Apartheid Israel is quickly becoming the world leader in terrible ideas.
The parliament in the apartheid state advanced a bill yesterday that allows legislators to overrule Supreme Court rulings and enact laws that had previously been struck down. This decision comes in spite of the months of growing protests that news outlets seem to find important. These same news outlets conveniently omit the fact that those protesting the new bill had no apparent qualms with the settler-colonial nation state treating Palestinians like garbage.
The Israeli parliament took until the early hours of the morning to pass the first draft of the bill, which was one of the top priorities of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his governing coalition of extreme-right and ultra-Orthodox religious parties. The new bill obviously weakens the Supreme Court, but just wait, it gets worse. It was passed alongside a second bill that shields the prime minister from removal and a third bill that would allow for more illegal settlements in northern Israel.
The parliament somehow saw no problem with passing a bill that makes it harder to remove the prime minister over the corruption charges that currently hang over him. The new law would allow the parliament to declare a prime minister unfit to rule only for physical or mental reasons and would replace current law that opens the door for a leader to be removed under other circumstances. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of mental reasons why Netanyahu is unfit to lead, but unfortunately these qualities are what many Israeli lawmakers consider his strengths.
Meanwhile, the third bill allowing the construction of more illegal settlements passed despite the fact that settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem are already considered illegal under international law. In response, hundreds of Jewish American business leaders with billions of dollars invested in Israel, warned Netanyahu that they will halt their investments if he continues to pursue his regime change plan. So much for Boycotting, Divesting, and Sanctioning.
Side Items
Cyclone in Southern Africa: More than 100 people have been killed in Malawi and Mozambique after a cyclone named Freddy ripped through parts of Southern Africa. Freddy tore through the region over the weekend for the second time in a few weeks, making a comeback after initially touching down in late February. The cyclone brought with it powerful winds and torrential rain, resulting in lethal mud slides
Injustice in Indiana Prisons: This article tells the story of two inmates at an Indiana penitentiary who intervened when they saw prison guards beating another inmate to death. The prison guards were avowed white supremacists and the inmates were Black, so of course their intervention cost them their freedom. The two inmates were sentenced to over 200 years in prison for interfering with the routine abuse of power
Taking a Social Media Break: The lieutenant governor of Tennessee, Randy McNally, has found himself in some hot water this week. McNally was put in an uncomfortable position after revelations that he repeatedly commented on posts of nearly nude photos of a young gay model and other LGBTQ personalities. He claims he was just looking to support young people, and ordinarily this might not be a major issue, but McNally’s vocal and vehement opposition to gay rights makes it a little awkward for him. Though not nearly as awkward as the subsequent interview he did