Quick 🧵on Biden's #Ceasefire announcement:

1) It's WAY overdue. It should not have taken 40,000 Palestinians to be murdered before President Biden publicly put forth a ceasefire deal that was actually already on the table for months and months, barring Israeli rejectionism. 2) Biden has already been under tremendous domestic pressure to end his support for this genocidal war on Gaza, but the last straw for him must've been Israel's recent announcement that this war would last at least another 8 months.

This would've placed Biden's 2024 election right in the middle of a US-backed massacre, and Biden knows he can't have that.

3 things to understand about Iran's retaliatory strike on Israel 🧵

1) Paradoxically, the strike was extremely significant (demonstrating Iran's boldness & capacity for deterrence), but also deliberately designed to minimize casualties to try to avoid an all-out war. After Israel struck the Iranian consulate in Damascus, it threatened that any response launched from Iranian territory would be met with a response on Iranian territory. This threat was intended to bully Iran into capitulating, but it had the opposite effect.

Quick 🧵 on the reported 4-day pause in fighting & hostage exchange deal between Hamas & the Israeli government: This is obviously desperately-needed relief for a lot of people impacted by the horrors of the past 6-7 weeks, & the brutality of Israeli apartheid more broadly, but it highlights 7 critical points that shouldn’t be missed:

Hi Joe, if the openly racist, child-starving, journalist-targeting, civilian-bombing apartheid gov of Israel is somehow not responsible for an attack that's straight out of their playbook, yes I'd take this back. But 1st, a review of Israel's lies to avoid accountability [THREAD]

https://twitter.com/WalshFreedom/status/1714386174603670000

.@WalshFreedom, (EXHIBIT A) when Israel murdered US journalist #ShireenAbuAkleh last year, first they lied & said it was Palestinian gunmen until that was proven a lie. Then they said she was caught in crossfire until that was proven a lie. She was TARGETED by an Israeli sniper!

THREAD: As you watch news in Gaza & Israel today, keep 1 thing in mind: The largest terrorist org in all of Palestine & Israel (known as the Israeli military) has killed thousands of Palestinian civilians in hundreds of raids into Palestinian towns over the past decade. 1/4 Footage of Israeli soldiers breaking into Palestinian homes & kidnapping Palestinian children litters the internet, & gets absolutely no coverage. But when Hamas breaks into Israeli homes, it will run on a loop on your TV as talking heads condemn its monstrosity in unison. 2/4

It was groundhog day on Bill Maher's show last night, but I've already debunked most of his falsehoods & misleading claims on Palestine/Israel in my video from last year.

But there is one egregious lie by @noatishby that I'd like to address in this thread
Noa claimed the PA had a "pay for slay" program where Palestinians are paid $ hundreds of millions to kill Israeli children. This is an utterly disgusting lie that merits an apology & correction, but I doubt @RealTimers will offer one b/c Bill is ideological on this issue.

I received this kind & thoughtful DM from a stranger today about the Twitter meltdown I endured over the weekend. While I'm used to shaking this sort of thing off, I'm troubled by this person's past experience, & have some thoughts for those who may experience this in the future: If you are attacked for something you actually said, 2 things are important: (1) Don't be so stubborn & dismissive that you don't actually hear the criticism. You should sincerely consider it & reflect on whether you have reached your judgment in error.

.@JamaalBowmanNY is among a fairly small group of principled people in Congress who are fighting for meaningful progress on both foreign & domestic policy. This includes relentlessly speaking up for Palestinian human rights in a context where that’s frequently punished. Context matters. No individual action taken by Bowman can be assessed in isolation; it must be considered in the context of his broader record on Palestine, & the constraints of being a member of the US Congress, accountable to a diverse constituency that elected him.

THREAD: As the Israeli military invades Gaza on Eid, there are 5 things to keep in mind: 1) Israel isn't "responding" to violence, Israel is the initiator of violence, by virtue of being an occupying power over the Palestinian territories, including Gaza.

Before a single rocket was fired, Palestinians in Gaza were already suffocating under a brutal siege.

