Top News & Analysis on Israel/Palestine: June 7-14, 2024

Resource

  1. New from FMEP

  2. Gaza

  3. Region//Global

  4. River to the Sea

  5. U.S. Scene

  6. Activism//Lawfare//Redefining Antisemitism to Stifle Criticism of Israel

  7. Perspectives//Long Reads

NEW FROM FMEP

The Gaza Catastrophe: 2024 Congressional Briefing Series (4 part podcast series)

The Congressional Briefing Series is an educational program conducted annually by the Middle East Institute’s Palestinian Affairs Program and the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) to brief members of Congress and their staff on the most pressing issues facing Israel and Palestine today.

Settlement & Annexation Report: June 14, 2024 (Kristin McCarthy)

  1. Israel Ministry of Agriculture Has Made Long Term Investments into Illegal Farming Outposts Over Past Six Years; 2) U.S. Sanctions Settler Entity Behind Attacks on Gaza-Bound Aid Convoys; 3) Israeli Settler Group To Hold Conference on Settling Southern Lebanon; 4) Bonus Reads

FMEP Legislative Round-Up: June 7, 2024 (Lara Friedman)

  1. Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. Hearings; 4. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Elex/Politics; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

GAZA

Blinken says some Hamas changes to Gaza cease-fire ‘not workable’ (Al Monitor)

“Hamas submitted its formal response to mediators Qatar and Egypt on Tuesday, more than a week after President Joe Biden made public what he described as a three-phase Israeli plan to halt the fighting and release the hostages taken on Oct. 7. The proposed cease-fire begins with a six-week pause in the fighting and the release of women, wounded and elderly hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners and a surge in humanitarian assistance. The second and third phases call for the release of male and deceased hostages, the full withdrawal of Israeli troops and the reconstruction of the devastated Palestinian territory. Speaking in a news conference with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Blinken said the United States would seek to “bridge the gaps” between the deal accepted by Israel and the changes demanded by Hamas.” See also Hamas has proposed ‘unworkable’ changes to ceasefire plan, Blinken says – as it happened (Guardian); Israel claims Hamas rejected hostage and ceasefire deal proposal (Axios); Hamas Demands Israeli Gaza Pullout Within a Week of Truce, Also Releasing Hostage Bodies Initially (Haaretz); Israel alleges journalist held hostages in Gaza, without providing evidence (CNN)

UN Security Council adopts a cease-fire resolution aimed at ending Israel-Hamas war in Gaza (AP)

“The U.S.-sponsored resolution welcomes a cease-fire proposal announced by President Joe Biden that the United States says Israel has accepted. It calls on the militant Palestinian group Hamas to accept the three-phase plan. The resolution — which was approved with 14 of the 15 Security Council members voting in favor and Russia abstaining — calls on Israel and Hamas “to fully implement its terms without delay and without condition.”’ See also Israel vows to press on in Gaza after UN Security Council approves ceasefire proposal (CNN)

Israeli tanks advance in Rafah as fleeing Palestinians ‘face death and starvation’ (Guardian 6/13/24)

“Israeli tanks rolled into the western part of Rafah on Thursday as the city came under intense helicopter, drone and artillery fire in what residents described as one of the worst bombardments of the area so far. The assault on Rafah has driven out more than a million Palestinians who had been sheltering there, forcing them into areas with little or no access to food, water or shelter. The UN has warned that more than a million people are expected to “face death and starvation by the middle of July”…Hamas said its fighters were battling Israeli troops on the streets of the city, which lies on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt.” See also Israeli forces advance deeper into Rafah as diplomacy falters (Reuters); ‘We’re all at risk of being targeted’: Doctors evacuate Rafah’s last hospitals (Ruwaida Kamal Amer//+972 6/5/24)

The international criminal court should investigate Israel’s hostage rescue raid (Kenneth Roth//Guardian)

