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UNRWA funding cuts threaten Lebanon's Palestinian refugees
GZERO went inside the Shatila Camp in Beirut, one of Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camps, to better understand what the loss of UNRWA funding would mean for the people who call it home—the teachers, doctors, and local government workers who rely on UNRWA to provide basic services, like education, healthcare, and clean water to residents. The agency says it has enough funds to last through June, but it will need to make some tough choices after that.
“The reason UNRWA still exists after 75 years is because there is no political solution,” says Dorothee Klaus, URWA’s Lebanon director, “It is time to find a solution for Palestinian refugees to live in dignity like everybody else.
Catch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week on US public television (check local listings) and online.
Gaza protests highlight the need to build cooperation vs. confrontation, says Eboo Patel
It’s time for college students to rethink how they protest, says Eboo Patel, founder of Interfaith America, a nonprofit that works with hundreds of campuses to foster healthier dialogue. In a wide-ranging interview with Ian Bremmer for the latest episode of GZERO World, Patel criticizes the confrontational culture on campuses, urging a shift from romanticizing conflict to embracing cooperation. He challenges the dichotomy of oppressors and oppressed, advocating for a more nuanced approach to diversity that resembles a potluck of ideas.
“We absolutely need to change the default setting on campuses from confrontation is romanticized to cooperation is the norm."
College campuses are actually the perfect venues for this kind of dialogue, Patel says, and professors and administrators can leverage their intellectual backgrounds to foster the kinds of productive dialogue that students need more than ever. Everything else, like demanding the disbanding of campus police, Patel says, is nothing more than a distraction.
Catch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week on US public television (check local listings) and online.
- US inching away from Israel on Gaza war ›
- Israel-Hamas war: Who is responsible for Gaza's enormous civilian death toll? ›
- Chaos erupts overnight on US campuses. What’s next for student protesters? ›
- How campus protests could influence the US presidential election ›
- Campus protests spill over into US political sphere ›
Covering Columbia's campus protests as a student and GZERO reporter
The past few weeks of student protests, counter-protests, and police activity at Columbia have been the tensest moments the University has seen in over 50 years. What’s it like to be a student and graduating senior during this historic moment?
When GZERO writer Riley Callanan began her senior year at Barnard, the women’s college within Columbia, she never expected it would end this way: thousands of student protesters, an encampment and takeover of an administrative building, the attention of the national news media, armed police officers swarming campus, and, ultimately, a canceled graduation ceremony. Now, as she tells colleague Alex Kliment on GZERO World, instead of senior galas and grad parties, Columbia students are having intense debates over the Israel-Palestine conflict, antisemitism, and free speech.
Callanan has been documenting it all—from the early protests on the academic quad to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson delivering on her library steps. GZERO correspondent Alex Kliment sat down with Callahan to hear more about what it’s like to be a college senior in 2024, what she saw during the protests, and what happens after graduation.“We absolutely need to change the default setting on campuses from confrontation is romanticized to cooperation is the norm."
Catch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week on US public television (check local listings) and online.
- With summer looming, where will student protesters turn next? ›
- From the inside out: Is Columbia’s campus crisis calming down? ›
- Chaos on Campus: Speaker Johnson's visit fans the flames at Columbia as protests go global ›
- Columbia & Yale protests: What campus protesters want ›
- Campus protests spill over into US political sphere ›
Campus protests over Gaza: Now what?
Something is happening here—on college campuses, that is. But what do we make of protests that turn violent, like what we saw at UCLA or even some of the Columbia conflicts? In a wide-ranging interview with Ian Bremmer on GZERO World, Eboo Patel, founder of the nonprofit Interfaith America, talks about his work on hundreds of college campuses to find common ground. His core message is simple: "Cooperation is better than division."
Patel advocates for a shift in focus from confrontation to cooperation on campuses, suggesting that universities should foster environments of civil discourse. He proposes initiatives like teach-ins and dialogues to explore constructive solutions to complex issues. "I think the problem here, the thing that universities could control, which I think that they have gotten wrong in many cases over the course of the past five years, is the default mode has been set to confrontation, not cooperation."
