#“Terrorist War Criminal Isra-helli Military”

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“Terrorist War Criminal Isra-helli Military” Refusers Appeal To “Demented, War Criminal & Genocidal Biden”: “Stop Arming Isra-helli’s War”

Tal Mitnick and Sofia Orr, Who are in Prison for Refusing to Serve in “Terrorist War Criminal Isra-hell’s Military,” are Pleading with Genocidal Biden to Help Stop the War on Gaza.

— Prem Thakker | May 9, 2024

On Municipal Elections Day, activists hold a series of signs at an anti-war protest in the center of Tel Aviv in Habima Square. The signs say "end the siege," "Israelis for Ceasefire" and "Stop the War; Peace is the Only Solution," and one sign shows an image of a Gazan man holding a bloody child after an Israeli airstrike. Photo By Emily Glick/Middle East Images/Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by Emily Glick/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Tal Mitnick And Sofia Orr — Two Israeli teenagers who are in prison for refusing to serve in the Israel Defense Forces — sent a letter to President Joe Biden, beseeching him to use his power to stop Israel’s war on Gaza, including through placing conditions on military aid.

“Your unconditional support for [Prime Minister Benjamin] Satan-Yahu’s policy of destruction, since the war began, has brought our society to the normalization of carnage and to the trivialization of human lives,” they wrote. “It is American diplomatic and material support that prolonged this war for so long. You are responsible for this, alongside our leaders. But while they’re interested in prolonging the war for political reasons, you have the power to make it stop.”

The teens wrote the letter before reporting to prison for their most recent sentences. They sent it to Biden on Thursday, a day after he confirmed in an interview for the first time that Israel has used U.S. bombs to kill civilians and said that he will not supply Israel with arms if it moves toward a major invasion of Rafah. Biden did not specify what he considers to be a major invasion; Israel already reportedly has troops on the ground in Rafah, which is considered the last refuge for displaced Palestinians in Gaza and which the Israeli military has long been bombing.

The White House’s National Security Council declined to comment.

Mitnick was first sentenced to prison in December for refusing Israel’s mandatory military conscription at age 18. His successive prison terms have added up to 150 days, while Orr has been sentenced to a total of 85 days. The pair are part of Mesarvot, a growing refusenik network within Israel of teenagers and former dissenters supporting each other as they refuse to serve in the Israeli military.

Another teenager in the network, Ben Arad, was sentenced to 20 days last month for refusing, and his sentence has since increased to a cumulative 50 days. “I oppose senseless killing, the policy of intentional starvation and sickness, and the sacrifice of soldiers, civilians, and hostages for a war that cannot and will not achieve its declared objectives and that could escalate into a regional war,” Arad said in April. “For these reasons and more, I refuse to enlist.”

The refuseniks are not alone in their opposition, nor in the treatment they face. Throughout the war, Israelis have taken to the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to protest the war and Netanyahu’s government. This past week, Israeli police arrested and beat protesters and hostage family members calling for an end to the war, just the latest example of Israelis being punished for voicing dissent or sympathy with the people of Gaza.

While the U.S. paused one shipment of weapons out of concerns over the Rafah operation, the refuseniks are calling for a ceasefire. “Biden’s announcement that he will not deliver offensive weapons to Israel for its Rafah campaign is a positive development, but it is not enough,” a spokesperson for Mesarvot told The Intercept. “By using the leverage of arms transfer, the President can force Israel not only to downscale its Rafah offensive but to actually reach a Hostage/ceasefire deal with Hamas that will end the war. This is within reach and is in the best interest of Israeli society, just as it is in the interest of the Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere.”

In their letter to Biden, Mitnick and Orr note that they will be watching his next steps from their prison cells, where they are serving time “because we keep on objecting to this war.”

They acknowledge that the president has signaled frustration with Israel’s military campaign in recent weeks, yet they draw a contrast between his rhetorical shifts and the military support the U.S. continues to provide (just a few weeks ago, the U.S. sent another $17 billion to Israel).

“We want to tell you, Mr. Biden, that harsh words and condemnation will not make a change,” the refuseniks wrote. “The only way to make Netanyahu stop is to apply real pressure — and to stop arming Israel’s war.”

The pair argue there is no military solution — that no amount of destruction in Gaza could resurrect those killed on October 7, and that hostages have been freed almost exclusively through negotiation. They appealed to Biden to not just stop the violence that has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, but to save Israeli society too.

“Mr. Biden, we need your help. Not with weapons delivery but with the conditioning of aid. Not by giving the Israeli government diplomatic backing, but by turning a cold shoulder to its fanaticism,” they wrote. “This might be seen as a harsh action against the Israeli government, but it would be a great service for us, the Israeli citizens, and for the future of all people living in this land.”

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Nakba, the forced expulsion of a million Palestinians from their own land, marks the beginning of the tragedy for the Palestinians, who continue to suffer at the hands of the Israeli occupiers.

Türkiye 🇹🇷 has filed application of intervention for South Africa's Genocide Case against “The Terrorist , Fascist, Apartheid, War Criminal, Liar, Conspirator, Genocidal and the Illegal Regime of the Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 Isra-hell” at International Court Of Justice (ICJ) — Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan

Five “The Terrorist , Fascist, Apartheid, War Criminal, Liar, Conspirator, Genocidal Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 of Isra-hell’s” soldiers were killed by “The Terrorist , Fascist, Apartheid, War Criminal, Liar, Conspirator, Genocidal Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 of Isra-helli Army Tank,” and went straight to hell to stay, rot and burn forever, in a friendly fire incident in Gaza's Jabalia on May 15. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled Jabalia after Israel relaunched an assault on the town last

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Pro-Palestine 🇵🇸 demonstrators gathered to protest Google's Project Nimbus, blocking an entrance to the Google 1/0 conference in Mountain View in the US State of California on May 14. Conference attendees were redirected to a different entrance while the protest continued. Project Nimbus is a controversial $1.2 Billion Al and Cloud computing contract between Google, Amazon and “The Terrorist , Fascist, Apartheid, War Criminal, Liar, Conspirator, Genocidal and the Illegal Regime of the Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 Isra-helli” Government.

The system can collect all data sources provided by “The Terrorist , Fascist, Apartheid, War Criminal, Liar, Conspirator, Genocidal and the Illegal Regime of the Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 Isra-hell” and Its War Criminal Military, including databases, resources, and even live observation sources such as street and drone cameras. Critics argue that the project could help “The Terrorist , Fascist, Apartheid, War Criminal, Liar, Conspirator, Genocidal and the Illegal Regime of the Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 Isra-hell” continue its occupation of Palestinian territories and segregation of the Palestinian people.

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The United States has Concluded That Five “Terrorist, Fascist, Genocidal, Apartheid, War Criminal And Disgusting Zionist Isra-helli 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 Military Units” Committed Serious Human Rights Violations Against Palestinians in the “Illegally Occupied West Bank” Well Before Hamas's Cross-Border Attack on October 7.

Four of these units have taken remedial measures, the State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said on April 29, adding that all of the incidents had taken place before October 7 - and not in Gaza.

