The puppy killer remains in the news. Martin Pengelly (Guardian) reports:
The White House condemned as “disturbing” and “absurd” comments in which Kristi Noem, the Republican governor of South Dakota and a potential running mate for Donald Trump, threatened to harm or kill Joe Biden’s dog.
“We find her comments from yesterday disturbing,” Karine Jean-Pierre, Biden’s press secretary, told a White House briefing. “We find them absurd. This is a country that loves dogs and you have a leader that talks about putting dogs down, killing them.”
Noem’s bizarre threat is contained in No Going Back, a campaign book that generated unusual buzz after the Guardian revealed how Noem describes in detail the day she shot dead her dog, Cricket, which she deemed untrainable and dangerous, and an unnamed goat.
The revelation sparked a political firestorm, widely held to have incinerated Noem’s chances of being named running mate to Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
But as the book neared publication on Tuesday, it became clear Noem was not done when she closed her chapter on killing Cricket, a 14-month-old female wirehaired pointer, and the unnamed male goat, which Noem says was smelly and aggressive and dangerous to her children.
At the end of No Going Back, Noem asks: “What would I do if I was president on the first day in office in 2025?”
Remarkably, she writes that “the first thing I’d do is make sure Joe Biden’s dog was nowhere on the grounds. (‘Commander, say hello to Cricket for me.’)”
And she's got more problems than just being a puppy killer, she's also a liar:
Later, it emerged in a report from the Dakota Scout that the memoir also included an unlikely — and seemingly inaccurate — anecdote about the time Noem met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un while serving as a back-bencher in Congress. On Sunday, Noem acknowledged that the book had to be corrected before its imminent release, but declined to say that she never met the North Korean leader.
“I’m not going to talk about my specific meetings with world leaders. I’m just not going to do that. This anecdote shouldn’t have been in the book and as soon as it was brought to my attention I made sure that that was adjusted,” Noem said during an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” The book is due to be released Tuesday.
“There are details in this book that talk about going to the [demilitarized zone] and specifics I’m willing to share. There’s some specifics I’m not willing to share with you,” Noem added later when pressed by CBS’ Margaret Brennan.
So she lied. Again.
This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Israeli soldiers have attacked a Palestinian Red Crescent medical post in Tulkarm refugee camp, putting it out of service.
Troops used explosives to destroy the medical post, causing damage to all equipment inside and forcing it out of service, the Red Crescent said on X.
The attack comes at a time when Israel is conducting raids on Tulkarm and its two refugee camps.
A girl was wounded by bullet shrapnel during the raid, Wafa reported.
Gazans began leaving eastern Rafah on Monday after Israel’s military issued a call for residents there to “evacuate immediately.”
A CNN stringer in Rafah’s east said that people were terrified and in a state of panic, while video and images showed displaced people packing their belongings into the back of pick-up trucks, cars and donkey-drawn carts as they prepared to leave. Children were seen sitting among tanks of fuel and plastic bags filled with possessions, while families left with mattresses strapped to the roof of their cars.
The evacuation order came a day after Israel’s defense minister told troops inside Gaza to expect “intense action in Rafah in the near future.”
[. . .]
But the newly expanded humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi — where Israel is ordering Palestinians to go — is not appropriate for habitation, the main United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has warned.
“It’s really not somewhere that’s quite suitable for people to put up tents and to be able to sit and try to live and meet their basic necessities every day,” Scott Anderson, Director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza, told CNN Monday.
The Jerusalem offices of Al Jazeera were raided Sunday after Israel's far-right Cabinet banned the Qatar-based satellite news network—the sole international media outlet providing 24/7 live coverage from Gaza—from operating in the country.
"If you're watching this… then Al Jazeera has been banned in Israel," correspondent Imran Khan said in a pre-recorded report from occupied East Jerusalem preempting the Israeli Cabinet's unanimous vote to shutter the network.
The order—which does not affect Al Jazeera's ability to operate in Gaza or the illegally occupied Palestinian territories—is believed to be the first of its kind targeting a foreign media outlet operating in Israel. It comes after the Knesset, Israel's parliament, recently voted 71-10 in favor of a law empowering the Israeli communications minister to ban foreign news organizations from working in Israel and to confiscate their equipment.
"The time has come to eject Hamas' mouthpiece from our country," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address.
The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Israeli cabinet’s
decision to shut down Al-Jazeera’s operations in Israel and warns that
the vote could set a dangerous precedent for other international media
outlets working in Israel.
The cabinet vote on Sunday, announced by the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on X, came after Israel’s parliament passed a law on April 1 allowing the shutdown of a foreign channel’s broadcasts in Israel if the content is deemed to be a threat to the country’s security during the ongoing war. The shutdown took immediate effect, according to Al-Jazeera and multiple news reports. Al-Jazeera is funded by Qatar, which is mediating between Hamas and Israel.
“CPJ condemns the closure of Al-Jazeera’s office in Israel and the
blocking of the channel’s websites,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos
Martinez de la Serna in New York. “This move sets an extremely alarming
precedent for restricting international media outlets working in Israel.
The Israeli cabinet must allow Al-Jazeera and all international media
outlets to operate freely in Israel, especially during wartime.”
Al-Jazeera journalists have faced multiple threats, including intimidation, obstruction, injuries, arrests, and killings, during the ongoing war.
Read more CPJ coverage of the Israel-Gaza war
CPJ urges Netanyahu government not to shut down Al-Jazeera
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reiterates its call to the international community to protect Palestinian journalism and step up pressure on Israel for an end to the massacre in Gaza, where more than 105 journalists have been killed since 7 October, including at least 22 killed in the course of their work. Gaza is still inaccessible and subject to constant bombardment but few journalists have been allowed to leave.
“Protection” is the emphatic response from Gazan journalists when asked by RSF what they most need in Gaza today. They have lived in constant terror since 7 October, counting the deaths of loved-ones and colleagues. According to RSF’s tally, at least 105 have so far been killed by Israeli airstrikes, rockets and gunfire, including at least 22 in the course of their work.
Despite repeated calls from NGOs, including RSF, for the Rafah border crossing to be opened, only journalists embedded with the Israel Defence Forces have been able to enter Gaza and they are restricted to covering Israeli permitted areas. Israel has meanwhile allowed only a handful of Gazan journalists to be evacuated.
“Six months of war are six months too many in which more than 100 journalists have been killed in Gaza. This massacre must stop. Gaza’s reporters must be protected, those who wish must be evacuated, and Gaza’s gates must be opened to international media. The few reporters who have been able to leave bear witness to the same terrifying reality of journalists being attacked, injured and killed. The Israel Defence Forces are silencing those who are driven by a duty to report the facts. RSF calls on the international community, its leaders and its governments, to do everything to step up pressure on the Israeli authorities to end this disaster. Palestinian journalism must be protected as a matter of urgency.
On 5 May, the Israeli government voted to close the Qatari-based channel in Israel – raiding its offices, removing its broadcasts from menus of Israeli broadcast providers and blocking its websites.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on X that the government had "unanimously decided that the incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel".
The Israeli government has regularly targeted the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera and has threatened to close it down, on the grounds of alleged bias against Israel. However, their relationship has further deteriorated since the start of the war in Gaza. A new legislation, passed by the parliament on 1 April and strongly condemned by the IFJ, authorised officials to do so after consultations and approval from legal and security officials.
In a statement published on ‘X’, Al Jazeera Media Network condemned and denounced its shutdown as a “criminal act that violates human rights and the basic right to access information”.
IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: “Banning journalists and shutting down broadcasters are moves straight from the despots playbook. This is a further departure by the Israeli government from the respect for a free media expected of a democracy. We have already seen foreign reporters banned from Gaza, attacks on Israel's domestic media, and truly shocking treatment of Palestinian journalists.”
Bellanger also called into question Israel’s motives for confiscating journalists’ phones and personal computers. “What possible motivation could there be for snatching phones and computers, save for trying to discover the journalists’ sources – this violates the most elemental rights of reporters to protect their sources”.
Omar Nazzal, Vice-President of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), who represents Palestinian journalists working for Al Jazeera said: “We condemn this decision, which targets freedom of expression and the ability of journalists to do their work. It is indicative of the desperation of the occupation government.”
Michelle Stanistreet, General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the United Kingdom and Ireland, which is recognised to represent Al Jazeera’s journalists in London said: “Those with secrets to hide or who are ashamed of their actions forcibly close down television stations. Targeting Al Jazeera as the Israeli government has is a direct attack on free speech that brings shame on those responsible – I hope they will soon realise their error and reverse this decision.”
Progressive members of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday demanded an end
to nationwide police attacks on pro-Palestinian campus protests
following
violent raids and mass arrests at universities across the country, from Columbia in New York City to the University of South Florida in Tampa.
"The continued repression and violence against anti-war student activists and their allies by Columbia University, NYPD, and Mayor [Eric] Adams is abhorrent and barbarous," Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) wrote on social media. "The nationwide crackdown on protesters must end."
More than 300 demonstrators were arrested at Columbia and the nearby City College of New York late Tuesday alone, bringing the total number of arrests at dozens of universities across the U.S. to more than 1,000.
In a statement Tuesday, Bush said she was "appalled" by the police response to demonstrations at Washington University in St. Louis, which is in the Missouri Democrat's district.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: As we broadcast this morning, Los Angeles police in riot gear are dismantling a pro-Palestinian encampment on UCLA’s campus, after hundreds of police used flashbang grenades, rubber bullets and tear gas in a faceoff with protesters who chanted, “We are not leaving. You don’t scare us.”
PROTESTERS: You don’t scare us! We’re not leaving!
NERMEEN SHAIKH: The police raid at UCLA came a day after pro-Israel counterprotesters attacked the encampment with fireworks, metal rods and tear gas for hours late Tuesday night and into early Wednesday morning. At least 15 people were injured.
This is how UCLA’s student newspaper, the Daily Bruin, described the violence instigated by counterprotesters in an editorial: quote, “It began with ear-piercing screams of wailing babies loudly emitting from speakers. Counter-protesters tearing down the barricades. Laser pointers flashing into the encampment. People in masks waving strobe lights. Tear gas. Pepper spray. Violent beatings. Fireworks sparked at the border of the encampment, raining down on tents and the individuals inside,” the Daily Bruin wrote.
