Crooked Bough News Round-up

— Israeli Lawsuits Target Americans: A New Threat to the First Amendment Under Trump

 

at 3/28/25 9:28am

A wave of lawsuits filed by Israeli plaintiffs against pro-Palestinian American citizens, advocacy groups, and media outlets is paving the way for the AIPAC-backed “nonprofit killer bill” to take effect. The claims—largely unsubstantiated—appear designed to justify what critics say could amount to a near-total shutdown of political expression around the Israeli-Palestinian issue. On Monday, the latest in a series of legal actions targeted the prominent New York-based activist group Within Our Lifetime, as well as the Columbia University chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine. According to plaintiff Shlomi Ziv, the groups were allegedly funded by Hamas. Ziv, who was previously held captive in Gaza and worked as a security guard on October 7, 2023, claims that his captors told him they were financing student groups at Columbia. The accusation is based entirely on hearsay. Still, the lawsuit’s intent appears clearly aimed at dismantling the student movement at Columbia. The complaint even names Mahmoud Khalil, a U.S. permanent resident and pro-Palestine activist now in detention, who is facing deportation under an order from Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Khalil’s alleged offense: exercising his First Amendment rights. Despite pro-Israel organizations accusing him of supporting Hamas, the most the Canary Mission—a group notorious for doxxing and smearing college students—could produce was a video showing Khalil standing near someone chanting, “From the river to the sea.” The attacks on free speech and academic freedom at Columbia are not confined to deporting (or expelling) students who protest Israel. Thats a small part of it. The administration is also demanding Columbia adopt the radically expanded definition of "anti-Semitism" that the EU… pic.twitter.com/yXmidTtamh — Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 23, 2025 This is not Ziv’s first legal foray. In February, he and two other Israeli former hostages refiled an amended complaint against the U.S.-based media outlet Palestine Chronicle after their original case was dismissed for lack of evidence. The new lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington state, is backed by the National Jewish Advocacy Center, led by Mark Goldfeder—a former advisor to Israel’s permanent mission to the United Nations. Goldfeder’s organization has attempted similar lawsuits, including one against the Associated Press for allegedly providing “material support for terrorism,” as well as cases targeting UNRWA-USA and Students for Justice in Palestine. In the suit against Palestine Chronicle, Ziv claims that contributor Abdallah AlJamal was a Hamas operative who held Israeli captives in his home. Based on that allegation, Ziv argues that the outlet provided material support for terrorism by publishing AlJamal’s work. When Israeli forces killed AlJamal and several family members, CNN reported that Israeli officials offered no evidence for their claim that he was a Hamas fighter. Despite the lack of evidence, neoconservative think tanks such as the Foundation for Defense of Democracies helped amplify the narrative. Qatar-funded Al Jazeera also came under fire because Al Jamal had contributed articles to its site. In February, Israeli citizen Morris Schnaider filed a separate lawsuit targeting Al Jazeera, alleging the network aided Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in spreading propaganda and inciting violence. The legal action was supported by StandWithUs, a pro-Israel advocacy group known for coordinating with the Israeli government on similar efforts. While few of these lawsuits are expected to succeed in court, they align with broader efforts by pro-Israel lobbyists and the Trump-aligned right to clamp down on criticism of Israel. In late 2024, Congress passed House Resolution 9495—dubbed the “nonprofit killer bill”—despite widespread condemnation from civil liberties organizations. For all the legitimate complains that MAGA had about Dems cracking down on free speech, nothing compares to what the Trump admin is doing to put Israel First: https://t.co/jBGap6Y22I — Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) March 26, 2025 The bill empowers the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury to revoke the tax-exempt status of nonprofit organizations based on classified evidence and without filing formal charges. This creates a legal gray area where lawsuits—even those lacking evidence—could be used as a pretext to strip organizations of their legal protections/ Although Students for Justice in Palestine is not a registered nonprofit, it receives funding from American Muslims for Palestine, which is. As Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to detain and deport U.S. residents and student visa holders—many of whom are not accused of any crime but have merely spoken out against Israel’s war in Gaza—critics warn that a coordinated legal and legislative strategy is underway to criminalize dissent. Amid a wave of ICE detentions and deportations targeting U.S. residents and student visa holders—none of whom are accused of any crime beyond speaking out against Israeli actions in Gaza—it is not difficult to imagine an AIPAC-backed bill being weaponized against American citizens. Should that occur, it would mark a dangerous escalation in President Donald Trump’s ongoing assault on the First Amendment. Feature photo | Donald Trump speaks at the 2016 American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference at the Verizon Center, March 21, 2016, in Washington. Evan Vucci | AP Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47 The post Israeli Lawsuits Target Americans: A New Threat to the First Amendment Under Trump appeared first on MintPress News.

[Category: News, Abdallah AlJamal, AIPAC, Ben Shapiro, First Amendment, HR 9495, Israeli lawsuits, Mahmoud Khalil, nonprofit killer bill, Shlomi Ziv, Students For Justice in Palestine]

— Why Ben Shapiro and Pro-Israel Pundits Are Melting Down Over the JFK Files

 

at 3/28/25 8:48am

President Donald Trump’s decision to release previously classified JFK assassination files has sent pro-Israel conservative pundits into damage-control mode as renewed scrutiny falls on a potential Israeli motive in the killing of the 35th U.S. president. On March 18, more than 63,000 pages related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy were published by the National Archives following an executive order from Trump. Though heavily redacted and still incomplete, the release has renewed public interest in the events that culminated in the president’s death in Dallas on November 22, 1963. No definitive evidence has yet emerged to confirm alternative theories about who was responsible, and that lack of closure has only added fuel to decades-old suspicions. In the nearly 62 years since the assassination, countless theories have circulated. The most prominent continue to implicate the CIA. Recently, however, attention has shifted to potential motives involving Israeli intelligence—raising politically sensitive questions, particularly on the American right.   American Right Fractures Among the first to respond was conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, a tireless defender of all things Israel. On his talk show, Shapiro dismissed the renewed interest in Israel’s potential role, stating: I don’t care who killed JFK—I mean, I do because it’s interesting—but I noticed that the calendar says 2025 and he was killed in 1963.” He went on to suggest that any speculation that Israel was involved is motivated by anti-Semitism. Doubling down, Shapiro authored a column on March 19, 2025, titled “Does It Really Matter Who Shot John F. Kennedy?” The syndicated columnist soon saw his work picked up and republished by even the most minor local newspapers across America, sometimes with modified headlines.  While acknowledging that some 65% of Americans polled in 2023 believe Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone, Shapiro dismissed the alternative theories outright. He attributed the public’s skepticism not to unresolved evidence but to what he framed as a generalized and growing distrust of government. Ironically, instead of quieting discussion, Shapiro’s remarks appear to have intensified interest—particularly among conservatives who have grown increasingly critical of U.S. support for Israel. That shift reflects broader trends across the political spectrum as public opinion continues to sour on the U.S.-Israel relationship. Candace Owens, a former Daily Wire host who has reportedly eclipsed her ex-colleague Shapiro in monthly viewership since going independent, is one of the most vocal figures driving that narrative. Owens has dedicated multiple episodes of her show to the Kennedy files and Israel’s historical grievances with the president, appearing on other prominent right-leaning platforms to expand the discussion. Rather than engage with the evidence, pro-Israel advocacy groups have sought to discredit the theory by associating it with anti-Semitism. By conflating all discussion of Israeli motives with hate speech, critics argue, these groups are sidestepping the substance of the debate and helping drive further curiosity about the very claims they aim to suppress.   JFK Files: The Israel Connection Theories alleging Israeli involvement in Kennedy’s assassination are not new but have gained traction in recent years. In 2004, Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu—who served 18 years in prison for exposing Israel’s secret weapons program—publicly endorsed the theory. Four years later, in 2008, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi drew international attention to the theory, amplifying its reach even further. A 2016 release from the National Security Archive revealed that Kennedy had expressed deep concerns about Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion’s efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. The U.S. president suspected that Israel’s refusal to allow inspections at the Dimona nuclear facility was a smokescreen designed to conceal a covert weapons program—an issue that has gained legitimacy since the latest document release. In 2023, further revelations suggested Kennedy had attempted to send Nobel Prize-winning physicist Isidor Rabi to inspect the reactor at Dimona. Communications indicate that the trip was to be facilitated through U.S. State Department legal adviser Abram Chayes and his Israeli counterpart, Teddy Kollek. The initiative was ultimately blocked by the Israeli side. Perhaps even more telling is Kennedy’s order to the U.S. Department of Justice to force the American Zionist Council (AZC)—the forerunner to AIPAC—to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). The AZC was directly funded by the Israeli government, and Kennedy’s insistence on transparency alarmed Israeli officials. Consistent with long-standing U.S. policy at the time, Kennedy also urged Israel to comply with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194, which called for the right of return for approximately 750,000 Palestinians displaced between 1947 and 1949. U.S. pressure on this front played a key role in how Israel later recharacterized the expulsion of Palestinians, shifting its narrative to claim they had left voluntarily to avoid the legal obligations entailed by UNGA 194. Proponents of the Israeli involvement theory also note that Lyndon B. Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy following the assassination, reversed many of his predecessor’s policies and became one of Israel’s staunchest allies in U.S. history. While this information provides a clear motive and reasonable grounds for questioning an Israeli intelligence role in the JFK assassination, there remains no conclusive evidence implicating Israel in the assassination itself. With additional files still withheld, there is potential for further revelations, but at present, the theory remains unproven. Skeptics of the Israeli angle argue that the nation’s influence in Washington during the early 1960s was marginal compared to what it would become after the 1967 Six-Day War. Even so, there is evidence to suggest that Israel held considerable sway with President Johnson—particularly in the context of the USS Liberty incident, during which Israeli forces killed 34 American sailors in a widely contested attack. Feature photo | Ben Shapiro speaks with press on the red carpet at the Turning Point USA Inaugural Eve Ball held in Washington DC on January 19, 2025. Jason Alpert-Wisnia | AP Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47 The post Why Ben Shapiro and Pro-Israel Pundits Are Melting Down Over the JFK Files appeared first on MintPress News.

[Category: National, News, American Zionist Council FARA, Ben Shapiro JFK comments, Candace Owens JFK files, Dimona nuclear reactor, Israel JFK conspiracy, JFK AIPAC connection, JFK Assassination Files, JFK assassination theories, Kennedy Israel nuclear weapons, Trump JFK document release]

— Trump Killed Public War Research. Stargate Will Make It Secret—and Far More Dangerous

 

at 3/26/25 10:58am

Days after a Pentagon spokesperson celebrated the work of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, the Minerva Initiative—a little-known but influential research program—was killed without fanfare. No mainstream outlet covered it. But the reasons behind its demise reveal the next frontier of American war planning: AI, surveillance, and full-spectrum social control. On March 4, chief Department of Defence spokesperson Sean Parnell took to ‘X’ to announce that Elon Musk’s notorious Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was hard at work identifying tens of millions of dollars in savings to make the U.S. military “more lethal.” In addition to various DEI programs, several grants provided to universities to investigate climate change-related issues were listed for the chop. Unstated by Parnell, these efforts were funded by Minerva Initiative, a little-known Pentagon project founded in 2008. Under its auspices, the Department of Defense gave grants to researchers at U.S. universities to investigate particular topics, emphasizing social and behavioral sciences. In addition to helping D.C. military apparatchiks better understand foreign cultures and societies in their crosshairs, recent topics of interest have included climate change and “disinformation.” Minerva Initiative was launched with much initial fanfare as a public mechanism for connecting academia and government, but despite operating in the open, its activities typically generated little mainstream interest. Accordingly, no major news outlet reported when, mere days later, the Minerva Initiative was permanently axed in its entirety. It fell to the academic journal Science to break the news, its report quoting several academics—including recipients of Minerva grants—harshly condemning the move as “harmful to U.S. national security.” One warned, “Any savings will be outweighed by new gaps and blind spots in our knowledge about current and emerging threats.” Minerva Initiative’s budget was modest by Pentagon standards in August 2024, under its last funding round, $46.8 million was granted to 19 research projects. Yet, its impact was evidently seismic. “The initiative has helped build up a generation of social science researchers engaged with national security,” Science previously reported, with “many” academics in the field having “cut [their] teeth” with Minerva support. While beneficiaries may mourn its passing, Aaron Goode, host of the political podcast “American Exception” and a critic of U.S. foreign policy, offers MintPress News a less glowing appraisal: Minerva Initiative was yet another example of the U.S. national security state corrupting civil society and academia in order to maintain U.S. global dominance. It was a way to weaponize social science to evolve US battlefield tactics all in service of the grand imperial strategy of ‘full-spectrum dominance.’ This strategy has created the wealthiest and most powerful set of oligarchs in human history, killing untold millions around the world in the process.”   ‘Precarious Moments’ Goode’s view is echoed by Patrick Henningsen, editor of 21st Century Wire and a longtime analyst of military and intelligence operations. Henningsen notes the Minera Initiative’s chilling parallels with Cold War-era U.S. military research and intelligence effort Project Camelot, the codename of a lavishly-financed clandestine academic connivance launched in 1964. It gathered a diverse mix of anthropologists, economists, geographers, psychologists and sociologists to enhance the Pentagon’s ability to predict and influence social developments in foreign countries, particularly regarding counterinsurgency and intelligence operations. Henningsen explains: These types of programs are meant to provide an external academia-based, social sciences research arm for the Department of Defense, a kind of civilian bridge between government, military and academia. Minerva Initiative was just the latest attempt to outsource and steer specific types of granular research and intelligence gathering, along the lines of the type of anthropological, ethnographic and demography-based research, an approach pioneered by CIA forerunner the Office of Strategic Services, during World War II.” Project Camelot’s public exposure elicited significant concerns its research yield may have assisted U.S. covert and overt actions, including coups and invasions, corrupting purportedly independent academics in the process. It was shut down in 1965 ahead of a formal Congressional inquiry into its operations. Evidently, the Pentagon’s appetite for harnessing academic expertise for nefarious purposes was undimmed. Minerva Initiative represented a fresh opportunity to recreate Project Camelot on a grander scale, with openness serving as protection from embarrassing disclosures of covert sponsorship. Alongside benign-sounding grants for “understanding individual and team cognition in support of future space missions” and investigating “social impacts of climate change,” much of Minerva Initiative’s focused on counterinsurgency. This was both in terms of managing potential future military occupations of foreign countries in the manner of Afghanistan and Iraq, but also attempting to win the hearts and minds of target populations during and after conflicts or U.S.-fomented political upheaval. Take, for instance, a 2021 Minerva Initiative grant provided to a team of academics at the Universities of Arizona, California, Florida and Pennsylvania, managed by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research. It sought “to understand how to stabilize those precarious moments when the state needs to (re)establish itself as the accepted authority, particularly on the emergence of post-conflict security structures, state reforms, alternative security structures, and citizen buy-in.” Eerily, one context in which the U.S. state itself urgently needed to “establish itself as the accepted authority” and secure “citizen buy-in” for “alternative security structures” was the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, Graphika, a social media analytics firm that has reaped millions in grants from the Pentagon and Minerva Initiative, published a report on “The COVID-19 Infodemic”. It tracked online “disinformation” and dissent around lockdowns, mask mandates, and the virus’ origins. The report noted that Graphika began collating data for the project on December 16, 2019, just four days after COVID-19 symptoms were first detected in patients at a Wuhan hospital. It was not until December 31 that year that the outbreak of this unknown and as yet unnamed ailment was first reported to the World Health Organization. This begs the obvious question of how and why the company began investigating public opposition to pandemic prevention measures widely implemented months later at such an early date.   ‘Algorithmic Personalization’ A February 7 MintPress News investigation delved into the little-acknowledged profusion of individuals and organizations in intimate proximity to the President, including members of his cabinet, with extensive financial, ideological and political interests in artificial intelligence. The Trump administration’s AI fixation is manifested publicly in Stargate, a $500 billion initiative to construct 20 large AI data centers across the U.S. by 2029, managed by a consortium of major tech firms and financial institutions. Oddly, the project dropped off the radar entirely after an initial surge of media and tech sector excitement about Stargate. Details on its progress are stubbornly unforthcoming, and the purposes for which the vast forecast investment will be put remain sketchy. Nonetheless, in a January press release hailing Stargate’s launch, consortium member OpenAI boasted the endeavor would “provide a strategic capability to protect the national security of America and its allies.” Notably, the Minerva Initiative awarded sizable grants to study AI and its applications. On their surface, some of these efforts seem mundane. For example, the University of Wisconsin-Madison was given $2.1 million to develop AI tools to bolster the Pentagon’s “role as a science funder.” Meanwhile, Utah State received $1.49 million to assess the impact of AI surveillance technology on governance systems. Other Minerva-financed AI research appears considerably more sinister. In July 2020, the University of Iowa’s Initiative for Artificial Intelligence was granted an undisclosed sum over three years to investigate “the relationship between algorithmic personalization and online radicalization” and “uncover the technological, psychological, and cultural factors” that can lead individuals to adopt “extremist ideologies.” If the effort concerned public safety, this would be all well and good but its proposal document points to a far darker set of objectives. Iowa researchers surveyed politically engaged U.S. adults for a year, tracking their views on social, cultural, and political topics—and their susceptibility to conspiracy theories. This was intended to determine “psychological factors that make an individual more or less vulnerable to radicalization” and whether “algorithmic personalization” could play a role either way. “Communities vulnerable to future exposure to extremist ideologies” would also be identified. The proposal’s reference to “conspiracy theories” is ominous. The term is nebulous and highly contested so too are “extremist” and “radical.” Critics reasonably charge that these phrases are routinely employed in the mainstream to delegitimize dissenting opinions, inconvenient truths, awkward questions, and those voicing them. The U.S. government has long sought to infiltrate and subvert online spaces in the name of battling “conspiracy theories” and “extremists,” replicating historic covert state attacks on civil society and independent activists such as COINTELPRO in the process. “Minerva Initiative research projects studying the phenomenon of ‘extremism’ in and around conflict zones is ironic,” Patrick Hennigsen believes. The source of that extremism is, in most cases, more than likely the result of covert operations conceived and managed by either the U.S., U.K. or Israel governments, through the CIA, MI6 and Mossad. You can be sure the ‘fat-trimmers’ from DOGE won’t be snooping around the clandestine offices of Langley, Virginia.”   ‘Sock Puppets’ Even more troublingly, the Iowa researchers sought to “predict how people use social media” by “[seeding] online personas” “[building] automated profiles that approximate actual user behavior.” The activities of these “sock puppets” would be informed by “algorithms [incorporating] public interactions of online communities on social media platforms” and “collecting browsing data from actual members of these communities.” In other words, industrial-scale spying on sensitive private user information to create realistic online personas. It seems hardly coincidental that right around the time Iowa University’s Minerva Initiative grant was greenlit, the Pentagon began conducting wide-ranging “clandestine psychological operations” on social media, targeting the Arab and Muslim world. These efforts were highly sophisticated, employing expansive armies of bots and trolls with realistic AI-generated profile photos and accompanying ‘characters.’ In Iran, for instance, Pentagon sock puppets deployed varying narrative approaches to engender engagement and influence perceptions locally. Certain accounts accrued thousands of real-life followers. Some Pentagon-run Iranian bots took hardline positions, accusing the government of being too soft on foreign policy and too liberal at home. Others posed as women opposed to compulsory hijab-wearing and promoted anti-government protests. These accounts dabbled in non-political content, including Iranian poetry and photos of Iranian food and memes, to boost their authenticity. They also regularly engaged with Iranian users in Farsi, joking and making cultural references. It is an obvious question whether Iowa University’s Minerva efforts were ultimately concerned with assisting the Pentagon to identify ideal means of encouraging “extremist ideologies” and “radicalization” among individuals and groups in target countries to the detriment of their own governments. The researchers needn’t have been conscious confederates in this scheme. Under the CIA’s notorious MKULTRA program, unwitting academics routinely carried out seemingly innocuous research that would covertly be put to “psychological warfare purposes” markedly, often “on cultures and countries of interest to the CIA.” Reinforcing this interpretation, the online Pentagon operation, unceremoniously busted very publicly in August 2022, had all the makings of a classic “cognitive” counterinsurgency effort to win hearts and minds in target countries precisely Minerva Initiative’s preponderant beat. For decades, U.S. officials have openly spoken of war with Tehran as an inevitability and engaged in full-spectrum meddling efforts to foment insurrectionary upheaval locally. Notably, in October 2020, there was an Anglo-American coup in Kyrgyzstan, another country in the bot and troll operation’s crosshairs. The U.S. national security state’s obsessive interest in AI specifically in counterinsurgency has been clear for many years. In 2019, the Marine Corps School of Advanced Warfighting published an academic paper on “Artificial Intelligence enhanced systems to augment High Value Target (HVT) location” when conducting such operations. Israel’s deployment of artificial intelligence during the Gaza genocide gruesomely demonstrates the technology’s mass-killing potential, which experts believe marks the beginning of a new phase of warfare entirely. Was the Minerva Initiative shut down to push Pentagon AI research further into secrecy—and profitability—via Stargate? That’s one theory. Another is that the administration wanted to remove external oversight completely. Jeffrey Kaye, an investigative journalist who has extensively documented U.S. psychological warfare operations, tells MintPress News the Initiative’s closure does not spell the end of the abuse of academia by the Department of Defense or other U.S. government agencies: Last I heard, DARPA and RAND Corporation were not shuttered. And CIA and Fort Detrick certainly still engage U.S. universities and professors for a multitude of research projects for the war industry. Minerva’s closure may send a chill through the social science portion of the academic community that supports Washington’s war drive in China and elsewhere, but I expect long-term, there will be very little change in relations between the U.S. national security state and academic world.” Feature photo | Illustration by MintPress News Kit Klarenberg is an investigative journalist and MintPress News contributor exploring the role of intelligence services in shaping politics and perceptions. His work has previously appeared in The Cradle, Declassified UK, and Grayzone. Follow him on Twitter @KitKlarenberg. The post Trump Killed Public War Research. Stargate Will Make It Secret—and Far More Dangerous appeared first on MintPress News.

[Category: Investigations, National, Top Story, academic surveillance programs, AI in warfare, AI-powered social control, DARPA social science, military surveillance, Minerva Initiative, MKUltra, Pentagon AI research, Stargate, Stargate AI program, Trump AI initiative, U.S. military psychological operations]

— Betar: the Far-Right Hate Group Helping Trump Deport Israel’s Critics

 

at 3/25/25 10:25am

A far-right, pro-Israel group with a history of support for terror and genocide is working closely with the Trump administration, preparing dossiers on thousands of pro-Palestine figures it wants deported from the United States. Betar U.S. is known to have had several meetings with senior government officials and has claimed credit for the arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of the nationwide anti-genocide student demonstrations that began at Columbia University last year. Ross Glick, the group’s executive director until last month, noted that he met with a diverse set of influential lawmakers, including Democratic senator John Fetterman and aides to the Republican senators Ted Cruz and James Lankford, and that all supported Betar U.S.’ campaign to rid the country of thousands of “terror supporters.” Shortly after Glick’s trip to Washington, D.C., Trump signed an executive order titled “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism” that promises “the removal of resident aliens who violate our laws,” to “quell pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation,” and to “investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities.” Trump himself announced that Khalil’s arrest, which made worldwide headlines, was “the first of many to come.” “We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump administration will not tolerate it,” he wrote on Truth Social. The 45th and 47th president has also stated that he plans to deport “Communists” and “Marxists” from the United States, even those who are citizens. As such, this marks an escalation in government-backed suppression of dissent not seen since the McCarthyist era of the 1940s and 1950s.   Carrying Out Terror, Supporting Genocide Betar U.S. describes itself as a “loud, proud, aggressive and unapologetically Zionist” movement “dedicated to defending Israels legitimacy and strengthening the Jewish connection to the land of Israel.” This includes “taking action where others won’t” – a rather ominous phrase, considering the aggressive activities of the Jewish organizations it derides as “passive” and weak. Last week, the group appeared to openly attempt to organize an assassination attempt on Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories. “Join us to give Francesca a [pager emoji] in London on Tuesday,” it posted online, an apparent reference to the September pager attack on  Lebanon carried out by the Israeli military. The incident killed dozens of people and injured thousands more civilians, and was widely condemned – even by former CIA Director Leon Panetta – as an act of international terrorism. Last month, Betar U.S. made a similar threat against Jewish-American writer Peter Beinart. After The New York Times published his article criticizing the State of Israel, it put out a statement reading, “We urge all Jews on the Upper West Side to give Peter Beinart a [three pager emojis]. He is a traitor, a kapo, and we must oppose him.” Thus, Betar not only smeared him as a Nazi collaborator (Kapo) and called for his assassination but also appeared to reveal Beinart’s home location. A similar incident occurred to political scientist Norman Finkelstein. In an effort to intimidate him into silence, a Betar member slipped a pager into his coat pocket, filming the incident. After Finkelstein refused to stop speaking out against injustice in the Middle East, last weekend, the group attempted to break up his public event in Washington, D.C. Perhaps most outrageously, Betar has also publicly placed a bounty on the head of Palestinian-American activist Nerdeen Kiswani, telling her that “You hate America, you hate Jews, and we are here and won’t be silent. $1,800 to anyone who hands that jihadi a beeper,” and later repeating the offer. After worldwide pushback, the organization has deleted its posts calling for political killings of international officials and U.S. citizens. Pretty wild how terrorists are allowed to just openly incite and incentivize acts of terrorism on this platform now. https://t.co/D9aDpMY6yB pic.twitter.com/miBCoMdBKA — Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) March 23, 2025 In addition, Betar has regularly attempted to intimidate or shut down movements or gatherings protesting Israeli crimes. At a student event at UCLA, Betar publicly stated, “We demand police remove these thugs now and if not we will be forced to organize groups of Jews to do so.” In January, it tried to break up a New York City vigil for Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl brutally murdered by Israeli forces. Betar members filmed the event, telling attendees they were with ICE and using facial recognition technology to obtain their identities, which would subsequently be used to deport them. In recent weeks, Betar members have also chanted hate speech outside a Bangladeshi mosque in New York City and attacked people who protested the illegal sale of Occupied West Bank land at an auction in Brooklyn. That Betar is a hate group is barely in question. Even notoriously pro-Israel groups such as the Anti-Defamation League (an organization the FBI once noted was almost certainly being bankrolled by the Israeli government) have included it in its list of extremist hate organizations. The ADL notes that Betar uses the fascist Kahanist slogan, “For every Jew, a .22” (meaning Jews should be armed with .22 rifles) and has indicated it wishes to work with the Proud Boys, a far-right American gang. Betar frequently revels in violence against civilian populations and calls for genocide against Palestinians. “Fuck your ceasefire!!  Turn Gaza to rubble!!” they announced last month. “Betar firmly supports the plan to remove Palestinians from Gaza,” they added. In response to a post detailing the vast numbers of Palestinian babies killed since October 7, 2023, it replied, “Not enough. We demand blood in Gaza!” Fuck your ceasefire!! Turn Gaza to rubble!! For the Bibas family! They must go! pic.twitter.com/9T5CEDHP2y — Betar Worldwide (@Betar_USA) February 20, 2025   A Fascist Paramilitary – But Jewish Betar traces its origins back over 100 years. The group was founded by early Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky as a far-right paramilitary force, one that explicitly stood against the leftist Jewish groups who dominated at a time when “Jewish” and “socialist” were seen by many as virtually synonymous. Jabotinsky believed that establishing a state in Palestine would require the creation of what he called a “new Jew,” one that would be willing to fight and die for Zionism. To this end, Betar was established as a fighting organization and received generous funding from conservative benefactors. Jabotinsky instructed members to swear an oath to the unborn Israel: “I devote my life to the rebirth of the Jewish State, with a Jewish majority, on both sides of the Jordan.” The creation of such a state, therefore, would require the mass extermination or expulsion of the region’s native inhabitants. Betar’s formal name was Brit Yosef Trumpeldor, named after a Jewish settler who was killed in 1920 in an early firefight with Palestinians over disputed land. It was exactly men like Trumpeldor who Jabotinsky believed were necessary in order to win, in contrast to the majority of European Jews, who he saw as passive and weak. 1920s Europe was a time of rising antisemitism, and despite their inherent anti-Jewish nature, many conservative Jews admired the discipline and organization of fascist paramilitaries such as Hitler’s Brownshirts. Betar was modeled on these groups, with Jabotinsky believing the Zionist project’s success was dependent on the establishment of such organizations. Because of their anti-communist, anti-worker outlook, conservative money flooded into Betar, helping it become one of the largest and most influential Jewish organizations by the 1930s, with membership rising to around 70,000 people. Betar leaders would go on to become key figures in Israeli politics. These included Prime Ministers, Menachem Begin and Yitzchak Shamir, as well as Benzion Netanyahu, the father of current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Members of Betar attend a summer youth camp in the Polish town Zakopane in 1935. Photo | Public Domain While this depiction of Betar as a fascist terrorist group might sound biased or one-sided, much of this information comes directly from the organization itself. On its official website’s “Our History” section, Betar writes (emphasis added): Betar thus became an incubator for the development of right-wing Zionist ideas and its supporters were sometimes referred to as “Jewish Fascists.” In Palestine, Betar members facilitated illegal Jewish immigration and were active instigators of disturbances and violence, frequently bombing Arab civilian areas in response to attacks and waging guerilla [sic] warfare against the British.” Thus, the organization does not shy away from the fascism label, and it proudly notes that it “frequently” carried out terror operations against Arab civilians in Palestine. (At some point in the past week, after it began receiving increased scrutiny for its connections to the Trump administration, Betar has removed both the “fascist” moniker and the boast about bombing Arabs, but the original page can still be viewed via the Internet Archive. Since October 7, 2023, Betar has greatly upped its presence in the United States, thanks to far-right Israeli-American businessman Ronn Torossian and Executive Director Ross Glick. In July 2024, it successfully applied for tax-exempt nonprofit status, meaning it is classified by the government as a charity. “Since our revival in 2024, Betar has made a powerful impact across the U.S. and is just getting started. We are recruiting, developing, and empowering Jews to become unapologetic Zionist leaders—defending Israel on campuses, in communities, and across all platforms,” Betar writes. Yet an investigation by The Electronic Intifada suggests that Betar might have been illegally fundraising. The same report notes that Glick has faced serious allegations of sex crimes. In 2019, his former girlfriend found nude images of herself posted on her company’s official Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter pages. Glick was arrested and charged with unlawful use of a computer and unlawfully posting the lewd pictures. He pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment, a violation, and paid a fine. Commentators across the political spectrum agree that the Trump administration is pushing the United States in a rightward direction, in the process running roughshod over constitutional protections and guarantees. In doing so, they have found allies in many controversial groups. That such a small and new movement like Betar U.S. already enjoys such influence within the White House has already raised eyebrows. And given Israel’s determination to continue its genocidal campaigns against its neighbors – and Trump’s limitless support for its ally – it appears likely that Betar’s power is expected to grow under the current administration. If this is the case, that is bad news for those who value the right to speak freely and to protest. It is therefore crucial that this group be understood and scrutinized rather than be allowed to operate in the shadows behind closed doors. Feature photo | Illustrative photo | A rally believed to be attended by Betar members in Paris, February 9, 2025 | Credit: Cesar Vilette | Ola News | Sipa via AP Images Alan MacLeod is Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent, as well as a number of academic articles. He has also contributed to FAIR.org, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, and Common Dreams. The post Betar: the Far-Right Hate Group Helping Trump Deport Israels Critics appeared first on MintPress News.

[Category: Investigations, National, Top Story, Alan MacLeod investigation, Betar hate group, Betar US, campus activism crackdown, far-right Zionist groups, Mahmoud Khalil deportation, pro-Israel extremism, pro-Palestine repression, Trump anti-Palestinian crackdown, Trump executive order 2025]

— Damascus Targets All but Israel as Border Crisis Deepens

 

at 3/21/25 1:47pm

Since the seizure of Damascus by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on Dec. 8, 2024, thousands of Syrians have been killed across the country. Instead of confronting Israeli aggression and further land grabs in the nation’s south, Syria’s de facto President, Ahmed al-Shara’a, has directed his fire at Lebanon instead. On March 17, fighters affiliated with the new Syrian security forces of HTS crossed into the Lebanese border town of al-Qasr, three of whom were captured by a local clan. News quickly spread that two of the militants were executed and a third seriously injured, prompting Syria’s leadership to order shelling and a military buildup on its side of the border. In retaliation, the Lebanese army deployed and responded in kind. Saudi state-funded media outlets Al Arabiya and Al Hadathq quickly began promoting the claim that Hezbollah fighters had crossed the Syrian border, captured three members of Syria’s security forces and stoned them to death. This claim soon became the semi-official narrative out of Damascus. Israeli media outlets echoed the claim, citing the same Riyadh-funded sources and framing the events on the Lebanon-Syria border as clashes between Hezbollah and the Syrian army. While no evidence exists to support these allegations, Hezbollah denied any involvement in what would be a counterintuitive operation that only serves to hinder its rearmament. HTS militants in Syria are launching rockets and firing heavy machine guns at Lebanese border towns, targeting areas with no Hezbollah presence—only Lebanese Army positions and civilian homes. This reckless aggression threatens Lebanon’s sovereignty and the safety of its… pic.twitter.com/DguzhFlb4M — Hala Jaber (@HalaJaber) March 17, 2025 That same day, HTS cross-border fire killed seven Lebanese citizens. It injured another 36 in the village of Hosh al-Sayyed Ali, located in the Hermel-Baalbek governorate and populated by Shia Muslims. Following a two-day exchange of fire—between the Lebanese army and local clans on one side and HTS on the other—a truce was reached. However, Syrian fighters again crossed the border, ransacking and occupying homes inside Lebanon. These border clashes have been routine since the fall of the former Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, with the first exchange of fire occurring between the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and HTS. A Lebanese army soldier was injured on Dec. 26 when Syrian militants opened fire on a patrol in the Wadi al-Aswad area. Since then, militants affiliated with the Syrian security forces have routinely crossed into Lebanon and opened fire on predominantly Shia villages, prompting Lebanese clans to engage and expel them. This also comes against the backdrop of ongoing sectarian bloodshed across the country—the most severe case occurring along the Syrian coast, where more than 1,000 civilians, mainly from the Alawite minority group, were reportedly killed within 72 hours, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The UK-based SOHR, historically aligned with the Syrian opposition to Assad, has nonetheless provided the most detailed lists of names for the thousands of Syrians killed from all groups across the country in recent months. On a daily basis, there is a steady stream of reports from Syria of field executions committed against former Syrian army officers who were supposed to have been granted amnesty by the new authorities, as well as indiscriminate gunfire injuring children in the Idlib province. The new HTS-led Syrian security forces have failed to halt the sectarian killings, kidnappings and blood feuds—often participating in the violence themselves. Instead of resisting the ongoing Israeli occupation of southern Syria, Damascus has turned its guns on dissidents, disgruntled minority groups and Lebanese border villages while boasting about preventing weapons from reaching Hezbollah—to the great delight of the Israeli media. BREAKING: HTS and Israel are targeting Lebanon simultaneously. Video footage shows HTS forces targeting border towns in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley from the Syrian city of Al-Qusayr. At least one child has been killed and four others have been injured in the HTS attack. pic.twitter.com/pPdfKp1QVq — red. (@redstreamnet) March 16, 2025 Simultaneously, as HTS mobilized and carried out repeated rocket attacks in the Beka’a Valley, Israeli airstrikes continued to target Lebanese territory. In addition, a series of Israeli raids in the southern Syrian city of Dara’a killed two civilians and injured dozens more, provoking no response from the authorities in Damascus. Feature photo | Syrian troops maneuver in the village of Hawsh al-Sayyid Ali, located 2 km (1.24 miles) from the Lebanon border, Syria, March 17, 2025. Omar Albam | AP Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47 The post Damascus Targets All but Israel as Border Crisis Deepens appeared first on MintPress News.

[Category: Foreign Affairs, Ahmed al-Shara’a, Bashar al-Assad, Hezbollah, HTS, Israeli airstrikes, Lebanon border clashes, Middle East conflict, Syria, Syrian civil war, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights]

— Fighting For Empire: Conor McGregor’s Far-Right Makeover

 