“The enormous loss of Palestinian life attendant to the Israeli military’s 8 June rescue of four hostages held by Hamas cries out for investigation. Hamas’s abduction and detention of these four civilians was a clear war crime, but that does not exempt the Israeli military from the duty to comply with international humanitarian law in the rescue operation. The available evidence suggests that Israel fell short in several deadly respects. The Gaza health ministry, whose numbers have generally proved reliable, says that at least 274 Palestinians were killed in the operation and more than 600 wounded. The ministry does not distinguish combatants from civilians, but it reports that the dead included 64 children and 57 women, or 44% of the total…International humanitarian law requires that a military refrain from launching an assault if the anticipated civilian toll “would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated”. It is reasonable to conclude that the Israeli operation fell short of this standard. All the more so given questions about its necessity. With the rescue of these four hostages, Israeli military operations have freed a total of seven hostages alive. By contrast, more than 100 hostages were released as a result of Israel’s November 2023 ceasefire deal with Hamas. Few doubt that another deal will be necessary to bring most of the remaining hostages home alive…Israel notes that Hamas endangered civilians by holding the hostages in a densely populated neighborhood in Nuseirat in central Gaza. International humanitarian law requires militaries to take “all feasible precautions” to spare civilians, which Hamas violated by holding the hostages in two apartment buildings in Nuseirat, but that does not relieve Israel of the separate duty to avoid an attack that causes disproportionate harm to civilians. Palestinian civilians do not stop being civilians just because they are endangered by Hamas.” See also Death toll from Israeli hostage rescue adds to legal scrutiny of Gaza war (WaPo); Israel shrugs at Palestinian civilian casualties. So does Hamas. (Ishaan Tharoor/WaPo); Israel rescues four hostages held by Hamas in Gaza (Axios); ‘How is it reasonable to kill over 200 for the sake of four?’ (Ruwaida Kamal Amer//+972)

In the search for hostages, U.S. is Israel’s key intelligence partner (WaPo)

“The daring and deadly hostage rescue that Israeli military forces mounted in Gaza last Saturday relied on a massive intelligence-gathering operation in which the United States has been Israel’s most important partner. Since the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, the United States has ramped up intelligence collection on the militant group in Gaza and is sharing an extraordinary amount of drone footage, satellite imagery, communications intercepts and data analysis using advanced software, some of it powered by artificial intelligence, according to current and former U.S. and Israeli intelligence officials. The result is an intelligence-sharing partnership of rare volume, even for two countries that have historically worked together on areas of mutual concern, including counterterrorism and preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon.”

Pentagon says Gaza aid pier had no link to Israeli hostage raid (Al Monitor)

“An Israeli military helicopter landed south of the pier facility along the beach following the hostage rescue operation. US officials told CBS over the weekend that the helicopter was not within the pier’s security cordon. Ryder acknowledged that Israeli personnel involved in the hostage raid had operated “near” the pier but said any proximity was “incidental,” without providing specifics. US warships on standby in the eastern Mediterranean also played no role in the Israeli operation, he said.”

Gaza Chief’s Brutal Calculation: Civilian Bloodshed Will Help Hamas (Wall Street Journal)

“For months, Yahya Sinwar has resisted pressure to cut a ceasefire-and-hostages deal with Israel. Behind his decision, messages the Hamas military leader in Gaza has sent to mediators show, is a calculation that more fighting—and more Palestinian civilian deaths—work to his advantage. “We have the Israelis right where we want them,” Sinwar said in a recent message to Hamas officials seeking to broker an agreement with Qatari and Egyptian officials…In dozens of messages—reviewed by The Wall Street Journal—that Sinwar has transmitted to cease-fire negotiators, Hamas compatriots outside Gaza and others, he’s shown a cold disregard for human life and made clear he believes Israel has more to lose from the war than Hamas. The messages were shared by multiple people with differing views of Sinwar…Despite Israel’s ferocious effort to kill him, Sinwar has survived and micromanaged Hamas’s war effort, drafting letters, sending messages to cease-fire negotiators and deciding when the U.S.-designated terrorist group ramps up or dials back its attacks. His ultimate goal appears to be to win a permanent cease-fire that allows Hamas to declare a historic victory by outlasting Israel and claim leadership of the Palestinian national cause…Even without a lasting truce, Sinwar believes Netanyahu has few options other than occupying Gaza and getting bogged down fighting a Hamas-led insurgency for months or years. It is an outcome that Sinwar foreshadowed six years ago when he first became leader in the Gaza Strip. Hamas might lose a war with Israel, but it would cause an Israeli occupation of more than two million Palestinians. “For Netanyahu, a victory would be even worse than a defeat,” Sinwar told an Italian journalist writing in 2018 in an Israeli daily, Yedioth Ahronoth.” See also Hamas official says ‘no one has any idea’ how many Israeli hostages are still alive (CNN); Four troops killed in booby-trapped building as fighting rages in Rafah, central Gaza (Times of Israel)

