Portside

Breakthroughs and roadblocks

The House overwhelmingly passed a resolution declaring Israel is "not a racist or apartheid state." The final vote was 412-9. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian member of Congress, declared: “Congress supported South African apartheid...”

A group of progressive Democrats in the United States Congress has called on President Joe Biden to “shift” American policy on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, saying that US aid should not be used to fund abuses of Palestinian rights.

Israeli analysts say the Biden administration thinks Netanyahu "has lost his mind," there is a growing likelihood of Jewish inter-communal violence, and the country is losing its ability to fight the apartheid label.

Activists refer to a “Palestine exception to free speech” in North American universities.

A tour of the "real Israel" would show members of Congress the ugly truth behind Israel's propaganda.

Bernie Sanders’s announcement may well signal a turning point in the domestic politics of Mideast policy. Despite his strong progressive vision, Sanders has in the past been reluctant to criticize Israel. He, like many on the American left, held up Israel in general as a progressive cause, regardless of the country’s colonial actions in the Palestinian West Bank or its illegal blockade of Gaza.