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Category: War

Sonoma State University president placed on leave for ‘insubordination’ — an agreement with protesters

Sonoma State University president placed on leave for ‘insubordination’ — an agreement with protesters

The Press Democrat reports: Sonoma State University was rocked Wednesday afternoon when President Mike Lee announced he is stepping aside, at least temporarily, in the wake of a controversial email he sent to students and faculty regarding the demands of campus pro-Palestinian protesters. It’s not known how long Lee will be away. In a Wednesday statement, California State University Chancellor Mildred Garcia wrote: “On Tuesday evening, Sonoma State University President Mike Lee sent a campuswide message concerning an agreement with…

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Amnesty International: Syrian refugees face detention, torture and death on return

Amnesty International: Syrian refugees face detention, torture and death on return

The security forces in Syria have subjected Syrian refugees who returned to the country to detention, disappearance and horrific torture – including sexual violence – Amnesty International said today in a shocking new report. Amnesty’s 51-page report – You’re Going To Your Death – documents appalling human rights violations committed by Syrian intelligence officers against 66 returnees, including 13 children. Five people died in custody, while the fate of 17 forcibly disappeared people remains unknown. The report – coming against…

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This is what Bruce Robbins, a Jewish professor at Columbia, wants you to know

This is what Bruce Robbins, a Jewish professor at Columbia, wants you to know

  For over seven months, a dominant conversation in the U.S. news media has been about alleged and increased antisemitism on American campuses – culminating in the coverage around student encampments. The “Gaza solidarity encampment” at Columbia University, in particular, has received a lot of attention which sparked encampments across the country — as well as university-backed police repression and violence. In this interview, AJ+ speaks to Dr. Bruce Robbins, a Jewish professor at Columbia University who supported students protesting…

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U.S. doctor (who saved Sen. Duckworth’s life in Iraq) now trapped in Gaza, appeals to Biden to stop the war

U.S. doctor (who saved Sen. Duckworth’s life in Iraq) now trapped in Gaza, appeals to Biden to stop the war

  Democracy Now! speaks with Dr. Adam Hamawy, one of around 20 American medical workers trapped in Gaza after Israel closed the Rafah border crossing into Egypt. A plastic surgeon and Army veteran, Hamawy is on a volunteer mission with the Palestinian American Medical Association at the European Hospital in Khan Younis. Like many Gazans, the U.S. medical workers are now facing dehydration and other deadly health conditions. “We’re continuing to do our job. … It’s tiring, but this is…

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Interior Dept staffer becomes first Jewish political appointee to publicly resign over war in Gaza

Interior Dept staffer becomes first Jewish political appointee to publicly resign over war in Gaza

The Associated Press reports: An Interior Department staffer on Wednesday became the first Jewish political appointee to publicly resign in protest of U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Lily Greenberg Call, a special assistant to the chief of staff in the Interior Department, accused President Joe Biden of using Jews to justify U.S. policy in the conflict. Call had worked for the presidential campaigns of both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, and was a longtime activist and advocate…

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White House opposes House bill to force Israeli arm shipments as it approves $1 billion more weapons

White House opposes House bill to force Israeli arm shipments as it approves $1 billion more weapons

Politico reports: The White House announced on Monday that it opposes a Republican-led bill that would force President Joe Biden to send withheld military assistance to Israel. “We strongly, strongly oppose attempts to constrain the president’s ability to deploy a U.S. security assistance consistent with U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. House Republicans introduced the bill over the weekend in response to Biden’s decision to pause a shipment of weapons in an effort…

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New York City’s Union Theological Seminary votes to divest from Israel’s war on Gaza

New York City’s Union Theological Seminary votes to divest from Israel’s war on Gaza

  As student protests around the world call for their educational institutions to divest from companies with ties to Israel, we speak to the Reverend Dr. Serene Jones, the president of Union Theological Seminary, an ecumenical seminary affiliated with Columbia University that is one of the first schools to begin divesting from companies that “profit from war in Palestine/Israel.” Jones says divestment is an extension of Union’s “long policy of trying our best to bring our values, our core mission…

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Israel cabinet ministers and allies say Palestinians should be ‘encouraged’ to emigrate

Israel cabinet ministers and allies say Palestinians should be ‘encouraged’ to emigrate

The Times of Israel reports: Cabinet ministers and MKs called for the rebuilding of Jewish settlements in Gaza at an ultra-nationalist march and rally attended by thousands in the town of Sderot, close to the Gaza border on Tuesday. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir declared that the “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians from Gaza should be promoted, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi insisted that the resettling of Gaza was the only way to ensure Israeli security, and Religious Zionism MK Zvi…

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Facing an endless barrage, Ukraine’s air defenses are withering

Facing an endless barrage, Ukraine’s air defenses are withering

The New York Times reports: This is what a year of Russian missile strikes on Ukraine looks like. Ukrainian air defenses used to intercept most missiles, but in recent months, more and more have made it through. The data, from a New York Times analysis of daily Ukrainian military reports, shows a major shift: Ukraine is increasingly failing to stop Russian missiles, crippling its ability to protect major infrastructure and plunging cities into darkness. Russian air assaults have struck critical…

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Biden admin sees Israel’s ‘total victory’ as neither likely nor even possible; Sen. Lindsey Graham wants to nuke Gaza

Biden admin sees Israel’s ‘total victory’ as neither likely nor even possible; Sen. Lindsey Graham wants to nuke Gaza

Politico reports: The Biden administration doesn’t believe Israel’s current strategy against the Hamas militant group will lead to “total victory,” a top U.S. official said Monday. Speaking at the NATO Youth Summit in Miami, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the U.S. has been “struggling over what the theory of victory is” in Gaza. “Sometimes when we listen closely to Israeli leaders, they talked about mostly the idea of some sort of sweeping victory on the battlefield, total victory,”…

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War on Gaza: First international staff member killed in Israeli attack on UN convoy in Rafah

War on Gaza: First international staff member killed in Israeli attack on UN convoy in Rafah

  The UN confirmed its first international staff casualty in Gaza after a UN vehicle was struck in Rafah. Farhan Haq, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, stated during a news conference that the total number of UN staff killed in Gaza since October 7 has reached 190. Haq characterized the Rafah incident as an attack and confirmed that two individuals were in a UN-marked vehicle en route to the European Hospital as part of their duties. The UN…

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Cambridge University’s wealthiest college votes to divest from all arms companies

Cambridge University’s wealthiest college votes to divest from all arms companies

Middle East Eye reports: The college council of the University of Cambridge’s wealthiest constituent college, Trinity College Cambridge, has voted to divest from all arms companies, Middle East Eye can reveal. MEE learnt from three well-informed sources close to Trinity’s student union that the college council, responsible for major financial and other decisions, voted to remove Trinity’s investments from arms companies in early March. According to the sources, the college decided not to announce that it would divest from arms…

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Economist Joseph Stiglitz on rethinking freedom, Trump and pro-Palestine protests at Columbia

Economist Joseph Stiglitz on rethinking freedom, Trump and pro-Palestine protests at Columbia

  Nobel Prize Laureate Joseph Stiglitz is one of the most influential economists in the world, having advised multiple Democratic Presidents of the US and the World Bank, where he worked as Chief Economist and senior Vice President. His latest book, called “The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society,” argues that the economic right’s concept of “freedom” doesn’t take into account the necessary trade-offs, that one person’s freedom often comes at the expense of another’s. And that “free”…

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Nathan Thrall on Israel’s ‘system of domination’ and Biden pausing bomb shipment

Nathan Thrall on Israel’s ‘system of domination’ and Biden pausing bomb shipment

  Jerusalem-based journalist and author Nathan Thrall has been awarded the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for his book, A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy. It tells the story of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank through one Palestinian father’s quest to seek answers and accountability after his 5-year-old son is involved in a deadly accident. We speak to Thrall about President Biden saying for the first time that he would not…

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South Africa asks World Court to order Israel’s withdrawal from Rafah

South Africa asks World Court to order Israel’s withdrawal from Rafah

Reuters reports: South Africa has asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order Israel to withdraw from Rafah as part of additional emergency measures over the war in Gaza, the U.N.’s top court said on Friday. In the ongoing case brought by South Africa, which accuses Israel of acts of genocide against Palestinians, the World Court in January ordered Israel to refrain from any acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention and to ensure its troops commit no…

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Haim Saban, a ‘virulently anti-Muslim’ mega-donor, slams Biden’s decision to halt weapons shipment to Israel

Haim Saban, a ‘virulently anti-Muslim’ mega-donor, slams Biden’s decision to halt weapons shipment to Israel

The Los Angeles Times reports: Democratic mega-donor and Hollywood media mogul Haim Saban slammed President Biden’s decision to put a shipment of weapons to Israel on hold because they could be used in an offensive against a densely populated city in southern Gaza. “Let’s not forget there are more Jewish voters who care about Israel than Muslim voters who care about Hamas,” Saban wrote in an email to senior Biden aides Steve Ricchetti and Anita Dunn, Axios reported Thursday. The…

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