The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs - March/April 2025 - Vol. XLIV No. 2

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On Middle East Affairs

March/April

THE U.S. ROLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE

8 Gaza Ceasefire Brings Both Pain and Pride—Four Views—Dr. James J. Zogby, Dr. Ramzy Baroud, Jonathan Kuttab, Abdaljawad Omar 16 What Is the First Thing You Will Do After the Truce? —Soha Ahmed Hamdouna

Letters From Gaza: “Alhamdulillah. We Are Not OK” —Dr. Ramzy Baroud

20 Daily Life and Shattered Dreams in Gaza—Writers Share Their Stories Marwan Abu-Laila, Dalia Abu Ramadan, Hend Salama Abo Helow, Reem Sleem, Nadera Mushtha

30 Pressure, Provocation and Hope: The Struggle of Lebanon’s South—Lama Abou Kharroub

49 The Israel Exception From U.S. Laws—Bruce Fein

52 To Fight Injustice: Stand Up for the American Ideals of Equality and Dignity—Delinda C. Hanley

54 From Palestine to Ireland, Justice Is the Only Solution—Dale Sprusansky

56 The Shock and Awfulness of Israel’s Lawless Behavior Ian Williams

58 Never Forgive. Never Forget. Demand Justice. —Ashish Prashar

60 Demands for Investigation into IDF Killing of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi in West Bank Go Unanswered—Laura Cooley

62 Preserving Identity: How Palestinians Protect and Celebrate Their Heritage in the Face of Erasure

Diana Safieh

Tales of the Unexpected in Syria and Türkiye Jonathan Gorvett

68 Emerging Voices: How Civil Society Groups Are Navigating Syria’s Complex Transition—Menan Khater

70 The Humiliation of Libya: Foreign Meddling and Military Bases Tarnish the Self-Image of a Once-Proud Nation—Mustafa Fetouri

80 If I Must Die: Refaat Alareer and the Writers He Empowered to Tell Their Stories—Ida Audeh

ON THE COVER: Two men embrace as people walk along Gaza’s coastal al-Rashid Street to cross the Netzarim corridor from the southern Gaza Strip into the north on Jan. 27, 2025. Displaced Palestinians separated from their families, friends and homes during the 15-month genocidal war began returning to the ruins of northern Gaza after the announcement of a ceasefire. (PHOTO

Other Voices

The Genocide Has Left Me Feeling Like a Stranger In My Own Homeland, Refaat Ibrahim, www.aljazeera.com OV-33

Mapping the Genocide in Gaza, Jeff Wright, mondoweiss.net OV-34

U.S.-Funded Group Removes Report Warning of Famine in North Gaza After Complaint From U.S. Ambassador, Dave Decamp, www.antiwar.com OV-36

Israel’s Policy of Judaization Is Swallowing Arab Towns and Building Synagogues in Their Place, Editorial, Haaretz OV-36

Silence on Israel’s Massacres of Journalists Is Dangerous to All, Daoud Kuttab, www.aljazeera.com OV-37

“Why Aren’t You In The Hague?”: Journalist Sam Husseini Gets Dragged Out of Blinken’s Last Press Conference, Dave Decamp, www.antiwar.com OV-38

DEPARTMENTS

5 PUBLISHERS’ PAGE

72 WAGING PEACE: Syria’s Morning After

77 HUMAN RIGHTS: On Its 23rd Anniversary, Activists Demand Guantánamo’s Closure

(A Supplement to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs available by subscription at $15 per year. To subscribe, call toll-free 1-888-881-5861.)

Compiled by Janet McMahon

Biden Worked “Tirelessly Around the Clock” —to Prevent a Ceasefire, Trita Parsi, www.responsiblestatecraft.org OV-39

Millions in Bonds for Israel Put U.S. States at Odds With Investment Policies, Delaney Nolan, www.aljazeera.com OV-40

The U.N. Can End the Middle East Conflict by Welcoming Palestine as a Member, Jeffrey Sachs and Sybil Fares, www.aljazeera.com OV-42

The Predictable Capitulation of Tulsi Gabbard, Patrick Lawrence, www.consortiumnews.com OV-43

Washington Celebrates al-Qaeda’s Victory in Syria, Kyle Anzalone, www.antiwar.com OV-45

The Day the Media Decided Militant Jihadism Was Respectable, Jonathan Cook, www.jonathan-cook.net OV-46

Iran: America’s Next War of Choice, Douglas MacGregor and James W. Carden, theamericanconservative.com OV-47

Iran to Move Capital to Southern Coast, Mason Letteau Stallings, theamericanconservative.com OV-48

American Educational

Relief, For Now

After more than 15 months of enduring an endless, genocidal war, Gazans received much needed relief in January with the announcement of a ceasefire. The news was met with a range of complicated emotions (see pp. 8-15). Many expressed pride that their people stood strong and resisted Israel’s attempt to exterminate them. No longer having to live in a constant state of fear, others reported finally being able to stop and process the losses of family, friends and homes. Those who survived face an exceedingly bleak reality. With tens of thousands missing and presumed dead, the process of recovering loved ones buried under debris now begins. The genocide has paused for now, and it is a reason to rejoice, but the future remains daunting.

No Sign of Relief in West Bank

Publishers’ Page

Activists around the world, including in Brussels on Jan. 26, 2025, support the Palestinian people. Deporting student protesters and journalists makes a mockery of freedom of speech.

and external security of Switzerland.” Detaining and harassing journalists who investigate and critique Western pro-Israel policies is becoming distressingly frequent. Again, the hypocrisy is jarring. As Abunimah noted: “While I was hauled off to prison like a dangerous criminal before I even had a chance to say a word, the Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who declared at the start of the genocide that there are no civilians in Gaza, no innocents, received a red-carpet welcome in Davos, Switzerland.”

Trump, Like Biden, Puts Israel First

While international attention has been focused on Gaza, Israeli soldiers and settlers have been conducting pogroms and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank. In Jenin, Nablus and other cities in the north, armed battles have been underway for months, and the body count has continued to rise following the Gaza ceasefire.

What’s Next?

Most Gazans have no home or work to return to, as much of the Strip has been reduced to total rubble. Aid trucks are finally moving in at acceptable levels, but what will reconstruction look like? Experts assess rebuilding could take decades and cost tens of billions of dollars. Will Israel and the U.S. even let reconstruction take place, or will they seek to depopulate Gaza of Palestinians to build beachfront property for Israelis, as President Donald Trump suggested in late January? Israeli leaders speak openly of resuming the war in Gaza, and even President Trump, who rushed to take credit for the ceasefire, has expressed skepticism it will last. Unsurprisingly, the Trump administration paid Israel several immediate favors without getting anything

in return: removing sanctions from violent settlers, sending Israel more high-power weapons and exempting the country from a suspension of all U.S. foreign aid. Trump also scheduled an early February meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the White House, the first foreign leader extended such an invitation by the new administration.

No Accountability

Trump appears poised to target for deportation pro-Palestine international students in the U.S., accusing them of supporting terrorism. Yet he is openly welcoming Netanyahu, an actual international fugitive wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crime charges. Ashish Prashar (see p. 58) implores us to not let war criminals in Israel and the U.S. off the hook and to keep legal pressure on them at every level possible. Ian Williams (see p. 56) similarly argues it is time for U.N. SecretaryGeneral António Guterres to stop letting Israel use the U.N. as a forum to propagate its murderous lies.

Swiss Complicity

Electronic Intifada co-founder and executive director Ali Abunimah was detained by Swiss police for two days in January before being deported. He was never charged with a crime, but the police said the measure was necessary “to safeguard the internal

As much as Trump acts like he is different from the previous administration, he appears inclined to continue putting Israel first, ahead of the interests of Americans. He’s hardly alone. In January, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) proudly proclaimed, “My vote follows Israel,” an attitude that is tragically all too common in Washington and often undermines Americans. To this point, Laura Cooley (see p. 60) notes how the family of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, an American killed by Israel in September 2024, has received very little support from the U.S. government, which appears content with parroting Israeli talking points on the matter. On a broader level, Dale Sprusansky (see p. 54) notes that justice has always been at the crux of anti-colonial struggles. As long as Israel and the U.S. privilege domination over the principle of justice, their policies will destabilize the Arab world.

Whiplash

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CEASEFIRE FOLLOWED BY ASSAULT ON JENIN

While a ceasefire is largely holding in Gaza, Israel has intensified its military actions in the occupied West Bank, with devastating consequences. Israeli forces have launched a major operation in Jenin, backed by airstrikes, drones and Apache helicopters.

This violence is compounded by an emboldened wave of attacks from Israeli settlers in the West Bank, a result of President Donald Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on far-right settler groups that were imposed by the Biden administration. This move by the new president has escalated the threat to numerous Palestinian communities.

Mariam Barghouti, a Palestinian journalist based in Ramallah, highlights the brutal parallel between the ongoing military operations in the West Bank and Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip. She describes a campaign of displacement, field executions and extreme violence against civilians. Barghouti draws attention to the denial of medical access and the targeting of hospitals, further exacerbating the suffering of Palestinians in Jenin and elsewhere.

The lifting of sanctions against Israeli settler groups has fueled even more violence, with settlers openly celebrating Trump’s actions. As tensions rise, the Palestinian population is left defenseless, with little protection from both Israeli military forces and the Palestinian Authority, which has been complicit in targeting Palestinian resistance.

This escalation is a stark reminder of the ongoing displacement and suffering faced by Palestinians under Israeli occupation. The international community must hold Israel accountable and push for meaningful steps to end this cycle of violence and ensure the protection of Palestinian lives.

Jagjit Singh, Los Altos, CA

DENMARK AND PANAMA THREATS CONNECTED TO PALESTINE?

Many people have been understandably astonished by President Donald Trump’s recently proclaimed desires to “take back” the Panama Canal “in full, quickly and without question,” and to take over the self-governing Danish territory of Greenland.

While Trump has written that “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” he would at least appear to be willing to pay Denmark for Greenland, as the U.S. paid Denmark for the Danish West Indies, renamed the U.S. Virgin Islands, in 1917.

On the other hand, asserting that the United States is “being ripped off” by Panama, he does not appear to contemplate any compensation for taking back the “United States Canal.”

Is Trump crazy or is he clever?

Two of the five countries which started two-year terms as non-permanent members of the U.N. Security Council on January 1 are Denmark and Panama.

Since Trump has a prior history of casting lustful eyes on the Panama Canal and Greenland, his making these proclamations at this time may simply represent a recurring real estate speculator’s dream and a convenient coincidence.

However, it is also possible that Trump may be seeking to reduce the number of embarrassing public displays of the United States standing completely alone in opposition to the will of the rest of mankind, most notably on issues relating to Palestine and Israel. Perhaps Trump is attempting to frighten Denmark and Panama into protecting themselves from his imperial pretensions and potential wrath by voting with the United States on all issues before the Security Council. John Whitbeck, Paris, France

Four Views Gaza Ceasefire Brings Both Pain and Pride

Can This Israeli-Palestinian Ceasefire Bring Peace?

By Dr. James J. Zogby

THERE ARE TWO REALITIES that must be confronted in any consideration of “What’s next for Gaza?” The first is that it would be naïve and risky to put too much faith in this current ceasefire. The second is that failing to understand the true human toll of this war is dangerously insensitive—it’s far greater than the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have been killed and/or severely wounded by Israeli forces.

The pause in Israel’s bombing of Gaza is, of course, a welcome development. It has provided Palestinians some amount of relief, the opportunity to grieve, and, for some, the chance to attempt to trek northward, assess the damage to their bombed-out neighbor-

Dr. James J. Zogby is co‐founder and president of the Arab Ameri‐can Institute, a Washington, DC‐based organization, which serves as the political and policy research arm of the Arab American com‐munity. This article was first published in Abu Dhabi’s The National newspaper, on Jan. 27, 2025. Reprinted with permission.

hoods, and dig through the rubble to find the bodies of missing family members. The pause has also allowed for a huge influx of food and aid supplies into Gaza and the passage of critically wounded Palestinians to Egypt for treatment.

This was the good news about the pause. The bad news is that the agreement is weak, with no enforcement mechanism. The original plan offered by President Joe Biden over six months ago included three phases, with the parties agreeing to all three from the outset.

What we’re learning from the Israeli press is that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been assuring his supporters that he will only honor the first phase and will resume the bombing when it’s over. He will not withdraw Israeli forces from Gaza, nor allow Palestinian governance in Gaza that politically connects that area with the West Bank.

The administrations of Presidents Biden and Trump have chosen to ignore Netanyahu’s intentions in order to make a show of their “success.”

Biden had been providing support and cover for the Israeli leader from the beginning of the conflict. From October 2023 until leaving the White House, Biden and Co. supported Netanyahu’s goals and gave him free rein. Despite the U.S. president’s insistence that he

Following the ceasefire, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians return to the heavily destroyed north of the Gaza Strip, on Jan. 27, 2025, for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month genocide in Gaza.

PHOTO

had been strenuously pursuing a ceasefire for half a year, there is clear evidence that the administration knew that Netanyahu wouldn’t agree to a ceasefire and yet continued to publicly claim that Israel supported one and that Hamas was the major obstacle. The charade continues with this agreement because even though Biden knew the ceasefire is of limited duration, he took the “PR victory” to end his term in office.

The pause provided much the same for incoming President Donald Trump—an early show of his ability to solve a problem that haunted his predecessor. That the ceasefire won’t last more than a few months doesn’t matter. Forever the showman, what matters for Trump is the show at the moment: a good photo-op and a boost in ratings. It doesn’t matter to him if down the road the ceasefire doesn’t last; most folks will have forgotten it by then. [On Jan. 25, President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he wants Jordan and Egypt to take in Palestinian refugees as part of a plan to “clean out” Gaza. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing,” he said.]

It should be clear that neither this Israeli government or any of its possible successors nor the Trump administration or any of its possible successors, have any interest in a just solution to the conflict. And so, even setting aside the matter of the ceasefire, despite plans afoot to lay out a path toward peace starting with an interim government in Gaza, there doesn’t appear to be any real buy-in from the Israelis. Nor will the U.S. pressure Israel to take the steps needed to move peace forward.

The equally worrisome reality that is cause for concern is that wars have consequences that last long after the bombs stop falling. Often unforeseen, they can lay dormant for years like a virus before manifesting themselves. Because neither the Israelis nor their American enablers ever understood Palestinians’ humanity, they can’t fathom the long-term impact this disastrous war is having and will continue to have on its survivors.

The counts are staggering: 47,000 dead, 116,000 wounded, as many as 33,000 with permanent disabilities, an estimated 50,000 missing and unaccounted for, 90 percent of the population (almost 1.9 million) forced to relocate with most of them now homeless because their previous residences have been destroyed and 34,000 children orphaned with no surviving family members.

We are told that it may take two decades to clear the rubble and unexploded ordinance in Gaza and then years more to rebuild. But healing the wounds of war that will continue to plague the survivors will take much longer. The switch can be flipped to end the bombs, but the impact of this devastating war will continue to take its toll for more than another generation. There will be multiple types of psychological disorders like trauma, anxiety, severe depression and internalized violence leading to self-hurt or striking out at others.

Compounding this pain is the shock of seeing the rubble of what had been their homes and the ruins of what had been their communities. Over the decades it will take to clear and rebuild, where are Palestinians to go? It’s not as if the Israelis will look with compassion on these survivors of their genocidal war. Pales-

tinians rightly fear that if they leave what is left to them in Palestine, the Israelis will not let them return. Neither the U.S. nor the Israelis are prepared to ensure the counseling and care needed to heal the wounds of this war will be available to this community of victims. The future is, therefore, uncertain, but leaning toward bleak. ■

Gaza’s Unbreakable Resistance: A Historical Perspective on the War and Its Aftermath

By Dr. Ramzy Baroud

THE PROBLEM with political analysis is that it often lacks historical perspective and is mostly limited to recent events.

The current analysis of the Israeli war on Gaza falls victim to this narrow thinking. The ceasefire agreement, signed between Palestinian groups and Israel under Egyptian, Qatari and U.S. mediation in Doha on Jan. 15, is one example.

Some analysts, including many from the region, insist on framing the outcome of the war as a direct result of Israel’s political dynamics. They argue that Israel’s political crisis is the main reason the country failed to achieve its declared and undeclared war objectives—namely, gaining total “security control” over Gaza and ethnically cleansing its population.

However, this analysis assumes that the decision to go to war or not is entirely in Israel’s hands. It continues to elevate Israel’s role as the only entity capable of shaping political outcomes in the region, even when those outcomes do not favor Israel.

Another group of analysts focuses entirely on the American factor, claiming that the decision to end the war ultimately rested with the White House. Shortly after the ceasefire was officially declared in Gaza, a pan-Arab TV channel asked a group of experts whether it was the Biden or Trump administration that deserved credit for supposedly “pressuring Israel” to agree to a ceasefire.

Some argue that it was Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who denied Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu any room to maneuver, thus forcing him, albeit reluctantly, to accept the ceasefire terms.

Others counter by saying that the agreement was initially presented by the Biden administration. They argue that Biden’s supposedly active diplomacy ultimately led to the ceasefire.

The latter group fails to acknowledge that it was Biden’s unconditional support for Israel that sustained the war. His U.N. envoy’s constant rejection of ceasefire calls at the Security Council made international efforts to stop the war irrelevant.

The former group, however, ignores the fact that Israeli society was already at a breaking point. The war on Gaza had proven un-

Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of Palestine Chronicle. His latest book, co‐edited with Ilan Pappé, Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out, is available from Middle East Books and More. Dr. Baroud is a non‐resident senior research fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). His website is <www.ramzybaroud.net>.

winnable. This means that, whether Trump pressured Netanyahu or not, the outcome of the war was already sealed. Continuing the war would have meant the implosion of Israeli society.

On the Palestinian side, some analyses—affiliated with one faction or another—exploit the war’s outcome for political gain. This type of thinking is extremely insensitive and must be wholly rejected.

There are also those hoping to play a role in Gaza’s reconstruction to gain political and financial leverage and increase their influence. This is a shameful stance, given the total destruction of Gaza and the urgent need to recover the thousands of bodies trapped under rubble, as well as to heal the wounded and the population as a whole.

One thing all these analyses overlook is that Israel failed in Gaza because the population of Gaza proved unbreakable. Such notions are often neglected in mainstream political discussions, which tend to commit to an elitist line. This line is entirely removed from the daily struggles and collective choices of ordinary people, even when they achieve extraordinary feats.

Gaza’s history is one of both pain and pride. It stretches back to ancient civilizations and includes great resistance against invasion, such as the three-month siege by Alexander the Great and his Macedonian army in 332 BCE. Back then, Gazans resisted and endured for months before their leader, Batis, was captured and tortured to death and the city was sacked.

This legendary resilience and sumud (steadfastness) proved crucial in numerous other fights against foreign invaders, including resistance to Napoleon Bonaparte’s army in 1799.

Even if some of Gaza’s current population is unaware of that history, they are a direct product of it. From this perspective, neither Israeli political dynamics, the change of the U.S. administration, nor any other factor is relevant.

This is known as “long history” or longue durée. Far from being merely an academic concept, the long legacy of resistance against injustice has shaped the collective mindset of the Palestinian population in Gaza over the years. How else can we explain how a small, isolated and impoverished population, living in such a tiny piece of land, managed to withstand firepower equivalent to many nuclear bombs?

The war ended because Gaza withstood it—not because of the kindness of an American president. It is crucial that we emphasize this point repeatedly, rather than seeking inconclusive and irrational answers.

It matters little how we define victory and defeat for a nation still suffering the consequences of a war of annihilation. However, it is important to recognize that Palestinians in Gaza stood their ground, despite immense losses, and prevailed. This can only be credited to them—a nation that has historically proven unbreakable. This truth rooted in “long history,” remains valid today. ■

Palestinians, who had been sheltering in squalid tent camps and schools-turned-shelters in southern Gaza, walk along the coastal al-Rashid Street on Jan. 26, 2025, returning to Gaza City and what is left of their homes, likely damaged or destroyed by the Israeli assault.

Palestinian political leader Khalida Jarrar is greeted by well-wishers following her release from Israeli prison in the early hours of Jan. 20, 2025, in the occupied West Bank town of Beitunia, outside Ramallah. Two buses carrying some 90 Palestinian prisoners arrived in Beitunia following their release as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal that began on Jan. 19 and saw three Israeli hostages freed by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The Other Hostages

By Jonathan Kuttab

IT WAS TRULY AMAZING to see the joy and celebration surrounding the release of three Israeli hostages, who were released in January as part of a prisoner exchange/ceasefire agreement. They appeared to be well-fed and in good condition, though I am sure the psychological scars of their captivity will be with them for a long time.

But what of the Palestinian prisoners?

Ninety of them, all women and children, were released the same day. But we did not see them in mainstream media outlets or know of their ordeals and the agony they experienced, nor did we witness the celebrations of their families. In fact, Israel prohibited any public celebrations or expressions of joy to be made within its borders for their release. The police even visited the East Jerusalem families of released prisoners specifically to remind them of this law. The Israeli narrative is that Palestinian prisoners are “terrorists and hardened Hamas criminals” who will probably just be hunted down and rearrested or assassinated once Israel gets back all of its hostages—as some Israeli officials have declared in the Hebrew news media.

Jonathan Kuttab is a co‐founder of the Palestinian human rights group Al‐Haq and co‐founder of Nonviolence International. A well‐known international human rights attorney, he has practiced in the U.S., Palestine and Israel.

From the Palestinian perspective: there are about 13,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails who are just as worthy of our concern and also merit our sympathy and whose families will rejoice at their long-awaited release. More and more Palestinians are arrested, continuously, including the medical staff of hospitals in Gaza and ordinary Palestinians in the West Bank. In fact, Israel just arrested 60 additional Palestinians, who were all the male worshipers in a Qalqilia mosque, the very same day as the release of the three Israeli hostages. It was as if they wanted to compensate for the 90 Palestinian hostages they released that day.

More than 3,000 of the Palestinian prisoners (hostages is a more appropriate term) are “administrative detainees,” meaning they have not been charged with any crime nor will they be put on trial for anything. Among the Palestinians released on Jan. 19 was Khalida Jarrar, a Palestinian member of Parliament, who upon her release appeared like a ghost, her hair gone completely white and her figure like a skeleton. She reports having been in solitary confinement for 150 days prior to her release.

In fact, all the Palestinians released appear visibly weak, having lost about 30-40 pounds on average, and are reporting serious abuses like beatings, deliberate starvation and gross mistreatment. The Israeli minister of police, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has proudly reported that since October 7 he made sure to increase the suffering of Palestinian prisoners and proactively worsen their conditions. He significantly reduced their food rations, their hot water and their ability to exercise. He confiscated books, papers and other personal effects, along with hygiene supplies and other “privileges.” He cut off access

to their families as well as the Red Cross, doubled their already crowded per room occupancy, and established a regime of beatings, punishments, and daily humiliations [including instances of rape and other forms of sexual violence against Palestinian detainees. BenGvir resigned in opposition to the ceasefire deal].

In addition to the “administrative detainees,” another 10,000 or so are serving various sentences after being tried in Israeli military courts. My own experience as an attorney, echoed by Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights organizations, is that these military courts are a total sham. With a conviction rate of 99 percent, verdicts are based almost exclusively on signed confessions extracted from the Palestinian defendant or other Palestinian “witnesses” under conditions of coercion and torture.

I am thrilled to report that Mohammad Halabi is slated to be released during Phase 1 of the agreement. Halabi, who was arrested six years ago, was the director of World Vision International (WVI) in Gaza. He was falsely accused of funneling WVI development aid to Hamas, diverting aid money and importing building materials to Hamas, via the Rafah Crossing, to build tunnels. The charges were ridiculous on their face, as the amounts alleged exceeded the WVI budget and because WVI did not import any steel rods or other such “dual-use” materials as claimed. Two international audits confirmed that no money was missing or unaccounted for. Halabi insisted on his innocence, refusing to accept any deal that would allow him to return home in exchange for a confession. His lawyers (hobbled by secrecy requirements and

threats) fought for his release over the course of 160 hearings before the judgment was finally delivered, sentencing him to 11 years in jail. The appeal is still pending. He could not receive any justice in Israeli courts, but he is now slated to be released as part of the ceasefire/hostage exchange deal.

The truth is that every single Palestinian home in the West Bank and Gaza has had a member or close relative imprisoned at one time or another. All are subject to arbitrary detention at any time. The primary goal of Hamas in taking hostages on October 7 was the release of prisoners. The taking of civilian hostages (as opposed to armed fighters) is a violation of international law, as well as basic morality. Yet many Palestinians feel there is no hope for the release of their loved ones except through some political settlement or by obtaining some leverage through the capturing of Israelis and exchanging them for their own imprisoned hostages.

We rejoice with those whose relatives have been released, and also for the return of the remains of those who have been killed to their loved ones for proper burial. (Israel holds the remains of hundreds of martyred Palestinians, which it refuses to deliver to their families.) Hopefully, they will be returned in Phase III of the current agreement.

As we rejoice in this partial victory for all, let us remember with empathy and humanity all who are captive in this ongoing tragedy. We call for the release of all prisoners and hostages and, in the meantime, demand that they be treated humanely until the day of their liberation. ■

A Palestinian boy sits on belongings near a destroyed house in Rafah, Gaza, on Jan. 21, 2025, as residents return following a ceasefire deal. Many had feared Israel would make their exodus permanent and expressed fears of ethnic cleansing after U.S. President Donald Trump asked Egypt and Jordan to settle Gaza’s Palestinians on their soil.

PHOTO

Palestinian Joy Is a Direct Challenge

To Those Who Would Rule Over Us. And It Cannot be Contained

By Abdaljawad Omar

THE MOST RECENT student council elections at Birzeit University took place in May 2023. Unlike typical campus governance exercises, these elections transcend their immediate academic context to mirror the broader political landscape of Palestine. They bring together factions affiliated with the Left, Islamist movements and Fatah, all competing for approximately 50 seats on the council. The process is intensely ideological, capturing the societal divisions and aspirations that extend far beyond the university’s gates. At the heart of this competition lies the highly performative and theatrical debates, which have become the defining centerpiece of these elections.

These debates offered moments of ironic humor, with each political bloc aiming to outwit its rivals, often by resurfacing contentious past statements or exposing inconsistencies in their opponents’ ideologies. The debates unfolded as a tragicomedy, illuminating the complex and often painful history of Palestinian political movements—their contradictions, fractures and transformations—yet somehow reframed with a lightheartedness that elicited cautious smiles from the audience. One of the most striking aspects of the debates was the fleeting, almost disarming camaraderie that emerged when members of rival factions couldn’t suppress a grin at a particularly sharp jab aimed at their own bloc—a brief acknowledgment of shared truths amidst the competition.

The final debate was held in the university’s multipurpose sports court, which had been transformed into a symbolic arena. Each bloc’s behavior during the debate mirrored the political culture and symbolism of its parent movement. For example, the Progressive Democratic Bloc positioned itself both literally and ideologically at the center of the court. Acting as a mediating force between the dominant factions of Hamas and Fatah, this bloc aimed to project itself as a “voice of conscience” beyond the entrenched polarization. Its physical placement on the court amplified its visibility, emphasizing its ideological stance as an alternative, despite its relatively small numbers. The bold red flags of the Left became focal points in the debate, asserting a presence that outpaced its actual strength.

Fatah’s Shabiba, or youth movement, revealed a subtler dynamic during the event. Beneath their outward unity, quiet rivalries simmered as members vied for visibility behind the lead debater or sought a position on the stage. These internal tensions reflected a broader fragmentation within Fatah itself, with regional factions and local rivalries across the West Bank playing out in microcosm on the debate stage.

The Islamic Bloc, representing Hamas, took a calculated and methodical approach. Members arranged themselves with preci-

Abdaljawad Omar is a Palestinian scholar and theorist whose work focuses on the politics of resistance, decolonization and the Palestin‐ian struggle. This article was first published in Mondoweiss on Jan. 24, 2025. Reprinted with permission.

sion, forming a geometric arc that strategically optimized acoustics and amplified their collective voice. This disciplined formation ensured their chants reverberated across the court, enhancing their debaters’ presence. Their coordinated attire and flags and the aesthetic of Islamic garb served to further solidify their visual identity and strategic messaging.

This careful attention to symbolic detail is emblematic of the engineering and science students who gravitate toward the Islamic Bloc’s message of piety and conservatism. Their deliberate planning was reflected not only in the debates but also in the aftermath of the recent Gaza ceasefire. Fighters emerged with a similar sense of calculated symbolism: military fatigues, precise tactical movements, and the untouched white pickup trucks that became emblematic of their disciplined operations. These displays were interwoven with scenes of non-combatant Palestinians expressing pride and relief after enduring relentless bombardment for over a year.

The release of Israeli prisoners in the northern Gaza Strip, particularly in Saraya Square—once a site symbolizing Israeli military dominance during the early days of their invasion of Gaza City— carried profound symbolic meaning. This event was a deliberate statement by Hamas, showcasing its strength and resilience while exposing Israel’s failure to locate the prisoners despite its prolonged and intense military campaign. The attention to detail in this spectacle underscored Hamas’ broader narrative: one of enduring resistance and strategic prowess. The message was directed not only at Gaza’s population but also at Israeli society, highlighting the gaps in Israel’s military and intelligence capabilities.

CELEBRATION UPENDS ISRAELI NARRATIVE

The reception in Israel to the fully uniformed Al-Qassam fighters— disciplined, organized and attentive to aesthetic, political and symbolic dimensions—was met with a heavy heart. Here was Israel, having unleashed its entire arsenal of American-made weapons, only to fall short. Its leaders face pursuit by the International Criminal Court, its actions have horrified people worldwide, and its sadistic, almost festive approach to violence has rendered Israel a moral pariah. Despite risking its soldiers and devastating Gaza, Al-Qassam fighters emerged with white pick-ups, military garb, arms in hand, and organizing a handover ceremony as crowds chanted for resistance.

This spectacle exposed the gap between Israel’s inflated claims of success in Gaza and the persistent reality on the ground. For months, Israel had touted Hamas as nearly defeated and claimed its military prowess decimated thousands of fighters. Yet despite these claims, Hamas remained defiant, and the narrative of Israeli victory crumbled.

Central to this moment was the fact that it unfolded under Israel’s most right-wing government, one that had promised a “final and decisive solution” to its issues with the Palestinians. This government pushed for new settlements in Gaza, the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the silencing of Palestinian claims to historical Palestine. Israel, with its extreme approach, went all in, but the Palestinians did not surrender.

Israel had bet that time—and the accumulation of pain—would break Palestinian resolve. However, this assumption was met with

A Palestinian family walks back to their home in northern Gaza. They find that their home has been destroyed by the Israeli occupation forces. But, amidst the ruin, the daffodils have grown. “We grow again,” they say, like the daffodil (which symbolizes new hope and renewal).

unwavering resistance, revealing the disconnect between Israel’s promises and the grim reality it faced.

This discrepancy is significant for several reasons. The right-wing faction in Israel had hoped for a perpetual war that would destroy Gaza, clear the West Bank and expel millions of Palestinians. This vision of victory remains unfulfilled. The government promised its people that present pain would eventually end and that peace would mean not concessions, but a life free from conflict, wars and the Palestinian question.

However, the reality has been different. Despite extreme measures, Israel has failed to silence Palestinian resistance. The rightwing government is now seeking ways to return to open conflict, prevent a meaningful ceasefire and continue its goals of settlement expansion, ethnic cleansing and silencing Palestinian claims. To achieve this, violence in areas like the West Bank is kept constant, ensuring the strategy of escalation remains in play, or at least some semblance of this violence.

DISTURBING JOY

Before the ceasefire was declared, Palestinians on social media protested the airing of an Al Jazeera Arabic program produced by Tamer Mishal, one of the most prominent Palestinian journalists. The program was intended to feature never-before-seen footage of Palestinian resistance successes throughout the war with Gaza. However, Palestinians, both from Gaza and elsewhere, urged Al Jazeera to postpone the broadcast until after the ceasefire had been officially declared.

The logic behind many Palestinians’ request to Al Jazeera was to avoid provoking the “sensitive bully,” namely Israel. In this context, the “bully” is not only defined by its overwhelming force but also by its deep insecurity—its need to assert dominance, even in the face of its own contradictions. For Palestinians, the concern was that airing such footage could intensify Israel’s sense of vulnerability, triggering a disproportionate re-

sponse at a delicate moment when a ceasefire was within reach. For those in Gaza, the end of war was not to be disturbed in any way. While this concern might have been an exaggeration, Israel has not failed to meet the expectations of Palestinians.

The images of victory signs in Gaza and the unity displayed between resistance and its people, paired with the celebration of prisoners being released from Israeli jails in the West Bank, and the collective sigh of relief that Israel’s genocidal campaign had, for now, come to a halt, would soon be met with a total blockade.

The hundreds of checkpoints scattered across the West Bank would form a suffocating cordon, tightening the grip on Palestinian mobility, communication and daily life. Palestinians were stranded at checkpoints, and their question over why Israel installed this blockade would find its answer in the inability of Israelis to stomach Palestinian joy.

The Arabic word “ ن ص” refers to causing distress, discomfort or disruption, particularly in a way that interrupts peace or joy. It is derived from the root “ن- -ص,” which connotes a sense of disturbance or making something unpleasant or less enjoyable. The term is often used metaphorically to describe actions or circumstances that spoil someone’s sense of well-being or tranquility.

Most Palestinians stranded at these checkpoints understood almost instinctively that the closure served no practical purpose. It was not about security or control in any material sense but stemmed from an Israeli inability to bear the sight of Palestinian joy—a joy that is neither simple nor unburdened. This joy, marked by deep scars of loss and the echoes of pain, defies the occupier’s carefully curated image of domination. It is a joy that emerges in resistance. The checkpoints, in their brutal banality, are a testament to the colonizer’s inability to stomach such defiance: a defiance that comes not from weapons but from life’s insistence on flourishing through smiles.

The message of al-Saraya, coupled with the joy of reuniting with prisoners and the collective sense of relief at the temporary halt of war, was met with three successive actions designed to suppress that momentary joy.

The first unfolded in the village of Funduq, where settlers, emboldened by the state’s tacit encouragement of violence, organized a pogrom. In the chaos, an Israeli officer mistakenly identified settlers as Palestinians and critically shot two settlers in what became a “friendly fire” incident. While parts of the village were burned, this act of internal miscalculation exposed the raw, unrestrained nature of settler aggression, even when it backfired on its perpetrators.

The second was Israel’s initiation of yet another military operation in Jenin, titled “Iron Wall.” This operation followed the

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Palestinian Authority’s deliberate erosion of organized resistance through a 45-day siege on the Jenin Refugee Camp. Ostensibly aimed at reasserting military control, the operation sought to do more than demonstrate supremacy. It was a calculated move to sustain the Israeli right-wing’s narrative of perpetual war—a narrative that justifies continued oppression, land expropriation and settlement expansion. At its core, this operation aimed to extinguish the joy emanating from Palestinian celebrations in Gaza over their resistance and the release of prisoners through an exchange agreement.

The third act of repression was the total closure of the West Bank, a calculated and deliberate move to disrupt the flow of life itself through setting up 900 checkpoints—an act of manufactured chaos, where soldiers set up gates, erected makeshift roadblocks and turned daily commutes into hours of stagnant frustration.

HOW WE ENDURE

The meticulously orchestrated display at Al-Saraya had one element the planners had not anticipated: the unrestrained outpouring of joy from the thousands of Palestinians who gathered to witness it. Despite the armed movement’s carefully choreographed presentation meant as a message to Israeli society, a reminder of the gulf that separates rhetoric of the right-wing government from the reality of enduring capacity to resist. This unscripted wave of collective emotion represented, paradoxically,

both a triumph and a challenge for the organizers.

This joy, sparked by the temporary cessation of war, carried profound significance. It was not merely relief from the bombing but the palpable satisfaction of witnessing Israel concede to an agreement it had resisted since May. This joy was not confined to the relentlessly bombed streets of Gaza; it transcended the borders of the besieged enclave, resonating across historic Palestine. It echoed in the hearts of Palestinians in villages and cities alike, uniting them in a collective moment of triumph, however fleeting.

