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Middle East Eye
01-08-2025
- General
- Middle East Eye
Displaced in Gaza: Recounting stories from the Gaza genocide
In this powerful new collection, 27 Palestinians from Gaza - students, mothers, fathers, grandparents, children and teachers - recount their experiences of being internally displaced in Gaza after Israel's invasion of Gaza and subsequent genocidal campaign. Published by Haymarket Books, in collaboration with the American Friends Service Committee and the Hashim Sani Center for Palestine Studies, the book offers raw, unfiltered voices from the heart of Gaza's ongoing nightmare. A searing chronicle of a people's suffering under genocide, it is also a celebration of their enduring humanity and hope. From the start, Displaced in Gaza makes clear that these stories are not mere accounts of pain and loss; they are assertions of identity, resilience and resistance. Reading the testimonies is an emotionally charged experience, one that leaves the reader shaken by the horrors described within. Palestinians in Gaza retrieve aid amid the Israeli-imposed siege on the territory in June (AFP)
Scoop
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Yousef Aljamal. The War On Memory, And Writing Through A Genocide.
Sitting opposite me in my black leather captain's chair, looking more like a bouncer than a writer, was Yousef Aljamal, co-author of Displaced in Gaza – stories from the Gaza Genocide. His eyes had the strangest mix of distance, sadness, humour and intelligence. I asked my first question. He just looked at me. He said nothing. I know his writing; he is a fine writer. That's what I asked about first: 'I see writing as fighting. Is that how you see it?' After an awkward pause (I think he was assessing me), he said: 'I see writing as an act of resistance, because in times of oppression and injustice, writing is a means of fighting back and resisting, but also documenting and remembering and healing.' The war on memory Yousef, a Palestinian refugee from Gaza, currently living in Turkey, is Coordinator at the Palestine Activism Program at the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). He holds a doctorate in Middle Eastern Studies. In 2023 Israel targeted and killed his friend and mentor Refaat Alareer, one of the great storytellers of Palestine (which is precisely why he was targeted). With Israel having killed more writers and journalists than any regime in history, Yousef has a vital role to play. 'When there is a war on our memory, writing and documenting is the way to keep the memory alive. There are many stories that have been lost throughout history because they have not been documented. I've seen this in the Maori history in this country. So it's very important that we keep the memory alive and we document the stories of people on the ground in Palestine who have been subjected to Nakba all the way to today, where a genocide is unfolding in Gaza.' Yousef personalises the most terrible word in the world I have never interviewed anyone who has lost so many friends, colleagues and family. It made visceral for me that word we hear a lot these days: genocide. It was a tough thing to sit and listen to – but Yousef delivered his message with genuine thoughtfulness. 'I just want people to imagine the magnitude of the genocide in Gaza by giving two examples. One: I have lost a total of 40 members of my family. Forty. Killed in Gaza. Two: starvation. I want you to imagine starvation. There are no aid distribution centres left in Gaza, there are kill zones. They are killing Palestinians while they are lining up to receive aid. 'There is no cash in Gaza and everything is crazy expensive. A sack of flour, we're talking about 25 kg of flour, costs $1,000 US dollars. So there is this level of desperation while thousands of aid trucks are at the border but not allowed to enter Gaza. Israel has redefined savagery and brutality.' Writing and the battle for truth We in the West have lived for decades with a crushing anti-Palestinian narrative, a fictionalising of what is really happening in Palestine. Yousef sees his writer's work as providing a truth serum. 'The US-Israeli storytelling was preparation for genocide. They had many plans over the years: they always wanted Gaza without Gazans. The propaganda that followed October 7 against the Palestinian people was unprecedented, and it was so scary because I knew that this language and this discourse used to describe Palestinians as human animals and to say that there should be no water, no fuel and no food for the Palestinian people in Gaza, that this language would definitely lead to a massacre and bloodshed and genocide in Gaza. And it happened.' Bringing Palestinian voices to New Zealand Sitting on my couch listening to the interview are human rights activists Don Carson, Donna McKenna and John Minto. John led the famous 1981 anti-South African Springbok rugby tour campaign that brought New Zealand to civil strife but ultimately led to the long overdue ending of New Zealand's alignment with the racist apartheid regime. Decades later John is working alongside Maher Nazzal as co-chair of Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa. PSNA have funded Yousef's tour and hosted him. 'We see our role in PSNA as bringing Palestinian voices to the fore,' John says. 'There is a wall of silence with our mainstream media. So the tour is part of addressing that – bringing Palestinian narratives to New Zealanders. There's been this real sea change which has happened over the last 18 months where so many people's eyes have been opened to the reality of what Israel is and its blind race hatred of Palestinians.' Don Carson, an old colleague of mine from our Radio New Zealand days, chips in: 'The fundamental thing is that Yousef speaks with a personal knowledge of what life is like in Gaza and the connections of people and family in Gaza. Yousef also has a unique understanding of the New Zealand environment because of his long-established contacts in this country.' Yousef visited 10 centres, including Whangarei, Whanganui, Katikati, Tamaki Makaurau, New Plymouth, Tauranga, Thames, Hamilton, Christchurch and Wellington. The New Zealand 'Street' is with Palestine 'I met with the Green caucus and the Labour caucus, and I met with Te Pāti Māori MPs – people from different political parties of the opposition,' Yousef says. 