Pro-Palestinian students and Republican supporters of Israel don’t seem to have much in common; they mostly disagree.
However, they do seem to agree on one thing: “Fuck Joe Biden”.
In the run-up to the last presidential election, Joe Biden promised to “transform the nation’s divisions into unity and bring us together”. In many ways, the US is more divided than ever – not least in light of Israel’s bloody invasion of Gaza.
On many American campuses, pro-Palestinian demonstrators and activists have been protesting for weeks against US and American institutional support for what they describe as Israel’s genocide of Palestinians – these protests have occasionally been met with opposition and counter-protests from Israel supporters – often from the Republican side.
On Wednesday, however, Israel supporters and pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of Alabama could agree on at least one thing: “Fuck Joe Biden!”
A video clip widely circulated on social media shows both sides loudly demonstrating their displeasure with the sitting president, and some wonder if this is what Biden had in mind when he talked about “uniting” the country.
“Biden may overtake Bush to become one of the most hated presidents in modern history, and that is so damn fitting for a man who desperately wanted to be president for 30 years and finally got it when the light went out in his head”, comments one user.
Others say that Biden seems willing to commit political suicide for the sake of Israel and Netanyahu, and that it is an achievement to be so hated in two such politically different camps.
“This is his greatest accomplishment as president“, says Warren Wilhelm.
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For the first time in 66 years, the leaders of China, Russia and North Korea gathered in Beijing.
The extensive military parade marked the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II with over 100 new domestically produced weapons systems – including nuclear missiles, hypersonic weapons and unmanned vehicles.
China conducted its second-ever military parade on Wednesday to mark Victory Day – 80 years after the end of World War II. The massive display at Tiananmen Square in Beijing became a demonstration of power where Chinese President Xi Jinping received 26 world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The parade, witnessed by 50,000 spectators and 10,000 participating soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army, Navy and Air Force, marked the first time in 66 years that the leaders of China, Russia and North Korea gathered in Beijing. The last time this occurred was in 1959, during perhaps the most tense period of the Cold War.
Dressed in a gray Mao suit, Xi Jinping spoke from the Gate of Heavenly Peace. He focused on China’s victory over “Japanese aggression” in what he called the “global anti-fascist war”, but chose not to mention the United States by name despite the country’s decisive role in the war’s final stages.
— Humanity is again faced with a choice of peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, and win-win outcomes or zero-sum games, Xi declared and continued:
— The Chinese people will stand firmly on the right side of history and on the side of human progress, adhere to the path of peaceful development, and join hands with the rest of the world to build a community with a shared future for humanity.
Photo: Kremlin/CC BY 4.0
Nuclear arsenal in focus
Al Jazeera correspondent Katrina Yu emphasized the historical significance of the speech from Beijing:
— It really is difficult to understate how much of this is a part of the national psyche, the psyche of the Communist Party that, in the previous 100 years, China was repressed, invaded and humiliated by foreign forces.
Over 100 types of domestically produced weapons rolled along Chang’an Avenue. Particular attention was given to the new nuclear-capable missiles. For the first time, submarine-based JL-3 missiles were also displayed, whose extended range theoretically allows the entire US mainland to be reached from the South China Sea without submarines needing to advance into the Pacific Ocean.
The new intercontinental ballistic missile DF-61 also made its debut. It is estimated to be over 20 meters long with a range exceeding 12,000 kilometers. Additionally, the DF-5C was presented, which may have a range over 20,000 kilometers, carry ten nuclear warheads and reach speeds over Mach 10.
The hypersonic missile YJ-21, called the “carrier killer”, was also presented. The weapon is said to be able to strike aircraft carriers at Mach 10 – ten times the speed of sound – at a distance of 2,000 kilometers.
Trump’s sarcastic reaction
US President Donald Trump reacted to the parade with a sarcastic post on Truth Social:
“The big question to be answered is whether or not President Xi of China will mention the massive amount of support and ‘blood’ that The United States of America gave to China in order to help it to secure its FREEDOM from a very unfriendly foreign invader”, he wrote and continued:
“Many Americans died in China’s quest for Victory and Glory… May President Xi and the wonderful people of China have a great and lasting day of celebration. Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America”.
Photo: screenshot/Trump/Truth Social
The Kremlin later commented on Trump’s statement and briefly explained that “no one even had this in their thoughts”.
New warfare technology presented
During the parade, China showcased its investment in modern warfare technology. Unmanned surface vessels (USV), underwater drones and unmanned aerial vehicles were presented alongside the new LY-1 laser system for shooting down drones and missiles. According to China, the new HQ-29 air defense system can defend against hypersonic missiles – a claim that has yet to be verified.
“For Xi, the point is to reinforce the impression that the People’s Republic of China has arrived as a great power under his leadership. Another is the array of leaders at the parade, which suggests that the PRC cannot be isolated, and is unafraid of pressure and bullying, particularly from the United States”, comments Ian Chong, political scientist at the National University of Singapore.
Above the parade, the air force conducted flyovers with helicopters carrying banners with messages such as “Justice will prevail”, “Peace will prevail” and “The people will win”.
US deploys missile systems
China declared that all of the more than 100 weapon types displayed were domestically produced. Despite the Chinese economy slowing down, the country’s defense spending has increased by more than 7 percent for four consecutive years and now amounts to approximately 4.2 times Japan’s defense budget. The military balance in the region has thus shifted markedly and China is gaining increasingly greater military influence.
Unmanned watercraft on display. Photo: Xinhua
Parallel to this development, the US and Japan are conducting extensive military exercises together. The US Army will for the first time deploy its medium-range missile system Typhon in Japan during the Resolute Dragon 25 exercise taking place September 11-25. Typhon can launch both Tomahawk and SM-6 missiles from land.
In July, the US placed two new weapons systems at its base in Okinawa: the MADIS air defense system and the NMESIS robot system that can combat ships. Both systems will also be used on Ishigaki Island during the Japanese-American exercise and military activities in the region are expected to intensify in coming years.
Modi abstained
Military parades on Victory Day are a relatively new phenomenon under Xi Jinping’s era – the first was held in 2015 to mark the 70th anniversary, and this year’s parade was thus only the second of its kind.
Despite friendly meetings with Xi Jinping and Putin during the SCO summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose to leave China before the military parade.
According to analysts, this was partly to avoid offending Japan, but also to signal that New Delhi certainly has strategic alternatives to the US but simultaneously remains concerned about maintaining its Western partnerships and cooperation.
Documents from the Epstein investigation have been requested from the US Department of Justice by the House Oversight Committee. In total, over 33,000 additional documents have been made public.
Since the Jeffrey Epstein scandal was exposed, there has been strong interest in gaining greater insight into the investigation, particularly since a number of well-known names have been linked to the convicted sex offender. Last year, federal judge Loretta A. Preska released classified lawsuit documents, where among others Prince Andrew is accused of having sexual relations with minors at orgies on several occasions.
During Donald Trump’s election campaign, he declared that more documents would be released if he became president, including Epstein’s “black book” with names of clients who he flew with his private jet, called “Lolita Express”, to his private island in the Caribbean. After being elected president, however, he chose to put a lid on it, something that upset Trump’s voter base. Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have also demanded that the documents be released.
Democrats argued that Trump had broken his promise and he was accused of trying to cover up the investigation. To force the release of the documents, they therefore implemented “the rule of five”, which in short is a law that makes it possible to force federal agencies to release documents if five members of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs request it.
Full transparency
Now 33,000 documents from the investigation have been requested from the Department of Justice by the U.S. House Oversight Committee, reports CNN.
— We’re in the process of uploading those documents for full transparency so everyone in America can see those documents, says the committee chairman, Republican James Comer.
The primary reason is that they want transparency in the case. However, they note that 97 percent of the documents received from the Department of Justice were already public.
“There is no mention of any client list or anything that improves transparency or justice for victims”, says Democrat Robert Garcia, who sits on the committee.
It is unclear, however, whether the documents contain any new information.
Israel previously had “total control” over the US Congress, and it was completely impossible for anyone who spoke “ill” of the Jewish state to build a political career. This is stated by US President Donald Trump in an interview with Daily Caller published this week.
— There was a time where you couldn’t speak bad, if you wanted to be a politician, you couldn’t speak badly, Trump explained.
He emphasized that Israel had long held a completely unique position in Washington, but claimed that this is changing.
— If you go back 15 years, probably that’s when it started, right. Israel was the strongest lobby I’ve ever seen. They had total control over Congress, and now they don’t, you know, I’m a little surprised to see that.
