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Category: War

Ukraine to EU: Don’t let U.S. aid package make you complacent

Ukraine to EU: Don’t let U.S. aid package make you complacent

Politico reports: Washington has agreed to send billions more in aid to Ukraine, but Kyiv’s message to Europe is clear: You guys are not off the hook. “We all welcome the decision of the U.S. House of Representatives … But we in Europe cannot and should not relax,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said during a video call with EU foreign ministers on Monday. “The defense of Europe is first and foremost a matter for us, Europeans.” European heads of…

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Israel has yet to provide evidence of alleged UNRWA staff terrorist links, Colonna report says

Israel has yet to provide evidence of alleged UNRWA staff terrorist links, Colonna report says

The Guardian reports: Israel has yet to provide supporting evidence of its claims that employees of the UN relief agency Unrwa are members of terrorist organisations, an independent review led by the former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna has said. The Colonna report, which was commissioned by the UN in the wake of Israeli allegations, found that Unrwa had regularly supplied Israel with lists of its employees for vetting, and that “the Israeli government has not informed Unrwa of any…

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PM promises UK’s largest ever military support package for Ukraine

PM promises UK’s largest ever military support package for Ukraine

The Guardian reports: Rishi Sunak has promised the UK’s largest ever military support package for Ukraine as he warned that Vladimir Putin would “not stop at the Polish border” if Russia won the war. The prime minister will visit Poland on Tuesday to discuss European security and the threat from Russia with the Polish leader, Donald Tusk, and the Nato secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, before travelling to Germany to meet the chancellor, Olaf Scholz. The UK plans to give vital equipment…

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The GOP’s pro-Russia caucus lost. Now Ukraine has to win

The GOP’s pro-Russia caucus lost. Now Ukraine has to win

Anne Applebaum writes: It’s not too late, because it’s never too late. No outcomes are ever preordained, nothing is ever over, and you can always affect what happens tomorrow by making the right choices today. The U.S. Congress is finally making one of those right choices. Soon, American weapons and ammunition will once again start flowing to Ukraine. But delays do have a price. By dawdling for so many months, by heading down the blind alley of border reform before…

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U.S. poised to impose sanctions on IDF unit accused of violations in West Bank

U.S. poised to impose sanctions on IDF unit accused of violations in West Bank

The Guardian reports: A unit of the Israel Defense Forces is facing US sanctions over its treatment of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, even as Congress voted for $26bn in new emergency aid to Israel. According to reports in the Israeli media, US state department officials have confirmed they are preparing to impose sanctions on the IDF’s Netzah Yehuda battalion, which has been accused of serious human rights violations against Palestinians. The highly significant move, which would be the…

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Columbia University faces full-blown crisis as rabbi calls for Jewish students to ‘return home’

Columbia University faces full-blown crisis as rabbi calls for Jewish students to ‘return home’

CNN reports: Columbia University is facing a full-blown crisis heading into Passover as a rabbi linked to the Ivy League school urged Jewish students to stay home and tense confrontations on campus sparked condemnation from the White House and New York officials. The atmosphere is so charged that Columbia officials announced students can attend classes and even possibly take exams virtually starting Monday – the first day of Passover, a major Jewish holiday set to begin in the evening. Tensions…

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Political warfare and Congress

Political warfare and Congress

In testimony to the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday, Timothy Snyder said: Democracy is in decline, dragged down by the autocratic lie. The autocrats offer no new visions; instead they lie about democracies and insert lies into democracies. The test of disinformation is its power to alter the course of crucial events, such as wars and elections. Russia undertook a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on the basis of a big lie about Nazis. Even as we meet today, Russian (and…

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House approves $61bn in military aid for Ukraine after months of stalling

House approves $61bn in military aid for Ukraine after months of stalling

The Observer reports: After months of stalling, the US House of Representatives finally approved more than $61bn worth of military assistance to help Ukraine in its desperate defense against Russia, as well as billions for other allies including Israel and Taiwan. In a bipartisan vote, 210 Democrats and 101 Republicans joined to support Ukraine, with 112 Republicans – a majority of the GOP members – voting against. It came after the Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, forced a series of bills…