'who expressed absolute support for the Palestinian people in their struggle. We're navigating ways to materialize this support and this solidarity into actions that will hopefully contribute to changing the injustice taking place in Palestine. The solidarity was overwhelming, and I hope to see a real translation of this solidarity into concrete actions very soon. 'Change is slow, and building a movement takes time but the people – the New Zealand streets – are with us.' If I must die I'll give the last word not to Yousef but to another writer, his great friend, the poet Refaat Alareer whose poem If I Must Die has become a monument to resistance to the US-Israeli genocide. He wrote it to his daughter – about his kite – and released it the month before he was assassinated by an Israeli missile strike. If I must die, you must live to tell my story to sell my things to buy a piece of cloth and some strings, (make it white with a long tail) so that a child, somewhere in Gaza while looking heaven in the eye awaiting his dad who left in a blaze – and bid no one farewell not even to his flesh not even to himself – sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above and thinks for a moment an angel is there bringing back love If I must die let it bring hope let it be a tale. Rest in peace, Refaat. Arohanui. Thank you so much Yousef Aljamal and the great people of Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa. Eugene Doyle Eugene Doyle is a writer based in Wellington. He has written extensively on the Middle East, as well as peace and security issues in the Asia Pacific region. He hosts the public policy platform
The Journal
01-07-2025
- Politics
- The Journal
Trump tours cages at new immigrant detention camp in Florida Everglades
US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has visited a newly built detention camp in the Florida Everglades where people arrested in raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will be sent. The Trump administration has dubbed the facility 'Alligator Alcatraz' due to its location and Trump called it 'an amazing thing' while taking a tour past cages with bunk beds. The establishment of the camp has been condemned as inhumane by Trump's opponents and immigrant rights groups. 'It's like a theatricalization of cruelty,' Maria Asuncion Bilbao, Florida campaign coordinator at the immigration advocacy group American Friends Service Committee, told The Associated Press. The site on an abandoned airfield in the vast wetland will cost an estimated $450 million a year and house 1,000 people, Florida authorities have said. Trump tours the Florida facility with Governor Ron DeSantis and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who greeted Trump on the tarmac, said 'we want to cut through bureaucracy… to get the removal of these illegals done.' 'A lot of cops in the form of alligators – you don't have to pay them so much,' Trump told reporters in Ochopee, Florida. 'I wouldn't want to run through the Everglades for long. It will keep people where they're supposed to be.' Trump suggested that he would like to see similar detention camps in other US states. Advertisement 'And at some point, they might morph into a system,' he added. Trump also told reporters that his predecessor Joe Biden wanted to put him in a cage like the one he was standing next to. 'Biden wanted me here, the son of a bitch,' he said. "This is all because of an open border policy where 25 million people floated in." During a tour of Florida's new migrant detention facility, "Alligator Alcatraz," President @realDonaldTrump tears into the @JoeBiden administration for allowing open borders, forcing the Trump… — Fox News (@FoxNews) July 1, 2025 Protesters against Trump's immigration policies have been demonstrating outside the new Florida facility in recent days while environmentalists have criticised the creation of the camp in a conservation area. The Everglades National Park is particularly known as a major habitat for alligators, with an estimated population of around 200,000. Attacks by alligators on humans are relatively rare in Florida but Trump and his officials have played up the risk as the administration continues its make a spectacle of its crackdown on undocumented immigrants. The sweeping crackdown has featured mask-wearing agents who refuse to identify themselves abducting people from their places of work. Some people who the Trump administration claimed were members of criminal gangs were targeted in the initial round of raids but in recent weeks ICE agents have widened the net. As of last week, more than 58,000 immigrants were in ICE custody, according to internal data obtained by CNN. Today, the US Senate passed a spending bill that would allocate $45 billion to ICE. With reporting from AFP Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
CNN
26-06-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Not just ‘Alligator Alcatraz': DeSantis floats building another immigration detention center
Florida officials are pursuing plans to build a second detention center to house immigrants, as part of the state's aggressive push to support the federal government's crackdown on illegal immigration. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday he's considering standing up a facility at a Florida National Guard training center known as Camp Blanding, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Jacksonville in northeast Florida, in addition to the site under construction at a remote airstrip in the Everglades that state officials have dubbed ' Alligator Alcatraz.' The construction of that facility in the remote and ecologically sensitive wetland about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of downtown Miami is alarming environmentalists, as well as human rights advocates who have slammed the plan as cruel and inhumane. Speaking to reporters at an event in Tampa, DeSantis touted the state's muscular approach to immigration enforcement and its willingness to help President Donald Trump's administration meet its goal of more than doubling its existing 41,000 beds for detaining migrants to at least 100,000 beds nationwide. State officials have said the detention facility, which they've described as temporary, will rely on heavy-duty tents, trailers, and other impermanent buildings, allowing the state to operationalize 5,000 immigration detention beds by early July and free up space in local jails. 