Unlikely Alliances, Gaza, and The Supreme Court
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This week, Important Context, OptOut's official news outlet, published a piece by journalist Tina Desiree-Berg about the emerging alliance between pro-Israel Jews and America's more traditional far-right extremists, including white and Christian nationalists. As pro-Palestine protests emerge on college campuses across the country in response to Israel's increasingly brutal war in Gaza, these seemingly unlikely allies have joined together to counter-demonstrate and even commit acts of violence.
The story is an absolute must-read.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1200,h_600,c_fill,f_jpg,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9f07d4c1-6c68-4d46-b5cb-a11d233d2cc9_5999x4001.jpeg)
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DONATE HERE!War On Gaza
On Monday, news broke that the International Criminal Court prosecutor was seeking arrest warrants related to the ongoing war in Gaza for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as members of Hamas' leadership including Ismail Haniyeh. COUNTERPUNCH had a good explainer of the situation.
![](https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/karimkhan.jpeg)
News of the arrest warrant applications sparked condemnation from the Biden administration, which has been supporting Netanyahu's government despite massive political pressure as it commits what international observers allege are war crimes. JACOBIN had a good take on the White House response.
![](https://images.jacobinmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/21150329/GettyImages-2153460565.jpg)
While President Biden was frustrated by the ICC, his 2020 political rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders welcomed the news as STATUS COUP noted.
The move by the ICC to pursue warrants against a U.S. ally promises to have significant impact, representing a major shift in international law, as was reported in THE INTERCEPT.
![](https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-1803504077-e1716235956985.jpg?fit=1070%2C535&w=1200&h=800)
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Supreme Woes
The right-wing Supreme Court swatted down an effort by conservatives to abolish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with a fringe legal theory. The ruling 7-2 ruling was rebuke of the Trump-stacked Fifth Circuit, which had backed the effort to kill the agency. THE NEW REPUBLIC reported.
![](https://images.newrepublic.com/aabe30d5ba7dee249bd648fbcd59a331b3a7a5a3.jpeg?w=1200&h=630&crop=faces&fit=crop&fm=jpg)
But it was not all good news this week from the Court. In a blow to voting rights, the right-wing majority overruled a lower court ruling that South Carolina had illegally gerrymandered its voting maps based on race as opposed to partisanship. STATES NEWSROOM had the story.
![](https://wisconsinexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/US-Supreme-Court___Quentin-Young-ColoNewsline.jpg)
Justice Clarence Thomas, who has accepted numerous billionaire-funded luxury trips, wrote separately, agreeing with most of the majority's reasoning, but going even further. THE NEW REPUBLIC had a good explainer.
![](https://images.newrepublic.com/0f431af6f500c3d86dd3f8b305dc1a398dd00265.jpeg?w=1200&h=630&crop=faces&fit=crop&fm=jpg)
Meanwhile, Justice Samuel Alito, who has also accepted a luxury trip from a major GOP donor, came under fire this month for flying an upside down American flag on his property, a distress symbol adopted by Donald Trump's "Stop the Steal" movement. THE NATION had a good take from Chris Lehmann.
![](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-1243793556.jpg)
But this week, news broke that he'd also flown another flag associated with Trump's efforts to remain in power despite losing the election. THE NEW REPUBLIC had that story as well.
![](https://images.newrepublic.com/0643fc585dbbe39838562b11d269096a4db13d01.jpeg?w=1200&h=630&crop=faces&fit=crop&fm=jpg)
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