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  26.                <title><![CDATA[The State Department Says Israel Isn’t Blocking Aid. Videos Show the Opposite.]]></title>
  27.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/18/israel-blocking-aid-gaza/</link>
  28.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/18/israel-blocking-aid-gaza/#respond</comments>
  29.                <pubDate>Sat, 18 May 2024 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  30.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Prem Thakker]]></dc:creator>
  31.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
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  35.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>From targeting humanitarian vehicles to standing by as mobs attack trucks, Israel is blocking aid from reaching Gaza.</p>
  36. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/18/israel-blocking-aid-gaza/">The State Department Says Israel Isn’t Blocking Aid. Videos Show the Opposite.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
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  39. <p><span class="has-underline">On Monday, a</span> mob of Israeli settlers attacked aid trucks carrying food supplies to Gaza. The extremists pillaged the cargo, destroying and smashing supplies desperately needed more than half a year into Israel’s assault on the besieged enclave. Israel’s police and military traded blame, each saying the other should have prevented it, but a senior security official told <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-05-14/ty-article/.premium/two-trucks-with-humanitarian-aid-bound-for-gaza-set-on-fire-in-the-west-bank/0000018f-75f7-ddbe-addf-77ff80bb0000">Haaretz</a> that the rioters received “inside information about the trucks’ movement” from officers.</p>
  40.  
  41.  
  42.  
  43. <p>The incident is emblematic of a pattern that has played out repeatedly for months. Israelis, either vigilante extremists or state officials, block or outright attack humanitarian aid; the United States offers a milquetoast response or extends further favor to Israel; the violence continues and even ramps up. There is ample evidence of the Israeli government looking the other way as these attacks and obstructions on aid delivery play out. None of it is secret — much of it has been documented on camera and spread through social media. </p>
  44.  
  45.  
  46.  
  47. <p>Yet, the State Department, in a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/israel-human-rights-gaza-report/">long-awaited report</a> on whether Israel was complying with international humanitarian law as it used American weapons, concluded last week that Israel is not blocking aid. The State Department said that it had “deep concerns” about “action and inaction” by the Israeli government resulting in aid delivery to Gaza that “remains insufficient,” but concluded there was not enough evidence to justify cutting off assistance to Israel’s military. </p>
  48.  
  49.  
  50.  
  51. <p>Allison McManus, managing director of the national security and international policy department at the Center for American Progress, said the State Department’s findings are undercut by “the very obvious fact” of indiscriminate attacks on aid workers and civilians in Gaza.&nbsp;</p>
  52.  
  53.  
  54.  
  55. <p>“That is something that everybody can see with their own eyes. The killing of aid workers, the targeting of hospitals, the total destruction of the healthcare system, the massive number of civilian casualties, many of whom are women and children,” McManus said. “That does not happen in a context in which the prosecuting army is adhering to international law.”</p>
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  64.    alt="Israeli right-wing activists look at damaged trailer trucks that were carrying humanitarian aid supplies on the Israeli side of the Tarqumiyah crossing with the occupied West Bank on May 13, 2024, after they were vandalised by other activists to protest against aid being sent to the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Oren ZIV / AFP) (Photo by OREN ZIV/AFP via Getty Images)"
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  70.              <span class="photo__caption">Israeli right-wing activists look at damaged trailer trucks that were carrying humanitarian aid supplies on the Israeli side of the Tarqumiyah crossing with the occupied West Bank on May 13, 2024, after they were vandalized by other activists to protest aid being sent to the Gaza Strip.</span>
  71.                    <span class="photo__credit">AFP via Getty Images</span>
  72.          </figcaption>
  73.  </figure>
  74.  
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  76.  
  77. <p><span class="has-underline">Monday’s rampage was</span> just one of multiple assaults on the aid sector in the days after the State Department issued its findings. That same day, Israeli forces attacked a clearly marked United Nations vehicle in Rafah — killing an Indian national staff member in the process. The targeting of the car raised fears around possible evacuation efforts for upward of <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/13/rafah-doctors-european-hospital-un-employee-killed/">20 American doctors and medical workers stranded in Gaza</a>. The killing did not deter President Joe Biden from moving Tuesday to send another $1 billion in weapons to Israel.</p>
  78.  
  79.  
  80.  
  81. <p>On Wednesday, in the occupied West Bank, settlers <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-05-16/ty-article/.premium/israeli-settlers-wound-palestinian-truck-driver-falsely-assuming-he-was-hauling-gaza-aid/0000018f-8061-d7f9-a5ff-b577b8600000">attacked</a> a Palestinian truck driver because they thought he was driving an aid truck going to Gaza. Footage shows the victim writhing in pain as Israel Defense Forces officers roam the scene. Israeli police did not arrest any suspects, <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-05-16/ty-article/.premium/israeli-settlers-wound-palestinian-truck-driver-falsely-assuming-he-was-hauling-gaza-aid/0000018f-8061-d7f9-a5ff-b577b8600000">according</a> to Haaretz.</p>
  82.  
  83.  
  84.  
  85. <p>The <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/haaretz-today/2024-05-15/ty-article/.highlight/march-to-gaza-or-torch-aid-how-israels-far-right-celebrated-independence-day/0000018f-7d60-d7f9-a5ff-fd7604220000">settlers</a> deflated the tires of two trucks — which were running commercial routes rather than delivering aid — and set them on fire.</p>
  86.  
  87.  
  88.  
  89. <p>A video posted to Twitter by Alon-Lee Green, co-director of pro-peace organization Standing Together, showed people climbing onto a pillaged truck and dancing.</p>
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  95. </div></figure>
  96.  
  97.  
  98.  
  99. <p>As Israeli troops looked on, several people took selfies and photos of their own as they climbed the pile of discarded aid bags, the video shows.</p>
  100.  
  101.  
  102.  
  103. <p><a href="https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-access-snapshot-gaza-strip-1-30-april-2024">More than 250</a> aid workers have been killed in Gaza since Hamas’s attack on October 7. Human Rights Watch has <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/14/gaza-israelis-attacking-known-aid-worker-locations">identified</a> at least eight instances of Israeli forces attacking aid convoys and premises. Some of these incidents took place despite aid groups providing their coordinates to the Israeli government to ensure their protection.&nbsp;</p>
  104.  
  105.  
  106.  
  107. <p>Among the incidents addressed in last week’s State Department report is Israel’s strike against a World Central Kitchen convoy that killed seven aid workers last month. The State Department said it could not reach “definitive conclusions” on whether U.S.-supplied weapons were used during that attack.</p>
  108.  
  109.  
  110.  
  111. <p>The State Department conceded such attacks “created an exceptionally difficult environment for distributing and delivering aid,” but did not describe such efforts as a systematic Israeli policy.</p>
  112.  
  113.  
  114.  
  115.  
  116.  
  117.  
  118.  
  119. <p>A recent report by U.K.-based research group Forensic Architecture has found at least 80 separate Israeli attacks on aid in Gaza since January alone. “The frequency and widespread nature of these attacks suggests that Israel is systematically targeting aid,” the group <a href="https://x.com/ForensicArchi/status/1790796901123559572">wrote</a>.</p>
  120.  
  121.  
  122.  
  123. <p>In a statement to The Intercept, an IDF spokesperson said that the military takes “all operationally feasible measures to mitigate harm to civilians, including aid convoys and workers. The IDF has never, and will never, deliberately target aid convoys and workers.”</p>
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  126.  
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  141.  
  142.  
  143.  
  144. <p>The spokesperson continued: “The IDF makes extensive efforts to enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid, and has been working closely with various aid groups to coordinate and realize their vital efforts to provide food and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. Given the ongoing exchanges of fire, remaining in an active combat zone has inherent risks. The IDF will continue to counter threats while persisting to mitigate harm to civilians.”</p>
  145.  
  146.  
  147.  
  148. <p>Last week’s State Department assessment concluded that Israel “<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/israel-human-rights-gaza-report/">likely</a>” violated laws using American-supplied weapons. Biden’s <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-admits-us-bombs-have-been-used-killed-palestinians-1898657">admission</a> that American arms have killed Palestinian civilians calls into question a <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/from-policy-to-law-strengthening-arms-transfer-principles/">memo</a> issued last year that says the U.S. would not authorize any arms transfer where there is risk of “facilitating or otherwise contributing to” human rights or international law violations. </p>
  149.  
  150.  
  151.  
  152. <p><span class="has-underline">Video after video</span> has shown Israeli demonstrators blocking and even destroying aid meant for Gaza — sometimes in the presence of police or military authorities.</p>
  153.  
  154.  
  155.  
  156. <p>These demonstrations <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/02/02/israel-gaza-icj-palestinian-deaths/">ramped up</a> after the International Court of Justice found that the Israeli government is <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/01/26/icj-ruling-gaza-genocide/">plausibly committing genocide</a> and ordered it to facilitate aid distribution and prevent potential further acts of genocide. Protesters responded by attempting to block aid for days on end, with little pushback by Israeli authorities. </p>
  157.  
  158.  
  159.  
  160. <p>In one <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3Ld77itdSj/?igsh=MWp2bjd2Ym0wZGx6OA==">video</a> dated February 9 at the Nitzana border crossing into Egypt, Israeli demonstrators block aid trucks from entering Gaza. “My friends, we closed the border crossing today,” one demonstrator exclaims as officers close the gates, prompting ululating from the crowd. “With all due respect my friends, the gate is closed,” the demonstrator continued through a megaphone, “someone is going to sleep hungry tonight.”</p>
  161.  
  162.  
  163.  
  164. <p>A group of demonstrators defended their action, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/protesters-block-nitzana-crossing-on-israel-egypt-border-to-prevent-aid-from-reaching-gaza/">telling</a> the Times of Israel that “the hundreds of aid and supply trucks for the Hamas terrorist organization will not enter through here today.” The group added that they were “proud and moved.”</p>
  165.  
  166.  
  167.  
  168. <p>The state’s permissive attitude toward these demonstrations stands in stark contrast to its handling of Israelis looking to support the people of Gaza. Anti-government protests in Israel, some including families of victims held hostage by Hamas, have been met with fierce response. Standing Together, the pro-peace organization, has tried to deliver aid to Gaza; in one such attempt in March, the activists were <a href="https://x.com/omdimbeyachad/status/1768368049835360574">stopped</a> by police.</p>
  169.  
  170.  
  171.  
  172. <p>A week later, Israelis trying to block aid are seen in a <a href="https://x.com/QudsNen/status/1771065367193870346">video</a> report fraternizing with the authorities; one tells a journalist: “Kill them, I don’t care.”</p>
  173.  
  174.  
  175.  
  176. <p>Another protester says police gave them lollipops and watermelon while watching them prevent aid from crossing the border: “The policeman, the head commander, came to us and said ‘OK, you guys came and blocked, we don’t want to fight.’ And he said to us ‘I’ll just lock the gate. You guys don’t need to stand in the sun.’”</p>
  177.  
  178.  
  179.  
  180. <p>Efforts to block aid deliveries in full sight of Israeli authorities have continued this month.</p>
  181.  
  182.  
  183.  
  184. <p>An early May video posted to Twitter by Middle East Eye shows demonstrators dancing and chanting in a large circle, blocking scores of trucks destined for Gaza.&nbsp;</p>
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  187.  
  188. <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
  189. <!-- BLOCK(oembed)[3](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22OEMBED%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22EMBED%22%7D)(%7B%22embedHtml%22%3A%22%3Cblockquote%20class%3D%5C%22twitter-tweet%5C%22%20data-width%3D%5C%22550%5C%22%20data-dnt%3D%5C%22true%5C%22%3E%3Cp%20lang%3D%5C%22en%5C%22%20dir%3D%5C%22ltr%5C%22%3EIsraeli%20settlers%20damaged%20humanitarian%20aid%20trucks%2C%20including%20slashing%20their%20tyres%20and%20destroying%20boxes%20of%20food%2C%20as%20they%20were%20bound%20for%20Gaza%20at%20the%20Beit%20Hanoun%20%28Erez%29%20crossing.%20%3Ca%20href%3D%5C%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Ft.co%5C%2FkDjKbvNq7j%5C%22%3Epic.twitter.com%5C%2FkDjKbvNq7j%3C%5C%2Fa%3E%3C%5C%2Fp%3E%26mdash%3B%20Middle%20East%20Eye%20%28%40MiddleEastEye%29%20%3Ca%20href%3D%5C%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Ftwitter.com%5C%2FMiddleEastEye%5C%2Fstatus%5C%2F1788257894430859628%3Fref_src%3Dtwsrc%255Etfw%5C%22%3EMay%208%2C%202024%3C%5C%2Fa%3E%3C%5C%2Fblockquote%3E%3Cscript%20async%20src%3D%5C%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Fplatform.twitter.com%5C%2Fwidgets.js%5C%22%20charset%3D%5C%22utf-8%5C%22%3E%3C%5C%2Fscript%3E%22%2C%22endpoint%22%3A%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Fpublish.twitter.com%5C%2Foembed%22%2C%22type%22%3A%22unknown%22%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Ftwitter.com%5C%2FMiddleEastEye%5C%2Fstatus%5C%2F1788257894430859628%22%7D) --><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Israeli settlers damaged humanitarian aid trucks, including slashing their tyres and destroying boxes of food, as they were bound for Gaza at the Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing. <a href="https://t.co/kDjKbvNq7j">pic.twitter.com/kDjKbvNq7j</a></p>&mdash; Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) <a href="https://twitter.com/MiddleEastEye/status/1788257894430859628?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 8, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><!-- END-BLOCK(oembed)[3] -->
  190. </div></figure>
  191.  
  192.  
  193.  
  194. <p>As the video pans the crowd of people triumphantly singing and waving flags, officers don’t intervene.&nbsp;</p>
  195.  
  196.  
  197.  
  198. <p>In its report last week, the State Department narrowly identified the demonstrations blocking aid crossings in January and February as also creating a “difficult environment” for aid delivery.</p>
  199.  
  200.  
  201.  
  202. <p>In Jerusalem, a mob set fire to the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/03/22/gaza-unrwa-funding-congress/"> last week</a>. </p>
  203.  
  204.  
  205.  
  206. <p>Juliette Touma, UNRWA’s communications director, said that the attack was not spontaneous. There were numerous attempts to set fire to the premises, she said, predated by weeks of harassment by extremists. Mobs have come to the gates of the compound to intimidate and bully UNRWA staff, throw stones, and even threaten them with guns, she added.</p>
  207.  
  208.  
  209.  
  210. <p>Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Aryeh King has himself joined in the attacks. Upon UNRWA temporarily closing operations at the headquarters last week, King said it was “an honor to be responsible” for it.</p>
  211.  
  212.  
  213.  
  214. <!-- BLOCK(promote-post)[1](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PROMOTE_POST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22slug%22%3A%22israel-palestine%22%2C%22crop%22%3A%22promo%22%7D) -->  <aside class="promote-banner">
  215.    <a class="promote-banner__link" href="https://theintercept.com/collections/israel-palestine/">
  216.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
  217.          <img decoding="async" width="300" height="150" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)" srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=5760 5760w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=3600 3600w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />        </span>
  218.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
  219.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
  220.            Read our complete coverage          </p>
  221.        
  222.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">Israel’s War on Gaza</h2>
  223.      </div>
  224.    </a>
  225.  </aside>
  226. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[1] -->
  227.  
  228.  
  229.  
  230. <p>Along with the scores of attacks, basic aid facilitation itself has been substandard. Touma noted that before October 7, Gaza was reliant on 500 aid trucks per day due to Israel’s 16-year blockade. For the first two weeks after the assault, she added, Gaza was under a “hermetic siege,” with days’ worth of aid never coming in. Even when aid deliveries resumed, the pace has substantially slowed. Based on data from Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, a branch of the IDF, only 127 trucks have entered Gaza per day as of May 15.</p>
  231.  
  232.  
  233.  
  234. <p>That’s in part because of the structural barriers the government has placed upon aid. The Israel government has barred UNRWA from delivering aid to the northern part of Gaza — an area facing <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/05/11/world/israel-gaza-war-hamas-rafah">additional displacement notices</a> this week as it again comes under Israeli attacks</p>
  235.  
  236.  
  237.  
  238. <p>Aid delivery has long been hindered at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, in the southernmost part of Gaza. At one point in January, hundreds of trucks carrying aid stood in line for weeks, waiting for permission to enter Gaza.&nbsp;</p>
  239.  
  240.  
  241.  
  242. <p>Upon visiting for themselves, Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-gaza-rafah-aid-us-senators-2bc2a3c5e5f8af8e2d3f0b7242c1a885">blamed</a> it on a cumbersome process that included arbitrary rejections of vital humanitarian equipment. In May, Israel took over and closed the border crossing as it began a ground invasion into Rafah, where 1.4 million displaced Palestinians take refuge.</p>
  243. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/18/israel-blocking-aid-gaza/">The State Department Says Israel Isn’t Blocking Aid. Videos Show the Opposite.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  244. ]]></content:encoded>
  245.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/18/israel-blocking-aid-gaza/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  246.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  247.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-1969721005-e1715898483156.jpg?fit=8256%2C4128' width='8256' height='4128' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">468800</post-id>
  248. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2152229209.jpg?fit=6000%2C4000&#038;w=1200" />
  249. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2152229209.jpg?fit=6000%2C4000&#038;w=1200" medium="image">
  250. <media:title type="html">Israeli right-wing activists look at damaged trailer trucks that were carrying humanitarian aid supplies on the Israeli side of the Tarqumiyah crossing with the occupied West Bank on May 13, 2024, after they were vandalised by other activists to protest against aid being sent to the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Oren ZIV / AFP) (Photo by OREN ZIV/AFP via Getty Images)</media:title>
  251. </media:content>
  252. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2150456312-e1715802459343.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
  253. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2152091206-e1715619716538.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
  254. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2152808096-e1715987041463.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
  255. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IN-gaza-humanitarian-crisis.jpg" medium="image" />
  256. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" medium="image">
  257. <media:title type="html">DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)</media:title>
  258. </media:content>
  259.            </item>
  260.        
  261.            <item>
  262.                <title><![CDATA[Medical Workers Evacuated From Gaza, but 3 Americans Refuse to Leave]]></title>
  263.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/17/gaza-american-doctors-evacuated/</link>
  264.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/17/gaza-american-doctors-evacuated/#respond</comments>
  265.                <pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2024 23:47:13 +0000</pubDate>
  266.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ryan Grim]]></dc:creator>
  267.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jeremy Scahill]]></dc:creator>
  268.                                 <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
  269. <category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
  270.  
  271.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=468842</guid>
  272.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Remaining health care workers won’t go until Israel stops blocking entry of new medical personnel.</p>
  273. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/17/gaza-american-doctors-evacuated/">Medical Workers Evacuated From Gaza, but 3 Americans Refuse to Leave</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  274. ]]></description>
  275.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  276. <p><span class="has-underline">Some 20 American</span> and British medical workers who had been <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/13/rafah-doctors-european-hospital-un-employee-killed/">unable to leave Gaza</a> were evacuated from the European Hospital in Khan Younis on Friday, though three American members of medical missions refused to evacuate until Israel allows additional humanitarian workers to replace them. They remain at work, along with doctors and staff from separate medical missions, serving a population trapped in Gaza with no escape.</p>
  277.  
  278.  
  279.  
  280. <p>The missions, as is often the case, had been scheduled to last two weeks before a fresh group of aid workers would rotate in with new supplies. But after Israel seized and closed the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, nothing could get in or out, neither supplies nor people. </p>
  281.  
  282.  
  283.  
  284. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-right"><blockquote><p> “If all and only the Americans left at once, what would that say about us as a nation?”</p></blockquote></figure>
  285.  
  286.  
  287.  
  288. <p>Among the three Americans who refused to leave is Adam Hamawy, a New Jersey doctor and Army veteran who insisted on remaining behind to protect and serve his patients.</p>
  289.  
  290.  
  291.  
  292. <p>“There is a palpable gloom and foreboding that had set in at the hospital. The children and staff are asking for everyone by name. All the Americans and Brits left. That can’t be a good sign,” said Hamawy.</p>
  293.  
  294.  
  295.  
  296. <p>“A decision for some of us to stay was consistent with our American values. We came in as a team and we do not leave anyone behind. If all and only the Americans left at once, what would that say about us as a nation?”</p>
  297.  
  298.  
  299.  
  300.  <div class="promote-related-post">
  301.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
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  308.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
  309.        Related      </h2>
  310.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">American Medical Missions Trapped in Gaza, Facing Death by Dehydration as Population Clings to Life</h3>
  311.    </span>
  312.    </a>
  313.  </div>
  314.  
  315.  
  316.  
  317. <p>While serving in the Iraq War, Hamawy was the doctor who treated now-Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., when her helicopter was shot down. Duckworth credits Hamawy for saving her life and <a href="https://x.com/SenDuckworth/status/1790415588893839856">put pressure</a> on Israel and the State Department to find a way to free the medical workers.</p>
  318.  
  319.  
  320.  
  321. <p>Hamawy said that the mission staff had been put in an impossible position.</p>
  322.  
  323.  
  324.  
  325. <p>“Although we feel we are abandoning our patients we all understood that this was going to happen from day one,” he said, given the short-term nature of the mission. “We would have to turn over our patients to a fresh team. Unfortunately we have to leave this burden on our overworked, burnt out Palestinian colleagues. The three Americans that stayed behind opened the opportunity for three Brits to leave.”</p>
  326.  
  327.  
  328.  
  329.  
  330.  
  331.  
  332.  
  333. <p>Sixteen medical workers remain at the hospital, Hamawy said. That includes nationals of Egypt, Ireland, Australia, and Jordan — countries with less political sway than the United States. Other missions, some staffed with Americans, remain active elsewhere in Gaza.</p>
  334.  
  335.  
  336.  
  337. <p>The staff and patients fear that without Americans in the hospital to serve as political shields against the Israel Defense Forces, the hospital will be destroyed, as the IDF has <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/02/08/gaza-hospital-seige-red-crescent/">done</a> to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/02/14/gaza-nasser-hospital-evacuation-israel-prisoner/">every</a> other <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/11/21/al-shifa-hospital-hamas-israel/">hospital</a> in Gaza.</p>
  338.  
  339.  
  340.  
  341. <p>&#8220;It was a grueling trip and very bitter departure,&#8221; said Monica Johnston, a nurse who initially <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/13/rafah-doctors-european-hospital-un-employee-killed/">held out against leaving without new aid worker replacements</a> but eventually agreed to go. &#8220;The politics and injustice in it enrages me.&#8221; Johnston said the bombing around the hospital had ramped up in recent days.</p>
  342.  
  343.  
  344.  
  345. <p>Rotating in a new mission has taken on additional importance given the blockade of medical supplies, as each new mission arrives with their own supplies. “The refusal to allow in basic humanitarian aid,” said Hamawy, “is a failure of the international community.” </p>
  346.  
  347.  
  348.  
  349. <p>Dr. Mosab Nasser, who led the FAJR Scientific mission to the hospital, took a more upbeat approach in a statement issued after he arrived safely in Jerusalem. “I am thrilled to announce that the FAJR team (comprising 12 Americans and 3 British nationals) has been successfully picked up by both the US and UK embassies from the KS crossing near Gaza,” Nasser wrote, going on to reference Hamawy and another volunteer. “The team will spend a day in Jerusalem before flying back to the US and UK on Sunday. Two of our FAJR volunteers have remained in Gaza, continuing their life-saving work. They will soon exit Gaza as part of the UN rotation of EMTs, in collaboration with the WHO.” (The third American to stay behind was part of a separate mission, as was Johnston, at the same hospital.)</p>
  350.  
  351.  
  352.  
  353. <p>“This achievement highlights the remarkable coordination FAJR Scientific has accomplished with international entities, including the Department of State, the US embassy in Jerusalem and Cairo, the UK embassy in Tel Aviv, the US embassy in Muscat, Oman, the WHO, OCHA, CLA, and others,” he went on. “Yes, we left Gaza, but Gaza has left an indelible mark on us, and it will remain with us forever. We promise we will be back again and very soon.”</p>
  354.  
  355.  
  356.  
  357. <!-- BLOCK(promote-post)[1](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PROMOTE_POST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22slug%22%3A%22israel-palestine%22%2C%22crop%22%3A%22promo%22%7D) -->  <aside class="promote-banner">
  358.    <a class="promote-banner__link" href="https://theintercept.com/collections/israel-palestine/">
  359.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
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  361.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
  362.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
  363.            Read our complete coverage          </p>
  364.        
  365.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">Israel’s War on Gaza</h2>
  366.      </div>
  367.    </a>
  368.  </aside>
  369. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[1] -->
  370.  
  371.  
  372.  
  373. <p>The statement rankled some staff who stayed behind there and at other medical facilities. </p>
  374.  
  375.  
  376.  
  377. <p>Dorotea Gucciardo, an aid worker in Rafah with the medical solidarity organization Glia Equal Care, said that the international focus on Western doctors risked obscuring the reason they are there: Israel’s ongoing occupation and assault on Gaza. &#8220;We have international organizations, we have national governments all working together to open the borders for this already privileged group of people,” she said. “Our main objective is not that we are stuck here and we need to get out. Our main objective is to ensure that the patients are being taken care of. I think that the focus should be put back onto once again the reason why these humanitarian workers are here to begin with, and that&#8217;s the occupation. And this ongoing siege and war against Gaza.&#8221;</p>
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  392.    </span>
  393.    </a>
  394.  </div>
  395.  
  396.  
  397.  
  398. <p>“I&#8217;m hearing some international aid workers saying, ‘Oh, it can&#8217;t get worse than this,’” she said. “And yet, if we actually take a look at context and if we take a look at history, we see that it can get worse. It has gotten worse and it&#8217;s continuing to get worse. And so we can do the best that we can while we are here to support our Gazan hosts and our colleagues. But what we need is for this war to end. We need this siege to end, this blockade to end, the occupation to end, so that we can finally have aid too.&#8221;</p>
  399.  
  400.  
  401.  
  402. <p>Dr. Haleh Sheikholesami, an American physician from California also volunteering with Glia, said the situation put the perilous prospects of the Palestinians in stark relief: “You know that hopefully this will end and we can go home. But, unfortunately, the Gazans don&#8217;t have such predictions.&#8221;</p>
  403. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/17/gaza-american-doctors-evacuated/">Medical Workers Evacuated From Gaza, but 3 Americans Refuse to Leave</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  404. ]]></content:encoded>
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  414. <media:title type="html">DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)</media:title>
  415. </media:content>
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  418.        
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  420.                <title><![CDATA[An Israeli Company Is Hawking Its Self-Launching Drone System to U.S. Police Departments]]></title>
  421.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/17/israel-orione-drone-us-police-louisiana/</link>
  422.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/17/israel-orione-drone-us-police-louisiana/#respond</comments>
  423.                <pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2024 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  424.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Delaney Nolan]]></dc:creator>
  425.                                 <category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
  426.  
