[guest post by Dana]

I guess I’m not surprised that Nikki Haley will be voting for Trump. She made a political calculation and because she wants a future in the Republican Party, she will suck it up and vote for someone that she called “unhinged” and “not qualified to be the president of the United States.” Party first:

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley plans to vote for Donald Trump, she said Wednesday in her first public remarks since exiting the Republican presidential primary more than two months ago.

Haley said Trump “has not been perfect” on policies important to her, including foreign policy, immigration and the economy, but President Joe Biden “has been a catastrophe.”

“So I will be voting for Trump,” said Haley…

I don’t know if this means she will be fundraising or stumping for Trump, but given the numbers she has been pulling (16% in Pennsylvania, and nearly 13% in Wisconsin), I think she’s right to exort him to reach out to her supporters and not assume they’ll just follow her lead (and move to Trump). Of course this won’t make a bit of difference to Trump, but she’s right to say it:

“I will be voting for Trump,” she said in a response to to a question from a moderator at an event. “Having said that … Trump would be smart to reach out to the millions of people who voted for me and continue to support me and not assume that they’re just going to be with him.”

The one thing Haley has been absolutely consistent on, and a point in which I strongly agree, is the war in Ukraine:

“Sending weapons to Ukraine and Israel isn’t foreign aid,” she said. “It’s an investment in a world in which authoritarian dictators cannot run roughshod over free countries.”

So, do we think that she will be a possible contender for VP? (Personally, I don’t think so. I don’t believe Trump wants someone smarter, more experienced, and vastly more knowledgeable to show him up.

BREAKING: Former presidential hopeful Nikki Haley announced Wednesday that she will support Donald Trump in the upcoming election. Let's take a look back at her comments about the former president during her campaign. pic.twitter.com/2QZckzFl5T

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 22, 2024

–Dana

[guest post by Dana]

Three member-states of the United Nations have announced that they plan to recognize a Palestinian state:

Ireland, Spain and Norway announced on Wednesday that they would recognise a Palestinian state on May 28, saying they hoped other Western countries would follow suit, prompting Israel to recall its ambassadors.

The individual leaders explained their reasoning for the decision:

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the move was aimed at accelerating efforts to secure a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

“We hope that our recognition and our reasons contribute to other western countries following this path, because the more we are, the more strength we will have to impose a ceasefire, to achieve the release of the hostages held by Hamas, to relaunch the political process that can lead to a peace agreement,” he said in a speech to the country’s lower house.

Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris…added that Ireland was unequivocal in recognising Israel’s right to exist “securely and in peace with its neighbours”, and calling for all hostages in Gaza to be immediately returned.

In Oslo, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said the only possible political solution between Israelis and Palestinians is “two states living side by side in peace and security”.

Both Norway and Ireland referenced the 1967 borders.

As you can imagine, Israel was less than pleased with the decisions.

And speaking of a “two-state solution,” I read this with great interest:

So you want to recognize the state of Palestine? By all means. Go ahead. Just make sure to note that since Palestine is a state, no-one living in it is or can be or will be recognized by your country as a “refugee from Palestine”, that you are therefore defunding UNRWA, that there is no such thing as a “right of return” into another sovereign state in which one has never been a citizen or ever lived.

If you’re not ready to so as a package, then please don’t pretend that the purpose of recognizing Palestine is to promote “a two state solution”. Given that there was never a moment in the last century when there was an Arab Palestinian vision of peace and two states where one of the states is Jewish – which means acceptance that no-one is a “refugee from Palestine” when already living there or as citizens of Jordan and other countries, and that there is no such “right of return” into the territory of the sovereign state of Israel of people who were never its citizens – then now might be a great time to start clarifying that.

A recognition of a state of Palestine is a great way to finally clarify – is the other state in the “two state solution” the Jewish state of Israel? Or, is it, as Palestinians continue to believe, a temporary aberration that will revert to being Arab in due course?It is high time to ensure that any vision of peace by two states means that one of these two state is Jewish. And if not, it would be nice to finally know that your country recognizes Palestine because it believes that “from water to water Palestine will be Arab” – the original Arab version of “From the River to the Sea” – and that there is no room for Jewish sovereignty anywhere. Precisely the vision that animated Hamas October 7th attack and the continued support it enjoys among Palestinians. If this is why your country is recognizing Palestine, it would be a good time for Israel to finally know that.

If not, if you genuinely believe in a two-state solution where one of the two is Jewish, then get off your bum and make it clear – that recognition of Palestine comes with a strong declaration and policy that no-one living in it is or can be or will be recognized by your country as a “refugee from Palestine”, that you are therefore defunding UNRWA, that there is no such thing as a “right of return” into another sovereign state in which one has never been a citizen or ever lived. Then we’ll know you’re serious. Anything else is lazy virtue signaling, worthy of an Anthropology student in the US, not a government of a proper country.

—Dana