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Category: Politics

Arab and Muslim Americans weren’t happy with Biden before Gaza war. Now they’re enraged

Arab and Muslim Americans weren’t happy with Biden before Gaza war. Now they’re enraged

Bishara A. Bahbah writes: In the key swing state of Michigan Arab and Muslim voters have been watching closely – and with growing rage – U.S. President Joe Biden’s one-sided support of Israel in a war they say is not being waged just against Hamas, but against Palestinians living in Gaza. These voters who helped him win in 2020 could now help tip the support against Biden, potentially costing him re-election. Michigan is home to the largest population of Arab…

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The promise and risk of South Africa’s case against Israel

The promise and risk of South Africa’s case against Israel

Alaa Hachem and Oona A. Hathaway write: The war in Gaza has now reached the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In the closing days of 2023, South Africa filed an application instituting proceedings against Israel before the ICJ. South Africa alleges that Israel’s conduct in Gaza violates its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide both by committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and by failing to prevent it, including by failing to…

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If Trump is not an insurrectionist, what is he?

If Trump is not an insurrectionist, what is he?

Jamelle Bouie writes: Last month the states of Colorado and Maine moved to disqualify Donald Trump as a candidate in the 2024 presidential election, citing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. In response, Trump has asked the Supreme Court to intervene on his behalf in the Colorado case, and he has appealed Maine’s decision. There is a real question of whether this attempt to protect American democracy — by removing a would-be authoritarian from the ballot — is itself a…

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The people of Solano County, California, versus the next tech-billionaire dystopia

The people of Solano County, California, versus the next tech-billionaire dystopia

Gil Duran writes: It is easy to mock the absurdity of California Forever, the new city that a group of tech billionaires want to build amid cattle pastures 60 miles north of San Francisco. Its wealthy backers frame the project—envisioned as a mega suburb with dense housing and walkable streets set on 60,000 rural acres—as an innovative solution to California’s housing shortage. But their bumbling and villainous antics may ensure it never gets built. The particulars of this caper veer…

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Stakes high as South Africa brings claim of genocidal intent against Israel

Stakes high as South Africa brings claim of genocidal intent against Israel

Patrick Wintour writes: South Africa’s request for an interim measure by the international court of justice to prevent Israel from committing acts of potential genocide – primarily by calling for a halt to combat operations – has suddenly taken on an urgency and relevance that seemed implausible a fortnight ago. Crack legal teams are being assembled, countries are issuing statements in support of South Africa, and Israel has said it will defend itself in court, reversing a decades-old policy of…

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Biden campaign staff protest against his approach to Israel-Hamas war, call for ceasefire

Biden campaign staff protest against his approach to Israel-Hamas war, call for ceasefire

Politico reports: A group of aides hired to reelect President Joe Biden is breaking with him on the conflict between Israel and Hamas. In a letter first shared with West Wing Playbook, 17 current Biden campaign staffers called directly on the president to push for a permanent ceasefire in the monthslong conflict. “As your staff, we believe it is both a moral and electoral imperative for you to publicly call for a cessation of violence,” the staffers wrote in the…

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Israel PM’s wife Sara Netanyahu accuses Gaza hostage families of ‘helping Hamas’

Israel PM’s wife Sara Netanyahu accuses Gaza hostage families of ‘helping Hamas’

The New Arab reports: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife Sara criticised relatives of hostages in Gaza for “helping Hamas” while accompanying her husband during a meeting with the families on Tuesday, Israeli media reported. Sara Netanyahu told the families of hostages that their public statements critical of her husband’s handling of the war and securing the return of their loved ones was helping Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, according to Israel’s Channel 12. This reportedly provoked angry responses from the…

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The ‘bully’ billionaire who led calls for Claudine Gay’s Harvard exit

The ‘bully’ billionaire who led calls for Claudine Gay’s Harvard exit

The Guardian reports: Chief among the campaigners celebrating the resignation of Claudine Gay as president of Harvard University was a man who arguably did the most to push Gay, Harvard’s first Black president, out the door: Bill Ackman, a billionaire hedge-fund manager and Harvard alumnus. Ackman, who accused Gay of antisemitism and plagiarism, was a major player in what increasingly became a rightwing campaign against the Harvard president – who said many of the attacks against her were “fueled by…

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Trump received millions from foreign governments as president, report finds

Trump received millions from foreign governments as president, report finds

The New York Times reports: Donald J. Trump’s businesses received at least $7.8 million from 20 foreign governments during his presidency, according to new documents released by House Democrats on Thursday that show how much he received from overseas transactions while he was in the White House, most of it from China. The transactions, detailed in a 156-page report called “White House For Sale” that was produced by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, offer concrete evidence that the former…

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Gaming out scenarios for an up-for-grabs convention (or two!) in 2024

Gaming out scenarios for an up-for-grabs convention (or two!) in 2024

Mark McKinnon writes: “The era of strategic certainty is over,” James Carville declared recently. Carville, the Democratic Yoda, often comes out with these kind of astute, irrefutable observations. I trust the guy. He’s a battle-tested political warrior. And 40 years ago he managed the first campaign I was a part of. He earned his spurs by winning hard-fought, high-stakes races. And he’s famous for other savvy political pronouncements such as the catchphrase of Bill Clinton’s 1992 run for the White…

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Israeli officials’ calls for ‘voluntary’ migration of Palestinians alarm human rights experts

Israeli officials’ calls for ‘voluntary’ migration of Palestinians alarm human rights experts

HuffPost reports: As the reported death toll of the Israeli invasion of Gaza tops 22,000, senior Israeli politicians have grown more explicit in their goal for the Palestinian enclave: the movement of a large number of Gazans out of Gaza entirely. The rhetoric has garnered charges of ethnic cleansing and forced displacement, and a rare rebuke from U.S. officials. But there are no signs of the calls losing steam within Israel. “What needs to be done in the Gaza Strip…

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Ethnic cleansing: Israel in talks with Congo and other countries on Gaza ‘voluntary’ migration plan

Ethnic cleansing: Israel in talks with Congo and other countries on Gaza ‘voluntary’ migration plan

The Times of Israel reports: The “voluntary” resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza is slowly becoming a key official policy of the government, with a senior official saying that Israel has held talks with several countries for their potential absorption. Zman Israel, The Times of Israel’s Hebrew sister site, has learned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition is conducting secret contacts for accepting thousands of immigrants from Gaza with Congo, in addition to other nations. “Congo will be willing to take…

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Gaza is starving

Gaza is starving

Isaac Chotiner writes: Last month, a United Nations report on hunger described a catastrophic situation in Gaza, where more than ninety per cent of the population has been facing “acute food insecurity,” and where “virtually all households are skipping meals every day.” Much of Gaza is at risk of famine in the next several months. Parents have been going without food to insure that their kids have at least something to eat; where food is available, moreover, prices have skyrocketed,…

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Israeli public figures accuse judiciary of ignoring incitement to genocide in Gaza

Israeli public figures accuse judiciary of ignoring incitement to genocide in Gaza

The Guardian reports: A group of prominent Israelis has accused the country’s judicial authorities of ignoring “extensive and blatant” incitement to genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza by influential public figures. In a letter to the attorney general and state prosecutors, they demand action to stop the normalisation of language that breaks both Israeli and international law. “For the first time that we can remember, the explicit calls to commit atrocious crimes, as stated, against millions of civilians have turned…

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Whoever is behind Kerman bombing risks igniting regional war

Whoever is behind Kerman bombing risks igniting regional war

Julian Borger writes: It is still unclear who is responsible for the double bombing of a crowd in the south-eastern Iranian city of Kerman but whoever is behind the outrage is clearly willing to risk igniting a regional war. In Washington, officials have been pointing towards the possible role of Islamic State or some affiliated Sunni extremist group, and away from the partnership of Israel and the secular Iranian rebel group, the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MeK), who have reportedly been behind previous…

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Powerful donors managed to push out Harvard’s Claudine Gay. But at what cost?

Powerful donors managed to push out Harvard’s Claudine Gay. But at what cost?

Robert Reich writes: [For major donors] to use their influence to force the ouster of these university presidents is an abuse of power. It sets a dangerous precedent of mega-donor intrusion into university life. It endangers the autonomy of America’s universities to determine for themselves how to strike the right balance between freedom of expression and hateful speech. The core problem is that one of the major jobs of today’s university presidents is to solicit money. Even at Harvard, whose…

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