Quick thread of videos showing what Palestinians are facing right now:

Here, Palestinian children (citizens of Israel btw) break down crying as an Israeli mob tries to break into their home in Haifa:
Here, another mob of Israelis are destroying Palestinian-owned businesses:

THREAD -- Confused by the dramatic images & media reports of "clashes" in Jerusalem? That's because most outlets report without setting CONTEXT!!!! Here are 3 pieces of information that are critical for understanding the context of what's happening: 1) Foreign Occupiers vs Rightful Inhabitants:

What's unfolding right now is happening in East Jerusalem, which is occupied (stolen) Palestinian land that Israel has NO legitimate claim to. A mountain of UN Security Council resolutions demand Israel withdraw from East Jerusalem.

THREAD: You may have seen the claim that #AOC has somehow sold out her progressive principles on Palestine in order to pander to the Israel lobby. This is a quick thread explaining why this conclusion is wrong and baseless (1/14) This ^ claim is made by comparing a bold 2018 tweet correctly accusing Israel of committing a massacre against Palestinians & saying we can’t be silent about it, to an incoherent answer she gave to a recent question on how to achieve peace between Israelis & Palestinians (2/14)

Saturday Night Live just took a dig at Israeli apartheid: #SNL This 👆 is their 2nd best dig since the un-aired Chuck Hagel confirmation parody where they skewered US politicians for over-the-top pandering to Israel:

THREAD: Biden's Secretary of State Antony Blinken has made several awful remarks on CNN tonight, making abundantly clear how infuriatingly biased towards Israel the admin's policy will be. Here are 3 quick video highlights: Blinken explicitly endorses Israel's unlawful & widely-condemned declaration of Jerusalem as its capital. Asked whether he'd support a Palestinian capital in occupied East Jerusalem (from which Israel is obligated to withdraw under int'l law), Blinken becomes non-committal:

QUICK THREAD on the Israel/UAE normalization of relations: 1) There is nothing "historic" or "groundbreaking" about this agreement: Israel & the UAE have been strong allies under the table for many years! This is merely making that friendship public (which is still interesting). 2) Israel didn't "halt" the annexation for the West Bank (annexation is ALREADY a de facto reality on the ground). Israel merely "suspended" its announcement of a reality it has already illegally imposed on Palestinians. It is FALSE to say Israel suspended it at the UAE's request

THREAD: This is Burin, my father’s hometown in Palestine. My father remembers what that place was like before Israel’s occupation. Today, this town is known for being one of the most targeted by Israeli settler violence. #MyPalestineStory #Nakba72 There are people over 50 in this town who have known nothing but brutal foreign military rule for their entire lives. Israel's illegal occupation of Palestine is the longest in modern history, with no end in sight (Israel's illegal annexation is about to declare it permanent).

THREAD: Israel's decision to bar US Congresswomen Ilhan Omar & Rashida Tlaib from entering (on account of their political views) should permanently put to rest several delusions:

1) The delusion that Israel is a democracy that respects freedom of thought (it isn't & doesn't)... 2) The delusion that Israel respects the American people's representatives. Israel is the single largest recipient of U.S. aid (nearly $40 BILLION this decade), & this is how they treat U.S. officials they disagree with. This is our "greatest ally"?...

A quick thread on Gaza.

4 Palestinian protesters killed in Gaza by Israel on Friday, BEFORE rocket fire out of Gaza. But what are today's headlines?

CNN: "430 rockets fired from Gaza, Israel responds with airstrikes"

BBC: "Gaza rocket barrage prompts Israel strikes" (1/?) Fox News: "Israel strikes Gaza targets in response to Palestinian heavy rocket fire"

Despite available evidence to the contrary, they always see Palestinian violence as provocation, & Israeli violence as a "response" (2/?).

Quick thread on the Congressional effort against @IlhanMN, which should be insulting to your intelligence, if you are paying attention. (1/?) Tomorrow, Congress is expected to vote on a measure condemning anti-Semitism "in response" to Ilhan Omar's critique of the Israel lobby, which (a) facilitates US enablement of Israeli crimes & (b) undermines the First Amendment in an effort to shield Israel from criticism. (2/?)

Quick thread on the manufactured controversy (i.e. smear campaign) regarding @marclamonthill’s UN speech. Let me start by addressing the competing visions of the one-state solution (1/8) Palestinians made a massive compromise in the 80s, accepting a 2-state solution where they would get less than 1/4th of their historic homeland. Israel rejected that compromise & kept building illegal settlements on top of the occupied Palestinian territories. (2/8)