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Mara Kronenfeld joins The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about her role as CEO of UNRWA USA, an independent nonprofit organization that provides support for the humanitarian work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
Sam Rose, Director of Planning at UNRWA, provides a frontline assessment of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and reflects on the immense challenges facing humanitarian organisations operating in the territory.Drawing on his experience working in Gaza between early 2024 and March 2025, Rose examines the realities facing civilians after nearly three years of conflict, the pressures on humanitarian agencies, and the wider political context shaping the crisis.The session explores:The continuing humanitarian emergency in Gaza despite the reduction in large-scale hostilities.The role of UNRWA and the challenges it faces in maintaining services under political, operational and financial pressure.Conditions experienced by displaced Palestinians, including shelter, sanitation, water and food insecurity.The long-term impact of displacement and the cumulative effects of years of conflict on Gaza's population.Public health concerns, including disease outbreaks, malnutrition, environmental hazards and the collapse of basic infrastructure.The difficulties humanitarian agencies face in delivering assistance and restoring essential services.The importance of education and the efforts made to return children to learning despite extraordinary obstacles.The humanitarian consequences of territorial restrictions, displacement and loss of access to agricultural land and resources.The pressures facing international NGOs, UN agencies and humanitarian workers operating in Gaza.The relationship between humanitarian conditions and the broader political realities of occupation, sovereignty and self-determination.Rose argues that while humanitarian organisations continue to provide essential support, the crisis cannot be understood solely through a humanitarian lens. He emphasises that the conditions facing Palestinians are rooted in broader political questions relating to rights, accountability, self-determination and international law.He also reflects on the resilience of Gaza's population, describing efforts by families, teachers, healthcare workers and humanitarian staff to maintain daily life and essential services despite extraordinary hardship.The presentation concludes with a warning that the consequences of policies and practices tested in Gaza may have implications far beyond Palestine, making accountability and international legal protections increasingly important for humanitarian work worldwide.Recorded at the Britain Palestine Project annual conference, Recognition is the Beginning, held at the Greenwood Theatre, London, on 2 June 2026.Sam Rose is Director of Planning at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). He has worked extensively on humanitarian operations, emergency response and development programmes across the Middle East and has spent significant periods based in Gaza. Through his work with UNRWA, he has become a leading voice on the humanitarian situation facing Palestinian refugees and the challenges confronting international relief efforts in Gaza and the wider occupied Palestinian territory.
Headlines:The Sultanate of Oman committed to increase trade and economic relations with Iran.The Treasury Department slapped sanctions on the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, which is the body that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard stood up to extort vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.The IDF carried out a strike in Beirut yesterday — it was the first Israeli strike in Beirut in three weeks.The U.S. government is expanding its probe into the United Nations Relief and Works Agency — a.k.a. “UNRWA,” a.k.a. Hamas in UN clothing.--FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Joseph Zacks, FDD Adjunct Fellow and former deputy assistant director for counterterrorism for the CIA.Learn more at: https://fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
Tessa Szyszkowitz im Gespräch mit Roland Friedrich, Marcus Bachmann, Christoph Sternat, Mona Ali KhalilHUMANITARIAN AID 2026: HOW CAN IT GET TO THOSE WHO NEED IT?Humanitarian aid for the Palestinian civilian population is currently facing major political and practical challenges. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which has played a crucial role in providing aid, healthcare, and education for decades, is increasingly restricted in its ability to operate. The activities of UNRWA and those of NGOs like doctors Without Borders in Israel and the Palestinian territories have been severely curtailed or even banned.Nevertheless, the United Nations and these NGOs continues to strive to maintain basic aid services. In cooperation with international organizations and local partners, the UN is working to provide humanitarian assistance, medical care, and educational opportunities for the Palestinian population, particularly in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.Given the tense political situation and the difficult security conditions, the question arises as to how humanitarian aid can be organized under these circumstances – and what prospects exist for the future of international support in Gaza and the West Bank.Roland Friedrich, Director of UNRWA affairs, WestbankMarcus Bachmann, Advocacy and Humanitarian Affairs Advisor, Doctors without Borders/MSF Austria, Head of Mission for the Occupied Palestinian Territory until end of marchChristoph Sternat, Head of Unit, Department for Humanitarian Aid in the framework of EU, aid in crisis regions and fragile states, Austrian ministry for European and Foreign affairs BMEIAMona Ali Khalil, Director of MAK Law International, Non-Resident Faculty of the Vienna Diplomatic Academy, Affiliate of Harvard Law School and former Senior Legal Officer in the UN and IAEA.Moderation:Tessa Szyszkowitz, author and journalist. Distinguished Fellow at Royal United Services Institute in London (RUSI)
Joe Shelerud is joined by Mark Power, co-founder and Chief Engagement Officer at Podean — the global commerce agency that recently acquired Ad Advance — for a candid conversation about building agencies from the ground up and why culture is the most underrated competitive advantage.Key Takeaways:Mark's 30-year journey from B2B email marketing in London → content marketing → IPG → founding Podean with co-founder Travis JohnsonWhy Amazon is more than a sales channel — and the gap Podean was built to fill"Positive Energy" as a cultural umbrella — how Podean distilled its values into something every team member, across every acquired company, can rally behindThe real markers of cultural health — including why the first 3–4 weeks of a new hire tells you everythingRemote culture done right — what actually works when your team is virtual and globalTransparency = Trust — why sharing the bad news openly builds more loyalty than a polished internal comms strategy ever willNavigating acquisitions — how Podean is integrating Ad Advance and Commerce Canal without an "our way or the highway" mindsetWhat's coming next — a new show hosted by Mark Power and Podean co-founder Ryan Craver, going beyond advertising into broader commerce and industry trendsIf you're building a team, scaling an agency, or navigating a merger, this episode is packed with practical wisdom from two founders who've lived it.
Philippe Lazzarini has ended his term as head of UNRWA, the UN agency that provides essential services to Palestinians. In an exit interview, Lazzarini describes "the most brutal experience" of his career, his anger when atrocities are met with silence, and the "slippery slope" waiting for humanitarians in Gaza. Guest: Philippe Lazzarini, departing commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Got a question or feedback? Email podcast@thenewhumanitarian.org or post on social media using the hashtag #RethinkingHumanitarianism.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Mara Kronenfeld, Executive Director of UNRWA USA. They discuss the role of UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) in the lives of Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon and especially in the West Bank and Gaza. UNRWA has 12,000 staff on the ground in Gaza now and continues to offer essential humanitarian support as well as schooling, despite attacks from Israel, which has destroyed more than 90% of UNRWA schools, refused to allow UNRWA-designated aid into Gaza and refuses to permit international UNRWA staff from entering Gaza and the West Bank, and the challenge of lost funding from many funder states including the United States. Peter and Mara discuss the content and success of UNRWA schooling, including addressing the accusations of antisemitism in UNRWA curricula, as well as the unsubstantiated allegations that some UNRWA staff participated in the October 7th, 2023 attacks inside of Israel. Finally, they discuss the enormous growth in funding support for UNRWA via UNRWA USA, which has sent $83 million dollars of raised funds to Gaza over the past 2.5 years. For more on UNRWA and UNRWA USA, see Israel has crushed Unrwa in Gaza – and the rest of the world has done nothing by Phillipe Lazzarini in The Guardian 3/21/26 and UNRWA is Still In Gaza by Mara Kronenfeld in December 2025 in the Washington Post (an UNRWA USA ad and op-ed). Mara Kronenfeld is the Executive Director of UNRWA USA, where she leads the strategic vision, operations, and fundraising efforts of the nonprofit organization that supports the humanitarian and human development work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Middle East. With over 20 years of experience in international development, Mara is a Fulbright Scholar and an expert in designing, implementing, and leading public private partnerships supporting youth development programming in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNOW Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. He publishes regularly on https://peterbeinart.substack.com/. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
Episode #508: Damian Lilly, a veteran humanitarian and human-rights specialist, who has worked in conflict zones across the world, believes assistance must be joined with protection and accountability. “We can't just be there to assist people—we also need to be there to protect them.” He formed this conviction through his work with Médecins Sans Frontières, documenting sexual violence in places such as Afghanistan, South Sudan, and the Congo and turning testimony into pressure on governments. Working with the UN, he returned to South Sudan later as Senior Advisor on the Protection of Civilians. The civil war there drove more than 250,000 people into UN compounds, and although his work helped shelter so many people, he looks upon it as a failure because in the end, there was no justice or redress. Protection without justice, he says, “really loses sight of what we're trying to do.” Later on, he was posted in Gaza in his role as UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees: during that time, there were three Israeli military incursions into the territory between 2008 and 2014, with no real repercussions, which only reinforced to Lilly how impunity fuels repeated wars. Accountability, he says, fails not for lack of law but ofpolitical will. When his wife, also a UN employee, received a posting to Myanmar, Lilly and his family moved to Yangon. This was shortly before the coup. He reports watching the tanks roll down the streets. In response, Lilly co-founded the Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP) to pursue prosecutions abroad through what is called “universal jurisdiction,” where crimes against humanity in one country can be prosecuted in another country's national courts. MAP is seeking cases in countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, and Turkey. Lilly critiques the International Criminal Court and UN Security Council for their paralysis, timidity in engaging the junta, and reluctance to recognize the NUG as the people's legitimate representative. While the UN employs the claim of neutrality to justify continued relations with the junta, Lilly argues that true neutrality means fidelity to humanitarian principles, not moral equivalence. Despite bureaucratic inertia and shrinking aid budgets, Lilly insists that localization, persistence, and creative legal action can still advance justice. “It is a complex area,” he says, “but an important part of how we address many of these situations.”
Fascism has never really gone away—but it has changed shape. From the street-level racism and open organising of the British National Party in 1990s East London to today's globalised far right, this episode traces how authoritarian politics have moved from the margins to the mainstream.Host Nick Dearden draws on personal experience of anti-fascist organising, and is joined by Seema Syeda from the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and co-author of Creeping Fascism, and Luke Cooper, author of Authoritarian Contagion and academic at the London School of Economics. Their conversation explores how the far right has built international networks, institutions, and narratives that now feel disturbingly normal. They dig into why “fascism” remains a contested term on the left, what's genuinely new about the current moment, and what can still be done to resist it.In This Episode The rise and fall of the BNP, street fascism, and the mass anti-racist movements that defeated it Debates about whether “fascism” is the right label for today's authoritarian politics Key similarities and differences between past and present far-right movements What a Reform government might actually look like in power, and whether figures like Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson represent fundamentally different threats The “Unite the Kingdom” rally and what it reveals about the current far right Featured Organisation: No to HassockfieldNo To HassockfieldFacebook: The No to Hassockfield CampaignInstagram: @no2hassockfieldTwitter/X: @No2HassockfieldLinks to things we discussedCreeping Fascism by Neil Faulkner with Samir Dathi, Phil Hearse and Seema Syeda.Authoritarian Contagion by Luke CooperA Town Within: Visiting Baqa'a Refugee Camp by Madihah KarimWhat happened when I met my Islamophobic troll by Hussein KesvaniThe law of the jungle by Nick DeardenPraxis: The essential guide for changing minds on migrationUNRWA: United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugeesTime For Change: The evidence-based policies that can actually fix the immigration systemMake a donation to COUNTER•POWERABOUT THE PODCASTCOUNTER•POWER is brought to you by Stop Trump Coalition, Another Europe Is Possible and Global Justice Now, three organisations at the centre of the new global resistance. This podcast isn't just about chatting and conversation — it's about turning ideas into action and building real community power. That's why we have a simple pledge to you, our audience. On every single episode we'll leave you with something you can do to catalyse change. Whether it's the latest big ideas or the movements you need to check out, you'll find them on COUNTER•POWER. But we need your help to launch this project. We need £8,000 to catapult COUNTER•POWER into the podcasting sphere with the aim of making it self-sustaining in the future.The funds will cover high-quality production – including sound and visuals – as well as consistent editorial quality, all of which are essential to creating the kind of impactful podcast we're aiming for.Any donation – big or small – can help us get there. Thank you for your support.DONATE HEREFollow Us Instagram@anothereuropeispossible@globaljusticenow @ukstoptrumpTikTok@global.justice.now@uk.stop.trump.coaTwitter / X @Another_Europe@GlobalJusticeUK@UKStopTrumpMusic(cc): Intro R&B instrumental loop, Mcgrogo (Freesound.org)
The family of Yonatan Samerano, 21, who was murdered during the October 7th , 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israel has filed a lawsuit in the Jerusalem District Court against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), alleging the agency played a role in his abduction and death. The lawsuit, submitted by attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, the president of Shurat HaDin, the Israel Law Center, on behalf of Samerano’s estate and immediate family, seeks NIS 25 million in punitive damages under Israel’s Compensation for Victims of Terrorism Law. It names UNRWA, a UNRWA employee alleged to have taken part in the attack, and several current and former senior UNRWA officials as defendants. KAN's Mark Weiss spoke with attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner about the lawsuit. (Photo: AP)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week's show features stories from Radio Deutsche-Welle, France 24, NHK Japan, and Radio Havana Cuba, http://youthspeaksout.net/swr260116.mp3 (29:00) From GERMANY- The large protests in Iran are discussed in an interview with Fawas Gerges a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics. He talks about what is driving the protestors. He says the economy has been ruined by severe sanctions from the US and Europe, turning Iran into a state of paupers. From FRANCE- First, how the Greenland press responded to the meeting between JD Vance and the foreign ministers of Greenland and Denmark. Mainly in response to Trump threats of seizing Greenland by military force, many members of NATO are deploying their troops to the island. The foreign ministers were keen to not escalate the situation but did not appear to think that their meeting would change Trump's mind. From JAPAN- Japanese researchers are off on a mission attempting to mine rare earth minerals from mud on the deep sea floor, which is extremely dangerous to ocean life. Chinas export earnings have not been hurt by Trumps tariffs. There has been a dangerous escalation in the war on Ukraine following the failed drone attack on Putins residence. From CUBA- President Maduro sent out his first message through his son, after being kidnapped and held in a US prison. UN Secretary-General Guterres warned Netanyahu that he could take Israel to the International Court of Justice for actions against UNRWA , the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine. Israel is ready to begin construction that will split the occupied West Bank in two. Trump announced a 25% tariff on countries conducting business with Iran. Available in 3 forms- (new) HIGHEST QUALITY (160kb)(33MB), broadcast quality (13MB), and quickdownload or streaming form (6MB) (28:59) Links at outfarpress.com/shortwave.shtml PODCAST!!!- https://feed.podbean.com/outFarpress/feed.xml (160kb Highest Quality) Website Page- < http://www.outfarpress.com/shortwave.shtml ¡FurthuR! Dan Roberts "Remember this: Even if you win the rat race, you're still a rat." --Howard Zinn Dan Roberts Shortwave Report- www.outfarpress.com YouthSpeaksOut!- www.youthspeaksout.net
HEADLINE 1: After taking a beating during the 12-day war, Iran is back to building up its ballistic missile arsenal.HEADLINE 2: Israeli authorities raided a vacant United Nations Relief and Works Agency facility in East Jerusalem.HEADLINE 3: The IDF discovered three crude rockets in the West Bank city of Tulkarem.--FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with activist, actress, and New York Times bestselling author Noa Tishby.Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief--Featured FDD Pieces:"The Widening Gulf Between Iran and the Gulf" - Behnam Ben Taleblu and Norman T. Roule, FDD's Foreign Podicy"Al Jazeera's Academic Arm Platforms Hamas Denialism and Anti-Israel Propaganda" - Toby Dershowitz, FDD Insight"Anti-Israeli Countries' Attempt To Ban Israel From Eurovision Song Contest Falls Flat — With Help From Germany, Austria" - David May, New York Sun
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, known as UNRWA announced Tuesday the scope of its work inside Gaza. It's that time of year again - the busiest travel season. And this Thanksgiving, a record-breaking number of Americans are expected ...
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, known as UNRWA announced Tuesday the scope of its work inside Gaza. It's that time of year again - the busiest travel season. And this Thanksgiving, a record-breaking number of Americans are expected ...
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, known as UNRWA announced Tuesday the scope of its work inside Gaza. It's that time of year again - the busiest travel season. And this Thanksgiving, a record-breaking number of Americans are expected ...
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, known as UNRWA announced Tuesday the scope of its work inside Gaza. It's that time of year again - the busiest travel season. And this Thanksgiving, a record-breaking number of Americans are expected ...
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, known as UNRWA announced Tuesday the scope of its work inside Gaza. It's that time of year again - the busiest travel season. And this Thanksgiving, a record-breaking number of Americans are expected ...
One month into the ceasefire in Gaza, how have things actually improved on the ground? Has the fighting halted completely, can people return to their homes (or what's left of them) and just why is aid still being blocked?John Whyte is the Acting Senior Deputy Director of UNRWA (Operations), the United National Relief and Works Agency for Palestine, for the Gaza Strip and joins Seán to discuss.Image: Reuters
In this episode, I cover chapters 5-12 of Patricia Hill Collins' "Black Feminist Thought." Please consider donating to one of the following organizations: Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/general United Nations Relief and Works Agency: https://donate.unrwa.org/gaza/~my-donation Middle East Children's Alliance: https://secure.everyaction.com/1_w5egiGB0u0BAfbJMsEfw2 Twitter: @DavidGuignion IG: @theory_and_philosophy
Israel will open the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt and permit humanitarian aid deliveries into the enclave. The move comes after Hamas returned the remains of four more hostages For more on this we heard from Jonathan Fowler, Senior Communications officer with UNWRA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
In this episode, I cover chapters 1-4 of Patricia Hill Collins' "Black Feminist Thought." Please consider donating to one of the following organizations: Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/general United Nations Relief and Works Agency: https://donate.unrwa.org/gaza/~my-donation Middle East Children's Alliance: https://secure.everyaction.com/1_w5egiGB0u0BAfbJMsEfw2 Twitter: @DavidGuignion IG: @theory_and_philosophy
Today I am extremely grateful to Ardi Imseis and Chris Gunness for joining me for an urgent discussion of Israel's accelerated genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank. These eminent international human rights scholars discuss Israel's longstanding violations of international law and the complicity of the US. We also discuss at length the responsibility of states to immediately halt their direct and indirect support for the genocide. Our conversation includes an in-depth discussion of the UN, and both the usefulness and shortcomings of international law. We end with a call to international civil society to use the information, rules, and judgments of law to do what too many states fail to do—protect the rights and lives of Palestinians and bring forth justice.Dr. Ardi Imseis is Associate Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, Queen's University. He is author of The United Nations and the Question of Palestine: Rule by Law and the Structure of International Legal Subalternity (Cambridge University Press 2023). In 2019 he was named by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to serve as a Member of the UN commission of inquiry into the civil war in Yemen. He has served as legal counsel before the International Court of Justice, including the Court's groundbreaking 2024 opinion on Legal Consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. Between 2002 and 2014, he served in senior legal and policy capacities in the Middle East with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He has provided expert testimony in his personal capacity before various high-level bodies, including the UN Security Council, the UN Human Rights Council, and the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Professor Imseis's scholarship has appeared in a wide array of international journals, and he is former Editor-in-Chief of the Palestine Yearbook of International Law (Brill; 2008-2019) and Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and Human Rights Fellow, Columbia Law School. Professor Imseis holds a Ph.D. (Cambridge), an LL.M. (Columbia), LL.B. (Dalhousie), and B.A. (Hons.) (Toronto). He appears today in his personal capacity.Chris Gunness covered the 1988 democracy uprising for the BBC in what was then Burma. After a 23-year career at the BBC, he joined the United Nations as Director of Strategic Communications and Advocacy in the Middle East. In 2019 he left the UN and returned to London. He founded the Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP) in 2021.
Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock our full premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast Retired U.S. Special Forces officer Anthony Aguilar was hired by private contractor UG Solutions to provide security for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a for-profit entity funded to the tune of $30 million by the U.S. government to distribute food aid in Gaza. But the project was ill-fated from its inception. A good faith commitment to feeding Gazans would been leaving the U.N. Relief and Works Agency intact. Four hundred distribution sites under UNRWA became just four under GHF's control, and Palestinian corpses accumulated at distribution sites as contractors shot at crowds and distributed meagre meals to a starving population. Meanwhile, contractors being paid $1200 per day slept in luxury across the border in Israel, while they ordered Domino's Pizza to feed Palestinian staffers that had not been provided for. In his shocking testimony, Aguilar blows the whistle on offenses more egregious than you can imagine. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).
In this episode, I explain Hegel's criticisms of Kant philosophical efforts and their shortcoming in accounting for the actual operation of the faculties of understanding and reason in the world, in The Phenomenology of Spirit. Please consider donating to one of the following organizations: Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/general United Nations Relief and Works Agency: https://donate.unrwa.org/gaza/~my-donation Middle East Children's Alliance: https://secure.everyaction.com/1_w5egiGB0u0BAfbJMsEfw2 Twitter: @DavidGuignion IG: @theory_and_philosophy
In this episode, I cover Immanuel Kant's "Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science." Please consider donating to one of the following organizations: Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/general United Nations Relief and Works Agency: https://donate.unrwa.org/gaza/~my-donation Middle East Children's Alliance: https://secure.everyaction.com/1_w5egiGB0u0BAfbJMsEfw2 Twitter: @DavidGuignion IG: @theory_and_philosophy
“12 UN Relief Works Agency staff members are accused of involvement in Hamas' attack against Israel,” reports NPR. “Details Emerge on U.N. Workers Accused of Aiding Hamas Raid,” announces The New York Times. “Hamas Military Compound Found Beneath U.N. Agency Headquarters in Gaza,” claims The Wall Street Journal. In January 2024—literally on the same day the International Court of Justice deemed Israel was committing “plausible genocide”—a number of sensationalistic headlines broke across U.S. media, namely The Wall Street Journal and New York Times, telling us in 40-point font that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the single most important supplier of food and medical aid in Palestine, was in fact a front for "Hamas." Western audiences were told that, based on “Israeli intelligence”, 12 workers at the agency may have been involved in the attacks on October 7, 2023, and, in another blockbuster claim, that “Around 10% of Palestinian aid agency's 12,000 staff in Gaza have links to militants, according to intelligence dossier.” Given this history, the logic went, who knows how else the agency might be operating at the behest of Hamas? It would have been a major revelation if there were any evidence to support it. But there wasn't and the story was later dropped, walked back or ignored by the media. But the damage was done: President Biden quickly defunded UNRWA and Israel criminalized it, helping fast track mass starvation in Gaza. So why did media outlets publish so many breathless and lurid headlines about Israel's claims without an ounce of independent confirmation? To what extent, if any, have outlets acknowledged their journalistic and moral recklessness? And how has this contributed to the mass starvation, immiseration, and wholesale murder of the population of Gaza? On this episode, Part I of our two-part season finale on “The Importance of Seriousness, or Why Palestinians Can't Be Witness to Their Own Genocide,” we examine the role of legacy news media in inciting the starvation of millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the racist double standard of what sources and experts can be trusted and the broader incitement campaign against the UN Relief and Works Agency which directly caused today's mass starvation in Gaza. Our guest is Moureen Kaki, Head of Mission at Glia.
WHAT'S THE ON-THE-GROUND REALITY IN GAZA?HEADLINE 1: Turkey hosted a senior Hamas delegation this weekend.HEADLINE 2: White House envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee visited Gaza on Friday.HEADLINE 3: The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or “UNRWA,” is feeling the heat here in the United States.--FDD Executive Director President Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Major (Ret.) Andrew Fox, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society.Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
Jess and Jamal discuss the worsening starvation crisis in Gaza, where over 100,000 children under the age of two—including 40,000 infants—are at imminent risk of mass death due to the total absence of infant formula and nutritional supplements. Earlier, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned that child malnutrition among children under five in Gaza doubled between March and June, a result of the ongoing blockade imposed by Israeli forces.
