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Appeal In Biden Gaza Genocide Case Heard Today

June 10, 2024, San Francisco, CA – Today before a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Palestinians from Gaza and Palestinian-Americans with family in Gaza argued that the courts have a constitutional obligation to hear their claims that President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Austin violated their legal duty to prevent – and are complicit in – Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The lower court had found a plausible case of genocide and urged the Biden administration to reexamine its “unflagging support” for Israel’s siege of Gaza, but dismissed the lawsuit in January, finding it was not the court’s place to rule on what it determined was a “political question.”

The Biden Administration Must Stop Israel Before It Escalates In Lebanon

“If Hezbollah chooses to start an all-out war, then it will single-handedly turn Beirut and South Lebanon, not far from here, into Gaza and Khan Younis.” Those were the blustery words of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, back in December. Since then, Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire on a consistent basis, with some minor intensifications of fighting along the way, but have both been careful about escalating the confrontation. Now, however, it seems that a more significant escalation may be at hand. On Tuesday, Israeli Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi made a public statement, saying that “We are approaching the point where a decision will have to be made, and the IDF is prepared and very ready for this decision… we are prepared … to move to an attack in the North.”

Doctors Demand Biden End Solitary Confinement In Immigration Prisons

Hundreds of physicians and other health professionals are demanding the Biden administration end the use of solitary confinement in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) prisons. The letter comes after reports of multiple suicide attempts by immigrants incarcerated at a privately run ICE facility made national headlines. President Joe Biden pledged on the 2020 campaign trail to end solitary confinement in federal prisons “with very limited exceptions,” and time for change could be running out. Reliance on solitary confinement in ICE jails and prisons — the extremely dangerous and potentially deadly practice of isolating people in tiny cells for weeks, months and even years at time — would likely explode in scope if former President Trump wins the November election and attempts to implement an unprecedented crackdown on undocumented families.

The ICC Takes On Israel And The US Congressional Mafia

Senator Lindsay Graham was bursting with contempt for the International Criminal Court (ICC) when he grilled Secretary of State Blinken at a May 21 Congressional hearing. Wagging his finger, he warned that, if the ICC gets away with issuing arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, “we are next.”  The audience at the hearing, stacked with CODEPINK pro-Palestine supporters, burst out in applause at the notion of the US being hauled before the world’s highest court. “You can clap all you want,” an angry Graham retorted, “but they tried to come after our soldiers in Afghanistan.”

Biden Administration Working With Social Media Companies To Limit Pro-Palestinian Content

The Biden administration has publicly admitted that it is working with tech companies to “limit Hamas's use of online platforms, including social media,” part of a campaign to suppress pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel sentiment. Though there has been much speculation that the federal government is pressuring social media companies to police their networks, this is the first official confirmation of its counterterrorism efforts. A little-noticed readout for a May 15 Hague meeting between the State Department’s Coordinator for Counterterrorism Elizabeth Richard and other governments said that Richard “updated the group on U.S. efforts to engage tech companies in voluntary collaboration to limit Hamas’ use of online platforms, including social media, for terrorist purposes.”

DeJoy Agrees To Pause Consolidations At Dozens Of USPS Facilities

The U.S. Postal Service is pausing some of the most controversial reforms to its mailing network as its leadership has agreed to the demands of a growing, bipartisan chorus in Congress. The mailing agency has halted its plans to consolidate dozens of processing facilities until at least Jan. 1, 2025, ensuring the network overhaul is paused until after the upcoming presidential election in which millions of Americans will be voting by mail. A large swath of lawmakers across the ideological spectrum have called on Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to delay or cease the changes, some of which would shift the bulk of mail processing across state lines.

In A First, Jewish Biden Administration Staffer Resigns Over War In Gaza

At first glance, the chalkboard sign looked like any of the others standing in front of Washington D.C.’s many restaurants and cafes. But instead of advertising espresso or sandwiches, this one — across the street from a federal government building — displayed only one thing: the number of Palestinians killed in Israel’s war with Hamas, along with the words “Remember the people of Gaza.” When it was taken down earlier this month after being vandalized, that number had passed 34,000 — a statistic quoted often in pro-Palestinian advocacy. But what made the blackboard different from the campus protests and others across the country was that the people keeping it current worked for the Biden administration, which has largely supported Israel and armed it as it has fought Hamas in Gaza.

Ann Wright On The Gaza Freedom Flotilla And Upcoming NATO Protests

This week, Clearing the FOG speaks with Ann Wright, a retired Colonel, former State Department official and prominent peace activist. Wright, who resigned in protest of the Iraq War from the State Department in 2003, speaks about recent resignations over the genocide in Gaza and the Biden administration's new report on Palestine. She also discusses the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, which is ready to sail but is being prevented from doing so, and the protests and activities being planned for this July when the NATO leaders meet in Washington, DC around the 75th anniversary of its founding.

White House: Israel Likely Violated International Law In Gaza

The White House on 10 May issued a highly anticipated report on Israel's conduct during its genocidal war in Gaza, saying it is “reasonable to assess” Tel Aviv used US-provided weapons in ways that are “inconsistent” with international law but stopping short of identifying violations that would put an end to the ongoing military aid. “It is reasonable to assess that defense articles covered under [national security memorandum] NSM-20 have been used by Israeli security forces since October 7 in instances inconsistent with its IHL [international humanitarian law] obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm,” the report, drafted by the State Department, says.

Will The Freedom Flotilla Sail To Gaza?

The non-violence training to join the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s ships to Gaza has been intense. As hundreds of us from 32 countries gathered in Istanbul, we were briefed about what we might encounter on this voyage. “We have to be ready for every possibility,” our trainers insisted. The best scenario, they said, is that our three ships–one carrying 5,500 tons of humanitarian aid and two carrying the passengers – will reach Gaza and accomplish our mission. Another scenario would be that the Turkish government might cave to pressure from Israel, the United States and Germany, and prevent the boats from even leaving Istanbul.

United States Agrees To Withdraw Troops From Niger

The Biden administration has agreed to a request from Niger’s military-led government to withdraw US troops from the West African nation. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told Nigerien Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine that the US planned to leave during a meeting on Friday. “We’ve agreed to begin conversations within days about how to develop a [withdrawal] plan,” Campbell said, according to The Washington Post. “They’ve agreed that we do it in an orderly and responsible way. And we will need to probably dispatch folks to Niamey to sit down and hash it out.

Whistleblower Says US Endangers Troops By Refusing To Leave Niger

The Biden administration’s refusal to withdraw from Niger despite an order from the post-coup government to leave has put US troops in the country in danger, a senior Air Force leader said in a letter to Congress that was obtained by The Washington Post. The whistleblower said that senior officials at the US Embassy in Niger have “intentionally suppressed intelligence” to maintain the “facade of a great country-to-country relationship” as the US is trying to figure out a way to maintain its military presence. The Nigerien government, known as the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP), said in March that it was severing military relations with the US and that the US presence was no longer legally justified.

Biden Administration Equivocates On Federal Shield Law For Journalists

The White House has refused to say whether President Joe Biden supports a federal shield law for journalists that would protect them from having to reveal their confidential sources. In January, the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act, or the PRESS Act, passed in the United States House of Representatives. The legislation would “prohibit the federal government from compelling journalists and providers of telecommunications services to provide information identifying a source or any other record obtained or created by journalists in the course of their work,” according to a House Judiciary Committee report.

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 154: Biden’s Maritime Aid Corridor To Gaza Slammed As ‘Unrealistic’

U.S. President Joe Biden announced that he would build a “temporary pier” in Gaza to allow a maritime corridor to let humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip during last night’s State of the Union address. “A temporary pier will enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day.” But dozens of humanitarian aid and NGO representatives argue that this is neither practical nor ethical–particularly given how many aid trucks are waiting to get into Gaza at the Rafah crossing. “Where has the American conscience been for 153 days since the beginning of the war, as people in the Gaza Strip are under constant bombardment?”

Veterans For Peace Calls For Criminal Investigation Of Biden Administration

In sixteen U.S. cities, March 5-7, members of Veterans For Peace will hand deliver an exhaustively researched letter to U.S. State Department offices that has gotten no response from the department’s Inspector-General since February 11. The cities are Buffalo, New York, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Portsmouth, NH, Greensboro, NC, Boston, San Diego, Tucson, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta,  Bridgeport, CT, Los Angeles, Dallas and Houston. Josh Paul, former State Department senior official who resigned over weapons shipments to Israel said, “The Secretary and all relevant officials under his purview should take this letter from Veterans For Peace with the utmost seriousness.