January 2024 – Page 2 – Irregular Bullshit

Fig. 1. Cartoon by Jesse Duquette, undated, via “Minneapple23” [pseud.] on Imgur, April 1, 2023, fair use.

I remember wondering when judges would stop putting up with Donald Trump’s nonsense. We might be getting there.

Shayna Jacobs, “Judge threatens to throw Trump out of E. Jean Carroll defamation trial,” Washington Post, January 17, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/01/17/trump-defamation-trial-carroll-new-york/

Imperialism

Israel

Palestine

07_09:10:47-2
Fig. 2. 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.

In their often shambolic and occasionally hysterical appearance before the International Court of Justice last Friday, at no point did the lawyers representing Israel give concrete arguments or convincing evidence that Israel’s three-month siege of Gaza should not be considered an act of genocide. Faced with a credible accusation of a crime one of their own called the “epitome and zenith of evil,” “the crime of crimes,” “the ultimate in wickedness,” they produced no proof they were not guilty.^[2]

Neri Zilber, “Benjamin Netanyahu faces political backlash over Israel’s hostage strategy,” Financial Times, January 16, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/2d5258d5-aabb-4c54-80e8-ec28fd4e21b0

James Robins, “Israel’s Subtle Threats at the International Court of Justice,” New Republic, January 17, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/article/178174/israels-subtle-threats-international-court-justice

United States

Yemen

This is simply asinine and that, of course, is Ryan Grim’s point:

It was a simple question, delivered directly to President Joe Biden this afternoon. The president delivered a responseOpens in a new tab that ought to be the epitaph for the period of non-Pax Americana we’ve been living through since the fall of the Soviet Union.

“Well, when you say, ‘working’ — are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they gonna continue? Yes.”^[3]

If we understand the international war crimes doctrine of proportionality as including that strikes should be reasonably expected to accomplish a specific goal—“the military advantage must be proportionate to the loss of civilian life”^[4]—and if any civilians have been killed (which we’re conveniently not hearing about), Joe Biden may have just admitted to committing a war crime. We can add it to his complicity with Israel’s genocide against Palestinians.

Ryan Grim, “Biden on Yemen Airstrikes: ‘Are They Stopping the Houthis? No. Are They Gonna Continue? Yes,’” Intercept, January 18, 2024, https://theintercept.com/2024/01/18/biden-yemen-houthi-airstrikes/

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Infrastructure

Fig. 3. Post-collapse scene at the Fern Hollow Bridge, photograph by National Transportation Safety Board, January 29, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

I think we’re finally going to see a test^[5] of Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s efforts to improve snowplowing response.^[6]

Steve Bonel, “State, local officials announce $132 million for repairs to three Pittsburgh bridges,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 18, 2024, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2024/01/18/fort-duquesne-west-end-mckees-rocks-bridges/stories/202401180089

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Another winter storm is bearing down on the Pittsburgh region,” January 18, 2024, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/weather-news/2024/01/18/how-much-snow-pittsbugh-forecast-updates/stories/202401180086

^[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 Robins, “Israel’s Subtle Threats at the International Court of Justice,” New Republic, January 17, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/article/178174/israels-subtle-threats-international-court-justice ↩
^[3]Ryan Grim, “Biden on Yemen Airstrikes: ‘Are They Stopping the Houthis? No. Are They Gonna Continue? Yes,’” Intercept, January 18, 2024, https://theintercept.com/2024/01/18/biden-yemen-houthi-airstrikes/↩
^[4]Tom Bowman, “The brutal calculus of war: Is the killing of civilians ever justified?” National Public Radio, November 11, 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/11/11/1212326333/proportionality-israel-gaza-war-war-crimes ↩
^[5]Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Another winter storm is bearing down on the Pittsburgh region,” January 18, 2024, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/weather-news/2024/01/18/how-much-snow-pittsbugh-forecast-updates/stories/202401180086 ↩
^[6]Julia Felton, “Pittsburgh looks to add more plows to address concerns about snow, ice removal,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, February 7, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-looks-to-add-more-plows-to-address-concerns-about-snow-ice-removal/; Julia Felton, “Pittsburgh to add 12 snowplows to city fleet for rest of winter,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, February 8, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-to-add-12-snow-plows-to-city-fleet-for-rest-of-winter/↩

The price of ignored suffering

January 16, 2024benfell

Imperialism

United States

Yemen

Many, many others have been making the point, but Ishaan Tharoor, here quoting Laurent Bonnefoy, drives it home:

[The Houthis] are gaining what they want, which is to appear as the boldest regional player when it comes to confronting the international coalition, which is largely in favor of Israel and does not care for people in Gaza.^[1]

Truth is, “we” don’t care much about Yemenis either, or, to put it more correctly, people with darker skins or lesser means anywhere on the globe. We argue about genitals and gender instead. We ignore people’s suffering. Their problems are not our problems. We have enough problems of our own. We can’t deal with more problems. And so we keep on ignoring their suffering, keep on being complicit with oppressors, keep on being complicit with even genocidal oppressors.

It’s okay, after all. It’s their problem, not ours.

And then we are shocked, shocked I tell you, when they make it our problem and we’re not only dealing with all the problems we still have, but the problems they’ve made for us because we ignored their problems.

Justice has to be for everybody. Ultimately, revenge can only create more problems. But we insist on retribution and we insist on domination and, my god, we absolutely love our xenophobia.

But this is where I think Tharoor errs. In his article he notes that the Houthis are engaging militarily while Yemen’s population starves.^[2] What I think he may not fully grasp is that ordinary Yemenis may identify much more with Gazans, who also endure deprivation, than they do privileged journalists.

