In this episode of the Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP president Lara Friedman speaks with Professor Rebecca Ruth Gould, author of the newly published book, Erasing Palestine: Free Speech & Palestinian Freedom. The discussion digs into Professor Gould’s own experience being attacked for an article she authored on Israel/Palestine, and more broadly into the ongoing campaign using the IHRA definition of antisemitism as a weapon to delegitimize and suppress criticism of Israel/Zionism, Palestinian voices, and Palestine rights activism in the UK and around the world.

1.Bills, Resolutions & Letters

2. Israel & AIPAC in the 2024 Election Cycle
3. Hearings & Markups
4. Media & Reports
5. Members on the Record

“For the past month, hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been marching to the Israeli separation fence every day in a powerful display of public outrage and frustration within the besieged enclave. The intense demonstrations — which were largely unarmed but at times involved incendiary objects and explosive devices — were met with a brutal response from the Israeli army, including live fire, tear gas, and even air strikes on Hamas targets. In a sudden turn of events on Thursday, the organizers announced a halt to the demonstrations after mediators reportedly secured several interim demands from the Israeli authorities. The protesters, however, have pledged to return if these promises are not met…The majority of participants have been young Palestinians rallying under the title, “al-Shabab al-Tha’er” (“the Revolutionary Youth”). Emerging Palestinian activists — including prominent figures who led the Great Return March, many of whom sustained permanent injuries from Israeli sniper fire from that period — took the lead in organizing the demonstrations, emphasizing a non-partisan identity while receiving the support of multiple political factions, including Hamas, the Islamist party governing the strip. Among their collective demands, the protesters placed an emphasis on the goal of easing Israel’s severe restrictions on the movement of goods and people through the crossings. Yet the demonstrations were not limited to economic concerns only: they also voiced a call for an immediate cessation of Israeli settlers and soldiers storming the Aqsa Mosque Compound (with frictions increasing during the Jewish high holidays), and a halt to the oppressive conditions against Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.” See also Israel strikes Gaza as protests rock enclave (Middle East Eye)

“Six Palestinian citizens of Israel have been killed in two separate shootings, police said, the latest fatalities in a crime wave hitting the country’s Palestinian minority. Five members of the same family were killed on Wednesday in a shooting in northern Israel…Wednesday’s fatalities brought the number of Palestinian citizens of Israel killed so far this year to 188, according to the Abraham Initiatives. Palestinians have long voiced anger at what they have said is a deliberate lack of policing in their towns and neighbourhoods – giving criminals and drug dealers free rein.” See also 192 Homicides in 10 Months (Haaretz)

“Palestinians have condemned the Israeli army’s storming of a leading West Bank university and the arrest of student activists. Around 10 military vehicles violently raided Birzeit University’s campus at dawn on Sunday before dozens of special forces disembarked and surrounded the student council building, according to student Basil Barghouti. Troops assaulted university guards, vandalised the council’s office and arrested eight of its members. The detained students, including the council’s elected president, Abdul Majeed Hassan, had been barricading themselves inside the building for two weeks fearing arrest by the Palestinian security services…Along with Hassan, those arrested included senior members of the student council, which is dominated by the Islamic Wafa bloc. The Hamas-affiliated list won student elections in May for the second consecutive year, beating their PA-affiliated rivals.” See also Israeli forces kill two Palestinians in West Bank incursion (Middle East Eye)

“Empowered by Israel’s far-right government, skyrocketing settler violence is driving Palestinians in the occupied West Bank from their homes in record numbers.” See also The pogroms are working – the transfer is already happening (B’Tselem); FMEP’s recent podcast with B’Tselem, Forcible Transfer is a War Crime: West Bank Pogroms are Working; Also from New Arab: Israeli settlers want to ‘intimidate’ foreign diplomats from visiting West Bank’s Area C;

“Parallel visits this week by an Israeli minister to Saudi Arabia and a Saudi envoy to the Israeli-occupied West Bank have highlighted the fast-warming ties between the Jewish state and the most powerful Arab country. In the first-ever public visit by an Israeli minister to the Arab kingdom, Haim Katz, the Israeli tourism minister, attended a multilateral tourism conference in Riyadh on Tuesday and Wednesday that was organized by the United Nations. Simultaneously, the Saudi ambassador to the Palestinians, Naif al-Sudairi, traveled through an Israeli border checkpoint to visit the West Bank, where he met with the leaders of the Palestinian Authority, the organization that administers just under 40 percent of the Israeli-controlled territory. Experts said the visit by Mr. Sudairi, who is based in neighboring Jordan, was the first known visit by a Saudi official to the region since Israel captured it from Jordan in the 1967 war between Israel and its Arab neighbors.” See also In a first, Israeli minister arrives in Saudi Arabia as envoy visits West Bank (Al Monitor)

“Saudi Arabia is determined to secure a military pact requiring the United States to defend the kingdom in return for opening ties with Israel and will not hold up a deal even if Israel does not offer major concessions to Palestinians in their bid for statehood, three regional sources familiar with the talks said…”The normalization will be between Israel and Saudi Arabia. If the Palestinians oppose it the kingdom will continue in its path,” said one of the regional sources. “Saudi Arabia supports a peace plan for the Palestinians, but this time it wanted something for Saudi Arabia, not just for the Palestinians.”” See also Biden, Bibi agree Saudi mega-deal must include steps to keep two-state solution alive (Axios); Biden’s message to Bibi: Normalization is more important than democracy (+972)

“The first Saudi ambassador to Palestine, Nayef al-Sudairi, has presented his credentials to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Al-Sudairi and his accompanying delegation arrived in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday through the Karama crossing from Jordan on a two-day official visit that will end on Wednesday. He met with Abbas, as well as other senior Palestinian officials.” See also New Saudi ambassador to Palestine is ‘non-resident’. What does that mean? (Al Jazeera: “Non-resident ambassadors usually reside in a neighbouring or nearby country because there is no embassy within the borders of the country of accreditation. Since al-Sudairi is also Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Jordan, he will reside in the neighbouring country’s capital, Amman, and carry out most of his duties from there.”) 

“Reports of the expected visit generated reactions, particularly on social media, in Jerusalem and Gaza, where some called for preventing the visit, considering it a signal of normalization. The visit was not coordinated with the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf Islamic Affairs and Holy Places, which typically coordinates visits by Arab or Islamic dignitaries to the Al-Aqsa Mosque through the mosque gates where there is a presence of Awqaf personnel. According to a Palestinian source in Ramallah, the Saudi ambassador and the Saudi delegation understood the criticism and implications surrounding the visit. They also heard about the sensitivity of the matter from their hosts in Ramallah, leading them to postpone the visit.” See also Israel normalisation: Saudi envoy ‘cancels Al-Aqsa visit’ after backlash over possible deal (Al Jazeera)

“Smearing anti-gov’t protesters as ‘joining forces with the PLO and Iran’ is just one of the things making Bibi a grotesque reflection of the Iranian president.”

“Israeli and German officials signed a deal Thursday to move forward with the nearly €4 billion purchase of the Israeli- and American-developed Arrow 3 long-range air defense system, marking a major step toward Israel’s largest-ever defense contract as Berlin looks to bolster its missile shield array amid fears of a new cold war with Russia…The complete deal will come close to €4 billion (NIS 16.2 billion), according to IAI chairman and CEO Boaz Levy, marking Israel’s largest-ever single defense contract.”

“The Norwegian foreign minister has said that the only way to resolve the decades-long Israel-Palestine conflict is through a “one-state solution” with “equal rights for all.” Anniken Huitfeldt made the statement during a meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), a UN body tasked with delivering aid to Palestinians, last week in New York. Huitfeldt said that while Norway believes that a two-state solution remains “the best way to secure peace and security for both people,” time is about “to run out” for such a proposal…The top diplomat said that the current situation – where Israel continues to violently occupy the Palestinian territories and deny Palestinians their rights – is “moving towards a one-state reality without equal rights for all.”…Huitfeldt called the lack of equal rights for Palestinians “unacceptable,” suggesting that a single state be created where Palestinians are granted equal rights alongside Israelis.” See also Opening Statement at the meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt)

“Israel didn’t commit the assault on Karabakh last week, but it is widely presumed to be the largest supplier of arms to Azerbaijan. Flights to and from Azerbaijan spiked in the months ahead of the assault. Eyal Zamir, director general of Israel’s Defense Ministry, visited Azerbaijan’s defense minister literally the day before the offensive began.”

“Israel’s entry into the Visa Waiver Program has been a top priority for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his predecessor, Naftali Bennett. The country had never been granted access because it refused entry to many Palestinian Americans at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, forcing them to fly to Jordan and then travel overland into the West Bank. The Biden administration sought to end that treatment, and it also viewed an agreement on visas as a test case for a much bigger effort to broker a deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia that could be a landmark moment in the geopolitics of the Middle East. In July, Israel agreed to open Ben Gurion Airport to all Americans regardless of their origin in a bid to prove it is committed to its side of the deal…Administration officials said that they will continue to monitor Israeli compliance with the requirements of the program and that they can revoke it at any time if they judge Israel not to be upholding its side of the bargain…The deal has come under criticism from some inside Biden’s own Democratic Party, with 15 senators, including Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (Ill.), signing a letter to Blinken earlier this month urging a delay to the waiver until next year. They expressed concern that, in their view, Israel had not fully committed to equal treatment to all U.S. citizens, including Palestinian Americans registered in the Gaza Strip.” See also Van Hollen, Schatz, Merkley, Welch Release Statement on Designation of Israel to Visa Waiver Program; Congresswoman Tlaib rebukes US decision to grant Israel entry to visa waiver programme (Middle East Eye)

“A leading Arab American rights group is suing the US government and calling on a federal court to halt any further actions admitting Israel into the visa waiver programme (VWP), saying that Israel is not eligible for entry because it is discriminating against Palestinian Americans. The lawsuit, filed by the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), accuses the US of failing to adhere to the law when it comes to the tenets of the VWP, namely by allowing Israel to discriminate against Americans entering Israel and the occupied West Bank…“This is all so unnecessary, all the US government had to do was maintain the standard it has with every other country in the Visa Waiver Programme. This lawsuit could have been avoided, but the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) and the State Department resurrected the debunked notion that separate is somehow equal. As these plaintiffs show, that notion is a farce,” Huwaida Arraf, a lawyer representing the ADC, told Middle East Eye.” See also ‘An Endorsement of Discrimination’ | Palestinian Americans Sue U.S. Over Israel’s Entry Into Visa Waiver Program (Haaretz); 

“In an extraordinary move positioning politics over U.S. law, the Biden Administration announced the admittance of Israel into the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) today. In doing so, they have entered into an agreement with a foreign government that regularly discriminates against Arab Americans, particularly Palestinian Americans, thereby denying a group of American citizens the equal protection of the law. James Zogby, President of the Arab American Institute, stated: “This Administration has failed the Arab American community and the central principle of equal protection under the law. By prioritizing a political perk to a foreign country over the equal rights and safety of American citizens, the Biden Administration has agreed to continued, blatant discrimination against Arab Americans, including Palestinian Americans, and others who advocate for Palestinian human rights.” Israel has not met the legal requirements of reciprocity prior to entering into the program…James Zogby, President of the Arab American Institute, offered these additional remarks: “Over the last four decades, we have received hundreds of complaints of Israeli mistreatment or outright denial of entry. These have continued during the so-called test period the U.S. established in recent months. Israel has failed the test and the U.S. has failed to protect the rights of American citizens of Arab descent…With this move, Israel has extended its discriminatory apartheid laws to American citizens with our own government’s enthusiastic support.” See also In win for Bibi, U.S. allows Israel to join visa waiver program (Axios)

“Despite concessions to the relatively few Palestinians who hold U.S. citizenship, another 5 million Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank are still denied their right to freedom of movement throughout the occupied Palestinian territory. And 5.9 million registered Palestinian refugees and their descendants, who live outside the areas where they or their families lived until 1948, are still denied their right to return to what is now Israel. Giving visas to a tiny number of Palestinian refugees is outrageous, because they should not be treated as tourists in their own land…That Israel’s current far-right government is willing to bend on heretofore intransigent policies in return for visa-free travel for Israeli citizens shows the power of U.S. leverage over the conduct of Israeli authorities. So I feel hope, too. Imagine what positive changes could be possible if the U.S. government were to heed calls to suspend its $3.8 billion annual military support to Israel, so long as the Israeli authorities continue discriminatory policies and practices that human rights organizations, legal experts and even some mainstream Israeli scholars have concluded amount to apartheid. The U.S. has all this leverage.” See also US Visa Waiver Program: Why Arab Americans angered by Israel’s admission (Al Jazeera); U.S.-Israel visa deal could give some Palestinians new freedom of movement (WaPo)

“Dozens of American Jewish groups and leaders congratulated Israel on its entry into the program and said the move would benefit both countries, though some organizations and politicians also expressed concern about the implementation, saying Israel is discriminating against different groups of Americans traveling to the country. …J Street, a progressive Israel advocacy group frequently critical of Netanyahu and his government, said in a statement that while it was “pleased that travel between the two countries will now be easier for most of each other’s citizens,” it has concerns about the implementation of the program, saying that “the Visa Waiver Program’s requirements are being bent and adjusted to accommodate Israel in a way that they have not been for other countries.””

“We were instructed to ignore the Star of David on the Israeli flag, and to distinguish Jews from Zionists with surgical precision. It didn’t matter that their boots were on our necks, and that their bullets and batons bruised us. Our statelessness and homelessness were trivial. What mattered was how we spoke about our keepers, not the conditions they kept us under—blockaded, surrounded by colonies and military outposts—or the fact that they kept us at all…Not only do we live in fear of displacement at the hands of a colonialism that professes itself as Jewish, not only are our people bombarded by an army that marches under what it claims is the Jewish flag, and not only do Israeli politicians over enunciate the Jewishness of their operations, we are told to disregard the Star of David soaring on their flag—the Star of David they carve into our skin…Here is where I stand. There is a Jew who lives–by force—in half of my home in Jerusalem, and he does so by “divine decree.” Many others reside—by force—in Palestinian houses, while their owners linger in refugee camps. It isn’t my fault that they are Jewish. I have zero interest in memorizing or apologizing for centuries-old tropes created by Europeans, or in giving semantics more heft than they warrant, chiefly when millions of us confront real, tangible oppression, living behind cement walls, or under siege, or in exile, and living with woes too expansive to summarize. I’m tired of the impulse to preemptively distance myself from something of which I am not guilty, and particularly tired of the assumption that I’m inherently bigoted. I’m tired of the pearl-clutching pretense that should such animosity exist, its existence would be inexplicable and rootless. Most of all, I’m tired of the false equivalence between semantic violence and systemic violence.”

“Despite a barrage of eleventh-hour attacks from pro-Israel and Zionist groups, the Palestine Writes Literature Festival took place in Philadelphia over the weekend, bringing together more than 1,500 people to celebrate the literary works of Palestinians past and present…The festival is the first in-person event of its kind to take place in North America…Poets, authors, visual artists, academics, and all sorts of intersections in between were in attendance – from various one-on-one book talks with authors to a talk laying out a framework on how to execute a right of return for all Palestinians to the homes they fled and lost during the Nakba…”The festival really exceeded my expectations in terms of what it means to Palestinians,” an exhausted Abulhawa told MEE in an interview after the second full day of the festival. “One of the things we wanted to accomplish with this festival was to gather Palestinians in one place. Palestinian intellectuals and writers from all parts of Palestine, all parts of our society, not just physical Palestine, but our diaspora as well.” The goal, Abulhawa said, was simple. They just wanted to create a space for Palestinian writers to be together. “That seems like such a normal thing, but it’s never happened for us before, and that’s the really profound thing,” she said.”

“In addition, the administration is launching a listening tour of schools and colleges this fall to hear from Jewish students about hostility on campus, which Jewish groups say often comes from the anti-Israel left. Last week, an LGBTQ student group at Rice University cut ties with Hillel over its support for Israel…The emphasis on allegations of campus antisemitism may address concerns by some Jewish organizations that the Biden administration was not as focused on combating antisemitism from the left as it was on antisemitism from the right, and that it is not addressing antisemitism in the context of anti-Israel activism.” See also Rice University LGBTQ group severs ties with Hillel over its support for Israel (Times of Israel: “The LGBTQ group, Rice Pride, announced the split last week in a statement on Instagram that said Hillel’s international umbrella group was “not reflective of the values of inclusion upheld by Rice Pride.”…the group said it opposed guidelines put forward by Hillel International, an umbrella group for campus chapters, that prohibit campus Hillels from partnering with or hosting groups that advocate for a boycott of Israel or that deny Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state. It also listed instances of Hillel chapters at other schools opposing pro-Palestinian activism.”)

“The death of the two-state paradigm should lead the Palestinian national movement to once again explicitly address Jews. That’s especially important in the United States, where Jews are becoming more receptive to the Palestinian narrative. For decades, many American Jews who cherish legal equality in the United States have nonetheless defended Jewish supremacy in Palestine-Israel…This presents an opportunity for the movement for Palestinian freedom. American Jews, who have long been a key source of the Israel lobby’s political power, may now be primed to shift in large numbers toward supporting equality. Yet absent a conscious effort to integrate these Jews into the Palestine liberation movement, their doubts might result in disillusionment and disconnection from the issue, instead of action. To realize this moment’s potential, Palestinian activists must speak to Jews more directly. In Palestinian American political scientist Leila Farsakh’s words, “the Palestinian national movement needs to address what can be defined as the Jewish question, namely Jews’ attachment to Palestine and the Jewish claim to a home in Palestine.” Asking Palestinians to assuage Jewish fears—fears that often stem from racist and dehumanizing assumptions about a supposed Palestinian proclivity towards hatred and violence—is unfair. It is unfair to ask the people suffering from oppression to reassure those who benefit from it. But successful liberation movements have often done just that.”

“Netanyahu thinks of himself in Churchillian terms. He would like to be remembered as the leader who faced down the Iran menace, the savior of Israel in the face of forbidding odds for the Jewish people. But the country’s 75th year will be noted for something quite different. Its democracy is dimming; the public has never been more divided. Netanyahu has pushed Israel to the brink, gradually and then suddenly.”