Monsters 'R Us
Most of Planet Earth now knows cruelty is the point of Trump 2. But if anyone implausibly needs more evidence, meet Rev. Edward Nalwamba, a 79-year-old, pro-democracy Ugandan priest who spent over a year in ICE detention. When he went in, he was fit; at his long-delayed release last week, fellow detainees had to carry him to a car because officials wouldn't let him take his wheelchair that far. To ICE, he charged, "You are an animal...They forget they are dealing with human beings."
In the last 18 months, the Trump regime has deported nearly a million people, and killed at least 60, including two U.S citizens in cold blood and broad daylight. The family of one, Renee Good, has filed two federal civil lawsuits over her Jan. 7 murder, alleging wrongful death, "negligent infliction of emotional distress," conspiracy to conceal evidence, and coordinated campaigns of "aggression and abduction" against ethnic communities and "intimidation and violence" against their allies. And of course it has detained, terrorized, traumatized or shattered the lives of untold thousands, the vast majority with no criminal history.
One was the good Rev. Nalwamba, who arrived in the U.S. in 2002 for a religious conference. Having publicly condemned human rights abuses by the Ugandan government, and subsequently heard from colleagues that government agents were pursuing him, he decided to stay in Colorado and apply for asylum. In 2010, after his application was denied, he began living peaceably in Lakewood under a 15-year ICE supervision order, reporting to immigration officials as required, working as a health aide for people with developmental disabilities, and serving as a pastor at nearby Resurrection Anglican Fellowship until he retired two years ago.
In September 2025 he was arrested by ICE; they charged he was under a removal order dating back to 2010, and that he'd failed to "cooperate with efforts to obtain travel documents" before a deadline, aka to help with his own deportation in a timely manner. He was taken to the GEO Group's private ICE detention facility in Aurora, where for over a year DHS repeatedly vowed to deport him and then didn't. On Oct. 20, after his lawyers filed a second habeas corpus petition, Judge Cyrus Chung ruled feds had exceeded a “presumptively reasonable” six months of holding time with "no concrete plan” to return him to Uganda, and ordered his release.
When he was detained, Nalwamba was a fit 77-year-old who regularly walked, exercised and played ping pong. Inside, his health quickly deteriorated. He caught pneumonia which persisted for weeks, lost over 30 pounds and the ability to walk, developed a stubborn cough, chest pain, scratchy throat, headache and fatigue that were never treated - and besides, "You don’t want to go to the hospital - they shackle you like a bull.” "He walked in. He can't walk now," noted Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper. "They want the misery of one person to be known by others. It's a low-rent form of terrorism to make people so scared they'll self-deport."
Along with the barbaric cruelty, observers also blasted the "staggering hypocrisy" of a regime that simultaneously charged Biden et al "targeted" Christians yet in their voter intimidation efforts sent ICE into churches, interrogated church staff, and detained and abused a church elder. Last week, because they hadn't alienated Christians enough by picking a fight with the Pope, they also turned a supposed prayer gathering of Catholic bishops into a sleazy photo op, prompting two angry Archbishops to apologize, charge they'd been "manipulated," and clarify this was "in no way an endorsement of the president, his policies, or his party."
In the final, petty degradation meted out to Rev. Nalwamba, detention officials told his attorneys they would ensure his safe passage on release with a wheelchair and escort, and then reneged on it all. The wheelchair couldn't go out to the gate, they insisted, nor could vehicles approach it. Hickenlooper: "There is no excuse for this cruelty. None.” In the end - no surprise here - it was two young mensches also being released who hooked their arms together - one lawyer: "It was heartbreaking and it was infuriating" - carried the reverend to his waiting car, and went on their way: "They didn't even give me a chance to say thank you.".
After his release, a buoyant Nalwamba said he’s “in another world." He talked to his children, he's well fed, he’s staying with a family who lent him an electric scooter to get around. The next day, he visited a health clinic to get a chest X-ray, blood work, TB testing. He looks forward to physical therapy and reconnecting with his church community: "I am a happy man." Except for the monsters, still here. DHS said they were "forced" by "an activist judge" to release "an illegal alien" who "chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation's laws." Most vitally, "He remains in the country illegally," under a removal order, without legal status.
So much, or not yet for Obama's Michigan citing of "a decency we should expect from our public officials." Attorneys plan to reopen Nalwamba's asylum case; conditions in Uganda have seriously deteriorated with widespread crime, unrest and targeting of political opponents and a U.S. "Do not travel" advisory in effect. At the same time, says attorney Joy Athanasiou, she has never seen "this inhumanity and cruelty" over 20 years of working with detained clients. Before, there were under 1,000 habeas corpus petitions a year; now there are about 90,000, a demand "100 times greater than what we can provide.”
Nalwamba says his thoughts remain with those innocents still inside a callous, corrosive environment worse than any maximum security prison. He loves the America he has lived in for almost 26 years, he says, and has always thought African and other countries should aspire to be like the U.S. But no more, he adds, not without drastic change. Those other countries, he argues, treat their livestock better than he was treated. "It's as if they've gotten used to treating people that way, like they're taking care of goats or cows,” he said. “I have never imagined human beings treated like I saw in this place."
The Rev. Edward Nalwamba Photo by Resurrection Anglican Fellowship
'Simply Disgusting': Netanyahu's Likud Baselessly Claims Arab Parties Stole Israeli Election
Without going into detail, the party said it was handing “hundreds of testimonies and pieces of evidence regarding election theft in many Arab polling stations" to investigators, including what it claimed were “thousands of envelopes” containing cash and ballot slips for Ra’am, one of two Arab factions that saw surging support Tuesday.
Three Ra’am activists were arrested before polls opened Tuesday in connection with an alleged vote-buying scheme; around 24,000 shekels were recovered in envelopes containing ballot papers. Netanyahu has claimed without evidence that the men were “senior officials” in the party. It remains unclear whether investigators have found any evidence that votes were changed as a result.
Likud also said Wednesday that it had provided the police and Shin Bet with evidence of “threats and violence against polling station members” in predominantly Arab communities, as well as “multiple voting behind the curtain, voting with double identities, discrepancies between the number of envelopes and the number of voters, the use of prohibited mobilization software, and more.” The post did not include specific evidence of the claims.
"Law enforcement agencies must act with an iron fist and in an immediate manner," the party said.
Israel’s Central Elections Committee said Tuesday that it had seen no indications of systematic tampering with ballot papers and was addressing individual complaints as they arose.
Talal al-Krenawi, the mayor of the Bedouin town of Rahat, rejected Likud’s fraud allegations Wednesday, calling them “disgusting… lies and falsehoods” and accusing Netanyahu of “incitement against the Bedouins.”
"We voted properly, with the ballot papers and identity cards," he said. "I have never seen elections as clean as these. It is a disgrace and a shame."
Voters wait to cast their ballots at a polling station in the predominantly Arab city of Tayibe during Israel’s legislative election on October 27, 2026. (Photo by Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)
Alongside the far-right Jewish Power party led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Likud tried to ban the two main Arab factions from participating in the elections, but the Supreme Court ultimately reversed that move earlier this month.
"Now that we have exercised our democratic right, we have stolen the elections? If they don't want to let us vote, they should say so," al-Krenawi said. "What they are doing is ugly. They are portraying us as thieves and cheats. It is simply disgusting."
Before voting even began, Israeli outlets reported that Likud had planned to declare the result fraudulent if Netanyahu did not emerge victorious. Likud dispatched thousands of right-wing activists to monitor polling places and undertook a program to surveil Arab voters. Haaretz reported that the party "may use the footage as false evidence for a conspiracy theory that the election was rigged."
The Yashar party, led by Gadi Eisenkot, warned Tuesday that Netanyahu was “panicking and has begun making up stories and claiming that the election is being stolen.”
Arab voters turned out in unprecedented numbers Tuesday despite reports of delays and intimidation at polling sites. Ra’am Leader Mansour Abbas accused Netanyahu of “lying and inciting against” his voters, using strong Arab turnout as a “scare tactic” to mobilize his own anti-Arab voters.
The two Arab-majority factions, Ra’am and the Joint List, were projected to win 19 seats in the 120-seat Knesset on Tuesday, potentially giving them leverage in determining whether the Jewish anti-Netanyahu opposition can form a coalition government to oust him from power.
Netanyahu’s allegations bear an eerie resemblance to US President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election and to right-wing Brazilian candidate Flávio Bolsonaro’s attempt earlier this week to claim that the reelection of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was the result of fraud.
“What a disgusting terrorist and war criminal this close Trump family friend is,” remarked author and political analyst Seth Abramson, who has noted how other right-wing populists have copied the US president’s election denial strategy.
"You have to know nothing about complex government investigations to think... the Netanyahu regime—which hates all Arabs and wants them erased—was magically able to get credible evidence of a historic nationwide criminal conspiracy in hours," he wrote on social media.
"I hear those who say Netanyahu's replacements aren't much better," he said, "but at least—unlike Netanyahu—they're not facing years in prison on corruption charges... in most cases haven't (yet) ordered genocidal attacks, and aren't (yet) proven sociopaths."
Are Israeli Opposition Parties 'Brave Enough' to Join Forces and End 'Blood-Soaked' Netanyahu Government?
With about 86% of ballots counted as of Wednesday morning, Netanyahu's far-right religious bloc is projected to have lost about 11 seats, putting them at 53, eight shy of an outright majority.
The Jewish opposition bloc, led by Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot, is projected to win 48 seats, putting it in a position to take control. But it would likely have to cooperate with the parties representing Israel’s Arab minority, which together won a record 19 seats on Tuesday thanks to unprecedented turnout among Arab voters who braved racist incitement from the Netanyahu camp and widespread suppression tactics at the ballot box.
Graphic by The Petek
Ameer Fakhoury, an analyst at Israel’s Van Leer Jerusalem Institute think tank, described the mobilization of Palestinian citizens in the elections as a “truly historic development.”
"They went to the polls in extraordinary numbers to confront a political leadership responsible for what they regard as the gravest crimes against their people: devastation in Gaza, ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, and years of persecution and intimidation at home," he told Middle East Eye.
"History has placed Palestinian citizens of Israel in an extraordinary position. Having mobilized first and foremost to protect their own people, they may now also help rescue Jewish Israelis from their country's destructive trajectory," he said.
"Bibi or Tibi"
With a limited window for the parties to negotiate a new government before another election is triggered, the Arab parties now hold leverage to press their demands.
Mansour Abbas, the leader of the smaller of the two Arab factions, Ra’am, signaled his willingness to compromise on Tuesday evening as the results emerged, saying his priority was to “bring down Benjamin Netanyahu, [Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich], and [National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir] in this election.”
Ra’am has featured in further-right governments before, previously helping to cobble together the majority that briefly allowed former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett—also part of the Eisenkot coalition—to form one in 2021. But with the current parliamentary math, Abbas’ seven seats alone would not be enough to form a majority.
The larger Arab coalition, the left-wing Joint List, has also offered to back Eisenkot’s government. Its parliamentary leader, Ahmad Tibi, has been vocal about his demands for concessions, including commitments to fight crime in Arab communities, end the demolition of unauthorized homes often built due to permit discrimination, halt racist incitement against Arab citizens, and offer a potential “political horizon” for Palestinian self-determination.
He said the choice was between "either Bibi or Tibi."
Eisenkot has likewise described “Netanyahu’s retirement from political life” as a central goal. But in an effort to court Jewish Netanyahu voters hostile to Arabs and hold together his own bloc, he ruled out working with Arab parties unless they recognize Israel as a Jewish state, accept conscription of Palestinian citizens of Israel into the Israeli military, and denounce Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Amjad Shbita, the general secretary of Hadash, the socialist party that is the biggest faction in the Joint List, has expressed hostility to the idea that Eisenkot would get to dictate terms.
“Laying down conditions won’t work with the Joint List,” Shbita said. “We will negotiate as equals because we need each other.”
Tibi said the opposition could form a coalition “if it wants to, if it is brave enough to.”
Making things more complex is pressure from within Eisenkot's bloc. Bennett and former Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman have rejected forming a government dependent on Arab parties’ support or abstention.
Liberman has urged members of Netanyahu’s Likud party to defect and join the opposition to form a “true” right-wing government. One potential opening would be to peel away Likud hawks opposed to Netanyahu’s concessions to ultra-Orthodox parties, most notably draft exemptions for yeshiva students.“Anyone who tries to erase the voices of Arab citizens is surrendering to Netanyahu and giving up on Israel."
On the other side of the opposition, Yair Golan, the leader of the left-wing Democrats party, has urged Eisenkot to cooperate with the Arab parties and form a coalition that would decisively push Netanyahu out of power.
“Netanyahu lost. I know how to count to 120. Sixty-five is more than 55. That’s how Israeli democracy works. Period,” Golan wrote Wednesday on social media. “The reality must teach us one resounding lesson: We have no future here if we don’t stop being afraid. And if we don’t stop with the racism. We must no longer accept Netanyahu’s racist division between Jewish votes and Arab votes.”
"Anyone who tries to erase the voices of Arab citizens is surrendering to Netanyahu and giving up on Israel," he said.
Another possibility on the table is a “national unity government” that would involve a power-sharing agreement between the Netanyahu and Eisenkot factions, likely boxing out the Arabs entirely.
Eitan Tzelgov, an expert on Israeli populism and democratic backsliding at the UK's University of East Anglia, presented the choice for Eisenkot's bloc as a binary one: "govern with the Arab parties, or with Netanyahu."
"Israel is a tribal society, with cohesive right-wing tribes and a shrinking liberal tribe that will need to make a decision," he said in an email to Common Dreams. "Over the years, Netanyahu and the far right have built an ideological firewall around the Arab parties by presenting any Jewish-Arab collaboration as support for terrorism."
"The leaders of the change bloc, representing Israel’s liberal camp, now must decide if they are willing to break it," he continued. "That is the only way to bring about a U-turn from the current government’s policies in Gaza and the West Bank."
He was not optimistic about their stomach for it: “A more likely outcome at the moment,” he said, “is a split within the change bloc and collaboration of some of its components with Netanyahu, a result [US President Donald Trump] reportedly supports.”
Joint List Chair Yousef Jabareen put the stakes in plain terms: “Anyone who wants to offer a substantive and genuine alternative to Netanyahu’s blood-soaked government will have to talk to us,” he said. “It’s either the continuation of racism, the continuation of exclusion, and the continuation of supremacy, or a genuine Jewish-Arab partnership.”
