RSS
James Zogby, Anti-Israel Activist, to Make Bid for Democratic National Committee Vice Chair
US Senator-elect Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) speaks during the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Aug. 20, 2024. Photo: Credit: USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters Connect
James Zogby, a prominent critic of Israel and president of the Arab American Institute, is preparing to run for vice chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), a position that would allow him to exert significant influence over the strategy and inner workings of the primary left-wing political party in the US.
Zogby, who has been a member of the DNC for decades and an advocate for the Palestinian cause, told Politico on Tuesday that he plans on officially launching his bid for party leadership in the coming days. The academic and lecturer claimed that US President-elect Donald Trump’s resounding victory in the Nov. 5 presidential election left him feeling despondent and angry, motivating him to seek a powerful position within the Democratic Party.
“I’m on the DNC for 32 yrs: 16 on the Executive Committee, 11 as chair of the resolutions committee, & on the Unity/Reform Committee. I’m pushing for budget transparency & accountability, & party democracy. But I guess all I’ll ever be is that ‘pro-Palestinian’ guy. It’s bigotry,” Zogby posted on X/Twitter on Tuesday after his announcement was published in Politico.
Zogby has established himself as a fierce opponent of Israel, arguing that the Jewish state has enacted a “brutal” regime of repression and discrimination against the Palestinian people. In the year following the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s slaughter of 1,200 people throughout southern Israel last Oct. 7, he has blamed the Israeli government for “making a desperately bad situation worse” by causing “acute shortages of food, medicine, and water.” He asserted that Israel’s defensive military operations in Gaza are counterproductive because they “only create more resistance and new recruits for Hamas.”
In the months leading up to the US presidential election, Zogby openly criticized Democratic nominee Kamala Harris for campaigning with former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney. He claimed that Cheney’s presence on the campaign trail alienated Arab American voters, citing her long-standing support for American military intervention in the Middle East.
In 2019, Zogby took aim at Cheney for criticizing US Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN), two of the most vocal opponents of Israel in Congress.
“[Liz Cheney] your obsession w/ targeting [Rashida Tlaib] or [Ilhan Omar] smacks either of a deep-seated anti-Arab/Muslim bigotry or crass politics designed to prey on the bigotry of your ‘base.’ In either case it’s disgraceful. Your party’s been playing this game for a decade. Shame,” Zogby wrote on X/Twitter at the time.
In a post-election analysis, Zogby argued that Harris’s failure to address the so-called “genocide” in Gaza eroded her support among valuable constituencies.
“Of particular note, they would not recognize the impact of the genocide in Gaza on not only Arab American voters, but also on key components of their Obama coalition, young, progressive, and non-white voters,” Zogby wrote about the Harris campaign.
In the aftermath of Harris’s shellacking at the polls, the Democratic Party has scrambled to rebrand itself in order to attract new voters. Despite insistence by many progressives that the Israel-Hamas war capsized Harris’s campaign, there remains scant evidence her support for the Jewish state proved decisive in the election. Data compiled by Blueprint, a data analytics firm allied with the Democratic Party, indicated that Harris’s support for Israel ranked among the bottom concerns for the electorate. In fact, the poll showed that Harris suffered more damage by presenting as too supportive of the Palestinians.
The post James Zogby, Anti-Israel Activist, to Make Bid for Democratic National Committee Vice Chair first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.