Oren Liebermann and Haley Britzky, “Houthi ballistic missile strikes US-owned and operated cargo ship, US Central Command says,” CNN, January 15, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/15/politics/houthi-missile-strikes-us-owned-ship/index.html

Ishaan Tharoor, “What Yemen’s Houthis gain through their Red Sea strikes,” Washington Post, January 16, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/01/16/houthi-yemen-red-sea-strikes-what-gained-won/

Israel

Palestine

07_09:10:47-2
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,^[3] fair use.

I have previously commented on this situation. But Binyamin Netanyahu’s dilemma is even worse than I had surmised because Israel’s promise to Jews is that it will go to any length to protect their lives.^[4] Now, “public polls even last month showing that more than 57 per cent of Israelis place the hostages’ return as more important than toppling Hamas in Gaza.” This is political pressure explicitly for a ceasefire; it could, if I’m not being excessively optimistic, force an end to the war.

And that, also explicitly, is what Netanyahu fears.^[5] He claims an end to the war would seal the hostages’ fate.^[6] He might be right about that, but what we know is that it would seal his fate.^[7]

Neri Zilber, “Benjamin Netanyahu faces political backlash over Israel’s hostage strategy,” Financial Times, January 16, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/2d5258d5-aabb-4c54-80e8-ec28fd4e21b0

^[1]Laurent Bonnefoy, quoted in Ishaan Tharoor, “What Yemen’s Houthis gain through their Red Sea strikes,” Washington Post, January 16, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/01/16/houthi-yemen-red-sea-strikes-what-gained-won/↩
^[2]Ishaan Tharoor, “What Yemen’s Houthis gain through their Red Sea strikes,” Washington Post, January 16, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/01/16/houthi-yemen-red-sea-strikes-what-gained-won/↩
^[3]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/↩
^[4]David Remnick, “The Price of Netanyahu’s Ambition,” New Yorker, January 14, 2024, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/22/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-gaza-hamas-war-hostages ↩
^[5]David Remnick, “The Price of Netanyahu’s Ambition,” New Yorker, January 14, 2024, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/22/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-gaza-hamas-war-hostages; Neri Zilber, “Benjamin Netanyahu faces political backlash over Israel’s hostage strategy,” Financial Times, January 16, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/2d5258d5-aabb-4c54-80e8-ec28fd4e21b0 ↩
^[6]Neri Zilber, “Benjamin Netanyahu faces political backlash over Israel’s hostage strategy,” Financial Times, January 16, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/2d5258d5-aabb-4c54-80e8-ec28fd4e21b0 ↩
^[7]David Remnick, “The Price of Netanyahu’s Ambition,” New Yorker, January 14, 2024, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/22/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-gaza-hamas-war-hostages ↩

The Houthis’ obligatory response

January 15, 2024benfell

Imperialism

United States

Yemen

The attack against the Gibraltar Eagle appears to be the first time the Houthis have successfully struck a US-owned or operated ship, raising the stakes in the Red Sea after the US vowed that further Houthi launches would be met with a response.^[1]

In the chest-thumping world, this Houthi attack was obligatory. To have not responded would have appeared as capitulation. What will be more significant is if we see further attacks.

Though I gotta tell ya, based on this report,^[2] it doesn’t sound like the Houthis have terribly reliable missiles.

Illiberalism

Fig. 1. Photograph by Joachim F. Thurn, August 1991, Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F089030-0003, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE.

Yet another country gets added to the illiberalism list.

Tim Gosling, “Is Slovakia on a fast track to illiberalism?” Deutsche Welle, January 15, 2024, https://www.dw.com/en/worries-for-rule-of-law-in-slovakia-as-fico-targets-courts/a-67985576

^[1]Oren Liebermann and Haley Britzky, “Houthi ballistic missile strikes US-owned and operated cargo ship, US Central Command says,” CNN, January 15, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/15/politics/houthi-missile-strikes-us-owned-ship/index.html ↩
^[2]Oren Liebermann and Haley Britzky, “Houthi ballistic missile strikes US-owned and operated cargo ship, US Central Command says,” CNN, January 15, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/15/politics/houthi-missile-strikes-us-owned-ship/index.html ↩

Up to our eyeballs in our own manure

January 15, 2024January 15, 2024benfell

Illiberalism

Gilead

Migration

Did Texas really interfere with U.S. Border Patrol operations? Yes, they did. Did people die due to this interference? Yes, they did. Is Texas admitting responsibility for these deaths? Kind of an awkward silence, there.^[1]

I’m expecting a similarly awkward silence from the federal government as well. Joe Biden seems to perceive, probably correctly, that unauthorized migration is a political vulnerability for him in an election year. But reports will undoubtedly be made and I’m wondering if the Department of Justice investigates.

All that said, I can scream it until I’m blue in the face: It’s not enough to address “pull” factors in migration, those factors thought to attract migrants to particular locations. (In the U.S., these are mainly economic.) And it’s certainly not enough to build walls or put in other obstacles.

When people are desperate—this desperation is politically inconvenient and therefore generally not acknowledged—you must also consider “push” factors, those factors that drive people to risk their lives on perilous journeys, in which crossing the U.S. border is only one of numerous hazards.

In Central America and southern Mexico, these “push” factors have U.S. fingerprints all over them: Inadequate and sometimes flatly wrong U.S. climate and trade policies were ruinous for subsistence farmers, while the U.S. “War on Drugs” enabled drug gangs and cartels that make these regions among the most dangerous in the world.^[2] U.S. support for oligarchs and coups d’etat have enabled corruption that further impoverishes and immiserates the population.

But we don’t want to get involved with that. That is, apart from the fact we’re already up to our eyeballs in our own manure.

Dan Katz, “Three migrants drown in Rio Grande after Texas blocks Border Patrol from rescue,” Texas Public Radio, January 13, 2024, https://www.tpr.org/border-immigration/2024-01-13/three-drown-in-rio-grande-after-texas-blocks-border-patrol-from-rescue

Imperialism

United States

Yemen

It’s difficult to imagine the U.S. actually getting dragged into yet another war in the Middle East. But from what I can see, factors on the ground are pulling inexorably in that direction. It’s unlikely the U.S.-led attacks have significantly impaired Houthi capabilities^[3] and the Houthis have made themselves heroes among Arab publics by taking up the Palestinian cause and aligning with Hamas.^[4] Stars need to align to prevent a wider war and I’m just not seeing that alignment.

CNN, “President Joe Biden’s statement on strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen,” January 11, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/11/politics/read-biden-statement-airstrikes-houthis-yemen

Mahad Darar, “US-UK airstrikes risk strengthening Houthi rebels’ position in Yemen and the region,” Conversation, January 12, 2024, https://theconversation.com/us-uk-airstrikes-risk-strengthening-houthi-rebels-position-in-yemen-and-the-region-221006

Gabriel Gavin, Antonia Zimmermann, and Jamie Dettmer, “Middle East braces for chaos as Iran and West square up,” Politico, January 12, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/middle-east-chaos-iran-west-houthi-israel-hamas-war/

Thomas Grove and Stephen Kalin, “U.S. Launches New Strike on Houthi Radar Site in Yemen,” Wall Street Journal, January 12, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/u-s-led-yemen-strikes-heighten-risk-of-broader-middle-east-conflict-aedb0006

John Paul Rathbone, “Military briefing: can the US and its allies stop the Houthis?” Financial Times, January 13, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/c09a1244-b4af-4fc0-8dad-e4e724988716

Patrick Wintour, “How Houthi anger with Israel is reshaping the Middle East conflict,” Guardian, January 13, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/13/how-houthi-anger-with-israel-is-reshaping-the-middle-east-conflict

^[1]Dan Katz, “Three migrants drown in Rio Grande after Texas blocks Border Patrol from rescue,” Texas Public Radio, January 13, 2024, https://www.tpr.org/border-immigration/2024-01-13/three-drown-in-rio-grande-after-texas-blocks-border-patrol-from-rescue ↩
^[2]David Benfell, “Conservative Views on Undocumented Migration” (doctoral dissertation, Saybrook, 2016). ProQuest (1765416126).↩
^[3]John Paul Rathbone, “Military briefing: can the US and its allies stop the Houthis?” Financial Times, January 13, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/c09a1244-b4af-4fc0-8dad-e4e724988716 ↩
^[4]Patrick Wintour, “How Houthi anger with Israel is reshaping the Middle East conflict,” Guardian, January 13, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/13/how-houthi-anger-with-israel-is-reshaping-the-middle-east-conflict ↩

The wait for peace in Palestine will be long

January 14, 2024January 14, 2024benfell

Imperialism

Israel

Fig. 1. John Bolton and Binyamin Netanyahu at a press conference. Office of U.S. National Security Advisor, August 20, 2018, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

David Remnick has pulled together an incredible account of opinion on what, for now, is only a war between Israel and Hamas, in Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon. It rambles, but only because there is so much ground to cover:

Benzion [Netanyahu, Binyamin’s father] was an acolyte of Ze’ev Jabotinsky, the leader of the branch of right-wing Zionism known as Revisionism (what was being revised was a Zionist agenda deemed insufficiently militant), and it had been Jabotinsky who foresaw disaster befalling the Jews of Europe, which, in 1938, he likened to a “volcano which will soon begin to spew forth its fires of destruction.” In the Revisionist view, the founding of Israel came, culpably, too late—too late for six million Jews. Like Jabotinsky, Benzion believed that Ben-Gurion and other mainstream Labor Zionists had been much too accommodating of the British, who ruled Mandate-era Palestine, and too willing to negotiate with the Arabs who lived there. “A nice end they are preparing for us,” Benzion wrote in a Revisionist publication. “That end is an Arab state in the land of Israel.” His view of the enemy did not admit much humanity. “The tendency to conflict is in the essence of the Arab,” he told a reporter in 2009. “The goal of the Arabs of Israel is destruction. They do not deny that they want to destroy us.”^[1]

It’s full-on fascism in Israel now, not that that should terribly surprising. Apparently, this opinion is typical:^[2]

Ben Caspit, the author of a biography critical of Netanyahu, recently posted that he felt no compunction about concentrating on the home front [in Israel]. “Why should we turn our attention [to Gaza]?” he wrote. “They’ve earned that hell fairly, and I don’t have a milligram of empathy.”^[3]

Remember Ben Caspit the next time a Zionist chides you about “collective guilt.”

Mustafa Barghouti, an independent politician in the West Bank, told me he feels “sad for every person killed, Israeli or Palestinian,” but insisted that the Western world was “talking only about Israelis,” and rarely Palestinians. “Hamas is the result of the occupation. They say Israel has a right to defend itself. Don’t Palestinians have the right to defend themselves?” . . .

It wasn’t just the Tel Aviv left that had come to view [Binyamin] Netanyahu as a threat to the state. Even old allies on the right could no longer ignore the spectacle of his narcissism and self-dealing. Michael Oren, a former member of the Knesset and Ambassador to the U.S. under Netanyahu, was one of many who trotted out the apocryphal remark of Louis XIV, “L’état, c’est moi”—the state is me—to characterize the Prime Minister’s attitude. Netanyahu, Oren told me, “seems unable to distinguish between personal and political interests.” Ami Ayalon, the former head of Shin Bet, the country’s internal security service, described Netanyahu to me as “a person who will sell out everyone and everything in order to stay in power.” Moshe Ya’alon, the defense minister from 2013 to 2016, told me that Netanyahu’s ideology is now “personal political survival,” adding that his coalition partners “don’t represent the vast majority of the Israeli people” and are “so messianic that they believe in Jewish supremacy—‘Mein Kampf’ in the opposite direction. They’ve taken Netanyahu hostage.” . . .

