GOOD NEWS

Biden Rule Mandates Collective Bargaining for Major Federal Building Projects

"The labor movement is putting high-wage, high-road labor standards into action and workers are rebuilding America, union strong," said the AFL-CIO.


Construction workers walk on scaffolding surrounding the U.S. Capitol Building on October 16, 2023 in Washington, DC.
(Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

JULIA CONLEY
Dec 18, 2023

About 200,000 U.S. construction workers will benefit from new collective bargaining requirements announced by President Joe Biden and Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su on Monday, as the administration unveiled a final rule implementing an executive order that was introduced last year.

Under the new rule, federal agencies will be required to enact project labor agreements (PLAs) for large-scale federal construction projects that cost $35 million or more.

The General Services Administration (GSA) officially has amended federal regulations under Executive Order 14063, and the new rule will go into effect 30 days from this coming Friday, when it is set to be published in the Federal Register.

With the PLA requirement in place, contractors, subcontractors, and unions will have to negotiate set terms for project construction, giving nearly 200,000 construction workers collectively bargained wages, benefits, and safety protections, regardless of their union membership status.

"In President Biden's America," said Su on Monday, "'union' is not a bad word. It's the reason America is strong."



Biden said that under the new rule, projects funded by his Investing in America jobs plan "will move faster and without delays."

"Workers will have the security and peace of mind that collectively bargained wages and benefits bring, better pathways to good-paying jobs, and stronger health and safety protections," said the president.

The announcement was made Monday at the Anthony J. Celebrezze Federal Building in Cleveland, Ohio, where the GSA is working to modernize the building to ensure veterans can receive support services.

"Contractors and unions at this site have entered into a PLA that helps the parties address the unique coordination challenges posed by large projects," said the White House in a fact sheet about the new rule. "The PLA covering the Celebrezze Federal Building project also supports equitable workforce development pathways into the trades and registered apprenticeship."

Sean McGarvey, president of North America's Building Trades Unions, said the new rule "is welcome news for the responsible use of taxpayer dollars" and the protection of workers who help complete federal projects.

"Project labor agreements ensure that large-scale projects are completed on time, with the highest quality, efficiency, and safety," said McGarvey. "Time and again, PLAs have proven to address labor supply issues, prevent work stoppages, protect workers' classification, strengthen health and safety standards, and achieve substantial, direct cost savings by standardizing contract terms for highly skilled craft workers."

"PLAs also boost community economies through local hiring goals and recruitment of workers into apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship job training programs," McGarvey added, "that uplift historically marginalized communities into middle-class construction careers."

Some borrowers given more time to take steps to qualify for student-debt forgiveness

Published: Dec. 18, 2023 
By  Jillian Berman

The Biden administration extended a previously looming deadline that could help more borrowers who have been paying for decades access relief

. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGE


Borrowers who have been paying on their loans for decades and are hoping to receive debt forgiveness under a Biden administration initiative now have more time to get their paperwork in order.

The Department of Education announced Monday that borrowers who need to consolidate their loans to become eligible for a debt-relief program will have until April 30, 2024 to do so. Through the initiative, known as the income-driven repayment account adjustment, the Department is making a one-time change to borrowers’ accounts, which will provide them with more credit towards debt forgiveness. Previously, the deadline was December 31, 2023.

The Biden administration has already canceled debt for nearly 901,000 borrowers through this program, which officials announced last year. In theory, borrowers using income-driven repayment plans should have their debt forgiven after at least 20 years in repayment, but for years that debt relief proved elusive, thanks in part to servicer errors, advocates and lawsuits claim.

In 2022, the Biden administration announced that it would review borrowers’ accounts for periods that should have counted towards forgiveness and adjust accordingly. But for borrowers to be eligible for this account adjustment they needed to have either Direct Loans or Family Federal Education Loans that are held by the Department of Education.

Borrowers with commercially-held loans and Perkins loans need to consolidate their debt into direct loans to qualify for the adjustment. Thanks to Monday’s announcement they have four more months to take that step.

“A lot more borrowers are going to have the option to get their loans cancelled,” thanks to the deadline extension, said Persis Yu, deputy executive director and managing counsel of the Student Borrower Protection Center, an advocacy group. “What I’m hoping is that it not only gives borrowers more time, but it gives the administration more time to get the word out so that borrowers can meaningfully take advantage of what is a really incredible opportunity.”

