Tag: Palestine

Letters of protest: Colleges suppress dissent while closing their eyes to genocide, extended version / by Michael D. Yates

Popular University for Gaza encampment at the University of Oregon demanding divestment from companies supporting Israel. Day 2, April 30, 2024. Image Credit: Ian Mohr, Flickr.

Reposted from MR Online

An earlier version of this article was published in Counterpunch, May 3, 2024.

As Israel began its genocide in Gaza, those who manage U.S. colleges and universities also commenced to issue statements of outrage at what Hamas had done. And as campus protests erupted in condemnation of the slaughter of Gazans, and especially children, and the destruction of homes and every major institution, including hospitals, these same institutions of highher learning began to disrupt these protests and bring them to an end. As a former college teacher, one who witnessed the attacks on those who protested against the War in Vietnam and who studied the repression on campuses during the McCarthy period, I became so appalled at what was being done to our brave and courageous college students that I began to write letters to the leaders of what are, in reality, academic enterprises.

University of Pittsburgh

Immediately after the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas and other Palestinian groups, on October 10, the chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, Joan Gabel, sent a message to the Pitt “community” decrying Hamas’s violence and offering University services to students traumatized by this. She wrote:

Another wave of darkness has emerged in the violence taking place in Israel and Gaza. These heinous acts are antithetical to our values. We are compassionate. We are givers and doers. As such, we recognize the deep impact of these events across our community. Many of us are struggling with what we have seen, including members of our university family who face the unimaginable burden of grief for fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends, and loved ones. For those hurting — for those grieving — we have resources available including Pitt Global, the University Counseling Center for students, and LifeSolutions for faculty and staff. We encourage all students, faculty and staff to use them. As more resources become available, we will share them.

Given her wording, she was almost certainly addressing mainly Jewish members of the “community.” In response, I sent the following email to her the same day:

Yes, the killings were terrible. But will you send another note about grieving as the Israelis bomb hospitals and kill many innocent people?

Michael D. Yates, Pitt PhD and Pitt professor emeritus.

I sent a follow-up note on December 11, when it was clear what Israel was doing:

Still waiting but not holding my breath for you to tell us (your colleagues, Pitt family, take your pick) that you are horrified, or at least a bit disturbed, by the wanton slaughter of children in Palestine, and that Pitt will help anyone traumatized by this. I suspect that you will be like every other University CEO (which is what you are) and say nothing or agree that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. International law will not be something you will refer to unless the culprit is an enemy of the US in the eyes of the US government.

Yours in peace,

Michael Yates, Professor Emeritus and Pitt PhD

P.S. Monthly Review Press, of which I am Director, published a book titled A Land With a People. The introduction, written by 80-year-old Rosalind Petchesky (a Jewish anti-Zionist), is worth reading. If your flack catchers, by some rare chance, let you see this, read it, and I am certain you will learn a great deal.

Again, no response was forthcoming. To date, there is a Palestinian solidarity encampment at the University, but the university has not attempted to have it dismantled.

Hobart and William Smith College (HWS)

On April 9, 2024, HWS Professor Jodi Dean wrote an essay titled, “Palestine Speaks for Everyone,” which was published on the Verso Press Blog. It is a moving piece, and it begins with this paragraph:

The images from October 7 of paragliders evading Israeli air defenses were for many of us exhilarating. Here were moments of freedom, that defeated Zionist expectations of submission to occupation and siege. In them, we witnessed seemingly impossible acts of bravery and defiance in the face of the certain knowledge of the devastation that would follow (that Israel practices asymmetric warfare and responds with disproportionate force is no secret). Who could not feel energized seeing oppressed people bulldozing the fences enclosing them, taking to the skies in escape, and flying freely through the air? The shattering of the collective sense of the possible made it seem as if anyone could be free, as if imperialism, occupation, and oppression can and will be overthrown. As the Palestinian militant Leila Khaled wrote of a successful hijacking in her memoir, My People Shall Live, “it seemed the more spectacular the action the better the morale of our people.” Such actions puncture expectations and create a new sense of possibility, liberating people from hopelessness and despair.

The president of Dean’s college, Mark D. Gearan, took great offense to her article. Here is the opening paragraph of his letter to the HWS “community,” sent on April 13, 2024:

Earlier this week, Professor of Politics Jodi Dean wrote a piece for Verso on the war in Israel and Gaza. She spoke about feeling exhilarated and energized by the paragliders on October 7, an event that has led to so much brutality against civilians in Israel and Gaza. Not only am I in complete disagreement with Professor Dean, I find her comments repugnant, condemn them unequivocally, and want to make clear that these are her personal views and not those of our institution.

He then suspended Dean from her teaching duties. His letter and actions offended me, and I sent him this message:

Dear President Gearan,

I read your letter about Professor Jodi Dean’s essay, ‘Palestine Speaks for Everyone,’ which was posted at versobooks.com. I found your letter to be an excellent example of a false commitment to academic freedom and free speech. Taking Professor Dean out of her classroom is outrageous. Her essay speaks to a truth that cowards like you will never face. Israel is an occupying colonial power, with no right under any international law to do what it has done since the Nakba in 1948. It has violated  untold UN resolutions, and it has murdered untold numbers of people with abandon. What it has done since Oct. 7 has shocked most of the world, but apparently not you. Hamas and the other Palestinian resistance groups have every right under international law to resist Israel’s brutal and illegal occupation with violence, and Israel has no right to defend its colonial regime in Palestine. This is all not to mention that Israel’s current leadership, following it the footsteps of some of its founding fathers, are open fascists. What your letter does is whitewash this past and assert a sickening superior morality under the pretense that you are opposed to all violence. Please, spare us your tears. And your self-righteousness. Your students might be afraid and troubled!! Of what, pray tell. It is the people in Gaza who are afraid, because they are being killed by the tens of thousands. And if you have been following the news outside of the cowardly mainstream US Press, you would now know that most of the most outrageous acts Israel claimed Hamas and the other groups perpetrated on Oct. 7 have been shown not to have happened. The Nazis would have been proud of Netanyahu and company for their skill in lying and their willingness to murder women and children. Just as the US would not even take orphaned Jewish children into the United States during the late 1930s, because they might someday become Bolsheviks, so too the Israelis can’t have Palestinian kids grow up t be “terrorists.” or mothers giving birth to them.

You must put Professor Dean back in the classroom. I doubt you will, perhaps in fear that you will be called before Congress and declared an antisemite. Or more likely because you are simply not a very good human being.

Yours,

Michael D. Yates, Professor Emeritus, University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown

Illinois State University

Since just after October 7, Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s popular “Morning Joe” program, has been railing against the campus protests. He typically refers to students (presumably privileged) at elite (as in Ivy League) colleges. However, the campus encampments that have been growing in number by the day, have been set up in many colleges and universities that are certainly not elite. One such college is Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. I have had correspondence with a teacher there, one whose students are by no means elite. When the president of the university, Aondover Tarhule, began threatening the protesters with punitive actions, the organizers asked people to write to him. I wrote this letter on April 30, 2024:

Dear President Tarhule,

Students around the United States are courageously protesting the open genocide being committed by the Israeli government in Gaza. That it is a genocide is widely known, and members of the Israeli state openly admit it, even declaring themselves to be fascists. Now, your students are protesting. And what does your administration do? Like many other institutions of higher learning, you threaten them with suspensions and police violence. Your duty is to protect your students. Colleges claim to be in favor of critical thinking and socially responsible actions. Yet, as soon as they take you at your word, they see that it is all a mirage.

I was a college professor for 45 years. I saw the protests against the war in Vietnam and the way that college administrators dealt with them. I know about how your predecessors condemned and blacklisted professors during the McCarthy period. Today, the world is watching. Your students are watching. What lessons will they take from your actions? The answer is up to you. Do the right thing. Do not allow police on your campus. Protect the right of your students to protest.

Sincerely yours,

Michael D. Yates, Professor Emeritus, University of Pittsburgh

Princeton University

The more students have protested, the stronger and more violent the response by university administrators. The stormtroopers we erroneously call police were invited to put down the protests, and this they did, with fascist-like zeal. This was combined with a propaganda campaign, with full media participation from CNN and the New York Times, “reporting” that not only were the student voices rife with antisemitism, but there were nefarious outside agitators invading the campuses making trouble. Order had to be restored. At UCLA, anti-protestors did enter the college grounds by force, assaulting those who were condemning genocide. Campus security and LA police stood by while this was happening. Ultimately, the encampment was dismantled. It would hardly be surprising if these true outside agitators, like those at other universities, had close ties to the Israeli state’s multiple operation inside the United States.

Journalist Chris Hedges wrote an essay about what has happened at Princeton (The Chris Hedges Report, “Revolt in the Universities.”) After reading it, I wrote to  Rochelle Calhoun, Vice President of Campus Life:

Dear Rochelle Calhoun,

Like most of the nation’s universities, Princeton is showing its true colors as an active agent of the suppression of free speech and academic freedom. Your treatment of students protesting the genocide Israel is perpetrating in Gaza is appalling and makes a mockery of your supposed values of critical learning. As Vice President of Campus Life (note the corporate titles now ubiquitous in academe), you bear responsibility for the reprehensible treatment of student protestors, who have been arrested, handcuffed with zip ties, treated as trespassers in the place they in fact live, and unceremoniously booted off campus, unable even to take all of their possessions with them. I hope you are proud of yourself.

