• Palestinian families in a decades’ long eviction dispute with Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem, rejected a compromise plan floated by the Israeli Supreme Court. A delay in the court ruling in the spring fueled mass protests in Jerusalem and helped spark an 11 days of violent conflict between Israel and Hamas.
(“Palestinians Facing Evictions From East Jerusalem Offered Deal,” Guardian, Aug. 2, 2021; “Israeli Court Adjourn Appeal Against Sheikh Jarrah Expulsions,” Al-Jazeera, Aug. 2, 2021)
• Mexico has filed a civil lawsuit against 10 US-based firearms manufactures in federal court in Boston. It’s a major escalation of Mexico’s claim that gun makers’ marketing of military style weapons is increasing drug-cartel related violence. The suit accuses the companies of actively facilitating the flow of weapons to powerful drug cartels, where 70 percent of guns in Mexico are found to have come from the U.S. The suit was filed one day after Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard attended a ceremony in El Paso, Texas honoring the victims of a mass shooting at a Wal-Mart store in 2019.
(“Mexico Sues Gun Companies in U.S., Accusing Them of Fueling Violence,” New York Times, Aug. 4, 2021)
• Former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers has been one of the most vocal critics of President Biden’s pandemic stimulus package and proposed infrastructure spending, insisting these government expenditures would increase inflation. In widely read op-eds Summers, now on the boards of startup financial technology companies, blasted the Biden agenda as “the least responsible macro-economic policy we’ve had in 40 years.”
(“Larry Summers Holds Positions With Numerous Financial Bottom Feeders,” American Prospect, Aug. 2, 2021)
This week’s News Summary was narrated by Anna Manzo.
