This week, Israel moved further toward formalizing annexation in the West Bank through a mix of settler violence, tightening administrative restrictions, and legal changes designed to make permanent control look routine. In the United States and Europe, governments continued to escalate efforts to criminalize Palestine solidarity, from court battles in the UK to the ongoing detention and mistreatment of Leqaa Kordia in the United States. Netanyahu\u2019s trip to Washington showed how hard Israel is still working to pull the United States into a war with Iran, even as AIPAC\u2019s election strategy runs into a Democratic base that is shifting faster than party leadership is willing to admit. And across our commentary and reporting, a central thread holds that solidarity depends on centering Palestinian experience, whether that means defending the Right of Return, confronting the limits of liberal institutions, or listening to what it means to write about Gaza from exile.<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udcf9 Video Short<\/p>\n
Leila Warah takes a satirical look at how Israeli settlers steal land from Palestinians with a tongue-in-cheek real estate advertisement.<\/p>\n
West Bank annexation<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s project in the West Bank is advancing on multiple tracks, including settler terror on the ground, financial and administrative restrictions, and legal attacks on the distinction between \u201coccupation\u201d and annexation.<\/p>\n
READ MORE \u2192 How Israel is eroding life for Palestinians in the West Bank<\/a> \u2014 Abdaljawad Omar<\/p>\n READ MORE \u2192 Israel just started legalizing its annexation of the West Bank. Here\u2019s what that means.<\/a> \u2014 Qassam Muaddi<\/p>\n READ MORE \u2192 The hollowing out of Palestine\u2019s most important university<\/a> \u2014 Abdaljawad Omar<\/p>\n Criminalizing solidarity<\/p>\n Across the U.S. and Europe, governments are trying to turn Palestine solidarity into something that can be policed, prosecuted, and deterred. In the U.K., Palestine Action wins a major court victory.<\/p>\n READ MORE \u2192 UK court rules that the government ban on Palestine Action is unlawful<\/a> \u2014 Michael Arria<\/p>\n READ MORE \u2192 The government-sanctioned persecution of Leqaa Kordia<\/a> \u2014 Sam Judy<\/p>\n READ MORE \u2192 Power & Pushback: Leqaa Kordia is back in ICE detention after being hospitalized and disappeared by DHS<\/a> \u2014 Michael Arria<\/p>\n Israel, Washington, and U.S. politics<\/p>\n Netanyahu\u2019s trip to Washington was about pulling the U.S. deeper into Israel\u2019s regional agenda, and toward confrontation with Iran. AIPAC\u2019s efforts at electioneering keep colliding with a Democratic base that is shifting faster than the party\u2019s leadership wants to admit.<\/p>\n READ MORE \u2192 Netanyahu strikes out in Washington<\/a> \u2014 Mitchell Plitnick<\/p>\n READ MORE \u2192 The Shift: AIPAC\u2019s own goal in New Jersey<\/a> \u2014 Michael Arria<\/p>\n Centering the Palestinian experience<\/p>\n Israel and its supporters spend enormous energy on obscuring the Palestinian experience, reframing Israelis as the victims, and painting rightful Palestinian demands as unrealistic. This is a key area of global struggle in solidarity with Palestinians.<\/p>\n READ MORE \u2192 Why the Palestinian Right of Return is still the issue<\/a> \u2014 Ahmad Ibsais<\/p>\n READ MORE \u2192 Liberal institutions are designed to acknowledge Palestinian oppression but not end it<\/a> \u2014 A. Kayum Ahmed<\/p>\n