By doing what you are doing, you are drawing attention away from the heart of the matter, namely the callous and intentional slaughter of Gazans, including thousands of children. As Chris Hedges reports,

‘Not one university president has denounced Israel’s destruction of every university in Gaza. Not one university president has called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire. Not one university president has used the words “apartheid” or “genocide.” Not one university president has called for sanctions and divestment from Israel.’

As  happened during the McCarthy period and the protests against the War in Vietnam, our universities now show us how deeply they are embedded in the oppressive nature of our economic system and the national security state. As Thorstein Veblen noted more than 100 years ago, universities operate as businesses and their commitment to academic freedom and civil rights is a ruse. And as your behavior shows, as soon as a person becomes part of the corporate university, they begin to behave in ways that keep the enterprise going, no matter how liberal they think they are. Just doing their jobs, like the good Germans who gave aid and comfort, in one way or another, to National Socialism. You, like those who do the same work in other colleges and like your and their superiors, are, in truth, giving aid and comfort to genocide. It’s that simple. History will not look kindly upon you.

I was a college professor for 45 years. Not much surprises me anymore. But this does, because the Israeli genocide is perpetrated openly and some members of the Netanyahu government have declared themselves fascists. Perhaps you should take some time to grasp this and think about what you are doing.

Sincerely yours,

Michael D. Yates, Professor Emeritus, University of Pittsburgh—Johnstown.

It would be foolish to imagine that my letters will have any effect on what the officers of these colleges and universities will do. Yet, it is necessary for each of us to do what we can to raise our voices against any and all complicity in genocide. No matter how small. If many speak out, the students will gain more confidence and courage. It is what they are doing that is important and has a chance of bringing about real change.

Addendum

Since this piece was published, I have written two more letters. The first is to the president of California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, Tom Jackson, Jr. The second is to the president of Portland State University, Ann E. Cudd. (Note: These letters extend the original essay, which was published in Counterpunch, May 3, 2024.)

Cal. Poly, Humboldt

Dear President Jackson,

Today, an essay I wrote was published at Counterpunch. In it are letters I have written to several college administrators protesting their actions aimed at shutting down the student protests that have swept across the country. A parent of one of your students wrote and asked if I would write to you as well. I said, of course.

Like your counterparts at other colleges, you have taken the low road, calling in the police to violently quell the protests. In the process, people were arrested irrespective of their actions. Like the soldiers who used to say, kill them all and let God sort them out, you have acquiesced to the same mentality. By doing so, you have violated every norm of not only academic freedom and the right to protest but also every tenet of due process. Punish them all, let others sort them out.

Meanwhile, the Israeli genocide continues, unabated after 7 months. Right in the open. Children without limbs, buried under the rubble, shot without mercy by IDF soldiers, Israeli politicians delighting in mass murder, a few even brazen enough to declare themselves fascists. I imagine that just as we have discovered that almost everything the Israeli government and the IDF have said about the attack on Oct. 7 and the ongoing slaughter is a lie, so we will likely find out later that the arrests were unwarranted, that student and faculty civil rights were violated, that the damage you claim was wildly exaggerated, and so forth. Lawsuits will be won by plaintiffs and money damages will eventually be paid by the police and your college. Life will go on except for the dead, and for your students who have been arrested, life will go on but not as well as yours and your administrative staff.

We keep hearing how these protests have harmed college “communities” (whatever this hackneyed phrase might mean) and prevented learning from taking place. I imagine that the truth is that the student protesters have found a real community through their actions, and I know that they have learned things you’d be surprised about. They have learned the necessity of struggle against injustice, that our colleges are not really places of higher learning when push comes to shove, that some faculty do indeed behave as champions of true liberty, and that their lives will in an important sense never be the same.

I urge you to retrace your steps and try to make amends. At the least, cancel the suspensions unless you have proof of real crimes and not just marginal property damage. Do not ruin the lives of students who had the courage to protest mass murder. And while you are at it, think about the fact that a genocide is taking place before your eyes and you did nothing to stop it.

Sincerely yours,

Michael D. Yates, Professor Emeritus, University of Pittsburgh—Johnstown

Portland State University

Dear President Ann Cudd,

When you were Pitt’s Provost, I sent you occasional messages whenever you sent us a particularly obtuse message. I knew that you had finally achieved the ultimate post for an academic who has abandoned the professor’s life and joined the ranks of university executives. A university CEO! You went through all the hoops to make yourself saleable to those with real power and money. And I am sure you aim to stay that way.

As has happened on countless college campuses across the country, your students have strongly protested the mass murders of Palestinians and the absolute destruction of Gaza by what can only be characterized as a fascist state, that of Israel. The horror of what is happening in that part of the world is there for all to see, with the US government actively complicit in war crimes. No doubt your students were so appalled at the slaughter, with thousands of children intentionally killed and many more thousand wounded, many with arms and/or legs.

But let me guess. Like every college CEO and other top college executive, you have not spoken out against this and have done nothing to stop it. Instead, you did what most of your comrades-in-arms have done and are doing. You called in the cops. Today’s police forces are armed to the teeth, and police personnel are all too often Nazis themselves, many recruited after coming home from the killing fields of Iraq and Afghanistan. And unless you are more ignorant than I think you are, you know that the Israeli state has operatives all over the United States, often acting as provocateurs, or as your ilk call some of the protesters, outside agitators. I know, I know. You had to have law and order. Rules have to be obeyed. Disruptions of the academic enterprise cannot be countenanced. (Though, ironically, genocide can). So go to it, officers.

Oh well, it’s all Hail to PDX as it was Hail to Pitt. It’s all about our family, our community, and all the other trite phrases academic execs haul out to pretend that universities are in any sense either families or communities. The good news is that your students are, despite your repression, or no doubt because of it, learning valuable lifelong lessons. So you’re at least doing something right. The voice of history will praise them but you will end up on its scrap heap.

Yours as always,

Michael D. Yates, Pitt PhD and Professor Emeritus

Michael D. Yates is author of numerous books on unions, conditions in the working class, and the labor process.

In Israeli-occupied West Bank, one village unites to expel illegal settlers / by Al-Ittihad

Photo via Al-Ittihad

Reposted from Peoples World

HAIFA—In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the people of the Bir al-Maskoub Bedouin community succeeded a few days ago in pushing out gangs of settlers attempting to take the land.

The Bir al-Maskoub people reside in the village of Khan al-Ahmar, east of the occupied city of Jerusalem. At dawn last Friday, they expelled settlement gangs from their community.

Gangs of settlers had seized control of Khan al-Ahmar last Tuesday and forced its residents to leave. The settlers had stormed into the village, seizing tents and agricultural crops.

The residents of the community, which number seven families, are nomadic Bedouins who had left some time ago for the area west of Jerusalem, and when they returned to their tents, they were surprised by the presence of settlers. They resisted, however, and prevented them from seizing the tents and the land on which they were erected.

Khan Al-Ahmar is surrounded by the Israeli settlements of Ma’ale Adumim and Kfar Adumim. The Netanyahu government seeks to expand the illegal settlements as part of a plan to eliminate the possibility of establishing a geographically contiguous Palestinian state.

The scheme, called the “E1 Settlement Plan” would also swallow large tracts of land extending over more than 60% of the area of ​​the West Bank.

We hope you appreciated this article. At People’s World, we believe news and information should be free and accessible to all, but we need your help. Our journalism is free of corporate influence and paywalls because we are totally reader-supported. Only you, our readers and supporters, make this possible. If you enjoy reading People’s World and the stories we bring you, please support our work by donating or becoming a monthly sustainer today. Thank you!

Al-Ittihad (The Union) is the daily Arabic newspaper published by the Communist Party of Israel.

Settler colonialism and the destruction of Palestine’s ecology / by Cas Smith

Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh of the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability. Photo: Peter Boyle

Reposted from Green Left Weekly

Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh has dedicated his life to studying the diversity of animals and plants in his homeland; not only in Bethlehem and the West Bank where he lives, but throughout historic Palestine and many Middle Eastern countries.

Since Qumsiyeh’s homeland has been occupied for 75 years, it’s inevitable that colonisation’s impact has been a central theme of his research, including at the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability, which he has run for the past 10 years.

Qumsiyeh told a lecture at Boorloo/Perth’s State Library on April 18 that Palestine is like a patient, whose current circumstances of starvation, war and the destruction of people’s lives, could be diagnosed and understood only by looking for historical factors as the cause.

He noted wryly that the case is “not congenital”. “There has always been a lot of food available; life was very good for thousands of years. So the patient was very healthy, rarely had any conflicts. If you took away the conflict that we are currently in the middle of, you’d have to go back to the Crusades to find another conflict.

“Palestine was a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious society living in peace and harmony. There was a diversity of people, culture and languages: before 1948, 44 languages were spoken here.”

