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SvennoJ on 23 February 2024
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Former US ambassador to Israel hits out at Blinken over settlement policy

David Friedman, who served as ambassador to Israel under the Trump administration and earned a reputation for controversial acts underscoring his firm support for Israel, has slammed current Secretary of State Blinken’s remarks earlier today that Israeli settlements violate international law, a position the Trump administration did not take.

“Blinken is 100% wrong. I researched this for over a year with many State Department lawyers,” Friedman said in a social media post. “There is nothing illegal about Jews living in their biblical homeland.”

There is an overwhelming consensus that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories violate international law, and are often built on lands expropriated from Palestinians.



Please leave your home and give the land back to the natives if you believe that nonsense. And sure, there is nothing wrong living there. Get Palestinian immigrant status and buy a house, like normal people do when moving to another country.


US senator applauds restoration of settlement policy

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen has welcomed the Biden administration’s decision to reverse a Trump-era policy that refused to say that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are illegal under international law.

“I applaud @SecBlinken for taking this important step to reassert U.S. policy against illegal settlements and to advance a viable two-state future where Israelis and Palestinians can live with equal measures of dignity, rights and security,” the senator said in a social media post.

US civil liberties group says university must reinstate banned pro-Palestinian groups

The New York branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has said that Columbia University must reinstate two student groups who were suspended by the university for pro-Palestinian activism, or face a court challenge.

“We’ve notified @Columbia that they must reverse the unlawful suspensions of two student groups [@ColumbiaSJP & @JVPColumbia] for engaging in peaceful protest and to reinstate both chapters by March 1. If the university fails to respond by then, we’re prepared to sue,” the group said in a social media post.

“Universities should be havens for robust debate, discussion, and learning – not sites of censorship where administrators, donors, and politicians squash political discourse they don’t approve of.”