Weekend Quotables

Oscar winners speak out on Gaza. Get a standing ovation from the attendees... Was the war and the deaths of nearly a million Russians and Ukrainians really about getting hold of Ukraine's minerals?

Yuval Abraham, Oscar winner

As they won their Oscar on Sunday night, Yuval Abraham and Basel Adra took to the stage with colleagues Rachel Szor and Hamdan Ballal to accept the award for their documentary, No Other Land, which is set in the occupied West Bank. Abraham, an Israeli, said his life was very different from that of his colleague, Palestinian journalist Adra.

"When I look at Basel, I see my brother, but we are unequal," Abraham told the audience. "There is a different path, a political solution, without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people. "And I have to say, as I am here, the foreign policy in this country is helping to block this path." The audience cheered. — BBC

Israeli PM Netanyahu

With a green light from Pres. Trump, Netanyahu officially announced a full blockade, collective punishment, and starvation of Gaza; no aid will be allowed, and all borders will be closed. — BBC

Moustafa Bayoumi, author

This is Trump’s power politics on full display, a style of domination that demands subservience from every mortal or nation determined by Trump to be of a lesser order. — Guardian

Zelensky expressed readiness to sign a minerals deal granting the U.S. access to Ukraine’s rare-earth minerals, despite a highly publicized fallout with U.S. President Donald Trump. — BBC

Volker Türk

The UN human rights chief has warned of a “fundamental shift” in the US and sounded the alarm over the growing power of “unelected tech oligarchs” in a stinging rebuke of Washington weeks into Donald Trump’s presidency. — Guardian

Kishore Mahbubani, author of Has China Won?

The Europeans foolishly believed that a slavish loyalty to American geopolitical priorities would lead to rich geopolitical dividends for them. Instead, they have been kicked in the face. — Foreign Policy

Heidi Stevens, columnist

Efforts to chip away at an educational institution’s ability to attract, welcome, support, and retain a diverse student body and a diverse staff chip away at that institution’s mission. — Chicago Tribune

Imperialist Logic