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U.S. expected to sanction IDF unit for human rights violations in West Bank

U.S. expected to sanction IDF unit for human rights violations in West Bank

Axios reports: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to within days announce sanctions against the Israel Defense Forces “Netzah Yehuda” battalion for human rights violations in the occupied West Bank, three U.S. sources with knowledge of the issue told Axios. Why it matters: It would be the first time the U.S. imposed sanctions on an Israeli military unit. The sanctions will ban the battalion and its members from receiving any kind of U.S. military assistance or training, the sources said. A…

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Strike was meant to show Iran that Israel could paralyze its defenses, Western officials say

Strike was meant to show Iran that Israel could paralyze its defenses, Western officials say

The New York Times reports: An Israeli weapon deployed in a retaliatory strike against Iran on Friday damaged a defense system responsible for detecting and destroying aerial threats near Natanz, a central Iranian city critical to the country’s secret nuclear weapons program, according to two Western officials and two Iranian officials. The strike, the Western officials said, was calculated to deliver a message to Iran that Israel could bypass Iran’s defense systems undetected and paralyze them, using a fraction of…

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Iran vs Israel: Deterrence, drama or distraction?

Iran vs Israel: Deterrence, drama or distraction?

  Of the more than 300 Iranian projectiles launched Israel’s way last week, the vast majority were shot down by Israel and its allies. Israel’s response on Friday against military targets in Isfahan also had more to do with spectacle than substance. Whatever comes next, Iran’s attack – and the way it was characterised in the Western media – may have garnered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government some more support in this global battle of perceptions. Contributors: Laleh Khalili –…

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Columbia University is colluding with the far-right in its attack on students

Columbia University is colluding with the far-right in its attack on students

Moira Donegan writes: The students sat on the ground and sang as police in riot gear approached them. Eventually, more than 100 of them would be arrested; their tents, protest signs and Palestinian flags were gathered into trash bags by the police and thrown away. One video showed officers and university maintenance workers destroying food that had been donated to the encampment, making sure it would be inedible. According to student journalists reporting from WKCR, Columbia University’s student radio station,…

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Inside the Gaza solidarity encampment at Columbia University

Inside the Gaza solidarity encampment at Columbia University

Lara-Nour Walton writes: Around 4 AM on Wednesday, hundreds of Columbia University students set up tents on the East Butler lawn, establishing what they called a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” in protest of the university’s role in helping fund the war in Gaza. The occupation, organized by the Columbia University Apartheid Divest coalition (CUAD), Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), had been planned for months. The encampment was an escalation of previous pro-Palestine actions, designed…

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Blinken says he’s made ‘determinations’ linked to human rights accusations against Israel

Blinken says he’s made ‘determinations’ linked to human rights accusations against Israel

Reuters reports: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday said he has made “determinations” regarding accusations that Israel violated a set of U.S. laws that prohibit providing military assistance to individuals or security force units that commit gross violations of human rights. The Leahy Laws, authored by then-Senator Patrick Leahy in the late 1990s, prohibit providing military assistance to individuals or security force units that commit gross violations of human rights and have not been brought to justice. Earlier…

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Iran’s state TV laughs off Israel’s ‘feeble’ reprisal attack

Iran’s state TV laughs off Israel’s ‘feeble’ reprisal attack

The Daily Beast reports: Iran’s tightly controlled state media made fun of Israel’s reprisal attack on Friday, claiming that a few drones had been intercepted and no serious damage was done—with a top Israeli minister appearing to agree. World capitals have been on edge since Iran launched an unprecedented direct attack on Israel last week, with President Joe Biden among those pleading with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to respond with a direct attack on Iran. Late on Thursday, U.S….

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How Johnson and Biden locked arms on Ukraine

How Johnson and Biden locked arms on Ukraine

Politico reports: Speaker Mike Johnson’s sudden bid to deliver aid to Ukraine came days after fresh intelligence described the U.S. ally at a true make-or-break moment in its war with Russia. It was exactly the kind of dire assessment that President Joe Biden and the White House had spent months privately warning Johnson was inevitable. The House GOP leader is embracing $60.8 billion in assistance to Ukraine in a push to prevent deep losses on the battlefield, amid warnings that…

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