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It’s time for the pro-Palestinian movement to make a radical change
Over the past two years, activists across the world ramped up calls for divestment from Israel. On university campuses and at meetings of pension boards, the same call has become increasingly prominent: pull money away from anything tied to Israel.
But now that a fragile ceasefire may be taking hold, I want to offer a simple, slightly provocative suggestion: If you care about Palestinian lives, don’t just divest from Israel. Invest in Gaza.
And I mean that quite literally.
According to a joint damage and needs assessment conducted by the United Nations, World Bank and European Union a few months ago, about $53.2 billion will be required over the next decade to help Gaza recover from the destruction wrought by the war. (Some sources cite an updated figure of more than $80 billion.) Of this, at least $30 billion is to repair physical infrastructure — homes, water systems, roads and more. Another $19 billion is needed to address the collapse of Gaza’s economy and public services: shuttered businesses, lost wages, halted schooling, broken clinics.
But even before anything is rebuilt comes the problem of the debris. According to that same assessment, somewhere between 41 and 47 million tons of rubble now litter Gaza — maybe more. Not a single new road can be laid, or foundation poured, until that is cleared. That work alone could cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take months of careful, often dangerous work.
And if Gaza is to be more than a symbol of tragedy — if it is to become a place where young people can live, work, and build a future — it will need productive investment. Physical infrastructure alone won’t deliver prosperity. The creation of markets and sustained economic growth requires investment in businesses, job creation, job training and entrepreneurship. That, too, must be part of the agenda.
Which means it’s time for the pro-Palestinian activists who have protested in cities and on college campuses all over the world since October, 2023, to change their tune. If you were marching for a ceasefire in Gaza; if you were pushing institutions to divest from Israeli-linked firms; if you’ve held a sign that says “Free Palestine” — it’s time to reconsider your tactics.
Imagine if even a fraction of the energy spent on divestment campaigns was channeled into reconstruction and development funds. Universities could create fellowships, specifically for Gaza residents, to give them the training necessary to bring their territory into a better future. Student groups could partner with international NGOs to fund the development and continued operations of schools or clinics. Municipalities that have severed ties with Israeli investments could reinvest that capital in Gaza’s public health or housing.
It’s easy to say, “We won’t fund oppression.” It’s harder — and far more meaningful — to say, “We will fund rebuilding.”
That pledge is desperately needed. There are encouraging headlines about funding for Gaza, but, as of yet, little cold, hard cash.
In theory, international donors will step in. The United States-backed “20-point plan” includes reconstruction of Gaza as a pillar, but does not attach a promise of concrete funding. The U.N. recently confirmed that multiple countries, including the U.S., have shown “willingness” to help fund the monumental effort, but offered no specifics. The Gulf states and other regional actors have expressed interest in supporting postwar rebuilding, but have not yet made any clear commitments. An exception is the European Union, which has pledged €1.6 billion to support Gaza’s reconstruction. That’s a very generous amount — but a tiny fraction of what’s required.
The political will may exist in principle. But in practice, many of these promises remain vague, contingent or politically fragile. And they come at a moment when investment in global foreign aid is trending in the opposite direction. President Donald Trump’s administration has shuttered USAID offices; bilateral development budgets are shrinking; and public tolerance — especially in Western democracies — for large-scale foreign aid packages is wearing thin.
Relying solely on states and slow-moving aid agencies isn’t going to be enough. Not at the scale or pace that’s necessary. Gaza’s future won’t just depend on donor generosity — it will require new sources of capital and creative partnerships that can go beyond patching the ruins and instead build a foundation for long-term prosperity.
Of course, there are legitimate concerns, including the unsettled future of Gaza’s governance, the potential for further conflict with Israel down the road, the risk of Hamas interference, and the specter of corruption. But those are not reasons to do nothing. They’re reasons to build mechanisms for transparency and oversight.
If activists demand accountability from Gaza’s reconstruction, while proactively investing in it, they’ll be making a future for the strip not just possible, but better.
And here’s the uncomfortable truth: While divestment campaigns are great at signaling values, they rarely create concrete results that bring positive change to the lives of everyday Palestinians. They have yet to rebuild a single school. They don’t help provide health care.
Gaza needs more than slogans. It needs billions of dollars. Now.
So, to those in the pro-Palestinian movement: you’ve spent months organizing, marching and lobbying. You’ve asked the world to listen. Now’s your chance to lead. If you truly believe in justice for Palestinians, this is the time to show it. Put your money where your mouth is. Don’t divest from Israel. Invest in Gaza.
The post It’s time for the pro-Palestinian movement to make a radical change appeared first on The Forward.
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Iran appoints AMIA bombing suspect to National Security Council
(JTA) —
For the second time this year, Iran has named a wanted suspect in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires to a top security role.
A spokesman for the Islamic Republic’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said Monday that Mohsen Rezaei had resigned as an adviser to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, and would assume the role of secretary of Iran’s powerful Supreme National Security Council. Rezaei is a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Rezaei is wanted by Argentina and is subject to an Interpol Red Notice issued at Argentina’s request over his alleged role in the 1994 attack, which killed 85 people and remains the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentina’s history.
Earlier this year, Ahmad Vahidi, another suspect in the AMIA case and also the subject of an Interpol Red Notice, was appointed IRGC commander.
In a landmark ruling in 2024, an Argentine court held Iran and its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, responsible for the bombing, setting the stage for international legal action.
In June 2025, Argentina’s federal judiciary ordered that 10 Iranian and Lebanese suspects accused in connection with the deadly 1994 AMIA bombing be tried in absentia. Rezaei and Vahidi are among them.
The eight other suspects accused by the late AMIA special prosecutor, Alberto Nisman, are: former Iranian Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahijan, former Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati, former Iranian ambassador Hadi Soleimanpour, former Iranian cultural attache in Buenos Aires Mohsen Rabbani and former Iranian diplomat Ahmad Reza Asghari, as well as suspected Hezbollah operatives Salman Raouf Salman, Abdallah Salman and Hussein Mounir Mouzannar.
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Israel and AIPAC on the ballot in the Minnesota Senate and U.S. House races
(JTA) — A pair of Democratic primaries in Minnesota on Tuesday are among a string of high-profile battles between progressive and moderate candidates, where Israel and the pro-Israel lobby serve as key wedge issues.
The state’s highest-profile race is the U.S. Senate primary between Rep. Angie Craig, who has been endorsed by the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, and Lieutenant Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who says she would reject AIPAC’s money and accuses Israel of committing a genocide.
The most recent data gathered in late July through early August has Craig with a 2-percentage point lead, within the 5.3% margin of error. Another poll, conducted in late July by a group supporting Flanagan, shows her with a 14-point lead. The Democratic nominee, whether it be Flanagan or Craig, is expected to win the general election in November.
The race, and the candidates’ sparring over AIPAC, comes as the lobby and Israel under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have become increasingly unpopular among Democratic voters. Israel is also an issue in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in neighboring Wisconsin taking place on Tuesday.
Flanagan has referred to Craig as “AIPAC’s candidate” in the Senate race, which prompted Craig to distance herself from the group’s spending during a TV debate in June.
“AIPAC has not contributed at all, the PAC, to my Senate campaign,” said Craig, whose wife, Cheryl Greene, is Jewish. “Not one penny.”
Flanagan countered that, while AIPAC itself has not donated to Craig’s campaign, it has held fundraisers for the four-term congresswoman. AIPAC did not respond to a request for comment.
Just last week in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, progressive Abdul El-Sayed defeated the moderate Rep. Haley Stevens, whose AIPAC endorsement was the frequent target of opposition attacks.
Flanagan has drawn the support of American Priorities, a pro-Palestinian super PAC that aims to counter AIPAC. The group spent about $54,000 on ads boosting her candidacy, according to FEC filings.
Flanagan’s platform includes blocking offensive weapons sales to Israel — a position that all but seven Senate Democrats voted for in April — and advancing a two-state solution that “allows for a secure Israel and Palestinian self-determination.”
Craig, who also backs a two-state outcome, voted against the recent amendment proposed by Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie that would have halted $3.3 billion in military aid to Israel.
In a statement explaining her vote, Craig panned Netanyahu and the war in Iran, but wrote that the amendment would endanger Israelis and American troops and allies in the region. After the vote, Flanagan wrote, “A vote to send $3.3 billion of taxpayer money to fund additional weapons of war to Benjamin Netanyahu is unconscionable. Enough.”
Craig has the endorsement of a number of Democrats in Congress and the Senate, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. She is also endorsed by lobbying group Democratic Majority for Israel, former Democratic presidential contender Pete Buttigieg, and Minneapolis’ Jewish mayor, Jacob Frey, who rose to national prominence for his response to the deadly results of the deployment of immigrant enforcement officials in his city.