A thread that connects the debates at Birzeit, the release of Israeli prisoners in Al-Saraya and the joy of seeing prisoners reunite with their families is the undeniable reality that our joy is a direct affront to the petty gods who seek to rule over us. Our smiles must be interrupted through the use of techniques of “ ن ص,” including pogroms in Qalqilya, large-scale military operations repeatedly named and renamed with excessive imagery of “Iron” and checkpoints deliberately closed to create endless traffic jams and frustrating waits. Here, perhaps, we must grant the Israelis their unrelenting will: the will to disturb, to provoke anger, to inflict grievance, to mete out punishment, to kill, to maim and to act with monstrous cruelty. But for now, the smiles stand as a testament to how we endure— sometimes by not taking ourselves too seriously, as in the debates, other times by being almost too organized, too calculated, but most often through the spontaneous outpouring of momentary joy at surviving and emerging unbroken. This is especially true when dealing with a highly sensitive bully. ■

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What Is the First Thing You Will Do After the Truce?

By Soha Ahmed Hamdouna

A woman searches building rubble in a destroyed neighborhood of Rafah, Gaza, on Jan. 21, 2025, as residents return following a ceasefire deal a day earlier between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group.

THE NIGHT THE GAZA TRUCE was announced was different— no sleep, no rest, just a wait that resembled the eve of a holiday. But this time, the holiday did not bring children’s laughter or decorative lights. All eyes were fixed on the clock, waiting for the announcement —the declaration of the end of a 15-month bloodbath without pause.

Everyone was in a state of anticipation. Each person had their own answer to the one question everyone was asking among family and friends: “What’s the first thing you’ll do when the truce begins?”

Soha Ahmed Hamdouna is a 27‐year‐old Palestinian from Gaza, a wife, and a mother of two daughters. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology from Al‐Azhar University. This article was published on Jan. 20, 2025, by Mondoweiss and reprinted with permission. © 2025 Mondoweiss. All rights reserved.

My friend Jumana spoke in a hoarse voice: “I will cry. Yes, I will cry a lot for those who left and will never return. For the martyrs who departed, leaving behind a void that nothing can fill.”

My friend Noor expressed another face of grief, mixed with hope: “I will scream and dance on the rubble—not out of joy, but because the river of blood has finally stopped.”

Nada told me, “I was sitting next to my mother when they announced the truce. She quickly grabbed the pictures of my martyred brothers, Mahmoud and Ahmed, and started sobbing like never before. It wasn’t just silent tears; it was cries filled with anguish. She screamed, ‘Life will return to everyone except you. For me, the war starts now!’”

“I couldn’t calm her down—these weren’t just tears; they were delayed tears, grief that had been postponed for too long. I joined her in crying, but I was helpless in the face of her pain.”

Mohammed Al-Rayes, a family friend, said he eagerly awaited

the truce, not to celebrate, but to return to the north and search for the place where his daughters were buried under the rubble.

Mervat told me, “When I heard about the truce, I felt a lump in my throat. The first thing that came to my mind was my destroyed home. I now have no place other than this tent.”

Rania told me via a phone call from Egypt that she was crying and laughing at the same time. She said, “I will return soon to embrace the soil of my homeland. A tent in my country is better than a palace in exile.”

Here is a conversation I had with Amjad, the brother of my martyred friend Hanin: Me: “How are you now? There’s not much time left until the truce begins and the bloodshed stops.”

Amjad: “Finally, I’ll be able to retrieve the bodies of my family from under the rubble and bury them with the dignity they deserve.”

I couldn’t hold back my tears and cried before he did. Hanin was martyred along with her husband, daughters and her entire family. For a whole year, their bodies remained under the ruins.

At that moment, I realized the truce is nothing but a time for all the delayed grief and sorrow.

My injured cousin Hazar spoke to me from the hospital. “Everyone here is talking about the end of the war and the truce, but I lost my husband and became disfigured. My son, Osama, came to see me and didn’t recognize me. My body is burned, my limbs are shattered, and I’m undergoing continuous surgeries to implant metal plates. When I spoke to him, he screamed, ‘I want my mom and dad! You’re not my mom, you’re scary!’”

I couldn’t find words to console her. Her case is like many

others. I told her, “This will all pass. The wounds will heal, and one day Osama will hug you again.”

With every repeated story, I felt that the truce is not a moment of joy. It is a moment for our suppressed tears to explode. Every answer bled pain, emerging from a heart burdened with agony. A woman said she would start clearing the streets of rubble to welcome her loved ones who had been displaced to the south. Another refused to leave the south before retrieving her family’s bodies from under the rubble so she can bury them with the dignity they deserve.

When we look at the war, we find that the concepts of victory and defeat have

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changed. Is the truce considered a victory? From a religious perspective, some may see patience and resilience as a form of triumph. But from a human and material perspective, it is a bitter loss.

The loss is not just in homes reduced to rubble or hospitals and schools wiped out of existence. The real loss lies in the child who lost his legs and no longer knows how to play, the girl whose body was entirely burned and now fears her reflection in the mirror. The loss lies in the father who lost his children, the wife who lost her husband and the orphan who sits alone, unsure how to rebuild his life.

The end of the war does not mean the end of suffering. We face thousands of destroyed homes, unburied bodies and people with permanent disabilities. We now lack hospitals, schools and even the basics of life.

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But despite everything, we have learned a lesson. The veil of fear has been lifted from our eyes. We have started to process the shock and face reality, no matter how bitter. We are no longer the same. We have been changed forever.

Before the truce was announced, the attacks intensified wildly, as if death wanted to claim as many lives as possible in the final moments. I told my loved ones, “Hold on to life. Stay away from the streets and gatherings. Don’t die in the last moments.”

Those moments before the truce was declared were filled with hope and fear, joy and sorrow. They are the story of every Palestinian who lived through this war—a story of a people who bore pain, clung to life in the face of death, and stood amid the ruins of their cities and dreams, trying to rebuild what the war destroyed, even as their souls remain burdened with memories and wounds. ■

Letters From Gaza: “Alhamdulillah. We Are Not OK”

By Dr. Ramzy Baroud

OVER THE PAST 14 months, I have received hundreds of messages from family members throughout the Gaza Strip. The nature of the messages often conveyed a sense of urgency and panic but, at times, contentment in God’s will.

Some of those who wrote these notes have been killed in Israeli strikes, like my sister, Dr. Soma Baroud; others lost children, siblings, cousins, neighbors and friends. It may seem strange that none of those who communicated with me throughout the war have ever questioned their faith, and have often, if not always, begun their messages by checking on me and my children.

The samples of the messages below have been edited for length and clarity.

Ibrahim:

“How are you? We are all fine. We had to leave Shati [refugee

Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of Palestine Chronicle. His latest book, co‐edited with Ilan Pappé, Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out, is available from Middle East Books and More. Dr. Baroud is a non‐resident senior research fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). His website is <www.ramzybaroud.net>.

camp]. The Israelis arrived at the camp yesterday. Our whole neighborhood has been destroyed. Our home, too, was destroyed. Alhamdulillah—praise be to God.”

Soma:

“How are you? And how are the kids? Times like these make me realize that no material wealth matters. Only the love of one’s family and community matters most. We had to flee Qarara [east of Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza]; the boys fled further south, and I am in Deir Al-Balah with my daughter and grandson. I don’t know what happened to H [her husband]. The army bulldozers began destroying the neighborhood while we were still inside. We ran away in the middle of the night.”

A’esha:

“E [her husband] was killed on the first day of the invasion. A [her son] disappeared after he learned that his father was killed. He said he wanted to avenge his father. I am worried. I don’t know what to do.”

Salwa:

“Cousin, A’esha’s son, A, was killed [he was 19]. He was fighting in Jabaliya. She is somewhere in Rafah with her surviving kids. Her newborn has a congenital heart defect. Do you know of any charity that can help her? She lives in a tent without food or water.”

Ibrahim:

“We escaped to Al-Shifa [hospital in Gaza City]. Then, the Israelis invaded. They took all the men outside and had us stand in line. They spared me. I don’t know why. All the men were executed. Nasser’s son [his nephew] was killed in front of me. We are still trapped at Al-Shifa.”

Soma:

“My husband was killed, brother. That poor soul had no chance. His illness had prevented him from running away on time. Someone says he saw his body after he was shot by a drone. He was hit in the head. But when we went back to the place, we couldn't find him. There was a massive heap of rubble and garbage. We dug and dug

Mourners gather near the bodies of 33 Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Dec. 13, 2024.

PHOTO BY MAJDI FATHI/NURPHOTO

day and night, to no avail. I just want to give him a proper burial.”

A’esha:

“Did Salwa message you about the charity? My baby is dying. I named her Wafa’ after her auntie [26, who was killed in the first few weeks of the war along with her son Zaid, 5, and husband, Mohammed in Gaza City]. She can barely breathe. Some people are allowed to leave Gaza through Rafah. They say the UAE accepts some of the wounded and sick. Please help me.”

Walid:

“Have you heard anything about the ceasefire? We ran away back to the center of Gaza, after we were forced to flee south. They [the Israeli army] said ‘Go to the safe zones.’ Then, they killed the displaced inside their tents. I saw my neighbors burning alive. I am too old [he is 75]. Please tell me that the war is about to end.”

Ibrahim:

“How are you, cousin? I just wanted to tell you that Nasser [his brother] was killed. He was standing in line waiting for a loaf of bread in Zeitoun. After the martyrdom of his sons, he became responsible for the grandchildren as well. They [the Israelis] bombed the crowd as they waited for the aid trucks. The explosion severed his arm. He bled to death.”

Soma:

“I was in Nuseirat when the massacre happened. [278 people were killed and over 800 wounded on June 8, 2024.] I walked through the area not knowing the extent of the bloodbath. I was on my way back to Qarara to check on the kids. Bodies were strewn everywhere. They were mostly mutilated, though some were still groaning, desperately grasping onto life. I wanted to help, but I could do nothing. I kept walking from one body to the next, holding hands and looking into dying eyes. I worked in the emergency

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room for many years. But at that moment I felt helpless. I felt that I, too, had died on that day.”

[Dr. Soma was killed in an Israeli strike targeting her car on October 9, 2024. She had just left the hospital, where she worked, to check on her sons.]

Ibrahim:

“My condolences, cousin, for the martyrdom of your sister. She will always remain the pride of our family.”

A’esha:

“Wafa’ died this morning in our tent in AlMusawi. There was no medicine. No food. No milk. My only solace is that she is now an angel in Paradise.”

Walid:

“How are you, cousin? We are okay. We lost everything, but we are still standing. Alhamdulillah. Do you know when the war will be over? Maybe another week, or two? I am just too old, and so, so tired.” ■

Five Views

Daily Life and Shattered Dreams in Gaza— Writers Share Their Stories

The Last Night in Rafah

By Marwan Abu-Laila

ON MAY 28, 2024, while we were celebrating my eldest daughter’s birthday online—she’s in Egypt pursuing medical studies— a deep sadness enveloped our family. That night marked the last evening we would spend in our beloved home. Even though the evacuation of Rafah had been anticipated, I felt as though a terrible nightmare had materialized. In that moment of profound sorrow, I whispered to myself with bitter resignation, “Oh, history

repeats itself once again, Marwan.”

Twenty years earlier, in 2004, during the Second Intifada, I had been forced to evacuate my parents’ house—the very place where I was born and was living with my own new family. Our home was perilously close to the Egyptian border, and the Israeli occupation had decreed the demolition of all residences within a one-kilometer radius. With a small family of two daughters, I managed to relocate to a rented flat in Khan Younis. I took all my luggage, my bedroom furniture and essential belongings. I was never worried about being able to meet the daily needs of my family in Khan Younis.

But now, the circumstances are drastically different. I was ordered to evacuate Rafah under active fire, with a big family and many unanswered questions: Where will we go? What should we take? What must we leave behind? What will happen to my children? Unlike before, I had to abandon most of our furniture and

Marwan Abu-Laila is a 57-year-old man with a master’s degree in human resource management who now lives with his family in a tent in Khan Younis after his forced evacuation from Rafah.

The author’s home in Rafah—how it once looked and what it looks like now.

The author puts up the family’s tent the day after leaving their home.

personal belongings, heading toward an uncertain future in a tent.

My children hated being inside a tent during summer camping trips and beach vacations—and now a tent was to become their temporary home. I told my son and daughters to walk barefoot on the floor of our house one last time: “This will be the last time your feet will touch solid ground. We are going to live on the sand.”

My youngest daughter, Leen, pleaded with me, “Please, Dad, remove the cover from our living room sofa set. I want to enjoy it one last time before we leave.” Fatima, my second daughter, sorrowfully swept the floor, aware there would soon be no floor left to clean. Raghad, my fourth daughter, said on our way to the tent, “Dad, I left my schoolbooks and favorite mugs at home.” My third daughter, Mennat Allah, continuously asked about her study desk and the Arabic novel she had left on her bed. With a heavy sigh, I admitted, “I too left all my university books that I brought back from India in 1996.”

I said to them bitterly: “Oh my sweeties, we can’t take everything with us, we will be back inshallah.”

In the final moments before departure, I injured my hand on a piece of glass and a drop of blood fell onto the floor. The drop of blood felt like a part of my soul being torn away and left in the home I loved.

Rafah was more than just a city to me— it was where I was born, raised, educated, married, and built my life and dreams. I had refused opportunities to leave for the United Arab Emirates or Canada after returning from India in 1996 with a master’s degree in human resource management. I loved Rafah for its geography, its streets, alleys, historical heritage and the sense of belonging it gave me. Yet now I found myself standing a mere few hundred meters away from

its boundaries, forbidden to re-enter, unable to breathe its air or follow its news.

Our first night in the tent felt eerily similar to what I imagined a night in a grave would feel like. The tent was a strange and terrible place—sleeping on sand, living where we were forced to go. The fear was paralyzing. Upon opening my eyes, I found myself questioning, “Why am I here? How long will this last? Can I endure all this and maintain some normalcy?”

And then an inner resolve eventually surfaced. Though it was tough, I knew I had to cope for the sake of my family. Our lives had changed completely, and the standard of living had deteriorated. Life’s hardships would infiltrate every aspect of our daily existence, so I had to remain strong and strive to ease their burdens. It wasn’t their fault; they had no control over the situation except to pray to Allah that this ordeal wouldn’t last forever.

We deserve a better life and a brighter future. As our great late writer Mahmoud Darwish said, “On this land, there is something worth living for.”

On July 7, 2024, I received devastating news: my home in Rafah, the house I had purchased in 2015 for $118,000—secured with a $50,000 loan from my brother—was being demolished. It was a three-floor house intended to guarantee a stable future for my children and myself, a place I envisioned settling into as I grew old. Additionally, the flat I had left in 2015 before moving to the new house was also destroyed. I had refused to sell it, entrusting it to my five daughters to use in the future. It was within walking distance from the home where we lived.

When my neighbor, with a pale face and tear-filled eyes, spoke to me about what he had seen on his return to Rafah, he described chaos and total destruction. “You wouldn’t believe how our street and neighborhood have been transformed,” he said. “It’s as if an earthquake struck.”

Five months have now passed since we were forced to flee. Every hour has been marked by blood, tears, worry and the relentless specter of death.

Oh, what a terrifying scene it is. Devastation reigns everywhere.

My beloved hometown Rafah has become a city of ghosts. It was a refuge for all displaced people from the north and center of the Gaza Strip, a crossing point to Africa, a coastal city rich in her-

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itage and a border city with Egypt. Rafah will remain the most cherished place I have ever known as long as I survive. Even in its destroyed and ruined state, I believe that something great will emerge from the ashes.

Hours follow hours, days follow days. Displaced Gazans cling to the dream of returning home, even amidst the rubble and stones. We refuse to abandon our houses. We will fix them, even if they have been destroyed.

Your own home is itself a homeland. When you are exiled from it, you feel nostalgic, yearning to return, to unlock the door, to feel relief. Just as a baby cries when parted from its mother, seeking to hug her, we long to embrace our home’s doors, walls and stones and to apologize for being away. We never leave willingly; we are forced under fire, shootings, strikes and threats, being kicked and pulled away with the deepest sorrows and broken hearts. Rafah will remain my beloved home, my favorite place in the world. ■

Lost Neighborhoods, Lost Dreams

By Dalia Abu Ramadan

LIFE IS UNFOLDING before me as though I were but a ghost, watching my past from a distance. Each sunrise is a cruel reminder of the battles still ahead; each night stretches endlessly, exploding with my repressed tears. It’s a struggle to find meaning anywhere. Joy has become a distant memory, obscured by the fog of despair. But I am still here, struggling, as all of Gaza struggles.

In Gaza, where the shadow of occupation has lingered since 1948, beauty and resilience shine defiantly. Despite the suffocating siege, Gaza blended modern development with rich cultural heritage, where sleek buildings stood alongside traditional stone homes, embodying a spirit of progress rooted in history. Even under adversity, Gaza’s heart and soul thrived. Before the devastation of the latest war, Gaza symbolized perseverance, with its people demonstrating unshakable strength and determination.

Gaza was known as a hub for education, with schools and universities reflecting the Palestinian commitment to learning. Ideas flowed effortlessly from classrooms to cafés, fueling creativity and resilience. We were a community determined to secure a better future for the next generation, despite the hardships of the past. The Gaza Strip, covering 365 square kilometers (141 square miles), boasted vibrant neighborhoods, each unique, yet united by shared heritage and determination. Weddings celebrated local traditions with dabke, songs and tributes, reflecting the enduring spirit of Gaza.

Stark geographic and socioeconomic differences distinguished northern from southern Gaza. The north was home to areas like Beit Lahia, renowned for its strawberries, and Beit Hanoun, where citrus and vegetable farms dotted the landscape. Israel’s bombardment has devastated much of the fertile land. The north

was also known for fabric, tile and plastic production. Jabalia camp, a close-knit community, reflected struggles of rebuilding after war. The streets were alive with energy, filled with lively markets where vendors proudly displayed fresh fruits, vegetables and an array of local delicacies. In contrast, southern Gaza, including Khan Younis, was our agricultural hub renowned for highquality olive oil, crucial to both the economy and central to culture, and Deir al-Balah, famous for citrus cultivation. People from southern Gaza are known for their tradition of generosity, always prepared to share their meals, especially during Ramadan.

My memory lingers in the past, suspended in these neighborhoods we call the “vibrant souls.” My own neighborhoods, AlRimal and Tal Al-Hawa, are etched in my memory and when asked to describe them, every word pulls me back to a time when my soul was intertwined with their streets.

Al-Rimal, one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods, was the artery of the sector, located at its heart. Tal Al-Hawa, the second artery, was famous for its stunning views and restaurants by the sea, where Palestinians from all over gathered, filling the air with laughter. These neighborhoods, once home to a thriving, educated middle class, now exude profound sorrow, their pulse silenced by a relentless genocide.

I’m a daughter of the elegant Al-Rimal neighborhood, where I spent my life until age 17. My home, a haven carefully decorated by my mother and chosen by my father, sat between vibrant shops and schools. I can still picture my mornings, walking to school among uniformed students boarding buses, passing familiar shopkeepers and café owners, with my parents proudly watching. There were no tents in the neighborhood then.

Dalia Abu Ramadan, an aspiring graduate from the Islamic University of Gaza, is a Palestinian storyteller who tells powerful narratives about the strength and challenges of life in Gaza. She is training with We Are Not Numbers (WANN), a project to amplify the voices of young Palestinian writers.

The campus of the Islamic University, which the author credits with sparking her curiosity, shaping her dreams and career, and strengthening lifelong friendships.

PHOTO BY DALIA ABU RAMADAN

At 18, my family made the life-changing decision to relocate to Tal Al-Hawa, where we settled in a top-floor apartment with panoramic views of the Mediterranean Sea. It wasn’t just a house but the fulfillment of a cherished dream, a refuge offering peace amid chaos. In those four years, I matured, celebrated high school success, and began my higher education journey. Nearby, the Orthodox Cultural Center stood as an architectural marvel, reflecting Gaza’s religious diversity and rich history. Though supported by the Greek Orthodox community, it welcomed all, regardless of beliefs. Every street pulsated with the chatter of pedestrians and glowed with the artistic expression of Gazan architecture. The Islamic University sparked my curiosity, shaping my dreams and career while strengthening lifelong friendships. After lectures, I often enjoyed the city with my childhood friend Ghada.

Tragedy struck on October 7. The day started with the usual routine of a 6:30 alarm that ushered in the beginning of my day but also, it would soon become clear, the end of normal life. “Our lives were turned upside down,” as Gazans say at the onset of every Israeli war. After hearing a heavy bombing that shook the surroundings, I immediately called Ghada, and she confirmed that our university had announced a suspension of classes. The air became electrified with the dread of a spiraling crisis about to be unleashed by the Israeli occupation.

On the sixth day of this cursed war, the Israeli occupation ordered us to evacuate Tal Al-Hawa and move from the north to the south of Gaza. At first, my mother refused, knowing the occupation’s “safe places” were deceptive. But fear prevailed, and we reluctantly decided to leave if only to avoid facing death alone in our once-beloved home. Saying goodbye felt like losing a part of myself. I took a final look at the walls that held our memories.

The streets were crowded with neighbors, their faces reflecting the agony of abandonment. Despite the chaos, we clung to fragile hope, dreaming of return.

The illusion of “safe places” led us to Khan Younis in the south, to my grandmother’s house. But tragedy followed us like a vulture. Within an hour of arriving, as my sister Farah and I prayed in our room while the rest of the family sat watching the news, a violent explosion shook the ground. The home next door had been bombed. The house plunged into darkness when the electricity was cut off. Fear gripped us. Farah and I froze, terror taking hold. In the eerie silence, she turned on her phone’s flashlight, revealing that we were surrounded by rubble. Our screams pierced the darkness, desperate for our family’s safety. We called out their names, and then we heard a cough—my father and brother Zaid were alive. My mother’s quivering prayers echoed, offering us some relief. But we heard no sound from my brother Mohammed. We found him lying unconscious in a pool of blood. The ambulance arrived after our frantic calls, and the paramedics rushed to tend to Mohammed’s critical injuries, taking my parents with them. We spent a sleepless night wondering about the fate of our brother.

Within 10 days, Mohammed was able to walk again and my family decided to risk the return north. Incinerated civilian cars lined the streets on our journey back. We finally reached our neighborhood only to find everything in ruins. Tal Al-Hawa had turned into a ghost town.

I stood in disbelief as the warplanes roared above us: I wondered, “Is this really the street where I used to catch a ride to university?” The decimation of our neighborhood left us little choice but to flee again to my grandmother’s house in Al-Rimal.

A picture taken on Feb. 15, 2024, shows the heavily damaged building of the Islamic University in Gaza City, amid the war between Israel and Palestinian resistance fighters.

PHOTO BY

We got into the car once again, gripped with more sorrow than fear. That the planes could strike our moving car at any moment no longer frightened us.

We passed by the university on the way. Its buildings were now piles of stones and cement, the remaining walls charred and fragile. I caught sight of the university gate and held back my tears. I used to rush through that very gate, always late for my 8 a.m. lecture. Dr. Refaat Alareer’s stern voice echoed through the stillness, reminding us that punctuality was nonnegotiable. The hope of graduating with my bachelor’s degree in English Translation at Islamic University seemed buried under the rubble.

As Tal Al-Hawa lay in rubble, and Al-Rimal breathed its last breaths, the Israeli occupation continued its incessant aerial strikes. A ground invasion would soon complete the destruction as the occupation forces made their way into the neighborhoods to strike the final blows to a once booming residential suburb. They took great pride in openly declaring their deliberate targeting of civilian life. Homes, government buildings and schools used as shelters were reduced to rubble as survivors picked through the ashes to retrieve whatever belongings they could find.

flour infested with worms; we will eat the bread she bakes and pretend it is fine—a psychological trick, but what else can we do?

It’s been 400 days since I last saw Ghada. We were supposed to graduate in June 2024. That date is lost in rubble as we huddle in my paternal grandmother’s home with other relatives waiting for the war to end.

I have already lost my maternal grandmother to starvation and illness. The siege took her four months ago, her fragile body unable to survive without medicine.

My day starts and ends with the same question: Will my city rise again, or will we be buried in its ruins? ■

A Typical Day in Gaza

By Hend Salama Abo Helow

WITH EVERY SUNRISE, after a harrowing night echoing with unabating explosions, we renew our unyielding grip on life. We gather our shattered nerves, sweep up the shards of glass that missiles scattered over the night, and try to piece together an optimistic beginning to a day that feels as long as a year, a day we hope will be free of massacres, loss and cries for help. We dream of securing food, filling water tanks, and, above all, avoiding sudden evacuation orders. But reality continues to stun us.

Let me describe a pretty typical day. In the early morning, my brother Montser, who is in his 20s, ventures out in search of daily essentials in markets whose shelves are bare. My father works tirelessly, filling water tanks; his grandchildren are nearby, eager for a moment of play, no matter how brief. Inevitably, he will console neighbors who are mourning loved ones. My mother cleans

Hend Salama Abo Helow is a medical student, researcher and writer. In 2017, she served as a student ambassador for UNRWA, and she has represented Save the Children at several conferences, advocat‐ing for children’s rights and humanitarian causes.

We are living a humanitarian crisis. Food supplies are dwindling, leaving the elderly to suffer from malnutrition and babies to starve as formula milk remains inaccessible. Patients with celiac disease, deprived of gluten-free diets, face hypotension, severe weight loss and other consequences. Similarly, the conditions of patients with chronic diseases are significantly deteriorating due to the lack of an adequate diet of fresh fruit and vegetables. Instead, we eat canned food, beans and peas full of preservatives, leading to a higher risk for cancer.

My 30-year-old brother Mahmoud prepares to bake bread, a task he has taken on during the war. But we’ve run out of firewood, forcing him to join endless queues at bakeries that now rely on firewood, too, instead of gas. Bakeries feed but also are death traps: people have been trampled to death in desperate crowds and bombed, too. When Mahmoud comes home with bread, its aroma bitterly pinched the hungry stomachs of our neighbors. So we share what little we have with them.

I was studying for my online cardiovascular system exam in medical school when an airstrike hit nearby. Everything around me shook violently, and the suffocating stench of gunpowder filled the air. I could barely hear my own voice calling out, “is everyone OK?” The cries of people drowned out even the deafening blasts.

The strike was a massacre. A bustling area in our neighborhood—a place where people sought necessities or exchanged fleeting smiles—was reduced to rubble. A group of youths in their early 20s, exhausted from 420 days of relentless struggle, had gathered to find solace in each other’s company. A heinous airstrike ended their lives in an instant, ripping through their bodies and scattering their remains.

Thirty martyrs. Dozens of injuries. Among them were two women returning home with loaves of bread for their children. Those loaves, soaked in blood and padded with flesh, told a story too cruel to bear. How could a child process such a tragic link between bread and death?

Amid relentless violence, families flee their shattered homes in the Tal Al‐Hawa neighborhood, seeking refuge in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 10, 2023.

A little girl in a pink dress with long hair was found among the rubble. She was recognized only by her dress, torn and bloodied. I choose to remember her as she was in photographs, a little girl with a sweet smile, not the broken body we retrieved.

Montser, who had been at the market minutes before the strike, returns home horrified, his face pale, his soul scarred forever. Though he survived physically, the memories will haunt him for life.

The shrapnel didn’t just pierce bodies—it tore through displaced families’ tents, causing fatal injuries, puncturing water tanks like those my father had spent his morning filling. In an instant, what little water we had is gone. This feels more like collateral damage compared to the carnage committed, yet the loss could be mortal since we will be deprived of water for weeks and maybe months.

In a day so full of anguish, my nephews and nieces fervently begin running, stumbling into each other when the candy floss peddler comes from afar, playing children’s songs. It is an evocative ritual, reminding us of the peace of mind we once enjoyed and which brought a beam of hope for a brighter tomorrow. The cotton candy seller was defying the gruesome reality in his own way, roaming our neighborhood alleys and bringing smiles to the faces of children who had been forced to grow beyond their years.

Later I juggle my studies, trying to focus. Around 4:00 p.m., a strange sound seeped into the air. The sound of ululations, clapping and traditional Palestinian songs echoed in the neighborhood. Someone was getting married! An eyewitness said, “the tent was simply decorated, the bride was wearing the traditional thobe, and the families of the couples were ecstatic. A feeling of triumphant joy was hovering in the corners, distracting us from what we were weary of. We were longing for such joy.”

My feelings were mixed: I admired my people’s resilience and hope, yet I couldn’t reconcile it with the morning massacre.

By evening, my nephew Ahmed and I are standing in the edge of the kitchen, trying to get a reliable internet connection. Ahmed turned 11-years-old during the genocide. Suddenly the window shatters and missile-pierced walls frame a red glow that blinds us. The menacing sound of a drone buzzes in the background. I think another strike will soon follow and crouch, shielding Ahmed as best as I can, employing the safety instructions I’ve learned, even though I know they would serve only the bare minimum of protection. However, what follows isn’t a strike but rather a radiant sunset.

By midnight, rain pours heavily. All I can think about are the displaced families in nylon and plastic makeshift tents, their shelters

Somaya Mezyed’s first graders attend school seated on the floor of a tent.

sinking into the sand, their belongings strewn by the gusting wind, leaving them stranded with no salvation in sight, suffering the night’s frost, hunger and loss. One neighbor cries out, “God, I beg you, stop the rain. We are drowning.”

We invite them into our partially damaged home, but they refuse. “Death is more honorable than this life,” one replies. My mother tries to explain: “it is just the sky crying its heart out after witnessing our unbearable suffering for so long. God doesn’t mean to cause any harm.” ■

Children’s Battle for Education in Gaza

By Reem Sleem

WHILE CHILDREN around the world go to school, bombing, destruction and blockades continue to make education an impossible dream for the children of Gaza.

Today, the more than 625,000 school-age children of Gaza are denied an education, with no fewer than 45,000 6-year-olds currently unable to begin first grade. Untold numbers of children in Gaza already suffer from trauma-induced psychological disorders like anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, conditions only exacerbated by the loss of routine, connection and safety that educational settings provide for children. These same children now face the real possibility of spending a second consecutive year without returning to school.

Israel’s offensive not only targeted homes but also sought to destroy Gaza’s educational infrastructure. Approximately 90 percent of schools have been destroyed or shuttered, even after many had already been converted to shelters for displaced families. As a

Reem Sleem, an English literature student at Al‐Azhar University, was displaced to Egypt early in the war. She is training with We Are Not Numbers (WANN), a project to amplify the voices of young Palestinian writers.

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result of this destruction, children are bearing challenges far beyond their capacities, spending long hours on physically and emotionally exhausting tasks like securing basic sustenance or fleeing from danger from one displacement to another.

This deliberate attempt to destroy the Palestinian education system, described by U.N. experts as a “strategy of educational extermination,” threatens the future of entire generations. Education is the foundation of a child’s proper upbringing, imparting curiosity and knowledge and instilling morals and values. It is where a culture passes its knowledge from one generation to the next and reproduces itself, which is precisely why the occupation targets this infrastructure.

The prolonged absence of education in the lives of these children doesn’t just mean the loss of basic knowledge, it also poses significant threats to their social and emotional development and to the motivation and support schools provide. The psychological toll is immense, with children facing overwhelming feelings of frustration, severe depression and isolation due to the persistent uncertainty about their future.

TENT CLASSROOMS

Where schools remain, they have been converted into shelters for the displaced, forcing teachers to put together makeshift classrooms in tents in school yards, and in some camps, simply among other tents. With no desks or chairs, children sitting on the ground, and often only a whiteboard, teachers review simple lessons in core subjects like math, Arabic, English—subjects important for their future—along with Palestinian history, which helps children understand the larger historical context of occupation and violence against Palestinian identity of which their experience is a part.

Most of these teachers are themselves displaced and their homes have been destroyed; many have also lost their job and place of employment. Yet they work tirelessly to provide the children with a school environment where education survives.

The story of my aunt Somaya, who lives in the al-Zuwaida area of Deir al-Balah, illustrates two of the challenges currently surrounding education in Gaza: trying to teach in unsustainable conditions and sending her own children to school amidst danger. She is an English teacher and mother of two—Muhammad, 9, in grade 4 and Adam, 6, in grade 1—who has been displaced; her house was damaged and her family’s supermarket destroyed by bombing, leaving her family without a livelihood.

WALKING TO SCHOOL AMIDST EXPLOSIONS

Every morning, she sends Muhammad and Adam to school despite the constant sounds of drones and explosions that surround the makeshift classroom tents they walk to. Although she constantly fears for their safety,

she firmly believes that their education is their hope and sole weapon for building a better future.

The boys must walk for over a half an hour in spite of the danger; rubble, fragments and explosive remnants are found everywhere. There is no transportation available, due to the lack of gas and fuel. Each time she sends them off, she asks herself “will they be able to return to me safely?”

Once, after sending them off to school, they returned unexpectedly. When she asked why, they told her there had been a large explosion near the school, causing its closure and leaving students and teachers with no choice but to return home.

Often, my aunt’s children have gone to school without food, water or money, and they have had to stand in long lines to get basic school supplies like pens and notebooks. Initially, biscuits from aid shipments were distributed to them, though only for a brief period, and hunger has grown since. With such resources no longer available, children have had to adapt to doing without.

ened from lack of food, have so far not survived the deep cold nights sleeping in a tent. Their small bodies froze in the night.

SHUTTERED SCHOOLS AND SEPARATION

War not only destroys buildings and bodies, but also shatters surviving families. Before the war robbed them of those moments, my aunt’s children were best friends with my younger siblings, sharing joyful times like attending school and studying together. They were so attached that they would cry when it was time to part ways and head home.

Now, we live in different countries and haven’t seen each other in over a year. My siblings deeply miss their childhood moments with their extended family. I have a strong bond with my aunt— she even helped me and my siblings with English lessons. I never imagined I would have to leave Gaza without her, and I don’t know when I will see her again.

My aunt’s story reflects the resilience of thousands of Palestinian families. She continues to fight for her children’s right to education despite inhumane conditions. Facing daily dangers, they prove to the world that education is their tool for survival and their hope for a brighter future.

UNSAFE CLASSROOMS

In the school where Aunt Somaya teaches first graders, the cold winter months introduce immense challenges to her mission. Sometimes, heavy rains turn their temporary tent into a muddy swamp. Still, she continues teaching her students despite the conditions, trying to focus on lessons under the leaking tent. She also does recreational and artistic activities with them, like painting their faces and having them build things with colorful clay, in order to relieve them and cheer them up, even if just a little, amidst this turmoil.

Children are unsafe outside of school. With damaged clinics and no medicine available, some had to have their diseased limbs amputated instead of treated. Eight children, their immunity weak-

THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT PALESTINIAN EDUCATION

Restoring Palestinian children’s access to schools in the near future is challenging, especially as the occupation persists in its crimes. However, this makeshift method of education cannot be a substitute for the real educational environment provided by functioning schools. The international community must bear the responsibility of establishing ways for students to resume their studies immediately now that a ceasefire has been achieved. Furthermore, plans must be made and implemented to resume education and provide alternatives in case the war resumes in the future.

If the international community fails to ensure protection for children’s education, it reveals a profound collective neglect and abdication of responsibility. Education is not merely a basic right for us; it is a critical pathway to rebuilding our society, offering hope and fostering peace. Denying children access to education only exacerbates psychological trauma, instability and uncertainty about the future.

The future of our children is non-negotiable and must be safeguarded. This is not an issue to be debated, but an imperative to be addressed without delay. Such neglect endangers not only the future of our children but also the very fabric of an entire nation, fostering ignorance and stripping away vital opportunities and rights. Therefore, education is an urgent necessity, and the international community must create the proper conditions for its restoration.

If the world fails to intervene and stop Israel’s ongoing atrocities, who will? If the international community does not hold Israel accountable for its crimes, who will? If human rights organizations do not protect children’s right to education in times of war, who will step in to defend them? ■

A Palestinian girl watches a military drone (not in the picture) as she stands on the rubble of destroyed houses in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, on March 21, 2024.

The Constant Din of Drones

By Nadera Mushtha

I CAN’T REMEMBER a single day when the sound of the drones wasn’t constant. Drones haunt us every day and follow us everywhere, like a shadow we can’t escape. These sinister machines have become a part of our daily lives, inflicting psychological torment and relentless headaches, and driving many to the edge of madness.

In Gaza, no matter where you are, you hear them, and when you look up at the sky, you see them, not one, but hundreds, endlessly circling above, casting invisible chains over us. In size, a drone falls somewhere between an airplane and a quadcopter. It has a shape like an eagle’s outstretched wings, gliding below the clouds.

The drones have been buzzing long before the war, even before I was born. I have been hearing their din for 21 years.

The sound is unbearable. It is the most piercing noise I have ever heard. It follows us day and night, whether we are working, shopping or attempting to sleep. It never stops.

Its noise is a weapon that doors, windows and walls are powerless to stop.

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The noise invades every space, slipping through the cracks, drilling into our ears and echoing in our minds.

My brain turns into a GPS, instinctively tracking the drones’ movements. When one hovers directly over my home, the sound grows louder, so loud that I feel it buzzing not just outside but inside my head and my bones.

When I sit down to write, the drone constructs an invisible wall between my mind and my pen. I feel that every sentence is a battle, each word a defiance of the drone monitoring me. Often I abandon my notebook in defeat, silenced by the relentless buzzing.

An Israeli quadcopter drone flying over Palestinian demonstrations near the border with Israel east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on June 5, 2018.

dows, its mechanical hum invading the night. It targets anyone, anywhere— women walking home, children playing in the streets, doctors and even the injured in hospitals.

Studying is no easier. Lectures are drowned in the noise, the words of my teachers reduced to whispers I can’t comprehend. Even the simplest conversations with my friends are shattered by the ever-present hum. At times, I can’t hear their voices at all, only the endless, mechanical droning.

And when I (try to) go to sleep, its sound forces me to stay awake. The sound works its way into nightmares; by day it is an oppressive weapon.

Sometimes, when the sounds of the drones are far from our neighborhood, a sense of calm enters our bodies and our minds. We are surprised that we have a moment of peace in our lives.

And then, the quadcopter makes an appearance, a more intimate and terrifying predator. It hovers close to win-

Nadera Mushtha is a writer and a poet from Gaza studying English language education at the Islamic University of Gaza. Since most schools in Gaza have been destroyed during the current war, she has been organizing English classes for children in her neighborhood. She is a writer with We Are Not Numbers.

I became acquainted with the quadcopter as a weapon for the first time during the war of 2021. I saw it from my window. At first I thought it was a photographer’s tool, operated by a Gazan capturing images. But I quickly learned that it is yet another weapon in the toolkit of the Israeli occupation.

When it hovers at our windows, especially at night, every one of my family members become silent. My young sisters become afraid of its sound, and sometimes they begin to cry.

Too many children, women and men have been killed by these machines, victims of an occupation that knows no red lines. Their laughter is silenced, their dreams dead, and their families left to grieve against a sky filled with endless buzzing.

This is the sound of our lives. The sound of drones, always above us, always reminding us that we are not free. Yet even in the suffocating noise, we cling to hope. Hope that one day, the sky will be ours again, quiet and filled only with the sound of the wind and the laughter of children flying their kites. ■

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fearless, independent journalism is more th year of publication, Mondoweiss’s Now in our 16 the world’s struggles interconnect. resistance and hope – stories that show us all how We cover Palestinians’ stories of occupation, Palestine. in reedom f foor truggl e s h and policymakers who affect t ef

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Pressure, Provocation and Hope: The Struggle of Lebanon’s South

A billboard with a quote by MP Paula Yacoubian, “To bring back the Switzerland of the East, neutrality is the solution,” during the presidential elections, Jan. 11, 2025.

THE LEBANESE PARLIAMENT elected Joseph Aoun as president of the Republic on Jan. 9, followed by the appointment of Nawaf Salam as prime minister on Jan. 13. This marked the end of a two-year presidential vacuum, sparking celebrations in some regions of Lebanon as citizens expressed renewed hope for the sovereignty of the state and the establishment of the rule of law. However, the elections were marred by external interference and constitutional violations, driven by the involvement of the Quintet

By Lama Abou Kharroub

Committee, comprising the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt. This raises pressing questions about the nature of this interference and the fate of the southern villages that remain under Israeli occupation.

Military expert Brigadier General Ali Abi Raad told the Washington Report: “Since the establishment of the Lebanese state in 1920, no president has ascended to power in Lebanon without foreign intervention, due to its strategic location in the Middle East. This has been true from the election of the first president, Bishara al-Khouri, in 1943 to the U.S. intervention during Camille Chamoun’s presidency in 1952, and continuing to the present day. No Lebanese president has ever been elected without both external and internal factors at play. This is the fifth time a president has emerged from the military leadership, and such interventions have always stemmed from conflicts and wars.”

He added, “The intervention in the current elections by the Quintet Committee, led by the United States, is significant due to the U.S.’ ability to impose its will through its military and economic power, as well as its dominance in decision-making in the Middle East.” He clarified that this “violates international law, as no sovereign state has the right to interfere in the affairs of another state.”

The brigadier general continued, “Regarding the Lebanese situation, some countries express their interventions using carefully crafted language, claiming to seek and protect the independence of Lebanese decision-making. However, other countries, particularly the United States, have been more direct, openly threatening and using methods such as imposing economic and financial sanctions on groups they accuse of obstructing the elections, especially the Shi’a bloc, including Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri. The

Lama Abou Kharroub is a Palestinian journalist based in Lebanon.

Biden administration even considered sanctioning Lebanese officials. U.S. intervention in the recent elections was evident through the U.S. envoy, who was monitoring the ceasefire and openly endorsed Joseph Aoun as their preferred candidate,” said Abi Raad.

Saudi Arabia’s role, particularly when a sudden visit was arranged for the newly elected president to Saudi Arabia, where he met with the minister of defense, came as a surprise, Abi Raad observed. This meeting revealed that Joseph Aoun was the frontrunner. Leading up to the election, it became clear that a deal had been struck following multiple rounds of communication, with strong pressure to ensure the election of Joseph Aoun.

ISRAELI CEASEFIRE VIOLATIONS

In a related development, Israeli forces have conducted over 800 violations in southern Lebanon since the ceasefire agreement was signed on Nov. 27, 2024. These breaches have extended beyond the Litani River, reaching the Bekaa Valley and the Iqlim al-Tuffah region. Despite the scale of these violations, no action has been taken by the guarantor states of the agreement—namely, the U.S. and France—nor by the Ceasefire Monitoring Committee, which is led by American and French generals. According to Abi Raad, “Israel claims to have observed Hezbollah military operations, yet these allegations have never been substantiated. Israel also claims to have made requests through the committee, but the Lebanese army has not issued any statements supporting these claims, as they are unfounded.” He further argued, “The U.S. and French disregard of these violations and their inaction in preventing them are complicating the work of the committee, which could easily lead to the collapse of the agreement at any time.”

These violations have taken the form of increased ground incursions into villages, heavy machine gun fire to clear forests, and the destruction of homes and farm-

land through explosions, demolitions and arson. The objective appears to be the establishment of an uninhabitable buffer zone for years to come. In some areas, the damage has reached up to 70 percent, leaving residents displaced and without basic means of survival, while crippling the infrastructure of these towns. Moreover, these actions aim to reshape the social and geographical fabric of the region, creating obstacles for the residents’ return, delaying reconstruction efforts and driving up the cost of rebuilding. Abi Raad explained that this strategy is meant to make southern Lebanon bear the brunt of the war, as the occupation views every home in the south as a Hezbollah stronghold.

Despite the grim reality on the ground, some parliamentary blocs continue to push for neutrality and disengagement from the Arab-Israeli conflict, effectively ignoring the struggles of southern residents. Riasa Ismail, a Lebanese citizen from the southern village of Beit Lif, asked when she and her neighbors would finally be allowed to return to their homes, which remain inaccessible due to ongoing Israeli restrictions.

Speaking to the Washington Report about the new president, Ismail expressed a mix of hope and frustration. While she welcomed the election of a president, her

primary concern remains the return to her village and the ability of the state to act decisively. “As residents of border villages, we care less about the political figures in power and more about ensuring the south is given priority,” she said. “What we need is a state capable of taking firm action to stop the Israeli army from continuing its violations and breaches of the ceasefire agreement.”

She noted that residents are now anxiously waiting to see if the promises made in political speeches will be reflected in concrete actions on the ground. She criticized the state for repeatedly abandoning the south and turning a blind eye to violations, using the “60-day truce” as a pretext for avoiding any response to Israeli aggression.

“The Lebanese army should have been ordered to respond to the very first breach,” she said, expressing frustration with the lack of action. This inaction, she added, has left residents in a constant state of fear and uncertainty—unsure whether the violations will persist, whether anyone will protect them or whether they will even be allowed to defend themselves. Instead, they are forced to pin their hopes on ineffectual international decisions.

Discussing U.S. oversight of both the ceasefire agreement and the presidential elections, Ismail noted that foreign inter-

PHOTO BY LAMA ABOU KHARROUB

Destruction in the southern suburbs of Beirut, on the day of the ceasefire announcement, Nov. 27, 2024.

vention in Lebanon is far from unprecedented. However, she argued that the United States has capitalized on the war, Lebanon’s solidarity with Gaza, and the internal opposition to Hezbollah to assert its dominance openly, without facing meaningful resistance.

“The real frustration lies in why the entire political class seems content to operate on a ‘let’s just get by’ mentality,” Ismail said, her tone tinged with dismay. She added that in a country where fairness is elusive, it’s even harder for southerners to hold on to any hope of justice.

“There is a growing concern that this approach will persist, with no ability to rein in the Israeli army, leaving the south under the authority of the ceasefire monitoring committee, which includes the United States, a key backer of Israel,” she stated.

Ismail expressed sentiments held by residents of south Lebanon and called on the state to take practical steps to deter the Israeli army: “If not through military means,

then through international channels, and to exert pressure on Israel to withdraw completely from southern Lebanon.”

Ismail was displaced from her village on Oct. 10, 2023. After repeated displacements due to ongoing Israeli shelling, she was forced to leave her village permanently and is still prohibited from returning.

Nidal Majed, a Lebanese citizen from Beirut, believes that “the elections, along with the war, were part of a larger cycle of Western imperialist intervention aimed at breaking the will of the people, dominating energy resources and undermining the right of nations to self-determination. It is an attempt to send a message to the rest of the world that any resistance effort will be met with the imposition of military force, as we’ve seen through the bloodshed. Despite the heavy price, resistance continues, and we are determined to return to our land.”

He added, “We still don’t know the actual number of the missing and mar-

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tyrs. The destruction is vast, and the sacrifices are immense, all in an effort to impose political control. But the people who witnessed the killing of their families and neighbors, the erasure of their homes, lands, trees and memories, will never forget. They tried to erase an entire way of life, and we continue to bear the consequences. The scars left on our hearts have become a source of strength, fueling the people’s resolve to resist, survive, endure and keep dreaming of a better future.”

Abi Raad, on the other hand, believes that despite the ongoing destruction, Israel will eventually withdraw. He views Israel’s actions as an effort to exert pressure on the Lebanese state and people. “On the day of the presidential election, we saw Israeli drones persistently flying over Lebanon, even hovering above the presidential palace and Beirut. This is a deliberate provocation, a tactic Israel has mastered to escalate pressure,” he stated. ■

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OTHER VOICES FROM THE MIDDLE EAST CLIPBOARD

Compiled by Janet McMahon

The Genocide Has Left Me Feeling Like a Stranger In My Own Homeland

BY REFAAT IBRAHIM

Iwas born and raised in Bani Suheila, a town of 40,000 people in the Khan Younis governorate of Gaza. It was a place where everyone knew each other. We lived in a large house surrounded by my extended family and fields planted with olive and fruit trees. Our tightknit community provided a sense of safety and comfort.

Fifteen months of relentless war have destroyed this sense of belonging. My family and I have been forcefully displaced several times already, and although we are still within Gaza, within Palestine, I feel like a stranger.

In December 2023, we had to leave our home for the first time. We fled to what Israel claimed was a “safe zone” in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis. There was complete disarray when we arrived, and we struggled to secure a small spot on the sand to pitch a tent.

We were surrounded by people we did not know. Palestinians from all over Gaza had fled to the area. As I wandered through the camp, I saw only unfamiliar faces. People looked at me with ambiguous gazes as if silently asking, “Who are you, stranger?”

Al-Mawasi used to be a beach where my friends and I loved to go to relax. It

was distressing to see it transformed into a displacement camp filled with people grieving the loss of their homes and loved ones.

By February, we had to flee to Rafah. After the Israeli occupation issued forced displacement orders for various parts of the Gaza Strip, a million homeless people converged on

the southern city. We were among them.

Its streets and public places were congested with displaced people setting up tents wherever they could find space. Yet, the place seemed like a desert to me: barren and inhospitable.

My family and I lived in a tent in constant misery like the rest of the dis-

The Genocide Has Left Me Feeling Like a Stranger In My Own Homeland, Refaat Ibrahim, www.aljazeera.com OV-33

Mapping the Genocide in Gaza, Jeff Wright, mondoweiss.net OV-34

U.S.-Funded Group Removes Report Warning of Famine in North Gaza After Complaint From U.S. Ambassador, Dave Decamp, www.antiwar.com OV-36

Israel’s Policy of Judaization Is Swallowing Arab Towns and Building Synagogues in Their Place, Editorial, Haaretz OV-36

Silence on Israel’s Massacres of Journalists Is Dangerous to All, Daoud Kuttab, www.aljazeera.com OV-37

“Why Aren’t You In The Hague?”: Journalist Sam Husseini Gets Dragged Out of Blinken’s Last Press Conference, Dave Decamp, www.antiwar.com OV-38

Biden Worked “Tirelessly Around the Clock”—to

Prevent a Ceasefire, Trita Parsi, www.responsiblestatecraft.org OV-39

Millions in Bonds for Israel Put U.S. States at Odds With Investment Policies, Delaney Nolan, www.aljazeera.com OV-40

The U.N. Can End the Middle East Conflict by Welcoming Palestine as a Member, Jeffrey Sachs and Sybil Fares, www.aljazeera.com OV-42

The Predictable Capitulation of Tulsi Gabbard, Patrick Lawrence, www.consortiumnews.com OV-43

Washington Celebrates alQaeda’s Victory in Syria, Kyle Anzalone, www.antiwar.com OV-45

The Day the Media Decided Militant Jihadism Was Respectable, Jonathan Cook, www.jonathan-cook.net OV-46

Iran: America’s Next War of Choice, Douglas MacGregor and James W. Carden, theamericanconservative.com OV-47

Iran to Move Capital to Southern Coast, Mason Letteau Stallings, theamericanconservative.com OV-48 VOL. 28 ISSUE 2—MARCH/APRIL 2025

placed. I wandered daily through the city’s alleys, hoping to find food to buy—if I could afford it. Often, I returned empty-handed.

Occasionally, I encountered someone I knew—a friend or relative—which brought moments of joy followed by deep sadness. The joy came from discovering they were still alive, but it quickly turned to sorrow when they told me that someone else we knew had been martyred.

My friend or relative would inevitably comment on my significant weight loss, my pale features and my frail body. They often admitted they did not recognize me at first glance.

I would return to my tent with a tightness in my chest, overwhelmed by a sense of alienation. I was not only surrounded by strangers but also becoming a stranger to those who knew me.

The suffering of the displaced was continuous and unbearable. Nothing surpassed it except the news of a new forced displacement, which usually came in the form of leaflets dropped by Israeli warplanes over us. We hurried to gather our belongings, knowing that these warplanes would soon return— not with more leaflets, but with more bombs.

In April, the Israelis dropped leaflets informing us that we were being forced to leave Rafah. We fled with a small bag carrying the few possessions we had and the burden of all we had endured: hunger, fear and the pain of losing loved ones.

We returned to Khan Younis—to the western part, which Israel claimed was “safe”—only to find the place destroyed and devoid of any signs of life. All the roads, shops, educational institutions and residential buildings had been turned into rubble.

We had to pitch our tent next to destroyed homes. I wandered the streets, staring in disbelief at the scale of destruction left by the Israeli occupation. I no longer recognized the city I used to visit often with my friends.

In August, for the first time since the war began, I managed to reach our

neighborhood in Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis city. I thought the feelings of alienation would end there, but they did not.

I walked among people I knew and who knew me, but the strange looks persisted—not because they did not recognize me but because I appeared far worse than they had ever seen me. They looked at me in astonishment, as if I had become someone else. Their gazes only deepened my feelings of alienation, loneliness and loss.

I struggled to comprehend the destruction and disappearance of all the places and landmarks that once defined my hometown. The house I grew up in had been reduced to ashes as a result of a massive fire caused by shelling. Inside, it was filled with rubble, our possessions turned into something resembling pieces of coal.

Today, after 15 months of war, we are still displaced. Everywhere I go, people ask me, “Oh, displaced one, where are you from?” Everyone looks at me with a strange gaze. I have lost everything, and all I am left with is the one thing I had wished to shed throughout this war: the feeling of alienation. I have become a stranger in my own homeland.

Refaat Ibrahim is a Palestinian writer from Gaza. He writes about humanitarian, social, economic and political issues related to Palestine. This article was first posted at <www.al jazeera.com>, Jan. 15, 2025. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance. Copyright © 2025 Al Jazeera Media Network. Reprinted with permission.

Mapping the Genocide in Gaza

BY JEFF WRIGHT

In October, Forensic Architecture (FA) released a report meticulously documenting Israel’s military assault on Gaza. A Spatial Analysis of the Israeli Military’s Conduct in Gaza since October 2023 not only reports evidence of the military’s violence against all as-

pects of civilian life—from hospitals, schools, shelters, archeological sites and religious centers to agricultural lands, water wells, bakeries, and aid distribution—it also documents how these incidents form patterns that, taken together, demonstrate the intent to commit genocide.

According to FA, the report is the result of more than a year of ongoing research into the Israeli military’s conduct in Gaza and was provided to South Africa’s legal team to support their case at the International Court of Justice charging Israel with genocide.

Forensic Architecture is based at Goldsmiths, a college of the University of London. Comprised of persons who work in architecture, journalism, filmmaking, law, and computer science, the research collective investigates state crimes. “We’re the people’s forensic agency,” said the founder, Eyal Weizman, in a recent interview with Peter Beinart for the Foundation for Middle East Peace’s “Occupied Thoughts” podcast. “We only interrogate militaries, secret services, police forces.”

Forensic Architecture is also a growing field of study, described on FA’s website as “investigative research… [employing] a suite of methodologies in spatial and architectural analysis, open-source investigation, digital modeling, and witness interviewing using three-dimensional digital models.”

One of the most significant reports from FA resulted from its work with Al-Haq’s FA Investigative Unit located in Ramallah. Their joint inquiry into the 2022 death of the journalist Shireen Abu Akleh resulted in a stepby-step presentation of a visual, audio, and spatial analysis undeniably demonstrating that her death was a targeted killing.

FA’s October report contains more than 800 pages of evidence, organizing thousands of well-documented acts of Israeli military violence into six categories: spatial control; displacement; destruction of agriculture and water resources; destruction of medical infrastructure; destruction of civilian infrastructure; and targeting of aid. These

thousands of data points have been visually mapped on FA’s “A Cartography of Genocide,” revealing what it describes as overlapping “patterns of ‘incidents.’”

Key to the report is FA’s argument that these patterns, taken together, can be used to build a case that Israel’s actions and the many statements of its leaders meet the definition of the crime of genocide. “Such patterns may indicate that these attacks are designed, formally or informally, rather than occurring at random or in a haphazard way,” the report says. “We note that military actions are multifaceted, and patterns can exist across actions…[and] may generate an accumulating effect, with every action aggravating the impact of another.”

“There [are] a number of legal precedents in which judges accept that patterns reflect [direct] commands,” Weizman said in Beinart’s interview. “So you don’t need to have access into the archive—seeing commands going down, reporting go up—which as a lawyer you really want to have. You need to show patterns. To show patterns you need to map single incidents in space-time and start seeing the relation between them.”

One example described in the report is the compounded effects of the military’s destruction of agricultural land and the military’s destruction and/or blockade of outside food aid deliveries. “With food sources inside Gaza destroyed, food could only arrive though Israeli checkpoints, where its distribution was controlled and restricted by the Israeli military,” according to the report. “The destruction of agriculture in Gaza and the targeting of aid aggravated each other and produced food scarcity and famine.”

In Beinart’s interview, Weizman said, “What are those relations between a bulldozer crushing a wheat field or a vegetable field in East Gaza, and the soldiers that shoot aid coming in through a checkpoint? Both are an attack on food. One is about food sovereignty and the other is about food coming in from the outside.”

The report and its corresponding “Cartography of Genocide” further show how on these large tracts of agricultural land “the Israeli military constructed roads, temporary encampments, permanent bases, lines of fortification and checkpoints”—which, in turn, aided in the displacement of Palestinians, lessened the space that Palestinians can occupy, and contaminated the soil and underground water resources.

“When you add up the scale of crimes against humanity and genocide…,” Weizman said, “it’s all about relations. Genocide is all about relations between statements and actions,

between intentions and consequences, between all different types of actions and consequences, what they add up to.” He said, “It’s evidence on a metalevel, meaning it’s evidence about evidence….”

Layered over one another—these patterns of repeated displacement of Palestinians, the destruction of agricultural land and medical and civilian infrastructure, and the limiting of aid deliveries—demonstrate the underlying intent behind operational orders. The report concludes, “Our analysis found that these acts of destruction and construction were not haphazard, but followed consistent and clear spatial logic.”

At 800 pages, the report is an extraordinary endeavor, the result of a team of investigators who have been working non-stop for more than a year to document Israel’s crimes in Gaza. The volume of evidence—from social media, reporting, and on-the-ground witnesses—was overwhelming at times.

In Beinart’s interview, Weizman suggested the cumulative effect that this work can have on the investigators. He said, “You have thousands of evidences flying in to you in a case, and you feel you have to look at them because people took the risk, people took the time, …people tell you things. Even if it’s a video, it’s a record of a moment that somebody has experienced…We take great value in these things. They are the most precious things we are having. When somebody sends you a message, you need to look at it.”

Weizman also spoke about the importance of setting Israel’s genocidal acts in a historical context. “You cannot make a genocide case without understanding how intent is formed through the history of the Zionist settler/colonial project.” The patterns that FA has discerned in what it describes as the “space/time” between October 2023 and the present are reflected in historical patterns.

As examples, Weizman pointed to the patterns of Israel’s moving Palestinians from the agriculturally rich north to the south in 1948-1949 and

how Israel is again moving Palestinians from the north in Gaza to the south, ever closer to the desert, and how the attack on and restriction of aid is a feature of every genocide, as well as a military’s charge that civilian deaths are the “unfortunate” consequence of an embedded enemy.

Readers may want to check out two other resources. The UK-based NGO Airwars issued a report last December tracking the pattern and intensity of Israel’s harm to Palestinians during the first 25 days of the war on Gaza. The report, Patterns of Harm Analysis, compares the level of civilian harm in Gaza with military campaigns documented by the organization over its decade of work in other intense and complex conflict zones.

Law for Palestine, a non-profit human rights organization, worked with Visualizing Palestine to create the platform, INTENT: The Road to Genocide. Readers may scroll through a visual report of the facts in these areas: civilian harm, starvation, infrastructure, and displacement. Following its conclusions, INTENT documents over 400 statements of genocidal intent by Israeli leaders in the military, the government, and the press.

Jeff Wright is an ordained minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). This article was first posted at <https://mondoweiss.net>, Dec. 28, 2024. Copyright© 2024 Mondo weiss. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.

U.S.-Funded Group Removes Report Warning

Of Famine in North Gaza After Complaint From U.S. Ambassador

BY DAVE DECAMP

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network, a project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has removed a report from its website that warned it was “highly likely” famine is occurring in northern Gaza after a complaint by the U.S. ambassador to Israel.

The report noted that Israel has imposed a “near-total blockade of humanitarian and commercial food supplies” on the North Gaza Governorate, which includes the cities of Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia. The report said 65,000 to 75,000 civilians remained in the area, “including civilians who have been unable to or prevented from evacuating.”

U.S. Ambassador Jack Lew issued a statement slamming the report, saying there are far fewer civilians in those areas, an acknowledgment of the ethnic cleansing campaign that Israel has been conducting in northern Gaza since early October.

“The report issued today on Gaza by FEWS NET relies on data that is outdated and inaccurate,” Lew said. He claimed that there are somewhere between 7,000 and 15,000 civilians in the North Gaza Governorate.

“At a time when inaccurate information is causing confusion and accusations, it is irresponsible to issue a report like this,” the U.S. ambassador said.

FEWS Net said it used U.N. numbers from mid-November and that it would update its report with the latest figures. But the group did not withdraw its assessment that famine was likely occurring in north Gaza.

Last month, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said there was a strong likelihood famine was occurring in north Gaza.

Lew also claimed that the U.S. has worked to ensure more humanitarian access in north Gaza, but the area has been under a total siege, and only 12 aid trucks have been able to make deliveries since Oct. 6. Israel has forcibly displaced civilians from the area under the threat of death, either by

shooting, bombing or starvation, following an outline known as the “general’s plan.”

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar. com. Follow him on Twitter @decampdave. This article was first posted at <www. antiwar.com>, Dec. 26, 2024. Copyright © 2024 Antiwar.com. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.

Israel’s Policy of Judaization Is Swallowing Arab Towns and Building Synagogues In Their Place

HAARETZ EDITORIAL

Afew hundred meters from the new neighborhood being built in Dimona, roughly 500 Bedouin live in the unrecognized village of Ras Jrabah. That village was built before the state was founded. Its oldest residents still recall how they helped to build the nearby city. Since then, Dimona has developed and has gradually been pushing them out. Now, it plans to “swallow” the village without leaving a trace. The site should be cleared to make room for a “high-quality population,” according to Dimona Mayor Benny Biton.

The plan to evict the residents of Ras Jrabah in order to expand Dimona is an example of the government’s crude, arrogant, discriminatory and abusive treatment of its non-Jewish citizens. Everything is permissible in the name of its Judaization policy.

The current government treats the Bedouin even worse than previous governments did. In 2024, there was a 400 percent increase in the execution of demolition orders in the Negev.

In addition, the Ministerial Committee for Bedouin Affairs has agreed

that Minister Amichai Chikli’s plan to concentrate residents of unrecognized Bedouin villages into a few towns will be expanded to additional parts of the Negev.

Of the roughly 35 unrecognized villages in the Negev, 10 are in immediate danger of being demolished. In some cases, the state plans to build new Jewish communities or expand existing ones on their ruins.

To do so, the government is advancing a plan that would enable transferring thousands of Bedouin to temporary trailer parks that would be built in existing Bedouin towns. But the level of infrastructure in these trailer parks would be lower than is required for permanent towns. If this plan is approved, it might well enable a rapid, forcible eviction of thousands of Bedouin into shantytown neighborhoods with poor living conditions.

Sixteen of the 18 communities whose establishment the government has approved over the last decade were intended for Jews. The practical result is that the land available to the Bedouins has shrunk and they have not been able to legalize their villages.

One example is the string of communities planned to run along Route 25 between Be’er Sheva and Dimona. Almost all are slated to be built on or near the lands of unrecognized Bedouin villages.

Instead of working for the benefit of the people living in the Negev, the government is promoting an expensive, unjust suburban solution aimed at people living outside it. The former are Bedouins; the latter are Jews.

Similarly, due to planning and marketing decisions, only about a quarter of the apartments in a new neighborhood of Jisr al-Zarqa—a neighborhood that was supposed to ease the impoverished Arab town’s housing shortage— were actually bought by village residents.

The new residents, most of whom are Jews, are now preoccupied with the questions of when a bypass road

will be paved and whether it will be possible to build a synagogue in their “unique gated luxury complex,” as the developers’ marketing material called it.

This planning discrimination against the Arab community, boosted by the nation-state law, is sentencing many of the community’s members to povertystricken lives with no future. This must stop.

This Haaretz lead editorial was first published in its Hebrew and English editions in Israel, Jan. 6, 2025. Copyright © 2025 Haaretz.

Reprinted with permission.

Silence on Israel’s Massacres of Journalists Is Dangerous to All

BY DAOUD KUTTAB

ADec. 26 press statement by the Israeli army attempted to justify a war crime. It unabashedly admitted that the military incinerated five Palestinian journalists in a clearly marked press vehicle outside al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip.

The five victims were Ibrahim Sheikh Ali, Faisal Abu al-Qumsan, Mohammed al-Ladaa, Fadi Hassouna and Ayman alGedi. Ayman had arrived at the hospital with his wife, who was about to give birth to their first baby; he was visiting his colleagues in the vehicle when it was struck. His baby boy was born several hours later and now carries the name of his father, who was not allowed to live long enough to celebrate his birth.

The Israeli army statement claimed that the five Palestinians were “operatives posing as journalists” and that they disseminated “combat propaganda” because they worked for AlQuds Al-Youm TV, affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement. The Israeli army made no claims that

they were actually carrying weapons or involved in any armed action.

Many Western publications quoted the Israeli army statement as if it was an objective position and not propaganda whitewashing a war crime. They failed to clarify to their audiences that attacking journalists, including journalists who may be accused of promoting “propaganda,” is a war crime; all journalists are protected under international humanitarian law, regardless of whether armies like their reporting or not.

The Geneva Conventions Article 79 of the Additional Protocol states that all journalists “engaged in dangerous professional missions in armed conflict areas shall be considered civilians [… and] shall be protected […] and without prejudice to the right of war correspondents accredited to the armed forces.”

Completely disregarding these provisions of international law, the Israeli army has gone on a killing spree of Palestinian journalists over the past 15 months. According to the Gaza Government Media Office, 201 have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023. Other counts put the number at 217.

According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), some 138 Palestinian journalists were killed in Gaza and the occupied West Bank between Oct. 7, 2023 and Dec. 31, 2024. The organization counted the five victims of the Israeli army’s attack on Dec. 26 in the tally.

The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders described the Israeli killing of journalists as “an unprecedented bloodbath” and Palestine as “the most dangerous country for journalists.” CPJ has also listed Israel as one of the top “jailers of journalists.”

Israel not only refuses to recognize any Palestinian media worker as being protected, but it also bars foreign journalists from entering Gaza.

It has been truly disturbing that the international media has done little to protest this ban. Except for one petition signed by 60 media outlets

over the summer, the international media has not followed up consistently on such demands over 15 months.

If a major media organization is not given access to a particular location, an indication of this ban is frequently attached to news reports as a form of protest. However, in the case of Gaza, Israel is given a pass, especially by mainstream Western media, with the Israeli press releases regularly passed on as facts.

This complacency has allowed Israel to control the narrative and propagate its claim that this is a defensive war carried out by “the most moral army” in the world within the parameters of international law.

While United Nations experts, some Israeli NGOs like B’Tselem, and every major international rights organization have denounced Israel’s actions, the legacy media continues to give it the benefit of the doubt. In the rare cases where Western outlets have investigated Israeli claims, as The New York Times did recently, the findings overwhelmingly repeat reports that Arab and some left-wing Israeli media had made months before, outlining grave crimes being committed.

One of the reasons why we have gotten to the point where Israel, the selfproclaimed “only democracy in the Middle East,” massacres journalists with impunity is because it was never held accountable for its gradual intensification of violence against media workers all these years.

The 2022 assassination of Palestinian-American reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in Jenin is a case in point. While there was coverage and investigative work done by Western media outlets on her murder, Israel was still allowed to get off the hook with the claim that it was the doing of a “bad apple” and the soldier responsible would be held to account. He wasn’t.

What our foreign colleagues should understand is that Israel’s push to normalize the mass killing of journalists

threatens not just Palestinian media workers. If such abhorrent behavior in war zones is normalized, then no journalist, no matter what passport they carry, would be safe.

It is time the international media community stop making excuses for Israel and call its actions what they are: war crimes. It is time journalists around the world stand in solidarity with their Palestinian colleagues and demand accountability for those who have massacred them. It is time they demand action from their governments that results in direct sanctions on Israel.

Daoud Kuttab, an award-winning Palestinian journalist, is author of State of Palestine NOW, a multi-language book available on Amazon. This article was first posted at <www.aljazeera.com>, Jan. 4. 2025. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance. Copyright © 2025 Al Jazeera Media Network. Reprinted with permission.

“Why

Aren’t You In The Hague?”: Journalist Sam Husseini Gets Dragged Out of Blinken’s Last Press Conference

BY DAVE DECAMP

Secretary of State Antony Blinken held his final press conference on Thursday and was confronted about his support for Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza by two veteran reporters, including independent journalist Sam Husseini, who was dragged out of the room while telling Blinken he belonged in The Hague.

Max Blumenthal, founder of The Grayzone, disrupted Blinken’s opening statement, saying, “Three hundred re-

porters in Gaza were on the receiving end of your bombs, why did you keep the bombs flowing when we had a deal in May? … Why did you sacrifice the rules-based order on the mantle of your commitment to Zionism? Why did you allow my friends to be massacred?”

Blumenthal continued to pepper Blinken with questions as he was escorted out of the room. “Are you compromised by Israel? Why did you allow the Holocaust of our time to happen? How does it feel to have your legacy be genocide?”

Referring to State Department spokesman Matt Miller, Blumenthal said, “You too, Matt, you smirked through the whole thing. Every day, you smirked through a genocide.”

A few minutes after Blumenthal left, Husseini began asking Blinken questions. “I’m a journalist, not a potted plant,” Husseini told a State Department employee who told him to be quiet.

Blinken said he would answer questions after his statement, but Husseini said that Miller explicitly told him that he wouldn’t have the chance to ask questions. Husseini, a contributor to Antiwar.com, frequently attends State Department press briefings but is rarely called on.

“I am justified in what I’m doing,” Husseini said. After a moment of calm, armed security personnel approached Husseini and began ripping him out of his seat.

As he was being dragged out, Husseini said to Blinken, “Answer a damn question! Do you know about the Hannibal Directive? Do you know about Israel’s nuclear weapons? … You pontificate about a free press!”

Blinken told Husseini to “respect the process,” to which Husseini replied, “Respect the process? Respect the process? While everybody from Amnesty International to the ICJ says Israel’s doing genocide and extermination, and you’re telling me to respect the process? Criminal! Why aren’t you in The Hague?”

After the incident, Husseini said he made it home. “I was seriously manhandled but I’m back home…thanks for all the support folks,” Husseini wrote on X.

He listed the questions that he wanted to ask Blinken, which included:

• What was the point of the May 31 announcement to block implementation of the May 24 ICJ order?

• Why do you refuse to recognize the Geneva Conventions as applying to Gaza?

• Everyone from Amnesty International to the ICC accuses Israel of extermination and genocide. Why are you not in The Hague?

• Why was your stepfather Pisar connected to both Robert Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein?

• Miller here pretends not to know about the Hannibal directive—do you know about the Hannibal directive?

• Why do you not even acknowledge Israel’s nuclear weapons?

Husseini has written extensively about some of the issues listed above on his Substack.

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decamp dave. This article was first posted at <www. antiwar.com>, Jan. 16, 2025. Copyright © 2025 Antiwar.com. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.

Biden Worked “Tirelessly Around the Clock”—to Prevent a Ceasefire

BY TRITA PARSI

There is little doubt that President-elect Donald Trump’s posture vis-a-vis Israel is a key reason why a ceasefire in Gaza has finally been achieved. According to a diplomat briefed on the matter, this was “the first time there has been real pres-

sure on the Israeli side to accept a deal.”

This means that for 15 months, Israel has dropped American bombs on children in tents, on refugees sheltering in schools, and on patients seeking help in hospitals without President Joe Biden exerting any “real pressure” on Israel to stop.

