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HERE & ABROAD
❧ DEEP DIVE:The American posterchild of abuse in Israeli prisons❧
Two weeks ago, a consular officer at the United States embassy in Israel visited an American teenager in an Israeli prison. Mohammed Ibrahim, a Palestinian-American born in Palm Bay, FL, had been blindfolded, beaten and arrested—what his uncle Zeyad Kadur called “a kidnapping”—nine months earlier in the West Bank, accused of throwing rocks at Israeli settlers. The 16-year-old sitting in front of the official was dramatically changed: Kadur, relaying the official’s account, told Al Jazeera that Ibrahim “had lost [significant] weight and dark circles were forming around his eyes.” He also has scabies.
Ibrahim is becoming the last kind of poster child you want to be: one for the treatment of Palestinians in Israeli prisons. His deteriorated condition aligns with what are now widespread but dangerously underpublicized reports of abuse and torture. A report released this month by the Physicians for Human Rights-Israel found that at least 94 Palestinians have died in Israeli prison since Oct. 2023 due to some combination of beatings, withholding of essential medication and medical care, torture, and malnutrition (read: starvation). Guards have used nail guns on prisoners' knees. Many freed Palestinians are remarkably thin and bruised. One has lost his eyesight from beatings. Another’s back is so badly injured he can no longer sleep lying down. And as more and more prisoners, and bodies of prisoners, are released as part of the ceasefire deal, the evidence of human rights violations only mounts.
Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir has, in so many words, confirmed the horrors, stating that his goal is to give prisoners as little nutrition as possible and bragging about feeding them the “minimum of the minimum.” In an interview with a lawyer for Defense for Children International – Palestine, 16-year-old Ibrahim described his daily meals: “For breakfast, we are served just three tiny pieces of bread, along with a mere spoonful of labneh. At lunch, our portion is minimal, consisting of only half a small cup of undercooked, dry rice, a single sausage, and three small pieces of bread. Dinner is not provided, and we receive no fruit whatsoever.”
Though there is no indication that this is the case for Ibrahim, the abuse in Israeli prisons can be sexual in nature, too. In 2024, a video of a Gazan prisoner being gang-raped by guards in the infamous Sde Teiman prison was leaked to public, becoming a national news sensation. This month, that leaker revealed her identity: top military lawyer Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi. She was detained and attempted suicide while on house arrest.
Ibrahim’s case gained more attention over the summer when his American cousin, Sayfollah "Saif" Musallet, was beaten to death by Israeli settlers while visiting family in the West Bank. US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, an evangelical christian, conservative Republican, and ex-Governor of Arkansas, called for Israel to investigate the killing, tweeting that the settler violence amounted to a “terrorist act.”
Ibrahim’s family is now demanding an independent medical assessment for their child, and Americans are advocating for his release stateside. According to the Times of Israel, “More than 100 American faith-based, human rights and civil rights organizations have sent a joint letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.” 27 Democratic members of Congress in a separate letter to Rubio calling for Ibrahim’s release.
Art by C.M. Duffy from Current Affairs Magazine Vol. 7, Issue 6
❧ In Other News ❧
❧ YOU’VE GOT JMAIL. While you’re waiting to see if Trump’s Department of Justice actually releases the Epstein files after Congress compelled them to do so last week, you can now log onto a replica of Epstein’s email account and see what the Big E was up to before his untimely demise. Jmail is a website that takes the trove of Epstein emails unleashed by Congress this month and displays them as they might have existed in Epstein’s inbox. It’s the brainchild of Riley Walz, one of the rare San Francisco techies who is in possession of both a soul and sense of humor, in collaboration with Luke Igel. You may know Walz from previous antics, such as creating a public tracker of SF parking police. In the inbox, you are guaranteed to find Bernie Sanders’ name, but only insofar as he really pissed off oligarchs with his policy proposals.
Art from Current Affairs Magazine Vol. 7, Issue 6
❧ ICE MAY RAID SPANISH-SPEAKING CHURCHES BETWEEN THANKSGIVING AND CHRISTMAS. This Week in Worcesterbroke the story after three Department of Justice attorneys anonymously told the small outlet that they were “briefed” on the unholy plans. Churches have here-to-fore been off limits for the agency, and raids in spaces of worship would constitute a major escalation. According to the outlet, like criminals casing a bank, ICE and FBI agents may go undercover to scope out churches' security before launching raids, which may include mosques and left-leaning synagogues, too. Moreover, the administration is said to be reaching out to prominent Southern Baptist pastors in the hopes that they will publicly endorse the plan. The article details two Hispanic pastors that have been consulted, though Southern Baptist leadership told the Religion News Service that they have not been contacted. The Department of Homeland Security also denies the existence of the plans described in the article—but who would expect them to fess up to a secret, morally bankrupt plot to raid churches over the holidays?
Art by C.M. Duffy from Current Affairs Magazine Vol. 7, Issue 6
❧ COP30 FAILS TO CALL OUT FOSSIL FUELS. The United Nations met in Brazil this month for the 30th annual UN climate meeting (COP30). But the conference had one glaring omission: final documents elided the role of fossil fuels’ major contribution to climate change, only calling for a transition away from greenhouse gas emissions. Gee, I wonder where those emissions come from? We all know the answer, and COP30’s reluctance to plainly state that reality and grapple with its consequences left participants dismayed. “The disappointment inside the COP30 conference center was as pervasive as the diesel fumes from the generators outside the tent,” Inside Climate News wrote. Many negotiators and campaigners called the omissiona major retreat. Indigenous communities, notably, did have some wins, gaining new formal acknowledgment of their role in land stewardship, a $1.8 billion commitment to the Forest and Land Tenure Pledge (which supports Indigenous and Afro-descendants in Latin America, Africa and Asia), and recognition of new indigenous territories in Brazil.
