Jerusalem, Gaza and the US political debate

All my coverage from May.

If you subscribe to my newsletter, you probably know I was quite busy in May, as the violence in Israel-Palestine escalated to levels unseen since summer 2018, when Palestinians who started the “Great Return March” were met with live Israeli sniper fire that killed over 200 Palestinian protesters.

This time, the escalation started in Jerusalem with Israeli police brutality and settler attempts to forcibly displace Palestinian families, and spread southwest to Gaza.

I was busy covering these developments, and their reverberations in the U.S., for a number of outlets, and I also appeared on podcasts and radio programs. Here’s a run-down of all my work from May:

In These Times

-An interview with Fayrouz Sharqawi of Grassroots Al-Quds on why the current crisis started in Jerusalem.

The Intercept

-U.S. charities are funding Israeli settler organizations working to evict Palestinians from their East Jerusalem homes.

-Despite pressure from Palestinian rights activists, a number of top Democratic lawmakers remain silent on imposing aid restrictions on Israel.

Jewish Currents

-I broke two stories: one on AOC and company’s historic resolution to block the sale of bombs to Israel, and the other, a follow-up, on the State Department’s decision to grant Boeing an export license for the bomb sale, despite the Congressional opposition.

-I contributed to JC’s excellent guide to the crisis, a Q + A touching on a lot of the most important questions that arose as attention shifted to Gaza and Jerusalem.

-I also interviewed Congresswoman Betty McCollum on her legislation to restrict how Israel uses U.S. military aid, and the legislation’s connection to the current violence.

Vox

-I was a guest on the Vox podcast, “Today, Explained,” in which I, er, explained how and why progressive Democrats are breaking with Israel. You can read a transcript of the podcast here, or listen wherever you get your podcasts! Episode title: American and Israel.

KPFA

-I spoke with the Bay Area radio station on Congressional efforts to block the sale of weapons to Israel.

Raw Story

-I spoke with Joshua Holland for Raw Story’s “We’ve Got Issues” podcast .

More later. Thanks for listening and reading!