Trump Super PAC to join TikTok with @MAGA handle
FIRST ON FOX: Former President Trump’s Super PAC has launched a @MAGA TikTok — the first entity connected to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee to join the video sharing social media platform, Fox News Digital has learned. Make America Great Again Inc. (MAGA Inc) has launched @MAGA, with officials connected to the PAC telling Fox News Digital TikTok will be yet another social media vehicle to distribute Trump campaign messaging, rapid response, and content supporting Trump’s 2024 election efforts. “There’s millions of voters on TikTok, and @MAGA will deliver President Donald J. Trump’s pro-freedom, pro-America agenda every day with the facts and stories that matter,” MAGA Inc. CEO Taylor Budowich told Fox News Digital. TikTok is facing a potential ban in the U.S. over concerns about its parent company, ByteDance, and ties to the Chinese Communist Party. President Biden signed into law a bill that would force a ban on the app in the U.S. if TikTok doesn’t find a non-Chinese-controlled owner. Trump himself came out against the potential ban, though he is not on the platform himself. BIDEN CAMPAIGN TO STAY ON TIKTOK EVEN AFTER PRESIDENT SIGNS LAW TO FORCE SALE OR BAN APP IN US “We aren’t trying to set policy, we are trying to win an election,” Budowich said. “Big Tech, including Google and Facebook, is actively interfering with our elections, that’s an unfortunate reality.” But Budowich said they “will not cede any platform to Joe Biden and the Democrats who are trying to destroy our country.” “We will ensure President Trump’s America First agenda will be brought to every corner of the internet and every precinct of this country,” Budowich said. The PAC’s first TikToks highlight the economy under President Biden, and says if Trump is elected, there will be an economic “boom.” Another is aimed at Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and calls out his record and past support of Democrats like Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama. MAGA Inc. is already active on X, previously known as Twitter. MAGA Inc. has used its @MAGAIncWarRoom account on the platform to post opposition research and rapid responses since the GOP primaries, and will continue through the general election. Though the Biden White House is not on TikTok — the app is not permitted on government devices due to national security concerns — the Biden campaign has an account. TikTok and its parent company ByteDance filed a lawsuit earlier this week in federal court seeking to block a new U.S. law mandating that the social media platform be sold to a company without ties to the Chinese Communist Party. TIKTOK SUES TO BLOCK US LAW REQUIRING SALE TO NON-CHINESE COMPANY The bill, passed by both the House and Senate and signed into law by Biden last month, forces ByteDance, which is based in China, to sell the app or be banned in the United States. Lawmakers accuse the platform of being a risk to U.S. national security, collecting user data, and spreading propaganda. TikTok’s lawsuit argues that such a divestiture cannot happen, noting the Chinese government’s own demands relating to TikTok. The lawsuit argues that divestiture “is simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally…. There is no question: the Act will force a shutdown of TikTok by January 19, 2025, silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere.” Critical to ByteDance’s argument is that the Chinese government “has made clear that it would not permit a divestment of the recommendation engine that is a key to the success of TikTok in the United States.” The lawsuit goes on to say that TikTok has already spent $2 billion on efforts to protect the data of American TikTok users, of which there are roughly 170 million. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew signaled the legal battle late last month. “Rest assured – we aren’t going anywhere,” CEO Shou Zi Chew said in a video posted moments after Biden signed the bill. “The facts and the Constitution are on our side, and we expect to prevail again.” Despite the new law, Biden’s campaign said they will stay on the video sharing platform.
