All Eyes On Rafah

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has approved the largest seizure of land in the occupied West Bank in over three decades, a settlement tracking group said Wednesday, a move that is likely to worsen already soaring tensions linked to the war in Gaza.

Israel’s aggressive expansion in the West Bank reflects the settler community’s strong influence in the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the most religious and nationalist in the country’s history. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler himself, has turbocharged the policy of expansion, seizing new authorities over settlement development and saying he aims to solidify Israel’s hold on the territory and prevent the creation of a Palestinian state.

Authorities recently approved the appropriation of 12.7 square kilometers (nearly 5 square miles) of land in the Jordan Valley, according to a copy of the order obtained by The Associated Press. Data from Peace Now, the tracking group, indicate it was the largest single appropriation approved since the 1993 Oslo accords at the start of the peace process.

Settlement monitors said the land grab connects Israeli settlements along a key corridor bordering Jordan, a move they said undermines the prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state.

U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric called it “a step in the wrong direction,” adding that “the direction we want to be heading is to find a negotiated two-state solution.”

The newly seized land is in an area of the West Bank where, even before the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, settler violence was displacing communities of Palestinians. That violence has only surged since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack ignited the war in Gaza. Settlers have carried out more than 1,000 attacks on Palestinians since October in the West Bank, causing deaths and damaging property, according to the U.N.

The land seizure, which was approved late last month but only publicized on Wednesday, comes after the seizure of 8 square kilometers (roughly 3 square miles) of land in the West Bank in March and 2.6 square kilometers (1 square mile) in February.

That makes 2024 by far the peak year for Israeli land seizure in the West Bank, Peace Now said.

By declaring them state lands, the government opens them up to being leased to Israelis and prohibits private Palestinian ownership.

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CBC

Ontario Legislature bans wearing of keffiyeh scarves | CBC News

The Ontario Legislature has banned the wearing of keffiyehs because donning the garment is making a "political statement," the speaker says.

This IS BEYOND unacceptable -FU to Doug Ford and ANY politician/public figure in the Ontario Legislature who agrees with this. A keffiyeh is a traditional scarf worn by many Arab people, and people in West Asian communities. It does represent/symbolize Palestinian resistance and solidarity (among many aspects, of course), but that's not a crime -and trying to censure someone's right to wear traditional garments because you'd rather pander to zionists (as this article notes, many wear religious wear every day in office), is the real issue here -this is discrimination. This is legislated discrimination and is hateful.

As pride month begins, let us not forget our Palestinian brothers and sisters.

Isr@el targets and eliminates any individual that benefits Palestinian progress- teachers, doctors, scientists, engineers. This is the regime that gets our government’s infinite support…no questions asked.

Zionism and Semitism are not, never have and never will be, synonymous

A huge crowd has formed outside of Columbia University demanding NYPD 'let the students go'

If you're in New York right now, please go to Columbia and join them

Imagine cutting humanitarian aid to any country around the world without batting an eyelash. People at their most vulnerable -who are being massively ethnically cleansed and displaced -who are being permanently disabled because of destructive bombings and with whom will probably have little to no resources to help them manage these disabilities their entire lives, who have been and are at the brink of starvation and death... this is what these western/European countries are doing instead of the bare minimum which is a ceasefire.

Albeit it's not a surprise to me (or most of us) since settler-colonial and imperial countries like the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK have notorious histories of genocides against Indigenous people and have been (and currently are) perpetrators of imperial violence.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency provides basic assistance for people -and to deny that life-saving help to Palestinian people (because we know what this is about) is aligning with IOF terrorism -and it undeniably makes these governments all equally complicit.

My MP's office is closed on weekends but I'll be calling and emailing her, and then emailing genocidal apologist Trudeau. Call and/or email your representatives. This is beyond heinous. I truly don't think these governments could sink any lower -be any more evil, and then they do and it's beyond disgraceful.

It is kind of awesome how the Supreme court is like just filled corrupt hyper fascist wizards gleefully doing the most in destroying the country for their nazi billionare patron and overtly trying to install a dictatorship and when that’s pointed out to Joe Biden he’s like “Well the institution is good actually? Why would I expand the court or do something when you need to vote for me? it’s not like i’m president.”

I love my people and it's amazing to see so many of us turn up today, but it's like herding very friendly cats 😂