J Street Condemns Trump Administration for Using “Fighting Antisemitism” as Pretext for Attacks on Immigrants, Higher Education and Constitutional Protections, J Street
“We urge the Trump Administration, if it is truly committed to fighting antisemitism, to start by taking responsibility for the hateful rhetoric and thinly veiled antisemitic conspiracy theories propagated by those it has elevated to senior positions and to immediately stop weaponizing very real Jewish concerns to push its own anti-democratic agenda, undermining the vital fight against those who actively fuel antisemitism.”
What’s Missing From NPR’s Coverage of Antisemitism?, NPR
“We looked at every NPR story over a two-month period that mentioned antisemitism. During that time frame, NPR covered several storylines. In addition to reports on the federal government’s attempt to deport legal immigrants who participated in protests, reporters sought opinion on whether Elon Musk offered up a Nazi salute on Inauguration Day and also interviewed people about their views on protecting free speech and punishing offensive speech. […] Jeremy Ben-Ami of J Street denounced the Trump administration’s ‘nefarious agenda’ in an NPR website story about the threats to pull federal research funding from Columbia University.”
Map Shows Where ICE Has Targeted Pro-Palestinian Students, Newsweek
What People are Saying: “J Street, a pro-Israel group in the U.S., in a post on Instagram: ‘We are witnessing America’s rapid descent into authoritarianism under Trump in real-time. As Jews, we will not accept Trump using our identity as a weapon in his attacks on civil rights and higher education.’ ‘We abhor the arrests of multiple international students and Green Card holders on campuses – including this week’s ICE abduction of Rumeysa Ozturk at Tufts – in the latest flex of tyrannical power from Trump’s extremist government.’ ‘Rounding up people who express views different than our own does nothing to protect Jewish students; it only squashes free speech and dismantles democratic freedoms.’”
The Double Anxiety of Liberal Jews in the US, The Times of Israel
J Street Israel Executive Director Nadav Tamir writes, “American democracy supporters are struggling to find the strength to rally mass protests. The only factor that still manages to impose some limits on the Trump administration is the judicial system, which is also under attack like never before. As is happening here in Israel, there is also frustration among the liberal camp over the inability of its political leadership to unite. In the liberal Jewish community, there is deep frustration with the official opposition in the Democratic Party, which is seen as weak, ineffective, and out of touch.”
U.S. Gave Hamas New Gaza Ceasefire and Hostage-Release Proposal, Axios
“Qatari and Egyptian officials met Hamas representatives in Doha on Thursday and discussed the different proposals, Israeli and U.S. officials said. An Israeli official said the new U.S.-Qatari proposal ‘is more an idea that isn’t fully clear or fully developed.’ He said the Qataris presented the proposal to Hamas as a gesture to the U.S. that could go a long way with Trump and allow him to press Israel for a broader deal.”
Israel Strikes Beirut for the First Time Since a Ceasefire Ended the Latest Israel-Hezbollah War, AP
“Israel has launched an attack on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, for the first time since a ceasefire ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war in November. […] It came after Israel’s army urgently warned people to evacuate parts of a Beirut suburb, vowing to retaliate against strikes which it said were launched from Lebanon into northern Israel.”
Food Is Running Out in Gaza Nearly a Month Into Israeli Blockade, NPR
“Food stocks in the Gaza Strip are dwindling and there are only five days of flour left to keep bakeries running as Israel’s nearly month-long blockade threatens to plunge the territory’s 2 million people into hunger, the World Food Programme said Thursday. Other aid groups also say their supplies are depleting at alarming rates due to Israel’s blockade, raising fears that deaths from malnutrition and starvation could return to Gaza after a two-month-long ceasefire had brought much needed relief and thousands of trucks carrying aid.”
US Senator Sanders To Force Senate Votes on Blocking Arms for Israel, Reuters
“U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders said on Thursday he would force votes next week on resolutions that would block $8.8 billion in arms sales to Israel, citing the human rights crisis faced by Palestinians in Gaza after Israel’s bombardment of the enclave and its suspension of aid deliveries. ‘(Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu has clearly violated U.S. and international law in this brutal war, and we must end our complicity in the carnage,’ Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said in a statement announcing his plan.”
Rubio Boasts of Canceling More Than 300 Visas Over Pro-Palestine Protests, The Guardian
“The US state department is undertaking a widespread visa-review process, revoking hundreds of visas and placing hundreds more under scrutiny, targeting mostly foreign nationals engaged in pro-Palestine activism, according to official statements. The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, confirmed the scale of the crackdown, announcing that he has canceled visas for more than 300 people he called ‘lunatics’ connected to campus pro-Palestine protests in the US, with promises of action to continue daily.”
Israeli Army Chief Intimates He’s Ready to Conquer Gaza – but Faces Trouble at Home, Haaretz
Amos Harel writes, “The ambitious plans of the government and the chief of staff face a significant internal hurdle. This will be the first stage in the current war that does not have a full public consensus. The General Staff has been holding intensive deliberations in recent weeks about coping with a phenomenon that is starting to spread – reservists not reporting for duty due to political misgivings about the war’s management, as well as ‘gray refusal,’ which isn’t accompanied by a clear political declaration but is lodged deep in the impossible overload and in the government’s alienated attitude.”
Fewer than 1 in 5 Americans back US takeover of Gaza, Brookings Institution
“When asked if they supported or opposed an American takeover of Gaza, 55% of Americans said they opposed such a move, including 77% of Democrats and 37% of Republicans, while 18% said they supported it, including 6% of Democrats and 30% of Republicans; 27% of respondents said they didn’t know.”