๐๐ฌ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข ๐๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐ค๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐๐ง๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ณ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐ฉ
September 25, 2025Israel continues heavy attacks on central and southern Gaza despite telling Palestinians in Gaza City to flee there
๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐’๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง: ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐-๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐๐ฅ๐
September 24, 2025— Nasir Khan
Pro. Ilan Pappe has offered an objective and realistic assessment of what the present recognition of Palestine by a few Western governments means. Not many political activists have bought the charade of recognition because this political step has not challenged the cornerstone of the Zionist colonial occupation and the ongoing unspeakable savagery of the Israeli mass murders of the besieged Palestinians of Gaza and the physical destruction of Gaza.
However, Ilan Pappe also cautiously points to some positive aspects inherent in the recognition and its ramifications. As an old activist and academic, his views carry weight and should be carefully analysed by people who oppose what the US-backed Israeli criminals have been and are still doing, with much bravado and total immunity.
Italian workers show the way with massive strikes in support of Gaza โ demand TUC makes a stand and organises a general strike in the UK
September 24, 2025News Line,
HUNDREDS of thousands of workers and youth took action throughout Italy on Monday after Italian trade unions called a nationwide strike in support of Palestinians in Gaza and against the support given by the right-wing government of Giorgia Meloni to the genocidal Israeli regime.
While the governments of the UK, France, Australia, Canada and Portugal gave formal recognition to the Palestinian State, the Italian government has, along with Germany, resisted the overwhelming pressure from workers and youth to make even this token gesture.
While the US is the biggest provider of weapons to Israel, Germany is the second biggest supplier of arms and military equipment to the genocidal state, followed by Italy.
The staunch support of the Meloni government to Israel and its murderous drive to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza โ for a war that has been massively stepped up with the bombing and ground invasion of Gaza City โ has produced a mass movement by workers and youth across Italy.
On Monday, this mass opposition erupted following a call by Italian trade unions and pro-Palestinian groups for a one-day strike to force the Italian government to โchoose whose side it is onโ.
The strike demand was issued by the Autonomous Dockworkers Collective (CALP) and the Basic Union (USB) national grassroots trade union confederation.
Protests and strikes struck 81 towns and cities across Italy under the slogan โLetโs Block Everythingโ, the same slogan of the massive demonstrations in France recently, over government plans to slash workersโ pensions in order to cut 44 billion euros from the French national debt.
In Venice, thousands marched with banners reading โGaza is burning, we will block everythingโ. Trains and buses were cancelled, schools and universities closed as transport workers, teachers and students came out on strike.
Italian dockworkers have been in the forefront of action against Zionist genocide. Last week, two container ships carrying explosives to Israel were blocked at the port of Ravenna after dockworkers reported their cargo to the authorities and refused to load them. In early August, dockworkers in Genoa prevented a Saudi-owned vessel from being loaded with Italian-made weapons destined for Israel.
Members of the dockworkers union (CALP) from Genoa are on board a boat that set off from the port on 30 August to join the Sumud Flotilla of over 70 ships loaded with medical supplies and humanitarian aid headed for Gaza to break the Israeli siege of the Strip.
50,000 workers and youth took to the streets of Genoa in a massive demonstration of support, while the dockworkers issued a warning that if the flotilla is attacked, as Israel has previously attempted, then the dockers will block all goods headed for Israel and halt all trade across Europe.
One dockworker told the rally held as the boat departed: โIf we lose contact with our boats, with our comrades, even for just 20 minutes, we will shut down all of Europe.โ
This is no idle threat. The port of Genoa is the key Mediterranean shipping hub for Italy and the EU with 2.74 million containers passing through in 2023, closing the port would indeed shut down Europe. The dockworkers and trade unions in Italy have demonstrated the enormous power of the working class.
Their actions stand in stark contrast to the complete refusal of the TUC in Britain to organise anything other than lunchtime meetings to โdiscussโ Palestine or pass harmless motions condemning the mass murder of Palestinians. The time for simply condemning genocide in Gaza is over.
The UK, EU and US working class have the power to end Zionist genocide by forcing their trade unions to immediately call indefinite general strikes to bring down the governments that are enablers of all the war crimes and genocide being committed in Gaza, going forward to workersโ governments and socialism.
Workersโ governments will break with the Israeli regime, and not only recognise the State of Palestine but provide it with all the material support required for the victory of the Palestinian Revolution. This is the way forward!
