine, and illegitimate as an arrangement originally imposed on Palestinians without their consent in 1947. And fundamentally, the concept of the two-state solution has evolved to become a central pillar of sustaining Palestinian subjugation and Israeli impunity. The idea of two states as a pathway to justice has in and of itself normalized the daily violence meted out against Palestinians by Israel’s regime of apartheid…The vacuity of the two-state solution mantra is most obvious in how often policymakers speak of recognizing a Palestinian state without discussing an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory. Quite the contrary: With the United States reportedly exploring initiatives to recognize Palestinian statehood, it is simultaneously defending Israel’s prolonged occupation at the International Court of Justice, arguing that Israel faces “very real security needs” that justify its continued control over Palestinian territories…A single state from the river to the sea might appear unrealistic or fantastical or a recipe for further bloodshed. But it is the only state that exists in the real world — not in the fantasies of policymakers. The question, then, is: How can it be transformed into one that is just?”

The Cunning of Gender Violence in Israel’s War on Palestinian Women (Sarah Ihmoud//Jadaliyya)

“War is always about a performance of hypermasculinity, as feminist scholars remind us, and sexual atrocity transforms women’s bodies into a method of communication between men. In our own history, gender and sexual politics have played a central role in Israel’s genocidal violence since its inception; rape was used as part of an attempt to terrify Palestinian communities into fleeing their ancestral homes and villages. Indeed, in 1948 it was our great grandmothers recounting their violation in Deir Yassin; today it is their granddaughters in Gaza. In war and military conflict, women’s bodies are always situated as symbolic national peripheries; in genocide, Indigenous women’s bodies and sexualities are targeted because of what they represent: land, Indigenous reproduction, sovereignty, and the possibility of Indigenous futures. While rape or sexual violence might be inflicted on the bodies of women, its broader purpose is often to humiliate and punish the collective to which they belong. The gendered logics of the militarized performance that is unfolding in Gaza today is precisely to force us, through mass violence and psychological terror, to recognize and accept our defeat. And yet, the persistent efforts by Palestinian feminists to call attention to the pervasive gendered logics that animate Israeli settler colonialism have been met with little political interest by feminists in the West, making feminism “a silent bystander for many everyday forms of state criminality.” [1] Instead, we as Palestinian women and feminists are consistently asked to participate in our own pathologization and criminalization by colonial powers; to reproduce the culturalized narratives that contribute to the protracted violence directed at our communities, and to internalize our oppressors’ own fear.”

Israel Must No Longer Live by the Sword (Joshua Leifer//NYT)

“The moment Israel’s devastating war in the Gaza Strip ends, the unfinished conflict within Israel over its future will begin again. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition partners know this. That may be, in part, why they have set the improbable aim of “total victory” as the war’s ultimate objective, and why they have so far refused any deal that would end the fighting in exchange for returning the roughly 100 hostages still in Hamas captivity…In service of keeping the war going, and unencumbered by any real opposition, Mr. Netanyahu also steered his country into a head-on collision with its most significant backer, the United States, putting his short-term political considerations ahead of the country’s long-term interests.”

The Road to Famine in Gaza (Neve Gordon and Muna Haddad//NYRB)

“Hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are at the brink of famine—a human-made disaster with roots in Israel’s history of using food as a weapon.”

‘People Are Constantly Cursing Sinwar’: Gazans Opposing Hamas Are Sure They’re the Majority (Amira Hass//Haaretz)

“Four Gazans who spoke with Haaretz rail against the Hamas leader in the Strip and the decision to go to war on October 7. They say many people fear that Hamas will punish them for speaking out, and blame the Arab media for looking the other way when someone criticizes the group.”

War First, Then Annexation: Is Israel Preparing to Permanently Occupy Gaza? (Dahlia Scheindlin//Haaretz)

“But the real reason this government wants to keep power is to advance its broad agenda: Inequality by law (Jewish supremacy); theocracy; annexation; gut the welfare state; legitimize corruption. To do these, the government is rapidly consolidating executive power, stacking the public sector with political loyalists and dismantling democratic institutions. The anti-government protests and their perfect storm can’t force elections. They may even act as an accelerator for the most coveted part of this plan: annexation. And this time we’re talking not only about the West Bank; the big vision stretches into Gaza, too… Before October 7, the government probably wouldn’t even let itself dream of such a scenario. Now its members – Likud ministers included – have openly declared their intention to reoccupy Gaza permanently and rebuild settlements. The plans may sound wild, but the pieces are all there.”

1. New from FMEP
2. Gaza
3. River to the Sea
4. Region/Diplomacy
5. US Scene
6. Redefining Antisemitism//Lawfare//Media
7. Long Reads/Perspectives

New from FMEP

FMEP Legislative Round-Up: March 29, 2024 (Lara Friedman) – 1. Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. Hearings & Markups; 4. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

Settlement & Annexation Report: March 22, 2024 (Kristin McCarthy) – 1) Jordan Valley, Part 1: Israel Declares Massive Swathe of Land in Jordan Valley as “State Land”; 2) Jordan Valley, Part 2: Israel Expands Three West Bank Nature Reserves – Including an Outpost in the Jordan Valley; 3) Jordan Valley, Part 3: B’Tselem Documents Post-Oct 7th Acceleration of Settler-Terrorism in the Jordan Valley; 4) HR Group Petitions for the Demolition of Outpost Affiliated with U.S.-Sanctioned Settler; 5) Smotrich Moving to Appoint Settler as Top Dog on Outposts Demolitions, Over the Authority of High-Ranking Military Authorities; 6) Bonus Reads: Sanctions; 7) Bonus Reads

And keep your eye out for Kristin McCarthy’s Settlement & Annexation Report: March 29, 2024 later today!

See also these two events: 

• March 29, 2024: SETA Foundation event, The US Policy on Israel in an Election Year, ft. Kilic Keinat (SETA) in conversation with Daniel Levy (USMEP), Lara Friedman (FMEP), and Kadir Ustun (SETA)
• March 27, 2024: Stimson Center event, The Israel-Hamas War: Impacts and Prospects, Six Months On [also on c-span], ft. Barbara Slavin (Stimson Center) in conversation with Shibley Telhami (University of Maryland), Mairav Zonszein (International Crisis Group), Ali Vaez (International Crisis Group) and Lara Friedman (FMEP).

2. Gaza

Gaza’s risk of famine is accelerating faster than anything we’ve seen this century (Vox) – “Every resident of Gaza is at risk of crisis levels of food insecurity — and half are at risk of famine…It’s a crisis that has unfolded at a speed utterly unprecedented this century — and also one that was repeatedly predicted and entirely avoidable if Israel were not placing severe restrictions on aid.” See also At least 12 Palestinians drown trying to retrieve aid parcels dropped into the sea (CNN); Israel tells UN it will reject UNRWA food convoys into northern Gaza (UN News); Visualizing Gaza’s aid shortage as ‘man-made’ famine looms (WaPo) 

UN Security Council adopts Gaza cease-fire resolution after US abstains (Al Monitor) – “The UN Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution calling for an “immediate” cease-fire in the Gaza Strip after the United States abstained from the vote. The resolution, which passed with the support of the council’s 14 other members, was criticized by Israel for not conditioning a cease-fire on the release of the remaining captives taken by Hamas. The US decision to let the resolution pass rather than use its veto prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call off a planned trip to Washington for his senior advisers, Ron Dermer and Tzachi Hanegbi…The United States has used its veto three times during the Gaza war to shield Israel, its ally, from cease-fire resolutions that didn’t underscore Israel’s right to self-defense or condemn Hamas’ killing of some 1,200 people on Oct. 7. Most recently, the United States vetoed an Algerian-sponsored cease-fire resolution on Feb. 20 that it said would jeopardize negotiations over a hostage deal. The latest resolution, which was sponsored by the council’s 10 nonpermanent members, called for an “immediate” cease-fire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan’s remaining two weeks, “leading to a lasting sustainable cease-fire” between Israel and Hamas. It also urged “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages” and demanded the “need to expand the flow” of humanitarian aid into Gaza…Speaking after the rare American abstention, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the Biden administration supported many of the resolution’s “critical objectives” but was disappointed the text did not include a condemnation of Hamas.” See also Gaza: Security Council passes resolution demanding ‘an immediate ceasefire’ during Ramadan (UN News); Israel Presses On With Strikes in Gaza After U.N. Cease-Fire Resolution (NYT); Netanyahu cancels delegation after U.S. does not block U.N. cease-fire call (WaPo); Israel’s Gallant meets with U.S. officials; Netanyahu axes delegation to U.S. over U.N. vote (WaPo); As Israel’s Gallant seeks arms in Washington, Netanyahu picks fight with Biden (Al Monitor); In reversal, Netanyahu sending delegation to White House for Rafah talks (Axios)

ICJ orders Israel to take action to address famine in Gaza (Al Jazeera) – “Judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) have unanimously ordered Israel to take all the necessary and effective action to ensure basic food supplies arrive without delay to the Palestinian population in Gaza. The ICJ judges said in an order on Thursday that Palestinians in Gaza face worsening conditions of life and famine and starvation are spreading…In its legally binding order, the court told Israel to take “all necessary and effective measures to ensure, without delay, in full co-operation with the United Nations, the unhindered provision at scale by all concerned of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance” including food, water, fuel and medical supplies. The ICJ, however, does not have a mechanism to enforce its rulings. The new measures were requested by South Africa as part of its continuing case that accuses Israel of carrying out genocide in Gaza.” See also World Court orders Israel to halt Gaza famine; Hamas says ceasefire needed (Reuters); World warns Israel to obey ICJ on Gaza aid as Netanyahu plans Rafah assault (Al Jazeera); Ireland backs bid to include blocking of aid in definition of genocide (The Guardian); Israel’s attempt to destroy Unrwa is part of its starvation strategy in Gaza (Kenneth Roth//Guardian)

Israel’s war on Gaza live: Over 70 killed in a day in the besieged enclave (Al Jazeera) – “The Israeli military expanded its attacks on Gaza City over the last couple of hours with the Shujayea neighbourhood facing heavy artillery and air attacks. Israeli forces targeted a sport club that had become an evacuation centre for many Palestinian families. At least 15 have been reported killed.” See also Israel’s war on Gaza live: 76 killed in Israeli attacks in last 24 hours (Al Jazeera, 3/27/24); At least 19 reported killed as Israeli forces fire on Gaza aid seekers (Al Jazeera, 3/23/24); War on Gaza: Footage shows Israeli drone killing four Palestinian civilians (Middle East Eye); Israel confirms Hamas’ Marwan Issa killed in airstrike earlier this month (Al Monitor); Israeli soldiers shoot and kill two unarmed Palestinian men in Gaza: Video (Al Jazeera) 

Israel Deploys Expansive Facial Recognition Program in Gaza (NYT) — “Mr. Abu Toha is one of hundreds of Palestinians who have been picked out by a previously undisclosed Israeli facial recognition program that was started in Gaza late last year. The expansive and experimental effort is being used to conduct mass surveillance there, collecting and cataloging the faces of Palestinians without their knowledge or consent, according to Israeli intelligence officers, military officials and soldiers. The technology was initially used in Gaza to search for Israelis who were taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct. 7 cross-border raids, the intelligence officials said. After Israel embarked on a ground offensive in Gaza, it increasingly turned to the program to root out anyone with ties to Hamas or other militant groups. At times, the technology wrongly flagged civilians as wanted Hamas militants, one officer said. The facial recognition program, which is run by Israel’s military intelligence unit, including the cyber-intelligence division Unit 8200, relies on technology from Corsight, a private Israeli company, four intelligence officers said. It also uses Google Photos, they said. Combined, the technologies enable Israel to pick faces out of crowds and grainy drone footage.”

In a week, Israeli army executes 13 children in and near Al-Shifa Hospital (Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor) – “In blatant violation of international law, particularly international humanitarian law, the Israeli army has executed 13 children by direct shooting in Al-Shifa Medical Complex and its Gaza City environs. This is a war crime and a crime against humanity, and is part of the genocide that the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip having been experiencing for the past six months. For over a week now, the Israeli army has been conducting systematic and horrifying military operations inside and around Al-Shifa Medical Complex. These crimes include extrajudicial executions and deliberate killings of Palestinian civilians. The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor field team has received identical testimonies about the killings and executions of Palestinian children between the ages of four and 16.” See also Israel pounds southern Gaza, besieges Al-Shifa Hospital for 10th day (New Arab); Witnesses Describe Fear and Deprivation at Besieged Hospital in Gaza (NYT); The First Flight of Their Lives: An Airlift After Agony in Gaza (NYT); Heavy fighting reported around Gaza’s al-Shifa and Nasser hospitals (The Guardian); 

Gaza’s Shadow Death Toll: Bodies Buried Beneath the Rubble (NYT) – “Gaza has become a 140-square-mile graveyard, each destroyed building another jagged tomb for those still buried within. The most recent health ministry estimate for the number of people missing in Gaza is about 7,000. But that figure has not been updated since November. Gaza and aid officials say thousands more have most likely been added to that toll in the weeks and months since then. Some were buried too hastily to be counted. Others lie decomposing in the open, in places too dangerous to be reached, or have simply disappeared amid the fighting, the chaos and ongoing Israeli detentions. The rest, in all likelihood, remain trapped under the rubble.”

Israeli Hostage Says She Was Sexually Assaulted and Tortured in Gaza (NYT) – “Ms. Soussana, 40, is the first Israeli to speak publicly about being sexually assaulted during captivity after the Hamas-led raid on southern Israel. In her interviews with The Times, conducted mostly in English, she provided extensive details of sexual and other violence she suffered during a 55-day ordeal. Ms. Soussana’s personal account of her experience in captivity is consistent with what she told two doctors and a social worker less than 24 hours after she was freed on Nov. 30…Ms. Soussana said she had decided to speak out now to raise awareness about the plight of the hostages still in Gaza, whose number has been put at more than 100, as negotiations for a cease-fire falter. Hours after her release, Ms. Soussana spoke with a senior Israeli gynecologist, Dr. Julia Barda, and a social worker, Valeria Tsekhovsky, about the sexual assault, the two women said in separate interviews with The Times. A medical report filed jointly by them, and reviewed by The Times, briefly summarizes her account.” See also Israel Publishes Video of Islamic Jihad Terrorist Confessing to October 7 Rape (Haaretz); How many hostages are still in Gaza since Hamas attack on Israel? What to know. (WaPo); Netanyahu gives Shin Bet, Mossad chiefs go-ahead to resume hostage talks (Times of Israel) 

Israeli strikes on Rafah raise fear ground assault could begin (Reuters) — “Israel bombed at least four homes in Rafah on Wednesday, raising new fear among the more than a million Palestinians sheltering in the last refuge on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip that a long-threatened ground assault could be coming. One of the airstrikes killed 11 people from a single family, health officials said.” See also Israel has ‘no choice’ but Rafah offensive, Netanyahu tells US members of Congress (CNN)

Buffer Zone and Control Corridor: What the Israeli Army’s Entrenchment in Gaza Looks Like (Haaretz) – “Under the radar, the IDF is creating a border buffer zone that occupies 16 percent of the Gaza Strip’s territory, and an east-west control corridor to monitor Palestinians moving north. This is what it looks like in satellite images.”