Almost 3,000 malnourished children at risk of “dying before their families’ eyes” as Rafah offensive disconnects them from treatment (UNICEF)

“Almost 3,000 children have been cut off from treatment for moderate and severe acute malnutrition in southern Gaza, putting them at risk of death as harrowing violence and displacement continue to impact access to healthcare facilities and services for desperate families. This number, based on reporting from UNICEF’s nutrition partners, equates to approximately three-quarters of the 3,800 children who were estimated to be receiving life-saving care in the south ahead of the escalating conflict in Rafah. The looming risk of more vulnerable children falling sick to malnutrition is also a concern. While there has been a slight improvement in the delivery of food aid to the north, humanitarian access in the south has declined dramatically.” See also Unrwa accuses Israel of frequently preventing aid deliveries to Gaza (Guardian); Significant part of Gaza facing ‘famine-like conditions’, WHO says (Al Jazeera)

Gazans describe life in tents as ‘hell’ as summer’s heat arrives (WaPo)

“As wrangling continued Friday over a cease-fire proposal meant to facilitate the delivery of aid into the Gaza Strip, the humanitarian situation grew only more dire. The onset of punishing summer temperatures in the densely populated enclave, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians live in tents, is making life even more arduous for residents struggling to survive with little electricity, food, clean water or shelter. Children, in particular, continue to bear the brunt of the conflict, humanitarian groups say.” See also Aid groups warn they face looting, danger in Gaza after Israeli raid (WaPo); U.S. sanctions right-wing Israeli group for blocking Gaza aid (Axios); How Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir Took Over Israel’s Police (Haaretz)

Eight Months Into the Gaza War, Support for Hamas’ October 7 Attack Declines Among Gazans, Survey Finds (Jack Khoury//Haaretz)

“A recent survey conducted among Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip indicates continued public support for Hamas and its October 7 attack on Israel, although support for the terror group within the Gaza Strip has decreased compared to previous surveys. The latest survey, conducted by Dr. Khalil Shikaki of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR), includes a sample of 1,570 Palestinians – 760 from the West Bank and 750 from the Gaza Strip – representing the entire populations of the two regions…According to the survey, some two-thirds of the Palestinian public supports the October 7 attack, compared to 71 percent in a survey conducted in March, and 72 percent about six months ago. 80 percent believe it put the Palestinian issue at the center of global attention. The main decrease in support for the October 7 attack is in the Gaza Strip, where it stands at 57 percent today compared to 71 percent three months ago…As for the humanitarian situation in Gaza, 64 percent of Gazans said they had enough food for a day or two, while 36 percent said they did not have enough food even for two days. This constitutes a slight improvement compared to three months ago, when only 44 percent said they had enough food for one or two days. The survey also shows that 61 percent of Gaza residents reported that they lost at least one family member in the war, while 65 percent said that one or more family members were wounded.” See also Press Release: Public Opinion Poll No (92) (Palestinian Center for Policy & Survey Research, 6/12/24)

“May Gaza burn”: The flood of genocidal rhetoric from Israel’s soldiers (Zeteo)

