US President Joe Biden plans to present on Wednesday the details of his plans to have all American troops out of war-torn Afghanistan by September 11 this year, the 20th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attack on the twin towers in New York. Ahead of a formal announcement, a senior official said Biden has decided to draw down the remaining US troops from Afghanistan and finally end the US war there after 20 years. There are currently 2,500 US troops in Afghanistan. The president will deliver remarks tomorrow on the way forward in Afghanistan, including plans and timeline for withdrawing US troops in close coordination with our partners, allies and the Afghan government, also his commitment to focusing on threats and opportunities we face around the world, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday.
But the effort represents an ongoing divide among Democrats in how the party approaches the Israeli and Palestinian conflict, with the progressive wing pushing for the U.S. to exercise stronger concessions from Israel in an effort to support Palestinians.
McCollum’s draft text, a copy of which was obtained by The Hill, is a reworking of legislation she has introduced in previous congressional sessions that largely focuses on accountability for Israel’s detention of Palestinian children in the West Bank.
The State Department’s 2020 Country report on Human Rights did not cite detainment of Palestinian children by Israeli security forces, but the Israeli NGO B’tselem said that at least at least 157 Palestinian minors (age 18 and below) were detained or held in Israeli prisons in 2020. The group estimated 186 Palestinians aged 18 and younger were held as security detainees or in prison in 2019.
New Target for New York’s Ascendant Left: Rep. Carolyn Maloney
Justice Democrats, a left-wing group that fueled the rise of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is backing Rana Abdelhamid’s primary bid.
Rana Abdelhamid, a young activist from Queens, is running to represent New York’s 12th Congressional District in Congress.Credit.Benjamin Norman for The New York Times
April 14, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ET
Nearly three years ago, a little-known left-wing organization helped engineer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s shock victory over Representative Joseph Crowley in a House primary. Last year, the group, Justice Democrats, aided Jamaal Bowman’s ouster of Representative Eliot Engel in another House primary.