The longer the war goes on—and, according to top military analysts, it is not going nearly as well or as quickly as the I.D.F. had hoped—the more time Netanyahu will have to rebuild his base and undermine potential challengers. “Netanyahu has an interest in never finishing this stage of war,” Nahum Barnea said. The Prime Minister’s announced “prerequisites for peace,” certainly, do not suggest he is looking for an off-ramp: “Hamas must be destroyed, Gaza must be demilitarized, and Palestinian society must be deradicalized.” Yet Hamas has always been a product as well as a purveyor of brutality, and the Prime Minister hardly needs to be instructed in the gap between his political interests and the larger realities. Recounting a previous crisis in his memoir, he took pains to edify his readers on the subject. A full-blown war with Hamas, he wrote, would be a “hollow” spectacle with no satisfying end. “The Hamas leaders would come out from their holes and declare victory among the ruins.”^[4]

The bottom line here is that if you’re hoping for peace, you might be waiting a while.

David Remnick, “The Price of Netanyahu’s Ambition,” New Yorker, January 14, 2024, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/22/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-gaza-hamas-war-hostages

Palestine

07_09:10:47-2
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,^[5] fair use.

David Cohen, “Israel’s president says expelling Palestinians not the plan,” Politico, January 7, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/07/israel-palestinians-expel-gaza-00134187

Wafaa Shurafa, Jack Jeffery, Bassem Mroue, “Israeli strike kills an elite Hezbollah commander in the latest escalation linked to the war in Gaza,” Associated Press, January 8, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-01-08-2024-18fbc9af50000c94fed59017fe82481e

Julia Ioffe, “‘Blood Libel?’: On the Question of Genocide in Gaza,” Puck, January 9, 2024, https://puck.news/blood-libel-on-the-question-of-genocide-in-gaza/

Nahal Toosi, “The US Is Dealing With an Israeli Leader Who’s Losing Control,” Politico, January 9, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/01/08/netanyahu-israeli-leader-losing-control-00134146

Mark Leon Goldberg, “Why Israel Can’t Just Wave Away International Justice Charges,” New Republic, January 10, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/article/177983/israel-gaza-international-justice-charges

Adrienne Mahsa Varkiani, “ADL Officially Admits It Counts Pro-Palestine Activism as Antisemitic,” New Republic, January 10, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/post/177993/adl-abandons-pretense-tracking-antisemitism-honestly-palestine-rallies

Jess Bravin, “South Africa Accuses Israel of Genocide in U.N. Court,” Wall Street Journal, January 11, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/world/south-africa-accuses-israel-of-genocide-in-u-n-court-3af69eb7

Ryan Grim, “South Africa Just Made Its Case at The Hague. What’s Next?” Intercept, January 11, 2024, https://theintercept.com/2024/01/11/south-africa-israel-genocide-charges/

Barbara Moens, Jacopo Barigazzi, and Eddy Wax, “South Africa’s genocide case against Israel lays bare Europe’s feeble power,” Politico, January 11, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/south-africas-genocide-case-against-israel-lays-bare-europes-feeble-power/

Claire Parker and Emily Rauhala to Today’s Worldview list, “What to know about the genocide case against Israel at the ICJ,” Washington Post, January 11, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/newsletters/todays-worldview/

Yves Smith, “Israel Capitulates at the Start of International Court of Justice Genocide Hearing,” Naked Capitalism, January 11, 2024, https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/01/israel-capitulates-at-the-start-of-international-court-of-justice-genocide-hearing.html

James Shotter, “Israel calls South Africa’s allegations of genocide in Gaza ‘profoundly distorted,’” Financial Times, January 12, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/9cddf8bb-feb0-4722-9e9a-ff90acd6a328

Najib Jobain, Samy Magdy, and Bassem Mroue, “A defiant Netanyahu says no one can halt Israel’s war to crush Hamas, including the world court,” Associated Press, January 13, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-01-13-2024-62b05e26b1e00439d00e60c78f260ce5

David Remnick, “The Price of Netanyahu’s Ambition,” New Yorker, January 14, 2024, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/22/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-gaza-hamas-war-hostages

Lebanon

Fig. 1. “Sabra & Shatila Massacre 1982 Memorial in Sabra, South Beirut,” photograph by Bertramz, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.

David Remnick, “The Price of Netanyahu’s Ambition,” New Yorker, January 14, 2024, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/22/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-gaza-hamas-war-hostages

United States

Yemen

Please note that Yemen now has its own page. Relevant articles under the United States have been moved.

Corresponding pages for Iran and Saudi Arabia have not yet been created.

^[1]David Remnick, “The Price of Netanyahu’s Ambition,” New Yorker, January 14, 2024, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/22/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-gaza-hamas-war-hostages ↩
^[2]David Remnick, “The Price of Netanyahu’s Ambition,” New Yorker, January 14, 2024, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/22/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-gaza-hamas-war-hostages ↩
^[3]David Remnick, “The Price of Netanyahu’s Ambition,” New Yorker, January 14, 2024, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/22/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-gaza-hamas-war-hostages ↩
^[4]David Remnick, “The Price of Netanyahu’s Ambition,” New Yorker, January 14, 2024, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/22/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-gaza-hamas-war-hostages ↩
^[5]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/↩

Lebensraum, Zionist-style

January 14, 2024benfell

Imperialism

Israel

Palestine

07_09:10:47-2
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.

If I stood accused of genocide, I think I would not say this: “No one will stop us, not The Hague, not the axis of evil and not anyone else.”^[2]

But that Binyamin Netanyahu did say it^[3] illustrates a stark divide, at least as stark as the polarization in U.S. politics, between those who find Israel’s conduct absolutely reprehensible and those who will excuse even its worst atrocities. As in the U.S., there is little or no common ground between the opponents; each to some degree perceives even the mere existence of the other as an existential threat.

