How the politics of memory in Europe obscures what we see in Israel and Gaza today

How the politics of memory in Europe obscures what we see in Israel and Gaza today

Masha Gessen writes: There are now dozens of antisemitism commissioners throughout Germany. They have no single job description or legal framework for their work, but much of it appears to consist of publicly shaming those they see as antisemitic, often for “de-singularizing the Holocaust” or for criticizing Israel. Hardly any of these commissioners are Jewish. Indeed, the proportion of Jews among their targets is certainly higher. These have included the German-Israeli sociologist Moshe Zuckermann, who was targeted for supporting the…

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Jack Smith goes straight to Supreme Court for ruling on Trump’s claimed immunity

Jack Smith goes straight to Supreme Court for ruling on Trump’s claimed immunity

  The Daily Beast reports: Special prosecutor Jack Smith filed a bombshell motion Monday asking the Supreme Court to weigh in on the question of whether Donald Trump has absolute presidential immunity for crimes he’s accused of carrying out while in the White House. If accepted, it will be the first time the high court will weigh in on a criminal case involving the former president—specifically, whether his attempts to overturn the 2020 election were protected by presidential immunity, something…

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Oil nations’ commitment to destroying planet threatens climate summit

Oil nations’ commitment to destroying planet threatens climate summit

Rolling Stone reports: Climate activists say the 2023 UN Climate Conference is on “the verge of complete failure” after oil-producing nations secured the removal of language calling for a phase-out of fossil fuels from the summit’s draft agreement. COP28, held in Dubai and headed by Sultan al-Jaber — the CEO of the United Arab Emirates state-run energy company ADNOC — has already been criticized for overemphasizing the desires of fossil fuel economies and energy corporations rather than the need to…

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This disagreement between two climate scientists will decide our future

This disagreement between two climate scientists will decide our future

Vladi333/Shutterstock By Robert Chris, The Open University and Hugh Hunt, University of Cambridge Getting to net zero emissions by mid-century is conventionally understood as humanity’s best hope for keeping Earth’s surface temperature (already 1.2°C above its pre-industrial level) from increasing well beyond 1.5°C – potentially reaching a point at which it could cause widespread societal breakdown. At least one prominent climate scientist, however, disagrees. James Hansen of Columbia University in the US published a paper with colleagues in November which…

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The Texas abortion case blows up the abortion ban rationale

The Texas abortion case blows up the abortion ban rationale

Jennifer Rubin writes: Abortion rights activists, medical professionals and ordinary women warned the Supreme Court in advance of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision: Legislatures cannot dictate medical decisions without creating horrendous injustices and medical travesties. A recent case from Texas, which has a ban on abortions after six weeks, leaves no doubt about the merits of that argument. The Texas case undermines the rationale for abortion bans and adds to Republicans’ political liability on an issue uppermost…

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Will America abandon Ukraine?

Will America abandon Ukraine?

George Packer writes: In the summer of 1940, when Great Britain was fighting Nazi Germany alone, Winston Churchill asked to borrow a few dozen aging American destroyers to defend the English coast from imminent invasion. Churchill wrote to Franklin D. Roosevelt: “Mr. President, with great respect, I must tell you that in the long history of the world, this is a thing to do now.” Today Ukraine is fighting Russia alone. American aid—never timely or sufficient, but enough to help…

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Republicans to meet allies of Hungary’s Viktor Orbán on ending Ukraine aid

Republicans to meet allies of Hungary’s Viktor Orbán on ending Ukraine aid

The Guardian reports: Allies of Hungary’s far-right prime minister Viktor Orbán will hold a closed-door meeting with Republicans in Washington to push for an end to US military support for Ukraine, the Guardian has learned. Members of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs and staff from the Hungarian embassy in Washington will on Monday begin a two-day event hosted by the conservative Heritage Foundation thinktank. The first day includes panel speeches about the Ukraine war as well as topics such…

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Half of Gaza’s population is starving, warns UN

Half of Gaza’s population is starving, warns UN

The Independent reports: Half of Gaza’s population is now believed to be “starving” as Israel’s attack on the besieged strip continues to escalate, a senior UN official warned. Calling for an immediate “humanitarian ceasefire”, Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the UN World Food Programme, took to X saying: “There’s not enough food. People are starving. “WFP has reached over one million people, but the situation is untenable. We need to get our supplies in [and we need] a humanitarian…

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IFJ: Almost 100 journalists killed, mostly in Gaza, and 400 imprisoned in 2023

IFJ: Almost 100 journalists killed, mostly in Gaza, and 400 imprisoned in 2023

The Guardian reports: A leading organisation representing journalists worldwide has expressed deep concern at the number of media professionals killed around the globe doing their jobs in 2023, with more journalists killed during Israel’s war with Hamas than in any other conflict in more than 30 years. In its annual count of media worker deaths, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said 94 journalists had been killed so far this year and almost 400 others had been imprisoned. The figure…

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Liz Cheney’s 2024 campaign mission: secure a Democratic House majority

Liz Cheney’s 2024 campaign mission: secure a Democratic House majority

The Washington Post reports: Liz Cheney is considering many different political roles over the next several years. But there’s one certainty she’s trying for in the next 11 months: Defeating her former House GOP colleagues and electing a new Democratic majority. Cheney believes that the 2024 presidential contest could end without any candidate securing a majority of the electoral votes — an outcome that would toss the decision into the House. Or, ex-president Donald Trump could again contest the outcome…

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Jack Smith reveals sweeping scope of bid to debunk Trump election machine claims

Jack Smith reveals sweeping scope of bid to debunk Trump election machine claims

Politico reports: Special counsel Jack Smith on Saturday sharply rejected Donald Trump’s contention that foreign governments may have changed votes in the 2020 election, laying bare new details about his team’s extensive probe of the matter and its access to a vast array of senior intelligence officials in Trump’s administration. In a 45-page filing, Smith’s team describes interviewing more than a dozen of the top intelligence officials in Trump’s administration — from his director of national intelligence to the administrator…

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Trump defends dictator comments amid NYC soiree filled with MAGA diehards

Trump defends dictator comments amid NYC soiree filled with MAGA diehards

Politico reports: The chairman of an Austrian political party founded by ex-Nazis, the conservative Twitter star behind the anti-trans Bud Light backlash and former President Donald Trump all walked into a bar. Seriously. On Saturday night in Manhattan, amid butler-delivered bellinis, sequined ball gowns and a five-course French service meal, characters from all corners of the Republican Party’s MAGA faction gathered for “a night of dinner, drinking, and love of country.” Trump, the New York Young Republican Club’s 111th Annual…

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Humanitarian catastrophe is Israeli policy

Humanitarian catastrophe is Israeli policy

B’Tselem reports: The humanitarian crisis currently underway in the Gaza Strip is not a side effect of the war, but the direct intended result of the policy implemented by Israel. The people behind this policy see inflicting a humanitarian crisis on more than two million people as a legitimate way to put pressure on Hamas. Energy Minister Israel Katz, who signed an order to stop the supply of electricity to the Gaza Strip on the very first day of the…

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Civilians make up 61% of Gaza deaths from airstrikes, Israeli study finds

Civilians make up 61% of Gaza deaths from airstrikes, Israeli study finds

The Guardian reports: The aerial bombing campaign by Israel in Gaza is the most indiscriminate in terms of civilian casualties in recent years, a study published by an Israeli newspaper has found. The analysis by Haaretz came as Israeli forces fought to consolidate their control of northern Gaza on Saturday, bombing the Shejaiya district of Gaza City, while also conducting airstrikes on Rafah, a town on the southern border with Egypt where the Israeli army has told people in Gaza…

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