3. River to the Sea

Palestinian Authority announces new cabinet amid U.S. pressure (WaPo) – “The Palestinian Authority named the members of a new cabinet Thursday, pledging a technocratic government that could help rebuild Gaza and fight endemic corruption. Mohammad Mustafa, appointed as prime minister earlier this month, announced the names of 22 new ministers who would join him in the government and outlined his vision, in a statement addressed to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The reshuffle at the highest ranks of the Palestinian Authority, which runs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, comes amid U.S. and other international pressure to present a new face — driven by hopes, however tenuous, that the authority could overcome its credibility problems to play a role in rebuilding and governing what remains of the Gaza Strip after Israel’s ongoing military campaign…Khaled Elgindy, director of the Program on Palestine and Palestinian-Israeli Affairs at the Middle East Institute, a Washington think tank, said few ministers had any name recognition. The new cabinet lacks legitimacy because of the lack of elections and the Palestinian Authority’s continued security cooperation with Israel, Elgindy said.’” See also US welcomes new Palestinian cabinet, pushes for reforms (Al Monitor)

What It Takes to Give Palestinians a Voice (Robin Wright//New Yorker) – “On March 20th, ten days after his data collectors finished their work in the field, [Director of the Palestinian Center for Policy & Surve Research Khalil] Shikaki released the findings. Like Israelis traumatized by the worst violence against Jews since the Holocaust, the Palestinian public is now reacting to five months of the Israeli military response. Seventy-eight per cent of Gazans reported that a family member had been killed or injured since October 7th. The number of people killed now exceeds thirty-one thousand, including some thirteen thousand children. Almost two-thirds of Palestinians surveyed blame Israel for their suffering “and most of the others blame the US,” Shikaki’s poll reported. Only nine per cent blame Hamas. Shikaki’s poll also showed that only a third of Palestinians support Hamas today—a significant drop of eleven points from his previous survey, released in December. Respondents in Gaza and the West Bank held broadly similar views on this topic. However, no other party scored higher—a reflection of the abysmal state of Palestinian politics. Support for armed struggle has also plummeted seventeen points since December; there has been a five-point rise in support for nonviolence, and another five-point rise favoring negotiations. One of the most important changes was a fifteen-point drop in support for armed groups to provide local protection in the West Bank—although more than forty per cent of respondents still want them in the security vacuum.” See also Hamas’ popularity dips 11%, but only 7% of Palestinians blame it for Gaza war; Five Months Into the War, Residents of Both the West Bank and Gaza Justify Hamas’ Attack (Amira Hass//Haaretz)

Israel announces largest West Bank land seizure since 1993 during Blinken visit (WaPo) – “Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, announced the seizure of 10 square kilometers (3.8 square miles) of Palestinian territory in the West Bank on Friday. The move marks the single largest land seizure by the Israeli government since the 1993 Oslo accords, according to Peace Now, a settlement watchdog group…Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law. Still, Israel has used land orders like the one issued Friday to gain control over 16 percent of Palestinian-controlled lands in the West Bank. The newly seized area includes parcels in the Jordan Valley and between the settlements of Maale Adumim and Keidar. The announcement came as Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Tel Aviv for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the future of the war in Gaza.” See also Three Palestinians killed in Israeli bombing in Jenin camp (WAFA); Three Israelis Wounded in West Bank Shooting Attack; Israeli Army Searching for Assailant (Haaretz)

What We Know About Palestinians Detained in Israel (NYT) – “More than 9,000 Palestinians imprisoned under Israel’s military and national security laws are being held in Israeli detention facilities, the highest figure in more than a decade, according to rights groups, who say that many of the detainees are being held without charges and have been abused while in custody. The number of Palestinians in Israeli prisons has swelled since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack and Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza. In Gaza, Israeli troops have arrested hundreds of people in the search for fighters, the Israeli military says, while security forces in the occupied West Bank have conducted an enormous crackdown that they say is intended to root out militants. But rights groups say that the arrests are often arbitrary, that the conditions in which Palestinians are held can be inhumane and that the spike in the number of reported deaths is concerning.” See also U.S. raises treatment of imprisoned Palestinian leader Barghouti with Israel (WaPo)

Analysis | Inside Israel’s Disturbing Denial of Starvation in Gaza (Dahlia Scheindlin//Haaretz) – “Among the ugliest spectacles of the ugliest phase of Israeli and Palestinian history is the attempt to deny the horrors committed by “our” side. Israeli authorities and pro-Israel keyboard warriors are cultivating denialism daily, and shamelessly. In addition to waging a war of shocking brutality against civilians, the narrative-makers are busy doing the unthinkable: denying hunger in Gaza…These efforts range from clownish to methodical…The most prominent actor downplaying the humanitarian crisis and hunger is Israel’s Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories, known as COGAT…What do these denialists want? The aims range from insisting on Israeli moral superiority to fending off a genocide verdict at the International Court of Justice. Or maybe, as [Gisha Executive Director Tania] Hary believes, “The idea that Israel’s not responsible is at the heart of everything – all roads lead back to that. It’s a vacuum of responsibility.” But most of all, they want you to ignore the evidence, ignore firsthand knowledge, ignore actual experts in the field with transparent data and methodology, but listen to the crackpots. Then a government that uses these tactics can say – and do – anything.”

Hebrew University’s Faculty of Repressive Science (Orly Noy//+972) – “If only the Hebrew University’s great sin (and it is a great sin indeed) was obliviousness. Shalhoub-Kevorkian’s suspension joins a long list of political persecutions and militaristic indoctrination promoted by the institution over the years…In a letter to MK Sharren Haskel explaining their decision [to suspend Shalhoub-Kevorkian], President Cohen and Rector Sheafer accused Shalhoub-Kevorkian of expressing herself in a “disgraceful, anti-Zionist, and inciting” manner since the start of the war, and deriding her for calling Israel’s policies in Gaza a genocide. But she is not alone in doing so. Not only do the Palestinian people and hundreds of millions around the world view the calamity in Gaza as a genocide, but the International Court of Justice, the world’s highest tribunal, has itself taken this weighty charge seriously and ruled that it cannot be dismissed out of hand.”

‘Madness’: Netanyahu’s handling of US relations under scrutiny after UN vote (Guardian) — “The Israeli prime minister’s handling of relations with the Biden administration, which led the US on Monday to decline to veto a ceasefire resolution at the UN security council, has been greeted by sharp criticism by Israeli commentators. After the US abstention, prominent columnists across the Israeli media condemned Benjamin Netanyahu’s growing friction with the US president, Joe Biden…In the Hebrew-language newspaper Ma’ariv, Ben Caspit described the approach of the Israeli prime minister as “delusional”, “madness” and “terrifying”, adding: “This man is putting us all at risk: our future, our children’s future, the strategic alliance that is the keystone of Israeli national security.” Equally damning was the lead editorial in the left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which described Netanyahu as “Israel’s agent of destruction” who “has become a burden for Israel”…The centre-right Yedioth Ahronoth was no less scathing, featuring a cartoon of a diminutive Netanyahu arm-wrestling a much larger Biden, in which Netanyahu’s fist barely encircles Biden’s finger.”

The Smotrich Method: Israeli Settlers Obtain Mortgages, Build Illegally Elsewhere in the West Bank (Hagar Shezaf//Haaretz) – “An associate of Israel’s far-right finance minister obtained a mortgage for a lot registered in the zoning plan of one settlement, while his home was built in a nearby illegal outpost. Documents and aerial photos show that he’s far from the only one.”

Opinion | ‘Feeling Threatened’: An Israeli Prescription for Killing With No Criticism or Oversight (Amira Hass//Haaretz) – “”I felt threatened” became, long before October 7, an automatic defense whenever a Jew kills a Palestinian. “I felt” is a very personal and subjective state of being, but when spoken in IDF-ese, namely, in contemporary Hebrew, it becomes a rigid and objective truth sheltering all those under its wings…Last Thursday, the person who objectively felt subjectively threatened, killing a man who looked Arab, was a settler recruited to the “regional defense” battalion on guard duty near the settlement of Elazar, which lies on land belonging to the Palestinian village of Al-Khader. The Devil, ever so sly, gave this incident a particular twist: Sameh Zeitoun, the victim, was not only 63, the age of a grandfather, he was also a resident of Hebron who had converted to Judaism, assuming the name David Ben-Abraham.” See also Palestinian who converted to Judaism shot dead by Israeli soldier in West Bank (Middle East Eye)

4. Region/Diplomacy

Israel hits Syria in heaviest raid on Iran proxies in months (Reuters) – “Israel carried out its deadliest strikes in months on northern Syria’s Aleppo province early on Friday and said it killed a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon, stepping up its campaign against Iran’s proxies in parallel with its war in Gaza. Israel has ramped up airstrikes in Syria against both the Lebanese Hezbollah militia and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) since the Iranian-backed Palestinian faction Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7, and in recent days its pilots have resumed regular practice for “deep” raids into Lebanon.” See also Syria: Over 40 killed in alleged Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah warehouse (Al Monitor); Israeli airstrike in Syria kills more than 40 people, says war monitor (The Guardian); Israeli strikes in Lebanon kill 16, militant rockets kill 1 Israeli as cross-border violence soars (AP News 3/27); As strikes deepen, Israel warns Hezbollah it can ‘transition’ from Gaza to Lebanon; Lebanon’s Hezbollah says it launched dozens of rockets after Israeli strikes (Reuters); 

UN expert accuses Israel of ‘genocide’ in Gaza (Al Jazeera) – “There are “reasonable grounds” to believe Israel is committing genocide in the besieged Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip, according to a report issued by a United Nations-appointed expert. In the report, issued late on Monday, the UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese said there are clear indications that Israel has violated three of the five acts listed under the UN Genocide Convention…“The overwhelming nature and scale of Israel’s assault on Gaza and the destructive conditions of life it has inflicted reveal an intent to physically destroy Palestinians as a group,” she said…Entitled Anatomy of a Genocide, the report listed the violating acts as: “killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to the group’s members; and deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part”. Albanese noted that Israel has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 7. A further 12,000 are reported missing, presumed dead under the rubble. More than 70 percent of the recorded deaths have been women and children and Israel has failed to prove that the remaining 30 percent – adult males – were active Hamas fighters, she said.” See also UN expert says she faces threats after Israel-Gaza genocide report (Al Jazeera) 

Jordan’s government struggles to contain unrest as Gaza protests grow (WaPo) – “Hundreds of protesters gathered in the Jordanian capital Tuesday for a third straight night to call for an end to Israel’s war in Gaza, clashing with baton-carrying riot police before tear gas rained down on them. On Wednesday night, demonstrators were back on the streets. “Open the borders,” they chanted. Though there have been regular protests in Amman throughout the nearly six-month war, the government has largely managed to contain the situation by aligning itself with public sentiment — harshly criticizing Israel’s conduct of the war and championing the Palestinian cause. But the scenes this week appeared more spontaneous, the crowds larger and the anger more raw, sending shock waves through the country’s powerful security establishment.” See also Jordanian anti-riot police beat, arrest protesters near Israeli embassy (New Arab) 

5. US Scene

Opinion: Why I’m resigning from the State Department (Annelle Sheline//CNN) – “For the past year, I worked for the office devoted to promoting human rights in the Middle East. I believe strongly in the mission and in the important work of that office. However, as a representative of a government that is directly enabling what the International Court of Justice has said could plausibly be a genocide in Gaza, such work has become almost impossible. Unable to serve an administration that enables such atrocities, I have decided to resign from my position at the Department of State. Whatever credibility the United States had as an advocate for human rights has almost entirely vanished since the war began. Members of civil society have refused to respond to my efforts to contact them. Our office seeks to support journalists in the Middle East; yet when asked by NGOs if the US can help when Palestinian journalists are detained or killed in Gaza, I was disappointed that my government didn’t do more to protect them…By resigning publicly, I am saddened by the knowledge that I likely foreclose a future at the State Department. I had not initially planned a public resignation. Because my time at State had been so short — I was hired on a two-year contract — I did not think I mattered enough to announce my resignation publicly. However, when I started to tell colleagues of my decision to resign, the response I heard repeatedly was, “Please speak for us.” Across the federal government, employees like me have tried for months to influence policy, both internally and, when that failed, publicly…So many of my colleagues feel betrayed. I write for myself but speak for many others, including Feds United for Peace, a group mobilizing for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza that represents federal workers in their personal capacities across the country, and across 30 federal agencies and departments.” See also State Department staffer resigns over Biden’s handling of Gaza (Al Monitor); State Dept. human rights staffer quits over Biden’s Gaza policy (WaPo)

U.S. Finds Israel in Compliance With Biden’s Demands on International Law, Humanitarian Aid (Haaretz) – “The U.S. has deemed Israel in compliance with U.S. President Joe Biden’s national security memorandum stipulating that recipients of U.S. weapons must be in compliance with international law, nor may they block the provision of humanitarian assistance…”These assurances are prospective, but of course our view of them is informed by our ongoing assessments of Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza,” [State Department spokesperson Matthew] Miller continued. “We’ve had ongoing assessments of Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law. We have not found them to be in violation, either when it comes to the conduct of the war or the provision of humanitarian assistance. We view those assurances through that ongoing work we have done,” he added. Dozens of Congressional Democrats, as well as leading international NGOs, have warned that Israel is not in compliance with the memorandum. Leading State Department and USAID officials similarly insisted that Israel’s assurances — as well as U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew’s endorsement — failed to account for realities on the ground.” See also Van Hollen: Israeli restrictions on Gaza aid ‘not currently in compliance’ with US policy (Al Monitor); Bernie Sanders: Too Few Democrats Call for Conditioning Israel Aid Because of AIPAC, Biden (Haaretz) 

U.S. Doubles Down on Defunding UNRWA – Despite Flimsy Allegations (The Intercept) – “The U.S. Government will defund the United Nations agency that aids Palestinians through next year — even as 1.1 million people in Gaza face threats of famine in coming months — on the basis of flimsy allegations by Israel against a tiny minority of the agency’s staff that have yet to be proven. Congress passed the defunding measure as part of a $1.2 trillion spending package to avert a partial government shutdown. In addition to stripping funding from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, through March 2025, the bill includes the $3.8 billion the U.S. sends to Israel every year. The bill also contains a long-standing provision that would limit aid to the Palestinian Authority, which governs the occupied West Bank, if “the Palestinians initiate an International Criminal Court (ICC) judicially authorized investigation, or actively supports such an investigation, that subjects Israeli nationals to an investigation for alleged crimes against Palestinians.”’ See also Lara Friedman’s section on UNRWA in her 3/22/24 Legislative Round-Up; Congress to cut security grant funding, ban UNRWA funds and add Palestinian aid restrictions (Jewish Insider)

US says Israeli banks don’t have to close accounts of sanctioned settlers (Times of Israel) – “The US informed Israel this week that the Biden administration’s sanctions against violent settlers are not intended to compel Israeli banks to close the accounts of targeted individuals, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel. The clarification, sent in a letter from the US Treasury Department to the Bank of Israel and obtained by The Times of Israel, is intended to cool anger from Israel’s treasury chief over the fact that sanctioned individuals had lost access to local banking services, due to fears of violating the US penalties. Several major banks froze the accounts of those slapped with sanctions by US President Joe Biden’s administration earlier this year after the White House determined that the Israeli government was systematically failing to clamp down on settler violence. The sanctions have infuriated Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who characterized them as a draconian obstruction of Israeli sovereignty. In response, the far-right lawmaker threatened to take steps in his capacity as head of the treasury that would significantly impede the Palestinian economy, the Israeli official added, confirming a Thursday report in the Israel Hayom daily. Ostensibly wary of such retaliatory actions, the US administration agreed to send a letter to the Finance Ministry clarifying that the sanctions were not intended to cut off those targeted from the entirety of their assets.”

