What Threats Face Pro-Palestine Activists as Trump Returns?

 

The U.S. movement must be as resolute as the 

Palestinians  themselves, who have demonstrated 

that, no matter what Israel does to destroy them, 

they remain determined to resist.

BY MEDEA BENJAMIN

LA Progressive

Jan 8, 2025 - As President Biden greenlights another $8 billion in weapons to Israel in his last days in office and Secretary Blinken gives a parting New York Times interview in which he denies that a genocide is taking place in Gaza, many pro-Palestine activists are anxiously counting down the days until “Genocide Joe” and his crew exit the White House. But what will activists have to contend with under the Trump presidency?

Donald Trump proved his pro-Israel agenda in his first term, by moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, supporting West Bank settlements, recognizing the Golan Heights as part of Israel, pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal and enacting the Abraham Accords to normalize relations between Israel and Arab states, while disregarding the plight of Palestinians. Recently, Trump has said that the U.S. should let Israel “finish the job,” warned that there will be “all hell to pay” if the hostages aren’t released by the time he takes office, and threatened to blow Iran to smithereens.

Trump has signalled his intentions this time around by the people he has selected for key positions. Mike Huckabee, his pick for U.S. ambassador to Israel, is a religious fanatic who doesn’t think Israeli settlements are illegal and says “There is no such thing as a West Bank. It’s Judea and Samaria [the territory’s biblical name, revived in Israeli propaganda].” He even insists there is no such thing as a Palestinian. Elise Stefanik, Trump’s pick for U.S. ambassador to the UN, used her position in Congress to stifle free speech on college campuses and advocates deporting pro-Palestinian protesters who have student visas.

What about Congress? While the 118th Congress was overwhelmingly pro-Israel, the new one, with both the Senate and the House under Republican control, will be even more aggressively biased. Members want to pass a host of horrific bills that will further cement U.S. ties to the Israeli government, punish international actors that dare try to hold Israel accountable, and repress the domestic movement for Palestinian rights. This legislation includes a bill that equates criticism of Israel with anti-semitism, a bill that gives the Treasury Department the power to investigate non-profit groups for links to “terrorism” and then shut them down, a bill to sanction the International Criminal Court for issuing an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, a bill to make permanent the U.S. ban on funding the relief agency UNRWA, and a bill to cancel trade agreements with South Africa because of its genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice.

And of course, we can’t leave out the challenges posed by three powerful forces: AIPAC, Christian Zionists and military contractors. Best known is the lobby group AIPAC, which used its financial muscle in the recent elections to knock out two of the most pro-Palestinian members of Congress, Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman, leaving others terrified of becoming AIPAC targets. Lesser known but enormously powerful are the tens of millions of Christian Zionists, who are driven by the radical belief that Israel is key to Jesus’ return to Earth after a bloody final battle of Armageddon in which only those who accept Jesus as their savior will survive. Christian Zionists—already numerous in Congress, the White House and even the military—will be emboldened by Trump.

The third powerful lobby group are the military contractors, which has more lobbyists than members of Congress. Thanks to the $18 billion that Congress allocated for Israel in 2024, weapons stocks have soared over the past year, dramatically outperforming the major stock indexes.

But there are countervailing forces as well. The American public has become more and more sympathetic to Palestinians. A November opinion poll showed that, despite the pro-Israel bias of our government and corporate media, most Americans (63 percent) want a ceasefire and 55 percent think the U.S. should not provide unrestricted financial and military assistance to the Israeli government.

This is especially true among young people and among Democrats. And with a Republican in the White House, more Democrats in positions of power should be willing to oppose Israel’s actions since they will no longer be defying their own party’s president. And it’s not just Democrats. Many Trump supporters oppose U.S. involvement in overseas wars, and Trump himself, on the campaign trail, repeatedly claimed that he wants to bring peace to the Middle East.

Worldwide, more countries are not only voting for a ceasefire at the UN, but taking concrete measures to hold Israel accountable. The long list of countries and parties that have either submitted or announced their intention to join South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice include Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ireland, Jordan, Libya, Maldives, Mexico, Namibia, Nicaragua, Palestine, Spain, Türkiye and the Arab League. Countries that have either banned, limited or announced their intention to embargo arms to Israel include Italy, Spain, the UK, Canada, Belgium, The Netherlands, Türkiye, Russia and China.In the coming year, the Palestine solidarity movement must find and expand the cracks in the pro-Israel war machine. It must strengthen the spine of Democrats who live in fear of AIPAC and reach out to Republicans who oppose funding foreign conflicts. The same arguments many Republicans make about defunding Ukraine must be applied to Israel. Activists must expand campaigns against companies supporting Israel’s genocide, as well as efforts at the state, city, labor, university, faith-based and sectoral level to condemn Israel’s actions and promote divestment. The recent resolution by the American Historical Association condemning “scholasticide” is a good example.

While activists are bracing for a torrent of Trump policies that will create even more global and domestic chaos, including increased attacks on pro-Palestine organizations and individuals, the U.S. movement must be as resolute as the Palestinians themselves, who have demonstrated that, no matter what Israel does to destroy them, they remain determined to resist. The year 2025, with Donald Trump in the White House, will not be a time for despair or retreating in fear, but a time for action.

Medea Benjamin is a cofounder of both CODEPINK and the international human rights organization Global Exchange. She has been an advocate for social justice for more than 30 years.

Living In Two Worlds: One Indigenous Woman’S View Of Growing Up And Living In Pittsburgh

 

Photo: Lee Dingus poses with a Snohomish story pole in the Latodami Nature Center in North Park on Dec. 15, 2019. (by Hali Tauxe/ PublicSource)

By Lee Dingus

Public source

In writing this, I am embarking on a “spiritual journey” into my own soul and the souls and spirits of other Native American women who have walked before me.

To know and understand Native American women, we must look at both our traditional and contemporary roles in connection to our tribes and society. The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), who have always been located around the greater Tri-State area, believe that our culture stems from women. Many of our nations have and have always had women leaders, from Clan Mothers, Faith Keepers and Medicine Women to politicians. We have always spoken our minds at our councils, and our leadership was taken seriously.

I will be using the terms “Indian,” Native American, Indigenous or my tribal affiliation throughout the article. Native people prefer the use of their tribal affiliation over anything else, and the word “Indian” is not my preferred word, though it is the most mainstream term. Indian is a misunderstanding left over from when Christopher Columbus came to the so-called new world and thought he had found a new trade route to India, hence the misnomer “Indian.”

Growing up mostly in the South Hills of the Pittsburgh area, I had to be adaptable, flexible, resourceful and tenacious. Most of the places I lived were upper- and middle-class suburbs with a high population of mostly “white” people.

I have always faced many struggles for survival, growth and understanding and still continue to do so. My circumstances are always changing. Due to the lack of acceptance of the general population, I continuously have to strive to hold on to my traditions, values, customs and ways of life, such as honoring all things living and respecting the wisdom of elders. This is very ironic due to the fact that Pittsburgh is a city of immigrants who are proud of their ancestors, their past and their culture.

However, they are quick to dismiss my culture.

Stereotypes are one of the obstacles I face here in Pittsburgh. From the Land O’Lakes brand to Pocahontas, it seems Indigenous women can never be seen as everyday women. We are not viewed as real people. In many people’s minds, we are extinct. If you do not have long straight dark hair, high cheekbones or wear “Indian” clothing or braids, you can’t be “Indian.”

People look at me and say, “You can’t be real,” or say I’m only “part Indian” just because I don’t look like the stereotypes they grew up to know. People have said it to me hundreds of times. This is racism.

Sports teams, mascots, names and logos — such as the North Hills Indians locally or the Washington Redskins on a national level — are racist images that Pittsburghers and Americans hold onto that keep us locked in the past. These images are not an honor. They are harmful to our people and culture by creating low self-esteem and a negative self-image. (Continued)

Israel’s War Against the World

Israel’s relationship with the UN and the rest of the world is at a breaking point, and U.S. obstruction offers no solution to this crisis—it only fuels it.

By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas Davies

LA Progressive

Oct 17, 2024 - Each new week brings new calamities for people in the countries neighboring Israel, as its leaders try to bomb their way to the promised land of an ever-expanding Greater Israel.

In Gaza, Israel appears to be launching its “Generals’ Plan” to drive the most devastated and traumatized 2.2 million people in the world into the southern half of their open-air prison. Under this plan, Israel would hand the northern half over to greedy developers and settlers who, after decades of U.S. encouragement, have become a dominant force in Israeli politics and society. The redoubled slaughter of those who cannot move or refuse to move south has already begun.

