The EU is quietly approaching a decision it spent two years avoiding: trade measures on Israeli settlement goods.
Most coverage misses why this moment is different. It isn't new outrage. It's a legal opinion that just removed the EU's favourite excuse.
A thread. 🧵
↳ EU pressure to ban settlement trade — The National: https://t.co/5WHPUOeErU
Politico this morning: EU Council legal service confirms that the EU can curb trade with Israel's illegal settlements as a trade measure, with qualified majority.
This adds further pressure on EU Commission to act, removing its excuse.
Aligns with what experts have said⏭️
Fact: He traveled there for his cooking show & when they tried to block this one episode, he said he would pull his entire show from the network & this was the first time the world ever saw behind the walls in Gaza 2013
The World Cup begins tomorrow, and many will watch the matches. Soccer reminds us of something we must not forget: life is not a race to show off on our own, but a path we learn to walk together. Anyone who does not know how to pass the ball, even if they have talent, has not yet understood the game. Anyone who does not know how to live with and for others has not yet understood life. #ApostolicJourney
Israeli historian @bartov_omer speaking on prime-time TV in Italy:
“[Israel is] a country that is unwilling to face the truth, and that brings us to the issue of genocide... When genocide occurs, the entire society of the country perpetrating it becomes complicit in that genocide.
Therefore, we must ask ourselves: in the case of Israel, where there is a conscript army made up of the sons and daughters of most Israeli citizens, what does it mean for a country to be involved in these activities? It means that everyone becomes part of this event: those who carry it out, those who deny it, and those who do nothing to stop it...
In the case of Israel, this is a country going through a profound phase of denial...
When people say that criticism of Israel, criticism of Zionism, or even the rejection of Zionism is antisemitism, frankly, that is nonsense. It concerns the rejection of a specific ideology that is no longer sustainable.”
(Via @fattoquotidiano) :::
Ok, so what was the point of appointing the ad hoc panel (of three judges) if its report was going to be ignored anyway?
Serious allegations of misconduct + the fate of @IntlCrimCourt’s most consequential official are now in the hands of voting diplomats😮💨
What a circus!
Za tento rasistický výrok o palestincích byl včera městským soudem v Praze odsouzen bývalý ministr pro evropské záležitosti @_MartinDvorak z hnutí @starostove_cz. Bude se muset za svůj diskriminační výrok palestinské komunitě omluvit.
Netanyahu knows Americans are sick of funding Israel’s wars. So now he’s working with Congress to hide military aid inside Pentagon co-production deals.
That means MORE U.S. tax dollars for Israel, with even LESS oversight.
Not gonna happen!
All 3 of Netanyahu’s main opponents in the next election condemned him for surrendering to the US & agreeing to a “ceasefire” in Lebanon. They say he sold out & became a “vassal state” of the US. So if you’re thinking getting rid of Netanyahu makes Israel better - think again
Now we know who in the EU is protecting even Ben-Gvir and Smotrich from sanctions.
At yesterday’s EU ambassadors meeting, according to @destandaard:
🇩🇪Germany insisted on leaving out Smotrich, limiting it to Ben-Gvir.
🇨🇿Czech Rep. alone against sanctioning even Ben-Gvir.
Knesset approves additional tax discounts for illegal settlements worth 130 million shekels annually, on top of already existing vast benefits and subsidies.
Germany's bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council ends in crushing failure
After Germany's reactions to events in Gaza, Venezuela, Lebanon and Iran, no one could believe that "its utmost priority will be respect for the rules of international law", if elected
@slopmarek@benjamin_brf Liberalna Zionistka je imo lepsi termin na pochopenie jej kognitivnej disonancie - also mat sen byvat v Tel Avive, v casoch ked Israel ide naplno apartheid a genocidu voci Palestincanom je tiez zaujimavy pohlad na reality on the ground. https://t.co/n5uAuvIpgN
Niekto mi napísal, že čo to tak tú Viedeň milujem. Ale ja sa zamilujem do každého miesta, v ktorom chvíľu žijem.
Viedeň je krásna tým, že sa nikam neponáhľa. Je sebavedomá. Vie o sebe, že je krásna, a nemusí to nikomu dokazovať.
Bratislava je moja srdcová záležitosť. Narodila som sa v Petr��alke a možno si poviete, čo sa tam dá mať rád. Ale keď prejdem okolo Námestia hraničiarov k Lachovej, kde som vyrastala, som doma. A potom Kapitulská ulica v Starom Meste niekedy nadránom. Tam budem žiť na dôchodku.
Budapešť je úplne iná. Hlučná, rozbitá, drzá, nedisciplinovaná. Mesto, ktoré sa vás na nič nepýta, proste existuje. A ešte vám k tomu naleje dobré víno.
Veľa Európanov by asi povedalo, že Washington D.C. je nudný. Čo myslíte? Mne sa tam žilo krásne. Bývala som na G St SW, a teda kúsok od Bieleho domu. Najradšej som mala Eastern Market a Dupont Circle. Georgetown mi prišiel príliš naleštený. Ale keby som si raz otvorila kníhkupectvo s kaviarňou, vyzeralo by ako Kramers.
Tel Aviv je rýchly, hlučný, trochu špinavý, trochu chaotický. Keby som ja bola mestom, bola by som Tel Aviv. Vyčerpá vás a ešte vám večer povie: “ešte”. Bývala som v Ramat Gane, čo by podľa niektorých zlých jazykov už ani nebol Tel Aviv, ale nepočúvajte ich. No ak keby som mala milióny, nechcem vilu pri mori. Chcem byt v Neve Tzedek.
Düsseldorf bol uhladený, čistý a trochu až príliš funkčný. Ale tiež to bolo mesto s najlepšími sushi barmi schovanými medzi kanceláriami. A Tampere bolo pokojné úplne iným spôsobom než Viedeň. Jazero, lesy, svetlo, tma. Môže byť niečo viac?
Nedávno sa ma niekto v dcérinej škôlke pýtal, ktoré miesto je moje obľúbené a kam by som chcela ísť na ďalší pobyt. A ja vlastne neviem. Ale viem, že by som sa chcela ešte raz vrátiť do každého mesta, v ktorom som žila.
🚨Israel added to UN blacklist of perpetrators of sexual violence, a huge blow to r@pe deniers
It takes a substantial amount of evidence of systematic & widespread sexual violence for the UN Secretary General to add a gov or entity to this blacklist
Guterres has been avoiding calls to add Israel to this UN blacklist list for years, despite an abundance of cases. So the fact he accepted to add it now speaks volumes about the amount of sexual violence cases the UN has documented!
After winning an Emmy, Al Jazeera’s @joshrushing dedicated the award to colleagues and journalists killed by Israel in an emotional speech.
@AJFaultLines documentary on Kids Under Fire won ‘Outstanding War or Violence Conflict Coverage’ at the 2026 News Emmys.
🧵Thread on EU trade with Israel's illegal settlements. It's been reported that the EU Commission is stalling member state calls to restrict import of settlement products by claiming that the volume is "too small". This is an absurd claim for a number of reasons: