Illiberalism
Gilead
Donald Trump
Coup attempt
Fig. 1. Donald Trump still has his fans. Photograph along Washington Road in Upper Saint Clair, Pennsylvania, by author, April 28, 2024.
Katelyn Polantz, “Special counsel asks judge for gag order in Trump classified documents case,” Cable News Network, May 24, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/24/politics/trump-gag-order-trump-classified-documents/index.html
Imperialism
Israel
Palestine
Fig. 1. The ruins of a terminal at the Gaza airport. Image by Said Khatib (Agence France-Presse) on September 9, 2018, via the Times of Israel,[1] fair use.
A momentous ruling from the International Court of Justice “order[ing] Israel to halt its assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah”[2] is getting relatively little attention in the mainstream media, which has buried it in their “live coverage.”
Mary Ellen O’Connell, a professor of law and peace studies at the University of Notre Dame, described the [International Court of Justice’s] ruling Friday as the clearest indication yet that the operation in Rafah might be unfolding in contravention of international humanitarian law.
“This order from the court, 13, including the judge of U.S. nationality, are all saying this offensive cannot go forward,” she said.
“That should be the final word that President [Joe] Biden needs to order the immediate cessation of weapons delivery,” she said. “We have a statute in the United States that we cannot deliver military assistance to a country that’s violating international humanitarian law. You can’t get a clearer decision or ruling on that being the case than this judgment.”[3]
But no. It’s already clear that the U.S. and the United Kingdom, weaseling out of their “red lines,” can be expected to block any enforcement in the United Nations Security Council.[4]
But [Andrew Mitchell] persisted, saying: “What we said is that we do not think an operation in Rafah should go ahead without there being a proper plan, and that we have seen no such plan, and therefore our position remains that, without seeing that plan, it should not go ahead.”
The select committee chair, Liam Byrne, cited the movement of 800,000 people: “If that is not significant, then what is?”[5]
This is bullshit. Pure bullshit. Binyamin Netanyahu defied Joe Biden’s “red line” and has gotten away with it.
Loveday Morris et al., “What Israel’s strategic corridor in Gaza reveals about its postwar plans,” Washington Post, May 17, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/17/gaza-israel-netzarim-corridor-war-hamas/
Prem Thakker, “The State Department Says Israel Isn’t Blocking Aid. Videos Show the Opposite,” Intercept, May 18, 2024, https://theintercept.com/2024/05/18/israel-blocking-aid-gaza/
Mohamad Bazzi, “Biden wants progressives to believe he’s reining in Israel. He isn’t,” Guardian, May 20, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/may/20/biden-weapons-israel-gaza-war
Ron Kampeas, “ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, May 20, 2024, https://www.jta.org/2024/05/20/israel/international-criminal-court-prosecutor-seeks-arrest-warrants-for-benjamin-netanyahu-and-hamas-leaders
Ivana Kottasová and Madalena Araujo, “ICC seeks arrest warrants against Sinwar and Netanyahu for war crimes over October 7 attack and Gaza war,” Cable News Network, May 20, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/20/middleeast/icc-israel-hamas-arrest-warrant-war-crimes-intl/index.html
Louisa Loveluck, “ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Israel’s Netanyahu and Hamas’s Sinwar,” Washington Post, May 20, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/20/israel-hamas-war-news-gaza-palestine/
Ishaan Tharoor, “Israel ‘is stuck inside Gaza’ as Palestinian suffering deepens,” Washington Post, May 20, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/05/20/israel-gaza-suffering-netanyahu-palestinian/
Alexander Ward, Erin Banco, and Lara Seligman, “Biden admin openly hammering Israel’s military strategy in Gaza,” Politico, May 21, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/21/biden-admin-hammering-israel-military-strategy-gaza-00159262
Washington Post, “Six experts weigh in on the ICC’s warrants on Israeli and Hamas leaders,” May 21, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/05/21/icc-arrest-warrant-israel-hamas-debate/
Lazar Berman, “Norway, Ireland, Spain move to recognize Palestinian state, drawing Israeli fury,” Times of Israel, May 22, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/norway-ireland-spain-move-to-recognize-palestinian-state-drawing-israeli-fury/
William Booth, “Norway, Ireland and Spain recognize Palestinian state; Israel condemns move,” Washington Post, May 22, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/22/norway-ireland-palestine-state-recognition/
Kareem Fahim et al., “Israel’s latest offensives unleash ‘hell’ in Gaza, aid groups say,” Washington Post, May 22, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/22/gaza-famine-aid-israel-hamas/
Ishaan Tharoor, “The ICC’s battle with Israel is a test of the international order,” Washington Post, May 22, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/05/22/icc-international-order-criminal-court-israel-war-crimes/
Jerusalem Post, “Could Oct. 7 attack have been prevented? IDF reveals Netanyahu received prior warnings,” May 23, 2024, https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-802391
Ishaan Tharoor, “Israel’s isolation deepens on the world stage,” Washington Post, May 23, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/05/23/israel-isolation-icj-ruling-gaza/
Louisa Loveluck and Ellen Francis, “U.N. court order deepens Israel’s isolation as it fights on in Rafah,” Washington Post, May 24, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/24/israel-rafah-invasion-icj-ruling/
Haroon Siddique and Lorenzo Tondo, “UN’s top court orders Israel to immediately halt Rafah offensive,” Guardian, May 24, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/24/icj-orders-israel-to-halt-rafah-offensive-new-ruling
Patrick Wintour, “US and UK to back Israel over ICJ ruling after blurring their Rafah red lines,” Guardian, May 24, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/24/us-and-uk-to-back-israel-against-icj-while-blurring-their-rafah-red-lines
- [1]Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
- [2]Haroon Siddique and Lorenzo Tondo, “UN’s top court orders Israel to immediately halt Rafah offensive,” Guardian, May 24, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/24/icj-orders-israel-to-halt-rafah-offensive-new-ruling↩
- [3]Louisa Loveluck and Ellen Francis, “U.N. court order deepens Israel’s isolation as it fights on in Rafah,” Washington Post, May 24, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/24/israel-rafah-invasion-icj-ruling/↩
- [4]Patrick Wintour, “US and UK to back Israel over ICJ ruling after blurring their Rafah red lines,” Guardian, May 24, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/24/us-and-uk-to-back-israel-against-icj-while-blurring-their-rafah-red-lines↩
- [5]Patrick Wintour, “US and UK to back Israel over ICJ ruling after blurring their Rafah red lines,” Guardian, May 24, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/24/us-and-uk-to-back-israel-against-icj-while-blurring-their-rafah-red-lines↩