Recognition of Palestine Is Not Enough
September 23, 2025Israeli Knesset member Aida Touma-Suleiman argues that in order for the growing recognition of the state of Palestine to be meaningful, it must be accompanied by sanctions for Israelโs permanent illegal occupation.
By Aida Touma-SlimanSeptember 22, 2025Z ArticleNo Comments7 Mins Read
Source: Jacobin
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A resistance mural in a rural Palestinian village. Credit: Credit: ISM (palsolidarity.org)
In recent months, as the genocidal killing of Gazans continues, an increasing number of countries have announced their intention to recognize a Palestinian state, joining the 147 that already have. Most of these come from among Israelโs Western allies, with the formalization of recognition due to take place at a United Nations (UN) summit to revive the two-state solution, cochaired by Saudi Arabia and France. As part of this effort, the UN General Assembly endorsed this initiative, in a resounding show of support with a supermajority of 142 countries in favor and only ten opposed. (Even one of Israelโs strongest allies, Germany, voted in favor of this initiative, although it said it would not recognize a Palestinian state at this stage.) The initiative could provide strong leverage for the basic demands of the Palestinian people to live free of Israeli occupation in their own independent state.
This recognition would have been a momentous occasion had it not come amid a war of annihilation waged against Gaza, and in tandem with a military-settler offensive against the Palestinian people in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Right now, the most urgent demand is to mount as much international pressure as possible to immediately stop the assault on Gaza, save its remaining residents from killing or ethnic cleansing, and prevent the permanent reoccupation of the entire territory for years to come.
Two Tracks
The world is moving on two parallel tracks: on one side, a wave of popular solidarity with the Palestinian cause and against the genocide, including increased discussion of real sanctions against Israel. On the other side, Israelโs unprecedented brutality against the Palestinian people, supported unconditionally by the United States.
The most recent example entailed a US violation of the terms of conditions for hosting the UN in its own country, when Secretary of State Marco Rubioโs announced a visa ban of eighty Palestinian Authority officials, including President Mahmoud Abbas, ahead of the UN conference.The very countries now declaring their intention to recognize Palestine in the coming days have been, and continue to be, enablers of the genocide against the same people whose right to self-determination they are belatedly acknowledging.
One of the problems with these two tracks is that they move at different paces: the translation of public pressure into actual policies that could curb Israelโs ability to wreak havoc has moved far slower than the terrifying pace of Israelโs war crimes. Israelโs Western allies seem to be caught between these two tracks, which has resulted in a schizophrenic policy toward Palestinians. The very countries now declaring their intention to recognize Palestine in the coming days have been, and continue to be, enablers of the genocide against the same people whose right to self-determination they are belatedly acknowledging.
Some countries have continued to profit through continued trade, whereas others have taken a more direct and active role in abetting Israelโs crimes in Gaza: from UK aircraft carrying out reconnaissance flights over Gaza to gather intelligence for Israelโs war machine, to German tank engines that have also been used to flatten the cities of Rafah and Khan Yunis.
These details help place the forthcoming recognition of Palestine into context. Anyone who believes this marks the peak of diplomatic efforts is mistaken. Recognition is not the end of the road but its beginning. It must be accompanied by concrete actions that guarantee the survival of the Palestinian people as well as their right to self-determination.
A Diversion?
Recognition of a Palestinian state may offer Western governments a way to absolve themselves in the face of mounting public pressure from Palestine solidarity movements. Polls, protests, and mountains of anecdotal evidence suggest that the public is disgusted by what Israel is doing to the Palestinians, and by the indifference and complicity of their own governments and very often of their own media. They are mobilized to pressure their governments, and it is to them we look to ensure that recognition, while important, does not replace the urgent need to end the war, prevent ethnic cleansing, and stop settler violence in the West Bank.
Without immediate interventions, the creeping process of annexation will proceed unchecked, and the already slim prospect of establishing a Palestinian state will further fade. Recognition of Palestine must be a platform to turn the tide on the two-state solution rather than serving as an atonement certificate for states complicit in its very death.Recognition of Palestine must be a platform to turn the tide on the two-state solution rather than serving as an atonement certificate for states complicit in its very death.
Palestinians have a legitimate fear that those states that are recognizing their right to self-determination will end up not only making of it a symbolic gesture, but that this gesture will be accompanied by greater demands on the Palestinians under occupation than on their Israeli occupier โ that recognition will become yet another cudgel with which to undermine Palestinian rights and well-being rather than challenge Israeli criminality.
This is not a baseless fear: in statements made by Western leaders when announcing recognition, several conditions were attached (some in the UN Resolution itself), including limiting participation in Palestinian elections to those factions endorsing the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) platform and for Palestinians to agree that their state would be demilitarized, when Palestinians are unable to defend themselves against genocide.
Palestinians must get their political house in order, but such demands cannot be a distraction while Palestinians are enduring extermination, ethnic cleansing, and settlement expansion.
Recognition Is an Important First Step
In spite of these concerns, recognition of Palestine must be supported โ it is something that my party, Hadash, has long called for. It is one way of consolidating a global consensus against the Israeli-American โGreater Israelโ project and in favor of Palestinian self-determination, and is a necessary political task in these terrible times.
But to be meaningful, recognition must be accompanied by sanctions for the permanent illegal occupation of the state that is being recognized. The International Court of Justice, in its opinion last year, set out the illegality of the occupation itself and some of the measures states must take to not be complicit, ranging from restrictions in trade to military cooperation.To be meaningful, recognition must be accompanied by sanctions for the permanent illegal occupation of the state that is being recognized.
States such as Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia have already moved to position themselves in compliance with international law. And there is a sense that these states are only the first: even Germany has recently announced an apparent weapons embargo, which would be significant if properly implemented. The European Union as a whole, however, continues to fail Palestinians in its inability to pass an arms embargo.
The reason this is so important is not to reaffirm a unipolar order in its twilight, but because the West remains Israelโs hinterland: where Israel conducts the majority of its trade, parks many of its financial assets in Western banks, participates in international sports, and travels to frequently and visa-free. The West also claims to adhere to a rules-based and values-based system, and it is therefore the West that will determine how quickly the gap is closed between the two tracks of the destruction of Palestinians and holding Israel accountable.
Solidarity in the streets must translate into action in the halls of power, even if this is happening too late for so many Palestinians. Recognition is an important step, but it too must be translated into action.
๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐ฏ๐จ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง โ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ ๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐โ
September 22, 2025By Rory Challands, Aljazeera, 22 Sep 2025
Reporting from London, UK
Husam Zomlot, the new Palestinian ambassador to the UK, gave an impassioned speech in front of what is now officially the Palestinian embassy.
In his speech, he said the UK has a unique role in the Middle East because of its colonial history, because of the Balfour Declaration in 1917, which laid the pathway for the creation of Israel.
He said the decision by the UK to recognise Palestinian statehood has been long overdue, adding it comes with a solemn responsibility for the UK government. It shouldnโt just be a diplomatic gesture.
This is about carrying on, trying to achieve a Palestinian state, trying to bring an end to the war in Gaza. He said there should be a halt to the genocide, an end to the occupation and impunity, a reversal of illegal settlements and an upholding of international law, as well as sanctions and an arms embargo.
He finished his speech by thanking everyone in this country who has been coming out onto the streets of British cities, marching for Palestinian statehood, and championing the cause.
11 Questions the Western Media Should Be Investigating About the Gaza Genocide
September 22, 2025
TRT Arabi Reporter, Reba Khalid al-Ajami, reports from Gaza amid ongoing Israeli attacks in Rafah, Gaza on February 29, 2024.
(Photo by Abed Zagout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Genocide thrives in darkness, so wonโt some committed journalists shine a light?
Sep 21, 2025, Common Dreams
Some serious readers would like to see mainstream media and independent media cover several events and matters involving the Israeli war in tiny Gaza and the mass slaughter of its defenseless citizens.
- Israel keeps exaggerating the status and threat of the Hamas government, which is ridiculous. What about an article on what is left of Hamas, never a threat with a few thousand fighters with small arms and limited ammunition, hiding in tunnels, until the mysterious collapse on October 7, 2023 of the super-modern, multi-tiered border security system, all at the same time? What are the Israeli casualty figures in the past year in Gaza besides accidents and friendly fire? WHAT ABOUT THE VAST DEATH AND SERIOUS INJURY UNDERCOUNT? (See, โ65 Doctors, Nurses, and Paramedics: What We Saw in Gazaโ by Feroze Sidhwa, New York Times, Sunday, October 13, 2024; The Lancet, โCounting the dead in Gaza: Difficult but essential,โ my column of March 28, 2025, โThe Vast Gaza Death UndercountโUndermines Civic, Diplomatic and Political Pressures,โ and my article in the August-September 2024 Capitol Hill Citizen).
- What is the situation in the Israeli prisons housing many thousands of Palestinians without charges (they are hostages too), and their mistreatment, including torture, documented by some Israeli prison doctors and domestic Israeli reports? Most of the media attention has been on the Israeli hostages in Gaza.
- What is the nature and scope of the Israeli resistance groups, dissenting reservists, and retired officials, the human rights groups, and others? It takes a lot of courage on their part to stand up to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In May of this year, Yair Golan, former Israeli deputy minister of economy, said, โA sane country does not wage war against civilians, does not kill babies as a pastime, and does not engage in mass population displacement.โ
- When Netanyahu rarely admits a โmistakeโ in hitting, for example, the medic team, the World Food Program vehicles, the ancient Catholic Church, and just recently Nasser hospital with a โdouble tap,โ is there any demand for payment of damages to next of kin and property? The US Army in Afghanistan paid families $20,000 when they admitted to a civilian homicide.
- Why isnโt there a follow-up every time the Israeli government promises an investigation? What are the findings and sanctions of these many official inquiries that are announced to get the media off the Israeli governmentโs back on the day of the atrocity?
- What about a story on the sadistic snipers, who operate without rules of engagement, in this Palestinian Holocaust, and savagely kill infants, children, people desperately digging into the rubble to rescue loved ones, etc.? How are they chosen? They compete with one another with the most brutal, touted examples of their executions, their favorite prey being pregnant women, according to Israeli reporters.
- Why isnโt more made of what is being denied the American public (aka taxpayers) when no US journalists are allowed into Gaza, along with other foreign and Israeli journalists similarly barred? Genocides thrive in darkness.
- What about some reporting on claims that some Israeli opponents of the Netanyahu regime believe it has a devastating dossier on US President Donald Trump, which accounts for the 100% backing by toady Trump, even more than by toady Joe Biden?
- Why is so little written about Israel enforcing an illegal embargo on Gaza that became far more savage after October 7โโno food, water, medicine, healthcare, fuel, electricity,โ etc.? How come there seems to be an ample supply of shrouds? Some observers in Israel believe there is an underground trade in this product. There is no capacity to produce them in the tens of thousands or more inside Gaza, which is almost totally destroyed.
- What about long-overdue features on the American Israel Public Affairs Committeeโs power or a feature on Veterans for Peace blacked out by the major newspapers? Go to veteransforpeace.org and see for yourself if they are newsworthy. More coverage of the 50 Flotilla ships, which have passengers from 43 countries, and their safety is in order.
- Why is the โother antisemitismโ totally ignored by the media? This โother antisemitismโ is far more violent, with F-16s and other American-built weaponry daily and genocidally mass slaughtering starving civilian Palestinian semites.
Scholar Dr. Jim Zogby delivered an address years ago at an Israeli University titled โThe Other Antisemitism,โ and also engaged two Jewish Americans on this topic in a civil exchange seen on the website DebatingTaboos.org.
RECOMMENDED…
Israel Massacres Gaza Children Fetching Water, Starves 13 More Palestinians to Death
โWhat a Live-Streamed Genocide Looks Likeโ: 5 Journalists, 4 Health Workers Among 21 Killed by Israel Hospital Bombing
Thank you for your professional curiosity.
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From Your Site Articles
- Gaza Doctor Corrects CNN Anchor: โThis Is Not a Humanitarian Crisis… This Is Genocideโ โบ
- Even Once Reluctant Scholars Now Agree on Israelโs Gaza Assault: Itโs a Genocide โบ
- An Indifferent Media Is Failing to Report the 400,000 Dead in Gaza โบ
- In Too Much of the US, Israelโs Gaza Genocide Has Been Made Invisible โบ
- US Corporate Media Complicit in Demonizing Pro-Palestinian Protesters โบ
- The Task of Freeing Palestine Is the Task of Freeing Ourselves โบ
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๐๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฅ๐จ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฌ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ
September 21, 2025Middle East Monitor, September 19, 2025 at 10:27 am
The Italian port of Ravenna on Thursday refused to load two containers filled with explosives for shipment to Israel, following a request by local authorities, according to a statement issued by the cityโs municipality.
Ravennaโs mayor, Alessandro Barattoni, said in a statement: โThanks to courageous dockers, we were informed last night of the scheduled arrival today of two containers to the Ravenna portโ
Ravenna, along with provincial leaders and the regional Emilia-Romagna government, are shareholders in the port, which allowed them to block the shipment.
