The problem is that Gaza is not being dealt with as a place where people are being killed and starved, and being pretty much cornered in every way possible by the acts that the Israeli military is conducting on the ground. The danger stems from the fact that Gaza is being discussed as an investment and a planning site, rather than as a place where people are being killed on a daily basis—largely ignoring the displacement, the genocidal acts, the starvation, and the misery.”

Unknown at the time, Jeffrey Epstein gave feedback on talking points to discredit Mearsheimer and Walt, and used his extensive social network to circulate allegations of anti-semitism against the two scholars. Details of Epstein’s role in the backlash to the “Israel Lobby” paper come from a trove of emails obtained by the non-profit whistleblower organization Distributed Denial of Secrets and provided to Drop Site News.

This December, a powerful new single titled Lullaby emerged not simply as a piece of music, but as a cultural and political intervention, one  rooted in Palestinian history and directed toward tangible humanitarian support for Gaza.Released as part of the Together For Palestine initiative, the song reimagines a well-known Palestinian folk melody, Yamma Mwel El Hawa, transforming it into a collective act of remembrance and solidarity at a time when Gaza’s devastation at the hands of Israel has been relentlessly normalized.

I write this article during the Thanksgiving weekend in the first phase of an unstable ceasefire. This initial step of this ceasefire included the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas, in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinians who have been detained in Israeli prisons, some held before October 7, 2023. That is a staggering number that may have caught some by surprise because detained Palestinians are rarely reported. The Israeli military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 65,000 people. During our visit we met with people at Defence for Children International and Addemeer, organizations that collect data and track details of Palestinian detentions. The number of people taken captive by Israel increased from 5,200 to 11,100 since October 7, 2023. Most of these prisoners are from the occupied West Bank—400 of them children. Israel has disappeared Palestinians, and the lawyers who are able to meet with detainees relayed stories of torture, beatings, rape, medical neglect, malnutrition and infections due to unsanitary conditions.