The UN general assembly has voted overwhelmingly to back the Palestinian bid for full UN membership, in a move that signalled Israel’s growing isolation on the world stage amid global alarm over the war in Gaza and the extent of the humanitarian crisis in the strip. The move drew an immediate rebuke from Israel. Its envoy to the UN, Gilad Erdan, delivered a fiery denunciation of the resolution and its backers before the vote, and fed pages of the UN charter into a shredder. The Palestinian envoy, Riyad Mansour, highlighted that the vote was being held at a time when Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city that is the last haven for many people, faced attack from Israeli forces

The town reached out to Danielle SeeWalker in early January to offer the Lakota painter and muralist a studio and stipend, but backpedaled after residents complained about the politics of one of her paintings after it was posted to her Instagram.

[...]

Three days after the news release hit the town’s website, it was removed and replaced with a statement, emphasizing the fact that her art had turned from focusing on Native Americans to the crisis in Gaza.

“I tried to explain my position, tried to understand more about the community’s concerns, but they just talked over me and ended the call,” SeeWalker said. The call lasted “a minute and a half, tops. And that was probably the most disappointing part of the whole thing,” she said. “The disrespect.”

SeeWalker said she painted “G is for Genocide” in recognition of the parallels between the plight of Native Americans in the U.S. and the crisis in Gaza.

“It’s about erasing a culture, about taking land. Me as an Indigenous person, this is what happened to my ancestors,” SeeWalker said. “The piece is not about taking sides, it’s about humanity, it’s about not destroying a culture and letting people live.”

But she never had a chance to explain that, nor will she. The whole experience has soured her to the residency in Vail. “I was just blindsided. No chance to understand or explain. After that, even if they wanted to offer me a residency, I wouldn’t take it

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• Trade between the two countries was worth $6.8 billion in 2023

Turkey stopped all trade with Israel as of Thursday, according to two Turkish officials familiar with the matter, adding to already high-running tensions between the once-close allies over the war in Gaza.

The move expands last month’s restriction on some Turkish exports to Israel, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan steps up criticism of the Jewish state and tries to consolidate support among conservative voters at home.

Ankara hasn’t formally announced the suspension and it wasn’t clear under what conditions trade would resume. Trade between the countries was worth $6.8 billion in 2023, of which 76% was Turkish exports, according to the Turkish statistical institute.

The move came a day after Turkey announced plans to join South Africa’s case at the United Nations’ highest court as a plaintiff accusing Israel of committing genocide in the Palestinian territory.

Erdogan hosted Hamas’s political leader in Istanbul on April 20, calling for immediate aid to Gaza.

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The United States House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a bill that would expand the federal definition of anti-Semitism, despite opposition from civil liberties groups.

The bill passed the House on Wednesday by a margin of 320 to 91, and it is largely seen as a reaction to the ongoing antiwar protests unfolding on US university campuses. It now goes to the Senate for consideration.

If the bill were to become law, it would codify a definition of anti-Semitism created by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

IHRA’s working definition of anti-Semitism is “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities”.

According to the IHRA, that definition also encompasses the “targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity”.

The group also includes certain examples in its definition to illustrate anti-Semitism. Saying, for instance, that “the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” would be deemed anti-Semitic under its terms. The definition also bars any comparison between “contemporary Israeli policy” and “that of the Nazis”.

Rights groups, however, have raised concerns the definition nevertheless conflates criticism of the state of Israel and Zionism with anti-Semitism.

In a letter sent to lawmakers on Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) urged House members to vote against the legislation, saying federal law already prohibits anti-Semitic discrimination and harassment.

“Instead, it would likely chill free speech of students on college campuses by incorrectly equating criticism of the Israeli government with anti-Semitism.”

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Colombian President Gustavo Petro has announced plans to cut diplomatic ties with Israel over its war in the Gaza Strip, which human rights advocates and other experts have warned could amount to genocide.

Speaking to a crowd marking International Workers’ Day in Bogota on Wednesday, Petro said countries cannot be passive in the face of the crisis unfolding in Gaza.

“Here in front of you, the government of change, of the president of the republic, announces that tomorrow we will break diplomatic relations with the state of Israel … for having a government, for having a president who is genocidal,” Petro said.

A left-wing leader who came to power in 2022, Petro is considered part of a progressive wave known as the “pink tide” in Latin America. He has been one of the region’s most vocal critics of Israel since the start of the Gaza war.

In October, just days after the conflict began, Israel said it was “halting security exports” to Colombia after Petro accused Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant of using language similar to what the “Nazis said of the Jews”.

And in February, Colombia suspended Israeli weapons purchases after Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians scrambling for food aid in Gaza — an event Petro said “recalls the Holocaust”.

Meanwhile, in early April, the Colombian government requested to join a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of genocide.

“Colombia’s ultimate goal in this endeavour is to ensure the urgent and fullest possible protection for Palestinians in Gaza, in particular such vulnerable populations as women, children, persons with disabilities and the elderly,” the country said.

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Image is by the PFLP

Americans who get their news primarily from cable are the only people who believe that Israel is not committing a genocide in Gaza, according to a new survey that examined the relationship between attitudes toward the war and news consumption habits.

The survey puts numbers on trends that have become increasingly apparent: Cable news viewers are more supportive of Israel’s war effort, less likely to think Israel is committing war crimes, and less interested in the war in general. People who get their news primarily from social media, YouTube, or podcasts, by contrast, generally side with the Palestinians, believe Israel is committing war crimes and genocide, and consider the issue of significant importance.

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The US is working to prevent the issuance of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the attack on Gaza, Israeli media has reported.

According to the news site Walla, Netanyahu is leading a "non-stop push over the telephone" to prevent an arrest warrant being issued against him by the ICC, particularly communicating with the White House.

The Israeli newspaper Maariv has reported that Netanyahu is "frightened and unusually stressed" by the possibility of an imminent arrest warrant.

Sources close to the paper believe that the arrest warrants are only a matter of time.

The paper reported that Defence Minister Yoav Galant and Chief of Staff Major-General Herzi Halevi could also be served with warrants. ⠀

An internal State Department memo reviewed by Reuters on Saturday revealed senior US officials have advised Secretary of State Antony Blinken that they do not find "credible or reliable" Israel's assurances that it is using US-supplied weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law.

Other officials upheld support for Israel's representation.

Under a National Security Memorandum issued by President Joe Biden in February, Blinken must report to Congress by 8 May on whether he finds credible Israel's assurances that its use of US weapons does not violate US or international law.

By 24 March, at least seven State Department bureaus had sent in their contributions to an initial "options memo" to Blinken. Parts of the memo, which has not been previously reported, were classified.

The submissions to the memo provide the most extensive picture to date of the divisions inside the State Department over whether Israel might be violating international humanitarian law in Gaza.

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April 22 – The global struggle in solidarity with the Palestinians against the horrific U.S./Israeli genocide since October 7 has become a major focus on U.S. college campuses. Prestigious Columbia University, located in Harlem, New York, has become ground zero in the campaign to divest funds supporting the apartheid Israeli regime.

The students at this Ivy League university established a Gaza Solidarity Encampment at 4 a.m. on April 17, Palestinian Prisoners Day, on the main lawn to demand Columbia divest funds from Israel. They pitched over 60 tents with an ample supply of food, water and other necessities. Unionized graduate student workers, some of whom have been arrested, are in solidarity with the encampment

April 17 was the same day that Columbia President Minouche Shafik testified before Congress in Washington, D.C., to answer questions over handling of demonstrations organized by Students Voices for Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace. Her administration ordered New York Police Department surveillance against pro-Palestine students, who had been slandered and doxxed for being “antisemitic” for their anti-Israel stances.

Shafik, who is of Egyptian ancestry, is a former World Bank vice president, former International Monetary Fund [IMF] deputy managing director, former British Department for International Development permanent secretary and former Bank of England deputy governor, and is presently a 2022-appointed Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Board member.

With these banking and corporate ties, Shafik was chosen by the Columbia Board of Trustees to defend the university’s financial ties to Israel. Columbia’s total endowment is $14 billion. ⠀

Once the encampment was set up and thousands of other activists, along with faculty and campus unions, descended on the campus to show their solidarity, Shafik authorized the NYPD, equipped with riot gear, to physically dismantle this encampment and to carry out mass arrests of around 100 protesters. For a short time, activists supporting the encampment outside the campus blocked police buses carrying the arrestees to the jail at 1 Police Plaza.

These police arrests, however, did not deter other student activists from occupying the west lawn of Columbia and setting up a new encampment April 18, which is still going strong as of April 22. These students have vowed on their Columbia Encampment Telegram thread that they will remain “steadfast until the demand of FULL DIVESTMENT is met.”

It was just announced on April 21 that all classes at Columbia will be conducted virtually and there will be no rehearsals for graduation due to the school being shut down, which the activists say is a victory for their cause.

In response to Yale University students being arrested April 21 in New Haven, Connecticut, for setting up an encampment demanding “no tuition for genocide,” hundreds of supporters have taken to the streets blocking intersections in solidarity with the arrestees.

The encampment at MIT on Kresge Lawn has been named “Scientists Against Genocide Encampment.” MIT has received over $11 million in research funding from Israel’s Defense Ministry since 2015. ⠀

Student walkouts, inspired by the Columbia struggle, have taken place at Boston University, Harvard University and elsewhere, also with their own demands that their universities divest from Israel.

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