Israel's Gaza City Takeover, Vowing to Win Longest War
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The Hill
9 minutes ago
- The Hill
Dangerous nostalgia: Trump wants to turn back time
In the 1978 film 'Superman,' the hero performs many impossible feats, including traveling backward in time by flying around Earth at super speed. Donald Trump, who seems to fancy himself an all-powerful Super President, appears eager to go back in time as well in an effort to return America to 'the good old days' of his youth. Trump was born in 1946, eight years after Superman made his comic book debut. Discrimination based on race, sex and other characteristics was widespread and legal. Most schools taught children a whitewashed version of America's story, glossing over racism and largely ignoring the achievements of people of color. Movies usually portrayed Black people as slaves, servants, cowards, criminals or buffoons. Consequently, 'the good old days' for Trump — born rich, white and male — were 'the bad old days' for many people of color, women, LGBT individuals and those not born to wealth and privilege. Obstacles to advancement facing these Americans — among them my Black parents — were far greater than they are today. Trump grew up at a time when white men dominated the ranks of most professions and elected offices far more than they do now. Only about 34 percent of women were in the workforce in 1950, compared with 57 percent today. Key civil rights laws were not enacted until Trump was in his late teens and 20s. They include the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which together outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin in federally funded programs, employment, public accommodations, voting and housing. America has made great progress to become a more just and equitable society since Trump was born. But now the president is sparing no effort to roll back that progress and harm millions of Americans. Trump is obsessed with ending programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. He has falsely denounced DEI programs as illegal discrimination against white people and men, when in truth they simply open the doors to the American dream a little wider to take advantage of the talents of all Americans. Trump's Department of Education is investigating more than 50 universities for their DEI programs and has cut billions of dollars in federal funding to higher education, prompting schools to end DEI efforts in hopes of restoring aid. Trump has halted DEI programs in the federal government and demanded a halt to DEI in the private sector. The Republican majority on the Federal Communications Commission required that Paramount (parent company of CBS) and the movie studio Skydance agree to not operate DEI programs as a condition for approving the companies' $8 billion merger. The president seems to believe that white Americans — particularly white men — are hired for jobs based on merit, while many people of color and women are less qualified and get into college and jobs primarily because of DEI. He has forced highly qualified federal officials and members of the military who are not white men out of their jobs. Trump fired the chairman of the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, a Black man, after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth vowed to end DEI in the military and claimed Brown placed a higher priority on DEI than on the effectiveness of the armed forces. The first women to head the Coast Guard and the Navy were both forced out of their jobs, as were women who served as the senior military assistant to Hegseth and the head of the Defense Health Agency. Trump successfully pushed Kim Sajet, the director of the National Portrait Gallery, to resign after denouncing her as 'a strong supporter of DEI' and fired Carla Hayden, the first woman and first Black person to head the Library of Congress. The president and the Republican-controlled Congress have turned back the clock on American progress in many other ways. The White House launched a program designed to deport millions of unauthorized immigrants, reminiscent of Operation Wetback, which deported an estimated 1 million people to Mexico in 1954, including some who were in the U.S. legally. The administration is seeking to increase U.S. oil, natural gas and coal production, along with nuclear power generation, by reducing environmental protection regulations imposed starting in the 1970s. Trump and Congress have also cut federal support for renewable energy programs enacted under the Biden administration. Trump has called global warming a Chinese hoax designed 'to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.' The White House and Congress eliminated all $1.1 billion in previously approved funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which was created under a law enacted in 1967 to help fund PBS, NPR and their member stations. The Corporation soon announced that it would be shuttering. Nostalgia is a powerful emotion. It is understandable that Trump has fond memories of growing up rich in a world of white male privilege before most Americans alive today were born. But nostalgia should not drive public policy. Our country has achieved greatness because — until now — our leaders have been focused on the future, rather than fixated on recreating the days of their youth. Christopher Reeve's portrayal of Superman traveling back in time was great entertainment. But it was fantasy. We need a president who accepts reality and works to build an inclusive and equitable future for everyone in our diverse population.
