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.
Joe Biden gets criticism from both sides of the Israel-Palestine conflict.[2] But he has apparently prevented a wider war that would likely have drawn in the U.S.[3]
What needs to happen is that Israel needs to start playing by some rules. Withdrawing from the territories it occupies and conforming to international human rights law and the laws of war would be good. And U.S. aid absolutely must stop being unconditional.
Summer Said, Margherita Stancati and William Mauldin, “Hamas Rejection Sours Israeli Bid to Revive Hostage Talks,” Wall Street Journal, December 20, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-offers-one-week-cease-fire-in-exchange-for-more-hostages-336ae59a
Ishaan Tharoor, “Israel is struggling to destroy Hamas, but it’s destroying Gaza,” Washington Post, December 20, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/20/israel-battlefield-gaza-defeat-hamas/
Julian Borger, “US says it is ready to support amended UN resolution aimed at boosting aid to Gaza,” Guardian, December 21, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/22/un-security-council-resolution-boosting-aid-gaza-usa-america-support
Louisa Loveluck et al., “The case of al-Shifa: Investigating the assault on Gaza’s largest hospital,” Washington Post, December 21, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/21/al-shifa-hospital-gaza-hamas-israel/
Paul Rogers, “Israel is losing the war against Hamas – but Netanyahu and his government will never admit it,” Guardian, December 21, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/21/israel-losing-war-against-hamas-netanyahu-idf
Andrew Silow-Carroll, “What is antisemitism? At a Jewish studies conference, scholars use the archives as a guide — and a warning,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, December 21, 2023, https://www.jta.org/2023/12/21/ideas/what-is-antisemitism-at-a-jewish-studies-conference-scholars-use-the-archives-as-a-guide-and-a-warning
Emma Graham-Harrison and Julian Borger, “UN security council backs resolution on large-scale aid to Gaza but not ceasefire,” Guardian, December 22, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/22/un-security-council-backs-resolution-on-large-scale-aid-to-gaza-but-not-ceasefire
James Politi and Felicia Schwartz, “Biden’s troubled Gaza strategy: ‘the US looks feckless,’” Financial Times, December 22, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/edebf6ef-155e-4aad-a41b-7e31016cad96
Robin Stein et al., “A Times Investigation Tracked Israel’s Use of One of Its Most Destructive Bombs in South Gaza,” New York Times, December 22, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/21/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-bomb-investigation.html
Adam Taylor, “More than 20,000 dead in Gaza, a historic human toll,” Washington Post, December 22, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/22/gaza-israel-war-20000-dead/
Deborah Danon, “‘The safest place to be Jewish’: 2,600 people have moved to Israel since Hamas invaded,” Times of Israel, December 23, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-safest-place-to-be-jewish-2600-people-have-moved-to-israel-since-hamas-invaded/
Vivian Salama, Dion Nissenbaum, and Benoit Faucon, “Biden Convinced Netanyahu to Halt a Pre-Emptive Strike Against Hezbollah,” Wall Street Journal, December 23, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/how-biden-averted-a-second-front-by-convincing-israel-not-to-attack-hezbollah-on-oct-11-e14a0a3b
Neri Zilber, “Benjamin Netanyahu vows to fight on despite mounting Gaza death toll,” Financial Times, February 24, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/6e7a8788-6a30-4686-abd4-0b7496e86bff
Illiberalism
Gilead
Donald Trump
Coup attempt
Fig. 1. Donald Trump booking photograph by Fulton County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Office, August 24, 2023, via New York, August 25, 2023,[4] public domain.
Chris Geidner, “With Trump cases, the courts now must play their role in accountability,” Law Dork, December 24, 2023, https://www.lawdork.com/p/trump-cases-courts-and-accountability
- [1]Agence France-Presse and Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” Times of Israel, September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
- [2]James Politi and Felicia Schwartz, “Biden’s troubled Gaza strategy: ‘the US looks feckless,’” Financial Times, December 22, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/edebf6ef-155e-4aad-a41b-7e31016cad96↩
- [3]Vivian Salama, Dion Nissenbaum, and Benoit Faucon, “Biden Convinced Netanyahu to Halt a Pre-Emptive Strike Against Hezbollah,” Wall Street Journal, December 23, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/how-biden-averted-a-second-front-by-convincing-israel-not-to-attack-hezbollah-on-oct-11-e14a0a3b↩
- [4]Margaret Hartmann and Nia Prater, “All the Mug Shots of Donald Trump and His Alleged Co-Conspirators,” New York, August 25, 2023, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-mug-shot-gallery.html↩