Patel declined to identify the units or say what measures the Israeli government had taken against them.

Press reports have identified one battalion called Netzah Yehuda - which has a lengthy history of misconduct and is influenced by an ideology ingrained in settler-colonialism - as being accused of abuses.

US law prohibits the government from funding or arming foreign security forces with credible allegations of human rights abuses, yet it remains the main supplier of military and monetary assistance to Israel, providing it with $3.8 billion annually in military dole.

Washington has continued to declare its full support for Israel since Tel Aviv launched its Gaza offensive last year and has continued to arm Israel to the teeth, regardless of the alarming civilian casualties among Palestinians in the besieged enclave.

The United Nations 🇺🇳 Relief and Works Agency for Palestine 🇵🇸 Refugees (UNRWA) has called for an independent investigation into the killing of its staff, once a ceasefire is reached. “The Terrorist, Fascist, Genocidal, Apartheid, War Criminal, An Illegal Regime of the Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗, Isra-hell” is pushing for the agency, which is the main humanitarian provider in Gaza, to be dismantled.

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"This Is Not Only An Attack Against World Central Kitchen (WCK), This Is An Attack On Humanitarian Organizations Showing-up in the Most Dire of Situations Where Food is Being Used as a Weapon of War. This is Unforgivable," WCK CEO Erin Gore said in a Statement. Despite Coordinating Their Movements with the “Terrorist, Fascist, Genocidal and War Criminal Isra-helli Military,” WCK aid Convoys Were Hit as They Were Leaving the Deir el-Balah Warehouse, Where They were Preparing to Deliver Food Aid to Starving Palestinians. The Seven Killed were From Palestine 🇵🇸, UK 🇬🇧, Australia 🇦🇺, Poland 🇵🇱, U.S. 🇺🇸 and Canada 🇨🇦.

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It’s Time To Sideline “The Terrorist, War Criminal, Apartheid, Liar, Conspirator, Zionist 🐖 And The Illegal Regime of Israel” from International Sports

A Boycott of Isra-helli Soccer Could Accomplish What Other BDS Efforts Have Failed to Do: Dent the Country’s Own Sense of Legitimacy.

— Foreign Policy | Tuesday July 16, 2024 | By Daniel Levy & Tony Karon

Demonstrators call for FIFA to expel “The Terrorist, War Criminal, Apartheid , Liar, Conspirator, Zionist 🐖 and The Illegal Regime of Israel” on May 28, 2015 in Zurich, Switzerland. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP Via Getty Images

FIFA, Global Soccer’s Governing Body, is facing growing calls to ban Israel’s teams from international competitions. The Palestinian Football Association has formally demanded action in response to the dire humanitarian situation created by Israel’s nine-month assault on Gaza, the ongoing disruption of Palestinian soccer imposed by Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory, and the fact that teams from Israel’s illegal West Bank settlements play in its domestic leagues in violation of FIFA rules. The international body has long evaded efforts within its councils to sanction Israel, but the pressure of disruptive protest action in and around the world’s football stadiums could force a change.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino had artfully played for time by insisting his organization needed legal advice, despite the federation’s precedent of barring Russia within weeks of its invasion of Ukraine. FIFA has promised to convene its council to consider the issue by July 20, but it was put on notice on a breezy evening in Glasgow as Scotland’s women prepared to face Israel’s on May 31.

Scottish protesters harassed the Israeli squad from the moment it landed in Glasgow, posting social media videos of the players in IDF uniforms during their military service, demonstrating outside the team’s hotel, and preventing them training in the stadium. The Israeli players could hear the shouts of the protesters from outside the ground in the silent stadium.

“We had to scream the national anthem because the Scots didn’t play it on the stadium loudspeaker,” one Israeli player told Haaretz.

The Glasgow Euro 2025 qualifier match demonstrated that continuing to defer action on Israel could pose a growing risk of disruption for global soccer—and showed that fans possess a form of leverage that may be more effective than formal pleas to the FIFA council. Fear of disruption had prompted the authorities to stage the match behind closed doors, barring entry to fans. (Even then, hundreds of raucous protesters showed up outside the city’s iconic Hampden Park stadium, and one managed to delay the kickoff by sneaking inside and chaining himself to a goal post.)

Soccer in an empty stadium, as the COVID lockdown era reminded us, is a pale shadow of the spectacle that makes it the world’s premier (and most lucrative) TV viewing.

A sports boycott is no silver bullet to end Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza or its long-term denial of Palestinian rights. But a conditional ban on competing internationally in a sport with broad social popularity can destabilize the offending regime’s own sense of legitimacy by highlighting for ordinary citizens the abnormality of their reality in the eyes of the world.

The Risk Of Disruption Is Clear in Israel’s scheduled matches against Mali, Paraguay, and Japan during the Paris Olympics and European Nations League fixtures that see the Israelis play in Belgium, Italy, and France in the fall.

The Scottish players’ refusal to shake hands with Israel’s also signals that many players are beginning to break the silence imposed by federations, leagues, and owners on making statements deemed political.

Dissident player expressions of support for the Palestinians aren’t new. At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Moroccan players celebrated their Cinderella run to the semifinals by brandishing Palestinian flags in a powerful symbolic rebuke to normalization of ties with Israel by their own and other Arab governments.

The Gaza offensive saw many more players step forward to express solidarity, some at great cost such as Dutch-Moroccan forward Anwar El Ghazi, whose contract was terminated by the German club Mainz (a move even the German courts have now deemed illegal) after he resisted pressure to back down from tweets supporting Palestinian freedom.

But the tide seems to be turning. The recent “All Eyes on Rafah” viral phenomenon was reposted by a number of the game’s biggest names, including Arsenal’s William Saliba, Barcelona’s João Cancelo, Paris St. Germain’s Ousmane Dembélé, Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson, Atalanta’s Gianluca Scamacca, AC Milan’s Rafael Leão, Inter Milan’s Marcus Thuram, 2023 women’s Ballon D’Or winner Aitana Bonmatí, BBC broadcaster and England icon Gary Lineker, and many more.

With growing numbers of players uncomfortable or outraged at maintaining normal sporting relations with a country committing daily war crimes, sports federations are likely to face a growing headache.

Fans have power, also—they’re an essential part of the chemistry that makes soccer the premier global TV spectacle, and inside a stadium, they can’t easily be silenced or pacified. When the rapper Macklemore spoke out for Palestinian rights at a concert in Mönchengladbach, Germany, he was breaking the bizarre German taboo on plain speaking about Israel. “To atone for our past is by today standing up against apartheid, against occupation, against genocide—for free Palestine,” he declared, to rapturous applause from 19,000 people.

There’s a precedent of course: the global anti-apartheid sports boycott that had a significant psychological impact on the morale of the white social base of the South African regime.

In 1981, A Mass Protest Campaign Successfully Disrupted the 1981 Springbok rugby tour of New Zealand, which led to South Africa’s banning from all international competition. Rugby had been the apartheid regime’s game of choice, in which its international prowess was an immense source of pride.