NBC News
10 minutes ago
- NBC News
Netanyahu says starvation claims in Gaza are exaggerated as backlash mounts over plans for new Israeli offensive
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came under pressure from all sides Sunday as his controversial plan to seize Gaza City drew backlash inside his government and on the streets of Israel, while malnutrition deaths in the Gaza Strip continued to climb. At a press conference on Sunday, a defiant Netanyahu continued to deny there is starvation in Gaza and claimed the situation is being exaggerated. Netanyahu only conceded there was 'deprivation' in Gaza, but said 'no one in Gaza would have survived after two years of war' if Israel was implementing a 'starvation policy.' Netanyahu went on to defend the new military offensive, saying Israel had 'no choice' but to 'finish the job' and 'defeat Hamas,' while claiming that "hundreds of aid trucks have gone into Gaza." But his critics on the left say his proposed new military offensive is likely to worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and further endanger the hostages still being held by Hamas. Protests calling for an immediate ceasefire drew thousands of people Saturday night in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities. And for some far-right members of Netanyahu's coalition government, the plan isn't tough enough. Foreign Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has pushed for Israel to impose sovereignty over Gaza, called it a 'foolish' half-measure, saying in a video message Saturday night that he did not support it. Smotrich said the proposed offensive was intended to pressure Hamas into agreeing to a temporary ceasefire, and that instead Israel needed a 'sharp, clear path' to victory over Hamas. The dissatisfaction expressed by Smotrich, who said he had 'lost faith' in the prime minister, threatens to destabilize Netanyahu's fragile coalition. Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid seized on the opportunity, calling on Smotrich to join him in advancing a bill to dissolve parliament and hold new elections. 'In your own words, you admitted that the prime minister's policy is not leading to a decisive outcome in Gaza, is not returning our hostages, and is not winning the war,' Lapid said in a statement, according to the Times of Israel. 'You also added that you can no longer stand behind the prime minister and back him up.' The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting later Sunday to discuss Israel's proposed offensive, which has been condemned by Britain, France, Australia and other Western governments. James Kariuki, the U.K.'s deputy permanent representative to the U.N., called on Israel to reverse its decision, saying the plan "will only deepen the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza." It comes amid a worsening hunger crisis in Gaza, where humanitarian aid has been limited since Israel lifted a two-and-a-half-month blockade in May. The Gaza Health Ministry said Sunday that five more people, including two children, had died from malnutrition and starvation in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 217, including 100 children. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said Thursday that at least 99 people in Gaza, including 29 children under age 5, have died from malnutrition this year, noting the real toll was most likely higher. The U.N. and other international organizations say the humanitarian aid arriving in Gaza through air drops and on a small number of trucks is far from sufficient to feed the enclave's population of 2 million people. On Saturday, a 14-year-old boy named Muhannad Eid died after being struck by an aid package that was airdropped over Gaza, his brother, Muhammad Eid, said. 'This is an aerial humiliation, not aid,' Eid said. 'We need protection. We want international protection.' With the latest death, 23 people have now been killed during airdrops since the Israel-Hamas war began 22 months ago, according to the Gaza government media office. 'We have repeatedly warned of the danger of these inhumane methods and have repeatedly called for the safe and adequate entry of aid through land crossings,' it said in a statement. According to local health officials, more than 61,000 Palestinians, including thousands of children, have been killed since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023, with Hamas's terrorist attack on Israel. During that attack, Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people and abducted 251 others. Of the 50 hostages still being held by Hamas, Israel believes about 20 are alive. Hostage advocates and Netanyahu's own army chief have warned that expanded military operations could put their lives in danger. The plan, which Netanyahu's government announced Friday, outlines five goals for ending the war: disarming Hamas, returning all hostages, demilitarizing Gaza, taking security control of the area, and establishing 'an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority.' Those preparations are expected to take weeks or months, a delay that hardliners in the Israeli government fear could leave room for a diplomatic solution that would undermine their objectives. Experts have also questioned whether the plan would protect Israelis, or work at all. Michael Milshtein, head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University's Dayan Center, said the plan was full of 'hollow slogans.' 'There is a very common slogan: 'We will release the hostages and defeat Hamas at the same time,'' he said. 'You can't do both simultaneously. Hamas will execute them, or the IDF itself could in the bombing.' Netanyahu said Sunday that his goal was to get the hostages out alive and recover the remains of those had had died. "If we don't do anything, we are not going to get them out," he said. "The move I'm talking about has the possibility of getting them out." There are also questions as to who would run Gaza long term. Netanyahu said he intends to hand control of the territory to 'Arab forces,' adding Sunday that "several candidates" are being looked at for the establishment of a new "transitional authority." He has not specified who that could be, aside from saying it would not be Hamas or the Palestinian Authority. 'That leaves nobody,' said H.A. Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London. 'No Arab country is going to be Israel's enforcer on the ground.'
Time Magazine
10 minutes ago
- Time Magazine
Europe Casts Doubt on Trump-Putin Summit Without Ukraine
European leaders said peace talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska next week are unlikely to succeed without Ukraine's involvement. 'The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine,' a statement signed by the leaders of France, Italy, the U.K., Germany, Poland, and Finland read. 'We remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force. The current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations,' it continued. The public show of support for Kyiv came in response to Trump's announcement at the White House on Friday that he would hold a summit with his Russian counterpart to discuss a potential end to the war in Ukraine. The talks in Alaska will be the first time the leaders of the U.S. and Russia have met since 2021. Trump provoked a backlash from allies for excluding Ukraine from the meeting, but also for saying ahead of the talks that Kyiv would have to give up territory as part of a deal to end the fighting. 'We're going to get some back, and we're going to get some switched,' Trump said. 'There'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both.' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky quickly denounced the idea of giving up territory to Russia in a video address on Saturday, vowing that Ukraine would not 'gift their land to the occupier' and warning that any peace talks that didn't involve Kyiv would 'bring nothing.' The statement from European leaders backed Zelensky on both counts. Zelenskyy responded by thanking European allies in a post on X on Sunday: "The end of the war must be fair, and I am grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine and our people." Some reports indicate that Russia is demanding that Ukraine give up the Donbas region and Crimea in return for ending the war. Russia has already annexed Crimea and its forces occupy most of the Donbas and further swathes of eastern Ukraine. Matthew Whitaker, U.S. Ambassador to NATO, told CNN on Sunday that "No big chunks or sections are going to be just given that haven't been fought for or earned on the battlefield," without further elaborating. Three U.S. officials told NBC News that the White House is discussing inviting Zelensky to the summit, though decisions have not been finalized. The White House did not immediately respond to TIME's request for comment. European leaders have come to Ukraine's defense, condemning Russia's war in Ukraine and vowing to continue to provide military and financial support to Kyiv as necessary. Officials have also expressed a broader interest in including European leadership in peace negotiations due to concerns about the region's own security. 'We underline our unwavering commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity,' the statement added. 'We are united as Europeans and determined to jointly promote our interests. And we will continue to cooperate closely with President Trump and with the United States of America, and with President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine, for a peace in Ukraine that protects our vital security interests.'
