Category: 6. Opinion

The U.S. State Department’s decision this weekend to halt all visitor visas for people from Gaza, which includes the medical-humanitarian visas that have brought injured children to American hospitals, will cost Palestinian lives. Officials say this process will be subject to a “full and thorough review.” For a child with infected burns or a deep trauma wound, a pause is a verdict on their life. The freeze did not arise from new intelligence or any novel identification of…

Itamar Ben-Gvir staged his attempted humiliation of Marwan Barghouti with the precision of a political set-piece. Entering the prison flanked by cameras, the Israeli National Security Minister confronted the imprisoned Palestinian Fatah leader in his cell, issuing a blunt threat that those who harm Israel will be “wiped out.” 

The scene was later broadcast on Ben-Gvir’s social media. Barghouti, gaunt yet composed, appeared as both a captive and a symbol, his mere presence…

Democrats and their base among the institutional Jewish community have come to realize that Israel is costing them votes, and they’re flailing desperately as they try to respond.

This desperation was on full display recently when former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has long been known to have presidential aspirations, embarrassed himself in an interview on the podcast, Pod Save America, hosted by several former officials in Barack Obama’s administration.

When…

Don’t yet rejoice in his defeat, you men!
Although the world stood up and stopped the bastard,
The bitch that bore him is in heat again.

– Bertolt Brecht, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui

Known plagiarist, dog cloning enthusiast, and chainsaw-wielding Argentinian president, Javier Milei, visited Israel on June 9. He cried at the Wailing Wall, he hugged both Netanyahu and Herzog, called the former a brother, spoke at the Knesset, giving his undying support to Israel, invoking…

Editor’s Note: The following messages were shared publicly on the author’s Facebook pages and are republished here with permission.

My friend Michael Sfard, one of the best human right lawyers in Israel and a very talented author, writes about the loss of hope among human rights practitioners. Please read his words, to which I add: 

My professional path crossed that of Michael in similar practices many years ago. I was an articled lawyer at Lea Tzemel’s law firm in…

I still remember the day Shireen Abu Akleh was martyred. My mother called me crying. She had grown up watching Shireen, who was an invited guest into her home every day while she lived in Palestine. I remember when my mom called me after Israel dropped their first bomb in Gaza, the same tears, a different type of violence. And yesterday, my mom called me again to talk about Anas. Anas al-Sharif’s voice was one I’ve come to intimately know over the last two years, and one we will…

It has been 673 days since October 7, 2023.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. When it comes to words, the Presbyterian Church (USA) has many. Alongside its Book of Confessions and Book of Order, there are countless policies and overtures, Bible studies, and white papers from 226 (and counting) General Assemblies, all with a message that speaks to Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. Yet the two pictures above could not send more opposing messages about the Presbyterian…

As the genocide in Palestine continues to intensify in what is soon to become its second year, more than a million inhabitants of Gaza are facing a catastrophic famine manufactured by Israel. Sustained military operations and a near-total blockade of aid coming in have resulted in vast swaths of Palestinians lacking the food, water, and other necessities they need to survive. International bodies, including the UN, have begun sounding the alarm on what could very well become the mass…

In mid-July, over thirty countries met in Colombia to discuss sanctions against Israel for its ongoing campaign in Gaza. In line with international law, twelve of those countries resolved to immediately ban arms sales to Israel and appraise all public contracts for complicity with companies profiting from Israeli occupation and genocide. Those countries also reiterated their commitment to prosecute individuals guilty of war crimes in Gaza. The other countries at the meeting indicated…

It took almost two years, but the voices of outrage around the world have finally grown so loud that they are even being heard in Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump finds himself unable to treat Gaza with the lack of seriousness that has characterized his approach to the issue to date.

Unlike Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump has no personal stake in the genocide in Gaza continuing until the last Palestinian has been starved to death. Unlike most of us, however,…