NEW FROM FMEP
FMEP Legislative Round-Up April 18, 2025 (Lara Friedman)
- Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. Hearings; 4. Selected Members on the Record; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/StatementsSee also FMEP President Lara Friedman and Carnegie Fellow Zaha Hassan, in conversation with Erik Fleming on the podcast, A Moment with Erik Fleming, in an episode entitled, Volatile Times (4/14/25) and The IHRA Definition of Antisemitism and the Threat to Free Speech – FMEP President Lara Friedman featured on the “Understanding Israel Palestine” radio show/podcast, with Margot Patterson (4/11/25).
GAZA
Hamas rejects Israel’s latest ceasefire proposal over ‘impossible conditions’ (The Guardian 4/18/25)
“Hamas has formally rejected Israel’s latest ceasefire proposal, saying it will not accept a “partial” deal that does not guarantee an end to the war or a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza…In Israel’s most recent offer to Hamas, they had proposed the initial release of 10 hostages in return for a 45-day ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners, with the promise of further discussion of ending the war and restoring aid to Gaza. For the first time, Israel had demanded the complete disarmament of Hamas as part of the deal – which the militant group has said is a red line. Hayya said it was their “natural right” to possess weapons…He said that Hamas was ready to agree to a “comprehensive package” that ensured the release of all the hostages, in return for an agreed number of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. A key condition, he added, was that Israel “must completely end the war against our people and fully withdraw from the Gaza Strip”. This week, Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, had made it clear that Israeli troops intended to remain in “security buffer zones” it had established in Gaza since the ceasefire with Hamas collapsed in March.” See also Wave of Israeli airstrikes kill at least 40 across Gaza, says civil defence agency (Guardian 4/17/25); 47 Palestinians, including women and children, killed in IDF strikes on Gaza so far on Friday, reports say (Haaretz 4/18/25); Israel says it has completely encircled Rafah (WaPo 4/12/25)
No plans to allow any aid into Gaza, says Israeli minister (The Guardian 4/16/25)
“Israel has said it will keep blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, as it vowed to force Hamas into releasing the remaining hostages from the 7 October attacks. Aid supplies including food, fuel, water and medicine have been blocked by Israel from entering Gaza since 2 March, more than two weeks before the collapse of the ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group with a return to air and ground attacks on the territory. The medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières said on Wednesday that Gaza was becoming a “mass grave for Palestinians”.” See also Gaza’s Humanitarian Crisis at Its Worst Since War Began, With Thousands of Children Severely Malnourished, UN Says (Haaretz 4/17/25); PHOTOS: A ruined university in northern Gaza becomes a refuge (Ruwaida Amer//+972 Magazine 4/15/25); Israeli strike damages last fully functional hospital in Gaza City (WaPo 4/13/25)
Fed Up With Israeli Displacement Orders, Palestinians in Gaza City Refuse to Leave (Rasha Abou Jalal//Drop Site 4/15/25)
“As it stands, over two thirds of Gaza is either under active displacement orders or within a no-go zone—sometimes referred to as a kill zone. Yet, in some neighborhoods under displacement orders, some residents are refusing to leave, opting to remain in their homes and face the assault instead of being displaced again to areas that lack shelter and which nonetheless continue to be targeted by the Israeli military.” See also Airstrike destroys parts of Gaza City hospital as Israel intensifies offensive (Guardian 4/14/25); Israel Strikes Area With Tent Camps for Displaced Gazans (NYT 4/17/25); Gazans survive among unexploded bombs (Reuters 4/16/25); Beneath Gaza’s ‘Uninhabitable’ Ruins Lies a Ticking Time Bomb of Unexploded Munitions (Haaretz 4/17/25)
‘If I die, I want a loud death’: Gaza photojournalist killed by Israeli airstrike (The Guardian//4/18/25)
“Fatima Hassouna, who had been documenting war in Gaza for 18 months and was subject of new documentary, killed along with 10 members of her family.” See also Remembering an artist who gave life to the children of Gaza (Loaay Wattad//+972 Magazine 4/18/25); Photos point to Israeli tank fire in deadly strike on U.N. guest house (WaPo 4/13/25)
The Gaza paramedic killings: a visual timeline (The Guardian 4/15/25)
“On 23 March, contact was lost with a team of Palestinian rescue workers and medics in southern Gaza. A week later, their bodies were recovered from a mass grave…Footage emerges that contradicts the official Israeli version of events. Found on the phone of one of the victims, which had been buried with his body, and first published by the New York Times, it shows a convoy of ambulances and a fire truck driving along a dirt road, clearly marked with official insignia and with their red and blue emergency vehicle lights flashing…The Red Crescent says autopsies conducted on those killed on 23 March show they were shot in the upper body with “intent to kill”.” See also ‘Dad, help me… we were targeted by the Israelis’: Audio and video capture last moments of aid workers killed in Gaza (CNN 4/7/25); IDF unit involved in Gaza paramedics’ killing was under command of brigade led by notorious Israeli general (Guardian 4/12/25);
Hamas seeks to silence Gazans who criticize it over war with Israel (WaPo 4/16/25)
“The move by Hamas in recent weeks to try to stop a wave of protests against it in Gaza reflects the group’s determination to continue silencing dissent even as the war with Israel has left the militants badly weakened. The demonstrations, which broke out in late March, represented the boldest challenge to Hamas in years and underscored the desperation among Palestinians in Gaza to end the war. The protests have now largely petered out, with Gazans attributing the decline to Hamas pressure and the preoccupation of the enclave’s besieged residents with searching for food and fleeing Israeli strikes and evacuation orders.”
The first livestreamed genocide (Al Jazeera 4/16/25)
“Eighteen months into Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, more than 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been confirmed killed. At least 10,000 more are missing, buried under the rubble and presumed dead. The Al Jazeera Investigative Unit’s feature documentary GAZA exposes Israeli war crimes through the use of videos and photographs posted online by Israeli soldiers themselves. Here we present the database that lies behind that film, described by international law expert Rodney Dixon as “a treasure trove you very seldom come across, … something which I think prosecutors will be licking their lips at.”’
‘Now You’re Dead’: Freed Hostage Recounts Captivity in Gaza (NYT 4/16/25)
“Keith Siegel, who spent 484 days as a hostage, described the physical and psychological distress he endured, in an interview with The New York Times.”
‘How do I live like this?’ asks Gaza boy who lost arms in Israeli attack (Al Jazeera 4/18/25)
“A Palestinian child who was severely wounded in an Israeli drone attack on Gaza last year, and who was pictured in an image that won the 2025 World Press Photo of the Year award, says he has been struggling to adapt to life since losing both his arms in the explosion. Speaking to Al Jazeera from Doha, Qatar, where he has been receiving treatment, nine-year-old Mahmoud Ajjour recalled the moment the bomb exploded, targeting his home in March 2024…His mental health deteriorated further when he, like many others in Gaza, had to undergo surgery without anaesthetics due to a severe lack of medical supplies…“They performed surgery on me while I was awake,” Ajjour said, the shock still evident in his voice.” See also Portrait of amputee Palestinian boy from Gaza wins World Press Photo award (Al Jazeera 4/17/25)
REGION/GLOBAL
Trump Waved Off Israeli Strike After Divisions Emerged in His Administration (NYT 4/16/25)
“Israel had planned to strike Iranian nuclear sites as soon as next month but was waved off by President Trump in recent weeks in favor of negotiating a deal with Tehran to limit its nuclear program, according to administration officials and others briefed on the discussions. Mr. Trump made his decision after months of internal debate over whether to pursue diplomacy or support Israel in seeking to set back Iran’s ability to build a bomb, at a time when Iran has been weakened militarily and economically. The debate highlighted fault lines between historically hawkish American cabinet officials and other aides more skeptical that a military assault on Iran could destroy the country’s nuclear ambitions and avoid a larger war. It resulted in a rough consensus, for now, against military action, with Iran signaling a willingness to negotiate…Almost all of the plans would have required U.S. help not just to defend Israel from Iranian retaliation, but also to ensure that an Israeli attack was successful, making the United States a central part of the attack itself.” See also Trump rejected Israeli plan for striking Iranian nuclear program: report (JI 4/16/25); Leak to NYT of ‘core’ plans to strike Iran’s nuclear sites likely to harm US-Israel ties, security officials say (TOI 4/17/25); As Witkoff hints US won’t dismantle Iran nuclear program, Israel fears Trump may settle for ‘bad deal’ (Al Monitor 4/15/25); US-Iran gaps seen as bridgeable as Israeli strike leak undermines Netanyahu (Al Monitor 4/17/25);
As Iran talks resume, White House fends off bombing hawks (WaPo 4/18/25)
“A battle within President Donald Trump’s inner circle over what to do about Iran has been resolved for the moment by Trump’s decision to pursue diplomacy with Tehran. But as U.S. and Iranian negotiators head toward a second round of talks Saturday in Rome, it remains unclear what outcome Trump is seeking and how long he is prepared to wait for it. And in both Tehran and Jerusalem, as in Washington, divisions remain over the wisdom of talking versus fighting. Depending on the day and the speaker, the Trump administration is threatening military strikes unless Iran eradicates its nuclear program and attendant technology, or is seeking Iran’s agreement to shrink the program and submit to strict outside verification.” See also Houthis say toll from deadly US attack in Yemen rises to 80, with 150 wounded (TOI 4/18/25); US airstrikes on Houthi oil port in Yemen reportedly kill dozens (Guardian 4/17/25)
Lebanon’s army expands presence, dismantles 500 Hezbollah sites: What to know (Al Monitor 4/17/25)
“Lebanon’s army has expanded its presence in the south of the country, dismantling hundreds of Hezbollah military installations and confiscating weapons in accordance with a ceasefire that ended a 13-month war with Israel last November, as the government works to establish a monopoly on arms across the country, Lebanese officials revealed on Thursday.” See also Lebanese army making progress in displacing Hezbollah near Israeli border (WaPo 4/17/25); At least two killed in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon (Al Jazeera 4/18/25)
RIVER TO THE SEA
Israel’s designs for Jenin refugee camp are about more than just destruction (Majd Jawad//+972 Magazine 4/16/25)
“After being expelled from their homes, residents watch from afar as the army re-engineers the camp to inhibit resistance and undermine the right of return.”
Israeli Policies and Settler Violence Are Driving Palestinians from the Jordan Valley (Issam Ahmad//Drop Site 4/14/25)
“Through a combination of tactics deployed across the occupied West Bank—including bureaucratic restrictions, denial of access to resources, and settlement expansion—Israel has worked to redraw the geographic and demographic makeup of the Jordan Valley by making living conditions nearly impossible for Palestinian residents. Since October 7, 2023, these policies have all ramped up. While the world’s attention has focused on Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza and, to a lesser extent, on the military campaign in West Bank towns like Jenin and Tulkarem—where entire refugee camps have been destroyed and tens of thousands of Palestinians displaced—the increasingly harsh plight of communities in the Jordan Valley has largely gone unnoticed.”
Doctors forced to amputate leg of Palestinian shot by invading settler, locals say (TOI 4/18/25)
“Doctors at Israel’s Soroka Medical Center were forced to amputate the leg of a Palestinian who was shot yesterday by settlers who invaded Palestinian land in the Jordan Valley, residents say. While the residents of Khirbet al-Rakiz say they’ve spotted the settler behind the shooting continuing to roam free since the shooting. The Beyond the Herd solidarity group of Israeli activists identified him as Benjamin Bodenheimer, the security coordinator of the nearby Avigayil outpost. Meanwhile, the victim, Sa’eed al-Amour, has been placed under arrest in his hospital room, which is being guarded by police. Amour’s 15-year-old son Elias was detained yesterday at the scene but has not been released. The IDF has yet to respond to a request for comment on the incident, which took place in Masafer Yatta…Residents say the shooting took place after settlers began work to put up a fence on land owned by Amour.”
Where’s the outrage over ‘systematic’ sexual violence against Palestinians? (Samah Salaime//+972 Magazine 4/17/25)
“Last month, a report for the UN Human Rights Council affirmed — as Palestinians have long asserted — that Israel has systematically employed sexual violence and gender-based crimes against Palestinian women, men, and children since October 7. The investigation, released alongside harrowing testimonies from survivors and witnesses, civil society representatives, academics, lawyers, and medical experts during a two-day hearing in Geneva, reached several key conclusions that, in my view, demand immediate global attention and action. First, Israeli forces’ use of gender-based violence has escalated dramatically in both scale and intensity since October 7, becoming “systematic.”…Second, Israeli military detention facilities have become the epicenters of the most egregious kinds of gender-based violence.”
Israelis Want the War to Stop, but Only Until the Hostages Are Released (Dahlia Scheindin//Haaretz 4/16/25)
“Air force pilots, commandos, police officers, military medical personnel: thousands of Israelis have signed public calls to end the Gaza war. They all share a troubling element – blindness to the suffering of Gazans, or any aspect of the war besides the hostages.” See also ‘We’re Champions at Repression’: Israel Air Force Pilots Open Up About the Moral Dilemmas of the Gaza War (Haaretz 4/17/25); Hundreds of former Mossad operatives criticise Israel’s return to war in Gaza (Guardian 4/14/25); Thousands of Israeli reservists condemn leadership for return to war (WaPo 4/14/25); Israelis can no longer enter the Maldives after Palestinian-solidarity ban goes into effect (JTA 4/15/25)
U.S. SCENE
Mahmoud Khalil: What does my detention by ICE say about America? (WaPo 4/17/25)
“Why should protesting Israel’s indiscriminate killing of thousands of innocent Palestinians result in the erosion of my constitutional rights?…I write this letter as the sun rises, hoping that the suspension of my rights will raise alarm bells that yours are already in jeopardy. I hope it will inspire your outrage that the most basic human instinct, to protest shameless massacre, is being repressed by obscure laws, racist propaganda and a state terrified of an awakened public. I hope this writing will startle you into understanding that a democracy for some — a democracy of convenience — is no democracy at all. I hope it will shake you into acting before it is too late.” See also Government’s case against Mahmoud Khalil is reliant on tabloid accounts, review of evidence shows (NBC News 4/14/25)
Trump’s Claims of Antisemitism Are About Bringing Universities to Their Knees (Sandy Tolan//Rolling Stone 4/16/25)
“A Tufts University student in a hijab, plucked off the street by masked agents. A greencard holder and former Columbia University protest organizer, arrested in front of his pregnant wife, awaiting possible deportation in an ICE detention in Louisiana. A 10-year resident of the U.S., on his way to a citizenship interview, seized by federal agents and placed into deportation proceedings. A State Department AI surveillance scheme, “Catch and Revoke,” scouring thousands of academic visa holders’ social media accounts for signs of dissent. Billions of dollars in federal funding suddenly frozen for universities that refuse to comply with demands for academic capitulation. Naked threats to bring “existential terror” to American colleges. Amid this firehose blast of threats, directives, laws, and executive orders flows one common charge: antisemitism. Throughout history, authoritarian regimes have scapegoated Jews in order to impose tyrannical rule. Now the Trump administration is implementing an authoritarian plan to squash dissent, force conformity, and bring universities to their knees — in the name of protecting American Jews. “We are being set up by the Trump regime,” Jason Stanley, professor of philosophy at Yale, said on MSNBC. “We are being used to destroy democracy… as a sledgehammer for fascism.”’ See also What Jewish university presidents say: Trump is exploiting campus antisemitism, not fighting it (The Forward 4/16/25);
Trump’s War on the Palestine Movement Is Something Entirely New (Saree Makdisi//The Nation 4/17/25)
“The campaign of brute intimidation ravaging campuses across the country is not being framed as a way of safeguarding the American government or political system; it is, rather, intended to protect a distant foreign regime and to shield it from criticism in the country whose taxpayers are increasingly unwilling to finance its system of apartheid and its program of genocidal violence…Even now, in this gathering darkness, you can stand with a bullhorn in the middle of any American college campus, say what you want about Donald Trump or the American government, and not fear that you will be kidnapped by the state. Instead, what Trump’s targets are alleged to share is their criticism of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and their advocacy of universally acknowledged Palestinian rights…What we are witnessing is thus not the return of McCarthyism but rather something entirely new. Plenty of governments have repressed free speech or academic freedom to protect themselves from criticism and dissent. But never before has a government repressed its citizens’ free speech and academic freedom in order to protect an entirely different country; never before have the rights of the citizens of a major metropolitan power been abrogated, or its leading institutions thrown into disorder, in order to safeguard the illegitimate and criminal policies of an insignificant client state thousands of miles away.” See also Jewish people fear scapegoating as Trump invokes antisemitism to justify crackdowns (Axios 4/14/25);
Why Harvard Decided to Fight Trump (NYT 4/15/25)