“Senior Israeli military commander Gur Rosenblat is explicit: All of Gaza, “not just the Hamas organization,” must be eliminated and its 2 million people driven out. The Strip, he writes on social media, should “cease to exist.” While Rosenblat, the head of Israel’s Northern Infantry Brigade who also serves as the deputy general director of the country’s Education Ministry, makes clear he’s not speaking in his official capacity in an Oct. 13 Facebook post, he does not attempt to disguise his genocidal calls. “People who are human beasts and their supporters must pay a high price – if not with their lives, then with expulsion,” he writes…Rosenblat is not alone. Since Oct. 7, we’ve uncovered hundreds of social media posts by Israeli military personnel, including commanders, filled with dehumanizing, hateful, and often genocidal rhetoric. The posts contribute to a mounting body of evidence pointing to what human rights groups and others have called a systematic pattern of war crimes committed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip. They also lay bare the intent of Israel’s war on Gaza. It’s not a “defensive war” aimed at ensuring “minimum harm to civilians,” as Israel and its allies like to claim. The soldiers’ own words suggest harming civilians through death, destruction, and displacement is, in fact, an objective. In part one of our investigation for Zeteo, we highlighted the dehumanizing photos soldiers have shared from Gaza. In part two, we document the genocidal rhetoric that has become an all too common theme among Israeli soldiers, including those deployed to Gaza.”

REGION/GLOBAL

Hezbollah-Israel clashes intensify as fears grow of all-out war in Lebanon (Al Monitor 6/13/24)

“Israeli jets on Thursday struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon following a larger-than-usual rocket attack by the group, accelerating fears of an all-out war despite US warnings. The Israeli military said that its air force struck Hezbollah infrastructure in southeast Lebanon’s Deir Seryan. Earlier, the Israeli military said Hezbollah launched 40 projectiles toward northern Israel. Some were intercepted, but others landed and caused fires, the military said in statements. Hezbollah said it targeted six Israeli military sites with missiles and three other bases with explosive-laden drones. The strikes, which Hezbollah said hit their targets, were in “response to the assassination” carried out on Tuesday, the group’s Al-Manar news outlet reported. On Tuesday, an Israeli strike killed Hezbollah commander Taleb Sami Abdullah, the highest-ranking official killed since the start of the hostilities on Oct. 7. The attack prompted Hezbollah to fire more than 215 rockets toward Israel on Wednesday.” See also Hezbollah fires 160 rockets at Israel after senior commander killed (Al Monitor 6/12/24); Hezbollah fires most rockets yet in war after Israel kills a top commander (Reuters); Pentagon hosts Lebanon’s army chief in bid to avert Israel-Hezbollah war (Al Monitor); Attack on US Embassy in Lebanon, Syrian gunman wounded (Al Monitor 6/5/24); Israel’s Gallant slams France’s ’hostile policies,’ rejects trilateral proposal on Hezbollah (Al Monitor 6/14/24)

Israeli authorities, Palestinian armed groups are responsible for war crimes, other grave violations of international law, UN Inquiry finds (UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner 6/12/24)

“Israeli authorities are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the military operations and attacks in Gaza since 7 October 2023, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, said in a new report today. The Commission also found that Palestinian armed groups are responsible for war crimes committed in Israel. The Commission’s report – the UN’s first in-depth investigation of the events that took place on and since 7 October 2023 – is based on interviews with victims and witnesses conducted remotely and during a mission to Türkiye and Egypt, thousands of open-source items verified through advanced forensic analysis, hundreds of submissions, satellite imagery and forensic medical reports. Israel obstructed the Commission’s investigations and prevented its access to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory…“Israel must immediately stop its military operations and attacks in Gaza, including the assault on Rafah, which has cost the lives of hundreds of civilians and again displaced hundreds of thousands of people to unsafe locations without basic services and humanitarian assistance,” Pillay said. “Hamas and Palestinian armed groups must immediately cease rocket attacks and release all hostages. The taking of hostages constitutes a war crime.” In relation to Israeli military operations and attacks in Gaza, the Commission found that Israeli authorities are responsible for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare, murder or wilful killing, intentionally directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects, forcible transfer, sexual violence, torture and inhuman or cruel treatment, arbitrary detention and outrages upon personal dignity.” See also Israel and Hamas have both committed war crimes since 7 October, says UN body (Guardian); ‘Unprecedented scale’ of violations against children in Gaza, West Bank and Israel, UN report says (Guardian)

In Egypt, displaced Gazans organize in grassroots movements (Al Monitor)

“Since Oct. 7, 2023, the beginning of Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip, tens of thousands of Palestinians have entered Egypt through the Rafah border crossing. Between 80,000 and 100,000 Gazans are estimated to have crossed into Egypt from Gaza since then, the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) ambassador to Cairo told Agence France-Presse (AFP) in April, without elaborating on how they entered.  Today, many of them, especially those who lack the financial means, live in the suburbs of the Egyptian capital, Cairo, in a precarious situation, with no rights and the constant fear of being expelled from the country.”

RIVER TO THE SEA

Israeli forces kill six Palestinians in West Bank raid (Al Jazeera)

“An Israeli special forces unit entered the village on Tuesday and besieged a home before shelling it, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported…The Jenin battalion of the al-Quds Brigades – the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad – had said earlier on Tuesday that it was engaged in “fierce” fighting with Israeli troops in Kafr Dan. The Israeli military said it carried out a “counterterrorism” operation in the village, killing four armed Palestinians. The army added that it used attack helicopters in the assault and sustained no casualties. Israeli forces killed four Palestinians west of Ramallah on Monday and three others in Jenin on Friday.” See also Six Palestinians Killed in Israeli Counterterrorism Raid Against West Bank Militants (Haaretz)

Civilians or Soldiers? Settler violence in the West Bank (Dr. Ameneh Mehvar & Nasser Khdour//ACLED)

“While violence in the West Bank is far from a new phenomenon, a sharp rise in settler violence in recent years turned into a tsunami following Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023…Armed settlers operate in different capacities, ranging from private civilians owning handguns to settlement residents acting as part of civilian security squads and settler soldiers either as part of the regional defense battalions or as rank-and-file soldiers. This study assesses each of the different armed settler groups that have engaged in violence against Palestinians, with a focus on their activity since 7 October. ACLED data suggest the security situation in the West Bank is increasingly perilous as more settlers are armed, and the line between settlers and the army blurring. Over the past several decades, the settler movement has evolved from a small faction to a significant presence within the Israeli mainstream. Its members now hold key positions in government and the military, and their considerable political sway presents a serious obstacle to future peace efforts with Palestinians.” See also Lords of the land: Rising settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank (Haaretz)

Why Israel is expanding the Gaza war to the West Bank refugee camps (Ameer Makhoul//Middle East Eye)

“The refugee camps of Nur Shams and Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank are witnessing a comprehensive, Israeli-driven war of destruction. It is part of a plan to uproot Palestinian refugee camps, similar to ongoing events in Gaza and reminiscent of the 1948 Nakba. This aligns with Israel’s vision of a war declared long ago on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, which has reached its peak during the war on Gaza. Are things headed towards a forced displacement situation in the occupied West Bank? The camps of Jenin and Nur Shams have been raided repeatedly in a process of uprooting that began before the war on Gaza. The northern occupied West Bank and the Jordan Valley have long been targeted for intensified settlement activity.” See also Shrugging off international sanctions, extremist settlers appear emboldened (Times of Israel)

Israeli joy at hostage rescue undiminished by regret over Palestinian casualties (Guardian)

“Gaza’s health ministry does not differentiate between civilian and militant casualties, but graphic images and videos from the scene in Nuseirat and a local hospital suggested dozens of women and children were among the dead and dying. Ben Saul, the UN’s special rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights, has suggested that the operation may be deemed a war crime if it was anticipated “that civilian casualties would be excessive”. Mairav Zonszein, a senior Israel analyst at the International Crisis Group thinktank, said the Palestinian deaths during the rescue mission were unlikely to have much impact on the Israeli public…“People have not cared about the Palestinian casualty count the whole time, and the media doesn’t really report it, so I wouldn’t expect them to start caring about it now, during of all things a rescue operation. As we have seen before, there is an Israeli narrative in the war, and an international narrative, and they don’t really meet.”’

Israel’s North Is Burning (Mairav Zonszein//NYT)

“On the night of June 3, vast parts of northern Israel went up in flames after Hezbollah fired rockets on the area. The raging fires burned more than 3,000 acres. They are a painful reminder that the protracted war in Gaza not only is devastating for the people of Gaza and a threat to lives of the hostages held by Hamas, but also has serious consequences for northern Israel, much of which has become a largely abandoned war zone since October. It is increasingly evident that without a cease-fire, the situation at the northern border could rapidly deteriorate into a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah.”

What Gantz’s exit reveals about Israel’s failed Gaza strategy (Meron Rapoport//+972)

“On the face of it, it’s hard to make sense of the rift within Israel’s government over the “day after” in Gaza, which led Benny Gantz to quit the coalition on Sunday. In a press conference announcing his decision, Gantz accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “preventing … real victory” by failing to present a viable plan for the Strip’s post-war governance. Gantz, who joined the government and war cabinet after October 7 as a minister without portfolio, has been urging Netanyahu for months to lay out his “day after” plan. The prime minister, who has a personal and political interest in prolonging the war, has so far refused to produce one; instead, he has only repeatedly insisted that he rejects both the continued existence of a “Hamastan” and its replacement with a “Fatahstan” run by the Palestinian Authority (PA)…What Gantz and Gallant are implicitly acknowledging, and Netanyahu and his allies refuse to admit, is that Israel’s decades-old “separation policy” has collapsed in the wake of the October 7 attacks. No longer able to maintain the illusion that the Gaza Strip has been severed from the West Bank and thus from any future Palestinian political settlement, Israel’s leaders are in a bind.”

Facing war and incitement, is there any hope left for Palestinians in the Knesset? (Baker Zoubi//+972 6/6/24)

“The Gaza war has revived a longstanding debate among Palestinian citizens of Israel about whether to participate in or boycott the parliament.”

U.S. SCENE

Israel and the Leahy Law (Charles Blaha//Just Security)

“United States law requires foreign nations, including Israel, to comply with international human rights standards and international humanitarian law to receive U.S. security assistance. The best known of these laws, the “Leahy law,” mandates that U.S. security assistance may not be provided to units of foreign security forces that are alleged to have committed gross violations of human rights. For seven and a half years, I served as director of the State Department office that leads Leahy vetting of foreign security units. I have seen how even and fair application of the Leahy law is key to U.S. foreign policy and credibility abroad. But when it comes to Israel — the story so far is about a lack of application. U.S. State Department spokespersons assert that the department complies with the Leahy law via “ongoing processes,” and that treatment of Israel under the Leahy law is the same as for any other country. Both assertions are incorrect.”

ACTIVISM//LAWFARE//REDEFINING ANTISEMITISM TO STIFLE CRITICISM OF ISRAEL

Why are America’s elite universities so afraid of this scholar’s paper? (Guardian)

““What is so scary about Palestinians having the right to narrate their own realities?” Eghbariah said. Student-run law review journals rarely if ever hear from their outside boards. “It’s unprecedented to even interfere in editorial processes,” he said. There have been no substantive or factual contestations of the claims of the Columbia Law Review article.”

Campus Protests for Palestine: Students Face Criminal Charges, Disciplinary Hearings (Teen Vogue)

“More than 3,000 people were arrested or detained at campus protests for Palestine this spring. Most of the Gaza solidarity encampments have since been disassembled, but students are now dealing with subsequent challenges. Some are trying to sort out whether they can still technically graduate despite being suspended, and many face potential criminal charges. Legal advocacy organizations and human rights clinics are urging college administrations not to use responses to activism that are discriminatory or punitive. On the ground, meanwhile, experienced activists and students are engaging in another form of public solidarity: community campaigns for legal defense.” See also At U.C.L.A., Police Arrest More Than 20 Pro-Palestinian Protesters (NYT); University of Minnesota pauses hiring of professor who called Israel’s war against Hamas ‘a textbook case of genocide’ (Jewish Insider)

