“Shameful”: Israel Seizes Gaza-Bound Vessels & Detains 400+, But More Boats Are Now Heading to Gaza
Israel’s Navy has intercepted dozens of ships in international waters, halting efforts by international activists to break Israel’s siege of the Gaza Strip and deliver humanitarian aid to the starving population. Video live-streamed by the Global Sumud Flotilla showed Israeli commandos boarding ships and abducting dozens of activists on Wednesday. At least 201 people from 37 countries were taken into custody, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela.
Palestinian activist Saif Abukeshek, who is on the steering committee of the Global Sumud Flotilla, says this latest attack reveals ongoing international complicity with Israel’s violations of international law. “Israel has been committing genocide for 22 months, and nothing happens,” says Abukeshek.
We also speak with reporter Emily Wilder, who is on board the Conscience, still sailing toward Gaza as part of a later wave in the ongoing campaign to break the siege. She says that it was important for her, as a journalist, to bear witness and make it clear that “Israel does not represent my voice.”
What It’s Like on the Gaza-Bound Flotilla Attacked by Drones
Global Sumud Flotilla volunteer Tommy Marcus and human rights lawyer Diana Buttu speak on Israel’s aid blockade and continued bombardment on Gaza.
These Countries Recognized Palestine, but Still Send Arms to Israel
Canada, France, and the United Kingdom recognized Palestine as a state this week but continue to fund Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
“The Disappearance of Dr. Abu Safiya”: Al Jazeera Film on Israel’s Abduction & Torture of Gaza Doctor
A powerful new documentary produced by Fault Lines on Al Jazeera English tells the story of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the Palestinian pediatrician and director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza whom Israel has detained with virtually no contact to the outside world for almost nine months. He became known to millions of people around the world for his regular video dispatches from inside the hospital describing the toll of Israel’s brutal military assault on Gaza and on the hospital itself. In late December 2024, Israel raided Kamal Adwan Hospital and forcibly evicted its staff and patients. Dr. Abu Safiya was arrested by Israeli soldiers and has been held without charge in harsh conditions ever since.
We play clips from the documentary, The Disappearance of Dr. Abu Safiya, and speak with director Amel Guettatfi, as well as Dr. Azra Zyada in London, who was in frequent contact with Dr. Abu Safiya before his abduction.
“Uniting for Peace”: How U.N. Could Override U.S. Veto, Send Peacekeepers to Gaza, Block Arms & More
The Trump administration is facing growing criticism for suspending visas for Palestinian passport holders, including for Palestinian officials set to attend the annual U.N. General Assembly this month. When the U.S. denied a visa to Yasser Arafat to address the U.N. in 1988, the General Assembly was moved to Geneva — the U.N. faces similar calls now. The move by the U.S. is “an indication of the unprecedented degree to which the U.S. government has handed the levers of its foreign policy over to the Israeli regime,” says Craig Mokhiber, an international human rights lawyer who formerly served as the director of the New York Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. He resigned in October 2023 over the U.N.’s failure to adequately address large-scale atrocities in Palestine and Israel.
Mokhiber also says there is more the U.N. could do to stop the genocide in Gaza. The General Assembly has the ability to circumvent the Security Council with a “United for Peace” resolution that could force “concrete action” in Gaza.
Chris Hedges Report: Francesca Albanese on an Economy of Genocide
In her forthcoming report, U.N. Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese will detail how Palestine has been exploited by global capitalism and the role certain corporations have played in the genocide.
By Chris Hedges
The Chris Hedges Report
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Linda Sarsour: Harris’s Embrace of Pro-Israel Policies at Odds with Democratic Base
In the Arab American-majority city of Dearborn, Michigan, Donald Trump beat Kamala Harris by over six percentage points, with third-party candidate Jill Stein capturing nearly one-fifth of the vote. During the primary elections, a majority of Democratic voters in Dearborn selected “uncommitted” over then-presumptive nominee Joe Biden, citing disapproval of the president’s handling of Israel’s aggression in the Middle East. “Uncommitted” voters continued to press the Harris campaign to shift its Israel policy as the election went on, but were routinely ignored. Democrats “made a calculation that they did not need Arab American, Muslim American and Palestinian American voters,” says Palestinian American organizer Linda Sarsour, who was in Dearborn on election night. We speak to Sarsour about the Harris campaign’s failure to secure the support of a previously key part of the Democratic base. “We are going to be in big trouble, and I blame that solely on the Democratic Party and one of the worst campaigns I have seen in my 23 years in organizing.”
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