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Despite Endless Aid and Help, Palestinian Authority Calls America ‘Head of the Snake’
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a media conference after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at the Czernin Palace, in Prague, Czech Republic, May 31, 2024. Photo: Peter David Josek/Pool via REUTERS
The US has spent $320 million on a floating port to help Gazans, and to ease the entrance of humanitarian aid to residents during the ongoing war. It has also been the driving force curbing Israel’s military campaign, yet Palestinians are busy biting the hand that feeds them.
A political commentator, who is frequently interviewed by official Palestinian Authority (PA) TV, recently labeled the American administration “the head of the snake, the head of evil, and the axis of evil,” falsely claiming that the US-funded port was used to help Israel prepare for and carry out its rescue operation of four Israeli hostages from the Nuseirat refugee camp:
Kamal Zakarneh: “The American administration is the head of the snake, the head of evil, and the axis of evil concerning the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people in general.
The [American] naval pier that was supposed to serve for bringing in [humanitarian] aid was used to commit the Nuseirat [refugee camp] massacre … From there the American Delta Force, technological equipment, and things related to the security situation and discovering the location of the [Israeli] prisoners came in … Maybe the American Delta Force are the ones who carried out the operation.”
Official PA TV host: “Washington denied this.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, June 10, 2024]
Earlier in the war, before the port was built, Fatah’s Shabiba Youth Movement likewise announced that “the American administration is the head of terror,” adding that:
The criminal Biden, [US Secretary of State] Blinken, and the heads of their oppressive government are now placing themselves alongside Hitler, Mussolini, and the rest of the war criminals and perpetrators of crimes of genocide throughout history.” [emphasis added]
[Ma’an, independent Palestinian news agency, Dec. 9, 2023]
The libel about the port being used to help Israel free the hostages adds to previous libels about the floating port. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ advisor, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, has claimed that the port is just an “Israeli-American plot to expel Gazans” as Palestinian Media Watch reported:
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “The floating port is an attempt to throw dust in [our] eyes. It is an attempt to keep the situation in the Gaza Strip under Israeli rule and Israeli sovereignty…
What we fear is that this floating port will constitute a prelude to carrying out the Israeli plot that strives to expel the Gaza Strip residents through different ports.
[Facebook, May 18, 2024]
Earlier on Facebook, Al-Habbash had criticized the US for supporting Israel against the terror organization Hamas, calling the entire administration “criminal”: “Behind them [Israel] is only the criminal American administration led by criminal [US] President [Joe] Biden and his criminal [US] Secretary of State [Antony Blinken], who are sponsoring this occupation and its crimes.”
A host on official PA TV stated that “the US is fighting the Palestinian people with an Israeli arm”:
Secretary-General of the International Academic Campaign against Israel Ramzi Oudeh: “America, with all of these [UN] resolutions [calling for a ceasefire] that it is neutralizing with a veto… before the entire world the US has become a partner in the act of aggression (i.e., the 2023 Gaza war). It is a partner not only in the legal and international defense of Israel, but also a partner in terms of supplying weapons, tanks, planes, and launchers…”
Official PA TV host: “The US is the one fighting the Palestinian people but with an Israeli arm…”
Ramzi Oudeh: “Israel is originally an imperialist, colonialist, settler project – imperialist in the sense that imperialism created it in this region, imperialism feeds it, and imperialism is still defending it… Do we expect that this state [the US] will defend the Palestinian civilians? Do we expect that this state would agree to any resolution for stopping the war? On the contrary, its position supports the position of Israel.”
[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, Feb. 21, 2024]
Al-Habbash has also blamed the US for bearing “full responsibility for the ‘holocaust’ in the Gaza Strip due to its support for the Israeli aggression.” He has described America’s vetoes at the UN in favor of Israel as “additional American aggression and a continuation of the hostility against our people by the American administration.”
In the same statement, Al-Habbash suggested that “the Arab and Islamic states change the language of discourse with the US and speak with it in the only way it understands — the language of interests,” by way of “exerting pressure” on the US “through its interests, which are spread in the states of the Islamic world” [WAFA, official PA news agency, Feb. 20, 2024].
Given the ongoing Palestinian condemnations, libels, and even open threats against America and its interests, American leaders would be well advised to rethink whether their massive economic assistance to the Palestinians indeed serves aspirations for stability and security in the region.
The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.
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Israel’s Yuval Raphael Advances to Grand Final of 2025 Eurovision Song Contest
Yuval Raphael from Israel with the title “New Day Will Rise” on stage at the second semi-final of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest in the Arena St. Jakobshalle. Photo: Jens Büttner/dpa via Reuters Connect
Israel’s Yuval Raphael advanced to the grand final of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest after a stunning performance of her song “New Day Will Rise” in the second semi-finals on Thursday night in Basel, Switzerland.
The 24-year-old, who is a survivor of the Oct. 7, 2023, Nova music festival massacre, performed an emotional ballad in English, French, and Hebrew that was written by singer and songwriter Keren Peles. The results of the semi-finals are based solely on public vote.
Ten acts from the second semi-final advanced to the grand final, including performers from Armenia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, and Malta. Raphael will compete in Saturday’s grand final against those acts and the qualifiers from Tuesday’s semi-final. They include performers from Albania, Iceland, Estonia, Portugal, Poland, Sweden, Ukraine, Norway, San Marino, and the Netherlands. Also competing in the grand final is the Eurovision “Big Five” — Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, France, Italy – and Switzerland, which was last year’s winner.
Unlike in the semi-finals, the results of the grand final are based on a combination of the televote and the jury vote, in which professional juries from all 37 participating countries vote for their favorites. Last year, a Eurovision jury member from Norway admitted that he refused to give points to Israel’s representative, Eden Golan, because of his personal resentment toward Israel’s military actions in the Gaza war.
There have been a number of public calls, including from national broadcasters and former Eurovision contestants, to have Israel banned from this year’s competition because of the country’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip targeting the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
During a dress rehearsal for the semi-final on Thursday afternoon, audience members booed at Raphael, whistled, and waved oversized Palestinian flags. Under rules of the competition, all flags are allowed but there are limitations on the size. The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, which is organizing this year’s Eurovision events, said in a released statement that the audience members with the oversized flags were escorted out of the St Jakobshalle arena by security personnel.
The 2025 Eurovision Song Contest grand final will take place on Saturday night in Basel’s St Jackobshalle arena. The detailed results of the second semi-final will be revealed after the grand final.
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Iran, Europeans Hold Nuclear Talks, Agree to More, Diplomats Say
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a press conference following a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, April 18, 2025. Photo: Tatyana Makeyeva/Pool via REUTERS
Diplomats from Iran and the three European parties remaining in a moribund 2015 nuclear deal met in Istanbul on Friday, Iranian and British officials said, their first round of talks since the US began nuclear talks with Tehran in April.
The talks between senior diplomats from Iran and Britain, France, and Germany – known as the E3 – took place as US President Donald Trump pushes for a deal to limit Iran‘s nuclear program. On Friday he called on Iran to move quickly after he said his administration had put forward a proposal to Iran.
An Iranian source close to the negotiating team said Tehran has yet to receive the US proposal, “but Oman has got it and will hand it over to Tehran soon.”
The European powers are not part of current negotiations between Iran and the United States, the fourth round of which ended in Oman on Sunday. A new round has not been scheduled yet.
However, they have held repeated talks with the Iranians most recently in March where they discussed how they saw the parameters of a deal to replace the 2015 accord.
The three powers have sought to coordinate with Washington notably on whether and when they should reimpose UN sanctions against Tehran – known in diplomatic circles as the “snapback mechanism” – if no agreement is reached.
That coordination has not been easy with European diplomats bemoaning a lack of clarity in US policy on its negotiations with Tehran.
Iran and the Europeans agreed to hold further talks if needed, Iran‘s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on X on Friday.
“Iran and the three European countries are determined to maintain and make optimal use of diplomacy,” Gharibabadi said. “We will meet again to continue the discussions if necessary.”
British diplomat Christian Turner said on X that Iran and the E3 shared a commitment to dialogue and that they agreed to meet again, without giving a timeframe.
Under the terms of a UN resolution ratifying the 2015 nuclear pact, the three European powers have until October 18 to trigger the snapback mechanism before the resolution expires.
According to diplomats and a document seen by Reuters, the E3 countries may do this by August if no substantial deal can be found by then.
Relations between the E3 and Iran have worsened over the last year despite sporadic meetings, against a backdrop of new sanctions imposed on Tehran over its ballistic missile program, its detention of foreign citizens and support for Russia in its war against Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met the equivalent of national security advisers of the E3 powers also in Istanbul on Friday to discuss Iran and Ukraine, a US official said.
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Israel Strikes Yemeni Ports, Warns That Houthi Leader Is a Target
Illustrative: Smoke rises in the sky following US-led airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 25, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Adel Al Khader
Israel struck Yemen’s Red Sea ports of Hodeidah and Salif on Friday, continuing its campaign to degrade Houthi military capabilities and warning that the Iran-backed terrorist group’s top leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, could be targeted if attacks on Israel persist.
The Houthis have continued to fire missiles at Israel in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, although they have agreed to halt attacks on US ships.
Israel has carried out retaliatory strikes in response, including one on May 6 that damaged Yemen’s main airport in Sanaa and killed several people.
On Friday, the Israeli military said the ports of Hodeidah and Salif were being used to transfer weapons, reiterating its warnings to residents of those areas to evacuate.
Residents in Hodeidah said they heard four loud booms and saw smoke rising from the port following the Israeli strikes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement they would hunt down the Houthis’ top leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi.
“If the Houthis continue to fire missiles at the State of Israel, they will be severely harmed, and we will also hurt the leaders,” they said, adding that al-Houthi could join the list of terrorist figures killed by Israel, such as Hamas’s Yahya Sinwar and Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah.
The Houthis are part of Iran’s so-called “Axis of Resistance” against Israeli and US interests in the Middle East, alongside Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. About 60 percent of the Yemeni population lives under their control.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, the Houthis have launched dozens of missile and drone attacks toward Israel, most of which have been intercepted or landed short.
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