“The Trump administration will freeze over $2 billion in federal funds because Harvard refused to comply with a list of demands. Harvard leaders believed saying no was worth the risk.” See also Trump Administration Will Freeze $2 Billion After Harvard Refuses Demands (NYT 4/15/25); Trump administration takes aim at Harvard’s international students and tax-exempt status (AP 4/17/25); Harvard is defying the Trump administration — after its own crackdown on academic freedom (The Forward 4/15/25); Read the Trump Administration’s Letter to Harvard (NYT 4/14/25); IRS making plans to rescind Harvard’s tax-exempt status (CNN 4/16/25); Harvard’s Strength and How Far We’ve Fallen So Quickly (NYT 4/15/25);
“How Can I Take Anyone Seriously Talking About Mohsen Being Antisemitic?” (Akela Lacy//The Intercept 4/15/25)
“An Israeli associate of Mohsen Mahdawi, the Columbia University student detained Monday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said his targeting is a clear sign that no kind of activism in support of Palestine — even efforts to build peace with Israelis — is the right kind of activism for the Israeli and American right. Mahdawi’s green card was revoked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio under an obscure provision of immigration law that allows the deportation of people deemed to be a threat to U.S. foreign policy. In Mahdawi’s case, according to the New York Times, Rubio said, without any evidence, that the student’s activism stoked antisemitism that undermined the peace process to end Israel’s war in Gaza…Battling often baseless allegations that pro-Palestine campus movements were suffused with support for terror and antisemitism, Mahdawi seemed to be the epitome of what the movement’s biggest critics said they wanted to see. He became an outspoken supporter of peaceful opposition to the war and, speaking in December 2023 on “60 Minutes,” the most watched news broadcast in the country, denounced antisemitism.” See also U.S. Cites Mideast Peace Process to Justify Move to Deport Student (NYT 4/15/25); The State Department Relied on Columbia University’s Mischaracterization of Protests to Arrest Mohsen Mahdawi (Drop Site 4/17/25); A Palestinian activist expecting a US citizenship interview is arrested instead by ICE in Vermont (AP 4/14/25);Emails Show Mohsen Mahdawi Pleaded with Columbia for Protection for Months Before ICE Detained Him (Zeteo 4/18/25)
Project Esther: Suppressing Palestinian Solidarity in the US (Tariq Kenney Shawa//Al Shabaka 4/15/25)
“ Framed as an initiative to combat antisemitism, Project Esther exclusively targets voices and groups critical of the Israeli regime…While efforts to silence pro-Palestine activism are not new, they have escalated significantly under President Donald Trump…In this context, Project Esther is more than just a desperate attempt to salvage a crumbling Zionist narrative—it is part of a broader authoritarian shift in US politics. Across the country, attacks on dissent, free speech, and marginalized communities are redefining the relationship between the state and civil society. Palestinian solidarity has become an epicenter in a broader effort to erode democratic values, exposing the fragility of rights many Americans have long taken for granted. This policy brief situates Project Esther within the broader bipartisan crackdown on Palestine advocacy—a consequence of the Zionist movement’s failure to win the argument in the public sphere. It argues that this repression is not just an attack on Palestinians and the solidarity movement but a litmus test for US democracy. It also provides a roadmap for resisting this authoritarian turn, ensuring that the fight for Palestinian liberation remains central to the broader struggle for justice and equality.”
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
The rise of end times fascism (Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor//The Guardian 4/13/25)
“The governing ideology of the far right has become a monstrous, supremacist survivalism. Our task is to build a movement strong enough to stop them.”
Gaza’s Unspoken Reality: The Tremendous Need for Prioritizing Mental Healthcare (Yasser Abu Jamei//This Week in Palestine April 2025)
“There is no doubt that these three factors have severely impacted the mental health of the people in the Gaza Strip…The mental health crisis in Gaza is particularly acute among children, who make up nearly half of the population. Exposure to violence, displacement, and the loss of family members has left many children deeply traumatized. Children across the whole area have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression…Adults in Gaza are also grappling with profound mental health challenges. The destruction of homes and livelihoods has left many feeling hopeless and powerless, with high rates of depression and anxiety reported among the adult population…In our two reports,7 the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP) found that survivors of loss, displacement, and bombardment, both men and women, experienced similar symptoms, with women showing more intense symptoms.”