In this episode, I cover Immanuel Kant's "Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics." Please consider donating to one of the following organizations: Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/general United Nations Relief and Works Agency: https://donate.unrwa.org/gaza/~my-donation Middle East Children's Alliance: https://secure.everyaction.com/1_w5egiGB0u0BAfbJMsEfw2 Twitter: @DavidGuignion IG: @theory_and_philosophy
Hi there! This week, we start the show by discussing the deaths of three major celebrities, rethinking prison life, and imagining life as a psycho barbarian. Then, Chris tells us the heartbreaking story of Iron Man from the Black Sabbath song. All the guy wanted to do was warn humanity about the apocalypse. Then the great magnetic field had to go and mess everything up. NOT cool. Enjoy!***TORONTO – JULY 26! MICHAEL IS DOING A BENEFIT PERFORMANCE OF HIS EDINBURGH FRINGE STANDUP SHOW!Michael is previewing his show International Lover at the Tranzac Club on July 26, 2025. This is a benefit for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).The night will also feature incredible comedians Kyle Patan (Battle of the Bands with Kyle and Sam), Jackie Pirico (Children Ruin Everything, Roast Battle Canada) and Chris Locke (Run the Burbs, What We Do in the Shadows, Who's Yer Father?).TICKETS HERE!***JAMES IS RECORDING AN ALBUM!James Hartnett is doing an album recording September 12 and 13th at The Assembly Theatre in Toronto! Tickets are HERE***Subscribe to the Evil Men Patreon for bonus episodes and access to our Discord! Link HEREBrought to you By: The Sonar Network Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hi there! This week, we start the show by discussing James' new toilet and a recent Weird Al concert. But the main subject of the episode is Roland the Farter, a 12th century English flatulist/gassy jester beloved by King Henry II. Enjoy!***CHRIS LOCKE at SLAKE in PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY!Get ready to laugh your socks off at Slake Brewing! Join us on July 17, 2025 at 9:00 PM for a night filled with hilarious jokes and good vibes. Chris Locke will be taking the stage to entertain you with his unique comedy stylings. Duo ‘Short Attention Spa' host, and local comics Jess Chase and Vic Armstrong open. Don't miss out on this opportunity to have a great time with friends and enjoy some quality laughs and delicious sudsy Slake beers. Rebel Taco is gonna be slinging the late night Tex Mex snacks!TICKETS HERE!***JAMES IS RECORDING AN ALBUM!James Hartnett is doing an album recording September 12 and 13th at The Assembly Theatre in Toronto! Tickets are HERE***HALIFAX – JULY 19! MICHAEL IS PREVIEWING HIS NEW STANDUP SHOW FOR THE EDINBURGH FRINGE!Show info: Michael is dating a British woman who lives 3,500 miles away–which is too far. Does their love stand a chance against money problems, grimy hotels and the Atlantic Ocean? Or will Michael die alone like his problematic childhood comedy hero Benny Hill?International Lover at Good Robot in HALIFAX – July 19, 2025 – TICKETS HERETORONTO BENEFIT SHOW! – JULY 26!Michael is previewing his show International Lover at the Tranzac Club on July 26, 2025. This is a benefit for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).The night will also feature incredible comedians:Kyle Patan (Battle of the Bands with Kyle and Sam)Jackie Pirico (Children Ruin Everything, Roast Battle Canada)& Chris Locke (Run the Burbs, What We Do in the Shadows, Who's Yer Father?)TICKETS HERE!Brought to you By: The Sonar Network Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Orly Halpern, freelance journalist in Jerusalem, brings us the latest from Jerusalem after 10 people, including 6 children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. Jonathan Fowler, Spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, discusses the humanitarian situation in Gaza from neighbouring Jordan.
In this episode, I cover part two of Cedric Robinson's "Black Marxism." Please consider donating to one of the following organizations: Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/general United Nations Relief and Works Agency: https://donate.unrwa.org/gaza/~my-donation Middle East Children's Alliance: https://secure.everyaction.com/1_w5egiGB0u0BAfbJMsEfw2 Twitter: @DavidGuignion IG: @theory_and_philosophy
Hello! This week the Evil Men crew are on a luxurious/sexy trip to Monaco, so we've decided to unlock one of our favourite recent Patreon bonus episodes. Here, our good friend Tim Gilbert joins us to take a VERY sassy Cosmo quiz. We recommend that you leave your inhibitions… in the bathroom!For more exclusive bonus episodes, be sure to subscribe Evil Men's Patreon.***JAMES IS RECORDING AN ALBUM!James Hartnett is doing an album recording September 12 and 13th at The Assembly Theatre in Toronto! Tickets are HERE***HALIFAX – JULY 19! MICHAEL IS PREVIEWING HIS NEW STANDUP SHOW FOR THE EDINBURGH FRINGE!Show info: Michael is dating a British woman who lives 3,500 miles away–which is too far. Does their love stand a chance against money problems, grimy hotels and the Atlantic Ocean? Or will Michael die alone like his problematic childhood comedy hero Benny Hill?International Lover at Good Robot in HALIFAX – July 19, 2025 – TICKETS HERETORONTO BENEFIT SHOW! – JULY 26!Michael is previewing his show International Lover at the Tranzac Club on July 26, 2025. This is a benefit for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).The night will also feature incredible comedians:Kyle Patan (Battle of the Bands with Kyle and Sam)Jackie Pirico (Children Ruin Everything, Roast Battle Canada)& Chris Locke (Run the Burbs, What We Do in the Shadows, Who's Yer Father?)TICKETS HERE!Brought to you By: The Sonar Network Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode, I cover part two of Cedric Robinson's "Black Marxism." Please consider donating to one of the following organizations: Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/general United Nations Relief and Works Agency: https://donate.unrwa.org/gaza/~my-donation Middle East Children's Alliance: https://secure.everyaction.com/1_w5egiGB0u0BAfbJMsEfw2 Twitter: @DavidGuignion IG: @theory_and_philosophy
In this episode, I cover part one of Cedric Robinson's "Black Marxism." Please consider donating to one of the following organizations: Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/general United Nations Relief and Works Agency: https://donate.unrwa.org/gaza/~my-donation Middle East Children's Alliance: https://secure.everyaction.com/1_w5egiGB0u0BAfbJMsEfw2 Twitter: @DavidGuignion IG: @theory_and_philosophy