Officials expect to complete the account adjustment by July

The Department of Education expects to have reviewed and adjusted all of the payment counts by July 1, 2024, the agency said. Consolidating by April 30, 2024 will help eligible borrowers ensure they have access to the account adjustment. (Borrowers can fill out a consolidation application here).

Some borrowers who have been in repayment on their loans for at least 20 years will have their loans cancelled through the program and other borrowers who have been paying on their debt for less time can still benefit from the initiative. The Department of Education will be adjusting borrowers’ accounts to provide them more credit towards the payments needed to qualify for relief. That means some borrowers who don’t have their debt fully cancelled through the account adjustment will still get closer to forgiveness.

If these borrowers want their payments to count towards forgiveness going forward following the adjustment, they’ll need to be on an income-driven repayment plan, said Betsy Mayotte, the founder of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors. (Apply for an income-driven repayment plan here).

“If you want to count next month or you want to count the payment you make in July of 2025,” towards eventual forgiveness, you need to be on an income-driven plan, she said.

Most borrowers don’t need to take action

For most borrowers the adjustment will happen automatically and they won’t have to take any action. But there are a few types of borrowers who will need to consolidate before the April 30 deadline to access the relief. Borrowers can log on to their student-loan portal at StudentAid.gov to get a sense if they have the types of loans that need to be consolidated in order to qualify for the adjustment.

If you see a Perkins loan in your portal, you should consider consolidating, Mayotte said. If you have a loan that is still serviced by Navient or AES, you may want to consider consolidating to access the relief, according to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office.

A shortcut that can help borrowers know if they have loans that need to be consolidated to qualify for the adjustment? “If you have federal loans and you weren’t part of the federal payment pause then you probably have a commercially-held FFEL” Yu said, a type of loan that borrowers will need to consolidate to get access to the relief.

On the flip side, it’s very unlikely that borrowers who took on their loans after 2010 have loans that need to be consolidated to qualify for the program.

The income-driven repayment account adjustment is part of the Biden administration’s broader efforts to smooth out the pathway towards debt forgiveness for borrowers who are already eligible for relief under the law. So far, officials have announced $127 billion in cancellation for 3.6 million borrowers through these initiatives.

This is separate from the mass debt-forgiveness plan the Supreme Court struck down in June. The Biden administration is in the midst of a process to determine the scope of the new plan, but it will likely be more targeted than the previous version.

Milei Couples 'Total Crackdown' on Protest With Economic Shocks in Argentina

MILEI IS A FASCIST NOT A LIBERTARIAN

"Protest is elemental to Argentine social and political life, so it's not difficult to imagine how this ends," said one journalist.


Argentinian President Javier Milei looks on after the polls close in the presidential runoff election on November 19, 2023 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
(Photo: Tomas Cuesta/Getty Images)

JULIA CONLEY
Dec 15, 2023

As the human impact of Argentinian President Javier Milei's "shock treatment" to the South American country's economy became increasingly clear with rising prices on Thursday, Security Minister Patricia Bullrich announced what one journalist said were doubtlessly "preemptive" new controls on protests to discourage a struggling population from speaking out.

Bullrich said four security forces—the Federal Police, the Gendarmerie, the Naval Prefecture, and the Airport Security Police—will work together to stop protests that block streets and suggested the protocol is aimed only at ensuring "that people can live in peace" without demonstrators blocking traffic.

But as Progressive International co-general coordinator David Adler and others noted, the measures also include calls for armed forces to break labor strikes, create a national registry of people who organize protests, and sanctions against parents who bring their children to demonstrations.

The new package amounts to "a total crackdown on Argentine civil society," Adler said.

Bullrich's announcement came days after Milei, a far-right libertarian economist who has called the climate crisis "a socialist lie" and has been compared to former U.S. President Donald Trump, announced in the first weeks of his presidency an economic "shock treatment" package including a devaluation of the peso by 50%, from 400 pesos to the U.S. dollar to 820 pesos.

The administration also said it would cut public spending by closing some government ministries, increasing retirements ordered by decree, reducing energy and transportation subsidies, and freezing public works, with further "profound" measures expected in the future.

Milei claimed that with the spending cuts, government revenues will ultimately increase by 2.2 points, helping to confront an economic crisis in which annual inflation exceeds 160%, the country has a trade deficit of $43 billion, and $45 billion is owed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

But as Milei's "open heart surgery of the economy," as El País called the package, took hold, prices of some goods and services rose by 100% and some commuters worried that they will no longer to be able to afford their daily commutes it transit agencies are forced to raise prices due to lost subsidies.

"If [the bus fare] goes up, my salary will be spent on transport," Julia González, who takes three buses and a train to her job in downtown Buenos Aires, toldThe Associated Press.

About 40% of Argentinians live below the poverty line and more than 9% are destitute, reported El País, with incomes insufficient to buy food.

Economist Juan Manuel Telechea told the outlet that monthly inflation could reach 30-40% due to the devaluation and that social aid will be "highly insufficient."

Presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni said of the economy Wednesday that Milei "found a patient in intensive care about to die," but one trade unionist told El País the president is "exaggerating the inherited crisis situation to justify inadmissible measures, which will increase poverty levels in Argentina above 50% in a matter of days."

"The mega-devaluation that is being carried out is a matter of concern because it may devolve into hyperinflation," Pato Laterra, an economist at the National University of La Plata, told the newspaper.

Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said last month that Argentina's current economic crisis is the result of right-wing former President Mauricio Macri's administration, which took out the largest loan ever from the IMF and pushed the economy into a recession, with poverty and inflation rising by 50% or more.

"But a crazed, economically suicidal approach would only make things worse—and as Argentina has experienced, things can get a lot worse," said Weisbrot. "Milei displays a callous disregard for most people's living standards, values, and well-being, as well as a commitment to widely discredited economic policies, that is unprecedented."

Jacob Sugarman of the Buenos Aires Heraldsaid Wednesday that it remains to be seen "how long Argentine society is willing to tolerate this kind of pain" and suggested that Bullrich's announcement of a crackdown on dissent is likely to further anger the public.




"Protest is elemental to Argentine social and political life, so it's not difficult to imagine how this ends," said Sugarman, "especially with Bullrich announcing that the government will use federal forces including the National Military Police to break picket lines."

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

Pentagon announces mission to counter attacks on commercial vessels in Red Sea, with help of allies including Canada

TARA COPP AND LOLITA C. BALDOR

MANAMA, BAHRAIN

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PUBLISHED 3 HOURS AGO

Open this photo in gallery:

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin makes a joint statement with Israel Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, after their meeting about Israel's military operation in Gaza, in Tel Aviv on Dec. 18.MAYA ALLERUZZO/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The U.S. and a host of other nations, including Canada, are creating a new force to protect ships transiting the Red Sea that have come under attack by drones and ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced early Tuesday in Bahrain.

The seriousness of the attacks, several of which have damaged the vessels, has led multiple shipping companies to order their ships to hold in place and not enter the Bab el-Mandeb Strait until the security situation can be addressed.

“This is an international challenge that demands collective action,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in statement released just after midnight in Bahrain. “Therefore today I am announcing the establishment of Operation Prosperity Guardian, an important new multinational security initiative.”

The United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain will join the U.S. in the new mission, Austin announced. Some of the countries will conduct joint patrols while others provide intelligence support in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Several other countries have also agreed to be involved in the operation but prefer not to be publicly named, a defence official said on the condition of anonymity to discuss additional details of the new mission that have not been publicly announced.

The mission will be co-ordinated by the already existing Combined Task Force 153, which was set up in April 2022 to improve maritime security in the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb and the Gulf of Aden. There have been 39 member nations in CTF 153, but officials were working to determine which of them would participate in this latest effort.

Separately, the United States has also called on the United Nations Security Council to take action against the attacks.

In a letter to council members obtained Monday by the Associated Press, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Houthi attacks targeting commercial vessels legally transiting the international waterways continue to threaten “navigational rights and freedoms, international maritime security, and international commerce.”

The 15 council members discussed the Houthi threat behind closed doors Monday but took no immediate action.

Three U.S. warships – the USS Carney and the USS Mason, Navy destroyers – have been moving through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait daily to help deter and respond to attacks from the Houthis.

The move to set up the expanded operation came after three commercial vessels were struck by missiles fired by Iranian-back Houthis in Yemen on Dec. 3. Those attacks were part of an escalating campaign of violence that also included armed and other drones launched in the direction of U.S. warships.

To date the U.S. has not struck back at the Iranian-back Houthis operating in Yemen or targeted any of the militants’ weapons or other sites. On Monday Austin did not answer a question as to why the Pentagon had not conducted a counterstrike.

UK to join US-led operation to safeguard Red Sea amid rebel attacks - as BP halts oil shipments over security concerns

18 December 2023, 22:14 | Updated: 19 December 2023

The United Kingdom is to join an American-led operation to defend the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the US has announced.

Yemen's Houthis are warning that they will target cargo vessels sailing through the Red Sea. Picture: Getty

By Kieran Kelly  @kellyjourno

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has said that a rise in rebel attacks in the Red Sea were an "international challenge that demands collective action".

A series of raids have been carried out in the Red Sea over the last few weeks, including drone and ballistic missile attacks, coming from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

The Houthi group, based in Yemen, is backed by Iran and openly supports Hamas.

The United Kingdom will be joined by Canada, France, Italy, Bahrain, the Netherlands, Seychelles, Spain, and Norway in the US-led coalition.

Other participating nations have chosen to remain anonymous.

"Today I am announcing the establishment of Operation Prosperity Guardian, an important new multi-national security initiative," Mr Austin said today.

It comes after BP announced that it had halted oil shipments through the Red Sea amid growing concerns over rebel attacks.

Yemen's Huthi-affiliated security forces stand guard during a march in solidarity with the people of Gaza in the capital Sanaa. Picture: Getty

BP said it had witnessed a "deteriorating security situation" for its shipments.

Iranian-backed Houthi militants are understood to be targeting ships using the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, with the pro-Hamas group seeking to disrupt ships set for Israel.

"In our trading & shipping business, as in all BP businesses, the safety and security of our people and those working on our behalf is BP's priority," a spokesperson for BP said.

"In light of the deteriorating security situation for shipping in the Red Sea, BP has decided to temporarily pause all transits through the Red Sea.

"We will keep this precautionary pause under ongoing review, subject to circumstances as they evolve in the region."

Several shipping firms have already paused container shipments through the area due to the surge in attacks.

Danish firm Maersk said it would suspend its activity in the region following a near miss involving one of its ships on Thursday.

Guy Platten, Secretary-general of the International Chamber of Shipping, told LBC News: “Shipping companies are evaluating the situation on an hour-by hour-basis.

"We heard on Friday and Saturday that Maersk, MSC, Hapag Lloyd amongst others have all paused traffic going through the Red Sea.

"We know others are considering their options as well and quite frankly we're deploring the actions of what's going on.

"It's flagrant breach of international law and the concern of shipping companies is going to be about their seafarers and that's why they're rapidly evaluating the situation."

It comes after a British-owned ship was previously hit by a missile in the Red Sea.

The Bahamas-flagged Unity Explorer, which is owned by a British company, was one of three commercial vessels targeted in a drone and missile assault at the start of the month.

US military Central Command said the ship sustained minor damage in the attack.

Latest Ship Under Attack in the Red Sea Hijacked by Somali Pirates

By Charles Kennedy - Dec 18, 2023

The latest ship to come under attack in the Red Sea near the Yemeni coast has turned out to have been hijacked by Somali pirates.

The initial reports suggested the MV Ruenm a bulk carrier sailing under a Maltese flag, had become the latest target of the Houthis who vowed to strike any vessel bound for Israeli ports.

Now, reports over the weekend are saying that the ship was heading to Somalia. It had sent a distress signal on Thursday saying six people had boarded it and the Indian Navy sent an anti-privacy patrol ship and a patrol aircraft to track the ship’s movement, the AP reported. So far, nobody has claimed responsibility for the hijacking.

Earlier, the Telegraph reported that the hijacked ship was heading to the Yemeni coast, suggesting there could be cooperation between the Houthis and the Somali pirates.

The string of Houthi missile and drone attacks on vessels in the waters off the Yemeni coast have triggered an industry response that has basically consisted of a warning for vessels to avoid the Bab el Mandeb strait.

Maersk Tankers, a Danish firm separate from the global shipping giant Moller-Maersk, said it had advised its fuel tankers to bypass the strait to avoid an attack. Then Moller-Maersk said it would stop moving container ships through the Red Sea until further notice, following an attack on one of its ships.

MSC, the largest container shipper, also said it would no longer use the Red Sea and the Suez Canal after it, too, became a target. The company said the change will be in effect “until the Red Sea passage is safe.”

Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd, meanwhile, said last Friday it had paused all sailings through the Red Sea until today. “Then we will decide for the period thereafter,” a spokesperson for the company said.

Not using the Suez Canal means container ships and other vessels would now have to go around Cape Good Hope, which adds days to the journey and, as a result, increases freight costs.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

Norwegian ship hit by 'unidentified object' in Red Sea shortly after BP suspends operations

No injuries have been reported on board the Norwegian ship.
 

A NORWEGIAN SHIP was hit by an “unidentified” object this afternoon in the Red Sea, as a series of shipping companies have suspended transit in the region following Yemeni rebel attacks

British energy giant BP was the latest of a litany of companies who have suspended transits through the Red Sea, after Yemen’s Huthi rebels targeted Israel with missiles.

Shortly after the company announced it was suspending operations, Norway’s Inventor Chemical Tankers confirmed that one of the ships in its fleet had been struck by an “unidentified object”.

“Fortunately, there were no injuries to any members of the Indian crew, and the vessel has reported limited damage to the vessel,” the owner of the ship said in a statement.

Earlier a statement from BP said that in light of a “deteriorating security situation for shipping in the Red Sea” the company has decided to temporarily pause all transits in the region.

“We will keep this precautionary pause under ongoing review, subject to circumstances as they evolve in the region,” it added.

BP said the safety and security of its staff was a “priority” of theirs.

The rebels have previously fired at passing ships in the Red Sea in a show of solidarity with Hamas.

The series of attacks has led a number of major shipping companies to avoid the maritime chokepoint and redirect their vessels around Africa, a longer and far more costly route.

During a visit to Israel on Sunday, France’s foreign minister insisted that the attacks in the Red Sea “cannot go unanswered”.

Catherine Colonna added that her country was “studying several solutions”, including a “defensive role to prevent” further attacks.

Two major shipping firms, Mediterranean Shipping Company and CMA CGM, suspended at the weekend passage through the strait seen as vital for global trade.

The announcement by Italian-Swiss giant MSC and France’s CMA CGM followed a similar decision Friday by two of the world’s largest shipping companies, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd.

The announcements were in response to a warning by the Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who control much of Yemen but are not recognised internationally.

The Huthis said they were targeting vessels near the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait to pressure Israel over its devastating war with Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

Thousands of ships every year transit through the strait, which runs between Yemen, on the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, and the African continent.

The tensions have added to fears that the Gaza conflict could spread.

© AFP 2023

 

ICELAND
Call For National Broadcaster To Take Stand Against Israel Participation In Eurovision

Published December 12, 2023



Words by
Catharine Fulton
Photo by
RÚV/Ragnar Visage

The board of the Icelandic Society of Authors and Composers (FTT) is publicly urging Iceland’s national broadcaster RÚV to withdraw from the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest unless Israel is banned from participating.

In a statement addressed to RÚV General Director Stefán Eiríksson on Monday, FTT’s board “calls on RÚV not to participate in Eurovision in 2024 unless Israel is denied participation in the competition on the same grounds as Russia in the last competition.”

“We all have a duty to take a stand against war and the killing of civilians and innocent children. We always have the choice not to put our name to such things, whether we are individuals or state institutions,” it continues. “We owe it to those nations that act with force through military might not to share the stage in an event that is always characterized by joy and optimism.”

The statement was signed by FTT board members Bragi Valdimar Skúlason, Védís Hervör Árnadóttir, Sóley Stefánsdóttir, Ragnheiður Gröndal, Andri Ólafsson, Hallur Ingólfsson and Hildur Kristín Stefánsdóttir.

Russia was banned from competing in the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, Italy, after Finland took a stand and said they would not send a contestant if Russia were permitted to participate. Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Terrorist organisation Hamas launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking another 240 hostage in Gaza. Israel has since launched an air and ground offensive on the occupied Palestinian territory, killing more than 17,000 people — 70% of which are women and children, according to Palestinian authorities. Israel’s ongoing offensive has seen 81% of Gaza’s population of 1.7 million people displaced from their homes, worsening the humanitarian crisis in the Israel-controlled enclave.

