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Cease Fire Agreement Between Hamas and Israel: What are Its Implications?

May 24, 2021 | Foreign Policy

Brief #113—Foreign Policy
By Reilly Fitzgerald
Last week I wrote a U.S. RESIST NEWS Brief regarding the on-going Israeli-Palestinian conflict with some thoughts on how the United States may respond. This Brief is a continuation of that updated with information from the past week, and focuses on a newly agreed upon cease fire agreement.

In the last week, the conflict between Israel and Palestine has escalated in several ways. The first being that the scale of violence from the Israeli military and government, towards the Palestinians, has increased dramatically. Initially, we saw clashes with police and rioters; and then, the Israelis started to drop bombs and target specific buildings – one building that was destroyed housed the Associated Press along with other journalists. According to various news sources, the Israelis targeted approximately 20 media outlets during their bombardment of Gaza. The bombing has killed over 200 people, and injured many others. Also, it is worth noting that the Hamas rockets being fired into Israel have killed more than 10 Israelis as well.

Should the US join the International Criminal Court?

May 21, 2021 | Foreign Policy

Brief #112—Foreign Policy
By Ailin Goode
Relations between the U.S. government and the International Criminal Court have shifted back and forth between cautious support and straightforward opposition with each administration since the founding of the ICC in 2002. While the Biden administration is proving more tolerant of the Court than his predecessor it remains to be seen whether-or-not the United States will reconsider its current abstinence from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established and governs the ICC.

The 2020 Census Report Shifts Seven Seats in the House

May 19, 2021 | Election Campaign News

Brief #18—Elections & Politics
By Rosalind Gottfried
The first report from the 2020 census data was released in April after delays stemming from issues related to the Corona virus. This first report is utilized to inform decisions relating to the reapportionment of the 435 seats in the House; it includes data through April 1, 2020 and as such is missing data reflecting deaths from the Covid 19. The new census shows the lowest population gain in recorded US history. The current population, based on the number of all living persons including Native Americans, is 331,449,281. This reflects an increase of 7.4% from the 2010 census, the second lowest since the reported 7.3% recorded in the decade of the 1930s. Thirty seven states grew more slowly than in the previous decade while three states lost population. This trend is attributable to lower birthrates; higher death rates, and slowed immigration.

Biden Administration Enables Task Force to Reunite Immigrant Families Separated during Trump Administration

May 18, 2021 | Immigration

Brief #123—Immigration
By Kathryn Baron
The Department of Homeland Security will establish a Family Reunification Task Force with the mandate of reuniting families who were separated during the Trump Administration’s Zero Tolerance Policy. The Task Force will be led by Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, and involve substantial interagency coordination with the Department of Justice (settlement negotiation efforts), the Department of State (system for processing in-country requests for travel documents to enter the US), and the Department of Health and Human Services (facilitate services and support for effected families). The Task Force is expected to deliver a progress report by June 2, 2021.

Trump’s Comically Bad Communications Platform and the Power of Engagement and Deplatforming

May 18, 2021 | Technology

Brief #47—Technology
By Scout Burchill
After four months of radio silence, former president Donald Trump is back in the social media game, sort of. After hyping a return on a platform of his own, Trump finally launched a new section on his website called From the Desk of Donald J. Trump, touting it as “a place to speak freely and safely.” Billed as a “communication platform,” the new feature on his website is basically a micro-blog that Trump uses to post messages in his trademark Twitter style.

The sobering reality of a post-carbon world starts with lithium

May 17, 2021 | Environment

Brief #116—Environment
By Todd Broadman
The Biden Administration has recognized what previous administrations have not: that carbon-based energy has been destroying our planet and must stop, that greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to net zero by 2050. Recognition is a major step forward. Government action to replace our fossil fuel economy with renewables is a colossal task and one that Biden aims to tackle.

What we know is that carbon-free energy is actually more mineral intensive than its oil-based counterpart. There are some 35 rare earth minerals that are key components to making the transition from fossil-fuels to clean energy. Lithium has recently garnered much attention for its essential role in the production of lithium-ion batteries that power our next generation of EV cars. (Other essential minerals include aluminum, cobalt, copper, and nickel).

The April Jobs Report Contains Mixed Messages

May 17, 2021 | Economic Policy

Brief #116—Economics
By Rosalind Gottfried
The April reports showed that unemployment was 6.1%, up from 6% the previous month. There were 266,000 new jobs; a figure that fell short of the anticipated one million new jobs. This was on top of revised job estimates for March, which were down to 770,000 from earlier estimate of 916,000. The portion of the labor force teleworking went down from 21% in March to 18.3% for April. Unemployment went up among black workers; at 9.7% they were the only group to undergo an increase in unemployment. White unemployment was at 5.3%, indicating the duality of the job market on the basis of race. Women dropped out of the labor force, bending to the pressures of home and child care, with 165,000 leaving the workforce.

Facebook’s Oversight Board Upholds Trump Ban but Criticizes Indefinite Punish-ment

May 14, 2021 | Technology

Brief #46—Technology
By Scout Burchill
On Wednesday, May 5th, Facebook’s Oversight Board issued its much anticipated ruling on the social media platform’s indefinite ban of former President Donald Trump for his posts following the January 6th riots at the Capitol. After a week-long delay due to over 9,000 public comments on the case, the Oversight Board decided to uphold Facebook’s initial decision to suspend Trump.

However, in the nearly 12,000 word ruling, the Board made absolutely clear that the indefinite suspension is “not appropriate” as it constitutes an “indeterminate and standardless penalty.” On this issue, the Board did not mince words in reprimanding Facebook’s arbitrary punishment. The Board wrote, “in applying a vague, standardless penalty and then referring this case to the Board to resolve, Facebook seeks to avoid its responsibilities.”

The Biden Administration Struggles to Find a Response to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

May 14, 2021 | Foreign Policy

Brief #111—Foreign Policy
By Reilly Fitzgerald
The Biden-Harris Administration has made it very clear throughout their first several months in the White House that their Middle East policy will be a divergence from the one that the Trump Administration had imposed throughout their term. The Trump White House’s Middle East policy was one of aggression and this was exhibited by assassinating Iranian officials, pulling out of the JCPOA (‘Iran nuclear deal’), consistently backing Israel, moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and other major decisions.

Earlier this week, Israeli and Palestinian tensions reached a high point as Palestinian militants (backed by Hamas) fired rockets into Israel. Israel has responded with violence as well and has killed numerous Palestinians. President Biden’s administration has said that it will maintain its support of a two-state solution; however, they did also express their support for Israel to be able to defend itself from attacks.

Lessons for the US from Colombia’s Universal Basic Income Program

May 14, 2021 | Foreign Policy

Brief #111—Foreign Policy
By Brandon Mooney
This week, as center-left Democrats and some of America has begun to discuss universal basic income (UBI) and what welfare programs will look like in the post-pandemic future, I thought that we could look to the recent protests that rocked Colombia for an example of what not to do. For those who don’t know, UBI is a state-funded social program where a decided amount of money is sent to all citizens within a designated population group without the condition of a certain employment status or other test. Basically, it’s a regular check from the government to everyone within a selected population. Supporters of UBI have been calling for its adoption across the world as the pandemic has sparked mass unemployment, limited job growth, and tanked economies.

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