Palestine, Israel news: Conflict sparks Chicago residents' response

Chicago residents on both sides of the issue are reacting to an outbreak of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

Recommended Stories

  • Israel-Palestine flare-up has caught Biden administration unprepared

    Analysis: The White House is playing for time and needs to decide quickly how to deal with Trump’s legacy of unwavering support for NetanyahuIsrael-Gaza violence: death toll rises to 38 as UN envoy warns over escalation Joe Biden has reversed some of Trump’s more radical Israel policy steps, restoring US funding for Palestinians and resuming diplomatic contacts with Palestinian officials, but other policies remain. Photograph: REX/Shutterstock Joe Biden came into office thinking he could put the Israel-Palestine issue on the back burner to focus on other, bigger, issues. That is not working out well. The upsurge in violence has caught the new administration on the back foot, under-staffed and without a clearly defined approach. There is not even a nominee for the post of US ambassador to Israel. The US blocked a UN security council statement on the situation on Wednesday, arguing it would further inflame tensions – the sort of excuse for which the US has lambasted other world powers in the past, accusing them of protecting client states. Washington has been playing for time, hoping the situation can be contained, but trying to duck the traditional US mediating role is no longer looking like a viable option. The approach thus far has been described as “hands-off”, but Khaled Elgindy, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, argues that implies a neutrality that is lacking in reality. “They are heavily involved. They are just not involved in the part that has to do with conflict mitigation,” Elgindy said, pointing to the $3.8bn annual US support for the Israeli military, and the blocking move at the security council. “So they are not hands off. They are quite hands on, but not in the ways that are needed to make things better, because that would require putting pressure on Israel and that is anathema to this administration.” The Trump administration trashed the US mediating role by adopting a policy of unstinting support for Benjamin Netanyahu and hostility towards the Palestinians. Its principal foreign policy achievement, the Abraham Accords, which moved towards normalising relations between Israel and some Gulf monarchies, was an attempt to sideline the plight of the Palestinians as an intractable issue. The Trump White House saw emphatic Palestinian defeat, and the Gulf abandonment of the Palestinian cause, as the resolution to the conflict. Trump escaped the consequences of that policy and they have come to haunt his successor . “Turns out that the strategy of having some wealthy Emiratis post selfies in Tel Aviv will not in fact bring peace to Israel-Palestine,” Senator Bernie Sanders’ foreign policy adviser, Matt Duss, wrote on Twitter. Biden has reversed some of Trump’s more radical steps, restoring US funding for Palestinians and resuming diplomatic contacts with Palestinian officials, but other Trump policies remain, such as the moving of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The administration has also been coy about a return to pre-Trump official references to the occupied territories. “The latest escalation of violence demonstrates the folly of trying to marginalise this conflict: folly for Israel, for its new Arab partners, and for the Biden-Harris administration,” Tamara Cofman Wittes, a former state department official now senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said. “They may all prefer to focus on cooperation in pursuit of what they see as higher priorities. But the current crisis threatens to overturn that fragile consensus and divert the new administration’s attention from other foreign policy goals.” The low-key approach has not just been dictated by past failures, the difficulty of the problem, and the desire to conserve diplomatic resources for other issues. Biden also has to maintain a political balance at home, where Trump set the bar high for support of Israel, and where his own party is divided. The president’s perceived inaction is now a focal point for progressive dissatisfaction, however. “Right now, it’s critical that the Biden administration engage proactively in securing an immediate ceasefire and pushing all sides to de-escalate,” the liberal Jewish American lobby, J Street, said in a statement. “With lives on the line, our government can and should be doing more.” Now that standing by is no longer an option, the battle is on within the Democratic party to guide what path the administration takes now. “It was absolutely understandable for them not to want to prioritise this issue, but this issue has a way of prioritising itself at inconvenient moments. What starts in Jerusalem does not stay there,” a senior Democratic congressional aide said. The aide added: “If you want to put human rights back on the US foreign policy agenda, don’t just do it where it’s easy. Even Trump did it where it was easy. If you want to actually be credible, you have to do it where it’s hard.”

  • DC Protesters Unfurl Huge Palestinian Flag

    Large crowds of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered in Washington on Tuesday, May 11, amid the growing Israel-Gaza conflict.Early on Wednesday morning, the Israel Defense Forces said they had hit “significant terror targets and terror operatives” across the Gaza Strip, in response to more than a thousand rockets fired over a 38-hour period.Gaza health officials said at least 48 people had died, while six deaths were reported in Israel.Footage uploaded by Batoul Alaoui Hafidi shows protesters near the White House holding a huge Palestinian flag while chanting “Palestine will be free” and “Free, free Palestine.”The protest was organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations and American Muslims for Palestine, according to Newsweek. Credit: Batoul Alaoui Hafidi via Storyful

  • Israel strikes Gaza, Hamas fires rockets after hundreds hurt in clashes

    Israel's army said it launched airstrikes on Gaza, in response to rockets fired by Hamas militants after hundreds of Palestinians were hurt in clashes at a religious site.

  • Trevor Noah Has a Message for Israel: ‘What Is Your Responsibility?’

    Comedy CentralThe Daily Show host Trevor Noah on Tuesday addressed the recent tensions in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine—as much as could reasonably be done in the time it takes to boil an egg.In recent days, Israeli police clashed with Palestinians at a Jerusalem mosque, nine children were among at least two dozen people killed by Israeli airstrikes, and Gaza militants fired rockets of their own at Israel, killing three.Noah, who acknowledged that there isn’t “any TV show [that] in ten minutes is going to solve [the] Israel-Palestine [problem],” did make some keen observations.For one, as a topic that has perplexed even the world’s best diplomats, it is even harder to unravel if no one can agree on where to begin analyzing it.“If you start from ‘Israel fired rockets into Gaza,’ then Israel is the bad guy, because they’re bombing Gaza,” Noah explained. “But then you take a step back in time, and you go, ‘Well, but Hamas fired rockets at Israel.’ Then Hamas is the bad guy. But then you take a step back, and you go, ‘But the Israeli police went in and started beating people up in a mosque during Ramadan, the most holy time in the Muslim calendar.’ Well then, Israel is the bad guy.”MSNBC Host Challenges Ex-Israel Ambassador on Possible ‘War Crimes’ “And back and back and back, and who knows how far. The first cavemen who hit each other with clubs were probably Israeli and Palestinian. I don’t know.”Noah then pointed out the relative superiority of the Israeli military because of its ability to produce high-end, high-tech weapons (in part thanks to U.S. funding).“I just want to ask an honest question here,” Noah said. “If you are in a fight where the other person cannot beat you, how much should you retaliate when they try to hurt you?”“Everyone has a different answer to the question, and I’m not trying to answer the question, nor do I think I’m smart enough to solve it. All I ask is, when you have this much power, what is your responsibility?”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  • Afghan forces "have to be ready" as U.S. withdraws, top commander says

    General Austin Scott Miller said Afghan forces "have the capabilities" to hold back the Taliban after the U.S. leaves.

  • Rep. Tlaib (D-MI) on Israel-Palestine tensions, Jan 6th commission

    Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) comments on Israel-Palestine conflicts, the creation of a Jan 6th commission, and Michigan politics.

  • Oil Markets Stable Despite Major Pipeline Outage

    While the Colonial pipeline outage appears to have been resolved and there is enough gasoline to go around, panic buying has caused gasoline shortages in some areas on the East Coast

  • White House says focus is on 'de-escalation' between Israel, Palestine

    White House press secretary Jen Psaki says President Biden is seeking de-escalation between Israeli and Palestinian officials.

  • At least 20 Palestinians reportedly killed in Israeli air raid amid escalating violence in Jerusalem

    Amid escalating violence in Jerusalem on Monday, at leat 20 Palestinians, including nine children, have been killed after Israel launched air raids on the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian health ministry told Al Jazeera. Jerusalem has been the site of unrest for the last several days as Palestinians protested against potential evictions in East Jerusalem, and Israeli police met the demonstrations, which took place at the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, with force. Earlier Monday, Hamas fired several rockets at Israel after the group demanded Israel withdraw its security forces from Al-Aqsa; clashes inside the complex have left 300 Palestinians and 21 officers injured, The Guardian reports. In response to the rockets, Israel carried out the deadly airstrikes. Omar Shakir, the Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, said both Hamas' and Israel's actions were "war crimes" that endangered civilian lives. Read more at Al Jazeera and The Guardian. Israel's use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in densely populated Gaza on population living in open-air prison for 14 years bound to result in civilian harm. Alarming reports of many Palestinians killed today. @hrw has documented many Israeli war crimes over years 6/7 pic.twitter.com/VHg4TUSkcO — Omar Shakir (@OmarSShakir) May 10, 2021 More stories from theweek.comTed Cruz walks out of gun violence hearing after failing to change the subjectAmerica's vaccination rate is ticking upward againAn anti-vax conspiracy theory is apparently making anti-maskers consider masking up, social distancing

  • Palestinian Militants Fire Rockets at Israel From Gaza Strip

    May.11 -- Palestinian militants in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip fired dozens of rockets at the Jerusalem area and southern Israel on Monday, and Israeli jets retaliated, as weeks of confrontations exploded on two fronts.

