In this episode of FMEP’s Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Yousef Munayyer (Arab Center Washington DC) & Emma Saltzberg (Diaspora Alliance), in the context of the newly-release US National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism (released by the White House May 25, 2023) and the its implications for both the fight against antisemitism and the ongoing, related fight against the use of antisemitism accusations to delegitimize criticism of the state of Israel and its policies and objections to the political ideology of Zionism, as well as to attack and to silence critics of Israel and advocates for Palestinian history, identity, and rights. (See the landing page for extensive resources relating to this topic.) 

Including Lara Friedman’s weekly Legislative Roundup (see this one from June 2, 2023) and Kristin McCarthy’s weekly Settlement & Annexation Report (see this one from June 1, 2023)

“When I saw him, I said: ‘Hamoudi’s gone.’” “These were the words of Marwa Tamimi, the mother of 2-year-old Mohammed Tamimi, nicknamed Hamoudi, who was fatally wounded last Thursday by Israeli sniper fire while he was in the car with his father, Haitham, at the entrance to their family home in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. The toddler died from his wounds on Monday, and on Tuesday hundreds took part in his funeral. According to the human rights group B’Tselem, Tamimi is the 150th Palestinian to have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers since the start of this year. Immediately after the shooting, Israeli military sources claimed that the boy and his father were hit by Palestinian gunfire aimed at a nearby army guard tower. Shortly after, however, the IDF Spokesperson admitted that the two were hit by shots fired by Israeli soldiers, who were allegedly responding to shooting at the guard tower…The residents of Nabi Saleh rejected the army’s version of events, with eyewitnesses telling +972 that the shooting at the Tamimi family was not preceded by any shooting from Palestinians.” See also US urges IDF to re-evaluate use of deadly force after Palestinian toddler killed (Times of Israel)

“At least six people have been hospitalised, three with gunshot wounds, during an Israeli army raid into Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian officials. A large Israeli military convoy arrived in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, late on Wednesday to destroy the home of a bomb attack suspect, leading hundreds of Palestinians to gather in the area to protest against the demolition.” See also West Bank: Israel army seriously wounds journalist in Ramallah raid (Middle East Eye); Israeli forces detonate family home of Palestinian man in rare Ramallah raid (New Arab)

““Everything is forbidden under the pretext that we live in a firing zone, even grazing sheep,” explains Issa Makhamra from the village of Jinba, beside which the Israeli army has established a new base in the aftermath of the court’s decision. “Whenever we go anywhere, they set up a checkpoint. When I want to go to the city, I have to pass through this checkpoint, and I am stopped and detained for long hours. I swear to you, if the army could keep sunlight and air from us, they would do it.”…Because thousands of dunams of natural pastures have been lost, shepherds in Masafer Yatta must now buy fodder from nearby cities such as Yatta, and then transport it at exorbitant prices. That is, if they are even able to transport it at all, given the army’s intensive deployment throughout the area, and the fact that soldiers frequently confiscate Palestinians’ cars and arrest the drivers under the pretext that they are inside a firing zone.” See also More than 20 Palestinians injured after Israeli settlers rampage through West Bank village (New Arab)

“Five people were shot to death along with two others seriously injured in two shooting incidents in northern Arab-Israeli villages on Thursday, according to the Magen David Adom emergency services. A third shooting in the Arab city of Umm al-Fahm on Thursday afternoon left another man in serious condition…According to Haaretz’s tally, 95 people have been murdered in Arab communities across the country since the beginning of the year, compared to 34 in the same period in 2022.” See also Why is crime spiking in Arab-Israeli community, as murders nearly double in 2023? (Al Monitor)

“Palestinian administrative detainees will launch a mass hunger strike on 18 June, a special detainees’ committee announced on Monday in a press release shared by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club…”Currently, there are some 1,014 Palestinian detainees in the occupation jails, which is a number unseen since 2003, during the second Intifada,” Ayah Shreiteh, spokesperson for the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, told The New Arab.”These include 14 children and three women”.”

“Over the past two weeks, we have been seeing the beginning of phase three: the focus on deepening annexation, increased violence against Palestinians, and putting down all resistance — issues that make up this government’s raison d’être. This phase saw its prelude with the settler pogrom in Huwara, which was incited and supported by senior government officials; the promise to Kahanist National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir of a new militia under his direct control that would fight Palestinians and leftists; and an attack on Gaza that killed dozens of Palestinians in the besieged strip. But the past couple of weeks have shown us what it will look like when the government shifts even more of its focus back to Palestinians. Here is just a partial list of recent developments:” See also from Haaretz: Knesset Advances Bills to Tighten Grip Over Arab Schools, Ease Restriction on Firing Arab Teachers; Israel to Discuss Controversial Construction That Would Cut West Bank in Two; Israeli Cabinet Advances Plans to ‘Judaize’ Galilee, Expand West Bank Settlements

“It’s been a year of new lows: increased violence, accelerated annexation, expulsion, and assaults on human rights organizations like ours…Each organization focuses on different aspects of the fight against apartheid and occupation and their harm to Palestinian life. Together, our work connects the judicial and the geo-political, the fight for health and land, and on-the-ground support with documentation and international advocacy efforts. We represent over 200 human rights workers carrying out daily fieldwork, drawing maps, interviewing, collecting testimonies, providing medical treatment and legal assistance, writing, and editing to ensure the collected information can reach anyone willing to listen. Our accumulated work has led us to one undeniable conclusion – a dramatic escalation has occurred in the past year.”