at 3/20/25 10:41am

Conor McGregor was the Trump administration’s guest of honor at the White House St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. The Irish mixed martial arts champion used the opportunity to promote right-wing, anti-immigration policies for his homeland. “It’s about time that America is made aware of what’s going on in Ireland. What is going on in Ireland is a travesty. Our government is the government of zero action with zero accountability,” he said, adding that the country was being overrun by violent illegal immigrants. “In 10 years, Dublin city center has gone from one of the safest cities in Europe to one of the most dangerous!” he claimed. McGregor, an aspiring politician, clearly came to Washington, D.C., to seek the endorsement of the 45th and 47th president, describing him as “inspiring.” The two chatted in front of a map identifying, in overly large letters, the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.” He also laid out a plan to make Ireland great again, one which largely revolved around the “mass deportation of dangerous, criminal, and radicalized imports,” who, he alleged, “are a strain on our welfare system” and have “made no effort to secure employment or assimilate with Irish culture and values.” Clearly, then, the celebrity fighter is positioning himself as a leader in the emerging far-right, anti-immigration movement in Europe and has even announced his intention to run for president of Ireland this year. “I am the only logical choice. 2025 is coming,” he said in September. He has already received the endorsement of several high-profile right-wing figures, including Andrew Tate and Elon Musk. A 2023 poll found, however, that only 8% of Irish voters would cast a ballot for him. Ad hominem style attacks against me coming in hot by Irelands government elite. Classic, and glaringly obvious to everyone, deflection tactics. What is your response / plan of action to the issues I raised? Ireland wants to know. America wants to see! Chip,chop now… pic.twitter.com/EPdsEFnGs9 — Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) March 19, 2025   A History of Racism and Violence Just a few days before the poll was taken, McGregor had helped incite an Islamophobic riot in Dublin. After an Algerian-born Muslim man nonfatally stabbed four people (including three children), a massive, racist mob swept through Ireland’s capital, looting shops, destroying buses and cars, and assaulting more than 60 police officers. McGregor appeared to endorse the violence. “Ireland, we are at war,” he declared to his tens of millions of followers. “There is grave danger among us in Ireland that should never be here in the first place,” he said as Dublin burned. “Make change or make way. Ireland for the victory,” he added. He also took aim at the government, who, he claimed, was downplaying the threat of the Islamization of Ireland. “The Irish PM hates the Irish… The current Irish government clearly cares more about praise from woke media than their own people,” he said. His comments were investigated by the police for incitement to violence. This was not the first time the fighter had attacked the government. Indeed, that same week, he labeled Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar a “disgrace” for failing to adequately condemn Hamas. Reacting to the news of the release of Irish-Israeli girl Emily Hand, Varadkar tweeted, “This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family. An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief. Our prayers have been answered.” McGregor, however, was incensed by the message. “She was abducted by an evil terrorist organization,” he replied. “What is with you and your government and your paid for media affiliates constantly down playing / attempting to repress horrific acts that happen to children. You are a disgrace. The day after a stabbing of children in Ireland, NOT ONE PAPER HAD IT ON THEIR FRONT COVER. We will not forget,” he added, referencing the previous Dublin stabbing incident. More recently, he called for protestors demonstrating against Israel’s continuing atrocities to be arrested, noting that some of them were waving Hezbollah flags. “To raise the flag of a terrorist organization on Irish soil must become a major crime in the eyes of our state. It will not be tolerated nor lauded!  Raise a country flag, off your own person, and off of government buildings, yes, no problem. Raise the flag of radicalized terror organizations off of the same.. Big problem,” he wrote, in characteristically poor English. While his pro-Israel stances have earned him plaudits from far-right groups and pro-Israel organizations such as Stop Antisemitism, it has increasingly alienated him from his compatriots, who have come out in strong support of Palestinian liberation. “Conor McGregor has never been elected to anything, he doesn’t represent the Irish people. In fact, we’re all pretty embarrassed by him,” said Colum Eastwood, MP. Last week, McGregor was loudly booed at a Limp Bizkit concert in Dublin. McGregor’s athletic career was littered with racist incidents. In 2015, while fighting against a Brazilian opponent, he assumed the personality of a colonialist: “I own this town. I own Rio de Janeiro. I would invade his favela on horseback, and kill anyone not fit to work,” he said. “But we are in a new time,” he lamented, “so I’ll whoop his ass in July.” Two years later, he told his Black opponent, Floyd Mayweather, to “dance for me, boy” and described his Black bodyguards as “monkeys.” And in 2018, he provocatively offered alcohol to his opponent Khabib Nurmagomedov, a devout Muslim, and called his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, a “mad terrorist.” If Dublin truly is a more dangerous place than it was ten years ago, as McGregor claims, the Irishman himself has played a significant role in its transformation. In 2019, he was convicted of sucker-punching an elderly man in a city bar. And in November, a jury awarded over $250,000 to a woman who said he raped her. The woman in question needed surgery to remove her tampon after the rape.   Ireland Resists the Far-Right Surge McGregor’s antics and actions have earned him a massive online following but have cost him the respect of much of his country. Sponsors have pulled out of deals with the star, and gyms across Ireland have painted over murals depicting him as somebody to look up to. “The one thing that unifies Irish people more than anything else is their hatred for Conor McGregor,” Irish journalist Seán Hickey noted. Although geographically situated in Western Europe, Ireland’s history is that of a colonized nation rather than a colonizer, making it almost unique among its neighbors. As such, the Irish public has always sympathized with the underdog. On Palestine, the country has remained steadfast in its opposition to Israeli actions. Far-right, anti-immigration politics has achieved far less of a foothold on the Emerald Isle than in other parts of Europe. Like McGregor, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) – the body that oversees big-money mixed martial arts contests – has strongly aligned itself with the emerging global far-right movement. UFC CEO Dana White is one of Trump’s most vocal supporters and closest advisors. Recently, Trump appointed former UFC spokesperson Steven Cheung as his new White House Communications Director. One exception to this is UFC champion Nurmagomedov, who defeated McGregor in 2018. At a packed UFC event in January, he told Irish fans: Don’t forget: Ireland is the biggest supporter in the world for Palestine. Don’t forget about this. We love you guys, your government, everybody…We love you guys, because you guys support our brothers in Palestine.” In many ways, then, Nurmagomedov represents the people of Ireland far better than the racist, xenophobic hatred that McGregor and his ilk are trying to sell to the country. Feature photo | White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt listens as UFC fighter Conor McGregor speaks with reporters in the briefing room of the White House, March 17, 2025, in Washington. Evan Vucci | AP Alan MacLeod is Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent, as well as a number of academic articles. He has also contributed to FAIR.org, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, and Common Dreams. The post Fighting For Empire: Conor McGregor’s Far-Right Makeover appeared first on MintPress News.

[Category: Foreign Affairs, Investigations, Top Story, Andrew Tate Elon Musk endorsement, Conor McGregor far-right, Conor McGregor Israel support, Conor McGregor presidential campaign, Conor McGregor racism UFC, Dublin Islamophobic riot, Ireland anti-immigration politics, Irish politics Palestine solidarity, Khabib Nurmagomedov Palestine, UFC Dana White Trump]

— Trump’s Attacks on Yemen Will Cost US Taxpayers Billions​

 

at 3/20/25 9:55am

While U.S. President Donald Trump announces that Yemen’s Ansar Allah will be “completely annihilated,” he is racking up costs for the American taxpayer, using a strategy that failed under the Biden administration for more than a year. Instead of pressuring Israel to allow aid to reach Gaza, the White House has declared war. In October 2023, the Ansar Allah-led Yemeni government in Sana’a decided to intervene directly in the conflict between Gaza and Israel, firing more than 100 missiles and drones at the port of Eilat, many of which were shot down by U.S. naval vessels. By November, Yemen declared it would impose a blockade on all Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea. Ansar Allah made it clear it would continue to take action against Israel until a ceasefire was implemented in Gaza, justifying its intervention on humanitarian grounds, claiming an obligation under the Genocide Convention to act. The U.S., under the Biden administration, then decided to attack Yemen directly despite no immediate threat to American interests or vessels. Then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the launch of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a multinational naval mission that failed to achieve any of its objectives and was conducted primarily in the interest of Israel. The costs of the mission ran into the hundreds of billions, while U.S. taxpayers suffered at least billions in losses with no positive outcomes to show for it. Through 2024 alone, Ansar Allah’s blockade in the Red Sea cost more than $200 billion. Although the U.S. and its British allies repeatedly launched airstrikes on positions across Yemen, they only succeeded in extending the blockade in the Red Sea to their own vessels instead of just Israel’s. Trump began launching airstrikes across Yemen on March 15, which were deadlier to the country’s civilian population than comparable assaults during the Biden administration. Yet, there are no objective indicators that a favorable result has been achieved. All governorates in Yemen under Sanaas control have been bombed, except for Amran Governorate. This man from Amran is deeply upset and feels that his governorate has left alone , so he asked that this message be delivered to Trump pic.twitter.com/QNIsxGwTCX — Ahmed Hassan أحمد حسن زيد (@Ahmed_hassan_za) March 19, 2025 Similar hyperbole that seeks to exaggerate the results of airstrikes was used by Pentagon officials in January 2024, after the former U.S. president ordered a large-scale bombing campaign. We feel very confident about where our ammunition struck, remarked Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, the Joint Staffs director for operations at the time. Offering no proof of success, Trump is following in the footsteps of the Biden administration. In the first wave of Trump’s attacks against Yemen, the U.S. used RGM-109 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles, estimated to cost between $1.4 million and $2 million per unit. In 2018, when Trump launched an attack on Syria with 66 Tomahawk cruise missiles, the estimated cost for munitions alone exceeded $92.4 million. The munitions used by the U.S. Navy to shoot down Yemen’s missiles and drones cost between $1 million and $4.3 million each, provoking Department of Defense officials to voice their discontent. “That quickly becomes a problem because the most benefit, even if we do shoot down their incoming missiles and drones, is in their favor,” said Mick Mulroy, a former Defense Department official, in December 2023. A former U.S. naval officer told MintPress News that the cost of Operation Prosperity Guardian was roughly $600 million per month. This appears to be a much more intense and costly operation, so without all the specifics, it’s hard to predict how much this will cost, the officer said. Operating an aircraft carrier alone is estimated to cost between $6 million and $8 million per day. In early 2024, Politico reported worrying signs of an overburdened U.S. Navy struggling to deploy replacement ships to the West Asia region. In addition, Yemen’s air defense units continue to shoot down American drones. So far, Ansar Allah has downed 16 MQ-9 UAVs, each valued at $33 million, costing the U.S. a total of $528 million. Despite the Biden administration deciding to attack Yemen on Israel’s behalf, now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio penned an op-ed last year complaining that the strategy was not aggressive enough. Under the Democratic administration, Ansar Allah was designated a “specially designated global terrorist” organization, a label that Trump replaced with the harsher “Foreign Terrorist Organization” designation upon taking office. On Jan. 19, upon the implementation of a ceasefire in Gaza, Yemen ceased all offensive operations and ended its blockade in the Red Sea. However, just over two weeks ago, Israel violated the terms of the ceasefire and blocked all aid from entering the Gaza Strip, prompting Ansar Allah to issue a four-day deadline for allowing aid before restarting its blockade on Israeli shipping. The immense cost to U.S. taxpayers of Trump’s assault on Yemen, which promises no results and primarily serves Israel’s interests, could easily reach the tens of billions at the current pace, especially considering the intensity of operations is much greater than under his predecessor. All of this could have been avoided had Washington pressured Tel Aviv to allow humanitarian goods to enter Gaza. Feature photo | Locals inspect the site of an overnight U.S. airstrike in Sanaa, Yemen, March 20, 2025. Photo | AP Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47 The post Trumps Attacks on Yemen Will Cost US Taxpayers Billions​ appeared first on MintPress News.

[Category: News, Ansar Allah Red Sea blockade, Gaza ceasefire violations, Marco Rubio Yemen policy, Operation Prosperity Guardian costs, Tomahawk missile expenses, Trump Yemen airstrikes, U.S. military aid Israel, U.S. Navy drone losses, U.S. taxpayer burden Yemen, Yemen humanitarian intervention]

— New Conservative Argument: Cut US Aid to Protect Israel’s Reputation

 

at 3/18/25 8:44am

In the early hours of March 18, 2025, Israeli airstrikes shattered a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, resulting in over 400 Palestinian deaths, including many children. This tragic escalation will likely intensify global scrutiny of U.S. military aid to Israel, especially as conservative voices within the United States are already beginning to question the longstanding policy of unconditional support.​ The Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank renowned for its role in crafting Project 2025, recently published a report titled From Special Relationship to Strategic Partnership, 2029–2047. The report advocates for a phased reduction in American military assistance to Israel, citing the nations economic and military self-reliance.​ This proposal was swiftly condemned by the Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI), a leading pro-Israel lobbying organization. In a statement, DMFI asserted, This proposal represents a betrayal of Americas longstanding, mutually beneficial commitment to Israels security that has been a cornerstone of U.S.-Israel relations for more than 75 years.​ House Democrat Steny Hoyer, a staunch advocate for Israel, also criticized the report, labeling it both wrong and dangerous. Hoyer, who has received at least $1.82 million from pro-Israel donors, has been instrumental in securing substantial taxpayer-funded aid for Israel. In November 2023, he issued a press release demanding that Congress Must Immediately and Unconditionally Fund Israel Aid—a demand that was subsequently met.​ To be clear @RepStenyHoyer considers a plan giving Israel $76B+ in direct aid alone through 2047—the longest, most generous aid package in U.S. history—cutting off military assistance and a wrong and dangerous move that would endanger Israel, America, and the entire region. https://t.co/yrqzOB1rU1 — The United States of Israel (@IsraeliLobby) March 13, 2025 Despite its new stance on aid, the Heritage Foundation has historically been a strong supporter of Israel. The think tank has collaborated with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to counter criticism of Israel on U.S. college campuses and was instrumental in developing Project Esther, a strategy aimed at curbing criticism of Israel on college campuses. The Trump administration maintains a close relationship with Heritage, implementing many of its proposals since returning to power. However, this recent stance on aid to Israel follows a notable visit to Washington by Israeli lawmaker Amit Halevi, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus Likud Party.​ During his 10-day visit, Halevi advocated for reducing U.S. military aid, arguing that such assistance portrays Israel as weak and overly dependent. He met with Heritage leadership accompanied by Gideon Israel, head of the Jerusalem-Washington Center, an organization that advises Republican lawmakers on Israel policy.​ While Democratic-aligned pro-Israel groups like DMFI have vocally opposed the Heritage Foundations report, Republican-aligned elements of the Israel Lobby have remained notably silent. This silence suggests a potential divide centered around Netanyahus leadership, with some Israeli conservatives, including Halevi, acknowledging that overreliance on U.S. aid may harm Israels global image.​ Israeli warplanes are conducting airstrikes on civilian homes and IDP camps in Gaza, using U.S.-made bombs, resulting in the deaths of women and children as they sleep. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza has said at least 232 people were martyred in the wave of Israeli… pic.twitter.com/saWUjAqPpc — INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) March 18, 2025 The debate over U.S. military assistance to Israel has also attracted attention from fiscal conservatives. Congressman Thomas Massie, the sole Republican to vote against a $14 billion Israel aid package in 2023, has consistently advocated for ending foreign aid across the board. He recently reiterated his stance: We should not be borrowing money from China to send it to other countries.​ Massies views resonate with a growing segment of right-wing populists who question Americas financial commitments abroad. Recent polling indicates that younger Republican voters are increasingly skeptical of unconditional military aid to Israel.​ Despite this emerging skepticism, President Trump has thus far dismissed Heritages recommendations. Since resuming office, he has approved $12 billion in military assistance to Israel, including a $4 billion package expedited by bypassing Congress. Concurrently, the U.S. has reduced foreign aid to numerous other allies, including the Lebanese military and key West Asian partners, while maintaining unwavering support to cover Israels financial needs. While their goals are likely not benevolent, the Heritage Foundations report represents one of the first significant conservative challenges to Washingtons longstanding pro-Israel stance. As right-wing disapproval of foreign aid grows, and with a notable shift in American public opinion—especially among younger Republicans— previously unassailable U.S. aid to Israel may finally face scrutiny.​ Feature photo | People gather in the yard of the Ahli Arab hospital, also known as the Baptist hospital, to mourn and bid farewell to the bodies of victims killed in Israeli bombardment in Gaza City, on March 18, 2025. Majdi Fathi | AP Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47 The post New Conservative Argument: Cut US Aid to Protect Israels Reputation appeared first on MintPress News.

[Category: Foreign Affairs, News, Amit Halevi Likud Party, Democratic Majority for Israel criticism, fiscal conservatives foreign aid, Heritage Foundation Israel aid, Project 2025 Israel policy, Steny Hoyer pro-Israel lobbying, Trump administration Israel funding, U.S. military aid reduction, U.S.-Israel strategic partnership, younger Republicans Israel skepticism]

— How Miami Beach Became a Lab for Pro-Israel Censorship Laws

 

at 3/17/25 9:15am

Despite winning an Oscar, the Israeli-Palestinian-made film No Other Land cannot be found on any streaming platforms in the United States, making independent cinemas the only places to view it. However, in Miami Beach, even featuring the film will get you labeled an antisemite and kicked out of the city. Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner, who is Jewish and has deep personal and political ties to Israel, stirred controversy last week for seeking to shut down an independent art house cinema over its showing of the No Other Land documentary after attempting to pressure organizers to cancel a planned screening. Meiner claims that the film is antisemitic and a “propaganda attack on the Jewish people that is not consistent with the values of our City and residents.” The Mayor’s crusade against the cinema for daring to show an Oscar-winning film that is critical of Israel has led him to push through a draft resolution to halt a future grant payment of $40,000 to the nonprofit O Cinema in South Beach, Florida. Meiner is also pursuing legislative efforts to terminate a lease agreement with the independent theater that screened the film. Celebrating the 76th Independence Day of the modern State of Israel tonight at Hebrew Academy! I stand with Israel today, tomorrow and forever! pic.twitter.com/vt7LRhRuCN — Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner (@StevenMeiner) May 14, 2024 Despite its global success, No Other Land is currently not available to stream in the United States due to “political sensitivities.” This has meant that only a select number of independent theaters have been able to show the documentary. Although the accusations made against the film claim that it is “an attack on the Jewish people,” No Other Land was actually created through a collaborative effort between two Israeli Jews and two Palestinians—Hamdan Ballal, Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor. Some Palestinian groups have even criticized the film for violating anti-normalization guidelines, according to a statement published by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). Yet, for Mayor Meiner, Israeli involvement in the films production does not grant it any legitimacy. His intolerance for the documentary is consistent with Miami Beachs broader crackdown on pro-Palestine advocacy. In March 2024, a city commission draft resolution was passed restricting the time, place, and manner of protests against Israeli policy. Meiner insists that his resolution was not in violation of the U.S. Constitution, which requires that any restrictions on free speech be “content neutral” and not politically motivated. However, in April 2024, the Miami Herald obtained emails revealing that the resolution was heavily edited by the City Attorney’s Office, removing the Mayor’s pledge of support for Israel in an effort to appear “nonpartisan” and avoid legal challenges. Meiner, who was elected as Miami Beach’s mayor in 2023, has long been a staunch supporter of Israel. In addition to regularly expressing pro-Israel sentiments on his X (formerly Twitter) account, he has actively supported Miami Beach’s deepening relationship with Israel. Under his leadership, the city has strengthened ties with its sister city, Nahariya, Israel—a partnership that has facilitated extensive cooperation, including humanitarian support. In October 2023, Meiner arranged for Miami Beach firefighters to be awarded the Medal of Valor after they traveled to Israel in the wake of the October 7 attacks. He has also facilitated direct aid to Israel, including personally organizing the donation of an ambulance to an Israeli city through American Friends of Magen David Adom. Miami Beach is setting the standard for supporting a strong ally, Israel. Today, we stand with our Sister City, Nahariya, by dedicating an ambulance to the people of Israel through American Friends of @Mdais. This isn’t just a vehicle; it’s a lifeline. Every life saved shows… pic.twitter.com/wuBfgY9GrS — Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner (@StevenMeiner) November 14, 2024 Playing the antisemitism card to suppress criticism of Israel is not new for the Miami Beach mayor. During a commission meeting prior to the adoption of the protest restriction resolution, Meiner muted the microphones of two Jewish anti-Zionist activists, shouted down an attendee for criticizing Israeli policy, and then invoked antisemitism as a defense. In late 2023, allegations of sexual harassment surfaced against Meiner while he was working for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Three women came forward with accusations, including two of his former interns. However, Meiner dismissed the allegations outright, suggesting that they were fabricated as retaliation for his support of Israel. “Likely motivated by anti-Israel and antisemitic views,” he claimed. Despite his denials, a federal probe into the allegations was announced, shortly after which Meiner resigned from his position at the SEC. The film controversy is just the latest example of Miami Beach’s increasing hostility toward pro-Palestine activism. In March 2024, activists distributing flyers raising awareness about Israel’s actions in Gaza at the Miami Beach Convention Center were quickly corralled into a designated “free speech zone,” enclosed by barricades and monitored by police. By June 2024, the Miami Beach commission adopted a resolution barring the city from contracting with businesses that support boycotting Israel—including those that refuse to engage with companies operating in the occupied Palestinian territories. When local activists opposed the measure, Meiner claimed they were not just “anti-Zionist” but “antisemitic.” Similar anti-Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) measures have now been adopted in at least 38 U.S. states. Miami Beach has also been the site of violence driven by the citys extreme pro-Israel rhetoric. In February 2024, a Jewish American gunman shot and seriously wounded two Israeli tourists, mistakenly believing they were Palestinians. Initially, the victims claimed an antisemite had targeted them—only later realizing their attacker was a Zionist. The local chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace later stated that the shooting was “fueled by a [Miami Beach] city administration” that fosters an environment of hostility toward Palestinians and Arabs. Miami Beach’s alignment with Israel extends beyond policy and rhetoric. In 2021, when an apartment building collapsed in Surfside, Florida, 81 out of the 98 victims were recovered not by American first responders but by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers. The case against No Other Land reveals a growing trend: American pro-Israel officials are increasingly weaponizing accusations of antisemitism to silence critical speech, even when the targets of their attacks are films made by Israelis themselves. The Miami Beach government’s aggressive campaign against an Oscar-winning documentary exposes the lengths to which officials like Meiner are willing to go in order to suppress any criticism of Israel. Feature photo  | Jewish men and boys walk to synagogue for Shabbat service, in Miami Beach, Fla., Dec. 1, 2023. Rebecca Blackwell | AP Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47 The post How Miami Beach Became a Lab for Pro-Israel Censorship Laws appeared first on MintPress News.