In Lebanon, millions are fleeing for their lives and thousands are being blown to pieces in a repeat of the first phase of the genocide in Gaza. For Israel’s leaders, every person killed or forced to flee and every demolished building in a neighboring country opens the way for future Israeli settlements. The people of Iran, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia ask themselves which of them will be next.

Israel is not only attacking its neighbors. It is at war with the entire world. Israel is especially threatened when the governments of the world come together at the United Nations and in international courts to try to enforce the rule of international law, under which Israel is legally bound by the same rules that all countries have signed up to in the UN Charter and the Geneva Conventions.

Israel is especially threatened when the governments of the world come together at the United Nations and in international courts to try to enforce the rule of international law

In July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967 is illegal, and that it must withdraw its military forces and settlers from all those territories. In September, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution giving Israel one year to complete that withdrawal. If, as expected, Israel fails to comply, the UN Security Council or the General Assembly may take stronger measures, such as an international arms embargo, economic sanctions or even the use of force.

Now, amid the escalating violence of Israel’s latest bombing and invasion of Lebanon, Israel is attacking the UNIFIL UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, whose thankless job is to monitor and mitigate the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. (Continued)

Israel’s Tally of War Crimes in Lebanon Increases in Wake of Exploding Pagers

 

The Israeli bombing of a residential neighborhood in Beirut is also a war crime.

Photo: A young Iranian boy in northern Tehran, Iran, holds a candle at a roadside memorial with flowers and flag of Lebanon's Hezbollah in front of the Lebanese embassy for a young Lebanese girl killed in Israel's deadly pager attacks, on September 18, 2024.

Morteza Nikoubazl / NurPhoto via Getty Images

By

 

Marjorie Cohn 

Truthout 

Sept 23, 2024 - This latest targeting of Lebanese civilians comes on the heels of Israel’s detonation of hand-held electronic devices in civilian areas of Lebanon on September 17 and 18, when Israeli forces remotely triggered multiple explosions of electronic pagers and walkie-talkies that killed at least 37 people, including a 9-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy, and maimed or injured 3,250 people, 200 critically. About 500 people suffered severe eye wounds and others received grave injuries to their hands, faces and bodies. The blasts occurred in residential buildings, barber shops, grocery stores, cars and at funerals. Many civilians, including government and hospital workers, were killed.

Elias Warrak, an ophthalmologist at Mount Lebanon University Hospital in Beirut, treated several of those injured by the blasts. He told the BBC that between 60 percent and 70 percent of the patients he attended had to have at least one eye removed. “Some of the patients, we had to remove both eyes. It kills me. In my past 25 years in practice, I’ve never removed as many eyes as I did yesterday [September 17].”

Israel’s weaponization of 3,000 to 4,000 pagers and walkie-talkies programmed to explode simultaneously constituted “terrifying” violations of international law, according to 22 independent United Nations experts, including 13 special rapporteurs.

The radios and pagers were reportedly distributed to people associated with Hezbollah, which includes both military and civilian individuals. “At the time of the attacks there was no way of knowing who possessed each device and who was nearby,” the experts noted. “Simultaneous attacks by thousands of devices would inevitably violate humanitarian law, by failing to verify each target, and distinguish between protected civilians and those who could potentially be attacked for taking a direct part in hostilities.”

 

After 11 months of genocide in Gaza the UN Security Council has yet to make any effective action to halt Israel’s attack on Palestinians. UN member states have made individual and joint attempts to make it increasingly difficult for Israel to conduct this genocide. UN member states have previously voted overwhelmingly in support of peace and recognition of Palestine which has been met with a Security Council veto most consistently by the United States. It is clear what is needed is a united effort to do what the Security Council can not, which is to enact peace through resolution 377 (V) which would allow for member states to take action over the Security Council. 

On Monday, September 16 during NYC Peace Week, we will deliver this petition to UN Member States DEMANDING they take action now! Sign below and demand immediate peace in Gaza!

We, the undersigned, urge the United Nations to take real and effective actions to prevent Israel’s continued genocidal acts against the Palestinians of Gaza by passing the “Uniting for Peace” resolution. This resolution, also known as General Assembly Resolution 377(V), gives the United Nations General Assembly the power to take action if the Security Council fails to maintain international peace and security.

All countries that are a part of the UN are obligated, under the Geneva Convention, to use whatever influence they have to prevent and stop violations of international humanitarian law including the use of starvation as a weapon of war, collective punishment, and acts in violation of the Genocide Convention – all of which Israel has been credibly accused of. 

