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Thousands of carpets and kilim rugs spread out in the sun form a festive and kaleidoscopic patchwork on the outskirts of Antalya, a coastal tourist city in southern Turkey. From June to September, in harvested fields cleared of stubble, merchants bring their cargo to age in the sun, tempering the bright hues of their natural colours and ridding them of undesirable elements.Hasan Topkara washed wool knotted carpets and rugs that come from across Turkey. He dries them, trims their fringes and stray strands if necessary, then spreads them out in the sunlight for three months, on the bare ground. The wool, coloured with natural vegetable dyes, takes on pastel tones and softens between the morning dew and the heat of the day.According to Topkara, in the past, up to 60,000 carpets were processed in each three month drying season in the Dosemealti district. But today he is one of the last ones to do so, with around 15,000 carpets stored side by side on a 40-hectare (100 acre) area.Around 50 workers watch them day and night, turning them regularly and monitoring the weather. About 100 people rush in from the surrounding villages to help fold the carpets if there is rain. In 45 minutes, everything must be put away in a sheltered place, then brought out again once the rain has stopped. Once they have reached the desired shade, most of the carpets are sent to Istanbul and its historic Grand Bazaar, from where they are frequently shipped abroad. Over the years, Topkara’s field of colours has become a tourist attraction, especially after Turkish pop singer Mabel Matiz recorded a video clip for his song “Sarmasik” there in 2018.

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Unconditional support for Israel has long been an entry requirement in US Republican politics, but that orthodoxy is being challenged by Donald Trump’s populist base — where invocations of the “special relationship” are falling on deaf ears.Images of starvation and suffering in Gaza have given new impetus to a debate that has been simmering in Trump’s “MAGA” movement over whether US involvement in the Middle East is consistent with the president’s “America First” platform.Trump’s first significant break with Israel came on Monday, when he acknowledged that “real starvation” is happening in Gaza and vowed to set up food centers in the besieged enclave, which has been devastated by Israel’s war with Hamas. Asked if he agreed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s denials of the Gaza hunger crisis, Trump said: “Based on television, I would say not particularly, because those children look very hungry.”It was a notable retort and prompted commentators to speculate that unwavering US support for Israel might end up as just another conservative sacred cow slayed by MAGA.Vice President JD Vance went further at an event in Ohio, discussing “heartbreaking” images of “little kids who are clearly starving to death” and demanding that Israel let in more aid.Political scientist and former US diplomat Michael Montgomery thinks the tonal shift might in part be emotional — with TV images of starving children resonating more profoundly than the aftermath of air strikes.”Perhaps it is because no civilized people see starvation as a legitimate weapon of war,” the University of Michigan-Dearborn professor told AFP. Israel has always enjoyed broad bipartisan support in Congress but the rise of the isolationist MAGA movement under Trump has challenged the ideological foundations of the “special relationship.”MAGA realpolitik seeks to limit US involvement in foreign wars to those that directly impact its interests, and in particular the “left behind” working class that makes up Trump’s base.- ‘Almost no support’ -Pro-Trump think tank The Heritage Foundation in March called on Washington to “re-orient its relationship with Israel” from a special relationship “to an equal strategic partnership.”Stronger expressions of disapproval have been subdued by a sense that they are a betrayal of Republican thinking, according to some analysts — especially after the October 7 Hamas attacks.But there is a new urgency in the debate in MAGA circles following dire warnings from leading NGOs and the UN World Food Program’s finding that a third of Gaza’s population — of about two million — go for days without eating. One sign of the new thinking came in an X post from far-right firebrand congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has pushed to cancel $500 million in funding for Israel’s rocket defense system.Greene this week went further than any Republican lawmaker has previously in using the word “genocide” to describe Israel’s conduct and slamming the “starvation of innocent people and children in Gaza.”While Greene’s credibility has been undermined by an extensive record of conspiratorial social media posts, there is no denying that she knows what makes the MAGA crowd tick.A new CNN poll found the share of Republicans who believe Israel’s actions have been fully justified has dropped from 68 percent in 2023 to 52 percent. Youth seems to be the driver, according to a Pew Research poll from April, when food shortages had yet to become a humanitarian catastrophe.While Republicans over age 50 haven’t changed much in their pro-Israel outlook since 2022, the survey showed that the US ally’s unfavorability among younger adults has climbed from 35 percent to 50 percent. “It seems that for the under-30-year-old MAGA base, Israel has almost no support,” former White House strategist Steve Bannon told Politico, adding that Trump’s rebuke would solidify his supporters’ enmity.Democratic strategist Mike Nellis described the Gaza food emergency as “one of those rare moments where the crisis has broken through the usual partisan gridlock.” “You’re seeing people across the political spectrum who just can’t stomach it anymore,” he told AFP.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Tuesday the UK will formally recognise the State of Palestine in September unless Israel takes various “substantive steps”, including agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.The potentially landmark move, part of Starmer’s plan for a “lasting peace”, came after the British leader recalled his cabinet from recess for urgent talks on the worsening situation in the besieged territory.Starmer’s move, paired with Paris also saying it will recognise a Palestinian state in September, would make the two European allies the first G7 nations to do so.In a televised Downing Street address immediately after the cabinet meeting, Starmer said the UK will recognise a Palestinian state if Israel has not taken the steps demanded by the time the UN General Assembly is held in September.It must “end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace, reviving the prospect” of a two-state solution, he added. “I’ve always said we will recognise a Palestinian state as a contribution to a proper peace process, at the moment of maximum impact for the two-state solution,” Starmer said. “With that solution now under threat, this is the moment to act.”Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded, saying: “Starmer rewards Hamas’s monstrous terrorism & punishes its victims.””A jihadist state on Israel’s border TODAY will threaten Britain TOMORROW. Appeasement towards jihadist terrorists always fails. It will fail you too. It will not happen,” he posted on the social media platform X.The UK leader also detailed several demands for militant group Hamas, which is holding Israeli hostages seized in its attacks on October 7, 2023.”They must immediately release all of the hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza,” he said.- ‘Hand of history’ -Israel’s foreign ministry also said it “rejects” the UK move, arguing it “constitutes a reward for Hamas and harms efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza”.Starmer spoke to Netanyahu before the announcement, telling him “the situation in Gaza was intolerable,” a Downing Street spokeswoman said.”He urged the prime minister to take immediate action to lift all restrictions on aid access,” she added in a readout of the call.Starmer also talked to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who “welcomed” the recognition announcement, the spokeswoman noted.The UK move follows French President Emmanuel Macron announcing last week that Paris would recognise a Palestinian state during the UN General Assembly meeting on September 23.Although more than 140 countries already recognise the State of Palestine, none of them carry the weight of Britain and France, who are nuclear-armed allies of Israel with permanent seats on the UN Security Council. On Tuesday, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot welcomed London joining “the momentum created by France” to “stop the endless cycle of violence”.Macron’s announcement drew a strong rebuke from both Israel and fellow G7 member the United States.Starmer said Tuesday his government “will make an assessment in September on how far the parties have met” the demands.But he insisted: “No one should have a veto over our decision.”Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy, attending a UN conference in New York led by France and Saudi Arabia to promote the two-state solution, echoed the sentiment.Lammy said it was “with the hand of history on our shoulders” that London planned to recognise Palestinian statehood, given Britain’s pivotal role in Israel’s creation through the 1917 Balfour Declaration.- ‘Suffering’ -Starmer has been under growing domestic and international pressure to formally recognise a Palestinian state. More than 220 British lawmakers from nine parties including Labour published a letter last Friday urging him to take the step.It was included in Labour’s election-winning manifesto last year, as part of “a two-state solution with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state”.But the pressure has risen as the humanitarian situation in Gaza has dramatically worsened.”The Palestinian people have endured terrible suffering,” Starmer said in his TV address, adding it “must end”. His office said the UK had dropped its first aid, including “lifesaving supplies”, by air Tuesday into Gaza, with the help of Jordan.The UK leader thanked its king, Abdullah II, in a call.”However, they agreed that this could not be a substitute for truck deliveries by land, which are the only way to deliver the level of food and other aid urgently needed,” Starmer’s spokeswoman said.