While President Biden has made the right promises, actions speak louder than words. The airstrikes against targets in Syria that he authorized undermine those promises and risk escalating tensions in the Middle East. Last year Congress passed a War Powers Resolution in response to an unconstitutional airstrike and Trump refused to sign it. We need a War Powers Resolution that sends a clear message that only Congress, not the president, can approve military strikes like the one President Biden launched in Syria. We need fewer wars, and less military tension. We need Congress to act.

The Biden Administration has just released a U.S. intelligence report that clearly states that "Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi." (1) But while the U.S. government has placed sanctions on many of the assassins involved, the Biden Administration has not placed sanctions on the man who ordered the assassination -- Saudi ruler Mohammed bin Salman. (2) Under the U.S. law the Global Magnitsky Act, the U.S. government can place property sanctions and a U.S. travel ban on human rights violators. (3) By not placing sanctions on Saudi Arabia's brutal ruler, the Biden Administration is sending the terrible signal that the U.S. will maintain its relationship with Saudi Arabia's dictatorship instead of standing up for human rights. President Biden should immediately place a travel ban and sanctions on Mohammed bin Salman. It is time for the U.S. to end its alliance with the Saudi monarchy. (1) https://freedomforward.org/2021/02/26/u-s-intelligence-report-on-saudi-monarchys-murder-of-jamal-khashoggi-pdf/ (2) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/26/jamal-khashoggi-mohammed-bin-salman-us-report (3) https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/09/13/us-global-magnitsky-act

Recent U.S. airstrikes in Syria on alleged Iranian-backed militias are a stark reminder of the choice we face: continue the same failed “maximum pressure” campaign towards Iran with its countless deaths and unrest OR take the proven path of peace by returning to diplomacy. Missile strikes, retaliatory bombings, and the ever-present danger of all out war aren’t inevitable. The good news is, there’s an offramp toward diplomacy available right now. President Biden has to take it by rejoining the Iran deal (the JCPOA if we’re being fancy) — quickly. Rejoining the Iran deal is the ONLY way off Trump’s path to war with Iran. And it’s up to us to show the Biden administration that there is a MASSIVE movement of people who want a world built on peace and justice, not senseless war.

A just-declassified intelligence report directly implicates Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) in Jamal Khashoggi’s murder and dismemberment at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. The U.S. government must act immediately to hold MBS accountable. The Saudi regime has expertly lobbied, donated, and flattered U.S. decisionmakers from both parties for years, and Biden’s team is not automatically immune from this corruption and influence. With the declassification of the ODNI intelligence report, we have a chance to shine a light on this corruption — and we’ve got to seize this moment to provide justice for Jamal Khashoggi. Add your name to urge President Biden to use his authority under the Global Magnitsky Act to sanction Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

A nonprofit organization, COVAX, will help with distribution of more than 800,000 of the Astra Zeneca Covid vaccines to the Guatemalan government. These 800,000 vaccines will give priority to vaccinating healthcare workers. However, these 800,000 doses will only be enough to vaccinate approximately 2% of the Guatemalan population, given that two doses are required. Moreover, the efficacy of this vaccine after the 2nd dose is only 70%, which is a much lower efficacy than those vaccines being given in the U.S. Most of the population of Guatemala cannot expect to receive vaccines until at least the end of 2022.

Early in February, President Biden formally issued a proclamation to end the fake “national emergency” Trump declared on the U.S.-Mexico border. But as of right now, 3,600 active duty troops are staying put. People seeking safety and asylum should be met with humanitarian aid and open arms. Instead, the U.S.-Mexico border is a place of chemical weapons, detention centers, barbed wire, walls, and active duty troops. While Biden is making positive moves, unless the U.S. southern border — and U.S. immigration policy — is fully demilitarized, there’s no way they’ll ever be enough to truly get us away from where we’ve been. We’ve got to start moving toward where our professed values push us to be. And we’ve got to do it fast. The militarization of the border has got to end. It will, but only if we show the Biden administration that there’s massive public support for them to do it.

Millions of people around the world may not get COVID-19 vaccines until as late as 2024--unless President Biden reverses the Trump administration’s deadly Big Pharma boondoggle at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

In a world full of walls, social media is a powerful tool to help us share our stories and support one another and our common humanity — no matter our religion, race or nationality. We know Facebook is considering its responsibility to implement guardrails to keep the platform safe and accessible for us to connect across space and difference. But we are deeply concerned about Facebook's proposed revision of its hate speech policy to consider "Zionist" as a proxy for "Jew" or "Jewish." The proposed policy would too easily mischaracterize conversations about Zionists — and by extension, Zionism — as inherently antisemitic, harming Facebook users and undermining efforts to dismantle real antisemitism and all forms of racism, extremism and oppression. We cannot dismantle antisemitism if we are blocked from voicing our opinions and sharing our experiences with each other. We can discuss, debate and even disagree, as long as we share the belief that all of us deserve safety, freedom, and dignity. We ask Facebook to not erect barriers impeding users from connecting with each other as we engage in this work. This is the wrong solution to a real and important problem: those who fuel antisemitism online will continue doing so, with or without the word “Zionist.” In fact, many antisemites, especially among white supremacists and evangelical Christian Zionists, explicitly support Zionism and Israel, while engaging in speech and actions that dehumanize, insult, and isolate Jewish people. Importantly, this move will prohibit Palestinians from sharing their daily experiences and histories with the world, be it a photo of the keys to their grandparent’s house lost when attacked by Zionist militias in 1948, or a livestream of Zionist settlers attacking their olive trees in 2021. And it would prevent Jewish users from discussing their relationships to Zionist political ideology. Facebook scrutinizing specific words won’t keep any of us safe, but it will prevent us from connecting on the political issues important to all of us and block us from holding people and governments accountable for their policies and actions. The current Israeli government, and some of its supporters, have demanded that Facebook add “Zionist” to its hate speech policy. This would shut down conversations about accountability for policies and actions that harm Palestinians. Facebook should refuse to cooperate with those who seek to build more walls to keep us apart. We call on Facebook to not add “Zionist” as a protected category in its hate speech policy.

This is important because the notion of Cuba as a "sponsor of terrorism" is absurd--Cuba sends doctors all over the world so that other countries can deal with health emergencies and endemic diseases.

We, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, call on President Biden to take action for immigrant rights. We will hold President Biden accountable to the immigrant rights reforms he already promised AND also demand that he works to demilitarize the border and provide legalization for all. We have not forgotten the three million people who were deported under the Obama-Biden administration. Justice today does not only look like reversing anti-immigrant policies but actively seeks to repair the harm that has already been done to countless families. MIRAC will continue to push for legalization for all and an end to the whole system that profits from the mass-incarceration and the mass-deportation of immigrants, and also from the superexploitation of the labor of immigrants who live under constant fear of deportation. Please sign our petition to tell President Joe Biden to meet these demands! If you would like to get involved with MIRAC, please provide your email here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1uUMnByB-S6JGMOd7q9wgyavae_5sXwQEcpsbTOKFOgk/edit

Unless policies change, billions of people around the world, especially in low- and middle-income countries will not get access to a COVID-19 vaccine until 2024. This is a threat to people around the world, to the US, and to the entire global economy. We can address this problem by ensuring that intellectual property restrictions do not interfere with vaccine access. President Biden himself committed to share vaccine technology with other countries when asked this past summer by activist Ady Barkan. One critical way to remove barriers to vaccine access is to reverse the Trump administration’s deadly opposition to the WTO TRIPS Waiver proposal. U.S. opposition to this waiver, a hallmark of the Trump administration’s COVID-19 failure, is a huge roadblock to efforts to produce and manufacture accessible and affordable vaccines for all. The waiver would allow for the production of generic versions of vaccines and treatments necessary to end the COVID-19 pandemic and save lives worldwide. The people of the U.S. stand with South Africa, India, and over 100 other countries: we want President Biden to stop opposing this proposal to temporarily waive World Trade Organization (WTO) rules that protect pharmaceutical corporation profits over human health.

The United Nations Resolution 194 states: "Resolves that, in view of its association with three world religions, the Jerusalem area, including the present municipality of Jerusalem plus the surrounding villages and towns, the most Eastern of which shall be Abu Dis; the most Southern, Bethlehem; the most Western, Ein Karim (including also the built-up area of Motsa); and the most Northern, Shu'fat, should be accorded special and separate treatment from the rest of Palestine and should be placed under effective United Nations control." The location of the US embassy in the vicinity of Jerusalem, violates UN mandate of special and separate treatment of Jerusalem and is a cause of distress to local people of Palestinian origin.