When you hear people proclaim their “right to exist,” suspect that, as in the Zionist case, they are depriving somebody else of that right. There is no significant difference here between the Zionist claim and the Nazi demand for Lebensraum. It reduces neatly to, “We have rights. You do not.”

David Cohen, “Israel’s president says expelling Palestinians not the plan,” Politico, January 7, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/07/israel-palestinians-expel-gaza-00134187

Julia Ioffe, “‘Blood Libel?’: On the Question of Genocide in Gaza,” Puck, January 9, 2024, https://puck.news/blood-libel-on-the-question-of-genocide-in-gaza/

Ryan Grim, “South Africa Just Made Its Case at The Hague. What’s Next?” Intercept, January 11, 2024, https://theintercept.com/2024/01/11/south-africa-israel-genocide-charges/

Imperialism

United States

Fig. 1. “American Progress,” painting by John Gast, 1872, digital version 2006, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

CNN, “President Joe Biden’s statement on strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen,” January 11, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/11/politics/read-biden-statement-airstrikes-houthis-yemen

John Paul Rathbone, “Military briefing: can the US and its allies stop the Houthis?” Financial Times, January 13, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/c09a1244-b4af-4fc0-8dad-e4e724988716

^[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]Binyamin Netanyahu, quoted in Najib Jobain, Samy Magdy, and Bassem Mroue, “A defiant Netanyahu says no one can halt Israel’s war to crush Hamas, including the world court,” Associated Press, January 13, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-01-13-2024-62b05e26b1e00439d00e60c78f260ce5 ↩
^[3]Binyamin Netanyahu, quoted in Najib Jobain, Samy Magdy, and Bassem Mroue, “A defiant Netanyahu says no one can halt Israel’s war to crush Hamas, including the world court,” Associated Press, January 13, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-01-13-2024-62b05e26b1e00439d00e60c78f260ce5 ↩

‘Five O’Clock Follies,’ Yemen-style, as Crusades stir back to life

January 13, 2024January 13, 2024benfell

Imperialism

Fig. 1. “Map of the Roman Empire during 69AD, the Year of the Four Emperors. Coloured areas indicate provinces loyal to one of four warring generals.” Original: User:Steerpike and en:User:Andrei nacu, August 11, 2009, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

United States

Fig. 1. “American Progress,” painting by John Gast, 1872, digital version 2006, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

So this is rich: “Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow condemned the attacks [on the Houthis], calling them reckless and adventurist.”^[1] But I suppose, having failed to subdue Ukraine in anything like the time they expected, Russia might know a thing or two about reckless adventurism.

That said, it’s likely that the Houthis are indeed undeterred. They knew the attacks were coming and had time to prepare. Which means rosy initial assessments from the U.S. military^[2] should be presumptively treated about like one should regard the Vietnam War’s “Five O’Clock Follies.”^[3] And, “the Houthis stand to gain politically from these U.S.-U.K. attacks as they support a narrative that the group has been cultivating: that they are freedom fighters fighting Western imperialism in the Muslim world.”^[4]

Mahad Darar never mentions the Crusades. He might as well have, noting U.S. failures to gain regional allies to support the effort, but the Houthis have aligned themselves with Gazans, thus winning support from Arab publics that their rulers dare not cross.^[5]

The Crusades didn’t go well for the Crusaders. And we’re still fighting them.

CNN, “President Joe Biden’s statement on strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen,” January 11, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/11/politics/read-biden-statement-airstrikes-houthis-yemen

China

Taiwan

Xi Jinping lost.^[6] I’m pretty sure he’s not going to like that. The next question is what he does about it.

Ishaan Tharoor, “China looms over Taiwan’s fateful election,” Washington Post, January 12, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/01/12/china-taiwan-election-xi-jinping-united-states/

William Glover Weiss and Tim Mak, “Pro-Western, Pro-Taiwan Sovereignty Party Wins Taiwan Presidential Election,” Counteroffensive, January 13, 2024, https://www.counteroffensive.news/p/newsflash-pro-western-pro-taiwan

^[1]Thomas Grove and Stephen Kalin, “U.S. Launches New Strike on Houthi Radar Site in Yemen,” Wall Street Journal, January 12, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/u-s-led-yemen-strikes-heighten-risk-of-broader-middle-east-conflict-aedb0006 ↩
^[2]Thomas Grove and Stephen Kalin, “U.S. Launches New Strike on Houthi Radar Site in Yemen,” Wall Street Journal, January 12, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/u-s-led-yemen-strikes-heighten-risk-of-broader-middle-east-conflict-aedb0006 ↩
^[3]David Halberstam, The Powers That Be (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois, 2000).↩
^[4]Mahad Darar, “US-UK airstrikes risk strengthening Houthi rebels’ position in Yemen and the region,” Conversation, January 12, 2024, https://theconversation.com/us-uk-airstrikes-risk-strengthening-houthi-rebels-position-in-yemen-and-the-region-221006 ↩
^[5]Mahad Darar, “US-UK airstrikes risk strengthening Houthi rebels’ position in Yemen and the region,” Conversation, January 12, 2024, https://theconversation.com/us-uk-airstrikes-risk-strengthening-houthi-rebels-position-in-yemen-and-the-region-221006 ↩
^[6]William Glover Weiss and Tim Mak, “Pro-Western, Pro-Taiwan Sovereignty Party Wins Taiwan Presidential Election,” Counteroffensive, January 13, 2024, https://www.counteroffensive.news/p/newsflash-pro-western-pro-taiwan ↩

Forgettable speeches and the drumbeats of war

January 12, 2024benfell

Illiberalism

Gilead

Donald Trump

Finances

Fig. 1. Trump International Hotel, Las Vegas, undated image credited to https://www.flickr.com/photos/glynlowe/ [bad link], via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

There’s no jury, so Donald Trump was giving his diatribe pretty much to the judge and everyone else in court.^[1] This is the penalty phase in a fraud trial where the judge has already issued a summary judgment^[2] and a gag order^[3] against Trump, so we’re pretty clear that the judge will have been unmoved, particularly after having his house ‘swatted’ that very morning.^[4] You’re entitled to ask what the hell good this did. I can merely shrug: I doubt any at all and his performance will reinforce that he is unrepentant, you know, as if this was a surprise to anyone.

Michael R. Sisak and Jennifer Peltz, “Donald Trump defies judge, gives courtroom speech on tense final day of New York civil fraud trial,” Associated Press, January 11, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/trump-fraud-lawsuit-new-york-closing-arguments-b36abe2fd695d0172e71f8ef9c5ee7f3

Imperialism

Fig. 2. “Map of the Roman Empire during 69AD, the Year of the Four Emperors. Coloured areas indicate provinces loyal to one of four warring generals.” Original: User:Steerpike and en:User:Andrei nacu, August 11, 2009, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

CNN, “READ: President Joe Biden’s statement on strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen,” January 11, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/11/politics/read-biden-statement-airstrikes-houthis-yemen

Israel

Palestine

07_09:10:47-2
Fig. 3. 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,^[5] fair use.

It sounds^[6] like South Africa has made the case I would have wanted them to make. And Israel is indeed citing self-defense in response to a horrific attack by Hamas.^[7]

To me, Israel’s argument is insufficient. First, the scale of that response dwarfs that ‘horrific’ attack as the Palestinian death toll approaches twenty times that inflicted by Hamas.^[8] The huge question here is about proportionality, but it’s accompanied by questions about strikes on hospitals,^[9] the bombs used,^[10] and an apparent effort to ethnically cleanse Gaza (and maybe even the West Bank).^[11]

Second, even as Israel complains about “decontextualization,”^[12] South Africa points out that this is the continuation of Nakba, which began in 1948.^[13]

I don’t understand why this is supposed to take years.

David Cohen, “Israel’s president says expelling Palestinians not the plan,” Politico, January 7, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/07/israel-palestinians-expel-gaza-00134187

Julia Ioffe, “‘Blood Libel?’: On the Question of Genocide in Gaza,” Puck, January 9, 2024, https://puck.news/blood-libel-on-the-question-of-genocide-in-gaza/

Ryan Grim, “South Africa Just Made Its Case at The Hague. What’s Next?” Intercept, January 11, 2024, https://theintercept.com/2024/01/11/south-africa-israel-genocide-charges/

China

Taiwan

United States

Fig. 4. “American Progress,” painting by John Gast, 1872, digital version 2006, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

CNN, “READ: President Joe Biden’s statement on strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen,” January 11, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/11/politics/read-biden-statement-airstrikes-houthis-yemen

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Fig. 5. The confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, with the “Golden Triangle” and downtown Pittsburgh. Photograph by author, October 15, 2023.

Paula Reed Ward, “Sidewalk squabble leads homeowner to sue Mt. Lebanon,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, January 10, 2024, https://triblive.com/local/south-hills/sidewalk-squabble-leads-homeowner-to-sue-mt-lebanon/

^[1]Michael R. Sisak and Jennifer Peltz, “Donald Trump defies judge, gives courtroom speech on tense final day of New York civil fraud trial,” Associated Press, January 11, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/trump-fraud-lawsuit-new-york-closing-arguments-b36abe2fd695d0172e71f8ef9c5ee7f3 ↩
^[2]Michael R. Sisak, “Judge rules Donald Trump defrauded banks and insurers while building real estate empire,” Associated Press, September 26, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-letitia-james-fraud-lawsuit-1569245a9284427117b8d3ba5da74249 ↩
^[3]Shayna Jacobs and Devlin Barrett, “Judge fines Trump $10,000 for second violation of New York gag order,” Washington Post, October 25, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/10/25/trump-fined-gag-order/; Shayna Jacobs and Mark Berman, “Judge issues gag order in fraud case after Trump assails staffer on social media,” Washington Post, October 3, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/03/trump-civil-fraud-trial-ny/; Jennifer Peltz, “Appeals court reinstates gag order that barred Trump from maligning court staff in NY fraud trial,” Associated Press, November 30, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/trump-fraud-lawsuit-trial-gag-order-15304270ea3f61284a414f938155ae62; Kara Scannell, “Judge in Trump fraud trial expands gag order to Trump’s attorneys,” CNN, November 3, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/03/politics/trump-gag-order-engoron-clerk/index.html; Kara Scannell and Sabrina Souza, “Donald Trump fined $5,000 for violating gag order in New York fraud trial and warned twice about imprisonment,” CNN, October 20, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/20/politics/trump-social-media-fraud-trial-warning/index.html ↩
^[4]Michael R. Sisak and Jennifer Peltz, “Donald Trump defies judge, gives courtroom speech on tense final day of New York civil fraud trial,” Associated Press, January 11, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/trump-fraud-lawsuit-new-york-closing-arguments-b36abe2fd695d0172e71f8ef9c5ee7f3 ↩
^[5]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/↩
^[6]Jess Bravin, “South Africa Accuses Israel of Genocide in U.N. Court,” Wall Street Journal, January 11, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/world/south-africa-accuses-israel-of-genocide-in-u-n-court-3af69eb7 ↩
^[7]Julia Ioffe, “‘Blood Libel?’: On the Question of Genocide in Gaza,” Puck, January 9, 2024, https://puck.news/blood-libel-on-the-question-of-genocide-in-gaza/; James Shotter, “Israel calls South Africa’s allegations of genocide in Gaza ‘profoundly distorted,’” Financial Times, January 12, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/9cddf8bb-feb0-4722-9e9a-ff90acd6a328 ↩
^[8]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/; Neri Zilber, “Benjamin Netanyahu vows to fight on despite mounting Gaza death toll,” Financial Times, December 24, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/6e7a8788-6a30-4686-abd4-0b7496e86bff ↩
^[9]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/↩
^[10]Jacob Magid, “Biden: ‘Indiscriminate’ bombing costing Israel support, Netanyahu ‘has to change,’” Times of Israel, December 13, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/biden-indiscriminate-bombing-costs-israel-support-netanyahu-has-to-change/; 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 ↩
^[11]Ryan Grim, “Netanyahu’s Goal for Gaza: ‘Thin’ Population ‘to a Minimum,’” Intercept, December 3, 2023, https://theintercept.com/2023/12/03/netanyahu-thin-gaza-population/; Steve Hendrix, Hajar Harb, and Claire Parker, “As Gazans return to destroyed homes, Israeli ministers push resettlement,” Washington Post, January 4, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/01/04/gaza-displaced-civilians-resettlement-israel/; Ron Kampeas, “Biden administration, Reform Jewish leader slam Smotrich and Ben Gvir for calling for Palestinians’ removal from Gaza,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, January 2, 2024, https://www.jta.org/2024/01/02/politics/biden-administration-reform-jewish-leader-slam-smotrich-and-ben-gvir-for-calling-for-palestinians-removal-from-gaza; Tori Otten, “Report: Israel in Talks With Third Country to Expel Palestinians Entirely,” New Republic, January 3, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/post/177837/report-israel-expel-palestinians-gaza-third-country-congo; Ishaan Tharoor, “Israeli calls for Gaza’s ethnic cleansing are only getting louder,” Washington Post, January 5, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/01/05/wv-israel-hamas/↩
^[12]James Shotter, “Israel calls South Africa’s allegations of genocide in Gaza ‘profoundly distorted,’” Financial Times, January 12, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/9cddf8bb-feb0-4722-9e9a-ff90acd6a328 ↩
^[13]Jess Bravin, “South Africa Accuses Israel of Genocide in U.N. Court,” Wall Street Journal, January 11, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/world/south-africa-accuses-israel-of-genocide-in-u-n-court-3af69eb7 ↩

I am shocked to learn, shocked I tell you, that the owner of an abandoned mall is a deadbeat

January 11, 2024January 11, 2024benfell

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Century III Mall

Fig. 1. “The exterior of the closed Century III Mall taken from a drone . . . in West Mifflin.” Photograph by Benjamin B. Braun, May 11, 2023, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,^[1] fair use.

Neena Hagen, “Owner of Century III Mall fails to pay $150K fine for dangerous code violations,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 11, 2024, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2024/01/10/century-iii-moonbeam-mall-west-mifflin/stories/202401100095

Imperialism

Israel

Palestine

07_09:10:47-2
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,^[2] fair use.

One interesting wrinkle is at the top of the [International Court of Justice] hearing, the registrar read into the record a new element submitted by South Africa, not contained in its 84 page case, that of a detailed list of the “provisional measures” that is it asking the court to impose on Israel. Recall that the form of this filing was an “Indication of Provisional Measures,” that is, that the evidence of genocide was so overwhelming that the Court should impose provisional measures with the intent of halting Israel’s genocidal conduct while the case continued on the normal (time consuming) course. This list is comprehensive and well thought out, ranging from a cessation of formal military and irregular forces action against Palestinian, ending conduct designed to cause physical and psychological harm and prevent births, to stop forced displacement, to provide access to food, medical care, fuel and other necessities of life to preserving evidence with respect to genocide and not restrict access to fact-finder regarding this type of evidence. . . .

Israel does not have any good cards to play, not just with respect to the South Africa genocide case but in its campaign against Palestinians. It seems to be relying on the fact that no one has been able to stop the slow-motion extermination of Palestinians, and that all it needs to do is stay its vicious course of action. But that sort of win is not going to make Israel safer. . . .

Israel media and statements by official show the country is still operating on blood lust and not realism. The country’s statements so far suggest that rather than attempting a dignified response to the serious South Africa charges, Israel, in keeping with its refusal to file a written answer, looks primed instead in the hearing tomorrow will attack the legitimacy of the court and the charges. That would only serve to further isolate Israel, even if it plays well on domestic TV. Or perhaps is has made a nose count and has come to the same conclusion as Norman Finkelstein, that it will prevail because Russia and China will not vote for the South Africa charge due to their own exposure to similar filings (there is already a case against Russian lodged with the ICJ).^[3]

One of the points Yves Smith makes is that the deprivation of human essentials in Gaza will eventually depopulate the territory^[4] in plain accordance with right-wing Israeli wishes.^[5]

David Cohen, “Israel’s president says expelling Palestinians not the plan,” Politico, January 7, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/07/israel-palestinians-expel-gaza-00134187

Julia Ioffe, “‘Blood Libel?’: On the Question of Genocide in Gaza,” Puck, January 9, 2024, https://puck.news/blood-libel-on-the-question-of-genocide-in-gaza/

Ryan Grim, “South Africa Just Made Its Case at The Hague. What’s Next?” Intercept, January 11, 2024, https://theintercept.com/2024/01/11/south-africa-israel-genocide-charges/

Electric vehicles

Fig. 1. “A Toyota bZ4X electric sport utility vehicle: EVs currently on the market are fitted with batteries that use liquid lithium-ion electrolytes.” Photograph by Kiyoshi Ota, n.d., via Financial Times, fair use.

Uber, which had previously made a deal with Hertz to rent Teslas to drivers,^[6] is still pushing drivers hard to get into electric cars and the costs that Hertz is deciding it can’t afford.^[7]

Andrew J. Hawkins, “Kia gets its first customer for the PV5 modular electric vehicle: Uber,” Verge, January 10, 2024, https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/10/24033010/kia-uber-mou-pv5-modular-ev-ridehail-deal

Ciara Linnane, “Hertz cites weak demand, high damage costs in decision to downsize EV fleet,” MarketWatch, January 11, 2024, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/hertz-cites-weak-demand-high-damage-costs-in-decision-to-downsize-ev-fleet-0996ae17

^[1]Neena Hagen, “The fall of the Century: Once a retail shopping jewel, the West Mifflin mall has been left to rot,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 21, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2023/05/21/centuryiii-west-mifflin-mall-slag-heap-kaufmanns-sears-police-closed-crime/stories/202305210039 ↩
^[2]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/↩
^[3]Yves Smith, “Israel Capitulates at the Start of International Court of Justice Genocide Hearing,” Naked Capitalism, January 11, 2024, https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/01/israel-capitulates-at-the-start-of-international-court-of-justice-genocide-hearing.html ↩
^[4]Yves Smith, “Israel Capitulates at the Start of International Court of Justice Genocide Hearing,” Naked Capitalism, January 11, 2024, https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/01/israel-capitulates-at-the-start-of-international-court-of-justice-genocide-hearing.html ↩
^[5]Ron Kampeas, “Biden administration, Reform Jewish leader slam Smotrich and Ben Gvir for calling for Palestinians’ removal from Gaza,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, January 2, 2024, https://www.jta.org/2024/01/02/politics/biden-administration-reform-jewish-leader-slam-smotrich-and-ben-gvir-for-calling-for-palestinians-removal-from-gaza; Tori Otten, “Report: Israel in Talks With Third Country to Expel Palestinians Entirely,” New Republic, January 3, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/post/177837/report-israel-expel-palestinians-gaza-third-country-congo; Ishaan Tharoor, “As Israel ramps up war with Hamas, backers cheer destruction of Gaza,” Washington Post, October 13, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/13/israel-rhetoric-gaza-response-retribution-punishment/; Ishaan Tharoor, “Israel’s Gaza war raises fears of a Palestinian exodus into Egypt,” Washington Post, December 12, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2023/12/12/gaza-displacement-egypt-palestine-israel-flee-rafah/; Ishaan Tharoor, “Israeli calls for Gaza’s ethnic cleansing are only getting louder,” Washington Post, January 5, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/01/05/wv-israel-hamas/; Times of Israel, “Attorney general said to warn ministers to be careful when talking about Hamas war,” November 14, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/attorney-general-said-to-warn-ministers-to-be-careful-when-talking-about-hamas-war/; Aime Williams and James Shotter, “Joe Biden calls out ‘extreme’ elements within Israel’s government,” Financial Times, July 9, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/6c91f5df-58ce-4fe2-b4f3-de12f565eac2 ↩
^[6]Fred Lambert, “Tesla order could double to 200,000 Model 3s to satisfy deal with Uber, says Hertz CEO,” Electrek, October 28, 2021, https://electrek.co/2021/10/28/tesla-order-double-200000-model-3s-satisfy-deal-uber-hertz-ceo/; Joann Muller, “A big EV push for Uber drivers,” Axios, October 27, 2021, https://www.axios.com/a-big-ev-push-for-uber-drivers-358a720f-f1ba-4c28-9a83-1bb86061c9e4.html ↩
^[7]Ciara Linnane, “Hertz cites weak demand, high damage costs in decision to downsize EV fleet,” MarketWatch, January 11, 2024, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/hertz-cites-weak-demand-high-damage-costs-in-decision-to-downsize-ev-fleet-0996ae17 ↩

Is it really deja vu for the Speaker of the House of Representatives?

January 11, 2024benfell

Illiberalism

Gilead

Speaker of the House of Representatives, 2023-2024

Fig. 1. Photograph credited to Office of Congressman Kevin McCarthy, date inconsistent with title but given as November 9, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

I’m sure we’re all going to learn something from all this. I just haven’t the faintest idea what it might be.

What I can say, as if zillions of others before me hadn’t prognosticated it already, replacing Kevin McCarthy even with Mike Johnson didn’t solve the fundamental problem, which is simply that you have a minority committed to burning it all down even when they do get their way, and then you have, well, just about everybody else.

Tina Nguyen, “Johnson Gets the McCarthy Treatment,” Puck, January 10, 2024, https://puck.news/johnson-gets-the-mccarthy-treatment/

Imperialism

Israel

Palestine

07_09:10:47-2
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.

I’ve been thinking more about the politics surrounding South Africa’s case against Israel in the International Court of Justice.^[2]

I have seen comment—I’m failing to remember where—that South Africa is vying to be a leader of the Global South—often formerly colonized nations. The international courts have been criticized repeatedly and stridently for a supposed bias against the Global South; it is said that cases brought before the courts are disproportionately against Global South politicians. Where, for example, is the case against George W. Bush? Where was the case against Henry Kissinger? A failure to find against Israel will be perceived as yet another case of Western favoritism and by bringing the case, South Africa may be hoping to bring relief for Gazans but willing to settle for—I speculate—leading a Global South rebellion against international institutions, arguing that they are in fact remnants of colonial rule.

David Cohen, “Israel’s president says expelling Palestinians not the plan,” Politico, January 7, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/07/israel-palestinians-expel-gaza-00134187

Julia Ioffe, “‘Blood Libel?’: On the Question of Genocide in Gaza,” Puck, January 9, 2024, https://puck.news/blood-libel-on-the-question-of-genocide-in-gaza/

^[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]Julia Ioffe, “‘Blood Libel?’: On the Question of Genocide in Gaza,” Puck, January 9, 2024, https://puck.news/blood-libel-on-the-question-of-genocide-in-gaza/; Ron Kampeas, “Israel faces charges of genocide at the International Court of Justice. Here’s why, and how Israel will respond,” i>Jewish Telegraphic Agency, January 4, 2024, https://www.jta.org/2024/01/04/politics/israel-faces-charges-of-genocide-at-the-international-court-of-justice-heres-why-and-how-israel-will-respond ↩