Trump, House Dems defend Texas congressman accused of accepting Mexican bribes, but for very different reasons
Former President Trump and the Democratic House Caucus both came to the defense of Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, who was indicted for allegedly taking bribes to benefit a Mexican bank and the Azerbaijan government. While Trump and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., both nodded to Cuellar’s respectable reputation, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee went a step further, accusing President Biden of using the Justice Department to retaliate against the Democratic congressman for demanding tougher border security policies – stepping outside the party line. Aguilar, meanwhile, praised Cuellar’s record of having “deep relationships with Republican colleagues and Democratic colleagues on both sides of the aisle,” arguing that while the allegations against him are “very serious,” they are also “very different” from the indictments faced by former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., and Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J. At Tuesday’s leadership press conference, Aguilar was asked why he and other Democratic colleagues had not called on Cuellar to resign or be expelled from Congress as they had done after Santos was indicted by the Justice Department on fraud, identity theft, falsification of records, credit card fraud and other charges. Santos was ultimately expelled after just one year in Congress following a scathing House ethics report. DEMOCRATIC TEXAS REP. HENRY CUELLAR INDICTED BY DOJ ON CONSPIRACY AND BRIBERY CHARGES “This is an incredibly serious issue. It’s not lost on House Democrats how serious this is. Representative Cuellar has done the right thing in stepping down from his committees, stepping down from his position as chief deputy whip and ranking member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee,” Aguilar said. “He’s entitled to make his defense. He is entitled to the presumption of innocence. We look forward to that process playing out. And just like every American is entitled to that presumption, I think that’s the overwhelming feeling of House Democrats at this point.” In a Truth Social post days earlier, Trump addressed the indictment against Cuellar, whose district sits along the U.S.-Mexico border. “Biden just Indicted Henry Cuellar because the Respected Democrat Congressman wouldn’t play Crooked Joe’s Open Border game,” Trump claimed Sunday. “He was for Border Control, so they said, ‘Let’s use the FBI and DOJ to take him out!’ This is the way they operate. They’re a bunch of D.C. Thugs, and at some point they will be paying a very big price for what they have done to our Country.” “CROOKED JOE BIDEN IS A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY!” Trump added. In a federal indictment unsealed in the Southern District of Texas on Friday, Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, were charged with accepting approximately $600,000 from Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil company and a Mexican bank in exchange for official acts as a member of Congress in two schemes involving bribery, unlawful foreign influence and money laundering. The bribe payments were allegedly laundered, pursuant to sham consulting contracts, through a series of front companies and middlemen into shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar, “who performed little to no legitimate work under the contracts,” the Justice Department said. The schemes were said to have been carried out from at least December 2014 through at least November 2021. In exchange for the bribes paid by the Azerbaijani oil and gas company, Rep. Cuellar allegedly agreed to use his office to influence U.S. foreign policy in favor of Azerbaijan, according to court documents. Rep. Cuellar also allegedly agreed to influence legislative activity and “to advise and pressure high-ranking U.S. Executive Branch officials regarding measures beneficial” to the Mexican bank. The indictment centers around Banco Azteca, owned by one of Mexico’s richest men, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed U.S. official. Federal prosecutors allege the Mexican bank funneled $238,000 in bribes disguised as consulting fees to Cuellar, according to the newspaper. SEN BOB MENENDEZ MAY BLAME HIS WIFE NADINE DURING FEDERAL CORRUPTION TRIAL: COURT DOCS Cuellar and his wife both pleaded not guilty in federal court in Houston on Friday and were each released on an unsecured $100,000 bond. Aguilar on Tuesday slammed the “silliness of George Santos” when further pressed by reporters about the difference in Democratic response to Cuellar’s indictment. The Democratic House Caucus chair said he read the indictment against Cuellar and said the “incredibly serious allegations” are treated with the “utmost respect” by the Democratic caucus. “He’s entitled to that presumption of innocence, as any American would. I have not talked with Representative Cuellar since the indictment came out,” Aguilar said. “But that said, you know, I will say that Representative Cuellar has been for decades, he’s been a legislator. He’s been a statewide officeholder in Texas. He has deep relationships with Republican colleagues and Democratic colleagues on both sides of the aisle. We know that he is a serious, you know, public official and public servant. And I think that’s what sets this apart from other issues and the silliness of George Santos that we had in the