(Un)predictable

Club Fair, Cabinet Meeting, Visas, Annexation, Genocide Scholars, Hostage Talks: The Weekly Conquest Week of 8.31.25 – 9.6.25

Welcome to the ZioKnight

Week of August 31, 2025

Last week I told you about my club fair game – and I think you will be as surprised as I was by the result. It started normally, with the protesters circulating flyers, until I was shocked to hear that the police had removed them. Speaking to friends at other universities, I heard there have been crackdowns across the country. The bad news is that this takes away from the purpose for this newsletter.

Sunday 8.31

Apparently, there was a heated Israeli cabinet meeting over disagreements over the prospect of a deal and the occupation of Gaza. I can’t say much more than that because I wasn’t ♩ ♪ in the room where it happened ♫ ♬. [1]

Monday 9.1

The U.S. suspended granting visas to Palestinians. The move (and most of the rest of the newsletter) follows many European countries’ motion towards recognizing a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly. [2]

Tuesday 9.2

Also in response to the Europeans, Israeli Minister Smotrich announced a plan to extend Israeli sovereignty over 82% of the West Bank. The move would preempt unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state by making it nearly impossible to form a state in the territory. [3]

Wednesday 9.3

Last week, the International Association for Genocide Scholars deemed the Gaza war a genocide. The news made a splash, completely covering my feeds. The revelation that anyone can pay a nominal fee to become a voting member of the organization, on the other hand, was met by crickets. [4]

Thursday 9.4

Secretary of State Marco Rubio referred to Israel’s plan to annex 82% of the West Bank “wholly predictably” because it is the most obvious actionable response to the unilateral France-led campaign of recognition. He also noted that it would make a “ceasefire harder” to achieve. [5]

Friday 9.5

As Smotrich’s proclamation marinates, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee signaled the U.S. wouldn’t oppose Israeli annexation of the West Bank. [6]

Saturday 9.6

President Trump gave some insight into the black box that is the hostage negotiations. He described them as "very deep." Some of the remaining 20 hostages are believed to be alive, and some have "recently died." He said that if Hamas doesn’t return the hostages, “it will be very nasty.” [7]