Majority in U.S. Now Disapprove of Israeli Action in Gaza (Gallup) — “After narrowly backing Israel’s military action in Gaza in November, Americans now oppose the campaign by a solid margin. Fifty-five percent currently disapprove of Israel’s actions, while 36% approve…Seventy-four percent of U.S. adults say they are following news of the Israeli-Hamas situation closely, similar to the 72% Gallup measured in November. One-third of Americans (34%) say they are following the situation “very closely.”’ See also Biden, Obama, Clinton heckled over Gaza war handling at New York fundraiser (Times of Israel); Protesters interrupt Biden, Obama, Clinton at $25 million New York fundraiser (Reuters)

Chuck Schumer and Democrats’ New Line on “Netanyahu’s War” (Alex Kane//Jewish Currents) – “Instead of constituting a substantive shift in US support for Israel, experts say, Democrats’ emboldened critique of Netanyahu should be understood as an attempt to respond to growing voter frustration without changing policy, as the Biden administration remains unwilling to use US aid and arms exports to Israel as leverage to demand a change in behavior. In this context, the choice to focus on Netanyahu “is a political decision to avoid outright criticism of Israel’s war conduct,” said Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace…the Democratic narrative about “Netanyahu’s war” doesn’t reflect reality—not only because the assault on Gaza enjoys broad support in Israel, but also because Israel could not continue its assault without a constant supply of US arms and military funding. Senior Democrats’ fixation on the Israeli prime minister thus serves to sideline debate about US policies that could actually bring the war to an end.” See also Opinion | Netanyahu Is Insulting, Not Engaging, the Biden Administration. It’s Time for Israel to Listen to America (Daniel Kurtzer//Haaretz); From ‘bear hug’ to barbs, how the U.S. and Israel differ on taking Rafah (Jewish Insider)

Jeff Yass, Billionaire Invested in TikTok and Israel’s Judicial Coup, Is Top Spender in 2024 Elections (Haaretz) – “Jeffrey Yass, the Jewish Republican billionaire whose donations to conservative think tank Kohelet allegedly played a significant role in efforts to overhaul Israel’s judiciary, has emerged as the single largest donor to outside spending groups in the 2024 election cycle. According to campaign finance filings, Yass has donated more than $46 million to conservative-leaning PACs and groups. In the 2022 election cycle, Yass was the fourth-largest political contributor, spending over $56 million, primarily for Republicans…Yass’ Susquehanna International Group…was the largest institutional shareholder in the company that merged with Trump’s Truth Social media company, which will net Trump more than $3 billion according to SEC filings.” See also FMEP’s April 2023 webinar, Spotlight on the “Kohelet Policy Forum”: How a Far-Right-Wing, U.S.-Funded Israeli Think Tank is Working to Shape Policy & Law in Both the US & Israel.

6. Redefining Antisemitism to Quash Criticism of Israel // Lawfare // Media

Colleges Use His Antisemitism Definition to Censor. He Calls It a ‘Travesty.’ (Chronicle of Higher Education) – “When Kenneth Stern drafted the working definition of antisemitism 20 years ago as director of the antisemitism division for the American Jewish Committee, he wanted to help researchers better understand the frequency of violence targeted at Jewish communities…The definition has since been adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, and in 2019, it was incorporated into Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which dictates what counts as discrimination on college campuses, by an executive order from President Donald J. Trump. Over the next few years, more than 30 states adopted the definition in some way, including two — Georgia and South Dakota — that passed legislation doing so in January and March. On Wednesday, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas issued an executive order requiring all colleges in the state to update their free-speech policies to include the definition…Stern, who is now the director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate, is alarmed by its use on college campuses. He believes colleges and politicians who adopt his definition into antidiscrimination policies could then censor anyone who criticizes or says something controversial about Israel. While the definition itself should help people identify clear harassment, using it in legislation allows colleges and lawmakers to clamp down on any protected speech, no matter if it’s harmful or offensive, Stern says.”

Meta oversight board urges company to end ban on Arabic word ‘shaheed’ (Reuters) – “Meta’s oversight board on Tuesday called on the company to end its blanket ban on a common usage of the Arabic word “shaheed,” or “martyr” in English, after a year-long review found the Facebook owner’s approach was “overbroad” and had unnecessarily suppressed the speech of millions of users. The board, which is funded by Meta but operates independently, said the social media giant should remove posts containing the word “shaheed” only when they are linked to clear signs of violence or if they separately break other Meta rules…Rights groups have accused Meta of suppressing content supportive of Palestinians on Facebook and Instagram against the backdrop of a war that has killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza following Hamas’ deadly raids into Israel on Oct 7…”Meta has been operating under the assumption that censorship can and will improve safety, but the evidence suggests that censorship can marginalize whole populations while not improving safety at all,” Oversight Board co-chair Helle Thorning-Schmidt said in a statement.”

7. Long Reads/Perspectives

What Biden Would Do if He Were Serious About Ending the War in Gaza (Noah Lanard//Mother Jones) – “Experts disagree about whether the United States could immediately force Israel to end the war…Here are what some of Biden’s current options look like, according to experts I spoke with this month: [US/Middle East Project President Daniel] Levy and others agree that restricting arms sales is the most important step the United States can take to influence Israel and help bring the war to a close. The country’s reliance on US weapons is made clear by the fact that the United States has approved and delivered more than 100 separate military sales for Israel—almost one per day—since the war began…There is a strong case that even if the Biden administration wants to keep sending military aid to Israel, it is legally prohibited from doing so. Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act blocks the president from providing military assistance to a country that restricts access to US humanitarian assistance…Withdraw Support for Additional Military Aid…Support UN Ceasefire Resolutions…Push for a Permanent Ceasefire…There are other things Biden could do that are less directly related to the war, such as sanctioning top Israeli officials for their actions in the West Bank or moving to recognize Palestinian statehood. But after five months of war, there are still few signs that Biden will suddenly embrace the need to constrain Israel—and if he does it will come months too late.”

Toward an Intellectual History of Genocide in Gaza (Esmat Elhalaby//The Baffler) – “Meanwhile, fifty miles southwest of Jerusalem in the Gaza Strip, every university was made in response to, and in defiance of, its colonial situation. Every university in Gaza has now been destroyed. Alongside them, archives, libraries, cultural centers and auditoriums, publishing houses and bookstores, museums, churches, mosques, and countless artworks. The material loss—a city and its environs turned into dust—is paled only by the loss of human life. Flesh mixed with concrete. Air poisoned by armaments.”

“Heartbreak and Heartlessness” in Gaza: Crisis in International Humanitarian Aid (Yara Asi//Arab Center DC) – “Despite pleas from groups like the United Nations and many of its agencies (including the World Health Organization, World Food Programme, and United Nations Children’s Fund), and the inhumane conditions documented by people in Gaza through videos, photos, and testimonies, there has hardly been any political pressure on Israel to lift this siege. Donors and humanitarian organizations instead scrambled to work around Israel’s restrictions. Unsurprisingly, the efforts were insufficient; in mid-December, Human Rights Watch released a report detailing Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza. Again, no serious action, aside from vague condemnations that often excluded Israel’s role in the crisis, was taken…Decades of literature critiquing humanitarian aid could never have imagined a better case study than the international approach to the occupied Gaza Strip in 2023/2024, as large parts of the small territory were being destroyed by the military of the same government that controls the entry of aid into it. Indeed, witnessing the global powers actively enabling and justifying what the International Court of Justice has deemed a “plausible” risk of genocide, while continuing to publicly lament the deteriorating humanitarian crisis it has created, has called into question the purpose and function of the entirety of the humanitarian aid system.”

At overburdened Gaza hospital, Palestinians try to instill Ramadan spirit (Ruwaida Kamal Amer//+972) – “The European Hospital near Khan Younis is overflowing with thousands of Palestinians displaced and wounded by Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, which is now approaching its seventh month. Both the hospital’s corridors and its courtyard outside are filled with tents, the people’s suffering apparent for all to see. There are no verified figures on the exact number of people here — the hospital estimates about 30,000 people are crowded in the premises — but the families are clearly facing immense difficulties in obtaining the most basic needs, with the hospital ill-equipped to serve as a massive makeshift shelter. But despite the horrors of the war, the Palestinians here are trying their best to mark the holy month of Ramadan, with Eid al-Fitr approaching in two weeks’ time. Families and hospital staff have put up some decorations and distributed them to children to adorn the tents and corridors, hoping to create a festive atmosphere amid their horrid conditions.”

1. New from FMEP
2. Gaza
3. River to the Sea
4. Region/Diplomacy
5. US Scene
6. Redefining Antisemitism/Lawfare
7. Long Reads/Perspectives

New from FMEP

Rania Batrice & Ryan Grim on the Urgency & Need for Independent Journalism — FMEP Fellow Rania Batrice speaks with journalist Ryan Grim about the limitations of mainstream media’s reporting on Israel’s war on Gaza and the opportunities and potential for independent journalism focused on Israel & Palestine more broadly. Addressing the high stakes of U.S. politics, they also speak about repression against advocates for Palestinian life and rights and the upcoming US elections.

FMEP Legislative Round-Up: March 22, 2024 (Lara Friedman) – 1. Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. UNRWA; 4. Hearings & Markups; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

2. Gaza

   GAZA STRIP: Hostilities leave the entire population highly food insecure and at risk of Famine (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) – “Hostilities, including bombardment, ground operations and besiegement of the entire population have caused catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity across the Gaza Strip. Around 85 percent of the population (1.9 million people) is displaced and currently concentrated into an increasingly smaller geographic area. There is a risk of Famine and it is increasing each day that the current situation of intense hostilities and restricted humanitarian access persists or worsens. The intensification of the hostilities, further reduction in access to food, basic services, and lifesaving assistance, and the extreme concentration or isolation of people in inadequate shelters or areas without basic services are major factors that contribute to increasing this risk. Between 24 November and 7 December, over 90 percent of the population in the Gaza Strip (about 2.08 million people) was estimated to face high levels of acute food insecurity, classified in IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse). Among these, over 40 percent of the population (939,000 people) were in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and over 15 percent (378,000 people) were in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5). Between 8 December 2023 and 7 February 2024, the entire population in the Gaza Strip (about 2.2 million people) is classified in IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse). This is the highest share of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity that the IPC initiative has ever classified for any given area or country. Among these, about 50 percent of the population (1.17 million people) is in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and at least one in four households (more than half a million people) is facing catastrophic conditions (IPC Phase 5, Catastrophe). These are characterized by households experiencing an extreme lack of food, starvation, and exhaustion of coping capacities. Even though the levels of acute malnutrition and non-trauma related mortality might not have yet crossed famine thresholds, these are typically the outcomes of prolonged and extreme food consumption gaps. The increased nutritional vulnerability of children, pregnant and breastfeeding women and the elderly is a particular source of concern.” See also ‘Catastrophic levels of hunger’ in Gaza mean famine is imminent, says aid coalition (The Guardian); Is Gaza heading into famine? How experts define that grim term. (WaPo); Israel asks ICJ not to order new measures over looming famine in Gaza (Al Jazeera); ‘Man-made famine’ charge against Israel is backed by mounting body of evidence (Guardian); 

   UN says Israeli restrictions on Gaza food aid may constitute a war crime (The Guardian) – “Israeli restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza may amount to the war crime of deliberate starvation, the UN has said, as the White House called for unimpeded access for aid to the coastal strip…The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, said Israeli restrictions on the entry of aid may amount to “starvation as a method of war”. His comments follow the UN secretary general on Monday describing the food shortages as “entirely man-made” and an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, the international standard for measuring food crises, warning of imminent famine in the territory’s north.” See also ‘Armchair humanitarianism’: The problem with Gaza’s maritime aid corridor (Samer Badawi//+972); With Aid Waiting Just Beyond Their Reach, Malnutrition Among Gaza’s Children Keeps Spreading (Amira Hass/Haaretz)

   Over 13,000 children killed by Israel in Gaza war: UNICEF (New Arab) – “UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said on Sunday over 13,000 children have been killed in Gaza in Israel’s offensive, adding many kids were suffering from severe malnutrition and did not “even have the energy to cry,” in an interview with CBS News.” See also The Children Who Lost Limbs in Gaza (New Yorker); ‘We scream, starve, and die alone’: Life in the ruins of Shuja’iya (Mahmoud Mushtaha//+972)

   US and UK doctors in Washington to warn of IDF’s ‘appalling atrocities’ in Gaza (Guardian) – “A delegation of American and British doctors is in Washington DC to tell the Biden administration the Israeli military is systematically destroying Gaza’s health infrastructure in order to drive Palestinians out of their homes….Professor Nick Maynard, the former director for cancer services at Oxford University who worked at the al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza at the beginning of the year, accused the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) of “appalling atrocities”. “The IDF are systematically targeting healthcare facilities, healthcare personnel and really dismantling the whole healthcare system,” he said. “It’s not just about targeting the buildings, it’s about systematically destroying the infrastructure of the hospitals. Destroying the oxygen tanks at the al-Shifa hospital, deliberately destroying the CT scanners and making it much more difficult to rebuild that infrastructure. If it was just targeting Hamas militants, why are they deliberately destroying the infrastructure of these institutions?”’ See also Facts and Falsehoods: Israel’s Attacks Against Gaza’s Hospitals (Think Global Health); Back From Gaza Hospitals, Doctors Tell Washington of Horrors Amid Cease-Fire Push (NYT)

   Israeli military says it killed 90 gunmen at Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital (Reuters) – “Israel’s military said on Wednesday it had killed around 90 gunmen and arrested 160 in a raid on Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital, an allegation the Islamist Hamas group denied. Al Shifa, the Gaza Strip’s biggest hospital before the war, is now one of the few healthcare facilities even partially operational in the north of the territory, and had also been housing displaced civilians…Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of Gaza’s Hamas-run government media office, said all of those killed had been wounded patients and displaced persons inside the hospital.” See also War on Gaza: Israeli forces destroy al-Shifa surgical building and order evacuation (Middle East Eye) 

   Israel kills Hamas’ Faiq al-Mabhouh as US confirms Marwan Issa’s death (Al Monitor) – “Hamas said on Monday that Israel killed one of its senior officials in Gaza while later in the day a US official confirmed the death of the deputy head of the group’s military wing, Marwan Issa. Hamas said that Faiq al-Mabhouh, the director of central operations for police in Gaza, was killed by Israeli forces at the Al-Shifa hospital. He was working to secure the arrival of aid to Gaza at the time of his death, according to a Hamas statement published by the affiliated Palestinian Information Center…The Israel Defense Forces said in a post on X earlier that it “eliminated” Mabhouh, saying he was hiding in a compound at the Al-Shifa hospital. The IDF described Mabhouh as head of the operation directorate for Hamas’ internal security and said he “operated and advanced terrorist activity” from the compound. Israel carried out a major raid at Al-Shifa, located in Gaza City, on Monday, targeting Hamas leaders. Later on Monday, US national security advisor Jake Sullivan said that Hamas leader Marwan Issa was killed in Gaza last week. “Hamas’ number three, Marwan Issa, was killed in an Israeli operation last week. The rest of the leaders are hiding, likely deep in the Hamas tunnel network. And justice will come for them, too,” Sullivan told reporters.”

   Netanyahu says ‘no way’ to eliminate Hamas without Rafah operation (WaPo) – “In remarks to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Netanyahu acknowledged the pressure — including from Washington — which he said Israel is “rejecting in order to achieve the goals of the war.” His comments, which were released by his office, came a day after he spoke by phone with President Biden, who summoned an Israeli team to Washington for consultation over the assault. They were a signal of the growing chasm between the United States and Israel over its handling of the war in Gaza, which has left more than 31,800 Palestinians dead, according to the Gaza Health Ministry…Netanyahu said that he “made it as clear as possible” to Biden that there is “no way” to eliminate remaining Hamas battalions in Rafah “without a ground incursion.” “We see no way to eliminate Hamas militarily without destroying these remaining battalions. We are determined to do this,” he said.” See also Israel’s Gallant preps arms wish list for US as Netanyahu threatens to ‘do it alone’ in Rafah (Al Monitor); US top diplomat holds talks in Israel as Netanyahu vows Rafah invasion (Al Jazeera); PM tells Blinken Rafah op is inevitable; secretary warns him Israel risks isolation

   How Israel’s Proposed Buffer Zone Reshapes the Gaza Strip (WSJ) – “Israeli forces are carving through farmland and demolishing Palestinian homes and schools in the Gaza Strip to create a buffer zone alongside the enclave’s border with Israel. Israeli officials say the exclusion zone—from which Palestinians would be barred—is a critical security measure in their plan to demilitarize Gaza and assure Israelis that they can return safely to the towns and communities near the border that were evacuated after the Oct. 7 attack that left about 1,200 people dead, according to Israeli authorities. The plans, sketched out by Israeli officials since the first days of the war, would leave a no man’s land more than half a mile wide where Israeli troops would be able to see and stop anyone approaching the border…If fully realized, the buffer zone would reduce the area of the 25-mile-long enclave by 16%, according to Adi Ben Nun, a Hebrew University geography professor who analyzes Israel’s security steps. The Biden administration is opposed to the plan and has warned against any proposal that would threaten the territorial integrity of the Gaza Strip, which at around 140 square miles is about the size of Philadelphia.”

Thousands of Gazans have gone missing. No one is accounting for them. (WaPo) – “Many disappeared under the rubble after airstrikes. Others are believed to have been detained at Israeli checkpoints while fleeing south or trying to return to the north. Some simply left one day and never came back. Their desperate families search hospitals and contact hotlines set up by International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). They scour photos of bodies in the streets and of blindfolded men detained by Israeli forces. They share pictures of relatives online, pleading for leads. From October through February, the ICRC received reports of 5,118 Palestinians missing in Gaza. The Washington Post interviewed 15 people who lost contact with friends and family in Gaza since Oct. 7 — in only two cases were they able to find them. The most painful part, many said, was being in the dark about their fate.”

Israeli Influence Operation Targets U.S. Lawmakers on Hamas-UNRWA (Haaretz) – “For the first time since the war in Gaza began, social media researchers have discovered an Israeli influence operation active across a number of platforms using hundreds of fake accounts to advance what was termed “Israeli interests” online among young Western audiences, in English. The campaign, discovered by an Israeli online watchdog, is not pushing out disinformation but rather focuses on un-organically amplifying claims and reports regarding the involvement of UNRWA workers in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, and its targets include U.S. lawmakers.” See also Pro-Israel online influencing operation has been targeting UNRWA: Report (Al Jazeera)

3. River to the Sea

The Brutal Conditions Facing Palestinian Prisoners (New Yorker) – “As part of that campaign, Israel has also detained thousands of Palestinians from Gaza; prisoners who have been released have described extensive physical abuse from Israeli forces, and, already, at least twenty-seven detainees from Gaza have died in military custody. At the same time, Israeli forces have arrested thousands more Palestinians, mostly from the West Bank, at least ten of whom have reportedly died in Israel prisons.” See also More than 7,350 West Bank Palestinians arrested by Israel during Gaza war (Al Jazeera); Jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti beaten by guards (MEMO); Palestinian detainee dies in Israeli prison after medical negligence, torture: report (MEMO) 

For 1st Time in 50 Years | Israel No Longer Considered Liberal Democracy; Global Index Cites Judicial Coup (Haaretz) – “As a result of the Israeli government’s judicial overhaul and repeated attacks by ministers on the country’s justice system, Israel has been downgraded from a “liberal democracy” to an “electoral democracy” by one of the world’s most important indices for assessing the nature of a country’s governmental system. For the last 50 years, Israel has been in the highest tier of the rankings, but as of this year’s downgrade, Israel is now on an equal status with countries like Poland and Brazil. V-Dem is a leading international database for measuring the type of democracy found in over 200 countries. The database classifies countries into four categories: Closed autocracies, electoral autocracies, electoral democracies, and liberal democracies…The category of Electoral Democracy, to which Israel has now been added, means that the right to vote is preserved, but not the commitment to equality, minority rights, freedom of expression or the rule of law.”

Israeli forces kill 10 Palestinians in West Bank in 24 hours, WAFA news agency says (Reuters) – “Israeli forces killed three Palestinians in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, increasing to 10 the number of Palestinians killed in the territory over 24 hours, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.” See also Dec. 2023: Israel continued its lethal open-fire policy in the West Bank, killing 62 Palestinians, over half of them endangering no one (B’Tselem); Eight Israelis Wounded Following West Bank Shooting, IDF Kills Terrorist (Haaretz)

Between Exclusion and Exploitation (Jewish Currents) – “In the aftermath of October 7th, far-right politicians like Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have insisted that Israel must permanently remove the over 200,000 Palestinian laborers, including those without permits, who work inside Israel and the occupied West Bank. These far-right leaders have positioned Palestinian workers as an unmanageable security threat, and given the significant power within Israel, their approach has largely carried the day, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refusing to bring the workers’ return to a vote in the Security Cabinet. Instead, Netanyahu’s government has resolved to replace Palestinian workers with a massive proposed influx of migrant laborers from countries like India and Sri Lanka, even though it will cost Israeli employers up to three times more to employ such workers. But a contingent of senior officials associated with the military and intelligence service have vocally opposed this policy, insisting on readmitting the banned workers—not out of concern for Palestinians’ livelihoods, but because leaving almost a quarter million Palestinians unemployed and desperate is seen as jeopardizing Israel’s own security…This ongoing tension between elected leaders and the military establishment continues Israel’s longstanding oscillation over whether allowing Palestinian workers in, or forcing them out, is more beneficial to the occupation.”

Record year for Israeli settlements with new approval for Jordan Valley units (Middle East Eye) – “Israel has seized 800 hectares of land in the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank, Israeli media said on Friday, in what has been a record year for illegal settlement construction. The seizure was overseen by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and will allow for the construction of more units on the Yafit settlement…In recent weeks, both the United Nations and Peace Now said that Israel is expanding illegal settlements by a record amount.” See also The first step toward disintegrating Israel’s settler machine (Ori Kol//+972)

The grandmother who wants to lead Israelis back to a Gaza without Palestinians (CNN) – “[Daniella] Weiss said 500 families have already signed up to resettle through her organization Nachala, whose name means “inheritance.” One of Nachala’s members told the group they were sending a representative to Florida to raise money for the cause.  Nachala already receives support from groups in the US, including Americans for a Safe Israel, even as the Biden administration strengthens its opposition to settlements in the West Bank…Weiss was blunt in her wishes for Gaza when CNN interviewed her at her home in the West Bank settlement of  Kedumim, where she was once mayor. “No Arab, I’m speaking about more than two million Arabs. They will not stay there,” Weiss said. “We Jews will be in Gaza.”’

Israel has a new kind of wartime visitor, evangelical ‘voluntourists’ (CSM) – “Evangelicals have been among Israel’s fiercest foreign supporters for years, particularly in the United States, where their significant political influence has helped shape the Israel policy of recent Republican administrations. They believe Israel is key to an end-times prophecy that will bring about the return of the Christian Messiah. Many of these Christians support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland…Israel’s Tourism Ministry estimates around one-third to half of the approximately 3,000 daily visitors expected to arrive in March are part of faith-based volunteer trips. Before the fighting, around 15,000 visitors arrived in Israel per day, about half of whom were Christian, according to Tourism Ministry statistics…In the U.S., support for Israel has become a top priority for evangelical Christians during a presidential election year. They are among the most outspoken backers of Israel’s handling of the conflict, and Republicans have faced pressure to hew not just to traditional Republican support for Israel but to beliefs rooted in the Bible.”

120,000 Muslims worship at Al-Aqsa as 2nd Friday Ramadan prayers pass peacefully (Times of Israel) – “Some 120,000 people attended the second Friday prayers of Ramadan at the Al-Aqsa-Mosque on the Temple Mount, which ended peacefully and without any disturbances, police and religious authorities said. The Islamic Waqf, which administers the mosque compound, estimated that around 120,000 people took part in the prayers, up from an estimated 80,000 last week. Police in a statement said that they had deployed thousands of officers in Jerusalem’s Old City and around the Temple Mount to ensure that the event passed peacefully. Police did not give a specific number, saying only that “tens of thousands took part.”’

4. Region/Diplomacy

Russia, China veto US-backed UN resolution on Gaza cease-fire (Al Monitor) – “Russia and China used their veto power at the UN Security Council on Friday to block a resolution drafted by the United States calling for an “immediate cease-fire” to allow more aid into the Gaza Strip. The resolution marked a tougher stance from the United States, which has used its veto at the Security Council several times since Oct. 7 to block resolutions calling for a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel.” See also US calls for immediate Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal in draft UN resolution (Guardian); UK, Australia call for ‘immediate’ end to fighting in Gaza (Al Jazeera) 

Mossad, CIA chiefs to return to Qatar to continue Gaza talks (Al Monitor) – “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has authorized Mossad chief David Barnea to travel to Qatar Friday and meet with CIA chief William Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel to advance the hostage-release deal, according to Netanyahu’s office.”

Canada to halt arms sales to Israel after non-binding vote in house of commons (The Guardian) – “Canada will halt future arms sales to Israel following a non-binding vote in the house of commons. The foreign affairs minister, Mélanie Joly, told the Toronto Star her government would halt future arms shipments. “It is a real thing,” she said on Tuesday…The motion – which passed 204-117 with the support of Liberals, Bloc Québécois and the Green party – also called on Canada to work “towards the establishment of the state of Palestine”.” See also Israel concerned that other countries will follow Canada’s lead on arms sale ban (Jewish Insider)

5. US Scene

Netanyahu addresses Senate Republicans days after Schumer calls for his ouster (Guardian) – “The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, virtually addressed Republican senators in Washington on Wednesday, days after the chamber’s majority leader, the Democrat Chuck Schumer, called him an impediment to peace in an unsparing floor speech.” See also Johnson Says He Will Invite Netanyahu to Address Congress (NYT); Republican House speaker courts Netanyahu amid partisan split on Gaza (Al Monitor); Schumer’s call for Netanyahu’s ouster meets chilly reception in pro-Israel community (Jewish Insider); Bibi hits back at Schumer in talk with GOP senators (Axios); Schumer suggests he’s open to a Congressional speech by Netanyahu (Jewish Insider) 

Biden Administration Split on Suspending Arms Sales to Israel Ahead of Deadline on Sunday (Haaretz) – “The U.S. government is facing a deep internal rift on whether to certify Israel’s commitment to fully facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, U.S. officials say. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who will be visiting Israel on Friday, has until Sunday to approve Israel’s stance, which was delivered earlier this week to the U.S. ambassador in Israel, Jack Lew – or the United States will immediately suspend weapons transfers to its close ally. Amid congressional pressure last month, President Joe Biden issued a national security memorandum requiring recipients of U.S. military assistance to commit to abide by international law while using U.S. weapons. Such beneficiaries would also have to pledge to facilitate and not obstruct the delivery of humanitarian aid. Arms sales would be suspended if Israel failed to provide a written commitment on time.” See also Dozens of former U.S. officials urge Biden to take harder line with Israel (Reuters); Senate Democrats press Biden to establish two-state solution for Israel, Palestine (The Hill); 25 Groups Demand Biden ‘Urgently Comply With US Law’ and End Israel Arms Sales (Common Dreams) 

Jews and Muslims in U.S. disagree on Israel’s conduct in Gaza, poll finds (WaPo) – “A survey by the Pew Research Center published Thursday shows how Americans are split — particularly along religious lines — over Israel’s conduct in Gaza and the reasons for the war itself. The poll is among the most comprehensive yet of how Americans’ opinions on the conflict differ depending on religious affiliations. The poll found 38 percent of U.S. adults said they think Israel’s conduct has been acceptable, and slightly more than 34 percent said it has been unacceptable…The difference in opinion over Israel’s conduct is starker along religious lines, with 62 percent of American Jews saying Israel’s war conduct is acceptable and 5 percent of American Muslims saying so, according to the survey, which polled 12,693 adults in the United States last month.” See also Majority in U.S. Say Israel Has Valid Reasons for Fighting; Fewer Say the Same About Hamas (Pew)

The Great Rupture in American Jewish Life (Peter Beinart//NYT) – “The emerging rupture between American liberalism and American Zionism constitutes the greatest transformation in American Jewish politics in half a century…For many decades, American Jews have built our political identity on a contradiction: Pursue equal citizenship here; defend group supremacy there. Now here and there are converging. In the years to come, we will have to choose.” See also Prominent progressive Jewish donors urge Biden to end ‘unconditional’ Israel support (Times of Israel); Top US rabbi says Gaza’s plight, distrust of PM make Israel-support harder for US Jews (Times of Israel); A Statement From Jewish Americans Opposing AIPAC (The Nation)

Trump: Any Jew who votes for Democrats ‘hates their religion’ (Ron Kampeas//JTA) – “Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion, they hate everything about Israel, and they should be ashamed of themselves because Israel will be destroyed,” the former president said Monday in an interview with Sebastian Gorka, a far-right commentator who once worked as an adviser in the Trump White House.”

Jared Kushner says Gaza’s ‘waterfront property could be very valuable’ (The Guardian) – “Jared Kushner has praised the “very valuable” potential of Gaza’s “waterfront property” and suggested Israel should remove civilians while it “cleans up” the strip…Kushner also said he thinks Israel should move civilians from Gaza to the Negev desert in southern Israel. He said that if he were in charge of Israel his number one priority would be getting civilians out of the southern city of Rafah, and that “with diplomacy” it could be possible to get them into Egypt.”

6. Activism/Redefining Antisemitism/Lawfare

The New Movement for Palestine (Hadas Thier//Hammer & Hope) – “The Americans stirred to speak out against Israel’s actions in Gaza are not only young members of the left wing. The movement is made up of young people and students as well as elders, union workers, clergy, and others. Palestine solidarity protests are occurring not only in big cities but also in rural and suburban areas. At least 5,425 protests in support of Palestine took place in every state in the country from Oct 7. to Feb. 29, according to the Crowd Counting Consortium (CCC). In the 45 percent of those protests for which CCC was able to obtain information about crowd size, more than one million people participated. Global outrage over Israel’s aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza has produced a broad-based mass movement of the sort this country hasn’t witnessed since the racial justice actions of 2020, and has never before witnessed on the question of Palestine…It’s not just the number or frequency of protests but also their character that is notable. They have included more regions, demographics, and tactics than ever before. We’ve seen mass marches, hunger strikes, and the occupations of dozens of bridges and public spaces alongside hundreds of smaller actions.”

More than 20 Student Groups Protested. A Lawsuit Asks Why Columbia Only Suspended Two. (The Intercept) – “On Tuesday, the New York Civil Liberties Union and Palestine Legal filed a lawsuit against Columbia University, “for the unlawful suspension of its chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) for engaging in peaceful protest.” The groups seek reinstatement and a declaration that the school violated state law in carrying out the suspensions. The suit — brought on behalf of the SJP and JVP chapters, as well as one Palestinian and one Jewish student — notes that the November 9 protest was “sponsored by a coalition comprised of over 20 groups,” and that nevertheless, the “two groups were given no notice of the planned suspensions and no opportunity to respond to the charges or to contest them. None of the other groups involved in the event faced disciplinary action.”…The suit notes that [Senior Executive Vice President Gerald] Rosberg told SJP and JVP in a November 30 meeting — also attended by other administrators, university senators, and faculty members — that they had not been suspended for a violation of the university code of conduct. According to the students, he did not specify what exactly accounted for the decision, or why it was conducted in such a public manner. “When pressed to specify which of the student groups’ actions constituted ‘threatening rhetoric and intimidation,’ VP Rosberg proffered that protestors’ accusations that Israel was ‘a racist state committing genocide’ and ‘is an apartheid state’ could upset some people and ‘seem … like an incitement of violence,’” the suit reads.” Columbia declined to comment on the pending litigation. The university still has an open investigation into a January protest on campus where pro-Palestinian students were attacked with chemicals. Students maintained to The Intercept that the university had disregarded their complaints about the attack at the protest.”

A ‘no-go zone’ for Jews? The making of a moral panic in London (Ben Reiff//+972) – “If you were a non-Jewish person living in the United Kingdom and didn’t know any better, you might think Jews are currently deserting London en masse. That’s certainly the impression you’d get from reading any of the major newspapers this past week…There has undoubtedly been a significant rise in antisemitism in the U.K. over the past five months, catalyzed by Hamas’ October 7 assault and Israel’s ongoing military offensive in Gaza…But this narrative of London becoming a “no-go zone” for Jews has been deliberately constructed and inflamed. Rather than stemming from concern for Jewish safety, it is being driven by a political agenda: to delegitimize and curtail the mass demonstrations in support of a ceasefire in Gaza that have filled the streets of central London on a near-weekly basis over the past five months.”

The spiraling absurdity of Germany’s pro-Israel fanaticism (Michael Sappir//+972) – “After years in which Germany has increasingly narrowed the space for Palestine solidarity, the state’s intense clampdown on freedom of expression in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 attack and Israel’s ensuing assault on the Gaza Strip will have surprised few observers. Still, the frenzy surrounding the country’s prestigious Berlinale international film festival in late February took the absurdity of Germany’s fanatical pro-Israelism to new levels.”

Tony Kushner Speaks Out In Support Of Jonathan Glazer, Calls Oscar Speech An “Unimpeachable, Irrefutable Statement” (Deadline) – “Speaking about protests in the U.S. and their impacts, Tony, Emmy and Pulitzer Prize-winner Tony Kushner expressed surprise at what he called “the blowback after Jonathan Glazer’s really sort of unimpeachable, irrefutable statement at the Oscars…“What [Glazer’s] saying is so, is so simple,” maintained Kushner. “He’s saying Jewishness, Jewish identity, Jewish history, the history of the Holocaust, the history of Jewish suffering must not be used in a campaign as an excuse for a project of dehumanizing or slaughtering other people. This is a misappropriation of what it means to be a Jew, what the Holocaust meant, and he rejects that.” He continued, “Who doesn’t agree with that? What kind of person thinks that what’s going on now in Gaza is acceptable? If you find yourself saying out loud and in public, ‘It’s fine with me, what they’re doing,” because you feel that it’s your only choice as a Jew is to defend everything Israel does, shame on you.”’ See also Amy Sherman-Palladino, Eli Roth among 1,200+ Jewish creatives rejecting Jonathan Glazer’s Oscars speech (JTA) 

Naomi Klein, Hisham Matar, Maaza Mengiste and More Have Withdrawn From the PEN World Voices Festival (LitHub) – “Naomi Klein, Michelle Alexander, Hisham Matar, Isabella Hammad, Maaza Mengiste, Zaina Arafat, and Susan Muaddi Darraj are among the writers who have signed a damning open letter to PEN America in which they announce their decision not to participate in this year’s PEN World Voices Festival due to the organization’s inadequate response to the unfolding genocide in Gaza. “In the context of Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza,” the letter reads, “we believe that PEN America has betrayed the organization’s professed commitment to peace and equality for all, and to freedom and security for writers everywhere.” The letter goes on to detail the various ways in which PEN America has failed Palestinian writers and journalists—as well as their allies in the United States—since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, and take the organization to task for declining “to join other leading human rights organizations and United Nations officials in the demands for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.”

6. Long Reads/Perspectives

War on Gaza: How Israel’s leftists quickly lost their compassion for Palestinians (Orly Noy//Middle East Eye) – “The Hamas attack of 7 October and the war that Israel launched thereafter introduced a new conceptual category of persons to the Hebrew-Israeli vocabulary: the “disillusioned” – meaning, the folks who have now “sobered up”. These people insist that, until 7 October, they were humanistic seekers of peace for whom the Hamas attack changed everything: in its wake, they moulted their former selves and now passionately supported the genocide that Israel was perpetrating in Gaza…The concept that the most the subject can aspire to is the master’s recognition of his being human, a recognition that can be withheld as easily as it was given if the subject “disappoints”, is the hallmark of the colonial situation.In this situation, the master deems himself so superior to the subject that the latter should be thankful for every moment in which the master’s grip on his throat remains loose, while any resistance to the ever-present threat of a chokehold is tantamount to ingratitude.”

Words Over Deeds: Why Biden Isn’t Pressuring Israel (Aaron David Miller/NYT) – “As the war enters its sixth month, Mr. Biden finds himself in an investment trap that’s difficult to escape. He is increasingly frustrated and angry with Mr. Netanyahu. And yet he’s still in love with Israel. How to stand up to the first without damaging the second is proving to be an excruciatingly difficult challenge for a president whose regard for Israel runs deep in his emotional and political DNA and whose re-election campaign may depend upon which way he turns.” See also President Biden, You Have Leverage That Can Save Lives in Gaza. Please Use It. (Nicholas Kristof//NYT)

The Suppressed Lineage of American Jewish Dissent on Zionism (Emma Saltzberg//Jewish Currents) – “In the months since October 7th, the United States has seen its largest-ever mobilization of Jewish pro-Palestine activism: Membership in IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace has surged, and both groups have staged frequent acts of civil disobedience in cities across the country to protest Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza. In response, the mainstream American Jewish community, which has largely consolidated around support for Israel’s war, has sought to cast these non- and anti-Zionist activists as operating outside the American Jewish communal tent. Yet historian Geoffrey Levin’s new book, Our Palestine Question: Israel and American Jewish Dissent, 1948-1978, shows that American Jewish concern for Palestinian rights and critique of Zionism have a long history that has been thoroughly suppressed. The book follows a cast of characters often excluded from accounts of American Jewish history—including a staffer at the American Jewish Committee (AJC), a firebrand Jewish journalist, a Palestinian Syrian diplomat, and a crusading anti-Zionist rabbi—who tried to push American Jews to acknowledge Zionism’s impact on Palestinians. Levin, assistant professor of Middle Eastern and Jewish studies at Emory University, documents how the official American Jewish position on Zionism remained contested in the decades immediately following Israel’s founding, and how challenges to unqualified support for Israel emerged from both the community’s outer edges and the center of the establishment. Ultimately, mainstream Jewish organizations, responding in part to lobbying by the Israeli government, marginalized these critical voices. I spoke with Levin about some of those embattled figures, the geopolitical dimensions of the contest for American Jewish public opinion in the 1950s, and why American Jewish elites were once uncomfortable with Jewish nationalism.”

The Children Who Lost Limbs in Gaza (New Yorker) – “Unicef estimates that a thousand children in Gaza have become amputees since the conflict began in October. “This is the biggest cohort of pediatric amputees in history,” Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a London-based plastic-and-reconstructive surgeon who specializes in pediatric trauma, told me recently. The number of child amputees carries long-term implications, Abu-Sittah told me, listing his concerns. Israeli forces destroyed Gaza’s only facility for manufacturing prosthetics and rehabilitation, the Hamad hospital, which was inaugurated in 2019 and funded by Qatar. The leading manufacturer of child prosthetics, the German company Ottobock, is working to supply the necessary components to children up to the age of sixteen, with donors in place to fund the project through its foundation. Procuring prosthetics, however, is only the first step. “Child amputees need medical care every six months as they grow,” Abu-Sittah said. Because bone grows faster than soft tissue and severed nerves often reattach painfully to skin, child amputees require ongoing surgical interventions. In his experience, each limb requires eight to twelve more surgeries. To track this cohort, Abu-Sittah is consulting with the Centre for Blast Injury Studies at Imperial College London and the Global Health Institute at the American University of Beirut; their goal is to create a cloud-based database of medical records that can follow these kids wherever they go. For the rest of their lives, these amputees will need answers regarding their medical history.”

The Israeli public is dispirited. So why is the right euphoric? (Meron Rapport//+972) — “In fact, since October 7, elements of the Israeli right have been exuding an excitement that borders on outright euphoria. The most prominent example, of course, is the dance party that took place during the Gaza resettlement conference in January, which was attended by 11 cabinet ministers, 15 other members of the governing coalition, and thousands of enthusiastic participants. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich claimed that the accusations that they danced while soldiers’ blood was spilled in Gaza are “outrageous.” Yet it’s hard to deny that many on the right see everything that has happened since October 7 through the lens of biblical redemption…The groundwork for this worldview had been built well before October 7. According to Dr. Avi-Ram Tzoreff, an author and a research fellow at the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem, the Israeli right has long “bestowed sanctity upon militarism,” perceiving military power as almost religiously “redemptive.” Thus, the national consensus that the war in Gaza must end with the “elimination of Hamas,” and that such a war could last for months or even years, is seen by the right as a clear victory for its long-term political agenda….Yet for all the Israeli right’s successes these last few months, it has failed miserably in one key respect: to sweep the Jewish-Israeli public into the same sense of messianic euphoria. Indeed, the mood of the vast majority of the Jewish public ranges from deep depression to prolonged despondency…Public admission of the war’s futility, they fear, may undermine the fragile mental balance that many Jews built for themselves after October 7 — the illusion that, through military might, they are regaining control of their destiny after that dark day in October.”

1. New from FMEP
2. Gaza
3. River to the Sea
4. Region/Diplomacy
5. US Scene
6. Redefining Antisemitism/Lawfare
7. Long Reads/Perspectives

New from FMEP

What Comes After the Destruction of Gaza? (Occupied Thoughts podcast) – FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with writer Ahmed Moor about a range of urgent issues, including how the conversation about post-war Gaza doesn’t include Palestinians, the ethics of not voting for Joe Biden, and in what ways the Palestine solidarity movement can change Washington.

Settlement & Annexation Report: March 15, 2024 (Kristin McCarthy) – 1) Yesh Din Files High Court Petition to Stop Jordan Valley Regional Council; 2) Construction Starts on New Settlement, Ariel West; 3) IDF Demolishes Outpost Near Ofra; 4) Subcommittee Hearing Defends Settler Violence, Points Finger at Human Rights Activists; 5) US Announces New Sanctions on Three Individuals & Two Outposts; 6) Bonus Reads

FMEP Legislative Round-Up: March 15, 2024 (Lara Friedman) – 1. Bills & Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. AIPAC Congressional Summit 2024; 4. Hearings & Markups; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/statement

2. Gaza

Gaza war has killed more children than in four years of worldwide conflict: UNRWA (New Arab) – “More children have been reported killed in Israel’s war raging in Gaza than in four years of conflict around the world, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said Tuesday. “Staggering. The number of children reported killed in just over 4 months in #Gaza is higher than the number of children killed in 4 years of wars around the world combined,” Philippe Lazzarini said on X, formerly Twitter. His post referenced United Nations numbers showing that 12,193 children had been killed in conflicts worldwide between 2019 and 2022. It compared that to reports from the health ministry in the Gaza Strip indicating that more than 12,300 children have been killed in the Palestinian territory between last October and the end of February. “This war is a war on children. It is a war on their childhood and their future,” Lazzarini said.” See also My one dream: Put an end to these massacres (Nada Almadhoun//We Are Not Numbers)

Israeli Aid Policies Drive Starvation (Elisheva Goldberg & Maya Rosen//Jewish Currents) – “On March 7th, President Joe Biden announced during his State of the Union address that the United States would establish a temporary, floating sea pier through which to deliver humanitarian supplies to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, an increasing number of whom are starving…in the meantime, the US plans to continue airdropping aid into Gaza, an initiative that it began in early March. But even as such measures are responding to an urgent humanitarian crisis, experts say they are logistical workarounds to a political issue: Israeli policies blocking aid to Gaza…These policies blocking aid are backed by officials at the highest levels of the government. Indeed, senior Israeli officials have suggested that allowing aid into Gaza “is the opposite of the purpose of the war,” which is “to annihilate [Hamas’s] ability to govern.”…In the absence of political pressure on Israel to change its policies, the situation in Gaza is likely to continue worsening as a growing number of Palestinians succumb to starvation and others, desperate for food, loot the few aid trucks that do enter the enclave.” See also Opinion: My family in Gaza faces starvation. How do I find solace this Ramadan? (Laila El-Haddad//LA Times); World Central Kitchen boat starts offloading food to Gaza (WaPo); IDF says 115 tons of food, water were offloaded from World Central Kitchen boat off Gaza coast (Times of Israel); Pentagon taps private firm to facilitate Gaza humanitarian port (Al Monitor) 

‘Massacre’: Israel forces attack crowds waiting for aid in Gaza, killing 21 (Al Jazeera) – “At least 21 Palestinians have been killed after Israeli forces opened fire on thousands of people waiting for aid in Gaza City in the same area that was targeted hours earlier, government officials said…It was the latest in a string of assaults on people desperately in need of food and other essential supplies as Israel continues to obstruct and severely control the entry of aid into the enclave. Earlier on Thursday, at the same food distribution point at the Kuwait Roundabout, Israeli forces had shot dead at least six Palestinians, as the death toll has risen to more than 400 people in such attacks. Witnesses told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces had used helicopters, tanks and drones to target thousands of people waiting on food trucks. The Israeli military denied that its forces had opened fire on the crowds and claimed instead that “armed Palestinians” were responsible for the attack.” See also War on Gaza: Israel has killed over 400 people waiting for aid in Gaza (Middle East Eye); US NGO Worker Killed In Israeli Airstrike (ANERA); Israel acknowledges strike on U.N. facility, says it targeted Hamas commander (WaPo) 

Hamas presents ceasefire proposal detailing exchange of hostages, prisoners (Reuters) – “Hamas has presented a Gaza ceasefire proposal to mediators and the U.S. that includes the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for freedom for Palestinian prisoners, 100 of whom are serving life sentences, according to a proposal seen by Reuters. Hamas said the initial release of Israelis would include women, children, elderly and ill hostages in return for the release of 700-1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, according to the proposal. The release of Israeli “female recruits” is included. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Thursday a new Gaza truce proposal presented by Hamas to mediators was still based on “unrealistic demands”.’ See also New Hamas Gaza truce proposal outlines exchange of captives for prisoners (Al Jazeera); PM says he okayed plans for Rafah op, Hamas demands still ‘absurd’ but talks to go on (Times of Israel) 

Netanyahu maintains IDF will enter Rafah despite international pressure (Times of Israel) – “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday assured soldiers that the military will operate in the Gaza Strip city of Rafah despite international pressure to hold off on such action…The US has previously said Israel must show it has a plan to protect civilians when it launches a ground offensive in Rafah. And US officials told the Politico news site in a Monday report that US President Joe Biden said he would consider placing conditions on future military aid to Israel if its military moves ahead with a planned offensive without an American green light. Israel has said it is working on a plan to protect civilians. Wednesday saw IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari outline the plan’s major points in a public presentation. US officials subsequently relayed to their Israeli counterparts that the Biden administration would support a limited operation in Gaza’s southernmost city that would prioritize “high-value” Hamas targets in and underneath the city instead of a large-scale offensive, Politico reported, citing four US officials. An Israeli official told the outlet that some kind of offensive or operation in Rafah is inevitable.”

With no safety in Rafah, Palestinians are fleeing back to Gaza’s decimated center (Ruwaida Kamal Amer and Ibtisam Mahdi//+972) – “Rafah is nearing breaking point. The small city on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt has swelled in recent months to accommodate approximately 1.5 million Palestinians displaced from all over the besieged Strip. Residing predominantly in hastily erected and poorly insulated tents, and starving from the severe lack of food, every family here has a heart wrenching story of loss and survival. The fear of what’s still to come, though, is overpowering. Rafah was supposed to be a “safe zone,” a haven in which to seek refuge from Israel’s relentless bombardment and ground assault. But this was never really the case: Israel has been bombing Rafah the whole time. Now the airstrikes are intensifying — even targeting the tent encampments — and the Israeli army’s long-threatened invasion of the city appears imminent.” See also Khan Yunis in Rubble: Sat Images Reveal Widespread Destruction, Flattened Buildings in Gaza’s Second-largest City (Haaretz)

3. River to the Sea
   

Palestinian President Abbas appoints Mohammed Mustafa as prime minister (Al Jazeera) – “Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has appointed his longtime economic adviser Mohammed Mustafa to be the next prime minister in the face of US pressure to reform the Palestinian Authority as part of Washington’s post-war vision for Gaza. Mustafa, a US-educated economist and political independent, now faces the task of forming a new government for the PA, which has limited powers in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. In a statement announcing the appointment on Thursday, Abbas asked Mustafa to put together plans to re-unify administration in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, lead reforms in the government, security services and economy and fight corruption…Mustafa, 69, has held senior positions at the World Bank and previously served as deputy prime minister and economy minister.” See also Hamas slams Mahmoud Abbas’s ‘unilateral’ designation of new PM (Times of Israel)

Iron bars, electric shocks, dogs and cigarette burns: How Palestinians are tortured in Israeli detention (Middle East Eye) – “Palestinian men detained by Israeli forces since the start of the war in Gaza have told Middle East Eye how they were physically tortured with dogs and electricity, subjected to mock executions, and held in humiliating and degrading conditions…Their accounts of torture and abuse follow similar allegations made by human rights monitors…On Thursday, Haaretz reported that at least 27 detainees from Gaza had died in Israeli military facilities since the start of the war.”

Israeli pressure on Palestinian economy pushes West Bank to the brink (WaPo) – “The signs of economic distress are everywhere in Nablus, a once-bustling hub of Palestinian commerce now paralyzed by Israel’s tightening grip on life and work in the West Bank. School-age children sell candy for change and the upscale hotels and restaurants are closed. Jobless men smoke cigarettes on street corners, while taxis sit idle, their routes out of the city blocked by Israeli troops. “The Palestinian people are used to crises,” said Iyad Kordi, general secretary of the Nablus Chamber of Commerce, but “what I see now, I’ve never witnessed.”…While Israel besieges and pummels Gaza, Palestinians here say it is also waging an economic war in the West Bank. Since the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, Israel has imposed sweeping restrictions on the Palestinian economy, revoking work permits, hindering free movement and even withholding for months the tax revenue it collects for the Palestinian Authority. The measures, which Israel says were taken for security reasons, have led to massive job losses, unpaid salaries and a steep drop in local production, according to the World Bank.”

Israeli forces launch deadly raids in occupied West Bank (Al Jazeera) – “Israeli forces have killed at least four people, including two minors, in raids on multiple locations in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials reported on Wednesday. Israeli forces shot dead a 13-year-old boy, identified as Rami al-Halhuli, in the Shu’fat refugee camp in occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday evening. The Israeli Border Police said he had fired fireworks at them…However, witnesses say the slain Palestinian teen had shot the fireworks upwards into the air, not at the Israeli forces, Al Jazeera’s Laura Khan reported from occupied East Jerusalem.”  See also Palestinian boy with firework, 12, shot dead by Israeli border police at east Jerusalem refugee camp (CNN); Israel’s Ben Gvir salutes officer who shot and killed Palestinian child (Middle East Eye)

IDF said to transport Gazan orphans to West Bank via Israel without cabinet’s OK (Times of Israel) – “The Israel Defense Forces reportedly rescued over 70 orphans from the Gaza Strip and facilitated their transport to the West Bank, via the outskirts of Jerusalem, in an unusual operation that started on Sunday and continued into Monday. Far-right ministers were quick to criticize the reported move, as it came during ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza, and while 130 hostages taken during the terror group’s grisly October 7 massacre in southern Israel remain in captivity…The orphans were reportedly accompanied by dozens of adult staff members from the SOS Children’s Village in southern Gaza’s Rafah that was relocating to Bethlehem in the West Bank. The humanitarian gesture was said to have come at the request of the German embassy in Israel.”

With the suspension of Prof. Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Israeli academia is entering the abyss (Academia for Equality) – “On behalf of over eight hundred academics, members of Academia for Equality, we raise an urgent emergency alarm over the decision of the Hebrew University’s administration to suspend Prof. Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian from teaching duties due to her statements regarding the current war. Besides the extreme violence being meted out by the Israeli military on the Gaza Strip’s civilian population, other arms of the state are attempting to destroy Israel’s critical civil society and silence the voices of intellectuals opposed to the war and other Israeli policies, especially among the Palestinian citizens of the state…Prof. Shalhoub-Kevorkian’s remarks do not comprise incitement, threat, support for terrorism or racism, or denial of the October 7th massacre. Rather, they represent a critical perspective on Israel’s actions during the current war. As such, the attack on Prof. Shalhoub-Kevorkian represents an overarching phenomenon: the administrations of Israel’s higher education institutions have become pawns in the hands of the far-right government, seeking to intimidate the state’s Palestinian minority and silence any criticism” See also Call to Action: Support academic freedom for Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian (Palestine-Global Mental Health Network

4. Region/Diplomacy

No evidence from Israel to back UNRWA accusations, says EU humanitarian chief (Reuters) – “The European Union’s top humanitarian aid official said on Thursday he had seen no evidence from Israel to back its accusations against staff from the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), which should continue playing a “critical” role in Gaza…The EU’s executive Commission is a leading UNRWA donor after the United States. It said on March 1 it would pay 50 million euros to the agency, but hold back 32 million euros while it deals with the Israeli allegations.” See also Australia to unfreeze UNRWA funding as Israel attacks Gaza aid seekers (Al Jazeera) 

Hezbollah tells Iran it would fight alone in any war with Israel (Reuters) – “With ally Hamas under attack in Gaza, the head of Iran’s Quds Force visited Beirut in February to discuss the risk posed if Israel next aims at Lebanon’s Hezbollah, an offensive that could severely hurt Tehran’s main regional partner, seven sources said…At the previously unreported meeting, Nasrallah reassured Qaani he didn’t want Iran to get sucked into a war with Israel or the United States and that Hezbollah would fight on its own, all the sources said. “This is our fight,” Nasrallah told Qaani, said one Iranian source with knowledge of the discussions. Calibrated to avoid a major escalation, the skirmishes in Lebanon have nonetheless pushed tens of thousands of people from their homes either side of the border. Israeli strikes have killed more than 200 Hezbollah fighters and some 50 civilians in Lebanon, while attacks from Lebanon into Israel have killed a dozen Israeli soldiers and six civilians.”

Israeli human rights groups accuse country of failing to abide by ICJ’s Gaza aid ruling (Guardian) – “Twelve of Israel’s most prominent human rights organisations have signed an open letter accusing the country of failing to comply with the international court of justice’s (ICJ) provisional ruling that it should facilitate access of humanitarian aid into Gaza…“As members of Israel-based civil society committed to human rights and the rule of law, we condemn the fact that Israel has so far failed to change its behaviour based on the measures imposed by the ICJ, as well as the fact that humanitarian aid to Gaza dropped by 50% in the month following the ruling,” the letter says.” See also ‘When You Come Home, We’re Going to Arrest You’ | South Africa to Arrest Israeli Soldiers Holding Dual Citizenship, Foreign Minister Says (Haaretz)

5. US Scene

Schumer calls for ‘new election’ in Israel in scathing speech on Netanyahu (WaPo) – “Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) called for the Israeli government to hold a new election in a speech warning that Israel risks becoming an international “pariah” under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing cabinet. Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the United States and a staunch ally of Israel, said he thinks Israelis understand “better than anybody that Israel cannot hope to succeed as a pariah opposed by the rest of the world” and would choose better leaders if elections were held…The call, from one of Congress’s strongest supporters of Israel, marks the clearest signal to Israel yet that frustrations over Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza are boiling and could even threaten the future of the close relationship between Israel and the United States.” See also Biden Embraces Schumer’s ‘Good Speech’ Castigating Netanyahu (NYT); Biden Embraces Schumer’s ‘Good Speech’ Castigating Netanyahu (NYT); Schumer’s call for Netanyahu’s ouster meets chilly reception in pro-Israel community (Jewish Insider); Biden hails ‘good speech’ by Schumer criticizing Netanyahu, says most Americans agree (Times of Israel) 

If Israel invades Rafah, Biden will consider conditioning military aid to Israel (Politico) – “President Joe Biden will consider conditioning military aid to Israel if the country moves forward with a large-scale invasion of Rafah, according to four U.S. officials with knowledge of internal administration thinking. Biden’s openness to taking this step reflects the extreme strains in his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has rejected subtler efforts by the Biden administration to rein in his conduct of the war with Hamas.” See also Bombs, guns, treasure: What Israel wants, the US gives (Responsible Statecraft); Analysis | Biden’s Red Line: Why U.S. Could Be Days Away From Suspending Arms Sales to Israel (Ben Samuels//Haaretz); Scoop: Israel assures U.S. weapons used in Gaza according to international law (Axios); Senators to Biden: Curtail arms to Israel unless Gaza aid expanded (Al Monitor); US senators call on Biden to condition Israel aid on humanitarian access (Al Jazeera)

The Left is Finally Building a Response to AIPAC (Akela Lacy//The Intercept) – “After decades of avoiding direct involvement in electoral politics, the country’s flagship Israel lobby group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, formed a pair of political action committees in recent years and has been spending millions on political races. Its targets have been progressives, with AIPAC becoming heavily involved in Democratic primaries. In addition to recruiting candidates to challenge incumbent Democrats, the group plans to spend at least $100 million on 2024 races…A group of 25 progressive organizations — including Justice Democrats, the Working Families Party, the IfNotNow Movement, and Jewish Voice for Peace Action— launched the Reject AIPAC coalition Monday. The coalition plans to organize against AIPAC across electoral, political, and digital arenas. One facet of the plan calls for a seven-figure electoral spending campaign to defend members of Congress being targeted by AIPAC. In a press release announcing its launch, the coalition said it would work to “organize Democratic voters and elected officials to reject the destructive influence of the Republican megadonor-backed AIPAC on the Democratic primary process and our government’s policy towards Palestine and Israel.”’ See also More than 20 progressive groups form a coalition to counter pro-Israel groups before the election (AP)

AIPAC Talking Points Revealed (American Prospect) – “The Prospect has obtained documents from the conference that preview the PAC’s lobbying blitz on Capitol Hill this week. The documents reveal AIPAC’s legislative strategy and the talking points it will use to support an unconditional $14 billion military funding package that has thus far been held up, among other policy changes. They also include numerous positions on aspects of the U.S. response to the war that have not previously been made public, from abolishing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to opposing recent restrictions imposed by the Biden administration on Israeli settlers. There is no mention of a two-state solution…The lobbying files promote the familiar though contested line that “Israel does not target civilians.”…But even more controversial is that AIPAC is telling members of Congress that “Israel is not blocking the delivery of aid to Gaza,” and that “reports that people are starving in Gaza are false.” Neither claim is supported by findings of international authorities, nor by recent actions undertaken by the United States government.” See also Netanyahu’s AIPAC speech highlights growing friction with Biden (Jewish Insider)

Biden administration imposes first sanctions on West Bank settlements (WaPo) – “The Biden administration announced sanctions on two West Bank settlements Thursday, marking the first time economic restrictions have ever been placed on entire Israeli outposts in the Palestinian territory. The sanctions were issued because of acts of violence against civilians, the State Department said in a statement announcing the measures. “There is no justification for extremist violence against civilians, whatever their national origin, ethnicity, race, or religion,” the State Department said. The two sanctioned settlements were listed as Moshes Farm, also known as Tirza Valley Farm Outpost, and Zvis Farm. Three Israeli citizens were also individually placed on the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s list of sanctioned entities: Zvi Bar Yosef, 31; Neriya Ben Pazi, 30; and Moshe Sharvit, 29.” See also this thread from Shane Bauer, who wrote about Neria Ben-Pazi and Moshe Sharvit in last week’s The Israeli Settlers Attacking Their Palestinian Neighbors (New Yorker). Bauer notes that “By targeting just a few individuals, the Biden administration is casting the problem as one of fringe extremists, glossing over the well-documented fact that the state of Israel has been relying on violent settlers to expand its territory in the West Bank.” 

Rank-and-file Democrats split over potential Israeli invasion of Rafah (Jewish Insider) – “President Joe Biden over the weekend called a potential Israeli invasion of Rafah “a red line” for the U.S., appearing to harden a previous position that an large-scale operation in the city would be untenable without specific procedures in place to ensure the safety of civilians. Israeli leaders have said that operations inside Rafah will be necessary to eliminate remaining Hamas leaders and infrastructure. Asked whether they agree with Biden that Israel should not invade Rafah, members of Biden’s party appear split…From the party’s left wing, eight Senate progressives said in a letter to Biden on Monday that the Biden administration should deem Israel in violation of U.S. foreign aid laws and suspend offensive military aid if it does not “immediately and dramatically expand humanitarian access and facilitate safe aid deliveries throughout Gaza.”’ See also Jeffries calls for Hamas to be ‘decisively defeated’ in response to Biden’s Rafah ‘red line’ (Jewish Insider)

Family sees double standard in Israel’s detention of US citizen (Al Monitor) – “The family of a Palestinian American woman being tried in an Israeli military court for Facebook posts wants the Biden administration to recognize her detention as wrongful. The Israeli military arrested Louisiana resident Samaher Esmail last month in what rights groups say is part of a broader crackdown on online speech since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. Esmail, 46, spent three weeks in Israeli custody before her release on bail, and is barred from returning to the United States before her trial begins on March 31. Esmail was charged with “incitement” and “support of a hostile organization,” a reference to 10 Facebook posts between October and the end of January, some of which appeared to express support for Hamas using emojis…Most of the posts cited during her initial hearing were made while Esmail was physically present in the United States, where the family’s representatives argue they would not meet the threshold for incitement set by the US Supreme Court in Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), which holds that the US government can only curtail inflammatory speech that is likely to incite “imminent lawless action.” A State Department spokesperson declined to say whether Esmail’s situation is under review for possible designation of wrongful detention, which would commit federal resources to her case within the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs…The State Department has never publicly classified a US citizen as wrongfully detained by Israel, its top ally in the Middle East.”

6. Redefining Antisemitism/Lawfare
   

The Zone of Interest is about the danger of ignoring atrocities – including in Gaza (Naomi Klein//Guardian) – “Genocide becomes ambient to their lives”: that is how Glazer has described the atmosphere he attempted to capture in his film, in which his characters attend to their daily dramas – sleepless kids, a hard-to-please mother, casual infidelities – in the shadow of smokestacks belching out human remains. It’s not that these people don’t know that an industrial-scale killing machine whirs just beyond their garden wall. They have simply learned to lead contented lives with ambient genocide. It is this that feels most contemporary, most of this terrible moment, about Glazer’s staggering film. More than five months into the daily slaughter in Gaza, and with Israel brazenly ignoring the orders of the international court of justice, and western governments gently scolding Israel while shipping it more arms, genocide is becoming ambient once more – at least for those of us fortunate enough to live on the safe sides of the many walls that carve up our world. We face the risk of it grinding on, becoming the soundtrack of modern life. Not even the main event…Everyone I know who has seen the film can think of little but Gaza. To say this is not to claim a one-to-one equation or comparison with Auschwitz. No two genocides are identical: Gaza is not a factory deliberately designed for mass murder, nor are we close to the scale of the Nazi death toll. But the whole reason the postwar edifice of international humanitarian law was erected was so that we would have the tools to collectively identify patterns before history repeats at scale. And some of the patterns – the wall, the ghetto, the mass killing, the repeatedly stated eliminationist intent, the mass starvation, the pillaging, the joyful dehumanization, and the deliberate humiliation – are repeating. So, too, are the ways that genocide becomes ambient, the way those of us a little further away from the walls can block the images, and tune out the cries, and just … carry on.” See also In Oscars speech, ‘Zone of Interest’ director Jonathan Glazer denounces ‘occupation’ and ‘dehumanization’ in Israel and Gaza (JTA); Jonathan Glazer’s Brave Oscar Speech Represents the Best of Judaism (Dave Zirin//The Nation) 

College Antidiscrimination Suits Over Anti-Israel Speech Aren’t Designed to Win But to Intimidate (Joseph Pace//Common Dreams) – “When you dilate the definition of antisemitism to encompass all censures of Israel, you dilute the power of the antisemitism charge to mobilize people against real manifestations of anti-Jewish hatred. Add to that, when you bully people into silence in the name of “protecting Jews,” you cannot be surprised when antisemitic resentment grows. I’m being descriptive here, not normative: yes, everyone should be able to spot and condemn real antisemitism even if they’ve been cynically accused of it. But cynicism breeds cynicism. Cry wolf enough times and some people will either stop believing wolves exist or they’ll become indifferent to you being mauled by one.” See also Palestine Legal and NYCLU Sue Columbia University Over Student Group Suspension

The Problem with Defining Antisemitism (Eyal Press//New Yorker) – “Since the October 7th Hamas attack and the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, the number of Title VI cases alleging that Jewish students have been subjected to discrimination has risen dramatically. Thirty-three U.S. states and dozens of cities have now adopted or endorsed the I.H.R.A. definition. Many pro-Israel groups see this as an appropriate response to a surge of antisemitism, especially at universities, whose leaders, they claim, have failed to punish students who demonize Israel…Within the Palestine-solidarity movement, there is a widespread belief that defenders of Israel have used the I.H.R.A. definition to censor speech and silence legitimate criticism. What’s unusual about Stern is that he shares this concern despite being a defender of Israel himself. “I’m a Zionist,” he told me when we met recently at his home in Brooklyn, where he lives with his wife, Margie, a rabbi…In “The Conflict Over the Conflict,” [Ken] Stern [who drafted the IHRA definition] describes the organized Jewish community’s promotion of the I.H.R.A. definition as “one of the most significant threats to the campus today, and to Jewish students and faculty.” How did the man who wrote that definition come to regard it as a danger?” See also We won a historic BDS vote at UC Davis, and were demonised and called terrorists (Middle East Eye); 80+ bands pull out of South by Southwest to protest festival’s ties to Israeli military (JTA) 

US Lawmaker Cited NYC Protests in a Defense of Warrantless Spying (Wired) – “A closed-door presentation for House lawmakers late last year portrayed American anti-war protesters as having possible ties to Hamas in an effort to kill privacy reforms to a major US spy program.”

Israel’s Disinformation Apparatus: A Key Weapon in its Arsenal (Tariq Kenney-Shawa//Al Shabaka) – “Propaganda and disinformation produced at industrial scale by official Israeli government and military sources are being legitimized and boosted by a wide network of journalists and open-source intelligence (OSINT) analysts, who have discarded all vestiges of objectivity and analytical rigor in their coverage. Instead of bearing witness to Israeli war crimes and questioning the narratives put forth by a regime engaging in genocide, they have become complicit in them. As a result, Israeli information operations are benefiting from a media network acting not as unbiased reporters, but as enablers of Israeli mass atrocities. This policy brief explores the information warfare tactics Israel has used to influence public perception of its ongoing genocide in Gaza, how these efforts have contributed to the decay of truth, and how they hamper efforts to organize a global response. It also explains how journalists and open-source intelligence analysts have become active enablers of Israeli war crimes by acting as uncritical conduits of Israeli propaganda. Finally, it offers recommendations for reporters, analysts, and the wider public to leverage open-source tools to refute dominant Israeli propaganda and disinformation.”

What’s behind the red pins celebrities wore at the Oscars (NPR) – “Celebrities like Billie Eilish, Ramy Youssef and Mark Ruffalo wore the pins in support of Artists4Ceasefire, a group of advocates and artists that opposes the Israel-Hamas war. “The pin symbolizes collective support for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the release of all of the hostages and for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza,” the group said in a statement…Other Oscar attendees who wore the pin include actor Mahershala Ali and director Ava DuVernay…A full list of the more than 400 artists who have signed the letter supporting an immediate cease-fire can be found on Artists4Ceasefire’s website.”

6. Long Reads/Perspectives

Only Revolutionary Love Can Save Us Now (Michelle Alexander//The Nation) – “2024 just might be the year that changes everything. But the way that things change is ultimately up to us. It can be a time of world war, genocide, the collapse of democracy, and the loss of hope. Or it can be a time of great awakening—when we break our silences and act with greater courage and greater solidarity, a time when the existential threats that we are facing finally lead us to embrace humanity and perhaps even glimpse the spark of divinity that exists within each one of us, and all creation. Something new is in the air. And it’s not just dread. In virtually every community, people are coming together in remarkable ways—learning about each other’s histories of struggle, marching together, co-creating with each other, planting seeds of something new together, making another way possible: a way out of no way. People are casting off old ways of seeing the world and being in the world and recognizing that everything depends on us rising to the challenges of our times, speaking unpopular truths, and acting with courage and with love and with the fierce urgency of now.”

Are we indeed all Palestinians? (Mohammed El-Kurd//Mondoweiss) – “The rallying cry that we are all Palestinians must abandon the metaphor and manifest materially. Meaning, all of us—Palestinians or otherwise—must embody the Palestinian condition, the condition of resistance and refusal, in the lives we lead and the company we keep. Meaning we reject our complicity in this bloodshed and our inertia when confronted with all of that blood. Because Gaza cannot stand alone in sacrifice…Here we are, on different planets, in different realities. Statements that include “should” or “must” run the risk of being disparaging and short-sighted. Yet I cannot help but think that this consequential moment calls on us to raise the ceiling of what is permissible, and demands that we renew our commitment to the truth, to spitting the truth, unflinchingly, unabashedly (and cleverly), no matter in what conference room, no matter in whose face. Because Gaza cannot fight the empire on its own. Or, to use an embittered proverb my grandmother used to mutter at the evening news, “They asked the Pharaoh, ‘Who made you a pharaoh?’ He replied, ‘no one stopped me.’”

Palestinian author describes “terrible denigration of life” in Gaza after visiting the enclave (CNN) – “Palestinian novelist, poet and activist Susan Abulhawa said after visiting Gaza that beyond the “dramatic footage that reaches the West, there is a massive, terrible denigration of life.” She spoke to CNN’s Becky Anderson about what she described as a “dystopia” in Gaza.”

What Was Palestine Before the Nakba? (Mohammed El-Kurd//The Nation) – “A stunning photo archive reveals a time before the walls and checkpoints, when Palestine was not defined by its ailments but by its industries and cultures”

1. New from FMEP
2. Gaza
3. River to the Sea
4. Region/Diplomacy
5. US Scene
6. Long Reads/Perspectives

New from FMEP

Two new Occupied Thoughts podcasts: 

• Media Bias in Reporting on Sexual Assault on October 7th – Breaking Down the Damage — FMEP Fellow Rania Batrice and analyst Krystal Ball look at the controversy surrounding allegations of widespread and systematic sexual assault by Hamas on October 7th. This conversation does not ask “was there or wasn’t there sexual assault on October 7?” Rather, it focuses on the harm caused by biased media reports and the absence of independent and thorough investigations. The podcast discusses how the narratives promulgated by mainstream US media – most notably the 12/28/23 New York Times front-page article entitled “Screams Without Words: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on October 7th” – have contributed to the dehumanization of the entire Palestinian population of Gaza, and the politicization of what should be a serious demand for professional investigation and accountability for the crimes of October 7th.
• Biden & Israel: What it’s Like to Make Policy in the White House — FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart is joined with Steven Simon, former Director of the National Security Council in the Obama Administration. The two discuss what the conversation in the White House is in regards to U.S. policy towards Israel, as it was in the Obama Administration and possibly now in the Biden Administration.

FMEP Legislative Round-Up: March 8, 2024 (Lara Friedman) – “1. Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. Hearings & Markups; 4. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

Settlement & Annexation Report: March 8, 2024 (Kristin McCarthy) – 1) Israel Advances Plans for 3,400 Settlement Units; 2) A Must-Watch WSJ Feature on Outposts & Illegal Settlement Roads; 3) Bonus Reads”

Gaza

U.S. floods arms into Israel despite mounting alarm over war’s conduct (WaPo) – “The United States has quietly approved and delivered more than 100 separate foreign military sales to Israel since the Gaza war began Oct. 7, amounting to thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms and other lethal aid, U.S. officials told members of Congress in a recent classified briefing. The triple-digit figure, which has not been previously reported, is the latest indication of Washington’s extensive involvement in the polarizing five-month conflict even as top U.S. officials and lawmakers increasingly express deep reservations about Israel’s military tactics in a campaign that has killed more than 30,000 people, according to Gaza’s health authorities. Only two approved foreign military sales to Israel have been made public since the start of conflict: $106 million worth of tank ammunition and $147.5 million of components needed to make 155 mm shells. Those sales invited public scrutiny because the Biden administration bypassed Congress to approve the packages by invoking an emergency authority. But in the case of the 100 other transactions, known in government-speak as Foreign Military Sales or FMS, the weapons transfers were processed without any public debate because each fell under a specific dollar amount that requires the executive branch to individually notify Congress, according to U.S. officials and lawmakers who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military matter. Taken together, the weapons packages amount to a massive transfer of firepower at a time when senior U.S. officials have complained that Israeli officials have fallen short on their appeals to limit civilian casualties, allow more aid into Gaza and refrain from rhetoric calling for the permanent displacement of Palestinians.” See also Israel’s war on Gaza live: Ceasefire by Ramadan ‘looking tough’, Biden says (Al Jazeera); Blinken says truce ‘ball’ in Hamas’s court; terror group says no to compromise (Times of Israel); U.S. plans more airdrops into Gaza amid hope for Ramadan cease-fire (WaPo); Biden Sends Sharp Message to Israel During State of the Union: Don’t Use Gaza Aid As bargaining chip (Haaretz); Netanyahu says Israel will push on with Gaza offensive, including in Rafah (Reuters) 

Survivors of Gaza aid convoy massacre describe ‘indiscriminate’ Israeli fire (Mahmoud Mushtaha//+972) – “In the early hours of Feb. 29, more than 110 Palestinians were killed and several hundred wounded in northern Gaza when a convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid reached Gaza City, where a starving crowd had amassed near the coast. Israel immediately denied responsibility for the casualties, releasing edited drone footage purporting to show that its forces “didn’t open fire on those seeking aid” and shot only at “several individuals” who “posed a threat”; instead, Israel accused the Palestinians of “trampling other Gazans to death.” However, testimonies gathered by +972 Magazine from Palestinians who survived what they are calling the “starvation massacre” describe Israeli forces opening fire indiscriminately on the crowd…Amid the panic induced by the gunfire, many Palestinians were also killed and wounded as a result of being crushed by the crowds and the aid trucks themselves.” See also Gaza doctor says gunfire accounted for 80% of the wounds at his hospital from aid convoy bloodshed (AP); US blocks UN Security Council resolution blaming Israel for dozens of deaths during humanitarian aid delivery (JTA); Lives Ended in Gaza (NYT); Starvation, survival, and the Flour Massacre (Ahmed Dremly//We Are Not Numbers) 

Biden plan to build Gaza port, deliver aid by sea draws skepticism, ridicule (WaPo) – “The most generous responses to President Biden’s plan to establish a maritime aid corridor to battered Gaza, including building a temporary port and aid deliveries from Cyprus, were marked by skepticism that it would work. Others saw in the proposal, which Biden announced Thursday in his State of the Union address, more evidence of the administration’s reluctance to confront Israel over its obstruction of relief deliveries or use the United States’ extraordinary leverage as Israel’s main military backer to mitigate the most catastrophic consequences of the war.” See also How the U.S. military will use a floating pier to deliver Gaza aid (WaPo) US port plan to step up aid delivery to Gaza criticised as ‘distraction’ (Al Jazeera); Five killed and 10 injured in Gaza aid airdrop when parachute fails to open (Guardian); 

EU will open sea corridor to send aid from Cyprus to Gaza amid famine fears (Guardian) “The EU has announced the opening of a sea corridor this weekend for shipping humanitarian aid from Cyprus to Gaza in the race to stave off a famine that is already claiming lives.” See also How Israel’s restrictions on aid put Gaza on the brink of famine (WaPo); Analysis | The Israeli Military Doesn’t Grasp the Risk of Mass Death by Starvation in Gaza (Amira Hass//Haaretz); 16 children have died of malnutrition in aid-starved Gaza, health officials say (WaPo); It’s not just Israeli bombs that have killed children in Gaza. Now some are dying of hunger too (AP); Born and died during Gaza war, infant twins are buried in Rafah (Reuters) 

UNRWA report says Israel coerced some agency employees to falsely admit Hamas links (Times of Israel) – “The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says some employees released into Gaza from Israeli detention reported having been pressured by Israeli authorities into falsely stating that the agency has Hamas links and that staff took part in the October 7 attacks.” See also Canada lifting freeze on UNRWA funding after weeks of protests, criticism (Al Jazeera); Anesthetics, crutches, dates. Inside Israel’s ghost list of items arbitrarily denied entry into Gaza (CNN)

‘They wanted to humiliate us.’ Palestinian women detained by Israel allege abuse in Israeli custody (AP) – “Rights groups say Israel is “disappearing” Gaza Palestinians — detaining them without charge or trial and not disclosing to family or lawyers where they’re held. Israel’s prison service says all “basic rights required are fully applied by professionally trained prison guards.”’ See also War on Gaza: Israeli tanks deliberately ran over dozens of Palestinians (Middle East Eye) 

Desperate to Escape Gaza Carnage, Palestinians are Forced to Pay Exorbitant Fees to Enter Egypt (The Intercept) – “With almost no options for escape, people in Gaza are increasingly paying thousands of dollars to fixers connected to the Egyptian government.” See also The price of freedom: The company making millions from Gaza’s misery (Sky News)

News outlets express solidarity with journalists in Gaza (Committee to Protect Journalists) – “Dozens of news organization leaders from across the world, including the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, and Reuters, have joined an open letter (full text below) affirming their solidarity with journalists reporting in Gaza.”

Gaza Becomes Israel’s Testing Ground for Military Robots (Haaretz) – “In an effort to avoid harming soldiers and dogs, the IDF has been experimenting with the use of robots and remote-controlled dogs in the Gaza War. Most of the tests have been with a “robot dog,” which is also equipped with a drone and can replace or reinforce the Oketz Unit’s dogs in certain situations. Unmanned remote-control D9 bulldozers are also being used.”

River to the Sea

Palestinians ‘beaten and sexually assaulted’ at Israeli detention centres, UN report claims (Guardian) – “An internal UN report describes widespread abuse of Palestinian detainees in Israeli detention centres, including beatings, dog attacks, the prolonged use of stress positions and sexual assault. The report was compiled by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and is largely based on interviews of Palestinian detainees released at the Kerem Shalom crossing point since December, when UNRWA staff were present to provide humanitarian support.”

A new surge of settler outposts is terrorizing Palestinians off their land (Imad Abu Hawash//+972) – “Over the last five months, large swathes of Palestinian-owned land in the West Bank have been effectively annexed by Israeli settlers. In some areas, like Battir, settlers have established completely new outposts — nine of them, according to a report by Peace Now. While all Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law, the construction of unauthorized outposts is technically illegal even under Israeli law. Nonetheless, the Israeli army invariably protects the settlers, and the state generally allows them to be hooked up to the electricity and water grid — unlike the Palestinian communities on whose lands they are built.  And under Israel’s current far-right government, the distinction has been blurred even further: in December, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich allocated NIS 75 million (around $21 million) of state funds to outposts across the West Bank…And in several cases, under the cover of war and with the army’s active or tacit collaboration, settlers have simply taken over land by force, threat, or military decree.”

Israel carries out biggest Ramallah raid in years (Reuters) – “Israeli forces raided the Palestinian administrative capital of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank overnight, killing a 16-year-old in a refugee camp during their biggest such operation into the city in years, Palestinian sources said on Monday.”

Journalism out, hasbara in: How Israeli TV news joined the Gaza war effort (Eyal Lurie-Pardes//+972) – “Tectonic shifts in Israeli broadcasting have played a key role in shaping the country’s nationalist and militaristic discourse, with Oct. 7 marking their apex.”

Kibbutz Be’eri Rejects Story in New York Times October 7 Expose: “The Were Not Sexually Abused” (The Intercept) – “Two of the three victims specifically singled out by the New York Times in a marquee exposé published in December, which alleged that Hamas had deliberately weaponized sexual violence during the October 7 attacks, were not in fact victims of sexual assault, according to the spokesperson for the Kibbutz Be’eri, which the Times identified as the location of the attack.” See also New York Times Launches Leak Investigation Over Report on Its Israel-Gaza Coverage (Vanity Fair)

Hostage families block main highway with cages; report says new signs of life received (Times of Israel) – “Families of hostages being held captive by Hamas in Gaza staged a protest on Friday late afternoon and evening, blocking the main highway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to urge the government to reach a deal to free their loved ones.” See also ‘We were constantly in terror’: Israeli hostage tells of captivity in Gaza (The Guardian)

Region/Diplomacy

UN finds ‘convincing information’ that Hamas raped and tortured Israeli hostages (Guardian) – “The UN’s special envoy on sexual violence in conflict has reported “clear and convincing information” that some women and children hostages held by Hamas had been subjected to rape and sexualised torture and that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe such abuses were “ongoing”. The special envoy, Pramila Patten, also reported on Monday that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe sexual assaults including rape and gang-rape in several places took place during the 7 October attacks by Hamas. Patten led a nine-strong team of experts to Israel and the West Bank in the first half of February, but cautioned that there were limitations on what it could achieve in a limited time given a number of constraints. Primary among those limitations was that the team did not manage to meet any survivors of sexual violence during the 7 October attacks, “despite concerted efforts encouraging them to come forward”. See also Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (UN); Israel Recalls U.N. Ambassador to Protest Response to Sexual Violence Report (NYT

Three sailors dead after Houthis strike ship in Gulf of Aden, US says (Guardian) – “Three sailors have died and others have been injured after a Houthi missile attack on a ship in the Gulf of Aden, US officials have said – the first fatalities of crew of commercial shipping since the Houthis began launching strikes at ships in waters off Yemen last year. The officials told US news agencies that the crew of the MV True Confidence had abandoned ship after the attack, which was claimed by the Houthis.”

Could Houthi-sunk ship Rubymar spell eco-disaster for the Red Sea? (Al Jazeera) – “Rubymar, the Belize-flagged, British-owned cargo ship that was badly damaged in a Houthi attack in February, has almost completely sunk into the Red Sea, causing an oil slick and prompting serious concerns about environmental damage to the surrounding waters and their coral reefs. Here’s a look at the sort of damage the Rubymar might cause.”

Lebanon, not Gaza, could trigger regional war as Israel-Hezbollah tension soars (Al Monitor) – “As clashes between Hezbollah and Israel intensify despite US mediation efforts, an all-out war between the two sides is no longer a remote possibility. Striking a deal to avert one, however, appears to hinge on reaching a cease-fire in Gaza.”

US Scene

US vice president calls for ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Gaza (Al Monitor) – “US Vice President Kamala Harris called Sunday for a proposed six-week ceasefire deal in the Israel-Hamas war to be accepted, while criticizing Israel over insufficient aid deliveries into Gaza. “Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table,” Harris said during a speech in Selma, Alabama. Her comments were the strongest to date by a US administration official on Israel since the war started, as President Joe Biden comes under acute pressure over his support for Israel and the civilian death toll in Gaza soars.” See also Harris calls for ceasefire, says “people in Gaza are starving” (Axios); Administration officials watered down Kamala Harris’ Gaza speech before delivery (NBC); Harris stresses US support for Israel, Gaza truce in talks with Gantz (Al Jazeera) 

‘State of the Union is genocide’: Gaza protesters challenge Biden speech (Al Jazeera) – “About 150 protesters gathered on Pennsylvania Avenue – the arterial road that connects the White House to the seat of the US legislature in Washington, DC – ahead of the annual address on Thursday…“As President Biden prepares to give the State of the Union address, we’re here to say, no more genocide with our tax dollars,” Cat Knarr, of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, told Al Jazeera. Protesters near the Capitol laid out a swimming-pool-sized Palestinian flag across the avenue’s asphalt. They held signs that said “Biden’s legacy is genocide” and “End the occupation”.”

Joe Biden is exasperated by Israel but will not stop its war (The Economist) – “For all his annoyance with Mr Netanyahu, Mr Biden has declined to use America’s leverage more directly,  in the manner of Ronald Reagan, who blocked the delivery of weapons to Israel in the 1980s or of the elder George Bush, who halted loan guarantees to Israel in the 1990s…Though opinion is shifting, especially among young Democrats, Americans are still largely sympathetic to Israel. Mr Biden is a self-declared Zionist. Thus far in the crisis he has lived by the dedication he wrote years ago on a picture he gave Mr Netanyahu: “Bibi, I don’t agree with a damn thing you say, but I love ya.”’ See also Why America Isn’t Using Its Leverage with Israel (Isaac Chotiner interviews Senator Chris Van Hollen//New Yorker); Israel’s Gantz meets Austin, Blinken on ‘unauthorized’ Washington visit; ‘We look 100 percent weak’: US airdrops in Gaza expose limit to Biden’s Israel policy (Politico); 6 House Dems, back from Israel, accuse Netanyahu of ‘utter disregard for Palestinian lives’ (JTA)

‘Uncommitted’ campaign opposing Biden’s support for Israel makes a mark in 5 more states (JTA) – “A week after a campaign to show opposition to President Joe Biden’s Israel policies made a mark in the Michigan primary, it garnered substantial results in at least another five states, a sign that the Gaza war could dog his campaign for reelection…Democratic primary voters voting “uncommitted” took substantive portions of the vote Tuesday in North Carolina, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Tennessee and North Carolina…The substantive showings suggested that Michigan, a state with a large Arab American population, was not an anomaly, and that polling showing unhappiness with Biden’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas among younger and minority voters could hurt him in the general election in November.”

Understanding Biden’s Settler Sanctions Strategy (Alex Kane//Jewish Currents) – “The administration’s sanctions on Israeli settlers are an attempt to mollify its disillusioned base without confronting the Israeli government.” See also I met the Israeli settlers Biden placed sanctions on. They’re bad – but part of a rotten system (Zak Witus//Guardian)

AIPAC uncorks $100 million war chest to sink progressive candidates (Politico) – “AIPAC is expected to spend $100 million across its political entities in 2024, taking aim at candidates they deem insufficiently supportive of Israel, according to three people with direct knowledge of the figure, who were granted anonymity to discuss private meetings. The strategy has taken on new urgency this election season from donors animated by the Israel-Hamas war. AIPAC’s biggest targets are members of the so-called Squad of progressive House Democrats who have been openly pressuring the administration to call for a cease-fire. But AIPAC’s ambitions are broader. United Democracy Project, the group’s super PAC, is monitoring 15 to 20 House races and polling in many of those districts, according to a person directly familiar with UDP’s strategy and granted anonymity to discuss the approach.”

Why Does Biden Keep Making the Same Dangerous Comment About Jews? (Sophie Hurwitz//The Nation) – “Over the past few months, President Joe Biden has repeatedly shared a very specific opinion that he holds about Jews and Israel. On October 12, five days after Hamas attacked Israel, the president held a White House meeting on antisemitism. “Were there no Israel, no Jew in the world would be ultimately safe,” Biden said. “It’s the only ultimate guarantee.”…The exact wording of the sentence varies, but the sentiment does not. Biden clearly believes that the existence of the state of Israel is the only thing preventing the annihilation of the world’s 15 million Jews. If you take the slogan at face value, Biden also seems to believe that, were Israel to disappear, he would be powerless to protect the 6 million Jews living in the United States—the country whose government he currently leads. Apparently, it’s a foreign nation’s job to ensure the safety of American Jews, not Joe Biden’s…American Jews are being told they will never be safe at home unless the Israeli military’s violence remains well-funded abroad. American Muslims are being told that they will only be safe at home if Muslims are not safe abroad. In this equation, neither community wins. It’s no wonder that many are refusing these terms.”

Long Reads/Perspectives

Opinion | For Palestinians, the ‘Day After’ the Gaza War Will Have to Include Hamas (Huda Abuarquob//Haaretz) – “From a Palestinian perspective, the “Day After” will need a concrete roadmap to be able to accept it, and central to it will be a transitional leadership that includes Hamas in it. Yes, Hamas. Hamas is not going anywhere, despite Netanyahu and his government’s declarations. This war was started strategically by Hamas to put both themselves as political players and the Palestinian cause on the map again.”

Raised in the West Bank, Shot in Vermont (NYT) – “Three months after an attack, its victims grapple with what it means to be Palestinian in America.”

Unilateral Actions (Amjad Iraqi//NYRB) – “The impending invasion of Rafah—where over 1.4 million Palestinians are trapped—shows how far Israel has pushed its ambitions in Gaza.”

The Myth of Israel’s “Moral Army” (Avner Gvaryahu//Foreign Affairs) – “In truth, Israel…has waged a brutal campaign in Gaza, only loosely upholding the protocols its armed forces are supposed to follow to minimize civilian deaths. But even those guidelines are insufficient: an investigation of prior campaigns in Gaza reveals the inadequacy of Israeli targeting guidelines, which do not truly curb civilian casualties. In the latest round of fighting in Gaza, Israel has failed to follow even those restrictions—leading to untold devastation and making a resolution to the conflict even harder to reach…Past wars help pierce the fog of the present one. At the Israeli veterans’ group Breaking the Silence, we have spent years studying soldiers’ testimonies from previous military campaigns in Gaza, in 2008–9, 2012, 2014, and 2021. In those instances, Israel claimed that it was doing its best to avoid civilian casualties. This claim was based on three assertions: that Israel attacks only legitimate military targets, not civilian ones; that Israel operates with highly reliable intelligence, which enables it to avoid harm to civilians; and that Israel executes its attacks with precision, limiting harm to civilians. Our investigation of past wars revealed many reasons to doubt each of these claims.”

Israeli peace activists are more anguished than ever − in a movement that has always been diverse and divided, with differing visions of ‘peace’ (Atalia Omer//The Conversation) – “Even within this larger camp, however, there are divergent perceptions of justice, shaped by how people understand the root causes of the conflict. Did it truly start in 1917, when a British lord promised a home for Jews? In 1948, with Israel’s War of Independence – which Palestinians experienced as the Nakba, their “catastrophe”? Or is the most important date 1967, when Israel occupied the Golan Heights, east Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip?…For the most part, this “peace camp” believes “Israel proper” consists of land within the “Green Line,” set by the armistice agreements at the end of the 1948 war. The Green Line does not include the territories Israel has occupied since the end of the 1967 war, which most of the peace camp considers a morally wrong occupation. More broadly, their vision is grounded in preserving Israel as a democracy with a Jewish majority. This necessitates the creation of a sovereign Palestinian nation-state in the occupied territories…Ever since the early days of Zionism, however, other Jews have challenged the movement’s basic objective of creating a Jewish-majority state, given the reality that other groups of people, in addition to Jews, already lived in historic Palestine.”