In the midst of the terrible Trump tax bill moving through Congress, Ralph invites Sarah Anderson who directs the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies to discuss the massive tax loopholes huge companies like Amazon get that allow them to pay far less in taxes than ordinary working people. Then, Greg LeRoy from Good Jobs First joins us to discuss how state taxpayers are footing the bill for these massive data centers companies like Google are building all over the country. Plus, Ralph has some choice words for passive unions and responds to listener feedback about our guest last week, Nadav Wieman.Sarah Anderson directs the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies and is a co-editor of the IPS website Inequality.org. Her research covers a wide range of international and domestic economic issues, including inequality, CEO pay, taxes, labor, and Wall Street reform.They're (Congress is) planning to give huge new tax giveaways to large corporations like Amazon and wealthy people like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. And partially paying for those tax cuts for the wealthy by slashing programs that mean so much to so many Americans like Medicaid and food assistance.”Sarah AndersonWe're not going to have a healthy, thriving society and economy as long as we have the extreme levels of inequality that we have today.Sarah AndersonDubbed “the leading national watchdog of state and local economic development subsidies,” “an encyclopedia of information regarding subsidies,” “God's witness to corporate welfare,” and “the OG of ensuring that state and local tax policy actually supports good jobs, sustainability, and equity,”* Greg founded Good Jobs First in 1998 upon winning the Public Interest Pioneer Award. He has trained and consulted for state and local governments, associations of public officials, labor-management committees, unions, community groups, tax and budget watchdogs, environmentalists, and smart growth advocates more than 30 years.Public education and public health are the two biggest losers in every state giving away money to data centers right now.Greg Le RoyWe know of no other form of state spending that is so out of control. Therefore, we recommend that states cancel their data center tax exemptions. Such subsidies are absolutely unnecessary for an extremely profitable industry dominated by some of the most valuable corporations on earth such as Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, and Google.Good Jobs First report: “Cloudy With a Loss of Spending Control”They've (Congress has) known for years that the ordinary worker pays a higher tax rate than these loophole-ridden corporations.Ralph NaderIn my message to Trump, I ask him, "Why is he afraid of Netanyahu? And doesn't he want to come to the rescue of these innocent babies by saying, ‘Mr. Netanyahu, the taxpayers in this country are paying for thousands of trucks stalled at the border of Gaza full of medicine, food, water, electricity, fuel, and other critical necessities? We're going to put a little American flag on each one of these trucks, and don't you dare block them.'”…No answer.Ralph NaderNews 5/23/251. It seems as though the dam in Israeli politics against acknowledging the horrors in Gaza is beginning to break. In an interview with the BBC this week, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stated that what Israel "is currently doing in Gaza is very close to a war crime. Thousands of innocent Palestinians are being killed.” He went on to say, “the war has no objective and has no chance of achieving anything that could save the lives of the hostages.” These quotes come from the Jerusalem Post. And on May 21st, Haaretz reported that opposition party leader Yair Golan warned that Israel could become a “pariah state, like South Africa once was,” based on its actions in Gaza. Speaking a truth that American politicians appear incapable of articulating, he added, a “sane state does not wage war against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby, and does not set goals for itself like the expulsion of a population.”2. Confirming this prognosis, the Cradle reports “The Israeli military has admitted that more than 80 percent of the people killed in the attacks on Gaza since Israel breached the ceasefire two months ago are…civilians.” This fact was confirmed by the IDF in response to a request from Hebrew magazine Hamakom, wherein “the military's spokesperson stated that 500 of the 2,780 killed in the Gaza Strip as of Tuesday are ‘terrorists.'” Leaving the remaining 2,280 people killed classified as “not suspected terrorists.” The Cradle compares this ratio, approximately 4.5 civilians killed for every combatant, to the Russia-Ukraine war – a ratio of approximate 2.8 to one. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has “claimed that the ratio is just one civilian killed for each combatant killed.” At the same time, AP reports that while Israel has allowed a minimum of humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, under immense international pressure, “none of that aid actually reached Palestinians,” according to the United Nations spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric. The renewed offensive coupled with the barring of humanitarian aid has raised the alarm about mass starvation in Gaza.3. Developments on the ground in Gaza have triggered a new wave of international outcry. On May 19th, leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Canada issued a joint statement, reading in part, “We strongly oppose the expansion of Israel's military operations in Gaza. The level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable… The Israeli Government's denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable and risks breaching International Humanitarian Law…We will not stand by while the Netanyahu Government pursues these egregious actions. If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response.” The Parliament of Spain meanwhile, “passed a non-binding motion calling on the government to impose an arms embargo on Israel,” per Anadolu Ajansı. This potential ban, supported by all parties except the conservative People's Party and the far-right Vox, would “ban the exports of any material that could strengthen the Israeli military, including helmets, vests, and fuel with potential military use.” Left-wing parties in Spain are now pushing for an emergency session to impose a binding decree to this effect.4. The United States however seems to be moving backwards. Drop Site news reports Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff made a deal with Hamas ensuring that, “the Trump administration would compel Israel to lift the Gaza blockade and allow humanitarian aid to enter the territory…[and] make a public call for an immediate ceasefire,” in exchange for the release of Edan Alexander. Of course, once Alexander was released Trump reneged completely. Basem Naim, a member of Hamas's political bureau, told Drop Site, “He did nothing of this…They didn't violate the deal. They threw it in the trash.” Besides prolonging further the charnel house in Gaza, this duplicity undermines American credibility in the region, particularly with Iran at a time when Trump is seeking a new deal to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.5. Democrats in Congress are inching towards action as well. On May 13th, Senator Peter Welch introduced Senate Resolution 224, calling for “the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to address the needs of civilians in Gaza.” Along with Welch, 45 Democrats and Independents signed on to this resolution, that is the entire Democratic caucus except for John Fetterman. On May 14th, Rashida Tlaib introduced House Resolution 409, commemorating the Nakba and calling on Congress to “reinstate support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which provides life-saving humanitarian assistance to Palestinians.” This was cosponsored by AOC and Reps. Carson, Lee, Omar, Pressley, Ramirez, Simon, and Coleman. And, on May 21st, a group of eight senators – Welch, Sanders, Kaine, Merkley, Murray, Van Hollen, Schatz, and Warnock – sent a letter urging Secretary of State Rubio to reopen the investigation into the death of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu-Akleh, per Prem Thakker. The Biden administration ruled the death “unintentional,” but a new documentary by Zeteo News reveals a “Biden cover-up.”6. More action is occurring on college campuses as well, as students go into graduation season. At NYU, a student named Logan Rozos said in his graduation speech, “As I search my heart today in addressing you all…the only thing that is appropriate to say in this time and to a group this large is a recognition of the atrocities currently happening in Palestine,” per CNN. NYU announced that they are now withholding his diploma. At