[Category: News, anti-BDS legislation Miami, independent cinema funding cuts, Israeli-Palestinian collaboration film, Miami Beach protest restrictions, Miami Beach Steven Meiner Israel, No Other Land film censorship, Oscar-winning documentary banned, Palestinian advocacy crackdown, pro-Israel suppression free speech, weaponizing antisemitism criticism]

— The Case Against Mahmoud Khalil: How the Israel Lobby Fueled a Campus Crackdown

 

at 3/13/25 9:46am

The detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent Palestinian activist involved in organizing at Columbia University, is the result of more than a year of pro-Israeli think-tank propaganda and lobbying efforts to tie the students to Hamas and erode free speech protections in the United States. Since the first anti-war encampment at Columbia University last April, a network of pro-Israel organizations—including lobby groups, think tanks, and private security firms—has worked to dismantle the student protest movement. Their influence has been evident in the rapid and coordinated response to suppress demonstrations. Despite Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s public claim that Khalil is a “Hamas supporter,” no evidence has been provided to substantiate the allegation. In fact, a White House official admitted in an interview with The Free Press that “the allegation here is not that [Khalil] was breaking the law.” The Trump administration has offered no evidence of illegal or violent activity to justify its efforts to deport Khalil, a Green Card holder. Instead, his removal appears rooted in political disagreement. Washington has made clear that any speech critical of Israel can be labeled as “pro-Hamas” and “antisemitic” without the need to substantiate such claims. This absence of evidence has been a defining characteristic of the broader campaign—driven by the Israel Lobby—to curtail First Amendment rights on college campuses. While Jewish student groups were among those leading last year’s anti-war encampments, the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters became a particular focus of political scrutiny. A central figure in this push has been the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a neoconservative think tank frequently cited as a source for alleged links between Hamas and SJP. The FDD’s argument hinges on the claim that the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), a major supporter of SJP chapters, has ties to individuals formerly associated with charities shuttered for allegedly financing terrorism. One such case, the Holy Land Foundation, resulted in convictions that have since been widely criticized as politically motivated. The FDD first presented its claims publicly in 2016, but they failed to gain traction, mainly due to a lack of substantive proof. Among its chief concerns was that “AMP does not have to file an IRS 990 form that would make its finances more transparent.” That critique is striking, given that the Quincy Institute recently revealed the FDD itself operates with dark money funding and holds a zero transparency rating. In May 2024, the Washington-based Atlantic Council suggested in an article that Iran was involved in the student protest movement. Corporate media quickly picked up on the claim and attempted to build a case around it. Yet, despite the steady stream of coverage, none of the reports were able to muster any real evidence to back up their accusation. Alex Karp, the CEO of Palantir Technologies—a company with deep ties to the CIA—has taken up a public crusade to reshape discourse on college campuses. His rationale for urgency is blunt: “If we lose the intellectual debate, you will not be able to deploy any army in the West, ever.” Safra Catz, the Israeli-American CEO of Oracle and one of the highest-earning women in global business has also weighed in on the protests. When asked about the wave of student demonstrations, she framed the issue in starkly militaristic terms: The reason, in my personal opinion, why theyre out there is because they think Israel is weak. They think the Jews are weak, so they stand up strong. If Israel regains its deterrence capability and America regains their deterrence capability and is strong, they will disperse like they always do. Weve seen this pattern here in Israel—when the terrorists feel strong, theyre out in the streets. And when Israel comes in hard, theyre hiding under the floor.” Not only did Catz compare student actions in the United States, framed as part of a “resurgence of antisemitism,” to “terrorists,” but the Israeli-American businesswoman has also contributed to both Donald Trump and Marco Rubio’s political bids in the past. As CEO of Oracle, which owns OpenAI, Catz doubled her companys investment in Israel following October 7, 2023. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which has repeatedly accused the U.S. student movement of antisemitism and supporting Hamas, has openly called for the deportation of Mahmoud Khalil. Pro-Israel groups insist that Khalil has ties to Hamas, yet even the Canary Mission—a site notorious for doxxing pro-Palestine university students—could not produce evidence beyond his participation in a protest chant. In its extensive profile on Khalil, the only supposed proof of “support for Hamas” was his involvement in a demonstration where the crowd chanted, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The site argues that the phrase is pro-Hamas solely because Hamas leader Khaled Mashal has used it in the past. One of the loudest voices behind the crackdown on campus protests is Trump’s UN ambassador, Elise Stefanik, who has openly boasted about her role in forcing the resignations of five university presidents. Even Columbia University’s decision to give in to pressure from pro-Israel lobbying groups did not shield it from White House retaliation. The administration still moved to strip $400 million in federal funding from the university, sending a clear warning to other institutions. This multi-pronged assault on free speech—built on baseless accusations of Hamas ties and antisemitism—is now being used to justify the deportation of a permanent U.S. resident whose wife and future child are American citizens. The campaign is part of a broader effort to erode First Amendment protections under the guise of national security. Feature photo | Demonstrators rally in support of Mahmoud Khalil in New York on March 12, 2025. The Palestinian student leader faces detention and deportation despite no evidence of legal wrongdoing following a pro-Israel lobbying campaign targeting campus protests. Photo | M10s/TheNews2/Cover Images via AP Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47 The post The Case Against Mahmoud Khalil: How the Israel Lobby Fueled a Campus Crackdown appeared first on MintPress News.

[Category: National, Alex Karp Palantir CIA, Canary Mission doxxing, Columbia University protests Israel lobby, dark money think tanks, Elise Stefanik university resignations, FDD campus crackdown, First Amendment campus protests, Mahmoud Khalil deportation, pro-Hamas allegations free speech, Safra Catz Oracle Israel]

— Professor at Center of Columbia University Deportation Scandal is Former Israeli Spy

 

at 3/11/25 1:43pm

The professor at the center of the Columbia University deportation scandal is a former Israeli intelligence official, MintPress News can reveal. Mahmoud Khalil, a recent graduate of the universitys School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), was abducted by Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) Saturday for his role in organizing protests last year against Israels attack on Gaza. Khalils dean, Dr. Keren Yarhi-Milo, head of the School of International and Public Affairs, is a former Israeli military intelligence officer and official at Israels Mission to the United Nations. Yarhi-Milo played a significant role in drumming up public concern about a supposed wave of intolerable anti-Semitism sweeping over the campus, thereby laying the groundwork for the extensive crackdown on civil liberties that has followed the protests.   Spooks in Our Midst Before entering academia, Dr. Yarhi-Milo served as an officer and an intelligence analyst with the Israeli Defense Forces. Given that she was recruited into the intelligence services because of her ability to speak Arabic fluently, her job likely entailed surveilling the Arab population. After leaving the world of intelligence, she worked for Israels Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York. While there, she met and married her husband, Israels official United Nations spokesperson. Although she is now an academic, she has never left the world of international security, making the subject her area of expertise. She has made a point of trying to lift womens voices in the field. One of these was the then-U.S. Director of National Security, Avril Haines, whom she spoke with in 2023. But even though Khalil was a student in her school, she had nothing to say about his arrest. Indeed, rather than speak out on the issue (as activists have demanded), she instead chose this week to invite Naftali Bennett, prime minister of Israel from 2021 to 2022, to speak at Columbia. Students protesting Tuesdays event were condemned by university authorities for harassing Yarhi-Milo.   Unprecedented Protests, Unprecedented Repression Columbia was the epicenter of a massive protest movement across university campuses nationwide last year. It is estimated that at least eight percent of all American college students participated in demonstrations denouncing the genocidal attack on Gaza and calling on educational institutions to divest from Israel. The response was equally vast in its scale. Well over 3,000 protestors were arrested, including faculty members themselves. The nationwide movement began at Columbia on April 17, when a modest Gaza solidarity encampment was established. Protestors were shocked when university president Minouche Shafik immediately called in the New York Police Department – the first time the university had allowed police to suppress dissent on campus since the famous 1968 demonstrations against the Vietnam War. Mahmoud Khalil was among the leaders of the movement. The Syrian-born Palestinian refugee was willing to speak calmly and cogently to the press about the protests goals. A permanent resident of the United States, he was abducted by ICE on Saturday. ICE proudly apprehended and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a radical foreign pro-Hamas student on the campus of Columbia University. This is the first arrest of many to come, President Trump stated. Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed Trumps ominous threat, announcing, We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported. In another clear threat, the Trump administration moved to cancel $400 million in funding to Columbia University, citing the institutions failure to sufficiently crack down on antisemitic incidents on campus. SHALOM, MAHMOUD. "ICE proudly apprehended and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student on the campus of @Columbia University. This is the first arrest of many to come." –President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/gfuPd0tskf — The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 10, 2025 Khalils eight-month pregnant wife was initially told that he had been taken to a facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey. In fact, he had been moved halfway across the country to a center in Jena, Louisiana. Journalist Pablo Manríquez of Migrant Insider explained that ICE often goes immigration judge shopping by putting detainees in detention centers under jurisdictions of courts that very rarely decide in favor of migrants. The very high-profile attempt to deport the holder of a Green Card because of political speech criticizing a foreign government has left many civil rights lawyers deeply worried. Alec Karakatsanis, for example, stated that Ive never seen a more clear-cut First Amendment violation, or a more flagrant government declaration of intent to violate blackletter law. The government does not claim he committed a crime, just that he held views that the government doesnt like about Israel. Bone chilling, he added.   Columbias Billionaire Pro-Israel Backers Much of Columbias funding comes from donations from billionaire benefactors. But those gifts come with strings attached. This became apparent in the wake of the protest movement, as many pro-Israel patrons demanded the university take action. Manufacturing magnate Robert Kraft, for example, publicly announced he was cutting his alma mater off from his lavish funding over its failure to effectively suppress the demonstrations. Hedge fund manager Leon Cooperman did the same, demanding that Columbias crazy kids have to be controlled. These kids evidently also included 61-year-old Jordanian professor Joseph Massad, whose views on the Middle East Cooperman found intolerable, and called for his firing. Soviet-born oligarch Len Blavatnik, meanwhile, urged police to hold the protestors to account. Between them, Kraft, Cooperman and Blavatnik are believed to have donated nearly $100 million to Columbia, giving them considerable influence over the political direction of the university. There were also voices from within the university clamoring for the violent suppression of the student movement. Assistant Professor of Business Management Shai Davidai, for example, denounced the protestors as Nazis and terrorists and called for the National Guard to be set upon the encampment, obliquely referencing the Kent State University Massacre while doing so. Davidai, an Israeli-American, served in the IDF and has publicly expressed his pride in doing so. Given its most recent addition, it appears unlikely that the School of International and Public Affairs will moderate its pro-Israel positions. In January, the school announced that Jacob Lew would join the faculty. Lew had just left his job as the U.S. Ambassador to Israel under the Biden administration, a role in which he facilitated American complicity in genocide, supplying Israel with weapons and providing it with diplomatic support for its efforts.   Defending Israel, Destroying Free Speech Longtime readers of MintPress News will be less surprised than many to hear that Israeli military intelligence officials hold such important positions in American public life. Previous MintPress investigations have uncovered giant networks of former Israeli spies working in top jobs in big tech and social media companies, including Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Amazon. Even TikTok, often labeled a Chinese spying app, has hired former Israeli spies to run its affairs. And in October, we revealed that former Israeli spooks are writing Americas news, with multiple former agents working at top U.S. outlets, including CNN, Axios, and the New York Times. Perhaps, then, the fact that the dean of the very school at the center of a worldwide media storm is a former Israeli military intelligence officer should not be such a shock. But it remains a stark reminder of the level of extraordinary institutional bias in favor of Israel displayed across the United States. Feature photo | Keren Yarhi-Milo poses with Hillary Clinton during Clintons 2023 guest teaching stint at Columbia. Photo | Facebook | Hillary Clinton Alan MacLeod is Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent, as well as a number of academic articles. He has also contributed to FAIR.org, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, and Common Dreams. The post Professor at Center of Columbia University Deportation Scandal is Former Israeli Spy appeared first on MintPress News.

[Category: Foreign Affairs, Investigations, National, Top Story, academic institutional bias Israel, Columbia University protest deportation, free speech suppression universities, ICE political arrests academia, Israeli military ties academia, Keren Yarhi-Milo Israeli intelligence, Mahmoud Khalil ICE detention, pro-Israel donor influence Columbia, Robert Kraft Leon Cooperman donations, Trump administration campus crackdown]

— Sex, Politics, and Censorship: How a Sex Ed Organization Got Pulled Into the Israel-Palestine Conflict

 

at 3/10/25 12:35pm

In September 2024, MintPress News exposed how Project Shema, an Israel lobby group closely aligned with the notorious Anti-Defamation League (ADL), infiltrated U.S. public schools, seeking to inculcate pupils and teachers alike in liberal Zionist dogma and stifle debate and dissent on Tel Aviv’s deadly war on Gaza, under the bogus aegis of battling anti-Jewish hatred. Fast forward to today, and Project Shema has quietly trained its crosshairs on the unlikeliest of targets the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT). Readers would be forgiven for being unfamiliar with AASECT. Founded in 1967, the organization publishes peer-reviewed journals on sex education and therapy and maintains a directory of certified sexual health practitioners, helping connect those in need with appropriate assistance. Its membership runs to a few thousand people, comprising medical professionals, psychologists, marriage counselors, family planning specialists, lawyers, students, and others. While a highly respected institution in the field, AASECT is not on the mainstream radar and will be wholly unknown to many Americans. This begs the obvious question of how and why the organization ended up in the Israel lobby’s crosshairs. It is a deeply sordid tale, spelled out in often shocking detail in material provided to MintPress News by a whistleblower within AASECT, who wishes to remain anonymous. The documentation shows Project Shema inserting itself into the Association was the culmination of long-running, determined and intensely malign efforts by Zionists within the organization’s ranks to force AASECT to adopt a pro-Israel stance and neutralize internal Palestinian solidarity. Along the way, dissenting AASECT members were viciously attacked and ostracized, their concerns ignored, and the organization’s leadership successfully bullied again and again into capitulating to the excessive, unreasonable demands from Israel’s backers. At one stage, the Association’s president outright resigned due to the pressure. Ever since AASECT’s internal discussion platforms have been heavily moderated. Those speaking up for Palestine are censored, while Israeli propaganda talking points and unabashed Islamophobia abound without hindrance or rebuttal. While AASECT may be a niche entity, the details of how it was aggressively brought to heel by the Israel lobby are of enormous wider relevance. Evidently, no sphere of public or professional life is off-limits to Zionist penetration and corruption. The tawdry saga should serve as an urgent warning to all who are sympathetic to the Palestinians’ plight. “Safe spaces” to express solidarity are ever-shrinking in every sphere and your school, university, workplace, professional organization, or even social club could be next.   ‘Human Animals’ Among AASECT’s key membership selling points is a listserv, a private electronic mailing list providing a platform for networking, collaboration, sharing knowledge, and advertising employment opportunities. It was here, in the wake of Palestinian freedom fighters breaching Gaza’s concentration camp walls on October 7, 2023, that the seeds of the Association’s Zionist debasement were first sown. Nine days later, celebrity sex therapist Caleb Johnson fired off a post to the listserv, with a joint letter “directed towards the AASECT board” attached. Johnson’s accompanying description of the letter, signed by 26 other “dedicated” Association members, suggested it was a simple plea for AASECT higher-ups to issue a statement of “solidarity with our Israeli colleagues during these challenging times.” A fair request, one might argue but the letter’s content made clear Johnson et al. had a nakedly partisan, pro-Isael agenda. Concerns about the wellbeing of Israeli Association members were secondary to demands AASECT “raise its voice in unwavering support of the Jewish people and the nation of Israel”: History has taught us the enduring importance of the phrase ‘Never Again.’ On October 7, 2023, the world witnessed a horrific event, marking the largest single-day loss of Jewish lives since the Holocaust…To choose not to act is, in itself, a powerful action. In this time of crisis, remaining silent would send a message of indifference. We urge you to issue a statement in support of Israel, our colleagues there, and the Jewish people’s right to live peacefully in their ancestral homeland.” There was no reference whatsoever to Israeli atrocities perpetrated against the Palestinians since October 7, let alone the decades prior. This was despite the genocidal intent of Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers being writ unambiguously large from the word go. On the evening of October 7, the Israeli leader ominously ordered Gaza’s 2.2 million Palestinian population to “get out now,” as “we will be everywhere and with all our might.” Two days later, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a total blockade on Gaza: There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed…We are fighting human animals, and we are acting accordingly…Gaza won’t return to what it was before. We will eliminate everything.” The call for AASECT to prove its commitment to the Israeli cause received voluble support from certain Association members. Not all were so enthused, however. Some drew attention to the listserv’s guidelines, which explicitly prohibit discussions of “political views or political opinions not related to sexuality education, counseling, and therapy.” Others were baffled by the proposition AASECT should take any public position at all on October 7. One suggested that concerned members simply issue personal or group statements without the associations involvement. Another wrote: What does it matter whether the organization writes a letter or not? What does the genocide occurring have to do with our mission and vision? How does such a letter make a difference? I truly do not understand why it’s important…You’ll need to help me to understand why certifying people in a skill related business profession has anything to do with taking action when those people experience a war. Why would they experience a letter as helpful?”   ‘Zionist Bully’ Contributors expressing such fair-minded queries and concerns were aggressively shouted down by hardcore backers of Israel within AASECT. Yet, the most repulsive brickbats were hurled at members who suggested any Association statement on the carnage in Gaza should take into consideration the organization’s “Palestinian colleagues,” who might be “affected by acts of violence.” One pro-Israel hardliner countered AASECT had no comrades in Gaza while manically charging “haters in Palestine…celebrate every Israeli murder by terrorism” and “want every Jew dead.” Elsewhere, an Israeli sexologist disgustingly chimed in: In the AASECT directory, there are 17 members in Israel. AASECT currently has no members in any of the Arab countries and territories, as far as I know. Why don’t we have any members in any of the very many Arab countries? Maybe because as a whole, they are not as advanced or liberal as we are.” The mildest pushback against these monstrous pronouncements elicited even more belligerent responses from AASECT’s pro-Israel ideologues. Their tone, language, and accusations were so frightful an “American Jew and an anti-Zionist” member described experiencing “emotional difficulty in response,” branding their rhetoric “antisemitic.” An anonymized message on the listserv from a concerned AASECT member that was shared with MintPress News The Association whistleblower informs MintPress News that the organization subsequently began purging all traces of Palestinian sympathy from the listserv due to pro-Israel members threatening to quit en masse and falsely alleging antisemitism. As one AASECT member told MintPress: People were making perfectly reasonable statements about Palestine and the humanity and dignity of Arabs and Muslims, only to be viciously verbally harassed by a gang of middle-aged white people. Why aren’t these bullies being held accountable for their actions? Why is AASECT acting as if there was real harm committed against them? There was no antisemitism in any of the listserv posts that got deleted. But shaded racism and xenophobia was somehow allowed in Zionist posts. All of this was disgusting and it’s still there.” Finally, on December 7, 2023, AASECT released a statement namely, that it didn’t take any position on October 7 or the Gaza genocide. Five days later, a “moderation committee” was instituted, meaning anything posted to the listserv was and remains vetted in advance in a blatant crackdown on dissent. According to the whistleblower, at least one prominent “Zionist bully” is part of this committee, while another became AASECT’s communications chief. Still dissatisfied one might say emboldened Israeli exceptionalists kept up the pressure on the Association’s board. An anonymized message posted to the listserv and shared with MintPress The mass backlash against the organization’s refusal to firmly side with Israel raged apace, and some members resigned very publicly. Meanwhile, the listserv became flooded with the promotion of “antisemitism” workshops and pro-Israel propaganda. On January 23, 2024, longtime AASECT president Dr. Rosalyn Dischiavo resigned, citing opaque personal reasons. The next month, the Association issued a follow-up statement, alleging “antisemitic and Islamophobic comments” were posted on the listserv and resolving to prevent further incidents. Come March that year, AASECT members sympathetic to Palestine had had enough. Dozens including many Jews and some who wished to remain anonymous, as they believed naming themselves would “[open] them to harm and removal” from Association committees signed off on a joint letter. It expressed “profound disappointment and frustration” with the organization’s “prolonged inaction” on “harassment and discrimination” from Zionist members, “disparate support for impacted communities within AASECT membership, and unbalanced enforcement of listserv guidelines:” The conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism is not only misleading but also silences valid political discourse and dilutes the actual definition of antisemitism. We feel compelled to express our discomfort with what appears to be AASECT aligning itself closely with Zionism. Furthermore, we question the lack of acknowledgment of the ongoing genocide in Palestine. Recognizing the need for a ceasefire is more than a humanitarian imperative it’s a reflection of our organization’s commitment to promoting peace and justice.” A response came in June. AASECT’s new President, Dr. Lexx Brown-James, and the Association’s collective board of directors said they appreciated the dissenters’ “thoughtful and caring response to what you all are perceiving,” calling it “a true model of how to be in community.” An attached letter was purported to “address the points” the signatories had made, but its contents made no reference to a single argument or concern they raised, speaking only in vague terms about “maintaining ethical standards.” Israel and Zionism were unmentioned. Nonetheless, the dissenting letter did seem to have an impact. The next month, AASECT announced it would shutter its listserv altogether. “It’s clear they wanted to just silence the whole lot of us,” the whistleblower says. This was nonetheless reversed in August 2024, albeit only temporarily, “until our tech team, board, moderation committee have had a chance to implement a new forum,” the Association explained. The same communication promised exciting free training on “crucial topics” ahead, including “Understanding Jewish Identity and Antisemitism” and “Reproductive Justice and Gender-Based Violence in the Muslim Community.”   ‘Particularly Underwhelming’ Fast-forward to February 7 this year and all AASECT members were cordially invited to attend a free webinar, Disrupting Anti-Jewish Ideas in the Current Political Climate, scheduled for two weeks hence. It was led by Sophia McGee of Project Shema. Attendees were told they would learn “who Jews are, what antisemitism is, and how it operates” and “leave with a greater understanding of the Jewish community’s identities, lived experiences, and traumas, better prepared to be allies to the Jewish community.” A sex therapist who participated in the event subsequently wrote to their Association peers, expressing grave concerns about its content. They noted that McGee markedly pledged to avoid discussing issues related to the “Israel/Palestine ‘conflict,’” and she was true to her word. At no point did McGee make any reference at all to Israeli land theft, ethnic cleansing, illegal occupation, apartheid or mass repression and murder of Palestinians since 1947. Instead, “there was perpetual language that indicated Zionism is about Jewish right to self-determination.” While McGee claimed she didn’t endorse Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and opened up the floor for queries, unseen AASECT moderators controlled what was asked, and no participant appeared on camera or was able to speak directly. Numerous awkward questions the sex therapist submitted “about how Zionism has been weaponized and used to justify the occupation” of Palestinian lands, the necessity of “separating Jewish people from Zionism,” and whether narratives about self-determination served as “a defense or a side-step for ethnic cleansing” were ignored. Another attendee echoed their concerns and sentiments, voicing disappointment at “the lack of acknowledgment or discussion around Zionism and the occupation of Palestine.” They were also flummoxed by McGee’s claim that the Jewish right to self-determination “does not negate the right to self-determination for other people who share that historic homeland,” given Zionism is an inherently nationalist, supremacist political movement. Perhaps not coincidentally, McGee’s responses to questions regarding “the intersectionality of being Jewish and black” were said to be “particularly underwhelming.” Anonymized messages from concerned AASECT members about Project Shemas training They were, moreover, shocked to learn so many questions were unanswered and “hidden from view,” leading them to “wonder how many others were similarly overlooked or ignored.” In closing, they noted there was a pronounced lack of proposed “practical tools to actually combat antisemitism outside of actively listening and empathizing” during the webinar. In other words, take Zionists at each and every word without challenge. By contrast, “listening and empathizing” with Palestinians and their countless supporters worldwide is, of course, out of the question. Despite these glaring deficits, Project Shema has clearly upped its Hasbara game since delivering its first training days at U.S. public schools last year. Then, the organization framed its tutorials as apolitical in advance before blasting attendees with unrelenting pro-Zionist propaganda propounding the toxic lie that any and all criticism of Israel is antisemitic while extolling Tel Aviv’s supposed cultural and political virtues. Now, the same insidious script McGee delivered to AASECT members is being toured around U.S. universities. Where and what Project Shema will strike next is anyone’s guess. But the anonymous Association whistleblower is under no illusions that the organization’s poisonous tendrils will keep on extending ever further if AASECT’s wrecking by Zionist forces remains concealed from public view. The entire perverse rigmarole has moreover compelled them to sever their longstanding ties with the organization despite potential personal and professional costs involved. They hope others will draw lessons from their experience: This isn’t an isolated case. I’ve seen funding continually being taken away from organizations in my field speaking up against Israel, and others issue statements condemning only alleged Hamas atrocities. I don’t want to be associated with AASECT and their values, so I have not renewed my membership. My professional certification, which I spent a lot of time and money on, will expire. This is fine, I will be okay. I don’t want the record to show AASECT’s actions are innocent and we should continue giving them our respect, money, time, and trust.” AASECT was approached by MintPress News for comment but did not respond prior to publication. Feature photo | Illustration by MintPress News Kit Klarenberg is an investigative journalist and MintPress News contributor exploring the role of intelligence services in shaping politics and perceptions. His work has previously appeared in The Cradle, Declassified UK, and Grayzone. Follow him on Twitter @KitKlarenberg. The post Sex, Politics, and Censorship: How a Sex Ed Organization Got Pulled Into the Israel-Palestine Conflict appeared first on MintPress News.

[Category: Investigations, National, Top Story, AASECT listserv moderation, ADL censorship tactics, free speech suppression academia, Israel lobby institutional influence, organizational neutrality debates, professional association bias, professional ethics conflicts, Project Shema AASECT, workplace political censorship, Zionism advocacy training]

— What To Us Is International Women’s Day?

 

at 3/10/25 12:34pm

This week, a special Project Censored episode: “What To Us Is International Women’s Day?,” a variation on the question asked by Frederick Douglass: What to the Slave is the 4th of July? March 8th is International Women’s Day, and while many will and do celebrate this day in revolutionary ways, the truth is that IWD like so many other holidays is often used to serve the vehemently anti-feminist goals of the architects of our oppression. So-called white feminism perpetuates the evils of white supremacy, colonialism, capitalism, patriarchy, and imperialism – but with a femme facade, pushing us to ask what to us is an international women’s day which doesn’t seek to dismantle the very systems that use, abuse & torment women across the US and the globe? Award-winning journalist Mnar Adley and organizer Afeni Evans will join Eleanor Goldfield for this special hour-long dive into the insidious machinations of white feminism, who gets violently othered and why, the internationalist demands of a revolutionary feminism, and what really to us, is – or could be – International Women’s Day?   Below is a Rough Transcript of the Interview with Mnar Adley Eleanor Goldfield: Thanks everyone for joining us at the Project Censored Radio Show. I’m your co host this week, Eleanor Goldfield, along with Mickey Huff. We’re very glad to welcome back to the program, Mnar Adley, who’s an award winning journalist, also the editor and founder and director of Mint Press News. Mnar, thanks so much for joining us. Mnar Adley: Thank you for having me, Eleanor. Eleanor Goldfield: Absolutely. So, I asked you on for a very specific reason today. March 8th is International Women’s Day. And while many might and will celebrate it in a revolutionary fashion, it’s really a kind of a co opted holiday in a lot of ways. A day to uphold many of the ills that women suffer under, whether that be a patriarchal white supremacist capitalist system or imperialism, colonialism. And so I wanted to start asking you about something that has been termed white feminism, and as Koa Beck, the author of the book White Feminism, put it, “White feminism is an ideology. It’s a type of feminism that takes up the politics of power without questioning them, by replicating patterns of white supremacy, capitalist greed, corporate ascension, and inhumane labor practices and exploitation, and deeming it empowering for women to practice these tenets as men always have.” So, with that, Mnar, as a Palestinian American and the first woman to wear hijab reporting the news in U.S. media, you’re obviously no stranger to finding yourself on the quote unquote wrong side of what the U.S. deems acceptable feminism. Could you talk a little bit about your experiences with that? Mnar Adley: Of course. Well, first I’d like to thank you, Eleanor, for having me on today. It’s always an honor to be speaking with you, with my sister in the struggle. You’ve always been someone that I admire and look up to for strength and inspiration in our movement for Liberation, and I’m really glad you asked me this question because it’s something that not only resonates deeply with me as a Palestinian American woman, but I’m seeing the effects of this to this day, since the post 9 11 era specifically. And when I talk about liberation, I’m referring to breaking the chains of colonialism and the Western idea of who deserves liberation and who doesn’t. And that includes how Western feminism defines liberation for women here versus women who are maybe of color and different religion broad. And I’ve been at the forefront of dissecting this narrative as someone who is a Palestinian American woman who visibly wears the hijab living in a post 9 11 America. You know, I founded Mint Press. It’s a leading independent journalism outlet in this country, in the United States that investigates the driving forces behind war policies because after 9 11, I saw how Western feminism was used as a colonial tool to justify the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as a means to liberate Muslim women. And we’re seeing the same thing happening today in Israel’s occupation of Palestine and South Lebanon and in Syria. And so after 9 11 when Bush announced his global war on terror, where we saw the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, we were flooded with images of Muslim women in those countries who are being oppressed that needed saving. I remember and I’m sure you remember, I think we’re around the same age, but we were, like, bombarded on our TV screens and on the front pages of, like, the New York Times, the Washington Post, of Afghan women wearing burqas being abused and denied education by the Taliban. And, of course, without any sort of context that our government and military is who funded, armed and propped up the Taliban to put them in power. And so those images of those Taliban women wearing the burqas, having their faces covered, became like the iconic images of what people in the West understood about Islam. So Islam has now been defined just by these simple images as being backwards. It’s a religion led by angry brown men who are controlling and barbaric ruling over oppressed women. These women could not think for themselves. They’re forced to cover. They’re being denied their basic human rights. But, you know, again, without the context that this ideology that the Taliban and others were following is called Wahhabism, which is directly funded by the West and is used to keep the war on terror fueled and people in those countries oppressed. And so this Islamophobia campaign has had really horrific effects because it dehumanized billions of Muslims around the world to justify two illegal wars the U.S. launched that killed more than 2 million people, most of which were women and children. And despite the successes of this program to supposedly save Muslim women, it was Muslim women in the West who wore the hijab, who were being violently attacked and having their hijabs ripped off of their heads. And they were the victims of hate crimes. So this shows how this colonial tactic, which was sold to free Muslim woman was actually dehumanizing us to the point of not being worthy of life, whether it was abroad or here. You know, that life, freedom and liberty, we were not worthy of those things if we just, if we decided to practice wearing the hijab. And so the effects of that did not go away. In fact, they are still evident in the way that Muslim women are perceived in the media. They view the hijab as a patriarchal mechanism of oppression. So it’s on the West to save Muslim women and liberate us. And part of that liberation has meant to undress us too. And it’s like, you know, there’s nothing wrong with a woman not wanting to wear hijab or wanting to wear the hijab, but these rules are being imposed on us by governments that have no moral superiority. These are the same governments that are using white phosphorus chemical weapons to drop bombs, to starve women, to kill women and children. And so they have no moral superiority to tell a woman how to liberate themselves. And so we at Mint Press have spent the last decade trying to dissect this war narrative to look at different functions of different narratives and how they’re being used as tools to oppress people and justify and dehumanize them broad. And I believe this is one of the tools that is being used. Eleanor Goldfield: Yeah, absolutely. That’s very well put. And, you know, I think that one of the images that I saw back in the day that made this, that I think brought home to a lot of women who are not Muslim was a picture of a woman wearing hijab and then a picture of a overly sexualized like Victoria’s Secret model or something. And it’s like, isn’t it really the problem that women are told what to wear, not what they wear? And of course, then you have the Victoria’s Secret ad aspect of sex sells and war pays. So the issue isn’t that women wear a certain thing. It’s that people are so concerned about what women wear and want to tell them what to wear, a bit like the obsession with trans folks or why do you care what’s in people’s pants? Like, just leave it alone. It’s creepy. But this is part of that system of control. And I wanted to kind of hone in on occupied Palestine with this here, because I think it’s such a stark example of this, you know, which women matter. For instance, you had people like Beyonce that were stumping for Kamala Harris saying, I’m coming to you as a mother, which is absolutely grotesque and twisted when you consider the fact that the Biden/Harris policy was to murder mothers and their children in occupied Palestine in some of the most sadistic ways that we’ve ever seen in the history of humanity. I mean, I can think of no other example, especially in modern times, that so starkly makes that distinction of what women matter and what women don’t, according to U.S. Empire. Could you talk a little bit about that? Mnar Adley: Of course. I mean, we can go back to 1948 or we can go back to October 7th when we were told that Hamas fighters committed mass rape without providing a shred of evidence. A lot of the news organizations that talked about this mass rape that happened against Israeli woman have actually had to retract a lot of their reporting. And so we had the situation where we have the horrors of October 7th where we were being told that all of these Israeli women were being raped again by these barbaric Palestinian brown Muslim men, and they’re using rape as a weapon of war, without providing that sort of evidence. And then that was used to justify the United States arming Israel to the teeth, providing every single fighter jet and bomb to drop on civilian homes in Gaza, on schools, on shelters which targeted disproportionately women and children. I mean, we know that in Gaza, that, what is it over 60 percent or 70 percent of the population in Gaza is under the age of 18? And so that means it’s not even just women. Israel with the backing of the United States targeted children. I mean, I have a 15 year old son and I have a seven year old son, and I can’t imagine the horrors that these children and teenagers have had to live through in Gaza. And it goes to show that the media played a very integral role in telling us who deserves life and who didn’t. Malcolm X famously told us that the Democrats specifically are far more dangerous than Republicans because they are the wolves in sheep’s clothing. You know, we know what Trump’s policies are because he already served four years as president and we know that he’s racist. We know that he’s misogynist. He’s racist. We know that he doesn’t like brown people. I mean, that’s been quite evident in his immigration policies, but the Democrats, what’s so interesting about them is that they’re the wolves in sheep’s clothing because they present themselves as these fighters for social justice and change, hope, liberation, women’s rights, and for social change for women and all the things that, you know, women are fighting for, and we’re being told to choose between Democrats and the Republicans as if there’s much of a difference, it’s like having to choose between which killing machine do we prefer Lockheed Martin? Or Raytheon? And so when Joe Biden was president and Kamala Harris was the vice president, they insured and provided and approved and signed off of every single arms deal that the United States provided Israel with, so that Israel could drop the bombs on schools and hospitals, in residential homes in Gaza. And of course, as I mentioned, the majority of those who were killed have been women and children. And yet we have Democratic figures like Kamala Harris who pretend to care about women’s rights and to care about women and our right to abortion and our right to IVF clinics when she and Joe Biden approved all of the weapons going to Israel and every single bomb that Israel used to use in Gaza. You know, destroyed all every single one of the I.V.F. clinics in Gaza. They destroyed every single woman’s hospital in Gaza. They destroyed all of the woman’s centers, mental health facilities inside Gaza. And it’s so interesting because the Democratic Party, despite having this, you know, walking the talk of, you know, we support women’s rights, they are so completely out of touch with their voter base. We saw in the last election cycle that the majority of Democrats saw Israel’s genocide in Gaza as the number one issue. And yet Kamala’s campaign for president set her number one issue is supporting IVF and abortion, which sounds really good on paper. But the picture that I just painted with Israel destroying every single IVF and abortion clinic in Gaza, which they do exist, were destroyed. 181 women were giving birth in Gaza per day without any painkillers. I mean, over 10 miles of aid trucks were being blocked from providing essentials in Gaza. I mean, this is more than just food, but sanitary and essential supplies like tampons, pads, formula for babies, for mothers who can’t breastfeed, life saving medications. I mean, as you can hear from my voice, we still have the trauma of what happened in Gaza. We have not forgotten, excuse me, because as a mother, we know how important these things are. I mean, can you imagine? Like having the menstrual pain that these women were dealing with because they were under such immense stress and lacking nutrition. They weren’t eating enough calories. There was a famine happening inside of Gaza. I’m so sorry. I’m crying. You know, I read a lot about this and it really has affected me personally because this is not just because I’m Palestinian, because I’m a human being watching our sisters in need of this kind of support and they haven’t, they don’t have it. And we have a Western media here in our neoliberal Western societies who pretend to care about women’s rights. But this is the perfect example about how white feminism is just a colonial tactic to kill and dehumanize us women that are living under these bombs. Israel’s genocide really lifted the veil as to the values Israel and the United States represent, which is a bloodlust for war and profits for weapons manufacturers like Lockheed Martin, like General Dynamics and Raytheon. They don’t care about women. The propaganda balloons have been broken. People across all political fronts, genders, religions, you name it, they now see the truth, but most importantly, they see through the lies of both parties, especially the Democratic party. And so this last year really revived this kind of international solidarity that we haven’t really seen since 2001. And so it’s been quite difficult to watch how the media has played an essential role, the same way it played a role in justifying the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and NATO invasions of Libya, the U.S. genocide, Saudi backed genocide in Yemen. I mean, all of these wars disproportionately target women and children. Eleanor Goldfield: Yeah, absolutely. And thank you for sharing that, Mnar. I know that it’s like ripping open a wound every time somebody asks about that. And I wanted to, because you mentioned International Solidarity and, you know, it is called International Women’s Day, and so I’m curious, what would that look like to you in terms of extracting it from the clutches of white imperialist feminism to actually talk about, okay, well, what would this look like if women and their allies across borders were to enact and engage with legitimate solidarity? Mnar Adley: Well, I think in the last year I have seen solidarity across all political, religious, gender, I mean, every single front you could think of that might have divided us in the past. People have come together, even people who, you know, might’ve even voted for Trump and might be on the conservative side or, you know, whatever, they have all come out. Not all but we’ve seen like this mass movement to come out and say that we’ve we see the reality of the ground in Gaza. We know the people are suffering. We can’t support Israel’s war crimes. And, you know, the solidarity has really, really been beautiful and I think we have to take it to the next level and look at history. What are the things that have worked in the past? And we have movements right now, like Palestine Action in the UK that are being led by a woman, actually, people who inspire me are like the co founder of Palestine Action, her name is Huda Ammori. And a lot of it is woman led and these women are organizing, and of course there’s men involved in Palestine Action. But if you like it, look at the members of Palestine Action, they are majority woman. And they are a grassroots organization that is getting the support of local cities and neighborhoods where Israeli weapons factories are being built in the U.K. And they are not just protesting against these weapons manufacturers, but they’re organizing in a way where they’re breaking the windows, breaking down the doors and bulldozing right into these companies and factories and getting them to shut down. They’ve been so successful. This is beyond protesting. This is like direct action. And because they are getting the support of local communities, they’re going door to door to get people to support these companies to shut down. That’s why they’ve been successful. They’ve cost Israel’s largest arms company, Elbit system billions of dollars worth of weapons contracts with the British government. And so if we look at history, we have to go beyond just, you know, protesting on the streets. We have to do grassroots organizing and we have to be willing to talk to people that we don’t normally agree with so that they can, so that we can have these heart to heart discussions, heartfelt understanding. Get people more on our side. We can do that if we communicate through our humanity, through our hearts, and we can get a lot of people to see the truth and to care about these causes more effectively. The way the internet and the technocracy is created with these big tech platforms is to keep people isolated. You can block people, not engage with people on the other side, oh you’re liberal, oh you’re conservative, and there’s just no sort of like healthy discussion anymore. But if you get on the streets, you go door to door, you know, you visit the churches, you visit the mosques, the synagogues, get to people’s level. You can have that kind of support. And I do see that happening more often now, and it’s a really, really beautiful thing to see. Eleanor Goldfield: Yeah, absolutely. And I think, as an organizer, it’s very frustrating when I see pockets of people that have decided that, like, oh, we can only organize with people we really agree with. And I’m like, well, that’s not organizing. That’s a tea party. And that’s great. And I’m glad for you. But in order to organize, you have to reach out and be a bridge for people and sit down with people who you disagree with on a lot of things. And yeah, I think that that is very important. And before we wrap up here, I wanted to touch on another thing because there is this side of feminism, and not just white feminism, but I think feminism as it stands still today, even in some leftist spaces that dehumanizes men. And I think that this has been particularly stark again with the Palestinian issue. I think Palestine is a lens through which we can see almost any issue, whether that be media or patriarchy, colonialism, et cetera, and how it’s necessary for feminism to recognize how patriarchy destroys men, and how our job has to be as women to recognize that and to bring men in on that level and to basically stop dehumanizing them as patriarchy does, right? It breaks men down and builds them back up in the image of the system, which is rageful. And so I’m curious if you could talk a little bit more about how you feel that feminism, like a legitimate revolutionary feminism can do a better job of incorporating men, not just as a mother of two boys, but also as a Palestinian American woman who has seen how starkly the media has dehumanized Palestinian men to the point that they’re almost never mentioned unless it’s the terrorists, right? Like we talk about the death toll being women and children, but there are also men. So I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about that aspect of feminism, including men and boys. Mnar Adley: You know, it’s so interesting to see how the media has played such an integral role to kind of create this very, very narrow lens of what Muslim men are and have been in their role in the Middle East, which has been, you know, patriarchal, aggressive, domestic violence, angry aggressive, all of these things that are negative and toxic traits that are just, you know, they exist in every society. But that doesn’t mean that the majority of men are like that. I mean, look at what we saw in Gaza. Um, you know, it was the men wearing their flip flops, the fathers, you know, they were pulling the women and children and other little boys out of the rubble. The surgeons, the male surgeons that were, you know, crying on screen talking about the horrors of the things that they’ve seen children have to go through in the hospital rooms. The fathers that were carrying, picking up the pieces of their children, the body parts of their children, their wives, putting them in plastic bags. These are the men of Palestine and Gaza. These are the men that have been carrying the weight of all of the trauma that everybody is going through. They’re trying to make, you know, they’re trying to help and save people while also trying to take care of their families for those that did survive, and still make them, you know, take a gentle approach to make their wives and children feel safe. We also saw the videos of, you know, the father is cuddling with their children. I mean, these are the images of normal men. These are not like differentm, like this is how they’re human beings. And so I personally think that we need to take a holistic approach to creating change, which I believe begins healing these generational trauma wounds that we have, because oppression harms the spirit and this doesn’t just affect, you know, Palestinian and Muslim. And yes, we’ve taken the brunt of this kind of abuse by the media. But if we look at a lot of the research in community health and psychology, that has affected like black Americans, Native Americans and Latino communities who have been victims of like mass incarceration, for example, or state sanctioned violence, and systematic discrimination in schools, workplaces, health care and housing. Due to these conditions, you know, racial and ethnic minorities in the US, just like Muslims and Palestinians suffer disproportionately from mental and physical illnesses, all linked to stress and trauma. And so that really is where we have to begin and create a safe space for both men and women to come together, and I do see that. I think people are able to see past this narrow lens that the media has created in terms of the role of men in the movement, but I see men interlocking their hands with the women in the movement. And that’s such a beautiful, beautiful thing. And so we need to see more of that by creating that space for each other to feel safe so that we can heal these wounds. And I do believe like my role as a mother who has two boys is to heal that generational trauma. You know, I don’t want my sons to be watching the news and media to have this subconscious programming about their own selves, that there’s something wrong with them because they’re Palestinian or that they are Muslim. I want them to feel empowered. And I feel like that really starts with the parents, of course, like myself. I have privilege to live in this country, to have the ability to heal those wounds. Yes, I am traumatized by the things that I lived through under Israeli occupation and apartheid, and I’m deeply, deeply wounded by the images that I saw coming out of Gaza. But I also have this privilege living in this country to be able to, you know, peel each layer of trauma and wounding that I have so that I can ensure that I don’t pass on that trauma to my boys, and to ensure that I create a safe space at home for them so that they can always, because, you know, healing always, of course, starts with safety, and so creating that safe space for them. And it all starts with healing my own self so that my boys can lead the next generation of men who are healed. They’re still aware of the world’s ills, but at least they have the correct tools and they feel empowered to deal with them. Eleanor Goldfield: Yeah, absolutely. As the mother of a son, I absolutely agree with that a hundred percent. And Mnar, thank you so much for taking the time and the energy, absolutely, to sit down with us and discuss this very important topic. And I wish everyone a very revolutionary and non white supremacist and imperialist International Women’s Day. Mnar Adley: Thank you. Editors Note | This article was originally published by Project Censored on March 8, 2024, under the title What To Us Is International Women’s Day?. It is republished here with permission from the original source. You can read the original version here. Eleanor Goldfield is a creative radical, journalist, and filmmaker. Her work focuses on radical and censored issues via photo, video, and written journalism, as well as artistic mediums including music, poetry, and visual art. She is the host of the podcast, Act Out, co-host of the podcast Common Censored along with Lee Camp, and co-host of the podcast Silver Threads along with Carla Bergman. Her award-winning documentary film, “Hard Road Of Hope” is about West Virginia as both resource colony and radical inspiration. She also assists in frontline action organizing and training. See more of Elanors work @ ArtKillingApathy.com | HardRoadofHope.com The post What To Us Is International Women’s Day? appeared first on MintPress News.