'I think the capacity that will be added there will help the overall national mission. It will also relieve some burdens of our state and local (law enforcement),' DeSantis said. Managing the facility 'via a team of vendors' will cost $245 a bed per day, or approximately $450 million a year, a U.S. official said. The expenses are to be incurred by Florida and reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In the eyes of DeSantis and other state officials, the remoteness of the Everglades airfield, surrounded by mosquito- and alligator-filled wetlands that are seen as sacred to Native American tribes, makes it an ideal place to detain migrants. 'Clearly, from a security perspective, if someone escapes, you know, there's a lot of alligators,' he said. 'No one's going anywhere.' Democrats and activists have condemned the plan as a callous, politically motivated spectacle. 'What's happening is very concerning, the level of dehumanization,' said Maria Asuncion Bilbao, Florida campaign coordinator at the immigration advocacy group American Friends Service Committee. 'It's like a theatricalization of cruelty,' she said. Advocates were already sounding the alarm about conditions at a federally-run detention center in South Florida, where reports have poured in about a lack of water and food, unsanitary confinement and medical neglect. DeSantis is relying on state emergency powers to commandeer the county-owned airstrip and build the compound, over the concerns of county officials, environmentalists and human rights advocates. Now the state is considering standing up another site at a National Guard training facility in northeast Florida as well. 'We'll probably also do something similar up at Camp Blanding,' DeSantis said, adding that the Florida Division of Emergency Management is 'working on that.' State officials have said they're drafting evacuation plans in the event detainees have to be relocated ahead of a natural disaster, as Florida braces for what forecasters have warned could be another unusually busy hurricane season. Hurricane preparations are happening at the same time as site development planning, a spokesperson for DeSantis said, adding that having emergency storm plans in place is 'standard procedure' for all state facilities. 'The facility will be evacuated if a tropical cyclone with windspeeds higher than the temporary facility's wind rating is forecasted to impact the area,' said Molly Best, deputy press secretary for DeSantis. She did not specify what the site's wind rating is. 'FDEM is coordinating with several partners on potential locations for relocation, but ultimately it will be scenario dependent based on facility population and the projected storm path,' Best said. The significant investment of resources into immigration enforcement by Florida's emergency management agency comes as some officials were already raising concerns about the department's ability to respond to disasters, as federal support for the work dwindles. Trump has said he'll begin 'phasing out' the federal agency that responds to disasters after the 2025 hurricane season, a change that will likely put more responsibilities on states to provide services following storms.
25-06-2025
- Politics
Florida Gov. DeSantis floats building another immigration detention center
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida officials are pursuing plans to build a second detention center to house immigrants, as part of the state's aggressive push to support the federal government's crackdown on illegal immigration. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday he's considering standing up a facility at a Florida National Guard training center known as Camp Blanding, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Jacksonville in northeast Florida, in addition to the site under construction at a remote airstrip in the Everglades that state officials have dubbed ' Alligator Alcatraz.' The construction of that facility in the remote and ecologically sensitive wetland about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of downtown Miami is alarming environmentalists, as well as human rights advocates who have slammed the plan as cruel and inhumane. Speaking to reporters at an event in Tampa, DeSantis touted the state's muscular approach to immigration enforcement and its willingness to help President Donald Trump's administration meet its goal of more than doubling its existing 41,000 beds for detaining migrants to at least 100,000 beds. State officials have said the detention facility, which has been described as temporary, will rely on heavy-duty tents, trailers, and other impermanent buildings, allowing the state to operationalize 5,000 immigration detention beds by early July and free up space in local jails. 'I think the capacity that will be added there will help the overall national mission. It will also relieve some burdens of our state and local (law enforcement),' DeSantis said. Managing the facility 'via a team of vendors' will cost $245 a bed per day, or approximately $450 million a year, a U.S. official said. The expenses will be incurred by Florida and reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In the eyes of DeSantis and other state officials, the remoteness of the Everglades airfield, surrounded by mosquito- and alligator-filled wetlands that are seen as sacred to Native American tribes, makes it an ideal place to detain migrants. 'Clearly, from a security perspective, if someone escapes, you know, there's a lot of alligators,' he said. 'No one's going anywhere.' Democrats and activists have condemned the plan as a callous, politically motivated spectacle. 'What's happening is very concerning, the level of dehumanization,' said Maria Asuncion Bilbao, Florida campaign coordinator at the immigration advocacy group American Friends Service Committee. 'It's like a theatricalization of cruelty,' she said. DeSantis is relying on state emergency powers to commandeer the county-owned airstrip and build the compound, over the concerns of county officials, environmentalists and human rights advocates. Now the state is considering standing up another site at a National Guard training facility in northeast Florida as well. 'We'll probably also do something similar up at Camp Blanding,' DeSantis said, adding that the state's emergency management division is 'working on that.'
