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Biden Outlines New Gaza ‘Ceasefire’ Plan That Would Seemingly Leave Hamas Intact
US President Joe Biden at the White House, Washington, DC, May 31, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
US President Joe Biden on Friday outlined the details of a new plan to conclude the Israel-Hamas war that would seemingly leave the Palestinian terrorist group in control of the Gaza Strip.
Delivering a speech from the White House, Biden gave updates on his administration’s efforts to end the war in Gaza, laying out a proposed multi-phase plan that, in his words, would result in a “permanent cessation of hostilities” between the Jewish state and Hamas, which launched the war by invading southern Israel, murdering 1,200 people, and abducting over 250 hostages on Oct. 7.
Biden explained that his administration has engaged in “intensive diplomacy” with the governments of Israel, Qatar, Egypt, and other unspecified Middle Eastern countries to hammer out the details of a potential ceasefire plan.
“Israel has offered a comprehensive new proposal. It’s a roadmap to an enduring ceasefire and the release of all hostages. This proposal has been transmitted by Qatar to Hamas,” Biden said.
Israel’s proposal consists of three phases, Biden said. The first phase would last six weeks and include a “full and complete ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas and the “withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza.” The first phase would also include the “release of a number of hostages” in exchange for “the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.”
The remains of killed hostages would also be returned to Israeli families, and Palestinian civilians would “return to their homes” within all areas of Gaza. Biden added that humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip “would surge, with 600 trucks carrying aid into Gaza every single day.” In addition, the president promised that “hundreds of thousands of temporary shelters” would be erected for Gazan refugees.
During this six-week period, Israel and Hamas would negotiate the “necessary arrangements” in order to transition to the second phase and a “permanent end” to the war, Biden explained. The negotiations during this transitional period would include measures to ensure Israel’s security. As long as negotiations continue, the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas would remain, Biden said.
The second phase of the proposal would guarantee the release of all “remaining living hostages” and the removal of all Israeli forces from Gaza. Israel would promise the “permanent cessation of hostilities” if Hamas abides by the proposal, Biden claimed.
The third phase consists of a “major reconstruction” of the war-torn enclave and the delivery of the final batches of dead hostages’ remains back to Israeli families.
Biden assured that Israel can make this offer to Hamas without an unnecessary risk to their security “because they’ve devastated Hamas forces over the past eight months.” He asserted that Israel’s military operations have rendered Hamas “no longer capable of carrying out another Oct. 7.” Israel would be allowed to continue with its war effort if Hamas breaks the terms of the agreement, Biden stipulated.
Biden added that a coalition consisting of Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Middle Eastern countries, and the international community would work together to rebuild Gaza “in a manner that does not allow Hamas to rearm.”
“I know that there are those in Israel who will not agree with this plan and will call for the war to continue indefinitely,” he continued. “Some are even in the government coalition, and they’ve made it clear they want to occupy Gaza. They want to keep fighting for years, and hostages are not a priority for them.”
Israeli officials across the political aisle have consistently said that freeing the hostages kidnapped on Oct. 7 is a top priority of their military campaign in Gaza, along with incapacitating Hamas to the point that it can no longer pose a threat to the Israeli people.
Notably, toward the beginning of his remarks, Biden said the plan his foreign policy team negotiated would ensure a Gaza “without Hamas in power.” It’s unclear how that would work if a disarmed version of the terrorist group is allowed to remain the governing body of Gaza. Israel has also repeatedly asserted that Hamas will not be allowed to retain power within Gaza following its Oct. 7 slaughter, which Hamas leaders have promised to carry out “again and again.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released a statement following Biden’s speech, vowing not to end the war until Israel has achieved the “elimination of Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities” — seemingly opposing the idea of allowing Hamas to remain in power.
“The government of Israel is united in its desire to return the hostages as soon as possible and is working to achieve this goal,” the statement said. “The prime minister authorized the negotiating team to present a proposal to that end, which would also enable Israel to continue the war until all its objectives are achieved, including the destruction of Hamas’ military and governing capabilities. The actual proposal put forward by Israel, including the conditional transition from one phase to the next, allows Israel to uphold these principles.”
During his address, Biden claimed that if Israel did not accept the deal and continued the war effort, the Jewish state could find itself “bogged down in Gaza” for the long-term. The president warned that this could potentially drain the economic, military, and human resources” of Israel along with solidifying the Jewish state’s “isolation” in the broader international community.
