“Bismillaahir-rahmaanir raheem”
(In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful)
Watermelon Wednesday is a weekly brief shared with our elected officials to ensure they are aware of Israel’s aggression, the Palestinian experience, and our country’s complicity in this genocide and international war crimes.
TL;DR:
- Israel has proposed a deeply alarming plan to tighten control over Gaza’s aid, expand its military grip, and forcibly uproot its population.
- However, there is intense global condemnation of it (e.g. from European countries, the U.N., the Red Cross, and even Israeli citizens & soldiers).
- In the U.S., hostility towards free speech and Palestine-related issues, from protests to Palestinian diplomacy, persists.
Takeaways:
- The cruelty of Israel’s plans in Gaza are recognized far and wide, even by its own people.
- The international community is actively rejecting Israel’s manipulation of aid and its continued assault on Gaza.
- The Trump administration is actively suppressing public participation, while also cutting diplomatic ties with the Palestinians.
As your constituents we expect you to:
- Publicly condemn cruelty.
- Ensure our safety in public participation.
- Act with courage to diplomatically support justice.
Gaza Shrivels
- While a few dozen captives are held by Hamas, Israel continues to kill hundreds on a weekly basis.
- 5/7 – Israel says 21-24 hostages held by Hamas are still alive. [Reuters]
- 5/7 – Over 109 Gazans were killed in a single day by Israeli airstrikes, including 48 at a school sheltering displaced families near a market. [Reuters] [Al Jazeera]
- 5/8 – >9 Palestinians killed in an Israeli attack in Beit Lahiya, Gaza; 9 more casualties in Lebanon, post-truce. [Al Jazeera] [Al Jazeera]
- 5/9 – ~430,000 people displaced in Gaza since March 18th; ~300 UNRWA team members have been killed. [UNRWA]
- 5/10 – Children among 21 killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza. [Al Jazeera]
- 5/6 – Israel has restricted Palestinian access to 70% of Gaza, either by declaring no-go zones or issuing forced displacement. [NBC]
- Israel’s cruel enterprise of expansion in Gaza is only accelerating, while the Palestinians therein continue to starve.
- 5/4 – Researchers say Israel’s wildfires worsened due to invasive trees planted to cover former Palestinian villages. [Al Jazeera]
- 5/5 – Netanyahu said a new offensive in Gaza will be intensive, saying that “population will be moved, for its own protection.” [Reuters]
- 5/5 – Israeli soldiers blew up a building in Gaza while laughing about the blue smoke resembling a “gender reveal”. [Al Jazeera]
- 5/7 – Israeli soldiers and settlers harassed a Palestinian activist featured in a BBC documentary, “The Settlers”. [Haaretz]
- 5/8 – Dozens of community kitchens in Gaza shut their doors due to lack of supplies, including the World Central Kitchen. [Reuters] [AP]
- Israel’s own people are resisting the same campaign America is supporting from thousands of miles away.
- 5/5 – Israel’s military had called up tens of thousands of reservists to enhance and expand the operation in Gaza. [CBS]
- 5/10 – Israeli reservists increasingly refuse duty, citing exhaustion from supporting a war with no clear end. [Al Jazeera]
- 5/10 – Thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv, calling on the government to end the war and secure immediate release of captives. [Al Jazeera]
Israeli soldiers blow up a building in Gaza, then joke about it resembling a “gender reveal”. [Al Jazeera]
International Pushback
- Israel proposed a cruel and deceiving plan to take control over Gazan aid distribution — the world yelled back.
- 5/5 – Leader at a Norwegian trade union: Norway’s $1.8 trillion wealth fund should divest from all companies aiding Israel in Palestine. [Reuters]
- 5/6 – The U.N. rejected a plan by Israeli authorities to shut down the current Gazan aid system, which drew strict criticism from across Europe. [Reuters] [Reuters] [Reuters] [Reuters]
- 5/6 – Israel’s NSO Group was fined $168 million by federal jury for hijacking the servers of WhatsApp in a spyware case. [Reuters]
- 5/8 – Red Cross: The suffering in Gaza was reaching a point where it “questions the very foundations of our humanity.” [Reuters]
- 5/8 – U.N. experts have demanded action to avert the “annihilation” of Palestinians in Gaza. [Al Jazeera]
- 5/9 – UNICEF: Israel’s new humanitarian distribution plan would increase ongoing suffering of children and families in Gaza. [Reuters]
- 5/9 – U.N.: The world could be witnessing “another Nakba”. [OHCHR]
New German Chancellor Friedrich Merz sent a minister to Israel amid concern about aid plans. [Reuters]
American Dissonance
- Turmoil brews in America: some enjoy justice, others support its counterpart.
- 5/5 – A U.S. bill aiming to penalize boycotts of allied nations, including Israel, is facing backlash over free speech concerns. [Al Jazeera]
- 5/6, 5/8 – Amid suppression of campus activism: Michigan drops charges against protestors; >40 were arrested at Columbia. [Reuters] [Al Jazeera]
- 5/6 – Trump’s administration pushed a federal court to allow continued detention of students arrested over pro-Palestinian advocacy. [Reuters]
- 5/6 – Trump will merge the Palestinian Affairs office into the Jerusalem embassy, cutting Palestine’s direct line to the State Department. [NYT]
- 5/7 – America and Israel have discussed the possibility of the U.S. leading a post-war administration in Gaza. [Reuters]
- 5/8 – CAIR labeled UIUC a “Hostile Campus” over its treatment of students advocating for Palestinian rights. [CAIR]
CAIR has designated UIUC a “Hostile Campus” [CAIR]