  427.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=468698</guid>
  428.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>A Louisiana sheriff’s department has been testing the drone system, which is already used by the Israeli police and many settlements.</p>
  429. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/17/israel-orione-drone-us-police-louisiana/">An Israeli Company Is Hawking Its Self-Launching Drone System to U.S. Police Departments</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  430. ]]></description>
  431.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  432. <p><span class="has-underline">An Israeli drone</span> company is proselytizing to American police departments about an autonomous drone system that can automatically launch police drones to fly to the sites of suspected crimes. One sheriff’s department in Louisiana has repeatedly tested the system, called Orion, which is already in use by the Israeli national police and, since October 7, many Israeli settlements, according to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVzZUxDLGYg">company’s founder</a>.</p>
  433.  
  434.  
  435.  
  436. <p>Created by the Israeli company High Lander, Orion allows users to direct hundreds of drones at once by automating them to navigate and perform actions without user input. The software system turns drones into “<a href="https://www.highlander.io/_files/ugd/7b8ddb_8a91c3ff958844f7acdae344d910b786.pdf">next-generation security guards</a>,” according to an Orion brochure.</p>
  437.  
  438.  
  439.  
  440. <p>In February, High Lander held a demo event in Baton Rouge to showcase the “<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/high-lander_highlander-aviation-drones-activity-7170759079513067521-AxZV?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop">drone-in-a-box solution,</a>” which the East Baton Rouge Sherrif’s Office first tested out <a href="https://www.highlander.io/post/high-lander-demos-new-dfr-integration-gunshot-detection-response">last June</a>. “The system will be a game changer for the fight against crime in Baton Rouge,” High Lander wrote in a LinkedIn post about the event, which was attended by officers from around the country.</p>
  441.  
  442.  
  443.  
  444. <p>The company has used its pilot program in Louisiana to encourage other police agencies to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/high-lander_highlander-aviation-drones-activity-7139951472082944000-y6QQ?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop">check out Orion</a>, and its February event in Louisiana was just one part of a<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/high-lander_highlander-aviation-drones-activity-7165691787158794242-5IA8/"> tour</a> that included stops in San Diego, Phoenix, and Miami, according to LinkedIn posts.</p>
  445.  
  446.  
  447.  
  448. <p>Orion’s capabilities <a href="https://www.highlander.io/_files/ugd/7b8ddb_8a91c3ff958844f7acdae344d910b786.pdf">are startling</a>. A police force could have drones automatically launch from charging stations when triggered by “events like gunshots, burglaries, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/high-lander_highlander-aviation-drones-activity-7170759079513067521-AxZV?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop">car accidents</a>.” Once they deploy, the drones can perform pre-set tasks: releasing cargo; relaying live video feeds; identifying and searching for people, objects, or vehicles using AI and thermal sensors; and making announcements over <a href="https://www.highlander.io/post/high-lander-demos-new-dfr-integration-gunshot-detection-response">loudspeaker</a>. If the system gets multiple calls, Orion can automatically choose which to prioritize.&nbsp;</p>
  449.  
  450.  
  451.  
  452. <p>A High Lander <a href="https://www.highlander.io/post/high-lander-demos-new-dfr-integration-gunshot-detection-response">blog post</a> about the project adds “new capabilities are being discovered all the time.”</p>
  453.  
  454.  
  455.  
  456. <p>The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office held “mock scenario testing” with High Lander’s system “approximately 5 times,” Casey Hicks, the department’s public information director, told The Intercept. Hicks added that the demos were conducted at the sheriff’s range facility and that they “are not aware of any use out in the community at any time.”&nbsp;</p>
  457.  
  458.  
  459.  
  460. <p>High Lander did not respond to a request for comment. </p>
  461.  
  462.  
  463.  
  464.  
  465.  
  466.  
  467.  
  468. <p>There is a documented <a href="https://deadlyexchange.org/">history</a> of U.S.-Israel security tech <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/02/02/memphis-police-israel/">exchanges</a>, which civil rights and racial justice advocates have long criticized for contributing to the militarization of the police. The Tel Aviv-based High Lander collaborated with Stephenson Technologies Corporation, a Louisiana nonprofit that works with the departments of Defense and Homeland Security, to bring Orion to East Baton Rouge, with up to $1 million in backing from the <a href="https://www.birdf.com/what-is-bird/">Israel–U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation</a>. That funding comes from an endowment provided equally by the U.S. and Israeli governments.&nbsp;</p>
  469.  
  470.  
  471.  
  472. <p>“People should be really concerned that our tax dollars are often being put right in the pockets of American and Israeli tech millionaires or billionaires, and that those technologies are then used on us and our neighbors to make people more unsafe,” said Lou Blumberg, an organizer with both Jewish Voice for Peace and <a href="https://eyeonsurveillance.org/">Eye on Surveillance,</a> an organization that monitors the adoption of surveillance technology in New Orleans.&nbsp;</p>
  473.  
  474.  
  475.  
  476. <p>“This technology that’s coming out of Israel is heavily implicated in human rights abuses,” Blumberg said, “because you can’t separate the tech from the apartheid.”</p>
  477.  
  478.  
  479.  
  480. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-from-israel-to-louisiana">From Israel to Louisiana</h2>
  481.  
  482.  
  483.  
  484. <p>In East Baton Rouge, High Lander and Stephenson Technologies integrated the drone platform “with the city of Baton Rouge’s citywide system of gunshot sensors” for testing by the sheriff’s department, according to High Lander’s website. In a December post about the project, the company quoted an employee who said “it was a great feeling to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/high-lander_highlander-aviation-drones-activity-7139951472082944000-y6QQ?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop">see that first autonomous dispatch</a>.”</p>
  485.  
  486.  
  487.  
  488. <p>The city uses <a href="https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/crime_police/article_ce467640-152f-11e9-8176-9f724a3882b4.html">ShotSpotter</a>, a gunshot detection technology recently dropped by the city of Chicago due to critiques of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/14/chicago-shotspotter-contract">racist bias</a> and <a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/09/17/police-surveillance-shotspotter-detroit/">inaccuracy</a>. </p>
  489.  
  490.  
  491.  
  492. <p>The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office has long been accused of mistreating and harassing people of color — including using acoustic weapons on protesters without proper training — raising concerns among local advocates about its use of Orion.</p>
  493.  
  494.  
  495.  
  496. <p>When Israeli security tech is exported to the United States, it is “used to surveil and criminalize, mostly, young Black boys,” said Blumberg. Pointing to other types of surveillance technology, including facial recognition, Blumberg added, “There’s actually no statistical evidence that it helps prevent crimes” or “that it helps make people safer.”</p>
  497.  
  498.  
  499.  
  500. <p>The head of training at the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, Carl Dabadie, participated in a police training program in Israel about a decade ago — and promised to bring his learnings back to the local community.</p>
  501.  
  502.  
  503.  
  504. <p>The Anti-Defamation League invited Dabadie, then the chief of the Baton Rouge Police Department, to attend a <a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/law-enforcement-executives-meet-their-counterparts-israel-during-adl">National Counter-Terrorism Seminar in Israel</a> in 2014. Seeking airfare for the training, Dabadie said there are “several terrrist targets” [sic] in Baton Rouge, apparently referring to local oil <a href="https://www.wafb.com/story/25022980/chief-dabadie-returns-from-anti-terrorism-seminar-in-israel/">refineries</a>, according to a <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24663099-noreply_brlagov_20240209_114636">document</a> obtained through a public records request. He returned from the eight-day seminar, during which participants visited an Israeli police department in Jerusalem and a border outpost, and told local media he had plans to <a href="https://www.wafb.com/story/25022980/chief-dabadie-returns-from-anti-terrorism-seminar-in-israel/">update the department’s riot gear</a>.</p>
  505.  
  506.  
  507.  
  508. <p>“Instead of real bullets and shooting at people, they use foam bullets, tear gas, shields, and even paintballs,” he enthused.</p>
  509.  
  510.  
  511.  
  512.  
  513.  
  514.  
  515.  
  516. <p>Dabadie left the police department in the wake of his <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/07/11/images-militarized-police-baton-rouge-draw-global-attention/">violent handling of protests</a> over the 2016 police killing of Alton Sterling, which earned condemnations from <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/as-arrests-mount-in-baton-rouge-protesters-question-police-tactics/2016/07/10/8d695124-46f1-11e6-bdb9-701687974517_story.html">Amnesty International</a> and the <a href="https://www.aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/un-human-rights-expert-visit-baton-rouge">United Nations</a> Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association. Still, Dabadie defended “our <a href="https://info.publicintelligence.net/ROCIC-War-on-Cops.pdf">militarized tactics</a> and our militarized law enforcement.” In 2020, he was made head of training for the sheriff’s office.</p>
  517.  
  518.  
  519.  
  520. <p>Protesters and civil rights groups <a href="https://www.wafb.com/2023/02/16/117m-settlement-reached-alton-sterling-protests-lawsuit/">sued</a> several police departments and officials, including Dabadie and East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux III, for violating their civil rights during the 2016 protests.&nbsp;</p>
  521.  
  522.  
  523.  
  524. <p>In court proceedings stemming from one of the lawsuits, an officer testified that police had “fooled around” with a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2015/08/14/after-ferguson-baltimore/">crowd-dispersing acoustic weapon </a>and used it against protesters without sufficient training. (Those plaintiffs were awarded a <a href="https://www.wafb.com/2023/02/16/117m-settlement-reached-alton-sterling-protests-lawsuit/">$1.2 million</a> settlement last year.)</p>
  525.  
  526.  
  527.  
  528. <p>The lawyer who filed that lawsuit, William Most, told The Intercept that the sheriff’s department’s track record makes him concerned about its use of an autonomous drone system.&nbsp;</p>
  529.  
  530.  
  531.  
  532. <p>“Given EBRSO&#8217;s past trouble in complying with the Constitution, I would be concerned about it adopting a drone program without clear safeguards to protect the rights of Baton Rouge residents,” said Most.</p>
  533.  
  534.  
  535.  
  536. <p>In Israel, meanwhile, High Lander’s business has flourished amid Israel’s retaliatory war on Gaza. After October 7, Israel passed an <a href="https://innovationisrael.org.il/CIVILIANDRONECENTER/?V=LTZTGFIOCTG">emergency measure</a> saying that civilian drones can return to the skies only if they are connected to an approved unmanned traffic management, or UTM, system. High Lander became the first approved UTM system in Israel. (The country’s Air Force <a href="https://www.highlander.io/post/alon-abelson-interviewed-by-the-global-utm-association">previously</a> tested the company’s drone technology.)</p>
  537.  
  538.  
  539.  
  540. <p>The drones have “counter-drone” measures that can take over and land enemy drones, and <a href="https://www.commercialuavnews.com/public-safety/israeli-drone-companies-join-forces-to-showcase-autonomous-bvlos-response-system-against-threats-from-ground-and-air">detect the location</a> of their controllers. In an April presentation, High Lander’s co-founder Alon Abelson, a former <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alon-abelson/details/experience/">Israeli Air Force</a> commander, describes a scenario in which Orion allows users to deploy “hundreds of PTZ [pan-tilt-zoom] cameras that hover and relay images from the air,” a surveillance capacity he described as unprecedented.</p>
  541.  
  542.  
  543.  
  544. <p>The company relies on hundreds of sensors around Israel, Abelson said in his talk, allowing them to turn drone fleets “into part of an information-sharing system that did not exist before.” The system allows settlements’ drones to automatically launch from chargers when triggered by cameras, smoke detectors, or “smart fences.” Since October 7, he said, “we have provided this system to hundreds of settlements throughout the country.”</p>
  545. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/17/israel-orione-drone-us-police-louisiana/">An Israeli Company Is Hawking Its Self-Launching Drone System to U.S. Police Departments</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  546. ]]></content:encoded>
  547.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/17/israel-orione-drone-us-police-louisiana/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  548.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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  557.                <title><![CDATA[The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau Is Constitutional, After All]]></title>
  558.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/16/supreme-court-cfpb-consumer-finance-constitutional/</link>
  559.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/16/supreme-court-cfpb-consumer-finance-constitutional/#respond</comments>
  560.                <pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2024 23:34:55 +0000</pubDate>
  561.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Shawn Musgrave]]></dc:creator>
  562.                                 <category><![CDATA[Justice]]></category>
  563.  
  564.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=468811</guid>
  565.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>And for some reason Justice Samuel Alito can’t stop talking about this witch trial judge.</p>
  566. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/16/supreme-court-cfpb-consumer-finance-constitutional/">The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau Is Constitutional, After All</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  567. ]]></description>
  568.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  569. <p><span class="has-underline">In a blow</span> to the conservative legal movement, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau is not, in fact, an unconstitutional abomination.</p>
  570.  
  571.  
  572.  
  573. <p>The independent agency — which oversees payday lenders, credit card companies, and student loans — has long been a partisan target. And as it turns out, its funding mechanism is perfectly constitutional, the court ruled Thursday in a 7-2 decision.&nbsp;</p>
  574.  
  575.  
  576.  
  577. <p>Its conclusion was straightforward: When it created the CFPB, Congress passed a law that authorized expenditures from specific sources to fund the agency. This satisfies the Appropriations Clause of the Constitution, the court ruled.</p>
  578.  
  579.  
  580.  
  581. <p>The attack on the CFPB is not the only challenge brought this term by conservative opponents of modern regulatory agencies. In as-yet-undecided cases, the Supreme Court will consider whether to <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/securities-and-exchange-commission-v-jarkesy/">curtail the powers</a> of the Securities Exchange Commission and whether to gut a <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/loper-bright-enterprises-v-raimondo/">landmark standard</a> for all regulatory oversight. Challenges to the National Labor Relations Board are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/10/starbucks-trader-joes-spacex-challenge-labor-board">working their way</a> through lower courts. </p>
  582.  
  583.  
  584.  
  585. <p>In all three cases before the Supreme Court this term, legions of conservative legal luminaries urged the justices to shrink the administrative state. In the CFPB challenge, however, they lost even Justice Clarence Thomas, who wrote the <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/22-448_o7jp.pdf">majority opinion</a>, plus three others from the Court’s conservative supermajority. Only Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented.</p>
  586.  
  587.  
  588.  
  589.  <div class="promote-related-post">
  590.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
  591.            href="https://theintercept.com/2023/08/30/payday-lenders-supreme-court-cfpb-republicans/"
  592.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
  593.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: payday-lenders-supreme-court-cfpb-republicans"
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  596.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/GettyImages-1260960662.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
  597.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
  598.        Related      </h2>
  599.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Payday Lenders Gave Millions to Republican Group That Backed Supreme Court Suit to Annihilate CFPB</h3>
  600.    </span>
  601.    </a>
  602.  </div>
  603.  
  604.  
  605.  
  606. <p>As The Intercept reported&nbsp;<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/08/30/payday-lenders-supreme-court-cfpb-republicans/">last year</a>, the case was brought and bankrolled by payday lenders, who asserted the way the CFBP is funded is unconstitutional. If so, every regulation the CFPB ever issued was potentially invalid — including rules issued in 2017 for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.consumerfinance.gov/payday-rule/">high-interest loans</a>, which irked payday lenders.&nbsp;</p>
  607.  
  608.  
  609.  
  610. <p>Congress designed the CFPB in response to the 2008 financial crisis, engineering it to be shielded from certain political winds via provisions insulating its funding and leadership in ways that differ from most federal departments. Four years ago, in a sign that the Roberts Court was eager to hear these kinds of broad challenges, the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2019/19-7">invalidated</a> provisions regarding CFPB’s leadership structure but left it otherwise intact.</p>
  611.  
  612.  
  613.  
  614. <p>The latest attempt to finish off the CFPB came with impeccable conservative provenance. In 2022, a panel of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — all appointed by former President Donald Trump — <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca5.204044/gov.uscourts.ca5.204044.506514748.1.pdf">ruled</a> that CFPB’s funding mechanism was unconstitutional. </p>
  615.  
  616.  
  617.  
  618. <p>Before the Supreme Court, former solicitor general Noel Francisco, who clerked for late Justice Antonin Scalia and notoriously <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/divided-supreme-court-debates-constitutionality-consumer-financial-protection/story?id=69364150">refused</a> to defend the CFPB during his tenure in the Trump administration, argued for the payday lenders. A slew of friend-of-court briefs urged the court to sink the CFPB or at least cut off its funding, including conservative stalwarts like the <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/22-448/271679/20230710112302855_22-448%20bsac%20Chamber%20et%20al.pdf">U.S. Chamber of Commerce</a>, <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/22-448/271734/20230710141338246_CFPB%20v%20CFSA-%20NCLA%20amicus.pdf">New Civil Liberties Alliance</a>, a <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/22-448/270624/20230707162906708_FINAL%20CFPB%20Amicus%20Brief.pdf">coalition</a> of Republican attorneys general, and the omnipresent <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/22-448/270238/20230630163355329_22-448%20bsac%20CCJ.pdf">John Eastman</a>.</p>
  619.  
  620.  
  621.  
  622. <p>In a rebuff, the Supreme Court majority rejected these arguments, concluding its funding model was indeed constitutional. </p>
  623.  
  624.  
  625.  
  626.  
  627.  
  628.  
  629.  
  630. <p>What divided the justices — even within the majority — was one of the central disagreements ushered in by Scalia and his fellow originalist revolutionaries on the bench: When the government faces thoroughly modern issues like regulating credit card penalties and semiautomatic weapons, should ancient history matter?&nbsp;</p>
  631.  
  632.  
  633.  
  634. <p>Justice Thomas, an arch-originalist, went as far back as the Middle Ages, the Magna Carta, and the Glorious Revolution. His opinion, which was signed by the full majority, dwelled on how the First Congress allocated money to agencies, and barely peeked past 1800.&nbsp;</p>
  635.  
  636.  
  637.  
  638. <p>In a concurring opinion, Justice Elena Kagan pointed out that there are a couple more centuries to consider. “The way our Government has actually worked, over our entire experience, thus provides another reason to uphold Congress’s decision about how to fund the CFPB,” Kagan wrote. Justice Sonia Sotomayor co-signed that view, along with conservative Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh.</p>
  639.  
  640.  
  641.  
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  651.        Related      </h2>
  652.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Wall Street Wants to Kill the Agency Protecting Americans From Financial Scams</h3>
  653.    </span>
  654.    </a>
  655.  </div>
  656.  
  657.  
  658.  
  659. <p>Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, meanwhile, writing only for herself, suggested that sometimes ancient history has limited lessons for 21st-century issues like financial regulation. “In response to the devastation wrought by the 2008 financial crisis, Congress passed and the President signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,” she wrote, noting that the payday lenders challenging CFPB were “exactly the type of entity the Bureau’s progenitors sought to regulate and whose influence Congress may have feared.”</p>
  660.  
  661.  
  662.  
  663. <p>“An essential aspect of the Constitution’s endurance is that it empowers the political branches to address new challenges by enacting new laws and policies — without undue interference by courts,” Jackson wrote.</p>
  664.  
  665.  
  666.  
  667.  
  668.  
  669.  
  670.  
  671. <p>In dissent, Justices Alito and Gorsuch howled that the “Framers would be shocked, even horrified” by the CFPB. Alito’s dissent cited Montesquieu, the practices of “the early Stuart kings” in the 1600s, and the accounting methods of Alexander Hamilton, and threw in a gratuitous shoutout to an infamous 17th-century witch trial judge, Sir Matthew Hale, who <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/abortion-roe-wade-alito-scotus-hale">birthed</a> the legal notion that husbands cannot be prosecuted for raping their wives, which <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/19/world/asia/abortion-lord-matthew-hale.html">continues</a> to haunt legal systems worldwide. </p>
  672.  
  673.  
  674.  
  675. <p>Alito concluded: “Today’s decision is not faithful to the original understanding of the Appropriations Clause and the centuries of history that gave birth to the appropriations requirement, and I therefore respectfully dissent.”&nbsp;</p>
  676.  
  677.  
  678.  
  679. <p>The Court is expected to issue its remaining decisions regarding regulatory agencies’ authority and structure by July.&nbsp;</p>
  680.  
  681.  
  682.  
  683. <p>Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who <a href="https://democracyjournal.org/magazine/5/unsafe-at-any-rate/">proposed</a> establishing the CFPB as a law professor, praised the ruling but looked ahead to future challenges. </p>
  684.  
  685.  
  686.  
  687. <p>“This isn’t the last attack on the CFPB we’ll see from Wall Street, the banks &amp; their Republican allies,” Warren&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/SenWarren/status/1791171356895137929">tweeted</a>.&nbsp;</p>
  688. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/16/supreme-court-cfpb-consumer-finance-constitutional/">The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau Is Constitutional, After All</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  689. ]]></content:encoded>
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  702.                <title><![CDATA[Outside Groups Spent $285,000 Backing Jamaal Bowman. AIPAC Alone Just Dropped Nearly $2 Million to Attack Him.]]></title>
  703.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/16/aipac-jamaal-bowman-attack-ads-george-latimer/</link>
  704.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/16/aipac-jamaal-bowman-attack-ads-george-latimer/#respond</comments>
  705.                <pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2024 21:08:07 +0000</pubDate>
  706.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Akela Lacy]]></dc:creator>
  707.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  708.  
  709.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=468773</guid>
  710.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>With Bowman’s challenger handpicked by AIPAC, the Israel lobby is cementing its status as the biggest player in Democratic primary politics.</p>
  711. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/16/aipac-jamaal-bowman-attack-ads-george-latimer/">Outside Groups Spent $285,000 Backing Jamaal Bowman. AIPAC Alone Just Dropped Nearly $2 Million to Attack Him.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  712. ]]></description>
  713.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  714. <p><u>The American Israel</u> Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC has launched its first ads attacking Rep. Jamaal Bowman in the Democratic primary in New York’s 16th Congressional District. The ads claim that Bowman “has his own agenda” and refuses to work with President Joe Biden.&nbsp;</p>
  715.  
  716.  
  717.  
  718. <p>United Democracy Project, the AIPAC super PAC, bought its first set of ads this week for $1.9 million, disclosing that it planned to spend the money in a week, to oppose Bowman in the race against Westchester County executive George Latimer.&nbsp;The primary election takes place June 25.</p>
  719.  
  720.  
  721.  
  722. <p>Latimer, who was recruited to run by AIPAC and has <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/02/01/george-latimer-aipac-donors-jamaal-bowman/">received huge contributions</a> directly from the group, has had nearly a million dollars of support from outside groups before AIPAC weighed in. Bowman also has outside support, but it’s a fraction of AIPAC’s spending so far for Latimer. Known as “independent expenditures,” outside groups can weigh in on elections but not in coordination with campaigns. </p>
  723.  
  724.  
  725.  
  726.  
  727.  
  728.  
  729.  
  730. <p>With the new AIPAC money to attack Bowman, outside groups in the race are spending nearly 10 times more in Latimer’s favor — with roughly $3 million total for Latimer and against Bowman, and Bowman supporters spending only about $285,000.&nbsp;</p>
  731.  
  732.  
  733.  
  734. <p>Latimer is also raking in more cash than Bowman in direct campaign contributions. His campaign itself has raised $3.6 million so far to Bowman’s $2.7 million. Latimer’s haul includes major support from Republican donors — almost a quarter of it was<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/02/01/george-latimer-aipac-donors-jamaal-bowman/"> bundled by AIPAC</a>. In the last quarter of 2023, almost half of Latimer’s contributions came through AIPAC.&nbsp;</p>
  735.  
  736.  
  737.  
  738. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-right"><blockquote><p>“Trump Republicans are funding a $1.9 million ad spend to distract us from their attempt to buy our seat.”</p></blockquote></figure>
  739.  
  740.  
  741.  
  742. <p>“NY-16 Democrats are united in rejecting MAGA’s threat to our freedoms, which is why Trump Republicans are funding a $1.9 million ad spend to distract us from their attempt to buy our seat,” Bowman campaign spokesperson Lawrence Wang said in a statement to The Intercept. &#8220;But voters know the truth: if MAGA’s top priority is unseating Jamaal Bowman, ours is to re-elect him.”</p>
  743.  
  744.  
  745.  
  746. <p>United Democracy Project did not respond to a request for comment.</p>
  747.  
  748.  
  749.  
  750. <p>Latimer has courted Republican donors and held fundraisers hosted by Republicans, including a major<a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/01/18/pro-trump-gop-donor-hosts-fundraiser-for-george-latimer-in-primary-challenge-to-rep-jamaal-bowman/"> GOP donor</a> to former President Donald Trump. Another AIPAC donor has been<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/12/08/aipac-donor-jamaal-bowman-primary/"> encouraging Republicans to switch parties</a> to vote against Bowman in the primary — one Republican voter<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/04/19/john-fetterman-israel-gop-donors/"> told The Intercept</a> he recently switched parties just to vote for Latimer. Latimer’s campaign distanced itself from the GOP-hosted fundraisers and said he had no control over who hosted fundraising events.</p>
  751.  
  752.  
  753.  
  754.  
  755.  
  756.  
  757. <p>The big outside spending push by AIPAC helps cement its status as one of if not the biggest spender in Democratic Party primaries. The pro-Israel lobby planned to spend $100 million this cycle to oust members of the Squad who have been critical of U.S. military funding for Israel and led calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.</p>
  758.  
  759.  
  760.  
  761. <p>After failing to unseat Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., AIPAC’s next<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/03/aipac-jamaal-bowman-primary-israel/"> top targets</a> are Bowman and Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo. AIPAC recruited Latimer to run against Bowman and has backed Bush’s challenger, Wesley Bell. Its super PAC is expected to spend up to $20 million on each race.&nbsp;</p>
  762.  
  763.  
  764.  
  765. <p>Known as “independent expenditures,” outside groups like PACs can spend unlimited amounts on elections but are not supposed to coordinate with campaigns. In practical terms, however, a system of <a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/08/12/sean-patrick-maloney-alessandra-biaggi-police-pac/">winks and nods</a> can help campaigns point outside spenders to ideas about messaging — a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/11/maryland-harry-dunn-sarah-elfreth-aipac-israel/">tactic AIPAC has availed itself of</a>.</p>
  766.  
  767.  
  768.  
  769. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-aipac-s-primary-occupation">AIPAC’s Primary Occupation</h2>
  770.  
  771.  
  772.  
  773. <p>The race between Bowman and Latimer has been a chaotic one. Latimer’s campaign came under scrutiny when it first launched for leaving the Bronx, part of which is in the district, off of his website and only mentioning Westchester County, which is a primarily white suburb. Latimer was also criticized for comments claiming that Bowman<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/02/14/george-latimer-jamaal-bowman-hamas-aipac/"> took money from Hamas</a>. Latimer told<a href="https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2023/12/george-latimer-says-run-against-bowman-about-more-israel/392550/"> City &amp; State</a> that he wouldn’t be able to win if more Bronx voters were drawn in as part of redistricting.&nbsp;</p>
  774.  
  775.  
  776.  
  777. <p>Bowman has had his own share of snafus. His decision to pull the fire alarm in Congress over the summer has plagued the campaign and become fodder in new attack ads. Critics have also raised questions about<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/squad-rep-jamaal-bowmans-youtube-page-is-a-bonkers-conspiracy-filled-trip"> conspiratorial </a>content he follows on YouTube, though it’s unclear whether he has watched or engaged with the videos.&nbsp;</p>
  778.  
