Our Wednesday News Analysis | No coming back from genocide: resist Israel’s global counter-offensive

Activists march with food and water supplies toward the houses of three Palestinian families that have been besieged by Israeli settlers for six days, in the occupied West Bank village of Qusra, south of Nablus, August 14, 2026

We are at the cusp of a historic moment,
a reality increasingly acknowledged by Israeli politicians, historians, and media themselves.

To squander this opportunity to expose Israel and hold it accountable for its crimes in Palestine
and throughout the Middle East would be unforgivable.

Israel must understand that there can be no return to business as usual, no escaping accountability, and no coming back from genocide.

Colombia’s decision to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan Heights marks a dangerous turning point.

By becoming the second country in the world – after the United States – to endorse Israel’s illegal annexation of Syrian territory,
Bogota has signaled a complete reversal of Gustavo Petro’s foreign policy under new far-right President Abelardo de la Espriella.

However, Colombia is not an isolated case. It reflects a broader, highly aggressive campaign by Israel to systematically dismantle and reverse hard-won pro-Palestine and pro-Arab positions worldwide.
In fact, the shift in Bogota comes alongside dramatic changes in Caracas, where Venezuela’s interim leadership has moved to restore consular ties with Israel after a 17-year freeze.

The same thing is happening in Europe. A prime example is Slovenia, where the newly installed government under Janez Jansa removed the Palestinian flag from government buildings and announced its intention to freeze the country’s 2024 recognition of Palestinian statehood and move its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem.

Israel knows that its so-called “PR problem” is no longer that of a merely tainted image resulting from occasional negative news coverage. The genocide in Gaza, coupled with genocidal discourse and wars of aggression across the Middle East, means that Israel, this time around, will not easily recover from the damage it has inflicted on its global reputation.

Though some circles, including those purportedly critical of Israel, insist that the problem is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government of extremists, the truth is far more unpleasant for Israel. Indeed, Israel as a country, as a colonial project and as an ideology is increasingly being questioned...

Read more: No coming back from genocide: resist Israel’s global counter-offensive

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WHAT WE TOLERATE IN PALESTINE, WE TOLERATE EVERYWHERE

Source: Soheil Malagutti on Substack
https://soheilmalagutti.substack.com/p/what-we-tolerate-in-palestine-we

By Soheil Malagutti
Published August 24, 2026

On the conscience of humanity, and why we can never stop fighting for a free Palestine

There are moments when foreign politics stops being something that happens to other people and becomes a question addressed directly to you.

Palestine is that question. Not because Palestinians are more deserving of solidarity than anyone else, and not because the suffering there is arithmetically greater than everywhere else on earth. Because Palestine is where every problem the twentieth century claimed to have solved is still running, at once, in full view, and because the world has been watching it happen in real time for nearly three years with the ability to stop it and the choice not to.

Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur, put it precisely:

“Nowadays, Palestine is the litmus test of our humanity: it calls us to eradicate and gain a deeper understanding of the imperial, colonial, and capitalistic roots that have embedded the international system since its birth.”

She is right, and the reason she is right is worth spelling out.

This is why Palestine cannot be treated as a distant tragedy.

It is the case that determines what is possible everywhere else.

What we permit there, we have permitted in principle, and the principle travels."

Everything Is There

Settler colonialism was supposed to be finished. It ended in Algeria, in Kenya, in Zimbabwe, in South Africa. It has not ended in Palestine, where settlements expand annually and cabinet ministers openly describe the land as theirs by divine right.

Apartheid was supposed to be finished. South Africa dismantled it in 1994 and the world congratulated itself. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Israel’s own B’Tselem have all concluded that a system of apartheid operates in Palestine today.

Military occupation was supposed to be temporary by definition. Palestine’s is approaching sixty years, the longest in modern history, sustained by permit systems, checkpoints, administrative detention without charge, and the routine imprisonment of children...

Read more: What We Tolerate in Palestine, We Tolerate Everywhere

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TRUMP CAN STOP THE NEXT WAR IN THE WEST BANK, BUT HE MUST ACT NOW

Source: Haaretz
https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2026-08-24/ty-article-opinion/.premium/trump-can-stop-the-next-war-in-the-west-bank-but-he-must-act-now/000001a0-34e3-d268-a1fe-3df7e3020000

By Gershon Baskin
Published August 24, 2026

Even Trump's ambassador to Israel, a staunch supporter of the settlements, has hinted at American sanctions against violent settlers. The U.S. must adopt such a policy, before it's too late

A U.S. flag hangs on the roof of Palestinian American Loui Ridi's home, which has been besieged by Israeli settlers for over a week, in the occupied West Bank village of Qusra. Credit: Majdi Mohammed/AP

"The United States should make clear that anyone who
attacks civilians,
burns homes and cars,
steals property,
kills innocent Palestinians or
violently seizes land,
will risk having their assets frozen and being cut off from the American financial system."

The growing violence of extremist settlers in the West Bank can no longer be dismissed as a collection of local incidents committed by a handful of lawbreakers. It has become a strategic threat that can lead to another war. It is dangerous for Palestinians and Israelis, and also deeply harmful to American interests in the Middle East. It is time for the Trump administration to move from warnings to action and impose personal and financial sanctions on those carrying out the violence, as well as on the organizations that finance and enable it.

The numbers no longer allow anyone to treat this as a marginal phenomenon. According to U.N. data, more than 2,300 Palestinians have been forced out of their homes in recent months as a result of settler attacks and related access restrictions. Almost 50 Palestinian communities have been completely emptied since 2023.

While these attacks are not carried out on the direct orders of any specific politician or party, a difficult truth must nevertheless be acknowledged: When perpetrators almost never pay a price, their violence becomes a political instrument even without written orders. The trend over the past three years is unmistakable: the illegal outposts, fully supported by the extremist ministers in Netanyahu's government, continue to grow and expand, while Palestinian villages are displaced.

Anyone who knows the West Bank understands how a chain of escalation can develop from this recurring phenomenon: settlers attack Palestinians; Palestinians retaliate; Israelis are killed; the IDF launches large-scale operations; more attacks follow, and within a short time we could find ourselves facing all-out war. Extremists on both sides need each other and feed off each other...

Read more: Trump Can Stop the Next War in the West Bank, but He Must Act Now