The editorial noted Los Angeles police did not arrive until slightly after 1 a.m. Meanwhile, around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, four UCLA student journalists were attacked by the pro-Israel counterprotesters on campus. One of the journalists was treated for injuries at the hospital and has since been released. There were no arrests after Tuesday night’s attack. Wednesday’s classes were canceled.
The Daily Bruin’s editorial ended with a question: quote, “Will someone have to die on our campus tonight for you to intervene, Gene Block? The blood would be on your hands.”
AMY GOODMAN: University of California President Michael Drake and the UCLA Chancellor Gene Block have launched an investigation into what California Governor Gavin Newsom condemned as the, quote, “limited and delayed campus law enforcement response,” unquote. Meanwhile, the campus police union issued a statement that, quote, “the decisions regarding the response of the UC Police rest firmly in the hands of campus leadership.”
For more, we’re joined by three guests. Shaanth Kodialam Nanguneri is a senior staff writer for the Daily Bruin, UCLA’s student newspaper. They are one of the four reporters who were attacked. Mel Buer is a staff reporter for The Real News Network. She was at the Gaza solidarity encampment Tuesday night when counterprotesters violently attacked it for several hours. And Gaye Theresa Johnson is an associate professor of African American studies and Chicana/Chicano studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA. She writes and teaches on race and racism, cultural history, spatial politics and political economy, a member of UCLA’s chapter of Faculty for Justice in Palestine, which has called on UCLA faculty to refuse university labor today, the day after May Day, quote, “in protest of the university administration’s egregious failure to protect the student protest encampment from attacks by self-professed and proudly Zionist mobs coming to campus every night to enact violence,” unquote.
Welcome to all of you. We want to begin with Dr. Gaye Theresa Johnson. Before we get into the horrifying details of the attack on the Gaza encampment, if you can explain why you are withholding work today and the overall context of how UCLA is dealing with this protest encampment, and why the issue, so often not talked about in the corporate media, of why the Gaza encampment exists?
GAYE THERESA JOHNSON: Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me on.
We are so inspired by our students today. We are refusing our labor to the University of California, Los Angeles because we know that the conditions under which they were arrested, the conditions upon — the conditions that they were subjected to night before last with the counterprotesters, the violence that they have endured night after night after night, the complaints that they have lodged and that have been ignored by the university administration, all of the ways in which they were failed by the university administration, those are also our work conditions. And until our students are supported, we will also be stopping work.
The necessity for the camp was, I mean, what is going on in Gaza, what is happening here in the United States is linked. And these students, who have done so much study and who have done so much organizing, are clear about the connections between U.S. racism and international imperialism, and they are so clear about their role and purpose in this movement. So many of them have now been politicized, and this will not stop just because of tonight.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: So, Shaanth, if you could explain? You were one of four journalists who was attacked. Tell us what happened.
SHAANTH KODIALAM NANGUNERI: Walking back from that protest where a group of pro-Israel counterprotesters had stormed and seized upon the encampment on campus at Dickson Plaza and near Powell Library, and me and three other journalists —
AMY GOODMAN: Shaanth, if you could speak as loud as you possibly can? We’re hearing — and come closer, yes, to your computer. And also, you’re describing what happened. Tell us what night, about what time it was, you with your four Daily Bruin — the three other Daily Bruin reporters.
SHAANTH KODIALAM NANGUNERI: Yeah, it was about, I want to say, 2 or 3 a.m. It was really late. We had all spent hours being out there on the field reporting, sending messages to our editors, really scared about the scenes that we were seeing on campus towards the protesters in the encampment, the level of violence and vitriol that was in the air. We had documented reporters hearing things like racial epithets. I personally witnessed a counterprotester slam a wooden slab onto an individual who had her hands on the barricade of the encampment and smashing her fingers, and listening to her scream and watching how that changed the environment. And many more harrowing scenes have been discussed by students on this campus, but —
AMY GOODMAN: And who were these people?
SHAANTH KODIALAM NANGUNERI: Yeah, we have been trying our best to be accurate about that. And I think in a Los Angeles Times article, my colleague talks about being attacked by one of these pro-Israel counterprotesters and how they have known who we are on campus. And they know that we report on these issues, and sometimes they know our faces.
And when we were leaving and were vulnerable and were in a small group, we were encircled and attacked. And they started shining lights in our face, spraying us with very strong irritants, circling in particular one of my colleagues and physically harassing and assaulting her. And by the time I had finally managed to help get three of us out of there, we found one of us had turned back. And by the time we had looked back around, they were on the ground being violently assaulted. And we were trying our best, as we ran back screaming their name, to pull them out of that fight, pull them out of the ground, pull people off of them. And we were begging while they were flashing [inaudible] —
AMY GOODMAN: And this was Catherine Hamilton, who was hospitalized?
SHAANTH KODIALAM NANGUNERI: Yes, she was. And —
AMY GOODMAN: How were they beating her?
SHAANTH KODIALAM NANGUNERI: You know, it was a very, very quick scene. I know she got hurt in the stomach. And I know that initially we had been — we had had so much tear gas in our eyes already from the protest that by the end of it, it was just hard to walk back. It was hard to make it back.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Shaanth, could you explain? I know that you said people are being careful about trying to talk about who the counterprotesters are, but could you tell us what you know? Were most of them not students? Were they students? If you could explain what you know?
