SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
For Immediate Release
May, 14 2018, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Jen Nessel, CCR, (212) 614-6449, jnessel@ccrjustice.org
CCR Condemns Israel's Ongoing Massacre of Palestinians in Gaza and Ongoing U.S. Complicity with Occupation
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) issued the following statement:
Israel's state violence against Palestinians must end.
WASHINGTON
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) issued the following statement:
Israel's state violence against Palestinians must end.
Today Israel continued its campaign of willfully killing and injuring Palestinians in Gaza participating in the 'Great March of Return' as they demand their freedom and their right to return. Today alone Israel killed over 40 people and injured a thousand more. Tomorrow marks 70 years of the Nakba, or the catastrophe, commemorating the forced displacement of Palestinians by the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. Also today, the Trump administration opened the U.S. Embassy in occupied Jerusalem in violation of international law, on top of continuing to give unqualified economic, political, military, and diplomatic support to Israel, at the very moment when peaceful protesters are being shot at and killed mere miles away in Gaza. The Center for Constitutional Rights once again stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people and calls for an end to Israel's occupation of Palestine, the siege of Gaza, and U.S. complicity in Palestinian oppression.
Gaza is in its 11th year under Israel's illegal blockade, and Palestinians there are unable to access adequate water and electricity, work, pursue education, visit their family, or receive adequate medical treatment, leading U.N. officials to call it "unlivable." Protesters taking part in the Great March of Return have been met with live sniper fire that has thus far killed over 90 people and injured almost 3000 protestors. Simultaneously, the U.S. opened the new embassy in Jerusalem, largely on land that was occupied in 1967, recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in utter disregard for fundamental principles of international law and to Palestinian self-determination.
As Israel escalates these abuses against the most basic of human rights, it also aims to repress human rights activism that challenges these injustices; just in the last two weeks, the State of Israel detained and deported CCR Executive Director Vince Warren and Board Chair Katherine Franke, and ordered the deportation of well-respected human rights defender Omar Shakir, who had been leading the Human Rights Watch office in Jerusalem.
The movement to support Palestinian human rights is growing, and the world is watching. Israel can no longer assume impunity for its violations, and neither can the U.S. for its ongoing complicity.
This statement is online here.
The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. CCR is committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.
(212) 614-6464LATEST NEWS
'I'm Just Talking About Globally': Forget Greenland, Says Rubio, US Reserves Right for Military Invasion Anywhere It Wants
"The Trump administration is blatantly colonialist, and proud of it."
Jan 07, 2026
On the heels of President Donald Trump’s threats to use military force to conquer Greenland, Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested during a Wednesday press conference that US presidents reserve the right to do so not only in the Danish territory, but anywhere in the world.
The conference came shortly after Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth briefed lawmakers about Trump's illegal operation to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro last weekend.
After Rubio laid out plans for the US to take control of 30 million to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil following a deal with its newly installed government, reporters attempted to ask Rubio to explain the administration's designs on Greenland.
On Tuesday, amid international outcry, the White House issued a statement that acquiring Greenland was a "national security priority" and that "utilizing the US military is always an option" to annex the Arctic island.
European leaders met on Wednesday to discuss a potential response if Trump were to launch a military operation to seize Greenland, which has been a territory of Denmark—now a NATO member—for over 300 years.
Rubio appeared sheepish about discussing Trump's saber-rattling. Asked by a reporter whether he'd take military intervention "off the table," he shrugged: "I'm not here to talk about Denmark or military intervention. I'll be meeting with them next week."
Rubio pivoted to discuss the president's interest in buying Greenland, which he has suggested since his first term in office. But reporters continued to press on what was meant by Trump's suggestion that the military may be used.
After continuing to stall—and, at one point, interrupting a reporter to tell him he'd "lost a lot of weight"—Rubio obliquely addressed the president's threats.
He said: "Guys, what I think the White House said yesterday is what I will tell you now, and I've always said: The president always retained the option—every president, not this president, every president—always retains the option... I'm not talking about Greenland, I'm talking about globally. If the president identifies a threat to the national security of the United States, every president retains the option to address it through military means."
"As a diplomat, which is what I am... we always prefer to settle it in different ways," Rubio continued. "That included in Venezuela. We tried repeatedly to reach an outcome here that did not involve having to go in and grab an indicted drug trafficker. Those were unsuccessful, unfortunately."
The United Nations Charter, which the US has signed, allows for the use of military force against other sovereign nations only in very narrow circumstances: in self-defense against an imminent attack, or when approved by the UN Security Council as necessary to prevent a threat to peace.
The Trump administration has attempted to stretch this definition to justify its overthrow of the Venezuelan government, claiming that supposed drug trafficking from Venezuela constitutes an imminent threat to the US. But Venezuela is not considered a large player in the global drug trade, and even if it were, drug trafficking has never been considered equivalent to an armed attack under international law.
Rubio did not clarify what "threat" Greenland supposedly poses to the United States. Earlier this week, Trump stated that the US "needs" the island because it is supposedly "covered with Russian and Chinese ships," which isn't true, but would not constitute an imminent threat to the US even if it were.
When a reporter then asked Trump what justification the US would have to take Greenland, he responded that “the [European Union] needs us to have it.” Several major EU members, in fact, issued a harsh condemnation of the idea on Tuesday.
International relations scholars agree with virtual unanimity that for the US to forcibly annex Greenland would not be a legitimate use of force. But Section 2(4) of the UN Charter also forbids the threat of military force as a tool of leverage in negotiations, which Trump may be using in a possible bid to buy Greenland.
"International law does not recognize title obtained through unlawful force," wrote Edmarverson A. Santos, a Dublin-based international law and policy researcher. "The prohibition extends beyond actual armed attack. Contemporary doctrine recognizes that serious threats of force, particularly when coupled with political or military pressure, can fall within the scope of Article 2(4)."
Since its attack on Venezuela, the Trump administration has threatened to use similar force to knock over the governments of several other countries as part of what he has described as a 21st-century revival of the colonial-era "Monroe Doctrine."
Trump issued threats to Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum and Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Rubio, meanwhile, said that if he were part of Cuba's socialist government, he'd "be concerned, at least a little bit."
On Tuesday, André Nollkaemper, a professor of public international law at the University of Amsterdam, warned that Trump's increasing belligerence toward Europe was the direct outcome of European leaders' meek response to his attack on Venezuela.
"The long-term impact of US intervention in Venezuela will not be decided in Caracas or Washington, but elsewhere," he wrote for the German academic site Verfassungsblog. "With intervention now framed as a standard policy instrument of the USA, it is the response of other states—including in Europe—that will determine whether the erosion of international law becomes normalized across regions."
"In deciding the course and content of its response, Europe might be tempted to assume that this new strategy is limited to Latin America, and that the United States should be given some room there," he continued. "That would, of course, be irresponsible; in terms of its implications for international law, and with regard to Mexico, Colombia, and Cuba—not to mention Greenland."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Videos From Scene of Fatal ICE Shooting in Minneapolis Betray 'Garbage' DHS Claims
The US Department of Homeland Security accused the slain woman of committing "an act of domestic terrorism" by "attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them."
Jan 07, 2026
WARNING: This post includes graphic footage of the shooting which some people may find disturbing...
The US Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday defended a federal immigration enforcement agent for fatally shooting a woman in Minneapolis by claiming that the slain woman was committing "an act of domestic terrorism" by "attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them."
However, footage of the incident taken by eyewitnesses shows that the driver was slowly trying to pull away from the scene shortly before an officer fired four shots at her vehicle.
Here's the video for those who don't have Bluesky pic.twitter.com/vM3Bsfk8Uc
— Hussain (@huspsa) January 7, 2026
Does this look like what you’re claiming pic.twitter.com/4rV8n4LuSd
— Mogana (@MoganaPhilips) January 7, 2026
The start of one video shows the woman sitting in her car, which was stationed perpendicular to the street. Several officers are then seen approaching the car with at least one of them telling her to exit. It's unclear what directions other officers may have been giving simultaneously.
When one of the officers tries to open the car door, the vehicle moves slowly backward as the wheels turn, before starting to move forward.
As the vehicle moves forward, an agent standing near the driver-side bumper—who the driver may not have even seen, given her attention to the other agent at her door—draws his gun and fires multiple shots at the driver.
Only after the gunfire does the vehicle accelerate before crashing into an electric pole and another parked car.
Here is a zoomed in slowed down version. pic.twitter.com/tLIgGg0WMg
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 7, 2026
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said during a press conference on Wednesday that the video footage, in his mind, shows that DHS claims about the woman engaging in "domestic terrorism" is complete "garbage."
"So, they are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense," he said. "Having seen the video of myself, I want to tell everybody directly: That is bullshit. This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying."
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz echoed Frey's comments in a social media post.
"I've seen the video," said Walz. "Don’t believe this propaganda machine. The state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Mayor to ICE After Fatal Shooting: 'Get the Fuck Out of Minneapolis!'
"Somebody is dead," said Mayor Jacob Frey. "That's on you. And it's also on you to leave."
Jan 07, 2026
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey had a message for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a federal agent fatally shot a woman in his city on Wednesday: "To ICE, get the fuck out of Minneapolis!"
"We do not want you here," the Democratic mayor said at a press conference. "Your stated reason for being in this city is to create some kind of safety, and you are doing exactly the opposite. People are being hurt. Families are being ripped apart."
"Long-term Minneapolis residents that have contributed so greatly to our city, to our culture, to our economy, are being terrorized and now, somebody is dead," Frey continued. "That's on you. And it's also on you to leave."
Jacob Frey: "To ICE -- get the fuck out of Minneapolis"
[image or embed]
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) January 7, 2026 at 1:40 PM
The woman killed has not been identified, but US Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) said she was a US citizen. The senator also joined Frey and other elected officials, including Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), in calling on ICE to leave Minnesota's largest city.
The US Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday that "the largest DHS operation ever is happening right now in Minnesota," with 2,000 federal agents expected in the Twin Cities amid a fraud scandal involving some Somali residents.
Since President Donald Trump returned to office last year after campaigning on a promise of mass deportations, he has also sent large groups of immigration agents to other major Democrat-led cities, including Los Angeles and Chicago. In September, a federal agent fatally shot Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, a Mexican immigrant, while he was in a vehicle just outside the Illinois city.
As with the shooting in Minneapolis, video footage of the killing in Illinois undermined DHS claims. The department said Wednesday that the woman in Minnesota tried "to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them—an act of domestic terrorism."
One witness told Minnesota Public Radio that she saw a federal agent confronting the woman, who "was trying to turn around, and the ICE agent was in front of her car, and he pulled out a gun and put it right in—like, his midriff was on her bumper—and he reached across the hood of the car and shot her in the face like three, four times."
Frey also challenged the DHS narrative on Wednesday: "What they are doing is not to provide safety in America. What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust. They're ripping families apart. They're sowing chaos on our streets. And in this case, quite literally killing people."
"They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense. Having seen the video... myself, I want to tell everybody directly, that is bullshit," Frey added. "This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying—getting killed."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular