Media

  • Trump’s Fervent Christian Zionists Poised to Lead the Military — And US-Israel Relations (Religion Dispatches)

    “Huckabee’s ‘Biblical mandate’ has led him to march in lockstep with the maximalist Israeli Right. As leading Middle East analyst Lara Friedman has documented, he has: claimed there is ‘no such thing as a Palestinian’; called a Palestinian state a ‘fantasy’; called on the US to fund West Bank settlements; and considered buying a home there himself…”

  • Trump’s unfinished business for ‘Greater Israel’ (Lara Friedman interviewed in +972 Magazine)

    “To unpack the election results and understand the implications of a second Trump term for U.S. policy on Israel-Palestine, +972 Magazine spoke with Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) and a longtime expert on American and Israeli politics (full disclosure: FMEP is a funder of +972 Magazine). For Friedman, last week revealed the consequences of Democrats’ failure to take the concerns of its base seriously — simply assuming that they would turn out to support Harris — and of trying to outflank Republicans on their pro-Israel bona fides as part of their appeal to the so-called centrist voter. This was a lesson, as Friedman points out, that Democrats could have learned from their Israeli counterparts in the Labor Party, which has rendered itself obsolete by failing to offer a real alternative to the Israeli right…”

  • US House to vote on anti-NGO bill that could target pro-Palestinian groups (Al Jazeera)

    “…the more insidious element of the bill, the one targeting nonprofits, doubles down on existing legislation. Providing ‘material support’ for US-designated terror groups is already against the law, noted Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace. ‘It’s already illegal for [nonprofits] to support terror and the Department of Justice actually has a path to say, ‘This is illegal, and this is a foreign terrorist organisation, and here’s our proof,’’ she told Al Jazeera. ‘And it’s accountable: they can take your nonprofit status away, but there’s actual due process.’ Congressman David Kustoff, a Republican and a co-sponsor of the bill, argued when he first introduced the legislation that the current process is insufficient. ‘Right now, our ability to crack down on tax-exempt organisations that support terrorism is inadequate,’ Kustoff said in April. ‘Doing so, under current law, requires a time-consuming bureaucratic process that has sometimes prevented federal authorities from acting.’ But removing checks and balances from the process could turn the legislation into a weapon to be deployed against any group the administration in office may not like. When the bill was first introduced, it generated pushback from across the political spectrum, Friedman noted. ‘Including from the right that said, ‘Well, if this is in the hands of a government that’s anti the things we care about, this could hurt us,’’ she said. ‘Are we at a point now where Republicans have decided there will never again be a government that could come back to bite them so they’re going to support unlimited anything? I don’t know. Trump could do all of this by executive order anyway.’”

  • ‘A Lot of Anguish’: Why the MLA Put an Anti-Israel Resolution on Ice (Chronicle of Higher Ed)

    “…The resolution stated that members of the MLA, not the organization itself, endorse the 2005 Palestinian Civil Society Call for BDS against Israel. Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, said she doesn’t think a resolution expressing members’ sentiments toward BDS would violate anti-boycott laws, but that ‘doesn’t mean that you won’t see blowback.’ Friedman said these contract laws are weaponized by lawmakers to impose a chilling effect on companies. ‘Folks who are behind these laws, to some extent, are counting on [organizations] not being willing or able to defend their free-speech rights in court,’ she said.”

  • Settlement & Annexation Report: November 8, 2024

    Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week. To subscribe to this report, please click here.…

  • FMEP Legislative Round-Up November 8, 2024

    1. Bills, Resolutions 2. Letters 3. Hearings 4. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Elex/Politics 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements New: On 11/7/24 the Arab American Institute…

  • 2024 Election Analysis

    The Arab American Institute hosted a webinar examining the results of the 2024 US Presidential election, featuring FMEP President Lara Friedman.  The panel provided analysis…

  • FMEP Legislative Round-Up November 1, 2024

    1. Bills, Resolutions 2. Letters 3. Hearings 4. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Elex/Politics 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements New :  11/1/24: WEBINAR co-convened by FMEP…

  • Settlement & Annexation Report: November 1, 2024

    Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week. To subscribe to this report, please click here.…