Author: Brett Wilkins

Citing the Gaza genocide, the Maldives said Sunday that it will ban all Israeli passport holders from entering the Indian Ocean archipelago nation, in which income from tourism accounts for nearly 30% of the gross domestic product.

Acting on a recommendation by his Cabinet, Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu will impose the travel ban, the details of which will be determined by a specially appointed subcommittee. Muizzu’s office also said the president will appoint a special envoy “to assess Palestinian needs.”

Continue reading “Maldives Bans All Israeli Travelers Over ‘Genocidal Acts’ in Gaza”

A nurse was fired earlier this month from a New York City hospital for a speech lamenting the anguish felt by Palestinian mothers whose children were killed during the Gaza genocide – remarks that came as she was being honored for providing extraordinary care to mothers who’ve lost babies.

NYU Langone Health labor and delivery nurse Hesen Jabr, who is Palestinian American, was terminated over her May 7 speech accepting the award, in which she said that “it pains me to see the women from my country going through unimaginable losses themselves during the current genocide in Gaza.”

Continue reading “‘The New McCarthyism’: NY Hospital Fires Nurse for Empathizing With Gaza Mothers”

As humanitarian shipments began trickling into Gaza via a U.S.-built temporary floating pier, Palestinians and aid workers on Friday renewed criticism of what they called an expensive and largely ineffectual publicity stunt that is no substitute for a cease-fire and opening of more land crossings into the besieged coastal enclave.

U.S. Army Central Command said that “trucks carrying humanitarian assistance began moving ashore” at around 9:00 am local time Friday as part of “an ongoing, multinational effort to deliver additional aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza via a maritime corridor.”

The $320 million Trident Pier – which consists of a floating offshore barge and 1,800-foot causeway to the shore—is expected to eventually accommodate up to 150 trucks per day. According to United Nations agencies, an average of 200 trucks entered Gaza each day last month, far fewer than the prewar daily mean of more than 500 truckloads that U.S. and U.N. officials say are required to meet the needs of a population facing critical shortages of food, water, medicine, and other lifesaving supplies.

Continue reading “As US Aid Shipments Begin, Gaza Pier Denounced as ‘PR Move’”

Officials at the United States Agency for International Development concluded in a confidential memo to Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Israel is violating a White House directive by blocking humanitarian aid from entering the besieged Gaza Strip during its ongoing genocidal assault on the Palestinian enclave, according to a report published Friday.

Devex‘s Colum Lynch reported that the confidential communication – entitled Famine Inevitable, Changes Could Reduce But Not Stop Widespread Civilian Deaths – states that USAID “assesses the government of Israel (GOI) does not currently demonstrate necessary compliance” with a February 8 White House memo requiring the secretary of state to obtain assurances from governments receiving U.S. military aid that such assistance is used in compliance with human rights law.

Continue reading “Leaked USAID Document Concludes Israel Impeded Gaza Aid”

More than two dozen House Democrats on Tuesday challenged the Biden administration’s claim that Israel is using U.S.-supplied weapons in compliance with domestic and international law—an assertion made amid an ongoing World Court probe of “plausibly” genocidal Israeli policies and practices in Gaza.

Citing “mounting credible and deeply troubling reports and allegations” of human rights crimes committed by Israeli troops in Gaza and soldiers and settlers in the occupied West Bank, 26 congressional Democrats led by Texas Reps. Veronica Escobar—who co-chairs President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign—and Joaquin Castro asked U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines “whether and how” their agencies determined Israel is lawfully using arms provided by Washington.

Continue reading “26 House Dems Voice ‘Deep Concern’ Over Biden Claim That Israel Is Legally Using US Arms”

U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday said his administration is weighing the Australian government’s requests to drop charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been deprived of his freedom since 2010 and is currently jailed in London’s notorious Belmarsh Prison while fighting extradition to the United States.

Asked by reporters at the White House about requests from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and members of the country’s Parliament for the U.S. and United Kingdom to drop the extradition effort and charges against Assange – an Australian citizen – Biden said that “we’re considering it.”

Stella Assange, Julian’s wife, responded to Biden’s remarks on social media. “Do the right thing,” she wrote. “Drop the charges. #FreeAssangeNOW.”

Continue reading “‘Do the Right Thing,’ Say Assange Defenders as Biden Mulls Dropping Case”