Routinely, the United States as a member of the Security Council vetoed important resolutions at the UN that would have either supported a ceasefire in Gaza or otherwise held Israel accountable for its war crimes against the Palestinian people in Gaza. The United States should not be able to make life or death decisions – against the popular opinion of the entire world and the United Nations. The US and Israel have acted with impunity for eleven months, and the Uniting for Peace resolution would make it more possible for the UN to halt the ongoing genocide effectively. 

We are demanding member states to support a “Uniting for Peace” resolution to obtain a permanent ceasefire, and effective sanctions against Israel to end its decades of lawlessness. 

Sincerely,

SIGN HERE

Israel Will Collapse Within a Year if the War of Attrition Against Hamas and Hezbollah Continues

 

Photo: Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, this month.Credit: Itai Ron

By Yitzhak Brik

Haaretz (Israel's main liberal-centrist daily)

Aug 22, 2024 - Most of the pretentious declarations made by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant throughout the war in Gaza have proven to be groundless.

After the occupation of Gaza City, he said that Israel was in total control of the city and its tunnels, and within a short time, Hamas would surrender. After the occupation of Khan Yunis, he claimed that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was running in the tunnels by himself and had lost control of his men, and within a few days he would be caught.

With these pronouncements, Gallant, along with his colleagues IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has been throwing dust in the eyes of the Israeli public.

Israel's defense minister isn't a hero. He's just telling the truth

As far as Netanyahu is concerned, Israeli hostages are anything but an asset

Netanyahu's war goal is not the hostages' return. It's the occupation of Gaza

Recently, it appears that Gallant has begun to sober up, when in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense committee he declared that the concept of total victory in Gaza "is nonsense."

And it seems that he has begun to realize that failing to reach a hostage deal with Hamas would lead to a regional war that would put Israel in serious danger.

This realization prompted him to call for a discussion, in the government or security cabinet, intending to warn everyone involved. The apparent goal of the discussion is to ensure that responsibility rests not only on him, but is shared by all the government ministers.

I assume that Defense Minister Gallant already understands that the war has lost its purpose. Israel is sinking deeper into the Gazan mud, losing more and more soldiers as they get killed or wounded, without any chance of achieving the war's main goal: bringing down Hamas.

The country really is galloping towards the edge of an abyss. If the war of attrition against Hamas and Hezbollah continues, Israel will collapse within no more than a year.

Terror attacks are intensifying in the West Bank and inside the country, the reservist army is voting with its feet following recurring mobilizations of combat soldiers, and the economy is crashing. Israel has also become a pariah state, prompting economic boycotts and an embargo on arms shipments.

We are also losing our social resilience, as the growing hatred between different parts of the nation threatens to ignite and bring to its destruction from within.

Sinwar and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah understand Israel's dire situation. What Israel could have achieved earlier with a hostage/cease-fire agreement has become impossible due to the new conditions that Netanyahu introduced into the proposed deal. Those involved in the negotiations in Doha claim that they have no maneuvering space to negotiate because their hands are tied.

In light of the new situation, a threat by Iran and Hezbollah to attack Israel in response to the killing of the two senior officials is materializing in the region. The use of assassinations is a step threatening to ignite the entire Middle East, decided upon by the three pyromaniacs, Netanyahu, Gallant and Chief of Staff Halevi, without thinking about the significance of their irresponsible decisions.

Sinwar has begun to understand that the war of attrition is working to his benefit, not to mention a multi-arena regional war. That's why he now prefers a continuation of the fighting to a deal, and is toughening his positions. If Netanyahu hadn't already put spokes in the negotiation team's wheels throughout the war, Israel could already have achieved a hostage deal before Sinwar toughened his stance.

Netanyahu's recent announcement to the families of hostages about the need to preserve "security assets" in Gaza – a blatant lie – has effectively torpedoed the deal, leading to a catastrophe not only for the hostages and their families but also for the entire country.

All of the paths chosen by Israel's political and military leadership are leading the country down a slippery slope. One dictator controls the fate of the country, and a flock of sheep follows him blindly. Netanyahu decided to "die with the Philistines" – in this case, the citizens of Israel – only to retain his power.

He has lost his humanity, basic morality, norms, values, and responsibility for Israel's security. Only replacing him and his cronies as soon as possible can save the country. Israel has entered an existential tailspin and could soon reach a point of no return.

After 2,000 years of exile, we returned and established a glorious country. We paid a high price in tens of thousands of dead and wounded. And now the country is disintegrating in our hands through the fault of Netanyahu, Gallant, Halevi, and their pawns. It's still possible to do something before it's too late.

Maj. Gen. Yitzhak Brik served in the Armored Corps as a brigade, division and troops commander, and was the commander of the IDF military colleges. For 10 years he was the Israel Defense Forces ombudsman.

'Not Another Bomb' to Israel Demand Grows Ahead of Democratic Convention

 

"We must double down on our demands ahead of the DNC, where we'll be marching in the streets for the liberation of all," said one campaigner.

By Jessica Corbett
Common Dreams

Leading up to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next week, calls for the U.S. government to stop arming Israel's devastating assault on the Gaza Strip—widely denounced around the world as genocide—continued to mount on Friday.

"We join the millions of people who've taken action the last 10 months, taxpayers who don't want to pay for genocide and are demanding an immediate arms embargo on Israel," U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) executive director Ahmad Abuznaid said in a statement Friday.

"We know that politicians won't change their unjust policies until it's in their own self-interest to do so," he continued. "We must double down on our demands ahead of the DNC, where we'll be marching in the streets for the liberation of all."

Pro-Palestine protests in Chicago are set to start Sunday, a day before the DNC officially begins. They will continue throughout the week, according to a schedule shared Friday by the Chicago Sun-Times. The March on the DNC is planned for Monday afternoon.

As Common Dreams reported earlier Friday, a coalition of progressive and legal groups and individuals expressed "grave concerns" about recent moves by the Chicago Police Department and the city to stop protests and vowed to take legal action as needed.

The Uncommitted National Movement's Not Another Bomb campaign is also planning a nationwide day of action for Sunday.

The movement formed when Democratic President Joe Biden was still at the top of the ticket throughout the presidential primary process; hundreds of thousands of voters across the country selected "uncommitted" or took similar action, depending on the options for each state's ballot, to send the administration a message that they don't support giving Israel any more military aid.

After a disastrous debate performance against the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, Biden dropped out of the race and passed the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris, who has already secured the party's nomination via an online process and announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Biden, Harris, and Walz are all set to speak at the convention.

"USCPR calls on the Biden-Harris administration, the Harris-Walz campaign, members of Congress, and the DNC to stop arming Israel now, as the Democratic Party currently has the power to end the genocide by cutting off the endless weapons supply to Israel," the group said Friday.

Since last week, Not Another Bomb has been gathering online signatures for a petition urging Harris "to shift away from President Biden's disastrous policy on Gaza, and pledge to enact an immediate arms embargo on Israel's assault and occupation against Palestinians as a material step towards a permanent cease-fire."

"Consider the overwhelming sentiment among your constituents: 86% of Democrats support the proposed cease-fire deal in Gaza," the petition notes. "This is the mainstream view of our party's base, as evidenced by a recent poll that reveals that 52% of Americans and 62% of Biden/Harris voters agree with halting arms sales to Israel. In addition, 70% of Democratic voters support withdrawing U.S. military funding to Israel if Israel rejects the proposed cease-fire deal, as Israel has continuously done."

Polling released this week shows that Democratic and Independent voters in three key swing states—Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania—would be more willing to vote for Harris in November if she supported cutting off weapons to Israeli forces. However, one of her advisers recently made clear that "she does not support an arms embargo on Israel."

March on the DNC spokesperson Hatem Abudayyeh toldReuters on Friday that coalition group leaders met after Biden bowed out of the contest to discuss whether they should revise their strategy if Harris became the Democratic nominee.

"There was absolute consensus," Abudayyeh said. "She represents the policies of the administration and it's full steam ahead."

The Biden-Harris administration and current Congress have provided Israel with billions of dollars in military assistance as well as diplomatic support on the world stage, including multiple vetoes of United Nations Security Council cease-fire resolutions.

Fresh calls have come this week not only in anticipation of the convention but also since the Biden administration on Tuesday approved roughly $20 billion in additional U.S.-made weapons for Israel's military as the official death toll in Gaza neared 40,000. Local officials said Friday that at least 40,005 Palestinians have been killed and another 92,401 have been wounded.

Thousands more remain missing amid the rubble in Gaza and the vast majority of the Palestinian enclave's 2.3 million residents have been forced to relocate, many of them multiple times. Israeli forces on Friday issued yet another evacuation order for areas in central and southern Gaza—including "safe zones"—leaving Palestinians with "nowhere to go."