[Category: National, Opinion & Analysis, colonial feminism, Eleanor Goldfield Project Censored, feminism and imperialism, feminism and war, International Women’s Day, intersectional feminism, Mnar Adley interview, Palestinian women’s rights, Western feminism hypocrisy, white feminism critique]

— Love From Glasgow to Gaza: Why Celtic FC Fans Support Palestine

 

at 3/10/25 8:27am

The cold terraces of a Scottish football stadium are not the first place you might expect to find a hotbed of organized support for Palestinian liberation. But travel to Celtic Park on match day, and you will see thousands of fans wearing keffiyehs, eating falafels, and waving Palestinian flags. A storied organization, Celtic F.C. is one of only 23 teams to have won the UEFA Champions League (previously known as the European Cup), Europes premier club competition. But their fans, particularly the hardcore supporter group the Green Brigade, see the club as a vehicle for progressive and radical social change, including backing Palestinian resistance. This cause has long put them at loggerheads with footballing authorities. In 2016, Celtic hosted a Champions League qualifier game against Israeli team Hapoel Beer Sheva. In protest at Israeli actions in Palestine, the Green Brigade organized a mass display of Palestinian flags, turning much of the stadium into a wall of black, white, green, and red. UEFA, European footballs governing body, punished Celtic for their actions, fining the club £8,600 (over U.S.$11,000). In response, the Green Brigade launched a Match the Fine for Palestine campaign, aiming to raise a similar amount for the Medical Aid for Palestine charity. The campaign went viral, raising £176,000 (well over U.S.$200,000). Political messages like this are common at Celtic games. During the 2018 Scottish Cup Final, the Green Brigade unveiled giant banners at the 70th minute of play, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the 1948 Nakba (ethnic cleansing of Palestine). The banners read, End genocide. End Zionism. Since October 7, 2023, and the Israeli onslaught that followed it, open displays of support for Palestine have become more frequent and better organized. At league games, it is common to see walls of Palestinian flags replete with messages such as Free Palestine. Victory to the Resistance. And at a Champions League match with Atlético Madrid, fans sang Youll Never Walk Alone, dedicating it to the people of Gaza. In September, Celtic played SK Slovan Bratislava of Slovakia, and the fans sent a message of support to the people of Palestine: They can oppress you. They can imprison you, but they will never break your spirit. Celtic won the tie 5-1. Celtic’s Green Brigade spelling it out They can oppress you, they can imprison you, but they will never break your spirit! Gaza, Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus, you’ll never walk alone! pic.twitter.com/p8baXQ0pXj — Chris Hazzard MP (@ChrisHazzardSF) September 18, 2024 But Celtic fans solidarity goes far beyond words and fundraising. In the wake of the Hapoel Beer Sheva incident, the Green Brigade helped establish a sister team, Lajee Celtic, for residents of the Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem. The new clubs academy has over 80 children registered as players and an adult first-team squad attempting to secure a spot in the Palestinian Premier League. Lajee Celtic players wear the colors of the Palestine national flag but also with green and white hoops – an homage to their Scottish sister club. Lajee Celtic is more than a club; its mission, in its own words, is to break barriers and bring hope to the country. Authorities have not taken kindly to Celtic fans actions and have attempted to punish them. Celtic F.C. management, too, has expressed their dismay and has even banned many Green Brigade members from attending matches. But their actions have also drawn praise from around the world. Last month, Turkish champions Galatasaray displayed a gigantic banner reading, We Thank The Celtic Supporters For Their Unwavering Support For Palestine.   By Refugees, For Refugees But what explains the affinity between Celtic fans and the Palestinian cause? Daniela Latina, an academic from Glasgow and a Celtic fan, told MintPress that understanding the clubs roots is the key to that question. The club was born out of the Great Famine of the mid-19th century, a largely man-made genocide that saw a collapse in Irelands potato crop. British authorities – who ruled Ireland at the time – insisted on the continued export of Irish food to England and blocked efforts at famine relief. The result, Latina explained, was the death of around 1 million people and the mass exodus of millions more. The Great Famine continues to haunt Irish society. Today, Irelands population has still not recovered to its 1830s level. One group that did offer genuine help to the starving Irish was the Palestinian people. As Latina told MintPress: Sultan Abdülmecid I of the Ottoman Empire, of which Palestine was a part of, granted £10,000 of aid to the Irish, but Queen Victoria intervened and demanded he only send £1,000 as she had sent £,2000, and did not want to seem parsimonious. The Sultan ignored Victoria and sent £10,000 and a further five ships of grain, food, and medicines.” English courts rejected the aid ships requests to dock. Undeterred, the fleet traveled in secret to Drogheda Harbour in Ireland to deliver their aid. As a gesture of appreciation, Drogheda United Football Club still bears the Ottoman star and crescent today, she noted. Protesters wave Palestinian flags and Iraqi flags outside Shannon Airport, Ireland, June 25 2004, before the arrival of President George Bush. John Giles | AP Nevertheless, the famine caused hundreds of thousands of Irish to flee to Scotland, especially to the bustling city of Glasgow. These refugees were often treated poorly and lived in destitute conditions. In 1887, a local priest founded the Celtic Football Club as a social enterprise, aiming to use the profits from ticket sales to fund soup kitchens for the Irish Catholic community. Hence, from its very beginnings, Celtic represented refugees and the most marginalized in society. At the same time, the movement for Irish independence was gaining momentum. Ireland had been colonized by England for over 700 years, with British authorities going so far as to import large numbers of Protestant settlers to the island. These settlers were given special privileges and land, from which locals were expelled. And even though the Republic of Ireland secured independence in 1921, the island is still divided into two states to this day, with the Protestant-dominated north still part of the United Kingdom. Thus, Ireland– despite being a Western European nation geographically – has a history more akin to colonized nations in the Global South than those of its neighbors. This goes a long way in explaining why it has been one of Palestines most steadfast backers internationally. It was the first European Union member to call for Palestinian statehood and the last one to grant Israel permission to open an embassy. And it has been Europes harshest critic of Israeli aggression, often allying itself with Asian, African, and Latin American countries over European ones. Because of its history as a nation fighting for an independent state, one that many see as still cleaved in two and occupied by a foreign power, and because so many Irish people come from refugee backgrounds, many feel a natural affinity with Palestine, seeing links between their two struggles. Perhaps it is only natural, then, that Celtic, Glasgows Irish Catholic club founded by refugees, would see a lot of themselves in the Palestinian people.   Israels War on Football As part of their war on Gaza, Israel has attempted to erase symbols of Palestinian culture and identity. This includes football. Since October 7, 2023, at least 500 Palestinian athletes, referees, or sports officials have been killed. Perhaps the most notable is Dr. Adnan Al-Bursh, head of the Palestinian Football Associations medical department. Al-Bursh was captured, tortured, and likely raped to death by Israeli forces, who, to this day, refuse to return his body. The attack on Palestinian football did not begin in 2023, however. In 2014, cousins Jawhar Nasser Jawhar, 19, and Adam Abd al-Raouf Halabiya, 17 – young stars about to be called to the national team – were traveling home from a training session near Ramallah. They were ambushed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), who shot al-Raouf in the legs. Jawhar rushed to his aid, only to be peppered with bullets himself, including seven in his left foot, three in his right, and one in the hand. An attack dog was unleashed on them, and soldiers subsequently broke al-Raoufs leg for good measure, suggesting they knew who the pair were. Israel has also deliberately destroyed Palestinian stadiums and, for decades, has regularly blocked the Palestinian national team from leaving the country, thereby forcing them to withdraw from international competitions. Subsequently, the national team is now filled largely with players from the diaspora community. As a result, there is a growing, grassroots movement to bar Israel and Israeli teams from international competitions – and it is being led by Celtic fans. At their recent Champions League clash with Bayern Munich, supporters unveiled a huge banner demanding authorities Show Israel the Red Card. Similar demonstrations have been seen at games in Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Ireland, Turkey, and Malaysia. Speaking to MintPress News, a spokesperson for the group Red Card Israel explained that suspending Israel from sporting events would illustrate that the violation of human rights results in exclusions on an international level and that it cannot continue to blatantly disregard international law while still enjoying the privilege of international participation in sport. Supporters of the ban note that authorities regularly take action against nation-states. In the 1990s, Yugoslavia was banned from competing at the 1994 World Cup amid a civil war in the Balkans. And in 2022, Russia was banned from both the World Cup and the Olympics due to its invasion of Ukraine. Yet with Israel, the situation is more complicated, primarily because those in positions of power have consistently stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Tel Aviv and taken action against those protesting its genocide. Whether the campaign will be successful is highly uncertain. But one thing is beyond doubt: Celtic fans will stand with Palestine, come rain or shine. Feature photo | Celtic Glasgow fans light pyrotechnics and don Free Palestine shirts and flags at the UEFA Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund, October, 2024. Photo | AP Images Alan MacLeod is Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent, as well as a number of academic articles. He has also contributed to FAIR.org, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, and Common Dreams. The post Love From Glasgow to Gaza: Why Celtic FC Fans Support Palestine appeared first on MintPress News.

[Category: Foreign Affairs, Investigations, Top Story, Celtic FC, Celtic FC refugee origins, Celtic Green Brigade Palestine, Hapoel Be'er Sheva protest, Irish famine Ottoman aid, Israel sports ban campaign, Lajee Celtic Bethlehem, Nakba banners Celtic Park, Palestinian athlete killings, Red Card Israel movement, UEFA fines Palestinian flags]

— Australia Revokes Visa of Muslim Scholar Under Pro-Israel Pressure

 

at 3/7/25 9:46am

Following a pressure campaign from pro-Israel forces, Australia has revoked the visa of Hussain Makke. The British-born Muslim scholar and motivational speaker had been scheduled to carry out a speaking tour across the country. But pressure from Sky News Australia and local pro-Israel politicians, who highlighted his pro-resistance stances and his attendance at the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, convinced the government to act. Australia, which shares a similar settler-colonial past to Israel, is one of Tel Aviv’s strongest international supporters and has officially designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. It was this angle that Sky News Australia host Sharri Markson used to lead the charge against Makke’s entry into the country. In a live TV segment, Markson accused him of spreading “dangerous views” and “defending terrorism.” Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson echoed Markson’s argument, telling Sky News that “No one who praises a deceased terrorist, let alone attends the funeral organized by a listed terrorist organization, should be welcome in Australia.” Using American-supplied bunker-buster bombs, Israel assassinated Nasrallah in Beirut in September. The attack drew widespread outrage and an outpouring of grief in Lebanon. An estimated 700,000-900,000 people participated in his funeral procession in February, nearly one-sixth of the country’s population. Makke, who resides in Lebanon, was among those attending. In a post on Twitter, he described himself as the victim of a “smear campaign” organized by Sky News. Sky news ran a smear campaign against me today to get me banned from Australia. Zionist accounts are currently tweeting MP Tony Burke under this tweet to pressure him into rescinding my Visa. If you would like defend against this attack on free speech and oppressive censorship -… https://t.co/nOEgFUCnZ7 pic.twitter.com/yAvWg5YQ8m — Hussain Makke (@HMakke91) March 6, 2025 In addition to being a journalist and television presenter, Markson is an open and vocal supporter of Israel and its attacks on its neighbors. In October 2023, she flew to Jerusalem to interview an Israeli Defense Forces commander who was participating in the bloodshed, calling him a “hero” and someone full of “bravery and courage.” The pinned post on her official Instagram account shows her standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The caption describes it as one of the highlights of her career to meet him and hear how he is “fighting [ing] to ensure Israel’s survival in the face of terror and the hostile international community.” Sky News Australia’s unrelenting support of Israel and its war on Gaza is predictable, given that the network is part of Rupert Murdoch’s massive media empire. Murdoch is a close friend and ally of Netanyahu. Indeed, a leaked handwritten list compiled by Netanyahu himself highlighted the Australian billionaire as one of his best sources of campaign contributions. Last year, Murdoch’s son, Lachlan, who runs much of the News Corp empires day-to-day business, flew to Israel for secret talks with Netanyahu and former prime minister Benny Gantz. While the details of the meetings remain murky, it is clear that they discussed how the media could better support Israel’s offensive in Gaza and beyond. Murdoch has enjoyed extremely close relationships with successive Israeli leaders for decades. In the 1980s, the Australian mogul vacationed at former prime minister Ariel Sharon’s Israeli farm. And he has publicly stated that he sees Israel as the linchpin holding together Western society. At a 2009 meeting of the American Jewish Committee, he said: “In the West, we are used to thinking that Israel cannot survive without the help of Europe and the United States. I say to you: maybe we should start wondering whether we in Europe and the United States can survive if we allow the terrorists to succeed in Israel… In the end, the Israeli people are fighting the same enemy we are: cold-blooded killers who reject peace… who reject freedom… and who rule by the suicide vest, the car bomb and the human shield”. Unsurprisingly, he also has deep economic interests in Israel. In 2010, he became a director of Genie Energy, an oil and gas firm that was awarded the license to drill for hydrocarbons in the Golan Heights, an area of Syria that Israel has illegally occupied since 1967. A journalist, teacher and filmmaker, Makke has amassed an audience of hundreds of thousands of followers across social media, commenting on matters of religion and the political situation in the Middle East. He graduated from Brunel University with a degree in journalism and from SOAS University of London with a Master’s degree in religion and global politics. He moved to Lebanon in 2012 to join a seminary. The revocation of his Australian visa is part of a broader wave of a Western crackdown on public figures who have expressed support for resistance forces. British professor David Miller, who also attended Nasrallah’s funeral, was detained by counter-terrorism police upon his reentry into the United Kingdom. Last month, Canadian author Yves Engler was arrested for social media posts criticizing Israel and its supporters. Independent journalist Richard Medhurst was detained and interrogated by Austrian authorities, who claimed that they believed Medhurst – a Christian Englishman – was a member of Hamas. And in January, Swiss authorities deported Palestinian-American intellectual Ali Abunimah before he could give a lecture in Zurich. Makke still has time to appeal his ban, but given both the influence of the Murdoch empire in Australia and the country’s steadfast support for Israel, it is far from certain that an appeal would be successful. Instead, the case will likely serve as just one more point of reference in the argument that an unexpected victim of Israel’s onslaught has been freedom of speech in the West. Feature photo | Left: Sky News Australia host Sharri Markson and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Alan MacLeod is Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent, as well as a number of academic articles. He has also contributed to FAIR.org, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, and Common Dreams. The post Australia Revokes Visa of Muslim Scholar Under Pro-Israel Pressure appeared first on MintPress News.

[Category: Foreign Affairs, Australian foreign policy Israel, Hezbollah funeral backlash, Hussain Makke Australia ban, Hussain Makke smear campaign, Murdoch media Israel bias, Pro-Israel visa censorship, Pro-resistance speech crackdown, Rupert Murdoch Netanyahu ties, Sky News Australia bias, Western free speech suppression]

— Trump’s Deportation Drive Stalls—Is Erik Prince’s Private Army Back on the Table?

 

at 3/7/25 9:43am

Former CEO of Blackwater Erik Princes plan to create a privately run force to aid the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts is gaining renewed steam. First reported by Politico, A 26-page document details the proposal, which seeks $25 billion to establish a force capable of deporting 600,000 people monthly. The plan, which includes deputizing at least 10,000 private citizens, would be central to achieving Trump’s stated goal of removing 12 million undocumented immigrants. With Trump’s deportation agenda ramping up, new reports indicate the administration is looking for ways to overcome logistical hurdles that are slowing removals. According to sources familiar with internal discussions, officials have grown impatient with the Department of Homeland Security’s ability to execute mass deportations at scale, fueling speculation that Prince’s plan could be revisited. Prince, who has deep ties to Trump, resisted characterizing the proposal as a “private army” during an interview with NewsNation. When pressed on the specifics of the plan, he dismissed concerns, insisting, “This is not some idea of a private army.” However, the document explicitly suggests granting a privatized force the authority to conduct arrests and removals on U.S. soil. For his part, Trump has refused to rule out the proposal, stating he “wouldn’t be opposed” to the idea. His track record on immigration enforcement has already sparked controversy, including a previous suggestion to detain undocumented immigrants at Guantanamo Bay. That idea has drawn legal challenges, with civil rights groups arguing it would violate constitutional protections. Last week, Republican lawmakers introduced a bill aimed at further expanding Trump’s authority over immigration enforcement, including provisions that could make it easier to deputize private citizens for removals. Meanwhile, ICE has already announced increased workplace raids, a move many see as a precursor to wider crackdowns. Prince’s proposal remains unconfirmed, but frustrations within the Trump administration over logistical hurdles have fueled speculation that such a plan could gain traction. Reports suggest that officials are growing increasingly impatient with the slow pace of removals, making the Prince-led blueprint—featuring a fleet of 100 private planes and a network of detention camps on military bases—a more attractive option. Since the downfall of Blackwater, once closely tied to CIA operations and even described as the “private wing” of the U.S. military, Prince has been aggressively working to stage a comeback. His legacy is tainted by the 2007 Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad, where Blackwater operatives killed 17 Iraqi civilians in what Human Rights Watch described as a “deadly rampage.” The incident became one of the defining failures of U.S. military interventions in the Middle East. After being sidelined during the Obama years, Prince’s ties to the Trump administration created a renewed opportunity. In 2017 and 2018, he pitched a $5 billion plan to privatize the U.S. war in Afghanistan. However, his alleged involvement in a botched mercenary operation in Libya undercut his efforts to rebrand himself. His ambitions have since extended beyond U.S. wars. In August 2024, Prince posted a video addressing anti-government forces in Venezuela, declaring, “Your friends from the north, though we’re not with you today, we’re coming soon. We support you to the end.” Reuters had previously reported that in 2019, he lobbied the Trump administration to allow him to deploy a private army into the country. Prince has also publicly boasted about aiding Israel’s genocide against Gaza’s civilian population, claiming he “provided the Israelis a fully funded, donated ability to flood Gaza with seawater.” Meanwhile, a United Nations group monitoring the arms embargo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo found evidence that Prince attempted to broker a deal to send mercenaries into the mineral-rich North Kivu region. The prospect of privatizing mass deportations raises concerns that the same human rights abuses linked to private military contractors overseas could be replicated domestically. As Trump’s immigration policies grow more aggressive, other private firms are already positioning themselves to profit, with the private prison industry already reaping significant financial rewards and as deportation raids ramp up and the administration seeks ways to meet its targets, the idea of privatized immigration enforcement is no longer fringe. Feature photo | Erik Prince speaks with political commentator Gordon Chang at the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 22, 2025. Zach D Roberts | AP Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe.’ Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47 The post Trump’s Deportation Drive Stalls—Is Erik Prince’s Private Army Back on the Table? appeared first on MintPress News.

[Category: National, News, Blackwater Nisour Square, Erik Prince deportation plan, Gaza genocide involvement, Guantanamo Bay detention, immigration policy human rights, private military contractors, privatized detention camps, privatized immigration enforcement, Trump mass deportations, Venezuela mercenary operations]

— Trump’s New Favorite War: Zelensky Out, Netanyahu In

 

at 3/7/25 8:10am

While President Donald Trump has halted military aid to Ukraine as part of a wave of politically motivated spending cuts, his administration has doubled down on taxpayer-funded handouts to Israel. The shift comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatens to escalate his ongoing multi-front conflict—one that risks entangling the United States. Netanyahu was welcomed at the White House as a guest of honor in early Februar, where Trump not only reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to faithfully serve Israeli interests but made a show of deference—pulling out the Israeli leader’s chair as he took his seat. Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky received far less accommodating treatment during his February 28 White House visit. Both Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly humiliated the Ukrainian leader, signaling a stark shift in Washington’s policy priorities. On Monday, the Trump administration announced it would halt military aid to Kiev, a decision that followed the heated public exchange between Trump and Zelensky. Meanwhile, with far less media scrutiny, Secretary of State Marco Rubio quietly signed off on a $4 billion taxpayer-funded aid military package for Israel—circumventing Congress to expedite the transfer. In less than two months, Trump has greenlit $12 billion in weapons shipments to Israel, including 35,000 2,000-pound bombs—munitions previously withheld under the Biden administration due to their use in mass civilian casualties in Gaza. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed that the administration approved additional munitions “that were previously not supplied” to Israel. The surge in U.S. arms transfers comes as Netanyahu continues to defy the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement signed in January, raising the prospect of renewed hostilities. In a move that openly violates international humanitarian law, Tel Aviv has now declared its intent to once again impose a complete blockade on humanitarian aid entering Gaza. Israeli media recognizes billionaire Israeli government asset Miriam Adelson as a "modern day Rothschild" using her vast fortune to dictate Trumps policy on Gaza, where he is now supporting Israels blockade on humanitarian aid in criminal abrogation of the ceasefire terms pic.twitter.com/orwoNAVQ9X — Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) March 4, 2025 In a speech before the Knesset earlier this week, Netanyahu declared that his armed forces were preparing “for the next stages” of what he called a “seven-front war.” Pledging unwavering military action, he vowed, “We will not stop until we achieve total victory—returning all our hostages, destroying Hamas’ military and governing power, and ensuring Gaza is no longer a threat to Israel.” While Trump has stressed the need for a ceasefire in Ukraine—warning that Zelensky is “gambling with World War Three”—Israel is reportedly weighing potential strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Though Tehran does not possess nuclear weapons, Israel is believed to have between 90 and 300 warheads. Following repeated Israeli attacks on Iranian soil last year, some Iranian policymakers have hinted at reconsidering their stance against developing a nuclear deterrent. As Israel expands its occupation of Palestinian, Lebanese, and Syrian territory, Washington risks being pulled into a widening regional conflagration. In a show of force, the U.S. recently flew nuclear-capable B-52 bombers over Gaza for the first time, with Trump warning that “all hell” could break loose there. In response, Yemen’s AnsarAllah has threatened to re-enter the fight alongside Hamas and other Palestinian factions if Israel resumes its offensive. Meanwhile, the U.S. has redeployed its USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier to the Central Command area of responsibility, with more B-52 bombers arriving in the region and Washington posturing against Iran on Israel’s behalf, concerns are mounting over the possibility of another costly war in the Middle East. As Washington accelerates arms shipments to Israel while dialing back support for Ukraine, the strategic calculus of U.S. foreign policy is increasingly being driven by Tel Aviv. With Netanyahu openly preparing for a multi-front war and regional tensions on the rise, the White House now finds itself at a crossroads: rein in its closest Middle Eastern ally or be dragged into yet another devastating and costly conflict. Feature photo | Screenshot | C-SPAN Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47 The post Trumps New Favorite War: Zelensky Out, Netanyahu In appeared first on MintPress News.

[Category: Foreign Affairs, News, Gaza ceasefire violations, Iran nuclear tensions, Marco Rubio Congress bypass, Middle East conflict escalation, Netanyahu seven-front war, Trump Israel military aid, Ukraine aid cut, US B-52 bombers Middle East, US foreign policy Israel focus, Yemen AnsarAllah Hamas alliance]

— Elise Stefanik Brags About Purging University Leaders for Failing Israel’s Loyalty Test

 

at 3/6/25 9:34am

In a revealing moment during her recent CPAC speech, Donald Trump’s newly appointed UN ambassador, Elise Stefanik, openly took credit for the ousting of multiple Ivy League university presidents on Israel’s behalf. “Do you remember that famous Congressional hearing with the anti-Semitic university presidents from Harvard and Penn?” she asked the crowd. “I should say former presidents after my questions. Five down and so many to go.” Stefanik was referring to her high-profile exchanges with university leaders, which she claims exposed their alleged tolerance for anti-Semitism and failure to combat calls for genocide against Jews. A widely circulated clip from the hearing showed Stefanik grilling then-Harvard President Claudine Gay, repeatedly pressing her on whether calls for the genocide of Jews were considered permissible speech on campus. However, the full video provides a broader context to the exchange. Gay, who was later pressured to resign amid supposedly unrelated plagiarism accusations, faced Stefanik’s pointed questioning, which escalated into a demand for a yes-or-no answer. “A Harvard student calling for the mass murder of African Americans is not protected free speech at Harvard, correct?” Stefanik pressed, and Gay refused to give a direct yes-or-no answer. Last April, a wave of protests swept across college campuses in the United States, leading to the formation of student encampments demanding that their universities divest from companies complicit in Israel’s assault on Gaza. The movement, which quickly gained international traction, began at Columbia University after Gay was pressured into calling the New York Police Department to forcibly disperse student demonstrators. Stefanik, who received at least $796,829 from pro-Israel donors between 2023 and 2024, argued that pro-Palestine student protests were calls for the murder of Jewish people. Central to this claim was her misrepresentation of the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” as incitement to genocide. Ironically, the phrase originates from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, yet when used by pro-Palestine demonstrators, it was framed as a call to kill the Jewish people. As a foreign leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, led the charge in demanding that American students be stripped of their free speech rights, likening peaceful anti-war encampments to Nazi rallies that preceded the Holocaust. Stefanik took up the cause domestically, amplifying accusations of rampant “anti-Semitism” on college campuses and spreading widely discredited hoaxes—among them, the false claims that a Jewish student was “stabbed in the eye” with a Palestinian flag and that protesters had chanted “death to the Jews.” She also pushed for an ultimatum: universities could either suppress student protests against Israel or risk losing federal funding. Stefanik tours the Illegal Israeli settlement of Kfar Aza with IDF Major Liad Diamond on May 20, 2024. Photo | repstefanik | Instagram On December 9, Stefanik took to X (formerly Twitter) to gloat: “One down. Two to go,” celebrating the forced resignation of University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill. Magill had fought to uphold the First Amendment rights of her students, yet Stefanik and the Israel Lobby framed their campaign to crush campus protests as a fight against anti-Semitism. Despite Columbia University President Minouche Shafik caving to pressure from politicians aligned with the Israel Lobby and major pro-Israel donors, her decision to crack down on criticism of Israel apparently did not go far enough to appease her critics. Shafik was subjected to relentless media attacks and accused of permitting anti-Semitism for allowing students to criticize Israel. Ultimately, she, too, was forced to resign. The mass arrests of peaceful protesters, the violence against students by outside agitators, and the forced resignations of at least five university presidents together amount to the most significant assault on academic freedom in U.S. history. Never before have university leaders been ousted simply for allowing free speech on campus—an unprecedented crackdown that Stefanik now openly boasts about. One down. Two to go. This is only the very beginning of addressing the pervasive rot of antisemitism that has destroyed the most “prestigious” higher education institutions in America. This forced resignation of the President of @Penn is the bare minimum of what is required.… — Rep. Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) December 9, 2023 The crackdown is far from over. The Department of Justice has launched an investigation into alleged discrimination “against employees who are or are perceived to be Jewish or Israeli” at the University of California. Meanwhile, President Trump has vowed to deport foreign students who participate in pro-Palestine activism on campus, branding the demonstrations “illegal protests” and accusing participants of supporting Hamas. Despite his rhetoric about cutting government spending, Trump has created a nationwide task force—funded by U.S. taxpayer dollars—to combat alleged anti-Semitism on college campuses. Even more concerning to free speech advocates is the administration’s exploration of methods to revoke the tax-exempt status of organizations critical of Israel, framing such speech as anti-Semitic or supportive of terrorism. This move could have far-reaching consequences, potentially affecting universities, independent media outlets, including MintPress News, and civil society groups. Although there is no evidence that pro-Palestine encampments have called for violence against Jewish people based on their identity, corporate media and pro-Israel lawmakers in Washington continue to portray the protests as extremist gatherings. The Trump administration, despite its positioning as an “anti-woke” champion of free speech, is leading an unprecedented assault on First Amendment rights—on behalf of a foreign government. Feature photo | Elise Stefanik walks to the House Chamber to vote, at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., February 25, 2025. Graeme Sloan | AP Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47 The post Elise Stefanik Brags About Purging University Leaders for Failing Israel’s Loyalty Test appeared first on MintPress News.

[Category: National, academic freedom assault, Columbia University protests, Elise Stefanik university presidents, First Amendment suppression, Harvard Claudine Gay resignation, Israel lobby campus protests, Ivy League antisemitism claims, Palestine divestment protests, pro-Israel donor influence, Trump anti-Semitism task force]

— Chainsaw Diplomacy: Javier Milei’s Argentina Destruction Is Nightmarish Model for Musk, DOGE

 

at 2/28/25 12:50pm

Javier Milei made a special appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) earlier this month. The Argentinian president gifted Elon Musk a custom chainsaw, which he promised to use to drastically reduce public spending in his new role as the de facto leader of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk and Milei have become close bedfellows of late, the former clearly impressed by the latter’s wholesale slashing of government programs and entire ministries and his anarcho-capitalist politics. If Musk is indeed using Milei’s Argentina as inspiration for his own mission with DOGE, that bodes extremely poorly for the United States. Milei’s rule has led to mass impoverishment of the Argentinian people, the enrichment of the country’s elite, and the vast expansion of a burgeoning police state. Many Argentinians are watching on concerned, seeing parallels between Milei’s tactics and the Trump-Musk administration’s plans.   Economic Shock Therapy Milei joined Musk on stage at CPAC, the most influential right-wing gathering of the year. Accusing the Democrats of “treason,” Musk lifted the shiny chainsaw – emblazoned with Milei’s slogan, “¡Viva la Libertad, Carajo!” (“Long live liberty, damn it!) – above his head. “This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy! Chainsaw!” he shouted to an excited crowd. Milei has made the tool a symbol of his rule and his willingness to make sweeping cuts to government spending and eliminate entire government ministries, in alignment with his libertarian ideology. Musk has long been a fan, tweeting that “prosperity is ahead for Argentina” following Milei’s election victory in November 2023. A few months later, the two met in person, with Musk declaring, “I recommend investing in Argentina.” “There is an affinity, in ideological terms, between Milei and Musk,” Jodor Jalit, an Argentine journalist, lecturer and researcher, told MintPress, explaining that: They both sponsor a downsizing of the state, but for different reasons. For Milei, it is a crusade to order the macroeconomy. For Musk, it is a power grab move. He is trying to displace any potential rivals within the state. But Milei is trying to downsize the government for economic reasons.” That Musk – in charge of implementing a massive government cost-cutting project – is so inspired by Milei should concern all Americans. In barely over a year in office, Milei truly has taken a chainsaw to Argentinian society, shuttering 13 ministries and firing 30,000 public employees, equivalent to around 10% of the federal workforce. This includes the Ministries of Transport, Education, Public Works, Culture, Social Development, Science, Technology and Innovation and the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security. “I am the mole that destroys the state from within,” he declared. “A number of the policies he implemented pretty much amounted to a shock doctrine,” Jalit noted. Upon his assumption of the presidency, Milei immediately removed rent controls, leading to the cost of housing in Buenos Aires increasing by 135% in one year. Price controls on key goods were also rescinded, leading to food becoming unaffordable to millions of people, who are now forced to scavenge in the streets. Utility rates have exploded: spending on gas for cooking and heating, for example, increased by 715% between December 2023 and October 2024. Then-presidential hopeful Javier Milei brandishes a chainsaw during a rally in La Plata, Argentina, Sept. 12, 2023. Natacha Pisarenko | AP The outcome has been mass destitution. Poverty has risen to 53% of the population, the highest seen in decades. New pro-business laws currently being considered would increase the workday from eight hours to twelve and allow companies to pay workers not with cash but with tickets that can only be redeemed in certain supermarkets or shops. Milei and his supporters argue that this shock therapy is a necessary medicine to cure the country of its longstanding economic problems. Nevertheless, the policies have led to deindustrialization and a brain drain, as those with the skills and opportunity to leave the country have often done so. A recent poll found that 72% of Argentinians consider themselves worse off under Milei. And yet, the president has managed to hold on to approval ratings of above 40%. “It is complicated because the ones who voted for him say that the president is making all these crises happen because it is all part of his plan,” Javier Gomez, an Argentinian influencer and political communicator, told MintPress, adding that a common conception among those sympathetic to him is that, “We need to suffer first, in order to pay the debts from previous governments. And so, anything that he does that may be wrong, stupid, or make people poorer, they say that it is fine. That is exactly what we expected.” Jalit also noted that the past weighs heavily on the populace’s will to endure such an upheaval, stating that: Even though his measures and economic policies have had a big [negative] impact on purchasing power, people still support him. What this shows is that Argentinian society was ready for a change, which did not happen under [previous president, Mauricio] Macri.” While social spending has been cut to the bone, money going to the country’s security forces has been drastically ramped up. The budget for the police, spying agencies and the military—the very groups that will handle any challenges to Milei’s rule—has more than tripled. He has also proposed selling off Argentina’s existing prisons and allowing the construction of mega-jails housing up to 6,000 people each.   Chaos In Washington In his role at DOGE, Musk is taking a not-so-dissimilar approach to Milei. Earlier this month, the South African-born billionaire sent a mass email to all federal employees, instructing them to reply with a bullet-pointed summary of around five tasks they had completed at work in the previous week. “Failure to respond,” Musk announced, “will be taken as a resignation.” Those responses are being fed into an artificial intelligence system “to determine whether those jobs are necessary,” according to those familiar with the operation. Musk’s rationale is that thousands of federal employees are dead or do not exist but are still receiving a paycheck and that a great number of others are doing socially useless work and are there merely as DEI hires, pushing a woke agenda. In January, the new government halted payments to USAID on the grounds that it constitutes a “viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America,” in Musk’s own words. In the process, they exposed a Washington-funded network of over 6,000 journalists around the world who were being paid to promote pro-U.S. propaganda, as an earlier MintPress News study found. Musk’s email telling thousands of people that they were all being reassessed for their jobs and that AI would decide whether they would keep it caused widespread panic and a rebellion from other branches of the government. The heads of the Justice Department, the FBI, the State Department, the Pentagon, the Department of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence all instructed their employees not to respond. President Trump, however, squashed the rebellion even as it was starting. “I thought it was great,” he said of the email, echoing Musk’s reasoning. “We have people that don’t show up to work, and nobody even knows if they work for the government, so by asking the question ‘tell us what you did this week,’ what hes doing is saying are you actually working. And then, if you don’t answer, like, you’re sort of semi-fired, or youre fired,” he said, adding that “a lot of people are not answering because they dont even exist.” Later, on live television and in front of his entire cabinet, Trump doubled down, stating that if anyone were unhappy with Musk’s leadership, they would be “thrown out” of government. Musk sent a second email to federal workers, telling them they had “another chance” to justify their jobs to him.   Crypto Grifters In line with their anarcho-capitalist ideologies, Milei and Musk are strong supporters of cryptocurrency. This obsession with digital money has left both in hot water. On Valentine’s Day, Milei promoted the newly established $LIBRA coin, claiming that it was a new tool to stimulate economic growth across Argentina through investment in small businesses and startups. As a result, $LIBRA’s value skyrocketed from less than one-thousandth of a penny to $5.20 each. The endorsement from the president of Argentina made $LIBRA’s founders tens of millions of dollars, as some 50,000 people flocked to invest in the project. Just hours later, however, Milei mysteriously deleted all his posts promoting $LIBRA, and the coin’s price cratered, almost instantaneously destroying more than a quarter-billion dollars of investor wealth. The fiasco, however, did make a small number of people extraordinarily wealthy. The nine founding accounts of $LIBRA earned more than $87 million by cashing out their coins while the price was high. The project bears all the hallmarks of a classic “rug pull” – a scam where insiders jack a cryptocurrency’s price up and quietly sell their assets, leaving the project to tank and investors holding worthless digital tokens. Amid widespread allegations of fraud, an Argentinian judge has been tasked with leading an investigation into Milei’s actions. Musk, too, has relentlessly promoted cryptocurrency, encouraging his millions of followers to invest, particularly in Dogecoin, which he once called “the future currency of the Earth.” Detractors claim that these appeals to invest amount to market manipulation. Musk faced a lawsuit claiming that his actions amounted to rigging the price of Dogecoin. However, as cryptocurrencies are not regulated in the same way as stocks, the suit eventually fell apart. It is no coincidence, however, that Musk himself chose the acronym “DOGE” for his newly created department.   Cry for Me, Argentina Internationally, Milei’s policy turnabout has been no less drastic, radically altering the country’s trajectory. Argentina had not only applied but had also received a formal invitation to join the BRICS economic bloc, which was viewed as something of a golden ticket across much of the Global South. Yet Milei publicly rejected the offer, claiming that he would never do business with “communist” countries, such as China or Brazil, and pledged to cut economic ties with the pair. “Our geopolitical alignment is with the United States and Israel. We are not going to ally with communists,” he insisted. The commitment to serving Washington’s interests has been a rare constant theme of Milei’s presidency. He has regularly invited top American military commanders to the country, pledged to purchase U.S. military hardware, and begun the construction of an American naval base in the far south of the country. This base will allow Washington to surveil and control the Antarctic region and shipping traffic passing by Cape Horn, South America’s southernmost point. The United States will also have a major role in Argentina’s burgeoning security apparatus. Milei invited CIA director William Burns to Buenos Aires and signed an agreement that would see the CIA train Argentinian intelligence and security services. Javier Milei gazes upwards towards an Israeli flag during a rally in Argentina. Photo | AP Unlike most Latin American nations, Argentina has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine. Milei met with President Volodymyr Zelensky and has provided Ukraine with both humanitarian and military assistance. In recent weeks, though, this support has shifted. As soon as the United States under Trump began to flip its position on Ukraine, Milei and Argentina followed suit, abstaining from supporting Ukraine at United Nations General Assembly votes. Under his leadership, Argentina has often found itself in the extreme minority at the U.N. In October, he instructed Foreign Minister Diana Mondino to vote alongside the U.S. and Israel and refuse to condemn Washington’s blockade on Cuba and fired her when she refused to do so. The resolution passed 187-2. Two weeks later, Argentina was the only country in the world to vote against a bill opposing violence against women and girls. Milei has positioned himself as part of a global movement of right-wing populists that include Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, and Marine Le Pen of France. Also included in that list is the State of Israel. During his political campaigning, he made sure to very visibly wave the Israeli flag. Once in office, he swiftly designated Hamas as a terrorist group, the first and only Latin American nation to do so. Last February, at the height of the Israeli attack on Gaza, he traveled to Jerusalem to meet with Israeli officials and to publicly weep at the Western Wall. There, he vowed to move Argentina’s Israeli embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, thereby endorsing Israel’s land grab, considered illegal under international law. Last week, Milei also declared two days of national mourning over the deaths of Kfir and Ariel Bibas, two children Israel claims (with little evidence) were killed by Hamas. His decision earned him accolades from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who described him as a “dear friend.” Your exemplary decision to declare two days of national mourning for Kfir and Ariel Bibas—two innocent children brutally murdered by the terrorist monsters of Hamas—should serve as an inspiration to all leaders of the civilized world. Thank you for your unwavering integrity and outstanding leadership. I look forward to welcoming you to Israel soon,” Netanyahu wrote. Therefore, if Milei and his actions in Argentina truly are a model for Musk, Americans should be deeply concerned. His maladroit slashing of his country’s government and social services has sparked chaos, poverty, and uncertainty in Argentina. His policies, however, have greatly enriched those at the top of society. Musk’s erratic and sweeping cuts bear a striking resemblance to Milei’s. Argentinians are watching Musk’s moves with a sense of déjà vu: they have seen this one play out before. Feature photo | President of Argentina Javier Milei arrives on stage with a custom chainsaw before Elon Musk and Nesmax Host Rob Schmitt before speak, during day 1 of the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference, February 20, 2025. Graeme Sloan | AP Alan MacLeod is Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent, as well as a number of academic articles. He has also contributed to FAIR.org, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, and Common Dreams. The post Chainsaw Diplomacy: Javier Mileis Argentina Destruction Is Nightmarish Model for Musk, DOGE appeared first on MintPress News.

[Category: Foreign Affairs, Investigations, News, Top Story, Argentina economic shock therapy, Argentinian poverty crisis, BRICS rejection, cryptocurrency Argentina, Elon Musk DOGE, Javier Milei CPAC, libertarian politics, Milei Musk collaboration, Milei Netanyahu, US-Argentina relations]

— AI’s Dark Architects: Palantir, USAID and the Alt-Right Pipeline

 

at 2/28/25 12:49pm

We are living in turbulent times. U.S. media and politicians are busy carving up Syria, balkanizing a once proud nation, and are supporting Israel’s attempts to annex the entirety of the south of the country. Israel has switched its focus to the West Bank and even further, with rumors of a wider war against Lebanon and Iran circulating. And that sentiment has been backed by pro-U.S., pro-Israel media around the world. The big winners in any such war would be the hi-tech U.S. military-industrial complex, who stand to make billions supplying the Israeli war machine with the machinery it needs to continue its destructive course – companies like Palantir, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. And yet, it has recently come out that so many of those media outlets so loudly backing American and Israeli imperial ambitions are actually quietly funded by the U.S. government through USAID. Joining MintCast host Mnar Adley today to talk about all of this are Robert Inlakesh and Alan MacLeod. Robert is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and is the author of the recent article, “Palantir CEO Alex Karp Teams Up With the Alt-Right to Censor Israel’s Critics,” which he discussed today. Alan is Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017, he published two books, Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. Today, he discussed findings from his recent article, “USAID Falls, Exposing a Giant Network of US-Funded ‘Independent’ Media.” Israel’s occupation of Palestine relies heavily on hi-tech equipment and the latest technology, including artificial intelligence and facial recognition cameras. One of the most dystopian weapons it has produced is an AI-powered robotic gun installed at checkpoints around Palestine. Ordinary people passing through the checkpoints tremble in fear as an automated system with the ability to instantly kill anybody it chooses watches over them. Much of the technology Israel needs to prosecute its wars comes courtesy of U.S. tech company Palantir. At the height of the Gaza onslaught, Palantir announced it had entered into a new “strategic partnership” with the Israeli Defense Ministry to “supply technology to help the country’s war effort.” “Both parties have mutually agreed to harness Palantir’s advanced technology in support of war-related missions,” the company’s executive vice-president, Josh Harris, said, adding: “This strategic partnership aims to significantly aid the Israeli Ministry of Defense in addressing the current situation in Israel.” Palantir founder Peter Thiel is known as one of the most influential men in Washington, D.C. The Silicon Valley oligarch has deep ties to the CIA and the military-industrial complex and is one of the Republican Party’s most powerful backers. Vice-President J.D. Vance is a Thiel protégé. The pair met while Vance was still at college. From there, Thiel secured Vance his first job in 2013. Two years later, Vance joined his venture capital firm, and in 2020, he provided the seed money for Vance to start his own investment group. In 2021, Vance ran for Senate and was bankrolled to the tune of $15 million by Thiel, who has constantly guided his political trajectory all the way to the White House. Today, Vance and Trump hold the purse strings, not only of the gigantic U.S. military budget but also decide the direction of U.S. foreign policy. While the new administration’s decisions have harmed many, Thiel’s interests have always been most peculiarly attended to. Mnar Adley is an award-winning journalist and editor and is the founder and director of MintPress News. She is also president and director of the non-profit media organization Behind the Headlines. Adley also co-hosts the MintCast podcast and is a producer and host of the video series Behind The Headlines. Contact Mnar at mnar@mintpressnews.com or follow her on Twitter at @mnarmuh. MintPress News is a fiercely independent media company. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and subscribing to our social media channels, including YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram. Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud. Also, check out rapper Lowkey’s video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog. The post AIs Dark Architects: Palantir, USAID and the Alt-Right Pipeline appeared first on MintPress News.

[Category: Behind The Headlines, Foreign Affairs, News, Top Story, AI warfare Israel, Alan MacLeod, Lockheed Martin Raytheon profits, Palantir military technology, Peter Thiel influence, Robert Inlakesh, Syria occupation tech, US military-industrial complex, US-Israel Syria balkanization, USAID media funding]

— Ethno-State Strategy: Israel’s Backing of Druze Militias Is Reshaping Syria’s Borders

 

at 2/28/25 8:23am

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called upon the Syrian army to withdraw from the nations south, using the plight of the Druze minority as an excuse, he did so based upon a decades-old plot to divide the country. After co-opting Druze militia leaders, Israel plans to end the Syrian State as we know it. “We demand the complete demilitarization of southern Syria in the provinces of Quneitra, Daraa and Suwayda from the forces of the new regime. Likewise, we will not tolerate any threat to the Druze community in southern Syria”, Netanyahu announced on Sunday. His calls were denounced by the new Syrian transitional government’s President, Ahmed al-Shara’a (also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Julani), who also heads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formerly Al-Qaeda’s offshoot in Syria. Within the first twenty-four hours of the former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s ousting, the Israeli military scrapped the 1974 disengagement treaty with Damascus. It proceeded to occupy more Syrian lands while launching its largest-ever air campaign that destroyed the country’s military. In response to this, Syria’s new leadership initially responded by offering Israel an olive branch and even floating the idea of normalization with Tel Aviv. Instead of responding positively to the rhetoric from Damascus, Israel began developing a plot to exploit the predicament of two Syrian minority groups: the Kurds and the Druze. The two territories where these minority groups live are key to the implementation of a plot aimed at Israel extending its de-facto control east of the Euphrates River. Following “Operation True Promise,” Iran’s retaliatory ballistic missile and drone attack against Israel following Tel Aviv’s attack on Tehran’s embassy in Damascus, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant declared that an opportunity had arisen to form a new strategic relationship “against this grave threat by Iran.” Gallant’s words were widely interpreted as a call to establish a joint front with Arab regimes and the Kurdish movements against Iran. Last November, Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar made it clear that Tel Aviv’s priority should be to back the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that control northeastern Syria. Hebrew-language media reports claimed the SDF had officially requested help from Israel. The SDF has long been backed by the United States, acting as a proxy to enable Washington’s control of Syria’s oil fields and fertile agricultural lands. Less well-known is that Israel has long maintained its own ties to the SDF. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a former senior military official of the previous Syrian government told MintPress News that Israel had transferred military assets such as drones into northeastern Syria as early as 2017. The official alleged that the purpose was to launch operations against Iraqi militia groups and Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces. Conversely, the strategy to leverage Druze separatist groups in southwestern Syria was a far more complex operation—one that only began to take shape in earnest by 2020.   Conspiracies Coming To Life It has been well established that Israel provided direct funding, in addition to medical as well as military support, to at least a dozen Syrian opposition groups from as early on as 2013 with the goal of supporting regime change in Syria. One of those militant groups was the infamously violent HTS, a group led by Syria’s current president, Ahmed al-Shara’a. At the time, there was little mention in the press of Israel’s recruitment of agents within the Druze community. The Druze population is spread primarily across southern Syria, Lebanon, and northern occupied Palestine, with each community following a distinct historical trajectory. During the British Mandate in Palestine, the Palestinian Druze aligned themselves with the Zionist movement—a position they had firmly adopted by the 1936–39 Arab Revolt. In contrast, the Druze communities in Syria and Lebanon have followed markedly different political and social paths. In 1925, Sultan al-Atrash, a prominent Druze leader in Syria, spearheaded the Great Syrian Revolt against French colonial rule, becoming a symbol of resistance across the Arab world. While the Druze in Palestine later aligned themselves with the Israeli state—serving in its military and identifying as Israeli—those in the occupied Golan Heights took a different stance. When Israel annexed Syrias Golan Heights in 1981, most of the Druze population there rejected Israeli citizenship, maintaining their allegiance to Syria. Druze clergymen stand beneath a portrait of Bashar al-Assad in the village of Majdal Shams on the border with Syria, Jan. 10, 2020. Ariel Schalit | AP During Syria’s civil war, the Druze largely sided with the Syrian government, as it had historically acted as a bulwark against the threat posed by groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda. This presented a challenge for Israel, which had long sought to establish a “buffer zone” inside Syria. By February 2013, Israel had proposed a buffer zone extending ten miles into Syrian territory, aiming to secure strategic land it had failed to retain during the 1973 war against Hafez al-Assad’s government. Later that year, two additional buffer zones were drafted in coordination with Jordan and the United States. One stretched from south of Damascus to the Jordanian border, while the other spanned the area between Dara’a and the Druze-majority province of Suwayda. To reinforce these proposed buffer zones, it was suggested that the United States position a force of 20,000 soldiers on standby in Jordan as a security guarantee. At the same time, Israel pursued a dual strategy—backing sectarian militant groups that targeted Syria’s minority communities while simultaneously attempting to cultivate ties with Syrian Druze factions. The goal was to form a protective alliance against the very groups Israel was covertly supporting. In 2015, as Israel was backing al-Nusra (now Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS), the group carried out a massacre of 20 Druze civilians. This atrocity became the basis for another Israeli push to establish a buffer zone, with officials arguing that it was necessary to prevent a mass genocide against Syrian Druze. Despite these efforts, the proposal for a buffer zone once again failed to gain traction. However, Israel did not abandon efforts to cultivate ties with the Druze. Even as the war in Syria began to reach a standstill in 2018, Israeli outreach continued. Meanwhile, the Druze population endured a series of devastating attacks, including an ISIS-led massacre in Suwayda in July 2018, which left more than 200 people dead.   The Plot To Prop Up Druze Separatists In 2019, the Trump administration approved the Caesar Act sanctions, which took effect the following year, dealing a devastating blow to Syria’s already fragile economy. As the country’s financial crisis deepened, Israel and the U.S. saw an opportunity to exploit growing tensions between Damascus and Syria’s Druze. By June 2020, the impact of the sanctions was already being felt on the ground. The Syrian pound’s value plummeted, exacerbating economic hardship across the country. Against this backdrop, protests began to emerge, initially small but steadily increasing in scale and intensity with each passing year. On July 7, 2021, a Druze separatist group known as the Syrian Liwa Party emerged, quickly forging ties with Washington through al-Tanf Province, a U.S.-occupied area located west of Suwayda. The group’s rise marked a significant shift in the region’s power dynamics, as it aligned itself with American interests despite broader opposition within the Druze community. Armed Druze men patrol the village of Rami in the southern province of Suwayda, Syria, following an attack by ISIS. Hassan Ammar | AP The Syrian Liwa Party maintained direct links to a Druze sectarian militia called the Counter-Terrorism Force, which publicly stated that its primary mission was to curb the regime’s facilitation of Iranian militias, most notably Lebanese Hezbollah. In 2022, as anti-government protests in Suwayda grew larger, Israel took a more active role in shaping the region’s political trajectory. Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, the head of Israel’s Druze community, was dispatched to Moscow to advocate for the federalization of Syria, a move that aligned with Israeli interests in weakening Damascus. By September 2023, protests erupted again, but this time, Western corporate media reframed them as women-led demonstrations, amplifying their visibility on the global stage. That same month, the U.S. Congress moved to tighten its already debilitating sanctions on Syria, further deepening the countrys economic crisis. Following the fall of former President al-Assad, a group calling itself the Interim Military Council emerged from Suwayda, led by Tareq al-Shoufi. On the same day that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded the withdrawal of all Syrian army forces from southern Syria, al-Shoufi announced the formation of the Suwayda Military Council (SMC). The SMC, a coalition of separatist Druze militias, quickly aligned itself with Israel. Its leader, Commander al-Shoufi, openly welcomed Netanyahu’s promise to protect Syria’s Druze. However, the council does not represent the majority of Syria’s Druze population, many of whom remained in dialogue with Damascus. Prominent Druze leaders, including Hikmat al-Hajeri, the community’s spiritual leader in Syria, denounced the SMC, calling it illegitimate and rejecting its authority. Despite Israeli and Western attempts to fragment the community, significant segments of Syria’s Druze leadership continue to reject foreign interference in their internal affairs. Syria: A Druze militia in Suweida forms a “Military Council” and allies with the US-backed SDF in northeast Syria (Video) Soon after, Netanyahu demands demilitarization south of Damascus from the new Syrian government forces and warns against threats to Syria’s Druze(Photo) pic.twitter.com/SKTWG2vSzj — Warfare Analysis (@warfareanalysis) February 23, 2025 Despite questions of legitimacy, Israel’s efforts to carve out a Druze state in southern Syria persist. Plans are already in motion to offer Syrian Druze salaries of approximately $100 a day to assist in building illegal settlement infrastructure in the occupied Golan Heights. The strategy is modeled after Israel’s Good Fence policy of the 1980s, which was used to secure a foothold in southern Lebanon through the use of local proxy forces, which at the time were composed of predominantly Christian militias. Israeli tanks continue to push deeper into Syrian territory, with some even spotted flying the Druze national flag. Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes hammer targets across the country with impunity, further destabilizing a nation already teetering on the edge of fragmentation. Feature photo | Illustration by MintPress News | Original photo by AP Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47 The post Ethno-State Strategy: Israels Backing of Druze Militias Is Reshaping Syrias Borders appeared first on MintPress News.

[Category: Foreign Affairs, News, Top Story, Druze minority Syria, Golan Heights settlement, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Israel Syria conflict, Israeli airstrikes Syria, Netanyahu buffer zone, Suwayda protests, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Syrian Liwa Party, US Caesar Act sanctions]

As of 4/3/25 3:17pm. Last new 3/28/25 10:16am.