Israel/ Palestine

Let us be Joyous about the Release of all Hostages, Israeli and Palestinian, in Gaza Peace Deal, including 21 Palestinian Children

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – It is wonderful news that on Sunday and Monday Israeli and Palestinian hostages were released as part of the ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States. Hamas released Romi Gonen, 24, kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023. Emily Damari, 28, was kidnapped from […]

Israel/ Palestine

Tevet, Palindromes, and the Ceasefire in Gaza

Shamai Leibowitz

( The Times of Israel ) – On the occasion of the ceasefire in Gaza, let’s reflect on the current Hebrew month of Tevet: This word is a linguistic treat—it’s the only month that forms a palindrome, a word or phrase that reads the same backward and forward. However, in Hebrew, this palindrome magic doesn’t […]

Donald Trump

UK Parliamentary Committee to British Gov’t: Recognize Palestinian State for Sustainable Peace

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The British Parliament has the longest history of any parliament, since it was the first, so it has had time to make a lot of mistakes. On the other hand, it is generally far less an embarrassment than the U.S. Congress. This principle was demonstrated on Friday when the International […]

Featured

Biden Reveals Netanyahu’s Determination to Turn Gaza into Hiroshima, and his own Complicity

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Joe Biden’s interview with MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell demonstrates that the project of right-wing Zionism, led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is to repeal post-World War II international law and take the world back to the jungle of the 1930s and 1940s, when the world’s great powers polished off […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel/Palestine: An Abyss of Human Suffering in Gaza and a Biden Double Standard

Human Rights Watch

( Human Rights Watch) – (Jerusalem) – The Israeli military killed, wounded, starved, and forcibly displaced Palestinian civilians in Gaza in 2024, and destroyed their homes, schools, hospitals, and infrastructure at a scale unprecedented in recent history, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025. Tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza were killed and […]

Featured

The Fatal Effort to Dismantle the UN’s Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees

Dan Steinbock

Over the past 15 months, the international community has failed to prevent genocidal atrocities in Gaza. Dismantling the UN refugee agency would perfect the nightmare. New York (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Early in the year, State Department officials briefed Joel Rayburn from the Trump transition team there could be a humanitarian “catastrophe” in […]

Israel/ Palestine

Gaza Deal: What it means for Peace in the Middle East

The Conversation

By Scott Lucas, University College Dublin (The Conversation) – After 15 months of bitter conflict on the Gaza Strip, a ceasefire deal has been agreed which promises an end to the fighting and will allow for the access of food and other desperately needed humanitarian aid to the civilian population. Since the Israel Defense Forces […]

Israel/ Palestine

How the State Department Let Israel Get Away With Horrors in Gaza: A Year of Empty Threats and a “Smokescreen” Policy

ProPublica

by Brett Murphy ( ProPublica ) – Empty Threats: Since Oct. 7, 2023, Biden has repeatedly issued threats that Israel ignored. U.S. officials tried to enforce consequences — but they couldn’t. Internal Dissent: The State Department disregarded its own experts and cracked down on leaks. Some human rights officials said they were prevented from pursuing […]

censorship

Professor Katherine Franke on being Fired from Columbia Law School for Palestine Advocacy

Katherine M. Franke

Statement from Katherine Franke, January 10, 2025 For the last year and a half, as students at Columbia University and across the globe have protested against the Israeli government’s genocidal assault on Palestinians after the October 2023 attacks, a response that has resulted in horrendous devastation in Gaza, I have ardently defended students’ right to […]