Displaced Palestinian mother in Gaza gives birth to quadruplets
Iman al-Masry is simply exhausted after giving birth to quadruplets in a hospital in southern Gaza, miles away from her home in the north of the war-torn Palestinian territory. In mid-October, days into the Israel-Hamas war, the young woman fled her family home in Beit Hanoon on foot with her three other children seeking safety. They walked five kilometres (three miles) to the Jabalia refugee camp, looking for a means of transport that would take them to Deir el-Balah further south. Iman was six months pregnant and “the distance was too long”, she said. “It affected my pregnancy,” added the 28-year-old mother, who gave birth by c-section on December 18 to daughters Tia and Lynn and sons Yasser and Mohammed. But Iman was quickly asked to leave the hospital with the newborns – minus Mohammed who was too fragile to go with them – to make room for other patients of the war. Now, with Tia, Lynn and Yasser, they live in a cramped schoolroom turned shelter in Deir el-Balah along with around 50 other members of their extended family. “Mohammed weighs only one kilogramme [2.2 pounds]. He cannot survive,” she said of the child she left behind at a hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Lying on a foam mattress in a schoolroom turned shelter for her and her extended family, Iman recounts her journey from hell. “When I left home, I had only some summer clothes for the children. I thought the war would last a week or two and that afterwards we would go back home,” she said. More than 11 weeks later, her hope of ever going back is shattered. The Gaza Strip, home to 2.4 million people, lies in ruins from the north to the south. According to UN estimates, the fighting has displaced 1.9 million Palestinians internally. The conflict erupted when Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel, resulting in the deaths of about 1,139 people. Three of the al-Masry quadruplets – the fourth still being treated in hospital – belonging to Ammar and Iman al-Masry sleep as they shelter at a school in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on December 27 [Mahmud Hams/AFP] Palestinian fighters also took around 250 hostages, 129 of whom remain in captivity, Israel says. Israel retaliated with a relentless bombardment and a siege of Gaza followed by a ground invasion from October 27. The campaign has killed at least 21,110 people, according to the latest toll issued by Gaza’s Ministry of Health, with about two-thirds of them women and children. ‘Helpless’ Like other mothers, Iman had hoped to follow tradition and celebrate the birth of her babies by “dousing them with rose water”, she said. But 10 days on, “we have not even been able to bathe them”, she said, because of the difficulty of finding clean water in the devastated territory, where there is a dire shortage of basic foodstuff, including milk, medicine and hygienic supplies such as diapers. “Normally, I would change babies’ diapers every two hours. But the situation is difficult and I must be thrifty,” she said, adding that the newborns get only a fresh diaper in the morning and another in the evening. Her husband Ammar al-Masry, 33, said he is devastated because he cannot provide for his family. “I feel helpless,” he said, surrounded by his six children in the foul-smelling schoolroom. “I fear for my children. I don’t know how to protect them,” he said, adding that he spends most of his days outdoors searching for food. “Tia [who has jaundice] must be breastfed and my wife needs nutritious food that contains protein. The children need milk and diapers. But I cannot get any of that.” Adblock test (Why?)
Adams slaps restrictions on migrant buses coming to NYC from Texas as numbers rise
New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday announced new restrictions on charter buses from Texas bringing migrants to the “sanctuary” city, in an effort to curb the numbers of migrants that have hit the city since last year. Adams announced an executive order requiring charter buses transporting migrants to provide 32 hours’ notice in advance of their arrival in New York City. The order also requires buses to arrive between 8:30 a.m. and 12 p.m. between Monday and Friday. Such buses are also required to drop off at one particular spot. If buses do not comply, it would result in a class B misdemeanor, with penalties including three months imprisonment and up to a $500 fine for individuals and $2,000 for corporations. Buses could also be impounded by the NYPD. TEXAS MIGRANT FLIGHT HEADING TO NEW YORK CITY DIVERTED TO PHILADELPHIA “To be clear, this is not stopping people from coming, but about ensuring the safety of migrants and making sure they can arrive in a coordinated and orderly way,” he said. New York City has seen more than 160,000 migrants arrive in the last year which, while just a fraction of the millions that have hit the border in that period, has left the city overwhelmed and out of resources. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began busing migrants to New York City and other sanctuary jurisdictions last year. Abbott’s office has said it has sent around 27,000 migrants to New York City since then and has done so to relieve pressure on besieged border communities. In a separate statement, Adams made it clear that his order was targeting buses sent by Abbott. TEXAS BEGINS FLYING MIGRANTS TO SANCTUARY CITIES WITH FIRST FLIGHT TO CHICAGO “New York City has begun to see another surge of migrants arriving, and we expect this to intensify over the coming days as a result of Texas Governor Abbott’s cruel and inhumane politics,” he said. “Just last week, 14 chartered buses with migrants arrived overnight from Texas, the highest recorded number in a single night, in addition to the hundreds of migrants who arrived that very same day via other modes of transportation.” TEXAS IMMIGRATION LAW PUSHBACK MARKS LATEST TENSION BETWEEN BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND BORDER STATES OVER CRISIS Gov. Abbott’s office, which recently began flying migrants to Chicago and New York City in addition to the buses, accused the Democratic mayor of hypocrisy – and pledged to continue the transportation of migrants. “The hypocrisy of Mayor Adams is astounding. Mayor Adams had touted New York City’s self-declared sanctuary city status, then sent his own buses of migrants out to small towns in New York. Texas has only transported about 32,000 migrants to New York City while President Biden has been flying planeloads of migrants all around the country and oftentimes in the cover of night,” spokesperson Renae Eze said. “With millions of residents, New York is only dealing with a fraction of what our small border communities deal with on a day-to-day basis,” she said. “Until President Biden steps up and does his job to secure the border, Texas will continue busing migrants to sanctuary cities to help our local partners respond to this Biden-made crisis.” Meanwhile, the border itself continues to see record numbers. Fox News reported this week that during the four-day Christmas weekend, there were more than 35,000 migrant encounters, and since Dec. 1, there have been over 250,000 migrant encounters at the southern border – meaning December could break the monthly record for encounters set in September (269,735). Fox News’ Tamara Gitt and Griff Jenkins contributed to this report.
House Democrat hit with ethics probe over alleged campaign finance violations
The House Ethics Committee is investigating Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., for alleged campaign finance violations tied to her 2022 elections. Cherfilus-McCormick, a former health care CEO, won a special election in January 2022 to fill the seat of the late Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., in Florida’s heavily Democrat 20th Congressional District. She went on to win the regular election that November. The committee said Wednesday that it had voted unanimously to establish an investigative subcommittee to determine whether Cherfilus-McCormick violated campaign finance laws during either of her 2022 elections. The subcommittee will also probe allegations that the congresswoman “failed to properly disclose required information on statements required to be filed with the House; and/or accepted voluntary services for official work from an individual not employed in her congressional office.” Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., will chair the subcommittee, and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., will serve as the ranking member. Cliff Bentz, R-Ore., and Troy Carter, D-La., will also serve on the subcommittee. “The Committee has determined to take this action following receipt of a referral from the Office of Congressional Ethics regarding this matter,” the committee said. “The Committee notes that the mere fact of establishing an Investigative Subcommittee does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred.” Cherfilus-McCormick’s office told Fox News Digital that the congresswoman is taking the investigation seriously. “As the Ethics Committee said in its statement, the mere fact of establishing an investigative subcommittee does not itself indicate that any violation occurred,” her office said in a statement. “Regardless, the Congresswoman takes these matters seriously and is working to resolve them.”
