News and Analysis 3/7/25

Israel has barred “Palestinians aged between 12 and 50 from entering” the mosque:

90,000 Muslim Worshippers Pray at Al-Aqsa on First Friday of Ramadan Despite Israeli Restrictions (New Arab)

Sudan updates:

Sudan Sues UAE for Complicit in RSF Genocide in West Darfur (Jurist)
Sudan Suspended from the African Union (African Union)
Evidence of Torture Found as Detention Centre and Mass Grave Discovered Outside Khartoum (The Guardian)
UN Crew Member Killed in Attack on Helicopter in South Sudan (Aljazeera)

In yet another shift away from Biden policies, Trump administration negotiates directly with Hamas for release of an American:

Trump Administration’s Direct Talks with Hamas Break an Old Taboo (Washington Post)
U.S. Proposes Ceasefire Extension in Exchange for Hostages (Washington Post)

Bit by bit Americans are wising up to Israeli apartheid and genocide:

Less Than Half in U.S. Now Sympathetic Toward Israelis (Gallup)

Good reporting requires “following who in the White House has ties with anti-Muslim groups, which world leaders are whispering in the president’s ear, and tracking how federal agencies are disproportionately targeting Muslim movements”:

Connecting the Dots in Coverage of Trump and Islamophobia (Columbia Journalism Review)

“Human rights activists are being arrested at random, and the smallest protests are being brutally suppressed, even if they were organized by Iranian war heroes”:

Fearing New Protests, Iran Regime Starts Wave of Arrests (Deutsche Welle)

Israel that Palestinians expressing joy over a relatives release from prison encourages “violence and terrorism” warranting arrest:

Palestinians Freed in the Ceasefire Say Israeli Forces Harass Them and Their Families (NPR)

“The reduction in funding for Iranian groups, based largely outside Iran, is affecting the work of human rights monitors, news outlets and civic activists”: