Al-Jazeera English February 5, 2025 (5 mins.):
Following Trump’s press conference with Israeli prime
minister Netanyahu [Source link is no longer available]
Category: Trump
Trump Foreign Policy
Interview: Trump’s policy toward Palestinians
Two recent interviews on CNA television, Singapore-based multinational news channel:
Jordan, Egypt unlikely to take in more Palestinian refugees despite Trump’s threats (8 mins.)
Trump’s proposal to ‘clean out’ Gaza disturbing (7 mins.)
What a Second Trump Presidency Could Mean for the Pro-Palestine Movement
The Progressive February 3, 2025
Examines how a Trump presidency will make U.S. policy towards Israel/Palestine even worse than under Biden, but how it might spawn a bigger backlash that could end up forcing real change in U.S. policy in the longer term. [source]
Interview: Israel’s devastating military offensive in the occupied West Bank
Al-Jazeera English “Inside Story” February 4, 2025: One of three experts, Zunes’s segment begins at 9 mins. of 27.
UN Faces Backlash from a Hostile White House
Inter Press Service UN Bureau Report, Jan 30 2025
Dr. Zunes is quoted extensively in this report:
“No leader of a major power since the UN’s founding in 1945 has expressed such disdain for fundamental principles of international law.” It should be remembered, though, that the United States was already undermining such principles under previous administrations, he pointed out. For example, even under (former US President Joe) Biden, the United States recognized Israel’s illegal annexation of the Golan Heights and Morocco’s illegal annexation of Western Sahara, both seized by military force in contravention to unanimous UN Security Council resolutions. Hostility towards UN agencies isn’t new either, said Dr Zunes… [source]
ICAHD UK Webinar ‘The Palestinian Struggle in the Age of Trump’
Israeli Committee Against House Demolition UK Webinar
‘The Palestinian Struggle in the Age of Trump,’ 23 Jan 2025
[Zunes’s segment starts at 28 minutes; video source]
Professors Stephen Zunes and Leila Farsakh were distinguished guests, moderated by Jeff Halper. Leila Farsakh works with several international organisations and is a senior research fellow at the Center for Development Studies at Birzeit University and chair of the One Democratic State Campaign. They provided historical background about Palestinian resistance, the centrality of the Palestinian refugees, the different approaches taken by the Palestine Authority and Hamas, and how Trump is worse than Biden. It is expected that Israel’s apartheid policies will intensify and as Palestinians continue to resist living under oppression as they seek freedom and justice, their struggle will be bloody. However, with Trump in office and the flagrant Republican agenda, it will likely mobilize unprecedented opposition among leftists, liberals, and a growing segment of the US Democratic Party.
Gaza Ceasefire: Five Interviews Jan. 2025
- Al-Jazeera English [Source is no longer accessible]
- KPFA-FM (segment begins at 1:05): Most comprehensive with a special emphasis
on Biden administration policy - KTVU, a Bay Area network affiliate: Three short interviews
* https://www.ktvu.com/video/1577477
* https://www.ktvu.com/video/1577202
* https://bit.ly/4jiAD9v
Video: Zunes’ Research on Coup Resistance
4 Keys to Defeat a Coup (5 mins.): Dr. Zunes’s animated summary of his research on coup resistance. Also at ChooseDemocracy.us,
see “10 Ways to Ground Ourselves” & “Bringing Down a Dictator”.
Reaction to ICC Indictment Reveals US Bipartisan Contempt for International Law
The Progressive, December 5, 2024 by Stephen Zunes:
Examines Washington’s hysterical and dishonest reaction to the International Criminal Court’s indictments of two Israeli leaders for war crimes [Source]
Will Biden Cost Harris the Election?
News Lines Magazine October 8, 2024
[Dr. Zunes urges readers to please circulate this important article widely, particularly to those in swing states who are reluctant to vote for Harris because of the Biden administration’s Middle East policy.]
A detailed analysis of how Kamala Harris is seriously constrained by her role as sitting vice-president from breaking with the Biden administration’s hard-line support for Israel, but would likely take a significantly more moderate position and would likely end the wars once she became president.
UN: Charter Reform and Threat If Trump’s Elected
Two articles quoting Dr. Zunes:
* On the threat to the United Nations system if Trump is elected.
Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics and Director of International Studies at the University of San Francisco, who has written extensively on the politics of the United Nations, told IPS: “Yes, this would indeed be disastrous and UN funding for these agencies and affiliated institutions would indeed be cut”. It should be noted, however, that Biden has already eliminated U.S. funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) and has threatened to eliminate funding to any organization that has Palestine as a full member. Though Harris has generally been less hostile to international legal norms than Biden, I have seen no indication that Harris would reverse these policies, said Zunes. “Given Trump’s disrespect for domestic laws and institutions, it’s not surprising he would have a similar contempt for international laws and institutions,” he declared.
* On UN Charter reform: “Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco, told IPS proposals for Security Council reform generally go nowhere due to opposition from the veto-wielding permanent members who do not want to lose their advantages under the current archaic system. However, this proposal, or some variation of it, might have a chance of success in light of the fact that it is being pushed by the United States, which has historically been an opponent of such reforms, he pointed out. Furthermore, given that each of the P5 desire to extend their influence in Africa and among small island states, it would not reflect well on them to oppose such an effort, Zunes declared.”
Interview: Trump Was Never a “Moderate” on Foreign Policy
Truthout August 21, 2024, by Daniel Falcone
Former President Donald Trump is sometimes depicted as having a less interventionist foreign policy than his Democratic rivals, but this is a myth, argues foreign policy scholar Stephen Zunes. The former president had an extreme militaristic agenda, which he disingenuously pitched as an alternative to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s in 2016…
Is the UN Ready for a Second Trump Presidency?
Inter Press Service August 29, 2024:
This article, which examines the dangers to the United Nations system should Trump return to office, quotes Dr. Zunes:
Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics and Director of International Studies at the University of San Francisco, who has written extensively on the politics of the United Nations, told IPS: “Yes, this would indeed be disastrous and UN funding for these agencies and affiliated institutions would indeed be cut”.
How U.S. Policy Failures Helped Hamas
Foreign Policy In Focus/Institute for Policy Studies, October 31, 2023
By Stephen Zunes [source]
U.S. policy resulted in current ongoing tragedy
Interviews: Al Jazeera on Trump and Biden support for Israel’s war on Gaza
Al-Jazeera Video: Biden’s policy supports Israel’s war on Gaza
(Feb. 2024; Dr. Zunes begins at the four-minute mark.)
Three more quoting Dr. Zunes November 2023:
- For 20 years, this AIDS relief plan enjoyed broad US support. What changed? Nov. 14, 2023
- Israel-Hamas war updates: Al-Shifa Hospital under threat, Nov. 9, 2023
- Why are US Republicans pushing for aid to Israel but not Ukraine? Nov. 8, 2023
Biden’s Dangerous Refusal to Reverse Trump’s Western Sahara Policy
Foreign Policy In Focus, Jan. 21, 2022: In his final weeks in office, President Donald Trump stunned the international community in formally recognizing Western Sahara as part of Morocco. Morocco has occupied much of its southern neighbor since 1975, when it invaded and annexed the former Spanish colony in defiance of the United Nations Security Council and a landmark ruling of the International Court of Justice… Find more at Western-Sahara.org.
Interview: Anniversary of Capitol Attack
KSQD January 6, 2022: Talk of the Bay host Rachel Goodman interviews Dr. Stephen Zunes about the anniversary of the January 6th insurrection and steps to protect our democracy from further attacks.
Will Biden Admin Reverse Trump’s “Dangerous” Recognition of Morocco’s Occupation of Western Sahara?
DemocracyNow! Feb. 5, 2021, full transcript and video
President Donald Trump broke with decades of U.S. foreign policy in the waning days of his administration and recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, a territory the country has occupied since 1975 in defiance of the United Nations and the international community. U.S. recognition came as Morocco agreed to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, becoming the fourth Arab nation to do so in recent months as part of a regional push by the Trump administration to strengthen Israel without addressing the Palestinian conflict. Now the Biden administration must weigh whether to reverse Trump’s decision…. “The United Nations Charter is very clear expansion of territory by military force is illegitimate.”
See Zunes’s website and book Western Sahara.
New Zealand radio station (hosted by an American expat) on threats to American democracy from Trump and the far right.
Recording is no longer available.
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