[email protected] 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 🧵

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/...

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/...

🚨 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/...

"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...

📣 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...

@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...

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...

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

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.

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...

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.

"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."

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."

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/...

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...

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/...

"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/...

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.

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.

NEW: Israeli authorities have caused massive, deliberate forced displacement of Palestinian civilians in Gaza since October 2023 and are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Governments should adopt targeted sanctions and other measures, and halt weapons sales to Israel.

TIMEP is proud to lead a coalition of 52 Lebanese and international NGOs to call for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon. Israel's war on Lebanon has killed over 3,000 and displaced over 1 million. The international community must urgently intervene to end the war: timep.org/2024/11/14/g...

As Israel's war on Lebanon intensified, "many [Syrian] refugees are left with two perilous options: stay & relive the horrors of war in Lebanon, or return to Syria & face the dangers that drove them to flee in the first place." Don't miss this @timep.bsky.social piece: timep.org/2024/11/13/c...

Today is Ayman Moussa’s 10th year in an Egyptian prison, of a 15-year sentence, simply for peacefully protesting. He is one of tens of thousands who remain locked behind bars in Egypt due to the regime’s cruelty. #FreeThemAll www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

A newly announced $500 million arms sale to Saudi Arabia raises serious questions about misuse of equipment, provision of “offensive” weapons as defined by the admin, and the implementation of the new Conventional Arms Transfer policy. www.dsca.mil/press-media/...

Senator Ben Cardin condemns admin for providing Egypt conditioned military aid: "If we want to show the world that respect for human rights is a core dimension of US national security interests, we need to do more in holding wayward governments accountable." www.cardin.senate.gov/press-releas...

My thoughts on the sentence of Hisham Kassem and recent developments in Egypt: “The regime has definitely entered a renewed and heightened phase of its repression as the presidential election approaches and the economy continues to falter.” www.wsj.com/world/middle...