However, the Nakba ended this, with the violent displacement of people who were seen as “needing to go” for the state of Israel to be established.

“Every single Zionist — whether Jewish, Christian or working for the British Empire — everybody knew that this entailed the removal of the local people and, of course, that’s what happened.

“Around 530 plus villages and towns were depopulated from 1948 to 1950.

“A friend of my mother, who had studied at teacher’s college in Jerusalem, was killed in the massacre of Deir Yassin, together with her students.”

Often left out of the story, Qumsiyeh said, is the impact of this colonisation on the natural environment.

He explained how Israel’s policy had often entailed the destruction of whole ecosystems and the loss of many plants and animals.

“Humanity is facing a humanitarian global catastrophe: this includes things like climate change, destruction and pollution, over-exploitation of natural resources, invasive species that are now spreading and of course settler colonialism and its impact on our world.

“For example, when Israel destroyed 530 Palestinian villages and towns, it also bulldozed all the trees around them — including domestic trees, like figs and olives and almond trees, or old trees, like oaks, hawthorn or carobs.

“It did plant others, but they were the wrong type: pine trees are good for northern Europe but not necessarily in Palestine where there’s a dry climate, so they’re susceptible to fire.

“Fires consumed the pine trees planted to replace indigenous Palestinian trees.

“How do we know there were indigenous Palestinian trees and farmlands there? Because after the fire, you can see the terraces our ancestors built that showed it was cultivated.”

Other Israeli state policies included the diversion of the Jordan River to irrigate “replacement” agriculture — which had led to it becoming little more than a stream, when once it had flowed at 1.35 billion cubic metres a year.

Israel destroyed the wetlands at Lake Hula, which Qumsiyeh said caused the loss of 219 animal species, as well as the removal of 12 communities that lived in the area.

Now students at his institute — which is connected to Bethlehem University — conduct research into similar environmental issues, such as the dumping of Israeli waste into West Bank territory, endangering the health of surrounding Palestinian communities.

The transfer of waste violates international law, with six of the 15 waste facilities processing hazardous material.

Student researchers and volunteers at the institute are treating and rehabilitating local wild animals, researching food sovereignty, developing a community garden and taking education programs to marginalised communities.

“We have a biodiversity centre with a molecular laboratory attached to it, a natural history exhibit and we also run ethnography exhibitions,” Qumsiyeh said.

“We welcome volunteers from around the world: so far people from 45 countries, including Australia and New Zealand, have come and worked with us. They work in the garden, even building a biogas unit.”

Reflecting on Israel’s genocidal war on Palestine, Qumsiyeh said the future could go one of three ways: wholesale genocide of the Indigenous population, such as in the United States; after the mass killing, the colonists leave (as was the case in Algeria); or the two peoples living together equally in one country.

This last option, he said, was the most common end for settler colonialism, as seen across the Americas, most of Europe and Asia and in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

“I prefer the third option; it’s the least bloody one,” he said, adding that Israel seems intent on pursuing the first scenario in Gaza.

“We are people just like everybody else,” Qumsiyeh said. “My family happens to be Christian; my grandfather’s best friend in school was Jewish under the Ottoman Empire. We never had problems with the religions. We do have a problem with colonisers. What we want is freedom.”

Qumsiyeh was speaking as part of a national tour. He was introduced by Indigenous and human rights scholar Jack Collard, with a Welcome to Country delivered by Uncle Ben Taylor.

[Visit Palestinian Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability for more information. Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh’s book, Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human Rights and the Israeli-Palestinian Struggle (2004), is available through Pluto Press.]

Cas Smith writes for Green Left Weekly.

Israel’s Brute Show of Military Strength Shows How Weak It Has Become / by james Zogby

An Israeli army soldier gestures as he rides atop a main battle tank moving near the border with the Gaza Strip at a location in southern Israel on May 13, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and the Hamas movement | Photo by Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

Similarly, the abilities of pro-Israel groups to pressure U.S. lawmakers or media outlet to take one-sided positions or impose regressive legislation may appear to demonstrate strength. In reality, it’s a function of their weakness and the weakness of their case.

Reposted from Common Dreams

The brilliant Palestinian Fayez Sayegh once wrote that when pro-Israel groups appeared to be at their strongest, they were only masking the fact that they were at their weakest. This is clear in the contrast of Israel’s sharp decline in standing among many demographic groups of American voters and the actions and statements by Congress and pro-Israel groups, particularly in evidence during the past week.

It’s an established fact that Israel has been losing ground in American public opinion since well before October 7th. Polls have shown that young people, Black, Latino, and Asian Americans hold somewhat more negative views of Israelis coupled with a rise in support for Palestinians. While Israel, in general, has retained support among Americans, the policies of the state are strongly opposed by majorities among all demographics, with most saying they want to cut US aid to Israel because of settlement construction and other violations of human rights.

During the past decade, in an effort to confront this, pro-Israel groups launched a multi-pronged offensive, components of which included: targeting and smearing both pro-Palestinian activists and members of Congress; passing laws in over two dozen states that penalized supporters of efforts to boycott or sanction Israel and in another dozen states to equate criticism of Israel with antisemitism; and a massive multi-million dollar “hasbara” campaign to improve Israel’s image in the US.

It’s clear that change is afoot. And so, in the face of their rapidly deteriorating position, pro-Israel groups have embarked on an all-out campaign not to make their case, but to stomp out their opponents. Their efforts are both ruthless and a threat to our democracy.

In the aftermath of the Hamas attack, Israel might have experienced sympathy for their tragic losses and made up some ground in lost support, but they squandered that opportunity with the sheer brutality and the wanton disregard for Palestinian lives they demonstrated in the months that followed. The results have only served to further weaken Israel’s standing among many groups of Americans, especially Democrats and key demographic groups that form its core base of support.

Still, Israel has been able to count on continued support from the White House, leaders in both parties in Congress, mainstream media outlets, and a majority of commentators and “analysts” who have remained receptive to the Israeli narrative of ongoing events. Biden administration officials have persistently defended Israeli behaviors, even when attempting to shift gears by suggesting that Palestinian civilians should be protected. There have been “leaks” from executives of major US television networks and newspapers telling their staff how to cover stories—what must be said and what may not be said—in ways that echo Israel’s positions. And statements by leaders in Congress have been especially shameful in their defense of Israeli actions.

Despite this top-down advantage, trouble is percolating from below. Israel continues to lose support from key Democratic constituents—young and “minority” voters—with that decline now also impacting support for the President. Much has been made of the precipitous decline in Arab American support and the more than one-half million voters who have so far voted for the Arab American-led “uncommitted” campaign in Democratic primaries. The problem is deeper. For example, a recent Washington Post poll shows a significant drop in President Biden’s support among Black voters, with his backing for Israel being cited by respondents as one reason for that decline.

The changing mood among voters toward Israel has taken an activist bent. Massive demonstrations have been held in most major cities. More than 200 local governments and major institutions, including major unions, have issued strong statements criticizing Israeli actions and calling for an immediate total ceasefire. Publicized statements by over one thousand leading Black clergy, another by the same number of Catholic leaders, most of the major Protestant churches, and prominent groups of young progressive Jews have also called for a ceasefire and for conditions to be placed on military aid to Israel. Sustained anti-war demonstrations on over 200 college campuses and, more recently, protest encampments at more than 50 colleges and universities have been led by students calling for an immediate permanent ceasefire and demanding that their universities divest from US companies supporting Israel.

Congress has also been impacted. While the leadership in both parties remain lockstep in support of Israel, a higher than ever number of Senators and Representatives have either signed letters calling for conditions be placed on aid to Israel or voted against pro-Israel legislation.

It’s clear that change is afoot. And so, in the face of their rapidly deteriorating position, pro-Israel groups have embarked on an all-out campaign not to make their case, but to stomp out their opponents. Their efforts are both ruthless and a threat to our democracy.

One pro-Israel lobbying group has earmarked $100 million to defeat members of Congress who have supported Palestinian rights. To understand the magnitude of this expenditure, note that at the high end a congressional election costs about $5 million. The $20 million they are committing to defeat Rep. Jamaal Bowman is obscene by comparison.

In Congress they are pushing national legislation that would equate opposition to Israel with antisemitism and result in colleges and institutions being denied federal funding if they don’t pass the test of pro-Israel purity. Legislation has also passed the House (but not yet the Senate) removing the tax-exempt status of institutions deemed supportive of terrorist organizations—with “support” being so loosely defined that it can include simply advocating for Palestinian rights.

Congressional leaders have also threatened the International Criminal Court with stepped up sanctions should they charge any Israeli leader with crimes. And they’ve expanded the ban on any US funding to support UNWRA.

Congressional leaders and pro-Israel groups have also been echoing the rhetoric of Israel’s Prime Minister in smearing the protesting students calling them antisemites (even though a disproportionately large number of them are Jewish) and equating their protest with the Nazi antisemitic campaigns that led up to the Holocaust.

Finally, these same pro-Israel groups are “exposing” and smearing foundations supporting the progressive Jewish groups opposing Israel, calling for them to be shunned by the Jewish community.The ability of pro-Israel groups to push the Administration, Congress, and major media outlets to take one-sided positions, pass repressive laws, smear and damage the reputations of members of Congress or students who oppose them may appear to demonstrate strength. In reality, it’s a function of their weakness and the weakness of their case. Their far-reaching efforts to police speech and to penalize and crush those who criticize Israel and its policies are reminiscent of the McCarthy era. But because Israeli behaviors will not change, the critics, especially those within the Democratic Party, will not “go quietly into the night.” Instead, their resolve will harden—and may ultimately damage President Biden’s bid for reelection.

Dr. James J. Zogby is the author of Arab Voices (2010) and the founder and president of the Arab American Institute (AAI), a Washington, D.C.-based organization which serves as the political and policy research arm of the Arab American community. Since 1985, Dr. Zogby and AAI have led Arab American efforts to secure political empowerment in the U.S. Through voter registration, education and mobilization, AAI has moved Arab Americans into the political mainstream. Dr. Zogby has also been personally active in U.S. politics for many years; in 1984 and 1988 he served as Deputy Campaign manager and Senior Advisor to the Jesse Jackson Presidential campaign. In 1988, he led the first ever debate on Palestinian statehood at that year’s Democratic convention in Atlanta, GA. In 2000, 2008, and 2016 he served as an advisor to the Gore, Obama, and Sanders presidential campaigns.

Exclusive: Cambridge’s wealthiest college to divest from arms companies / by Imran Mulla

People punt past the Wren Library, part of Trinity College, on the River Cam in Cambridge, England, on 9 September 2023 (Justin Tallis/AFP)

MEE revealed in February that Trinity College Cambridge had investments in Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms manufacturer

Reposted from Middle East Eye

Trinity College Cambridge, the University of Cambridge’s wealthiest constituent college, has decided to divest from all arms companies, Middle East Eye can reveal.

This came after MEE revealed in February that Trinity had £61,735 ($78,089) invested in Israel’s largest arms company, Elbit Systems, which produces 85 percent of the drones and land-based equipment used by the Israeli army.

MEE also reported that the college had millions of dollars invested in other companies arming, supporting and profiting from Israel’s war on Gaza.

In response to this report, on 28 February the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), a UK-based rights group, issued a legal notice to Trinity College warning that its investments could make it potentially complicit in Israeli war crimes.

The ICJP indicated in its legal notice that “officers, directors and shareholders at the college may be individually criminally liable if they maintain their investments in arms companies that are potentially complicit in Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

MEE has learnt from three well-informed sources close to Trinity’s student union that the college council, responsible for major financial and other decisions, voted to remove Trinity’s investments from arms companies in early March. 

According to these sources, the college decided not to announce that it would divest from arms companies after an activist defaced a 1914 portrait of Lord Arthur Balfour – who authored the infamous Balfour Declaration – inside the college on 8 March. 

Condemnation

The incident prompted widespread media coverage in the UK – and condemnation from British MPs, including Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden.

MEE has contacted Trinity College Cambridge for comment.

MEE revealed in February that the college also had investments worth approximately $3.2m in Caterpillar, a US-based heavy equipment company that has long been the target of boycott campaigns for its sale of bulldozers to the Israeli army, and multiple other companies involved in Israel’s war – including General Electric, Toyota Corporation, Rolls-Royce, Barclays Bank and L3Harris Industries. 

Trinity has not committed on divesting from all these companies.

On Thursday, an open letter written by Cambridge academics and signed by more than 1,700 staff, alumni, and students from the university was published, expressing support for protesters who set up a protest encampment last week that calls on the university to end any potential complicity in Israel’s war on Gaza.

Around a hundred students gathered on the lawn outside Cambridge’s King’s College on Monday, where they erected tents and demanded the institution commit to divesting from companies involved in Israel’s war. 

They joined students at over 100 universities worldwide who have set up similar protest movements.

The encampment’s organisers told MEE they are demanding that Cambridge University disclose all its relationships with companies and institutions “complicit in the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine”.

On Thursday, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak summoned the vice-chancellors of 17 universities to an “antisemitism roundtable” at Downing Street and urged them to take “personal responsibility” for protecting Jewish students. 

That same day, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland’s most prestigious university, announced it would divest from Israeli companies involved in the occupation of Palestine after a sit-in by students protesting against the war on Gaza.

Since the events of 7 October, when a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel killed 1,171 people and resulted in more than 200 being taken back to Gaza as captives, the enclave has been under total siege and deprived of basic necessities, while facing a devastating bombing campaign by Israel.

More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed and around 1.7 million displaced, in what was described at the International Court of Justice in January as a plausible genocide.

Nearly 77,000 people have also been wounded, according to health officials. The figures exclude tens of thousands of dead who are believed to be buried in the bombed-out ruins of homes, shops, shelters and other buildings.

Imran Mulla is a journalist at Middle East Eye.

Israel ‘Has Gone to War Against the Entire Palestinian People’: Sanders / by Olivia Rosane

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) delivers a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate on March 6, 2023 | Photo: Sen. Bernie Sanders/YouTube Screengrab

“Any objective observer knows Israel has broken international law, it has broken American law, and, in my view, Israel should not be receiving another nickle in U.S. military aid,” Sanders said.

Reposted from Common Dreams

Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders repeated his calls on Sunday for the U.S. to cut off military aid to the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as it continues its devastating war on Gaza.

Sanders spoke on NBC’s “Meet the Press” in response to a U.S. State Department report released Friday, which found that it was “reasonable to assess” that Israel had used U.S. weapons to violate international humanitarian law in Gaza but that the U.S. was “not able to reach definitive conclusions” as to whether U.S. weapons had been used in any specific incidents.

“Any objective observer knows Israel has broken international law, it has broken American law, and, in my view, Israel should not be receiving another nickle in U.S. military aid,” Sanders said.

Friday’s report came in response to National Security Memorandum 20 (NSM-20), in which President Joe Biden tasked Secretary of State Antony Blinken with obtaining “certain credible and reliable written assurances from foreign governments” that they use U.S. arms in line with international humanitarian law and will not “arbitrarily deny, restrict, or otherwise impede, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance.”

The report, made to Congress, was criticized by human rights organizations who said it mischaracterized both the law and the facts in order to avoid imposing consequences on Israel for waging a war on Gaza that the International Court of Justice has determined could plausibly amount to genocide.

“The people of our country do not want to be complicit in the starvation of hundreds of thousands of children.”

Amanda Klasing, Amnesty International USA’s national director of government relations and advocacy, called it the “international version of ‘thoughts and prayers.'” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) called it “woefully inadequate” and told reporters, “If this conduct complies with international standards, God help us all.”

Speaking before Sanders on “Meet the Press,” Blinken denied that the report was an attempt to get out of holding Israel accountable.

“What the report concludes is that, based on the totality of the harm that’s been done to children, to women, to men who are caught in this crossfire of Hamas’ making, it’s reasonable to conclude that there are instances where Israel has acted in ways that are not consistent with international humanitarian law,” Blinken said.

He added that both Israel and the U.S. would continue to investigate those incidents.

“When we can reach definitive conclusions, we will,” Blinken said, “but it’s very difficult to do that in the midst of a war.”

In response to Blinken’s remarks, Sanders countered that “the facts are quite clear.”

He said that Hamas was a “terrible, disgusting terrorist organization” and blamed it for starting the war. But he argued that Israel’s response had been beyond disproportionate.

“What Israel has done over the last seven months is not just gone to war against Hamas—it has gone to war against the entire Palestinian people, and the results have been absolutely catastrophic,” the senator told NBC.

Sanders went on to outline some of that catastrophe: a death toll that surpassed 35,000 on Sunday, with two-thirds of the dead women and children; the destruction of around 60% of all housing; the devastation of infrastructure such a as water and sewage as well as the healthcare and education systems; and the fact that hundreds of thousands of children are now at risk of starvation.

Sanders referred to Section 6201 of the Foreign Assistance Act: “Any country that blocks U.S. humanitarian aid is in violation of law and should not continue to receive military aid from the United States,” Sanders explained. “That is precisely what Israel has done.”

Sanders’ remarks came as Israel escalated its assault on Gaza over the weekend, issuing new evacuation orders in both Rafah and areas in the north. Biden has said that a major ground invasion into Rafah would be a “red line” and threatened to withhold certain kinds of weapons if Netanyahu ordered such an invasion, but Palestinian and human rights advocates say that Israel’s current actions in Rafah should already count as a major ground operation.

Speaking on “Meet the Press,” Blinken acknowledged that the U.S. had not seen a “credible plan” from Israel to safely evacuate the more than 1.4 million civilians sheltering in Rafah ahead of an invasion.

Sanders told NBC that he thought many Republicans and also some Democrats wanted Israel to invade Rafah, but that this was not an opinion shared by the majority of people in the U.S.

“Poll after poll suggests that the American people want an immediate cease-fire. They want massive humanitarian aid to get in,” Sanders said. “The people of our country do not want to be complicit in the starvation of hundreds of thousands of children.”

Olivia Rosane is a staff writer for Common Dreams.

Israel is Losing / by Layan Fuleihan and L. Mohammed

Protest against the attacks on Rafah in New York City | Photo: Wyatt Souers / ANSWER Coalition

Seven months into Israel’s genocide, the US has been forced to shift its position on unconditional support to Israel

Reposted from NewsClick

Israel is intensifying its assault on Rafah, assassinating civilians, initiating gun violence on the ground, and raining bombs down on the city from the sky. Despite the fact that Hamas agreed to the latest version of the ceasefire proposal—approved by all other parties in the negotiating discussions—Israel has insisted on moving forward with its genocide, setting its sights on the last place of refuge in Gaza and sending out evacuation notices. Israel has refused to accept the ceasefire agreement and is instead continuing its genocidal assault on the Palestinian people.

This turn of events is very clarifying for anyone who may have still had any doubts about the negotiation process thus far. Over the past months, Tel Aviv and Washington DC have insisted on the same narrative–the Palestinians are blocking the negotiations. This is an entirely false narrative, both now and historically. Now the world can see that there’s an actual ceasefire deal that all parties, including the mediation, has approved, and it is Israel who has refused—not the other way around. What this elucidates is that Israel and the United States have never approached the negotiating table in good faith. Many of those who have been part of the student encampments in the past couple of weeks have now had a firsthand experience with negotiations, what it really looks like to “negotiate” with an enemy that has no intention of making any real concessions, and the kind of treacherous proposals that the enemy puts forward. These insulting proposals hardly represent any flexibility towards the demands of the other parties.

This is what has been happening in the negotiations between the Palestinian resistance and Israel. Israel, until now fully backed by the United States, has categorically refused any proposal that would respond to the bare minimum of Hamas’ demands.

This moment has also clarified the role the United States have been playing over the past couple of months, and has demonstrated the instability and contradictory character of the current moment.

The United States has recently taken the position that they oppose the invasion of Rafah and are pushing for a ceasefire agreement. Although this ostensibly is a new position, in practice, it is not necessarily that different from before. In simple terms, if the US actually opposed the invasion of Rafah, Biden could easily and quickly make a phone call– first to the Pentagon, then to Tel Aviv–to end it, employing political, economic, and military force to cut all aid to Israel, stop the invasion, and end the current phase of the war. This would mean a complete reversal of US foreign policy towards Israel until now, and of course, remains an unlikely reality. For example, though the White House has recently paused a shipment of some 3,500 munitions, causing some dismay among the would-be recipients, they continue to provide security assistance. This announcement does not affect the 26 billion dollar aid package signed last month, and the pause is couched with the reassurances that their overall support remains firm. But Biden is signaling, insisting that the US government does not support the operation in Rafah, and that they want a ceasefire to go through. Many of the European Union countries and the international community, both at the geopolitical and the mass movement level, are all against the occupation and invasion of Rafah. And yet, Israel proceeds with its genocide.

Israel is not without its own contradictions–so many, in fact, that it would take many more pages to detail. Some of its own political leaders and members of the ruling class have called for a ceasefire, while others insist on the invasion. Netanyahu clings to extending the war as his only hope to avoid imprisonment. Earlier this week, the families of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza released a statement demanding that Netanyahu accept the ceasefire agreement in order for their family members to be released, and threatened to burn the country down if it didn’t happen. Despite internal political division, Israel has still backtracked on the negotiations and proceeded with attacking Rafah, risking the stability it enjoyed in its relationship with the United States and claiming they are ready to fight alone.

Israel’s defeat

To fully understand what is happening right now, it is important to contextualize these recent developments and examine how events have unfolded until this moment. The negotiations and the escalation of attacks on Rafah are occuring in a context where Israel is facing very concrete conditions of defeat. This has been true for some time now, but it has never been clearer than this week. And by defeat, we mean very concrete things.

Primarily, they have not achieved their main objective of destroying the military capacity of the Palestinian resistance. The Palestinian resistance continues to both defend and respond to the occupation’s genocidal violence.

The US and Israel have also not managed to contain or dominate the regional resistance against their aggression. In fact, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and the many different actors across the region have only intensified their attacks against the occupation. Some weeks ago, Iran successfully launched a historic attack against Israel in response to Israel’s strike on the Iranian embassy in Syria. This targeted attack on Israeli military infrastructure turned the table, making it so that Israeli and US military bases in the region are no longer effective as a force of deterrence, but rather now represent vulnerabilities for imperialism, US empire, and Zionism.

Another very important sign of Israel’s defeat and one that is not often discussed, is that the Israeli genocide and occupation has failed to destroy Palestinian social organizing and the social fabric of Palestinian society in Gaza. Emergency committees are still functioning and are being formed throughout Gaza to make sure that the very little aid that is able to enter can be distributed in an efficient and adequate manner. This is very important—an organized people are much harder to defeat. The Palestinian people, facing the most extreme conditions of famine, genocide, massacre, and complete destruction of their homes, are not only organizing these emergency committees to distribute aid, but are also preparing the evacuated cities, such as Khan Younis and other parts of the North, for the return of their people. This achievement is so incredible that the occupation has started assassinating the organizers of the emergency committees. The Palestinian people’s ability to organize to survive is a threat to the occupation, and proves to be another indicator of Israel’s defeat.

Finally, the social base for Zionism, internally and externally, is almost completely destroyed. Their internal crisis has grown to a magnitude of historic proportions. But the social base for Zionism is not just located in Israel: a lot of the social support for the Zionist project also relies on communities and institutions across the United States, as US imperialism has its own interests in the region. However, the US ruling class is losing control of its own institutions, as seen through the encampments at Columbia University and the uprising of the student movement across the country. Facing a grave crisis of legitimacy, the social base for Zionism, including the bodies that normally fund, promote, and politically support a Zionist narrative, are no longer able to maintain control over that narrative or their own people. As this genocide is not only funded by the United States, but also in many ways engineered and politically backed by the United States, the trajectory of this latest war on the Palestinian people has concrete implications for the US. When Israel faces defeat, so does the United States.

The movement for Palestine has backed Biden into a corner

The United States is wrestling with its own losses in the arena of public opinion, domestically and geopolitically, which should be credited to the mass movement for Palestine that has been not only mobilizing and rejecting the genocide, but building power in the streets every day. Over the past few months, the movement has made it impossible for Biden to get away with giving lip service by simply saying he wants a ceasefire, and waiting for everyone to applaud him. The actions sweeping the US by storm have consistently called for much more concrete demands, demanding all that is possible. It is possible to end the genocide. It is possible to stop the invasion of Rafah. It just takes a decision from the White House to do that.

No one expects the ruling class to be moved by a sense of morality, but they can be moved by political pressure. The continuous mobilizations across the US that have not decreased for over seven months demonstrate to the world how the ruling class has been defeated on the home front. And because they know their public is watching, ready, and mobilized, they are forced to seriously consider the consequences for their foreign policy maneuvers and decisions.

Once again faced with conditions of defeat, the United States wants this phase of the war to end. It is clear that Biden is drawing the line at the invasion of Rafah, not because of a sudden change of heart towards Palestinian lives, but because the White House has lost confidence in Israel’s ability to defeat Hamas by military means. In order to preserve some possibility of achieving their military and economic objectives in the region, they are desperately attempting to stay afloat on the sinking ship that is the Israeli war machine, without abandoning the ship altogether.

The US is also losing favor with its own public at an unprecedented level, and their own interests are faltering as Israel exposes the hypocrisy of US-backed institutions, from corporate media to universities. Biden is hoping to find an exit strategy that can allow him to salvage any semblance of a reputation. The public pressure that the mass movement for Palestine has imposed upon the warmongers in the White House is still growing seven months in. Just last week, tens of thousands of people, students and workers took to the streets on a Wednesday afternoon for May Day, at a time when Biden hoped that people would simply give up and lose steam. The May Day mobilization in New York City, repeated in cities and locales across the world, was indicative of the fact that the struggle for Palestine has sparked a new wave of international solidarity, a global movement that has been raising the class consciousness of people.

A victory for Palestine is a victory for the people of the world

Hundreds of thousands of people across the country, millions across the world, have continued to take to the streets week in and week out. The Palestine movement will continue to do so as it makes demands that stretch far beyond a ceasefire, calling for an end to the occupation and the total liberation of Palestine. In the streets, the working class carries the banner of Palestine, and Palestine carries the banner of the working class. We know that it’s our duty to imagine a better future, and that is something that we must do together.

Just like an Israeli defeat is a US defeat, we know that a Palestinian victory is our victory, it’s the people’s victory. And we also know that this movement did not just appear out of thin air. Over the past seven months, thousands of people have been building their organizations and honing their skills. More and more people are undertaking organizational tasks for the first time, demonstrating the power of an organized movement: they are leading chants with a megaphone, flyering in the subways, organizing protests in their neighborhoods, learning from one another and bringing it back to their communities. People have realized the power they hold and have affirmed day after day that the government does not have their consent to carry on supporting the genocide. The people refuse to be complicit in genocide—the genocide of any oppressed peoples around the world.