“Israeli bombardments on Gaza are becoming more frequent, thanks to innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) and a military that bends to the dictates of increasingly right-wing governments…Since 2021, when Israel began publicly promoting the use of AI in military operations, over 300 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s annual assaults and thousands more have been injured and displaced; vital infrastructure like sewage systems and electricity grids have been irrevocably damaged in the regular assaults. Automation may have prevented Israel from sending in ground troops and causing loss of life on its side — if it could muster the forces and political support — but mostly, the technology has simply made the bombs and bullets fall more often…“We have long witnessed evidence of Israel’s use of the OPT, especially Gaza, as a laboratory for testing and deploying experimental weapons technologies,” Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director for Human Rights Watch, told +972. Shakir emphasized that such weapons used across the West Bank and Gaza, from drones to biometrics to AI-powered gun turrets, “serve to automate Israel’s unlawful use of force and its apartheid against Palestinians.” Given Israel’s centrality in global weapons markets, Shakir believes that “it is only a matter of time before the weapon systems deployed today by Israel end up in the farthest-flung corners of the globe.” See also Israel’s arms and spyware: Used on Palestinians, sold to the world (Antony Loewenstein//Middle East Eye)

“The European Legal Support Center (ELSC), an organization working to defend the Palestine solidarity movement, released a major report on Tuesday titled “Suppressing Palestinian Rights Advocacy through the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism.” The report is based on 53 recorded incidents between 2017 and 2022 — focusing in particular on Germany, Austria, and the United Kingdom — in which advocates for Palestinian rights, or critics of Israel or Zionism, were targeted under the highly contentious definition promoted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). According to the center, the report represents the “first case-based account of human rights violations” in Europe deriving from the definition…Although the definition is not legally binding, the report reveals that the majority of EU member states have endorsed the IHRA definition, and have used it as an “authoritative instrument” for categorizing antisemitic acts. 

Alice Garcia, ELSC’s advocacy and communication manager, told +972 that the IHRA definition is essentially being treated as law. “The endorsement by institutions, and the way it is being promoted by them, has given the definition authoritative power,” she said. “For instance, the EU Commission is constantly branding the definition as ‘non-legally binding’ on one hand, but on the other hand, it recommends referencing the IHRA definition in legislation and using it to train judges and police officers through a handbook for its practical use. How much more binding can this be?”” See also the report itself: “Suppressing Palestinian Rights Advocacy through the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism – Violating the Rights to Freedom of Expression and Assembly in the European Union and the UK” (European Legal Support Centre); And IHRA antisemitism definition ‘suppressing Palestinian advocacy in Europe’ (Middle East Eye); Biden Embraces Antisemitism Definition that has Upended Free Speech in Europe (Intercept); Adoption of anti-Semitism definition curbs free speech: Report (Al Jazeera); Israel: Rights groups call for UN to oppose IHRA antisemitism definition (Middle East Eye)

“Israel is slated to launch a pilot program next month that will test its preparedness for allowing Palestinian-Americans to more freely travel into Israel, which is a stipulation for Jerusalem to be accepted into the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP) in the fall, an Israeli official and a US official told The Times of Israel on Tuesday…US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides, who has spearheaded the administration’s effort to allow Israelis to travel to the US for up to 90 days without obtaining a visa, told The Times of Israel in April that Washington would only admit Jerusalem into the VWP if it signs a Memorandum of Understanding codifying the reciprocity commitment with “snapback” provisions if the agreement is violated. Nides held a call Tuesday with a group of representatives of Arab organizations in Washington who have been lobbying the administration on the VWP. Two of the representatives on the call characterized it as cordial and expressed appreciation for the ambassador’s willingness to hear their concerns. However, they also expressed unease over what they felt was a gap between their desire to ensure that all Americans are treated fairly at Israeli crossings and Nides’ apparent prioritization of ensuring Palestinian-Americans be allowed to enter Israel and use Ben Gurion Airport. Currently, Palestinians are barred from Ben Gurion, and since Israel also won’t allow the Palestinian Authority to build its own airport, they are forced to commute to Jordan and fly out of Amman, with all the additional fees and travel time that entails.” See also Lara Friedman’s analysis: “This is the deal that apparently has been negotiated with the Biden Admin — for Israel to enter the Visa Waiver Program by establishing its own program under which Palestinian Americans are EXPLICITLY singled out & treated differently from other Americans. This is the deal that apparently has been negotiated with the Biden Admin — for Israel to enter the Visa Waiver Program by establishing its own program under which Palestinian Americans are EXPLICITLY singled out & treated differently from other Americans. It appears that for Israel, “reciprocity” is being redefined to mean “creating & implementing racist, parallel policies that treat some Americans differently based on ethnic orgin, but hey, it’s treating them a bit better than they were before so all good.”” 