AOC calls for strong response to antisemitism in progressive spaces, but also decries ‘false accusations of antisemitism’ (Jewish Insider)

“Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) acknowledged in a webinar on Monday that there is a “line past which criticism of the Israeli government can slip into antisemitism” and said it’s incumbent on progressives to condemn such behavior, while also condemning instances in which “false accusations of antisemitism are weaponized.” The Squad member’s comments, which came during a session with Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO Amy Spitalnick and Stacy Burdett, a former Anti-Defamation League and U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum official…”Criticism of the Israeli government is not inherently antisemitic, and criticism of Zionism is not automatically antisemitic,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “That being true does not mean that we should not recognize when criticism and when that criticism crosses a line into real harms against our Jewish community.”…“It is also true that accusations and false accusations of antisemitism are wielded against people of color and women of color by bad faith political actors. And weaponizing antisemitism is used to divide us and create a false choice between the fight for Jewish safety and the cause for Palestinian self-determination,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Defending and standing for the rights of Palestinians is not antisemitic, and we must be able to identify when bad faith political actors make accusations simply to divide us.”’ See also Antisemitism and the Fight for Democracy (Rep. AOC//YouTube; AIPAC, AOC and the American Left’s Antisemitism Problem (Haaretz); ‘The Zionists Are Not Human’: Pro-Palestinians Protest Outside NY Exhibit Commemorating Oct. 7 Victims (Haaretz)

PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS

My Nuseirat (Hadar Eid//Mondoweiss)

“I was born in the Nuseirat refugee camp; all my siblings were born there too. My father, together with my sister and brother, are buried in two of its cemeteries. Almost the entire Eid clan still lives there, and those butchered by genocidal Israel’s killing machine are buried there. Hundreds of my students are from there. I know almost every single street of the camp; I am familiar with the faces of its residents, all of whom are refugees from towns and villages erased by apartheid Israel in 1948…Nuseirat is a microcosm of the genocide. The lives of four white Ashkenazi Israelis are equivalent to the lives of 274 native mothers, doctors, and children. The white world is celebrating this “victory” regardless of the “collateral damage,” as long as the victims are not like “us,” the white gods of this unjust world. The Nuseirat massacre is not a moment of victory after which Benjamin Netanyahu and his gang of fascist thugs can call it a day. There will be more massacres committed by the same bloodthirsty colonizers. But Nuseirat, like all massacres committed by colonialists, whether in Algeria, South Africa, Ireland, or other settler colonies, will be a signpost in our long walk to freedom. Only those who stand on the right side of history can read the signs.” See also ‘I heard all of my friends’ last breath’: Testimonies from the Nuseirat massacre (Tareq Hajjaj//Mondoweiss)

Confronting the Abject: What Gaza Can Teach Us About the Struggles That Shape Our World (Tareq Baconi//LitHub)

“Gaza is the abject of our time. It is a miserable stretch of land, overpopulated and dirty, drowning in its own shit and decrepit infrastructure, beaten and abused, on the brink of death refusing the dignity of passing, of letting go. In the Israeli collective psyche (but not just), Gaza is a dark place, full of terrorists, of angry hordes, a place where—in the words of a minister of justice no less—Palestinian mothers give birth to snakes, not babies. Gaza is a nuisance that persistently clings to Israel, demanding attention, disrupting the lives of Israelis, seeking recognition. None will be forthcoming because deep within, in some shrouded corner, is a resounding truth that can never be fully banished even as it remains unspoken: The Gaza Strip is Israel’s creation. In its present abject manifestation, Gaza is a colonial construct, territorially and demographically engineered to enable the emergence of a Zionist entity in Palestine.”

How a Palestinian/Jewish Village in Israel Changed After October 7th (Masha Gessen//New Yorker)

“Wahat al-Salam/Neve Shalom was founded on a total belief in the power of dialogue. In the wake of Hamas’s attack and amid Israel’s war in Gaza, a “very loud silence” has fallen.”