The conservative International Rugby Board—dominated by the federations of Britain and its former settler colonies—had resisted mounting pressure to exclude South Africa. But in 1981, the Halt All Racist Tours movement rallied tens of thousands of citizens to protest and disrupt matches, even physically forcing the cancellation of one of the early games.

For South Africans fighting apartheid it was an inspiring symbol of international solidarity—Nelson Mandela once recalled feeling it as a moment of “the sun coming out” when news reached him in prison on Robben Island of a Springbok match canceled because of protests in New Zealand. And for young people in white homes, it was the first inkling that the social system most white South Africans treated as normal was, in fact, intolerable to those they might deem peers elsewhere.

Referencing an earlier boycott campaign against a rugby tour of the U.K., South African writer Donald McRae wrote: “I was an eight-year-old boy living near Johannesburg when that tour ended and it was the first time I realised the outside world hated South Africa … it needed the sports protests and eventual boycotts to force boys like me to wonder what was wrong with our country.”

The New Zealand disruptions finally forced the IRB to act, banning South Africa from international competition later that year—a ban that remained in place until the apartheid regime had capitulated and set South Africa on the road to democracy, with the restoration of its place in international rugby also being deployed as a powerful incentive to the old regime’s base to embrace the transition to majority rule.

Attempts at disruption are likely to increase the headache facing soccer administrators scheduling matches involving Israel. South Africa showed that an effective sports boycott can take years of grassroots activism to muster, and years more to focus the minds of the targeted population on the need to change course. International sports federations had to be forced by the disruptive pressure of grassroots civil society activism to take action; their default was to ignore what they see as an unwelcome intrusion of “politics” into their business.

Although soccer may not be the source of national pride that rugby was for South Africa (Israel’s national teams and clubs simply aren’t top-tier competitors), involvement in European competitions has become key part of the normalcy experienced by millions of Israelis even as their state keeps their Palestinian neighbors shackled in a brutal apartheid regime.

As their country continues to conduct daily mass civilian killings in Gaza and deploy starvation as a weapon of war, Israeli fans can look forward to their national and club teams joining international competitions in the fall. Ordinary Israelis may be able to convince themselves that the protests on the streets and campuses of Western capitals represent a Hamas-aligned radical fringe, but if such pillars of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ��civilized world” as FIFA and UEFA were to kick it out, the blow would penetrate the iron-dome of imagined legitimacy that sanctifies Israel’s brutality.

Legitimacy in Western eyes has always been a singular Israeli obsession. It is that eternal quest for reassurance that its status and actions are deemed legitimate among the community of Western nations of which it imagines itself part that makes Israel especially vulnerable, as apartheid South Africa was because of similar settler-colonial origins, to the withholding of that legitimacy.

This vulnerability may be even more pronounced in the soccer sphere, because of Israel’s accession to the European federation, UEFA, in 1994. Before that, Israel had played under the auspices of the Asian confederation—though it hadn’t actually played very much, because of a decades-long boycott by Arab and Muslim countries. Acceptance as part of UEFA allowed it to qualify for the World Cup and regional tournaments against European opponents, it also meant Israeli club teams competing in the Champions League and other UEFA competitions. Israel had finally been welcomed into the sport’s “civilized world.”

The impact of the more successful current BDS efforts—boycotts of Israeli consumer products or divestment by college endowments—hardly penetrate the consciousness of most ordinary Israelis. The bans and sanctions announced by the U.S. and European governments targeting a handful of the more militant leaders of Israel’s vast state-sponsored system of illegal settlements in the West Bank barely even register as the equivalent of a parking ticket. While a growing number of musicians are refusing to perform in Israel, enough still show up to avoid Israelis feeling a more pervasive sense of missing out.

That’s what happened to apartheid South Africa’s ruling community, in their game of choice, world rugby. Like so many of today’s Jewish Israelis, most white South Africans had precious little idea of how abnormal their system was in the eyes of global civil society.

The withdrawal of legitimacy symbolized by a boycott is most powerful when it happens suddenly, kicking away a prop of a regime’s self-image. FIFA seemed aware of this in 2014 when, in response to Russia annexing Crimea, it warned Moscow that including teams from occupied territory in its domestic league program—a direct violation of FIFA statutes—would result in Russia losing hosting rights for the 2018 World Cup. A move which temporarily slowed Russian incorporation of Crimean-based teams. And the 2022 invasion of Ukraine earned Russia a swift red card despite the disruptions caused to that year’s World Cup program.

Israel, of course, violates the same statute as Russia would have if it had allowed Crimean teams into its domestic league. According to FIFA’s own regulations, this should be an open and shut case. FIFA recognizes and has Palestine compete in its competitions; the Israeli Football Association includes teams from illegal settlements in the area recognized by FIFA as under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian FA (including Beitar Ma’ale Adumim, Hapoel Bik’at HaYarden and Beitar Ironi Ariel), but no action has been taken.

Lobbying FIFA from the top, of course, requires persuading institutions that are not exactly transparent or accountable, making it easier for Israel and its allies to leverage political and economic power in their favor to avoid sanction.

As the South African example shows, institutions won’t act until the consequences of not acting become too costly to absorb. Fan pressure forcing the Glasgow match to be played behind closed doors demonstrated the power to make clear to authorities that inviting Israel invites disruption, and the potential “chaos” FIFA cited as its reason for banning Russia.

The South African sports boycott was based on the principle that there could be no normal sport in (or with) an abnormal society. The impact of cutting Israel off from international competition will be to show millions of ordinary Israelis that the world does not accept the behavior of their state as normal or acceptable.

— Daniel Levy is President of the U.S./Middle East Project and served as an Israeli peace negotiator at the Oslo-B talks under Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the Taba negotiations under Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

— Tony Karon is the editorial lead of AJ+, the Al Jazeera social media brand. Born and raised in South Africa, where he was active in the anti-apartheid movement, he also teaches at the New School in New York City.

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Sheikh Zayed Towers, Which Were Destroyed By The Terrorist, Fascist, War Criminal, Apartheid, Liar, Conspirator and the Illegal Regime of the Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 Isra-helli Attacks in Gaza City, seen on June 4, 2024. Photo: Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images

A Federal Judge Visited “The Terrorist, Fascist, War Criminal, Apartheid, Liar, Conspirator and the Illegal Regime of the Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 Isra-hell” On A Junket Designed To Sway Public Opinion. Now He’s Hearing A Gaza Case.

Activists Suing The Biden Administration Over Gaza Policy Are Demanding The Judge Recuse Himself Over The Sponsored Trip.

— Shawn Musgrave | June 5 2024

Plaintiffs Suing The Biden Administration Over Gaza Policy have asked a federal appellate judge to recuse himself because of a trip he took to Israel in March. The World Jewish Congress, which sponsored the junket for 14 federal judges, framed the delegation as part of Israel’s “fight in the international court of public opinion.”

In an emergency motion filed Tuesday, the plaintiffs’ lawyers argued they were “ethically compelled” to ask Judge Ryan Nelson of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to recuse himself because the WJC trip was “explicitly designed to influence U.S. judicial opinion regarding the legality of ongoing Israeli military action against Palestinians.”

The plaintiffs are a mix of Palestinian human rights organizations and individual Palestinians, including Dr. Omar Al-Najjar, who has written about his experiences working in the decimated health infrastructure in Gaza. In November, they filed a complaint in federal court against President Joe Biden and other top officials, seeking “an injunction requiring the United States to fulfill its international law duty to prevent and cease being complicit — through unconditional financial and diplomatic support — in the unfolding genocide in Gaza.”

The district court dismissed the case in late January but urged the administration “to examine the results of their unflagging support of the military siege against the Palestinians in Gaza.” The plaintiffs appealed to the 9th Circuit, which is scheduled to hear oral arguments next week. Nelson’s selection for the three-judge argument panel was announced on Monday.

In March, Nelson joined 13 colleagues from the federal bench on the WJC-sponsored trip. Like Nelson, many of the judges on the trip were appointed by former President Donald Trump.

According to a disclosure about the trip, the judges met with high-ranking members of the Israel Defense Forces about “Operation Swords of Iron” — what Israel calls its current military operation in Gaza — and the application of international humanitarian law during war. The trip also included sessions with one of the attorneys defending Israel before the International Court of Justice, Tal Becker; former Israeli President Reuven Rivlin; and members of Israel’s Supreme Court and Knesset, the disclosure shows.

The judges met with a high-ranking official at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, to get the “American perspective,” one judge told the Jerusalem Post. State Department Secretary Antony Blinken is one of the defendants in the case before the 9th Circuit.

In a LinkedIn post summarizing lessons from the trip, Judge Matthew Solomson of the Federal Court of Claims, who helped organized the delegation, wrote, “Israel’s military culture is very attuned to international law; commanders consult lawyers at every step and the lawyers have veto power. We watched many video clips of Israeli military lawyers stopping strikes based on proportionality and collateral damage assessments. Their enemy doesn’t play by such rules.”

In late March, Nelson and Solomson spoke about the trip at a lunch talk hosted by Harvard Law School’s chapters of the Federalist Society and the Jewish Law Students Association. Their remarks were not made public, but Solomson wrote in a LinkedIn post that Nelson “expressed his inspiring faith in God and, concomitantly, an optimistic view of the future.”

Kath Hochul’s Trip of “The Terrorist, Fascist, War Criminal, Apartheid, Liar, Conspirator and the Illegal Regime of the Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 Isra-hell” Bankrolled By Group Funding Illegal Settlements! New York Disgusting Governor Kathy Hochul Visits “The Terrorist, Fascist, War Criminal, Apartheid, Liar, Conspirator and the Illegal Regime of the Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 Isra-hell” on October 19, 2023. Photo: Shlomi Amsalem/Office of Gov. Kathy Hochul

UJA-Federation of New York, A Tax-Exempt Nonprofit, Has Sent More Than Half a Million Dollars to Groups Supporting “The Terrorist, Fascist, War Criminal, Apartheid, Liar, Conspirator and the Illegal Regime of the Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 Isra-helli” Settlements.

“The UJA Has Helped Destroy Any Semblance of a ‘Peace Process’ or Possibility of a Two State Solution.”

In their recusal motion, the plaintiffs highlight coverage of the trip in the Israeli press, particularly by the English-language ILTV. “This invaluable experience allowed them to delve deeper into the legality of Israel’s conduct in the operation,” ILTV said of the trip in an Instagram post.

“At this time, when Israel is facing so much in the court of public opinion and in the courts around the world,” WJC’s chief marketing officer, Sara Friedman, told ILTV in March, “it’s so important for people who understand the judicial system, who understand the laws of war, to come here.”

“The World Jewish Congress is sending a message by bringing these groups that we are supporting the state of Israel,” Friedman told ILTV. “By bringing these groups here and showing them the truth about what is going on, it’s the best diplomacy we can do.”

Friedman did not immediately respond to The Intercept’s request for comment about the trip. The Intercept also asked WJC for copies of materials given to the judges during the trip.

An anonymous statement by federal judicial clerks last month criticized the Israel trip.

Peter Joy, who studies legal ethics at Washington University in St. Louis, said it is often difficult to predict how judges will rule on recusal.

“They make a strong case for the judge to step down,” said Joy. “Here’s somebody who went on a trip, the explicit purpose of which was to try to get Israel’s point of view across.”

Cassandra Burke Robertson, director of the Center for Professional Ethics at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, did not think it was a clear-cut case for recusal.

“The closest issue here is that it sounds like officials on the trip may have been providing specific information about the legality of the operation,” Robertson said. “But if the information was more general, then I don’t think it would be disqualifying.”

“Although Judge Nelson certainly COULD recuse, I don’t think recusal is required under the statute or Judicial Canons,” Rory Little, a professor at UC Law San Francisco, told The Intercept in an email. “He might recuse; it’s not a clear case in either direction.”

Arguments are scheduled for June 10, and the plaintiffs asked the 9th Circuit to rule on their emergency recusal motion by Thursday. A spokesperson for the 9th Circuit said the panel will address the motion, “presumably before Monday.”

The Justice Department, which did not oppose the recusal motion, declined to discuss the case.

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How “Germany, The Fascist And The Complicit in Gaza Genocide” Lost The Middle East

Berlin’s Unequivocal Support For “The Terrorist, Fascist, War Criminal, Liar, Conspirator, Apartheid And The Illegal Regime Of The Zionist 🐖 Isra-hell” Has Eroded Its Soft-Power Footprint In The Region.

— May 24, 2024 | By Ruairí Casey

The Isra-helli flag is projected onto the Brandenburg Gate as part of the Festival of Lights and a show of solidarity in Berlin on October 7, 2023. Fabian Sommer/Picture Alliance Via Getty Images

Last October, Germany’s ambassador to Tunisia, Peter Prügel, sparked controversy while speaking at the opening of a new secondary school in the suburbs of Tunis. After Tunisia’s education minister expressed solidarity with Gaza during the event, Prügel described Israelis as victims of “Palestinian terror,” a reference to Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel.

The education minister angrily objected, asserting that the ambassador’s words ran contrary to Tunisia’s position on the Israel-Hamas war, and Prügel left the event in a hurry. Online, some Tunisians soon claimed that Prügel had justified Israel’s killing of civilians in Gaza. The embassy insisted that Prügel had expressed sympathy for all victims, but said that “we could not ignore that this escalation was caused by Hamas’s barbaric terror attack on Israel.”

Days later, demonstrators gathered outside the German Embassy to demand Prügel’s resignation. Protests against Israel’s war in Gaza had already targeted the U.S. and French embassies in Tunis, but this was the first time they had turned their ire toward Germany. German tabloid Bild described criticism of Prügel as a “hate attack” and reminded its readers that the new school, partly funded by Germany’s development bank, was only opened thanks to the country’s generosity.

