Youth in US, West are seeing past Israel’s narratives on Palestinians: Activist
Speaking from a pro-Palestine conference that is under way in Detroit, an organiser with the US-based Palestinian Youth Movement said it is important for Palestinians to take the reins for their struggle for freedom and tell their own stories.
“For those of us who were born into exile in the US or other countries in the West, we feel a particular obligation to confront and expose the complicity of countries like the US that are bankrolling and co-creating the genocide in Gaza,” Lea Kayali told Al Jazeera.
She said the so-called aid sites run by the GHF are “killing fields enacted directly by the agents of the US”, adding that the youth movement also works to confront “complicit journalism” that sidelines Palestinian narratives and gives credence to Israeli lies.
“Being here in the US and organising as a Palestinian, I have seen more people stand up with Palestine now than ever before in my life, and they simply do not believe the lies and the headlines, instead following voices on the ground in Gaza,” she said.
Activists focusing on ways to target companies ‘facilitating genocide’ in Gaza
The main thing organisers hope will come from the pro-Palestine conference in Detroit, Michigan in the US is giving people a tangible strategy to implement in their locales, said Palestinian-American activist Mohammed Nabulsi.
“What we’ve realised is that we’re in a moment where we have a government and an administration that’s not going to be receptive to any pressure. Its relationship with the state of Israel and the Israeli government is one of complete no limits in terms of what they can do in Gaza,” he told Al Jazeera at the conference.
“For us, the main weakness in this network of private actors, governments and media that facilitates this genocide is the corporate actors. We’re specifically thinking about the way that corporate actors, including shipping giant Maersk or software company Microsoft, are facilitating the genocide.”
Nabulsi said activists plan on implementing more pressure on local governments to take action, as well as against the companies. Some companies could be pressured through directing focus on their public contracts with other countries that may agree to end them, he said.
US suspends visitor visas for Palestinian passport holders: Report
The Trump administration has suspended approvals of almost all types of visitor visas for Palestinian passport holders, The New York Times has reported, citing US officials.
The new measures preclude Palestinians, at least temporarily, from obtaining visas for medical treatment, university studies, to visit friends or relatives, and for business.
This applies to those who hold Palestinian passports, which are issued by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), but not to Palestinians with dual nationalities, or those who have already obtained visas.
The move follows earlier restrictions on Palestinians from Gaza and on Palestinian officials attending the annual UN General Assembly in New York next month.