Last week, this News Briefing wrote about reverse migration, the sometimes perilous self deportation undertaken by Central and South American immigrants fleeing ICE’s cruelty under Trump. We asked, if this isn’t evidence of terror, then what is? This article by Current Affairs Associate Editor Emily Topping confirms that terror is, in fact, part of the Trump administration’s goal—as well as profit. Louisiana is making big bucks by holding ICE detainees in its most notorious prison, Angola, and DHS gets to scare people shitless with the prison’s dark past, too. When you finish Emily’s piece, take a look at this Bloomberg article that breaks down, step by step, every dollar made by moving a single person through Trump’s deportation apparatus, bumping the bill as people are passed between detention facilities. Louisiana makes an appearance.
❧ In More News ❧
❧ A BAD COURT RULING: META WINS ANTITRUST CASE. A judge who, apparently, closes his eyes every time he opens the internet, has ruled that Meta is not a monopoly. He thinks, of all things, the rise of short-form video platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts create sufficient competition, stopping the $1.5 billion tech giant from attaining monopoly status. To which I say: would you like to see how many hours I’ve spent on Instagram Reels? You’ll have to subpoena me to find out. The ruling means Meta gets to keep Instagram and WhatsApp and all of your data, too.
Art by C.M. Duffy from Current Affairs Magazine Vol. 5, Issue 3
❧ A GOOD COURT RULING: HALLIGAN IS OUT AND SO ARE HER LITTLE INDICTMENTS, TOO. The appointment of interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan in Virginia was “defective” and the indictments she issued in the role, unlawful, a federal judge ruled. Halligan was handpicked in September to indict Trump nemesises, New York Attorney General Letitia James and ex-FBI Director James Comey, after a string of attorneys refused to pursue the weak, politically-motivated cases. A new U.S. Attorney will be appointed to replace Halligan.
❧ MAMDANI IS AGENDA-FIRST. Corporate media took a sharp inhale when Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani was eager to deliver on his campaign promises post-election, saying he had a “mandate from voters.” The New York Times wrote that Mamdani had dropped his “conciliatory tone” and “was determined to deliver for those who had been agitating (writer note: 🙄) for structural change.” Van Jones called it “a character switch.” Yet what we saw in the Oval Office on Friday was good ol’ conciliatory Mamdani, and President Donald Trump had his pants charmed off. With what we can only assume was a twinkle in his eye, Mamdani talked about affordability, New York, and a Trump favorite: building more housing. Some people were baffled by the president’s sunny disposition, but it’s not entirely mysterious: Trump likes real estate, the fact that so many reporters showed up for his press conference, and the demographicoverlapbetween his and the democratic socialist’s voter base. So smitten was Trump, he even let Mamdani imply the President is fascist, laughing off a question from a reporter about Mamdani’s past comments.
Mamdani said the secret to his charm was focusing on his agenda—and it’s the same reason he gave for showing a very different face to New York City Councilman Chi Ossé. Last week, Mamdani stood up at a local NYC’s Democratic Socialist Association Electoral Working Group meeting and argued against endorsing Ossé, who was his close ally during the mayoral campaign, in a primary challenge against Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. Mamdani thinks Ossé’s longshot campaign could impede the implementation of his agenda. Ossé didn’t wina DSA endorsement, and Mamdani later answered in the affirmative when asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” if he wanted Jeffries to be the next Speaker of the House.
Here is Current Affairs Editor-in-Chief's take on the situation:
Fun fact: three previous Current Affairs contributors have been named to Mamdani’s transition team: Alex Vitale, Celina Su, and Michael Kinnucan! Congratulations and good luck!
❧ IOC POISED TO BAN TRANS ATHLETES. The Olympic International Committee heard a presentation this month from its medical and scientific director Dr. Jane Thornton during which she laid out her “science-based review” of trans athletes competing in women's sports. The review also encompassed Differences of Sex Development, women raised as women but who may have different sexual biology chromosomally, hormonally, or otherwise. Thornton concluded that being born with male biology, even if someone is raised as a woman, confers physical advantages that remain after transition, and the IOC could ban trans athletes as early as next year. We don’t need to tell you that Thornton’s findings are dubious, but for good measure, take a moment to revisit Current Affairs’ conversation with trans activist Dr. Julia Serano, who, very helpfully, is also a biologist.
Art by C.M. Duffy from Current Affairs Magazine Vol. 5, Issue 3
❧ ONE LAST LAUGH. Many “Make America Great Again” X accounts aren’t even … in America. X rolled out a location-revealing feature, only to find that “many of the accounts, which have large followings and claim to be conservative people based in Texas or ‘America First’ accounts ‘promoting good resisting evil,’ are actually operated everywhere from Chile and Nigeria to Russia and across Eastern Europe.” Wired reported. You know what they say in the Lone Star State: God bless Texas and Russia, too!
Art by C.M. Duffy from Current Affairs Magazine Vol. 5, Issue 3
ANIMAL FACT OF THE WEEK
A crab Christmas story!
Holiday travel may be annoying for us, but it's a real haul for crabs on Australia’s Christmas Island. The crustaceans move by the millions, making the roughly 9-day journey to the Indian Ocean where they breed. Despite the island’s name, the biblical exodus is usually more of a Halloween and Thanksgiving thing (read: October/November), but sometimes the crabs do cross paths with Rudolph above, migrating late in the year. This sight, no matter the holiday season, is remarkable. Watch it here.
Writing and research by Emily Carmichael. Editing and additional material by Emily Topping and Nathan J. Robinson. Header graphic by Cali Traina Blume. This news briefing is a product of Current Affairs Magazine. Subscribe to our gorgeous and informative print edition here, and our delightful podcast here.
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