November Palestine Update
Photo shared by Israel’s Foreign Ministry of Greta Thurnberg prior to her release.
Local
Yuval Donio-Gideon, the Consul for Public Diplomacy for Israel's Consulate in New York, took part in the "Ohio Loves Israel Summit" in Columbus on Oct. 26. “Ohio is a major state,” Donio-Gideon told the Cleveland Jewish News. “It is an important state. When a consulate of Israel is looking to deepen and broaden the economic relations, the academic relations, tourism and so on, there’s a lot of potential with Ohio.”
Over the course of three days, the consul met with students, leaders, and administration at The Ohio State University, Youngstown State University, and Oberlin College, continuing the effort to bolster relations between Ohio and Israel. We unequivocally condemn the institutions that collaborate with and provide material support for the genocidal apartheid state of Israel.
On Oct. 29, Ohio State Representative Eric Synenberg announced House Bill 188, which passed with bipartisan support. “This bill represents a bipartisan initiative to expand business and academic partnerships between Ohio and Israel,” said Synenberg. The bill, joint sponsored by Representative Thomas Hall, proposed a 17-person commission representing various businesses and cultural groups which will focus on exploring bilateral trade and collaborations.
Additionally, the commission will foster business and academic exchanges, promote economic support and infrastructure investment, as well as work to expand these partnerships beyond just Israel to include the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar.
National
The Palestinian-led BDS movement calls for a global day of action on Nov. 22, targeting Chevron for its role in Israel’s genocide and apartheid, in addition to its role in climate destruction globally. The US-based corporation supplies Israel with 70% of its energy needs and hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue annually. This action is a part of the BDS movement's ongoing campaign against Chevron in which communities have organized pickets and boycotts and applied pressure on their cities and institutions to divest from the company.
The New York Times faces a boycott from over 150 writers because of its biased coverage of Israel's genocide. In a joint letter, the writers said: “Until The New York Times takes accountability for its biased coverage and commits to truthfully and ethically reporting on the US-Israeli war on Gaza, any putative ‘challenge’ to the newsroom or the editorial board in the form of a first-person essay is, in effect, permission to continue this malpractice. Only by withholding our labor can we mount an effective challenge to the hegemonic authority that the Times has long used to launder the US and Israel’s lies.”
Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York on Nov. 4. Mamdani broke from the Democratic Party line early in his campaign by adopting a pro-Palestinian stance, a move which greatly increased his popularity among voters. His views will likely shift to be more in line with the party now that he has been elected; history shows us that is unfortunately often the case. He has already parroted Zionist talking points, claiming that what Hamas did on Oct. 7 was a "war crime," In reality, that day marked a victorious show of resistance from Palestinian freedom fighters by breaking out of Israel's open-air prison in Gaza. Mamdani has also repeated famous CIA anti-communist talking points by falsely accusing Cuba and Venezuela to be dictatorships to justify sanctions against the countries. Mamdani is a pro-imperialist hypocrite, and certainly not a socialist. We must not allow the fetishization of politicians and the liberal fantasy of placing "good people" into power within irredeemable systems to stop us from collectively struggling together to achieve genuine liberation for all.
International
On Oct. 6, Greta Thunberg and 160 other activists arrived in Athens following their release from Israel. “Let me be very clear: there is a genocide going on,” said Thunberg. “Our international systems are betraying Palestinians. They are not even able to prevent the worst war crimes from happening. What we aimed to do with the Global Sumud Flotilla was to step up when our governments failed to do their legal obligation.”
She and others were subjected to inhumane treatment during their detention by Israel soldiers. They were tortured, received insufficient food and water, were denied access to proper medical care, and were forced to sleep in unsanitary conditions. Thunberg herself was beaten and forced to kiss the Israeli flag, and was later wrapped in said flag and paraded around like a trophy. She was repeatedly called a “whore” in Swedish by the Israeli guards who scrawled the word and other profane graffiti on her suitcase. Thunberg said, “If Israel, with the whole world watching, can treat a well-known, white person with a Swedish passport this way, just imagine what they do to Palestinians behind closed doors.”
Though it's not being reported on by major news outlets because of a supposed ceasefire, Israel continues to bomb Gaza and kill Palestinians every day. Per the United Nations, Israel is still starving Gaza by restricting supplies that enter the Gaza Strip. On Nov. 7, the Washington Post reported that the US military will now replace Israel as the overseer of humanitarian aid which will likely change nothing and give an excuse for US troops to be deployed to war once again to protect their imperialist interests.
As we continue to fight for Palestinian liberation here in the US, at the heart of the imperial core, we must recognize the continued efforts of our comrades abroad and learn what we can from their actions. This is not just the fight of the Palestinians in Gaza or of the Global Sumud Flotilla. It's everyone's.
"While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free." - Eugene V. Debs