It's true that finding common ground can be easier said than done when tensions are high. But as Patel points out, the majority of college campuses have been able to debate the Israel-Gaza war without the kind of chaos or violence we've seen on certain campuses. "The media, for good reasons, covers planes that crash and not planes that land," Patel explains.
Catch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week on US public television (check local listings) and online.
- From the inside out: Is Columbia’s campus crisis calming down? ›
- Crisis at Columbia: Protests and arrests bring chaos to campus ›
- Chaos erupts overnight on US campuses. What’s next for student protesters? ›
- How campus protests could influence the US presidential election ›
- Campus protests spill over into US political sphere ›
Ian Explains: Will the Gaza campus protests work?
Have the student protests worked? College campuses nationwide have become protest hubs, echoing past movements demanding change. From Columbia to UCLA, students are pitching tents, occupying buildings, and clashing with police over Israel's actions in Gaza. The core demand: divestment from Israel. Whether it's cutting ties with Israeli donors or businesses, students are risking penalties to be heard, Ian Bremmer explains on GZERO World.
This activism mirrors the 1968 protests at Columbia, which targeted US involvement in Vietnam. Then, as now, divestment was a central demand, albeit from different sources. Some progress has been made; Brown and Northwestern students have reached agreements with administrators. Worldwide, youth are voicing discontent over Gaza.
However, not all support these protests. Some lament another disrupted commencement, while Jewish students feel marginalized and threatened. Can these efforts change US policy? President Biden's recent remarks suggest otherwise, as does Congress' recent passing of $15 billion in military aid for Israel. But Biden needs Gen Z's support for reelection. They have leverage, and they know it.
Catch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week on US public television (check local listings) and online.
Ian Explains: Why Israel's Netanyahu continues to antagonize Biden on Gaza
What is Bibi thinking? Ian Bremmer explains on GZERO World.
As the Gaza war enters its seventh bloody month, leaders in Washington, Jerusalem, and Gaza are asking what is motivating Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu. And while we can't read his mind, we can follow what he's saying. "Our goal is to destroy the military and governing capabilities of Hamas in Gaza" Netanyahu recently said. "There is no substitute for victory."
Israel has launched over 30,000 airstrikes on Gaza since the war began on October 7, killing more than thirty thousand Palestinians, including 14,000 children. Meanwhile, over a hundred Israeli citizens remain Hamas hostages. And according to US intelligence, Israeli Defense Forces have only managed to destroy about 30% of Hamas leadership in those six months. Victory, in short, remains a long way off.
This leads back to the original question: What is Bibi thinking? Well, he's doing what he knows best: holding onto power. To remain prime minister, he must appease a governing coalition of hard-right religious nationalist parties that are resolutely opposed to a ceasefire, not to mention any long-term political settlement with the Palestinians. While the Gaza war is becoming increasingly unpopular internationally, within Israel, there remains a broad base of support for it. And finally, Netanyahu and Biden both know that regardless of internal frustrations, the US will continue to supply Israel with billions of dollars in military backing.
Catch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week on US public television (check local listings) and online.
- Netanyahu flirts with a lengthy stay in Gaza ›
- How Netanyahu used Hamas to avoid talks of a two-state solution ›
- Netanyahu’s failed Gaza strategy ›
- Friedman: Netanyahu is no longer at the wheel ›
- Yuval Noah Harari: Netanyahu's 'Deep State' fears enabled Oct 7 attack ›
- Israel-Hamas war: Netanyahu hostage to far-right coalition, says author Friedman - GZERO Media ›
- Author Thomas Friedman on how the Gaza war could end - GZERO Media ›
- Ukraine will define the future of NATO - GZERO Media ›
Friedman: Netanyahu is no longer at the wheel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu has said that the only way the war in Gaza will end is with the complete destruction of Hamas, the pro-Palestinian terrorist group that controls Gaza and was behind the October 7 attack.
But Pulitzer prize-winning author and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman argues that much of the horror that's played out in Gaza over the past six months goes back to a devil's bargain that Bibi has maintained with Hamas over the past fifteen years. "Netanyahu always understood that ... having a strong Hamas in Gaza is the best way to ensure a weak Palestinian Authority in the West Bank." In a wide-ranging interview for this week's episode of GZERO World, Ian Bremmer sits down with Friedman to try to chart out an imaginable (and palatable) ending to the Middle East's bloodiest war in years. "[Netanyahu] is now hostage to a far-right in his coalition that has told him that anything that smacks of a Palestinian state or even progress toward a Palestinian state...is a no-go. We'll throw you out of power.'"
So what can people do who consider themselves both pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian? "The most important thing you can do to be pro-Israeli, " Friedman tells Bremmer, "...is to be for the removal of Bibi Netanyahu by the Israeli people." And the most pro-Palestinian thing you can do? "Be against Hamas and for the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah....Because if that project succeeds or makes progress, many more things are possible in terms of what can happen between the Israelis and Palestinians."
Catch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week on US public television (check local listings) and online.
- Netanyahu: “Now is the time for war” ›
- Netanyahu escalates feud with the White House ›
- Yuval Noah Harari: Netanyahu's 'Deep State' fears enabled Oct 7 attack ›
- Netanyahu and Hamas both won, Israelis and Palestinians lost ›
- Why Israel's Netanyahu continues to antagonize Biden on Gaza - GZERO Media ›
- Israel-Hamas war: Netanyahu hostage to far-right coalition, says author Friedman - GZERO Media ›
The New York migrant crisis up close
Since 2022, New York City has absorbed more than 170,000 migrants, mostly sent on buses by Texas officials from the US-Mexico border. Many of them are asylum-seekers who hail from South American countries facing political and economic upheaval, like Venezuela and El Salvador. But increasingly, people from Asia, western Africa, and the Caribbean have been making the difficult journey to the US via the southern border as well.
Unlike other so-called “sanctuary cities,” New York has a legal mandate, known as a consent decree, that requires the city to provide shelter to anyone who asks for it. But the already under-funded, under-resourced system is struggling to deal with the influx of so many people. Adding to the chaos, in October, the city changed its policy to require everyone in the shelter system to reapply for a bed every 30-60 days. For asylum seekers already trying to navigate byzantine legal and healthcare systems, the instability can have devastating consequences.
That’s why grassroots organizers like Power Malu of Artists Athletes Activists, Adama Bah of Afrikana, and Ilze Thielmann of TeamTLC have been stepping up to fill a major gap in the city’s immigration system: greeting arrivals, pointing them towards resources, providing food and clothing. Most crucially, they're help people understand their rights and apply for asylum, so they can get work permits and find permanent housing.
Speaking from the front lines of this crisis, the organizers say the city isn't fully meeting the needs of the migrants coming here, despite spending $1.45 billion on migrant costs alone in 2023. "The illusion is that they're in these beautiful hotels and they're getting all of these services and it's not true," Malu says, "That's why you have organizations like ours that have stepped up and had to change from welcoming to now doing case management, social services, helping them with mental health therapy."
GZERO’s Alex Kliment spent time on the ground with newly-arrived asylum-seekers and the volunteers to better understand the reality on the ground, how this current crisis getting so much national attention is functioning day to day, and if the city could be doing more to help.
GZERO has reached out to City Hall for comment and will update with any response.
Learn more about the organizations mentioned in this report:
Catch this full episode of GZERO World with Ian Bremmer on public television beginning this Friday, March 15. Check local listings.
- Ian Explains: Why Congress can't fix the US border problem ›
- The US border crisis at a tipping point ›
- NYC Mayor takes on Texas migrant buses ›
- “This will destroy New York City”: What the Big Apple’s immigration crisis tells us about the 2024 elections ›
- Will Biden's immigration order help border control...and his campaign? - GZERO Media ›