Flanagan has drawn endorsements from a swath of major progressive figures including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and outspoken pro-Palestinian Reps. Ro Khanna of California and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. Flanagan is also endorsed by the state’s Democratic Party affiliate, the Democratic Farmer Labor Party.
On Sunday Sanders posted on X,”There is a reason why the super PACs and billionaires are flooding Minnesota with $20 million to defeat Peggy Flanagan. Same thing as Michigan. They do not want somebody in the Senate who will stand up for the working class.”
Spending by political action committees affiliated with AIPAC has also come to the fore in the Democratic primary race for the House seat that Craig is vacating.
The most moderate of the three leading candidates is State Sen. Matt Klein, who has expressed support for the U.S.-Israel relationship and is endorsed by DMFI. Last-minute spending by outside groups has sparked accusations that AIPAC is indirectly involved.
“AIPAC is coming after me,” said former Lakeville mayor Matt Little, one of Klein’s opponents, in a video.
Klein’s two opponents — Little and state Rep. Kaela Berg — both accuse Israel of committing a genocide, and have both speculated that AIPAC is behind some of the Klein spending.
Berg supports placing conditions on U.S. aid to Israel and halting weapons sales, and Little says the U.S. must end all military aid and weapons sales to the country. On the policy page of his campaign website, Little refers to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack as “an act of wanton slaughter against innocent civilians” and says that people should condemn “the anti-Semitism that followed.”
Berg is listed as “primary approved” by the liberal Jewish Middle East advocacy group J Street, while Little has been boosted by American Priorities, which has spent about $64,000 in his favor. He is also endorsed by the DFL and Congressional Progressive Caucus leader Rep. Pramila Jayapal.
The latest polling in the district — conducted at the end of May by a group that favors Klein — found Little leading Klein with a 7-percentage point lead, and Berg trailing by another 3 points. 39 percent of voters were undecided, and Little and Klein were about even after voters received more information about the three candidates.
Craig has declined to endorse any of the candidates to replace her.
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Sister of pro-Israel stalwart Lindsey Graham wins runoff slot
(JTA) — South Carolina Sen. Darline Graham and a second Republican candidate will advance to a special primary runoff in two weeks, when voters will decide which GOP candidate might take the vacant seat of her late brother Lindsey Graham.
Just over an hour after polls closed, at about 8:15 pm, the Associated Press declared that Darline Graham would advance to a runoff election, noting that “one additional candidate will also advance.” At that point Graham had secured 32.6% of the vote, with 39% of ballots counted.
Graham was up against nine fellow Republicans, with her biggest competition including U.S. House Reps. Ralph Norman and Russell Fry, who were closely vying for the second spot in the runoff at the time of the AP’s call. In South Carolina, the top contender would have needed to win a majority of votes in order to avoid the two-candidate runoff, scheduled for August 25.
In the November general election, the winner will face Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician who is unlikely to prevail in this solidly Republican state.
Tuesday’s race marked the second time in two months that GOP voters came to the polls to select a Senate candidate, and now they will need to do so a third time. Longstanding Sen. Lindsey Graham, a top ally of Israel in the U.S. Senate and supporter of military action against Iran. won the original primary in June but died suddenly from an aortic dissection on July 11.
Graham, who was 71 years old, served 23 years in the Senate and eight in the U.S. House. He was a member of the Senate’s Armed Services and Budget committees and had traveled to Israel about a dozen times since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Heading into Tuesday’s primary, analysts expressed no doubt that the winner would be pro-Israel. They stressed, however, that matching Graham’s level of foreign policy experience and focus on Israel, a place he often visited, would be a formidable task.
“Whoever wins this is going to be an ally of Israel,” Christopher Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in the lead-up to the race. “The question is whether they will be the champion for Israel that Lindsey Graham was.”
A few days after Graham’s death, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, appointed Darline Graham to complete the late senator’s term. Despite having minimal policy experience, such as a past role on the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, she earned President Trump’s support and soon declared her candidacy in the full race.
While 10 candidates were running in the Tuesday primary, only about two others were considered serious competition for Graham, Norman and Fry: businessman Mark Lynch and Mark Sanford, whose governorship was plagued with scandals and who briefly ran against Trump in the 2020 presidential primaries.
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