Palestine

By Sharon Otterman
May 21, 2025 Updated 4:08 p.m. ET

"The celebrations at smaller graduation ceremonies on Tuesday were also punctuated by anger directed at Columbia administrators. At the graduation for Columbia College, the university’s main undergraduate school, some students repeatedly interrupted Ms. Shipman’s remarks with loud jeers. At one point, they chanted “Free Mahmoud.”"

https://archive.ph/1P4C6

Emma Graham-Harrison and Quique Kierszenbaum in Jerusalem
Tue 20 May 2025 14.53 EDT

"Two days after Benjamin Netanyahu announced he was lifting the siege of #Gaza, #Israel is still blocking food from reaching starving #Palestinians, the #UN has said, as the leader of the country’s centre-left Democrats party said his country was becoming a pariah nation that “kills babies as a hobby”.

Only five trucks of aid had reached Gaza by Tuesday afternoon and aid workers had not been given permission to distribute even that token shipment..."

from #TheGuardian #Guardian
Emma Graham-Harrison and Quique Kierszenbaum in Jerusalem
Mon 19 May 2025 15.08 EDT

"Earlier that day, Israel’s military declared an entire city a combat zone, airstrikes killed more than 60 people, and the finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said Israel’s army would “wipe out” what remains of Palestinian Gaza.

“We will not stand by while the Netanyahu government pursues these egregious actions. If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response,” the three allied governments said in a statement on Monday."

from #TheSeattleTimes May 19, 2025 at 12:42 pm Updated May 19, 2025 at 4:32 pm

"Seattle police arrested one demonstrator after a crowd of dozens tried to push into the Seattle Convention Center, where hundreds had gathered for Microsoft Build. Several demonstrators were doused with pepper spray.

Demonstrators ultimately left the convention center at 1:30 p.m., returning to downtown Seattle’s Westlake Park where they had rallied earlier in the day."

from #AssociatedPress #APNews
By JAKE OFFENHARTZ
Updated 5:46 PM EDT, May 19, 2025

"NEW YORK (#AP) — Less than three weeks after his release from an immigration jail, the #Palestinian activist #MohsenMahdawi strode across the graduation stage at #ColumbiaUniversity on Monday morning, savoring a moment the #Trump administration had fought to make impossible.

Draped in a keffiyeh, Mahdawi, 34, paused to listen to the swell of cheers from his fellow graduates. Then he joined a vigil just outside #Columbia’s gates, raising a photograph of his classmate Mahmoud Khalil, who remains in federal custody."-

Johana Bhuiyan Mon 19 May 2025 14.27 EDT

““As one of the largest companies in the world, Microsoft has immeasurable power to do the right thing: demand an end to this senseless tragedy, or we will cease our technological support for Israel,” read the email… “If leadership continues to ignore this demand, I promise that it won’t go unnoticed. The world has already woken up to our complicity and is turning against us. The boycotts will increase and our image will continue to spiral into disrepair.””

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video detailing the plan to bring humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, responding to criticism from the right.

Netanyahu said his order to allow the aid came after "we are nearing the red line," and that Israel's international support is being damaged by reports of hunger in the Strip.

Israel decided on Sunday to resume the entry of “basic quantity” of food into Gaza, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, Reuters reports.

Separately, Axios reporter Barak Ravid cited two senior Israeli officials on Sunday saying that the resumption of aid flow will come through existing channels until a new mechanism is implemented.