US legislator slams Trump-Netanyahu talks on displacing Palestinians
Senator Chris Van Hollen has responded to reports that Trump and Netanyahu spoke about their “plan to have Palestinians ‘voluntarily’ leave” Gaza during their meeting at the White House.
“Let’s be clear: nothing about this is voluntary — it would mean the coerced deportation of 2 million people from Gaza and U.S. taxpayers should have NOTHING to do with it,” he wrote on X.
US border authorities briefly detain lawyer of pro-Palestinian protester
A lawyer representing a pro-Palestinian protester has been detained by federal agents when he attempted to re-enter the United States after visiting the Dominican Republic with his wife and two daughters.
The Detroit Free Press reports that Amir Makled, a US citizen, was stopped by authorities at Detroit Metro Airport, detained, asked about his clients and asked to hand over his phone that contained privileged information.
Makled, who represents a demonstrator arrested at the University of Michigan last year during a wave of pro-Palestinian student protests, said he was asked for a list of thousands of texts. When he refused, a 90-minute standoff began that ended after he allowed the agents to review his contacts.
“This current administration is doing something that no administration has done – they are attacking attorneys,” Makled said.
“This is a different type of threat to the rule of law that I see. They are now challenging the judiciary, or lawyers, they’re putting pressure [on them] to dissuade attorneys from taking on issues that are against the government’s issues.
“We have an obligation as lawyers to stand up to this stuff,” Makled added.
Senator calls on US government to end offensive weapons sales to Israel
Citing incidents of Israeli soldiers firing on Palestinian medics and beating detainees, Peter Welch has urged the US government to apply what is known as the Leahy Law to end offensive weapons sales to Israel.
The Leahy Law is a federal regulation that bars the US government from providing funds to foreign military units when there is “credible information” implicating them in gross violations of human rights.
Those violations include torture, extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances and rape.
Last week, the US Senate voted down an attempt to block the sale of some offensive weapons to Israel.
Senator Bernie Sanders said he introduced the motion because the US, which provides Israel with at least $3.8bn in military assistance annually, is “deeply complicit in what is happening in Gaza”.
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