past. And I think that’s why many of us are treating this a little different. The substance of the allegations is very different, but the individuals are also night and day.” When asked about Menendez, Aguilar pointed to how the indictments against the longtime New Jersey senator included photos supporting the DOJ’s allegations that he allegedly accepted bribes to benefit the Egyptian government, including images depicting gold bars, a luxury vehicle and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash that prosecutors say was sewn into jackets or otherwise found during an FBI search of Menendez’s home. “The substance of these allegations is very different,” Aguilar said. “I made some comments on that indictment, and I hold true to those, I think that these are very different. There were some, you know, pictures and there were some things that were very different with respect to the allegations. So he’s entitled to the presumption of innocence. And I would say that these allegations from all three individuals are very different.” In a statement released last week, House Democratic Caucus
Top Biden adviser’s wife on verge of launching run for House seat in key swing state
A former Biden administration senior official and the wife of the president’s national security adviser is on the verge of launching a bid for Congress in the key northeastern battleground state where she was born and raised. Maggie Goodlander, the wife of national security adviser Jake Sullivan and a former top lawyer in Biden’s administration who served as a deputy assistant attorney general at the Justice Department, is likely to announce her candidacy for the open seat in New Hampshire’s Second Congressional District, Democratic sources confirm to Fox News. The announcement, which could come as early as this week, would elevate an already high-profile race to succeed longtime Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster in a blue-leaning but competitive district in a key general election battleground state. Goodlander would join a burgeoning field of candidates aiming to succeed the six-term Kuster, who announced in late March that she would retire from Congress rather than seek re-election. SHOCKER: LONGTIME DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSWOMAN IN BATTLEGROUND STATE ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT “Maggie is thankful for the encouragement she’s received from Granite Staters and will be making a decision in the coming days,” Scott Merrick, a Democratic operative and veteran of multiple Democratic campaigns in New Hampshire, told Fox News. Goodlander, if she runs as expected, could face plenty of scrutiny over Biden administration polices – both domestic and international – over her ties to Republicans and over her residency. Goodlander’s congressional campaign would also likely draw national attention to the New Hampshire race and possibly garner high-profile endorsements. Goodland married Sullivan nearly nine years ago when he was working as a foreign policy advisor to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential campaign. The couple’s wedding, attended by prominent political figures including Clinton, now-Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, was a snapshot of the couple’s long history in Democratic politics. TOP BIDEN ADVISER’S WIFE MULLING CONGRESSIONAL BID Sullivan worked as Klobuchar’s chief counsel before serving as an adviser on Clinton’s 2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign and later on former President Obama’s general election presidential campaign. He served as deputy chief of staff to Clinton during her years as secretary of state in the Obama administration. After Clinton departed the administration, Sullivan became then-Vice President Joe Biden’s top security aide. Sullivan then served as a top adviser on Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. Four years later, he was one of Biden’s first appointments following the 2020 presidential election. While not as well known nationally as her high-profile husband, Goodlander hails from a prominent New Hampshire family. GOODLANDER MAY FACE SCRUTINY OVER RESIDENCY Her grandfather, Sam Tamposi, was a major player in state Republican politics. Additionally, her mother, Betty Tamposi, ran for the House in 1988 in the Second Congressional District but lost in the GOP primary. In some ways, Goodlander’s story mirrors that of Kuster, the woman she is trying to succeed in Congress. Kuster’s parents were prominent Republicans in New Hampshire, but she ran as a Democrat. Goodlander, a Yale University and Yale Law School graduate, served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve and worked as an adviser to late Sens. Joe Lieberman and John McCain on the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. She also served as a law clerk to Attorney General Merrick Garland during his tenure as chief judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. TOP BIDEN ADVISER’S WIFE MULLING CONGRESSIONAL BID Goodlander would join a Democratic primary field that includes Colin Van Ostern, who worked as Kuster’s campaign manager in 2010 in her first run for Congress, and who later won two terms as a New Hampshire executive councilor before winning the 2016 Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Van Ostern announced his bid the day after Kuster’s retirement announcement and was endorsed by the incumbent a couple of weeks later. While Van Ostern has landed a good deal of Granite State support, Goodlander’s entry into the race could potentially shift the landscape. “I mean, it’s pretty rare to have someone of this caliber who is 37, with pretty unimpeachable roots in the district, a vast national network, and a demonstrable bipartisan record, who isn’t already an elected official. It would be a really exciting dynamic in one of the nation’s top congressional races,” a veteran Democratic operative in New Hampshire who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely told Fox News. State Sen. Becky Whitley, a progressive Democrat, is also running to succeed Kuster. A handful of Republicans, including 2022 Senate candidate Vikram Mansharamani and Lily Tang Williams, who is making her second straight bid for the congressional nomination, are running. Goodlander and Sullivan spend much of their time in the nation’s capital due to work, but they own a home in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. While the port city on the New Hampshire Seacoast is located in the state’s First Congressional District, the geography would not prevent Goodlander from running in the Second District. The U.S. Constitution only mandates that a candidate must reside in the state in which they are running in, not the specific congressional district. The most recent high-profile example of a Democratic congressional candidate in New Hampshire campaigning in a district outside their residence was six years ago, when Levi Sanders – the son of Sen. Bernie Sanders – ran in the First District even though he lived in the Second District. While Goodland grew up in the Second District, records reviewed by Fox News Digital show that the last time Goodlander voted there was by absentee ballot for the 2008 presidential primary and general elections. Goodlander registered in New Hampshire’s First District in 2016. Fox News’ Aubrie Spady contributed to this report. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Comer cancels DC antisemitism hearing after Bowser, police ‘finally’ dismantle GWU encampment
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., canceled a scheduled hearing with Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser on Wednesday, arguing that threatening to haul her before Congress to testify on growing antisemitic protests at George Washington University prompted police to “finally” dismantle the “unlawful” anti-Israel encampment on campus and surrounding public spaces. “Following the Metropolitan Police Department finally clearing out the unlawful encampment on GW’s campus, I am very pleased to announce that the hearing with Mayor Bowser has been canceled,” Comer said in a statement. “I had a good conversation with Mayor Bowser. I thanked her for finally clearing the trespassers off the GW Campus.” “It was unfortunate the situation at GW forced the Oversight Committee to act; however, it was apparent that the DC police force was not going to do their job,” Comer added. “Therefore, after meeting with GW leadership and touring the encampment, we decided to hold a public hearing to get answers as to why the Mayor would not uphold the law. I am pleased that the potential Oversight hearing led to swift action by Mayor Bowser and MPD Chief Smith. We will continue to hold D.C. officials accountable to ensure our nation’s capital is safe for all.” Bowser and Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith held a press conference earlier Wednesday announcing that 33 people had been arrested at GWU since Tuesday night, when MPD changed their posture at the encampment that had been ongoing since April 25. Charges include unlawful entry, or trespassing, and assault on a police officer, Smith said. GWU ANARCHISTS CALL FOR BEHEADINGS OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS AMID ANTI-ISRAEL ENCAMPMENT “I had the opportunity to speak with Chairman Comer this morning, and he expressed his interest in making sure the city and the chief could focus on this ongoing operation. I expect that that hearing will be pulled down,” Bowser told reporters. “MPD’s response to First Amendment demonstration is apolitical. It is without regard to one side or the other. And it’s focused on public safety.” Over the past two weeks, Bowser said MPD has maintained a presence at GW throughout the protests in support of people exercising their First Amendment rights, but Smith detailed how the situation began to escalate starting last Thursday when a campus police officer “was pushed by protesters and an item was grabbed out of the police officer’s hand during the performance of her duties.” ANTI-ISRAEL ENCAMPMENTS SHARE COMMON TRAITS WITH MARXIST REVOLUTIONARIES, BLM AND THE KKK “On Monday, MPD learned of more indicators that the protest was becoming more volatile. This included a simple assault reported to GW Police, security probing of a GW building, indicators that counter-demonstrators were covertly in the encampment and information that protesters from other schools were traveling to GW,” Smith said. “In addition, items that could potentially be used for offensive and defensive weapons were being gathered. All of this led to my discussion and conclusion that we needed to change our posture. I briefed Mayor Bowser on Monday and we began preparing for last night.” The chief said police issued six dispersal warnings and allowed “ample time” for protesters to disperse. While “many complied and left the encampment area,” Smith said those who did not were arrested. Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report.