He continued to develop his reasoning:
— If you go back 20 years. I mean, I will tell you, Israel had the strongest lobby in Congress of anything or body, or of any company or corporation or state that I’ve ever seen. Israel was the strongest. Today, it doesn’t have that strong a lobby. It’s amazing.
“Not winning the world of public relations”
According to Trump, American politics has fundamentally changed – today there are, as he puts it, “all kinds of Israel critics” and “lunatics” among the country’s top politicians.
He was referring among others to the so-called Squad, consisting of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib – a group of left-wing Democratic congresswomen who have made their mark with sharp criticism of Israel.
The president connected the changes in public debate to Israel’s bloody invasion of Gaza.
— They may be winning the war, but they’re not winning the world of public relations, you know, and it is hurting them.
At the same time, Trump highlighted his own role in the relationship between Washington and Jerusalem, true to form. He declared that “no one has done more” for Israel than himself, and described the country as “amazing”, because he himself has received “good support” in return.
TRUMP: “ISRAEL HAD TOTAL CONTROL OVER CONGRESS, AND NOW THEY DON’T”
“Israel is amazing… Israel was the strongest lobby I’ve ever seen. They had total control over Congress, and now they don’t.
Although Trump claims that the Israel lobby doesn’t have the same power over American politics as before, there are many who don’t share that conclusion.
The Nordic Times has among other things highlighted how libertarian congressman Thomas Massie revealed that all Republican congressmen have a personal lobbyist from AIPAC with whom they maintain close contact and who tells them how to vote on various issues.
— Why would they want to tell their constituents that they’ve basically got a buddy system with somebody who’s representing a foreign country? It doesn’t benefit the congressman for people to know that. So they’re not going to tell you that, he states.
The Nordic Times has also reported on how AIPAC as recently as the last election boasted that almost all candidates they financed won their respective elections while managing to “stop” a number of Israel-critical candidates.
Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot announces that the country will recognize Palestine at the UN General Assembly later in September. At the same time, a series of sanctions are being imposed against the Israeli government, including import bans from illegal settlements and entry bans for two extremist ministers.
Belgium will formally recognize a Palestinian state when the UN General Assembly opens on September 9, according to the country’s Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot.
“Palestine will be recognized by Belgium during the UN session! And firm sanctions are being imposed on the Israeli government”, Prévot writes on platform X.
The foreign minister announces that Belgium will implement twelve sanctions targeting Israel at the national level. The decision comes as a reaction to what he describes as a “humanitarian tragedy in Palestine” and Israel’s actions in violation of international law.
“Belgium had to take strong decisions to increase pressure on the Israeli government”, Prévot explains. “This is not about sanctioning the Israeli people but about ensuring that their government respects international and humanitarian law and taking action to try to change the situation on the ground”.
Comprehensive package of measures
The sanctions package contains several concrete measures:
• Ban on imports of products from Israeli settlements
• Review of public procurement with Israeli companies
• Restrictions on consular assistance to Belgian citizens in illegal settlements
• Possible legal prosecutions
• Ban on overflights and transit
• Entry ban for two extremist Israeli ministers, Hamas leaders and several violent settlers
Although Prévot did not name the ministers, it appears to concern Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who have already been hit by similar measures from other EU countries such as the Netherlands.
La Palestine sera reconnue par la Belgique lors de la session de l’ONU ! Et des sanctions fermes sont prises à l’égard du gouvernement israélien. Tout antisémitisme ou glorification du terrorisme par les partisans du Hamas sera aussi plus fortement dénoncé.
Belgium will also work for measures at the EU level, including suspending the union’s association agreement with Israel and terminating research programs and technical cooperation.
The recognition of Palestine takes place within the framework of a joint initiative from France and Saudi Arabia.
“Belgium will recognize Palestine during the joint initiative of France and Saudi Arabia. A strong political and diplomatic gesture to preserve the chances of a two-state solution”, writes Prévot, who also states that Brussels is participating in the initiative to “mark the condemnation of Israel’s expansionist ambitions with its settlement programs and military occupations”.
Hostages must be released first
Prévot emphasizes that the measures are directed against Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and its actions during the 22-month-long offensive against Gaza – not against the Jewish people.
The government simultaneously states that it also intends to take measures against glorification of Hamas and combat what it describes as antisemitism.
The sanctions will take effect through royal decree, but only after the last hostage held by Hamas in Gaza has been released and when the group no longer has any role in the administration of Palestine.
