Kevin Liptak, CNN

President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt some shipments of American weapons to Israel – which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza – if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.

“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers,” Biden told CNN’s Erin Burnett in an exclusive interview on “Erin Burnett OutFront,” referring to 2,000-pound bombs that Biden paused shipments of last week.

“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah – they haven’t gone in Rafah yet – if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities – that deal with that problem,” Biden said.

The president’s announcement that he was prepared to condition American weaponry on Israel’s actions amounts to a turning point in the seven-month conflict between Israel and Hamas. And his acknowledgement that American bombs had been used to kill civilians in Gaza was a stark recognition of the United States’ role in the war.

The president has come under extraordinary pressure, including from members of his own party, to limit shipments of arms amid a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Until now, the president had resisted those calls and strongly supported Israel’s efforts to go after Hamas. Yet a looming invasion of Rafah, the city in southern Gaza where more than a million Palestinian civilians have been sheltering, appears to have shifted the president’s calculus.

Hatem Khaled/Reuters

A Palestinian man watches smoke rise following Israeli strikes in the eastern part of Rafah on May 7.

“We’re not walking away from Israel’s security. We’re walking away from Israel’s ability to wage war in those areas,” Biden said.

Biden said while the US would continue to provide defensive weapons to Israel, including for its Iron Dome air defense system, other shipments would end should a major ground invasion of Rafah begin.

“We’re going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks that came out of the Middle East recently,” he said. “But it’s, it’s just wrong. We’re not going to – we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells.”

Already, the US has paused a shipment of “high-payload munitions” due to Israel’s possible operations in Rafah without a plan for the civilians there, according to the Pentagon, though it said a final decision on that shipment hadn’t been made. The administration has said it is reviewing the potential sale or transfer of other munitions.

Israeli officials privately expressed to US officials “deep frustration” on the pause in shipments as well as the US media briefings on the decision, according to a source briefed on the matter.

A potential rift

Biden’s public linking of American weapons shipments to Israel’s conduct could widen a rift between himself and Netanyahu, with whom he spoke by phone on Monday. That conversation came as Israel ordered the evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians from Rafah and launched strikes near border areas of the city.

Biden said Israel’s actions in Rafah had not yet crossed a red line of entering heavily populated zones, even if their actions had caused tensions in the region.

“They haven’t gone into the population centers. What they did is right on the border. And it’s causing problems with, right now, in terms of – with Egypt, which I’ve worked very hard to make sure we have a relationship and help,” he said.

He said he had conveyed to Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders that American support for operations in population centers was limited.

“I’ve made it clear to Bibi and the war cabinet: They’re not going to get our support, if in fact they go on these population centers,” he said.

Later, Biden described warning Netanyahu about the risks of becoming bogged down in Gaza, drawing parallels to the American experience in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“I said to Bibi, ‘Don’t make the same mistake we made in America. We wanted to get bin Laden. We’ll help you get Sinwar,’” he said, referring to the Hamas leader in Gaza. “It made sense to get bin Laden; it made no sense to try and unify Afghanistan. It made no sense in my view to engage in thinking that in Iraq they had a nuclear weapon.”

The conflict in the Middle East has consumed much of Biden’s time over the past months, even as he works to promote his domestic record to American voters. His strong support for Israel has generated protests and anger, including on college campuses and at his events, where signs have labeled him “Genocide Joe.”

Asked about the demonstrations, Biden said Wednesday: “Absolutely, I hear the message.”

But he warned against protests that veer into hate speech or antisemitism.

“There is a legitimate right to free speech and protest. There’s a legitimate right to do that, and they have a right to do that,” he said. “But there’s not a lesson legit legitimate right to use hate speech. There’s not a legitimate right to threaten Jewish students. There is not a legitimate right to block people’s access to class. That’s against the law.”

Biden fights economic perceptions

Biden was speaking Wednesday in Racine, Wisconsin, where he’d just promoted new economic investments that could result in thousands of new jobs.

In the CNN interview, he sought to reframe perceptions of the American economy, touting strong job growth and efforts to combat corporate greed while questioning surveys showing voters still pessimistic about the country’s direction.

“We’ve already turned it around,” Biden said, responding to a question on whether, less than six months before Election Day, he was running short on time to improve his standing among Americans on his handling of the economy.

Biden pointed to surveys showing many Americans view their own economic situation favorably, even as they look negatively on the nationwide economy.

“The polling data has been wrong all along,” he said, questioning the effectiveness of phone surveys.

And he said his own record on job creation following the Covid-19 pandemic was as clear an indication as any that conditions had markedly improved for American workers.

“The idea that we’re in a situation where things are so bad that folks – I mean, we’ve created more jobs. We’re in a situation where people have access to good paying jobs,” he said.

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

President Joe Biden speaks about his Investing in America agenda, at Gateway Technical College in Sturtevant, Wisconsin, on May 8, 2024. Biden is highlighting a major investment by Microsoft in Racine, Wisconsin, a city on the shores of Lake Michigan, as part of the president’s plan of “growing the economy from the middle-out and bottom-up,” the White House said.

Still, he acknowledged there were good reasons for Americans to worry, including the cost of goods and housing.

“The last I saw, the combination of the inflation, the cost of inflation, all those things, that’s really worrisome to people, with good reason,” he said.

“That’s why I’m working very hard to bring the cost of rentals down, to increase the number of homes that are available,” he went on. “Let me say it this way – when I started this administration, people were saying there’s going to be a collapse to the economy. We have the strongest economy in the world. Let me say it again – in the world.”

Biden has spent much of the last year working to promote his economic accomplishments, including new investments made possible by infrastructure and manufacturing legislation.

That includes in Wisconsin, where he spoke Wednesday at a site where his predecessor Donald Trump once promoted an investment by the Taiwan-based electronics giant Foxconn that later failed.“He’s never succeeded in creating jobs, and I’ve never failed,” Biden said in the interview, adding later: “When has he even done anything he said? I’m not being facetious. Think about it.”

Looking ahead to November

Biden voiced little concern about his reelection prospects in the interview. But he warned Trump was unlikely to accept the results of the election if he loses.

“I promise you he won’t,” Biden said, “which is dangerous.”

Asked what advice his former boss, President Barack Obama, had provided in their conversations about the race, Biden said it was simply to “keep doing what I’m doing.”

“I think I’m feeling good about the trajectory of the campaign,” he said. “And you know as well I do, most people don’t really focus and make up their minds until the fall. There’s a lot going on, and we’ll see what happens.”

But surveys have shown voters giving Biden little credit for his economic record.

In CNN’s most recent poll, Biden’s approval ratings for the economy (34%) and inflation (29%) remain starkly negative, as voters say economic concerns are more important to them when choosing a candidate than they were in each of the past two presidential contests.

Biden said on Wednesday that “no president has had the run we’ve had in terms of creating jobs and bringing down inflation.”

“It was 9% when I came to office. 9%. But look, people have a right to be concerned. Ordinary people.”

Inflation actually peaked at 9.1% in June 2022. In January 2021, when Biden was sworn in, it was 1.4%.

He touted his efforts to combat fees — including on bank accounts and credit cards — that the White House has said will lower Americans’ bills.

“The idea that you bounce a check and you get a $30 fee for bouncing the check? I changed that – can’t charge more than eight bucks for that. Or your credit card. Your late payment. $35. I mean, there’s corporate greed going on out there and its got to be dealt with,” he said.

Noor El-Terk

The Eurovision song contest is facing intense scrunity and accusations of discrimination after it rebuked Swedish-Palestinian pop star Eric Saade for wearing a Palestinian scarf in the opening act of the semi-finals.

Saade, whose father is of Palestinian origin, kicked off the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden on Tuesday evening with a keffiyeh, a traditional Palestinian and Arab male headdress, wrapped around his wrist.

The scarf has increased in popularity since last year, and is used by many demonstrators and activists to display their support for Palestinians amid Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.

In response, the organisers of the contest, European Broadcasting Union (EBU) released a statement saying it “regretted” that Saade wore the scarf.

“The Eurovision Song Contest is a live TV show. All performers are made aware of the rules of the contest, and we regret that Eric Saade chose to compromise the non-political nature of the event,” it said.
Several people took to social media to point out that the black and white chequered scarf is a part of Palestinian cultural heritage and questioned the EBU’s framing of it as a political symbol.

“Eric Saade getting dragged because he is wearing a piece of clothing which is literally PART of HIS OWN heritage, when everyone else is allowed to wear whatever traditional clothing they want,” commented one social media user.

Another shared: “Eric Saade is palestinian. The keffiyeh is a symbol of palestinian culture. He didn’t say or do anything political here… you know what is political? Promoting the entry of a genocidal country.”

Eurovision later posted clips of the performances of the other two opening acts on its social media pages, but did not share Saade’s, prompting social media users to share the performance on their personal pages to show support for the artist.

Responding to the EBU through a story on his personal Instagram account, the pop star explained that the keffiyeh was a gift from his father, a way to remember his roots, and criticised Eurovision’s ban of Palestinian flags and symbols.

“I didn’t know that one day it would be called a ‘political symbol’. It’s like calling a Dala horse [a traditional Swedish horse statue] a political symbol,” the singer who represented Sweden in the 2011 iteration of the competition wrote.

“In my eyes, it’s just racism. I just wanted to be inclusive and wear something which is real to me, but the EBU seems to think that my ethnicity is controversial.

“It says nothing about me, but everything about them.”

Protest and performance

The 2024 edition of the European song contest has been mired in controversy due to Israel’s participation as it continues its military assault on the Gaza Strip, which has left over 34,700 Palestinians dead, the vast majority civilians.

Thousands more are under the rubble, believed to be dead.

There have been calls to boycott the contest and numerous protests against Israel’s participation from fans and artists alike.

Earlier this year, over 1,400 Finnish artists signed a petition demanding Israel’s suspension from the contest, accusing the state of war crimes in Gaza.

Similar calls were made by Swedish and Icelandic musicians to boycott the competition unless Israel was suspended.

Critics say that their demand that Israel be barred from the competition are not unprecedented, pointing out that Russia was disallowed by Eurovision just two years ago because of its war on Ukraine.

“Eurovision has rebuked Swedish-Palestinian singer Eric Saade for wearing a kefiyyeh, claiming that its contest is ‘non-political’,” posted another user.

“In 2022, the ‘non-political’ Eurovision banned Russia from the contest due to its invasion of Ukraine,” they added.

Eden Golan, the singer representing Israel, will perform in the second semi-finals on Thursday, 9 May in a performance under heavy security.

The winners of the semi-finals will go through to the final on Saturday, which will be watched by up to 150 million people worldwide.

(Source: Middle East Eye)

As the bloc’s institutions celebrate French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman’s presentation of the eponymous declaration 74 years ago, MEPs air their concerns over the union’s future political makeup one month before the June elections.

As the EU institutions marked the bloc’s founding with Europe Day on Thursday, the union is also preparing for its future as it heads to the European elections, scheduled for 6-9 June.

The bloc’s achievements were celebrated in member state capitals on 9 May — the anniversary of a historic speech by French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, which led to the foundation of the economic and political union.

Citizens were invited to visit EU institutions to celebrate the occasion, with European Parliament buildings in Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg opening their doors to the public.

The celebrations came as the union continued preparing for one of the most important elections in its history.

The June elections will be held in times of continuous crises on the continent, facing war in Ukraine, climate emergencies, and fundamental questions about the reach and purpose of the bloc itself.

The 27-nation union of 450 million people will choose 720 MEPs to serve them over the next five years.

‘Existential fight’ on the horizon

Carlo Wolter, an 18-year-old German, said he will cast his vote because he belongs to the the next generation of European constituents shaped by policy. “Our opinion counts for what should happen in the future,” he said.

The results of the European election will also indicate whether the continental political drift will match the rightward swing seen across the globe, from Argentina to Indonesia and Slovakia.

“It will be an existential fight,” said Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister and outgoing free-market liberal member of parliament. 

“Extreme right-wing parties are clearly influenced by Russia, by China. [They] don’t really want to strengthen Europe. They are a recipe for a weak Europe. And a weak Europe will be destroyed,” he said.

Italian MEP Nicola Procaccini (Brothers of Italy, ECR) said the current composition of the European Parliament swings too far to the left, but he believes “moving to the right” is possible.

“The centre right movements are going forward,” Procaccini said.

The geopolitical developments in recent years have additionally prompted discussions among the European member states to re-evaluate defence efforts.

“It is not individual member states which will protect the people,” Verhofstadt said.

“We absolutely need a European defence union to protect ourselves against Russia, for example, and certainly in a world where maybe [former US President Donald] Trump is coming back in the White House.”

(Source: Euronews)

Some more EU member states, including Ireland and Spain, are considering official recognition of the State of Palestine on 21 May, according to Ireland’s RTE yesterday.

“Contacts between Dublin and Madrid, as well as between Slovenia and Malta, have been intensifying with a view to the countries jointly recognising Palestinian statehood,” added the Irish radio and television network. A spokesman for Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defence Michael Martin confirmed that these talks are ongoing.

It is known that Ireland, Slovenia, Malta and Norway support the initiative to recognise the Palestinian state that is led by Spain. The State of Palestine is currently recognised by eight members of the European Union: Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, the Greek Cypriot Administration, and Sweden.

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, had said earlier that he expected some EU countries to officially recognise Palestine.

(Source: MEMO)