Attention to the Unseen

Edo Konrad writes: Avigdor Liberman has, over the past decade, exerted a greater impact on Israel’s political discourse than any other lawmaker. In just a few years, he made once unthinkable ideas — such as stripping Palestinian citizens of their citizenship and forcing them to swear oaths of loyalty to the Jewish state — part of the mainstream discourse. Today, Israeli liberals and their intelligentsia are ready to ignore or brush aside Liberman’s racist, hyper-nationalist remarks and polices, while crowning…

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The Guardian reports: The former White House adviser Steve Bannon has described the Trump Organization as a criminal entity and predicted that investigations into the president’s finances will lead to his political downfall, when he is revealed to be “not the billionaire he said he was, just another scumbag”. The startling remarks are contained in Siege: Trump Under Fire, the author Michael Wolff’s forthcoming account of the second year of the Trump administration. The book, published on 4 June, is…

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Anoosh Chakelian writes: After weeks on the campaign trail, most politicians take a breather after the polls close. Not Magid Magid. The 29-year-old former Somali refugee – Sheffield’s outgoing Lord Mayor – was straight back out doing public events while waiting for the European election results. We meet two days before Magid was elected as a Green MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber. He was one of a record seven across Britain, following the party’s highest European election vote share…

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Ivan Krastev writes: It was a turning point but Europe did not turn. Despite fears of a right-wing populist surge, a majority of voters across the Continent cast their ballots for mainstream, pro-European Union parties in the recent elections for the European Parliament. The main center-right and center-left blocs have lost their majority, but they will continue to dominate the 751-member legislative body. The center has held for now. But the anti-Brussels, nationalist far right that includes parties like Marine…

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Magid Magid writes: I am honoured to have been elected as a Green party MEP. I can’t wait to get to work on behalf of all those who put their faith in me and in our movement’s vision of hope. We are truly building a common world, rooted in the aspirations of the young and set to deliver lasting change for all. On a personal level, I feel humbled by and grateful for the immense support I have received. Ten…

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The Guardian reports: John Bercow has said he plans to stay in his post as Speaker of the House of Commons despite previous expectations he was about to leave, risking the fury of hardline Eurosceptics who believe he wants to thwart a no-deal Brexit. The Speaker told the Guardian it was not “sensible to vacate the chair” while there were major issues before parliament. And, amid growing indications that frontrunners for the Conservative leadership are willing to depart the EU…

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The New York Times reports: Romania’s most powerful politician, Liviu Dragnea, was ordered on Monday to begin serving a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence for abuse of power, upending the political order in the East European country and handing a victory to those who view corruption as the chief threat to the health of the nation. The ruling by the Romanian Supreme Court, which declined to revisit a sentence handed down by a lower court in June 2018, is not subject to…

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The New York Times reports: To the crowd of Iowans gathered in a school gym on Saturday night, Senator Elizabeth Warren made a request: They should pose a question to the other presidential candidates who come to Iowa seeking their vote. “Ask them: Where do you get your money?” she said. “Are you getting it from a bunch of millionaires?” For Ms. Warren, the question highlighted one of the sharpest contrasts she has drawn with most of her top rivals…

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Gizmodo reports: Donald Trump did a bizarre thing aboard the USS Wasp on Tuesday. After wishing the sailors “a very Happy Memorial Day,” the President conducted an impromptu poll, asking the crowd who preferred steam-powered catapult systems and who preferred electric. Steam won out in the poll, and now, Trump says he’s going to order old-fashioned steam catapults be installed on new American aircraft carriers. Trump evidently thinks the Navy is trying to innovate too much. The question of which…

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Paul Mason writes: [T]he officials who designed this fiasco, and ignored all evidence that it would lead to disaster, must be removed from positions of influence. They include Seumas Milne, director of strategy, and Karie Murphy, who is currently juggling the roles of Corbyn’s chief of staff and acting general secretary. With an electoral fiasco like this, the buck has to stop somewhere, and it must stop with them – together with Ian Lavery MP, the party chair, who twice…

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