George Washington University, the Guardian reports student Cecilia Culver said in her graduation speech, “I am ashamed to know my tuition [fee] is being used to fund…genocide…I call upon the class of 2025 to withhold donations and continue advocating for disclosure and divestment.” GWU issued a statement declaring Culver “has been barred from all GW's campuses and sponsored events elsewhere.” The moral clarity of these students is remarkable, given the increasingly harsh measures these schools have taken to silence those who speak up.7. Moving on, several major stories about the failing DOGE initiative have surfaced in recent days. First, Social Security. Listeners may recall that a DOGE engineer said “40% of phone calls made to [the Social Security Administration] to change direct deposit information come from fraudsters.” Yet, a new report by NextGov.com found that since DOGE mandated the SSA install new anti-fraud checks on claims made over the phone, “only two claims out of over 110,000 were found to likely be fraudulent,” or 0.0018%. What the policy has done however, is slow down payments. According to this piece, retirement claim processing is down 25%. Meanwhile, at the VA, DOGE engineer Sahil Lavingia, “found…a machine that largely functions, though it doesn't make decisions as fast as a startup might.” Lavingia added “honestly, it's kind of fine—because the government works. It's not as inefficient as I was expecting, to be honest. I was hoping for more easy wins.” This from Fast Company. Finally, CBS reports, “leaders of the United States Institute for Peace regained control of their offices Wednesday…after they were ejected from their positions by the Trump administration and [DOGE] in March.” This piece explains that On February 19th, President Trump issued Executive Order 14217 declaring USIP "unnecessary" and terminating its leadership, most of its 300 staff members, its entire board, installing a DOGE functionary at the top and transferring ownership of the building to the federal government. This set off a court battle that ended Monday, when U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the takeover was “unlawful” and therefore “null and void.” These DOGE setbacks might help explain Elon Musk's reported retreat from the political spotlight and political spending.8. On May 21st, Congressman Gerry Connolly passed away, following his battle with esophageal cancer. Connolly's death however is just the latest in a disturbing trend – Ken Klippenstein reports, “Connolly joins five other members of Congress who also died in office over the past 13 months…Rep. Raúl Grijalva…Rep. Sylvester Turner…Rep. Bill Pascrell…Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee…[and] Rep. Donald Payne Jr.” All of these representatives were Democrats and their deaths have chipped away at the close margin between Democrats and Republicans in the House – allowing the Republicans to pass Trump's “Big Beautiful Bill” by a single vote. Connolly himself prevailed over AOC in a much-publicized intra-party battle for the Ranking Member seat on the House Oversight committee. It speaks volumes that Connolly was only able to hold onto that seat for a few short months before becoming too sick to stay on. This is of course part and parcel with the recent revelations about Biden's declining mental acuity during his presidency and the efforts to oust David Hogg from the DNC for backing primaries against what he calls “asleep-at-the-wheel” Democrats.9. Speaking of “asleep-at-the-wheel” Democrats, Bloomberg Government reports Senator John Fetterman “didn't attend a single committee hearing in 2025 until…May 8, about a week after an explosive New York Magazine story raised questions about his mental health and dedication to his job.” Fetterman, who represents Pennsylvania on the Commerce, Agriculture, and Homeland Security committees skipped the confirmation hearings for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Budget Director Russ Vought, some of the most high-profile and controversial Trump appointments. Fetterman still has yet to attend a single Agriculture committee hearing in 2025.10. Finally, in more Pennsylvania news, the state held its Democratic primaries this week, yielding mixed results. In Pittsburgh, progressives suffered a setback with the ouster of Mayor Ed Gainey – the first Black mayor of the city. Gainey lost to Allegheny County Controller Corey O'Connor, the son of former Mayor Bob O'Connor, the Hill reports. In Philadelphia however, voters approved three ballot measures – including expanding affordable housing and adding more oversight to the prison system – and reelected for a third term progressive reform District Attorney Larry Krasner, per AP. Krasner has long been a target of conservatives in both parties, but has adroitly maneuvered to maintain his position – and dramatically reduced homicide rates in Philly. The Wall Street Journal reports Philadelphia homicides declined by 34% between 2023 and 2024, part of substantial decline in urban homicides nationwide. Kudos to Krasner.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe
In this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Alison Posey, Postdoctoral Researcher in Duke University's Department of Romance Studies (Spanish) to discuss José Vasconcelos' "The Cosmic Race." Please consider donating to one of the following organizations: Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/general United Nations Relief and Works Agency: https://donate.unrwa.org/gaza/~my-donation Middle East Children's Alliance: https://secure.everyaction.com/1_w5egiGB0u0BAfbJMsEfw2 Twitter: @DavidGuignion IG: @theory_and_philosophy
In this episode, I cover Karl Marx's "18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte." Please consider donating to one of the following organizations: Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/general United Nations Relief and Works Agency: https://donate.unrwa.org/gaza/~my-donation Middle East Children's Alliance: https://secure.everyaction.com/1_w5egiGB0u0BAfbJMsEfw2 Twitter: @DavidGuignion IG: @theory_and_philosophy
In this episode, I cover from chapter two to the end of Jasbir K. Puar's "Terrorist Assemblages." Please consider donating to one of the following organizations: Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/general United Nations Relief and Works Agency: https://donate.unrwa.org/gaza/~my-donation Middle East Children's Alliance: https://secure.everyaction.com/1_w5egiGB0u0BAfbJMsEfw2 Twitter: @DavidGuignion IG: @theory_and_philosophy
In this episode, I explain Jasbir K. Puar's notion of "homonationalism." Please consider donating to one of the following organizations: Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/general United Nations Relief and Works Agency: https://donate.unrwa.org/gaza/~my-donation Middle East Children's Alliance: https://secure.everyaction.com/1_w5egiGB0u0BAfbJMsEfw2 Twitter: @DavidGuignion IG: @theory_and_philosophy
In this episode, I cover the introduction and chapter one of Jasbir K. Puar's "Terrorist Assemblages." Please consider donating to one of the following organizations: Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/general United Nations Relief and Works Agency: https://donate.unrwa.org/gaza/~my-donation Middle East Children's Alliance: https://secure.everyaction.com/1_w5egiGB0u0BAfbJMsEfw2 Twitter: @DavidGuignion IG: @theory_and_philosophy
In this episode, I cover the chapter 5 to the end of Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman's "Manufacturing Consent." Please consider donating to one of the following organizations: Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/general United Nations Relief and Works Agency: https://donate.unrwa.org/gaza/~my-donation Middle East Children's Alliance: https://secure.everyaction.com/1_w5egiGB0u0BAfbJMsEfw2 Twitter: @DavidGuignion IG: @theory_and_philosophy