“The Biden administration is fully invested in Israel-Saudi normalization, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC on Monday. He also said he does not see a breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian peace happening anytime soon. “The United States has a real national security interest in promoting normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia,” Blinken said Monday to applause at a policy summit of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. He said it was critical not to escalate the Israel-Palestinian conflict but also made it clear that the Biden administration would not push for a revival of peace talks in the near term.” See also Israel considers recognition of Morocco’s rule over Western Sahara (Middle East Eye)

“A United States senator has called on President Joe Biden’s administration to make public a government report on the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Democrat Chris Van Hollen said on Monday that he had reviewed the report by the US Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority (USSC) — weeks after he requested it from the State Department. But Van Hollen said he now wants it declassified “in its entirety”.”

“National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced on Tuesday his plan to expand the number of people eligible to obtain gun licenses…According to the National Security Ministry over 150,000 people have gun permits, not including those serving in the security forces and military or security guards who receive weapons as part of their job. The criteria have the potential of granting tens of thousands more gun licenses…Rela Mazali, the co-founder and coordinator of the Gun Free Kitchen Tables coalition to limit the number of guns, said that “the plan to populate the public space with tens of thousands more civilians carrying guns knowingly ignores the bloody reality, denies the facts on the ground and is chasing after main headlines at the expense of harm to the personal safety of Israeli civilians.” Mazali added that Ben-Gvir’s claims that “civilian guns stopped numerous terror attacks lacks any factual basis, and raises amazement as to the police’s ability and willingness to take responsibility for public security”. If the police need the help of such civilians, then they should offer them jobs, she said.” See also The Notorious Kahanist Facing Racism and Terror Charges Advising Israel’s Far-right Security Minister (Haaretz: “Banned from running for the Knesset, far-right activist Bentzi Gopstein is now advising Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and police top brass. Senior security source: ‘It’s insane that this man advises the national security minister’”)

“Israeli security experts believe that the strategic cooperation with Egypt will not be harmed by a deadly incident on Saturday morning when an Egyptian policeman crossed the border fence and killed three Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers on Israeli territory. The attack, unprecedented in its nature in over two decades, rattled the Israeli security but it is not expected to boil over and shake the core of the security relationship cemented in the 1979 peace treaty. According to Haaretz, citing security sources, Saturday’s incident caused considerable embarrassment on the Egyptian side.”

“The formula is almost always the same: Right-wing coalition partners or Likud party members propose outlandishly draconian bills, a public outcry ensues, the government withdraws the bill, and then, at a later date, passes the bill in a modified, pared down, or less bluntly offensive form in the face of muted opposition. Israeli political commentators refer to this as the “salami method,” a phrase that was likely coined in the 1950s to describe the way Hungary’s communist regime slowly eliminated its opposition. What cannot be achieved in a single blow can instead be carried out gradually, the authoritarian Hungarian Communist leader Mátyás Rákosi once said, “like cutting up a salami, thin slice by thin slice.” For a decade and a half, the salami method has been Netanyahu’s preferred mode of crushing internal Israeli dissent. The strategy has allowed successive Netanyahu-led governments to pass laws penalizing liberal and left-wing civil society organizations while avoiding the international censure that would come with an outright ban on human rights groups…In addition to the right-wing clampdown on human rights groups, the settler movement has also employed a version of the salami method to entrench Israeli control over the occupied territories.” See also ‘Bibi Incites, and It’s Reflected on the Ground’: Israeli Reporters Face Wave of Violence; Netanyahu’s New Media Adviser Said ‘Unfit’ Biden ‘Destroying America,’ Echoed Trump’s Voter Fraud Claims (Haaretz); Netanyahu speaks with and praises Elon Musk, who has recently drawn criticism from multiple Israeli ministries (JTA); Architect of Israel’s Judicial Overhaul Gatecrashes Embassy Event to Hear Kamala Harris Slam His Brainchild (Haaretz); Smotrich shunned by French officials, Jewish leaders on Paris trip (Times of Israel); Barkat said to nix appearance in Boston amid ongoing anti-government protests (Times of Israel); Marchers and demonstrators wave Israel’s flag at New York’s Celebrate Israel parade (NY Jewish Week);

“A protest marking the occupation’s 56th year was rejected by mainstream organizers, showing how messages about Palestinians are still being silenced.”