The 68th edition of the song contest is slated to take place in Malmö, Sweden, from May 7 to 11 following Loreen winning the 2023 context in Liverpool, U.K., with her song “Tattoo.”

Biden Approval Hits Record Low in New Poll as He Rushes Weapons to Israel

Biden’s approval has dropped by 10 percent since July.

By Sharon Zhang ,

TRUTHOUT

PublishedDecember 18, 2023

President Joe Biden speaks about Bidenomics at CS Wind on November 29, 2023, in Pueblo, Colorado.

MICHAEL CIAGLO / GETTY IMAGES


Only one-third of Americans approve of President Joe Biden, a new poll finds, with his approval reaching the lowest point of his presidency as his administration works to rush weapons to Israel to aid its genocidal siege of Gaza.

According to a Monmouth University poll released on Monday, Biden’s approval has hit a mere 34 percent, with 61 percent of respondents saying they disapprove of his performance. This is Biden’s lowest approval rate so far, according to Monmouth, with his next-lowest rating being 36 percent recorded in June of 2022, amid record inflation.

Monmouth University Polling Institute President Patrick Murray chalks the result up to inflation rates in his analysis of the results. However, inflation rates do not explain the poll’s finding that Biden’s approval had crept back up to 44 percent in July of 2023 — but has since plummeted by 10 points, even as inflation has remained steady through this year. Further, in that time, those who disapproved of how Biden handles inflation appear to have increased from 62 percent in July to 68 percent in the most recent poll.

The poll didn’t ask respondents about Israel’s assault, nor did it survey on foreign policy in general, rather only asking about Biden’s performance on employment, infrastructure, climate and immigration — many of which did see an increase in disapproval over previous months by a few percentage points.

However, other recent polls have suggested that Biden’s staunch support of Israel’s brutal war on Gaza could be a major factor in his plummeting approval rating. A Pew Research poll conducted around the same time frame as the Monmouth poll found that 21 percent of Americans say that Biden is “favoring Israelis too much” in his current policies, while only 16 percent said he was “favoring Palestinians too much.” Further, 45 percent of Democrats said that Israel is “going too far” in its assault, with only 18 percent saying Israel is taking the “right approach” and 8 percent saying they aren’t going far enough.

RELATED STORY

NEWS |

HUMAN RIGHTS

Expert: Biden Remark on Israel’s “Indiscriminate Bombing” Could Incriminate Him

“Biden is in effect conceding that the Israeli military is committing war crimes,” the international law expert said.

By Sharon Zhang , TRUTHOUTDecember 15, 2023

Similarly, a Reuters/Ipsos poll released last month found that public support for Israel had collapsed by nearly 10 points since Israel’s current assault began, with only 32 percent saying that they support Israel. Even prior to Israel’s current assault, polls found that Americans in Biden’s base were increasingly opposed to Israel’s violence and apartheid regime in Palestine; in a Gallup poll in March, more Democrats said they sympathize with Palestine than with Israel for the first time.

Meanwhile, numerous polls have found that the vast majority of voters support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. A Data for Progress poll earlier this month found that 61 percent of voters, including 76 percent of Democrats, favor this path.

Perhaps tellingly of voters’ views of Biden’s actions, a strong majority of voters also said that the U.S. should only supply Israel with aid if its military efforts meet U.S. human rights standards, with 76 percent of Democrats in agreement.

While many voters feel that human rights should be prioritized in Gaza, the Biden administration has seemingly not concerned themselves with human rights at all, in terms of where it’s directing military support. For 11 weeks, Israel has blocked food, water, electricity and humanitarian aid from entering Gaza; it has relentlessly bombed the region, bombing schools, hospitals and refugee camps; and it has killed nearly 20,000 Palestinians, killing civilians at a rate nearly unparalleled in any other modern conflict.

The Biden administration’s response has been to simply acknowledge in public that Israel has been potentially committing war crimes — while working in the background to covertly send weapons to Israel and crush dissent within the administration to do so. Reports have confirmed that Israel has been using these weapons to extensively to bombard Gaza.


