.@jayapal.house.gov introduced an amendment during the ongoing State Dept Reauthorization markup in the House Foreign Affairs Committee that would condition $1 billion of the $3.3 billion in US military aid to Israel on human rights benchmarks. A 🧵
Seth Binder
@sethbinder.bsky.social
Director of Advocacy at the Middle East Democracy Center (MEDC)
Israel bombed multiple countries across the Middle East in recent days. US military aid makes this possible. In our new factsheet we breakdown the $21.7B provided to Israel since Oct 7 & privileges it receives that allows it to carry on its war machine. mideastdc.org/publication/...
Extraordinary Sums and Privileges: U.S. Security Assistance to Israel Since October 7, 2023 - MEDC
mideastdc.org
In a new piece by me and @stimsoncenter.bsky.social's Elias Yousif, we discuss the risks of the admin's legally dubious decision not to release detailed accounting for how the government intends to spend future foreign assistance. A 🧵 mideastdc.org/publication/...
President Trump is Undermining Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability - MEDC
mideastdc.org
🚨 Saudi Arabia executed a prominent journalist who exposed corruption. The world should act before other dissidents are next. Read our commentary on the shocking execution of Turki Al-Jasser by @aalodah.bsky.social, @sethbinder.bsky.social, Sheridan Cole & Haydn Welch: mideastdc.org/publication/...
Saudi Arabia Executed a Prominent Journalist who Exposed Corruption. The World Should Act Before Other Dissidents are Next. - MEDC
mideastdc.org
"The billions in military aid compared to the pennies in democracy assistance really puts into perspective the priority of US governments, not just this administration who have eliminated even the pennies," MEDC’s @sethbinder.bsky.social tells Middle East Eye. www.middleeasteye.net/news/usaid-i...
USAID implosion leaves Middle East activists at mercy of political crackdowns
Human rights defenders across Middle East and North Africa were reliant on US for small grants to help them relocate and resettle abroad
middleeasteye.net
📣 NEW EVENT: Join us next Thursday, May 8, at 11AM for a conversation in Arabic on combating disinformation & propaganda by authoritarian regimes in the MENA. With Cathrine Abuamsha, Heba Alkadri, Mohamed Nagem & MEDC's Abdelrahman Ayyash. Register here: mideastdc.org/events/digit...
Digital Dictators: Confronting Authoritarian Narratives in the MENA Region - MEDC
ديكتاتوريو العالم الرقمي: مواجهة السرديات الاستبدادية في الشرق الأوسط في عصرٍ باتت فيه الأنظمة الاستبدادية في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا تعتمد بشكل متزايد على تقنيات الذكاء الاصطناعي (AI) لنشر ا...
mideastdc.org
@sethbinder.bsky.social @mideastdc.org "...In just these 100 days, the Trump administration may have caused irreparable harm to U.S. interests, in which the full cost is only still coming into focus." #100days Read full quote at www.forumarmstrade.org/trump100days...
Assessing Trump's First 100 Days
To mark the first 100 days in office, experts independently assess aspects of the Trump administration's policies.
forumarmstrade.org
President Trump's foreign aid freeze has been nothing short of chaotic & staggering in its wholesale disruption & cost to US interests, particularly in the MENA region, write MEDC's @sethbinder.bsky.social, Sheridan Cole & Haydn Welch's in @justsecurity.org: www.justsecurity.org/107929/us-fo...
The Foreign Aid Freeze's Costs to the US in the Middle East and North Africa
The Trump administration's dismantling of USAID poses significant threats to security in the Middle East and North Africa.
justsecurity.org
US #ForeignAid to the Middle East and North Africa has been integral to US “safety, strength, and prosperity” – Secretary of State Rubio’s stated test for fulfilling President Trump’s America First agenda. From @sethbinder.bsky.social, Sheridan Cole and Haydn Welch: #MENA
The Foreign Aid Freeze's Costs to the US in the Middle East and North Africa
The Trump administration's dismantling of USAID poses significant threats to security in the Middle East and North Africa.
justsecurity.org
While former US Senator Bob Menendez is sentenced to 11 years in prison for a corruption scheme in partnership with the Egyptian government, the Trump administration is allowing Egypt to continue receiving US military aid despite a global foreign aid freeze.
Yashar Ali 🐘@yasharali.bsky.social · 2y agoBREAKING Former Senator Bob Menendez has been sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Egyptian poet & writer Abdulrahman al-Qaradawi has been forcibly disappeared since his extradition to the UAE from Lebanon on January 8. We call on Emirati authorities to disclose his location & immediately #FreeAbdulrahman. Read our joint statement: mideastdc.org/publication/...
Disturbed to hear of new charges against HRD & Director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, Hossam Bahgat, in connection with his work on prison conditions. He has been a strong, impartial HRD throughout 3 political leaderships & has been harassed for years. His targeting should end.
"Building production capabilities takes time & lots of funds—just look at the US struggles to increase capacity for globally needed munitions," MEDC's @sethbinder.bsky.social tells @mradamtaylor.bsky.social on Israel's push to produce heavy bombs domestically. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
Israel moves to make heavy bombs, but U.S. reliance hard to shake, experts say
Israel said last week it would move to produce heavy bombs and raw materials for defense domestically, after learning “a central lesson from the war” in Gaza.
washingtonpost.com
Last Sept, the Biden admin fraudulently certified Egypt’s gov made “clear and consistent” progress in releasing political prisoners in order to provide this $95 million to Egypt’s military. Congress blocked those funds from going to Egypt. Now it’s been reprogrammed to Lebanon.
Al Jazeera English@aljazeera.com · 2y agoThe US plans to divert to Lebanon $95m in military aid that was originally allocated to Egypt, according to an unconfirmed Reuters report aje.io/6qtdcf
"By almost every metric, the harm to civilians from the first month of the Israeli campaign in Gaza is incomparable with any 21st century air campaign. It is by far the most intense, destructive, and fatal conflict for civilians that Airwars has ever documented."
Airwars@airwars.bsky.social · 2y agoNEW: How does the scale of harm in Gaza compare to other conflicts? Our new report presents a unique analysis of where and how thousands of civilians were killed in the first 25 days in Gaza - and how these patterns are unprecedented in modern warfare. gaza-patterns-harm.airwars.org
We at Human Rights First are hearing more & more reports of serious unrest in #Bahrain’s notorious Jau prison; that in Building 7 food, water & electricity have been cut for a week. Foreign diplomats should demand prison access to see & report the crisis for themselves @gulfcentre4hr.bsky.social
If you want to fill your Friday with something truly remarkable, take a moment to look at the images and videos from across Syria today, where Syrians are celebrating the first Friday following the fall of the 54-year Assad family rule. ✊❤️
"The administration never truly tested the proposition that it could both uphold its commitment to recalibrate the US-Saudi relationship, a process that would take significant time and effort, and simultaneously advance its other priorities, such as warding off China’s encroachment into the region."
Middle East Democracy Center@mideastdc.org · 2y ago🚨NEW MEDC Policy Brief: Biden entered office promising to make #SaudiArabia a "pariah." But despite campaign promises, he repeatedly chose policies fundamentally mirroring Trump’s approach. Read our Policy Brief examining US-Saudi relations under Biden: mideastdc.org/publication/...
Today’s confirmation of #SaudiArabia as host of the 2034 FIFA Men’s World Cup risks lives and exposes FIFA’s empty human rights commitments. Read our joint statement: mideastdc.org/publication/...
Joint Statement: Award of 2034 Men’s World Cup to Saudi Arabia Risks Lives and Exposes FIFA’s Empty Human Rights Commitments - MEDC
mideastdc.org
MEDC stands in solidarity with the Syrian people as they celebrate the fall of the Assad regime and is overjoyed to see all those wrongfully detained in Assad’s dungeons, including the infamous Sednaya Military Prison, be freed and reunited with loved ones.
In Feb 2021, State announced the "Khashoggi Ban" & placed visa bans on 76 Saudis for transnational repression. Today, State announced that nearly 4 years later it has only banned "over 100 individuals" and none are from a US partner country other than Saudi. www.state.gov/accountabili...
Accountability Actions to Counter Global Corruption and Human Rights - United States Department of State
On International Anti-Corruption Day and on the eve of Human Rights Day the United States is taking the following actions to promote accountability for perpetrators of corruption and human rights abus...
state.gov
Tomorrow is International Human Rights Defenders Day. Wouldn’t it be great if the Gulf regimes released their HRDs in prison? Abdulhadi Al Khawaja, Abduljalil Al Singace & others in Bahrain; Ahmed Mansoor, Mohamed Al Roken, Nasser bin Ghaith & others in the UAE; Mohammad Al Qahtani & others in Saudi
"The Syrian people topple the regime of Bashar al-Assad"
Joint Statement: Egyptian Authorities Must Lift Punitive Measures Against EIPR Staff mideastdc.org/publication/...
Joint Statement: Egyptian Authorities Must Lift Punitive Measures Against EIPR Staff - MEDC
mideastdc.org
"On Capitol Hill, Sen. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-Md.) and @repsarajacobs.bsky.social (D-Calif.) have advanced legislation to block U.S. arms sales to the UAE over its role in arming the RSF and worsening Sudan’s civil war." 1/ www.politico.com/newsletters/...
Biden’s Sudan blind spot
The United Arab Emirates has allegedly helped arm and fund the Rapid Support Forces militia in Sudan that has been accused of widespread atrocities including ethnic cleansing, mass rape and torture.
politico.com
The United States vetoed the UN Security Council resolution for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, which received 14 votes in favor and one against. #Gaza
Written by my dear friend, Amr. Please ready his thoughtful and powerful piece.
New Lines Magazine@newlinesmag.bsky.social · 2y agoNEW: In “The Message,” Ta-Nehisi Coates turns his attention to Israel-Palestine and offers a straightforward defense of human life, and relief from the contortions of affirming other perspectives, writes @amrqotb.bsky.social. newlinesmag.com/review/me-ta...
Yesterday, Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah turned 43 years old, marking his 11th birthday behind bars, away from his family and friends. May it be the last one apart from his loved ones. Thinking of him as he is held illegally in custody beyond the completion of his sentence. #FreeAlaa
Before Biden's fist-bump with the Saudi crown prince in July 2022, he wrote: "The Middle East I’ll be visiting is more stable and secure than the one my administration inherited 18 months ago." U.S. policy since then deserves a lot of blame for why that sentence doesn't hold up.