โYou must choose a side, and Emilia-Romagna and Ravenna know perfectly which: the one of innocent victims and hostages, and not the one of criminal governments and terrorist organisations,โ the regional leaders said in a statement.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called Israelโs plan to occupy Gaza โunacceptableโ, but unlike several European countries such as France and Spain, she ruled out recognising Palestinian statehood, stressing that recognition should only follow the creation of a genuine Palestinian state.
In early June, workers at the port of Marseille in southern France also refused to load containers of military equipment bound for Haifa, saying they would not โtake part in the genocide being carried out by the Israeli governmentโ or become โcomplicit in these massacres.โ
The US-Israel Tag Team YouTube
September 18, 2025In the aftermath of an Israeli attack on Qatar targeting the leadership of Hamas, American political scientist John Mearsheimer argues, โThe Israelis are interested in making sure there are no negotiations that settle the conflict in Gaza.โ
Click on the link to see the YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFDkF4-irhc
Recognizing a Palestinian State Is Not a Policy on Its Own
September 17, 2025As more Western states recognize Palestine, will they also take the action necessary to make this diplomatic step impactful in bringing a Palestinian state to life?
August 11, 2025
Anas Iqtait
Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators march with banners through Whitehall towards 10 Downing Street, the official residence and office of the UK Prime Minister, to protest against Israel’s attacks on Gaza in London, United Kingdom on March 15, 2025. (Photo by Rasid Necati Aslim / ANADOLU / Anadolu via AFP)
Against the backdrop of the daily horrors taking place in Gaza, a wave of Western countries have decided to recognize the State of Palestine. After Ireland, Spain and Norway took the step in 2024, France and Australia have pledged to follow suit at the United Nations General Assembly in September. The United Kingdom and Canada have also expressed their intention to do so, albeit with a litany of conditions. In short, the diplomatic map is shifting. But recognition is not a policy, it is an opening. The real work begins the day after.
Two persistent misconceptions cloud the debate. One is to mistake recognition for a peace plan rather than a tool to spur further action. The other is to imagine that it can revive a two-state formula rendered inoperable by the facts on the ground Israel has established over decades of military occupation and colonization. More than 700,000 Israeli settlers now live across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Separation walls, settlements, checkpoints and a dense web of military orders fragment both physical space and jurisdiction. In the past year, the Israeli Knesset has voted to reject the establishment of a Palestinian state and to annex the West Bank. If diplomatic recognition is to have a meaningful role in reversing these developments, recognizing governments must align the leverage they possess with the outcome they say they support.
What does that require?
The only way to move the needle on the two-state solution is to take steps that force Israelโs government to reconsider its intransigent path toward annexation and the fulfillment of a โGreater Israel.โ First, governments supporting two states must move from symbolic action to enforcing international law. Recognition should be anchored in the judgements of international courts and treaty bodies, not in open-ended โconfidence-buildingโ exercises that absorb pressure and deliver little. Governments that recognize Palestine should operationalize that commitment by barring economic support for the settlement enterprise, adopting import restrictions on settlement goods, and applying targeted measures to entities and individuals who enable annexation, settler violence and war crimes against the Palestinians. If recognition is to be followed by more than applause, it must change the incentive structure that keeps the status quo in place.
Secondly, recognizing states must pair recognition with steps that rebalance the vast asymmetry in power between Israel and Palestine, not just revive a deeply flawed peace process. For the past three decades, that process rested on the assumption that negotiations would furnish Palestinians with the bargaining power they otherwise lacked relative to Israel. In practice, the agreed framework made Palestinian rights conditional on successive rounds of talks, while imposing no costs on Israeli expansion. If recognition is to carry any substantive force, it must invert that dynamic.
Thirdly, these states need to support a credible roadmap for Palestinian governance . Many capitals are balancing their decision to recognize Palestine with demands to reform Palestinian governance institutions. However, without a clear policy, they are reaching for familiar but misguided prescriptions: empowering the Palestinian Authority; holding elections; reviving old reform packages. While reform is certainly needed, it cannot be a proxy for creating deeper dependency. A better approach would be to prioritize three elements: (1) Protect the institutional core of Palestinian representation, including, but not limited to, a reformed PLO, and the independent ecosystem of Palestinian civil society, so any transition is political rather than merely administrative; (2) support an accountable financial architecture insulated from donor micromanagement and Israeli control; (3) and back credible tracks for transitional justice, such as documentation, restitution and mechanisms addressing displacement and dispossession. These steps should affirm the rights to Palestinian freedom and self-determination, including the right to choose and renew their political representation, as all free peoples do.
