new authoritarianism

Senate Democrats vote to block arms for Israel as base turns pro-Palestine

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Demonstrators gather outside Google’s Chicago headquarters on April 15, 2026. [Jacek Boczarski – Anadolu Agency]

An overwhelming majority of Senate Democrats voted yesterday to block new US arms sales to Israel, in a significant sign of how far the party has moved away from its once near-unquestioned support for arming Israel. 

Two resolutions introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders seeking to halt the sale of bulldozers and 1,000-pound bombs were defeated, but they won the backing of most Democrats in the chamber. The Senate voted 40-59 against blocking the bulldozer sale and 36-63 against blocking the sale of bombs.

The measures targeted roughly $446.8 million in military sales, including $295 million in armoured bulldozers and $151.8 million in 1,000-pound bombs. Sanders said the weapons had been used in Gaza, Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territories and argued that the sales raised serious concerns under US law, including the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act.

The vote was notable for the split among the rank of Democrat lawmakers. Forty of the Senate’s 47 Democrats voted to stop supplying bulldozers to the Israeli military, while 36 voted against supplying bombs. That means around 85 per cent of Senate Democrats backed at least measures to stop Israel continue its ethnic cleansing through the demolition of Palestinian homes. 

Key Democratic figures including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand and John Fetterman voted against blocking the sales, alongside all or nearly all Republicans.

The vote fits a broader political realignment inside the Democratic Party. A Pew poll published this month found that 80 per cent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents now hold an unfavourable view of Israel, up from 69 per cent last year and 53 per cent in 2022.

READ: Poll finds most Americans hold unfavourable views of Israel

That shift has been increasingly visible on Capitol Hill. Yesterday’s vote is seen as further evidence of “growing dissatisfaction” among Democrats with US military backing for Israel. Once a fringe view in Congress, ending US support for the apartheid state is the mainstream position of Democrats.

Pressure is also growing on Schumer, who remains out of step with much of his party’s base on Israel. In the days before the vote, nearly 100 protesters were arrested in New York after demanding that Schumer and Gillibrand support Sanders’s resolutions. 

After Schumer voted against the resolution, Representative Ro Khanna publicly told him to “step aside”, saying he was “out of touch with our base and the nation.”

Even though Sanders’s resolutions failed, the scale of Democratic support marked a new high-water mark for congressional opposition to arming Israel. Reuters said the votes showed “growing unease among Democrats” over US military support for Israel, while the Guardian described the result as evidence of noticeable momentum within the party for greater scrutiny of arms sales amid the devastation in Gaza and wider regional escalation.

For Democratic leaders who have continued to back military aid, the political warning is becoming harder to ignore. The party’s voters are moving sharply towards the Palestinians, and Wednesday’s vote showed that most Senate Democrats are now moving with them.

READ: J Street backs ending US military aid to Israel in sign of widening Democratic shift

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.

Continue ReadingSenate Democrats vote to block arms for Israel as base turns pro-Palestine

‘Zionism above all’: Telegraph takeover sparks fears over Israel loyalty test

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This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer in Berlin, Germany on 18 March 2021 [Bernd von Jutrczenka/Pool/Getty Images]

Support for Israel is set to become a virtual purity test for Telegraph journalists after the newspaper’s takeover by German media giant Axel Springer, whose chief executive, Mathias Döpfner, has reportedly described his political credo as “Zionism above all”. 

The acquisition, cleared by UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, puts one of Britain’s most influential newspapers under the control of a company that formally lists support for Israel as one of its core institutional values.

According to details published by Owen Jones, Döpfner wrote to Telegraph staff to say they would operate within Axel Springer’s “Essentials”, a set of principles that the company presents as its editorial compass. 

Among them is a commitment to support “the right of existence of the State of Israel” and to oppose “all forms of antisemitism”, placing Israel second only to freedom, free speech, the rule of law and democracy in the company’s hierarchy of values.

The singling out of Israel for special protection out of 193 UN member states has raised concern. Israel alone is explicitly granted this level of institutional protection in Axel Springer’s declared values, raising immediate questions about how far editorial independence can really extend under the new ownership. 

READ: MEMO Monitoring: Exposing the German media’s pro-Israel bias

Axel Springer insists its “Essentials” create the conditions for “maximum journalistic freedom and intellectual independence”, but critics argue that requiring adherence to a fixed political position on a specific foreign state undermines any claim to neutrality.

Döpfner’s outspoken support for Israel is also likely to deepen concern about whether the Telegraph can cover Palestine fairly under its new owners. The Guardian reported that leaked messages attributed to him using the phrase “Zionism above all”.

Döpfner’s public remarks have also repeatedly blurred the line between support for Palestinians and support for Hamas. In an internal Axel Springer transcript published by the company, he described more than four million social media posts under “Free Palestine” and similar hashtags as “pro-Hamas topics”. 

That framing is likely to deepen concern among journalists and readers alike about how criticism of Israel may be treated at the Telegraph under its new owners.

A Telegraph journalist told Owen Jones that being informed by the incoming owner’s chief executive that support for Israel was effectively a core principle was “more than a little concerning”, adding that it raised questions about “how any reporting from the paper can be considered factual if that is our core principle”.

READ: Anti-Palestinianism is the modern day McCarthyism

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.

Continue Reading‘Zionism above all’: Telegraph takeover sparks fears over Israel loyalty test

Democrats file articles of impeachment against Hegseth for ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/15/democrats-pete-hegseth-impeachment

Pete Hegseth in Arlington, Virginia, on Monday. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Accusations refer to attack on Iran without congressional authorization and strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats

House Democrats filed six articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth on Wednesday, accusing the defense secretary of “high crimes and misdemeanors”, in reference to the attack on Iran without congressional authorization and deadly strikes on suspected drug smuggling boats, among other official acts.

The move comes as the Trump administration faces mounting scrutiny over recent foreign action, particularly the war with Iran.

In Wednesday’s resolution, Yassamin Ansari, a Democratic congresswoman from Arizona, and colleagues including John Larson of Connecticut accused Hegseth of disregarding rules to minimize civilian casualties during armed conflict.

The US may have been responsible for a March strike on a school in Iran that left at least 175 individuals dead, including children, according to a New York Times report.

The House Democrats also pointed at a growing number of boat strikes in the Caribbean. The military has repeatedly sought to frame individuals on the vessels as “narco-terrorists”.

…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/15/democrats-pete-hegseth-impeachment

Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it's fun to kill everyone ...
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it’s fun to kill everyone …
Continue ReadingDemocrats file articles of impeachment against Hegseth for ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’

‘Psychological torture’: outcry over conditions at ICE desert detention camp

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/15/ice-desert-detention-camp-east-montana

Large white tents and steel fencing at Camp East Montana at the Fort Bliss army base in Texas. Photograph: AP

Detainees tell of abuse at sprawling Texas facility whose giant generators gobble energy and fuel climate crisis

Dust was everywhere, covering people’s blankets and clogging their airways inside Camp East Montana, the huge tent facility for immigration detention in west Texas, said D, a young Venezuelan man who was held there.

The air conditioning blasted constantly, keeping the living areas inside tents the length of two football fields at what felt like near-freezing temperatures despite the balmy weather outside, and rain leaked through the tarps, so people awoke on wet mattresses, he recalled.

“Everyone was coughing a lot – and with the same problem to breathe,” said D, who has since been released and spoke with the Guardian via video interview.

Camp East Montana is the facility with the largest number of immigration-related detainees in the US, with a capacity of 5,000 and an estimated daily average of 2,505 locked up. After just nine months in operation it has become a health and human rights scandal – and also an environmental hazard that affects the inhabitants and the area, while fueling the climate crisis.

Reports of harsh conditions, abuse, sickness and death have accumulated since the camp was erected last summer on the Fort Bliss army base in El Paso. And flying thousands of people often hundreds of miles to be locked up in an encampment run on electricity generators in the desert gobbles energy and produces emissions that are heating the planet.

…

Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/15/ice-desert-detention-camp-east-montana

Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn't bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.
Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn’t bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.
Continue Reading‘Psychological torture’: outcry over conditions at ICE desert detention camp

A journalist filmed an ICE protest at a Minnesota church. Then federal agents showed up at her door

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/16/minnesota-journalist-charged-ice-protest

Georgia Fort. Photograph: Sheldon Powell

After Georgia Fort and Don Lemon reported from a church whose pastor reportedly works for ICE, agents arrested Fort in front of her children

When federal agents arrived at Georgia Fort’s front door to arrest her, she knew what to do: be a journalist.

Fort, an independent Minnesota reporter who faces criminal charges after covering a protest inside a St Paul church, took out her phone and spoke directly to the camera, livestreaming to her audience that her lawyer advised her to go with the agents. Her three kids were in the house at the time, she said.

“I’m going to have to hop off here and surrender to agents,” she said in the video on 30 January. “As a member of the press, I filmed the church protest a few weeks ago, and now I’m being arrested for that. It’s hard to understand how we have a constitution, constitutional rights, when you can just be arrested for being a member of the press.”

…

During the height of “Operation Metro Surge” in January, days after a federal agent killed Renee Good, dozens of people entered the church to call attention to one of its pastors, who reportedly served as an acting field director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Nearly 40 people have been charged over the protest in a sprawling case that pits the first amendment rights to protest and report against the free exercise of religion. The Trump administration has made clear that the case is a high priority. Harmeet Dhillon, the head of the civil rights division at the Department of Justice, has said the government is “going to pursue this to the ends of the earth”, which the government said in legal filings was not a political statement but “mere promises to vigorously enforce federal criminal law”.

…

Fort often highlights attacks on journalists in her coverage, and she brings up the sustained attack on press freedom globally as context for her arrest. She points to journalists like Mario Guevara, a Latino journalist in Georgia who was deported by the Trump administration, and the hundreds of journalists killed in Gaza.

These attacks on journalists aren’t just personal – they are an attack on the public’s right to know, she said.

“Why would anybody not want you to know truth and facts?” she said. “Why would someone want to arrest and criminalize the people whose job it is to simply keep you informed?”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/16/minnesota-journalist-charged-ice-protest

Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Donald Trump warns against following the Onaquietday.org blog, says that he's heard that she's a witch with a black cat and a dangerous kitchen.
Donald Trump warns against following the Onaquietday.org blog, says that he’s heard that she’s a witch with a black cat and a dangerous kitchen.
Continue ReadingA journalist filmed an ICE protest at a Minnesota church. Then federal agents showed up at her door