Palestine

Israel has successfully decoupled the Lebanese front from Gaza, effectively ending the attrition along its northern border. This maneuver has left Gaza and its resistance isolated, facing the full weight of Israeli military and political pressure. While support may still emerge from other fronts, particularly Yemen, Gaza’s leverage in negotiations has been significantly diminished, reducing its bargaining power.

This decoupling also allows Israel to advance its war plans in Gaza, albeit with several caveats. The first challenge lies in Israel’s broader strategic intention: reasserting control over Gaza for the foreseeable future. Israel’s military return to the strip raises questions about the sustainability of such a move, the costs of governance, and the long-term implications for its domestic and international standing. The logistical, political, and social complexities of maintaining control in such a contested territory present formidable obstacles, specifically when it has failed to defeat Hamas or end its influence in the Strip.

Secondly, Israel’s plans for settlement expansion in Gaza, annexation of land, redrawing the border, and a continued presence in the Philadelphi Corridor and other strategic areas reflect a deeper settler-colonial ambition. These plans aim to consolidate territorial dominance but come with significant risks. Sustained Palestinian resistance, combined with the logistical and ethical complexities of imposing settler-colonial structures, makes such objectives precarious. The transfer of settlers into Gaza demands a degree of stability and acquiescence from the local population that seems improbable under the current conditions. Furthermore, these plans complicate Israel’s position regarding the return of captives, presenting a critical contradiction in its strategic calculus.

These contradictions are now poised to dominate Israel’s political landscape. After more than a year of war, fatigue, and weariness are settling in, challenging the narrative of total victory. Signs of pragmatism are emerging, with growing segments of Israeli society—particularly over recent months—expressing a desire to end the wars in Gaza and Lebanon. This sentiment underscores a tension between the state’s expansive military ambitions and the public’s increasing demand for stability and resolution, a return to life without war.

However, these dynamics unfold against the backdrop of a right-wing government fixated on ethnic cleansing and settlement expansion. The sacrifice of the captives, a central concern for Israel’s left-leaning factions, will exacerbate the internal struggles over Netanyahu’s corruption and intersect with the controversial legal reforms championed by the Religious Zionist bloc. This broader project to redefine the state’s identity could deepen societal fractures, polarize the political arena, and intensify the ongoing battle over the future trajectory of Israel.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/48375341

[gift article - link can be shared. Expires in 30 days.]
[Bias alert - #NYT usually favors Israel]

Palestinian artists plan Gaza Biennale as ‘act of resistance and survival’ (Guardian, 2024-11-25)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/25/palestinian-artists-plan-gaza-biennale-as-act-of-resistance-and-survival
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"Palestinian artists in Gaza plan to stage a “biennale” exhibition as an act of defiance against Israel’s military onslaught and to focus attention on the plight of the territory’s 2.3 million people under more than 13 months of bombardment.

"About 50 artists from Gaza will exhibit their work within the besieged coastal strip, and are looking for art galleries to host exhibitions overseas."

"The name is also a statement of intent that the biennale will be a recurring event and that Gaza and artists will still be standing in two years’ time."

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Stricter rules and punishments over campus protests seem to be working. #Universities have seen just under 950 protest events this semester, compared with 3,000 in the spring.

By Isabelle Taft Nov. 25, 2024 Updated 8:53 p.m. ET

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Nan Goldin Opens Exhibition In Berlin With Fiery Speech Against Israel (Dawn News English, 2024-11-24)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLfeJhtrqlw
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20 min. video from the New National Gallery Berlin, opening speech by Nan Goldin (about 13 mins.), and 'counter-statement' by the Director Klaus Biesenbach, accompanied by several chants from the audience. Biesenbach's speech* was not disturbed and the chants were moderate yet passionate.

If you find it too long, start watching from 13:20. 😉

*)Official print form on the museum's site:
https://www.smb.museum/en/whats-new/detail/statement-by-klaus-biesenbach-on-the-opening-of-the-nan-goldin-retrospective-at-the-neue-nationalgalerie/

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#NanGoldin #FakeAntisemitism #Berlin #NameGenocideGenocide
#KlausBiesenbach

Nan Goldin Opens Exhibition In Berlin With Fiery Speech Against Israel (Dawn News English, 2024-11-24)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLfeJhtrqlw
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20 min. video from the New National Gallery Berlin, opening speech by Nan Goldin (about 13 mins.), and 'counter-statement' by the Director Klaus Biesenbach, acompanied by several chants from the audience. Biesenbach's speech* was not disturbed and the chants were moderate yet passionate.

If you find it too long, start watching from 13:20. 😉

*)Official print form on the museum's site:
https://www.smb.museum/en/whats-new/detail/statement-by-klaus-biesenbach-on-the-opening-of-the-nan-goldin-retrospective-at-the-neue-nationalgalerie/

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#NanGoldin #FakeAntisemitism #Berlin #NameGenocideGenocide
#KlausBiesenbach

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/22383492

Summary

Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are preparing to crack down on pro-Palestinian protesters.

Measures could include deporting foreign students advocating for Hamas, prosecuting protest leaders for failing to register as foreign agents, and applying anti-terrorism or hate speech laws.

Critics, including civil rights groups like the ACLU and CCR, warn this could criminalize protected speech.

Legal battles are expected, especially as groups like the Heritage Foundation push initiatives like Project Esther to target alleged Hamas supporters.

Campus protests and student visa revocations are likely focal points for enforcement.

Official German statement to the decision of #ICC

Erklärung der Bundesregierung zum Beschluss des Internationalen Strafgerichtshofs (Presse- und Informationsamt der Bundesregierung, 2024-11-22)

https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/aktuelles/erklaerung-der-bundesregierung-zum-beschluss-des-internationalen-strafgerichtshofs-2321638
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…
“The German government was involved in drafting the ICC Statute and is one of the ICC's biggest supporters. This attitude is also the result of German history.

“At the same time, as a consequence of German history, we are bound to Israel with unique relationships and great responsibility.

“We will carefully examine the domestic steps. Any further action would only be taken if it is foreseeable that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Joaw Galant will be visiting #Germany.”

So, keep them outside of German territory, and forget. 🙆

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By Rayhan Uddin
Published date: 23 November 2024 12:34 GMT

November 21, 2024

Nan Goldin kritisiert Israel und Deutschland scharf (Tagesschau, 2024-11-23)

https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/gesellschaft/goldin-rede-kritik-100.html
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“Bei der Eröffnung ihrer Retrospektive in #Berlin hat die Fotografin Nan Goldin Israels Vorgehen im Nahost-Konflikt angeprangert. Auch Deutschland macht sie für das Leid der Zivilbevölkerung verantwortlich.”

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#NanGoldin #Germany

The International Criminal Court Issues 'Watershed' Warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, for War Crimes in Gaza (Drop Site News, 2024-11-21)

https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/icc-netanyahu-gallant-israel-biden-gaza
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“The court’s decision may also create serious tension for the European Union, as it wages its own legal battle at the ICC against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Vladimir Putin faces an ICC arrest warrant over his invasion of that country, which has increased legal pressure ... Many European countries like #Germany that have been vocally supportive of Israel will now face pressure to undermine the authority of the same court that they are relying on to combat Russia...”

“While the Biden administration has already made clear it rejects the jurisdiction of the #ICC over Israel, at least one U.S. mayor has pledged to comply with the warrants. ‘Dearborn will arrest Netanyahu & Gallant if they step within Dearborn city limits,’ said Abudullah Hamoud, the mayor of the #Michigan city...”

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from #Zeteo [Note - may be paywalled]
Prem Thakker Nov 20, 2024

Without Fear or Favour: For an Effective International Criminal Court (Verfassungsblog, 2024-06-14)

https://verfassungsblog.de/without-fear-or-favour/
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A statement by a group of 9 German legal scholars published in June, after the application for arrest warrants for Netanyahu et al.

"Germany... would thus be obliged under international law, and would be capable under German law, to arrest any person against whom the ICC has issued an arrest warrant, be it President Putin or, in future, perhaps one of the Hamas leaders, Defence Minister Gallant or Prime Minister Netanyahu..."

"... the public statement by the German Federal Minister of Justice that President Putin would be arrested in #Germany and surrendered to the #ICC. If the same were not to apply in the case of an arrest warrant for an Israeli Prime Minister, Germany would be exposed to the accusation of applying double standards ..."

h/t https://mastodon.social/@martoiu/113525887302851935

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Fresh protest in White House on Biden’s Israel policy (Politico, 2024-11-18)

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/national-security-daily/2024/11/18/fresh-protest-in-white-house-on-bidens-israel-policy-00183727
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Fresh, latest and perhaps the last? Anyway, I’d like to remember there have been a number of conscientious White House staffers throughout…

“… a group of at least 20 White House staffers call out the Biden administration for failing to follow through on demands issued … on Oct. 13, which required Israel to take ‘concrete measures’ within 30 days to improve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”

“‘You are running out of time to do the right thing, but decisive action could save precious lives in the next two months,’ the staffers write.”

“This marks the latest in a flurry of letters from U.S. government officials urging Biden to cut or condition U.S. support for Israel…”

“… An open letter in July signed by more than 500 appointees and staffers condemned the deep humanitarian impact of U.S. policy while funding the war in Gaza.”

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German architecture award rescinded over British artist’s Israel boycott vow (Guardian, 2024-11-18)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/18/german-architecture-award-rescinded-british-artist-israel-boycott-vow-james-bridle
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"[the Schelling Architecture Foundation] has rescinded one of its … awards from a British artist [James Bridle] over the signing of an open letter promising a boycott of Israeli cultural institutions, citing the German parliament’s controversial antisemitism resolution as a factor behind the decision.”

“… on Sunday, days before this Wednesday’s awards ceremony …, Bridle was informed in an email that the foundation’s committee had decided unanimously not to award them the prize because Bridle was among the several thousand authors who signed an open letter calling for a boycott of Israeli cultural institutions.”

“In its email … the foundation further linked its decision to a cross-party resolution passed by the German parliament earlier this month.”

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#NieWiederIstJetzt #FakeAntisemitism

In December, al-Bursh was arrested by the military in the last hospital he worked at, Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalya. He was told to come outside and abducted. Over the next few months, he apparently underwent horrific torture at a Shin Bet interrogation facility and, later, the Sde Teiman detention camp.

He was then transferred to Ofer Prison, where he died on April 19. "We could hardly recognize him," said a Palestinian doctor who saw him at the detention facility. "It was obvious that he'd been through hell.

It wasn't the man we knew, but a shadow of that man." Al-Bursh, who stayed fit and often swam, turned into a ghost. He was a specialist in surgical orthopedics who studied in Jordan and Britain; had he lived somewhere else, things could have been much different.

His death in prison was met with a characteristic shrug in Israel, although actor and rapper Tamer Nafar wrote a lovely elegy for him in Haaretz; in which I also wrote about al-Bursh. The authorities avoided taking any responsibility for his death. The prison service, controlled by National Security Minister Ben-Gvir, said it doesn't deal with "illegal combatants." So this is suddenly about "combatants," with whom they suddenly "don't deal." The military said it had not been holding al-Bursh when he died.

Dozens of detainees have died in Israeli prisons this year, like in the worst prisons in the world – and this isn't a subject worth discussing by the protest movement for democracy in Israel. Hundreds of medical personnel have been killed in Gaza, and it doesn't even interest the Israeli Medical Association. What a disgrace.

But al-Bursh has become a phantom doctor, whose character, life and death refuse to disappear. Last week, his image came up in an investigative report by John Sparks on Sky News. While Israeli investigative journalist Ilana Dayan complains to Christiane Amanpour on CNN that "we are not sufficiently covering the human suffering in Gaza" and then presents another heroic report on the military, the TV station she works for shows not even a glimpse of what's happening in Gaza. "Viewers aren't interested," said one of the heads of Israel's Second Authority for Television and Radio this week. The statement summarized the new concept of journalism: pay-per-view.

Live Updates: I.C.C. Issues Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant: The International Criminal Court rejected Israel’s challenges to its jurisdiction, and also issued a warrant for a top Hamas official. Its chief prosecutor had sought the arrests for war crimes in Gaza.
(New York Times, 2024-11-21)

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/11/21/world/israel-netanyahu-hamas-gaza?unlocked%5C_article%5C_code=1.bk4.jwQE.BCnDXqhSny-E
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#ICC #WarCrime