Finally, these states need to be clear and candid about what achieving a Palestinian state means in practice. The current basis for diplomacy is that recognition will somehow โreviveโ the two-state solution without saying plainly what it entails. This could include reversing settlement expansion and Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem, creating a contiguous Palestinian territory, and establishing enforceable timelines for achieving outcomes. If these conditions cannot be met, the international community should abandon the empty rhetoric in support of two states, which only serves to provide cover for the existing colonial reality. Although a single, democratic state grounded in equal rights is not most capitalsโ preference, it is the logical and moral alternative if equality rather than ethnoreligious privilege and apartheid is the organizing principle. Either way, clarity is better than evasion.
These steps do not require a reinvention of diplomacy. Governments need only do in Palestine what they claim to do elsewhere: defend the rights of vulnerable people; enforce protections from collective punishment and genocide; protect Palestinian society and its economy from settler-colonial predation; and refuse to bankroll a transnational system of oppression.
The UK, Canada and, increasingly, Australia are hedging their recognition of Palestine to demands for Palestinian Authority reform and elastic security benchmarks. But hedging is politics, not a plan. The quickest way to empty recognition of meaning is to announce it while leaving the fundamental obstacles to realizing a Palestinian state untouched. Recognition that does not change the behaviors of the occupier, the settlers, or Western supporters of Israel is an epitaph, not a breakthrough. It preserves the status quo, which, despite the name, shifts daily in a negative direction.
Given the trajectory of Western policy over the past three decades, it is reasonable to view recognition as a hollow gesture designed to deflect mounting pressure to halt the bloodshed and starvation in Gaza. Little thought is being given to the day after recognition. Put plainly, if state recognition of Palestine is followed by inaction, it is less a genuine diplomatic effort than a certificate of acquiescence to prevailing realities. At best, it registers formal objection to Israeli conduct. At worst, it becomes empty rhetoric that bears complicity in Israelโs immoral and illegal agenda.
๐๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ: ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฉ ๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ค๐ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ง๐ฒ๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐ค๐๐ฌ
September 16, 2025Israeli officials tell Axios that the White House was notified early enough that the strikes could have been called off
by Dave DeCamp, Antiwar. com,| September 15, 2025 at 2:26 pm ET
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed President Trump that Israel planned to launch airstrikes against Hamas officials in Qatar shortly before the attack took place, and Trump didnโt oppose the plan, Axios reported on Monday, citing several Israeli officials.
In the wake of the Israeli bombing of Qatar, a major non-NATO ally of the US, the White House claimed that by the time it learned about Israelโs plans to strike Doha, it was too late to stop it. Trump himself also claimed that he was not notified about Israelโs plans and that he was โvery unhappyโ about the attack.
The Israeli officials speaking to Axios said that while Netanyahu informed Trump of his plans to bomb Doha relatively late in the game, there was still time for the strikes to be called off. Three Israeli officials said Netanyahu notified Trump at about 8:00 am Washington, DC time and that the strikes hit Doha at 8:51.
Trump and Netanyahu at the White House on April 7, 2025 (White House photo)
โTrump knew about the strike before the missiles were launched. First there was a discussion on the political level between Netanyahu and Trump, and afterwards through military channels. Trump didnโt say no,โ a senior Israeli official told Axios.
A second senior Israeli official said that if Trump โhad wanted to stop it, he could have. In practice, he didnโt.โ Both officials claimed that if the US opposed the attack, Israel would have called it off.
The claims from Israeli officials align with Israeli media reports on the day of the strikes that said the US had given Israel a green light to go ahead with the bombing, which killed five lower-level Hamas officials and one Qatari security officer. A report from Middle East Eye, which cited US and regional officials, said that Trump had โblessedโ Israelโs attack on Doha.
Israeli officials speaking to Axios said that Israel had decided to go along with the US claims that it wasnโt informed about the plan to strike Doha. โOn our side, it was decided to help them with that for the sake of the US-Israel relationship,โ one official said.
Following the bombing, Netanyahu released a statement claiming that the airstrikes were โa wholly independent Israeli operation. Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility.โ
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