After 15 months of Israeli bombardment, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are returning to northern Gaza as part of the first phase of the long-awaited ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. During his inaugural speech, President Donald Trump pledged to be a peacemaker and claimed credit for securing the deal.But mere hours after promising peace and unity, Trump's actions and rhetoric pivoted. After his inauguration, he signed an executive order lifting Biden-era sanctions against Israeli settlers in the West Bank meant to curb violence against Palestinians. “In the West Bank, Israeli settlers were regularly attacking Palestinian civilians, forcing them off their land, doing things like burning farms, olive groves, oftentimes injuring or killing Palestinians,” says Intercept reporter Jonah Valdez. “With Trump lifting those sanctions, Israel is getting pretty much another pass to continue its violent land grabs from Palestinians.” [promote promo="israel-palestine"][/promote]In the days since, Trump has suggested moving Palestinians from Gaza to Jordan and Egypt and said, “We just clean out that whole thing.” Before the election, Trump also floated the idea that Gaza could be rebuilt to rival Monaco as a tourist destination.“Close to 70 percent of all structures in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged. Experts say that just clearing the rubble from the 15 months of the siege could take more than 20 years. So we're talking about decades here,” says Intercept reporter Akela Lacy. “Another big issue with the reconstruction is that one of the largest aid providers in Gaza is banned starting on Thursday. Under this new Israeli law, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, also known as UNRWA, will be expelled from the territory.”Meanwhile, Trump issued an executive order halting foreign aid, raising concerns about U.S. future involvement in U.N. support. “This started under Biden. Trump comes in and issues this freeze of all humanitarian foreign aid, and people start blaming Trump for cutting funding,” says Lacy. Valdez continues, “There's really no indication that Trump would slow down actual support for the Israeli military. And I think, case in point, is Trump resuming the shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, which had been known to inflict immense loss of civilian life in Gaza.” “The question now is, who is going to get up off their ass and do something about this?” asks Lacy. “Who is going to either create an alternative or do more to hold the leaders, leadership accountable or break from the Democratic Party and do something else?” To hear the whole conversation, check out this week's episode of The Intercept Briefing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
An American Airlines plane collided with a helicopter on Wednesday in Washington D.C., sending both crashing into the Potomac River. There are no survivors. Donald Trump ordered a freeze of all federal grants, disrupting vital national processes. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Palestinians are making their way back into the northern parts of Gaza. Israel's ban on working with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency goes into effect this week. A new Chinese AI app, called DeepSeek, has upended the tech industry and Wall Street. Industry watchers note the country's programmers can deliver a product on par with that of the West, for a fraction of the cost and without access to similar hardware.We cover all this and more during the News Roundup. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
A United Nations watchdog group says the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, or UNRWA, should be shutdown because it promotes and commits acts against humanity. The Geneva based 'UN Watch' accuses UNRWA of putting high ranking Hamas leaders in positions of management and promoting the destruction of Israel. The latest call to end UNRWA comes when the Israeli Health Ministry has issued a report on their findings on the treatment of hostages taken by Hamas following the October 7th terror attack. FOX's Eben Brown speaks with Hillel Neuer, the Executive Director of UN Watch, has testified before the United Nations and has been traveling the world to promote replacing UNRWA with another relief effort. Click Here To Follow 'The FOX News Rundown: Evening Edition' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
With fewer than 50 days until Inauguration Day, President-elect Donald Trump spent the long holiday weekend inviting more people to join his administration. But for Democrats, the conversation is still very much backward looking, as the party litigates why it lost the 2024 election despite delivering on a lot of its promises from four years ago. Matt Yglesias, who writes the Substack newsletter ‘Slow Boring,' explains why ‘deliverism' didn't deliver for Democrats in 2024.And in headlines: President Biden pardoned his son Hunter, a new drug to seek authorization to fight the AIDS epidemic, and The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees suspended deliveries into Gaza through a key crossing.Show Notes:Check out Matt's Substack – https://www.slowboring.com/Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday
Vice President Kamala Harris delivered her closing arguments in a speech at the Ellipse in Washington D.C. — where then-President Donald Trump encouraged a mob of his supporters to march to the Capitol – to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Stef Kight, political reporter for Axios, breaks down the pitch Harris is making to voters in the final week of the presidential race. The fallout from Trump's anti-Puerto Rican remarks in Madison Square Garden continues. The chairman of the Puerto Rico GOP said he won't vote for Trump unless he apologizes. The Archbishop of Puerto Rico, Roberto O. González Nieves, has also asked Trump to “personally apologize” for the comments. But Trump did not.And in headlines: Steve Bannon was released from federal prison, the Supreme Court actually rejected R-F-K junior's attempt to get off Michigan and Wisconsin's ballots, and the Israeli Parliament passed two laws that would cut ties with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.Show Notes:Check out Stef's work – https://www.axios.com/authors/stefwkightSubscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday
Today, we're talking about two ballot drop boxes being lit on fire; Apple releases its AI features; Israel votes to ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency; and other top news for Wednesday, October 30th. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over Today Please support our TPO sponsors! Cru: give.cru.org/tpo Upside: https://links.thepourover.org/Upside The Bible Study: https://links.thepourover.org/TheBibleStudy Politics for People Who Hate Politics: https://links.thepourover.org/PoliticsForPeopleWhoHatePolitics Keola Fit: https://links.thepourover.org/KeolaFit_Pod Compelled Podcast: https://links.thepourover.org/Compelled_TomTarrants Nothing Left Unsaid Podcast: https://linktr.ee/tgnlu CCCU: https://www.mycccu.com/tpobonus
Campus demonstrations in support of Gaza have spread to schools unaccustomed to such activism. In New York City and Washington, D.C., Donald Trump's attorneys defended him and made some extreme claims. An independent investigation finds Israel has not supported claims that a significant number of workers at the The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East are members of Hamas.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy