‘I hope more shootings happen’: The rise of anti-LGBTQ extremism in America


ByFarrah Tomazin

THE AGE, AUSTRALIA

DECEMBER 29, 2022


First came the carnage, then came the vitriol. As a shattered community in Colorado Springs grieved the victims of last month’s mass shooting at gay hotspot Club Q, it didn’t take long for the condolences to be offset by hundreds of hateful, homophobic messages.

People attend a candlelight vigil on November 21 following a mass shooting at a nearby gay bar in Colorado Springs.

CREDIT:AP

“The shooter was doing God’s work: five less faggots,” said one.

“I hope more shootings happen. Have a blessed day!” said another.

Club Q founder Matthew Haynes was saddened but hardly surprised as he saw the comments flash up on his screen. After all, LGBTQ people represent about 7 per cent of the US population, but make up 20 per cent of the nation’s hate crimes, according to the latest FBI data.

As a congressional hearing in Washington was told this month, the horrific attack that killed five people in Colorado Springs was merely emblematic of a growing trend of anti-LGBTQ extremism, fuelled in part by a rise in hostile public rhetoric - on social media, among some right-wing commentators or by politicians attempting to rile up their base.

Coupled with access to military-style assault weapons, Haynes said, “we were lucky that night that the casualties were not much higher.”
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Demonstrators gather on the step of the Montana State Capitol in 2021 after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance two bills targeting transgender youth despite overwhelming testimony opposing the measures.CREDIT:INDEPENDENT RECORD

According to tracking data by LGBTQ lobby group GLAAD, more than 300 anti-LGBTQ bills have been considered by state legislatures this year - from blocking trans participation in sports, to barring access to gender-affirming care, to removing books about sexual orientation and gender identity.

Among the most high profile has been Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” laws, enshrined by Donald Trump’s Republican rival Ron Desantis, which bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through to the third grade.

Reverend Paula Stecker of the Christ the King Lutheran Church stands in front of a memorial set up outside Club Q. CREDIT:AP

Twenty children’s hospitals that provide trans medical care to minors have also received bomb threats - prompting calls by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association for the Justice Department to intervene – and nearly 150 attacks on LGBTQ events have been reported publicly.

In Oklahoma last month, for instance, a doughnut shop was firebombed with a Molotov cocktail after hosting a drag event - its second attack in less than two months.

In Texas, an inclusive church’s drag bingo night was mobbed by hundreds of far-right extremists in September after Trump ally Steve Bannon amplified a call for the event to be protested.

And in Massachusetts, a man was charged two weeks ago for making a death threat against a physician who cares for gender-nonconforming children.

Both sides of politics accept that violence is a growing concern. About 7300 hate crimes were reported to the FBI in 2021, including nearly 1400 offences targeting LGBTQ people. However, due to under-reporting, varying definitions of hate crimes in different states and the patchy nature of the FBI’s hate crime data in general, these figures are widely accepted to be far worse.

But what both sides can’t agree on is what should be done about it. Republicans blame Democrats for “soft on crime” policies, particularly the push by some progressives to “defund the police” - a contentious slogan used to describe reallocating funds from police departments for other forms of public safety and community support, such as mental health services, youth services, housing and education.

They have also highlighted violent attacks by the left: such as the Bernie Sanders supporter who shot Republican whip Steve Scalise in 2017, or the dozens of church organisations attacked after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn federal abortion rights in June.

“It’s easier to blame Republicans than have a serious discussion about the rise of violent crimes across the nation,” says deputy chair James Comer.

New research by the Human Rights Campaign has nonetheless thrown the spotlight on the correlation between hostile public rhetoric, largely fuelled on social media, and the rise in violent attacks.

A report released last week identified 24 different hospitals and providers across 21 states who were directly attacked online after inflammatory and misleading posts from provocative right-wing accounts. These attacks took place between August and November alone.

One example occurred when the social media account “Libs of TikTok”, run by conservative activist Chaya Raichik, claimed that the Boston Children’s Hospital’s gender unit was performing hysterectomies on transgender minors.

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The hospital in turn received a series of bomb threats, the most recent taking place on November 16, which forced staff and patients into temporary lockdowns and evacuations.

Over the five days following the initial “Libs of TikTok” post, the group tweeted or retweeted more than a dozen posts about the hospital, saying that it “needs to be shut down” while thousands of followers began their own attacks on the hospital’s social media accounts. Some called for doctors to be “put in camps”, subjected to “Nuremberg type trials and punishments” and accused doctors of being paedophiles or “groomers”.

Another example took place on September 21 when Tennessee’s Governor and Attorney General called for an investigation into Vanderbilt University’s Transgender Health Clinic 24 hours after Matt Walsh, a conservative commentator working for the alt-right media company The Daily Wire, tweeted that the clinic would “castrate, sterilise, and mutilate minors.”

It didn’t take long for the violent threats to emerge. “The doctors that perform these surgeries should have their families slaughtered while they’re forced to watch,” said one of the many posts in response.

Kelley Robinson, the president of the HRC, warned that without guidelines governing social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, “this cycle will viciously continue.” And according to the group’s research, hate speech could proliferate under new Twitter owner Elon Musk, who has reinstated dozens of previously banned accounts.

“Already, the frequency of tweets using anti-LGBTQ+ slurs on Twitter is up by around 60 per cent,” the report says.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk has described himself as a “free speech absolutist”.CREDIT:FDC

But other interventions are also needed, Charles Fain Lehman, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. This included more police, more support for state and local prosecutors in forming specialised hate crimes bureaus, and tougher state and federal hate crime penalties.

Lehman, who specialises in policing and public safety, also cited data showing hate crime offenders tend to look similar to non-hate crime offenders when it comes to the frequency of prior offences.

The Club Q shooter, for example, had previously been arrested for making violent threats against their own mother, but the case was dismissed because the family refuse to cooperate.

Had prosecutors succeeded in getting them to cooperate, or effectively used Colorado’s red flag laws (which are meant to result in guns being confiscated by people deemed to be at risk themselves or others) “five people might still be alive,” Lehman says.

Back in Colorado Springs, Club Q bartender Michael Anderson, 25, is also hoping for change, warning that more people would die until politicians finally banned assault weapons in the US.

Photographs of victims of a mass shooting at a gay nightclub are displayed at a memorial on November 22 in Colorado.CREDIT:AP

Last month, he watched in horror as a gunman walked into his safe haven and opened fire. That gunman, Anderson Lee Aldrich has since been charged with 305 crimes, including first-degree murder, attempted murder and “bias-motivated” offences.

As Anderson told Congress last week, “hate speech turns into hate action, and hate action almost took my life from me.”

“The time to do something is now.”

RIP

 

RIP

Trinidad & Tobago's calypsonian Black Stalin, the quintessential ‘Caribbean Man,’ dies at 81

[Stalin was] 'a very different kind of calypsonian'

Written byJanine Mendes-Franco

Posted 28 December 2022  

Photo of the Trinbagonian calypsonian Leroy ‘Black Stalin’ Calliste, by triniwebdiva on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

There's a saying that when elders die, it's as if a library has been burned to the ground. That loss is compounded when the elder in question is a griot, a master storyteller who is a repository of a culture and a virtuoso of the oral tradition. On December 28, Trinidad and Tobago experienced such a loss when veteran calypsonian Leroy Calliste, better known by his sobriquet “Black Stalin,” died at the age of 81.

Best known for penning and performing songs examining issues of colonialism and oppression, his endearing personality and stage presence, combined with bitingly witty lyrics and danceable melodies, made him a favourite both within the calypso fraternity and with the large audiences that would turn out to see him.

Born in south Trinidad on September 24, 1941, Calliste participated in limbo dancing and steelpan playing in his youth, getting his start in the calypso arena at the age of 17. He joined his first calypso tent, the Southern Brigade, three years later, and never looked back. By the 1960s, once the calypsonian Lord Blakie — observing his style and potential — gave him his moniker (as was the custom), Stalin's star was on the rise. He joined the legendary calypsonian Lord Kitchener's Calypso Revue tent in 1967 and reached the finals of that year's Calypso Monarch competition.

He would go on to win the coveted Calypso Monarch title for the first time in 1979 with his classics “Caribbean Man” and “Play One,” an ode to steelpan and calypso pioneers. Stalin repeated the feat on four additional occasions: in 1985 (“Ism Schism” and “Wait Dorothy Wait”), 1987 (“Mr. Panmaker” and “Bun ‘Dem”), 1991 (“Look on the Bright Side” and “Black Man Feelin’ to Party”) and 1995 (“In Times” and “Tribute To Sundar Popo,” a chutney soca tune that boldly fused Indian and African musical traditions).

He also won the Calypso King of the World title in 1999, a global event at which, in its inaugural competition in 1985, Stalin placed second to The Mighty Sparrow, the undisputed Calypso King of the World. In the mid 1990s, Stalin signed with Barbadian Eddy Grant's Ice Records label, releasing his “Rebellion” album in 1994 and “Message to Sundar” the following year.

On October 31, 2008, Stalin became Dr. Leroy Calliste when the St. Augustine, Trinidad campus of the University of the West Indies presented him with an honorary doctorate for his contributions to calypso music, a fitting follow-up to the national award, the Hummingbird Medal (Silver), conferred upon him by the government in 1987 in recognition of his cultural contributions.

Two days before his 73rd birthday, in September 2014, Black Stalin suffered a stroke after performing at a charity show in south Trinidad. Despite making some progress, he would never again return to the stage in full force.

Throughout his long and vibrant career, Stalin always managed to put a highly original, intelligent spin on the issues of the day. He was a fiercely independent thinker and lyricist who called it as he saw it. “Wait Dorothy Wait,” for instance, was a brilliant tune that promised his fans he would one day write them a light-hearted, smutty calypso — but only after serious social issues like corruption, inequity and poverty were addressed. The song, which was both danceable and deep, showcased his creative range and defended his right to sing about topics of social relevance.

His 1979 hit “Caribbean Man” (also known as “Caribbean Unity”), created some controversy across the region, as it addressed the ever-elusive concept of Caribbean integration. The National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago put it in context:

Even today, the song is still brought up in debates around Caribbean integration because the challenges of regional unity are not new. Consider the relevance of these lyrics […]: ‘Look a man who don’t know his history/can’t form no unity. How can a man who don’t know his roots/form his own ideology?’

The late Trinidadian journalist Terry Joseph noted back in 2001 that Stalin was always “a very different kind of calypsonian,” with his many victories always coming “in spectacular fashion” against a field of veritable calypso heavyweights. He mastered everything from party songs to social commentary, love songs to political picong:

Stalin abrogated unto himself the burden of representing the views of the oppressed. His social and political commentaries never settle for banal reportage, but provide insights as to how repair can be effected, or at least suggest ways to help arrest slippage.

His disarming smile and gentle manner mask a razor-sharp wit, one that has conspired with a bag of memorable and highly interactive songs, to help him win fans the world over.

Indeed, Stalin travelled widely, performing in Europe, North America and throughout the Caribbean — and despite his busy schedule, was a dedicated family man to his wife Patsy and their three children. Upon hearing the news of his death, netizens began sharing their condolences on various social media channels, expressing gratitude for “the music and the memories.”

Facebook user and former journalist Neil Giuseppi noted that “a legend has left us,” while deejay Jus Jase bade farewell to “a true icon in Calypso.”

Fellow calypsonian Austin Lyons, better known as Superblue, posted:

This man was a king he sing and performed and always did his best.

Superblue's daughter, soca star Fay-Ann Lyons, added:

Walk in glory. Fly high. […] Another icon has left us with his amazing music and memories. #BlackStalin

There were also many tributes on Twitter:

Soca star Bunji Garlin also tweeted:

Stalin's music was timeless and effortlessly appealing to younger generations, as was the case this past November 21, when his classic tune “We Can Make It” was sung during the opening ceremony of the 11th Commonwealth Youth Parliament at the Red House in Port of Spain, the seat of Trinidad and Tobago's parliament.

For the singer's 80th birthday in 2021, Stalin became the first recipient of the Legacy Award from Presentation College (San Fernando), one of the most prestigious secondary schools in south Trinidad. At the ceremony, fellow calypso practitioners spoke of how much they valued both his mentorship and friendship, while Minister of Culture Randall Mitchell acknowledged Stalin's contribution to the cultural landscape of the country.

Stalin was valued as much for the quality of person he was as for the music he sang, a rare combination that makes him truly deserving of the title “icon.”

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In Mexico, legal struggle to free women jailed for abortion continues

Even though Mexico's Supreme Court decriminalized abortion last year, hundreds of women remain in prison under outdated anti-abortion state laws, advocates said.

Demonstrators clash with police during an abortion-rights protest in Mexico City, marking International Safe Abortion Day on Sept. 28, 2022.

Carlos Tischler / Eyepix Group/Future Publishing via Getty 

Dec. 28, 2022, 10:22 AM MST / Source: Associated Press
By Associated Press

MEXICO CITY — About 200 women are still in prison in Mexico under outdated anti-abortion state laws even though the Supreme Court decriminalized abortion last year, advocates said.

Some of these women suffered miscarriages and never had an abortion procedure, advocates said. Yet they are still being punished under many state laws that consider abortion to be a form of homicide.