Jacques Delors, founding father of EU’s single currency project, dies at 98
Delors had a high-profile political career in France, where he also served as finance minister under Francois Mitterrand. Jacques Delors, former European Commission chief and a founding father of the European Union’s (EU) historic single currency project, has died. He was 98. The French socialist and ardent advocate of post-war European integration died in his sleep at his Paris home on Wednesday, his family said. Delors served as president of the European Commission for three terms – longer than any other holder of the office – from January 1985 until the end of 1994. During Delors’s decade as the European Commission chief, the EU completed its integrated single market and agreed to introduce a single currency, the euro, and built a common foreign and security policy. The then-12-nation bloc also set the conditions on his watch for eventually admitting the former communist states of Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Delors during a news conference in this 1994 photo [File: Nathalie Koulischer/Reuters] Delors also served as finance minister under French President Francois Mitterrand from 1981 to 1984. But he declined to run for the presidency in 1995 despite being overwhelmingly ahead in the polls, a decision he put down to “a desire for independence that was too great”. “I have no regrets,” he said about that decision later. “But I am not saying I was right.” The current French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the former EU leader as an “inexhaustible architect of our Europe” and a fighter for human justice. Posting on X, formerly Twitter, Macron said “his commitment, his ideal and his rectitude will always inspire us”. He called Delors “a statesman with a French destiny”. Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator during the United Kingdom’s departure from the bloc, called Delors an inspiration and a reason to “believe in a ‘certain idea’ of politics, of France, and of Europe”. Delors’s time as the European Commission president was marked by clashes between federalists such as himself who believed in an “ever closer union”, and the UK’s then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who firmly resisted any shift of power to Brussels. “Up Yours Delors”, read a famous 1990 front-page headline in The Sun newspaper which voiced its concerns about a single currency and increased powers for the European Parliament. Despite these challenges, he helped establish major tenets of the bloc’s integration, including the Schengen accords for travel and the Erasmus programme for student exchanges. He is survived by his daughter Martine Aubry, a French politician and mayor of Lille, who campaigned to be the socialist candidate for the French presidency in 2011, losing to Francois Hollande. Adblock test (Why?)
Indonesian students demand deportation of Rohingya refugees
NewsFeed Indonesian students are demanding Rohingya refugees from Myanmar be deported. A large crowd of students descended on a building being used as a refugee shelter. When police managed to restore order, the refugees, many in tears, were relocated by truck to an alternate location. A surge in arrivals of refugees to Indonesia from Myanmar has been met with hostility. Published On 27 Dec 202327 Dec 2023 Adblock test (Why?)
Israeli minister Gantz says situation on Lebanon border ‘demands change’
Comments from the Israeli war cabinet member are the latest to hint at the possibility of an escalation with Hezbollah. Senior Israeli minister Benny Gantz says the situation on the country’s border with Lebanon “must change”, hinting at the possibility of military escalation with the armed group Hezbollah. Gantz, a member of Israel’s emergency war cabinet, told reporters on Wednesday the chance of a diplomatic solution to exchanges between Israel and armed groups in southern Lebanon is fast running out. “The situation on Israel’s northern border demands change,” Gantz told a news conference. “The stopwatch for a diplomatic solution is running out, if the world and the Lebanese government don’t act in order to prevent the firing on Israel’s northern residents, and to distance Hezbollah from the border, the [Israeli military] will do it.” The remarks are the latest to raise concerns that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza could explode into a wider regional conflict, drawing in Iran-backed groups such as Hezbollah. Israel and Hezbollah, along with a handful of smaller armed groups that operate in southern Lebanon, have settled into a steady rhythm of tit-for-tat exchanges since the current round of fighting between Hamas and Israel started on October 7, when the group launched an attack on southern Israel that killed more than 1,100 people. Since then, Israel has been relentlessly bombing Gaza in a “genocidal” campaign, killing more than 21,000 people, most of them women and children, and displacing nearly its entire 2.3 million residents. The Israeli offensive in Gaza triggered tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border, as intermittent exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah were reported in the deadliest clashes since the two sides fought a full-scale war in 2006. Tens of thousands of people in Israel and Lebanon have also been displaced, and more than 150 people, most of them Hezbollah fighters, killed on the Lebanese side since the exchanges began, according to a tally by the AFP news agency. The figure includes 20 civilians, including three journalists, the agency said. On Tuesday, a Hezbollah attack injured 11 people in northern Israel while an Israeli attack on Bint Jbeil killed three people, including one Hezbollah fighter. “Israeli warplanes are currently targeting towns that are even very far from the border,” Al Jazeera correspondent Ali Hashem reported from Bint Jbeil. “The fact is that this area is now becoming a complete warzone, it’s becoming very dangerous, very risky, to go around, with the fact that you’re always anticipating an Israeli drone,” he added. Thus far, however, such exchanges have stopped short of a more serious confrontation that would come with a steep cost for both sides, as well as civilian populations who live in communities near the Israel-Lebanon border. The limited nature of the fighting had eased initial concerns about a larger war. But in recent weeks, Israeli officials have suggested that they could take stronger actions against Hezbollah, even as Israel’s campaign in Gaza comes under growing scrutiny. Speaking on Wednesday on a tour near the border, Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said Israel may target Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, a move that would almost certainly spark a larger conflict with the formidable armed group with strong links to Iran. “We will operate to make the most of the diplomatic option,” Cohen said. “If it doesn’t work, all options are on the table.” Adblock test (Why?)
House GOP probing if Biden was involved in Hunter’s ‘scheme’ to defy subpoena, potential ‘impeachable offense’
FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans are investigating whether President Biden was involved in his son Hunter Biden’s “scheme” to defy his subpoena for deposition earlier this month — conduct, they say, “could constitute an impeachable offense.” The House Oversight Committee, House Judiciary Committee, and House Ways & Means Committee are investigating “whether sufficient grounds exist to draft articles of impeachment against President Biden for consideration by the full House.” The House formalized the inquiry earlier this month. JORDAN SAYS HUNTER BIDEN MADE A ‘HUGE CHANGE’ BY SAYING HIS FATHER WAS ‘NOT FINANCIALLY INVOLVED’ IN BUSINESS House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, on Wednesday penned a letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, to White House Counsel Edward Siskel, notifying him of the additional area of their investigation. “In light of an official statement from the White House that President Biden was aware in advance that his son, Hunter Biden, would knowingly defy two congressional subpoenas, we are compelled to examine as part of our impeachment inquiry whether the President engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct a proceeding of Congress,” Comer and Jordan wrote to Siskel. The subpoenas were both for Hunter Biden’s deposition — one from Comer and one from Jordan. The two chairmen planned to hold the deposition in the same room, at the same time. The president’s son was subpoenaed to appear for a deposition before the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees earlier this month. Hunter Biden defied that subpoena, and instead, appeared on Capitol Hill and delivered a public statement before the press. “On December 13, Mr. Biden did not appear for the deposition as required by the Committees’ subpoenas. Instead, Mr. Biden appeared on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol with his attorney and Representative Eric Swalwell,” they wrote. “Mr. Biden gave a lengthy public statement to an assembly of reporters in which he made several statements that are relevant to the House’s impeachment inquiry, including representations about his business activities, assertions about President Biden’s awareness and ‘financial’ involvement in these activities, and attacks on the Committees’ inquiry.” Hunter Biden “indicated that he would only testify in a public forum, a demand for special treatment that the Committees had previously rejected.” HUNTER BIDEN WILL NOT SIT FOR DEPOSITION BY GOP, SAYS FATHER NOT ‘FINANCIALLY’ INVOLVED IN HIS BUSINESS “Although Mr. Biden professed an interest in answering questions about his actions, he departed the Capitol grounds without taking any questions. The committees subsequently recorded Mr. Biden’s non-appearance at his deposition,” they wrote. But later that day, Comer and Jordan pointed to a statement made by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. She was asked whether the president had watched his son’s public statement. “White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated that President Biden was ‘certainly familiar with what his son was going to say,’” they wrote. “Ms. Jean-Pierre declined, however, to provide any further details about the President’s actions on whether the president approved of his son defying congressional subpoenas.” They added, though, that Jean-Pierre’s statement “suggests the President had some amount of advanced knowledge that Mr. Biden would choose to defy two congressional subpoenas.” The chairmen pointed to the criminal code, citing the section which it states that it is unlawful to “corruptly…endeavor to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any investigation or inquiry is being had by…any committee of either House or any joint committee of Congress.” “Likewise, any person who ‘aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures’ the commission of a crime is punishable as a principal of the crime,” they wrote. “In light of Ms. Jean-Pierre’s statement, we are compelled to examine the involvement of the President in his son’s scheme to defy the Committees’ subpoenas,” they wrote. “The Committees have accumulated substantial evidence that Hunter Biden’s business endeavors have improperly included his father, and the President has made false claims about his knowledge and involvement in these schemes.” WHITE HOUSE, HUNTER BIDEN’S TEAM KEEP SHIFTING GOALPOSTS IN DENYING DAD’S INVOLVEMENT WITH BUSINESSES Comer and Jordan also said that just days before Hunter Biden was scheduled to appear for his deposition, the president “claimed he had not interacted with any of his son’s business partners.” “This is false,” they wrote. “The President has met with, spoken to, and received money sourced from his son’s foreign business partners.” Comer and Jordan said that in light of the evidence they have collected, “the fact that the President had advanced awareness” that his son would defy the subpoenas “raises a troubling new question that we must examine: whether the President corruptly sought to influence or obstruct the Committee’s proceeding by preventing, discouraging, or dissuading his son from complying with the Committee’s subpoenas.” “Such conduct could constitute an impeachable offense,” they wrote. The chairmen demanded all documents and communications sent or received by the White House regarding Hunter Biden’s deposition, including communications with Hunter Biden, law firm Winston & Strawn LLP, and Kevin Morris. They also demanded all documents and communications sent or received by employees of the White House Executive Office regarding the president’s statement about his family’s business associates on Dec. 6, 2023. Comer and Jordan gave Siskel until Jan. 10, 2024 to produce the information.
Texas migrant flight heading to New York City diverted to Philadelphia
A flight sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott carrying over 180 migrants was dispatched to New York City on Tuesday as part of Texas’ efforts to transport migrants to “sanctuary” cities — but it was diverted to Philadelphia due to weather. Abbott’s office confirmed that the plane carrying the migrants left for the Big Apple, but it was “re-routed due to weather/ground stoppage in NYC, and the migrants were bused the remaining way.” New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ office had said earlier that the flight had been diverted to Philadelphia and the passengers then transported to the city via bus. His office, which has been sounding the alarm for over a year about the number of migrants they are receiving, called the move “inhumane.” TEXAS BEGINS FLYING MIGRANTS TO SANCTUARY CITIES WITH FIRST FLIGHT TO CHICAGO “Last night—in another inhumane act of treating human beings like political pawns—@GregAbbott_TX attempted to send us an unannounced & uncoordinated chartered plane w/ migrants that was diverted to Philly due to weather but whose passengers were then transported here via bus,” deputy mayor for communications Fabien Levy said. The flight is the latest such move by Abbott’s office, which last week dispatched a flight to Chicago carrying 120 migrants. Sources in Abbott’s office told Fox that all migrants signed voluntary waivers, as they do when bussed. The flights are an expansion of the bussing strategy that Abbott implemented in April 2022, when he began bussing migrants to Washington, D.C. Soon he expanded that to other “sanctuary” cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. TEXAS IMMIGRATION LAW PUSHBACK MARKS LATEST TENSION BETWEEN BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND BORDER STATES OVER CRISIS Abbott’s office said last week that the state has bussed over 82,900 migrants to cities, including Washington, D.C.; New York City; Chicago; Philadelphia; Denver; and Los Angeles. Abbott has said the operation provides “vital relief” to border towns and has promised to keep doing it “until [President] Biden secures the border.” The move has brought anger from mayors and the Biden administration. The White House accused him of performing a political stunt, but Texas has said it is doing it to aid border towns that have suffered from the border crisis. The migrants Texas has bussed have also exacerbated an already perilous migrant crisis for the city of New York, where Mayor Adams has demanded additional federal help with resettlement and warned the crisis could “destroy” the city. NYC has had over 160,000 migrants enter its shelter system over the last year and Adams has repeatedly criticized what he sees as the federal government’s lack of action, as well as Abbott for his buses’ roles in the crisis. Levy said that 14 “rogue buses” arrived in one night last week, the highest number recorded. “I’m not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel from the federal government,” Adams said in a press conference this week. The Biden administration has pointed to funding it has provided to cities like New York City, as well as teams to help with processing work permits and making recommendations for improvements. Meanwhile it has called on Congress to provide additional funding as part of its budget supplemental. That supplemental is currently being held up in Washington, D.C. as lawmakers debate additional restrictions on asylum. Meanwhile, federal officials said last week that November saw over 242,000 migrant encounters at the southern border — the highest November on record. Fox News’ Tamara Gitt contributed to this report.
New Jersey brothers set to govern neighboring towns in 2024
Two neighboring New Jersey towns may feel even closer next year when they’re governed by two brothers. John Giovannitti, 61, will be sworn in Jan. 2 as mayor of Paulsboro, one day before newly-reelected younger brother Vince Giovannitti, 57, is sworn in to a second term as mayor of Gibbstown. Paulsboro, with a population of 6,300, stretches from Route 130 to the Delaware River, across from Philadelphia International Airport. Gibbstown, with just under 4,000 people in Greenwich Township, is connected to its larger neighbor through the main corridor, Broad Street. NEW JERSEY RESTAURANT CLAIMS WORLD RECORD FOR LARGEST TEQUILA LIBRARY: ‘BREAK YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION HERE’ The Paulsboro brothers describe becoming mayors as a “happy coincidence” but also a natural next step after decades serving their communities. They told The Philadelphia Inquirer that being siblings aids the necessary collaboration of mayors of neighboring towns that share certain services. “We can say things to one another,” Vince said, acknowledging that he might be more reserved in dealings with someone else. John says constantly seeing each other at family functions also helps. Gibbstown and Paulsboro, described by John as “classic American small towns,” have families and church and civic groups that span municipal lines. Vince calls them “really one big community” and John adds that he does not know if there are many other communities that are “so intermingled.” The brothers, both Democrats, said they have never lived anywhere else. “The roots are deep … ” Vince said. “Your friends are here; your family is here.” NEW JERSEY TRANSIT SELLING ‘RICARDO THE BULL’ PLUSH AFTER ESCAPED BULL HALTED COMMUTER TRAIN, MADE HEADLINES The Gibbstown mayor’s salary is $12,314 with a three-year term. Paulsboro’s mayor has a four-year term and is paid between $7,000 and $9,100. John also works as Paulsboro High School’s assistant principal and athletic director and Vince was a special-education teacher and guidance counselor in the district before retiring in 2021. Asked to describe each other, John depicts Vince as thorough and organized and looking at “the big picture for his community.” Vince says his older brother is committed to Paulsboro, and he says he’s happy for him but “also happy for the residents.”
In the US, Arabs and Muslims are once again cast as suspect
For 80 days, Israel has been waging war on the Palestinians in Gaza with full diplomatic, economic and military support from the US government. The Israeli army has killed 21,000 people, carrying out what legal scholars agree amounts to a genocide and committing countless other war crimes and crimes against humanity. Yet, rising moral outrage in the United States and across the world is being met with dangerous smear campaigns that weaponise racism to silence the Palestinian freedom movement. Fuelled by and fuelling Islamophobia and anti-Palestinianism, extreme rhetoric has abetted unprecedented violations of Palestinian, Arab and Muslim American civil rights and even deadly violence against members of these communities. But the negative repercussions of this bigoted repression are not limited to Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims; rather they threaten fundamental moral and civic values that are the basis of democracy. Slander and witch hunts Over the past two and a half months, we have seen massive street demonstrations, open letters of condemnation, public resignations of officials, and other protest actions aimed at calling for a ceasefire, equal rights for Palestinians, and accountability for war crimes. But this mobilisation has been countered by attempts to portray the pro-Palestinian movement and any critique of Israel’s genocide as “anti-Semitic” and supportive of violence or terrorism. While these tactics are not new, this campaign has expanded in scale and scope to the point that it resembles a McCarthyist witch-hunt, relentlessly targeting Palestinian, Arab and Muslim Americans in particular, as well as allies who have stood against the US-funded violence and apartheid policies of Israel. Since October, thousands of individuals have fallen victim to this broad-brush smear campaign. On US university campuses, student activists have been disciplined by administrators, have had their student groups banned, have been doxxed on the internet, have had their faces and names plastered on billboards with false, defamatory captions, and have lost job offers. Others who oppose genocide have been pressured to stay silent, faced threats, encountered intimidation and harassment online and in the streets, and endured economic repercussions, including the loss of employment. But this persecution has not been limited to the private sector and online spaces; it has also extended into the halls of power. In November, a hearing was held in the US Congress in which “witnesses” falsely alleged that US-registered charities, including the ones I am the director of – American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action) – are “providing support” to Palestinian resistance groups. These false allegations extended to the absurd claim that these organisations have called for a “genocide against Israel”. Members of Congress who have spoken out against Israel’s atrocities or who have simply met with their constituents as part of annual “Palestine Advocacy Days” were also named and shamed during the hearing. These malevolent “testimonies” seek to make our political contributions and voices toxic in the halls of power by spreading lies and pushing Islamophobic tropes that rely on decades of anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab and anti-Muslim biases. It is one thing to fight against slander and misinformation in the media, but it is another – and fundamentally more troubling – to be attacked with false accusations in Congress. That these testimonies containing false and bigoted claims were allowed to proceed shows the utter failure of our public institutions to protect Americans’ right to dissent at a time when our tax dollars are being used to support Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Islamophobia and violence These defamatory, suppressive tactics have dangerous consequences. They fuel hatred and encourage people to act upon it. According to the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, there has been a 417 percent increase in hate speech against Muslims since the war began. Civil rights groups like Palestine Legal and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) have also reported an unprecedented number of anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim attacks and discriminatory incident complaints over the past two months. They have seen a more than 200 percent increase compared with the previous year, and this is likely an undercount. There have been not only verbal attacks and harassment but deadly physical violence, as well. On October 14, Wadea al-Fayoume, a six-year-old Palestinian American child, was stabbed 26 times with a military knife by a man who was shouting, “You Muslims must die”; his mother was stabbed a dozen times but survived. On November 25, three Palestinian students were shot for speaking Arabic and wearing keffiyehs; all three sustained injuries from gunshot wounds, and one is now paralysed from the chest down. A member of our own staff, Neveen Ayesh, was shot at in her car and her home was broken into on November 11. Apart from inciting violence and intimidation against Palestinian, Arab and Muslim Americans, the smear campaigns are reinvigorating the post-9/11 atmosphere of suspicion, mass surveillance and collective victimisation. For decades, we have worked to expose the racism and double standards of successive presidential administrations and their anti-Muslim policies – from the watch lists and entrapment schemes, to the registries and bans. We have demonstrated the waste of millions of taxpayer funds for programmes and initiatives that have targeted and deeply traumatised our communities, but produced no results in “improving national security”. We have fought to ensure that no community is disproportionately policed and surveilled, no matter what they look like or where they come from. As pro-Israel groups wage a defamation war on our communities in order to obfuscate and distract public attention from Israel’s crimes in Gaza, we risk losing that progress towards an inclusive, anti-racist democracy, as slander and lies overcome truth. That is why we call on media outlets, politicians, and progressive leaders to be vigilant about anti-Arab and anti-Muslim tropes that imagine our communities as extensions of governments or political groups in the Middle East, portray us as inherently suspect, and thereby endanger us. There are three important ways to counter this smear campaign. First, we must recognise the long history of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism