COMMENTARY

Franz Kafka predicted Fox News — but even he might have been shocked

If we show our children pictures of enemies with "sharp pointed teeth," Kafka told us, they "run into our arms"

By RONALD H. DAVIDSON
PUBLISHED MAY 28, 2022

Fox News building in midtown Manhattan. (Getty Images)

Paranoia sells, and Rupert Murdoch's Fox News enterprise likes to scare the hell out of its viewers for fun and profit if there's good money to be made — especially when it's got skin in the game. But this time the political stakes are much higher than usual: America's future as a democracy is on the line.

Witness the obsessive preoccupation at Fox with the "great replacement" theory, as if hyping such a transparently fabricated existential crisis to its targeted demographic — that is, mostly older white conservatives — was purposely intended to raise doomsday anxiety levels in a gullible audience, the sort of viewers long conditioned to interpret events in a conspiratorial framework. Following the twisted path of this racist creation myth to its origins reveals a provenance that stretches well beyond Tucker Carlson's nightly pitch to his loyal fans, many of whom share a collective fear that the traditional barriers intended to keep certain groups of others outside and out of sight are no longer working as expected.

Fox is running in a crowded field of competitors in the faux-paranoid theme park that it's been meticulously ginning up over the years — hanging with a deeply weird array of QAnon rubes, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, Trumpian dead-enders and similarly motivated co-conspirators — all of them working overtime to push an agenda of racist fear and animus. One tragic consequence of their deadly stimulus project recently played out in a Buffalo supermarket.

RELATED: Fox News exploits Buffalo shooting to further radicalize Republicans with "great replacement" theory

Still, for all its high-volume flailing, the Fox hype machine is mostly amateurish stuff, a perverse riff on Donald Trump's side-hustle con involving an American Wall, one that promised his cult of MAGA pawns to keep the threatening hordes of invasive species permanently excluded on the other side. At root, it's a protocol for ensuring dominance and control of the public spaces that define every element of American culture; more ominously in the short term, it's also a mobilizing electoral strategy now fully embraced by one of the two major American political parties.

For a guided tour of this paranoid mindset from a true connoisseur of the art of cynical manipulation, though, one needs to turn to Franz Kafka, whose story "The Great Wall of China," written in 1917, offers prescient psychological insights into the storyline being performed on Tucker Carlson's show any night of the week.

"Against whom was the great wall to provide protection," Kafka asked, adding that there were no genuine threats besides the terrifying portraits in "the books of the ancients," which served the emperor's purposes by conjuring up atrocities committed by malicious outsiders, enemies whose "sharp pointed teeth … will crush and rip to pieces" the peaceful citizens living behind the Great Wall. "When children are naughty, we hold up these pictures in front of them," Kafka wrote in his century-old warning memo to us, "and they immediately burst into tears and run into our arms."


Franz Kafka, meet Tucker Carlson (and friends).

Replacement theory and CRT set up a target-rich environment of Black people, Jews, Muslims, LGBTQ folks and immigrants who can be portrayed as mortal threats to the fantasy world of white supremacy.

Joining the reception line are a coterie of like-minded race-baiting provocateurs and conspiracy-mongers littered throughout cable news shows and the darker social media corners of the internet. Replacement theorizing — along with its kissing cousin "critical race theory," another imaginary playmate at Fox — offers a useful platform for this loose confederation of proto-fascist trolls to practice their specialized craft, setting up a target-rich environment of Black people, Jews, Muslims, LGBTQ folk, feminists and foreigners of all kinds (well, non-European ones, anyway). Think of their nihilistic search-and-destroy mission as a Kafkaesque effort to discover hidden enemies — even imaginary ones will do, in a pinch — who can be portrayed as mortal threats to the fragile fantasy world at the core of white supremacists' self-deluding ideology.

Granted, the more respectable members of this confederacy may suffer brief moments of panic when one of their unhinged followers becomes a breaking news story, as when it turned out that the alleged Buffalo shooter's 180-page manifesto acknowledged that the bloody rage-killings were live-streamed online as a self-promoting "act of terrorism," a fantastical infomercial intended to prevent white people from succumbing to "replacement."

Put another way, when a lethal mode of performance art seizes control of the public stage, demanding that attention be paid to its incoherent rhetoric of virulent hate, Fox and friends get as nervous as the Wizard of Oz (right before Dorothy's little dog Toto pulls back the curtain on the sad old man working the gears). Rupert Murdoch's media magic quickly loses its persuasive charms if folks get too close a look at the inner workings of the cynical manipulation machinery.

Following Buffalo, the unanticipated exposure of the machine's source code may explain the peak hysteria coming from the primetime players at Fox, who have frantically scrambled to deny that they share any responsibility for inspiring and/or inflaming one of their (ahem) crazier viewers to violently act on his paranoid fantasies about replacement theory. "Goodness, who knows where he might have picked that nonsense up. It must have been antifa!"

Arguably, the Trump-organized mob actions of Jan. 6, 2021 — performed live on the steps of the U.S. Capitol as a theatrical rehearsal for fascism — differed in terms of the number of actors taking part in the patriotic cosplay drama (and the body count at the end of the day). Nonetheless, that staged event was produced and directed with essentially the same motivational goals as the alleged Buffalo shooter: Capture the attention of an aggrieved audience; play upon their sense of resentment and victimhood; engage them in the urgent task of redeeming the country from their godless enemies; justify the use of violence as legitimate political discourse in the service of an imaginary version of "our America."

Despite such temporary program interruptions, things at Fox News quickly settle back down to a normal daily routine of partisan demagoguery and fear-mongering, though carefully re-coded just enough to allow for some degree of plausible deniability, at least until the next mass shooting (or perhaps a seditious insurrection) breaks out.

We are now entering uncharted territory, a place far beyond the familiar era of earlier forms of institutionalized racism in America — back when segregated schools, employment and housing discrimination, mortgage redlining and gated communities served as more structured (that is, less overtly chaotic) mechanisms for excluding certain others from participating in the public square. No less oppressive, such exclusionary traditions seem almost quaint by contrast now that the façade has fallen away, revealing an apocalyptic vision of the new authoritarian political agenda, which makes no pretense about its core beliefs and anti-democratic intentions (including a hair-trigger readiness for organized violence, if needed).

Years before the killings in Buffalo, an American president once stood in front of other mourners in a Black church and sang "Amazing Grace," a poignant moment signaling what the country was then only reluctantly coming to understand about itself: There are no safe spaces left in the once-shared public squares of our communities: Not in churches, synagogues or mosques; not in elementary school classrooms or high school corridors; not in women's health clinics; not in workplaces; not on public street corners.

 And now, not even in grocery stores.

In Buffalo, a grieving Black woman told a CNN reporter about the far deeper emotional scars the shootings left on her shattered community. "We didn't have much, and you took what was left," she said, as if speaking to the killer. "Now our safe space has been infiltrated and taken from us."

Present-tense domestic terrorism may appear different from earlier versions, but the logic of its embedded racist code is the same that motivates white supremacist politics everywhere and always.

Such domestic terrorism may appear different in form than earlier versions, often relying on the lone-wolf-deranged-gunman mythology to distract public attention from questions of broader political accountability, but the logic of its embedded racist code is still rooted in the covert agenda motivating white supremacist politics everywhere and always.

Not that long ago, lynchings were public entertainment in certain parts of America, a shameful history still viewable online today in the hundreds of archived photographs of white mobs cheerfully posing in front of the bodies of dead Black men. Billie Holiday knew what she was telling a segregated America the moment she recorded "Strange Fruit." even if most white folks back in 1939 weren't ready to listen to its lyrics:

Southern trees bear a strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the roots
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees

If in the present era the Ku Klux Klan has traded in its bedsheets for military camo gear and morphed into the heavily militarized Proud Boys, their implicit message has just been repackaged as something that generally gets a pass from the morally flexible content standards of primetime Fox News, Facebook and Twitter: say, for example, replacement theory.

The chant of "Jews will not replace us," shouted by a Tiki-torch-carrying mob of fascist wannabes during the 2017 Unite the Right demonstration in Charlottesville — where Donald Trump saw "good people on both sides" — was an early harbinger of the emerging and rebranded white nationalist movement, freed at last from the political closet by a different sort of president, one who surely wouldn't know the words to "Amazing Grace." Apart from a few minor setbacks, including a failed insurrection and some indictments for seditious conspiracy, it's been a bull market ever since for replacement theory and the cynical Fox News con artists who peddle it 24/7.

When a significant element of the political culture tolerates (and even encourages) a racist discourse that reduces certain groups to the status of invasive species — implying that such persons ought to be "weeded out," one way or another — the shared public square in a democratic society is no longer safe for anyone. Stoking racial and class fears to produce a sense of paranoid resentment and faux victimhood may be an effective political technique in the short-term, assuming that its practitioners simply don't care about the longer-term existential sustainability of the society, but it reveals the moral cognitive blindness motivating the authoritarian impulse for power at any cost.

Kafka understood this sort of cynical fear-mongering when he warned us about it a hundred years ago. If he could offer us some political consultation today, it might be simply this: "Paranoia does not seem to be a bug in this system that you are describing; it's quickly becoming a feature. Please stop before you destroy yourselves."

Formalising HR practices can fight workplace racism: Panellists at race forum

"Nowadays young people are not going to put up with discrimination, and that is entirely a good thing."

Singapore has been making policy moves to take workplace discrimination to task. 

Ng Wei Kai

SINGAPORE - Companies should have human resource processes in place to correct people's subconscious ethnic biases which can result in racist and discriminatory hiring practices.