  779.  
  780.  
  781.  
  782.  
  783.  
  784.  
  785. <p>In a Twitter thread posted Thursday, Lee, the Pennsylvania representative who just won her primary,<a href="https://x.com/SummerForPA/status/1791145823222288559"> criticized</a> AIPAC for targeting Black Democrats while using its support for members of the<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/09/21/aipac-cbc-progressive-black-democrats/"> Congressional Black Caucus</a> as cover. “While the biggest threat to Black America is white supremacist policymakers, they financially support the folks causing us the most harm,” Lee wrote.&nbsp;</p>
  786.  
  787.  
  788.  
  789. <p>AIPAC supported several candidates of color last cycle, including Glenn Ivey, Adam Hollier, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/01/21/henry-cuellar-azerbaijan-fbi-texas/">Henry Cuellar</a>, Shontel Brown, Valerie Foushee, and Don Davis. Almost all of AIPAC’s independent expenditures against Democrats in the 2022 primaries were spent against candidates of color. The rest was spent against former Rep. Andy Levin, a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/08/02/michigan-primary-andy-levin-results-aipac/">Jewish member of Congress</a>.&nbsp;</p>
  790.  
  791.  
  792.  
  793. <p>Usamah Andrabi, a spokesperson for Justice Democrats, which spent at least $165,000 on<a href="https://twitter.com/JCColtin/status/1786474428198420801"> mail</a> and digital ads supporting Bowman and attacking Latimer’s<a href="https://twitter.com/ryangrim/status/1783250342987137368"> GOP ties</a>, said that Republicans were using United Democracy Project to target Democrats of color. The Working Families Party has spent $118,000 so far to support Bowman, with plans for additional spending.&nbsp;</p>
  794.  
  795.  
  796.  
  797. <p>“This is the same tactic we&#8217;ve seen across the country, Republican billionaires using AIPAC&#8217;s super PAC to spend millions of dollars targeting Democrats of color in Democratic primaries,” Andrabi said. “Voters should know that every ad they see attacking Jamaal Bowman or defending George Latimer is being funded by the same GOP megadonors who want to ban abortion, defend insurrectionists, and elect Donald Trump.&#8221;</p>
  798. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/16/aipac-jamaal-bowman-attack-ads-george-latimer/">Outside Groups Spent $285,000 Backing Jamaal Bowman. AIPAC Alone Just Dropped Nearly $2 Million to Attack Him.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
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  811.                <title><![CDATA[Republicans Can't Decide: Do They Hate Prosecutors Because of Bail Reform or Abortion?]]></title>
  812.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/16/abortion-reform-prosecutors-attack-right-wing-gop-legislatures/</link>
  813.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/16/abortion-reform-prosecutors-attack-right-wing-gop-legislatures/#respond</comments>
  814.                <pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2024 13:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  815.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Akela Lacy]]></dc:creator>
  816.                                 <category><![CDATA[Justice]]></category>
  817. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  818.  
  819.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=468721</guid>
  820.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Since Dobbs, state-level Republicans have sought to strip power from DAs elected in Democratic cities who won't prosecute abortion care.</p>
  821. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/16/abortion-reform-prosecutors-attack-right-wing-gop-legislatures/">Republicans Can&#8217;t Decide: Do They Hate Prosecutors Because of Bail Reform or Abortion?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  822. ]]></description>
  823.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  824. <p><u>The national right-wing</u> <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/03/03/reform-prosecutors-state-legistatures/">attack on elected district attorneys</a> has merged with the Republican project to criminalize abortion.&nbsp;</p>
  825.  
  826.  
  827.  
  828. <p>After the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in the landmark case Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization, many Republican dominated state governments quickly moved to ban all or some abortions. Many of the populous cities in these state, however, are dominated by Democratic Party politics. In those cities, elected prosecutors pledged not to prosecute reproductive care, setting up a clash with state-level governments.&nbsp;</p>
  829.  
  830.  
  831.  
  832. <p>The clash came first in Florida, where in 2022, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis became the first state official to suspended an elected prosecutor who said they would not charge people who sought abortions. In January, a three-judge federal appeals circuit panel said DeSantis’s decision to suspend Former States Attorney Andrew Warren<a href="https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/01/10/11th-circuit-rebukes-desantis-orders-a-new-trial-for-suspended-prosecutor-warren/"> violated First Amendment provisions</a> for protected speech, including Warren’s comments on protecting abortion and transgender care.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  833.  
  834.  
  835.  
  836. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[0] -->“Those prosecutors who have recognized that they have no place interfering with patients&#8217; personal decisions have found themselves under threat.&#8221;<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[0] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[0] -->
  837.  
  838.  
  839.  
  840. <p>Since then, at least five states have introduced legislative measures to strip power from elected prosecutors who have made similar pledges. Over the last two years, Republicans in Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, South Carolina, and Texas have introduced or passed legislation making it easier to prosecute people who seek abortions.&nbsp;</p>
  841.  
  842.  
  843.  
  844. <p>“As reproductive health care became criminalized in the wake of Dobbs<em>, </em>prosecutors around the country became a front line for this essential right,” said Jill Habig, founder and CEO of the the Public Rights Project. “Those prosecutors who have recognized that they have no place interfering with patients&#8217; personal decisions have found themselves under threat for that decision.”&nbsp;</p>
  845.  
  846.  
  847.  
  848.  
  849.  
  850.  
  851.  
  852. <p>On Thursday, the Public Rights Project and Local Solutions Support Center released a <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24663948-lssc-whitepaper-prosecutorialdiscretion2024-3">report</a> tallying and detailing a wave of new attacks against prosecutors vowing to defend abortion rights. The attacks target democratically elected prosecutors for routine speech about practices in their offices. In Florida, Warren was suspended in part because of his statements on the right to abortion. In Texas, lawmakers who launched a<a href="https://www.kxan.com/investigations/petition-to-remove-travis-county-da-jose-garza-granted/"> petition to remove</a> Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza also cited his pledge not to prosecute abortion care.</p>
  853.  
  854.  
  855.  
  856. <p>The new research by Public Rights Project shows that the salvos against supporters of abortion rights are just part of a growing, nationwide right-wing effort to limit the powers of elected, reform-minded prosecutors. Since early 2023, there have been 53 attempts to restrict prosecutorial authority in 26 states — attempts that are increasingly effective, with 15 new measures enacted in the same time period.</p>
  857.  
  858.  
  859.  
  860. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-idaho-georgia-and-more">Idaho, Georgia, and More</h2>
  861.  
  862.  
  863.  
  864. <p>The recent pushes to strip power from prosecutors who support abortion rights have seen some successes. In Idaho, if an elected prosecutor has a policy in place not to prosecute violations of the state’s abortion ban, a law enacted last year would give the state attorney general power to take over any related cases. </p>
  865.  
  866.  
  867.  
  868. <p>A similar bill was proposed in South Carolina last year but died in committee.&nbsp;</p>
  869.  
  870.  
  871.  
  872.  
  873.  
  874.  
  875. <p>In Texas, at least four bills would create new and severe criminal offenses for abortion care and give the state attorney general power to bring criminal prosecutions and sue over related cases. </p>
  876.  
  877.  
  878.  
  879. <p>A<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/08/24/georgia-prosecutor-trump-gop/"> Georgia law</a> enacted last year gives a politically-appointed commission the power to<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/08/02/georgia-reform-district-attorney-brian-kemp/"> remove and discipline</a> elected DAs over decisions not to prosecute certain offenses, including abortions.&nbsp;</p>
  880.  
  881.  
  882.  
  883. <p>Other states have fought to curb the attacks on abortion care. A proposed bill in Wisconsin would give the state attorney general concurrent jurisdiction to take over certain prosecutions that target people who seek abortions under the state’s law prohibiting abortions from 22 weeks.&nbsp;</p>
  884.  
  885.  
  886.  
  887. <p>In Arizona, state officials are<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/arizona-high-court-1864-near-total-abortion-ban-late-september-kris-mayes/"> deliberating</a> on efforts to block the repeal of an 1800s-era abortion ban. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs issued an executive order in 2023 giving all duties related to prosecuting abortion care over to the state attorney general, a Democrat who supports protecting the right to abortion.</p>
  888.  
  889.  
  890.  
  891. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tons-of-new-bills-to-curb-das">Tons of New Bills to Curb DAs </h2>
  892.  
  893.  
  894.  
  895. <p>The anti-abortion measures are the outgrowth of a broader<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/03/03/reform-prosecutors-state-legistatures/"> national attack</a> on elected prosecutors who ran on reform policies. National Republicans have<a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/11/29/deconstructed-larry-krasner-impeach/"> fomented</a> and harnessed a backlash to candidates who ran on ending cash bail, declining to prosecute cannabis possession, overturning wrongful convictions and prosecuting police misconduct.</p>
  896.  
  897.  
  898.  
  899. <p>Last year, the Public Rights Project and Local Solutions Support Center released a <a href="https://www.supportdemocracy.org/the-latest/new-white-paper-preempting-progress-states-take-aim-at-local-prosecutors">report</a> that outlined efforts to curb the power of reform-minded prosecutors. The research released about restricting prosecutors who vow to defend abortion rights was part of a new paper that updated last year’s tally.</p>
  900.  
  901.  
  902.  
  903. <p>More than 37 bills to strip power from prosecutors were introduced in 17 states between 2017 and early 2023. Some<a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/07/12/josh-shapiro-larry-krasner-pennsylvania-repeal-hb-1614/"> singled out</a> reform-minded DAs elected in places like<a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/10/24/larry-krasner-impeachment-debunked-study/"> Philadelphia</a> and<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/05/06/kim-gardner-st-louis-da-resigns-reform/"> St. Louis</a>.&nbsp;</p>
  904.  
  905.  
  906.  
  907.  
  908.  
  909.  
  910.  
  911. <p>Since then, the new research showed, the numbers ballooned to 53 attempts introduced in 26 states. Texas is home to at least 13 such efforts, including bills that further criminalize abortion and make it easier to file complaints against and investigate DAs who decline to prosecute certain offenses.&nbsp;</p>
  912.  
  913.  
  914.  
  915. <p>While the bulk of legislation introduced between 2017 and 2022 didn’t pass, newer bills have been more successful. Fifteen new measures have been enacted in 14 states since last year.&nbsp;</p>
  916.  
  917.  
  918.  
  919. <p>Texas enacted a law last year that makes it easier to bring private lawsuits to remove prosecutors, Habig added. Now the state is following the example set by Georgia and considering creating a new government agency for the same purpose.</p>
  920.  
  921.  
  922.  
  923. <p>&#8220;The bills introduced and passed in the last year show that the trend from 2017-22 has not stopped — in fact, it&#8217;s only accelerating,” Habig said. “And states that have taken some efforts to restrict prosecutorial discretion have shown that they are not satisfied with their early steps.”</p>
  924. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/16/abortion-reform-prosecutors-attack-right-wing-gop-legislatures/">Republicans Can&#8217;t Decide: Do They Hate Prosecutors Because of Bail Reform or Abortion?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  925. ]]></content:encoded>
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  935.        
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  937.                <title><![CDATA[University Professors Are Losing Their Jobs Over “New McCarthyism” on Gaza]]></title>
  938.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/16/university-college-professors-israel-palestine-firing/</link>
  939.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/16/university-college-professors-israel-palestine-firing/#respond</comments>
  940.                <pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  941.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Natasha Lennard]]></dc:creator>
  942.                                 <category><![CDATA[Justice]]></category>
  943. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  944. <category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
  945.  
  946.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=468669</guid>
  947.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>As brutal police repression sweeps campus encampments, schools have been cutting ties with pro-Palestine faculty members without tenure.</p>
  948. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/16/university-college-professors-israel-palestine-firing/">University Professors Are Losing Their Jobs Over “New McCarthyism” on Gaza</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  949. ]]></description>
  950.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  951. <p><u>Many scholars committed</u> to Palestinian liberation can no longer do their jobs. That’s because many of the professors most supportive of Palestine don’t have jobs anymore.</p>
  952.  
  953.  
  954.  
  955. <p>This is nowhere truer than in the Gaza Strip — where <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/02/09/deconstructed-gaza-university-education/">all 12 universities have been reduced to rubble</a>, and more than 90 professors have been reported killed during Israel’s assault on the territory. The gravity of what United Nations experts warn could amount to U.S.-backed “<a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/04/un-experts-deeply-concerned-over-scholasticide-gaza#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWith%20more%20than%2080%25%20of,'%2C%E2%80%9D%20the%20experts%20said.">scholasticide</a>” has no equivalent on American soil.</p>
  956.  
  957.  
  958.  
  959. <p>Yet Israel’s attempted eradication of intellectual life in Gaza echoes far beyond the territory, with U.S. universities ensuring that some professors vocal in their support of Palestine can no longer do their jobs either.</p>
  960.  
  961.  
  962.  
  963. <p>Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, academics in fields including politics, sociology, Japanese literature, public health, Latin American and Caribbean studies, Middle East and African studies, mathematics, education, and more have been fired, suspended, or removed from the classroom for pro-Palestine, anti-Israel speech.</p>
  964.  
  965.  
  966.  
  967. <p>These educators have little in common. They live in different cities and states and hail from different countries. Some have been teaching in their institutions for decades, some were newly hired. Some taught at private universities, others public. They have varying degrees of job security, from a tenured professor to the most precarious adjunct contracts. And they are racially, ethnically, religiously, age, and gender diverse.</p>
  968.  
  969.  
  970.  
  971.  
  972.  
  973.  
  974. <p>What they share is that, in recent months, they have all staked out positions in favor of Palestinian freedom — positions that lead them to be targeted by pro-Israel groups.</p>
  975.  
  976.  
  977.  
  978. <p>From campus to campus, professors <a href="https://www.aaup.org/news/aaup-president-condemns-student-arrests">have</a> <a href="https://www.aaup.org/news/aaup-president-condemns-student-arrests">defended students’ right to protest</a>, but when scholars themselves espouse support for Palestine and opposition to the Israeli state, professional consequences have frequently been grave.</p>
  979.  
  980.  
  981.  
  982. <p>There’s no official tally of the number of academic workers who have lost jobs or faced suspension over support for Palestine, not least because higher education in this country is disarticulated, often privatized, and reliant on short-term contract labor. By and large, professors facing job loss and suspensions over Palestine have brought these allegations into public view by speaking out themselves. Scores of academics across the country are likely under investigation, and many stand to have their contracts quietly expire without renewals.</p>
  983.  
  984.  
  985.  
  986. <p>The Intercept spoke with more than a dozen professors, both adjuncts and those with tenure, whose employment has been imperiled by their pro-Palestine speech. Of the professors I talked to, all were at one point under investigation since October 7; some of the probes closed without findings of wrongdoing. Several faced varying degrees of suspensions, and four of the professors lost their jobs or expect to lose them next week when the semester ends without the renewal of their contracts.</p>
  987.  
  988.  
  989.  
  990. <p>The interviews, including those with campus labor activists and academic associations, revealed a pattern of politically motivated repression where campaigns by pro-Israel advocates can mar the careers of academics because of comments that express outrage at Israel’s ongoing occupation and its war in Gaza.</p>
  991.  
  992.  
  993.  
  994. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[1](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[1] -->“Of the cases that we&#8217;ve opened, none of them have been related to pro-Israel speech. All of them have been in support of the Palestinian cause.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[1] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[1] -->
  995.  
  996.  
  997.  
  998. <p>“The bulk of our inquiries, even our cases, have to do with violations of due process related to non-reappointment, to dismissal, to tenure award, et cetera,” said Anita Levy, senior program officer with the American Association of University Professors. Levy told me that the nonprofit organization, which advocates for faculty rights and academic freedom, currently has opened five cases in recent months related to pro-Palestinian speech.</p>
  999.  
  1000.  
  1001.  
  1002. <p>“When we get five or six of these cases in a two-month period, where there are suspensions related to social media posts over a current event, shall we say, the war in Gaza, that is unusual,” she said. “Of the cases that we&#8217;ve opened, none of them have been related to pro-Israel speech. All of them have been in support of the Palestinian cause.”</p>
  1003.  
  1004.  
  1005.  
  1006. <p>We are at the dawn of a “new McCarthyism,” Levy said. “This may be the tip of the iceberg.”</p>
  1007.  
  1008.  
  1009.  
  1010.  
  1011.  
  1012.  
  1013.  
  1014. <p>Institutions are well positioned to eliminate political dissenters from their payrolls under the misleading banner of protecting Jewish people, primed by heightened Republican <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy/23762357/republican-attack-higher-education">attacks</a> on higher education.</p>
  1015.  
  1016.  
  1017.  
  1018. <p>“This is beyond the new McCarthyism. This has to deal fundamentally with Islamophobia, anti-Muslim racism, anti-Arab racism, anti-Palestinian racism,” said Mohamed Abdou, who is a visiting professor in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African studies at Columbia University — that is, <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/outrage-columbia-university-over-censure-pro-palestine-professor-mohamed-abdou">until</a> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/outrage-columbia-university-over-censure-pro-palestine-professor-mohamed-abdou">this semester ends</a>.</p>
  1019.  
  1020.  
  1021.  
  1022. <p>Columbia President Minouche Shafik announced that the university was cutting ties with Abdou during a congressional <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/04/17/columbia-antisemitism-hearing-congress/">hearing</a> last month about antisemitism on campus. Abdou was one of five professors named by the school administrator but the only one without the relative protection of tenure. His one-year contract ends this month.</p>
  1023.  
  1024.  
  1025.  
  1026. <p>“What she effectively did was blacklist me globally,” Abdou told me of Shafik’s testimony. (Columbia did not respond to a request for comment.)</p>
  1027.  
  1028.  
  1029.  
  1030. <p>Abdou said he was smeared for words in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MuhammadAbdou2020/posts/pfbid02gwmN5NYuzPu4HP1dQXB4bReesFYryD9u6P7yHBHRq8WSAANCfjQbKCouWW7kgJGgl">Facebook post</a> on October 11 that were taken dramatically out of context. The activist-scholar was framed in Congress and in the right-wing media as an antisemite and Hamas supporter. His lengthy post asks readers to think about a future for Palestine, and support for resistance, beyond the binary of a secularized, Eurocentric state formation, or “Hamas and Islamic Jihad&#8217;s neoconservative idea of Sharia.”</p>
  1031.  
  1032.  
  1033.  
  1034. <p>“I&#8217;m against any form of authoritarianism,” Abdou — whose work focuses on Islam, anarchism, and settler colonialism since 1492 — told me.</p>
  1035.  
  1036.  
  1037.  
  1038. <p>One extramural social media post has been weaponized to undo Abdou’s career, after 20 years of teaching in Canada, Egypt, and the U.S. in fields including queer studies and Indigenous studies, leaving the scholar with scant recourse and limited options. He is hardly alone.</p>
  1039.  
  1040.  
  1041.  
  1042. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fired-after-18-years">“Fired After 18 Years”</h2>
  1043.  
  1044.  
  1045.  
  1046. <p>Anti-Palestinian repression on U.S. campuses since October 7 has not been subtle. Students and faculty face far-reaching discriminatory censure and defamatory allegations for pro-Palestinian advocacy, as <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/01/13/penn-palestine-writes-liz-magill/">administrators jump to appease pro-Israel donors</a> and conservative political interests.</p>
  1047.  
  1048.  
  1049.  
  1050. <p>In the last months, school administrators called in riot cops to clear student encampments and arrest thousands at Columbia University, City College of New York, Emerson College, Emory University, New York University, the University of Austin at Texas, and more. It was <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/01/nyc-gaza-college-protests-police-outside-agitators/">brutal state violence against students</a> not seen since the campus movement against the Vietnam War — justified this time by flimsy claims about <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/03/28/safety-college-columbia-stanford-antisemitism-israel-palestine/">student safety,</a> undergirded by a conflation of anti-Zionism and antisemitism.</p>
  1051.  
  1052.  
  1053. <!-- BLOCK(promote-post)[3](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PROMOTE_POST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22slug%22%3A%22israel-palestine%22%2C%22crop%22%3A%22promo%22%7D) -->  <aside class="promote-banner">
  1054.    <a class="promote-banner__link" href="https://theintercept.com/collections/israel-palestine/">
  1055.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
  1056.          <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="150" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)" srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=5760 5760w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=3600 3600w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />        </span>
  1057.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
  1058.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
  1059.            Read our complete coverage          </p>
  1060.        
  1061.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">Israel’s War on Gaza</h2>
  1062.      </div>
  1063.    </a>
  1064.  </aside>
  1065. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[3] -->
  1066.  
  1067.  
  1068.  
  1069. <p>There have been scenes of faculty solidarity. Last week, faculty members at the New School in New York, where I teach, launched the first faculty-led solidarity encampment, following the shuttering of the student encampment with mass arrests. In late April, <a href="https://hellgatenyc.com/nyu-nypd-gaza-solidarity-encampment">dozens</a> of professors and others from New York University formed a line around their protesting students as police were called in to raid their encampment; faculty and students were all arrested together. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2024/04/25/emory-university-pro-palestinian-protest-police-digvid.cnn">Footage capturing the arrests</a> of Emory Philosophy Department Chair Noëlle McAfee and economics professor Caroline Fohlin, the latter who was slammed brutally to the ground by cops, was shared widely online.</p>
  1070.  
  1071.  
  1072.  
  1073. <p>Yet once media attention moves away from encampment sweeps and violent arrests, many professors who have lost work will still be without their livelihoods or left facing precarious futures with their reputations unfairly besmirched.</p>
  1074.  
  1075.  
  1076.  
  1077. <p>“I was fired after 18 years as a professor of Latin American and Caribbean studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice,” Danny Shaw said. He was told last month by administrators at the college, which is part of the public City University of New York system, that he would not be reappointed to his longtime adjunct position. Shaw’s colleagues had moved to reappoint him but were overruled by John Jay President Karol Mason, according to an <a href="https://twitter.com/JJayEcon/status/1775622502972084645">open letter</a> from the economics department.</p>
  1078.  
  1079.  
  1080.  
  1081. <p>“The non-reappointment of Danny Shaw is an unacceptable action,” Shaw’s colleagues in the economics department wrote in their open letter. “Danny Shaw is a valuable member of his department who has been teaching at John Jay since 2007. Professor Shaw is an excellent teacher who has received a Distinguished Teaching Award.”</p>
  1082.  
  1083.  
  1084.  
  1085. <figure class="wp-block-ft-photo is-style-default">
  1086.  <img decoding="async"
  1087.    src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AP24131538601712.jpg?fit=5646%2C3766&#038;w=1200"
  1088.    srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AP24131538601712.jpg?w=5646 5646w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AP24131538601712.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AP24131538601712.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AP24131538601712.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AP24131538601712.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AP24131538601712.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AP24131538601712.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AP24131538601712.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AP24131538601712.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AP24131538601712.jpg?w=3600 3600w"
  1089.    sizes="(min-width: 1300px) 650px, (min-width: 800px) 64vw, (min-width: 500px) calc(100vw - 5rem), calc(100vw - 3rem)"
  1090.    alt="NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 09: Cresa Pugh, new school professor of sociology, blocks of a police school safty van, holding arrested students outside the New School faculty&#039;s pro-Palestinian encampment on May 09, 2024 in New York City. The New School faculty set up the first faculty-led, pro-Palestinian encampment in memory of Refaat Alareer, a Palestinian professor, poet, and writer who was killed in an Israeli airstrike last December. (Photo by Michael Nigro/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)"
  1091.    width=""
  1092.    height=""
  1093.    loading="lazy"
  1094.  data-recalc-dims="1" />
  1095.      <figcaption class="photo__figcaption">
  1096.              <span class="photo__caption">Professors block a police van holding arrested students outside the New School faculty’s pro-Palestinian encampment on May 9, 2024, in New York City.</span>
  1097.                    <span class="photo__credit">Photo: Michael Nigro/Sipa via AP Images</span>
  1098.          </figcaption>
  1099.  </figure>
  1100.  
  1101.  
  1102.  
  1103. <p>The dismissal followed right-wing, pro-Israel online harassment, Shaw said, in response to his showing vocal support for Palestine and opposition to Israel following October 7 and the start of Israel’s bombardments.</p>
  1104.  
  1105.  
  1106.  
  1107. <p>“I saw a genocide in motion, so I began to organize demonstrations and teach-ins and conferences,” Shaw told me.</p>
  1108.  
  1109.  
  1110.  
  1111. <p>On his X account in mid-October, in the wake of stridently bellicose remarks from Israeli officials, Shaw wrote in a now-deleted post that Zionism “is beyond a mental illness; it’s a genocidal disease.” The target was unambiguously Zionist ideology and its adherents, not Jews for being Jewish. The speech is also clearly within the bounds of First Amendment protections. It was, of course, decried as antisemitic.</p>
  1112.  
  1113.  
  1114.  
  1115. <p>The pattern is now familiar. Zionist groups like <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/10/04/israel-palestine-blacklists-canary-mission/">Canary Mission</a> and Antisemitism.org, which have made a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/11/22/israel-boycott-canary-mission-blacklist/">business of going after faculty and students online</a>, single out those on campus with pro-Palestine views. Universities then face political and donor pressure to censure the targeted professors.</p>
  1116.  
  1117.  
  1118.  
  1119. <p>Many academics now facing termination, suspension, or having their contracts not renewed told me their open support for Palestinian freedom was nothing new and had never been a significant issue before. “I&#8217;ve been doing Palestinian solidarity work since the 1990s when I was a teenager,” Shaw said.</p>
  1120.  
  1121.  
  1122.  
  1123. <p>At the time John Jay cut ties with Shaw, CUNY was facing increasing pressure from the city and state, with the threat of funding loss tied to trumped-up claims of spiking antisemitism on campus. In late October, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/11/02/kathy-hochul-israel-settlements-uja-federations/">New York Gov. Kathy Hochul</a> ordered an independent investigation into antisemitism at CUNY. (A spokesperson for John Jay College said the school can’t comment on personnel matters.)</p>
  1124.  
  1125.  
  1126.  
  1127.  
  1128.  
  1129.  
  1130.  
  1131. <p>CUNY has ended its relationship with at least on other professor because of speech related to Israel’s war on Gaza. One, Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda, a scholar of Japanese literature formerly at CUNY’s Hunter College, told me in a statement that a student reported several of her pro-Palestine social media posts to the head of her department in November. Nothing in the posts, she noted, was antisemitic. “The only thing I have done,” she said, “is to criticize the state of Israel for its 75-year brutal occupation of Palestine and criticize Americans for their complicity or silence in this genocide.”</p>
  1132.  
  1133.  
  1134.  
