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      Democratic leadership says ceasefire protest ‘exceeded a peaceful demonstration’ and commends police amid activist criticism – as it happened

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      In language similar to that of the Capitol police’s statement from earlier today, Democratic leadership has released a statement on last night’s ceasefire demonstrations – with zero mention of the words “ceasefire,” “Israel” or the 11,000 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes who demonstrators were mourning last night.The statement, released by House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic whip Katherine Clark, Democratic caucus chair Pete Aguilar and DCCC chair Suzan DelBene, said:
      Last night, Members of the House Democratic Caucus, hardworking staffers and dozens of guests from throughout the country were participating in an event inside the Democratic National Committee building when some protesters escalated their activity in a manner that exceeded a peaceful demonstration.
      We are thankful for the service and professionalism of the U.S. Capitol Police officers who worked to ensure that Members, staff and visitors were able to safely exit. We strongly support the First Amendment right to freedom of expression and encourage anyone exercising that right to do so peacefully.
      Here is a wrap-up of the day’s key events:
      Capitol police is facing criticism from activists after clashing with dozens of demonstators outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington DC on Wednesday evening. The violence broke out during a demonstration for a ceasefire in Gaza where Israeli forces have killed over 11,000 Palestinians in the last five weeks.
      Organizers of last night’s ceasefire demonstrations has released a statement on the “violent police response,” saying that over 90 no-nviolent protesters were injured by Capitol police. “Protestors were choked and violently handled by multiple office[r]s at once, thrown against the wall, then grabbed and picked up and thrown down the front stairs. At least two protestors’ glasses were smashed by the police. Dozen of people were kicked, kneed and punched in the face by police officers,” organizers said.
      Pictures and videos posted online of yesterday’s ceasefire protests showed Capitol police scattering candles, which were originally laid out to mourn the 11,000 Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes. “This is a reflection of what our gov thinks of Palestinians. 11,000 candles representing the Palestinian lives murdered by Israel with US funding. The cops just stepped on them,” said Sumaya Awad, a member of New York City’s Democratic Socialists of America.
      American Muslim writer and civil rights scholar Omar Suleiman has joined numerous activists in condemning Capitol police officers over their actions during last night’s ceasefire demonstrations. Suleiman tweeted: “Unbelievable. Capitol police throwing Jewish protestors shouting not in our name and calling for a ceasefire down the steps of the Democratic National Headquarters. Good luck in 2024 y’all.”
      The Capitol police said in a statement on Thursday that its officers ‘pulled people off the DNC building, pushed them back and cleared them from the area’ during last night’s ceasefire demonstrations. In its statement, the Capitol police made no mention of pepper-spraying protestors, despite images posted online that appeared to show them doing so.
      In language similar to that of the Capitol police’s statement, Democratic leadership released a statement on last night’s ceasefire demonstrations. The statement said, “Some protesters escalated their activity in a manner that exceeded a peaceful demonstration.”
      The Jewish peace advocacy organization If Not Now has issued a list of FAQs following last night’s ceasefire demonstrations, saying, “Our protest was nonviolent. Capitol police brutally attacked us with no warning.” In its series of FAQs, the organization said that there was a police liaison “who asked to speak with officers but the police refused to speak with them.”
      Meanwhile, ceasefire protesters shut down the Bay Bridge in San Francisco during morning rush hour on Thursday. Images on the news wires show scores of people holding banners calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and protesting against military aid for Israel. All westbound lanes were shut at the time.
      That’s it from me, Maya Yang, as we wrap the blog for today. Thank you for following along.Alec Karakatsanis, founder of the nonprofit organization Civil Rights Corps, has also condemned Capitol police over their response to last night’s ceasefire demonstrations.In a post on X, Karakatsanis wrote:
      “After the attack by Capitol Police last night on Jewish progressives singing songs and locking arms for ceasefire, recall how Democrats forced through budget increases for one of the most incompetent and unaccountable institutions in federal bureaucracy.”
      The Jewish peace advocacy organization If Not Now has issued a list of FAQs following last night’s ceasefire demonstrations, saying, “Our protest was nonviolent. Capitol police brutally attacked us with no warning.”In its series of FAQs, the organization said that there was a police liaison “who asked to speak with officers but the police refused to speak with them.”“Instead, police arrived on the scene and immediately ran at protestors, shoving many down the stairs,” the organization said, calling the police response “brutal and reckless.”It added that Capitol police “did not give any warnings or requests to disperse.”The organization also said that approximately 90 protestors were injured last night.It also called the demonstrations a “nonviolent act of civil disobedience”and said that “at no point did anyone trying to enter the building” of the Democratic National Committee.“The purpose of the protest was to speak peacefully to members of Congress as they exited the building and share that 80% of Democrats – their base – want to see a ceasefire,” it said.Here are some images coming through the newswires of ceasefire protestors on San Francisco’s Bay Bridge:Protestors on the San Francisco Bay Bridge have thrown their car keys into the bay and chained themselves together and to the bridge in calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to US military aid to Israel, according to local media outets.KRON4 reports:All lanes remain blocked on the Bay Bridge after protesters shut down all lanes of westbound Interstate 80 traffic on the bridge during the Thursday morning commute. The protesters stopped their cars on the bridge, east of Treasure Island Road, and threw their keys into the Bay before chaining themselves together and to the bridge, according to California Highway Patrol.Around 50 to 60 protesters on the bridge were arrested and processed by responding CHP officers before being led to awaiting buses, according to KRON4’s Will Tran. Approximately 250 officers are on scene, according to CHP.As of 10 a.m., a far-right lane of westbound traffic reopened on the Bay Bridge for motorists already on the bridge. Drivers who were backed up before the toll plaza were being guided by CHP to turn around back into Oakland. There is no estimated time for when all lanes will reopen across the Bay Bridge.In language similar to that of the Capitol police’s statement from earlier today, Democratic leadership has released a statement on last night’s ceasefire demonstrations – with zero mention of the words “ceasefire,” “Israel” or the 11,000 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes who demonstrators were mourning last night.The statement, released by House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic whip Katherine Clark, Democratic caucus chair Pete Aguilar and DCCC chair Suzan DelBene, said:
      Last night, Members of the House Democratic Caucus, hardworking staffers and dozens of guests from throughout the country were participating in an event inside the Democratic National Committee building when some protesters escalated their activity in a manner that exceeded a peaceful demonstration.
      We are thankful for the service and professionalism of the U.S. Capitol Police officers who worked to ensure that Members, staff and visitors were able to safely exit. We strongly support the First Amendment right to freedom of expression and encourage anyone exercising that right to do so peacefully.
      Protesters shut down the Bay Bridge in San Francisco during morning rush hour. Images on the news wires show scores of people holding banners calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and protesting against military aid for Israel.All westbound lanes were shut at the time.Local media reported around 50 to 60 protesters were arrested before being led to buses. There were 250 officers on the scene, reports said.Here are more images coming through the newswires of last night’s ceasefire demonstrations outside the Democratic National Committee building:American Muslim writer and civil rights scholar Omar Suleiman has joined numerous activists in condemning Capitol police officers over their actions during last night’s ceasefire demonstrations.In a post on X, Suleiman said:
      “Unbelievable. Capitol police throwing Jewish protestors shouting not in our name and calling for a ceasefire down the steps of the Democratic National Headquarters. Good luck in 2024 y’all.”
      The Jewish peace advocacy organization If Not Now has pushed back against California’s Democratic representative Brad Sherman who said that yesterday’s demonstrators “grew violent” and pepper sprayed Capitol police.The organization tweeted a video that showed protestors in locked arms singing, “Which side are you on.” At one point, the video showed Capitol police pulling and shoving protestors outside the DNC building.Capitol police then appears to throw a protestor down the stairs. Someone behind the camera yelled, “Oh shit! Someone just got thrown. People getting thrown down the stairs!”In its caption, If Not Now addressed Sherman’s comments, saying:
      “This is dangerous & reckless disinformation, Congressman. We were peacefully linking arms, singing, and calling for a ceasefire. As you can see with your own eyes in this video. Then Capitol Police rushed in, threw us down the stairs, and pepper sprayed us. Retract this now.”
      A Capitol police officer was captured on video snatching a Palestinian flag out of the hands of a protester who was waving the flag and chanting “Ceasefire now!” during last night’s ceasefire demonstrations.Video posted online showed the officer reaching for the flag as an onlooker shouted, “Hey hey hey! What the fuck?” Other Capitol police officers standing behind their bikes appeared to then grab the flag and throw it aside.The Capitol police said in a statement on Thursday that its officers ‘pulled people off the DNC building, pushed them back and cleared them from the area’ during last night’s ceasefire demonstrations – using language vastly different from the demonstration’s organizers who said protestors were choked, thrown against walls and pepper sprayed.In its statement, the Capitol police made no mention of pepper-spraying protestors, despite images posted online that appeared to show them doing so.Instead, the statement said:
      “When the group moved dumpsters in front of the exits, pepper sprayed our officers and attempted to pick up the bike rack, our teams quickly introduced consequences – pulling people off the building, pushing them back, and clearing them from the area, so we could safely evacuate the Members and staff.
      Six officers were treated for injuries, from minor cuts to being pepper sprayed to being punched.”
      In a video posted to Youtube, a Capitol police officer can be seen pepper-spraying a protestor in the face as she held onto another protestor. More

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      Protesters urging Gaza ceasefire accuse Washington police of violence

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      Protesters against Israel’s military offensive in Gaza were locked in a battle of words with Washington police on Thursday after accusing officers of violently breaking up a demonstration on Capitol Hill that organisers insist was peaceful.Leaders of the Ceasefire Now Coalition said 90 of their activists were injured in confrontations that took place after they staged a candlelit vigil outside the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters on Wednesday evening.The coalition said volunteers were pepper-sprayed, kicked, pulled by the hair and dragged down flights of stairs by officers in riot gear, who they accused of ignoring longstanding protocols for non-violent protest by failing to issue dispersal notices or engage with the rally’s specially designated police liaison representative.But in a rebuttal, police said the group was “not peaceful” and said six officers had to be treated for injuries after being pepper-sprayed and punched. One 24-year-old protester was arrested for allegedly slamming a female officer into a garage door and punching her in the face, police said in a statement.They also accused the protesters of moving dumpsters to block entrances.“We have handled hundreds of peaceful protests, but last night’s group was not peaceful,” the police statement said. “The crowd failed to obey our lawful orders to move back from the DNC, where members of Congress were in the building.“When the group moved dumpsters in front of the exits, pepper sprayed our officers and attempted to pick up the bike rack, our teams quickly introduced consequences – pulling people off the building, pushing them back, and clearing them from the area, so we could safely evacuate the members and staff.”Organisers said the event – jointly staged by three leftist groups, Jewish Voice for Peace, If Not Now and the Democratic Socialists of America – followed the traditions of non-violence pioneered by the US civil rights movement.But Wednesday’s clashes was one of the most graphic signs yet of the dissension arising from Israel’s military response to last month’s attack by Hamas, when more than 1,200 people were killed and another 240 taken hostage.In a video news conference, the coalition denied the accusations of aggression against police and pointed to video footage which it said showed only officers committing acts of violence.They also accused congressmen of spreading disinformation about the group by claiming it was pro-Hamas – the group has condemned the Hamas attack and antisemitism – singling out the Florida Republican senator Marco Rubio, and Brad Sherman, a Democrat from California. Sherman tweeted that he had been evacuated after “pro-terrorist” demonstrators tried to “break into the building”.“Congressman Sherman and Senator Rubio are spreading extremely dangerous and reckless disinformation about our non-violent movement,” said Eva Borgwardt, national spokeswoman for If Not Now. “The only people I saw using violence at that protest was the police.”Dani Noble, of Jewish Voice for Peace, said the vigil had been organised to lobby Democratic congressmen attending a function at the headquarters to respond to the sentiments of 80% of the party’s supporters across the country, who she said supported a ceasefire in Israel’s Gaza onslaught, which has so far killed more than 11,000 people, about 40% of them children.She denied that activists tried to storm the building but said they were attempting to create a path for elected officials entering and leaving the building to talk to demonstrators.“In absolutely no instance did anyone try to enter the building,” she told journalists. “We were singing and chanting and waiting for Democratic officials to show up.”The coalition has organised several other civil disobedience events in Washington in recent weeks urging the Biden administration to call for a ceasefire, notably outside the White House and on Capitol Hill, where demonstrators staged a mass sit-in inside the oldest congressional office facility, the Cannon Building.Both events saw police carry out multiple arrests but otherwise passed without violence.“We were so clear why we were there [last night],” said Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg, of the Jewish Voice for Peace rabbinical council. “Every person was wearing a T-shirt that said ‘Ceasefire Now’. We have been singing these songs for a month. They knew very well why we were there.“We were seated, linked arms with banners and the moment a dispersal order was given, the police had all the tools that they needed to non-violently and safely remove protesters. Instead they chose to push and shove people, and hit and pepper-spray. The police have tools to deal with non-violent civil disobedience, and last night they chose not to use them. And I want to know why.” More

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      Biden defends rejecting calls for ceasefire: Hamas ‘plan on attacking Israel again’ – video

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      US President Joe Biden has doubled down on his refusal to push for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Speaking to Press at the Apec summit, Biden argues that the threat posed by Hamas remains, while Israel is taking steps to avoid further ‘indiscriminate’ aeriel bombardments, and accepting their obligation to caution. More

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      UN security council backs resolution calling for humanitarian pause in Gaza

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      Six weeks after the start of the war in Gaza, the UN security council has come together to back a resolution calling for “urgent extended humanitarian pauses for [a] sufficient number of days to allow aid access” to the embattled territory.The vote late on Wednesday overcame an impasse which saw four unsuccessful attempts to adopt a resolution.Malta drafted the resolution, which calls for humanitarian corridors across the Gaza Strip and urges the release of all hostages held by Hamas.The US and the UK, two potentially veto-wielding powers, abstained on the resolution on the grounds that although they supported the emphasis on humanitarian relief, they could not give their full support because it contained no explicit criticism of Hamas. Russia also abstained on the grounds that it made no mention of an immediate ceasefire, its top imperative.The resolution was passed with 12 votes in favour, and is the first UN resolution on the Israel-Palestine conflict since 2016.The Israeli foreign ministry said it rejected the resolution, prompting the Palestinian representative, Riyad Mansour, to ask the UN security council members what they intended to do in the face of that defiance.The US had last month blocked a similar if broader resolution, but appears to have been persuaded to shift to abstention by Arab states in the face of the scale of the civilian deaths and destruction in Gaza.UN resolutions are in theory legally binding, but are widely ignored, and the political significance lies in the US willingness to back a call for an extended humanitarian ceasefire, putting some pressure on its close ally Israel. The American decision may reflect its frustration with Israel’s campaign, including the attack on al-Shifa hospital, the largest medical facility in Gaza.Human Rights Watch claimed: “That the US finally stopped paralysing the security council on Israel and Palestine so this resolution on the plight of children in Gaza could move forward should be a wake-up call to Israeli authorities that global concern even amongst allies is strong.”The passage of the resolution is a relief for the UN since the security council’s collective failure to reach a consensus since 7 October has been a severe blow to multilateralism and diplomacy.The resolution calls for the UN secretary general, António Guterres, to monitor any ceasefire that is implemented.The final draft watered down language from a “demand” to a “call” for humanitarian pauses, prompting Russia to claim the mountain has laboured and brought forward a mouse. Russia said it feared the absence of an explicit call for a ceasefire will make it less likely that even humanitarian pauses will be implemented.The resolution also made a call, as opposed to a demand, for “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups”. The draft asks that “all parties comply with their obligations under international law, notably with regard to the protection of civilians, especially children”.In the four previous tries for security council approval, a Brazil-drafted resolution was vetoed by the United States, a US-drafted resolution was vetoed by Russia and China, and two Russian-drafted resolutions failed to get the minimum “yes” votes.The US envoy, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, justified its refusal to back the latest resolution saying: “There’s no excuse for failing to condemn these acts of terror. Let’s be crystal clear … Hamas set this conflict in motion.”The UK envoy to the UN, Dame Barbara Woodward, said: “It is impossible to comprehend the pain and the loss Palestinians civilians are enduring. Too many civilians including children are losing their lives.”She called for “a collective effort to get aid in as quickly as possible through as many routes as possible including food, water, medical supplies and fuel”. More

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      Xi Jinping: ‘not an option’ for US and China to turn backs on each other – live

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      “The China-US relationship, which is the most important bilateral relationship in the world, should be perceived and envisioned in a broad context of the accelerating global transformations,” Xi Jinping told Joe Biden.“China-US relationship has never been smooth sailing over the past 50 years or more and it always faces problems of one kind or another. Yet it has kept moving forward amid twists and turns.“For two large countries like China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option …“Planet earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed and one country’s success is an opportunity for the other,” Xi added.Singer Gwen Stefani is slated to be the headline performer at Joe Biden’s APEC reception this evening, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. In January, the pop songstress fell into hot water in January she told an Allure editor, ‘My God, I’m Japanese and I didn’t know it,’” in an interview.Paul Osaki, executive director of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, told the Chronicle:
      I hope her appearance at APEC is not related to her Harujuku Girls era or feelings about being Japanese. If they want representation of the Japanese culture at the reception, there are several Japanese cultural performing arts groups that are more authentic, not stereotypical and of actual Japanese ancestry.”
      Read the rest of the Chronicle’s coverage here.The lead-up to Xi Jinping’s first visit to the US since 2017 has been filled with meticulous planning including San Francisco encampment cleanups and pre-determined camera angles to capture the meeting of the two heads of state and specific seating arrangements, NBC News reports.
      “There is no detail too small,” Kurt Campbell, the White House coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, told the outlet.
      Any meeting between two heads of state involves a degree of pomp and circumstance, but President Joe Biden’s long-awaited sit-down with Xi on Wednesday is the product of a painstaking process to accommodate China’s many requests. The behind-the-scenes effort is a sign of Beijing’s anxiety over the optics that could result from Xi’s first visit to the U.S. in six years.
      Overall, China is looking for Xi’s trip to California to be seen as a “grand visit,” officials said.
      Read more about the visit preparation here:ABC’s senior White House correspondent Selina Wang reports that following Joe Biden and Xi Jinping’s opening remarks, she asked Xi in Mandarin: “Do you trust Biden?”
      He took out his translation earpiece to hear my question, looked at me, but didn’t respond,” Wang tweeted.
      Here is some color from the New York Times on the lush Filoli estate where Joe Biden and Xi Jinping are meeting (the location was largely kept a secret until a day before the bilateral):The Filoli estate, a grand house and garden on 654 acres of rolling green grounds along the California coast, has been a supporting character in the 1980s television drama “Dynasty” and the 2001 romantic comedy “The Wedding Planner.” It has been the venue for top-dollar nuptials of Facebook executives, and the public can tour the gardens.Just not on Wednesday.Top aides to President Biden have worked with Chinese officials for weeks to ensure that this manicured setting would be the perfect backdrop to host a diplomatic summit between Mr. Biden and President Xi Jinping of China — two men who share a deep skepticism of each other, but also a mutual belief that their countries must avoid allowing their diplomatic and military interactions to deteriorate from fierce competition into outright conflict…The site was appealing for a few reasons. It is set among the hills, one of the more isolated spots in a densely populated corner of California. The White House kept the location of the meeting secret until a day before, presumably to keep protesters from surrounding the venue. None were visible at the gates on Wednesday morning as Mr. Biden’s motorcade approached the locale, but some could be seen along the route from San Francisco.Filoli is a giant estate amid some of the most expensive real estate in the country, built in the early 20th century by a family that made its fortune in the California gold boom and wanted a retreat not far from San Francisco. William Bowers Bourn II, the original owner of the home, decided on the name “Filoli” by mixing together the first few letters of his personal motto: “Fight for a just cause. Love your Fellow Man. Live a Good Life.”Here are images coming through the newswires of Joe Biden greeting Xi Jinping in San Francisco in their first face-to-face meeting in a year: Joe Biden has welcomed Xi Jinping to San Francisco where the two leaders are meeting face-to-face for the first time in a year.As Xi stepped out of his bulletproof Hongqi sedan, Biden greeted the smiling Chinese president with a handshake and said: “Welcome.”The two then proceeded to pose briefly for photos before heading into their meeting hall where they were greeted by US officials including the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, the treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, the US’s special climate envoy, John Kerry, and the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.Addressing Xi, Biden said:
      Mr President, we’ve known each other for a long time. We haven’t always agreed which [does] not surprise anyone but our meetings have always been candid, straightforward and useful … I value our conversation because I think it’s paramount that you and I understand each other clearly, leader to leader with no misconceptions or miscommunication …
      We have to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict. And we also have to manage it responsibly … That’s what the United States wants and what we intend to do … I also believe it’s what the world wants for both of us …
      We also have the responsibility to our people and the world to work together when we see it in our interest to do so. Critical global challenges we face from climate change to counter narcotics to artificial intelligence demand our joint efforts.”
      Addressing Biden, Xi said:
      The China-US relationship, which is the most important bilateral relationship in the world, should be perceived and envisioned in a broad context of the accelerating global transformations … It should develop in a way that benefits our two peoples and fulfils our responsibility for human progress.
      The China-US relationship has never been smooth sailing over the past 50 years or more and it always faces problems of one kind or another. Yet it has kept moving forward amid twists and turns. For two large countries like China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option …
      Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed … As long as [China and the US] respect each other, coexist in peace and pursue win-win cooperation, they will be fully capable of rising above differences and find the right way for the two major countries to get along with each other.”
      “The China-US relationship, which is the most important bilateral relationship in the world, should be perceived and envisioned in a broad context of the accelerating global transformations,” Xi Jinping told Joe Biden.“China-US relationship has never been smooth sailing over the past 50 years or more and it always faces problems of one kind or another. Yet it has kept moving forward amid twists and turns.“For two large countries like China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option …“Planet earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed and one country’s success is an opportunity for the other,” Xi added.“There’s no substitute to face-to-face discussions,” Joe Biden told Xi Jinping.“Mr. President, we have known each other for a long time. We haven’t always agreed … but our meetings have always been candid, straightforward and useful,” Biden said.“We have to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict. And we also have to manage it responsibly … and work together when we see it in our interest to do so,” he continued.He went on to mention “critical global challenges” including climate change. narcotics and artificial intelligence that the US seeks to address with China.Here is video of the moment Joe Biden greeted Xi Jinping in their first face-to-face meeting in a year: Joe Biden and Xi Jinping have made their way into the meeting hall.They were greeted by officials including the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, the treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, the US special climate envoy, John Kerry, as well as the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.Xi Jinping has arrived ahead of his bilateral meeting with Joe Biden.He stepped out of his car and shook hands briefly with Biden before posing for photos.Joe Biden and Xi Jinping are expected to meet shortly.Stay tuned as we bring you a live feed of their official greeting.The San Francisco mayor, London Breed, shared her support for Joe Biden’s initiative to commit more federal funding to curtailing drug trafficking and supporting treatment, in light of the agreement between Biden and Xi aimed at the importation of fentanyl into the US.From London Breed’s X account:Delegates from multiple countries were blocked by protesters from entering Wednesday’s summit, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, citing protesters.Delegates from Thailand, China, and the Philippines were reportedly prevented from accessing the APEC conference, with protesters preventing attendees by forming a blockade.Protesters also blocked a motorcade of 10 vehicles, with police officers in riot gear standing by.Protesters tried to block people from entering the Apec summit in downtown San Francisco on Wednesday morning, with demonstrators heckling participants and blocking traffic near the gathering.The protest was organized by the No to Apec Coalition, which is made up of more than a hundred grassroot groups and says it “opposes Apec as a forum for corporations and institutions to push so-called ‘free trade’ to exploit their workers and put the benefits of corporations over the rights of nations and peoples.”Demonstrators numbered in the hundreds, CBS Bay Area reported.“Biden, Biden telling lies, you don’t care if the planet dies, some demonstrators chanted, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.The San Francisco city blocks where the summit is being held have seen multiple protests ahead of the meeting.On Tuesday, thousands gathered in the same area to demand a ceasefire in Gaza, denounce Israel’s invasion, and deplore the rising death toll.And on Sunday, thousands of demonstrators protesting various causes, including corporate profits, environmental abuses, poor working conditions and the Israel-Hamas war, joined forces in a march.Ahead of the meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping today in San Francisco, the European Council on Foreign Relations has released the following results from a new global opinion poll conducted in 21 countries:
      There is widespread pessimism among citizens of the west. 47% of respondents in the United States are pessimistic about the future of their country.
      In contrast, in emerging and rising powers (including China) optimism prevails. Sixty-nine per cent of Chinese respondents are optimistic about their country, and this feeling was also evidenced among 86% of those surveyed in India, 74% in Indonesia and 54% in Russia.
      Chinese strength, globally, is most evidenced on economic matters. When asked if they feel closer to the US or China on trade, majorities in Russia (74%), Saudi Arabia (60%), South Africa (60%), Indonesia (53%) and Turkey (50%) selected China. Majorities in Saudi Arabia (64%), South Africa (58%), Brazil (52%), and Turkey (52%) also expressed acceptance for five types of Chinese economic presence in their countries, including ownership of sports teams, newspapers, tech companies and infrastructure.
      US leadership on the global stage is still important. If forced to choose, respondents almost everywhere in ECFR’s survey stated that they would prefer to be part of an American bloc rather than cooperating with China and its partners. This was the majority view in South Korea (82%), India (80%), Brazil (66%), South Africa (54%), Turkey (51%) and Saudi Arabia (50%).
      Texas’s Republican representative Troy Nehls has made a comment about the Chinese flags lining the streets of San Francisco ahead of Joe Biden and Xi Jinping’s meeting today, saying:
      “Chinese flags line the streets of Beijing to welcome President Xi Jinping.
      Just kidding. This is San Francisco.”
      The GOP has tweeted the following ahead of Joe Biden’s meeting with Xi Jinping later today, citing the suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down over the Atlantic in February:
      “Just this year, China was caught floating a spy balloon across the continental United States. Now Biden is welcoming Xi Jinping, President of China, to California with open arms.” More

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      US in ‘ongoing negotiations’ for release of hostages held by Hamas, Sullivan says

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      Nine Americans are still missing following the 7 October attack by Hamas on Israel, the US national security adviser said on Sunday.Jake Sullivan, the White House’s chief security adviser, said the US is involved in “ongoing negotiations” for the release of hostages believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza.The comments come as Hamas said it is suspending hostage negotiations because of Israel’s handling of the besieged al-Shifa hospital in Gaza. On Saturday, the World Health Organization said it had lost communication with people at the hospital, where more than 30 babies are among the sick Palestinians trapped by fighting.Speaking on ABC’s This Week, Sullivan said:“There are ongoing negotiations involving the Israelis, the Qataris, and we, the United States, are actively engaged in this as well because we want to make sure that we bring home those Americans who have been taken hostage as well as all of the other hostages.”Sullivan said President Joe Biden “is not going to rest” until every hostage was released. He said it was unclear how many people were being held by Hamas.“We know the number of missing and that’s the number the Israelis have given. But we don’t know how many of those are still alive,” Sullivan said.“As far as the Americans are concerned, there are nine missing American citizens as well as a missing legal permanent representative, a green card holder.”On Sunday, Hamas said it would suspend negotiations due to the situation at al-Shifa hospital. The Guardian reported that there are multiple accounts of people being shot as they attempted to flee the hospital. Three of 39 babies in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit had died.UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, issued a statement Sunday describing “a dire situation where thousands of injured and displaced civilians find themselves trapped within the hospital grounds”.“Ongoing fighting and the lack of fuel are putting at risk the lives of health workers, patients and some of the most vulnerable people in Gaza, many of whom have been sheltering at al-Shifa, including women, children, the elderly and disabled,” the statement said.“They, and critically ill patients, have nowhere safe to go, with reports of ambulances being unable to leave the grounds. There are also reports of fighting around a number of other hospitals.”In an interview with CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli’s prime minister, said Israel will not stop its fighting around al-Shifa hospital in Gaza. He said Israeli forces had “called to evacuate all the patients from that hospital”.Sullivan told ABC that he would meet with family members of American hostages in the coming week.The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza has claimed that over 11,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, in response to a Hamas attack in Israel which killed 1,200 Israelis. More

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      Bernie Sanders calls for end to Israeli strikes and killing of thousands

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      Bernie Sanders has stepped up his calls for a humanitarian pause in Gaza, demanding an immediate stop to Israeli bombing and an end to the killing of thousands of “innocent men, women and children” in the enclave.In some of his strongest words in the 30-day war, the independent US senator from Vermont decried the 7 October Hamas attack inside Israel. He labelled Hamas as an “awful terrorist organization” that had “slaughtered 1,400 people in cold blood”, reiterating his belief that Israel had the right to defend itself.But speaking on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Sanders said the death of civilians had to stop. “What Israel does not, in my view, have a right to do is to kill thousands of thousands of innocent men, women and children who had nothing to do with that attack,” he said.The senator added: “There’s not enough food, there’s not enough water, medicine, fuel. You’ve got a humanitarian disaster, it has to be dealt with right now.”Sanders continues to be influential on the progressive flank of US politics at a time of deepening rifts on the left over the response to the war. He walks a fine line, condemning the civilian death toll caused by Israeli air strikes while resisting calls for a full-on ceasefire.“I don’t know how you could have a permanent ceasefire with an organization like Hamas which is dedicated to destroying the state of Israel … and has got to go,” he told CNN.Several members of the progressive wing of the Democratic party have gone further, demanding an immediate ceasefire and challenging the Biden administration’s plans to send emergency military aid package to Israel. In a newly-released video, the only Palestinian American member of Congress, Rashida Tlaib, accused Joe Biden of supporting “genocide” and demanded he back a “ceasefire now”.Sanders declined CNN’s invitation to condemn Tlaib, saying: “We don’t have to quibble about words … Rashida is a friend of mine, her family comes from Palestine, I think she’s been shaken, as all of us are, about what is going on right now.”Republicans in the US House last week passed a $14.3bn military aid package for Israel. Democrats have indicated they are likely to oppose any similar bill that reaches the upper chamber given its inclusion of spending cuts for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).Sanders said that he would judge any aid package when it reaches the Senate, but said it should be made contingent on ending civilian deaths. “It’s terribly important that, as we debate that, to say to Israel, ‘You want this money, you got to change your military strategy’.”Sanders’ call for an end to the bombing to allow humanitarian aid to reach desperate Palestinians came as the US secretary of state Antony Blinken made a surprise visit to the West Bank on Sunday. Blinken met the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and, according to read-outs of the conversation, expressed Washington’s desire that the Palestinian Authority, which Abbas heads, should be central in the running of any post-Hamas Gaza.The Biden administration continues to press for a humanitarian pause in the bombardment, both to allow humanitarian aid in and to assist with the release of the more than 240 hostages captured by Hamas on 7 October. Speaking on CBS News’s Face the Nation, the deputy national security adviser Jonathan Finer said that while the Biden administration supported Israel’s mission “to go after Hamas” it was also urging more care by the Israeli military to spare the lives of civilians.The current death toll, as released by the Hamas-run ministry of health, is more than 9,770 Palestinians.Finer said that the US had had “many direct conversations” with the Israeli government emphasising “their obligation to distinguish between civilians and fighters … Some of the images and events that we’ve seen transpire in Gaza have been heartbreaking for all of us.”So far the US call for a reduction in the civilian death toll has failed to sway Israeli military thinking. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has dismissed the idea of a temporary ceasefire until all of the hostages are released.Gilad Erdan, the Israeli ambassador to the UN, ruled out any humanitarian pause on Sunday. Speaking to CNN’s State of the Union, he said such a break in the air strikes and ground incursion would allow Hamas to “rearm and regroup and prevent us from achieving our goal to destroy Hamas’s terrorist capabilities”.Erdan claimed “there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza”. He also insisted that Israel “never intentionally targets civilians. We do everything that is possible to minimize and mitigate civilian casualties.”Fears that the Gaza fighting will spill over into a wider regional war are also roiling political debate in the US. On Monday, a bi-partisan resolution will be presented in the US senate warning Iran not to unleash further fighting on Israel’s northern border through the powerful Iranian-backed militia, Hezbollah.The Republican senator who has co-authored the resolution, Lindsey Graham, told CNN that the resolution threatens Iran with a US military response should it open up a second front against Israel. “The resolution puts Iran on notice that all this military force in the region will be coming after you if you expand this way by activating Hezbollah or killing Americans through your proxies in Syria and Iraq,” he said.Richard Blumenthal, Graham’s Democratic partner behind the resolution, called the non-binding motion “aggressive but absolutely necessary”. “The key word here is deterrence – the purpose of the resolution is to deter Iran by showing we’re going to be behind the president as he seeks to stop the war from widening or escalating.” More

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      Leftist Democrats invoke human rights law in scrutiny of Israel military aid

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      Leftwing Democrats in Congress have invoked a landmark law barring assistance to security forces of governments deemed guilty of human rights abuses to challenge the Biden administration’s emergency military aid program for Israel.Members of the Democratic party’s progressive wing say the $14.3bn package pledged by the White House after the 7 October attack by Hamas that killed more than 1,400 Israelis breaches the Leahy Act because Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza has overwhelmingly harmed civilians. An estimated 9,000 people have been killed in Gaza so far, among them 3,700 children, according to the Gaza health ministry, run by Hamas.The act, sponsored by the former Democratic senator Patrick Leahy and passed in 1997, prohibits the US defence and state departments from rendering security assistance to foreign governments facing credible accusations of rights abuses. The law was originally designed only to refer to narcotics assistance, but was later expanded, with amendments covering assistance from both state department and Pentagon budgetsSeveral governments, some of them key US allies, are believed to have been denied assistance under the law, including Turkey, Colombia and Mexico.Proponents of applying the act to Israel point to the rising death toll in Gaza from military strikes on the territory, the displacement of more than 1 million people from their homes and a surging humanitarian crisis after Israeli authorities cut water, food, fuel and electricity supplies.“I am very concerned that our taxpayer dollars may be used for violations of human rights,” said the congressman Andre Carson of Indiana in an email to the Guardian, in which he accused Israel of “war crimes”, citing this week’s deadly bombing of the Jabalia refugee camp and the Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) alleged use of white phosphorus.“Last year, I voted to provide $3 billion dollars of strategic and security assistance to Israel. But we must absolutely make sure that none of those funds are used inappropriately, in violation of US law like the Leahy Act, or in violation of international law.”But earlier this week, the Biden administration said it was not placing any limits on how Israel uses the weapons provided to it by the US. “That is really up to the Israel Defense Force to use in how they are going to conduct their operations,” a Pentagon spokesperson, Sabrina Singh, said on Monday. “But we’re not putting any constraints on that.”The Israeli government and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, have so far not responded to calls for a humanitarian pause and have rejected calls for a ceasefire, as demanded by some progressive Democrats.Joe Biden promised a lavish military aid package to Israel in an Oval Office speech after visiting the country following the Hamas attack. US commandos are currently in Israel helping to locate an estimated 240 hostages, the number given by IDF, including American citizens, seized in the assault, the Pentagon has confirmed.Carson, one of three Muslims in Congress, said he previously raised concerns about possible Leahy Act violations last year after the shooting death of the US-Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the West Bank. An Israeli investigation subsequently admitted there was a “high probability” that she had been killed by Israeli gunfire, after initially blaming Palestinians.Usamah Andrabi, the communications director for Justice Democrats – a political action committee that helped elect leftwing House members nicknamed “the Squad”, which include some of Congress’s most vocal advocates for Palestinian rights – also invoked the Leahy legislation.“I think the Leahy Act should absolutely be looked into right now, when we are seeing gross violations of human rights,” he said. “[The Israelis] are targeting refugee camps, hospitals, mosques all under the guise of self-defense or that one or other member of Hamas is hiding there. It doesn’t matter whether Hamas is there or not, because you are targeting civilians. No amount of tax dollars should be justified for that.”Like Carson, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most high-profile members of “the Squad”, specifically identified the supposed use of white phosphorus – as claimed by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International – as a transgression that should disqualify Israel from receiving US assistance. The IDF had said it does not use white phosphorus against civilians, but didn’t clarify whether it was used at the time.“Deployment of white phosphorus near populated civilian areas is a war crime,” she said. “The United States must adhere to our own laws and policies, which prohibit US aid from assisting forces engaged in gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.”Congressional calls for scrutiny over US funding for Israel predate the current war in Gaza.Last May, Betty McCollum, a Democrat from Minnesota, introduced the Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation bill, designed to prohibit US funds from being used to enforce Israeli occupation policies in the West Bank.“Not $1 of US aid should be used to commit human rights violations, demolish families’ homes, or permanently annex Palestinian lands,” McCollum said at the time. “The United States provides billions in assistance for Israel’s government each year – and those dollars should go toward Israel’s security, not toward actions that violate international law and cause harm.”The bill, which has not passed, was co-sponsored by 16 other House Democrats – including some who have not supported the current calls for a ceasefire – and endorsed by 75 civil society groups, including Amnesty, HRW and J Street.McCollum’s office did not respond to questions over whether she now supported extending her bill to Gaza or using the Leahy Act to block Biden’s emergency fund package.In a speech on the Senate floor this week, the senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont called Israel’s Gaza campaign “morally unacceptable and a violation of international law” but stopped short of opposing Biden’s assistance program.Instead, he demanded a “clear promise” from Israel that displaced Palestinians will be allowed to return to their homes after fighting stops and for the abandonment of efforts to annex the West Bank, a territory claimed by Palestinians as part of a future state.“The United States must make it clear that these are the conditions for our solidarity,” he said.In a letter to the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, and the minority leader, Mitch McConnell, Sanders and five other Democratic senators – Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Merkley, Ed Markey, Peter Welch and Mazie Hirono – said they supported approving Biden’s proposed overall $106bn aid package to Israel, Ukraine and other foreign crisis areas “without delay”.But they demanded that an equal sum be allocated to “domestic emergencies”, including childcare, primary health care and the opioid epidemic.A separate letter the six sent to Biden asks a series of searching questions about Israel’s invasion of Gaza.“We have serious concerns about what this invasion and potential occupation of Gaza will mean, both in terms of the long-term security of Israel and the well-being of the Palestinian residents of Gaza,” it says. “Congress needs more information about Israel’s long-term plans and goals, as well as the United States Government’s assessments of those prospects.” More