US Senator Chris Van Hollen says it is time for the Biden administration to tell Israel, “If you continue to ignore us, there will be consequences.”

Senator Van Hollen, who is one of seven senators (out of 100) to have called for a permanent ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza, tells host Steve Clemons that Hamas’s surprise attack last year “does not justify the humanitarian catastrophe that we’re witnessing in Gaza”.

The Democratic senator from Maryland said that the United States has to use “all the levers of our power and influence” to allow more aid to get to starving Palestinians.

US Senator Chris Van Hollen says it is time for the Biden administration to tell Israel, “If you continue to ignore us, there will be consequences.” Senator Van Hollen, who is one of seven senators (out of 100) to have called for a permanent ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza, tells host Steve Clemons that Hamas’s surprise attack last year “does not justify the humanitarian catastrophe that we’re witnessing in Gaza”. The Democratic senator from Maryland said that the United States has to use “all the levers of our power and influence” to allow more aid to get to starving Palestinians.

A weekly take on US politics and policies and how they affect the world.

The Bottom Line

Will Israel be allowed to continue its Gaza starvation strategy? | The Bottom Line

After Amazon and Google signed a $1.2bn contract to launch Project Nimbus, providing cloud technology to the Israeli government and the military, tech workers started to notice more Israeli use of artificial intelligence against the Palestinian people.

Many of those engineers have become activists for “No Tech for Genocide”, including Zelda Montes, who was one of the dozens of Google staff who were recently fired for protesting against their company’s involvement with Israel.

Montes and tech entrepreneur Paul Biggar, who founded Tech for Palestine, tell host Steve Clemons why they refuse to build technology used for oppression, surveillance, warfare and apartheid.

After Amazon and Google signed a $1.2bn contract to launch Project Nimbus, providing cloud technology to the Israeli government and the military, tech workers started to notice more Israeli use of artificial intelligence against the Palestinian people. Many of those engineers have become activists for “No Tech for Genocide”, including Zelda Montes, who was one of the dozens of Google staff who were recently fired for protesting against their company’s involvement with Israel. Montes and tech entrepreneur Paul Biggar, who founded Tech for Palestine, tell host Steve Clemons why they refuse to build technology used for oppression, surveillance, warfare and apartheid.

What role do US tech giants play in powering Israeli war crimes? | The Bottom Line

In this episode, host Steve Clemons speaks with Ussama Makdisi, professor of history at the University of California, Berkeley; and Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group.

The exchange of direct attacks between Iran and Israel is likely to subside, but the shadow war goes on, which could intensify as long as the war on Gaza continues, argues Vaez.

And as long as the wider Palestinian issue remains unresolved, there is little to no hope for long-lasting stability throughout the region, says Makdisi, especially with the US policy of rejecting equal regard for the rights of the Palestinian people.

In this episode, host Steve Clemons speaks with Ussama Makdisi, professor of history at the University of California, Berkeley; and Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group. The exchange of direct attacks between Iran and Israel is likely to subside, but the shadow war goes on, which could intensify as long as the war on Gaza continues, argues Vaez. And as long as the wider Palestinian issue remains unresolved, there is little to no hope for long-lasting stability throughout the region, says Makdisi, especially with the US policy of rejecting equal regard for the rights of the Palestinian people.

US calls for ‘de-escalation’, but tensions rise in the Middle East | The Bottom Line

To the United Nations official tasked with reporting on Palestinian human rights, international law is clear: Israel should withdraw from the territories it occupied in 1967.

Instead, Israel aims for the “impossibility to continue civil life in Gaza,” as UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese tells host Steve Clemons.

Israel doesn’t deny the killings and mass destruction, but instead justifies its behaviour as “compliance with international humanitarian law”, Albanese says.

And the failure of governments around the world to force Israel to stop the onslaught only weakens the idea of international law, “because it creates precedents for others to violate it”.

To the United Nations official tasked with reporting on Palestinian human rights, international law is clear: Israel should withdraw from the territories it occupied in 1967. Instead, Israel aims for the “impossibility to continue civil life in Gaza,” as UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese tells host Steve Clemons. Israel doesn’t deny the killings and mass destruction, but instead justifies its behaviour as “compliance with international humanitarian law”, Albanese says. And the failure of governments around the world to force Israel to stop the onslaught only weakens the idea of international law, “because it creates precedents for others to violate it”.

Will Israel be allowed to continue its Gaza starvation strategy? | The Bottom Line

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