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Reversing course, Arkansas pays $500 to Jewish doctor who refused to pledge not to boycott Israel
(JTA) – The state of Arkansas has paid $500 it had promised to a Jewish doctor, after withholding the payment for months because of the doctor’s refusal to sign a pledge promising not to boycott Israel.
The payment came after public pressure on the state to process the payment. The doctor, a longtime pro-Palestinian activist, plans to donate the money to the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace.
Steve Feldman, a dermatologist at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina, was entitled to the honorarium from the state after delivering a Zoom lecture in February to the University of Arkansas, Little Rock medical school. But Arkansas state law requires all public contractors to sign a pledge acknowledging they will not boycott Israel, which Feldman said conflicted with his religious and moral values.
The Arkansas law applies only to public contractors earning more than $1,000 in payments from the state, but officials had initially told Feldman that the mere act of adding him to the state’s vendor system would make him eligible for possible future payments that could bring his total beyond that number.
But in May, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said he believed Feldman was entitled to the payment.
“The law does not apply to Mr. Feldman as this was an honorarium, not a contract, and it doesn’t meet the $1,000 threshold even if it were a contract,” he said in a statement to Newsweek. “In any event, he should be paid.”
Feldman told JTA he believes Griffin’s position on the issue helped expedite his payment, as he received an invitation to join the state’s vendor system shortly afterward. “Shortly after the news about it came out, they must have figured out that what they were doing was illegal,” Feldman said.
The execution of his payment was announced June 1 in a joint press release by Jewish Voice for Peace and the Council on American Islamic Relations.
“We are so grateful for Dr. Feldman’s generous donation to our work – and will use it to continue our efforts toward a future of justice, equality and freedom for Palestinians, and for all people,” Stefanie Fox, executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace, said in the press release. Fox also praised Feldman for exercising “his constitutionally protected right to boycott.”
Arkansas’ law is one of dozens of state laws enacted in response to the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement targeting Israel. Earlier this year, the law survived a legal challenge brought by the Arkansas Times, a local publication, when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case. Similar laws in other states have been struck down by the courts for violating the First Amendment.
The laws’ supporters, including several pro-Israel groups, frame them as anti-discrimination laws that protect Jews and Israelis from being targeted for their religion or national origin. Some state legislators have borrowed the laws’ framework to bar state contractors from participating in other kinds of divestment campaigns, including against fossil fuels and the firearms industry.
Feldman added that his payment “hasn’t changed the mistreatment of Palestinian families yet, so I don’t feel very strongly about it one way or the other.” He gave his money to Jewish Voice for Peace because, he said, “I love those people. It’s one of those few Jewish organizations that, on this issue, is really following Jewish morality.”
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Egypt Accuses Israel of Daily Ceasefire Violations
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty attends a joint press conference with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in Cairo, Egypt March 1, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
i24 News – At the Doha Forum, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty called for the expedited deployment of an international stabilization force (ISF) in the Gaza Strip.
He argued that without such a presence on the ground, Israel is able to “violate the ceasefire every day,” while placing similar responsibility on Hamas.
Abdelatty urged that the ISF be positioned along the “Yellow Line,” the boundary established after Israel’s October 10 withdrawal that divides Gaza between Israeli-held territory and areas controlled by Hamas.
According to him, this proposal is gaining support among countries that might contribute troops, especially since many reluctant to deploy deep inside western Gaza’s “red zone.”
He emphasized that Egypt envisions a peacekeeping mission, not a peace-enforcement operation. Abdelatty suggested disarmament of Hamas could only be realistic if it occurred voluntarily, which he described as unlikely under current conditions.
During the forum, US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack stirred controversy by asserting that “Israel can claim it’s a democracy but in this region, what’s worked the best, whether you like it or you don’t like it, is a benevolent monarchy.”
Critics interpreted the remark as a challenge to democratic governance models in the Middle East and a tacit endorsement of authoritarian-style rule. Finally, Abdelatty also addressed the status of the Rafah crossing, closed since May 2024. He accused Israel of imposing unacceptable terms by allowing only one–way passage, enabling Palestinians to exit but not return. Egypt, he said, rejects any plan that reduces Rafah to “a gateway for displacement or expulsion.” Only medical evacuations should be permitted, and those evacuated must be allowed to return once treated.
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Report: Iran Abandoned Assad Two Days Before the Fall of His Regime
Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad attends the Arab League summit, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 19, 2023. Photo: Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – A Syrian military officer who had coordinated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards told AFP on Sunday that “Tehran abandoned Bashar al-Assad two days before the collapse of his regime.”
“We knew the situation was serious, but not at this level,” the officer said.
According to the report, following the fall of Aleppo to rebel forces, Iran halted its military involvement in Syria and evacuated approximately 4,000 fighters from the area.
The remarks follow an announcement by the United Nations on Friday stating that more than 1.2 million Syrian citizens have returned to the country over the past year, following the end of Assad’s rule.
Bashar al-Assad served as Syria’s president from 2000 until December 8, 2024, when he reportedly departed Damascus shortly before opposition forces entered and seized control of the capital. He later sought refuge in Russia. Assad has been widely accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the civil war that began in 2011, during which large numbers of civilians were killed or injured, including through the Syrian army’s use of chemical weapons.
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South Africa Revokes Visa-Free Access for Palestinians After Controversial Gaza Flight
Anti-Israel protesters march through the streets of the township of Lenasia in Johannesburg, South Africa, Oct. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ihsaan Haffejee
i24 News – South Africa has canceled its long-standing visa exemption for Palestinian passport holders following an investigation into a charter flight that brought 153 Gazans into Johannesburg without valid documentation.
Authorities say the operation was likely exploited by actors connected to Israeli “voluntary migration” initiatives.
Interior Minister Leon Schreiber told reporters that national security agencies determined there had been “deliberate and ongoing abuse” of the 90-day visa waiver.
The passengers, who arrived via Kenya, were neither tourists nor holders of tickets purchased independently. Investigators said the trip had been arranged by intermediaries who appeared ready to “abandon” the travelers upon arrival.
Authorities are also examining a similar case from October. Schreiber emphasized that revoking the exemption is “the most effective way to prevent the repetition of such flights” while ensuring that legitimate Palestinian travelers can visit South Africa safely. He added, “South Africa will not be complicit in any scheme aimed at exploiting or displacing Palestinians from Gaza.”
The decision follows widespread controversy over the charter flight, which reportedly held passengers onboard for 12 hours in difficult conditions before they were allowed entry. Some officials have pointed fingers at Israel for its role in the operation.
South African media reports identified the organization Al-Majd, linked to Israeli-Estonian national Tomer Yanar Lind, as the orchestrator of the transfer. The passengers were said to have traveled from Rafah to Israel’s Ramon Airport before flying via Kenya on a charter operated by the Romanian airline Flyyo. Many reportedly paid around $2,000 for the journey.
Little is publicly known about Al-Majd. Its website, registered only in February, contains information considered unreliable, and the organization’s claims of providing humanitarian assistance in East Jerusalem have not been independently verified.