This past week, heavy rains poured over Rafah, breaking a persistent heat wave. From our comrades in Rafah, we heard reflections that this fierce oscillation between winter and summer weather conditions was reminiscent of the same whiplash we might all feel from the constant back and forth between the threats of invasion (and increased airstrikes) on Rafah, and the hopes of an adequate ceasefire deal being reached–one that is actually representative of the will of the people.

But in the midst of all of this volatility, there is an unbreakable hope that the end of this war is near, and that the end of this war will bring about a way for the Palestinian people to realize their goals for liberation, for dignity and for true independence. There is immense hope that the end of this war will only further carve a path to total liberation from here on out.

The movement for Palestinian liberation has already accomplished so much. It has made its demands unavoidable. It has made Palestine unavoidable. It has made the situation in the US untenable for the ruling class. And it will continue to do that because the movement has not abandoned its demands for the past seven months, and it has not abandoned them for the past 76 years either.

This week, we commemorate 76 years since the start of the ongoing Nakba, “the catastrophe,” which was the mass dispossession and theft of Palestinian land in 1948. We will commemorate it together with the unwavering commitment that has only been further fortified over the past seven months, we will commemorate it in our speeches, in our protests, in our fundraisers, in our workplaces and institutions. We have not forgotten the Nakba, we will never forget the 40,000 martyrs we have gained over the past seven months, and it is our duty to ensure that the culprits of this genocide cannot forget either.

Courtesy: Peoples Dispatch

Layan Fuleihan is the Education Director at The People’s Forum and she is a popular educator, organizer, and lifelong student of historical and contemporary struggles of the oppressed. Layan developed her educational approach while working with youth and families in schools, libraries, and community and feminist organizations. In her role at TPF, she is committed to developing political education programming and resources to support the building of working class, internationalist movements.

L. Mohammed is a writer at People’s Dispatch

Gaza ceasefire proposal–Full Text / by Guarantors of the Agreement

Gaza ceasefire proposal | Image credit: Aljazeera

Reposted from Defend Democracy Press

Below is the full proposal for Gaza ceasefire and prisoners exchange, which was accepted by Hamas on Monday.

The text below is a draft translation of the Arabic text, which was published by Al-Jazeera Arabic website.

Proposed Agreement 

Basic principles for an agreement between the Israeli side and the Palestinian side in Gaza on the exchange of detainees and prisoners between the two sides and the return of sustainable calm.

The framework agreement aims to release all Israeli detainees in the Gaza Strip, civilians, and soldiers, whether alive or otherwise, from all periods and times in exchange for an agreed number of prisoners in Israeli prisons, and a return to sustainable calm in order to achieve a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction and the lifting of the siege.

The framework agreement consists of 3 interconnected phases, as follows:

First Stage (42 days)

The temporary cessation of mutual military operations between the parties, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces east and away from densely populated areas to an region along the border in all areas of the Gaza Strip (including Wadi Gaza, Netzarim axis and Kuwait roundabout) as indicated below:

Suspend flights (military and reconnaissance) in the Gaza Strip for 10 hours a day, and for 12 hours on the days of release of detainees and prisoners.

Return of IDPs to their areas of residence, withdrawal from Wadi Gaza (Netzarim axis and Kuwait roundabout).

On the third day (after the release of 3 detainees), the Israeli forces completely withdraw from Al-Rasheed Street in the east to Salah Al-Din Street, completely dismantle the military sites and installations in this area, start the return of the displaced to their areas of residence (without carrying weapons during their return), the free movement of residents in all areas of the Gaza Strip, and the entry of humanitarian aid from Al-Rashid Street from the first day without hindrance.

On the 22nd day (after the release of half of the living civilian detainees, including female soldiers), Israeli forces withdraw from the central Gaza Strip (especially the Netzarim Shuhada axis and the Kuwait roundabout axis) east of Salah al-Din Road to a nearby area along the border, the complete dismantling of military sites and installations, the continued return of displaced persons to their places of residence in the northern Gaza Strip, and the freedom of movement of residents in all areas of the Gaza Strip.

From the first day, the entry of intensive and sufficient quantities of humanitarian aid, relief materials and fuel (600 trucks per day, to include 50 fuel trucks, of which 300 to the north), including fuel for the operation of the power plant, trade and equipment necessary to remove rubble, and the rehabilitation and operation of hospitals, health centers and bakeries in all areas of the Gaza Strip, and to continue this throughout all stages of the agreement

Exchange of Detainees and Prisoners between the Two Sides:

During the first phase, Hamas released 33 Israeli detainees (alive or dead), including women (civilians and soldiers), children (under 19 non-soldiers), the elderly (over the age of 50) and the sick, in exchange for a number of prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers, according to the following:

Hamas releases all living Israeli detainees, both civilian women and children (under the age of 19 who are not soldiers), while Israel releases 30 children and women for every Israeli detainee released, based on lists provided by Hamas according to the oldest detainee.

Hamas releases all living Israeli detainees, the elderly (over the age of 50), the sick, and wounded civilians, while Israel releases 30 elderly (over 50) and sick prisoners for each Israeli detainee, based on lists provided by Hamas according to the oldest detainee.

Hamas releases all living Israeli soldiers, while Israel releases 50 prisoners from its prisons for every Israeli soldier released (30 life sentences and 20 sentences) based on lists provided by Hamas.

Scheduling the Exchange of Detainees and Prisoners between the Two Parties in the First Stage:

Hamas releases 3 Israeli detainees on the third day of the agreement, after which Hamas releases 3 more detainees every seven days, starting with women as much as possible (civilians and soldiers), and in the sixth week Hamas releases all the remaining civilian detainees included in this stage, in return Israel releases the agreed number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, according to the lists to be provided by Hamas.

By the seventh day (if possible) Hamas will provide information on Israeli detainees to be released at this stage.

On the 22nd day, the Israeli side releases all the prisoners of the Shalit deal who have been re-arrested.

If the number of Israeli living detainees does not reach 33, the number of bodies of the same categories will be completed for this stage, in return Israel will release all women and children (under the age of 19) who were arrested from the Gaza Strip after October 7, 2023, provided that this will take place in the fifth week of this stage.

The exchange process depends on compliance with the terms of the agreement, including the cessation of mutual military operations, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the return of displaced persons and the entry of humanitarian aid.

Complete the necessary legal procedures to ensure that freed Palestinian prisoners are not arrested on the same charges on which they were previously detained.

The keys to the first stage described above do not form the basis for negotiating the keys to the second stage.

Lift the measures and penalties taken against prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons and detention camps after October 7, 2023, and improve their conditions, including those arrested after this date.

No later than the 16th day of the first phase, indirect talks will begin between the two parties on agreeing on the details of the second phase of this agreement, regarding the keys to the exchange of prisoners and detainees from both sides (soldiers and the remaining men), provided that they are completed and agreed upon before the end of the fifth week of this phase.

The United Nations and its relevant agencies, including UNRWA and other international organizations, should carry out their work in providing humanitarian services in all areas of the Gaza Strip, and continue to do so throughout the agreement.

Start the rehabilitation of infrastructure (electricity, water, sewage, communications and roads) in all areas of the Gaza Strip, and introduce the necessary equipment for civil defense, and to remove rubble and rubble, and continue to do so at all stages of the agreement.

Facilitate the entry of supplies and requirements to accommodate and shelter displaced people who lost their homes during the war (at least 60,000 temporary houses – caravans – and 200,000 tents).

Starting from the first day of this phase, an agreed number (not less than 50) wounded military personnel will be allowed to travel through the Rafah crossing to receive medical treatment, the number of passengers, sick and wounded will increase through the Rafah crossing, and the restrictions on passengers will be lifted, and the movement of goods and trade will resume without restrictions.

Initiate the necessary arrangements and plans for the comprehensive reconstruction of civilian homes and facilities and civilian infrastructure destroyed by the war and compensate those affected under the supervision of a number of countries and organizations, including Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations.

All measures at this stage, including the temporary cessation of mutual military operations, relief and shelter, withdrawal of forces, etc., will continue in the second phase until a sustainable calm (cessation of military and hostilities) is declared.

Second Stage (42 days):

Announcing the return of sustainable calm (permanent cessation of military and hostilities) and its entry into force before the start of the exchange of detainees and prisoners between the two parties.

All the remaining surviving Israeli men (civilians and soldiers) – in exchange for an agreed number of prisoners in Israeli prisons and detainees in Israeli detention camps, and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces out of the Gaza Strip.

Third Stage (42 days):

Exchange of bodies and remains of the dead on both sides after reaching them and identifying them.

Start implementing the reconstruction plan for the Gaza Strip for a period of 3 to 5 years, including homes, civilian facilities, and infrastructure, and compensate all those affected under the supervision of a number of countries and organizations, including: Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations.

Completely end the blockade on the Gaza Strip.

Guarantors of the Agreement: Qatar, Egypt, the United States, and the United Nations.

Give or take a few bombs, US complicity in genocide remains ‘ironclad’ / by Belén Fernández

Smoke billows from Israeli strikes on eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 7, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement [AFP]

Biden administration’s decision to hold up delivery of 3,500 bombs hardly constitutes a betrayal of the Israeli killing machine

Reposted from Aljazeera

On Wednesday, May 8, United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin became the first senior administration official to publicly confirm that the US government has uncharacteristically paused a weapons shipment to Israel. Over the past seven months, the Israeli military has killed some 35,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip with solid US backing.

Speaking at a Senate subcommittee hearing, Secretary Austin remarked that the pause takes place “in the context of unfolding events in Rafah”, the city in southern Gaza where an estimated 1.4 million Palestinians, including more than 600,000 children, are currently sheltering. The majority of these people were forced to flee to Rafah from other parts of Gaza, in keeping with Israel’s modus operandi of making Palestinians refugees over and over again.

And while Rafah has hardly been spared the terror and slaughter that have characterised the past seven months of Israeli operations in the coastal enclave as a whole, the threat of a full-scale assault on a mass of trapped civilians in the city has made even the global superpower – Israel’s devoted BFF – a bit squeamish.

To that end, news reports began emerging over the weekend that the Joe Biden administration had undertaken to suspend a shipment to Israel of munitions that might be used in a Rafah offensive. The shipment was said to consist of 3,500 bombs, of which 1,800 were of the 2,000-pound (907kg) variety and 1,700 were in the 500-pound (227kg) category.

Certain other weapons transfers to Israel were also said to be under review.

Of course, given that the US has been actively abetting genocide and famine in Gaza for well over half a year with all manner of munitions and money, it’s not exactly clear why the case of Rafah should suddenly elicit such imperial concern. But, hey, it’s potentially good PR.

Prior to Secretary Austin’s remarks on Wednesday, US officials had been noncommittal about the reports of a suspended weapons shipment. In a May 6 news briefing, for example, National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby flat-out refused to confirm whether or not the reports were correct, instead announcing: “All I can tell you is that … our support for Israel’s security remains ironclad. And I’m not going to get into the specifics of – of one shipment over another.”

Indeed, it appears that “ironclad” is the US political establishment’s new favourite word when it comes to describing support for Israel – which means that, at the end of the day, Israel’s habit of massacring Palestinians will always be defended over the right of Palestinians to not be massacred.

Meanwhile, Kirby’s comment about “one shipment over another” is telling, to say the least. After all, there are a whole lot of US weapons shipments to Israel – and holding up delivery of 3,500 bombs hardly constitutes a betrayal of the Israeli killing machine, as some more dramatic members of the US right wing have chosen to portray it.

For starters, Secretary Austin emphasised during his Senate subcommittee appearance that the paused weapons shipment will not affect the $26bn in supplemental aid to Israel that the US Congress approved in April. This is on top of the various billions of dollars already provided annually to Israel by the US – most of which money, the Council on Foreign Relations notes, “is provided as grants under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program, funds that Israel must use to purchase U.S. military equipment and services”.

Nor will the suspension impact the additional $827m worth of military goodies that the Biden administration has just authorised for Israel.

In other words, it is mostly business as usual – kind of the equivalent of giving somebody hundreds of dollars on a daily basis and then making a show of withholding five cents.

According to the US Conventional Arms Transfer Policy, the US government is obligated to “prevent … arms transfers that risk facilitating or otherwise contributing to violations of human rights or international humanitarian law”. And yet, what is US foreign policy itself if not one big violation of all of that?

Even prior to the 2001 launch of the massive global violation known as the “War on Terror”, the US had already spent decades enabling mass bloodshed from Latin America to the Middle East and beyond. In the particular case of Israel, consistent US support for the wanton violation of human rights and international humanitarian law in Palestine and Lebanon makes you wonder why anyone ever bothered writing up a Conventional Arms Transfer Policy in the first place.

Now Secretary Austin, too, has reaffirmed the United States’ “ironclad” commitment to Israel even in the face of the paused munitions shipment – which just goes to underscore the largely cosmetic nature of the move, and the perceived need to project some degree of humanitarian awareness and concern.

Biden himself also chimed in on Wednesday with a warning that he will not be supplying offensive weapons to Israel in the event of an all-out assault on Rafah, noting that “civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs”.

Well, yeah.

Genocide is genocide. And give or take a few thousand bombs, US complicity in that genocide is totally ironclad.

Belén Fernández is the author of Inside Siglo XXI: Locked Up in Mexico’s Largest Immigration Center (OR Books, 2022), Checkpoint Zipolite: Quarantine in a Small Place (OR Books, 2021), Exile: Rejecting America and Finding the World (OR Books, 2019), Martyrs Never Die: Travels through South Lebanon (Warscapes, 2016), and The Imperial Messenger: Thomas Friedman at Work (Verso, 2011). She is a contributing editor at Jacobin Magazine, and has written for the New York Times, the London Review of Books blog, Current Affairs, and Middle East Eye, among numerous other publications.

Ceasefire movement deserves the credit for Biden’s weapons pause / by C.J. Atkins

A man holds a sign calling for the U.S. military to stop sending aid to Israel during a rally calling for a ceasefire, Nov. 13, 2023, outside the office of Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa, in Philadelphia. | Jose F. Moreno / The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP

Reposted from Peoples World

So many bombs, tank shells, bullets, drones, and warplanes have been shipped to Israel by the U.S. in the months since Oct. 7—and over the last several decades—that if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right government want to destroy Rafah and exterminate its Palestinian inhabitants, they could do so. They have more than enough armaments for the job.

Details are largely kept secret, but U.S. officials reported in March that more than 100 separate military sales have been made to Israel since the Hamas attacks. The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a right-wing think tank in Washington, happily reported the U.S. has been sending so many weapons that the Pentagon “sometimes struggled to find sufficient cargo aircraft to deliver the systems.”

And as Israeli Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari has said, “The army has munitions for the missions it plans, and for the missions in Rafah, too—we have what we need.”

It’s tempting to conclude, therefore, that President Biden’s pause on deliveries of a few categories of arms, particularly the 2,000-lb. and 500-lb. bombs used to such devastating effect by the Israel Defense Forces in their blitzkrieg, doesn’t really make much difference.

From a purely practical and logistical standpoint, that is true. The Israeli military is in no danger of depleting its stockpiles of deadly instruments. (Nor are the U.S. defense contractors who’ve profited from this war in any danger of running out of cash.) Biden’s shift is too little, too late.

However, in another sense, the hold on shipments is a major development worthy of at least some celebration. This is the first time since Israel invaded Lebanon against U.S. wishes in 1982—over 40 years ago—that Washington has actually held back on giving the State of Israel whatever lethal arms it wants.

The applause for this dramatic change goes not to the White House, though, but to the mass movement across our country demanding a ceasefire. It is pressure from below which extracted this concession from a reluctant administration.

The ceasefire campaign is a movement of millions. At its forefront in this moment are the students who have occupied campuses from coast to coast to demand their institutions divest from the apartheid state.

Standing alongside them are major sections of organized labor, hundreds of thousands of “uncommitted” Democratic Primary voters, Arab Americans and other peoples of color, stalwart peace activists, and people of various faiths—including a great many Jewish Americans in groups like Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow who have spearheaded countless direct-action protests.

In short, the movement is a cross-section of the U.S. working class and people. It is their demonstrations, resolutions, petitions, occupations, letters, calls, and ballots that forced Biden’s hand.

Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar captured the essence of this turn of events, saying, “Finally, the needle has moved in a significant way…. Don’t ever let people tell you that your voices are meaningless and your actions are worthless.” Referencing the words of Rev. Martin Luther King, Omar affirmed, “The arc of what is possible is always within us to bend.”

Just a short time ago, the president would not even let the word “ceasefire” escape his lips. U.S. government employees were threatened with termination if they mentioned things like “de-escalation” or “war crimes.” And every United Nations resolution calling for an end to the genocide was vetoed by the U.S.

Now, the commander-in-chief has actually wavered, pausing shipments to U.S. imperialism’s primary Middle East client state. Biden’s hope that this will be enough to rein in his ally’s brutality may be misplaced, though.

Determined to carry on with their bloody war, Netanyahu and the fascists in his cabinet have snubbed the request to hold off on attacking Rafah, the southern Gaza city where 1.3 million Palestinians are shuddering in tents with little food or water, thanks to Israel’s aid blockade.

Undeterred, Netanyahu said, “We will fight with our fingernails!” Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir insultingly tweeted, “Hamas❤Biden,” while Bezalel Smotrich, finance minister and governor of the Occupied West Bank, falsely accused Biden of an “arms embargo.” If only that were true.

This weapons pause is a win, but the ceasefire movement cannot take it as a sign that our work is done. We must not let this be just another act of lip-service on the part of the administration.

The strategists who sit atop the Biden re-election campaign hope that halting a few categories of bombs will be enough to placate the ceasefire movement and tamp down protests. They don’t even realize that the ceasefire movement is the force which may actually help foil the Trump win they fear by forcing the White House to change its disastrous course on Gaza.

Finally, we must remember that the current pause affects a narrow range of weapons. Twenty-five F-35 warplanes are still on their way to Israel from the U.S. The $4.4 billion dollars’ worth of arms belonging to the U.S. military but stationed inside Israel are still accessible to the IDF. And Congress just approved $17 billion more in future aid.