They must also provide a safe environment for employees to raise grievances on issues like racial discrimination, said Ms Faith Li, who is general manager at the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (Tafep).

She was speaking at a panel discussion on Saturday (May 28) at a conference on racism at the workplace called "Keeping Harmony@Work" at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel.

It was organised by OnePeople.sg, a national body which promotes racial harmony, and the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS).

About 250 religious leaders, government officials, academics and representatives from the corporate sector and non-governmental organisations attended the conference.

Also on the panel were IPS research associate Shamil Zainuddin and chief executive of the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce Victor Mills.

Ms Li added that a structured hiring process that checks applicants' abilities and skills instead of using

Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon, who gave an opening address, said more can be done.

Singapore has been making policy moves to take workplace discrimination to task, he said.

During last year's National Day Rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that the Government will enshrine Tafep guidelines in law, to give them more teeth and expand the range of actions that can be taken against errant companies.

But legislation alone cannot solve the problem, said Dr Koh.

He said: "We want to avoid creating a litigious culture and preserve the common space at the workplace while ensuring that discrimination in any form is not tolerated.

"Therefore, tripartite partners will continue to prioritise engaging and educating employers to shape the right mindsets and practices, and resolving reported cases through mediation as far as possible."

Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon speaking during a dialogue moderated by IPS principal research fellow Mathew Mathews at the conference.

ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN


IPS research from 2013 and 2019 showed that about one third of minority race respondents, including Malays and Indians, felt discriminated against at work, said IPS principal research fellow Mathew Mathews, who opened the conference with a presentation on IPS' research into trends on race and perceptions of discrimination in Singapore.

These perceptions extend to the areas of hiring and promotion.

Dr Mathews said that while most Singaporeans consider tolerance and multiculturalism to be important values, and less than 10 per cent of minorities perceive worse treatment by public services such as hospitals or schools, racial discrimination at the workplace remains an issue.

Tackling such perceptions are crucial, said Mr Shamil, adding that addressing the perception that minorities are discriminated against is just as important as addressing real instances of discrimination.

IPS research associate Shamil Zainuddin and chief executive of the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce Victor Mills during the panel discussion. 

ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN

The floor was open to participants after both the panel discussion and a dialogue with Dr Koh, and various concerns were raised, including that there may be no incentive to work on diversity for a profit-driven company.

Mr Mills said diversity and inclusive practices are good for bottom lines, as happy workers do their best work and these may be necessary to attract younger talent.

He added: "Nowadays young people are not going to put up with discrimination, and that is entirely a good thing."

Report from Germany: Refugees Welcome … Sometimes

by William T. Hathaway / May 28th, 2022

Posted on streetlamps all over Germany are stickers showing fleeing silhouettes with the caption, “Refugees welcome – bring your families”. Some have been blacked out with felt markers or ripped partially away. The Germans have mixed feelings about refugees, as demonstrated in the earlier waves from the Mideast and the current one from the Ukraine.

Germany took in over two million refugees from the Mideast wars, far more than any other country. The equivalent for the US population would be eight million.

This has created an enormous financial and cultural strain in a country that historically has had little immigration. It comes at a time when poverty is increasing and social services are being reduced. The once-generous welfare state is gradually being dismantled. This financial squeeze is worsening now because of expenses for the refugees. The two million newcomers receive enough money to live on plus free healthcare, education, and access to special programs. Some cheat on this, registering in several places under different names and getting multiple benefits. Many Germans resent paying for all this with high taxes while their own standard of living is declining.

The trauma of war and displacement has caused a few refugees to lose their moral compass. They do things here they wouldn’t do at home.

Two-thirds of the refugees are young men, some of them convinced Allah has ordained males to dominate females. In their view, women who aren’t submissive need to be punished. Since being male is the only power many of them have, they feel threatened by women in positions of power, and they sometimes react with hostility. Over a thousand women have been physically attacked — some murdered and raped and many aggressively grabbed on the breasts as a way of showing dominance. Many more have been abused — insulted, harassed, spat upon.

Many refugees are aware that Germany, as a member of NATO, supports these wars that have forced them to flee their homes. They’re not fooled by the rhetoric of “humanitarian intervention.” They know NATO’s motives are imperialistic: to install governments agreeable to Western control of their resources and markets. Although they are now safe, their relatives and friends are still being killed with weapons made in Germany and oppressed by soldiers and police trained and financed by Germany. Rather than a grateful attitude, some have come with a resentful one.

Crime has increased, especially violent crimes such as knife attacks. Police and others have been killed and wounded by refugees. Organized criminal clans have become established in Germany’s lenient legal atmosphere. A few ISIS and al-Qaeda members slipped in with the refugees. They have bombed a Christmas market, attacked synagogues, murdered Jews on the street, recruited new members in mosques.

In the past 75 years Germany has become a peaceful country. The current violence is profoundly disturbing to them. It brings back terrible memories.

The violent refugees, though, are only a small minority. Most of the newcomers have a positive attitude. They are getting a fresh start in life, recovering from trauma, getting an education, learning new skills. They’ve been introduced to other cultural possibilities.

Women in particular are responding favorably to this new environment. Seeing how women here live, some of them are beginning to free themselves from patriarchal bondage. With help from German feminists they are developing the energy and determination to challenge male rule and change the conditions of their lives. And they’ll inspire their sisters back home.

The situation with the Ukrainian refugees is much different. The cultures are similar, so there’s less clash. The war hasn’t been going on for long, so there are few of them and problems have not yet developed. They are being celebrated as brave heroes standing up to an aggressive Russia intent on dominating Europe. Anti-Russian feelings have been strong in Germany for two centuries, so this propaganda finds ready acceptance. During the Cold War the German government beamed out the constant danger of Russian attack in order to justify the presence of US troops and nuclear weapons on their soil. Now they condemn Putin as the new Hitler. Atrocity stories of Russian troops get enormous coverage, those of Ukrainian troops against separatists in Donbass are ignored. Every small Ukrainian victory is cheered with blood-thirsty enthusiasm. Welcoming these refugees is part of the strategy for maintaining NATO dominance.

But, of course, it is important to take them in, to shelter them from this latest capitalist butchery. Like the Arabs, most of them are fine people, and many will stay and contribute to the society in their new home.

Germany still has anti-foreign, anti-Semitic, right-wing extremists, but since World War Two the West German government has systematically pushed them out of public life. Unfortunately that wasn’t true in East Germany. There the Stalinist regime ignored the problem, as did Stalinist governments in the eastern European countries. They didn’t want to risk provoking uprisings against their dictatorships. In the former East Germany, which is much smaller than the West, right-wing extremists are a small minority, but a hateful, well-organized, and sometimes violent one. In eastern Europe they are much stronger, sometimes the most powerful political force.

The establishment press in the USA, Britain, and France jump at every opportunity to exaggerate right-wing incidents in Germany in order to divert attention from problems in their own country. The right wing in the USA is much more powerful and dangerous than that in Germany. That’s why our resistance to it is so important.

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William T. Hathaway is an emeritus Fulbright professor of American studies at universities in Germany. His new novel, Lila, the Revolutionary, is a fable for adults about an eight-year-old girl who sparks a world revolution for social justice. Read other articles by William.

This article was posted on Saturday, May 28th, 2022 at 12:23am and is filed under Germany, Middle East, Refugees, Russia, Ukraine.

Over 1,000 political prisoners in Hong Kong since the 2019 protests (INFOGRAPHIC)

According to the Hong Kong Democracy Council, more than three-quarters are under the age of 30, more than 15% are under the age of 18. At least 179 opponents are in custody; 1,159 are on trial. Yesterday, well-known jurist Benny Tai was sentenced. While awaiting trial, Card. Zen says "martyrdom is normal in our Church": yesterday he celebrated a Mass for Catholics in China.


Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - There are 1,014 political prisoners languishing in the city's jails: in June 2019, when protests by the pro-democracy movement against the extradition bill broke out in the city (before being called off), there were only a handful. This is according to the database of the Hong Kong Democracy Council (Hkdc), a Washington-based non-governmental organisation that promotes the protection of fundamental freedoms and the rule of law in the former British colony, as well as its autonomy from the Chinese central government.

The new data presented by the Hkdc shows that Hong Kong rivals authoritarian nations such as Cuba, Belarus and Myanmar in the growth of prison populations linked to political offences. The crackdown imposed by the city authorities after the 2019 demonstrations, especially with the adoption of the Beijing-imposed National Security Act in 2020, has in fact restricted, suspended or cancelled the rights of assembly, association, expression and political participation.

The prisoners in question include leaders of NGOs, trade unions and protest groups, as well as journalists, activists, teachers, students, opposition politicians and lawyers. Many of them are well-known figures in the democratic camp, such as Catholic media magnate Jimmy Lai and Joshua Wong, but most are ordinary citizens. The most contested crime is that of unauthorised demonstration, with 234 convicted.

The number of young people in prison is striking: more than three quarters of the political prisoners are under 30; more than half are under 25 and more than 15% are minors. Largely due to the passing of the security measure, the number of opponents held in pre-trial detention and awaiting trial has also increased: to date there are 179; 69 have served more than a year in pre-trial detention, the average being 12.4 months per defendant.

To date, 1,159 citizens are on trial on politically motivated charges. Many are already in prison, and most are indicted for threats to national security, sedition and riots. The latest to receive a conviction yesterday was Benny Tai. Already on remand for threats to national security, the lawyer and democratic activist will have to serve 10 months in prison for breaking the local law on electoral publicity.

Card. Joseph Zen Ze-kiun was also on trial, on 19 September. A court yesterday indicted the city's emeritus bishop, along with five well-known representatives of the Democratic Front, for failing to properly register Fund 612, which until last October assisted thousands of protesters involved in the 2019 protests. Card. Zen and the other defendants were trustees of the humanitarian organisation: they all pleaded not guilty.

The police had arrested and then released the cardinal and the others charged with the far more serious charge of 'collusion' with foreign forces, in violation of the security law. Yesterday in front of 300 faithful, Card. Zen celebrated a Mass for the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China. In an indirect reference to his court case, he said in his homily that 'martyrdom is normal in our Church'. The cardinal then asked the faithful to pray for "our brothers and sisters who cannot attend Mass because they are not free".

“Green Nobel” goes to activist who saved Mekong River rapids

by Steve Suwannarat

Retired Thai teacher Niwat Roykaew is among this year's recipients of the Goldman Environmental Prize. In his country, he successfully battled a Chinese project that would have blasted rocky islets to allow commercial and tourist navigation on a 400-kilometre stretch of the mighty river.

Bangkok (AsiaNews) – Thai activist Niwat Roykaew is among the recipients of this year’s Goldman Environmental Prize, also known as the “Green Nobel”, awarded yesterday by the Goldman Environmental Foundation in San Francisco.

Of undeclared age, with well-known principles pursued with determination, Niwat Roykaew was one of several people selected for their environmental commitment and care for communities who draw what they need to exist from nature.

Like every year, the prize went to outstanding individuals from each continent: Niwat Roykaew was joined by Chima Williams from Nigeria (Africa), Marjan Minnesma from the Netherlands (Europe), Nalleli Cobo from the United States (North America), Julien Vincent from Australia (Islands), and Alex Lucitante and Alexandra Narvaez from Ecuador (Central/South America). The latter are engaged in the fight against mining on Indigenous land.

Affectionately known as “Kru Thi”, Teacher Thi in Thai, Niwat Roykaew taught for many years. After his retirement, he distinguished himself for his uncompromising defence of the Mekong River, Southeast Asia’s main waterway, threatened by massive development projects.

Because of his action, Thailand achieved its only victory so far against corporate interests (starting with China’s) with an eye on the mighty waterway, home to tens of millions of people and a habitat that is both unique and increasingly threatened.

A Chinese project was cancelled after a struggle that lasted 20 years. Had it been approved, it would have blasted several rapids to allow commercial and tourist navigation on the river along a 400 km stretch between Thailand and Laos.

The project had been initially welcomed and supported by Thai authorities, who eventually reversed their position under pressure from public opinion, environmental groups and rural communities.

In its decision to award the prize to Niwat Roykaew, the Goldman Environmental Foundation noted that “The official cancellation of the Mekong rapids blasting project marks a rare, formal win in a region facing substantial pressure from development projects and is a testament to the collective power of Kru Thi’s campaign.”

Furthermore, “By amplifying the voices of local people in articulating the Mekong’s environmental, social, and cultural value, he forced the Thai government to pay attention to civil society and increased its accountability to its citizens.”

With his typical frankness and simplicity, Niwat Roykaew welcomed the award stating: “If I didn’t speak out about this, the Mekong River would be destroyed 100 per cent”.

He also noted that his activism and that of others brought to the attention of world public the risks facing the mighty river, local traditional ways of life, and its extremely varied and valuable habitats.

DW fact check: Is hunger being used as a weapon in the Ukraine war?

Who is responsible for shuttered ports and mined maritime routes in the Black Sea? Are sanctions against Russia driving up global food prices? Can grain supplies from Ukraine be replaced? A DW fact check clarifies.

A Russian solider at the empty Ukrainian port of Mariupol, which has stopped exporting food grains

Are food exports being misused as a "quiet weapon" in Russia's war against Ukraine?

Claim: Russia is weaponizing food supplies in its war against Ukraine. "There is no question that food is being used as a weapon of war in many different ways," says World Food Program (WFP) chief David Beasley.

DW Fact Check: True.

Since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, WFP Executive Director David Beasley has warned of a global hunger crisis. In an interview on US TV network CBS' "Face the Nation" show on April 17, he answered "yes" to the question of whether Putin was using hunger as a weapon, stating: "There's no question that food is being used as a weapon of war in many different ways."

Just days later at a UN Security Council meeting on May 19, Beasley warned: "Failure to open the ports in the Odesa region is a declaration of war on global food security and will result in famines, destabilization and mass migration around the world."

A temporary halt in Russia's grain exports has further exacerbated the situation. The world's largest wheat exporter suspended grain exports from late March through the end of June.

Former Russian president and senior security official Dmitry Medvedev called food exports a "quiet weapon" in the fight against Western sanctions, indirectly confirming Beasley's statements. "Many countries depend on our supplies for their food security," Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel on April 1. "It turns out that our food is our quiet weapon," he wrote. "Quiet but ominous."

Per Brodersen, director of the German Agribusiness Alliance at the German Eastern Business Association accuses Moscow of using this weapon deliberately: "Uncertainty is driving up prices," Brodersen said in an interview with DW. "Countries that hoard grain can sell it later at a higher price."

Who is laying mines in the Black Sea?

Claim: "Russia is not the one refusing to open 'Ukrainian ports,' but rather it's Ukraine that refuses to remove mines from ports to ensure a safe exit of ships," says Russia's UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky.

DW fact check: Not provable.

The war in Ukraine has led to the closure of key ports in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, resulting in a drastic drop in grain exports from Ukraine. In statements to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), both Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of laying underwater mines in the sea, paralyzing international shipping.

Ukraine's Ministry of Infrastructure issued a decree on April 28 closing the seaports of Berdyansk, Kherson, Mariupol, and Skadovsk because of inadequate security.

Reacting to the closures, Russia's ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, wrote on Twitter: "It's egregious that some #SecurityCouncil members continued to appeal to us today at #foodsecurity debates to 'open Ukrainian ports' knowing that it's #Ukraine️ who refuses to demine them and allow safe passage of ships which we guarantee. What a hypocrisy!"

In a report by the AFP news agency published in The Moscow Times on May 20, a spokesman for the French army suggested that both Russia and Ukraine had laid mines in the Black Sea and port basins.

Are sanctions to blame for high grain prices?

Claim: "The disruption of trade, logistics and financial chains and the resulting rise in global food prices is a direct result of the senseless buildup of unilateral anti-Russian restrictions and threats of further escalation of sanctions pressure on Russia," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a May 18 press conference in Moscow.

DW Fact Check: False.

Accusing the West of "spreading lies," Zakharova says Russia is not responsible for global food shortages. As early as mid-2020, World Food Program Executive Director David Beasley warned of the threat of "biblical famine," Zakharova said. "Western sanctions against Russia have exacerbated these trends."

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called the Kremlin's accusations a "disinformation campaign" and reiterated at the G7 foreign ministers meeting in Berlin in mid-May that "there are no sanctions against grain and humanitarian aid."

The World Food Program has confirmed that. "Food exports from Russia are not sanctioned," spokesman Martin Rentsch told DW. However, it is "not economical to buy from there because prices are high and there are administrative hurdles," he added.

The Russia Union of Grain Exporters, Rusgrain Union, which says it is supported by Russia's Ministry of Agriculture, also reiterates this: "We stress that sanctions and export controls against Russia do not or will not affect essential food exports and agricultural products for developing countries," reads a tweet from the association.

Can Ukrainian grain supplies be replaced?

Claim: "The positive news is that other suppliers can step in. The gap can apparently be filled," says Per Brodersen, director of the German Agribusiness Alliance at the German Eastern Business Association.

DW fact check: True.

Ukraine is one of the world's largest producers and exporters of grains and oils. In view of rising food prices and collapsing Ukrainian exports, there are growing fears of famine in poorer countries, prompting the World Food Program to look for new suppliers.

"Global market prices are also causing huge problems and increasing the cost of our operations," WFP spokesman Martin Rentsch told DW. "Ukraine was our largest source of food in terms of volume. But we are able to find other sources of supply, for example in Indiaor Canada."

The Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO) also assumes that "additional exports from other regions, including India, the USA and Australia, will probably largely compensate for the lower supplies from Russia and Ukraine," IAMO Director Thomas Glauben wrote in a statement.

Per Brodersen, director of the German Agribusiness Alliance says it's a bright spot in an otherwise bleak scenario. "The gap can apparently be filled," he said. "Other suppliers can step in."

This article was originally written in German

NO ZIRCON ENCRUSTED TWEEZERS
Russia shows off Zircon hypersonic cruise missile in test-launch at sea

Sat, May 28, 2022

(Reuters) - Russia successfully test-fired a hypersonic Zircon cruise missile over a distance of about 1,000 km (625 miles), the defence ministry said on Saturday.

The missile was fired from the Barents Sea and hit a target in the White Sea, it said. Video released by the ministry showed the missile being fired from a ship and blazing into the sky on a steep trajectory.

President Vladimir Putin has described the Zircon as part of a new generation of unrivalled arms systems. Hypersonic weapons can travel at nine times the speed of sound, and Russia has conducted previous test-launches of the Zircon from warships and submarines in the past year.

Russia's military has suffered heavy losses of men and equipment during its three-month invasion of Ukraine, which it calls a "special operation", but it has continued to stage high-profile weapons tests to remind the world of its prowess in missile technology.

Last month it test-launched a new nuclear-capable intercontinental missile, the Sarmat, capable of carrying 10 or more warheads and striking the United States.

Cannes Film Festival: Iran's Zar Amir Ebrahimi wins best actress award

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
28 May, 2022
Exiled Iranian actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi in Holy Spider plays a journalist trying to solve the serial murders of prostitutes in the holy city of Mashhad in Iran.

Iranian actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi said cinema has 'practically saved my life' 

[PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP/Getty]

The Cannes Film Festival on Saturday awarded its best actress award to Iranian Zar Amir Ebrahimi, who lives in exile in France, for her role in Holy Spider.

In the film, she plays a journalist trying to solve the serial murders of prostitutes in the holy city of Mashhad.

"I have come a long way to be on this stage tonight," she told the audience at the awards ceremony.

"It was not an easy story, it was humiliation, it was solitude but there was cinema, it was darkness but there was cinema. Now I'm standing in front of you on a night of joy."

Holy Spider, directed by Iranian Ali Abbasi, is inspired by the true story of a working-class man who killed prostitutes in the early 2000s and became known as the "Spider Killer".

Abbassi was denied permission to film in Iran and it was ultimately shot in Jordan.

Palestinian director dedicates film to Shireen Abu Akleh

Ebrahimi became a star in Iran in her early twenties for her supporting role in one of its longest-running soap operas, Nargess.

But her life and career fell apart shortly after the show ended, when a sex tape was leaked online in 2006 which, it was claimed, featured her.

Ebrahimi's character in Holy Spider has also been a victim of lascivious rumours and male predation.

The film suggests there was little official pressure to catch the murderer, who ends up a hero among the religious right.

"This film is about women, it's about their bodies, it's a movie full of faces, hair, hands, feet, breasts, sex – everything that is impossible to show in Iran," Ebrahimi said.

"Thank you, Ali Abbasi for being so crazy and so generous and for directing against all odds this powerful thing."

Cinema, she added, has "practically saved my life".

Boy from Heaven: Tarik Saleh’s thriller set in Egypt’s Al-Azhar

Saleh’s new film, which depicts religious power struggles and corruption in Egypt, premiered at Cannes Film Festival.

The film stars Tawfeek Barhom as Adam, a student at Cairo’s prestigious Al-Azhar University who becomes embroiled in a conspiracy 

[Still from Boy from Heaven/Atmo]

By Namrata Joshi

Published On 28 May 2022

Cannes, France – Tarik Saleh, the Swedish-Egyptian director whose new film Boy from Heaven premiered in the competition section of the Cannes Film Festival this week, makes light of being called bold and brave for his work.

“I know Egyptians and Saudis who go out and say the truth. [They] go to jail, get tortured, get out and tell the truth again. Those are brave people,” he told Al Jazeera.

“I have a Swedish passport. I live in Europe. I shot the film [that is set in Cairo] in Istanbul,” he says.

Nevertheless, Boy from Heaven is set to ruffle feathers with its portrayal of corruption, hypocrisy, and power struggles within Egypt’s religious establishment and the state.

The film is a thriller about Adam (played by Tawfeek Barhom), a young man from a fishing community in northern Egypt who receives a grant to study Islamic thought at Cairo’s prestigious Al-Azhar University only to become embroiled in a conspiracy to elect the next grand imam. It is a story of spying and scandal, informants and assailants, intrigues and killings.

Film critic Peter Bradshaw praised the “intersection between a conspiracy-thriller and a more general human drama” in the film.

“Boy from Heaven reminded me a little bit of the English author John Le Carré, who of course writes about spying and the human cost of that job,” he told Al Jazeera. “[Saleh] is also boldly challenging the corruption of church and state,” says Bradshaw.

Saleh’s last outing, The Nine Hilton Incident, won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival but was banned in Egypt for its portrayal of corruption in the country’s police.

Saleh thinks that it is his job to make films without thinking of the potential fallout.

“I believe that as an artist, you must tell the truth; the emotional truth because there is no objective truth. If you are specific, and you’re trying to be honest, and you don’t speculate, there is a chance to actually say something [of significance] through cinema,” he says.

Tarik Saleh poses at the 75th Cannes Film Festival [Eric Gaillard/Reuters]

The film’s setting in one of the most renowned educational institutions for Sunni Muslims makes it highly unusual.

“How many would have known about Al-Azhar and the grand imam before they saw the film?” Saleh asks.

Boy from Heaven tries to present a rounded view of the religious world, warts and all – the factionalism within the faith in Al-Azhar, the divides between the liberals and conservatives – but it is not an attack on the Islamic faith itself.

Saleh thinks the most controversial aspects will be in its portrayal of the state security’s interference in the religious establishment, and the abuse of power – be it by an individual or an institution.

“Power is a double-edged sword. It can easily cut your own hand,” asserts the lead protagonist, Adam, in the film.

Saleh believes he has a responsibility to tell these kinds of stories.

“Egyptians who live in Egypt cannot tell the story. It’s impossible to do so. Egypt is a military dictatorship.”

‘I am someone else I don’t like to be’

Raised in Stockholm by a Swedish mother and an Egyptian father, Saleh, 50, calls himself an “everyday Muslim”.

“I don’t fast as much as I should, I don’t pray as much, I drink alcohol every now and then. I know five verses that you need to know to be able to pray but I don’t know the whole Quran by heart like my grandfather and grandmother did,” he says.

His grandfather, incidentally, studied at Al-Azhar – which sparked Saleh’s curiosity and desire to make a film about the university.

Saleh worked closely with an imam while he was writing the film’s script because he wanted it to be theologically correct, and he was mindful of the pervasiveness of Islamophobia in popular culture. “We had incredible discussions. I enjoyed asking him all the forbidden questions and he had these beautiful explanations,” he says.

Saleh is keen to stress that Boy from Heaven is fictional. The only real figure in the film is President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, but even he is only present as a photograph on the wall. The real grand imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb, is someone Saleh has described in a news conference as a “sophisticated voice of reason in a region full of crazy voices and megalomaniac leaders”.

Al-Azhar itself is a modern educational institution that also teaches subjects like medicine and computer science and has female students.

“What I have done is married history with how things are today to create a parallel reality,” he says.

Saleh thinks that human beings need to constantly ask themselves the question that forms the last line of his film: “What did you learn?” It is the line that motivated Barhom to take up the lead role.

“It’s a journey. It’s about growing up in these places which might rob you a little of youth, but you get to a point to be the best version of yourself, to deal with anything life throws at you,” Barhom said in a news conference.

The last line of the film – ‘What did you learn?’ – motivated Barhom to take up the lead role [Still from Boy from Heaven/Atmo]

Ultimately, Saleh believes the film has universal resonance, in that it is about people struggling with the conflict between what they believe in and what they have to do.

He said this conflict applies to his own work, and describes himself as a reluctant director who makes films because others cannot and because he does not trust other directors with his writing, as well as for more prosaic reasons.

“I am a father of two children. I must put food on the table. And as a director, I get paid well, because people think I’m good at it,” he laughs.

He said he finds being on the sets a tortuous process; he loves being with the cast and crew, but hates commanding them.

“I am someone else that I don’t like to be,” he says. “I must be like a general who is sacrificing people and it’s very harsh. It’s brutal. I feel like I’m a guy who’s just sending people off to die,” he says.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

Jordan's plastic rubbish transformed into art with environmental message

Artist Maria Nissan said she became enchanted with Jordan's capital of Amman when she first visited three years ago but felt 'frustration and anger' at the piled-up rubbish.

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
29 May, 2022

Only 7 percent of Jordan's annual solid waste load of 2.2 million tonnes is recycled, according to the UN Development Programme 

[Stephen J. Boitano/LightRocket/Getty-file photo]


Jordan-based artist Maria Nissan is on a mission: to rid the world of single-use plastics and to raise public awareness about the environmental scourge through eye-catching art.

One of her best-known murals graces the side of a building in the capital Amman, a giant work made from more than 2,000 plastic bottles, almost 1,000 shopping bags and over 150 hookah pipe hoses.

A US citizen of Iraqi origin, Nissan said she became enchanted with Amman when she first visited three years ago, but also felt "frustration and anger" at the piles of rubbish on the streets and in areas of natural beauty.

"Despite the beauty of the city, walking its streets can be a journey filled with all kinds of trash," the 35-year-old said.

"My eyes cannot turn away from the abundant shiny plastic bags, glass bottles, soda cans, candy bar wrappers," said Nissan, who occasionally sports a dress made from a sturdy blue Ikea bag.

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Trained in painting and drawing in the United States and Italy, Nissan decided to collect and repurpose the rubbish to create art – often collages themed on women's faces and flowers, and motifs.

Her home, where she has a rooftop workspace under a large canopy, is filled with every imaginable kind of discarded plastic object, from razors and toothbrushes to lighters, pens and plastic spoons.

"Art made of plastic is a concrete and powerful way to raise concerns on environmental issues that affect Jordanians, their children, their communities and natural environments in the kingdom," she said.
'Everybody's problem'

"A bottle littered in a valley will take up to 450 years to decompose," said Nissan, pointing out that the effect is "micro-plastics polluting the soils, water and the wildlife.

"Because plastics are littered indiscriminately in fields and water, livestock and fish feed themselves indirectly with plastic pieces that we will ultimately find on our plates."

Nissan's work has been exhibited in 12 shows in Jordan as well as in Italy and Greece, and features on her Instagram channel @marianissanart, all with the purpose of changing minds and habits.

Jordanians use three billion plastic bags every year, part of the country's annual solid waste load of 2.2 million tonnes, of which only seven percent is recycled, according to the UN Development Programme.

Nissan urges people to avoid buying plastic products and to go shopping with reusable bags, and also advocates a tax on single-use plastics.

"The consequences of single-use plastic pollution are often delayed, and therefore it is difficult to have people feel accountable and responsible for their own acts," she said.

"Plastic comes back to us in one way or another… It's nobody's responsibility until it becomes everybody's problem."