Trump responds to judge who threatened to toss him in jail over gag order: ‘Give me liberty or give me death’
Former President Trump took to social media on Wednesday with an unequivocal claim that keeping and expressing his constitutional rights were of the utmost importance to him, despite any penalty he could face amid a gag order imposed by a New York judge. “Give me liberty or give me death,” he wrote in an all-caps message on TRUTH Social, quoting the American Founding Father Patrick Henry. The comment comes as Judge Juan Merchan said on Monday that he will consider jail time for Trump, should he continue to violate a gag order imposed upon him in his ongoing criminal trial. “It is a really bad feeling to have your Constitutional Right to Free Speech, such a big part of life in our Country, so unfairly taken from you, especially when all of the sleazebags, lowlifes, and grifters that you oppose are allowed to say absolutely anything that they want,” Trump’s post continued. “It is hard to sit back and listen to lies and false statements be made against you knowing that if you respond, even in the most modest fashion, you are told by a Corrupt and Highly Conflicted Judge that you will be put in prison, maybe for a long period of time.” TRUMP SAYS JAIL TIME TO DEFEND FREE SPEECH IS ‘SACRIFICE’ HE’S WILLING TO MAKE Merchan imposed a gag order on Trump before his criminal trial in New York began, ordering the presumptive Republican presidential nominee not to make or direct others to make public statements about witnesses, counsel in the case or about court staff, the DA staff or family members of staff. In the Wednesday post, Trump added: “This Fascist mindset is all coming from D.C. It is a sophisticated hit job on Crooked Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME!” ‘THE VIEW’ CO-HOSTS CALL FOR DONALD TRUMP TO BE THROWN IN JAIL TO ‘PROVE A POINT’ The post also included a swipe at Judges Engoron and Kaplan, also of New York. He called them “equally corrupt, only in different ways.” “What these thugs are doing is an attack on the Republican Party, and our once great nation itself. Our First Amendment must stand, free and strong,” the former president concluded. On Monday, Trump said he’d make the “sacrifice” of going to jail to defend free speech. “Our Constitution is much more important than jail. It’s not even close. I’ll do that sacrifice any day,” the former president said outside the courtroom Monday afternoon. NY V TRUMP: JUDGE THREATENS JAIL TIME FOR ‘POSSIBLY THE NEXT PRESIDENT’ FOR FUTURE GAG ORDER VIOLATIONS On Tuesday, “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin suggested Judge Merchan should throw Trump in prison to “prove a point.” “I don’t want this to sound like I’m doing wishful thinking, but which prison would be best?” co-host Whoopi Goldberg added, mentioning he could go to Alcatraz or Guantanamo Bay. Co-host Ana Navarro joked that former First Lady Melania Trump could visit her husband if he were sent to Guantanamo. Trump’s post on Wednesday was a nod to the patriotic line from Henry’s 1775 address. In 1775, as colonists were advocating for American independence from a tyrannical British Empire, Patrick Henry addressed a worried Virginia Assembly. “Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace but there is no peace. The war is actually begun!” Henry said in his remarks. “The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” Fox News’ Emma Colton, Hanna Panreck and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Democratic Minnesota state senator invokes 5th Amendment rights at ethics hearing over burglary charge
Democratic Minnesota state Sen. Nicole Mitchell refused to testify Tuesday during an ethics panel regarding the burglary charge she faces for allegedly breaking into her stepmother’s home last month. Mitchell invoked her Fifth Amendment rights and did not speak during her appearance in front of the panel, which is made up of two Democrats and two Republicans. The panel, however, remained divided on a potential path forward regarding Mitchell’s future in the legislature following the charges. “Sen. Nicole Mitchell’s actions are a clear violation of Senate rules and leave the Minnesota Senate under a cloud of distrust,” Republican Sen. Eric Lucero, of St. Michael, told the ethics panel. 911 CALL TRANSCRIPT DETAILS DEMOCRATIC MINNESOTA STATE SENATOR’S ALLEGED BURGLARY AT STEPMOTHER’S HOME Democratic Sen. Bobby Joe Champion of Minneapolis, who chairs the panel, told his colleagues that the prudent thing to do was to wait until the evidence could be tested for accuracy. Mitchell was removed from committee assignments and caucus meetings after she was arrested at her stepmother’s home on April 22. The state senator was later charged with first-degree burglary. Mitchell has denied the allegations and claimed that she was merely checking on an ill loved one. DEMOCRATIC MINNESOTA STATE SENATOR CLAIMS SHE WAS CHECKING IN ON ILL LOVED ONE DURING ALLEGED BURGLARY According to a criminal complaint, Mitchell acknowledged that she entered through a window and told investigators she was trying to get her late father’s ashes, photos, a flannel shirt and other items of sentimental value, claiming her stepmother had stopped speaking to her after her father’s death and refused to give her the items. One of Mitchell’s attorneys, Bruce Ringstrom Jr., told them she might enter a plea at her next court hearing, which is set for June 10, but said the proceeding could be delayed. The decision means the panel will take no further action before the legislative session’s adjournment deadline of May 20. Mitchell, of Woodbury, has represented District 47 since she was elected to the state Senate in 2022. She was previously a meteorologist for KSTP-TV and Minnesota Public Radio and serves as a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Tunisia’s Olympic swimming champ Ahmed Hafnaoui likely to miss Paris 2024
The 400-metre freestyle gold medallist from 2021 has been suffering from an injury that could keep him out of the Games. Tunisia’s Olympic 400-metre freestyle champion Ahmed Hafnaoui is unlikely to defend his title at this year’s Games in Paris due to an injury. The 21-year-old’s participation at the Paris Olympics was cast in doubt after Mehrez Bousyan, head of the Tunisian Olympic Committee, told a locally televised sports programme that Hafnaoui will miss “a significant portion” of the Games, according to Africa Aquatics. However, the swimmer has refused to rule himself out completely. “I’m currently suffering from an injury, and I don’t know whether or not I will participate in the Olympics,” the 21-year-old Tunisian swimmer told AFP news agency on Wednesday. He did not give details of the injury. Boussayene said “nothing is confirmed”, adding the swimmer had a “developing injury” in his comments to AFP. “More than just medals, we seek above all the wellbeing of this young man who brought us so much joy,” said Boussayene. “He will have other world competitions.” Hafnaoui’s win at the Tokyo Olympics sent a wave of wild celebrations through the North African nation. The then 18-year-old finished in three minutes, 43.26 seconds despite being the slowest qualifier to start the final. Hafnaoui went on to win the 800-metre and 1,500-metre freestyle titles at last year’s World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. If he swims in Paris this year, he has a chance to match Tunisia’s top Olympic swimmer Oussama Mellouli, who won two golds and a bronze in the 2008 and 2012 Games. The country’s top Olympic medallist is long-distance runner Mohammed Gammoudi, winner of four medals, including one gold in the 5,000-metre in 1968, between 1964 and 1972. Adblock test (Why?)
Peace starts with Palestine’s UN membership
OPINIONOPINION, On May 10, all member states should vote to admit the State of Palestine as the 194th member of the United Nations. On May 10, the United Nations’ 193 member states can end the Gaza war and the longstanding suffering of the Palestinian people by voting to admit Palestine as the 194th UN member state. The Arab world has repeatedly declared its readiness to establish relations with Israel within the context of the two-state solution. This goes back to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and has been reiterated in the 2023 Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit. On May 16, leaders of the region will gather for the 33rd Arab League Summit, where yet another plea for peace and stability will likely be made. The way to end the war and normalise relations in the Middle East is clear. Admit the State of Palestine to the UN, on the 1967 borders, with its capital in East Jerusalem and with control over the Muslim holy sites. Then, diplomatic relations will be established and mutual security of both Israel and Palestine will be assured. The vast majority of the world certainly agrees on the two-state solution as it is enshrined in international law and UN resolutions. Today, 142 of the 193 countries officially recognise the State of Palestine, but the United States has so far blocked Palestine’s membership to the UN, where statehood really counts. Israel continues to harbour its dream – and the world’s nightmare – of continued apartheid rule. Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago have very recently established diplomatic relations with the State of Palestine, and the General Assembly is poised to vote an overwhelming endorsement of Palestine’s membership. The unity of the global community for Palestine’s political self-determination is also reflected on college campuses across the US, United Kingdom and the rest of the world. Students know the torment of apartheid and plausible genocide when they see it; and are actively demanding an end to the torment. According to Article 4 of the UN Charter, admission is effected by a decision of the General Assembly following a recommendation of the Security Council. On April 18, the Security Council’s vote on Palestinian membership was vetoed by the US, but with 12 out of the 15 council members voting in favour. The UK abstained, as if it’s not already made enough of a mess in the region. Because of the US veto, the General Assembly will take up the issue during an Emergency Special Session on May 10. This vote will show an overwhelming support of Palestine’s membership. It will then be taken up again by the Security Council. Our point is to put UN membership upfront. Peace will never be achieved at the end of another “peace process,” as with the failed Oslo process, nor by the whims of imperial powers who have perpetually devastated the region. Israel’s leaders today are dead set against the two-state solution and the US and UK have been dead set in defence of Israel’s rejection of it. The US and UK have repeatedly destroyed the two-state solution by always being for it, but never just now. They have favoured endless negotiations while Israel pursues its apartheid system, a war constituting a plausible case of genocide, and illegal settlements as “facts on the ground”. In welcoming Palestine as a UN member state, the UN would also take crucial steps to ensure the security of both Israel and Palestine. Peace would be enforced by international law, and the backing of the UN Security Council, the Arab States, and indeed the world community. This moment has been more than a century in coming. In 1917, Britain declared a province of the Ottoman Empire, which did not belong to it, as the Jewish homeland. The next 30 years were wracked by violence leading to the Nakba and then to repeated wars. After the 1967 war, when Israel conquered the remaining Palestinian lands, it administered an apartheid state. Israeli society became increasingly hardened to its rule, with extremist Israelis and Palestinians on each side of the bitter divide that only widens. The US and UK have been brazenly and cynically dishonest brokers. The politics in both countries has long been Zionist to the core, meaning that both countries almost always side with Israel regardless of justice and law. We have arrived at a truly historic moment to end decades of violence. No more peace processes to be undermined by political manipulations. Peace can come through the immediate implementation of the two-state solution, with the admission of Palestine to the UN as the starting point, not the end. Diplomatic recognition should build in and invite further crucial steps for mutual security. It is time, on May 10, for all UN member states to uphold international law and vote for justice and peace. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance. Adblock test (Why?)
Armed groups committing atrocities in Mali: HRW
Mali is plagued by armed groups, making swaths of territory ungovernable. However, UN peacekeepers have been kicked out. Al-Qaeda-linked and warring ethnically-based armed groups are committing atrocities in Mali, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports. The watchdog said in a report released on Wednesday that fighters from Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimeen (JNIM) and Dozo militia killed 45 people in separate attacks on villages in Central Mali in January. Mali has been plagued by such groups since 2015, but late last year, its transitional government ejected a UN peacekeeping mission. On January 6, a Dozo armed group consisting mainly of ethnic Bambara killed 13 people and abducted 24 civilians in the village of Kalala, which has a predominantly Fulani population. JNIM fighters, largely Fulani, attacked the villages of Ogota and Ouembe on January 27, killing at least 32 people, including three children, the report said. The attackers set fire to more than 350 homes and forced 2,000 people to flee. The attacks, which occurred amid recurrent tit-for-tat killings and communal violence in central Mali, violate international humanitarian law and are apparent war crimes, HRW stressed. “Islamist armed groups and ethnic militias are brutally attacking civilians without fear of prosecution,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at HRW. “The authorities need to act to end the deadly cycles of violence and revenge killings and better protect threatened civilians.” Groups aligned with al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) have operated in Mali since 2015, seizing territory and making swaths of the country ungovernable. A military government seized power in 2021, promising to tackle insecurity, but attacks remain rife. The military itself faces several accusations of rights abuses. Mali along with its neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger, where armed groups operate across porous borders, are all led by military governments that seized power in recent years. All three have kicked out French forces that once helped push back the armed groups and have instead formed a security alliance, turning to Russia’s mercenary units for help. In December, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission pulled out of Mali at the request of the military government. HRW said authorities are failing to adequately investigate incidents implicating members of armed groups or ethnic militias. Adblock test (Why?)
Ujjain Lok Sabha constituency election 2024, MP: Know polling date, candidates and more
Anil Firoziya is standing for elections from the BJP party, and Mahesh Parmar from the INC party.