And once the mere posture of pressure was exerted on Israel by an envoy representing a man who isn’t even president yet, lo and behold, a ceasefire was secured.

All these senseless deaths, all the American credibility lost, all the Biden voters who stayed home in protest on Nov. 5 could have been avoided.

The truth of the matter is that every day for the past year, Biden could have secured a ceasefire by using America’s vast leverage.

And every day for the past year, from all the evidence we have today, Biden chose not to.

That is the crux of the matter. It is precisely the fact that Biden chose this path that will damage America for years to come. It wasn’t that he lacked the ability or strength to stop the carnage. It’s not that he really wanted to stop it but sadly couldn’t. It wasn’t that his hands were tied. It wasn’t that Congress forced him. Or that polls showed that he or Kamala Harris would lose the elections if they pressed Israel. It wasn’t any of that.

Biden was simply in on it. He was on board with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s war plans. He even attended the war cabinet where the plans were adopted.

In an exit interview with the Times of Israel, Biden’s outgoing ambassador to Israel even bragged about the Biden administration never exerting pressure on Netanyahu to halt the killing. “Nothing that we ever said was, Just stop the war,” Ambassador Jack Lew proudly declared.

By willingly making America complicit, Biden’s decisions will have pro-

found and long-lasting strategic repercussions for the American people on par with the damage George W. Bush’s illegal invasion of Iraq inflicted on America’s standing, credibility and security, as well as on the region’s stability.

Biden’s own acting director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), Brett Holmgren, told CBS that “anti-American sentiment fueled by the war in Gaza is at a level not seen since the Iraq war.” Terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS are recruiting on these sentiments and issuing the most specific calls for America in years, according to Holmgren.

So every bomb Biden provided Israel to drop on children in Gaza was not only morally monstrous; it also made Americans less safe.

It will take years for America to recuperate from the damage Biden has inflicted on our standing, our moral compass, our credibility, and on our security. America is still recovering from the sins of the Iraq invasion.

But there will be no healing at all, no bouncing back, unless we admit the errors, hold those responsible accountable, and learn to do better. Just as Bush’s Iraq invasion and Global War on Terror gave birth to the strongest anti-war sentiments among Americans seen in decades, made warmongering bad politics, and the epithet “neocon” an insult, Biden’s bearhug strategy on and blind deference to Israel must forever be remembered as the original sin that led America down the path of complicity in what most likely amounts to genocide.

Trita Parsi is the co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. This article was first posted at <www.responsiblestatecraft.org>, Jan. 16, 2025. The views expressed by authors on Responsible Statecraft do not necessarily reflect those of the Quincy Institute or its associates. Copyright © 2025 the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Reprinted with permission.

Millions in Bonds For Israel Put U.S. States at Odds With Investment Policies

BY DELANEY NOLAN

The United States has long been Israel’s primary international backer, lending it vast political, diplomatic and financial support.

This has only increased since Israel began its assault on Gaza last October, even as it gradually expanded the parameters of its war, in which it is widely accused by human rights groups of committing genocide. According to Brown University’s Watson Institute, the U.S. government provided Israel with almost $18 billion in weapons and military aid in the first year of Israel’s war.

But Israel is also increasingly dependent on another source of funds: bonds, bought by states and municipalities across the U.S.

Between Oct. 7, 2023—when the Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel and the latter subsequently began its war on Gaza—and April 18 this year, nearly three dozen states and counties have bought $1.7 billion worth of bonds, according to Israel Bonds, a U.S.-based company that raises foreign funds for Israel.

This money has gone straight into Israel’s general fund, where it can then be funneled into Israel’s ballooning military budget. An email from Israel Bonds to an Ohio county treasurer noted the bonds were used in part to “refund the United States Government for security equipment.”

The world’s single largest purchaser of Israel’s war bonds is Palm Beach County—the wealthy Florida county home to President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. Palm Beach holds a startling $700 million worth of Israel bonds—a loan large

enough to cover the purchase of multiple F-15 fighter jets.

But now, after more than a year of an escalating and internationally condemned conflict, Israel’s economy is stumbling. Tens of thousands of Israeli firms are predicted to shut this year, the budget deficit has ballooned from 4 percent to 8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), direct investment has fallen about 30 percent, and U.S. rating agencies have downgraded Israel’s credit.

All this means that when local treasurers buy Israeli bonds, they increasingly risk violating their own policies, which require them to invest taxpayer money in a responsible way.

In fact, a review by Al Jazeera found that at least two states appear to face violating their state treasury investment policies if they buy more Israeli bonds.

At least four other states that have bought Israeli bonds since October 2023 could also face non-compliance if Israel’s credit is lowered further.

A RISKY INVESTMENT

When a state or county buys Israeli bonds, they essentially loan the Israeli government money with an agreement that they will get those funds back in an agreed-upon number of years, plus interest. After Oct. 7, the staff of the underwriter for Israel Bonds directly contacted treasurers in Florida, Louisiana, Ohio and other states. Those treasurers quickly bought tens of millions of dollars worth of Israeli bonds.

But as Israel’s economy weakens, it appears increasingly difficult to justify these investments.

In April, Fitch, one of the three leading U.S. credit rating agencies, warned that the conflict could “lead to a large deterioration of Israel’s credit metrics.” By August, Fitch had downgraded Israel’s credit. The next month, another agency, Moody’s, also downgraded Israel’s credit rating to Baa1 for the first time in its history, and in October, the third agency, S&P, downgraded Israel as well.

Moody’s even warned of further downgrades in light of Israel’s conflict with the Lebanese group Hezbollah. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was agreed to in late November, but Fitch warned “the ceasefire is likely to be fragile,” and predicted a rise in Israel’s 2025 budget deficit.

All three major credit rating agencies project a negative outlook for Israel’s credit. All together, it indicates Israel is less able to pay back its loans.

This places some U.S. states in a precarious position, as some state investment policies specify that treasurers can only invest in foreign entities if they are above specific credit ratings.

Al Jazeera has found that two states— Florida and Nevada—may face violating their investment policies if they buy more Israel bonds.

The Treasury policies of both states require foreign obligations to have ratings of AA- or higher from at least one credit rating agency. Israel Bonds stopped meeting that standard in April.

Florida’s chief financial officer last announced purchases of Israeli bonds in March, bringing the state’s holdings to $250 million. Nevada bought Israeli bonds last October, according to the CEO of Israel Bonds.

Neither the Florida nor Nevada Treasury office responded to requests for comment.

If Israel’s credit is further downgraded, at least four other U.S. states may also have to halt purchases of Israeli bonds: Ohio, Georgia, Louisiana and Oklahoma.

Rachel Ziemba, a geo-economic and country risk expert and adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said that further purchases of Israeli bonds would appear to violate these states’ policies after she reviewed the policy documents.

“Reading their guidelines suggests that it’s in violation…they would have to sell their Israeli bonds especially if there are further downgrades,” Ziemba said, though she added that state investment committees could also decide to make exceptions.

“Ultimately I think they’re doing it [buying Israeli bonds] for political and what they believe are moral reasons [but] given the credit rating outlook, it’s probably something that will come up more and more, and probably there will be more legal cases around this issue.”

Daniel Garrett, an assistant professor of finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, was more cautious.

He noted that Florida had multiple portfolios, some of which have higher rating requirements, and that it was unclear which portfolio the Israeli bonds sit in.

Garrett added that all state policies tend to give investment managers flexibility when a security falls out of compliance, and “getting your credit downgraded doesn’t lead to immediate divestment, even if it doesn’t meet these portfolio standards any more.”

Still, he added, “If I saw increasing investments in a security that has a declining and no longer complying credit rating, that would be out of line with these policies.”

If an investment falls out of compliance, Florida’s portfolio manager must make a written request to hold the security for longer than 90 days. The request is then voted on by an Investment Working Group. Al Jazeera has filed a public record request to determine whether such an exchange has taken place, but has yet to receive a response.

POLITICAL INVESTMENTS

The bonds’ declining returns also undermine the claims made by some state treasurers who say the purchases are based on sound financial reasons, rather than political ones.

The Louisiana treasurer, John Fleming, for example, who has bought $40 million worth of Israeli bonds since last October, said the purchase “is based on sound financial principles.”

Yet, Fleming bought $10 million worth of Israeli bonds in April, and

again in August—both months in which Israel’s credit was downgraded. With Moody’s latest downgrade, the bonds are also now bumping up against Louisiana’s legal requirements. A look at the data challenges the idea that Israeli bonds are sound investments. Within Louisiana’s portfolio, “when we aggregate all of the other bonds together, they’re improving in value since September. Whereas the Israel bonds have actually decreased in value since September,” says Ayyub Ibrahim, a data scientist at the Berkeley Institute for Data Science, who examined Louisiana’s holding of Israeli bonds.

“Israel bonds are very, very, very important in terms of the ongoing war,” added Ibrahim. The data he reviewed “goes to the argument that not only are these bonds immoral—they’re also financially not advantageous, given you’re losing money on them.”

Other treasurers have openly indicated they are using taxpayer funds to buy Israeli bonds for ideological reasons. Palm Beach County Comptroller Joseph Abruzzo has repeatedly referred to the need to protect and support Israel as a justification for the purchase.

This, too, could be a violation of state law: Several states that hold Israel bonds—including Florida—have passed legislation that forbids treasurers from making investments for social or political reasons. Abruzzo has—despite his overt backing for Israel—stressed that the investments were not “done for a political purpose whatsoever.”

LEGAL CHALLENGE

As local governments use taxpayer money, they typically invest only in safe, reliable assets. But in Palm Beach County, Abruzzo has invested a startling 16 percent of the county’s portfolio in Israeli bonds—a highly unusual move, and in excess of its legal maximum of 15 percent. That cap was increased from 10 percent by the county in March.

Last spring, lawyers in Palm Beach filed a suit arguing that Abruzzo had violated both state law and a local investment policy that he spearheaded, which says Israel Bonds can be bought as long as they are rated A by S&P and Moody’s—a standard Israel fell below in September.

Lydia Ghuman is one of the legal researchers working on the lawsuit. She notes that the bonds, bought with property tax money, amount to roughly the same as Palm Beach County’s budget deficit of $730 million.

“Florida is going through a housing crisis right now. We’re going through a huge workers’ rights crisis,” stressed Ghuman. “There’s things that need to be funded here, and this is where the

money should be,” she said. She added that she would like to see funds “reinvested in local needs determined by constituents.”

Financial experts cited in the complaint note that it was very unusual for a city to invest such a high percentage of its portfolio in any single entity, never mind a foreign bond.

Justin Marlowe, a research professor at the University of Chicago, said that he did not know of another jurisdiction that had such a high percentage of holdings in a single type of investment. “It does represent a much greater concentration of risk in any portfolio for a public entity that I’ve seen in a long time,” Marlowe was quoted in the complaint note as saying.

Garrett, the University of Pennsylvania assistant professor, noted that if a security falls out of compliance, investment managers are typically legally required to disclose that to a state investment board. Ghuman, the legal researcher on the lawsuit, stated that, according to public records, Abruzzo had not made this required disclosure.

Abruzzo has moved to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing among other points that he should have sovereign immunity, which protects government employees from liability.

“No for-profit company investing its own money would want to dump that much” in a foreign bond, said Ghuman, “but he gets to invest constituents’ taxpayer money.

“That’s where it’s coming from—it comes from property taxes, so it’s no risk to him personally. And it is unusual. It’s very odd…they actually decreased their investment in U.S. Treasury bonds, which are earning more money, and are more stable, and are beating inflation, to put [funds] into Israel bonds, which are not beating inflation, so they’re not making market return on the investment, and they’re more unstable, and have a lower credit rating.”

Kathy Burstein, Abruzzo’s chief communications officer, said in an email that the county has not bought Israeli bonds since March 2024. The office de-

clined to comment further, in light of the pending lawsuit.

As taxpayer funds are sent to prop up Israel’s war effort, some argue the entire arrangement is in violation of federal law.

In April, the organization Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) wrote to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Security Exchange Commission and the State Department, urging them to classify the Israel Development Corporation, the organization that sells Israeli bonds, as a foreign agent.

Israeli bond profits “get handed out largely to [Israeli] government coalition agreements, which oftentimes are where budgets for settlements come from,” explained Michael Omer-Man, DAWN’s director of research for IsraelPalestine, referring to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

For this reason, he said, “Anybody investing in Israel bonds is risking violating the settler sanctions,” which Biden issued in February and expanded in November, amid an increase in settler violence against Palestinians.

DAWN has not received any response to its letters to federal agencies.

Campaigns to stop the purchase of Israeli war bonds are ongoing in Illinois, Ohio, Louisiana and Florida. In the European Union, all Israeli bond sales go through the Central Bank of Ireland, where calls are growing for the bank to halt these sales amid accusations they violate both EU law and an International Court of Justice ruling that the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem is illegal.

The Israel Development Corporation and other underwriters of Israeli bonds “are companies that are controlled by foreign governments and advancing their political and other interests,” said Omer-Man—but “they’re not used to having to answer for these things.”

This article was first posted at <www.al jazeera.com>, Dec. 23, 2024. Copyright © 2024 Al Jazeera Media Network. Reprinted with permission

The U.N. Can End The Middle East Conflict by Welcoming Palestine As a Member

BY JEFFREY SACHS AND SYBIL FARES

The U.N., on its 80th birthday in 2025, can mark the occasion by securing a lasting solution to the conflict in the Middle East, by welcoming the State of Palestine as the 194th U.N. member state. The upcoming U.N. Conference on Palestine, set for June 2025, can be a turning point—a decisive, irreversible path toward peace in the Middle East. The Trump administration would greatly serve America’s interests, and the world’s, by championing the two-state solution and a comprehensive Middle East peace deal, at the gathering in New York in June.

Amid Israel’s shocking brutality in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, a small window of hope has nonetheless emerged. Almost the entire world has coalesced around the two-state solution as the key to regional peace. As a result, a comprehensive deal is now within reach.

The U.N. General Assembly recently adopted a potentially transformative resolution by an overwhelming margin. The UNGA demands an end to Israel’s illegal 1967 occupation and reaffirms its unwavering support for the two-state solution. Most importantly, the resolution laid out a roadmap for establishing a Palestinian state at The High-level International Conference, to be held in June 2025, at the United Nations.

Consider how long the Palestinians, and the world, have waited for this moment. In 1947, the U.N. first took on the responsibility of addressing the Palestinian question. With Resolution 181, the U.N. General Assembly proposed the partition of Mandatory Pales-

tine into two independent states—one Jewish and one Arab. The proposed partition, alas, was neither fair nor agreed upon by the parties. It allocated 44 percent of the land to the Palestinians, though they were 67 percent of the population. Yet before the plan could be revised and settled peacefully, Zionist terror groups began to ethnically cleanse more than 700,000 Palestinians from their homes, the so-called Nakba, or catastrophe, of the Palestinian people.

After Israel declared its unilateral independence, and defeated the Arab neighbors in war, a senior U.N. mediator, Count Folke Bernadotte, tried to resurrect the two-state solution. Yet Bernadotte was assassinated by Lehi, a Zionist paramilitary organization. Israel signed the 1949 Lausanne Protocol, resurrecting the two-state solution under U.N. auspices, but then blatantly disregarded it. What ensued instead was Israel’s 75-year quest to deny Palestinians their rights to a homeland.

For decades, the U.S. government, under the guidance of the Israel lobby, presided over a phoney negotiating process. These efforts ostensibly involved direct bilateral talks between an occupying power and an occupied people, inherently unequal parties, in which Israel’s goal was always to reject a truly sovereign Palestinian state. At best, Israel offered “Bantustans,” that is, little powerless enclaves of Palestinians living under Israel’s control. The U.S.-dominated process has continued since the mid-1970s, including the 1978 Camp David Accords, 1991 Madrid Conference, 1993-1995 Oslo accords, 2000 Camp David Summit, 2003 Quartet Roadmap for Peace, and 2007 Annapolis Conference. In this hall-ofmirrors process, the Israelis have continuously blocked a Palestinian state while the U.S. “mediators” have continuously blamed the Palestinians for their intransigence.

The Trump administration could choose to change the game at the upcoming U.N. conference—in America’s interest, Israel’s long-term interest and

security, and the interest of the Middle East and the world in peace. The U.S. is, in fact, the only remaining veto against a Palestinian state. Israel has no veto on a Palestinian state or on peace for that matter. Only the U.S. has that veto.

Yes, Prime Minister Netanyahu has ideas other than peace. He and his coalition continue to have one purpose: to deny a state of Palestine by expanding Israel’s territorial conquests, now including not only occupied Palestine but also parts of Lebanon and a growing part of Syria.

A new U.S. foreign policy is needed in the Middle East—one that brings about peace rather than endless war. As mandated by the International Court of Justice, and as demonstrated through the General Assembly, G20, BRICS, League of Arab States, the overwhelming majority of the world favors the two-state solution.

The U.N. Conference on Palestine is therefore a key and vital opportunity, one that could unlock a comprehensive peace for the Middle East, including seven interconnected measures:

1. An immediate U.N.-mandated ceasefire across all fronts of the conflict, including Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Iran, and the immediate release of hostages and prisoners of war across all entities.

2. The admission of a sovereign State of Palestine as 194th U.N. member state on the June 4, 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem; the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in 1967, with the simultaneous introduction of U.N.mandated international forces and security guarantees to protect all populations.

3. The protection of the territorial integrity and stability of Lebanon and Syria, and the full demilitarization of all non-state forces, and withdrawal of all foreign armies from the respective countries.

4. The adoption of an updated Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran, and the end of all economic and other sanctions on Iran.

5. The termination, including defunding and disarmament of belligerent non-state entities, of all claims or states of belligerency, and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area (without excluding the possibility of subsequent territorial adjustments, security arrangements, and cooperative forms of governance agreed by the sovereign parties).

6. The establishment of regional peace and normalization of diplomatic relations by all Arab and Islamic states with Israel.

7. The establishment of an Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East Sustainable Development Fund to support the reconstruction, economic recovery and sustainable development of the region.

After far too many decades of violence and wars, the chance for peace is here and now. The U.N.’s endeavor for a comprehensive peace is our best hope and opportunity in decades.

Jeffrey D. Sachs is a university professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University. Sybil Fares is adviser on the Middle East and Africa for U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network. This article was first posted at <www.al jazeera.com>, Jan. 10, 2025. The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance. Copyright © 2025 Al Jazeera Media Network. Reprinted with permission.

The Predictable Capitulation of Tulsi Gabbard

BY PATRICK LAWRENCE

Well, Tulsi Gabbard now says she is all for the unconstitutional law that permits the national security state to surveil Americans without obtaining legal warrants beforehand—a law Donald Trump’s nominee for director

of national intelligence has previously and vigorously pledged to repeal.

As President-elect Trump’s inauguration approaches and his cabinet appointments will be confirmed or rejected in Senate hearings, Gabbard’s inyour-face betrayal of public trust ought to focus our minds very sharply and very fast. Some of these minds, I will say straightaway, have drifted far from reality since Trump began announcing his nominees. This was especially so in the case of Gabbard.

As soon as Trump proposed Gabbard as his DNI, the shared expectation in some quarters, most of whose inhabitants I respect, was that she would— singlehandedly, I gathered from the commentaries—bring the hydraheaded monster euphemistically called “the intelligence community” under some semblance of political-civilian control.

And now this: Professing support for Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act after opposing it for years, Gabbard seems to have shocked a lot of people. Reading this in the large, she has just told America it’s the same old imperium after all.

Shall we join to sing “Up, Up, and Away” now that all the beautiful balloons have fallen to Earth and the world’s not a nicer place and doesn’t wear a nicer face?

Until her stunning volte-face last weekend, Gabbard had been singlemindedly steadfast in her opposition to many FISA provisions, notably but not only Section 702. A lot of people, I among them, put this among the most significant positions Gabbard, the former congresswoman, had taken on any policy question.

WARRANTLESS WIRETAPPING

FISA was passed in its original version in 1978. It was amended at various times in subsequent years, and heavily after the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Section 702 was written into the act in 2008 in response to media revelations that the National Security Agency was surveilling Americans without first obtaining warrants from the FISA Court,

which adjudicates corruptly and in secret.

Logically enough, in adding Section 702 to the surveillance act Congress simply made what was previously illegal legal. In a trice, what had been a breach of the Fourth Amendment was written into law—in the name of the Fourth Amendment, of course.

You had to admire Gabbard for all the noise she made about Section 702 during her years in Congress as a Democrat from Hawaii. She voted against reauthorization on several occasions.

In 2020 she co-sponsored a bill with Thomas Massie, a Republican and an ardent constitutionalist from Kentucky, to repeal not only the post–Sept. 11 FISA Amendments Act, but the whole of the egregious PATRIOT Act.

Gabbard quoted Ben Franklin and laid into the intelligence apparatus for “not [being] transparent or honest with the American people or even Congress about what they’ve been doing.” Among much else, the bill she co-sponsored made retaliation against whistleblowers illegal and banned the National Security Agency’s use of the “back doors” the NSA was using to gain access to computers, telephones, televisions and who knew what else.

The Protect Our Civil Liberties Act did not pass, needless to say. But it was a carefully researched, serious piece of legislation.

Then, long story short, came Trump’s tap on Gabbard’s shoulder. She seemed an obvious choice for a president-elect determined to prevent the Deep State—the Central Intelligence Agency and the rest of the national security apparatus—from subverting his second term as it had his first.

It does not look now as if Gabbard will perform this service for Donald Trump even if she wins Senate confirmation when her nomination comes up for review. And at this writing her political fate remains a question.

SURPRISE, SURPRISE

The press I am reading from Washington indicates that Gabbard has little

chance of winning any Democrat’s support for her nomination, so thoroughly and disgracefully has the party allied with intel since the old Russiagate days. On the Republican side, they have made it plain that Gabbard’s stance on Section 702 of the FISA laws is more or less make-or-break: insofar as she can become DNI or sent back to the wilderness.

Gabbard has been working the corridors on Capitol Hill for weeks, the Washington press corps reports. Given it was clear all along what she would have to say to win over sufficient Republican senators, her capitulation on a question she has owned these past five years cannot be taken as so sudden as it may seem. Oddly, it is a surprise and no surprise all at once.

Gabbard chose a minor web publication, Punchbowl News, to drop her bomb. Section 702 “must be safeguarded to protect our nation while ensuring the civil liberties of Americans,” she said in an exclusive interview published last Friday.

“If confirmed as DNI, I will uphold Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights while maintaining vital national security tools like Section 702 to ensure the safety and freedom of the American people.”

Jeez. John Brennan or James Clapper would not have put it much differently.

A date for Gabbard’s confirmation hearings is not yet set—a curious circumstance, it seems to me. But given how abjectly she has pressed her forehead to the Senate’s marble floor, my money is she will be named the new DNI.

Things will get very Biblical if I turn out to be right. Gabbard will have betrayed herself and a great many others, she will have her 30 pieces of silver, and then she will hang herself—this if she even glances in the direction of her previous agenda.

Anyone who could not see this coming was not looking carefully enough. There are only three fates available for people who go to Washington with the forlorn intention of turning an im-

perium incapable of change in another direction:

The imperial seat either eats you alive, it sends you home, or you leave of your own volition with your principles intact. Gabbard seemed to be one of these last for a time; now she is in the first category.

I look at Trump’s proposed cabinet, a pitiful bunch, Zionists all, who will accomplish nothing interesting when the second Trump regime begins doing business, and my mind focuses on a simple question: Where is the left in all of this?

As the Gabbard surrender reminds me, there is not a single voice of any consequence that can be called antiimperial—how anachronistic a term is this?—or speaks seriously of the kind of radical domestic transformation that is all America has time for at this late hour.

I do not mean the authentic left, I should add. The left worthy of the name succumbed long ago to suppression operations, post–Vietnam propaganda, and death by fratricide. Lately there are the subversions of the identitarian juveniles.

I mean “the left” in quotation marks, what passes for the left in the American context. Gene McCarthy, any of the Kennedys, McGovern: Not even these kinds of figures can survive in Washington now, where the only party, as the late Steve Cohen used to say, is the War Party.

People with good minds, heads on their shoulders, are marooned on the edges of their seats hoping for the best out of someone such as Tulsi Gabbard—a figure who has done some good things but who, as is now evident, has no sound political principles, no intellectual discipline, anything that is not negotiable.

Up, up, and away: At least, best outcome, we will all forget about balloons and focus our minds on what truly needs doing, at, as I say, this late hour.

CORRECTION: Because of an editing error an earlier version of this story said FISA was amended in 2008 because of revelations by Edward Snowden, which

didn’t come until 2013. §702 was passed in response to a New York Times article about George W. Bush’s warrantless surveillance.

Patrick Lawrence, a correspondent abroad for many years, chiefly for The International Herald Tribune, is a columnist, essayist, lecturer and author, most recently of Journalists and Their Shadows, available from Clarity Press or via Amazon. Other books include Time No Longer: Americans After the American Century. His Twitter account, @thefloutist, has been permanently censored. This article was first posted at <www.consortiumnews.com>, Jan. 15, 2025. The views expressed are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News. Copyright © 2025 Consortium News. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.

Washington Celebrates al-Qaeda’s Victory in Syria

BY KYLE ANZALONE

Washington finally completed its dirty war in Syria. What started as a CIA covert operation to smuggle weapons and jihadists from Libya to Syria has resulted in Syria leader Bashar al-Assad being deposed and replaced by Abu Mohammad al-Julani. Julani found his way to Damascus by rising through the ranks of al-Qaeda in Iraq. Inspired by the 9/11 attack, he joined AQI to fight against the U.S. during the Iraq war. Julani was a close associate of both AQI leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and founded the alQaeda affiliate group in Syria in coordination with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

As more Americans became aware of the CIA’s covert operation in Syria to back jihadists, Julani changed his organization’s name from Al Nusra to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, then Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) to obscure his group’s al-Qaeda links. However, HTS was no moderate group and focused on bringing ISIS forces under Julani’s control

following the collapse of Baghdadi’s caliphate.

Even the U.S. State Department was not fooled by Julani’s rebrands. In 2017, the State Department issued a $10 million reward for the capture of Julani.

For most of the past decade, Julani has ruled over northwestern Syria under the protection of Washington’s NATO ally, Turkey. Had Turkish troops not set up outposts surrounding Julani’s territory, Syria, and its Russian, Iranian and Hezbollah allies, may have eliminated the lingering jihadist threat. During this period, Julani’s Idlib province was the largest safe haven for jihadists on the planet.

Since the ISIS caliphate was defeated, the frontlines in the Syrian war largely froze. Still, Washington and its allies engaged in a relentless assault on Damascus.

Turkey protected jihadists on Syria’s northern border, allowing them to terrorize the Kurds that lived there.

Israel engaged in weekly strikes on Assad and his allied forces. Over the past year, those strikes have escalated to hit civilian and diplomatic targets in downtown Damascus. Tel Aviv even bombed the Aleppo airport following a major earthquake, preventing aid from reaching the desperate citizens.

The U.S. illegally occupied the eastern quarter of Syria, exploiting and stealing some of Damascus’s most valuable resources. In this region, the U.S. allowed the Kurds to lord power over the local Arabs. The Kurdish SDF runs a massive torture prison known as the alHol camp, and local citizens protest the Kurds conscripting their children as young as 15.

Washington waged an economic war on Syria, deliberately meant to prevent Damascus from rebuilding its war-destroyed infrastructure. The U.S. also bombed Assad’s allied forces near the Iraq-Syria border.

Additionally, Turkey and Ukraine used this period to bolster the HTS forces.

The long-frozen conflict thawed rapidly over the past two weeks. Seem-

ingly in coordination with the announcement of a truce in Lebanon, Julani’s forces went on the march, first seizing Aleppo. Reported to be aided by advanced drones, HTS made quick work of any Syria forces that resisted, and on Sunday, Julani arrived in Damascus and declared the “mujahideen” won the war. And Washington celebrated.

“Syria is free. The rebels won. The people liberated themselves from tyranny. Freedom won,” The Washington Post’s Josh Rogin wrote on X. “Russia, Iran, Hezbollah & Assad lost. Historic. The road ahead for Syria won’t be easy. But it will be better than the past. The world should celebrate Syria’s liberation & help it succeed.”

Post columnist Max Boot wrote, “Assad—after a quarter-century of ruthless rule—had fled the country. Syria was free at last.”

“The fall of Assad. On some days, one can believe that while the arc of the moral universe is long, it bends toward justice,” neocon Bill Krystol wrote on X.

Of course, what happened to Syria is not about the Syrians. The real goal of Washington was to weaken Damascus because they believed it would weaken Moscow, Tehran and Hezbollah.

What happens next in Syria is unlikely to be good for many of the minority groups that enjoyed some level of protection under Assad. However, Washington and its allies are swooping in like hungry vultures to feast on the remains of Syria.

Shortly after Assad left Damascus, in Tel Aviv Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced Israel would be seizing a “buffer zone” in southwestern Syria. Turkey also launched airstrikes on a Kurdish-held city in northern Syria.

No doubt, in the coming days, we will hear crowing from the hawks in Washington about their triumph in Syria by severing Tehran’s land connection to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. In the White House, Biden’s staff is no doubt discussing how to ex-

ploit Assad’s downfall as far as possible; this includes attempts to remove Russia from its military bases along Syria’s Mediterranean coast.

The biggest losers in Syria are the Syrian people, who, for nearly a decade and a half, have been subject to a brutal and complex war that shows no signs of ending. They have been bombed by a seemingly unending number of countries, all with their unique geopolitical interests. The Syrian people have been intentionally starved and impoverished by the U.S. to bring about Assad’s downfall. While Assad was a tyrant, no doubt Julani will come with his own, and likely more oppressive, tyranny.

Among the other losers are the American people. More American lives and treasure were wasted on a project to dispose of another Middle East dictator. In Iraq and Libya, this policy caused unimaginable suffering for the locals.

The top threat is that our government has empowered the only true enemies of the American people. Iran, Russia, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, Assad’s Syria, etc. all present no threat to the American homeland. However, now an al-Qaeda terrorist sits on the throne in Damascus, and Washington’s support for Tel Aviv’s genocide in Gaza has given him an endless supply of anti-American hatred.

Kyle Anzalone is the opinion editor of Antiwar.com and news editor of the Libertarian Institute. He hosts “The Kyle Anzalone Show” and is co-host of “Conflicts of Interest” with Connor Freeman. This article was first posted at <www.antiwar.com>, Dec. 9, 2024. Copyright © 2024 Antiwar.com. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.

The Day the Media Decided Militant Jihadism Was Respectable

BY JONATHAN COOK

Here is a very strange thing. For years, Western media outlets and politicians have been recklessly indifferent to the fact that Hamas is not a jihadist movement, like al-Qaeda or Islamic State, but a specifically Palestinian national resistance movement—if one underpinned by an Islamist ideology that distinguishes it from secular Palestinian national movements like Fatah.

Shortly after Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stood alongside U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and claimed unchallenged: “Hamas is ISIS [Islamic State]…and Hamas should be treated exactly the way ISIS was treated.”

But Hamas, unlike al-Qaeda and Islamic State, is not seeking to recreate a caliphate embracing all Muslims wherever they live, indifferent to national borders. It wants to create a Palestinian state in Palestine. Israel is determined to stop any Palestinian state emerging, even it means committing genocide.

Hamas does not demand strict adherence to religious law, and it does not prioritize Islam over Palestinian national identity.

It is not, as Israel and its apologists in the West try to persuade us, part of some Islamic crusade, waging a global war against the values of a supposed Judeo-Christian “civilization.”

Hamas does not oppress Christians (a Christian community existed quite peacefully in Gaza until Israel started bombing their churches), or force women to wear the veil.

The UK’s designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization in both its military and political-welfare wings has been justified in large part on this misrepresentation of Hamas’ ideological character.

I raise this matter not to praise Hamas (see the legal footnote below) but to highlight the current, outrageous hypocrisy of the entire Western media corps.

We now have an al-Qaeda offshoot in Syria, rebranded as HTS. And Western journalists, led as ever by the BBC, are

falling over themselves to explain how the group has transformed itself overnight from head-chopping jihadism into a moderate, “diversity-friendly” Syrian national resistance movement.

The media is suddenly deeply concerned to clarify the difference between militant jihadism and Islamic national resistance, and insist that the latter is respectable.

That, of course, is being presented as the rationale for the British and U.S. governments to quickly end the designation of HTS as a terrorist organization, even as the same governments keep Hamas in its entirety proscribed. It is the reason given for embracing this al-Qaeda retread as a good Syrian nationalist movement, and one supposedly keen to unify the country.

The point is: the Western media is quite capable of understanding the difference between jihadists and Islamic nationalists when they want to. But they only want to when the British and U.S. national security states tell them to.

That is the behavior of what we are told is a “free press.”

LEGAL FOOTNOTE: The above observations are made for purely analytical purposes and are not intended in any way to “encourage support” for Hamas, which would be in violation of Section 12 of the UK’s Terrorism Act. Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the UK government.

After all, who are we to question the government’s wisdom in using counterterror legislation to jail journalists for up to 14 years for pointing out the inconsistent application of its policies?

Who are we to question the right of the British police to raid the homes of independent journalists, investigate and arrest them, as has happened to Richard Medhurst and Asa Winstanley, for allegedly not sticking closely enough to the UK government’s position on Hamas?

Who are we to question why the British media, upholders of a glorious tradition of press freedom, are not applying the same reporting standards to Hamas and HTS—or reporting on the arrest and investigation of independent

journalists by police for supposedly violating Section 12 in relation to Hamas when the police appear utterly indifferent about enforcing Section 12 in relation to HTS?

None of the foregoing should be seen in any way to suggest that Britain is not fully democratic, or that it is exhibiting any signs of becoming a police state.

Jonathan Cook is an award-winning British journalist. A 2011 recipient of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism, he was based in Nazareth, Israel, for 20 years, returning to the UK in 2021. He is the author of three books on the Israel-Palestine conflict, and has also contributed chapters and essays to several edited volumes on Israel-Palestine. This article was first posted on his blog at <www.jonathan-cook.net>, Dec. 10, 2024. His work is also available at <jonathancook. substack.com>. Reprinted with permission.

Iran: America’s Next War of Choice

BY DOUGLAS MACGREGOR AND JAMES W. CARDEN

Peace is not at hand in the Middle East, and Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu remains determined to expand the war. Syria’s de facto partition into Israeli and Turkish territories is the prelude to wider war with Iran. As the Times of Israel reported last week, the Israeli air force (IAF) has “continued to increase its readiness and preparations” for “potential strikes in Iran.”

Netanyahu’s top priority is the destruction of Iran before Russia wraps up its victory in Ukraine and Syria becomes a new battleground for Turks and Israelis. It’s not simply the end of Washington’s “rules-based international order.” It’s the onset of chaos. Israeli forces and Turkish auxiliaries (i.e., the Islamist terrorists who sacked Syria) are already staring at each other across a demarcation line that runs east-west just south of Damascus. Netanyahu harbors

no illusions about the conflict between Ankara’s long-term strategic aims in the region and Jerusalem’s determination to claim the Syrian spoils of war.

In addition to serious financial trouble and societal discontent on the home front, President-elect Donald Trump now confronts the dangerous distraction of wars he did not start, wars that will bring his administration and his country no strategic benefit. America’s underwriting of Netanyahu’s expanding war in the Middle East will endanger U.S. national security and guarantee that Washington, its armed forces, and the U.S. economy will be hostage to whatever strategic direction Netanyahu decides to take.

Starting the war sooner, rather than later, is critical for Netanyahu. War with Iran presents Trump with a strategic fait accompli. In case Trump decides to distance the United States from another bloodbath in the Middle East, Israel’s ongoing conflict with Iran and Turkey’s potential confrontation with Israel will make disengagement impossible.

American policy planners need to understand the larger context in which this is all unfolding—and why a war on Iran will ultimately bring us and our alleged Israeli friends to grief. The principal aim of U.S. foreign policy planners ought to be the adaptation of the American economy and military establishment to the multipolar world and the development of new markets, not new enemies. Washington’s refusal to acknowledge the fundamental shifts in power and wealth lies at the heart of much of the Biden administration’s foreign policy failure.