Biden also stated that the end of the Israel-Hamas war could pave the way for a “normalization agreement” between the Jewish state and Saudi Arabia, adding that such an arrangement would allow Israel and the broader region to effectively combat any threats from Iran.
“It’s time for this war to end, and the day after to begin,” Biden said.
Biden’s press conference came one day after Hamas outlined a ceasefire proposal with terms Israel found unacceptable. Hamas said Thursday that it would refuse to negotiate a release of hostages until Israel unilaterally withdrew its forces. Israeli officials have said any deal must include the release of hostages before they halt their military campaign.
On Friday, Hamas released a statement following Biden’s remarks, praising the plan outlined in his speech and claiming the terror group is willing to work with Israel “constructively” to work toward a ceasefire.
“The movement affirms its position of readiness to deal positively and constructively with any proposal based on a permanent ceasefire, complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction, the return of the displaced to all their places of residence, and the completion of a serious prisoner exchange deal if the occupation declares its explicit commitment to that,” Hamas said.
The post Biden Outlines New Gaza ‘Ceasefire’ Plan That Would Seemingly Leave Hamas Intact first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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A pro-Israel rally at the University of Toronto was headlined by Columbia University professor Shai Davidai
Around 200 people gathered for a pro-Israel demonstration at University of Toronto’s downtown campus at King’s College Circle—which was the site of one of Canada’s largest pro-Palestinian encampments during May […]
The post A pro-Israel rally at the University of Toronto was headlined by Columbia University professor Shai Davidai appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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‘Not Welcome’: New Pro-Hamas Campaign Aims to Abolish Hillel Campus Chapters
A statue of George Washington tied with a Palestinian flag and a keffiyeh inside a pro-Hamas encampment is pictured at George Washington University in Washington, DC, US, May 2, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Craig Hudson
The campus group National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) is waging a campaign to gut Jewish life in academia, calling for the abolition of Hillel International campus chapters, the largest collegiate organization for Jewish students in the world.
“Over the past several decades, Hillel has monopolized for Jewish campus life into a pipeline for pro-Israel indoctrination, genocide-apologia, and material support to the Zionist project and its crimes,” a social media account operating the campaign, titled #DropHillel, said in a manifesto published last week. “Across the country, Hillel chapters have invited Israeli soldiers to their campuses; promoted propaganda trips such as birthright; and organized charity drives for the Israeli military.”
It continued, “Such actions reveal Hillel’s ideological and material investment in Zionism, despite the organization’s facade as being simply a ‘Jewish cultural space.’”
DropHillel claims to be “Jewish-led,” although only a small minority of Jews oppose Zionism, and the group has been linked to and promoted by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters.
Hillel International has provided Jewish students a home away from home during the academic year. However, NSJP says it wants to “weaken” it and “dismantle oppression.”
The idea has already been picked up by pro-Hamas student groups at one college, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, according to The Daily Tar Heel, the school’s official student newspaper. On Oct. 9, it reported, a member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) unveiled the idea for “no more Hillel” during a rally which, among other things, demanded removing Israel from UNC’s study abroad program and adopting the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement. Addressing the comments to the paper days later, SJP, which has been linked to Islamist terrorist organizations, proclaimed that shuttering Hillel is a coveted goal of the anti-Zionist movement.
“Zionism is a racist supremacist ideology advocating for the creation and sustenance of an ethnostate through the expulsion and annihilation of native people,” the group told the paper. “Therefore, any group that advocates for a supremacist ideology — be it the KKK, the Proud Boys, Hillel, or Heels for Israel — should not be welcome on campus.”
The #DropHillel campaign came amid an unprecedented surge in anti-Israel incidents on college campuses, which, according to a report published last month by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), have reached crisis levels.
Revealing a “staggering” 477 percent increase in anti-Zionist activity involving assault, vandalism, and other phenomena, the report — titled “Anti-Israel Activism on US Campuses, 2023-2024” — painted a bleak picture of America’s higher education system poisoned by political extremism and hate.
“As the year progressed, Jewish students and Jewish groups on campus came under unrelenting scrutiny for any association, actual or perceived, with Israel or Zionism,” the report said. “This often led to the harassment of Jewish members of campus communities and vandalism of Jewish institutions. In some cases, it led to assault. These developments were underpinned by a steady stream of rhetoric from anti-Israel activists expressing explicit support for US-designated terrorists organizations, such as Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and others.”
The report added that 10 campuses accounted for 16 percent of all incidents tracked by ADL researchers, with Columbia University and the University of Michigan combining for 90 anti-Israel incidents — 52 and 38, respectively. Harvard University, the University of California – Los Angeles, Rutgers University New Brunswick, Stanford University, Cornell University, and others filled out the rest of the top 10. Violence, it continued, was most common at universities in the state of California, where anti-Zionist activists punched a Jewish student for filming him at a protest.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post ‘Not Welcome’: New Pro-Hamas Campaign Aims to Abolish Hillel Campus Chapters first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Muslim for Trump’ Launches Initiatives in Key Battleground States, Says Candidate Will Bring ‘Peace’ to Gaza
Former US President Donald Trump is seen at a campaign event in South Carolina. Photo: Reuters/Sam Wolfe
The “Muslims for Trump” organization has officially launched initiatives to help elect Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to the White House, arguing that he would be more likely to end the war in Gaza than Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
In a statement released on Monday, the group said it will focus on recruiting Muslim voters in key battleground states such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and North Carolina. The organization both praised Trump for his supposed “peace-focused” approach to ending the war in Gaza and condemned Harris for helping facilitate a so-called “genocide.”
“After meeting with President Trump, it was clear to me he is the right leader for Muslims to get behind,” Rabiul Chowdhury, co-founder of Muslims for Trump and former co-chair of the “Abandon Harris Movement,” said in a statement.
Chowdhury added that during his discussions with Trump, the former president vowed to “ending the escalation of wars and bringing peace to war-torn regions.” In contrast to Trump’s promise to stop the “bloodshed” in Gaza, he claimed, Harris has “recklessly pushed us toward World War III.”
Chowdhury, a self-described “peace advocate,” urged the Muslim community not to fall victim to supposed “misinformation” campaigns by the media and Democrats that paint the former president as hostile to immigrants. He claimed that the former president’s focus is on “ending war, not dividing families through false immigration claims.”
Samra Luqman, chair of the Michigan chapter of Muslims for Trump, underscored the need to punish the Biden administration for what he described as supporting a “genocide” in Gaza.
“The goal of this election is to hold the Biden administration accountable for a genocide. No amount of fear mongering or scare tactics will persuade my community into forgiving the mutilation, live-burning, and genocide of over 200,000 people,” he said.
According to data produced by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, roughly 40,000 people have died in Gaza since the war began last October. Israel has said that its forces have killed about 20,000 Hamas terrorists during its military campaign.
Israel says it has gone to unprecedented lengths to try and avoid civilian casualties, noting its efforts to evacuate areas before it targets them and to warn residents of impending military operations with leaflets, text messages, and other forms of communication.
On the organization Muslims for Trump’s official website, it claims that the Abraham Accords, a series of historic, Trump administration-brokered normalization agreements between Israel and several countries in the Arab world, helped stabilize the Middle East. It also says that had Trump not lost the 2020 presidential race, the so-called “genocide” could have been prevented.
“Under Trump’s leadership, the Abraham Accords were brokered, fostering peaceful relations between Israel and several Arab countries. Supporters might argue that Trump’s diplomacy prioritized peace and stability in the Middle East, reducing the likelihood of large-scale conflicts like genocide,” the group wrote.
Over the course of his campaign, Trump has repeatedly touted his support for the Jewish state during his singular term in office. Trump has boasted about his administration’s work in fostering the Abraham Accords, promising to resume efforts to strengthen them if he were to win November’s US presidential election.
Harsh US sanctions levied on Iran under Trump crippled the Iranian economy and led its foreign exchange reserves to plummet. Trump and his Republican supporters in the US Congress have criticized the Biden administration for renewing billions of dollars in US sanctions waivers, which had the effect of unlocking frozen funds and allowing the country to access previously inaccessible hard currency.
Trump also recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a strategic region on Israel’s northern border previously controlled by Syria, and also moved the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, recognizing the city as the Jewish state’s capital.
Despite Harris’s repeated efforts to woo Muslim voters, polling data indicates that the demographic has made a dramatic swing away from the Democratic Party. Polling data from the Arab American Institute reveals that Trump slightly edges Harris among Muslim voters by a margin of 42 to 41 percent. A report from the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) shows that Green Party candidate Jill Stein leads Harris and Trump with Muslim voters in the key swing states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona.
The post ‘Muslim for Trump’ Launches Initiatives in Key Battleground States, Says Candidate Will Bring ‘Peace’ to Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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