This article is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), and you are free to share and republish under the terms of the license.

SHARON ZHANG is a news writer at Truthout covering politics, climate and labor. Before coming to Truthout, Sharon had written stories for Pacific Standard, The New Republic, and more. She has a master’s degree in environmental studies. She can be found on Twitter: @zhang_sharon.

Israel Is Starving Gaza Civilians as 'Method of Warfare': Human Rights Watch

"It's critical to understand this is not simply a byproduct of the conflict, an unfortunate result of a terrible situation," said one campaigner. "It is Israeli government policy."

A view of empty shelves are seen at a supermarket amidst Israel's bombardments as Palestinians have trouble finding necessary food in Khan Yunis, Gaza on November 11, 2023.
(Photo: Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu via Getty Images)

JULIA CONLEY
Dec 18, 2023

From bombing food production hubs and systematically razing crop fields to halting aid deliveries, Israel is waging a multi-pronged effort to starve the people of Gaza amid the Israel Defense Forces' bombardment of the enclave, Human Rights Watch said in a report Monday—with evidence drawn from the Israeli government's own statements as well as survivors' accounts.

The group demanded that countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and others that have provided Israel with military aid and other support since the country began its latest escalation against Gaza in October speak out against the use of starvation as a weapon of warfare—a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

"For over two months, Israel has been depriving Gaza's population of food and water, a policy spurred on or endorsed by high-ranking Israeli officials and reflecting an intent to starve civilians as a method of warfare," said Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch (HRW). "World leaders should be speaking out against this abhorrent war crime, which has devastating effects on Gaza's population."



HRW pointed to satellite imagery it has collected in northern Gaza since the IDF began its air and ground assault in retaliation for an attack by Hamas on southern Israel on October 7.

The images have shown orchards, greenhouses, and farmland that have been razed over the last two months, "apparently by Israeli forces, compounding concerns of dire food insecurity."

Only sand and dirt have been left behind where farmers in northeastern Gaza grew citrus, potatoes, dragon fruit, and prickly pear since Israeli forces took control of the area in mid-November and "systematically razed" the fields, said the group.

Palestinians in Gaza, home to about 2.3 million people, have lost the ability to grow their own food as Israel has refused to allow food, water, and fuel deliveries into the enclave, leaving bakeries and grocery store shelves empty.

Before the Israeli bombardment began, about 500 aid trucks filled with food and other goods entered Gaza on a daily basis to provide sustenance amid Israel's unlawful occupation and its land, air, and sea blockade that began 16 years ago. Israel has allowed only 100 aid trucks to cross through Egypt's Rafah crossing since October 7. The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lynn Hastings, said earlier this month that fuel deliveries—needed for farming, cooking, water desalination, healthcare operations, and other necessities—have been "utterly insufficient."

Prior to the current escalation, about half of Gaza's population was facing acute food insecurity and 80% were reliant on humanitarian aid.

The World Food Program (WFP) at the U.N. said earlier this month that 9 in 10 households in northern Gaza and 2 in 3 homes in the south had been without food for at least one full day and night since Israel's assault. It also warned that 38% of families who had been displaced from their homes in northern Gaza were experiencing "severe levels of hunger" and that the enclave faces a "high risk of famine."

"It's critical to understand this is not simply a byproduct of the conflict, an unfortunate result of a terrible situation. It is Israeli government policy," said Andrew Stroehlein, European media and editorial director for HRW.

In addition to the halting of aid and the destruction of Gaza's agricultural sector, the last operational wheat mill was bombed on November 15 ensureing "that locally produced flour will be unavailable in Gaza for the foreseeable future," said HRW.

The group interviewed 11 civilians who described their struggles with finding sufficient food in recent weeks.


A man identified as Taher said that after his family fled south to Gaza City in November, they resorted to eating "just once a day to survive."


"The city was out of everything, of food and water," he told HRW. "If you find canned food, the prices were so high... We were running out of money. We decided to just have the necessities, to have less of everything."

Majed, who left his home in the north after his house was bombed, killing his six-year-old son, said he, his wife, and their four surviving children had no way of making bread for more than a month when they temporarily stayed in Gaza City.


"In those 33 days we didn't have bread because there was no flour," he said. "There was no water—we were buying water, sometimes for $10 a cup. It wasn't always drinkable. Sometimes, [the water we drank] was from the bathroom and sometimes from the sea. The markets around the area were empty. There wasn't even canned food."

HRW noted that the Israeli government itself has made numerous statements in recent weeks pointing to the deliberate destruction of Gaza's food access and the starvation of civilians.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant infamously called Palestinians in Gaza "human animals" when he announced the "complete siege" and cutting off of aid into the enclave on October 9.

"No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel—everything is closed," Gallant said.

Col. Yogev Bar-Shesht, deputy head of the Civil Administration, said in an interview that eliminating Palestinians' ability to grow food is a deliberate tactic.

"Whoever returns here, if they return here after, will find scorched earth," he said. "No houses, no agriculture, no nothing. They have no future."

HRW's report came as the death toll in Gaza hit at least 19,453, with more than 50,800 injured and thousands believed to be buried underneath rubble.

Article 54(1) of the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions and Article 14 of the Second Additional Protocol both prohibit starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.

"Although Israel is not a party to Protocols I or II, the prohibition is recognized as reflective of customary international humanitarian law in both international and noninternational armed conflicts," said HRW.

The worsening humanitarian catastrophe, and Israel's refusal to operate within the bounds of international law, "calls for an urgent and effective response from the international community," said Shakir.


"The Israeli government is compounding its collective punishment of Palestinian civilians and the blocking of humanitarian aid," he said, "by its cruel use of starvation as a weapon of war."

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JULIA CONLEY is a staff writer for Common Dreams.

Auschwitz Museum Decries Israeli Mayor's 'Sick' Call to 'Empty' Gaza

"We do hope that Israeli authorities will react to such shameful abuse, as terrorism can never be a response to terrorism."


An infamous sign reading "Work Sets You Free" stands at the gate to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland.
(Photo: John Karwoski/flickr/cc)

BRETT WILKINS
Dec 18, 2023

The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland on Sunday decried what critics called genocidal remarks by the mayor of an Israeli town who said all of Gaza should be ethnically cleansed of Palestinians and turned into a museum like the notorious Nazi death camp.

"The whole Gaza Strip needs to be empty. Flattened. Just like in Auschwitz," Metula Mayor David Azoulai said in a radio interview on Sunday, according toThe Times of Israel. "Let it be a museum for all the world to see what Israel can do. Let no one reside in the Gaza Strip for all the world to see, because October 7 was in a way a second Holocaust."

In response, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim, southern Poland wrote on social media that "David Azoulai appears to wish to use the symbol of the largest cemetery in the world as some sort of a sick, hateful, pseudo-artistic, symbolic expression."

"Calling for acts that seem to transgress any civil, wartime, moral, and human laws, that may sound as a call for murder of the scale akin to Auschwitz, puts the whole honest world face-to-face with a madness that must be confronted and firmly rejected," the museum added. "We do hope that Israeli authorities will react to such shameful abuse, as terrorism can never be a response to terrorism."



Last month, the museum posted a statement from the International Auschwitz Council—whose members include Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum director Piotr Cywiński—supporting Israel's war on Gaza, which according to Palestinian and United Nations officials has now killed, maimed, or left missing more than 70,000 people, mostly women and children.

Numerous Israeli political and military leaders—as well as journalists, pundits, celebrities, and others—have made statements that critics have called incitement to or supportive of genocide in response to the Hamas-led attacks that killed more than 1,100 Israelis and others on October 7.

In a televised October speech, far-right Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invoked Amalek, the ancient biblical enemy of the Israelites whom God commanded the Jews to exterminate. Israeli President Isaac Herzog asserted that there are no innocent civilians in Gaza, while Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vowed to "eliminate everything" there.

Last month, Israeli Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter declared that "we are now rolling out the Great Nakba," a reference to the ethnic cleansing, sometimes by massacre and death march, of over 750,000 Arabs from Palestine during the establishment of the modern state of Israel 75 years ago.

Members of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, have called for Gaza to be "wiped off the map," bombed with nuclear weapons, and burned to the ground.

Numerous U.S. politicians, including Republican presidential candidate and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, have echoed Israeli calls for genocidal violence against Palestinians.

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

BRETT WILKINS is a staff writer for Common Dreams.