There is a ceasefire! It’s the very same deal that was on the table in May but that Biden allowed Netanyahu to torpedo as the U.S. continued to send billions of dollars of weaponry and political cover to Israel.

Jeremy Scahill of Drop Site News is on YouTube now discussing the situation with two Palestinian guests. I’m going to add to this post but want to share the Live link now.

Today, just minutes after receiving If I Must Die: Poetry and Prose by Refaat Alareer in the mail, I learned that a ceasefire was reached.

It’s horrific it took this long. It’s horrific that Refaat Alareer (and members of his family) were murdered by Israel before this day came, along with the thousands and thousands of other Palestinians (the majority of them children). It’s horrific that it took Trump’s upcoming inauguration to rein in Netanyahu.

Jeremy Scahill’s Drop Site News piece from yesterday, “The Trump Factor: Gaza Ceasefire Deal Appears Close” outlines how Biden refused to use his power to stop Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people.

The fact that Trump emerged as the decisive player in pushing a potential ceasefire forward is evidence that Biden never used the full powers available to a sitting U.S. president to seal the deal in the summer. While Trump has publicly repeated his threat that he will “unleash hell” on Hamas if the Israeli hostages are not freed, his pressure has not been solely focused on Hamas; Trump and his aides have made clear to Netanyahu that the president-elect expects Israel to comply with his demands, too.

In case you’re unable to join the Live discussion, here’s a video link to a discussion of the ceasefire deal from this morning.

I also want to link to Ryan Grim’s piece: Kamala Harris Paid the Price for Not Breaking With Biden on Gaza, New Poll Shows (subtitle: Twenty-nine percent of non-voters who supported Biden in 2020 said U.S. support for the genocide was the top reason they sat the 2024 election, according to a survey by YouGov).

I’ve been listening to the Live discussion as I write this (so my concentration is fractured in both directions), but one of the Palestinian guests talked about a “Trump gift bag to Netanyahu” which includes allowing Israel to unleash more violence against Palestinians after a momentary ceasefire. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be a shock. I’m trying to think about the upcoming release of thousands of Palestinians who have been in detention for years and years, held without charge, as they are starved, beaten, and raped. Their release alone is worth massive celebration.

I’ll stop here.

Rest in power, Refaat Alareer.
Free Palestine!
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.

Edited to add additional info via an email from US Campaign for Palestinian rights:

Did you see the news? An official ceasefire deal has been reached, and the first of the three-phase plan is due to go into effect on Sunday, Jan. 19. 

We want to be very clear: this is good news. We’ve advocated for a permanent ceasefire as the bare minimum demand from the very beginning. This news is an urgently needed relief for Palestinian people in Gaza fighting to survive each day of this horrific genocide, as we see live scenes of their joyful celebrations. 

At the same time, you may have noticed that midway through last year, we shifted our focus from a permanent ceasefire to our long-held North Star goal to end military funding to Israel from the U.S. war machine. 

This was very intentional. We know the genocide doesn’t end when the bombs stop dropping. The genocide ends when UNRWA can operate freely. When every destroyed hospital is rebuilt. When unfettered aid, food, water, and gasoline can enter Gaza. 

Even then, true Palestinian liberation—essential for the collective liberation of all oppressed peoples globally—only comes when Israel’s apartheid regime, supported by tens of billions in military funding from the U.S., comes to an end. 

I wish those changes were possible in the next few months and that I could share a roadmap with you for it, but that would be a lie.

So today, we keep fighting against another $8 billion in weapons to Israel.

And tomorrow—through power building, organizing, and investing in our infrastructure, we will continue the long-term work to force a U.S. arms embargo on Israel and end U.S. complicity in Israel’s apartheid regime once and for all.