内容摘要：Another regular visitor, Chane Baye, earns his living by using his two donkeys to transport sacks of grain across the city for clients. His income can range from 200 to 400 birr per day (approximately $1.50 to $3) – a decent sum in a country where a third of the population lives below the World Bank’s poverty line of $2.15 a day.

Another regular visitor, Chane Baye, earns his living by using his two donkeys to transport sacks of grain across the city for clients. His income can range from 200 to 400 birr per day (approximately $1.50 to $3) – a decent sum in a country where a third of the population lives below the World Bank’s poverty line of $2.15 a day.

Yet, when it did happen, it pricked.It was abrupt. Phone calls went to voice mail. Emails went unanswered. Inevitably, the absence and quiet grew until they became an unmistakable verdict.

So, I did not ask for explanations. That would, I reasoned, be futile. A door had been slammed shut and bolted.Friends I admired and respected. Friends I laughed with, trusted, whose counsel I sought and who sought mine.I wish them and their loved ones well. I will miss their wise ear and, from time to time, their helping hand.

Some of them are Jewish, some are not. I do not begrudge their choice. They have exercised their prerogative to decide who can and cannot be called a friend.I once met their litmus test – the one we all have. Now, I have failed it.

I know that some of my former friends have deep ties to Israel. Some have family who live there. Some may be grieving, too, worried over what comes next.

I do not ignore their fear or uncertainty. I do not deny their right to safety.“This is not an issue of whether the president can impose tariffs,” said Fein, the former associate deputy attorney general. “He can under the 1962 act after there’s a study and after showing that it’s not arbitrary and capricious and that it’s a product-by-product, not a country-by-country approach.”

“If he doesn’t like that, he can ask Congress to amend the statute.”Israel faces growing internal divisions as protests and refusal of military service gain momentum amid Gaza conflict.

As Israel’s devastating war on Gaza grinds on, pushed forward by a prime minister insistent that a goal of total military victory be met, the divisions within Israeli society are growing increasingly deeper.In the last few weeks, as Israeli peace activists and antiwar groups have stepped up their campaign against the conflict, supporters of the war have also increased their pressure to continue, whatever its humanitarian, political or diplomatic cost.