As we take stock of our wins, the movement must now look forward and expand the ceasefire demand: Full arms embargo now.

Don’t let the pause be symbolic. We’ve only come this far because we didn’t let up. 35,000 have already been massacred in Gaza. There is no way to bring back the dead, but we can still act to save the living.

As with all opinion and news-analytical articles published by People’s World, the views represented here are those of the author.

We hope you appreciated this article. At People’s World, we believe news and information should be free and accessible to all, but we need your help. Our journalism is free of corporate influence and paywalls because we are totally reader-supported. Only you, our readers and supporters, make this possible. If you enjoy reading People’s World and the stories we bring you, please support our work by donating or becoming a monthly sustainer today. Thank you!

C.J. Atkins is the managing editor at People’s World. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from York University in Toronto and has a research and teaching background in political economy and the politics and ideas of the American left. In addition to his work at People’s World, C.J. currently serves as the Deputy Executive Director of ProudPolitics.

Israel’s Fascist Govt on Verge of Causing Humanitarian Disaster in Rafah, Hadash and CPI / by the Communist Party of Israel

Protesters block on Monday evening Begin Road in front of the Kirya Israeli Military Headquarters in Tel Aviv, urging a deal for the release of hostages held in Gaza, May 6 2024 (Photo: Black Flag Movement)

Reposted from the Communist Party of Israel

“Israel’s fascist government is on the verge of bringing about a humanitarian disaster in Rafah,” Hadash and Communist Party of Israel (CPI) says in a common statement on Monday, May 6.

Protesting far-right Israeli government plans to “bomb and invade the Rafah area on the Egyptian border, which houses hundreds of thousands of displaced people,” Hadash and the CPI warns of “the mass slaughter and humanitarian disaster involved in the bombing of a very small area containing more than a million displaced people.”

Launching such an operation would entail “sacrificing the kidnapped and hostages on the altar of the survival of the bloody and murderous government,” it continues, calling on the international community to intervene in order to bring about a ceasefire and an end to hostilities.

According Hadash MK Ofer Cassif, “Mere days after his government has agreed in principle to the Egyptian framework of a ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages, Netanyahu hurried to change his mind when it became apparent that Hamas accepted the conditions. There is no explanation for this senseless U-turn other than as a continuation of the surrender to the wicked Kahanists on whose support his government depends.”

“For these criminals, ‘total victory’ is nothing less than the total annihilation of Gaza and its citizens, in the very same period that we observe Holocaust Memorial Day. For them, the lives of the dying hostages, who have been tortured by Hamas criminals for over seven months, are worthless – a sacrifice worth making on the altar of the government of atrocities and the bloody messiah. Not only is this position morally repugnant and vile, but it is also against the real interests of the citizens of Israel, which are being repeatedly sacrificed in favor of a handful of hate-filled, revenge-obsessed lunatics. I call upon all of the public to take all available nonviolent means to avoid doom for Gaza, the hostages, and all of us. Stop the war! All for all, now!”, he said.

Israel launched an offensive on Rafah on Monday after Netanyahu refused a ceasefire and said he wanted to continue the war. After dropping leaflets asking the Palestinians deported to Rafah to leave the “safe” city, the Israeli air force bombed eastern Rafah. The panicked population no longer knows where to go.

The civilians were being called to move to an expanded humanitarian zone in the al-Mawasi and Khan Younis areas of southern Gaza. The Israeli occupation forces ordered the residents of nine blocks in eastern Rafah to “temporarily move” to a so-called “expanded humanitarian area” in Al Mawassi. The area slated for evacuation is about 31 square kilometers and includes Al Shokat municipality area, As Salam neighborhood, Al Juneineh, Tal Azar’a and Al Bayuk. This area was home to some 64,000 Palestinians prior to 7 October and currently encompasses nine sites hosting internally displaced persons, three clinics, and six warehouses. With today’s evacuation orders, 277 square kilometers or about 76 per cent of the Gaza Strip have been placed under evacuation orders; this includes all areas north of Wadi Gaza, whose residents were ordered to evacuate in late October, as well as specific areas south of Wadi Gaza slated for evacuation by the Israeli military since 1 December.

The occupation army estimates there are about 100,000 residents in the southern Gaza neighborhoods ordered to evacuate and Gaza medical sources say 26 civilians killed in Rafah as Israel begins forced evacuation ahead of ground operation. Between the afternoons of May 3 and May 6, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 113 Palestinians were killed and 241 injured, including 52 killed and 90 injured in the last 24 hours. Between October 7, 2023 and May 6, 2024, at least 34,735 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 78,108 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza. 

On Monday evening, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh tells Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel that the Palestinian group accepts their terms for a ceasefire with Israel, according to an official announcement from Hamas. A senior Hamas official tells Al Jazeera the same.

Israel has repeatedly said it will not accept a deal, as repeatedly demanded by Hamas, that conditions the release of hostages on the end of the war. On Saturday, furthermore, an official source, widely believed to be Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stated that Israel had not empowered the mediators to issue guarantees of an end to the war, either.

US, Egyptian, and Qatari mediators have been negotiating with Hamas in recent days over a three-phase proposal, green-lit by Israel. The proposal has not been published, but reportedly provides, in the first phase, for 33 living hostages — women, children, the elderly and the sick — to be freed during a 40-day truce, in return for hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners.

As per the reported text of the offer, indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas would begin anew on the 16th day of the truce, to set out an arrangement to restore sustainable calm to Gaza over the second and third stages of the deal. In the second phase, all remaining living prisoners would be released during a further 42-day truce, in return for hundreds more security prisoners, and the Israeli occupation army would withdraw from Gaza. The third and final stage of the deal would again last 42 days and Hamas would reportedly be required to hand over the bodies of those who were killed on October 7 or died in captivity, in exchange for bodies of Palestinian prisoners who died in Israeli custody.

The rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip would begin during the first phase of the deal, starting with the restoration of Gaza’s roads, electricity, water, sanitation, and communication infrastructure. Preparations for a five-year reconstruction plan for Gaza’s homes and civilian infrastructure would be completed during the second phase of the deal, and construction would begin in the third stage.

Racist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir rejects Hamas’s acceptance of a ceasefire as “a trick.” “There is only one response to Hamas’s tricks and games — an immediate order to conquer Rafah, increase military pressure, and continue to crush Hamas until it is utterly defeated.”

On Monday night, hostage family members blocked parts of Begin Road, near the army headquarters, and Ayalon Highway, calling for a ceasefire and the return of the hostages. The demonstrations came shortly after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh had informed Qatar’s prime minister and Egypt’s intelligence chief that it had accepted their ceasefire proposal. Other demonstrations against the offensive launched in Rafah and the war in Gaza were held in Central Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and Beersheva.

Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=31812

Communist Party of Israel

800 Settler Attacks in Occupied West Bank Since 7 October 2023 / by the Communist Party of Israel

Settlers attack against Palestinians at the occupied West Bank (Photo: WAFA)

Reposted from the Communist Party of Israel

Since 7 October 2023, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OCHA) has recorded at least 800 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in Palestinian casualties (84 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (629 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (90 incidents). These incidents resulted in the killing of 31 Palestinians either by Israeli settlers or forces, close to 500 injuries, and vandalization of nearly 80 houses, at least 11,700 trees and saplings, and about 450 vehicles. 

There were 16 other settler incidents during the reporting period that did not result in casualties and/or property damage. In one incident, Israeli settlers established a new outpost on land belonging to the villages of Al Mughayyir and Kafr Malik in Ramallah governorate. Hundreds of settlers accompanied by Israeli forces also entered the archeological site in Sabastiya village in Nablus governorate, reportedly to celebrate the Passover, preventing the movement of Palestinians to and from the area. In addition, there were incidents of intimidation and access obstruction, affecting Palestinians’ access to their farms and water pumps in Ein al Hilweh and Ad Deir herding communities, respectively, in Tubas governorate. 

Today (Saturday) morning, settlers assaulted Palestinian homes in the Arab Al-Malihat community, northwest of the city of Jericho. Hassan Mleihat, the supervisor of the Al-Baidar organization for defending the rights of the Bedouins, said that a group of Israeli colonists broke into the community, where they searched four homes belonging to the Mleihat family. Earlierr, another group of settlers destroyed water supply pumps in Khirbet al-Deir in the northern Jordan Valley. Human rights activist Arif Daraghmeh said that a group of Israelis sneaked their way into Khirbet al-Deir and destroyed water supply pumps belonging to a Palestinian farmer.

Since 7 October 2023, at least 206 Palestinian households comprising 1,244 people, most of whom are herding families, including 603 children, have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions.  In addition, since 7 October 2023, some 1,765 Palestinians, of whom 43 per cent are children, have been displaced due to the demolition of their homes. Over half (961 people) were displaced during operations by Israeli forces, of which 94 per cent took place in the refugee camps of Nur Shams, Tulkarm and Jenin. This is followed by 37 per cent displaced by lack-of-permit demolitions and eight per cent due to demolitions on punitive grounds.

 Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=31777

Communist Party of Israel