  • The Daily Show's Trevor Noah carefully steps through the Israel-Palestine minefield to an 'honest question'

    "Israel versus Palestine — and I know that even saying that sentence means I'm losing followers online and I'm on the verge of being blocked on all social media and in life," Trevor Noah said on Tuesday's Daily Show. "But guys, we have to talk about it. Because this is one of the most difficult stories that has existed in our lifetime," even more than India versus Pakistan, China versus Tibet, or "white people versus rhythm." Israel versus Palestine "is a 73-year-old beef that has stumped everybody," Noah said, and because it has gone on for so long, "people forget that it is ongoing — that is, until there are flare-ups that the world cannot ignore," like what happened this week. What makes the conflict so difficult to discuss is "all the layers that are packed into it," he said. "No matter how much you try and break it down, people are always going to say that you're leaving out some crucial piece of context," and "they're probably right." There's the Holocaust, Britain's seizure of Palestine, clashing religions, and surrounding countries with their own agendas, Noah said. "And you know what makes it even harder is the fact that who's right and who's wrong always seems to change depending on when you start measuring time. This week was the perfect, perfect example of it." But "I don't want to have that argument," he said, "the part where we say who's good and who's bad and who started it. Let's step away from that and instead ask a different question. Instead, let's look at who's dead and who's alive this week." It's just not a fair fight, Noah concluded, "and I know this is contentious, and I know people are going to hate me for this, but I just want to ask an honest question here: If you are in a fight where the other person cannot beat you, how hard should you retaliate when they try to hurt you?" He ran through some imperfect personal analogies, admitted he didn't have any answers, and left viewers with one question: "When you have this much power, what is your responsibility?" More stories from theweek.comThe doom-loop of a falling fertility rateAn anti-vax conspiracy theory is apparently making anti-maskers consider masking up, social distancingCheney was reportedly booed during speech before leadership ouster

  • Andrew Yang Receives Backlash After Tweeting in Support of Israel

    New York mayoral candidate Andrew Yang is facing backlash from social media users after posting a tweet on Monday that appears to be pro-Israel. What happened: The former 2020 presidential candidate tweeted on Monday that he is "standing with the people of Israel" and "condemn[s] the Hamas terrorists" amid the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians escalated due in part to “heavy-handed Israeli policing of Palestinians during Ramadan and controversial efforts in the Israeli courts to evict Palestinians from their homes,” BBC reported.

  • Israel-Gaza fighting: airstrikes and rocket fire

    24 people including children and militants are reported dead after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza that began Monday night. At the same time, Gaza militants fired more than 250 rockets toward Israel, injuring six civilians. (May 11)

  • The Latest: Israeli jets flatten 14-story building in Gaza

    Israeli fighter jets have dropped two bombs on a 14-story building in Gaza City and destroyed it. The building housed businesses as well as offices for Hamas’ Al-Aqsa satellite TV channel. Hamas says it has fired 130 rockets toward Israel in response for the attack on Wednesday.

  • Gaza High-Rise Building Destroyed as Israel Launches 'Largest Strike Since 2014'

    Israeli strikes destroyed a high-rise building in Gaza early on Wednesday, May 12, as missile exchanges between Hamas and Israel escalated.The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it had responded to hundreds of rockets fired towards Israel by hitting targets in Gaza in their “largest strike since 2014”. The IDF claimed that Hamas was keeping weapons stores inside civilian buildings. Another high-rise building was razed by Israeli strikes on Tuesday evening.Palestinian health authorities in Gaza said 32 people including 10 children had been killed in the strikes since Israel began firing rockets into Gaza on Monday.This video shows the moment a blast shook part of Gaza’s north as a strike hit a multi-storey structure known as the Al Jawhara building. Credit: Mohammed Awad via Storyful

  • Analysis: Violence upends Biden's Israel-Palestinian outlook

    The surge in Israeli-Palestinian violence has flummoxed the Biden administration in its first four months as it attempts to craft a Middle East policy it believes will be more durable and fairer than that of its predecessor. Its early hesitation to wade more deeply into efforts to resolve the decades-long conflict has created a leadership vacuum that is exacerbated by political uncertainty in Israel and the Palestinian Authority, each of which is clamoring for outside support and unhappy with America’s new determination to toe a middle line. Israelis and Palestinians alike have denounced the Biden administration's call for all sides to step back following clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians in east Jerusalem that escalated into rocket attacks on Israel from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and retaliatory strikes from Israel’s military.

  • EXPLAINER: How will judge's ruling affect Chauvin sentence?

    Derek Chauvin could face a much harsher prison sentence after a judge found several aggravating factors in George Floyd's death. Chauvin, 45, was convicted in April of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for pressing his knee against Floyd's neck for about 9 1/2 minutes as the Black man said he couldn't breathe. Breaking down Chauvin's potential sentence is complicated, but it starts with Minnesota statutes that call for him to be sentenced on only the most serious charge — second-degree murder, which has a maximum penalty of 40 years.

  • Trump’s acting attorney general refuses to say if he discussed overturning election results

    Donald Trump’s acting attorney general has refused to answer whether he discussed with the former president efforts to overturn or reject election results in the lead up to 6 January. Jeffrey Rosen told members of the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday that he met with the former president on 3 January but said only that their conversation did “not relate to planning and preparations for the events of 6 January.” In a heated round of questions, Democratic US Rep Gerry Connolly pressed Mr Rosen to answer whether those conversations involved rejecting election results.

  • Massive Ranch From A River Runs Through It Sells for $136.25 Million After Bidding War

    The property featured in the early Brad Pitt film totals 80,000 acres

  • Two Teenagers who beat and killed a 13-year-old boy sent home to parents on probation

    The judge said they were ‘directly responsible’ for the death, even though they did not intend to kill him