Banananomics: Israel's Stunning Words To The UN

Gilad Erdan, Israel’s envoy to the United Nations, threatened that the organization’s “days are numbered.”

Inputs that matter: Erdan claimed it is the fault of the UN’s long-standing anti-Israel positions that “universities are permitting this Nazi-like behavior” and asked the body to reflect on “the generations you have indoctrinated.”

• “We always knew that Hamas hides in schools,” said Erdan. “We just didn’t realize it’s not only schools in Gaza. It’s also Harvard, Columbia, and many elite universities.”

• Meanwhile, the U.S. is voting on a new antisemitism law that critics argue stifles free speech.

The opportunity: At some schools, including UCLA, counter-protests in support of Jewish students have taken shape, escalating campus tensions.

• A GoFundMe called “Bruins for Israel” has raised over $81,000 as of Monday.

Zoom in: “Unlike many of our foreign partners, the United States, under the First Amendment, cannot designate organizations based solely on hateful speech,” Vincent Picard, a spokesman for the State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism, said by email.

• “The Secretary of State must determine that it is a foreign organization that engages in terrorist activity that threatens the security of United States nationals.”

• Stefanie Fox, Jewish Voice for Peace’s executive director, said people must think critically about the U.S. government’s history of applying the word “terrorism” to specific communities.

Between the lines: In 2020, Zoom, Facebook, and YouTube shut down an online event featuring Leila Khaled, a Palestinian activist who spent time in prison for hijacking planes.

• In a statement condemning censorship, Jewish Voice for Peace called her a “Palestinian resistance icon” and slammed the tech companies.

Follow the money: Several pro-Palestine organizations are operating around the country, including Within Our Lifetime, and do not have public tax filings, according to an NBC investigation.

• Instead, they use a progressive New York-based nonprofit group called Westchester People’s Action Coalition Foundation (WESPAC) as their fiscal sponsor to collect and process online donations.

• A similar group, IfNotNow, has received $100,000 from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in the past five years.

• The organization’s stated goal is to “end U.S. support for Israel’s apartheid system.” 

• The fund also awarded close to a half-million dollars to Jewish Voice for Peace, another Palestinian rights organization.

Cuba is close to joining Russia and China within the BRICS group.

Inputs that matter: A recent report stated that Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. 

• The meeting ended with both sides indicating that increased cooperation will soon become a reality. Subsequently, Cuba's entry into the alliance is a potential development.

• "We have noted the continuing, even growing interest of Cuban friends in interaction with BRICS," Lavrov said after the meeting.

• "Russia, as the country chairing the association this year, will support such a mindset."

The opportunity: India previously confirmed that more than 30 nations seek to join the alliance in the coming year.

• BRICS was designed to combine the developing countries in opposition to the Western European and North American nations that make up the G7.

• The BBC reports, "Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were invited to become members, effective 1 January 2024."

• Until recently, all of the BRICS members settled oil sales in U.S. Dollars.

Zoom in: As BRICS expands to combat its G7 rival better, Putin is recruiting for new members.

• Russian President Putin says, "Yemen will be Russia's strongest and most stable ally in the future," hinting at another candidate for joining the BRICS group.

Between the lines: Meanwhile, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, posted first-quarter revenue of $1.6 billion, a 72% increase quarter on quarter.

• Twitter Co-Founder Jack Dorsey doubles down on Bitcoin.

• Argentina is the latest country to move to Bitcoin (BTC) in favor of the USD.

• President Bukele made headlines in September 2021 when he declared BTC a legal currency for El Salvador.

Follow the money: To move away from the G7's use of the U.S. Dollar (USD), competing BRICS members China and Russia signed a trade agreement allowing them to use local currencies to settle commodities trades.

• Today, more than 90% of the nation's bilateral trade dealings are settled in the yuan or ruble.

• Meanwhile, in Venezuela, Tether, a cryptocurrency pegged to the USD, is used for oil export transactions to avoid having revenues frozen in foreign bank accounts.

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