  1135. <p>Pro-Israel speech incurs consequences much less frequently, but it does happen. In one case, Arizona State University put postdoctoral research fellow Jonathan Yudelman on leave after a video of a pro-Israel rally <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/asu-scholar-leave-video-verbal-attack-woman-hijab-goes-viral-rcna151165">went viral</a>. In the video, shot near campus in May, Yudelman gets in the face of a woman in a hijab, who says her religious boundaries are being violated. Yudelman replies, &#8220;You disrespect my sense of humanity, bitch.&#8221; A <a href="https://newsroom.asu.edu/statement/investigation-jonathan-yudelman-video">statement</a> released by the school last week said that Yudelman &#8220;is on leave from Arizona State University pending the outcome of an investigation&#8221; into the incident. The statement said that, prior to the event, &#8220;Yudelman had already resigned his position at ASU, effective June 30, and he was not scheduled to teach any additional courses.&#8221;</p>
  1136.  
  1137.  
  1138.  
  1139. <p>Yudelman&#8217;s case is a rare exception to the rule that treats support for Palestine as a professional liability.</p>
  1140.  
  1141.  
  1142.  
  1143. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tenure-in-the-age-of-unsafety">Tenure in the Age of Unsafety</h2>
  1144.  
  1145.  
  1146.  
  1147. <p>What the late, legendary civil rights attorney Michael Ratner coined as “the Palestine exception to free speech” is not new, though its escalation in the months since October has been ferocious.</p>
  1148.  
  1149.  
  1150.  
  1151. <p>“Repression of anti-Zionism has a long and ugly history in academe. It really started to pick up after 1967,” Palestinian American scholar and author Steven Salaita told me by email, referring to the period of the 1967 Arab–Israeli War, a time when support for Israel was growing in the U.S. “Too many people to remember have been negatively affected. But it&#8217;s worse now than I&#8217;ve ever seen it.”</p>
  1152.  
  1153.  
  1154.  
  1155. <p>Salaita was <a href="https://ccrjustice.org/professor-steven-salaita">fired for pro-Palestinian speech</a> in 2014, a forerunner for the current repressive moment. After Salaita was let go from a tenured position in American Indian Studies at the University of Illinois over tweets criticizing Israel, a public records request on Salaita’s behalf revealed communications between the university and <a href="https://theintercept.com/2015/10/20/professor-hopes-to-return-after-being-fired-for-disrespectful-tweets-against-israel/">several wealthy donors threatening to withdraw financial support</a> unless Salaita was fired. The university eventually settled a lawsuit by Salaita for $875,000.</p>
  1156.  
  1157.  
  1158.  
  1159. <p>“I&#8217;d say that on the one hand my situation with the University of Illinois a decade ago is exactly like what so many of my colleagues and comrades currently suffer,” Salaita told me. “On the other hand, my situation was different insofar as I was fired from a tenured professorship, which is highly uncommon.”</p>
  1160.  
  1161.  
  1162.  
  1163.  
  1164.  
  1165.  
  1166. <p>In recent years, right-wing culture warriors and administrators with their eyes on the bottom line have been <a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/04/10/campus-reform-koch-young-americans-for-freedom-leadership-institute/">trying to find ways to fire tenured professors</a>. As political <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/products/115-riot-strike-riot">theorist</a> Joshua Clover, a tenured professor at the University of California, Davis, pointed out, universities for the most part have only been able to achieve this by closing down whole departments on purported economic grounds. The attack of pro-Palestinian speech, though, offers a whole new avenue, under the guise of protecting Jewish students.</p>
  1167.  
  1168.  
  1169.  
  1170. <p>Broad and vague charges of “making students feel unsafe” allow universities to scrutinize everything a professor does, inside or outside of the classroom. Clover, who has himself been targeted by Canary Mission for anti-Zionist speech, told me this enables “extramural speech to be treated as something relevant to people&#8217;s work situation.”</p>
  1171.  
  1172.  
  1173.  
  1174. <p>“There&#8217;s nothing extramural anymore,” he said. “We&#8217;re all at work 24 hours a day, wherever we are.”</p>
  1175.  
  1176.  
  1177.  
  1178. <p>It was extramural speech — an <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/palestine-speaks-for-everyone">essay</a> for a leftist publisher — that earned a suspension from teaching for Jodi Dean, a tenured political <a href="https://www.hws.edu/faculty/dean-jodi.aspx">theorist</a> at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in New York, where she has taught for 30 years. (She remains employed at the university.) Her essay was condemned for describing seeing images of the breach of the Gaza wall on October 7 as “exhilarating,” and the college president said in a letter that there &#8220;may be students on our campus who may feel threatened in or outside of the classroom.&#8221;</p>
  1179.  
  1180.  
  1181.  
  1182. <p>&#8220;I have been here for 20 years and I haven&#8217;t seen anything like this,&#8221; Paul Passavant, a professor of politics at Hobart and William Smith, <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-professor-leave-describing-october-7-attacks-exhilarating">told</a> Middle East Eye of Dean’s suspension. “​​It is a total violation of academic freedom. And it violates the integrity of the institution as an academic institution.”</p>
  1183.  
  1184.  
  1185.  
  1186. <p>In response to requests for comment, a Hobart and William Smith spokesperson forwarded three <a href="https://www.hws.edu/offices/president/statements/a-message-from-president-mark-d-gearan.aspx">letters</a> from university leadership that had been sent out to the college community in mid-April.</p>
  1187.  
  1188.  
  1189.  
  1190. <p>“Professor Dean has the right to express her views,” the school’s provost and dean of faculty Sarah Kirk wrote in an April 15 <a href="https://www.hws.edu/offices/oafa/statements/academic-freedom.aspx">letter</a>. “It is also true that Hobart and William Smith has the obligation under federal anti-discrimination laws, including Title VI, to investigate and take prompt action where the possibility exists that there is a hostile environment based on national origin, shared ancestry, or other protected classes that may interfere with a student’s ability to learn and enjoy the benefits of an education.” The letters all say that Dean has been “relieved” of classroom duties while she is under investigation by the school.</p>
  1191.  
  1192.  
  1193.  
  1194. <p>Activist and scholar Amin Husain <a href="https://hyperallergic.com/868525/nyu-suspends-palestinian-professor-and-activist-amin-husain/">likewise</a> was punished for extramural speech. He had called for Palestinian liberation for many years, but he was only suspended from his adjunct position at New York University in January of this year.</p>
  1195.  
  1196.  
  1197.  
  1198. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[6](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[6] -->“I’ve been teaching for seven or eight years. Never one complaint.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[6] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[6] -->
  1199.  
  1200.  
  1201.  
  1202. <p>Husain told me that the university’s human resources department questioned him not only about his anti-Zionist statements, but also about social media content posted by an abolitionist art collective, Decolonize This Place, that he is affiliated with. None of the collective’s posts were attributed to Husain specifically.</p>
  1203.  
  1204.  
  1205.  
  1206. <p>“I’ve been teaching for seven or eight years. Never one complaint,” Husain told me. He added that his suspension was not the result of a student complaint but evidence taken from “doxing outlets.” While he is technically suspended, Husain is an adjunct with a contract ending this month. (NYU did not respond to a request for comment.)</p>
  1207.  
  1208.  
  1209.  
  1210. <p>“I&#8217;m never going to be hired by NYU,” he told me. Of the university, he said, “You destroyed my reputation, and you never even did the due diligence.”</p>
  1211.  
  1212.  
  1213.  
  1214. <p>A <a href="https://hyperallergic.com/870452/2000-sign-letter-of-support-for-palestinian-nyu-professor-amin-husain/">letter</a> of support for Husain, signed by over 2,000 artists, writers, academics, and students, said, “These attacks on speech (and speakers) reflect the ideology behind the logic of destruction inflicted on the cultural infrastructure of Palestine itself.”</p>
  1215.  
  1216.  
  1217.  
  1218. <figure class="wp-block-ft-photo is-style-default">
  1219.  <img decoding="async"
  1220.    src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2151607286.jpg?fit=8256%2C5504&#038;w=1200"
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  1223.    alt="AUSTIN, TEXAS - MAY 05: Professor Craig Campbell speaks alongside gathered faculty on the South Lawn at the University of Texas at Austin on May 05, 2024 in Austin, Texas. During a rescheduled May Day rally, students and faculty gathered on the South Lawn to continue calling upon the university to fully divest from Israel.  (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)"
  1224.    width=""
  1225.    height=""
  1226.    loading="lazy"
  1227.  data-recalc-dims="1" />
  1228.      <figcaption class="photo__figcaption">
  1229.              <span class="photo__caption">Professor Craig Campbell speaks alongside gathered faculty to demand that the University of Texas at Austin divest from Israel, on May 5, 2024, in Austin, Texas.</span>
  1230.                    <span class="photo__credit">Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images</span>
  1231.          </figcaption>
  1232.  </figure>
  1233.  
  1234.  
  1235.  
  1236. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-now-is-the-time">“Now Is the Time”</h2>
  1237.  
  1238.  
  1239.  
  1240. <p>The issue of academic freedom on Palestine is inseparable from the labor struggles that have been rocking universities over the past decade.</p>
  1241.  
  1242.  
  1243.  
  1244. <p>“Until recently, labor unions in this country have been incredibly weak, the impact of which is emboldened university leaders who are enacting increasingly repressive policies on their campuses,” Molly Ragan, a union organizer with UAW Local 7902, who teaches at the Parsons School of Design, part of the New School university. “What I&#8217;ve learned in my two years as a UAW staff organizer working with faculty and student workers in NYC is that the labor movement and pro-Palestine movement go hand in hand.”</p>
  1245.  
  1246.  
  1247.  
  1248. <p>Alongside the New School’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, two student worker unions, both unionized with the UAW, organized the student-led encampment on campus. Two weeks ago, that protest camp was cleared out in a surprise police raid involving over 40 arrests.</p>
  1249.  
  1250.  
  1251.  
  1252. <p>Ragan noted that labor involvement aimed to provide “a legal shield for the encampment because any retaliation is a violation of our basic Section 7 right to concerted activity under the NLRA” — a reference to the National Labor Relations Act’s <a href="https://workerorganizing.org/premajority-unionism/section-7-rights/">protection</a> of workplace collective action. On <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C66wxGAuqWR/?igsh=cjRpOXJnMmZjOGlp">Monday</a>, ACT-UAW Local 7902 filed an unfair labor practice charge against the school over the arrests on campus and treatment of the encampment participants.</p>
  1253.  
  1254.  
  1255.  
  1256. <p>The importance of supporting scholars who speak out for Palestine, however, goes far beyond <a href="https://www.aaup.org/news/academic-freedom-times-war">free speech</a> and worker protections. Israel’s occupation and its ongoing brutal war are constant reminders of the more salient issues at work.</p>
  1257.  
  1258.  
  1259.  
  1260. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[7](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22left%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-left" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="left"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[7] -->“If silence is the desired outcome, then Zionist organizations are failing miserably.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[7] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[7] -->
  1261.  
  1262.  
  1263.  
  1264. <p>Despite continuous police raids, the protest camps are spreading. Nearly 200 campuses nationwide established encampments in the last month to demand divestment from Israel, its military apparatus, and the corporations that benefit from it.</p>
  1265.  
  1266.  
  1267.  
  1268. <p>“I don&#8217;t think the repression will work, not if its ultimate goal is to keep people quiet. If the goal is punishment in and of itself, then the tactic is effective,” Salaita, the scholar, told me. “But if silence is the desired outcome, then Zionist organizations are failing miserably, and will continue to fail miserably. Nobody&#8217;s going to stop talking about Palestine at this point.”</p>
  1269.  
  1270.  
  1271.  
  1272. <p>Clover, the Davis professor, echoed the sentiment. “If you&#8217;re going to be fired for standing up for Palestine, now is the time to do it anyway,” Clover said. “Now is the time to do it in the most serious and principled ways.”</p>
  1273.  
  1274.  
  1275.  
  1276. <p>Nowhere is this principled defiance better exemplified than among the Palestinian scholars who have lost the most.</p>
  1277.  
  1278.  
  1279.  
  1280. <p>“We will never tire, be frightened, or threatened to stop advocating for justice and peace and to stop the ongoing slaughter and genocide in Palestine,” Ahmed Alhussaina, the vice president of <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/02/09/deconstructed-gaza-university-education/">Israa University</a>, one of Gaza’s most celebrated institutions of higher education and research, told me by email.</p>
  1281.  
  1282.  
  1283.  
  1284. <p>“It&#8217;s really a shame to witness such a disgrace in the American political system,” said Alhussaina. “There is a McCarthyite campaign to silence the Palestinian voice in all&nbsp;American universities, large and small, but there is broad determination and support for Gaza and Palestine in all universities, and it will be difficult to contain this youth tide.”</p>
  1285.  
  1286.  
  1287.  
  1288. <p>Alhussaina, who has lost 102 relatives to Israel’s onslaught, fled Gaza in November. At the start of the war, the Israeli military seized his university and turned it into a barracks and a detention center, before destroying it in a massive, controlled explosion.</p>
  1289. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/16/university-college-professors-israel-palestine-firing/">University Professors Are Losing Their Jobs Over “New McCarthyism” on Gaza</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  1290. ]]></content:encoded>
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  1299. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" medium="image">
  1300. <media:title type="html">DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)</media:title>
  1301. </media:content>
  1302. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AP24131538601712.jpg?fit=5646%2C3766&#038;w=1200" medium="image">
  1303. <media:title type="html">NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 09: Cresa Pugh, new school professor of sociology, blocks of a police school safty van, holding arrested students outside the New School faculty&#039;s pro-Palestinian encampment on May 09, 2024 in New York City. The New School faculty set up the first faculty-led, pro-Palestinian encampment in memory of Refaat Alareer, a Palestinian professor, poet, and writer who was killed in an Israeli airstrike last December. (Photo by Michael Nigro/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)</media:title>
  1304. </media:content>
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  1307. <media:title type="html">AUSTIN, TEXAS - MAY 05: Professor Craig Campbell speaks alongside gathered faculty on the South Lawn at the University of Texas at Austin on May 05, 2024 in Austin, Texas. During a rescheduled May Day rally, students and faculty gathered on the South Lawn to continue calling upon the university to fully divest from Israel.  (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)</media:title>
  1308. </media:content>
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  1312.                <title><![CDATA[Code Pink’s Medea Benjamin on Disrupting the U.S. War Machine]]></title>
  1313.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/15/intercepted-code-pink-antiwar-activism/</link>
  1314.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/15/intercepted-code-pink-antiwar-activism/#respond</comments>
  1315.                <pubDate>Wed, 15 May 2024 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1316.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Intercepted]]></dc:creator>
  1317.                                 <category><![CDATA[Intercepted Podcast]]></category>
  1318.  
  1319.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=468593</guid>
  1320.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>The 71-year-old veteran peace activist discusses the war on Gaza, the Biden administration, and shaking up Congress.</p>
  1321. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/15/intercepted-code-pink-antiwar-activism/">Code Pink’s Medea Benjamin on Disrupting the U.S. War Machine</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
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  1327. </div>
  1328. <!-- END-BLOCK(acast)[0] -->
  1329.  
  1330.  
  1331.  
  1332. <p><span class="has-underline">The past week</span> in Gaza has seen a major escalation in Israeli attacks against the besieged and starving Palestinians trapped in a killing cage. The Biden administration has aggressively sought to portray itself as being increasingly at odds with Israel’s tactics, mostly focusing on U.S. threats to withhold some weapons shipments if Benjamin Netanyahu conducts an invasion of Rafah. But the cold reality is that Israel has already bombed and occupied large swaths of Rafah.&nbsp;</p>
  1333.  
  1334.  
  1335.  
  1336. <p>The regime has ordered the forced exodus of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, not only from Rafah, but also from<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/02/13/gaza-rafah-displaced-israel/"> areas of northern Gaza</a>, once again thrusting masses of civilians — many of whom are <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/08/israel-rafah-palestine-evacuation-children-unicef/">wounded, starving, dehydrated, and traumatized</a> — on a desperate hunt for a place to pitch a makeshift tent as they await either death or a ceasefire.</p>
  1337.  
  1338.  
  1339.  
  1340. <p>Despite the White House leaking stories to insider media outlets about how Biden is fed up with his great friend Netanyahu, the U.S. has made clear it continues to arm and support the Israeli regime.</p>
  1341.  
  1342.  
  1343.  
  1344. <p>This week on Intercepted, Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the feminist antiwar organization Code Pink, speaks with Jeremy Scahill. Since the launch of the so-called war on terror in 2001, the 71-year-old activist has spent more than two decades disrupting congressional hearings, chasing members of Congress through the halls of the Capitol for answers, and traveling to countries the U.S. has labeled as enemies. Benjamin discusses her personal path to activism and the siege on Gaza, and offers a guide on how ordinary people can disrupt business as usual in the chambers of power in Washington, D.C.</p>
  1345.  
  1346.  
  1347.  
  1348. <p><em>Transcript coming soon. </em></p>
  1349. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/15/intercepted-code-pink-antiwar-activism/">Code Pink’s Medea Benjamin on Disrupting the U.S. War Machine</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  1350. ]]></content:encoded>
  1351.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/15/intercepted-code-pink-antiwar-activism/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  1352.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  1353.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Intercepted_Medea-Benjamin.jpg?fit=2000%2C1000' width='2000' height='1000' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">468593</post-id>
  1354.            </item>
  1355.        
  1356.            <item>
  1357.                <title><![CDATA[Israel Wants Endless War Without the Politics.  Biden’s Going Along for the Doomed Ride.]]></title>
  1358.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/15/israel-palestine-forever-war-biden-gaza/</link>
  1359.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/15/israel-palestine-forever-war-biden-gaza/#respond</comments>
  1360.                <pubDate>Wed, 15 May 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1361.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Murtaza Hussain]]></dc:creator>
  1362.                                 <category><![CDATA[Murtaza Hussain]]></category>
  1363. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  1364. <category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
  1365.  
  1366.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=468616</guid>
  1367.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>This isn’t “politics by other means,” it’s never-ending conflict. </p>
  1368. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/15/israel-palestine-forever-war-biden-gaza/">Israel Wants Endless War Without the Politics.  Biden’s Going Along for the Doomed Ride.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  1369. ]]></description>
  1370.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  1371. <figure class="wp-block-ft-photo is-style-default">
  1372.  <img decoding="async"
  1373.    src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2151576366.jpg?fit=6000%2C4000&#038;w=1200"
  1374.    srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2151576366.jpg?w=6000 6000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2151576366.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2151576366.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2151576366.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2151576366.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2151576366.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2151576366.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2151576366.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2151576366.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2151576366.jpg?w=3600 3600w"
  1375.    sizes="(min-width: 1300px) 650px, (min-width: 800px) 64vw, (min-width: 500px) calc(100vw - 5rem), calc(100vw - 3rem)"
  1376.    alt="TOPSHOT - Israeli army main battle tanks and other military vehicles are positioned in southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip on May 9, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and the Hamas movement. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)"
  1377.    width=""
  1378.    height=""
  1379.    loading="lazy"
  1380.  data-recalc-dims="1" />
  1381.      <figcaption class="photo__figcaption">
  1382.              <span class="photo__caption">Israeli army battle tanks near the border with the Gaza Strip on May 9, 2024.</span>
  1383.                    <span class="photo__credit">Photo: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images</span>
  1384.          </figcaption>
  1385.  </figure>
  1386.  
  1387.  
  1388.  
  1389. <p><u>The legendary Prussian</u> military theorist Carl von Clausewitz, whose works remain an influence on U.S. military officers today, wrote in his famous 19th-century treatise “On War” that “war is merely the continuation of politics by other means.&#8221; A military general himself advising on how best to wage an armed conflict, Clausewitz nonetheless reminded his readers that the purpose of war is to achieve political goals, not to pursue violence as end to itself, or as a wholesale substitute for diplomacy.</p>
  1390.  
  1391.  
  1392.  
  1393. <p>Clausewitz’s words would have been well-heeded by the U.S. and Israel before the start of the current war in the Gaza Strip, which has now reached a painful yet <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/10/13/israel-ground-invasion-gaza-hamas/">predictable</a> impasse. So far, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gaza-death-toll-how-many-palestinians-has-israels-campaign-killed-2024-05-14/">tens of thousands</a> of Palestinians have been killed or wounded, Israel now faces <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/01/11/israel-genocide-hague-south-africa/">genocide charges</a> at the International Court of Justice, and Hamas control is already <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/13/middleeast/israel-restarts-fighting-north-gaza-military-strategy-mime-intl/index.html">returning</a> to parts of Gaza previously declared conquered by Israel.</p>
  1394.  
  1395.  
  1396.  
  1397. <p>Israeli military officials are now going public with <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-chief-said-to-unbraid-netanyahu-for-failing-to-lay-out-post-war-plan-for-gaza/">criticisms</a> that the war in Gaza had been misguided for a simple reason that Clausewitz himself would have recognized: Besides revenge, the war never had a clear political strategy or objective.</p>
  1398.  
  1399.  
  1400.  
  1401. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[0] -->Israeli leaders have taken the position that Palestinians are merely a subject population to be suppressed and controlled.<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[0] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[0] -->
  1402.  
  1403.  
  1404.  
  1405. <p>This lack of a political approach reflects long-standing attitudes in Israeli society that have now trapped the country in a forever war with the Palestinians and their other neighbors — with the U.S. as its patron effectively pulled along for the ride. The roots of this failure had been years in the making.</p>
  1406.  
  1407.  
  1408.  
  1409. <p>Well before October 7, the Israeli government decided that the Palestinians, whether in the West Bank or Gaza, were no longer politically relevant. Rather than dealing with the Palestinians as political agents, Israeli leaders have taken the position that Palestinians are merely a subject population to be suppressed and controlled with a mixture of military, technological, and economic tools.</p>
  1410.  
  1411.  
  1412.  
  1413. <p>While continuing a policy of blockading and <a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/12/09/israel-attacks-gaza-palestine-civilians-killed/">periodically bombing</a> Gaza, Israel has either ignored or rejected the Palestinian Authority’s calls, <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/01/1145807">with the support of international law</a>, for a two-state solution. Instead, Israel proceeded unilaterally with its <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-settlements-hamas-gaza-war-netanyahu-smotrich-1d2306d55c24c8559b630d9f20db30e2">colonization and annexation of the West Bank</a>, cementing a consensus among major human rights groups that Israel is an <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid/">apartheid state</a>.</p>
  1414.  
  1415.  
  1416.  
  1417.  
  1418.  
  1419.  
  1420.  
  1421. <p>The U.S. under President Joe Biden, following in the line of other administrations, abetted this process of dismissing the political claims of Palestinians. Most notably, Biden followed the <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/11/13/trump-israel-palestine-biden/">Trump administration </a>in its <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/10/09/israel-palestine-gaza-diplomacy/">pursuit of faux-diplomacy</a> in the form of regional arms deals and normalization agreements between Gulf Arab states and Israel: the so-called Abraham Accords. That myopia eventually produced the current conflagration in Gaza, when the October 7 Hamas assault exposed Israel’s technological and military control over the Gaza Strip as much less robust than advertised.</p>
  1422.  
  1423.  
  1424.  
  1425. <p>From a U.S. perspective, Biden’s reflexive backing for a war that has proven to be equal parts aimless and brutal has now trapped the U.S. in a situation where it is the primary enabler of an alleged genocide.</p>
  1426.  
  1427.  
  1428.  
  1429. <p>The war has not only tarnished America’s reputation abroad but is also increasingly tearing at its <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/08/american-democracy-israel-us-arabs/">own social fabric</a>. Even diehard subscribers to the U.S. foreign policy consensus have been forced to reckon with the failures of treating the Palestinians as politically irrelevant. In a recent interview with Politico, former top U.S. diplomat Victoria Nuland <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/05/11/victoria-nuland-state-department-diplomat-interview-00157408">acknowledged</a> that this approach had laid the groundwork for the present calamity.</p>
  1430.  
  1431.  
  1432.  
  1433. <p>“Beginning with the Trump administration, everybody fell in love with regional normalization as the cure-all for the instability and grievances and insecurity in the Middle East,” Nuland said. “But if you leave out the Palestinian issue, then somebody’s going to seize it and run with it, and that’s what Hamas did.”</p>
  1434.  
  1435.  
  1436.  
  1437.  
  1438.  
  1439.  
  1440.  
  1441. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-folly-of-its-path-and-ours">The Folly of Its Path — and Ours</h2>
  1442.  
  1443.  
  1444.  
  1445. <p>The Gaza war began in the heat of emotion after Hamas’s attacks against Israeli civilian communities. It was quickly advertised to the Israeli public as a war to eradicate the group entirely. Yet seven months later, with tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and wounded, Israel remains mired in the territory with no prospect of an endgame in sight.</p>
  1446.  
  1447.  
  1448.  
  1449. <p>One of many sad ironies is that Hamas itself had made repeated <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-offers-long-term-ceasefire-in-exchange-for-end-of-blockade/">political entreaties</a> toward Israel, which Israeli leaders had rejected alongside their rejection of engaging with Palestinian leaders in the West Bank. Instead, Israeli leaders preferred to visit Dubai and continue <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/12/13/intercepted-podcast-israel-palestine-military-equipment/">developing military and surveillance technology</a> that they believed would allow them to control and ignore the Palestinians indefinitely.</p>
  1450.  
  1451.  
  1452.  
  1453. <p>The consequences of this approach have now become clear, but the collapse may be only in its early stages. As a result of the war, Israel now faces the prospect of another conflict with Hezbollah on its northern border, where tens of thousands of Israelis have been evacuated since October 2023. And it faces other risks too, such as the potential demise of its key security relationship with neighboring Egypt, which has threatened to <a href="https://responsiblestatecraft.org/egypt-israel-peace-treaty/">suspend</a> the landmark Camp David peace accords and has recently <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/5/12/egypt-deals-diplomatic-blow-to-israel-by-joining-icj-genocide-case">joined the ICJ case</a> charging Israel with committing genocide.</p>
  1454.  
  1455.  
  1456.  
  1457.  
  1458.  
  1459.  
  1460. <p>Despite this escalating pressure, Israeli leaders show no sign of relenting or returning to political bargaining. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/defense-minister-says-he-envisions-new-city-in-west-bank-as-settler-numbers-grow/">recently declared</a> that Israel should build a large new city in the occupied West Bank, in part to move “the population of Israel to the east.” If a two-state solution remains a possibility at all, development like this on the land allotted by international law for a future Palestinian state would stamp out whatever hope there is. Palestinians, meanwhile, would be further confined to a series of penned-in encampments on their own homeland.</p>
  1461.  
  1462.  
  1463.  
  1464. <p>The political landscape in Israel doesn’t offer much solace. Israel’s government contains far-right and even openly fascist ministers. Gallant, for his part, is considered a “mainstream” political figure in the country — a stark demonstration of just how much politics in Israel has moved away from the realm of diplomacy and negotiation.</p>
  1465.  
  1466.  
  1467.  
  1468. <p>Just as its war in Gaza is winding up in a slow-rolling military failure, Israel’s policies in the West Bank are likely to produce more catastrophes in future. Israel continues to reject talks with the Palestinian Authority as well as the Arab League, which has <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/empa/dv/1_arab-initiative-beirut_/1_arab-initiative-beirut_en.pdf">offered</a> full diplomatic and economic ties in exchange for a two-state solution for over two decades.</p>
  1469.  
  1470.  
  1471. <!-- BLOCK(promote-post)[4](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PROMOTE_POST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22slug%22%3A%22israel-palestine%22%2C%22crop%22%3A%22promo%22%7D) -->  <aside class="promote-banner">
  1472.    <a class="promote-banner__link" href="https://theintercept.com/collections/israel-palestine/">
  1473.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
  1474.          <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="150" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)" srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=5760 5760w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=3600 3600w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />        </span>
  1475.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
  1476.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
  1477.            Read our complete coverage          </p>
  1478.        
  1479.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">Israel’s War on Gaza</h2>
  1480.      </div>
  1481.    </a>
  1482.  </aside>
  1483. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[4] -->
  1484.  
  1485.  
  1486.  
  1487. <p>The U.S. enables Israel’s continued digging of this ditch, despite overwhelming international consensus that it is violating international law. The unquestioning support and <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/pas-abbas-threatens-to-reconsider-ties-with-us-after-veto-of-un-membership-bid/">diplomatic cover</a> it has received from successive U.S. governments, most recently from the Biden administration, has allowed a small country to defy global norms and public opinion, as it descends into a North Korea-like posture of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-68994032">paranoia and defiance</a>.</p>
  1488.  
  1489.  
  1490.  
  1491. <p>Biden is now tanking in the polls, despite his own <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/05/14/biden-polls-denial-trump-2024-election">reported disbelief</a>. If he loses the next election after enabling all of Israel’s worst tendencies, he will go down not only as the leader who handed the presidency back to Donald Trump, but also as a diplomatic failure. He will have locked a superpower into a relationship with a client state that has long since abandoned diplomacy and international law in exchange for apartheid, endless war, and the use of brutal, even eliminationist force to address its problems.</p>
  1492.  
  1493.  
  1494.  
  1495. <p>Clausewitz himself warned of the shortcomings of such an approach. “The political object is the goal, war is the means of reaching it, and the means can never be considered in isolation from their purposes,” he wrote. For Israel, and the U.S. alongside it, the future is one in which war will likely continue to be waged with no clear goals at all.</p>
  1496. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/15/israel-palestine-forever-war-biden-gaza/">Israel Wants Endless War Without the Politics.  Biden’s Going Along for the Doomed Ride.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  1497. ]]></content:encoded>
  1498.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/15/israel-palestine-forever-war-biden-gaza/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  1499.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  1500.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2151576366_a803f1-e1715718749357.jpg?fit=6000%2C3000' width='6000' height='3000' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">468616</post-id>
  1501. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2151576366.jpg?fit=6000%2C4000&#038;w=1200" />
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  1503. <media:title type="html">TOPSHOT - Israeli army main battle tanks and other military vehicles are positioned in southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip on May 9, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and the Hamas movement. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)</media:title>
  1504. </media:content>
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  1509. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" medium="image">
  1510. <media:title type="html">DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)</media:title>
  1511. </media:content>
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  1513.        
  1514.            <item>
  1515.                <title><![CDATA[This U.S. Attorney Resigned Amid an Ethics Investigation. Yet He Wound Up Overseeing Judges’ Ethics. ]]></title>
  1516.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/14/arkansas-us-attorney-dak-kees-ethics/</link>
  1517.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/14/arkansas-us-attorney-dak-kees-ethics/#respond</comments>
  1518.                <pubDate>Tue, 14 May 2024 23:57:58 +0000</pubDate>
  1519.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Shawn Musgrave]]></dc:creator>
  1520.                                 <category><![CDATA[Justice]]></category>
  1521.  
  1522.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=468648</guid>
  1523.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>After inquiries from The Intercept, Duane Kees stepped down from his ethics panel position.</p>
  1524. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/14/arkansas-us-attorney-dak-kees-ethics/">This U.S. Attorney Resigned Amid an Ethics Investigation. Yet He Wound Up Overseeing Judges’ Ethics. </a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  1525. ]]></description>
  1526.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  1527. <p><span class="has-underline">Soon after he</span> was sworn in, U.S. Attorney Duane “Dak” Kees started an improper relationship with a subordinate, documents released by the Justice Department show. Just three years after he stepped down from that job amid an investigation, Kees has landed another government&nbsp;position: a seat on a state commission overseeing the ethics of Arkansas judges, from the state Supreme Court down to local magistrates.</p>
  1528.  
  1529.  
  1530.  
  1531. <p>A new Justice Department <a href="https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/2024-05/foiaroom-24-019.pdf">report</a> released Tuesday sheds light on Kees&#8217;s behavior as the top federal prosecutor serving the Western District of Arkansas. At the time, Kees worried that the revelation of his relationship “could cost him his position as U.S. Attorney.” He even tried to block the firing of another employee who had committed “additional acts of misconduct”&nbsp;to keep his own misconduct out of the spotlight.</p>
  1532.  
  1533.  
  1534.  
  1535. <p>In a statement to The Intercept after the publication of this article, a spokesperson said Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin “was not aware of the allegations against Mr. Kees when he appointed him to the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission” in 2023.&nbsp;</p>
  1536.  
  1537.  
  1538.  
  1539. <p>“Attorney General Griffin is still reviewing the allegations in the report, but can disclose that Mr. Kees is resigning his position on the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission,” the spokesperson said.&nbsp;</p>
  1540.  
  1541.  
  1542.  
  1543.  
  1544.  
  1545.  
  1546.  
  1547. <p>The improper relationship between Kees and his&nbsp;subordinate lasted approximately seven months, the Justice Department documents show, and began with exchanging flirtatious stories about sexual exploits. This gradually progressed to sexual contact. Kees and his co-worker dispute who initiated. The Justice Department redacted the subordinate’s identity from the report.&nbsp;</p>
  1548.  
  1549.  
  1550.  
  1551. <p>At one point, according to the subordinate, when Kees asked for a kiss in an elevator and she declined, he said, “You do know I&#8217;m in charge of your promotions, right?” Kees did not recall making the comment, the report notes. Their relationship ended soon after this interaction, according to the documents.&nbsp;</p>
  1552.  
  1553.  
  1554.  
  1555. <p>“She said that she knew Kees was going to call her into his office for a kiss when she heard him lowering his metal window blinds and that the sound of the metal blinds lowering filled her with anxiety,” the report reads.&nbsp;</p>
  1556.  
  1557.  
  1558.  
  1559. <p>Kees served as U.S. attorney from January 2018 through his resignation on January 2020, shortly after being interviewed by misconduct investigators. Former President Donald Trump appointed Kees to lead the U.S. attorney&#8217;s office in Fort Smith, despite his lack of experience with the Justice Department, according to the report. The Intercept was unable to reach Kees.</p>
  1560.  
  1561.  
  1562.  
  1563. <p><a href="https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/us-attorney-duane-dak-kees-resigns-from-position-in-western-arkansas/527-953a8339-bc7d-4509-bd29-491037d99815">Coverage</a>&nbsp;of Kees’s resignation did not mention the misconduct investigation, indicating only that he was leaving federal service to serve as a top lawyer at Tyson Foods.&nbsp;</p>
  1564.  
  1565.  
  1566.  
  1567. <p>Even after the relationship ended, it factored into how Kees ran the office, according to the report, including a disciplinary decision over an employee with “numerous prior instances of misconduct.” The report does not specify the exact nature of the employee’s misconduct.&nbsp;</p>
  1568.  
  1569.  
  1570.  
  1571. <p>“Kees said that he advocated for a 2-week suspension instead of a termination of [redacted] because he was concerned that [redacted] would ‘leverage’ Kees’s prior relationship,” the report reads. In meetings to discuss the disciplinary matters, two employees “alluded to his past relationship,” which Kees took as a threat to out his own bad behavior.&nbsp;</p>
  1572.  
  1573.  
  1574.  
  1575. <p>“Kees placed his desire for his relationship with [the subordinate] to remain secret over the best interest of the USAO,” the report summarizes.</p>
  1576.  
  1577.  
  1578.  
  1579.  
  1580.  
  1581.  
  1582.  
  1583. <p>The Justice Department inspector general concluded its investigation in November 2021 and issued an anonymized&nbsp;<a href="https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/2024-05/foiaroom-24-019.pdf">summary</a>&nbsp;of the findings in January 2022.&nbsp;</p>
  1584.  
  1585.  
  1586.  
  1587. <p>In June 2023, Griffin, the Arkansas attorney general, <a href="https://arkansasag.gov/news_releases/griffin-appoints-u-s-army-jag-officer-and-former-u-s-attorney-kees-to-judicial-discipline-and-disability-commission/">appointed</a> Kees to the nine-member Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission, which <a href="https://www.jddc.arkansas.gov/about-the-commission/authority-jurisdiction/">oversees</a> all of the state&#8217;s approximately 400 judges for “misconduct both on and off the bench.” Prior to his resignation, Kees’s appointment to the unpaid position would have lasted until 2029. </p>
  1588.  
  1589.  
  1590.  
  1591. <p>“Dak Kees brings an extraordinary record of service and impressive credentials to the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission,&#8221; Griffin said in a press release at the time, noting Kees&#8217;s recent service as U.S. attorney. &#8220;Dak is an ideal addition to the Commission, and I appreciate his willingness to serve.&#8221;<br><br>Asked whether Kees was required to disclose the Justice Department&#8217;s misconduct finding, Griffin&#8217;s spokesperson said, &#8220;Arkansas law does not require disclosures for appointment to the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission.&#8221;</p>
  1592.  
  1593.  
  1594.  
  1595. <p><strong>Update: May 14, 2024, 9:39 p.m. ET</strong><br><em>This article was updated to include a response from the Arkansas attorney general’s office</em> <em>announcing Kees&#8217;s resignation.</em><br><br><strong>Correction/Update: May 15, 2024</strong><br><em>Due to an editing error, this story stated that an employee’s misconduct was specified in the report; the Justice Department report did not specify the misconduct. The article was also updated to include another response from the Arkansas attorney general&#8217;s office about the lack of disclosure requirements for appointment to the judicial ethics commission.</em></p>
  1596.  
  1597.  
  1598.  
  1599. <p></p>
  1600. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/14/arkansas-us-attorney-dak-kees-ethics/">This U.S. Attorney Resigned Amid an Ethics Investigation. Yet He Wound Up Overseeing Judges’ Ethics. </a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  1601. ]]></content:encoded>
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  1603.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  1604.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-1163013560-e1715731501668.jpg?fit=4514%2C2500' width='4514' height='2500' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">468648</post-id>
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  1612.                <title><![CDATA[Pentagon Compensated Zero Civilian Victims in 2022 — Despite Evidence That the U.S. Killed a Mom and Child in Somalia]]></title>
  1613.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/13/pentagon-civilian-deaths-drone-strike/</link>
  1614.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/13/pentagon-civilian-deaths-drone-strike/#respond</comments>
  1615.                <pubDate>Mon, 13 May 2024 21:30:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1616.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Nick Turse]]></dc:creator>
  1617.                                 <category><![CDATA[National Security]]></category>
  1618. <category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
  1619.  
  1620.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=468517</guid>
  1621.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>The 22-year-old woman and her child were civilian casualties of a U.S. drone strike, but the Pentagon won't return the family's messages.</p>
  1622. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/13/pentagon-civilian-deaths-drone-strike/">Pentagon Compensated Zero Civilian Victims in 2022 — Despite Evidence That the U.S. Killed a Mom and Child in Somalia</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  1623. ]]></description>
  1624.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  1625. <p><em>Co-published in partnership with <a href="https://sahanjournal.com/">Sahan Journal</a>.</em></p>
  1626.  
  1627.  
  1628.  
  1629. <p><u>The United States</u> did not offer compensation to the family of a woman and her 4-year-old daughter who were killed in a 2018 drone strike in Somalia, according to a <a href="https://media.defense.gov/2024/Apr/25/2003449887/-1/-1/0/CY2022-ANNUAL-REPORT-ON-CIVILIAN-CASUALTIES-IN-U.S.-MILITARY-OPERATIONS.PDF">new Pentagon report</a> on civilian casualties resulting from U.S. military operations.</p>
  1630.  
  1631.  
  1632.  
  1633. <p>The analysis, issued almost a year after its congressionally mandated deadline, shows that the Pentagon made no ex gratia payments during 2022, despite setting aside millions in funds for making amends.</p>
  1634.  
  1635.  
  1636.  
  1637.  
  1638.  
  1639.  
  1640. <p>The April 1, 2018 attack in Somalia killed at least three — and possibly five — civilians, including&nbsp;<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/11/12/somalia-drone-strike-civilian-deaths/">22-year-old Luul Dahir Mohamed and her 4-year-old daughter Mariam Shilow Muse</a>. A U.S. military investigation acknowledged the deaths of a woman and child but concluded their identities might never be known.</p>
  1641.  
  1642.  
  1643.  
  1644. <p>For more than five years, the family has tried to contact the U.S. government, including through U.S. Africa Command’s online civilian casualty reporting portal, but never received a response. Last year, I traveled to Somalia and spoke with seven of their relatives.</p>
  1645.  
  1646.  
  1647.  
  1648. <p>“They know innocent people were killed, but they’ve never told us a reason or apologized,” Abdi Dahir Mohamed, one of Luul’s brothers, told me last year. “No one has been held accountable.”</p>
  1649.  
  1650.  
  1651.  
  1652.  
  1653.  
  1654.  
  1655.  
  1656. <p>The Pentagon report — which was due on May 1, 2023, but was only released in late April — concluded that U.S. military operations in 2022 resulted in no civilian casualties. It also notes that the Defense Department did not make any ex gratia&nbsp;payments to civilians harmed in its operations in 2022 or the families of those killed in strikes from previous years. This follows one ex gratia payment made in <a href="https://media.defense.gov/2022/Sep/27/2003086234/-1/-1/1/ANNUAL-REPORT-ON-CIVILIAN-CASUALTIES-IN-CONNECTION-WITH-UNITED-STATES-MILITARY-OPERATIONS-IN-2021.PDF">2021</a>&nbsp;and none issued in <a href="https://media.defense.gov/2021/Aug/05/2002823939/-1/-1/0/ANNUAL-REPORT-ON-CIVILIAN-CASUALTIES-IN-CONNECTION-WITH-UNITED-STATES-MILITARY-OPERATIONS-IN-2020-FINAL.PDF">2020</a>.</p>
  1657.  
  1658.  
  1659.  
  1660. <p>“It is deeply disappointing that, despite significant funding and many requests from victims, the Department failed to offer even a single payment in 2022,” Annie Shiel, the U.S. advocacy director at the Center for Civilians in Conflict, told The Intercept. “With the millions of dollars authorized by Congress, the Defense Department could have made hundreds of payments to civilian victims and survivors — including to the families in this case,” a reference to Luul and Mariam’s case.</p>
  1661.  
  1662.  
  1663.  
  1664. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[2](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22left%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-left" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="left"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[2] -->“It is deeply disappointing that, despite significant funding and many requests from victims, the Department failed to offer even a single payment in 2022.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[2] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[2] -->
  1665.  
  1666.  
  1667.  
  1668. <p>The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.</p>
  1669.  
  1670.  
  1671.  
  1672. <p>After more than&nbsp;17 years of drone strikes and commando raids in Somalia, the U.S. has carried out 288 declared attacks. U.S. Africa Command claims to have killed just five civilians in that period, including Luul and Mariam. (The military has never referred to the mother and daughter by name.) Airwars, the U.K.-based airstrike monitoring group, says the real number may be <a href="https://airwars.org/conflict/us-forces-in-somalia/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">more than 3,000 percent higher</a>.</p>
  1673.  
  1674.  
  1675.  
  1676. <p>In 2022, the Pentagon issued a blueprint for improving how it addresses noncombatant deaths called the <a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/08/25/pentagon-civilian-harm-mitigation-plan-forever-wars/">Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan</a>.&nbsp;This was followed, last December, by long-awaited instructions establishing “policies, responsibilities, and procedures for mitigating and responding to civilian harm.” It <a href="https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/300017p.pdf">directed</a> the armed forces&nbsp;to address people and communities on the receiving end of military operations, including by “expressing condolences” and providing <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/07/27/pentagon-cilivian-deaths/">ex gratia payments</a>&nbsp;to next of kin.</p>
  1677.  
  1678.  
  1679.  
  1680. <p>Congress appropriates millions of dollars annually — <a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/95485/dod-civilian-harm/">$15 million</a> since 2020 — for the Defense Department to compensate families of civilians killed or injured in U.S. attacks, but&nbsp;the Pentagon has shown an aversion to confronting its mistakes. The military rarely makes compensation payments, even in cases as clear-cut as the 2018 strike in Somalia.</p>
  1681.  
  1682.  
  1683.  
  1684.  
  1685.  
  1686.  
  1687. <p>In late 2022, elected officials sent&nbsp;<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20221209074004/https:/malinowski.house.gov/media/press-releases/representatives-malinowski-crow-jacobs-senators-warren-durbin-leahy-urge-dod">multiple</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2022.12.19%20Letter%20to%20DoD%20re%20Incompleteness%20of%20Civilian%20Casualties%20Annual%20Report.pdf">letters</a>&nbsp;to the Pentagon calling for amends to be made to victims of U.S. attacks. In December 2023,&nbsp;<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/12/18/somalia-drone-strike-civilians-letter/">two dozen human rights organizations</a>&nbsp;— 14 Somali and 10 international groups — specifically called on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to compensate Luul and Mariam’s family. This year, Sen. <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/03/05/congress-pentagon-somali-drone-civilian-casualties/">Elizabeth Warren</a>, D-Mass., and Reps. <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/01/09/pentagon-somalia-drone-strike-reparations/">Sara Jacobs</a>, D-Calif.; <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/01/30/ilhan-omar-pentagon-drone-strike-victims/">Ilhan Omar</a>, D-Minn; <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/03/05/congress-pentagon-somali-drone-civilian-casualties/">Barbara Lee</a>, D-Calif.; and <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/03/05/congress-pentagon-somali-drone-civilian-casualties/">Jim McGovern</a>, D-Mass., joined the effort.</p>
  1688.  
  1689.  
  1690.  
  1691. <p>The Defense Department missed the May 1, 2024, deadline for releasing its 2023 civilian casualty report.</p>
  1692.  
  1693.  
  1694.  
  1695. <p>“The 2022 report was almost a full year late, and the 2023 report is already overdue,” said Shiel. “That means we have no public visibility into whether DoD finally began making payments last year as it worked to implement the action plan, which commits the Department to improving how it responds to civilian harm.”</p>
  1696. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/13/pentagon-civilian-deaths-drone-strike/">Pentagon Compensated Zero Civilian Victims in 2022 — Despite Evidence That the U.S. Killed a Mom and Child in Somalia</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  1697. ]]></content:encoded>
  1698.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/13/pentagon-civilian-deaths-drone-strike/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  1699.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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  1710.                <title><![CDATA[American Medical Missions Trapped in Gaza, Facing Death by Dehydration as Population Clings to Life]]></title>
  1711.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/13/rafah-doctors-european-hospital-un-employee-killed/</link>
  1712.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/13/rafah-doctors-european-hospital-un-employee-killed/#respond</comments>
  1713.                <pubDate>Mon, 13 May 2024 17:54:57 +0000</pubDate>
  1714.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ryan Grim]]></dc:creator>
  1715.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Hind Khoudary]]></dc:creator>
  1716.                                 <category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
  1717.  
  1718.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=468541</guid>
  1719.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>“We’re continuing to work around the clock with the government of Israel and with the government of Egypt to work on this issue,” the State Department said.</p>
  1720. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/13/rafah-doctors-european-hospital-un-employee-killed/">American Medical Missions Trapped in Gaza, Facing Death by Dehydration as Population Clings to Life</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  1721. ]]></description>
  1722.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  1723. <p><span class="has-underline">Upward of 20</span> American doctors and medical workers are trapped in Gaza as a result of Israel’s post-invasion closure of the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, according to sources with knowledge of the plight of two ill-fated medical missions.</p>
  1724.  
  1725.  
  1726.  
  1727. <p>Israel has blocked fuel, food, and water from entering Rafah for over a week, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/rafah-israel-gaza-war-hamas-evacuation-e0754cdae0f3786982038e80feaa159e">leading to severe dehydration among the general population</a>, as well as among the doctors on mission.</p>
  1728.  
  1729.  
  1730.  
  1731.  
  1732.  
  1733.  
  1734.  
  1735. <p>Relatives of the doctors were told by the State Department that rescue efforts were underway, including through coordination with the United Nations and the Israel Defense Forces. Yet on Monday, the Israeli military fired on a United Nations vehicle that was traveling to the European Hospital in Khan Younis, near Rafah, <a href="https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2024-05-13/statement-attributable-the-spokesperson-for-the-secretary-general-%E2%80%93-security-incident-gaza">killing</a> a U.N. employee who was an Indian national and injuring another.</p>
  1736.  
  1737.  
  1738.  
  1739. <p>A family member of one of the doctors stranded at the European Hospital said that he suspected the vehicle was part of the rescue mission, but was uncertain. “We are aware that a car that is similarly supposed to be their rescue passage was shot at and UN employees were killed and injured and we fear for their ability to have a safe passage and exit,” said the relative. “We are aware that there is active shelling around the hospital and that staff has been told to stay away from windows.”</p>
  1740.  
  1741.  
  1742.  
  1743. <p>Mossab Nasser, the CEO of FAJR Scientific, a medical group running one of the missions, said that the car that was hit was not headed to evacuate his team. He confirmed that his nonprofit was working with the World Health Organization and U.S. diplomats on an evacuation plan. It was not immediately clear which organization set up the second mission.</p>
  1744.  
  1745.  
  1746.  
  1747. <p>Among the stranded doctors is Adam Hamawy, a plastic surgeon and Army veteran from New Jersey. While serving in Iraq, he was on duty when now-Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s mangled body was brought to the hospital after her helicopter was shot down. She <a href="https://www.chicagomag.com/chicago-magazine/april-2021/the-day-tammy-duckworths-black-hawk-went-down/">credits him</a> with saving her life. Hamawy&#8217;s friend Sami Shaban has been in touch with him the past several days and said that he is physically doing well. “He’s a tough dude,” said Shaban, who has lost 35 members of his own family in Gaza. “Now we just need to get him home. We funded the bombing of every single hospital there. You have to at least let the relief people in and out.” </p>
  1748.  
  1749.  
  1750.  
  1751. <p>On Tuesday, Duckworth <a href="https://twitter.com/senduckworth/status/1790415588893839856">said</a> that she was in touch with Hamawy and was “working hard to secure his group&#8217;s immediate evacuation.”</p>
  1752.  
  1753.  
  1754.  
  1755. <!-- BLOCK(promote-post)[1](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PROMOTE_POST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22slug%22%3A%22israel-palestine%22%2C%22crop%22%3A%22promo%22%7D) -->  <aside class="promote-banner">
  1756.    <a class="promote-banner__link" href="https://theintercept.com/collections/israel-palestine/">
  1757.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
  1758.          <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="150" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)" srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=5760 5760w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=3600 3600w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />        </span>
  1759.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
  1760.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
  1761.            Read our complete coverage          </p>
  1762.        
  1763.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">Israel’s War on Gaza</h2>
  1764.      </div>
  1765.    </a>
  1766.  </aside>
  1767. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[1] -->
  1768.  
  1769.  
  1770.  
  1771. <p>The doctors are rationing water and at least one physician is in poor health and is on an IV drip to combat dehydration. The dire state of the medical mission underscores how difficult the conditions are for average Palestinians, who have spent seven months enduring the Israeli siege, whereas the medical mission arrived only recently. More than 1 million Palestinians are trapped in Rafah, which is at the southernmost end of the Gaza Strip. As Israel threatens a full-scale invasion of Rafah, Israeli troops entered the area last week and took over the crossing into Egypt.</p>
  1772.  
  1773.  
  1774.  
  1775.  <div class="promote-related-post">
  1776.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
  1777.            href="https://theintercept.com/2024/04/26/deconstructed-gaza-doctor-medical-mission/"
  1778.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
  1779.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: deconstructed-gaza-doctor-medical-mission"
  1780.      data-ga-track-label="deconstructed-gaza-doctor-medical-mission"
  1781.          >
  1782.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DN_20240426_Banner_GettyImages-2149458313.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
  1783.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
  1784.        Related      </h2>
  1785.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">“Tell the World What’s Happening Here,” Say Patients in Gaza</h3>
  1786.    </span>
  1787.    </a>
  1788.  </div>
  1789.  
  1790.  
  1791.  
  1792. <p>“The people on the ground always said once y’all are gone and not allowed in, we’re gonna be destroyed like Al-Shifa,” said&nbsp;Dr. Mohammed Khaleel on Monday, referring to Gaza&#8217;s largest<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/11/08/gaza-hospitals-babies-doctors-patients/"> hospital</a>, which <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/11/21/al-shifa-hospital-hamas-israel/">Israel</a> has repeatedly <a href="https://apnews.com/article/shifa-hamas-israel-gaza-military-war-hospitals-1842f3cc81744526c72bff727882e956">raided</a>. Khaleel recently returned from the most recent mission organized by FAJR. “I guess we were all hoping that wouldn’t be allowed to happen.” Khaleel, who spoke about his experience in a recent <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/04/26/deconstructed-gaza-doctor-medical-mission/">Intercept podcast interview</a>, has also been in touch with doctors on the current mission, and he said they remain optimistic they will get out this week.</p>
  1793.  
  1794.  
  1795.  
  1796. <p>The FAJR mission was told to leave its safe house, Khaleel said, because it was no longer considered safe.</p>
  1797.  
  1798.  
  1799.  
  1800. <p>The Intercept asked about the stranded doctors during the State Department’s daily briefing on Monday. “We’re aware of these reports of U.S. citizen doctors and medical professionals currently unable to leave Gaza,” said spokesperson Vedant Patel. “We don’t control this border crossing and this is an incredibly complex situation that has very serious implications for the safety and security of U.S. citizens. But we’re continuing to work around the clock with the government of Israel and with the government of Egypt to work on this issue.”</p>
  1801.  
  1802.  
  1803.  
  1804. <p>Patel added, “Rafah is a conduit for the safe departure of foreign nationals, which is why we continue to want to see it get opened as swiftly as possible.”</p>
  1805.  
  1806.  
  1807.  
  1808. <p>Monica Johnston, a nurse volunteering at the hospital, said that a primary concern of those who will be leaving is that new humanitarian workers be allowed in, otherwise the hospital campus is more likely to get overrun by the Israel Defense Forces. The plan, she said, is for the U.N. to do a test run from the hospital to the border Tuesday, only carrying U.N. staff. If those staff are not killed by the IDF — as one international employee was on Monday — then on Wednesday two medical staff will be taken to the border, and two new volunteers will be allowed in to replace them, and so on in coming days.</p>
  1809.  
  1810.  
  1811.  
  1812. <p>The European Hospital is badly understaffed due to evacuations and bombings that have made it impossible for many of the local staff to come to work, Johnston said. Coupled with the lack of supplies, minor injuries are becoming fatal. She said she found one deceased patient in the ICU recently whose body had begun the process of rigor mortis, when a body stiffens after death, signifying the extreme nature of the understaffing. As a result, many of the medical staff, she said, despite themselves suffering from dehydration, vomiting, and diarrhea, are reluctant to leave without a guarantee they can be replaced by new humanitarian aid workers.</p>
  1813.  
  1814.  
  1815.  
  1816. <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
  1817. <!-- BLOCK(oembed)[2](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22OEMBED%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22EMBED%22%7D)(%7B%22embedHtml%22%3A%22%3Cblockquote%20class%3D%5C%22twitter-tweet%5C%22%20data-width%3D%5C%22550%5C%22%20data-dnt%3D%5C%22true%5C%22%3E%3Cp%20lang%3D%5C%22en%5C%22%20dir%3D%5C%22ltr%5C%22%3EMonica%20Johnston%2C%20a%20nurse%20at%20European%20Hospital%2C%20sends%20in%20this%20message%20%3Ca%20href%3D%5C%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Ft.co%5C%2FbefyzRUe1n%5C%22%3Epic.twitter.com%5C%2FbefyzRUe1n%3C%5C%2Fa%3E%3C%5C%2Fp%3E%26mdash%3B%20Ryan%20Grim%20%28%40ryangrim%29%20%3Ca%20href%3D%5C%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Ftwitter.com%5C%2Fryangrim%5C%2Fstatus%5C%2F1790111634930737387%3Fref_src%3Dtwsrc%255Etfw%5C%22%3EMay%2013%2C%202024%3C%5C%2Fa%3E%3C%5C%2Fblockquote%3E%3Cscript%20async%20src%3D%5C%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Fplatform.twitter.com%5C%2Fwidgets.js%5C%22%20charset%3D%5C%22utf-8%5C%22%3E%3C%5C%2Fscript%3E%22%2C%22endpoint%22%3A%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Fpublish.twitter.com%5C%2Foembed%22%2C%22type%22%3A%22unknown%22%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Ftwitter.com%5C%2Fryangrim%5C%2Fstatus%5C%2F1790111634930737387%22%7D) --><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Monica Johnston, a nurse at European Hospital, sends in this message <a href="https://t.co/befyzRUe1n">pic.twitter.com/befyzRUe1n</a></p>&mdash; Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) <a href="https://twitter.com/ryangrim/status/1790111634930737387?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><!-- END-BLOCK(oembed)[2] -->
  1818. </div></figure>
  1819.  
  1820.  
  1821.  
  1822. <p><strong>Update: May 13, 2024, 5:33 p.m. ET<br></strong><em>This article was updated to mention a plan to attempt evacuations from Rafah and to identify one of the trapped doctors, Adam Hamawy. </em></p>
  1823.  
  1824.  
  1825.  
  1826. <p><strong>Update: May 14, 2024 <br></strong><em>This article was updated to include a response from Mossab Nasser of FAJR Scientific and to specify that the U.N. worker who was killed on Monday was an Indian national. It was also updated with comments from Monica Johnston, including new developments regarding evacuation plans, and from Sen. Tammy Duckworth.</em></p>
  1827. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/13/rafah-doctors-european-hospital-un-employee-killed/">American Medical Missions Trapped in Gaza, Facing Death by Dehydration as Population Clings to Life</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  1828. ]]></content:encoded>
  1829.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/13/rafah-doctors-european-hospital-un-employee-killed/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  1830.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  1831.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2152091206-e1715619716538.jpg?fit=5422%2C2711' width='5422' height='2711' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">468541</post-id>
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  1836. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" medium="image">
  1837. <media:title type="html">DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)</media:title>
  1838. </media:content>
  1839. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DN_20240426_Banner_GettyImages-2149458313.jpg" medium="image" />
  1840.            </item>
  1841.        
  1842.            <item>
  1843.                <title><![CDATA[The Silence Around Covid Vaccine Injuries ]]></title>
  1844.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/13/deconstructed-covid-vaccine-side-effects/</link>
  1845.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/13/deconstructed-covid-vaccine-side-effects/#respond</comments>
  1846.                <pubDate>Mon, 13 May 2024 15:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1847.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Deconstructed]]></dc:creator>
  1848.                                 <category><![CDATA[Deconstructed Podcast]]></category>
  1849.  
  1850.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=468432</guid>
  1851.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Ryan Grim speaks to Ross Wightman about the side effects he experienced from a Covid-19 vaccine.   </p>
  1852. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/13/deconstructed-covid-vaccine-side-effects/">The Silence Around Covid Vaccine Injuries </a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  1853. ]]></description>
  1854.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  1855. <!-- BLOCK(acast)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22ACAST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Afalse%7D)(%7B%22id%22%3A%22the-silence-around-covid-vaccine-injuries%22%2C%22podcast%22%3A%22deconstructed%22%2C%22subscribe%22%3Atrue%7D) -->
  1856. <div class="acast-player">
  1857.  <iframe src="https://embed.acast.com/deconstructed/the-silence-around-covid-vaccine-injuries?accentColor=111111&#038;bgColor=f5f6f7&#038;logo=false" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" class="acast-player__embed"></iframe>
  1858. </div>
  1859. <!-- END-BLOCK(acast)[0] -->
  1860.  
  1861.  
  1862.  
  1863. <p><span class="has-underline">Canada has a</span> vaccine injury support program that has paid out more than<a href="https://vaccineinjurysupport.ca/en/program-statistics"> CA$11 million</a> to claimants; <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-man-vaccine-injury-payout-1.6472636">Ross Wightman </a>was among its first recipients. This week on Deconstructed, Wightman shares his story with Ryan Grim. Days after receiving an AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in 2021, Wightman began to experience pains unlike he had ever experienced before. He was eventually diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a rare autoimmune disorder that affects the body’s nerves. Grim and Wightman talk about his journey and support network, and whether new <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/03/health/covid-vaccines-side-effects.html">reporting</a> from the New York Times about people who have experienced side effects from Covid vaccines signals a shift in serious media attention to concerns.&nbsp;</p>
  1864.  
  1865.  
  1866.  
  1867. <p><em>Transcript coming soon. </em></p>
  1868.  
  1869.  
  1870.  
  1871. <p></p>
  1872. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/13/deconstructed-covid-vaccine-side-effects/">The Silence Around Covid Vaccine Injuries </a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  1873. ]]></content:encoded>
  1874.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/13/deconstructed-covid-vaccine-side-effects/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  1875.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  1876.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Decon_AstraZenecaRossWightman.jpg?fit=2000%2C1000' width='2000' height='1000' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">468432</post-id>
  1877.            </item>
  1878.        
  1879.            <item>
  1880.                <title><![CDATA[Neither Candidate Has Much to Say About Israel. So Why Is AIPAC Pouring Money Into This Race?]]></title>
  1881.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/11/maryland-harry-dunn-sarah-elfreth-aipac-israel/</link>
  1882.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/11/maryland-harry-dunn-sarah-elfreth-aipac-israel/#respond</comments>
  1883.                <pubDate>Sat, 11 May 2024 12:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1884.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Akela Lacy]]></dc:creator>
  1885.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  1886.  
  1887.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=468455</guid>
  1888.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>The powerful lobbying group is going against a Capitol Police officer who fended off January 6 insurrectionists.</p>
  1889. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/11/maryland-harry-dunn-sarah-elfreth-aipac-israel/">Neither Candidate Has Much to Say About Israel. So Why Is AIPAC Pouring Money Into This Race?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  1890. ]]></description>
  1891.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  1892. <p><span class="has-underline">The American Israel</span> Public Affairs Committee said its top priority this cycle was to oust members of the progressive Squad. But the group has also been quietly pouring money into another Democratic primary: a competitive race for an open congressional seat in Maryland. AIPAC’s&nbsp;target? Former Capitol Police officer<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/05/congress-january-6-harry-dunn-00134002"> Harry Dunn</a>, who was in the Capitol during the January 6 attacks.&nbsp;</p>
  1893.  
  1894.  
  1895.  
  1896. <p>Neither Dunn nor his rival, state Sen. Sarah Elfreth, has been particularly outspoken in support of or against Israel, raising the question of <a href="https://prospect.org/politics/2024-05-10-aipac-field-organizing-maryland-house-race/">why AIPAC is involved</a> in the race at all.&nbsp;</p>
  1897.  
  1898.  
  1899.  
  1900. <p>In the last month, AIPAC’s super PAC, United Democracy Project, has poured $4.1 million into the race to support Elfreth. Some 20 candidates are running for the open seat in Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District, where incumbent Rep. John Sarbanes announced in October he would not seek reelection. Dunn and Elfreth are leading fundraising.</p>
  1901.  
  1902.  
  1903.  
  1904.  
  1905.  
  1906.  
  1907.  
  1908. <p>In individual campaign contributions, Dunn has outraised Elfreth almost 4 to 1, with $4.5 million to her $1.4 million. But considering the outside boost from AIPAC, the group has given Elreth’s campaign a significant leg up: The pro-Israel group’s super PAC has spent almost as much as Dunn has raised. Elfreth has<a href="https://marylandmatters.org/2024/04/04/elfreth-foes-cry-foul-as-aipac-money-seeps-into-3rd-district-congressional-race/"> distanced herself</a> from AIPAC’s support and said she was unaware that the group’s super PAC would be spending on her behalf. </p>
  1909.  
  1910.  
  1911.  
  1912. <p>Elfreth’s campaign is also getting support from at least 12 donors who’ve given between $1,000 and $6,600 who have also given major support to far-right Republicans including former President Donald Trump, according to campaign filings reviewed by The Intercept. At least five of the donors are registered Republicans. </p>
  1913.  
  1914.  
  1915.  
  1916. <p>More than 100 of Elfreth’s donors have also given significant amounts to AIPAC’s political action committees. In total, donors to Elfreth have given more than $2.8 million to those PACs. </p>
  1917.  
  1918.  
  1919.  
  1920.  
  1921.  
  1922.  
  1923.  
  1924. <p>Dunn’s campaign released an ad last week<a href="https://www.marylandmatters.org/2024/05/02/political-notes-dunn-ad-calls-elfreth-friend-of-gop-mikulski-blesses-alsobrooks-house-gop-blasts-protesters-plus-personnel-news/"> criticizing</a> Elfreth and claiming she’s aligned with far-right Republicans. Donors to Elfreth’s campaign include Larry Mizel, the former Colorado finance chair for Trump’s 2016 campaign; real estate developer Robert Sarver; former AIPAC President Edward Levy; and Daniel Kraft, president of Kraft Group International and the son of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Several of the donors have given to Republicans including Trump, Nikki Haley,<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/11/01/brian-mast-palestinian-civilians-gaza-aid-aipac/"> </a>Rep. <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/11/01/brian-mast-palestinian-civilians-gaza-aid-aipac/">Brian Mast</a>, R-Fla.; Rep. <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/03/24/endangered-species-lauren-boebert-wolves-grizzly-bear/">Lauren Boebert</a>, R-Colo.; and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. </p>
  1925.  
  1926.  
  1927.  
  1928. <p>In a statement to The Intercept, Dunn criticized Elfreth’s campaign for accepting money from AIPAC’s super PAC and called on other candidates to condemn the outside spending, which he said was dark money “bankrolled by MAGA Republicans.” Taking the money in effect condones AIPAC’s actions, Dunn said, which include endorsing more than <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/democracy-middle-east-israel-palestinians/">100 candidates</a> who voted to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/18/pro-israel-lobby-group-aipac-midterms-election-deniers-and-extremist-republicans">overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election</a>. </p>
  1929.  
  1930.  
  1931.  
  1932. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-right"><blockquote><p>“Dark money was solicited into this race.”</p></blockquote></figure>
  1933.  
  1934.  
  1935.  
  1936. <p>“Any candidate who receives this support refuses to condemn their meddling in this race and essentially accepts the endorsement of an organization that has backed over 100 candidates and members of Congress who incited the rioters I fought on January 6th and tried to overthrow our democracy,” Dunn said. “Right after I announced <a href="https://harrydunnforcongress.com/harry-dunn-releases-plan-to-protect-the-peoples-democracy-earns-endorsement-of-end-citizens-united-let-america-vote-in-race-for-md-03/">my plan</a> to protect our democracy from outside special interests who try to influence elections, dark money was solicited into this race.”</p>
  1937.  
  1938.  
  1939.  
  1940. <p>Elfreth’s campaign recently removed from its website a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240414130832/https://elfrethformaryland.com/media/">red box</a>: a common campaign tactic used to encourage outside spending on races without violating rules prohibiting campaigns from coordinating with super PACs. The red box provides material that outside PACs can use in their communications. Elfreth had previously acknowledged the red box and said that a teacher’s union might use it to support her, according to the nonprofit news site <a href="https://marylandreporter.com/2024/04/25/analysis-elfreth-draws-fire-from-opponents/">Maryland Reporter</a>. </p>
  1941.  
  1942.  
  1943.  
  1944.  <div class="promote-related-post">
  1945.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
  1946.            href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/portland-susheela-jayapal-maxine-dexter-aipac-israel/"
  1947.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
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  1951.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/04072024_DEXTER_-429-e1715353075435.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
  1952.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
  1953.        Related      </h2>
  1954.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">AIPAC and Republican Donors Raising Big Money for Maxine Dexter Against Susheela Jayapal in Oregon</h3>
  1955.    </span>
  1956.    </a>
  1957.  </div>
  1958.  
  1959.  
  1960.  
  1961. <p>It’s not clear what drew AIPAC into the race. At a forum in April, both candidates offered support for efforts by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., to<a href="https://jewishinsider.com/2024/04/maryland-sarah-elfreth-harry-dunn-israel-aid-chris-van-hollen/"> condition aid to Israel</a>. Dunn himself has been<a href="https://jewishinsider.com/2024/02/capitol-police-officer-harry-dunn-maryland-primary/v"> supportive</a> of Israel and has said the country has a right to defend itself. He has supported sending U.S. funding to Israel and increasing humanitarian aid to Gaza. Dunn has not been outspoken against human rights abuses by Israel or U.S. military aid. And Elfreth is not running a particularly pro-Israel campaign. </p>
  1962.  
  1963.  
  1964.  
  1965. <p>A United Democracy Project spokesperson<a href="https://jewishinsider.com/2024/04/harry-dunn-aipac-super-pac-united-democracy-project/"> told</a> Jewish Insider the group was not concerned about Dunn’s position on Israel, but that it was spending on the race to ensure Elfreth won out over other candidates in the race it described as “anti-Israel.”</p>
  1966.  
  1967.  
  1968.  
  1969. <p>The super PAC said it was supporting Elfreth because of her position on other issues like the right to abortion, climate change, and domestic violence. Dunn is campaigning on a similar platform, emphasizing the right to abortion, strengthening voting rights, environmental protection, and working toward Medicare for All. </p>
  1970.  
  1971.  
  1972.  
  1973. <p>United Democracy Project has not run negative ads against Dunn.&nbsp;</p>
  1974.  
  1975.  
  1976.  
  1977. <p>Neither Elfreth’s campaign nor the United Democracy Project responded to a request for comment.</p>
  1978. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/11/maryland-harry-dunn-sarah-elfreth-aipac-israel/">Neither Candidate Has Much to Say About Israel. So Why Is AIPAC Pouring Money Into This Race?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  1979. ]]></content:encoded>
  1980.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/11/maryland-harry-dunn-sarah-elfreth-aipac-israel/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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  1988.            </item>
  1989.        
  1990.            <item>
  1991.                <title><![CDATA[Israel “Likely” Used U.S.-Supplied Weapons in Violation of International Law. That’s OK, Though, State Department Says.]]></title>
  1992.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/israel-human-rights-gaza-report/</link>
  1993.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/israel-human-rights-gaza-report/#respond</comments>
  1994.                <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 22:42:27 +0000</pubDate>
  1995.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Shawn Musgrave]]></dc:creator>
  1996.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Prem Thakker]]></dc:creator>
  1997.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  1998. <category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
  1999.  
  2000.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=468474</guid>
  2001.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Antony Blinken’s report identifies “incidents that raise concerns,” but says Israel is not blocking humanitarian aid.</p>
  2002. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/israel-human-rights-gaza-report/">Israel “Likely” Used U.S.-Supplied Weapons in Violation of International Law. That’s OK, Though, State Department Says.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  2003. ]]></description>
  2004.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  2005. <p><span class="has-underline">In a long-awaited</span> report, the State Department lays out numerous suspected international humanitarian violations by Israel in its war on Gaza, yet suggests no changes in policy or consequences.</p>
  2006.  
  2007.  
  2008.  
  2009. <p>The Biden administration concludes it is likely that Israel used U.S.-supplied weapons in “incidents that raise concerns” about the country’s legal compliance, while crediting Israel for investigating them.</p>
  2010.  
  2011.  
  2012.  
  2013. <p>The report also concludes Israel is not currently blocking humanitarian aid, despite “deep concerns” about “action and inaction” by the government resulting in aid delivery to Gaza that “remains insufficient.” </p>
  2014.  
  2015.  
  2016.  
  2017. <p>The State Department said it&#8217;s &#8220;reasonable to assess&#8221; that Israeli forces have used U.S. weapons in ways &#8220;inconsistent&#8221; with international humanitarian law or &#8220;best practices for mitigating civilian harm.&#8221; But at the same time, the report hedges, “it is also important to emphasize that a country’s overall commitment” to international law “is not necessarily disproven by individual [international humanitarian law] violations, so long as that country is taking appropriate steps to investigate and where appropriate determine accountability.”</p>
  2018.  
  2019.  
  2020.  
  2021.  
  2022.  
  2023.  
  2024.  
  2025. <p>The report also hedges on Israel’s responsibility for civilian casualties in Gaza. The U.S. intelligence community assessed there was “no direct indication of Israel intentionally targeting civilians,” but also “that Israel could do more to avoid civilian harm.”</p>
  2026.  
  2027.  
  2028.  
  2029. <p>“While Israel has the knowledge, experience, and tools to implement best practices for mitigating civilian harm in its military operations, the results on the ground, including high levels of civilian casualties, raise substantial questions as to whether the IDF is using them effectively in all cases.”</p>
  2030.  
  2031.  
  2032.  
  2033. <p>The 46-page report includes a section addressing the Leahy Law: a 1997 law that prohibits U.S. assistance to “any unit of the security forces of a foreign country if the Secretary of State has credible information that such unit has committed a gross violation of human rights.” The 14-some pages regarding Israel specifically make no mention of the law, or whether Israel is in compliance with it.</p>
  2034.  
  2035.  
  2036.  
  2037.  
  2038.  
  2039.  
  2040.  
  2041. <p><span class="has-underline">Friday’s report was</span> submitted under a national security memorandum <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2024/02/08/national-security-memorandum-on-safeguards-and-accountability-with-respect-to-transferred-defense-articles-and-defense-services/">issued</a> by the Biden administration in February. The memorandum — known as “NSM-20” — required the State and Defense departments to obtain “credible and reliable written assurances” that Israel was not using any U.S.-supplied weapons in violation of international law. Israel <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/03/15/israel-us-weapons-gaza-international-law">provided</a> these assurances in mid-March.</p>
  2042.  
  2043.  
  2044.  
  2045. <p>NSM-20 also required the administration to report to Congress on whether there were any “credible reports or allegations” that undercut Israel’s assurances. In recent weeks, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/03/19/israeli-forces-conduct-gaza">Oxfam</a>, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/03/19/israeli-forces-conduct-gaza">Human Rights Watch</a>, <a href="https://www.amnestyusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/4.29.2024-NSM-20-AIUSA-submission-re-Israel.pdf">Amnesty International</a>, and a <a href="https://www.rescue.org/press-release/joint-ngo-submission-under-national-security-memorandum-20-state-humanitarian">coalition of humanitarian organizations</a> flagged numerous incidents to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.</p>
  2046.  
  2047.  
  2048.  
  2049. <p>Last month, 26 Democrats — including one of President Joe Biden’s campaign co-chairs — <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/04/16/israel-weapons-aid-us-biden-escobar/">questioned</a> U.S. assertions at the time that Israel was using U.S. weapons in accordance with international law, given “mounting credible and deeply troubling reports and allegations that Israel has used U.S arms in ways that violate U.S. and international law.” This followed a <a href="https://www.kaine.senate.gov/press-releases/van-hollen-durbin-kaine-schatz-colleagues-tell-biden-administration-that-deeming-netanyahu-government-assurances-on-humanitarian-aid-credible-at-this-time-would-be-inconsistent-with-nsm-20">similar</a> letter sent from 17 Senate Democrats in March.</p>
  2050.  
  2051.  
  2052.  
  2053. <p>An unclassified version of the report <a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/95584/nsm-20-report-israel-us/">was published</a> Friday afternoon by Just Security.</p>
  2054.  
  2055.  
  2056.  
  2057. <p>After the report’s publication, <a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/94980/task-force-national-security-memorandum-20/">an independent task force</a> called it “at worst intentionally misleading in defense of acts and behaviors that likely violate international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes.” The task force includes two former senior State Department officials, Charles Blaha and <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/10/19/israel-gaza-biden-genocide-war-crimes/">Josh Paul</a>, and human rights attorney <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/10/17/israel-targeted-killings-noura-erakat-palestine-gabriella-blum/">Noura Erakat</a>. “Once again, the Biden Administration has stared the facts in the face — and then pulled the curtains shut.”</p>
  2058.  
  2059.  
  2060.  
  2061. <p><span class="has-underline">As the deadline</span> for the administration’s report approached, officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, joined by parts of the State Department, urged Blinken to find Israel’s commitments were not credible or reliable when it comes to allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza. “The killing of nearly 32,000 people, of which the GOI (Government of Israel) itself assesses roughly two-thirds are civilian, may well amount to a violation of the international humanitarian law requirement,&#8221; USAID wrote in a submission to Blinken, according to reporting from <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/some-us-officials-say-internal-memo-israel-may-be-violating-international-law-2024-04-27/">Reuters</a>.</p>
  2062.  
  2063.  
  2064. <!-- BLOCK(promote-post)[2](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PROMOTE_POST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22slug%22%3A%22israel-palestine%22%2C%22crop%22%3A%22promo%22%7D) -->  <aside class="promote-banner">
  2065.    <a class="promote-banner__link" href="https://theintercept.com/collections/israel-palestine/">
  2066.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
  2067.          <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="150" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)" srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=5760 5760w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=3600 3600w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />        </span>
  2068.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
  2069.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
  2070.            Read our complete coverage          </p>
  2071.        
  2072.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">Israel’s War on Gaza</h2>
  2073.      </div>
  2074.    </a>
  2075.  </aside>
  2076. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[2] -->
  2077.  
  2078.  
  2079.  
  2080. <p>But Friday’s report concludes that Israel is not “prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance,” at least within the meaning of U.S. law.</p>
  2081.  
  2082.  
  2083.  
  2084. <p>“I guess there was a little hope for me that Blinken would rule that the assurances from Israel weren’t credible,” said an official at USAID who spoke with The Intercept on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.</p>
  2085.  
  2086.  
  2087.  
  2088. <p>“The evidence is so clear,” the USAID official said, that “the government of Israel has systematically denied humanitarian aid” to Gaza in violation of international law. “USAID colleagues feel strongly there is only one way this could have turned out.”</p>
  2089.  
  2090.  
  2091.  
  2092. <p>In an “options memo” compiled for Blinken in recent weeks, some State Department bureaus came to the same conclusion, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/some-us-officials-say-internal-memo-israel-may-be-violating-international-law-2024-04-27/">Reuters</a> reported last month. In a joint submission, four bureaus raised “serious concern over non-compliance&#8221; with humanitarian law, including “unconscionably high levels of civilian harm to military advantage&#8221; and “killing humanitarian workers and journalists at an unprecedented rate.” That submission came from the bureaus of Democracy Human Rights &amp; Labor; Population, Refugees and Migration; Global Criminal Justice; and International Organization Affairs.</p>
  2093.  
  2094.  
  2095.  
  2096. <p>Among the incidents in which the State Department says it has not been able to reach “definitive conclusions” on whether U.S.-supplied weapons were used was the killing of seven World Central Kitchen humanitarian workers, including an American.</p>
  2097.  
  2098.  
  2099.  
  2100. <p>This week, Biden admitted for the first time that Israeli forces have used U.S. bombs to kill civilians. In December, he stated that Israel was losing support over its “indiscriminate bombing” in Gaza.</p>
  2101.  
  2102.  
  2103.  
  2104. <p>“For over 216 days, the world has watched Israel use weapons provided by the United States to commit mass atrocities and gross violations against Palestinians in Gaza. Civil society organizations, watchdogs, and former administration officials have documented and verified countless examples that have shown Israel’s assurances were never credible nor reliable,” said Mohammed Khader, action policy manager at the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights. “The report is grossly incomplete and is far from holding Israel accountable for violating U.S. and international law.”</p>
  2105. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/israel-human-rights-gaza-report/">Israel “Likely” Used U.S.-Supplied Weapons in Violation of International Law. That’s OK, Though, State Department Says.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  2106. ]]></content:encoded>
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  2115. <media:title type="html">DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)</media:title>
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  2120.                <title><![CDATA[October 7 Survivors Sue Campus Protesters, Say Students Are “Hamas’s Propaganda Division”]]></title>
  2121.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/october-7-survivors-lawsuit-palestine-hamas-sjp-protests/</link>
  2122.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/october-7-survivors-lawsuit-palestine-hamas-sjp-protests/#respond</comments>
  2123.                <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 18:44:33 +0000</pubDate>
  2124.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Akela Lacy]]></dc:creator>
  2125.                                 <category><![CDATA[Justice]]></category>
  2126. <category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
  2127.  
  2128.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=468344</guid>
  2129.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Four lawsuits alleging Hamas ties against Students for Justice in Palestine, the AP, UNRWA, and a cryptocurrency exchange share many of the same plaintiffs.</p>
  2130. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/october-7-survivors-lawsuit-palestine-hamas-sjp-protests/">October 7 Survivors Sue Campus Protesters, Say Students Are “Hamas’s Propaganda Division”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  2131. ]]></description>
  2132.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  2133. <p><u>Survivors of the</u> October 7 attacks filed a <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24655997-amp-sjp-suit">lawsuit</a> in U.S. federal court last week alleging links between Hamas and the pro-Palestinian student groups leading nationwide protests against Israel’s war on Gaza. The survivors claim the student groups are liable for monetary damages because of the purported terrorism links.</p>
  2134.  
  2135.  
  2136.  
  2137. <p>“When someone tells you they are aiding and abetting terrorists —<em> believe them</em>.” That’s the opening line the suit filed Wednesday against the Palestinian advocacy groups American Muslims for Palestine and National Students for Justice in Palestine, the umbrella group supporting student organizers for Palestine, which supports more than 350 Palestine solidarity groups, including more than 200 campus organizations across the country.</p>
  2138.  
  2139.  
  2140.  
  2141.  
  2142.  
  2143.  
  2144. <p>The lawsuit is part of a nationwide crackdown on pro-Palestine activism, especially on campus. It was filed a day after<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/03/nyc-eric-adams-columbia-outside-agitator-al-arian/"> police</a> in New York City <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/07/columbia-protest-gaza-nypd-overtime-cost/">deployed</a> militarized<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/01/nyc-gaza-college-protests-police-outside-agitators/"> forces </a>to remove students from campus encampments protesting the war on Gaza and <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/06/columbia-student-protests-nypd-jail/">arrested</a> hundreds.</p>
  2145.  
  2146.  
  2147.  
  2148. <p>Some or all of the nine plaintiffs in the suit are involved in a raft of other civil suits related to the October 7 attacks. Among the defendants they’ve pursued in court are major media organizations and United Nations agencies.</p>
  2149.  
  2150.  
  2151.  
  2152. <p>The survivors of the October 7 attack alleged that American Muslims for Palestine “serves as Hamas’s propaganda division in the United States.”&nbsp;</p>
  2153.  
  2154.  
  2155.  
  2156. <p>“Through NSJP, AMP uses propaganda to intimidate, convince, and recruit uninformed, misguided, and impressionable college students to serve as foot soldiers for Hamas on campus and beyond,” the October 7 survivors wrote in their suit.</p>
  2157.  
  2158.  
  2159.  
  2160. <p>The lawsuits rely on anti-terrorism laws that made it possible to bring civil cases for acts of international terrorism, including provisions around bans on material support to terrorism that have long been controversially applied. At the time of their passage, members of Congress who pushed the anti-terror laws linked them directly to crackdowns on pro-Palestine activities, according to a <a href="https://ccrjustice.org/anti-palestinian-core-origins-and-growing-dangers-us-antiterrorism-law">recent white paper</a> from the Center for Constitutional Rights and Palestine Legal.</p>
  2161.  
  2162.  
  2163.  
  2164. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-right"><blockquote><p>“The goal is to isolate Palestinians.”</p></blockquote></figure>
  2165.  
  2166.  
  2167.  
  2168. <p>&#8220;For years, CCR and others have been warning of the abuse of broad &#8216;material support&#8217; laws to shrink the space for Palestinian rights,&#8221; said Diala Shamas, staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights.</p>
  2169.  
  2170.  
  2171.  
  2172. <p>The group represented another Palestinian rights organization in what Shamas said was &#8220;years-long, meritless litigation&#8221; brought by the Jewish National Fund, a group that <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2016-09-22/ty-article/.premium/jnf-finally-releases-list-of-grantees-in-settlements/0000017f-e60f-dc7e-adff-f6af7c0e0000">funds</a> <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210218-jewish-national-fund-expands-settlement-influence-towards-west-bank/">Israeli settlements</a>.</p>
  2173.  
  2174.  
  2175.  
  2176. <p>&#8220;The law&#8217;s provision of civil damages means that private actors — including those with seemingly endless resources — can bog you down in costly and distracting litigation,&#8221; Shamas said. &#8220;This means that Palestinians and those who support their rights become &#8216;high risk&#8217; — and those who they rely on — charities, funders, banks or social media companies — are chilled from further engagement. The goal is to isolate Palestinians.&#8221;</p>
  2177.  
  2178.  
  2179.  
  2180.  
  2181.  
  2182.  
  2183.  
  2184. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-four-survivor-lawsuits">Four Survivor Lawsuits</h2>
  2185.  
  2186.  
  2187.  
  2188. <p>The nine plaintiffs include six survivors of the October 7 Hamas attacks. Five people attended the Supernova music festival, and another was attacked at Zikim Beach, where 19 civilians were killed as Hamas militants tried to overrun nearby military outposts. </p>
  2189.  
  2190.  
  2191.  
  2192. <p>Two other plaintiffs who were not home on October 7 had homes in Kibbutz Holit, the site of additional Hamas attacks. Another plaintiff’s brother was killed at the festival. (Lawyers for the plaintiffs, AMP, and SJP did not respond to requests for comment.)</p>
  2193.  
  2194.  
  2195.  
  2196. <p>The AMP suit is the fourth federal suit filed this year by members of the group.</p>
  2197.  
  2198.  
  2199.  
  2200. <p>Last month, eight of the same plaintiffs sued the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, claiming that it gave material support to Hamas by allowing the militant group to fundraise on the platform. In November, the Treasury Department<a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1925"> said</a> Hamas and “a range of illicit actors” had used Binance to funnel money to their groups. Binance lawyers asked for an extension to reply to the complaint and have <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24657482-binance-extension">until August</a> to do so. In April, the company’s former chief executive was sentenced to four months in prison after <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/binances-ceo-zhao-faces-sentencing-over-money-laundering-violations-2024-04-30/">pleading guilty</a> to money laundering violations.</p>
  2201.  
  2202.  
  2203. <!-- BLOCK(promote-post)[2](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PROMOTE_POST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22slug%22%3A%22israel-palestine%22%2C%22crop%22%3A%22promo%22%7D) -->  <aside class="promote-banner">
  2204.    <a class="promote-banner__link" href="https://theintercept.com/collections/israel-palestine/">
  2205.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
  2206.          <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="150" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)" srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=5760 5760w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=3600 3600w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />        </span>
  2207.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
  2208.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
  2209.            Read our complete coverage          </p>
  2210.        
  2211.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">Israel’s War on Gaza</h2>
  2212.      </div>
  2213.    </a>
  2214.  </aside>
  2215. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[2] -->
  2216.  
  2217.  
  2218.  
  2219. <p>Five of the plaintiffs in the American Muslims for Palestine suit also<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24630671-ap-suit"> sued</a> the news agency The Associated Press in February. The plaintiffs alleged that the AP used photographs from “known Hamas associates who were gleefully embedded with the Hamas terrorists during the October 7th attacks.” Lawyers for the AP moved to <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24657484-ap-motion-to-dismiss">dismiss</a> the complaint for failing to state a claim and asked to <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24657485-ap-motion-to-stay-discovery">stay discovery</a> pending adjudication of the motion to dismiss.</p>
  2220.  
  2221.  
  2222.  
  2223. <p>In March, the same group of nine plus another October 7 survivor<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24630783-unrwa-suit"> sued</a> the U.S. committee of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNWRA, the largest humanitarian organization operating in Gaza. The suit against UNRWA claims that the group “financed and aided” Hamas, a frequent refrain from Israeli officials that has gone <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/22/israel-unrwa-staff-terrorist-links-yet-to-provide-evidence-colonna-report">unsubstantiated</a>, according to an independent review released in April. UNRWA lawyers were granted an extension and have until <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24657486-unwra-extension">May 28</a> to respond to the complaint.</p>
  2224.  
  2225.  
  2226.  
  2227. <p>Following Israeli officials’ allegations, major donors initially cut funding to UNRWA, but later reversed the decisions — except for the United States, the group’s biggest donor, where <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/03/22/gaza-unrwa-funding-congress/">Congress blocked funding</a> as part of the budget package approved this spring.</p>
  2228.  
  2229.  
  2230.  
  2231. <p>The major corporate law firm Greenberg Traurig has taken on the latest case. The National Jewish Advocacy Center has taken on the three other cases. The group did not respond to a request for comment.&nbsp;</p>
  2232.  
  2233.  
  2234.  
  2235. <figure class="wp-block-ft-photo is-style-default">
  2236.  <img decoding="async"
  2237.    src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2150521784.jpg?fit=5760%2C3840&#038;w=1200"
  2238.    srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2150521784.jpg?w=5760 5760w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2150521784.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2150521784.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2150521784.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2150521784.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2150521784.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2150521784.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2150521784.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2150521784.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2150521784.jpg?w=3600 3600w"
  2239.    sizes="(min-width: 1300px) 650px, (min-width: 800px) 64vw, (min-width: 500px) calc(100vw - 5rem), calc(100vw - 3rem)"
  2240.    alt="TOPSHOT - Pro-Palestinian students stand their ground after police breached their encampment the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. Police deployed a heavy presence on US university campuses on May 1 after forcibly clearing away some weeks-long protests against Israel&#039;s war with Hamas. Dozens of police cars patrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles campus in response to violent clashes overnight when counter-protesters attacked an encampment of pro-Palestinian students. (Photo by Etienne LAURENT / AFP) (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)"
  2241.    width=""
  2242.    height=""
  2243.    loading="lazy"
  2244.  data-recalc-dims="1" />
  2245.      <figcaption class="photo__figcaption">
  2246.              <span class="photo__caption">Pro-Palestine students stand their ground against police at UCLA in Los Angeles, early in the morning on May 2, 2024.</span>
  2247.                    <span class="photo__credit">Photo: Etienne Laurent/AFP via Getty Images</span>
  2248.          </figcaption>
  2249.  </figure>
  2250.  
  2251.  
  2252.  
  2253. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crackdown-on-student-groups">Crackdown on Student Groups</h2>
  2254.  
  2255.  
  2256.  
  2257. <p>Student advocates for Palestine have faced concerted and sometimes violent crackdowns by school administrators and police. Mainstream media outlets uncritically repeat unsubstantiated claims that <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/10/27/palestine-israel-free-speech-retaliation-senate/">they support Hamas</a>.</p>
  2258.  
  2259.  
  2260.  
  2261. <p>Students for Justice in Palestine chapters, which are at the center of much campus organizing, have faced harsh censorship since October. The group was singled out in congressional hearings that have pressured university administrators to<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/01/13/penn-palestine-writes-liz-magill/"> further crack down</a> on Palestinian advocacy on campus.</p>
  2262.  
  2263.  
  2264.  
  2265. <p>Columbia University suspended its SJP chapter and its chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace in November. The New York Civil Liberties Union and Palestine Legal <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24655990-nyclu-sjp-jvp-suit">sued</a> the university over the suspension in March in the New York Supreme Court. The case is pending.</p>
  2266.  
  2267.  
  2268.  
  2269.  
  2270.  
  2271.  
  2272.  
  2273. <p>American University placed its SJP chapter on <a href="https://www.theeagleonline.com/article/2024/04/breaking-american-university-places-students-for-justice-in-palestine-chapter-on-disciplinary-probation">probation</a> in April after the group held a silent indoor demonstration; the school banned indoor protests in January. Rutgers University suspended the SJP chapter on its New Brunswick campus in December and claimed that the group had protested in “nonpublic forums” and caused disruption on campus; the suspension was lifted in January. (I am a co-teacher of a class at Rutgers.)</p>
  2274.  
  2275.  
  2276.  
  2277. <p>George Washington University suspended its SJP chapter in November after the group projected statements onto a library building calling for the university to divest from Israel. The projected images said GWU had blood on its hands and used the phrase “Glory to our martyrs,” a cultural reference to any Palestinian killed by Israel that was interpreted by outsiders as an endorsement of Hamas.</p>
  2278.  
  2279.  
  2280.  
  2281. <p>Brandeis was the first private university to ban its SJP chapter in November, <a href="https://www.brandeis.edu/president/letters/2023-11-08-free-speech-not-hate-speech.html">claiming</a> that the group “openly supports Hamas.”</p>
  2282.  
  2283.  
  2284.  
  2285. <p>State-level Republican officials have also taken steps to legalize the suppression of SJP. In March, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/01/israel-texas-government-relationship/">Texas Gov. Greg Abbott</a> issued an executive order targeting campus activism, calling on all the state’s higher education institutions to “review and update free speech policies” to address antisemitism. The order defined the slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” as antisemitic and linked the use of the widely adopted phrase to Hamas.</p>
  2286.  
  2287.  
  2288.  
  2289.  
  2290.  
  2291.  
  2292. <p>And in October, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered colleges to shut down all SJP chapters. The University of Florida SJP chapter sued DeSantis in November and said the governor’s order was a violation of free speech. A federal court <a href="https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/federal-court-rules-florida-officials-do-not-intend-to-deactivate-university-of-floridas-students-for-justice-in-palestine">denied</a> the chapter’s request for a preliminary injunction in January and found that Florida officials did not intend to deactivate all SJP chapters after comments by the Florida University System chancellor walking back DeSantis’s order.</p>
  2293.  
  2294.  
  2295.  
  2296. <p>In October, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares opened an <a href="https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/jason-miyares-investigation-american-muslims-for-palestine-nov-1-2023">investigation</a> into AMP and said his office had reason to believe that the organization was soliciting contributions without proper registration. Miyares, a Republican, had also called on state law enforcement agencies to donate <a href="https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/gideons-armor-campaign-oct-24-2023">tactical gear</a> to Israeli citizens.</p>
  2297.  
  2298.  
  2299.  
  2300. <p>Last week, Congress <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/08/american-democracy-israel-us-arabs/">adopted a resolution</a> that would further chill speech from organizations like SJP. The resolution employs a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/06/06/antisemitism-definition-israel-palestine/">controversial definition</a> of antisemitism that includes any attempts to draw comparisons between the actions of the Israeli government and Nazis. The House voted 320 to 91 to adopt the working definition of antisemitism published in 2016 by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. The lead author of the definition has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/13/antisemitism-executive-order-trump-chilling-effect">said</a> it “was never intended to be a campus hate speech code.”</p>
  2301. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/october-7-survivors-lawsuit-palestine-hamas-sjp-protests/">October 7 Survivors Sue Campus Protesters, Say Students Are “Hamas’s Propaganda Division”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
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  2303.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/october-7-survivors-lawsuit-palestine-hamas-sjp-protests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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  2312. <media:title type="html">DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)</media:title>
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  2315. <media:title type="html">TOPSHOT - Pro-Palestinian students stand their ground after police breached their encampment the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. Police deployed a heavy presence on US university campuses on May 1 after forcibly clearing away some weeks-long protests against Israel&#039;s war with Hamas. Dozens of police cars patrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles campus in response to violent clashes overnight when counter-protesters attacked an encampment of pro-Palestinian students. (Photo by Etienne LAURENT / AFP) (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)</media:title>
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  2321.                <title><![CDATA[AIPAC and Republican Donors Raising Big Money for Maxine Dexter Against Susheela Jayapal in Oregon]]></title>
  2322.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/portland-susheela-jayapal-maxine-dexter-aipac-israel/</link>
  2323.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/portland-susheela-jayapal-maxine-dexter-aipac-israel/#respond</comments>
  2324.                <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 18:08:57 +0000</pubDate>
  2325.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ryan Grim]]></dc:creator>
  2326.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  2327.  
  2328.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=468363</guid>
  2329.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>A donor to Dexter in the Portland congressional race tells The Intercept: “I give all my contributions through AIPAC.”</p>
  2330. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/portland-susheela-jayapal-maxine-dexter-aipac-israel/">AIPAC and Republican Donors Raising Big Money for Maxine Dexter Against Susheela Jayapal in Oregon</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  2331. ]]></description>
  2332.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  2333. <p><span class="has-underline">Pro-Israel donors threw</span> <a href="https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00859108/1781771/f65">nearly $220,000</a> behind a Portland, Oregon, congressional candidate in a single day this week — the latest indication that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, is working to block her opponent who has called for a ceasefire in Gaza and for conditions to be placed on U.S. aid to Israel.&nbsp;</p>
  2334.  
  2335.  
  2336.  
  2337. <p>The fundraiser <a href="https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00859108/1782047/sa/ALL">adds to a $580,000 haul</a> Maxine Dexter reported raising in just the month of April, after her entire campaign previously had raised only $340,000 since December. Beyond her own money, Dexter is on track to be boosted by upward of $3 million in dark-money spending, which similarly has ties to pro-Israel donors.</p>
  2338.  
  2339.  
  2340.  
  2341. <p>The last-minute deluge from Republican and AIPAC donors — the newest filing posted on Friday, 11 days before the Democratic primary and long after mail ballots have gone out — has upended the open primary race, as Dexter’s previous poor fundraising and low name identification in the district had her out of contention, with Susheela Jayapal, the former Multnomah County commissioner, the frontrunner.&nbsp;</p>
  2342.  
  2343.  
  2344.  
  2345. <p>Pro-Israel advocates identified Jayapal — the sister of Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus — as a target early in the race, and had floated Dexter as the alternative to consolidate around. But openly backing Dexter with money from pro-Israel and GOP donors would come at an extreme political cost in Portland. Squad member Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., fended off a primary challenge recently in part by hammering her opponent for <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/03/20/summer-lee-ads-moderate-pac-gop-jeff-yass/">taking Republican cash</a>. Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., is pillorying his opponent George Latimer for the same.&nbsp;</p>
  2346.  
  2347.  
  2348.  
  2349. <p><a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/02/01/george-latimer-aipac-donors-jamaal-bowman/">Latimer</a> and Lee’s opponent, however, openly took the money. While Dexter is similarly benefiting from Republican and AIPAC donors, the largesse has been obscured by loopholes in campaign finance law that are only bursting open in the campaign’s final weeks.</p>
  2350.  
  2351.  
  2352.  
  2353. <p>Dexter has claimed she has no idea where the influx of money backing her and attacking Jayapal is coming from, but that pretense is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. Jone Dalezman, who is listed in federal records as having given a maximum contribution of $3,300 to Dexter on May 7, told The Intercept she did not attend a fundraiser and had no recollection of giving directly to her. “I wasn’t there and I did not give money to her,” she said. But, she added, if AIPAC asks her to give to a candidate, she does. “I give all my contributions through AIPAC. Whenever I am asked to give to their endorsed candidates I give.”</p>
  2354.  
  2355.  
  2356.  
  2357. <p><span class="has-underline">A week ago</span>, The Intercept <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/03/portland-aipac-susheela-jayapal-maxine-dexter/">reported</a> that AIPAC had put together a secret operation to funnel money to the Portland race by diverting AIPAC donor funds through a super PAC called 314 Action Fund, which ostensibly works to elect candidates with science backgrounds, according to two sources. The timing of the operation, which launched after the March 31 filing deadline, meant the super PAC would not need to disclose its donors until May 20, the day before the primary election.&nbsp;</p>
  2358.  
  2359.  
  2360.  
  2361. <p>Subsequently, a staffer at 314 Action confirmed that the PAC was being used as a pass-through to stop Jayapal, and would also soon be expanding to other races, including that of Rep. Cori Bush, a Squad member and top AIPAC target who represents St. Louis. &#8220;314 has turned its back on science in order to be used as a weapon against progressives by Zionists,” said the staffer, who requested anonymity to avoid reprisal. The Bush money, the staffer said, would not come through 314 but through a newly created PAC, both because The Intercept had exposed 314’s role as a front for the money and because Bush’s opponent, Wesley Bell, doesn’t have a plausible science background to justify an endorsement.</p>
  2362.  
  2363.  
  2364.  
  2365. <p>AIPAC did not respond to a request for comment. Neither did 314 Action, but a few minutes before this article was published, the PAC <a href="https://twitter.com/314action/status/1788993511347327228">posted a tweet</a> accusing The Intercept of “making up stories out of thin air.” 314 denied that it would be spending against Bush but said nothing about another PAC doing so.</p>
  2366.  
  2367.  
  2368.  
  2369.  
  2370.  
  2371.  
  2372.  
  2373. <p>Dexter, during a recent debate, denied knowing the source of the dark money backing her campaign. But when pressed by her opponent Eddy Morales, she emphatically — and in contradiction to her claim of ignorance — said that the money certainly did not come from Big Pharma. Her campaign did not respond to The Intercept’s request for comment. </p>
  2374.  
  2375.  
  2376.  
  2377. <p>“AIPAC hasn’t endorsed any candidates in this race,” campaign manager Nathan Clark <a href="https://www.opb.org/article/2024/05/09/maxine-dexter-massive-fundraising-aipac/">told The Oregonian</a> in a statement. “Maxine’s position has been clear for months — we need a cease-fire that brings the hostages home and rush humanitarian aid into Gaza.”</p>
  2378.  
  2379.  
  2380.  
  2381. <p>The May 7 fundraiser netted Dexter’s campaign roughly $220,000 from just under 80 donors. Nearly 90 percent of the people who gave to Dexter through the fundraiser have also been direct donors to AIPAC or its super PAC, according to The Intercept’s analysis of campaign finance reports.</p>
  2382.  
  2383.  
  2384.  
  2385. <p>The fundraising closed a lead Jayapal had built over the field, having raised more than any other candidate as of March 31. She has raised a total of $772,00 dollars, now placing her second to Dexter.</p>
  2386.  
  2387.  
  2388.  
  2389.  <div class="promote-related-post">
  2390.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
  2391.            href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/03/portland-aipac-susheela-jayapal-maxine-dexter/"
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  2393.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: portland-aipac-susheela-jayapal-maxine-dexter"
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  2396.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/df78dec7-b519-413a-b646-e1ef2ddbe3f5-e1714757834188.jpeg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
  2397.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
  2398.        Related      </h2>
  2399.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">AIPAC Is Secretly Intervening in Portland’s Congressional Race to Take Down Susheela Jayapal, Sources Say</h3>
  2400.    </span>
  2401.    </a>
  2402.  </div>
  2403.  
  2404.  
  2405.  
  2406. <p>Dexter is a doctor and Oregon state representative who entered the race at the urging of the local pro-Israel community, <a href="https://jewishinsider.com/2023/12/susheela-jayapal-portland-democratic-primary-jewish-leaders/">which worried that Susheela Jayapal </a>would advance the same politics as her sister when it comes to Israel–Palestine. Jayapal has since <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vcKiQbbGn2fUE1ZWjKRtWuk-teaLHyNb/view">embraced</a> policy positions critical of Israel and said she would reject money from AIPAC.</p>
  2407.  
  2408.  
  2409.  
  2410. <p>AIPAC’s resistance to disclosing its involvement in the anti-Jayapal campaign reflects a concern that its support for Israel’s ongoing war — now being waged in the face of <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/08/rafah-israel-invasion-aipac-lobby/">even President Joe Biden’s criticism</a> — is too toxic for a Democratic primary in Oregon.&nbsp;</p>
  2411.  
  2412.  
  2413.  
  2414. <p><span class="has-underline">314 Action began</span> spending on the race in April, and another super PAC jumped in with attack ads against Jayapal last week. While the super PACs won’t have to report their donors until the day before the primary election, candidates themselves are required to file more timely reports as election day nears.</p>
  2415.  
  2416.  
  2417.  
  2418. <p>On Thursday, Dexter’s campaign reported to the Federal Election Commission that it collected more than $218,000 on May 7.</p>
  2419.  
  2420.  
  2421.  
  2422. <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BQSEgTFNHs">Dalezman</a>, the donor who said she has no recollection of a fundraiser, gave more than $50,000 to AIPAC’s super PAC, United Democracy Project, last year. She previously gave $25,000 to Americans for Tomorrow’s Future, a pro-Israel super PAC that targeted Bowman and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar. Dalezman has also given to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/10/16/democratic-party-progressive-israel-aipac-dmfi/">Democratic Majority for Israel</a>, an AIPAC-affiliated super PAC, as well as former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, among a slew of politicians from both parties.</p>
  2423.  
  2424.  
  2425.  
  2426. <p>Bundling donations to approved candidates is a common practice in politics and one that was described by AIPAC donor David Ochs, who didn’t know <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/02/11/ilhan-omar-israel-lobby-documentary/">he was being recorded for an undercover documentary:</a> “What happens is [a donor] meets with the congressman in the back room, tells them exactly what his goals are … basically they hand him an envelope with 20 credit cards, and say, ‘You can swipe each of these credit cards for a thousand dollars each.’”</p>
  2427.  
  2428.  
  2429.  
  2430. <p>Another one of Dexter’s recent donors is Daniel Kraft — the son of Robert Kraft, a major funder of the United Democracy Project — who maxed out a $3,300 contribution to Dexter on May 7. David Cohen, who works for Palantir, Peter Thiel’s cybersecurity company, gave to Dexter and also AIPAC this year, as did several dozen others.</p>
  2431.  
  2432.  
  2433.  
  2434. <p>Kraft and Cohen did not respond to requests for comment.</p>
  2435.  
  2436.  
  2437.  
  2438.  
  2439.  
  2440.  
  2441.  
  2442. <p>Several of the donors also earmarked AIPAC contributions to be directed to Joanna Weiss, <a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/03/01/2024/a-california-house-race-is-aipacs-first-big-target-nobody-is-quite-sure-why">the candidate AIPAC inscrutably backed against</a> Dave Min, who has not been critical of Israel, in California. (Min won.)</p>
  2443.  
  2444.  
  2445.  
  2446. <p>Prior to April, the open Democratic primary was considered Jayapal’s to lose. In 2022, AIPAC showed that its super PAC had the capacity to knock 20 to 30 percentage points off the lead of a progressive Democratic candidate, when <a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/05/16/pennsylvania-summer-lee-steve-irwin-israel-aipac/">several million dollars in spending</a> took Summer Lee from a commanding lead in her Pittsburgh congressional race to a neck-and-neck tie. (Lee nonetheless won the election.) <a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/05/03/ohio-primary-elections-nina-turner-shontel-brown/">DMFI accomplished</a> the same against Nina Turner in a 2021 Ohio special election, managing to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/09/24/nina-turner-interview/">narrowly defeat her </a>after she led by 20-30 points before the spending.&nbsp;</p>
  2447.  
  2448.  
  2449.  
  2450. <p>The ads against Jayapal funded by “Voters for Responsive Government” are brutal, and pin Portland’s homelessness crisis on her as a former member of the Multnomah County Commission. They even accuse her of “starving and abusing cats and dogs.” There is no reference in any of the ads to Israel or Gaza, where Israel is currently <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/03/13/intercepted-gaza-mass-starvation/">starving 2 million people</a>.</p>
  2451.  
  2452.  
  2453.  
  2454. <p><strong>Update: May 11, 2024</strong><br><em>This article was updated to mention a tweet 314 Action posted about The Intercept&#8217;s reporting.</em></p>
  2455. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/portland-susheela-jayapal-maxine-dexter-aipac-israel/">AIPAC and Republican Donors Raising Big Money for Maxine Dexter Against Susheela Jayapal in Oregon</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  2456. ]]></content:encoded>
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  2466.        
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  2468.                <title><![CDATA[Even Biden’s Lawyers Are Urging the White House to Change Course on Gaza]]></title>
  2469.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/biden-attorneys-legal-weapons-israel/</link>
  2470.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/biden-attorneys-legal-weapons-israel/#respond</comments>
  2471.                <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 14:44:59 +0000</pubDate>
  2472.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Shawn Musgrave]]></dc:creator>
  2473.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  2474.  
  2475.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=468349</guid>
  2476.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>An open letter from government attorneys questions the legal cover for arms transfers to Israel.</p>
  2477. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/biden-attorneys-legal-weapons-israel/">Even Biden’s Lawyers Are Urging the White House to Change Course on Gaza</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  2478. ]]></description>
  2479.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  2480. <p><span class="has-underline">In a message </span>to Attorney General Merrick Garland and other senior officials this week, federal government attorneys invoked British abolitionist William Wilberforce: “You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.” </p>
  2481.  
  2482.  
  2483.  
  2484. <p>The <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSGlSvk3zHbzIsabUuh2EZxcrGvmbeP1u9U9leY-qWvCMA8fpVF1YV-0UnexNUd0VMXPUJeyMOitdRu/pub">letter</a>, drafted by unnamed<strong> </strong>legal and policy staff at more than two dozen federal agencies, argues that the U.S. is violating domestic and international law by providing a steady stream of weapons to Israel despite evidence of war crimes in Gaza. Drawing comparisons to the infamous “torture memos,” which were drafted by government lawyers to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/17/us/politics/17detain.html">provide cover to CIA waterboarding</a> and other tactics, the letter reminded fellow attorneys of their binding duty to follow the law over political priorities. </p>
  2485.  
  2486.  
  2487.  
  2488. <p>Multiple provisions in U.S. law restrict the sale or provision of weapons to other countries, including the federal Arms Export Control Act, the Foreign Assistance Act, and the Leahy Law. The open letter draws on evidence from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/03/19/israeli-assurances-use-us-arms-legally-are-not-credible">Human Rights Watch</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-releases/u-s-made-weapons-used-by-government-of-israel-in-violation-of-international-law-and-u-s-law/">Amnesty International</a>, and other watchdogs to argue that continuing to provide weapons to Israel blatantly violates these laws, in addition to international treaties.&nbsp;</p>
  2489.  
  2490.  
  2491.  
  2492. <p>“There is strong evidence that American weapons are being used to commit a genocide and war crimes against the Palestinian people in Gaza,”&nbsp;reads&nbsp;the letter sent to the Biden administration on Monday. It was addressed to all attorneys at the White House, Justice Department, State Department, Defense Department, and the U.S. Agency for International Development.&nbsp;</p>
  2493.  
  2494.  
  2495.  
  2496. <p>“To the extent that you have been involved in these decisions or asked to provide legal analyses on the potential violations, we ask that you render candid advice.” </p>
  2497.  
  2498.  
  2499.  
  2500.  
  2501.  
  2502.  
  2503.  
  2504. <p>Attorneys and legal staff from departments including Justice, Homeland Security and Labor, among other agencies, drafted the letter. They did not include their names. In interviews, four of the letter’s organizers — who spoke on the condition of anonymity — told The Intercept that they feared reprisal. </p>
  2505.  
  2506.  
  2507.  
  2508. <p>“There’s a fear of retaliation and marginalization at speaking out over Gaza,” said a DOJ attorney who helped draft the letter and spread the word among his colleagues.&nbsp;</p>
  2509.  
  2510.  
  2511.  
  2512. <p>“There is an underbelly of the U.S. government who have been advocating in professional and personal roles to change the policy on Gaza,” said a DHS attorney, who has worked in the federal government for more than a decade. “The dissent is not just within the State Department,” the attorney said, referring to a string of recent State Department officials who have publicly resigned over Gaza.</p>
  2513.  
  2514.  
  2515.  
  2516. <p>Those who signed the letter — which was first&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/29/lawyers-israel-arm-sales-biden-00154958">reported</a>&nbsp;by Politico — see it as a way to leverage their familiarity with the federal government machinery to bring about change.&nbsp;</p>
  2517.  
  2518.  
  2519.  
  2520. <p>“It’s not kids fresh out of college drafting this,” the DHS attorney said.</p>
  2521.  
  2522.  
  2523.  
  2524. <p>Their letter was timed to the Biden administration’s deadline to report to Congress on whether Israel is, in fact, violating international law in Gaza using U.S.-supplied weapons. On Wednesday, the administration&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-lawmakers-await-biden-administration-report-israeli-weapons-use-2024-05-07">missed that deadline</a>&nbsp;but said the report would be finalized in the coming days.&nbsp;</p>
  2525.  
  2526.  
  2527.  
  2528. <p>In tone, the 24-page, heavily footnoted letter is no screed. A Justice Department policy staffer said they chose a dispassionate style to force a response from Garland and other senior administration lawyers. </p>
  2529.  
  2530.  
  2531.  
  2532. <p>“The goal of this is to put people on the record: Do they agree with this analysis? Do they believe the U.S. is not following its own laws and policies?” the DOJ staffer said. </p>
  2533.  
  2534.  
  2535.  
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  2537.    <a class="promote-banner__link" href="https://theintercept.com/collections/israel-palestine/">
  2538.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
  2539.          <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="150" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)" srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=5760 5760w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=3600 3600w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />        </span>
  2540.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
  2541.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
  2542.            Read our complete coverage          </p>
  2543.        
  2544.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">Israel’s War on Gaza</h2>
  2545.      </div>
  2546.    </a>
  2547.  </aside>
  2548. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[1] -->
  2549.  
  2550.  
  2551.  
  2552. <p>“I’m hoping this adds to the groundswell of actions and demands for reevaluation of the administration’s positions,” said the DOJ attorney, adding that the <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/02/professors-students-gaza-university-protests-columbia/">nationwide</a> campus <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/07/columbia-protest-gaza-nypd-overtime-cost/">protests</a>, in particular, spurred some of the federal employees to join the letter. </p>
  2553.  
  2554.  
  2555.  
  2556. <p>A State Department staffer with more than two decades of policy experience, including in foreign assistance in the Middle East, hopes the letter might embolden the rank-and-file attorneys who are tasked with drafting the overdue report and similar analysis about the U.S. government’s legal obligations when it comes to Israel and Gaza.</p>
  2557.  
  2558.  
  2559.  
  2560. <p>“We know the job you have in front of you, so here’s the analysis we think lawyers should be doing,” the State Department staffer said. “What is happening here is so off-the-charts egregious that there is no other reading of the law: We have to cease weapons transfers to Israel.”</p>
  2561.  
  2562.  
  2563.  
  2564. <p>The letter also calls on Garland to investigate the thousands of U.S. citizens currently serving in the Israel Defense Forces for potential war crimes. A spokesperson for the Justice Department confirmed that the letter was received but declined to comment further. A Defense Department spokesperson referred questions to the White House.</p>
  2565. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/biden-attorneys-legal-weapons-israel/">Even Biden’s Lawyers Are Urging the White House to Change Course on Gaza</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  2566. ]]></content:encoded>
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  2575. <media:title type="html">DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)</media:title>
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  2580.                <title><![CDATA[Criticizing Israel? Nonprofit Media Could Lose Tax-Exempt Status Without Due Process]]></title>
  2581.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/terrorism-bill-nonprofit-journalists-israel-hamas/</link>
  2582.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/terrorism-bill-nonprofit-journalists-israel-hamas/#respond</comments>
  2583.                <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  2584.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Seth Stern]]></dc:creator>
  2585.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  2586. <category><![CDATA[Voices]]></category>
  2587.  
  2588.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=468281</guid>
  2589.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>A new anti-terrorism bill would allow the government to take away vital tax exemptions from nonprofit news outlets.</p>
  2590. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/terrorism-bill-nonprofit-journalists-israel-hamas/">Criticizing Israel? Nonprofit Media Could Lose Tax-Exempt Status Without Due Process</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  2591. ]]></description>
  2592.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  2593. <figure class="wp-block-ft-photo is-style-default">
  2594.  <img decoding="async"
  2595.    src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AP24081584525760.jpg?fit=5367%2C3578&#038;w=1200"
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  2597.    sizes="(min-width: 1300px) 650px, (min-width: 800px) 64vw, (min-width: 500px) calc(100vw - 5rem), calc(100vw - 3rem)"
  2598.    alt="WASHINGTON - MARCH 21: Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks during the news conference to introducw the Laken Riley Act in the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, March 21, 2024. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)"
  2599.    width=""
  2600.    height=""
  2601.    loading="lazy"
  2602.  data-recalc-dims="1" />
  2603.      <figcaption class="photo__figcaption">
  2604.              <span class="photo__caption">Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks during a news conference in the U.S. Capitol on March 21, 2024. </span>
  2605.                    <span class="photo__credit">Photo: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images</span>
  2606.          </figcaption>
  2607.  </figure>
  2608.  
  2609.  
  2610.  
  2611. <p><span class="has-underline">It doesn’t take</span> much to be accused of supporting terrorism these days. And that doesn’t just go for student <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/26/students-for-justice-in-palestine-free-speech-lawsuit-plays-out-in-florida-00138155">activists</a>. In recent months, dozens of lawmakers and public officials have, without evidence, <a href="https://freedom.press/news/the-gops-press-freedom-problem-is-bigger-than-trump/">insinuated</a> that U.S. news outlets provide material support for Hamas. Some even issued thinly veiled <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/689965095/States-Material-Support-Letter">threats</a> to prosecute news organizations over those bogus allegations.</p>
  2612.  
  2613.  
  2614.  
  2615. <p>Their letters were political stunts. Prosecutors would never have been able to carry their burden of proof under anti-terrorism laws, and all the pandering politicians who signed the letters knew that. But next time might be different, especially if nonprofit news outlets, such as The Intercept, manage to offend the government.&nbsp;</p>
  2616.  
  2617.  
  2618.  
  2619. <p>That’s because <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6408/text?s=2&amp;r=1&amp;q=%7B%22search%22%3A%22HR+6408%22%7D">a bill</a> that passed the House with broad bipartisan support in April — after which a companion bill was immediately introduced in the Senate — would empower the secretary of the Treasury to revoke the nonprofit status of any organization deemed “terrorist supporting.” This week, the bill’s Senate sponsor, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, introduced it as an <a href="https://www.congress.gov/amendment/118th-congress/senate-amendment/2012/text?s=a&amp;r=48">amendment</a> to must-pass legislation to renew the Federal Aviation Administration’s authorities. While it didn&#8217;t make <a href="https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/F0A01A14-9678-4D00-9E4E-FEC17D080796">the cut</a> (the Senate <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/09/us/politics/senate-faa-air-travel.html">didn&#8217;t vote</a> on any of the dozens of proposed amendments), it’s likely to make its way to the Senate floor in another form soon.</p>
  2620.  
  2621.  
  2622.  
  2623. <p>Funding terrorism is already <a href="https://reason.com/2024/04/24/this-bill-would-give-the-treasury-nearly-unlimited-power-to-destroy-nonprofits/?ref=the-republic-sentinel.ghost.io">illegal</a>, but the new bill would let the government avoid the red tape required for criminal prosecutions or official terrorist designations.</p>
  2624.  
  2625.  
  2626.  
  2627.  <div class="promote-related-post">
  2628.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
  2629.            href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/04/josh-gottheimer-mike-lawler-campus-protests/"
  2630.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
  2631.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: josh-gottheimer-mike-lawler-campus-protests"
  2632.      data-ga-track-label="josh-gottheimer-mike-lawler-campus-protests"
  2633.          >
  2634.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2150032227-e1714843444606.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
  2635.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
  2636.        Related      </h2>
  2637.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">In No Labels Call, Josh Gottheimer, Mike Lawler, and University Trustees Agree: FBI Should Investigate Campus Protests</h3>
  2638.    </span>
  2639.    </a>
  2640.  </div>
  2641.  
  2642.  
  2643.  
  2644. <p>You might think actionable support of terrorism is limited to intentional, direct contributions to terror groups. You’d be mistaken. Existing laws on material support for terrorism have long <a href="https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/supreme-court-rules-material-support-law-can-stand">been criticized</a> for their overbreadth and potential for abuse, not only against free speech but also against humanitarian aid providers. A <a href="https://www.cair.com/press_releases/134-advocacy-groups-call-on-senate-to-reject-dangerous-and-orwellian-bill-that-threatens-nonprofits-violate-due-process/">recent letter</a> from 135 rights organizations opposing the bill highlighted efforts to revoke the tax-exempt status of, or otherwise retaliate against, pro-Palestine student groups.</p>
  2645.  
  2646.  
  2647.  
  2648. <p><span class="has-underline">There’s no reason</span> to believe the press is exempt from overreach. In their recent letters, elected officials&nbsp;called for terrorism investigations of the New York Times, Reuters, CNN, and the Associated Press, relying on allegations that those outlets bought photographs from Palestinian freelancers who covered Hamas’s October 7 attacks.</p>
  2649.  
  2650.  
  2651.  
  2652. <p>The feigned outrage originated with a spurious <a href="https://www.972mag.com/honest-reporting-gaza-journalists/">accusation</a>, from an organization ironically calling itself HonestReporting, that those pictures evidenced that the photographers who took them had advance knowledge of the massacre. Otherwise how (other than, say, TV or the internet) would they have known where to go?</p>
  2653.  
  2654.  
  2655.  
  2656. <p>HonestReporting then reasoned that the news outlets that bought the pictures may have been in on it as well — because, of course, when an international news giant buys a picture from someone on its vast roster of freelancers, it’s reasonable to impute the freelancer’s alleged sins all the way up the chain.</p>
  2657.  
  2658.  
  2659.  
  2660. <p>HonestReporting eventually <a href="https://freedom.press/news/disinformation-campaign-puts-journalists-lives-at-risk-in-gaza/">walked back</a> that convoluted theory, admitting it had no evidence and was merely asking questions. After forcing the news outlets to publicly deny having ties to Hamas, HonestReporting said it believed them.</p>
  2661.  
  2662.  
  2663.  
  2664.  
  2665.  
  2666.  
  2667.  
  2668. <p>But that didn’t stop U.S. officials from surmising that the fact some Palestinian freelancers in Gaza had contacts with Hamas officials — which should not be surprising, given that Hamas is the governing authority in the besieged enclave — made anyone who hired them terrorism financiers.</p>
  2669.  
  2670.  
  2671.  
  2672. <p>And it gets even worse. One of the letters — signed by over a dozen state attorneys general — floated the theory that the outlets’ reporting could itself evidence support for Hamas. As the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker (another nonprofit news site, operated by Freedom of the Press Foundation, where I work) <a href="https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/top-state-legal-officers-warn-outlets-against-giving-material-support-to-hamas/">put it</a>:</p>
  2673.  
  2674.  
  2675.  
  2676. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  2677. <p>The letter also highlighted that “material support” for terrorist groups — both a federal and state crime — can include “writing and distributing publications supporting the organization.” It did not elaborate on what would be considered support, potentially chilling any reporting that does not unequivocally condemn Hamas or unilaterally support Israel.</p>
  2678. </blockquote>
  2679.  
  2680.  
  2681.  
  2682. <p>The attorneys general then warned the outlets that they would “continue to follow your reporting to ensure that your organizations do not violate any federal or State laws by giving material support to terrorists abroad.” The writers continued: “Now your organizations are on notice. Follow the law.”</p>
  2683.  
  2684.  
  2685.  
  2686. <p>Many of those same attorneys general <a href="https://arkansasag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023-11-08-Arkansas-Letter-Student-Visa-Holder-Supporting-Terrorist-Organizations.pdf">recently argued</a> that “First Amendment speech and associational freedoms do not protect persons who provide material support” to terrorism. They failed to mention the <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/561/1/">Supreme Court’s</a> skepticism that “applications of the material-support statute to speech or advocacy will survive First Amendment scrutiny … even if the Government were to show that such speech benefits foreign terrorist organizations.”</p>
  2687.  
  2688.  
  2689.  
  2690. <p><span class="has-underline">Members of Congress</span> have set their eyes on news outlets as well. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., parroted HonestReporting’s disinformation in <a href="https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/senator-calls-on-justice-department-to-investigate-news-outlets/">multiple letters</a>, while 15 congressional representatives <a href="https://files.constantcontact.com/647991c4801/5d2e36eb-8332-453f-a8a1-a25e1af8951f.pdf?rdr=true">demanded</a> that the news outlets provide information — potentially including source identities and communications — regarding the freelancers, threatening to issue subpoenas.</p>
  2691.  
  2692.  
  2693.  
  2694. <p>If there is any doubt about the nonprofit bill&#8217;s backers&#8217; intentions, consider that five of its House sponsors also signed onto a&nbsp;<a href="https://waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/4-24-2024-Werfel-CCP-Singham-Letter.pdf">letter</a> to the Internal Revenue Service asking how it defines antisemitism and&nbsp;insinuating that the IRS should deny tax-exempt status to nonprofits that “promote conduct that is counter to public policy,” even if they&#8217;re not accused of supporting terrorism at all.&nbsp;</p>
  2695.  
  2696.  
  2697.  
  2698. <p>Nonprofit news outlets are already struggling even without government harassment, but revocation of their tax-exempt status would be a death knell for outlets doing the kind of in-depth investigative journalism that is hardly ever profitable these days. The mere prospect would chill reporting, not only on Israel but also on U.S. foreign policy generally. And that’s not to mention the threat to nonprofit press freedom organizations that journalists depend on to protect their rights (including to not <a href="https://cpj.org/2024/05/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/#:~:text=As%20of%20May%201%2C%202024,and%201%2C200%20deaths%20in%20Israel.">get killed</a> in Gaza).</p>
  2699.  
  2700.  
  2701.  
  2702. <p>Unfortunately, this is just the latest piece of reckless, unnecessary “national security” legislation that puts the press at risk. Last month, President Joe Biden ignored civil liberties <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/16/house-fisa-government-surveillance-senate">advocates</a> and signed into law a bill that would allow intelligence agencies to enlist any “service provider” to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/11/06/hamas-counterterrorism-mass-surveillance-section-702/">help the U.S. spy</a> on foreigners.</p>
  2703.  
  2704.  
  2705.  
  2706.  
  2707.  
  2708.  
  2709.  
  2710. <p>As Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., <a href="https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-urges-colleagues-to-reject-expanding-warrantless-fisa-702-surveillance">explained</a>, the law could “forc[e] an employee to insert a USB thumb drive into a server at an office they clean or guard at night.” And that office could easily be a <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/surveillance-bill-congress-trump-crack-down-media-1235005167/">newsroom</a>, where journalists often talk to foreigners whose communications might interest U.S. intelligence agencies.</p>
  2711.  
  2712.  
  2713.  
  2714. <p>Is the government going to immediately start conscripting reporters to surveil their sources, or shutting down nonprofit news outlets that stray from the Israeli military’s narrative? Probably not. But history teaches that once officials are given the power to retaliate against journalists they don’t like, they inevitably will. The prospect of the <a href="https://freedom.press/news/five-years-after-assanges-uk-imprisonment-his-prosecution-still-threatens-press-freedom/">Espionage Act </a>and <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/03/charges-against-journalist-tim-burke-are-a-hack-job/">Computer Fraud and Abuse Act</a> being weaponized against journalism was also once merely hypothetical — until it wasn’t.</p>
  2715.  
  2716.  
  2717.  
  2718. <p>And let’s not forget that the presumptive&nbsp;Republican presidential nominee publicly fantasizes about <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-imagines-journalists-raped-prison-1234626493/">jailing</a> and otherwise <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/4222082-trump-blasted-threats-against-comcast-nbc/">retaliating</a> against journalists.</p>
  2719.  
  2720.  
  2721.  
  2722. <p>Those who claim a second Donald Trump term would mark the end of democracy need to stop passing overbroad and unnecessary new laws handing him, and future authoritarians, brand new ways to harass and silence journalists who don’t toe the line.</p>
  2723. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/terrorism-bill-nonprofit-journalists-israel-hamas/">Criticizing Israel? Nonprofit Media Could Lose Tax-Exempt Status Without Due Process</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  2724. ]]></content:encoded>
  2725.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/terrorism-bill-nonprofit-journalists-israel-hamas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  2726.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  2727.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AP24081584525760_b3a832-e1715287216641.jpg?fit=5367%2C2683' width='5367' height='2683' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">468281</post-id>
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  2729. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AP24081584525760.jpg?fit=5367%2C3578&#038;w=1200" medium="image">
  2730. <media:title type="html">WASHINGTON - MARCH 21: Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks during the news conference to introducw the Laken Riley Act in the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, March 21, 2024. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)</media:title>
  2731. </media:content>
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  2739.                <title><![CDATA[Israeli Military Refusers Appeal to Biden: “Stop Arming Israel’s War”]]></title>
  2740.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/09/israel-military-teenagers-ceasefire-mesarvot/</link>
  2741.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/05/09/israel-military-teenagers-ceasefire-mesarvot/#respond</comments>
  2742.                <pubDate>Thu, 09 May 2024 20:31:16 +0000</pubDate>
  2743.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Prem Thakker]]></dc:creator>
  2744.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  2745.  
  2746.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=468270</guid>
  2747.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Tal Mitnick and Sofia Orr, who are in prison for refusing to serve in Israel’s military, are pleading with Biden to help stop the war on Gaza.</p>
  2748. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/09/israel-military-teenagers-ceasefire-mesarvot/">Israeli Military Refusers Appeal to Biden: “Stop Arming Israel’s War”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  2749. ]]></description>
  2750.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  2751. <p><span class="has-underline">Tal Mitnick and Sofia</span> Orr — two Israeli teenagers who are in prison for refusing to serve in the Israel Defense Forces — sent a <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24656661-israeli-refusers-letter-to-biden">letter</a> to President Joe Biden, beseeching him to use his power to stop Israel’s war on Gaza, including through placing conditions on military aid.</p>
  2752.  
  2753.  
  2754.  
  2755. <p>“Your unconditional support for [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s policy of destruction, since the war began, has brought our society to the normalization of carnage and to the trivialization of human lives,” they wrote. “It is American diplomatic and material support that prolonged this war for so long. You are responsible for this, alongside our leaders. But while they’re interested in prolonging the war for political reasons, you have the power to make it stop.”</p>
  2756.  
  2757.  
  2758.  
  2759. <p>The teens wrote the letter before reporting to prison for their most recent sentences. They sent it to Biden on Thursday, a day after he confirmed in an interview for the first time that Israel has used U.S. bombs to kill civilians and said that he will not supply Israel with arms if it moves toward a major invasion of Rafah. Biden did not specify what he considers to be a major invasion; Israel already reportedly has troops on the ground in Rafah, which is considered the last refuge for displaced Palestinians in Gaza and which the Israeli military has long been bombing.</p>
  2760.  
  2761.  
  2762.  
  2763. <p>The White House’s National Security Council declined to comment.&nbsp;</p>
  2764.  
  2765.  
  2766.  
  2767.  <div class="promote-related-post">
  2768.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
  2769.            href="https://theintercept.com/2024/01/08/israel-army-refusal-protest/"
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  2775.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
  2776.        Related      </h2>
  2777.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Israeli Refuseniks Forsake Army Despite Post-October 7 Nationalist Frenzy</h3>
  2778.    </span>
  2779.    </a>
  2780.  </div>
  2781.  
  2782.  
  2783.  
  2784. <p>Mitnick was first sentenced to prison in December for refusing Israel’s mandatory military conscription at age 18. His successive prison terms have added up to 150 days, while Orr has been sentenced to a total of 85 days. The pair are part of Mesarvot, a growing <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/01/08/israel-army-refusal-protest/">refusenik network</a> within Israel of teenagers and former dissenters supporting each other as they refuse to serve in the Israeli military.&nbsp;</p>
  2785.  
  2786.  
  2787.  
  2788. <p>Another teenager in the network, Ben Arad, was sentenced to 20 days last month for refusing, and his sentence has since increased to a cumulative 50 days. “I oppose senseless killing, the policy of intentional starvation and sickness, and the sacrifice of soldiers, civilians, and hostages for a war that cannot and will not achieve its declared objectives and that could escalate into a regional war,” Arad <a href="https://x.com/Mesarvot_/status/1778458680469372993">said</a> in April. “For these reasons and more, I refuse to enlist.”</p>
  2789.  
  2790.  
  2791.  
  2792.  
  2793.  
  2794.  
  2795.  
  2796. <p>The refuseniks are not alone in their opposition, nor in the treatment they face. Throughout the war, Israelis have taken to the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to protest the war and Netanyahu’s government. This past week, Israeli police&nbsp;<a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/protesters-block-roads-clash-with-cops-as-pm-accused-of-scorning-hostage-deal/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">arrested</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/bar_peleg/status/1788302415520743881" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">beat</a>&nbsp;protesters and hostage family members calling for an end to the war, just the latest example of Israelis being&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/26/world/middleeast/ceasefire-rabbis-arrested-gaza-israel.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">punished</a>&nbsp;for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/13/it-is-a-time-of-witch-hunts-in-israel-teacher-held-in-solitary-confinement-for-posting-concern-about-gaza-deaths" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">voicing dissent</a>&nbsp;or sympathy with the people of Gaza.</p>
  2797.  
  2798.  
  2799.  
  2800. <p>While the U.S. paused one shipment of weapons out of concerns over the Rafah operation, the refuseniks are calling for a ceasefire. “Biden’s announcement that he will not deliver offensive weapons to Israel for its Rafah campaign is a positive development, but it is not enough,”<strong> </strong>a spokesperson for Mesarvot told The Intercept. “By using the leverage of arms transfer, the President can force Israel not only to downscale its Rafah offensive but to actually reach a Hostage/ceasefire deal with Hamas that will end the war. This is within reach and is in the best interest of Israeli society, just as it is in the interest of the Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere.”</p>
  2801.  
  2802.  
  2803.  
  2804. <p>In their letter to Biden, Mitnick and Orr note that they will be watching his next steps from their prison cells, where they are serving time “because we keep on objecting to this war.”&nbsp;</p>
  2805.  
  2806.  
  2807.  
  2808. <p>They acknowledge that the president has signaled frustration with Israel’s military campaign in recent weeks, yet they draw a contrast between his rhetorical shifts and the military support the U.S. continues to provide (just a few weeks ago, the U.S. sent another $17 billion to Israel).</p>
  2809.  
  2810.  
  2811.  
  2812. <p>“We want to tell you, Mr. Biden, that harsh words and condemnation will not make a change,” the refuseniks wrote. “The only way to make Netanyahu stop is to apply real pressure — and to stop arming Israel’s war.”</p>
  2813.  
  2814.  
  2815.  
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  2817.    <a class="promote-banner__link" href="https://theintercept.com/collections/israel-palestine/">
  2818.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
  2819.          <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="150" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)" srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=5760 5760w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=3600 3600w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />        </span>
  2820.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
  2821.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
  2822.            Read our complete coverage          </p>
  2823.        
  2824.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">Israel’s War on Gaza</h2>
  2825.      </div>
  2826.    </a>
  2827.  </aside>
  2828. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[1] -->
  2829.  
  2830.  
  2831.  
  2832. <p>The pair argue there is no military solution — that no amount of destruction in Gaza could resurrect those killed on October 7, and that hostages have been freed almost exclusively through negotiation. They appealed to Biden to not just stop the violence that has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, but to save Israeli society too.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  2833.  
  2834.  
  2835.  
  2836. <p>“Mr. Biden, we need your help. Not with weapons delivery but with the conditioning of aid. Not by giving the Israeli government diplomatic backing, but by turning a cold shoulder to its fanaticism,” they wrote. “This might be seen as a harsh action against the Israeli government, but it would be a great service for us, the Israeli citizens, and for the future of all people living in this land.”</p>
  2837.  
  2838.  
  2839.  
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  2841.  class="wp-block-document mb-5"
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  2845.  style="border: 1px solid #aaa;"
  2846.  width="100%"
  2847. ></iframe>
  2848.  
  2849. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/09/israel-military-teenagers-ceasefire-mesarvot/">Israeli Military Refusers Appeal to Biden: “Stop Arming Israel’s War”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
  2850. ]]></content:encoded>
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  2852.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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  2860. <media:title type="html">DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)</media:title>
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