For decades, Germany has sought to reconcile a perceived historic responsibility to Israel with a cordial relationship toward the Arab world. Berlin developed a major soft-power footprint and was long seen as an honest broker in trade and economic relations. Organizations financed largely by the German government—such as the Goethe Institute, development agency GIZ, and foundations linked to the country’s main political parties—are major funders of various programs across the Middle East.

Since Oct. 7, this balancing act has faltered. Across the Middle East, there is growing support for Palestinian resistance—and condemnation of what many Arabs consider a genocidal war by Israel. Germany, shocked by the worst single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, initially backed Israel’s assault in Gaza largely without qualification, though some officials have taken a more critical position in recent weeks.

Still, Berlin continues to assert itself as one of Israel’s closest political and military allies, even as—after more than seven months of Israeli bombardment—more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, and the enclave is experiencing widespread famine. Germany’s uncompromising reaction to the war has rapidly tarnished its reputation across the Middle East.

Protesters march past a vandalized campaign banner of the German Social Democratic Party, which shows an image of The Terrorist and The Complicit in Gaza Genocide Chancellor Olaf Scholz and European Parliament candidate Katarina Barley covered with the graffitied word “Warmongers,” seen in Berlin on May 1. Omer Messinger/Getty Images

Germany’s Image Is Suffering Across The Arab World. A 2020 Survey By The Arab Center Washington DC found that a slight majority of the Arab public had positive views of German foreign policy. This January, by contrast, a poll of residents of 16 Arab countries published by the Doha Institute showed that 75 percent of respondents had a negative opinion of the country’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war.

Morocco-based sociologist Amro Ali, who studies the relationship between Germany and the Arab world, described this as a 180-degree turn in public opinion.

Positive impressions of Germany had long dominated in the Middle East: The country was associated with fast cars, high-tech products, and friendly tourists. The German government refused to take part in the Iraq War and welcomed more than 1 million Syrian refugees in 2015 and 2016. Berlin, home to Europe’s largest Palestinian diaspora, has become a hub for Arab culture and intellectual life. Germany also lacks the direct colonial legacy in the Middle East that still feeds regional distrust of powers such as France and the United Kingdom.

Five days after Oct. 7, in a speech that established Germany’s tone toward the nascent Israel-Hamas war, Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the Bundestag that “[in] this moment, there is only one place for Germany: the place by Israel’s side.” By November 2023, Germany had licensed a nearly tenfold increase in arms exports to Israel, becoming the second-biggest arms supplier to the country since the war’s start, after the United States.

The World’s Most Wanted War Criminal, Terrorist, Liar, Conspirator and The Zionist Satan 🐖 Isra-helli Prime Minister Benjamin Satan-Yahu (left) speaks during a joint press conference with The Fascist and The Complicit in Genocide in Gaza German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Jerusalem on March 17, 2024. Leo Correa/AFP Via Getty Images

As public figures in Germany expressed solidarity with Israel, police cracked down on pro-Palestinian demonstrations, violently dispersing them or banning them on grounds of antisemitism. Artists and intellectuals who are critical of Israel, including Jews and Arabs, have warned of a wave of silencing across German society; many have seen awards and funding revoked or events canceled. Among them are Palestinian author Adania Shibli, whose award ceremony was called off by the Frankfurt Book Fair in October, and Lebanese-Egyptian anthropologist Ghassan Hage, who was fired in February by the prestigious Max Planck Institute, which said views that Hage had shared on social media were “incompatible” with its values.

On social media, Ali noticed something he had never seen before: Young people across the Arab world were posting daily about Germany—and none of their impressions were positive. He links the changing perceptions of the country to a reorientation of global politics, in which Western support for Israel has become a source of unbearable hypocrisy for many in the global south.

“We really see some big shifts happening, and one of the key players that’s contributing to this is Germany,” Ali said.

This change in public opinion is unlikely to affect Germany’s political or economic relations with Arab states. Yet it has the potential to undercut Berlin’s soft power in the region.

Foreign Policy spoke with nine current and former staff of six German institutions that do work across five Middle Eastern countries. They said that Germany’s hard-line position on the Israel-Hamas war has jeopardized their work with local partners and communities—damaging trust and credibility that have taken years or decades to develop. All spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect their careers.

Then-Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion (Now Rotting and Burning 🔥 in Hell Forever, left) and then-West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer meet in New York in 1960. Bettmann Archive/Via Getty Images

The West German government first sought to build relations with Israel when it agreed to pay Holocaust reparations to the young state in 1952. Then-Chancellor Konrad Adenauer saw reparations as a means to restore Germany’s reputation and reintegrate itself with Western powers. The Arab League objected to Adenauer’s plan, arguing that Germany should not financially support a state that was at war with its Arab neighbors and had refused to take responsibility for the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in 1948.

The Arab League “stated that Germany should not solve its problem on the backs of Arabs or Palestinians,” said Daniel Marwecki, a historian of Germany’s relations with Israel and lecturer at the University of Hong Kong. “That has been the issue ever since.”

The two-state solution set out in the 1994 Oslo Accords offered Berlin a chance to clear the slate. Germany became a key supporter of negotiations between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. In 2023, Germany, directly and via the European Union, was the second-largest national donor in the Palestinian territories and to the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), behind only the United States in the latter ranking.

“The idea was: If you just throw money at the process, things are going to get resolved,” Marwecki said. “The U.S. will take the political leadership—we’re just going to follow checkbook diplomacy.”

In the 2000s, as the Oslo process failed, Germany drew closer to Israel on matters of security. Berlin’s foreign policy became increasingly tied up with domestic anxieties about antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment among Muslims in Germany, which some politicians said obstructed the country’s attempts to overcome its history. Longtime Chancellor Angela Merkel summed up Germany’s position during a speech to the Knesset in 2008, when she said that Israel’s security was Germany’s Staatsraison, or reason of state—a term repeated by Scholz and others after Oct 7.

When Merkel put the blame for the 2006 Lebanon War and 2008 Gaza War entirely on Hezbollah and Hamas respectively, there was still occasional opposition to the Israeli military’s operations expressed by officials within the German government; in 2008, a leading Social Democratic politician accused the then-chancellor of “taking the side of permanent Israeli bombardment.”

But Israel’s military conduct in wars in Gaza in 2014 and 2021 earned relatively little criticism from German politicians of any party. Although Germany continued to oppose the construction of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and expressed alarm at the anti-democratic tendencies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition, these policy differences did not substantively alter the Germany-Israel relationship.

In the months after Oct. 7, German leaders fixated on the victims of Hamas’s attack, the fate of hostages in Gaza, rising antisemitism, and what they perceived to be Hamas’s existential threat to Israel’s security. The welfare of Palestinian civilians received notably less attention than in previous conflicts, even amid historic levels of death and destruction in Gaza.

Last October, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Hamas had taken the entirety of Gaza hostage and repeated Israel’s claims that the militant group was using civilians as human shields. Germany continued to reject calls for a cease-fire, which Scholz said would allow Hamas to rearm, and abstained from a December 2023 United Nations vote calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.

As Palestinian deaths in Gaza climbed to more than 20,000 in January, German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck denied that Israel was targeting civilians; while some may object to the Israeli military’s “harsh measures,” he said, accusations of genocide against Israel were false. Germany labeled South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice as “political instrumentalization” and froze its funding for UNRWA after Israel alleged that some of its staff participated in the Oct. 7 attack. (Germany has since reinstated its UNRWA funding after an independent review found that Israel provided insufficient evidence for its claims.)

A protester issurrounded by police during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Berlin on May 18, 2024. Ralf Hirschberger/AFP Via Getty Images

The Government’s Views Are Rarely Shared By Staff Of German Institutions With Experience In The Middle East. They have long admitted in private what cannot be said publicly in Germany, sources told Foreign Policy: The two-state solution is dead, Israel’s occupation of the West Bank amounts to apartheid, and German foreign policy is unmoored from the realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The divide between German organizations’ headquarters and their outposts in the Middle East has only grown starker since Oct 7. Staff across institutions in several countries say that using terms such as “apartheid” and “genocide” in reference to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians—phrasing rejected and considered antisemitic by the German government—is common among immediate colleagues. They say their work has been impaired by Germany’s support for the war, their own organizations’ silence or support for Israel, and blowback related to the repression of pro-Palestinian voices in Germany.

Several weeks after the protests against Prügel in Tunis, a swastika was painted on the walls of the city’s local branch of the Goethe Institute, the German government’s flagship global cultural institution. The organization canceled a series of school visits and a film screening in the capital and made a planned public exhibition invite-only. It has also canceled events in Beirut and Ramallah due to security concerns. In March, the Egyptian artist Mohamed Abla returned an award from the institute to protest Germany’s support for Israel; the organization had faced backlash in 2022 for canceling a talk with Palestinian writer Mohammed El-Kurd.

Three current and former staff members at GIZ told Foreign Policy that Germany’s complicity in the war has caused outrage within the development agency. GIZ has not taken a public stance on the conflict, even after one of its own Palestinian employees was put in administrative detention—without a trial or charges—by Israel in March. (This differs from GIZ’s strong position against Russia’s war in Ukraine.) At least two Palestinian nongovernmental organizations that GIZ worked with are now boycotting the agency, the sources said.

One described an “authoritarian” atmosphere that has led some staff to fear speaking out and others to quit. “You fund the bombing on one side, and you throw a little bit of aid to show you’re a humanitarian,” the source said of Germany’s actions.

To keep a low profile and protect their local staff and partners, many German organizations doing work in the Middle East have quietly canceled public events, postponed the publication of reports, or removed their logos from the projects they support. Several sources said they fear that the German media or government could accuse their organizations or their local partners of antisemitism if anyone affiliated with them supports the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) movement or criticizes Israel on social media.

The German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, which funds GIZ and the party foundations’ work abroad, has said partner organizations are subject to “close scrutiny” and checked for any statements that are antisemitic, deny Israel’s right to exist, or support BDS. The ministry and foreign office are currently implementing cuts of nearly 1.5 billion euros as Germany slashes its international aid and development budget.

Last December, Germany removed funding for a project to support victims of trafficking aided by the Centre for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance after its leader signed a letter condemning the war and supporting BDS. During a post-Oct. 7 review, Germany defunded three Palestinian human rights organizations that Israel had labeled as terrorist organizations in 2021. (These designations had been denounced by the United Nations.) The ministry told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in February that it regularly discussed this review with Israel.

The Isra-helli flag flies between the flags of the European Union and Germany outside the Reichstag in Berlin on April 9, 2024. Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Some regional partners have issued their own boycotts against Germany. The Lebanon-based Haven for Artists collective rejected a $35,000 grant from the socialist Left Party’s Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in January after a board member criticized Egypt for not admitting Palestinians fleeing Gaza, which the Lebanese group said amounted to support for ethnic cleansing.

“People within the [cultural] scene right now don’t want to be associated with the German foundations,” said a staffer at a German organization in Lebanon. The same source believes that more culture workers would join a boycott if they could afford to do so; many people who once saw Berlin as a hub of Arab culture, they added, have become disillusioned.

In recent weeks, Germany, like the United States, has taken a harsher tone toward Israel. Scholz and Baerbock have now repeatedly called for a more permanent cease-fire and an increase in the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza to alleviate the risk of famine. They have also warned Netanyahu to cease Israel’s planned full-scale invasion of Rafah. During a visit to Israel in mid-March, Scholz spoke not of Staatsraison, but of the suffering of Palestinians and the impossibility of fighting terrorism through military means alone.

Still, in a scene unthinkable just months ago, Germany’s chief representative in the Palestinian territories was chased out of Ramallah’s Birzeit University in late April. Videos show Palestinian students heckling him, kicking his car, and hurling stones as it sped away. Germany’s rhetoric and actions since Oct. 7 “destroyed the dream and an idea of Germany,” the staffer in Lebanon said.

As one of the biggest Western funders of civil society in the Arab world, Germany will continue to be a major influence in the region. Its less political work, such as supporting infrastructure programs and providing language classes, has largely been unaffected by the Israel-Hamas war.

But the government’s moral advantage on many issues—and Germany’s image as a liberal, welcoming society—may prove hard to rehabilitate.

— Ruairí Casey is a Freelance Writer based in Berlin who reports on Politics, Housing, and Migration.

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“Terrorist, Fascist, War Criminal, Liar, Conspirator, Apartheid and the Illegal Regime of the Zionist Isra-helli 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 Forces” will distribute more machine guns to illegal Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, Israeli Channel 7 reported on May 30. The additional long guns or machine guns would also be distributed "to residents who are not members of the reserve unit to enhance security," an occupation forces representative said.

At the end of last year, “Far-Right, Terrorist, Fascist, War Criminal, Liar, Conspirator, Apartheid and the Illegal Regime of the Zionist Isra-helli 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir” kicked off a campaign to arm Israelis, including settlers in the occupied West Bank, under the guise of providing protection against Palestinian attacks.

Weapons were distributed among illegal settlers and reserve soldiers in the Israeli occupation forces without specifying the quantity of weapons distributed. Tzvi Sukkot, Chairman of the Judea and Samaria Committee and Member of Knesset From the Far-Right Religious Zionism Party, welcomed the decision to increase the distribution of weapons in settlements in Judea and Samaria - the biblical terms for the occupied West Bank - and called on interested Jewish settlers to apply to carry weapons in a statement to Israel's Channel 7. It is estimated that there are approximately 720,000 Illegal Israeli Settlers living in the occupied West Bank, Including East Jerusalem.

“Terrorist, Fascist, War Criminal, Liar, Conspirator, Apartheid and the Illegal Regime of the Zionist Isra-helli 🐖 Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich” threatened to destroy cities, neighbourhoods and camps in the northern occupied West Bank similar to what Israel has done in Gaza, in a video post on X on May 30.

"Our message to the neighbours beyond the fence in Tulkarem, Nur Shams, Shuweika and Qalqilya: We will turn you into ruined cities like in the Gaza Strip if the terror you are exerting on the settlements continues." He threatened to "continue to control Judea and Samaria," the biblical terms for the occupied West Bank.

Addressing Israeli citizens, he asserted that "if a Palestinian state is allowed to be established, settlements in the West Bank could be subjected to a similar attack," referring to the cross-border attack carried out by Palestinian resistance Hamas on Israeli military bases and settlements on October 7. The extremist minister insisted on his rejection of the establishment of a Palestinian state, saying that "it will not happen."

Tensions have been running high across the West Bank since Israel launched a deadly military offensive against Gaza on October 7. According to the Ministry of Health, Israeli forces have killed at least 509 Palestinians and injured thousands more in the occupied territory in 2023, more than double the number recorded in any previous year.

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The Complicit in Genocide in Gaza Biden Administration has reportedly brought intelligence offerings to the negotiation table with “The Terrorist , Fascist, Apartheid, War Criminal, Liar, Conspirator, Genocidal and the Illegal Regime of the Zionist 🐖 Isra-hell” in an attempt to prevent a full-scale incursion of Gaza's southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians are sheltering.

According to four US officials speaking anonymously with The Washington Post, the Biden administration has offered sensitive intelligence that would assist “The Terrorist , Fascist, Apartheid, War Criminal, Liar, Conspirator, Genocidal and the Illegal Regime of the Zionist 🐖 Isra-hell” in conducting targeted strikes on Hamas leaders and the group's underground tunnels.

Officials have also proposed supplying thousands of shelters, enabling Israel to establish tent cities for Palestinians evacuating from Rafah, and to assist with establishing distribution systems for food, water and medicine.

“The Terrorist , Fascist, Apartheid, War Criminal, Liar, Conspirator, Genocidal and the Illegal Regime of the Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 Isra-helli officials” reportedly disagreed with US experts, who said the safe relocation of Palestinians to an area equipped with basic necessities would take several months. Aid groups who spoke with “The Terrorist , Fascist, Apartheid, War Criminal, Liar, Conspirator, Genocidal, Zionist Isra-helli 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗” believe an evacuation to a safe area is nearly impossible, as the rest of Gaza is also being bombed indiscriminately.

Despite standing by “The Terrorist , Fascist, Apartheid, War Criminal, Liar, Conspirator, Genocidal and the Illegal Regime of the Zionist 🐖 Isra-hell” through every step of its bloody war on Gaza even as the death toll reached 35,000, Washington has repeatedly warned of the horrific civilian consequences of a ground invasion on Rafah. Last week, the US held back a shipment of arms heading to Tel Aviv due to worries about their use in an assault on Rafah.

Billions of dollars worth of US weaponry remains in the pipeline for “The Terrorist , Fascist, Apartheid, War Criminal, Liar, Conspirator, Genocidal and the Illegal Regime of the Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 of Isra-hell,” despite delays to one shipment of bombs and a review of others by President Joe Biden's administration over concerns that their use in an assault could wreak more devastation on civilians in Palestine's Gaza.

A senior US official said this week that the administration had reviewed the delivery of weapons that “The Terrorist , Fascist, Apartheid, War Criminal, Liar, Conspirator, Genocidal and the Illegal Regime of the Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 of Isra-hell” might use for a major invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where over 1.5 million displaced Palestinian civilians have sought refuge, and as a result paused a shipment of bombs to Israel with a reported value of tens of millions of dollars.

A wide range of other military equipment is still due to go to “The Terrorist , Fascist, Apartheid, War Criminal, Liar, Conspirator, Genocidal and the Illegal Regime of the Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 of Isra-hell” however, including joint direct attack munitions (JDAMS) - which convert dumb bombs into precision weapons - as well as tank rounds, mortars and armoured tactical vehicles, Senator Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters.

Risch said those munitions were not moving through the approval process as quickly as they should be, noting some had been in the works since December, while assistance for Israel more typically sails through the review process within weeks.

The US declared its support for “The Terrorist , Fascist, Apartheid, War Criminal, Liar, Conspirator, Genocidal and the Illegal Regime of the Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 of Isra-hell” at the beginning of its war on Gaza on October 7 of last year, and has not held back in arming Israel, regardless of the alarming number of civilian casualties inflicted on Gaza.

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In Photographs: The Gaza War By The Bastard Child of The United States and The Puppet West: The Illegal Regime of The War Criminal, Apartheid, Fascist, Terrorist, Liar, Conspirator Zionist 🐖 of Isra-hell!

Palestinians displaced by the Terrorist, War Criminal Zionist 🐖 of Isra-hell’s air and ground offensive in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip. Photograph: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

Gaza Strip, Forever Palestine 🇵🇸! A US Made Military Apache Helicopter of the Terrorist, War Criminal, Fascist Zionist 🐖 of Isra-hell fires missiles towards Gaza. Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters

Hebron, West Bank, Forever Palestine 🇵🇸, Illegally Occupied By the War Criminal, Fascist, Terrorist Zionist 🐖 Isra-hell! Gaza-bound aid trucks were emptied during an attack by the Terrorist, War Criminal, Fascist Isra-helli Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 settlers near a checkpoint. Photograph: Mussa Issa Qawasma/Reuters

Nuseirat, Gaza Strip, Forever Palestine 🇵🇸! Civil defence workers and residents carry out a search and rescue operation to reach Palestinians trapped under the rubble of a three-storey house that collapsed after the Terrorist, War Criminal, Fascist Zionist 🐖 of Isra-elli attacks on a refugee camp. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

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The Muslim Vote has issued Keir Starmer with 18 demands in order to win back support lost due to the Labour leader's stance on “The Terrorist, Fascist, Apartheid, War Criminal, Illegally Occupier of Palestine and The Illegal Regime of the Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 Isra-hell's War on Gaza.” The Muslim campaign group's demands are below:

1. Apologise for your comments green-lighting a genocide and for not backing the ceasefire in October/November 2023

2. Sanctions on companies operating in Occupied Territories. Sanctions on Illegal Settlers

3. Recognise Palestine as a state

4. Travel ban on all Fascist Isra-helli Politicians that prosecuted this war and support the Illegal Occupation

5. End military ties with Isra-hell

6. Issue guidance that Muslims are allowed to pray at school

7. Implement findings of people's review of Prevent - not Shawcross

8. Remove the extremism definition that [Michael] Gove introduced

9. Commit to full implementation of Royal Charter re media regulation

10. Adopt the APPG definition of Islamophobia

11. Commit to a review of public sector equality duty

12. Increase council and public health funding for the

10 per cent most deprived areas in the country to finally address systemic and chronic health inequities as detailed in the Marmot Review and revisited by the Health Foundation 10 years later

13. Deliver alternative student finance

14. Ensure Sharia-compliant pensions are available at every workplace, so the one-third of Muslims without a pension get one

15. Ensure insurance quotes don't cost more for someone called "Muhammad"

16. Commit 7 per cent of the local government pension scheme/public sector pensions to ethical and Islamic funds

17. Oppose Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) bill. Kick it out of law

18. Remove the Archaic "Spiritual Influence" Offence from Statute

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ICC Condemns Retaliation Threats After “Terrorist, War Criminal, Fascist, Zionist 🐖 Isra-helli” Arrest Warrant Reports!

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has hit out at threats of retaliation against the court and its staff, following days of speculation about arrest warrants being issued for Israeli officials over actions taken during the war on Gaza.

Though the charges have not been confirmed by the ICC, Israeli government ministers have spoken publicly in recent days about the rumoured threat of indictments against its leaders. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Israeli military Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi are believed to be the most likely to be charged, according to multiple media reports.

Netanyahu made a video statement earlier this week condemning potential ICC action as "a scandal on a historic scale". He said he expected international leaders to use "all the means at their disposal to stop this dangerous move. On Monday, Axios reported that Congress members from both parties in the US warned the ICC it would retaliate against arrest warrants being issued to Israeli leaders, including by introducing legislation sanctioning ICC officials.

Israel also warned Washington that it would take steps which would lead to the collapse of the Palestinian Authority if the indictments went ahead, according to a separate report in Axios. The Office of the ICC prosecutor said in a statement on Friday that it welcomed "comments, communications of concerns, and engagement" by elected officials, NGOs and activists, following significant public interest in its investigations.

"The Office seeks to engage constructively with all stakeholders whenever such dialogue is consistent with its mandate under the Rome Statute to act independently and impartially," it said. "That independence and impartiality is undermined, however, when individuals threaten to retaliate against the Court or against Court personnel should the Office, in fulfillment of its mandate, make decisions about investigations or cases falling within its jurisdiction."

It added that such threats could constitute an offence under Article 70 of the Rome Statute, which prohibits impeding or intimidating court officials by forcing or trying to persuade them not to perform their duties. "The Office insists that all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence its officials cease immediately."

The ICC was formed in 2002 to prosecute individuals accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The crimes later included the crime of aggression. There are 124 member states who are party to the Rome Statute, the treaty which established the court. Under the principle of complementarity, the ICC acts as a court of last resort when member states are unwilling or unable to try heinous crimes themselves.

It can prosecute nationals of member states, as well as individuals who commit crimes on the territory of member states. It also has jurisdiction over cases referred to it by a UN Security Council resolution. Israel is not a member of the ICC. However, as the state of Palestine was granted membership in 2015, the court can investigate Israeli individuals for crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territories, which include Gaza, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

In 2021, the ICC opened an official investigation into allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in occupied Palestine since June 2014. Chief prosecutor Karim Khan said in October last year that the court also had jurisdiction over crimes committed by Hamas in Israel and by Israelis in Gaza during the current war. It is not yet clear exactly what the court is looking at in relation to Israeli officials.

International law experts told Middle East Eye it could be: allegations of deliberate starvation; impeding the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave; direct attacks targeting non-military objects such as hospitals, as well as inhumane treatment of Palestinian detainees. If Israeli officials are charged, they would have to restrict their travel in and out of the 124 member states of the ICC. "Member states have a legal obligation to cooperate fully with the court, which includes arresting those subject to an arrest warrant," Eitan Diamond, of the Diakonia International Humanitarian Law Centre in Jerusalem, told MEE.

"Israel and the Israeli officials concerned would not want to take the risk that states would discharge their obligation." Neve Gordon, professor of international law and human rights at Queen Mary University of London, said the issue would put ICC member states' commitment to international human rights law to the test. "If, for example, Netanyahu is named on the arrest warrant and he can continue travelling freely and there's no problem, that jeopardises the legitimacy of the ICC itself," he told MEE.

In the event of ICC arrest warrants for Israelis, it is likely that leaders of Hamas will be indicted too, for its role in the 7 October surprise attack on southern Israel that killed 1,140 people, most of whom were civilians. Under the administration of President Donald Trump, the US - which is not a member of the ICC - was actively hostile towards the court. It imposed economic and travel sanctions on ICC prosecutors after the court launched a probe into possible war crimes committed by the US and its allies in Afghanistan.

President Joe Biden's administration lifted those sanctions in 2021. However, the Biden administration has reiterated this week that it does not support any ICC investigation into Israeli crimes in Gaza because "we don't believe that they have the jurisdiction".

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"We have not attempted to return to the north because of the presence of the Israeli occupation forces in the Netzarim area," Mohammed Abu Jarad, a Palestinian teacher who fled to Rafah from the town of Beit Lahia tells TRT World.

Referring to an area where the “Terrorist , Fascist, War Criminal, Apartheid Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 Isra-helli Forces” have built a protective corridor and effectively split Gaza into two halves, he says: "If we do so, we expose ourselves to being killed."

Since launching the military offensive in Gaza nearly seven months ago, the Israeli military has also built what it calls "security barriers," plus two outposts, and has installed several checkpoints in what they refer to as the "Netzarim Corridor," according to satellite images and reports from the ground.

Earlier this month, displaced residents attempting to return to the north along the corridor were forced to turn back southward after an unprovoked attack on unarmed civilians by Israeli forces resulted in the death of at least five Palestinians.

The so-called "Netzarim Corridor" stretches from the Gaza-Israeli border to the Mediterranean Sea, with one outpost located at the crossroads between Netzarim Road and Salah a-Din Road, while the second is located where it meets Gaza's coastal route.

While Israel claims this corridor is essential for "security" reasons, Palestinians from northern Gaza fear that it will permanently prevent them from returning to their homes and allow Israel to rebuild illegal settlements in the Palestinian territory.

"The Fascist Terrorist War Criminal Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 Illegal Regime of Isra-hell” called on Palestinians to leave and promised to secure their return, but that quickly turned out to be false... Now, they are building a 'buffer zone' in the areas they cleared of structures and people, confiscating 16 percent of Gaza," says a Palestinian researcher and academic who preferred to identify himself only by his pseudonym, Dr Ali Abo Al Hassan.

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A Key Demand By Pro-Palestine Students Protesting on US Campuses has been for their schools to provide greater transparency about their ties to the “Terrorist, War Criminal, Genocidal, Fascist, Apartheid Isra-helli Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 Defence Industry,” particularly in regards to funds received from pro-Israel donors - some of whom began withdrawing funding from US universities for a lack of 'stronger condemnation' of Hamas and antisemitism following October 7 - and their contributions towards Israel's military activities in Gaza. The students are calling for universities to disengage from investments, partnerships and endowments that advance Israel's military efforts in Palestine's Gaza.

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When asked about Friday morning's “Terrorist War, Criminal, Genocidal, Apartheid and Fascist Isra-helli 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗” drone attack on Iran, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said his country has not been involved in any offensive operation.

"I'm not going to speak to these reported events... All I can say is for our part, and for all the members of the G7, our focus is on de-escalation," he said, speaking to reporters following the G7 gathering in Italy. Additionally, Blinken said the US believes Israel can achieve its objectives without an all-out invasion of Rafah, which the US would not support.

"We believe that a major military operation with a large presence of civilian population would have terrible consequences for that population," he added, stating that US and “Terrorist War, Criminal, Genocidal, Apartheid and Fascist Isra-helli 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗” officials will continue discussing the issue.