SHAANTH KODIALAM NANGUNERI: Yeah, I mean, we do see students on, you know, rallies supporting pro-Israel groups. We have a pro-Israel group for Jewish faculty. And they themselves have actually distanced themselves from this behavior. But we do see a lot of non-UCLA students coming onto campus and sparking a lot of these controversies that end up going viral online and on social media and that do require deep, thorough reporting that goes beyond the kind of outrage bait that unfortunately fuels a lot of the conversations.
AMY GOODMAN: Where were the police? Where was security as this attack went on?
SHAANTH KODIALAM NANGUNERI: They were nowhere to be found. We actually walked up to a few campus security afterwards asking for help, as one of my peers was crying and having a breakdown, and I was trying help the other two, as well. And they were not able to help us with anything. They didn’t know what to do. And, in fact, we had documented that campus security, when faced with threats — these are private security guards handled by the campus, before the actual police had even come on campus — they would run away when they — or hide in buildings, and deny reporters access to those buildings, when they were afraid of what they saw on the scene and on the site when they got too violent.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Mel, you were there reporting on what happened. Could you describe where you were and what you witnessed?
MEL BUER: Yeah. So, myself and another reporter showed up around 10 p.m. We found ourselves on a side barricade next to Royce Hall. And we had a pretty good vantage point of the two sets of barricades that were separated by a sidewalk, prior to the confrontation happening.
Around 10:30 or 10:45, there was some sort of altercation, some sort of argument between the private security and the pro-Israel counterprotesters. And they very quickly dismantled the barricades and began ripping flags down from the Gaza encampment, pulling barricades apart, trying to rip apart the wooden barricades behind the metal ones that were installed there. And that continued for about three, four hours. It was a chaos, very scary, very quickly.
AMY GOODMAN: I mean, it’s fascinating that the corporate media is describing this as just clashes between two different groups, the pro-Palestine groups and the pro-Israel groups. Mel, from your perspective — you’re a reporter with The Real News Network — what we’re hearing here is an assault by one group on the encampment.
MEL BUER: Right. You know, I’ve been to the UCLA encampment on the first day, when they were setting up. And from the jump, there have been individuals who have tried to agitate these demonstrators, these students. They’ve tried to get a rise out of them. They’ve tried to provoke some sort of violent reaction. And, you know, to their serious credit, these disciplined students have spent a lot of time and energy and effort not responding to that, or trying to deescalate situations, trying to keep each other safe, trying to keep the integrity of the encampment safe, because the point is not to get into an argument with counterprotesters, right? The point is to continue to pressure UCLA to divest from the various relationships that they have with Israel and to boycott these programs that are funding an occupation and a genocide.
So, to see what happened the other night was, essentially, these counterprotesters, many of them riled up and angry and throwing slurs over the fences, getting a chance to try and rip their way into the encampment. And this had been — tensions had been growing for multiple days, right? This was not the first instance of violence where pro-Israel counterprotesters were knocking over students, were trying to provoke fights. Some fights broke out even two nights before. So, from my assessment, as I was there, these groups, this giant group, probably 150, 200 or so counterprotesters — some of the were university age, some of them were much older and did not appear to be UCLA students — launching assaults on this barricade. And, you know, this was consistent for many hours. The bear mace was in the air. I mean, you know, I witnessed a lot of folks getting bludgeoned by parts of the barricades, by wooden sticks, batons, whatever they could bring. And that was a constant for the four-and-a-half, five hours that I was there.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: So, Professor Gaye Theresa Johnson, if you could describe what you know is happening right now on campus at UCLA, and what the response of the administration has been to the encampment since it went up?
GAYE THERESA JOHNSON: This is something that so many of us feel disgusted by. We are — many of the faculty who I spoke to, as late as just about 45 minutes ago, were feeling shocked. They were feeling so disillusioned by the response of the university. This is a university administration that has for weeks, for months equivocated the experience of people who are proclaimed Zionists to those Muslim students who have been doxxed and harassed every day, and faculty, as well.
And so, this is a situation in which students have been subjected by the university to a complete negation of their experience, not only here at UCLA, but across the world, the idea that there are, as Amy said earlier, clashes between protesters or that there are fights that are breaking out between these two people. We’re talking about a nonviolent protest. We’re talking about students who have been organizing for months, who are trained, have taken it upon themselves to educate themselves on tactics of nonviolence, and the incredible and brave way in which they defended themselves all of these nights. But, of course, in the culminating violence of night before last, and then, of course, of the violence of this night, as well, as they’ve been gassed, flashbangs that have been set off by the LAPD, and it’s just been incredible, the way that they have responded in the face of the gaslighting that the university has done against them. They are just — they have just done such an incredible and brave job.
And many of us, while we are shocked, we are also understanding, as faculty, that thousands and thousands of students across the nation, across the world have been politicized today, and there is no way, just because the LAPD and UCLA have mandated the dispersal of these students, that this is the end. It is only the beginning, because there are so many people now who understand that this is a movement. And it cannot be unseen. It cannot be put back in the box.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And finally, if you could explain: Where do negotiations stand? Has the administration been speaking with students about their demands that UCLA divest from Israel?
GAYE THERESA JOHNSON: The other day, the university offered the students three options. One was negotiations, which we saw yesterday there was no negotiation. There was an offer of absolutely nothing. Students had demands that were completely ignored, that wasn’t even in the discussion once administrators came to the camp. They were offered absolutely nothing.
The second option was to continue in a sort of long-term action with encampment. But it wasn’t a real, legitimate choice that the university was giving these students, because they were going to make them adhere to policies that they call time, place and manner that would have evicted them from the encampment and forced them into other places that would have been completely ineffective as far as protest and visibility.
And the third action that administrators — third choice that they gave students was police action. And they said, you know, “If you don’t take the first two,” — which were, in effect, completely false — “then we will assume that you want the police action.”
And in the end, they didn’t care. They didn’t ask what students wanted yesterday. They just simply went into what was already scheduled, what was already planned, which, one, I will say, many of us think that it’s almost as if, like, we’ve seen this many times over history — in Katrina, for example, in New Orleans, where politicians said, “Let the hurricane do for New Orleans what we couldn’t do.” This was the same thing that was echoing for us as we watched these counterprotesters so violently attack our students, is the “We’ll just sit back and let that happen instead.”
And the irony of these counterprotesters attacking these vulnerable students, who are also incredibly strong and brave and organized, in an enclosed space, the analogy that we can make to what’s happening in Gaza is obviously lost on all of these counterprotesters. They have no regard for the lives, just as the UCLA administration. People could have died the night before last and this night, as well. And these are the conditions under which students are trying to enact free speech.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Gaye Theresa Johnson, I want to thank you for being with us, UCLA professor of African American studies and Chicana/Chicano studies. We also want to thank Mel Buer of The Real News Network and Shaanth Kodialam Nanguneri. Shaanth is one of four reporters, a senior reporter, with the Daily Bruin, the UCLA paper, who was attacked by the counterprotesters.
CNN's Niamh Kennedy and Louis Mian report:
Pro-Palestinian encampments have been set up at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England, as students there call on leadership to sever ties to Israel. Photos posted on social media show several tents erected outside the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, a tourist attraction located on the campus.
Campaign group, Oxford Action for Palestine, said they set up the encampment at 4 a.m. on Monday (11 p.m. ET Sunday) and had deliberately chosen the museum, which they said symbolizes the "relationship that Oxford has to colonial projects." At the entrance to the encampment, a banner shows the list of demands from student protesters which include: the disclosure of university finances, the divestment from Israeli businesses, an overhaul of the university's investment policy and support towards Palestinian-led rebuilding of educational facilities in Gaza.
"We are here after exhausting every other means of protest at our disposal. We have organized demonstrations and marches and made all possible efforts to work with the Administration to realise [sic] our demands. We have been met with inaction," the students said in a statement on Instagram.
In the statement, the group said they "stand in solidarity" with students across the globe "from CUNY to UCLA, Trinity College to Sciences Po."
Students at Cambridge also set up an encampment on Monday on the lawn outside the university’s King’s College in the center of the city. The encampment is being organized by the group "Cambridge for Palestine" which is demanding the university “discloses and divests from its financial and professional support for Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.”
These were the major developments nationwide on Saturday and Sunday:
- University of Southern California: Police cleared a pro-Palestinian protest encampment at USC without making any arrests Sunday, the school said. It was the second time the school dismantled an encampment at the Los Angeles university. School President Carol Folt said in a statement that the protesters had chosen to "break the law" and that encampments won't be tolerated on campus.
Watch LAPD clear encampments at USC:
- Princeton University: Some students at Princeton University in New Jersey have launched a hunger strike until their demands are met, according to a student protest group. At least 17 undergraduate students were taking part as of Sunday, according to the Daily Princetonian. Princeton told CNN they "care about their well-being," and that physicians were monitoring the group.
- DePaul University: Chicago police were called to campus to help manage a large demonstration Sunday, the school said. CNN video showed large crowds of police, protesters and counterprotesters, but no obvious signs of violence or vandalism as of early evening at the school.
Watch a video of the protest at DePaul:
- University of California, Los Angeles: UCLA Chancellor Gene D. Block said"urgent changes" were needed with the school's safety operations after violence during recent protests on campus. The university also said it would resume regular operations Monday, and plans to hold some in-person instruction through the rest of the week.
- Art Institute of Chicago: Police said they arrested 68 people, including students from an affiliated school, during a demonstration at the museum Saturday. An institute spokesperson said protesters had “shoved a security officer and stole their keys to the museum, blocked emergency exits, and barricaded gates,” and refused an offer to move to a new location.
- The University of Virginia: Police cleared out pro-Palestinian protesters and took down tents near the center of the Charlottesville campus on Saturday. A line of officers in riot gear approached the group of protesters, grabbing away umbrellas, before pushing forward to a line of tents and canopies, video from CNN affiliate WVIR shows. UVA said 25 people were arrested for trespassing.
- The University of Michigan: Pro-Palestinian protesters were removed from the university's main commencement ceremony after briefly interrupting it. A protest also disrupted a smaller ceremony on the campus Friday.
- The University of Vermont: The school announced Friday that Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, would no longer deliver a commencement address. Some of the protesters on the campus had called on the university to rescind its invitation to the ambassador.
QUEEN RANIA AL ABDULLAH, JORDAN: People view the U.S. as being party to this war because, you know, Israeli officials say that without U.S. support they couldn't launch this war. You know, you turn off the tap and the weapons dry out.
So - and so there's been anger in our part of the world, not at just what's happening, but at the world's reaction. When we see these violations - humanitarian rights violations and international law violations and we're watching the world letting it happen. When October 7th, the world rightfully condemned it and took strong actions, strong positions.
We are outraged that the same is not happening when - when Palestinians are getting killed. And so there is a sense of the selective application of humanitarian law and a sense of unfairness, a sense of, our lives don't matter as much.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You said people back home see the United States as complicit in what's happening?
QUEEN RANIA: They see it as an enabler, you know. So clearly the U.S. is the country that has most leverage over the U.S. - over Israel. And like I said, you know, it is the biggest ally and biggest supporter. And the Arab world is getting – the rest of the world, actually, is getting mixed messages. So, on the one hand, the U.S. is demanding that more aid rightfully go back into Gaza. At the same time they're - they're denying that the starvation is intentional. On the one hand they are outraged by the attacks on the aid convoys, but at the same time they're denying that Israel is violating international humanitarian law. There's an expression of concern over civilian deaths, but at the same time there's a provision of offensive weapons to Israel that are used against Palestinians.
When you try so hard to thread the needle, you can risk dropping the ball. You can risk letting your values and principles unravel. And that has a deep impact. Either everyone is accountable or no one is.
So, the next time a country breaks rules, you know, and the U.S. comes and tries to apply moral authority, those countries are going to say, well, you made an exception here. So why apply to us?
I think Gaza now is like a microcosm of our new world disorder, of the breakdown of international norms, of the return of might is right. And I think that's very dangerous, not just for our region, but for the entire world.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Recently President Biden, just about a month ago, warned Prime Minister Netanyahu that U.S. policy would change if Israel's behavior and conduct in this war didn't change. Do you believe the U.S. is starting to use the leverage you say it has?
QUEEN RANIA: Well, look, there's definitely been a change in tone and language. And, you're right, the president has been warning and has been trying very hard to persuade Netanyahu, for example, to not enter Rafah. But we've seen time and again Israeli officials not heading the warnings or counsel or advice of allies. So, I think it's time that the international community, including the U.S., really used its political leverage to compel Israel to end the war and to let aid in.
MARGARET BRENNAN: How?
QUEEN RANIA: And it's - it's by standing up for international law. Say, for example, the building of illegal settlements is - is wrong and it has to stop. It's by saying that, you know, we are not going to provide you with offensive weapons. It's by saying we're not going to continue to use our veto to not hold Israel accountable when it breaks the law.
Diplomatic pressure is also very, very important. So, there are many tools that the U.S. has in order to compel Israel to do the right thing. And I think for the sake of our world, the U.S. may be Israel's most closest ally, but a good friend holds a friend accountable.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You argue, people need to understand that Palestinian mothers love their children just as much as Israeli mothers. Why do you feel like that needed to be said?
QUEEN RANIA: Well, because, you know, for decades the dehumanization of Palestinians has been an intentional approach that Israel adopted in order to numb people to Palestinian suffering. It's actually quite surprising to see just how deep the undercurrents of dehumanizations run. Arabs are generally accused of teaching hate and Palestinians as well, but it's - Israeli have actually walled Palestinians out of sight and out of mind. It kind of reduced them to nameless, faceless security threats that you have to defend yourself against.
MARGARET BRENNAN: To see Hamas as representing Palestinian people, you're saying, is wrong?
QUEEN RANIA: Absolutely wrong. And also just to - just to point out that most of the people alive in Gaza today were not alive when Hamas was elected. They were either children - they were not born or they were children at the time. So, absolutely Hamas does not represent the majority of Palestinians. And if Palestinians hate Israelis, it is not because of their religion or their identity, it's because of the fact that they've only interacted with them as enforcers of a military state. They have only known them through their checkpoints and bullets and gun. It's not something that's inherently in them against Jewish people. In fact, I always try to remind people that, you know, we have coexisted, Christians, Muslims and Jewish people, for the longest time.
Well, you know historians will argue anti-Semitism has been present throughout history, right?
QUEEN RANIA: Yes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And it is hard for people to hear some of what you are saying and not react in that way where they hear a characterization of criticism of the Israeli government or the Israeli military and see where you're separating from Jewish people.
QUEEN RANIA: Right.
MARGARET BRENNAN: A lot of people don't hear a difference.
QUEEN RANIA: Anti-Semitism is absolutely present. And it's - and it's been on the rise. It's been on the surge. And it is the worst kind of bigotry. It is pure hatred. And I always say that Muslims had to be - have to be at the forefront of fighting anti-Semitism because islamophobia is the other side of the same disease, and it's also on the rise.
Judaism is a religion of peace. And the issue is, when you try to conflate anti-Israeli policy with anti-Semitism, right? Anti-Semitism is when you persecute somebody or you discriminate against somebody based on their Jewish identity. Israel is a state. It has political policy, political parties. So, in - you can criticize the state of Israel, but that's not necessarily anti-Semitism.
So, when people stand up and speak against the war in Gaza, when they're talking about the - you know, speak against the collective punishment, when you deprive people of food as a weapon of war, when an entire population is displaced, when there's indiscriminate bombing, that is not anti-Semitism. That is speaking against Israeli policy. And I think it would be wrong to hold the Jewish community responsible for the actions of the - or the policies of Israel.
MARGARET BRENNAN: How are young people in Jordan thinking about this right now? I mean what is the sentiment in terms of the American unconditional support for the government of Israel?
QUEEN RANIA: I have to say, in one word, there's outrage. You know, there is outrage because, you know, for most young people, even those who maybe were against American foreign policy or whatever, disagreed with it, we always looked up to the U.S., you know, as a country of - a democratic country with democratic values, with application of law, with freedom of speech, with, you know, human rights, et cetera. And as I said, you know, the young people are now feeling extremely disillusioned, how can this be happening while the U.S. is allowing it to happen, while the rest of the world is allowing it to happen?
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, the director of national intelligence in this country, Avril Haines, testified saying there will be a generational impact from the war in Gaza. And that was also a gesture to terror recruitment. How concerned are you that that is what may happen to some of these young people who you say are just inundated with images of what's happening?
QUEEN RANIA: It's not just the people who are on the extreme that are being enraged by this. It's people who are in the middle as well, people who are westernized, people who studied here, people who - who are suddenly just looking at the world and saying, you know, they are so disillusioned. They're saying, you know, clearly there are different standards that humanitarian law is applied selectively and that our lives don't matter, and that it's OK for, you know, almost 15,000 children to be killed, 19,000 to be orphaned. It's OK for – for, you know, the infrastructure to be obliterated. It's OK to use - to stop the delivery of aid and food to an entire population. That is collective punishment. It's a war crime. And it's happening. And so the young people are saying, you know, I guess the west doesn't like us. So, in my opinion, this is probably one of the largest recruitment events that we've seen in recent history.
MARGARET BRENNAN: What you are describing is what Defense Secretary Austin warned Israel about, that you could have a tactical win and a strategic loss in the long term. That's what I hear you saying, that you - this will lead to more terror recruitment.
QUEEN RANIA: Absolutely. Is this war making Israel safer? Is it making our world safer? You know, I would argue, after 35,000 people dead, after the obliteration of the civilian infrastructure in Gaza, after the violations of so much, after the rhetoric that we are hearing, you know, of - from Israeli officials, calling Palestinians humans animals or saying when the prime minister says that Palestinians are children of darkness, that they only understand the rules of the jungle, you know, when officials say we need to find a more effective way than death to afflict suffering on Palestinians, how is that making Israel safer? I mean, you know, how? Peace is not about politics only. It's about people. Israelis are surprised when the word genocide is used because they cannot see Palestinians as anything but a security threat. That they deserve what's happening to them. You know, in a poll asking –
MARGARET BRENNAN: They're traumatized after October 7th. Many say this.
QUEEN RANIA: Absolutely, traumatized, I understand that. And I understand that because of my own background, that I would identify with the Palestinian side more. And I - because of that, I challenge myself every single day to put myself in the shoes of an Israeli mother who is - who has a child that's been taken as hostage, or any young Israeli who has been taught and who's heard of the horrible persecution that the Jewish people have had to endure in Europe. And I try to empathize and see where they're coming from.
And absolutely, you know, we need the hostages to go home as soon as possible. And we need the war to end as soon as possible so the Palestinians can go back to their homes if they have homes left. So, I understand that what happened on October 7th was traumatic and devastating for Israeli society, but the reaction to it has not helped the situation. You cannot just rely on your - this visitor reaction of retribution and revenge. Israel could have retaliated through surgical strikes against Hamas, but that's not what we're seeing today.
Let's note NBC's MEET THE PRESS for Cindy McCain's interview.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Welcome back.The Kerem Shalom crossing between southern Israel and Gaza is currently closed to humanitarian aid trucks, after an attack which Hamas has claimed responsibility for. Israel has faced growing pressure to allow aid into Gaza after its military killed seven international aid workers from World Central Kitchen in an airstrike. Now Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Program, tells me northern Gaza is experiencing a “full-blown famine” that is rapidly spreading south. While an Israeli official disputes that characterization to NBC News, McCain is the second top aid official to make that assertion. McCain joined me for a “Meet the Moment” conversation, as part of the McCain Institute's Sedona Forum.
[START TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let's talk about the World Food Program, that you have provided aid to 1.4 million people every month since the start of the war, but the war is nearly in its seventh month. How dire is the humanitarian crisis on the ground right now in Gaza?
CINDY McCAIN:
Well, whenever you have conflict like this and emotions rage high, and things happen in a war, famine happens. And so what I can explain to you is that there is famine, full-blown famine in the north. And it's moving its way south. What we're asking for and what we continually ask for, is a ceasefire and the ability to have unfettered access to get in – safe and unfettered access – to get into Gaza at various ports and various gate crossings.
KRISTEN WELKER:
I just want to be very clear, because what you're saying is significant, and I believe it's the first time we've heard it. You're saying there is full-blown famine –
CINDY McCAIN:
Yes.
KRISTEN WELKER:
--in northern Gaza?
CINDY McCAIN:
I am. Yes, I am.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And there has not been an official declaration that there is famine--
CINDY McCAIN:
No.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– but you –
CINDY McCAIN:
No.
KRISTEN WELKER:
--are saying that based on what you've seen?
CINDY McCAIN:
Yes. It is. Based on what we've seen and what we've experienced on the ground. Yes. Yes.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Which is?
CINDY McCAIN:
It's horror. You know, it's so hard to look at, and it's so hard to hear also. I'm so hoping that we can get a ceasefire and begin to feed these people, especially in the north, in a much faster fashion, but also including, as I said, water, sanitation, medicine. It's all part of the famine, the famine issue. And it's also something that we need to make sure that the world understands. We can't let this happen. In this day and age, when the world has the ability to feed itself ten times over, nobody should starve. Nobody should starve for whatever reason it may be.
KRISTEN WELKER:
The Defense Secretary said something that caught a lot of people's attention this week. He was asked if U.S. soldiers could potentially be targeted while trying to get aid into Gaza. And he didn't rule that out. He said that it is a possibility. What do you make of that? And within that context, how do you keep your people safe?
CINDY McCAIN:
Well, that's what keeps me up at night is whether or not I can, or if, they are safe. Can I keep them safe? Are they safe? What's happened? The morning routine for me is to look at my phone and see what's happened during the night. It's something – I can't guarantee their safety, because, as you know, we don't work with militaries. We work with sources on the ground that help us get through. So it's very, very dangerous. As far as U.S. troops, I don't know what the plans are for that. But anybody who's on the ground in that region is in danger.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, it's anticipated that the United States will finish building that pier, which will help aid to be distributed soon, in the near future. That's the anticipation –
CINDY McCAIN:
That's what I'm told too.
KRISTEN WELKER:
What are your expectations, in terms of the timeline, and how will that change the situation and your ability to get that critically needed aid into Gaza?
CINDY McCAIN:
Well, WFP welcomes any ability to get aid, in any way, whether it's a port, whether it's a gate, whether it's air drops, whatever it may be. We support all of that. And we're grateful for this pier that's being built. That's another way to get aid in. But we need more than one pier.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, you take me to my next question because Human Rights Watch has said Israel is violating an order from the U.N.'s top court by actually blocking aid to Gaza. Now, Israel has said Hamas continues to intercept aid, which is complicating the distribution. Do you believe Israel is doing enough to help get aid into Gaza?
CINDY McCAIN:
Well, I hope so. I've spoken to Netanyahu myself, and he has reiterated to me several times that it's important, that they want to make sure aid gets in, that these crossings are going to be open, and somewhat are open now. So, I believe in good faith that they are doing the best that they can.
KRISTEN WELKER:
To the extent that you can, Director McCain, take us inside your conversations with Prime Minister Netanyahu. What has your message been to the prime minister?
CINDY McCAIN:
We need more access. We need access. We need more ability to be able to get more trucks in. We have, right now, a mass on the outside border about enough trucks and enough food for 1.1 million people for about three months. We need to get that in. And we can't dribble it in a few trucks at a time. We need, you know, hundreds of trucks.
KRISTEN WELKER:
The world is bracing for what Prime Minister Netanyahu continues to say will be a full-scale ground invasion into Rafah. Obviously, there are discussions for a potential ceasefire deal. But how would a ground invasion into Rafah complicate the humanitarian crisis that is already growing on a daily basis?
CINDY McCAIN:
It doesn't just complicate it. It causes such agony. I'm hoping that better senses prevail here and that this does not happen, for the sake of the people that are stuck there and don't have enough food and have no place to go. So, I'm hoping that something will prevail in these next few days to stop this invasion. But, I mean, if it does happen, this is a terrible thing. This is really, really dreadful, the things that could happen there.
KRISTEN WELKER:
If Senator McCain were still with us, what would he say right now with all of the unrest that we're seeing, what you and I are talking about, the work that you're doing, the unrest we're seeing on college campuses? What would he say right now, do you think?
CINDY McCAIN:
Well, I think he'd be very upset. And I think he'd be doing everything he could to help mitigate what's going on in the world, because that's what he was famous for. That's what he was good at. People listened to him. And I have had instances, throughout my career, this brief career right now with WFP, world leaders around Africa, around the world say, "Gosh, we miss John McCain. We miss him. We miss his leadership and we miss his voice." And I think that's very true. I think it's a fair thing to say.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
Really appreciate our conversation with Director McCain. That is all for today. Thank you so much for watching. We’ll be back next week because if it’s Sunday, it’s Meet the Press.
Gaza remains under assault. Day 213 of the assault in the wave that began in October. Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion. The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction. But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets: How to justify it? Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence." CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is 'the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund." ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them." NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the latest national NBC News poll. The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza." The slaughter continues. It has displaced over 1 million people per the US Congressional Research Service. Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) points out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide." The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is grows higher and higher. United Nations Women noted, "More than 1.9 million people -- 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza -- have been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly 1 million women and girls. The entire population of Gaza -- roughly 2.2 million people -- are in crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse." THE NATIONAL notes, "Gaza's death toll rose to 34,735 on Monday, the enclave's Health Ministry announced, after 52 people were killed in the previous 24 hours. Another 90 people were wounded, taking the total number of injured to 78,108. Thousands of people are also missing, believed to be under the rubble of destroyed buildings." Months ago, AP noted, "About 4,000 people are reported missing." February 7th, Jeremy Scahill explained on DEMOCRACY NOW! that "there’s an estimated 7,000 or 8,000 Palestinians missing, many of them in graves that are the rubble of their former home." February 5th, the United Nations' Phillipe Lazzarini Tweeted:
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