A successful management of change would avoid a conflict with Iran; it would peacefully reconcile competing claims to regional hegemony, as the Chinese recently did with their brokering of the historic rapprochement between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran. It would revitalize such multilateral organizations as the U.N. Security Council and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. These actions would cultivate the emergence of new

constellations of power along the lines of Metternich and Castlereagh’s 1815 Concert of Europe. Just as no question of strategic security in Europe can be solved without Russian participation, Washington cannot create stability in the Middle East by unconditionally backing Israel’s territorial ambitions.

An American failure to manage its own transition to multipolarity will create more chaos and ignite a major war in the Middle East, not to mention a full blown war with Russia and, eventually, China. An outlook that prioritizes avoiding conflict, not starting new conflicts, must replace nearly three decades of feckless leadership in foreign affairs. New thinking in defense and foreign policy should rank diplomacy and peaceful cooperation first over the use of military power.

Bonaparte quipped that in war, truth is the first casualty. Nothing has changed since then. Washington is a veritable fountainhead of lies feeding an unending stream of false narratives regarding the true character of the jihadist hordes raging across Syria. For our purposes, however, it is important to note the alignment of powers behind the Islamist factions now pillaging and terrorizing Syria.

Washington seems blithely oblivious to Syria’s destruction and the emergence of joint Israeli-Turkish hegemony across the Near East. The disintegration of Syria does, however, open up a short window of opportunity for Tel Aviv to attack Iran. As the Times of Israel report noted, while previously the “IAF would not fly directly over Damascus when carrying out strikes on Iran-linked targets in the capital, it now can.”

Netanyahu believes he has the wind at his back: Emboldened by the collapse of the Assad regime, he will turn his attention to Lebanon, southern Syria and the West Bank. One predictable consequence of an attack on Iran will be a solidifying of the Chinese-brokered Iran-Saudi rapprochement—and a hardening of the blocs in the Greater Middle East, which will see Iran, backed by Russia, China and Saudi Arabia, set against a temporary Israel-Turkish bloc backed by Washing-

ton and its European vassals.

Iran is not Iraq: At 90 million people, it has double Iraq’s population, has a more developed economy and has more powerful allies than Saddam Hussain ever did. Contrary to neoconservative expectations, there are no cakewalks in the greater Middle East.

The only certainty amid the chaos is that, thanks to the connivance of Biden, Netanyahu and Erdogan, a wider war in the greater Middle East is only just beginning. It is one we will come to regret.

Douglas Macgregor, Col. (ret.) is a senior fellow with The American Conservative, the former adviser to the secretary of defense in the Trump administration, CEO of Our Country Our Choice, a decorated combat veteran, and the author of five books. James W. Carden is a contributing editor to The American Conservative and a former adviser to the U.S. State Department. This article was first posted at <www.theamericanconservative.com>, Dec. 17, 2024. Copyright© 2024 The American Conservative. Reprinted with permission.

Iran to Move Capital to Southern Coast

BY MASON LETTEAU STALLINGS

An Iranian government spokeswoman has announced that the country will move its capital to the southern coastal region of Makran. The relocation of the Iranian capital has been a longstanding debate within the country, with the government conducting six inquiries since 1989 into the feasibility of such a move.

The reasons for such a move include power outages in Tehran, which developed into a full-blown energy crisis late last year due to aging infrastructure, sanctions, and Israeli strikes. Other factors include overpopulation and water scarcity.

Another possible factor for the shift in capital could be for reasons of regime stability. The recent collapse of the Syrian Arab Republic was caused in

part by uprisings in and around the capital city of Damascus, which was far from the Assad regime’s coastal support base around Latakia. The Islamic Republic may wish a capital city more politically secure.

Security concerns might also contribute to the decision to move the capital, due to successful recent Israeli operations in Tehran. In July, Israel successfully assassinated Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ political leader, while Haniyeh was in Tehran for a presidential inauguration.

The announcement stated that the exact location of the new capital has yet to be determined. “The new capital will definitely be in the south, in the Makran region,” government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani stated on Tuesday. “This matter is currently being worked on.”

The announcement comes a week after Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that the capital should be moved toward the Persian Gulf for reasons of economic efficiency.

“Transporting raw materials from the south to the center, processing them, and then returning them south for export drains our competitive capacity,” Pezeshkian stated. “We must shift the country’s economic and political center to the south and closer to the sea.”

The move of building a new capital city is not unique to Iran. Egypt is currently developing a new capital city between Cairo and Sinai, which is provisionally called the “New Administrative Capital.”

Tehran was first made the capital of Iran by Agha Mohammad Khan, the founder of the Qajar dynasty, in 1786. Beforehand, the Iranian capital was located in Shiraz, in central Iran.

Mason Latteau Stallings, the summer ‘24 ISI editorial intern at The American Conservative, is a student at Washington University in St. Louis and the editor-in-chief of the Danforth Dispatch, an independent studentnewspaper at that university. This article was first posted at <www.theamericanconservative.com>, Jan. 9, 2025. Copyright© 2025 The American Conservative. Reprinted with permission.

The Israel Exception From U.S. Laws

By Bruce Fein

A person holds a brochure for land for sale in Israel and the occupied West Bank while draped in an Israeli flag on Sept. 15, 2024, in Cedarhurst, New York. The Israeli real estate expo held at a local synagogue, Young Israel of Lawrence‐Cedarhurst, encouraged Jews to buy land in Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and brought out demonstrators on both sides of the issue.

THE LIFE OF THE LAW is neither logic nor justice. Raw power is paramount whether in lawmaking, interpretation or application. French poet and journalist Anatole France captured the idea in this quip: “The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal their bread.”

Israel occupies the apex of power in the United States. Notwithstanding his ongoing criminal trial in Israel for breach of trust, bribery and fraud and the arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu received 55 standing ovations in addressing a joint session of Congress on July 24, 2024, a high-water mark of legislative exuberance. Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY) related to Tucker Carlson that he is the only Republican in Congress not to have an American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)

Bruce Fein was associate deputy attorney general under President Reagan and is author of American Empire Before The Fall. Twitter: @brucefeinesq. He is currently an international and constitutional lawyer <www.lawofficesofbrucefein.com>.

minder. AIPAC is notorious for brandishing its financial clout to crush political opposition, as it did in 2024 with former House members Cori Bush (D-MO) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY).

U.S. LAWS WITH DE FACTO ISRAEL EXCEPTIONS

It is no surprise, therefore, that the law is routinely warped to cosset or shield Israel. One prominent example is the Leahy Law of 1997, which prohibits security assistance to any security unit of a foreign country credibly accused of a gross violation of human rights, such as extrajudicial killing, torture or prolonged arbitrary detention. The State Department has de facto carved out an Israel exception to the Leahy Law. No Israeli security unit has ever been disqualified from U.S. security assistance despite what all the world knows and can see in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East.

Author James Bamford, in his meticulously documented book Spyfail, confirms AIPAC is an unregistered “foreign agent” of Israel under the Foreign Agents Registration Act that the U.S. Department of Justice ignores. Registration is required of an entity that, among

PHOTO BY STEPHANIE KEITH/GETTY IMAGES

other things, acts at the “request” of a foreign principal to influence the public policy of the United States. To believe Prime Minister Netanyahu has never “requested” AIPAC in body language or clues to influence Congress and public opinion to support Israel after Oct. 7, 2023, takes fantasy to a new level. AIPAC worked hand in hand with the Israeli government to oppose the sale of AWACs to Saudi Arabia in 1981. Did the left hand not know what the right hand was doing? Think of an analogy. When King Henry II, during a Christmas dinner with four knights in 1170, rhetorically asked, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?” the words were understood as a request to murder Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, which promptly ensued.

Predictably, the Internal Revenue Code has also been warped to benefit the Israel war machine. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is instructed to disregard form over substance in administering the tax code. Section 7701 (o) (5) (A) of Title 26, for instance, disregards transactions without any valid material business purpose. The doctrine of substance over form logically applies to the operations of taxexempt charities under section 501 (c) (3) of the code.

Treasury regulations underscore that a tax-exempt entity must operate exclusively to advance charitable purposes, which exclude supporting or subsidizing military objectives. A tax-exempt organization must align with established public policy according to the 1983 ruling of the United States Supreme Court in Bob Jones University v. United States: “[E]ntitlement to tax exemption depends on meeting certain common law standards of charity—namely, that an institution seeking tax-exempt status must serve a public purpose and not be contrary to established public policy.” Supporting a foreign government is not a recognized charitable purpose.

Based on these background tax exemption principles, an indeterminate number of 501 (c) (3) organizations with an Israel nexus seem in violation of their tax-exempt status. One Israel Fund’s stated mission is “fostering the flourishing of Jewish life in all areas of our Biblical Heartland, as well as other regions throughout Israel.” Among other things, the fund is raising donations to equip West Bank settlers with military equipment and infrastructure. That includes “dozens of command and dispatch centers throughout West Bank settlements and roughly $250,000 to add

searchlights, PA systems and Israeli military communications systems to vehicles the military has purchased for settler security teams.”

One Israel Fund is performing an Israeli government function in the West Bank, which is a disqualifying, non-charitable purpose. Further, the International Court of Justice has issued an advisory opinion to the United Nations General Assembly declaring the West Bank settlements illegal. The United States professes support for international law, and thus One Israel Fund’s support for West Bank settlements would misalign with U.S. public policy, disqualifying it from tax-exempt status.

The tax-exempt Jewish National Fund has donated millions of dollars to support Israeli West Bank settlers and settlement expansion. Hebron Fund is raising donations for surveillance equipment for Israeli settlements in Hebron. American Friends of Ateret Cohanim provides military equipment to Jerusalem settlers. HaYovel is raising funds for the purchase and distribution of security items for settlers, such as night vision binoculars, protective vests, aerial surveillance drones, helmets and flashlights. American Friends of Sar El places American volunteers on Israeli military

bases across the West Bank and Israel. All these organizations seem in violation of their section 501 (c) (3) status because these activities are misaligned with U.S. policy regarding international law and are substitutes for functions of the government of Israel. The tax-exempt status of the Ari Fuld Project seems equally dubious. Its stated objective is to help “[Israel Defense Forces] units around the country gear-up for fighting.”

It is likely that the foregoing examples are but the tip of the iceberg of synagogues or other Jewish entities raising funds to provide security equipment to armed militias in the West Bank or Gaza, especially after Oct. 7, 2003.

The IRS predictably has not lifted a finger to investigate these tax-exempt organizations. It marches to the Israel lobby, not the law, just like the Justice Department has done nothing to enforce the Foreign Agents Registration Act. That leaves the judicial branch as the last best hope for enforcing U.S. law.

CHALLENGING THE ISRAEL EXCEPTION: THE QUESTION OF STANDING

In theory, a private party or organization like the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) could sue the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of organizations that are directly or indirectly acting as surrogates for the Israeli government or providing funds or equipment to support military or illegal settler ambitions. The constitutional doctrine of Article III “standing,” however, is a Gordian knot that would need to be cut at the outset.

Standing requires a plaintiff to credibly allege an imminent or actual concrete injury that is proximately caused by the alleged illegal conduct and would reasonably be likely to be remedied by a

judgment in the plaintiff’s favor. The alleged section 501 (c) (3) violations predominantly threaten West Bank Palestinians with actual or imminent death, physical or mental harm, displacement or destruction of property. Finding such plaintiffs, however, would be challenging. Moreover, standing might still fail because the West Bank Palestinians would not seem to fall within the “zone of interests” protected by the statutory limitations on the operations of section 501 (c) (3) organizations.

Proximate cause is also a problem. A plaintiff would need plausibly to allege that military assistance provided by the section 501 (c) (3) entity is a substantial cause of the imminent fear of death, injury, displacement or destruction of property by the IDF or settler militias. That nexus seems dubious because the volume of security assistance provided by a single section 501 (c) (3) entity is probably relatively small compared with all the militarily useful resources available to the IDF or private militias. And even if the taxexempt status of a scofflaw organization were revoked, it might continue to provide the disqualifying military-related assistance as a non-exempt organization; or the IDF or militias might find substitute recourses elsewhere, leaving the imminent threat to the plaintiff undiminished.

As an organization, the ADC could not claim standing simply because its ideological mission in whole or in part is to lessen violence or threats against Pales-

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tinians in the West Bank or Gaza. Ideological injury does not satisfy Article III standing according to the 1976 Supreme Court decision in Simon v. EKWRO. The ADC would need a member who independently would qualify as a plaintiff to have standing. That is unlikely for the reasons elaborated above. Federal courts in general have been extremely unfriendly to private parties who claim to have standing to challenge the tax-exempt status of section 501 (c) (3) entities; the 1989 decision in In re U.S. Catholic Conference is one of many examples of judicial hostility to such arguments.

A MARATHON, NOT A SPRINT

Federal courts may be unfriendly, but this does not mean that they are incapable of change. The law must be courted, not taken by storm. Decades are often required to upend ill-conceived precedents. It took 58 years to overturn the benighted separate-but-equal doctrine of the 1896 case Plessy v. Ferguson with the color-blind mandate of the 1954 landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education

The time to start challenging Israel’s privileged status under the law is now. President John F. Kennedy was wont to relate the story of French marshal and statesman Hubert Lyautey’s instruction to his gardener to plant a tree. When told that it might take a century to mature, Lyautey memorably retorted, “In that case, plant it this afternoon.” ■

To Fight Injustice: Stand Up for the American Ideals of Equality and Dignity

By Delinda C. Hanley

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP was unimpressed by the powerful and compassionate sermon delivered by the Episcopal bishop of Washington, DC the day after his inauguration. Addressing Trump from the pulpit of the Washington National Cathedral, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde challenged Trump’s executive orders harming vulnerable communities, including immigrants and LGBTQ+ Americans. “I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now...Have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. Help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here.”

Her words reflected the values of a majority of Americans who actually love their neighbors, care for the oppressed and seek justice for all. Bishop Budde prayed for unity in a polarized America and urged each of us to work to realize the “ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence, with its assertion of innate

human equality and dignity.” She challenged her audience, saying, “it’s incumbent upon us to speak the truth, even when— and especially when—it costs us.”

Trump called Budde’s sermon “nasty in tone,” “boring” and “uninspiring,” but within days her words were repeated in churches, synagogues, mosques and temples around the country.

On “Saturday Night Live,” the weekend before Trump’s second inauguration, comedian Dave Chappelle urged Trump and all of us to “do better next time” because the world is counting on us. Chappelle recalled his eye-opening visit to Israel and the occupied territories and spoke the truth—even if it cost him future shows. Referring to the devastation caused by fires in California and Israeli attacks on Gaza, he said, “Please have empathy for displaced people whether they’re in the Palisades or Palestine.”

“Confronting a Slaughter: The Church as a Prophetic Voice in Ending Genocide and Apartheid in Palestine,” was the title of another truly powerful and inspiring talk hosted by a new group called Orthodox Christians for Palestine (OCP) on Jan. 25 at Saints Peter and Paul Antiochian Church in Potomac, MD. Along with parishioners at Saint George Antiochian Orthodox Church

Delinda C. Hanley is executive editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs

(L) Father Paul Abernathy urges Americans to stop supporting the genocide of the indigenous people of Palestine. (R) Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde calls for President Trump to show mercy, on Jan. 21, 2025 in Washington, DC.

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in Washington, OCP is working with Orthodox Christians in North America and the Holy Land to educate, advocate for justice and peace and fundraise for scholarships and medical treatment for Palestinian children.

Father Paul Abernathy, an Orthodox Christian priest at Saint Moses the Black Orthodox Church in Pittsburgh, PA and a board member of Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA), electrified listeners of every faith who filled the pews.

Abernathy began by saying Zionism is racism and racism is a sin against God. This Zionist ideology reflected the tribal attitudes of racism in Europe which is where Zionists came from before the birth of the Jewish state. Zionism advocated for a return of Jews to Palestine and the ethnic cleansing of indigenous Palestinians so that Israel could be a pure Jewish state.

“Zionism is not an ideology that is reserved simply for Jews,” Abernathy said. “Christian Zionism is a significant part of this problem...this particular brand of Christianity has been present in the United States since its inception.” It’s how you could say you were Christian and participate in the slave trade.

The hypocrisy of slaveholding American Christians was not unlike the brand of Christianity that killed or displaced millions of indigenous people in the creation of this nation. To implement assimilation, their children were removed and placed in government-funded, and often church-run, Indian boarding schools where many were abused and more than 3,000 died between 1828 and 1970.

“This is the same Christianity that [accepts] murdering Palestinians in the name of God...this kind of Christian Zionism mocks God,” Abernathy said. There are books and dissertations written by scholars about Christian Zionism. It is theologically incorrect and even heresy. “It is so American but this is not the spirit of America that I will be a part of as an Orthodox Christian priest, and there have always been other Christians who opposed this wicked brand of Christianity.”

Turning to the Israeli apartheid state’s ongoing campaign to ethnically cleanse and oppress the people of Palestine, Abernathy said it is extraordinary that we hear so much about Palestinian violence. He said he saw with his own eyes Israeli troops firing teargas and rubber bullets every Friday at men, women and children in Bil’in who were peacefully protesting the apartheid wall that separates them from their work and families. In 2018, during the Great March of Return, Israeli military snipers shot 6,000 unarmed demonstrators week after week at protest sites by the separation wall. Our media doesn’t talk about the nonviolence of Palestinians because they are committed to upholding the Zionist state, Abernathy opined.

Before he became a priest, Abernathy served in the U.S. Army during the U.S. bombing campaign and devastating ground invasion of Iraq. The legacy press talked only about how many U.S. troops were killed each day, omitting the horrendous Iraqi death toll. Abernathy recalled meeting a man in Baghdad and asking him what it was like to be in a country where the government controlled all of the news. “He looked at me like the foolish American that I was and said, ‘well the difference between us and you is that we know that we’re being lied to.’”

In spite of the fact that Israel has forbidden the entry of international press into Gaza unless they are embedded with Israeli soldiers, Abernathy said, “We are living in unprecedented times because the genocide in Gaza has the atrocious distinction of being the most documented genocide in human history...Israel has treated Palestinians in Gaza as a subhuman group unworthy of human rights and dignity.”

Because Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us that silence is betrayal, last year he and other Pittsburgh ministers decided to speak with Zionist rabbis who were calling openly for genocide in Palestine. The ministers believed that apartheid in Palestine and the genocide in Gaza is an offense against God and they wanted the rabbis to repent. One minister asked a Zionist rabbi

if he’d read the prophets of the Old Testament who condemned egregious crimes against humanity. The rabbi said he was “not that into prophets.” Abernathy speculated that racists like Adolph Hitler and lovers of Jim Crow were also “not that into the prophets.”

This is the time when we must speak out to condemn sins against God and call for sinners to repent, Abernathy said. There are many accounts of slaveholders who asked their slaves to join them at their deathbed to beg them for their forgiveness, Abernathy said. “I think sometimes about all these [Israel Occupation Forces] soldiers who are so proud of their genocide that they’re committing, and I wonder if in their final moments on earth they won’t be plagued by the cries of Palestinian children that were murdered at their hands.”

He called for government leaders who are committed to enshrining the sin of apartheid in the institutions of men to repent. He called for those of us who find themselves too afraid to speak their conscience to ask the Lord to strengthen us and speak through us.

During the question period, Nadia Milleron (who ran for office in the U.S. House to represent Massachusetts) asked for recommendations on how worshippers can get their churches [or mosques and synagogues] to talk about Palestine. Church leaders say it’s too political, it’s complicated and they don’t want to divide the congregation. If they say Palestine in a prayer, they always include Israel.

Abernathy agreed that church leaders are keeping their heads down, not having these conversations and being too careful. He urged parishioners not to shame or condemn leaders but to encourage them to be witnesses because he truly believes that the more of us who say we have to stand against sin, the more it will encourage others to speak out.

Americans have emerged from the shadow of ignorance and had a light bulb go on in their head as they watched the genocide in Gaza unfold on social media,

Continued on page 57

From Palestine to Ireland, Justice Is the Only Solution

By Dale Sprusansky

The image of Gaza photojournalist Motaz Azaiza adorns a famous sign in central Derry, Northern Ireland, to honor his visit to the city, in August 2024.

“NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE” is a chant familiar to those who frequently attend rallies or protests on social justice issues. For protesters, the refrain conveys a message of resilience and resolve in the face of an entrenched and hardened status quo. To critics, the chant is seen as a belligerent threat by demonstrators to wreak havoc until they get their way.

In reality, the chant is neither a threat nor a rallying cry, but rather a simple statement of fact: Injustice inherently breeds unrest.

This basic truth is often forgotten by practitioners and observers of foreign policy. In our personal lives, we easily comprehend the principle of justice; we understand it is not right for others to hurt us and expect us to maintain amicable relations with them. But in foreign policy circles, this principle is often inverted in insidious fashion; we intentionally harm and undermine foreign populations for our own selfish (perceived) interests and then insist they offer no resistance, seek no justice.

The examples of this principle as it relates to the U.S.-Israel alliance against the Palestinian people are too numerous to list exhaustively. On the non-violent resistance side of the ledger, the state of Palestine is frequently criticized by Israel and the U.S. for seeking justice via international bodies, such as the International Criminal Court (ICC). In fact, one of the first acts taken by the new U.S. House of Representatives in January 2025 was to pass a bill sanctioning the ICC for its enforcement of international law regarding Israel’s war crimes. On the violent resistance front, Palestinians choosing to meet Israel’s force with force in an effort to reclaim their land and rights are routinely and unequivocally condemned as bloodthirsty instigators. No matter how Palestinians resist, they are not only denied justice, but also made out to be the perpetrators of injustice.

When there is no honest examination of history and the public is force-fed propaganda that distorts and denies reality, it is easy to convince the uninformed that injustice is in fact justice. We see this every day regarding Israel and Palestine. Mounds of evidence of Israeli war crimes are ignored; key facts about the “peace process” are twisted; the 1948 Nakba is denied, ignored or reframed; events such as Oct. 7, 2023, are depicted as having no root cause. The end result is mass acquiescence to the idea that it is just to unleash hell on Palestinians.

Open and honest examinations of Israel were not always marginalized. In the mid-20th century, myriad government leaders and bureaucrats across the world sounded the alarm about the inevitable issues that would be caused by supporting the creation of Israel on top of Palestine. Loy Henderson, head of the Near East Division in President Harry Truman’s State Department, warned that the partition of Palestine “would guarantee that the Palestine problem would be permanent” and noted that it ignored “such principles as self-de-

Dale Sprusansky is managing editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

PHOTO BY ANDY MCDONAGH/ECLIPSO PICTURES

termination and majority rule” and endorsed “the principle of a theocratic racial state” that would “discriminate on the grounds of religion and race.” Though speaking merely in practical rather than moral terms, Henderson was essentially warning that injustice can’t simply be swept under the rug.

Ibn Saud, the founder of Saudi Arabia, offered similar warnings from an Arab perspective. He presciently warned President Theodore Roosevelt in 1943 that “Palestine would forever remain a hotbed of troubles and disturbances” if outside forces imposed a Jewish state on the Arab world.

Such words and modes of reasoning are now far removed from the official U.S. government conversation about Israel. Those who insist on noting that the injustices initiated decades ago have not gone away— but have rather metastasized and become “more complicated,” as Henderson warned—are either ignored or shut down via cheap and false talking points. During the Biden administration, many State Department officials resigned after their voices of reason and conscience were systematically marginalized by their bosses.

Outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken faced a modicum of humiliation for this undermining of his staff during his last week in office, when he admitted Hamas has “recruited almost as many new militants as it has lost” since Oct. 7, 2023. If only he had heeded the internal and external warnings that heavy-handed militaristic acts of injustice would not solve Gaza’s problems.

“While Israel has demonstrated its ability to inflict devastating harm on Palestinians and the people of Lebanon, brute force alone is insufficient to address the broader political realities,” Jehad Abusalim, executive director of the Institute for Palestine Studies-USA, astutely noted during an Arab Center Washington DC webinar on January 22. “One of the key lessons from the past 15 months is that diplomacy and political engagement, not coercion or the imposition of one-sided, biased agendas, are essential for resolving crises. In the case of Palestine and Israel, a just and sustainable resolution can only emerge through genuine political

engagement and recognition of Palestinian lives, rights and dignity.”

For most in power in the West, simplistic hasbara campaigns telling the world “Israel is under attack” and is defending itself from unjust forces are preferable to honestly exploring matters of justice and dignity. But history shows that those who indulge in and propagate injustice eventually find themselves exposed and—hopefully—ashamed. Injustice can win battles, but not a war.

At the same time, any wise proponent for justice is aware that the path to justice does require negotiation. Such negotiations are not places where injustice is normalized or acquiesced to, but where pathways to justice and humanity are opened.

IRISH VETERANS ATTEST TO PRIMACY OF JUSTICE

Retrospection helps make this clearer. On the 30th anniversary of the ceasefire between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the British government last summer, several former IRA members recalled the sober sense of relief they felt upon learning of the 1994 peace agreement. “There were no feelings of high rejoicing,” even though “there wasn’t anything negative about it [the ceasefire],” Laurence McKeown told the Irish Times. IRA members knew perpetual fighting was never the answer, but they were uneasy about what would come next. “It was a confused and confusing time and stayed that way for quite some time,” he added.

Indeed, while the situation in Northern Ireland has improved dramatically since that time, there is still a lingering sense of unease and division. This article was published on the 53rd anniversary of the Bloody Sunday massacre in Derry, Northern Ireland, when British forces killed 14 innocent protesters, mostly boys. To this day, the Catholic area of the still largely divided city is lined with murals of the victims, five of whom were massacred by “Soldier F,” who was only charged with two of the murders in 2019, and whose case is still ongoing. (London is still stalling many of the efforts to expose the truth of what happened on

that day.) Derry stands as a living testament to the reality that justice is often a painfully slow, multi-phased process.

In their statement acknowledging last year’s anniversary of the massacres, the Museum of Free Derry, which, like many buildings in the city, is covered in symbols of solidarity with Palestinians, tied the two struggles together under the mantle of justice. “We call on all governments to work toward a just and lasting solution which will provide long-term peace, security and quality of life for Palestinians and Israelis by ending the injustices imposed on the Palestinian population,” the museum said.

Irish veterans of anti-colonial struggle can see clearly what so many refuse to acknowledge—the primacy of justice. At the same time, they understand the regrettable nature of armed resistance, even though they deemed it necessary and righteous. “It is awful that anybody died, it really is, but the British were not going to give—that is my firm view,” Michael Culbert told the Irish Times. “I don’t think we would be where we are today without the armed struggle. Unfortunately, so many people died,” McKeown added. These sober and practical reflections are informative for those who tend to reduce Palestinian armed resistance to senseless acts of terror, as if violence is a genetic predisposition. As the Irish ballad goes, “And you dare to call me a terrorist while you look down your gun, when I think of all the deeds that you have done?” Palestinian and Irish men alike never wanted to take up arms; they simply felt they had no other choice in the face of a grave injustice. At the risk of sounding like Golda Meir: why do we compel them to fight?

As we exhale amid the current Gaza ceasefire, it’s important to keep matters of justice at the forefront. One is always free to question, on moral and tactical grounds, the acts of armed resistance groups, but these critiques are meaningless and deeply hypocritical if they are coupled with ardent support for their oppressors. Peace never happens in a vacuum; it must be coupled with justice. Give the Palestinians justice and peace will follow. ■

The Shock and Awfulness of Israel’s Lawless Behavior

By Ian Williams

A woman carries a box of relief food delivered by the U.N. agency supporting Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Deir el‐Balah, Gaza Strip, on Jan. 29, 2025. UNRWA’s presence in Gaza was crucial in getting humanitarian supplies to civilians during 15 months of war. Israel’s attempts to outlaw the agency could undermine vital aid delivery and long‐term chances of peace.

EVER SINCE the massacres at Sabra and Shatila shocked the world in 1982, many of us averred that Israel had overdrawn its Holocaust account. But we were wrong. Israel has the diplomatic equivalent of a crypto-currency mine; it can just keep minting credit and there seems an endless queue of suckers prepared to accept it.

Whereas it tried (unsuccessfully) to cover up and dissociate itself from the Sabra and Shatila massacre, now Israel not only defies international law, it brazenly announces its intentions in advance. To add insult to injury, its “permanent representative” at the U.N., Danny Danon, makes those announcements in front of the body whose rules are being flouted, whose staff are being killed and whose facilities have been deliberately obliterated.

When I began covering the United Nations many decades ago, the U.S. was sui generis for its slavish support for Israel, and its diplomats were well aware of their isolation. They cajoled allies to

U.N. correspondent Ian Williams is the author of U.N.told: The Real Story of the United Nations in Peace and War (available from Middle East Books and More).

cut them some slack, pleading their need to cope with ignorant domestic politicians in thrall to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The U.S. was an anomaly; even the UK under Margaret Thatcher on some occasions voted for Security Council resolutions against Israel’s breaches of international law. Now previous devotees of international law, such as Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada and Australia, put their hand up to endorse global anarchy. While Palestinians bear the biggest burden of such lawlessness, the rest of us are harmed by Israel’s scofflaw modus operandi . The active connivance of former President Joe Biden and previous Democratic administrations has scuttled the ship of international law. By condoning Israel’s breaches, they ushered in endless territorial wars of the kind that the U.N. has at least mitigated.

We should perhaps remember that the “non-admissibility of the acquisition of territory by force” became a founding principle of the U.N. and international law for practical reasons of expediency, not morality. Boundaries are not sacred, but they can be adjusted by mutual consent—as Canada and Denmark did recently over Hans Island between Greenland and Nunavut.

Yet here comes the incoming U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Elise Stefanik, declaring that the Bible gave clear title of Palestine to Israel. I doubt she has a notarized deed to show. We now see the unraveling of the founding principles and the potential for untold mayhem. The unilateral acceptance by the U.S. of the Israeli annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights, Jerusalem and Gaza, with or without biblical blessing, points a clear line for Trump on Greenland, or Panama or anywhere else in the world. This has huge im-

plications across the planet.

The U.N. was born out of the ashes of genocide and ethnic cleansing the likes of which the world had never seen. Populations were deported or massacred across Europe and it was applauded, condoned or overlooked despite the right to self-determination to which the League of Nations paid lip service.

Hitler, perhaps prematurely, said “who remembers the Armenians,” and he might have added “or the Kurds.”

Currently Rwanda, claiming similar heavily armed “victim” privileges to Israel, is yet again invading the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the face of relative silence from other countries reluctant to condemn the former victims of genocide. South Africa is hesitant to confront Rwanda despite the latter’s surrogate killing of South Africans.

To make odious comparisons, after World War I nobody bothered to ask the Sudeten Germans whether they wanted to be part of what became Czechoslovakia—and it was qualms about that (in addition to sheer cowardice) that mitigated the responses of Britain in the Munich surrender. It was one thing to ask the public to support a replay of Armageddon to defend poor little Belgium against German aggression, but it was another to restart a world war to force an unwilling German minority into a polity that did not want any part of it—especially since the same countries were not prepared to act over Ethiopia or Manchuria.

So U.N. principles are quiet about whether Germany or Poland has the better claim to Danzig or whether Greece should assume control of Cyprus. They simply say that the issue should not be resolved by invasion and aggression (or even infiltration) as Putin did with Ukraine. Putin looks at the near abroad (the states that became independent after the dissolution of the Soviet Union) through this prism and sees a Russian need for the Dardanelles or the entrance to the Baltic. Beijing is already there with claims on Taiwan even without the sanction of the sayings of Confucius. The world is filled

with dangerous “sacred” boundaries that can and will turn into tripwires. Trump is implicitly supporting Venezuelan claims to half of Guyana.

But geopolitics apart, the devaluation of the U.N. by successive U.S. administrations risks retrospectively legitimizing genocide, for example with sanctions against the judges and prosecutor on the International Criminal Court—not to mention the International Court of Justice, which intriguingly still has an American on its bench.

The deluded Trump administration, shorn of most of its experienced legal, diplomatic and military expertise, seems to harbor delusions that waving a magic wand will achieve U.S. ambitions. But U.S. allies like to have a fig leaf of legality, and even a superpower needs allied support—as George W. Bush implicitly acknowledged when he strong-armed countries to join his coalition of the allegedly willing in Iraq.

But expedience and precedent apart, there are serious, absolute prohibitions on genocide that have been identified by both international courts.

It is past due for the invertebrate Secretary General António Guterres to step up and point out that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is a U.N. agency and he will speak as its representative, even though he is banned from entering Israel or the occupied territories. Any attempt to confiscate UNRWA premises in East Jerusalem should meet robust counter measures, like barring all Israel diplomats, beginning with Danny Danon, from U.N. premises. Guterres could mount a more energetic denunciation of Israel’s assassination of U.N. employees and destruction of U.N. facilities in the Gaza Strip. He could order U.N. support staff to switch off cameras and sound systems whenever Danon takes the pulpit. He should take action to redeem the organization and his own reputation. How many cheeks can he turn? ■

To Fight Injustice

Continued from page 53

Abernathy said. We have entered a new era. Advocate for a return to the American ideals proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

“Americans have not always lived up to this ideal, but it is time to say this is what it means to be an American,” Abernathy said. And the most American thing we can do is to cite our Declaration of Independence and have the courage to speak out against funding apartheid and genocide and tell our elected officials to enact an arms embargo on Israel. If you think that can’t happen, remember what people accomplished by joining together in the civil rights movement: the desegregation of public facilities like water fountains, the integration of public schools and the right to vote.

So many of us want to turn away from the news and hide under our covers. Instead, we are called upon to join together with organizations, institutions and publications like the Washington Report and to fight for our country to live up to the ideals it claims to hold dear. ■

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Never Forgive. Never Forget. Demand Justice.

By Ashish Prashar

A limited edition deck of cards, featuring original artwork by a Palestinian artist, plays on the close relationship between the United States and Israel in their actions against Palestinians. These cards are available from Middle East Books and More and 100 percent of the profits from sales will be donated to The Ghassan Abu Sittah’s Children's Fund.

AS LEGACY MEDIA and the American public turn their attention to the most recent outrage by the administration of President Donald Trump and the staggering scale of destruction and death inflicted on the Palestinian people fades from headlines, it remains for the rest of us to never forgive, never forget and demand justice.

Trump’s own statements underscore the dangerous reality ahead. He brags about brokering the ceasefire even while he suggests it might not last, and he talks about “cleaning out” Gaza, a euphemism for ethnic cleansing.

Prashar is a political strategist, human rights activist, speaker, writer and a former adviser to Middle East Peace Envoy Tony

Trump and the United States political establishment want to help the Israeli occupation complete its erasure of Palestine and liquidate the Palestinian struggle for liberation.

It is a goal shared by both parties. Before Trump started musing about the real estate potential of the Gaza Strip, President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken architected this genocide, providing Israel with the military arms to execute it and the political cover to continue it for 16 months.

BRINGING TO JUSTICE AIDERS AND ABETTORS OF ISRAEL’S INDUSTRIAL SLAUGHTER

The Biden administration gave over $20 billion in military aid to the Israeli occupation, funding 70 percent of the Israeli occupation’s genocide in Gaza. Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reported that within the first month, Israel hit the Gaza Strip with the equivalent of two nuclear bombs. It is probably the equivalent of four or five Hiroshimas by now and the arms still flow.

Biden and his team made a mockery of international law. The Israeli occupation’s prosecution of the “war” is just one long series of war crimes: forced starvation, decimation of the Gaza healthcare system, mass graves, deliberate killing and maiming of civilians, field executions, forced disappearances, torture, rape and assassination of aid workers and journalists.

U.S. support for Israel clearly breaches Articles III and IV of the Genocide Convention, which prohibit aiding, abetting or otherwise assisting in the commission of war crimes against hu-

Ashish

Blair.

manity or genocide.

The Biden administration also violated U.S. laws, including the Leahy Law and Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act, which bars security assistance to countries that block U.S. aid. The government’s own records show that it knew the Israeli occupation was blocking aid into Gaza since April 2024. They also worked to cover up the occupation’s crimes.

The Biden administration provided political cover and ran interference on behalf of the Israeli occupation by repeatedly vetoing U.N. resolutions and interfering with arenas for delivering international justice.

What the Israeli occupation did in Gaza is industrialized slaughter. It is genocide. The International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice provisional opinion, and U.N. experts have spoken. The genocide was livestreamed to the world.

What happened in Gaza and Palestine is the latest chapter in Israel’s decades-long oppression of the Palestinian people and is clearly geared toward obliterating and erasing those who have already been on the end of systemic ethnic cleansing and land dispossession. That it was able to continue for 16 months is the result of institutionalized impunity. International institutions like the U.N. have failed us. There must be a reckoning. Those who support the Israeli occupation, those who aid and abet crimes against humanity and those who created consent for genocide must be brought to justice.

It’s time for us to act, and without delay.

The world must maintain a comprehensive record of all individuals and entities responsible for committing genocide in Gaza and Palestine, including those who actively funded, participated in or supported such atrocities.

All perpetrators must be held accountable and prosecuted without exception for the destruction of Gaza. The responsibility of rendering justice extends to everyone and to all countries worldwide. There should be no safe place in the world for any war criminal who has contributed to this genocide—

that means no Israeli occupation solider and no Biden administration official either.

KNOW THE PRECEDENTS

International humanitarian law and the institutions the West championed to uphold it have been shredded, and Washington, DC and its allies are responsible. This is a stain on our collective conscious and a threat to us all: exemptions in the law can be deployed against any population.

We can’t give up on these tools. We need to wield all the tools at our disposal in sophisticated ways.

UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION

It’s time for international human rights lawyers to skip the International Criminal Court and to stop waiting for the final International Court of Justice ruling. Act now. Study the Hind Rajab Foundation model that was used in Brazil to seek a warrant for an occupation soldier and apply it to everyone involved in this genocide.

International law recognizes that certain crimes are so serious that the duty to prosecute them transcends all borders. Crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and torture are not limited by geography; any state has standing to prosecute perpetrators of heinous crimes (Universal Jurisdiction). This was the principle that allowed UK authorities to arrest and prosecute Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1998.

International humanitarian lawyers can use international law like the Rome Statute or their own domestic laws to bring cases forward. The evidence against Israeli and Biden administration officials has never been easier to pull together.

AN INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE GLOBAL SOUTH

We can use International law to build a tribunal to go after the very powers behind these atrocities.

The Nuremberg Tribunal was set up to go after all those involved in the Holocaust during World War II. The Global South must

set up its own tribunal to prosecute all those involved in the Gaza Genocide.

The Gaza Tribunal should be hosted and run in the Global South in South Africa or another justice-forward country and everyone who participates will have to enter into jurisdictional agreements to make arrests or honor warrants for individuals who committed war crimes in Gaza.

This moment of turmoil for the United States is an opportune moment for global leadership to arise from the rest of the world. It’s time for justice and accountability to be moved from the West to anticolonial and anti-imperialist venues and countries.

THE PUBLIC

The biggest protectors of these war criminals outside of Israel are the U.S. and UK. Israeli citizens who might have tortured, killed or raped Palestinians travel freely to these countries.

Citizens in the U.S. and the West should call on their justices and legal systems to arrest individuals for whom evidence of crimes exist. If they join your workplace, take a board seat at a foundation or set up their own organization, they should be harried from those positions; their companies and organizations should be defunded until they are brought to justice.

Officials in the Biden administration who facilitated the Gaza genocide should not be able to move in the world without being constantly reminded of the crimes they committed.

There should be no safe place in the world for any war criminal who has contributed to this genocide.

In my lifetime I didn’t think a president could compile a record of atrocities that matched the horrors of the Bush regime. And then the Biden administration took the stage. The legacy of Biden and his henchmen will be one of sheer terrorism, barbarism and genocide–war criminals of the highest magnitude. People must never forget that for more than 15 months, Biden and his administration carried out a genocide. We must deliver justice. ■

Demands for Investigation into IDF Killing of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi in West Bank Go Unanswered

By Laura Cooley

CALLS FOR AN INVESTIGATION into the death of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, after she was shot in the head and killed by Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) soldiers have gone unanswered. Eygi, a dual American-Turkish citizen, was killed near the town of Beita in the West Bank on Sept. 6, 2024, following a peaceful protest with other foreign nationals to prevent illegal settlement of Palestinian land. Since she was killed, members of her family, over 100 U.S. congressional representatives, human rights organizations and others

have been demanding an independent investigation into her death. To date, no report has been issued. Within a few days of her death, the Israeli government made a statement suggesting it was “highly likely” that she was “hit indirectly and unintentionally by [IOF] fire” but has neither issued a report nor communicated directly with Eygi’s family. Days after she was shot, then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Eygi’s killing was “unprovoked and unjustified” and demanded changes to the rules of engagement of Israeli forces operating in the West Bank. A few months later, in December 2024 Eygi’s husband, Hamid Ali, and her sister, Ozden Bennett, finally had an in-person meeting with Blinken to learn what had transpired with respect to any investigation, but the State Department had no details to share. Blinken stated they were waiting on a report from the Israeli government. Normally, it is the U.S. Department of Justice that has jurisdiction to investigate when a U.S. citizen is killed overseas, but the department has not shared any information with the family either.

Eygi was a recent graduate of the University of Washington in Seattle when she traveled to the West Bank to volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) to document what she witnessed and to support ISM’s goal of providing “protective presence.” The Washington Post reviewed video footage of the location

Laura Cooley is a freelance writer based in Seattle, Washington.

Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, a recent graduate of the University of Washington, was shot in the head as she protested an illegal settlement near the Palestinian village of Beita.

where Eygi was killed and concluded it had been quiet and peaceful for well over 20 minutes before an Israeli soldier fired into an olive grove more than 200 yards away. Eygi and another woman, a fellow volunteer with ISM, had moved there precisely because they thought it would be a safe place to pause and wait, according to the woman. Within a day of Eygi’s killing, the Israeli government claimed that it was “highly likely that she was hit indirectly and unintentionally” (as reported in the Seattle Times on Oct. 27, 2024).

AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT

Professor Elisabetta Valenti, a faculty member at a Seattle-based community college where she has taught engineering, physics and sciences for over 20 years, had volunteered for seven weeks in the summer of 2024 with the organization Faz3a, a Palestinian-led organization that, like ISM, aims to resist the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land by using nonviolent, direct-action methods and principles. Valenti noted that by accompanying Palestinian civilians in their daily life in the West Bank, Faz3a volunteers aim to support Palestinians so that they have less interference from Israeli settlers or military with going about their daily affairs, particularly in rural areas. For example, Valenti said she and others accompanied a shepherd to a field where his sheep could graze—something that had been denied to him in the past by Israeli settlers who interfered. Valenti stayed in different areas of the West Bank, including Qusra, Masafar Yatta and the Jordan Valley

On the day Eygi was shot, Valenti had joined the small group of foreign nationals that included Eygi near the town of Beita for what had by then become a weekly routine of peaceful vigils held on Fridays to try and stop further illegal settler expansion in the area. What Valenti reported is consistent with other eyewitness accounts from more than 12 people. There had been several minutes of quiet. There was no “instigator” in the area, as the IOF had implied in their statements. Rather, she said, the group

was preparing to leave, when suddenly gunshots rang out from where Israeli soldiers had stationed themselves on the rooftop of a nearby house owned by a Palestinian. The sound of a shot hitting metal was heard. One shot reportedly ricocheted off a stone and struck a local 18year-old Palestinian man in the thigh. Seconds later they realized Eygi had been shot in the head.

On that same day, a 13-year-old Palestinian girl named Bana Laboum was shot through the window of her home. She was killed by a soldier during a settler attack in the town of Qaryut.

A “CULTURE OF IMPUNITY”

Valenti published an opinion piece in the Seattle Times, on Oct. 18, 2024, in which she called for a U.S. arms embargo on weaponry going to Israel and is calling upon others to speak out for justice for Palestinians and an independent investigation into Eygi’s death. In her view, Eygi and Palestinians are killed by a “culture of impunity.” On Dec. 7, 2024, she shared impressions of her West Bank visit at a public event sponsored by the Seattle chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. She recounted that on July 21, 2024, she was with a group of activists in the West Bank who were attacked by settlers. Two of the settlers were unmasked, and their faces caught on camera. Three of the activists required hospital care. They filed a police report. To date, no one has been held accountable. Eygi’s family and congressional representatives continue to seek accountability in Eygi’s death. In a letter spearheaded by Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), dated Sept. 24, 2024, and co-signed by 102 congressional representatives, the signatories requested “an independent, thorough, credible and transparent investigation into the killing of Ms. Eygi.” Further, the letter stated that the “investigation should include all evidence found and rationale for how findings were determined in a written report” and requested that the U.S. Department of State, the White House and the U.S. Department of Jus-

tice investigate her death as a possible “homicide.” The letter demanded a response to a number of questions related to her death.

At the December 2024 press conference after their meeting at the State Department, Eygi’s sister, Bennett, described how “incredibly frustrating” it was not to see any movement on an investigation, especially when, “at the end of the day, she [Ayşenur] was a U.S. citizen killed at the hands of a close U.S. ally.” The family’s hope is that the Department of Justice will investigate the killing of a U.S. citizen abroad. Eygi’s husband Hamid Ali said that Blinken seemed “very deferential to the Israelis. It felt like he was saying his hands were tied and they weren’t able to really do much.” No clear timeline on when Israel would conclude its investigation was offered, Ali said.

In an article for the online newspaper The Hill on Dec. 14, 2024, entitled “Why isn’t Israel being held accountable for killing my wife and other innocents?” Ali raised the case of Rachel Corrie, another ISM volunteer who was killed over 20 years ago by an IOF-operated bulldozer while trying to prevent a home in Rafah from being demolished. Ali also questioned why no one has been held accountable for the sniper shooting of U.S. journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022.

In late December 2024, Representatives Smith and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) along with Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) issued a joint statement calling for Israel to “complete their investigation and release their report on the cause of her death. Secretary Blinken must insist on the release of any Israeli investigation results. We also continue to urge the U.S. Department of Justice to initiate an independent, U.S.-led investigation into Ms. Eygi’s death. If the Justice Department isn’t going to investigate, then the State Department should release their own findings and seek accountability.”

As of this writing (January 2025), no independent investigation has been launched. ■

Preserving Identity: How Palestinians Protect and Celebrate Their Heritage in the Face of Erasure

PALESTINIAN HERITAGE has endured endless challenges— internal displacement, massacres of population, occupation and cultural appropriation. Yet this cultural identity is tenaciously celebrated and defended. To Palestinians, our embroidery, the keffiyeh and cuisine are all symbols of our history and struggle and embody our resistance. When adopted by others, they are means of showing solidarity.

Our embroidery, or tatreez is informative as well as decorative. Experts can look at a thobe dress and tell you what village or city it is from, who it was made for and for what occasion. These embroideries depict a visual record of our collective memory. These images, much like the hidden symbolism of a cypress tree in embroidery, sometimes reveal and other times conceal messages of resistance and resilience against cultural erasure.

By Diana Safieh

Still practiced today in the refugee camps as a means of livelihood, initiatives such as Inaash (whose tagline is “empowering refugee Palestinian women through embroidery”) and Hadeel (fairtrade Palestinian crafts) bring these forms of art to the international market at competitive prices for the creators. American born Palestinian writer and artist Wafa Ghnaim, founder of Tatreez & Tea, teaches embroidery and curates tatreez exhibits, including at the Museum of the Palestinian People in Washington, DC. Designers such as Bella Freud and milliner Stephen Jones have incorporated Palestinian embroidery on their runways as a means of raising awareness

Diana Safieh is a writer and podcaster whose areas of expertise are Palestine, true crime and anything even slightly unusual. She currently works with St John Eye Hospital and the Balfour Project in the UK. She was recently invested as a member of the Order of St. John for her efforts, just like her father, Ambassador Afif Safieh and great uncle.

of the situation on the ground. Buying, wearing and creating Palestinian embroidery is one of the easiest, most obvious ways to show off one’s heritage or show one’s support for Palestinians.

And speaking of fabrics that have captured the attention of the world, the keffiyeh scarf has always carried the symbolism of protest and solidarity since the dawn of the struggle over Palestine. Originally used by Palestinian farmers to protect against the sun, and then to obscure their faces during protests, PLO President Yasser Arafat arguably brought this symbol of resistance to the global arena, draping it around his head and over his shoulder in the shape of historic Palestine.

The Hirbawi Factory in Hebron and Al’ard in Nablus produce traditional keffiyehs in Palestine and are dedicated to preserving this cultural heritage while ensuring that Palestinians reap the benefits of this iconic symbol of their identity.

It is not so simple as to assume someone wearing a keffiyeh supports Palestinian self-determination though. It may be a simple fashion accessory to them. But even those who don’t un-

Samira Zarara’s poster celebrates the beautiful art of tatreez and embodies resistance.

derstand its origin still have a romanticized understanding of its meaning of adventure and resistance against injustice. And rather than get infuriated by this perhaps unintentional act of cultural theft by the fashion companies and fashionistas, perhaps it is an opportunity to open the eyes of the wearer to the situation in Palestine.

This is a particularly important task for those of us in the Diaspora, who have a wide reach for messaging. Part of our job here, there and everywhere is making sure these symbols of our heritage are not misunderstood or forgotten.

One of the most essential and deeply rooted symbols of our culture is the food we eat every day. Musakhan , maqluba and knafeh are more than delicious meals; they are embodiments of the relationships we have between generations, with our land and with our heritage. These communally shared dishes reflect not only the flavors of a culture but also the ways in which people lived; traditionally served at wedding celebrations, these dishes are designed to feed large gatherings affordably, relying on accessible ingredients like bread, onions, rice and chicken to nourish both the body and the spirit of community.

Attempts by Israelis to appropriate Palestinian dishes like hummus, falafel and tabbouleh as part of Israeli national identities demonstrate how even food can become political. Cultural appropriation often stems from a desire to establish roots in a geography where authentic connections or cultural heritage are absent, leading to the borrowing or misrepresentation of traditions that do not belong to that group. Palestinians preparing, eating and sharing food then becomes an act of defiance against oppression.

Indigenous ingredients such as za’atar (wild thyme), olive oil and sumac tie the food to the land. Even planting and harvesting these traditional crops becomes an act of resistance and a statement of resilience. This dynamic and heartfelt endeavor is led by individuals and organizations deeply rooted in tradition. Palestine, part of the Fertile Crescent, is a center of biodiversity for crops like wheat and barley, but this rich heritage is under threat from policies that force farmers to abandon heirloom seeds in favor of commercial varieties. Vivien Mansour’s Palestine Heirloom Seed Library (PHSL) works to preserve these ancient seeds and their stories, serving as both an interactive project and a symbol of resistance, reconnecting people to their ancestral roots and reclaiming food sovereignty against the violence of the landscape.

Around the world, as global public opinion becomes more favorable toward the cause of Palestinian liberation, Palestinian restaurants no longer need to pretend to be Lebanese. Chef Fadi Kattan brings Palestinian cuisine to an international audience through his storytelling and refined take on heritage dishes, elevating traditional home cooking to restaurant quality. The Instagram personality Palestinian_Grandma sums up the essence of oral tradition, sharing authentic recipes and connecting younger audiences to their roots. Through their cookbooks, Joudie Kalla and Laila El-Haddad honor ancestral cooking practices with vibrant recipes. Organizations like Zaytoun, Al’Ard and Canaan have taken a grassroots approach by forming olive oil cooperatives, enabling Palestinian farmers to compete in the global market. Together, they are safeguarding these traditions for everyone to enjoy, with the aim of encouraging people to learn and then care about the socio-political context behind each bite.

The preservation of Palestinian culture and heritage is deeply impacted by restrictions on movement within the West Bank and Gaza. For example, foraging for herbs is a traditional activity that has been banned by the Israeli occupation; also banned are black goats, which Bedouin communities had relied on. And even before the current genocide in Gaza, Israel limited the distance from shore that Gaza fishermen could cast their nets, thereby limiting the catch.

Our culture—as vibrant as the embroidery, as enduring as the keffiyeh and as flavorful as the cuisine—remains a source of strength and unity for future generations. As Palestinians, we really do assert our identity against all odds. ■

Restrictions on movement in Gaza and the West Bank impact the preservation of Palestinian culture.

Dr. Gem Newman Faces Attack for His Advocacy for Palestine

By Candice Bodnaruk

WHEN DR. GEM NEWMAN took to the podium to deliver his valedictory address at the University of Manitoba convocation in May 2024, he knew his speech would bring about a reaction—but he was surprised by its magnitude.

In a recent interview with the Washington Report, Newman talked about double standards in medicine, the importance of advocacy and why he used his platform as valedictorian to speak out about the genocide in Gaza.

At the time he did not expect his university to so publicly throw him under the bus.

Newman, who graduated from the Max Rady College of Medicine at the University of Manitoba, decided to make Israel’s genocide in Gaza central to his address.

Candice Bodnaruk has been involved in Palestinian issues for the past 14 years through organizations such as the Canadian BDS Coalition and Peace Alliance Winnipeg. Her political action started with feminism and continued with the peace movement, first with the No War on Iraq Coalition in 2003 in Winnipeg.

“Some of you here today are worried that you might face censure for speaking about the genocidal war that Israel is waging on the people of Palestine,” Newman said in his speech. He told fellow graduates to demand an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza and unrestricted humanitarian and medical aid and called out medical associations for their “deafening silence” on the crisis there. He called for an end to Israel’s deliberate targeting of hospitals and other civilian infrastructure and attacks on medical workers and journalists. His classmates greeted his remarks with thunderous applause.

The graduation ceremony was live streamed to YouTube and the university website. Expecting that it might be removed, he archived a high-quality copy of the speech:

<https://www.instagram.com/sjpuofm/reel/C7DhJwvA5o/?hl=en>. It is still publicly available.

The Dean of Medicine criticized the address, and Ernest Rady, a Jewish billionaire and major donor to the university, demanded the speech be removed from the university’s website. The university quickly complied.

“We all know that funders and donors have a huge influence on academic institutions in medicine,” Newman explained, adding that’s one of the reasons why conflict of interest disclosures are so important.

He also was surprised how universally negative or nearly negative the media coverage of his speech was. Neither the university nor medical associations defended his position or his right to stake out a position. Some doctors criticized his address, but most of the criticism he received was from institutions, not individuals. Not too surprisingly, his speech was framed as anti-Semitic.

“I was surprised at how distinct and under-representative the response of the organizations at play were, as compared to the people in those organizations,” he said, noting that he received about 95 to 97 percent positive feedback from people who reached out to him personally.

More than seven months later, Newman is still dealing with the aftermath of his address. Since he began his residency, he has been subjected to 24 different complaints, many of them demanding that he not be permitted to practice medicine.

Moreover, Newman said he has seen a continued weaponization of the complaints process against people who speak out for Palestinian human rights.

Dr. Gem Newman says there’s a lot doctors need to worry about, but speaking out for people who need your help shouldn’t be one of them.

He argues there is a double standard in medical circles. Medical students are taught how important advocacy is, and organizations like the Canadian Medical Association have condemned Russia’s war on Ukraine and called for sanctions. No such institutional condemnation of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians has been forthcoming.

He believes strong statements of support are needed to rectify that imbalance.

“In Manitoba, the culture of medicine that we have here is not welcoming to people from Palestine and is not willing to support the most basic brass tacks, the minimum viable product of solidarity with an oppressed people,” Newman said.

Newman said at the time of his address he had expected a good faith response from the medical institutions that he called out in his speech, like the Canadian Medical Association, Doctors Manitoba and PARIM (Manitoba’s residents association), expecting them to respond in some way. That did not happen.

He is particularly concerned about Manitoba doctors voicing support for Israel online and not facing any criticism.

“People are gleefully posting about terrorist campaigns carried out by Israel in Palestine and Lebanon,” he said, with no repercussions, adding that both the college and university must reckon with the fact that some of their members are behaving in a way that is an embarrassment to the profession and contrary to the oaths that they took.

He argues that doctors, residents and medical students who come from places that are under siege or bombardment don’t even feel comfortable telling people where they come from because they are worried about discrimination or harassment. He said this shows how unsafe Manitoba is for people who just want to practice medicine and help others.

A lot of people were very moved by Newman’s speech and thanked him for speaking up when they felt they could not. Newman said he also knows of Palestinian medical students who are not comfortable identifying as Palestinian and had been

identifying as Arab or Jordanian because they believe it is dangerous to identify as Palestinian in the current political climate.

“The fact that I am an older white man and a Canadian citizen is probably protective in a lot of ways,” he said.

For Newman, things have to change and that begins with statements of support from advocacy and regulatory bodies, like the Canadian Medical Association and the university. People also need appropriate guidance from the College of Physicians and Surgeons or Doctors Manitoba on what they expect regarding advocacy, adding that working definitions from regulatory bodies regarding anti-Semitism as well as anti-Palestinian racism would be welcome.

“We need statements saying if you advocate for human rights no matter where, in Palestine, in Ukraine, in Sudan, the Uyghurs in China, if you advocate for their human rights and medical care you will not be punished for it,” he said, adding that organizations must publicly recognize that medical facilities and medical workers in these war zones are being targeted.

He stressed that the university and College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba must take seriously the fact that so many racialized learners and staff are terrified to advocate the way they were taught in medical school.

Newman is involved in several groups at the national level that support Palestine and has known doctors who have travelled to Gaza and directly witnessed human rights abuses and have spoken out against them. Such testimonies are discounted or simply ignored, he said.

“There are a lot of things in medicine that you need to worry about, and you will have to do things that make you scared. Speaking out for people who need your help and saying we shouldn’t see hospitals bombed shouldn’t be one of them,” Newman concluded.

ADVENT VIGIL ORGANIZERS: WINNIPEG WEAPONS PLANT COMPLICITY IN GENOCIDE

Frigid -38 F temperatures did not deter dozens of people who braved the cold and

gathered on Dec. 12, at Magellan Aerospace for an Advent vigil to protest the company’s complicity in the production of F-351 stealth fighter jets that Israel is using to bomb Gaza and Lebanon. Magellan’s Winnipeg facility manufactures the horizontal tail assemblies for the F-35 fighter jet program.

Magellan’s Winnipeg location is one of the largest suppliers of F-35 parts in Canada and organizers say participating in the building of the planes causes moral injury to the workers who, in the course of “just doing their jobs,” are complicit in a genocide.

Demonstrators held signs like “Magellan: Build for Peace Not Parts for F-35 Fighter Jets” and “Mennonites for Peace.”

The Keep Watch for Peace vigil was organized by Mennonite Action and included prayers, songs and silent moments of reflection. Participants also built a small fire on the sidewalk for warmth.

Members of Independent Jewish Voices Winnipeg, Peace Alliance Winnipeg, Mennonite Church Manitoba-Palestine Israel Network, Mennonite Central Committee and Friends of Standing Together all participated in the vigil.

At the closing of the event, organizers delivered a letter to Magellan’s Winnipeg leadership asking that the weapons plant begin building for peace. ■

Protesters at Magellan Aerospace in Win ‐nipeg call for the facility to build peace, not parts for weapons.

PHOTO BY KARLA BRAUN

Tales of the Unexpected in Syria and Türkiye

By Jonathan Gorvett

fighters write notes during weapons training in a military academy on Dec. 21, 2024, in Al Hasakah, Syria. The rapid collapse of the Assad regime brings both possibility and peril for Syria’s Kurdish population. Türkiye, which considers the Kurdish‐led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and a terror group, has backed proxy forces in Syria that are eager to capitalize on the current upheaval to weaken the SDF and seize Kurdish‐controlled land.

IN EARLY DECEMBER, after less than a fortnight of fighting, the decades-long rule of the Assad dynasty in Damascus come to a sudden end. Its nemesis proved to be the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), along with a variety of other Syrian opposition groups.

The country now faces the daunting task of bringing all these forces together to forge a new Syria. At the same time, the country’s northern neighbor, Türkiye, has clearly benefitted greatly from this surprising development.

The HTS is widely thought to have been the recipient of unofficial support from Ankara, while the force it shared the Idlib enclave with for many years, the Syrian National Army (SNA), is very much Ankara-backed.

Indeed, while HTS was attacking the Assad regime, the SNA was conducting a parallel offensive against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)—Ankara’s largely ethnic-Kurdish foes in northeastern Syria.

The SDF—which is backed by the U.S.—is largely based on the People’s Defense Units (YPG) and their political affiliate, the Democratic Union Party (PYD).

Türkiye sees both of these as extensions of the Turkish Kur-

YPG

Jonathan Gorvett is a free‐lance writer specializing on European and Middle Eastern affairs.

distan Workers’ Party (PKK), an organization Ankara’s security forces have been fighting since 1984. That was when PKK leader and founder, Abdullah Ocalan, launched a campaign of violence to establish an independent Kurdish state for Türkiye’s ethnic Kurds. Although Ocalan was captured and imprisoned by Türkiye in 1999, that campaign has continued onand-off ever since. Around 40,000 people have been killed in the process—most of them ethnic Kurdish civilians.

That history has now taken on great importance again, too, because of another surprising recent event.

Since October last year, Devlet Bahceli, the leader of Türkiye’s hard-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP)—part of Ankara’s governing coalition—has been reaching out to Ocalan and the ethnic-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM).

This is particularly surprising because Bahceli is well-known for his previous calls for Ocalan to be hanged and for ethnic Kurdish parties to be banned.

In January 2025, as we go to press, we may soon see Ocalan address Türkiye’s parliament at Bahceli’s invitation—and see Ocalan call for an end to the PKK’s 40-year campaign.

How all of these unexpected events will fit together is still highly uncertain. Yet within all these surprises, the immediate future of Syria, the region’s ethnic Kurds and Türkiye itself is now being determined.

DRIVE ON DAMASCUS

The Turkish government, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, denies it orchestrated Assad’s downfall.

Yet Türkiye and its ally Qatar were the only foreign powers to support Syrian opposition fighters in the Idlib enclave throughout their confinement.

The SNA is also largely funded and equipped by Türkiye and regularly receives battlefield support from the Turkish army.

The recent SNA offensive against the SDF demonstrated this, with Turkish forces across the border launching

drones and artillery strikes on the SDF.

Meanwhile, however, the presence of some 2,000 U.S. troops in SDF territory has also acted as a brake on that offensive, as Ankara and Washington try to avoid any direct confrontation.

How long that brake will work is, however, questionable, with many in the region calculating that U.S. President Donald Trump will pull those forces out.

In the meantime, the SNA/SDF conflict is a key stumbling block in the formation of a new Syrian state.

HTS want the SDF—and other armed Syrian factions—to disband and join a unified Syrian army as individuals, rather than as a group. The SDF says it will not do so without an agreeable political settlement first.

Meanwhile, “The Turkish government wants normalization with all groups in Syria, including the Kurds,” Murat Aslan, senior researcher with Ankara-based think tank SETA, told the Washington Report. “But they don’t want Qandil involved.”

Qandil is the mountain in northern Iraq where the PKK has its headquarters. Keeping the Kurds in but the PKK out is therefore a key Turkish goal in Syria. It is also, in large part, the government’s strategy in Türkiye itself.

REACHING OUT

In October 2024, Bahceli shocked many by calling on Ocalan to make an address to the Turkish parliament dissolving the PKK.

Concurrently, the MHP—which has been in coalition with President Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) since 2015—reached out to the DEM. Two factors appear to be behind this—first, President Erdoğan’s political ambitions; and second, geopolitical opportunity.

Regarding the first, under current constitutional term limits, Bahceli’s ally Erdoğan cannot run for president again, but likely wants to. To allow this, either early presidential elections will have to be held—allowing Erdoğan an effective ex-

tension on his current term—or the constitution will have to be changed.

But “Erdoğan doesn’t have a sufficient majority in parliament to do either,” Ozgur Unluhisarcikli of the German Marshall Fund in Ankara told the Washington Report. “So he hopes he can get DEM support to push through an early election or constitutional change.” The DEM has around 60 parliamentary seats—a substantial block.

The second factor is that the PKK— and its Syrian affiliates—seem now very much on the back foot.

The arrival of a Türkiye-friendly regime in Damascus and the possibility of an imminent U.S. withdrawal from Syria have added to this perception.

In addition, “The distance between what Kurdish politicians are now asking for and what Türkiye is prepared to give has narrowed considerably,” says Unluhisarcikli.

There are no longer calls for an independent Kurdish state, for example, but for recognition of cultural rights.

This creates a window of opportunity for a political settlement that includes Türkiye’s Kurds, but not the PKK—if Ocalan’s call for their disbandment goes ahead and is heeded.

That, however, is quite a big “if.”

Ocalan has been out of practical operations for over two decades. It is questionable what power he now holds over the PKK, let alone the YPG.

Many members of the DEM and its predecessor parties remain in jail, too, including key figures such as Selahattin Demirtas and Gultan Kisanak.

In 2024, the government also removed the elected DEM mayors from many southeastern cities, accusing them of supporting terrorism.

This may, however, be part of a “carrot and stick” maneuver. “Erdoğan is an experienced manager of these kinds of processes,” reminds Unluhisarcikli.

As these extraordinary events unfold, north and south of the Syrian border, the next few months may test those management skills to the utmost. ■

Emerging Voices: How Civil Society Groups Are Navigating Syria’s Complex Transition

By Menan Khater

Syrians gathered in Umayyad Square in Damascus, on January 3, 2025, carrying the Flags of the Syrian revolution, celebrating their victory over the Assad regime, which ruled the country for decades with an iron fist. The square echoed with chants for freedom, justice and unity, marking hope for a new era In Syria.

FOLLOWING THE DRAMATIC FALL of the Assad regime in Syria, deep-seated crises that had been buried for decades under authoritarian rule erupted to the surface. The footage of detainees breaking out of notorious prisons in Syria, displaced men and women flocking back into the country from neighboring countries, as well as sit-ins and protests taking place almost daily across several Syrian cities—these are all snippets of a new reality. They are emblematic of what Syrians must grapple with as they reflect on the country’s tumultuous past and uncertain future.

Among the recent incidents that took place was a minor sectarian clash in Homs, in late December, following the release of video footage showing the wreckage of a religious shrine belonging to the

Menan Khater is a political researcher and editor currently working in the think tank industry. She has an extensive background as a po‐litical affairs reporter, contributing to various media outlets in Egypt and the Middle East. Khater holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs from King’s College London.

Alawite sect. As men protested the incident, a civil society group eased tensions by directly engaging with citizens—a celebrated success. Founded in 2015, the group Al Binaa Al Watani (Nation Building) aims to form a Syrian civil bloc and build coalitions across diverse communities to restore confidence in Syrian institutions.

PICKING UP THE PIECES AFTER 54 YEARS OF ASSAD RULE

The 13-year civil war devastated infrastructure, displaced millions, killed hundreds of thousands and limited civil society movements to humanitarian and charity efforts—at least publicly.

For civil society groups interested in matters such as governance and human rights, the challenges extend far beyond the 2011 uprising and date back to the 54 years of the Assad family’s rule.

“Before the fall of Assad, no one dared to speak up, we could never do any field work or even expose our identity to anyone,” said Haneen Ahmed, consultant at the Nation Building movement.

The movement had few options to implement its activities. On

the one hand, the members and their families were constantly persecuted by security personnel, with some under a temporary or permanent travel ban. On the other, they could not approach cities outside the control of the Syrian government out of fear of facing terrorism charges. This led the movement to rely on online training and partnerships with local groups in different cities, where they worked on enhancing the political awareness of citizens, qualifying local individuals to take leading positions, as well as enhancing legislation to ensure adequate representation for everyone. Their training has reached at least 5,000 Syrians since its inception.

“At this critical juncture, the importance of our project to build a civilian bloc that can play a role in the transitional phase cannot be overstated,” said Ahmed.

The fact that armed militias dominated the scene in Syria, whether they were pro-regime loyalists/militias or others belonging to external parties, concealed the role of average Syrian civilians striving to get their voices heard and created a deep polarization among them. Moreover, the country has experienced brain drain, with many youths displaced abroad, including civil society personnel who operate outside the country. The millions of displaced also included physicians and highly skilled workers. This forced displacement was one of the factors that led to a sharp decline in Syria’s GDP by more than half between 2010 and 2020, according to an assessment published by the World Bank in 2022.

Ahmed and her group address this issue at roundtable discussions; they no longer fear the exposure of their identities. Since the fall of the regime, the group has held seven roundtable discussions with dozens of participants in each dialogue “to listen to the people’s concerns and needs as well as build a network of local leaders,” according to Ahmed.

Such efforts proved crucial when longtime authoritarian regimes were toppled in many Arab countries in the “Arab Spring” uprisings. While democracy in many of

these Arab countries remains elusive, the civil society boom in many of these countries at the onset of the transitional phase had a significant impact by either leading to unprecedented pluralistic elections or helping address humanitarian and developmental needs effectively.

WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN INITIATIVES

Women were rarely represented in political bodies in Syria under the Assad regime, yet they carried a huge burden of the war. On Nov. 25, 2019, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) reported that women have been disproportionately impacted, primarily due to their dual roles as mothers and caregivers, alongside challenges tied to their health and societal status in Syria. Women and girls in Syria have been deliberately and systematically targeted by all parties involved in the conflict, with government forces being identified as the primary, most frequent and most brutal violators. Between March 2011 and Nov. 25, 2019, SNHR documented the deaths of 28,076 women and girls, with government forces responsible for nearly 78 percent (21,856) of these extrajudicial killings.

In this context, Rehada Abdoush, a member of the Syrian Women’s Association, said the group is currently focused on having a gender-balanced civilian bloc for the transition phase. “Every other day, we go on the streets demanding decent representation of women and an addressing of their needs,” she said. “Moreover, we hold meetings in an attempt to qualify a group of women to be present in the upcoming national dialogue.”

Among the most horrific issues women have faced as a result of the war is being raped inside prisons and having children whom they cannot raise alone due to limited resources, according to Abdoush. In order to voice their concerns, women seek to become more politically active— and make sure their rights are acknowledged in the upcoming constitution. “First, we need to ensure the rights of women who

have been raped and violated during the war; second, to facilitate basic services for women who are living in underprivileged conditions or are displaced. Third, we need to qualify women to become political representatives,” said Abdoush.

MAINTAINING SECURITY WITHOUT CENTRAL AUTHORITY

Dozens of grassroots initiatives and civil society efforts are currently underway in Syria. It’s hard to count how many there are, but they all have common themes. Anas Gouda, an independent civil society activist, said, “The most important initiatives that emerged last month were ones trying to maintain civil security in the absence of state army and police. Popular committees were assembled to replace key security players and were able to control things and prevent clashes from escalating.” It is worth noting that the new de facto authority Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is not present in all Syrian cities, but mainly in northwestern Syria and some surrounding regions such as Idlib, Hama and other areas with a shared presence of other forces. But in Lattakia, Tartous and some other areas, they are not present at all, and neither are state forces. According to Gouda, people fear going out on the streets after sunset because of the security vacuum, and “this is where the role of popular committees comes in.”

Gouda believes these initiatives are essential because the people “have no appetite for talking politics when their basic security needs are not met,” he explained. More people are also undertaking initiatives to organize traffic, clean the streets and public service offices, and provide other services.

IMPEDIMENTS TO ACTION

With civil society groups gaining momentum in Syria, many impediments to their flourishing remain. The damaged infrastructure from the years of war is making it hard to perform their activities due to fre-

Continued on page 79

The Humiliation of Libya: Foreign Meddling and Military Bases Tarnish the Self-Image of a Once-Proud Nation

By Mustafa Fetouri

U.S. special envoy Ambassador Richard Norland, deputy assistant secretary of state for North Africa Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Joshua Harris, and U.S. Embassy to Libya chargé d’affaires Jeremy Berndt meet with deputy minister of transport for Air Transport Affairs, Khaled Swessi, to reaffirm U.S. support for strengthening Libya’s civil aviation sector and airport security, on Jan. 26, 2024. The U. S. agreed to provide $4.5 million to enhance civil aviation security.

MANY LIBYANS BELIEVE their country is being pulled apart by foreign meddlers and self-confessed informants for foreign countries whose newly “polished” legitimacy is founded in their role as proxies for foreign countries (which remains, in theory at least, a treasonous act punishable by death). The evidence, they say, is in plain view.

FOREIGNERS MEDDLE AND BRAG ABOUT IT

Hardly a week passes without either the American chargé d’affaires Jeremy Berndt, U.S. special envoy to Libya Richard Norland or both posting on X about their latest meetings with Libyan officials

Mustafa Fetouri is a Libyan academic and freelance journalist. He received the EU’s Freedom of the Press prize. He has written extensively for various media outlets on Libyan and MENA issues, and has published three books in Arabic. His email is mustafa fetouri@hotmail.com and Twitter: @MFetouri.

or visits in the country. Most U.S. diplomats spend most of their time in Tunisia for security reasons. The same goes for the British and less so for the French.

Libyans who served in the Qaddafi government raise questions about the goals of such meetings, which only fuels public apprehensions; many Libyans call on U.S. diplomats to steer away from Libyan affairs. Last year the French ambassador to Libya blocked me from his X account simply because I commented, very politely, about one of his posts.

Under Qaddafi, such activities had been very restricted. While it adhered to the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, old Libya did not welcome foreign diplomats freely roaming around the country or meeting officials. Citing national security considerations and the safety of the diplomat, the former government rarely gave Western diplomats permission to leave Tripoli. Today they go anywhere they want without consulting the relevant authorities.

Chris Stevens, the former U.S. ambassador killed in Benghazi in 2012, had not been authorized to travel; he was killed in a site that was not diplomatically protected. Restricting foreign diplomats’ movements by a host country is practiced by many countries, including North Korea, the U.S. and the UK.

Nowadays Libyan officials spend more time with foreign diplomats than they do with their colleagues or tending to citizens’ services.

IN THE CROSSHAIRS OF HEGEMONIC GEOPOLITICS

Libya today finds itself on the frontlines of potential geopolitical struggle between Russia and the West, whose interests include security and competition over resource-rich Africa, where Libya is a strategically located gateway.

Moscow is reconsidering its bases in Syria after the fall of the Assad regime. The Russians have been in eastern Libya since 2018, when Wagner Group fighters joined Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s failed attempt to take over Tripoli in the Trump-greenlighted attack of 2019-2020. To fend off against Haftar, the U.N.-recognized Tripoli government signed a controversial security deal with Ankara allowing it to deploy its regular troops and thousands of supporting Syrian mercenaries in at least three military bases in western Libya. After Haftar and his Russian mercenaries were defeated at the gates of Tripoli in the summer of 2020, they retreated further east where they have stayed; since then their expansion has been incremental. After Wagner’s boss was killed in an August 2023 plane crash, all his fighters signed up with the Russian ministry of defense. Their presence, not only in Libya but also across a half-dozen African counties, became part of what Moscow calls “Russian Expeditionary Corps,” more commonly known as Africa Corps. The Turks on the other hand control three military bases in western Libya, while a small Italian contingent is operating in Misrata air base east of Tripoli.

The West is alarmed by Russia’s relative proximity to NATO’s surveillance base

in southern Italy, just an hour’s flight from Libya. This development along with the destruction of Libya in 2011 means that foreign military bases are likely to stay in the country indefinitely.

PACIFIED U.N.

Over the last 14 years, the U.N. passed several Libya-related resolutions making it difficult to draw a line between unwelcome and welcome meddling. The common denominator of all the resolutions is the call for all foreign fighters and troops, without exception, to leave Libya and for foreign states to stop political meddling in its affairs. However, meddling countries (who also called for the practice to stop) just ignored the U.N. and continued their business as usual—a case of international hypocrisy.

While the veto powers in the Security Council never used their veto against any Libya-related resolution, none of them used their power in any meaningful way to help the country either. This kind of lovehate relationship not only hampers the U.N.’s efforts to pull the country out of its current predicament but also creates a vacuum inside the country filled by local proxies willing to become this or that country’s local actor.

Meddling is widespread. There is hardly any issue in which foreign diplomats, emissaries and other agents do not interfere. They feel entitled to casually comment, offer unwanted advice or simply criticize any subject at hand.

This bizarre intrusion is, to many Libyans of a certain age, a repeat of how the country used to be governed during its early years of independence. Under the late King Idris I, Libya was an open field for competing foreign powers and foreign military bases; Qaddafi toppled him for this and other reasons. Today they have returned to their former bases.

PROUD NATION

Libyans are proud of their ancestors’ relentless resistance to the barbarity and inhumane tactics of fascist Italy, including concentration camps, starvation and land grabs, used to force their submission.

They take special pride in their resistance hero, the septuagenarian Omar AlMukhtar, whose age did not stop him from fighting on horseback for two decades; his image is printed on their 10 dinar note. They build shrines and monuments honoring the battles their fathers fought against Italian colonists.

With this history in mind, almost all Libyans supported Qaddafi’s decisions, six months after taking power in 1969, to expel all foreign military bases. In March 1970 the British forces in Tobruk, eastern Libya, were expelled followed, in June of the same year, by the Americans in Wheelus Air Base, nicknamed “Little America,” because of its sprawling area and facilities including schools and bowling alleys, and in October some 20,000 Italian settlers were sent packing. Until 2011 the country used to celebrate the anniversaries of these three occasions, until Qaddafi’s government was toppled by the same countries he once expelled.

NATIONAL ANGER

Most Libyans know too little about the security and maritime deal the former Government of National Accord (2015-2021) signed with Türkiye, which allowed the deployment of troops and Syrian mercenaries. It is not known, for example, how long the Turks plan to stay (and why) or even where they are.

Worse still, almost nothing official is said about the Russians in the eastern and southern regions. Marshal Haftar, a dual Libya-U.S. citizen, manages the areas under his control pretty tightly without any accountability. He has given two of his sons, Khaled and Saddam Haftar, high military ranks even though they have no military training or experience. Other family members hold security and civilian positions, and they are accountable only to him.

Even the parliament that legitimized Haftar and promoted him to the rank of Field Marshall in 2016 has never debated the presence of Russian troops, let alone other mercenaries. Haftar does not answer to the parallel eastern government either. He is increasingly assisted by loyalists and

WAGING PEACE

Syria’s Morning After

The stunning collapse of Bashar alAssad’s regime following a lightning offensive by the Islamist insurgency Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has ended a 54-year family dictatorship and left Syria’s future in flux. On January 21, the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU) at Georgetown University hosted Dr. Fawaz Gerges, chair in contemporary Middle Eastern studies at the London School of Economics, to discuss “Syria’s Morning After” with Dr. Nader Hashemi, director of ACMCU.

Gerges, author of What Really Went Wrong: The West and the Failure of Democracy in the Middle East and Making the Arab World: Nasser, Qutb and the Clash That Shaped the Middle East, placed Assad’s overthrow in historical context. The defeat of Syria’s Ba’athist government at the hands of HTS is the latest development in the struggle between Arab nationalism and political Islam that has wracked the Middle East since the mid1950s, Gerges explained. “This fault line,” he said, “has played a pivotal role in the emergence and consolidation of authoritarianism in the Arab world.”

Assad’s ignominious departure from Damascus marks the end of a cataclysmic civil war that has forced over six million Syrians to flee their country since 2011.

“Nearly 500,000 Syrians have been killed, over a million injured and the economy is in ruins,” Gerges said. “The scars of 13 years of war will take decades to heal.”

Compounding these challenges is widespread trepidation about the future of Syria under an HTS-dominated government, Gerges explained. Syria’s de facto ruler, HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, began his career as a member of al-Qaeda in Iraq before founding its Syrian affiliate, al-Nusra Front, and collaborating with ISIS. In 2017, an internal power struggle prompted Sharaa to split with his former colleagues and establish Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham. Pointing to HTS’ shift to a pragmatic “religiouslite authoritarian” form of governance,

Gerges contends that Sharaa “shed his Salafi jihadist skin” while remaining an “ultra-conservative Sunni Islamist.”

While Gerges expressed cautious optimism that the new Syrian administration has prioritized state-building and largely refrained from retributive massacres, he harbored no illusions about Sharaa’s commitment to democracy. “If we expect post-Assad Syria to be based on the will of the people, I think we are delusional,” he argued. Instead, Gerges posits that HTS rule “will be a distinctive cocktail of religious authoritarianism, pre-Ba’ath nationalism and technocratic functionalism.”

Although Sharaa’s unifying rhetoric in recent weeks has been “magnificent,” Gerges emphasized the disparity between his statements and “what’s happening on the ground.” HTS and Sharaa “are controlling every single institution that matters in Syria, whether you’re talking about the security, the intelligence, the defense, the economy, the judiciary, the education— everything,” he testified. When other groups called for an 18-month transitional process to hold elections and six months to write a new constitution, Sharaa “said it will take at least four years to have elections and at least three years to write the constitution,” Gerges rued. “In four years, you can not only control the nascent insti-

tutions in Syria, you can manufacture consent and do whatever you want.”

In the days after Assad’s ouster, Israel launched an opportunistic annexation of Syrian territory and an assault on the nation’s military infrastructure. “Israel has expanded its control beyond the Golan Heights” to areas that are “28 kilometers outside of Damascus” and “now occupies about one percent of Syria,” Gerges noted. Additionally, he stressed that Israel’s bombing campaign has “literally destroyed every strategic asset of the Syrian army.”

Hashemi questioned HTS’ muted response to Israel’s offensive. Gerges believes HTS has tacitly accepted Israel’s violations of Syrian sovereignty because “its leadership is mainly interested in consolidation of power inside Syria” and improving ties with the West. “In fact, quite a few officials of HTS made it very clear they want to have cordial relations with Israel, and they have called on the United States to basically bridge the divide between Syria and Israel,” he stated.

Reflecting on the 11-day disintegration of a regime that had weathered 13 years of war, Gerges cast doubt on the illusion of authoritarian stability in the Arab world. “There’s a great deal of dissatisfaction, a great deal of anger, a great deal of rage below the surface in most of our countries,

Syrians celebrate landing in Damascus after more than a decade in exile, on Jan. 23, 2025.

truly all it takes is a spark,” he asserted. “The question is not whether social and political implosions could take place in the region; the question is when and how.”

Jack McGrath

Will the Ceasefire Hold—And Can Gaza Rebuild?

Following the January 19 implementation of a ceasefire in Gaza, questions remain as to its durability and implications. Two think tank events held in January sought to explore these themes.

Speaking at a National Interest Foundation webinar on January 23, Khaled Elgindy, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, credited the Trump administration for solidifying the ceasefire deal, which came into effect on the last full day of the Biden administration. “This is a deal that’s been on the table for seven months,” he noted. “The key factor was pressure. There really was no pressure from [President Joe] Biden—of any kind. There was begging and pleading, there were leaked stories about how frustrated the president was—but never any actual U.S. leverage. Trump, on the other hand, made it clear he wanted this war to end before he took office.”

Israeli officials, Elgindy said, took this pressure seriously and followed Trump’s lead, not wanting to begin his second term on a negative note. He believes Trump had the credibility to demand a ceasefire in part due to his dispassionate orientation toward Israel. “Trump is highly transactional, whereas Biden’s whole approach toward Israel was deeply personal and ideological,” he said. “Trump is not encumbered by ideology.”

At the same time, Trump has “surrounded himself with people in key positions who are quite ideological” and “extremely and openly hostile to Palestinians, to their humanity, to their rights,” Elgindy acknowledged. In his first week in office these officials persuaded Trump to remove all U.S. sanctions on violent Israeli settlers, fast-track the selling of advanced weapons to Israel and exempt Israel and Egypt from a freeze of U.S. foreign aid.

Humanitarian aid trucks pass through Israel’s Kerem Shalom border crossing following the ceasefire, in Rafah, Gaza, on Jan. 25, 2025. “The target is to get between 500 and 600 trucks in per day— similar to the level of aid reaching Gaza before war erupted—over the coming weeks,” a U.N. official said. An average of only 40‐50 daily trucks entered Gaza during the war.

Such moves have resulted in frustration among those in the Trump world who want the president to fully embrace his “America First” slogan and abandon the U.S.’ long-running affinity for Israel. There is “real tension between [the administration’s pro-Israel ideologues] and the ‘America First’ ethos of the MAGA movement,” Elgindy said. Some in Trump’s camp “are deeply skeptical of Israeli intentions and weary about the U.S. getting dragged into a Middle Eastern war on Israel’s behalf,” he added.

These internal divides, coupled with Israel’s lackluster embrace of the ceasefire, leave Elgindy wary as to the durability of the deal. Israeli officials “have emphasized repeatedly that this is a temporary cessation of hostilities, and they’re still talking about going back and finishing the job,” he pointed out.

Mairav Zonszein, a senior analyst on Israel-Palestine at the International Crisis Group, expressed greater, albeit guarded, optimism as to the ceasefire’s prospects during a January 22 Arab Center Washington DC (ACWDC) webinar. “There are many holes in it and reasons why it could fall apart,” she said. However, “I think it will be a lot harder than we realize for Israel to go back and resume the war in Gaza.”

Zonszein said there is a “consensus” among Israelis that this deal should have

been signed sooner and that its delay led to the preventable deaths of too many hostages. “I’m somewhat hopeful and optimistic that the dynamic in Israel of seeing hostages released, seeing that negotiations and diplomacy are the only way to free hostages” will drive popular support for a protracted ceasefire, she added.

Jehad Abusalim, executive director of the Institute for Palestine Studies-USA, stressed the ceasefire will be largely futile unless it becomes a launching pad to address fundamental issues of justice. The deal “presents an opportunity to recognize that the systemic denial of Palestinian political and human rights is something that needs to be addressed,” he said during the ACWDC event. He added that Gaza cannot be forgotten after the war if the U.S. and Israel intend to use the ceasefire as a bridge to regional initiatives such as Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with Israel. “This cannot and will not happen with Gaza being a pile of rubble,” he cautioned.

Rebuilding Gaza will be a monumental effort. “Initial assessments are $20 to 30 billion in damage—if not more,” Abusalim noted. Given the scale of destruction, the world must give Gazans the practical and political space they need to rebuild. Past post-war rebuilding efforts were hindered by outside actors, and given the much greater scale of destruction now, this ap-

proach must not be replicated, he warned. “Up until the beginning of this [2023] war, there were buildings, structures and communities that were still awaiting reconstruction” following the 2014 war, he noted. Israel “did not allow for a complete rebuilding of Gaza because of all the restrictions—every bag of cement had to be tracked, there were many layers of monitoring. It ultimately proved unsuccessful and only harmed the civilian population of Gaza.”

He also said that fears of Western disapproval destroyed a joint effort by Hamas and Fatah (mediated by Egypt) to form a Community Support Committee made up of technocrats, academics and civil society leaders to govern post-war Gaza. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas ultimately put aside the deal, believing that any association with Hamas would bring unwanted pressure from the West on his Ramallah-based government. “This speaks again to the role the international community and especially the United States play in creating obstacles that don’t allow Palestinians to manage their affairs,” Abusalim said.—Dale Sprusansky Rashid Khalidi Dismisses Relevance of “Axis of Resistance”

Scholar and historian Prof. Rashid Khalidi, recently retired from Columbia University, joined the “Bad Hasbara” podcast in December. Among other topics, he addressed the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria, the status of the “Axis of Resistance” and the future of the Palestinian struggle.

“I don’t think the Assad regime was an ally of the Palestinians,” Khalidi stated. “I was in Beirut when the Syrian army intervened against the PLO in 1976, when it helped Lebanese [militias] capture and slaughter the population of Tal al-Zaatar [Palestinian refugee camp].” During the Syrian civil war that began in 2011, the government also brutally assaulted the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, killing or displacing tens of thousands. “Friend of the Palestinians? Excuse me? With friends like this, you don’t need enemies,” Khalidi said.

Iranians gather in the capital of Tehran to celebrate the news of a Gaza ceasefire, on Jan. 16, 2025.

He also questioned the idea that Bashar al-Assad or his father, Hafez al-Assad, vigorously resisted Israel. “The Assad regime did nothing across the ceasefire line— ever—from the time that [U.S. Secretary of State Henry] Kissinger negotiated a disengagement agreement in the Golan Heights in 1974…50 years of peace,” he noted. “What kind of anti-imperialism exactly are we talking about when it’s a regime that does exactly what the United States and Israel wants?”

Khalidi was also dismissive of the idea the Iranian-backed Axis of Resistance genuinely cares about the Palestinian cause. “It was created by Iran as a deterrent to protect the Iranian regime…to protect the Iranian national interest,” he opined. “That, in my view, had no connection to the Palestinian national interest. It may have served some Palestinian factions…but it wasn’t designed to liberate Palestine…it was intended to protect Iran.”

He continued, “I never believed that there was such a thing as an Axis of Resistance. There was an axis of protection for Iran, and it served that purpose until Israel showed it was infinitely stronger than a lot of fools believed that it was by doing what they’ve done in Gaza, by doing what they’ve done in Lebanon, by doing what they are currently doing in Syria, and by

doing what they did to Iranian air defenses….It showed that Iran was a bit of a paper tiger. [Israel has also] shown in south Lebanon that Hezbollah was a bit of a paper tiger.”

Khalidi believes elements within the Palestinian resistance had a naïve view of the Axis of Resistance and became overly and unrealistically reliant on the alliance’s assistance. “This is one of my critiques of the Hamas military leadership in Gaza,” he explained. “They sincerely believed that these countries, and actors such as Hezbollah, would abandon their own selfinterest and do what Hamas’ military leadership wanted and launch a big war.”

Khalidi insisted that Palestinian resistance is not contingent upon support from Tehran, nor will it be deterred by Israeli aggression. “Occupation will breed resistance whether Iran exists as a superpower or not,” he said. “The Palestinians seem weak, but they weren’t strong because of Iran; if they were strong at all, it’s because they stay steadfast on their land, it’s because they resist non-violently and violently, and it’s because they will not tolerate occupation in the long run.”

As to the future of the Palestinian movement, Khalidi emphasized the importance of working with Israelis to secure a common future. “You’re not going to

eliminate them, you’re not going to expel them, they have no place else to go, they’re staying there,” he said. “You have to figure out how you’re going to live with them, and that has to color how you deal with them.” This, he added, does not preclude engaging in boycotts or sanctions against the Israeli state.

“You never win [a struggle] without winning over a part of the opponent,” Khalidi continued. He pointed to the Algerian war of independence as an example, where the National Liberation Front (FLN) “won over huge segments of French public opinion—and that’s why they won….The French army could have gone on indefinitely if French public opinion hadn’t turned against the war.” —Dale Sprusansky

What’s in a Word: Defining Zionism

“Zionism” is a word fraught with nuance, and such a term needs clarification if people want to have a fruitful conversation about its definition. Four experts discussed the meaning of Zionism during the Dec. 15, 2024, Voices From the Holy Land Online Film Salon. Each panelist began by describing life experiences that led to their current understanding of the term.

“I grew up in a Christian Zionist context,” said Rev. Jesse Wheeler, who moderated the discussion. “I remember conversations about Israel and the End Times over dinner conversations and cheesy movies from the church bookstore about the Apocalypse.” Wheeler, who is associate executive director at Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA), described living in the Middle East, obtaining degrees in history and theology, and marrying a Palestinian woman as impetuses for his change of perspective.

“I was raised in a very traditional, Orthodox Jewish family in Cincinnati,” noted panelist Rabbi Alissa Wise. “It took me a while to understand that my identity as a Jewish person was very interconnected with Zionism,” she said. “I went to Jewish day school and was instilled with a lot of pride in Israel. We used to travel there a lot.” Wise recalled, “Zionism was a social justice project. Jews needed Israel because the world

turned its back on the Jews during World War II.” At Hebrew University in Jerusalem, she first encountered “this idea of Palestinians,” and began to question her convictions. Today, Wise is the lead organizer of Rabbis for Ceasefire.

“I grew up very active in the Presbyterian Church USA, but it wasn’t until I became a religious studies major that I became very interested in modern Jewish history and modern Hebrew,” related panelist Dr. Anne Perez. A historian of modern Israel and Jewish Studies living in Mobile, AL, Perez recently authored the book, Understanding Zionism: History and Perspectives. Perez explained, “I’m not a Zionist. I wrote about how religion and nationalism work together. I gained a perspective of Israel and Zionism from living on the Lebanese side of the border.”

Born and raised in Jerusalem to a British mother and Palestinian-Israeli Christian father, panelist Jack Munayer attended an Israeli Jewish school. “My story is perhaps a little bit different in the sense that I never really had an interest in Zionism, but Zionism had an interest in me, or rather where my family was living. Like most Palestinians, Zionism has shaped the course of my history in one way or another. My family was displaced as part of the Zionist movement in 1948. Most Palestinians don’t grow up and study within the Zionist educational system, but I did.” Munayer is a humanitar-

ian affairs officer and researcher in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. He previously worked as a coordinator for the World Council of Churches in Palestine and Israel.

“I’m a Christian,” Munayer continued, “and Jerusalem has a magnetic attraction for Christian Zionists. When I was 19, I had to get away to have space to breathe. Everywhere I went, it followed me. In Northern Ireland, in Belfast, a Christian Zionist asked, ‘Why don’t you just leave Jerusalem?’ He believed I was delaying the Second Coming of Christ. In Jerusalem, a Christian Zionist claimed I was ‘demon possessed’ because I did not support Israel’s assault on Gaza in 2009.”

Munayer noted, “The majority of Zionists today in the world are Christian. Christian Zionism has always had the idea of displacing Arabs and Palestinians from their land. We can see it in the diaries of the first Christian Zionist scouts who came to the land, especially the British. Benny Morris, a leading Israeli historian on the topic, noted ‘transfer’ was inevitable and built into Zionism.”

Wise addressed the question of defining Zionism. “My read of Zionism is that it is a political movement that began through Christianity, not through Judaism. It started through the Dispensationalist movements in the United Kingdom and Scotland” in the 19th century. “And fundamental to

A person holds a sign criticizing Zionism at a protest in Edmonton, Canada, on Oct. 18, 2023.

JENARI/SHUTTERSTOCK

Christian Zionism is anti-Semitism. There’s nothing more anti-Semitic than the idea that Jews have to repopulate historic Palestine and then convert en masse or burn at the Second Coming of the Messiah. Theodor Herzl (1860-1904), a secular Jew, was the champion of a political movement of Zionism. It had nothing to do with the religious aspects of what we know as Zionism today.”

Perez cited a famous essay, “Zionism From the Standpoint of Its Victims,” in which Palestinian scholar Edward Said (1935-2003) argued that Zionism can be a lot of things to different people, but for an entire population, it has meant colonialism.

Wise agreed. “Zionism as we know it today is Jewish supremacy,” she said, adding, “Who gets to decide what Zionism is? Or what anti-Semitism is?” She criticized those who believe that only Jews can define anti-Semitism. “The problem with that approach is that spurious charges of anti-Semitism are used as a cudgel against Palestinians and those who stand in solidarity with Palestinians,” she said.

Munayer concluded with an appeal to think beyond terms. “I know that you’ve all joined this event because you care and are committed to trying to find a solution to what we’re facing now. I think many Palestinians feel that our suffering has become a consumable product, and that the international community and audience have become passive consumers.” He continued, “I would hate for us to look back at this conversation about Zionism to say that while atrocities were ongoing, we were engaging in hypothetical and fantastical conversations about what could be, or should be, or has been. Our main responsibility is to bring an end to what we’re witnessing in Palestine.” The moderator and other panelists agreed.

The salon was sponsored by FOSNA and JustFaith, St. Louis. A recording of the event is available at <www.voicesfromtheholyland.org>.—Steven Sellers Lapham

Join Iqraa in Running for a Brighter Palestine!

We’re grateful to our community for showing a surge of grassroots interest in the

well-being of Palestinians. As a result, Iqraa (“Read,” in Arabic) last year had one of our largest and most productive running teams since our founding in 2008. Our 23 registered runners raised more than $48,000 for university scholarships for Palestinians in 2024!

Team Iqraa completed multiple races, beginning in March when we dedicated a special 5K tribute run in Rock Creek Park to our runner Mazen’s family, many of whom were killed in separate Israeli airstrikes.

Most of our races continue to be in the fall, as our training season is from May to October. Iqraa runners completed several fall races in 2024, including—in September—the Parks Half Marathon in Rockville, MD, and the Revenge of the Penguins on the C&O Towpath. In October, we competed in the Twin Cities Marathon in Minneapolis-St. Paul—proving that you don’t have to run locally—and in the Marine Corps Marathon 10K. You also don’t have to run super long! Typically, we have several Marine Corps full marathoners, but last year was an exception.

As our race history demonstrates, we’re mainly a running group—though we fit triathletes and potentially others into our program—and our foremost mission is to raise money to expand educational opportunities for Palestinians.

Our partner for the funds we raise is United Palestinian Appeal (UPA), founded in 1978 to empower Palestinians through

health, education, community and economic programs. UPA oversees and implements the Mahmoud Darwish Scholarship Program that our fundraising supports. UPA is a 501(c)(3) organization, certified by the IRS and rated by Charity Navigator at 4 stars—the maximum—for accountability & finance, culture & community and leadership & adaptability. Learn about UPA here: <upaconnect.org>.

Our training partner is Marathon Charity Cooperation (MCC). To train, we meet every Saturday from the beginning of May through the end of October at up to six venues in the Washington, DC metro area, from Peirce Mill in Rock Creek Park to the W&OD Trail behind the Reston, VA YMCA. These training runs are geared for half and full marathons and can easily be scaled down to accommodate runners interested in shorter races. In addition to training and coaching, MCC partner charities provide aid station support during training runs and assist our race day efforts at the Parks Half Marathon (Sept. 21) and Marine Corps Marathon and 10K (Oct. 26). To learn more about the MCC, visit: <mc-coop.org>.

Iqraa is a non-partisan running group with no political stance other than our deep commitment to treating all humans equally and with dignity, and the mission of helping Palestine shine intellectually. Our slogan—our credo—is “Running for a Brighter Palestine!”

Members of the 2024 Iqraa running team. PHOTO

This year our info sessions at UPA’s Dupont Circle office are on April 16 and 19, while MCC training starts on May 3.

Learn more about Iqraa at <iqraadc. org>, or email Kirk Campbell at <kirkcruachan@yahoo.com>. —Kirk Campbell

Central Asia Seeks to Expand Middle East Ties

Although the modern Central Asian states emerged out of the officially secular Soviet Union, the cities located along the ancient Silk Road remain an integral part of the Islamic world, Bruce Pannier, Central Asia fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said in a Dec. 5, 2024, webinar hosted by the Middle East Institute (MEI).

Leaders are hoping to reinvigorate and strengthen these historic ties for economic purposes. “The Arab [states] see an opportunity, with shifting geopolitical positions, to reconnect with people they were connected with for hundreds of years, to re-establish the trade routes that faded away,” Pannier said.

One such opportunity is in the field of renewable energy. For example, Saudi Arabia-based ACWA Power’s largest foreign investment portfolio is in Uzbekistan. The Gulf countries are also looking at the region as a potential breadbasket, with Oman investing in food processing plants in Uzbekistan, and Qatar investing in dairy products in the country. “There are business opportunities there,” Pannier said. “This is a big thing.”

Sanat Kushkumbayev, chief research fellow at the Astana-based Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies, pointed out that the United Arab Emirates has invested over $2.6 billion in Kazakhstan and signed additional agreements worth $900 million. “Kazakhstan sees an opportunity to boost exports to the Gulf, especially wheat and flour,” he said.

One major hindrance to trade, however, is the region’s underdeveloped transportation infrastructure. “Investment remains a key priority for Central Asia in building transport infrastructure between our regions,” Kushkumbayev explained. Central Asian leaders hope wealthy Gulf governments will help finance necessary

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev (l) and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the emir of Qatar, visit Samarkand’s historic Registan site on June 5, 2023. During the visit, Qatar committed over $12 billion to large investment projects across multiple sectors in Uzbekistan, including energy, gas, agriculture, infrastructure, logistics and tourism.

infrastructure improvements.

Tense relations between Russia and the West pose a particular dilemma for regional economic growth. Assel Tutumlu, associate professor at the Near East University in Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus, noted that transporting goods out of Central Asia became difficult following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. For instance, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which is responsible for 80 percent of Kazakhstan’s oil exports, came under strain due to Western sanctions. Since most of the CPC’s oil moves through Russian pipelines, many buyers avoided purchasing the product to avoid any risk of sanctions violations, even though Western leaders exempted the CPC from sanctions. “It has caused a huge dent,” Tutumlu said.

Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran program at MEI, noted that U.S. sanctions on Iran pose another practical transportation challenge, as the country is the “geographic bridge between Central Asia and the Middle East.”—Elaine Pasquini

HUMAN RIGHTS

On Its 23rd Anniversary, Activists Demand Guantánamo’s

Closure

President Joe Biden left the detention center at Guantánamo Bay Naval Base

emptier than ever—but it still remains open, despite his campaign promise to close the facility.

One of the largest releases of prisoners from the site to date took place in the waning weeks of the Biden administration, as 11 Yemeni men held for two decades and never charged with a crime were transferred to Oman. Presently, there are 15 remaining prisoners, six of whom have never been charged with a crime. Of those, three have been recommended for transfer and have been waiting for years to be released.

Two of the 15 remaining detainees have been convicted and sentenced, while seven have been charged but not tried.

On Jan. 11, the 23rd anniversary of Guantánamo’s opening, human rights activists in cities across the country marked the occasion by again calling for the closure of the prison infamously known for “enhanced interrogations,” a convenient euphemism for torture.

Activists also used the anniversary to demand reparations for those unjustly imprisoned and tortured at the site, the transfer of prisoners charged and not yet tried to federal courts and the transfer to federal prisons of the convicted detainees. However, Congress has continuously resisted this call and blocked the ability of presidents to transfer any detainees to U.S. mainland soil, where they would ostensibly have the

right to due process under the U.S. justice system. In 2019, the New York Times estimated that it costs “$13 million per prisoner” each year to operate Guantánamo.

Standing near the White House along the sidewalk at Lafayette Park in freezing temperatures on Jan. 11, a group of protesters, some dressed as prisoners in orange jumpsuits with black hoods, held posters, one of which asked then-President Biden why Guantánamo was still open. Their presence was acknowledged by some passersby, but the usual crowds visiting the area were noticeably absent due to the frigid weather. Those present opined that they were “standing up for what is right, just and true” in condemning the continuation of the prison’s operation.

Phil Pasquini

BOOKS

How to Move the U.S. Away From Interventionism

Despite running a campaign promising to end and avoid wars, President Donald Trump nominated a bevy of war hawks to national security positions in his new administration. On a Nov. 12, 2024, webinar hosted by the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, Peter Harris, an associate professor of political science at Colorado State University and the author of the recently released Why America Can’t Retrench (And How it Might), theorized that

Trump is executing a time-tested bait-andswitch on voters vis-à-vis foreign policy.

U.S. leaders know “there are very few political repercussions for breaking promises like this,” Harris said. Once in power, politicians have more incentive to cozy up to war hawks than carry out the restraint-based policies they extolled on the campaign trail, he added, since war hawks have “done a better job over a long period of time organizing American politics to incentivize the appointment of their people.” Activists, he implored, need to “create a set of incentives that make those [restraint] options really appealing, that [leaders] can’t look past them.”

Interventionism is a relatively new phenomenon in the U.S., Harris pointed out.

Prior to World War II, the consensus philosophy was that “we should fight the war, defeat our adversaries but then bring the military back down into proper proportions.” The post-World War II hysteria surrounding the threat posed by the Soviet Union prompted President Harry Truman to reluctantly forward-deploy troops on a temporary basis. However, this deployment became permanent and eventually rewired U.S. politics and culture into viewing openended foreign military missions as normal and even necessary.

This has led to a disordering of priorities within the government. Today, Harris noted, 80 percent of all federal workers are employed by the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs. That leaves just 20 percent of federal employees to focus on domestic needs. “You’ll never really have a federal government that can invest in domestic renewal so long as it is so overwhelmingly focused on pursuing military primacy,” he said.

Washington must reorient to focus more on domestic needs, and the American people must see the clear fruits of this shift, Harris argued. “Americans need to see a tangible peace dividend where reductions in military efforts, the stopping of wars, is very visibly translated and shifted toward material benefits to them,” be it stimulus checks, tax cuts or other programs, he said. The U.S. citizenry must also come to an understanding that a less adventurous military makes the country safer, not more vulnerable. The U.S. possessing a strong national defense is “non-negotiable,” Harris said, but prolonged overseas deployments make the country less safe and “really vulnerable to attack from our adversaries.”

Harris was clear that he rejects isolationism. “The United States should not and must not retreat from the world,” he said. “In diplomatic affairs, in economic affairs, when it comes to humanitarian aid…America can and should and must remain a leader in those spheres, but it does not need to be underpinned by forward-deployed military forces.”

Despite its reckless military polices, Harris noted that the U.S. still enjoys tremendous soft power across the world.

Activists stand outside of the White House on Jan. 11, 2025, calling on then‐President Joe Biden to close the Guantánamo Bay detention facility.

This positive inclination toward the U.S. should be leveraged by robustly investing in diplomacy, he believes. “Our soft power is absolutely enormous,” Harris said. “It’s just undermined and complicated by the unsound ways that we apply our hard power. I think that if American diplomats were untethered from this albatross of these permanent wars and were allowed to advance a positive, optimistic case for American values, they would do great things.”

To move toward this reality, Harris believes existential domestic political reforms are needed. “You need institutional change to match these policy changes,” he said. “It’s going to take a while, I think, for different camps of restrainers on the left, on the right and on the center to agree on what these domestic reforms might look like, but I really want to make the point that some form of reform needs to happen.”

Harris’ ideas include disestablishing the two political parties, making it easier for third parties to participate in the electoral process, reining in the Executive’s power to deploy troops, implementing proportional representation for federal and state

Emerging Voices

Continued from page 69

elections and expanding the size of both chambers of Congress. “More representatives, more representation and more pluralism I think would trend toward better foreign policy,” he said.—Dale Sprusansky quent power cuts and lack of strong internet connectivity. Syria TV reported on Jan. 16, 2025, that 40 percent of the grid needs retrofitting.

Furthermore, the lack of funding and the continuation of international sanctions on Syria are preventing the groups from upscaling their activities. “The lack of funding remains a pressing obstacle for our work,” said Gouda. In fact, Syria is facing a nationwide recession. A huge chunk of the workforce was part of the public sector. In 2022, the public sector employed 31.8 percent of the total workforce. After the fall of the regime many are now jobless, at a time when thousands of refugees are returning back to the country, potentially straining the limited opportunities available. “The markets are now full of goods, but no one has

the money to buy them, especially with the interruption of public sector salaries,” said Ahmed. Back in mid-2023, the U.N. was claiming that more than 90 percent of citizens have been pushed under the poverty line, and Syria News reported, on Jan. 20, 2025, the country needs more than 160 additional bakeries to meet the domestic demand.

Regime loyalists are also trying to conceal evidence of their violations and are launching disinformation campaigns to evade retribution. These areas are also an integral part of the civil society’s agenda across many entities, such as “Ta’akad” (Verify!), a platform that works on debunking misinformation.

Despite the sweeping changes and the opportunities they present, Syrians remain apprehensive, hoping the transitional phase will lead to a democratic and inclusive future after years of waiting. “Despite everything, we could have never expected anything better than the fall of the regime. We wish this had taken place sooner after the start of the uprising while we still had the resources to build the nation again,” concluded Abdoush. ■

If I Must Die: Refaat Alareer and the Writers He Empowered to Tell Their Stories

By Ida Audeh

If I must die, you must live to tell my story

HOW DO YOU TELL the story of Refaat Alareer? For the friends of Refaat Alareer— husband, father of six, university professor, writer and mentor to hundreds, assassinated by Israel barely two months into the Gaza genocide—the answer was obvious: by publishing his work in book form. The outcome of those efforts was the Memorial Edition of an anthology of student writing that he edited ten years ago, Gaza Writes Back; and If I Must Die: Poetry and Prose, a collection of Alareer’s work since 2011. The latter instantly sold out, with the initial print run of 7,500 unable to match the more than 20,000 orders placed, an astonishing figure for a work of nonfiction.

Alareer wrote that the age of Gaza’s children could be measured by the wars they lived through. A child born in 2007, for example, was four wars old by age 14. Alareer’s age at the time of his assassination, 44, could be measured in terms of two multiyear intifadas, four wars, the Great March of Return, and the two-month opening salvos of genocide. For his first grandchild, born a few months after his assassination, life could be measured in terms of the days of genocide he experienced—about 60; he was killed with his parents in what Ali Abunimah, in the introduction to Gaza Writes Back, described as a deliberate attack on the family. The baby’s mother was the child tasked by Alareer to tell his story in the poem “If I Must Die,” written in 2011 and translated into more than three dozen languages after his death. The task now falls to others, his friends and students, who are determined to keep his legacy alive.

It is remarkable to consider how much Alareer accomplished in a relatively short time despite formidable obstacles. This son of Gaza City’s Shujaiyya neighborhood, an area famous for its resistance, was able to extend his voice beyond the Gaza Strip, which had been put under siege and blockade for most of his adult life. He did this in part through his own writing and in the stream

of students he helped discover their own voices so they could tell their personal and collective stories. Award-winning novelist Susan Abulhawa said this in her introduction to If I Must Die: “His mind was unbreakable and beautiful and fine.”

THE POWER OF STORYTELLING

Alareer believed in the power of stories and the vital necessity of mastering language (specifically, English) sufficiently to tell those stories in an honest and compelling manner. He grew up on the stories of his mother and grandmother, and he in turn entertained his children at night with stories. (His TED Talk on the power of storytelling is worth listening to.) But following October 7, he was unable to continue this practice. In several essays collected in the anthology, he wrote poignantly about the ways in which living in the context of genocide charged his interactions with his children, as normal gestures or words of affection could suddenly be understood as final goodbyes and trigger alarm.

I saw Alareer on one of the Electronic Intifada streams soon after the genocide began. He looked completely despondent, and at the time, I wondered whether he sensed he might not survive this war. Later I learned that he told friends that if he should be killed, it would be because Bari Weiss, former New York Times writer, had sicced the Israelis on him. She took offense at his mocking of one of the October 7 atrocity stories—a really over the top story conjured by the sick minds of Israeli first responders. Her retweeting of his quip launched an avalanche of abuse on him by the goons who follow her. He received death threats online and by phone from Israeli accounts and threatening calls by the Israeli military telling him they knew where he was sheltering—so he might be right that Weiss drew attention to him and identified him for elimination. But then again, he might have been killed just because he was a professor at the Islamic University, as part of Israel’s destruction of the academic sector. Israel targets academics (at least 94 university professors have been killed since October 7), schools and universities with laser focus, just as it targets journalists, medical workers (including hospitals and ambulances)—and children. Always, unfailingly, children.

Ida Audeh is senior editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs magazine.

I think of the impact of anonymous threatening phone calls on a young man trying to protect his family, displaced from place to place in the phantom search for safety in a genocide zone. The unsettling call telling him Israel knew where he was. The last time this happened, he left his family and went in search of safety—or at least, of protecting his children and wife from whatever fate Israel would mete out to him. That gave them a temporary reprieve. But those in his last place of refuge, including his sister, brother and four nieces and nephews, were killed with him.

WRITING AS RESISTANCE

Alareer’s essays described life in the Gaza Strip. He wrote for a Western audience for whom Gaza might have been on another planet. He addressed the challenges of raising children where they are continually traumatized, of living with the loss of loved ones, of navigating life within the constraints placed by the occupier.

Refaat Alareer taught world literature and creative writing at Islamic University. By all accounts he was a fantastic professor. His students came to appreciate literature through his devotion to Shakespeare and the metaphysical poets. (His doctoral thesis, earned from Universiti Putra Malaysia in 2017, was on the poetry of John Donne.) From reading the tributes that poured in after his murder, it is clear he found his calling in the university classroom. He had a real gift for guiding his students to understand the multifaceted nature of characters and the moral dilemmas they faced and for mentoring young adults, for helping them believe in themselves and to find their voices to tell their stories and the stories of Gaza. Ali Abunimah wrote in the introduction to the 2024 edition of Gaza Writes Back: “He had a rare ability to make each and every person he spoke to feel that they were the only person in the world who mattered to him, and to encourage them to push themselves beyond their own boundaries.”

Alareer cofounded an organization, We Are Not Numbers, to help nurture their writing skills. Washington Report readers are the beneficiaries of that project, because

the Gaza writers featured in this magazine, issue after issue, have been trained through the program. For as long as they are alive, these writers will help readers around the world see the magic that was the Gaza Strip of their youth, now obliterated by Israeli bombardment. I’ve never met a Palestinian who didn’t feel strongly about Palestine, but the love affair between Gazans and their long-suffering geography is in a different category altogether.

Alareer taught his students that Palestine was a story away, waiting to be told. Gaza Writes Back is a collection of short stories written by his students five years after the 2008-2009 war. It “provides conclusive evidence that telling stories is an act of life, that telling stories is resistance, and that telling stories shapes our memories.” The writers understand that “‘writing back’ to Israel’s long occupation, constant aggressiveness, and Operation Cast Lead is a moral obligation and a duty they are paying back to Palestine and to a bleeding, yet resilient, Gaza.…writing back is an act of resistance and an obligation to humanity.”

If I Must Die ends with voice messages from Alareer that were transcribed after his assassination under the title “On the Resilience of the Palestinian Community.” He talks about the strong sense of community and solidarity among people, their acts of self-sacrifice to help one another. His final message is worth heeding: “As

The Humiliation of Libya

Continued from page 71

Palestinians, no matter what comes of this, we haven’t failed. We did our best. And we didn’t lose our humanity.” ■ cronies outside of any legally defined framework. He receives Western diplomats and other visitors in his headquarters and is considered an essential participant in any potential settlement.

Ever since the Russians appeared in late 2017 and early 2018 (initially as mercenaries), no one, except Haftar, knows how many there are, where they are deployed, how long they will stay and what they are doing. There is not a single public document referring to the estimated 2,000 Russian soldiers operating in at least three military bases inside Libya. With the shifting of regional geopolitics, Moscow is now using Libya as a logistical hub and staging post for its operations in the Mediterranean Sea and Middle East and, mostly important, for Moscow’s Africa Corps.

According to the U.N.’s 2020 estimations, there are some 20,000 foreign fighters in Libya, some of whom are African mercenaries from neighboring countries. With the devastating civil war in Sudan, Libya’s southeast neighbor, Sudanese fighters also have an undefined presence in Libya.

IRONY OF NATIONAL MAGNITUDE

There is a twofold irony here that not only makes Libyans angry but makes them honor Qaddafi while despising every other politician and military leader who burst onto the national scene after him: All the bases where foreign troops are stationed were built and developed by a Libyan government that not only expelled foreign troops but was determined that they would never come back. Even in 2011, when Qaddafi was under attack, he rejected the idea of using foreign troops or fighters to stay in power. The man who still commands respect among his fellow citizens must be turning in his grave to see the ease with which foreign actors operate in the Libya he once led. ■

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Loot: How Israel Stole Palestinian Property

By

Adam Raz, translated by Philip Hollander, Verso, 2024, hardcover, 352 pp. MEB $34.95

Reviewed by Ida Audeh

In meticulous, depressing detail, Loot: How Israel Stole Palestinian Property describes the pillaging of Palestinian moveable property by Jewish Zionists in 1948, a process that began while the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous population was still underway. The chapters in Part 1, which occupies two-thirds of the book, focus on the theft of nine towns or villages and the desecration of mosques and churches in the territory that became Israel. Author Adam Raz is an Israeli archivist, and he justifies the focus on individual towns because information about their destruction is readily available and there are differences in the ways locales were plundered that are worth noting. To his credit, these chapters do not seem repetitive, though the accounts of wanton ransacking of cherished homes are difficult to read.

Early Israeli propagandists liked to pontificate that the plucky Zionist pioneers “made the desert bloom,” but in fact they walked into a fully furnished homeland, and everywhere they set their gaze, they found much to covet. They took whatever could be removed—furniture, pianos, Persian rugs, fine china, bed sheets, refrigerators and factory equipment. Farming equipment was commandeered by the agricultural cooperatives set up in the

country. Sometimes they broke into stilloccupied homes and demanded the right to live in a room or two. Decades later, Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood still have to contend with this sense of entitlement by Jewish colonizers.

What they couldn’t remove, they broke. After they emptied houses of all moveable assets, they started destroying the homes, removing shutters, roof shingles and floor tiles. By the time they finished, months after the 1948 war ended, looted homes looked like sites of pogroms (as described by one Israeli eyewitness at the time). It is a sickening account, especially if you keep in mind the terrorized and suddenly destitute owners who had to abandon the fine and practical things around which they built their lives. Raz lays it all out in lurid detail.

One company commander wrote in his diary: “It is hard to imagine how much wealth people found in all those many homes.” The United Nations Palestine Conciliation Commission estimated in 1951 that the value of looted moveable property was about 18.6 million Palestinian pounds

(the equivalent of $935 million today).

Part 2 looks at the plunder from a “socio-political perspective” and the political role it served internally in terms of division of power and externally in terms of relations between Israel and the Arab world. Raz pinpoints three characteristics of the looting: it was not ordered by political or military leaders, but rather was voluntary behavior engaged in by a lot of people; it shaped the way Israelis looked at Palestinians and toward themselves and their society; the plunder was done against people who had been their neighbors in many instances.

Much of Part 2 describes Israelis expressing horror at the looting, bafflement that the “Arabs” left everything behind and a description of then-Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion’s use of the looting to discredit his opponents. Could Israelis really not be aware that Palestinians left under duress, that no one would willingly walk away from their comfortable homes and (especially for farmers) generous and productive lands? In the aftermath of the mass plunder, Israelis wrang their hands and lamented what they considered their moral lapses (described by a later generation as “shooting and crying”) and then carried on with their lives, enhanced by the home furnishings of now-destitute Palestinians condemned to exile.

Loot will be of most interest to historians of the 1948 war and the early years of the state, who will find this thoroughly footnoted book an invaluable reference. Raz uses more than two dozen state, army and kibbutzim archives (some only recently made available, some still redacted in parts), in addition to journals of key figures, to meticulously lay out what can be verified about the plunder of Palestinian moveable assets. He compares sources to see whether they are consistent and observes the problem in relying on journals, because their authors generally write them with the understanding that they are tools to shape the historical record. The archivist in Raz undertood the value of inserting original place names in Arabic script, an especially welcome feature in view of the state’s determination to erase Arabic place names from the map.

Ida Audeh is senior editor of the Washington Report

Raz concludes that “the plunder of property served Prime Minister BenGurion’s policy of removing Arab residents from the state of Israel...[it] was only one aspect of a broader policy of Arab expulsion.” This conclusion makes Raz’s statement in the Introduction, that the Zionist movement should not be viewed as a movement of dispossession even after the 1948 war (which he refers to as the “Independence War”), all the more puzzling. Ben-Gurion played a pivotal role in the Jewish community in Palestine in the years preceding, during and after the war, and the prosecution of the war was clearly designed to permanently expel Palestinians to distant lands. It is impossible to imagine a scenario in which a Jewish (and by definition, a supremacist) state could be established in Palestine without the ethnic cleansing of those who had the most to lose from this project, whose continued presence would expose the state as a colonial project.

Gaza Faces History

By Enzo Traverso, Other Press, 2024, paperback, 128 pp. MEB $15.99

Reviewed by Matthew Vickers

A few years before his passing, German writer W.G. Sebald published a series of essays, On the Natural History of Destruction (1999). An exploration of history, memory and literature, Sebald sought to examine why the Allied bombing of Germany during World War II, which claimed the lives of some 600,000 Germans and left millions more displaced, remained absent from the country’s consciousness. Fast forward to today, and it’s safe to say that Gaza has not been—and will not be—subjected to the same silence as the Allied bombing campaign; it is impossible considering how much documentation and conversation exists on social media bearing witness to this textbook case of genocide. Gaza is also being written about pro-

Matthew Vickers is an undergraduate student at Occidental College, where he is majoring in diplomacy and world affairs. He was an intern at the Washington Report last summer.

Perfect

Victims: And the Politics of

Appeal

NEW ARRIVALS

by Mohammed El-Kurd, Haymarket Books, 2025, paperback, 256 pp. MEB $17.95

Palestine is a microcosm of the world: on fire, stubborn, fragmented, dignified. While a settler colonial state continues to inflict devastating violence, fundamental truths are deliberately obscured—the perpetrators are coddled while the victims are blamed and placed on trial. Why must Palestinians prove their humanity? And what are the implications of such an infuriatingly impossible task? With fearless prose and lyrical precision, Mohammed El-Kurd refuses a life spent in cross-examination. Rather than asking the oppressed to perform a perfect victimhood, El-Kurd asks friends and foes alike to look Palestinians in the eye, forgoing both deference and condemnation. How we see Palestine reveals how we see each other and how we see everything else. Masterfully combining candid testimony, history and reportage, Perfect Victims presents a powerfully simple demand: dignity for the Palestinian.

Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning by Peter Beinart, Knopf, 2025, hardcover, 192 pp. MEB $26

In Peter Beinart’s view, one story dominates Jewish communal life: that of persecution and victimhood. It is a story that erases much of the nuance of Jewish religious tradition and warps our understanding of Israel and Palestine. After Gaza, where Jewish texts, history and language have been deployed to justify mass slaughter and starvation, Beinart argues that Jews must tell a new story. After this war, he says, the Jewish community must do nothing less than offer a new answer to the question: What does it mean to be a Jew? Beinart imagines an alternate narrative, which would draw on other nations’ efforts at moral reconstruction and a different reading of Jewish tradition. He draws attention to the need for a story in which Israeli Jews have the right to equality, not supremacy, and in which Jewish and Palestinian safety are not mutually exclusive but intertwined, one that recognizes the danger of venerating states at the expense of human life.

The World After Gaza: A History by Pankaj Mishra, Penguin Press, 2025, hardcover, 304 pp. MEB $28

The postwar global order was in many ways shaped in response to the Holocaust. That event became the benchmark for atrocity, and, in the Western imagination, the paradigmatic genocide. Its memory orients so much of our thinking, and crucially, forms the basic justification for Israel’s right first to establish itself and then to “defend” itself. But in many parts of the world, ravaged by other conflicts and experiences of mass slaughter, the Holocaust’s singularity is not always taken for granted, even when its hideous atrocity is. Outside of the West, Pankaj Mishra argues, the dominant story of the 20th century is that of decolonization. The World After Gaza takes the current war, and the polarized reaction to it, as the starting point for a broad reevaluation of two competing narratives of the last century: the Global North’s triumphant account of victory over totalitarianism and the spread of liberal capitalism, and the Global South’s hopeful vision of racial equality and freedom from colonial rule. At a moment when the world’s balance of power is shifting, and the Global North no longer commands ultimate authority, it is critically important that we understand how and why the two halves of the world are failing to talk to each other.

fusely via old-school print, with a cottage industry of publications attempting to make sense of the moment. Enzo Traverso’s Gaza Faces History is one such work—and will surely be decisive in influencing our conception of this genocide. Much of the literature published since the beginning of the Gaza war has sought to contextualize the unspeakable nature of the Israeli offensive. In his 2024 essay, What Does Israel Fear From Palestine?, acclaimed Palestinian writer Raja Shehadeh argued that much of the wayward analysis in the mainstream discourse— such as the denial or minimalization of years of Israeli war crimes, apartheid and occupation—is influenced by Israel’s refusal to acknowledge the historical reality of the Nakba.

Traverso attempts to explain this maddening reality, “trying to untangle its knotted skeins of history and memory.” He weaves together Biblical archeology, Machiavelli’s politics, the Allied bombing and Israel’s war in Gaza to tell how exactly Israel and the West, motivated by Orientalist prejudices and a false sense of moral righteousness, joined forces to commit genocide in Gaza. Although he travels on similar terrain as Shehadeh, Traverso’s intervention, like his earlier works, is aimed at questions of historical identity and memory in the West, thus making his essay a “critical meditation” rather than a work of history.

Traverso’s work isn’t delivered as an expert on Israel-Palestine. As an outsider, Traverso places both the historical and legal concept of genocide as central to his narrative, and it proves to be a useful means of assessing the damage. Relying on theoretical groundwork established by Edward Said, Traverso observes the “reversal of roles” where Israel is presented as the victim of a barbaric Palestine. This is precisely what has enabled rigid U.S. and European support for Israel. By allowing Israeli impunity, Traverso observes that the West has abandoned any commitment to liberal internationalism. However, he also notes that the Global South has come to embrace international bodies such as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal

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Court (ICC) as key levers for defending universal human rights. As an expert on European Jewish history, Traverso skillfully writes about the fallacy of the equation of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, using his eyewitness experience in the student protests as a launching-pad.

In what is perhaps the most controversial section of the book, Traverso analogizes Hamas alongside other national liberation movements such as the Viet Cong, Italian partisans and Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress in South Africa. In tracing the rise of Hamas after the First Intifada, Traverso, despite disagreeing with Hamas ideologically, notes that it remains the sole force “putting up military resistance to a genocide in progress” and thus must be thoroughly engaged diplomatically and politically.

In contextualizing the application of asymmetrical violence in Palestine while emphasizing the humanity of all civilians, Traverso is at the height of his powers. In the final section, Traverso, while reckoning with the scale of destruction and misery Israel has caused, calls for the establishment of a binational state as envisioned by thinkers such as Edward Said and Martin Buber as a model for peace and reconciliation.

For all writers and thinkers who wonder what to make of the wreckage, Gaza Faces History is an exemplary text of intellectual courage and moral responsibility.

Ghassan Kanafani: Selected Political Writings

Edited by Louis Brehony and Tahrir Hamdi, Pluto Press, 2024, paperback, 328 pp. MEB $25.95

Reviewed by Alex Bustos

Ghassan Kanafani’s Selected Political Writings is an engaging study which draws together a wide range of his writings on politics, national liberation and the Palestinian struggle.

While Kanafani today is celebrated by many Palestinians as both a revolution-

Alex Bustos is a researcher with a master’s degree in Near and Middle Eastern studies from SOAS, University of London, and has an interest in history and politics.

ary leader and one of Palestine’s greatest Marxist thinkers, most of his non-fiction writing remains solely published in Arabic, making it inaccessible to many outside the Arab world. For this reason, Kanafani is more widely known among Western readers for novels such as Men in the Sun and Returning to Haifa. While these are of course important books conveying Palestinian experiences of struggle, dispossession and exile after the 1948 Nakba, they form only one part of Kanafani’s vast body of work, much of which he was still writing up to his assassination by the Israeli Mossad in 1972.

Selected Political Writings helps address this translation gap, providing some of his most insightful works for a new generation and exposing his thinking to new audiences. Divided into five sections and ending with an appendix, this study contains some of Kanafani’s best articles, essays, speeches and interviews, each beginning with an introductory note from different authors who provide key context in each chapter.

The writings in this book span Kanafani’s political career, especially his role as editor of Al-Hadaf, the newspaper of the iconic Palestinian Marxist organization the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), for which he became a leading spokesperson.

Selected Political Writings also shares Kanafani’s analysis on regional and wider political developments of his time, from Palestine to Jordan, Yemen, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. This study demonstrates his regional and global perspectives, underlined always by a class-based, anti-imperialist

Understanding Palestine & Israel by Phyllis Bennis, Olive Branch Press, 2025, paperback, 240 pp. MEB $17

People across the U.S. watched in horror as Israel responded to the terrible acts of Oct. 7, 2023, with a brutal war against the people of Gaza. They poured into the streets demanding a ceasefire—and protested the U.S. government financing, arming and defending Israel’s war. Phyllis Bennis notes that none of these events actually began on October 7. In straightforward, accessible language she takes on the history of the “conflict,” providing answers to the key queries: What is the Balfour Declaration? What are the occupied territories? What is Zionism—and do all Jews support it? Does Israel have the right of self-defense? What were conditions like in Gaza before October 7? This book serves as a useful guide for those looking to understand the basics of what is happening, and a useful handbook for ardent activists.

Iran’s Rise and Rivalry with the U.S. in the Middle East by Mohsen M. Milani, Oneworld Publications, 2025, hardcover, 368 pp. MEB $30

The 1979 Islamic Revolution triggered a cold war between Iran and the United States—former fast friends. Despite the U.S.’ relentless efforts at containment, Iran has risen as a formidable power in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and Gaza. Its status not only frustrates the U.S. but has swiftly become a thorn in the side of Israel and Saudi Arabia. How did Iran rise so rapidly? And as it faces ever increasing pressure at home and abroad, can it hold onto its power? Mohsen Milani guides us through the twists and turns of the Iran-U.S. rivalry in the battlefields of the Middle East. Going from the fall of the shah to revolutionary Iran’s alliances with Hamas, Hezbollah, Iraqi militias, the Houthis and the recently collapsed Assad government in Syria, Milani lifts the veil on Iran’s foreign policy strategy and its implications for the region, the U.S. and Iran itself.

Imprisoning a Revolution: Writings from Egypt’s Incarcerated edited by Collective Antigone, University of California Press, 2025, paperback, 335 pp. MEB $24.95

This book contains letters, poetry and art produced by Egypt’s incarcerated. Some are journalists, lawyers, activists and artists imprisoned for expressing their opposition to Egypt’s authoritarian order; others are ordinary citizens caught up in the zeal to silence any hint of challenge to state power, including bystanders whose only crime was to be near a police sweep. Together, the contributors raise profound questions about the nature of politics in both authoritarian regimes and their “democratic” allies, who continue to enable and support such violence. This collection offers few answers and even less consolation, but it does offer voices from behind the prison walls that remind readers of our collective obligation not to look away or remain silent. With a foreword by acclaimed Egyptian novelist Ahmed Naji and an afterword with Kenyan literary giant Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Imprisoning a Revolution holds a mirror not just to Egypt but to the world today, urging us to stop the rampant abuse and denial of fundamental human rights around the globe.

framework that set him apart as one of the most important intellectuals of his time.

Arguably, for Palestinians and their supporters, the translation and re-publishing of Kanafani’s insights could not have come at a more important moment. During the Israeli genocide in Gaza, many of the forces mobilized against Palestinian liberation, which Kanafani wrote about more than 50 years ago, have come to the surface yet again—this time exposed and livestreamed for the world to see.

For a new generation of activists, scholars and students hungry for new paths forward and desperate to move away from the failures of the post-1993 Oslo era and its never-ending siren songs about a “peace process,” Kanafani’s analysis is needed now more than ever.

Alongside other newly-translated works, such as The Revolution of 1936-1939 in Palestine, Selected Political Writings is a welcome and exciting new addition to the emerging literature on Palestine and the growing engagement with Ghassan Kanafani’s own work in particular among the English-speaking world. A dense but rewarding study, it deserves to be read widely.

Zionist Betrayal of Jews: From Herzl to Netanyahu

By

Stanley Heller, Stanley Heller Books, 2024, paperback, 194 pp. MEB $15

Reviewed

by

Allan C. Brownfeld

Zionist leaders today, such as the AntiDefamation League’s Jonathan Greenblatt, tell us that “anti-Zionism equals antiSemitism” as a tactic to silence criticism of Israel. In fact, history provides us with a long record of Zionists working hand in hand with anti-Semites to achieve their common goal: removing Jews from Europe and creating a Jewish state in Palestine.

In Zionist Betrayal of Jews, Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace and executive director of the Middle East Crisis Committee, begins with Zionism’s founder, Theodor Herzl, a native of Budapest whose German-speaking family moved to Vienna. He notes that as a young man, Herzl, “was a liberal and for years believed in assimilation of Jews to the high German culture of the day. He even con-

sidered leading a movement to convert Austrian Jews to Christianity. Around the time he was 30, he started becoming aware of how popular anti-Semitism had become in Austria and France. He rapidly embraced the idea that Jews should live in their own state and wrote the classic Zionist book, The Jewish State.”

Herzl slowly began to realize that anti-Semites shared his goal of removing Jews from Europe. Consider his collaboration with a mass murderer of Jews, Vyacheslav Konstantinovich von Plehve. In April 1903, there was a pogrom in the Russian Empire city of Kishinev (in modern-day Moldova). It is generally believed that von Plehve, the Russian Minister of Interior, was the chief instigator. Heller writes: “What does Herzl do? He writes to von Plehve and asks to meet with him, not to demand an apology for the murders but to work out a deal. He goes to visit a man he thinks was responsible for mass murder in order to convince him that Zionists and the Russian Empire really both had the same interests, the departure of Jews from the Russian Empire…He succeeds. Von Plehve is won over and becomes a supporter of Zionism.”

When it came to the ascent of Nazism in Germany, Heller writes, “The Zionists saw the Nazi rise as an opportunity….Zionists figured they could use Nazi persecution as a way of getting money and recruits for their Jewish colony….They never fought the Nazis. When socialists and communists were battling Nazis in the streets of Berlin, the German Zionists were collecting money for trees in Palestine…Starting with Theodor Herzl, they adopted the idea that Jews living outside of a national home had a culture that was abnormal…Herzl was half agreeing with anti-Semites.”

In December 1938, a month after Kristallnacht, the Zionist leader David BenGurion said, “If I knew that it was possible to save all the children in Germany by transporting them to England, or only half by transporting them to Palestine I would choose the second because we face not only the reckoning of those children but the historical reckoning of the Jewish people.”

According to Zionist extremists during World War II, the British represented a greater threat than the Germans. Heller notes that Avraham Stern, leader of the terrorist group that came to be known as the “Stern Gang,” promoted the view that, “there were persecutors, just like many others through the ages. Worse, though, were the ‘enemies’ who ruled over the land that belonged to the Jews, the British.” According to this logic, the British were worse than the genocidal Nazis because they maintained colonial rule over Palestine.

Heller cites a study conducted by Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg regarding the American Jewish response to the Holocaust. Part of his report was leaked to the New York Times in January 1983. The Times related that the draft said, “In retrospect, one incontrovertible fact stands out above all others: In the face of Hitler’s total war of extermination against the Jews of Europe, the Jewish leadership in America at no stage decided to proclaim total mobilization for rescue.” It further said that the Zionists’ “exclusive concentration on Palestine as a solution” made them unable to work for any other resolution. Few Americans of any faith are fully aware of the long history of association between Zionism and anti-Semitism. This important book by Stanley Heller will open many eyes. It also comes at a time when history is repeating itself, as Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is openly courting anti-Semitic leaders and influencers as part of his effort to quash the rising tide of support for Palestinian rights.

Allan C. Brownfeld is a syndicated columnist and associate editor of the Lincoln Review, a journal published by the Lincoln Institute for Research and Education, and editor of Issues, the quarterly journal of the American Council for Judaism.

THE WORLD LOOKS AT THE MIDDLE EAST

Cartoon Movement, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Correio do Povo, Porto Alegre, Brazil

Rome, Italy

The Khaleej Times, Dubai, UAE

Cartoon Movement, Leiden, Netherlands

Cartoon Movement, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Other People’s Mail

Compiled by Jack McGrath and Dale Sprusansky

PALESTINIANS NEED UNRWA

To the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, Jan. 22, 2025

UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, has been providing assistance to Palestinian refugees since 1949 through education (700 schools), health care (143 clinics), food assistance to more than a million people, among many other programs. It is funded almost entirely by U.N. member states, including, in the past, the United States.

Since Oct. 7, 2023, UNRWA has continued its role as the backbone of humanitarian assistance in Gaza. It is considered irreplaceable by many U.N. agencies. But in March 2024, the U.S. stopped funding for UNRWA and in October 2024, the Israel Knesset voted to ban it from Gaza. These actions were due to [unsubstantiated] accusations of staff members involvement with Hamas. A full review was done internally and by an independent group and measures were taken to ensure full neutrality.

Banning UNRWA would not only add to the catastrophe in Gaza, but could jeopardize the ceasefire itself.

Our former congressperson, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), incoming U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will soon be in a unique position to make sure that ban on UNRWA operating in Gaza is never implemented. This is not a partisan position. It is a merciful humanitarian response for a suffering population that prays for the world to nurture the small light at the end of the ceasefire tunnel.

Katharine Preston, Essex, NY

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CONGRESS SHOULD NOT ATTACK THE ICC

To the Havre Weekly Chronicle, Jan. 16, 2025

The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) for issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Montana Republican Reps. Troy Downing and Ryan Zinke both voted in support of this bill. Zinke calls the ICC a “corrupt international body.”

However, in its statement regarding these warrants, the ICC contends that there is reasonable evidence to conclude that Netanyahu and Gallant “intentionally and knowingly” deprived the civilian population of Gaza of food, water and medical supplies, including anesthesia.

Furthermore, according to the ICC, this lack of anesthesia forced doctors to perform amputations on adults and children with no safe ways to sedate them.

Dr. Mike M. Mallah is a trauma surgeon from Charleston, SC who volunteered at a hospital in Gaza. In an interview, Mallah’s voice shook as he described “anesthesiologists who don’t have anesthesia who are holding people down and singing to them so that they can comfort them and do their surgery.”

And according to a doctor from Gaza, “Because of the shortage of painkillers, we leave patients to scream for hours and hours.”

The ICC, which also issued an arrest warrant for one of the few surviving lead-

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ers of Hamas, is not equating Israel with this terror group. Rather, the ICC is evaluating Israel’s actions against the standards of international humanitarian law.

Terry Hansen, Milwaukee, WI

TRUMP’S IDEA OF EMPTYING GAZA

To the Mount Desert Islander, Jan. 27, 2025

President Donald Trump suggests deporting Palestinians from Gaza. During WWII, English and German cities were bombed to rubble. The United States helped them rebuild. No U.S. president suggested deporting English or German citizens from their country. This speaks to the stateless condition of Palestinians, which President Trump is working to make not just a legal designation but a fact on the ground.

Annlinn Kruger, Bar Harbor, ME

CONSTITUENTS SUE REPS FOR FUNDING GENOCIDE

To The Press Democrat, Jan. 13, 2025

I and 600 other North Coast citizens have filed a lawsuit against our two Congress members in a class action accusing them of arming the Israeli military in violation of “international and federal law that prohibits complicity in genocide.”

(“Activists sue Reps. Huffman, Thompson over Israeli aid vote,” Dec. 21.)

We’ve done this to convey our anger about the ongoing civilian carnage in Gaza that we taxpayers have continued to fund in part because Reps. Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) continue to vote for ever more guns, jets

and bombs for Prime Minister Binyamin

Netanyahu’s extermination machine.

It was a crime for Hamas to murder 1,200 Israelis. What do we call it now that Israel has killed 46,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children? U.N. officials and Amnesty International called it genocide, and Pope Francis called for an investigation to determine if genocide is occurring in Gaza. Even Israeli historian Amos Goldberg, a Holocaust expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has said Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

I cannot stand that my country and my tax money are supporting this crime. If you also oppose U.S. funds massacring Palestinian civilians, please tell Huffman and Thompson to oppose it, too.

Tom Wodetzki, Albion, CA

ISRAEL’S AUDACIOUS CRIMES AGAINST GAZA

To The Berkshire Eagle, Jan. 16, 2025 Israel’s war with Gaza has always been about punishing every Palestinian living in Gaza, not just the militants involved in the horrific attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Soon after the attack, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered a complete siege on Gaza stating, “There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel, everything is closed,” according to the Times of Israel. The Israeli military largely followed through on that promise allowing the Palestinians in Gaza only enough to gradually starve while reducing critical infrastructure to rubble.

It might be argued that while routing out Hamas militants, collateral damage to critical infrastructure could have occurred. However, Israeli ground forces were used to sever important water treatment facilities, demonstrating operational control and the intent to destroy critical infrastructure needed to survive in Gaza.

Israel Defense Forces combat engineers on the ground in Rafah rigged a water treatment plant with explosives as one soldier took a video of the operation, ultimately denying about 20,000 cubic meters of water per day. Satellite imaging

verified photos and videos taken in Gaza from early October 2023 to August 2024 obtained by Human Rights Watch show the large solar array that powered four out of six wastewater treatment plants before and after its destruction by IDF forces, leaving little traces of the incursion except for bulldozer tracks indicating a ground operation by the IDF. According to Oxfam, there has been a 94 percent reduction in the amount of potable water in Gaza compared to before Oct. 7, 2023.

Humanitarian safe zones designated by the IDF shrank to 15 square miles for 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza according to NBC, many of them to Al-Mawasi, an area of sand dunes and agricultural lowlands by the Mediterranean Sea.

For Gaza, winter brings cold rains with the winds blowing mostly westward from the Mediterranean Sea, bringing storm surges and flooding to Al-Mawasi, where sewage contaminated water both from the Mediterranean and runoff from inland areas can build up. Intentional destruction of water treatment infrastructure, the lack of food, the lack of health care combined with the intentional overcrowding by the IDF to areas like the tent city in AlMawasi maximize the spread of disease and eventual death from viruses like hepatitis A, bacterial infections like cholera, and parasitic and fungal diseases. Functionally, Al-Mawasi is a death camp.

I believe Israel is committing genocide.

Tim Wright, Pittsfield, MA

THOUGHTS ON THE GAZA CEASEFIRE

To The Irish Times, Jan. 20, 2025

While a ceasefire in Gaza is welcome, the words of Tacitus describing the Roman Empire’s war policy can be applied to Israeli’s war on Gaza: “They make it a wasteland and call it peace.”

Brendan Butler, Dublin, Ireland

JIMMY CARTER’S BOOK AND THE CEASEFIRE

To The Washington Post, Jan. 24, 2025

The Biden administration’s final push for peace in Gaza coincided with former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral, so I de-

cided to reread Carter’s 2006 book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. The book is neither a great work of literature nor a political diatribe. It is Carter’s careful retelling of the Israel-Palestine history through 2006, as seen by a fact-finder, historian and lifelong problem-solver.

For most of the book, Carter—the chief facilitator of the 1978 Camp David Accords—recounts almost 30 years of discussions with key Israelis and Palestinians. Since 1967, the heart of the matter has been the implementation of U.N. Resolution 242, to which the United States was a signatory.

Carter’s summary then is just as true today: “Peace will come to Israel and the Middle East only when the Israeli government is willing to comply with international law.…Arab neighbors must pledge to honor Israel’s right to live in peace.… It will be a tragedy—for the Israelis, the Palestinians and the world—if peace is rejected and a system of oppression, apartheid and sustained violence is permitted to prevail.”

Michael Donoghue, Beaverton, OR ■

AET’s 2024 Choir of Angels

The following are individuals, organizations, companies and foundations whose help between Jan. 1, 2024 and Dec. 31, 2024 is making possible activities of the tax‐exempt AET Library Endowment (federal ID #52‐1460362) and the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Some Angels will help us co‐sponsor the next IsraelLobbyCon. Others are donating to our “Capital Building Fund,” which will help us expand the Middle East Books and More bookstore. We are deeply honored by your confidence and profoundly grateful for your generosity.

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* In Memory of the USS Liberty

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+In honor of Khalil Karjwally

++In Memory of Richard & Donna Curtiss

American Educational Trust

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs

1902 18th St. NW

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March/April 2025

Vol. XLIV, No. 2

A man poses with a Kalashnikov rifle while standing above the city of Homs, Syria, on January 20, 2025. Homs, the country’s third‐largest city, is home to Sunni and Shi’a Muslims, Alawites and Christians and was once called the Capital of the Revolution. Fourteen years of war have left the Syrian economy damaged, with tens of thousands of residents living on or below the poverty line. The World Food Program estimates that 13.1 million Syrians do not have enough to eat. (PHOTO BY SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES)