A joint Jewish-Palestinian rally against Israeli plans for annexation of West Bank settlements drew thousands to Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square on June 6. The protest was originally forbidden by the authorities due to fears over the coronavirus, but police relented and issued a… Read moreRally in Tel Aviv against West Bank annexation
On the morning of March 26, officials from Israel’s “Civil Administration” for the West Bank arrived with a military jeep escort, a bulldozer and two flatbed trucks with cranes at the Palestinian community of Khirbet Ibziq in the northern Jordan Valley. They confiscated… Read moreIsrael demolishes emergency clinic in Jordan Valley
Trump’s Israel-Palestine “peace” plan (sic), unveiled at the White House Jan. 29 in a joint press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu, has been anointed by the media with the very Trumpian epithet “Deal of the Century”—although he appears not to have… Read morePalestinians reject ‘Swindle of the Century’
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif addressed the United Nations General Assembly regarding the dispute with India over shared waters of the Indus River and the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). Sharif told the Assembly that any attempt by India to stop, impede or divert Pakistan's share of the Indus River waters "will be treated as an act of war." He further stated that India’s unilateral decision to hold the IWT in "abeyance" following last year's militant attacks in Kashmir had "no legal basis whatsoever." India has already restricted the flow of water for periods through dams on Indus tributaries that are apportioned to Pakistan by the treaty. (Photo: Heartography/Pixabay via Jurist)
Following a long campaign by indigenous peoples around the world, the Vatican announced a formal rejection of the 15th century "Doctrine of Discovery." In a statement, the Church said it "repudiates those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent rights of indigenous peoples." The Doctrine of Discovery arose from several papal bulls, key amongst them the Inter Caetera, issued by Pope Alexander VI in 1493. The document effectively granted Spain the right to claim newly "discovered" areas unoccupied by Christians. The Doctrine, which the Vatican now states was "manipulated for political purposes by colonial powers," found its way into the common law of several nations. In the United States, the Doctrine was enshrined in the famous 1823 property rights case Johnson v. M’Intosh. That opinion, written by Chief Justice John Marshall, subjugated indigenous land claims to those of the US government, allowing federal authorities to seize large portions of indigenous land and sell it to white settlers. (Photo: statue of Christopher Columbus in Colón, Panama. Via Wikimedia Commons)
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that President Donald Trump has the power to suspend refugee admissions to the United States, though the court provided some relief to refugees who had already been conditionally approved before the policy was implemented. Refugees and refugee resettlement organizations filed the lawsuit challenging a January 2025 executive order signed by Trump, which suspended refugee resettlement programs in the United States. The lawsuit, filed in a federal district court in Washington state, won a preliminary injunction requiring the government to continue aspects of the refugee program. The government appealed the decision, stating that the refugee program was within the president’s legal authority. The dispute may ultimately reach the US Supreme Court if the parties seek further review of the Ninth Circuit's decision. (Photo: Grace Deng/Washington State Standard)
The US Senate turned down a War Powers Resolution (WPR) in a 47-53 vote, declining to impose limits on President Donald Trump's ability to wage war with Iran. If it had passed, the resolution would have required President Trump to seek congressional approval prior to any continued military action. The vote mostly fell along party lines, with only two senators crossing the aisle—Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (R) voted in favor of the resolution, while Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman (D) voted against it. Later, the House of Representatives also rejected a WPR, which would have directed President Trump to cease all military action against Iran unless authorized by Congress through a formal declaration of war or authorization to use military force (AUMF). The vote tally was 212 to 219. Four Democrats—Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar, Maine Rep. Jared Golden, Ohio Rep. Greg Landsman, and California Rep. Juan Vargas—joined Republicans in opposing the resolution. (Photo: bones64/Pixabay)
Over 26 rights organizations, including the Kurdistan Human Rights Network and Center for Human Rights in Iran, issued a joint statement calling for the immediate revocation of the death sentence imposed on Kurdish women's rights activist Pakhshan Azizi. This sentence, handed down by the Iranian judiciary, has sparked international outrage, with the organizations calling it "a blatant violation of human rights principles and standards as well as international conventions and treaties." Held in solitary confinement for months, during which time she was subjected to torture to coerce confessions, Azizi was sentenced to death by the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran on charges of "armed insurrection" and "membership in opposition groups." Her lawyers maintain that Azizi has no involvement in any armed groups, but that she spent years working in displaced persons' camps in Syria's Rojava region, providing humanitarian aid to those displaced by ISIS violence. (Image: ANF)
US-led forces are currently carrying out war games in Morocco, the periodic "African Lion" exercises—this year taking place near the disputed region of Western Sahara. Morocco is trumpeting this as a re-affirmation of US recognition of its claim to the territory. The Trump administration last year formally recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in exchange for Moroccan diplomatic recognition of Israel as a part of the so-called Abraham Accords. But Spain, the disputed territory's former colonial ruler, is opposing Morocco's current push for international recognition of its claim. Just before the war games opened, Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya called US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging him to reverse Washington's recognition of Moroccan rule in Western Sahara. (Map: Perry-Castañeda Library)
Amid a new round of Israeli air-strikes on Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Donald Trump in Washington for the signing of a presidential proclamation officially recognizing the occupied Golan Heights as Israeli territory. At the joint press conference, Trump said, "We will confront the poison of anti-Semitism." We hope it is unnecessary to point out the perversity of Trump exploiting the threat of anti-Semitism to justify US recognition of an illegal Israeli annexation of Syrian territory. (Image: Ma'an)
The UN Human Rights Council released the Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, finding potential crimes against humanity committed by Israel. The report focuses on the seven-month period last year when the Gaza protest campaign known as the "Great March of Return and the Breaking of the Siege" was taking place. During this period, 6,106 unarmed protesters were shot by military snipers, resulting in 189 Palestinian deaths. (Photo: Ma'an News Agency)
The secretary general of the Palestinian Liberation Organization executive committee, Saeb Erekat, issued a statement rejecting the US-led conference in Warsaw, ostensibly aimed at brokering Middle East peace. Said Erekat: "Today we face a reality whereby the US Trump administration, in cooperation with the Polish government, is pushing yet a new initiative to annihilate the Palestinian national project." Poland has been making some efforts to resist turning the conference into a propagandistic anti-Iran meeting dominated by the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia. The notable absentees from the summit are meanwhile convening their own meeting in the Russian resort of Sochi. The rival summit is bringing together Vladimir Putin, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iran's Hassan Rouhani. (Photo: Ma'an)