The laws even applied to women who haven’t had an abortion, but who suffered miscarriages.

The slow legal process to free women who are still imprisoned made some progress this month when Aurelia García Cruceño, a 23-year-old Indigenous woman who was just released from prison after three years for having a miscarriage. But many more women remain in jail for seeking abortions, which is no longer a criminal offense.

García Cruceño grew up in a Nahua indigenous community in one of the poorest mountain regions of Guerrero state. In 2019, a local village official raped her and she became pregnant. She went to live with relatives in the Guerrero city of Iguala, where she was taken to a hospital for bleeding.

She was given a blood transfusion and miscarried, and then was shocked to find herself handcuffed to the hospital bed. A police officer told her she was charged with a form of homicide.

Even though Nahuatl is her native language, she was forced to sign legal documents in Spanish.

“I was very sad, with a lot anxiety,” García Cruceño said. In prison, she practiced Spanish with fellow inmates, who she said encouraged her.

“One woman gave me some advice I’ll never forget,” she said. “’In here, you have to be strong, you have to be brave,” the woman told her.

June 2021: Mexico Supreme Court decriminalizes abortion

SEPT. 23, 2021   04:08

Marina Reyna Aguilar, president of the Guerrero Association Against Violence Against Women, said García Cruceño’s case was illustrative of what often happens to young and poor Indigenous women.

“There are a lot of cases like Aurelia’s,” said Reyna Aguilar. In Guerrero in 2022, there were 108 women murdered and 12 cases of femicide — cases of women and girls killed because of their gender.

Guerrero is one of Mexico’s 26 states where changes have still not been made to state legal codes following the Supreme Court ruling in September. Abortion was first legalized in the capital of Mexico City in 2007.

Ten of Mexico’s 32 states have decriminalized abortion — most of them in just the past three years. Even in some of those 10 states, for example Oaxaca, abortion-rights activists say they face persistent challenges in trying to make abortion safe, accessible and government-funded.

Even as the decriminalization drive progresses, abortion-rights activists said that government authorities are doing too little to raise awareness about abortion access and help low-income women afford the procedure. Only a few days ago, the Ministry of Health published guidelines for abortions in public clinics.

“There is a need to strengthen those institutions that have the legal mandate to defend the rights of women,” Reyna Aguilar said.

A coalition of human rights groups has now filed constitutional injunctions in five of Mexico’s 32 states, seeking to get authorities to identify and act on similar state violations of the national ruling.

In García Cruceño’s case, it wasn’t until Dec. 20, after she had spent three years in prison, that the subject came up in President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s daily press briefing. The president promised to look into the case.

That night, a judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence to continue holding García Cruceño. She was freed.

Now, she says it surprises her to wake up at home, not in a prison cell.

“It feels strange,” García Cruceño said. “I still cannot believe it when I wake up and see my mother.”

García Cruceño has decided to resume her high school studies; she hopes to become a teacher one day. And she hopes her case will help others in confinement.

“I don’t want anyone to go through what I did,” she said. “Nobody should remain silent. They have to speak out about what happened to them.”
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Shiba inu who inspired ‘doge’ meme and cryptocurrency gravely ill

By Natalie O'Neill
December 28, 2022

Kabosu is 17-years-old.Instagram/kabosumama

The adorable Shiba Inu who inspired the “doge meme” that spread to everything from a controversial cryptocurrency to British soccer jerseys is gravely ill with leukemia and liver disease, her owner said Wednesday.

The 17-year-old dog, Kabosu, stopped “eating and drinking voluntarily” on Christmas Eve and was diagnosed with chronic lymphoma leukemia and cholangiohepatitis, her owner Atsuko Sato, of Sakura, Japan said on Instagram.

Kabosu is “in a very dangerous condition” and was placed on antibiotics after she appeared to be jaundiced, said Sato, who thanked her fans for their support and said she’s getting “power” from them.

The sweet-faced pooch — who became the poster dog for the Elon Musk-backed satirical cryptocurrency Dogecoin — first became an internet star when a hilariously wide-eyed photo of her folding her paws and looking anxious went viral in 2010.

The Kabosu was placed on medication after a leukemia diagnosis.Instagram/kabosumama

Two computer programmers introduced an alternative cryptocurrency dubbed Dogecoin as a spoof on Bitcoin in 2013.Getty Images
The sweet-faced pooch became the poster dog for the Elon Musk-backed satirical cryptocurrency Dogecoin.Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Owner Sato thanked her fans for their support and said Kabosu is getting “power” from them.Instagram/kabosumama

Kabosu is “in a very dangerous condition” and was placed on antibiotics after she appeared to be jaundiced, said Sato.Instagram/kabosumama

The meme features the dog’s would-be inner monologue floating next to her head with phrases such as “so scare,” “concern” and “what you doing.”

Her furry mug later appeared in marketing by Oreo, popped up in the Stockholm subway system, and was printed on England’s Watford Football Club jerseys.
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Two computer programmers then introduced an alternative cryptocurrency dubbed Dogecoin as a spoof on Bitcoin in 2013. But its value shot up by 100% when billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk cryptically tweeted “dogecoin barking at the moon” in April 2021, signaling to followers it may have real value.

Kabosu has stopped eating voluntarily and is on medication.Instagram/kabosumama

Kabosu’s image also appeared in new memes that went viral in the 2020s along with an image tweeted by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, thanking supporters for military funds with a photoshopped image of the dog dressed as a soldier.

TIME TO SAY GOODBYE

Protest in front of the French Ministry of Justice

In front of the French Ministry of Justice, activists demanded that the deadly attack on the Kurdish community in Paris be classified as a terrorist attack.

Wednesday, 28 Dec 2022,

Three Kurdish activists were killed and three others injured in the armed attack on 23 December on the Ahmet Kaya Cultural Centre, a Kurdish restaurant and a Kurdish-run barbershop on Rue d'Enghien in the tenth arrondissement of Paris. The victims of the targeted attack are Evîn Goyî (Emine Kara), a member of the KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) Executive Council, YPJ (Women’s Defense Units) veteran in the fight against ISIS and leading representative of the Kurdish women's movement, musician Mîr Perwer (M. Şirin Aydın) and long-time activist Abdurrahman Kızıl.

The assassin, William Mallet, has been arrested for murder with racist motives. The Kurdish community, as well as many politicians and representatives of various organisations, oppose the theory of a confused lone perpetrator and demand that the public prosecutor's office, which is responsible for terrorist offences, conduct the investigation.

To reiterate this demand, demonstrators took to the streets again today in Paris. A banner reading "Ten years after 9 January, the Turkish state has once again murdered three of our friends in Paris" was unfurled in the Place de l'Opéra near the French Ministry of Justice. On 9 January 2013, Kurdish female activists Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Şaylemez were shot dead by a Turkish contract killer in the heart of Paris. To this day, no one has been held accountable for this massacre.

Speaking at the protest on behalf of the Kurdish Democratic Council in France (CDK-F), Berivan Firat said: "Our friends have been murdered in the middle of Paris. The Ministry of Justice is right next to us. Sara, Rojbîn and Ronahî were murdered ten years ago. We have repeated it several times; as long as this massacre is not solved, Kurds are not safe. And now Kurds have been murdered again. We are told that it was a racist attack. But we do not believe that. It is rather a terrorist attack on the Kurdish community."

Many Kurdish musicians took part in the action with their instruments, and songs were performed after the speeches. On Thursday, Kurdish artists plan to protest in front of the French Ministry of Culture.

KCK: Turkey will be held to account for its policy of genocide and colonialism

The KCK said that the 2nd Paris massacre was a continuation of the January 9 Paris massacre and the Roboski massacre and added that Turkey will be held to account for its policy of genocide.

ANF
BEHDINAN
Wednesday, 28 Dec 2022, 07:49

The KCK Executive Council Co-Presidency issued a statement on the 11th anniversary of the Roboski massacre, on 28 December 2011, in which 34 Kurds were killed by the Turkish state.

The statement reads as follows: "The Roboski massacre is one of the dozens of massacres against Kurds carried out on the basis of Kurdish enmity and genocide. These massacres clearly reveal the anti-Kurdish character of the Turkish state. In Roboski [village in North Kurdistan/East Turkey], 34 Kurdish civilians were targeted and massacred in a brutal and cruel manner. This massacre, which constitutes a crime of genocide and requires trial and accountability, has so far not been subjected to any investigation whatsoever. On the contrary, the state and the government have tried to legitimize the massacre. Tayyip Erdoğan justified the massacre of 34 Kurdish civilians and openly justified it. So how is it that in the 21st century, in front of the eyes of the whole world, Kurds are being massacred without any concern, and – as if that was not enough – this massacre is being justified and not subjected to any accountability? All this can only be explained by the character of the Turkish state. This state has an anti-Kurdish mentality and character. As a result, it considers killing, massacring and carrying out a genocide against the Kurds as the right and necessary thing to do. In reality, there is only one law in the Turkish state, and that is the Kurdish genocide law. In the mentality and practice of the Turkish state, it does not constitute a crime to kill Kurds, but not killing them is considered a crime instead. A Kurd can only be allowed to live when he renounces his Kurdish identity and thus ceases to be himself. Otherwise, Kurds are not given the chance to live. When Kurds want to be themselves, to live their language, identity, culture and will freely, they are targeted and annihilated. This is what happened in Roboski. The Turkish state targeted and massacred 34 people without any concern when it was convinced that they had a sense of freedom and patriotism.

Perpetrating and continuing the Kurdish genocide constitutes the prerequisite to gaining power and to remaining in power in Turkey. The Roboski massacre clearly reveals this reality. The AKP and its head, the fascist dictator Erdogan, have also resorted to this path and have shown an attitude of coming to power and maintaining it by intensifying the Kurdish genocide day by day.

Today, Kurdish enmity and genocide is being carried out by the fascist AKP-MHP government. Since the establishment of the AKP-MHP alliance, the Kurdish genocide policy has been carried out in the form of the most comprehensive occupation attacks on the basis of the Misak-i Milli plan [National Pact]. Attacks and massacres are being carried out in the four parts of Kurdistan and wherever Kurds are found. This policy is being implemented from North to South Kurdistan, from Şengal [Sinjar] to Maxmûr, Rojava and Europe. The most recent example of this is the second Paris massacre. This massacre constitutes a continuation of the January 9, 2013 massacre in Paris and the Roboski massacre. The Roboski massacre is also a continuation of previous massacres. All attacks, occupations and massacres are based on the goal to complete the Kurdish genocide.

Stopping the Kurdish genocide and holding those responsible for the massacres to account can only be achieved through the destruction of the fascist AKP-MHP government that continues the Kurdish genocide today. This can only be realized by increasing the struggle even more. Exposing the massacres and achieving the liberation of the Kurdish people and the democratization of Turkey is only possible with the destruction of the fascist AKP-MHP government. Therefore, we would like to state once again that the fascist Turkish state, especially the fascist Erdoğan-Bahçeli duo, will definitely pay for all the genocide crimes they have committed. The patriotic people of Kurdistan and their friends will succeed in their struggle for freedom, justice and democracy and will hold genocidal colonialism to account. On this basis, we call on our people and the democratic forces of the world to increase the struggle for democracy, freedom and justice."

PKK: Paris massacre was planned and carried out by MIT

The Executive Committee of the PKK blames the Turkish state and its secret service MIT for the new massacre in Paris, stating that it was an act of revenge for the defeat of the Turkish army in the Zap region.

ANF
BEHDINAN
Wednesday, 28 Dec 2022

On 25 November, guerrillas in the Zap region in Southern Kurdistan began an offensive which led to a partial withdrawal of the Turkish army. The bitter defeat for the AKP/MHP regime has been accompanied by a wave of repression in Turkey and Northern Kurdistan. The PKK also sees the massacre of 23 December in Paris, in which Emine Kara (Evîn Goyî), Şirîn Aydın (Mîr Perwer) and Abdurrahman Kızıl were shot dead in front of the Ahmet Kaya Cultural Centre, as an act of revenge by the Turkish state.

The PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) Executive Committee statement on the triple murder of Kurdish activists in Paris includes the following:

"We have learned from the statement of the People's Defence Forces (HPG) Press Centre on 25 December that the fascist AKP/MHP dictatorship has withdrawn its forces from many positions east and west of the Zap, a region it has been attacking and trying to occupy since 14 April. For eight months, the Turkish army took heavy blows in the face of HPG and YJA Star resistance. It could not even recover its thousands of dead and doused many with petrol and burnt them. Although the Turkish army used all kinds of prohibited weapons and poison gas, it could not withstand the guerrillas' blows. Despite these war crimes, it had to flee without even turning around. The plans of the AKP/MHP fascism to crush the guerrillas and occupy the Medya Defense Zones were doomed to failure from the beginning. They broke down in the eighth month of the war, as the army was not able to withstand the revolutionary guerrilla operations that started from 25 November. As a result, the Turkish army withdrew from dozens of positions.

"A PROOF OF THE VICTORY OF THE GUERRILLA"

This situation undoubtedly means that the HPG and YJA Star guerrillas have won a historic victory. It is proof of the victory of the guerrilla resistance. After the defeat in February 2008, this is the second major defeat of the Turkish army in the Zap region. Just as the defeat of Kobanê was the beginning of the end for the fascist ISIS hordes, the defeat in Zap is the beginning of the end for AKP/MHP fascism, which is fraternized with ISIS. The AKP/MHP fascism, which was defeated by the guerrilla in the Zap, will be defeated by the democratic politics in Northern Kurdistan and Turkey and thrown on the rubbish heap of history.

"CONGRATULATIONS TO THE GUERRILLA"

On this basis, we salute the guerrillas in Zap, Avaşîn and Metîna who have brought such a historic victory to our patriotic people and progressive humanity. We congratulate the HPG and YJA Star Central Command and all guerrilla fighters for this historic triumph and wish them continued success and victory. We remember the brave martyrs of this historic resistance and victory with respect, love and gratitude. They are the pride of our people and of all humanity. They are the creators and representatives of the new free life on the Apoist freedom line. As long as women's freedom, free Kurds and free humanity exist, our heroic martyrs will live on as immortal symbols of free humanity.

REVENGE ACTIONS

Since 25 November, we have seen that the AKP/MHP dictatorship, faced with its defeat by the guerrillas, has resorted to revenge actions against the civilian population and especially women's structures. At the same time, the isolation on Imrali has been tightened and the dungeons in Turkey have been transformed into torture and murder centres. The dictatorship has moved to terrorist attacks up to massacres in Northern Kurdistan, Turkey and abroad. It is clear that the banning of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and the attacks on the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), the arrest of the free press representatives and patriotic artists, the repression, torture and arrest of women who fight for freedom are part of this attack. The attack on the Ahmet Kaya Cultural Centre in Paris on 23 December and the despicable murder of comrade Evîn Goyî, a very valuable activist of our party who was a member of the Executive Council of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), and two Kurdish patriots named Abdurrahman Kızıl and Mîr Perwer are vile attacks of the AKP/MHP regime in the face of its defeat in the Zap region.

"THE REGIME FEARS OUR PEOPLE AND OUR FRIENDS ABROAD AS WELL"

It is quite clear that the fascist AKP/MHP criminals, who could not stand up to the freedom guerrillas of Kurdistan and suffered defeat after defeat, are trying to take it out on our civilian population and especially the women fighting for freedom. As the regime in Kurdistan cannot achieve results, our people are attacked abroad. So, the government is afraid of our people and our friends abroad who are united with the guerrilla and popular resistance in our country. It is also very afraid of the vanguards of the freedom struggle. In the face of this, the government is more and more in a process of collapse every day.

"THE PARIS MASSACRE WAS PLANNED AND IMPLEMENTED BY MIT"

As a movement and a people, we know very well that the massacre of 23 December is a continuation of the massacre of 9 January 2013 in Paris. Those who murdered comrades Sara, Rojbîn and Ronahî in Paris on 9 January 2013 murdered comrade Evîn Goyî and two Kurdish patriots in Paris ten years later, on 23 December 2022. The decision for this massacre was made and it was ordered by Tayyip Erdoğan's government. The massacre was planned and carried out by MIT under Hakan Fidan. It is not important here who the shooter was and how he was prepared. The situation of the shooter is also similar. He was obviously very well prepared. Trying to portray this incident differently is futile. The Kurdish people and the democratic public will never believe or accept the efforts to distort the truth. The current French government must recognize this fact and expose the real culprits, bring them to justice and hold them accountable. It must know how to guarantee the safety of the representatives of the Kurdish people in France who fought heroically against ISIS and protected the French people from this scourge. If the massacre of 9 January 2013 had been investigated in a genuine, fair trial, the massacre of 23 December would certainly not have taken place. The absence of a genuine investigation into the massacre of 23 December will leave the door open for new massacres. This fact places a significant responsibility on the French state and government.

"WE SALUTE THE PEOPLE WHO FLOCKED TO PARIS"

Our people and our friends have fulfilled their responsibility as a democratic society. They flocked to Paris in the face of the massacre and stood up wholeheartedly for the martyrs. Through their extremely prudent and level-headed behaviour, they were able to thwart all kinds of attempts at provocation. We salute this very conscious and organised attitude and behaviour of our people and our friends. We are convinced that they will continue their actions for freedom and democracy until the massacre is cleared up and the fascist gangs of murderers who have taken up residence in Paris and other areas of Europe are exposed.

"OUR REVENGE IS CERTAIN"

We remember our martyrs in the second Paris massacre with respect, love and gratitude and share the pain of their families and our entire people. Comrade Evîn Goyî, this beautiful and brave daughter of Botan, dedicated her whole life to the struggle for freedom on the Apoist line of sacrifice. She committed herself wholeheartedly to the freedom of the Kurdish people and women and was always at the forefront of the freedom struggle. She made valuable contributions to the fight against the scourge of humanity, the fascist ISIS mercenaries. By fighting, she became free, by liberating herself, she became beautiful, and she was loved by our people and her comrades. As a party and a people, we will always honour the memory of this precious friend, and we will achieve her goals by avenging her.

"WE WILL ALWAYS BE VIGILANT AND PREPARED"

It is very clear: as a movement and a people, as women and youth, as the guerrilla, we will always be vigilant. As they say; the water may be still, but the enemy does not sleep! We will always be vigilant and cautious against the deceitful, insidious and murderous enemy. We will be vigilant and guard against all kinds of lies, tricks and deceptions in the special war. All this applies to our people and their friends abroad as well as to all four parts of Kurdistan. In the memory of the martyrs of Paris, we must always be awake, organised, prepared and militant. We must develop our struggle for the physical freedom of Leader Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] much more in all fields.

We remember once again with respect our Parisian martyrs and declare that we will always keep them alive in our struggle for freedom, which leads from victory to victory. We call upon all our people and their friends to carry out their tasks even more strongly on this basis and to further intensify our struggle to overthrow fascism and break the isolation in all fields!"

Egyptians told to eat chicken feet in eerie echoing of 2018 dystopian novel

Thaer Mansour
Egypt - Cairo
28 December, 2022

In 2018 novel 'utopia', there is no middle class. The class live in an isolated, gated city while the poor eat chicken feet in 2023.

In his novel "Utopia," Ahmed Khaled Tawfik predicted that the poor would eat chicken feet in 2023. [Getty]

Late Egyptian novelist Ahmed Khaled Tawfik’s 2008 bestseller 'Utopia' has resurfaced this week after some of the its dystopian predictions for 2023 appear to be materialising in real life.

In the novel, there are only two social classes: a wealthy class and an extremely poor one. The rich live an extravagant life in an isolated gated community, while the poor eat chicken feet and can barely survive. The US dollar in the novel amounts to 30 Egyptian pounds.

Little did Tawfik know that his literary prophecy would come true; that the middle class would diminish, and that the poor become poorer - and be advised to eat chicken feet.

In recent days, Egypt's National Nutrition Institute has been posting on its official Facebook page a number of meals that contain alternatives to chicken and beef.

One poulterer told The New Arab that he sells chicken feet for families that breed dogs, for three to six Egyptian pounds per kilo, depending on the quality.

“Some poor families buy the six pound kilo for it contains more skin to use for cooking broth,” he explained.

In recent months, the prices of meat, poultry and eggs have been rising to the extent that poor and middle-class families have resorted to plant protein sources such as fava beans and lentils, which have also shot up in price.

Egypt's economy has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, years of government austerity measures, and fallout from the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Egypt is the world’s largest wheat importer, and most of its imports come from Russia and Ukraine.

Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund approved a $3 billion support package for Egypt after a series of reforms by the country's central bank began in March, including a currency floating that has seen the Egyptian pound lose 36 per cent of its value to the dollar since then.

Meanwhile, Egyptians were quick to satirise the nutrition institute’s initiative as some shared photocopies of extracts of Tawfik’s novel.

Journalist Wael Kandil cynically wrote on Twitter: “The [Egyptian] people are guilty as they were behind the crisis by getting married and having children. They also eat …meat and chicken while there are chicken feet to eat. These ungrateful people think that they own their savings at the bank. You, people, should not think this way.”



Award-winning novelist Ibrahim Abdel-Meguid could not agree more.

“One has seen a lot during another era, politics, farce, laughter, tears; but…can’t comprehend what’s going on in the country…we reached the point of [talking about] the importance of chicken feet in strengthening the [human] body, muscles, nerves…we [may] find tomorrow a press campaign [promoting] mice’ legs as well,” he sarcastically tweeted.

Meanwhile, prominent political sociologist and intellectual Ammar Ali Hassan posted parts of 'Utopia' mentioning the poor’s chicken feet meals and as the isolated city of the rich, which eerily resembles the New Administrative Capital built outside Cairo.

The project of the new city has been widely criticised for being established through loans that took a toll on the Egyptian economy.

 

Palestinian resistance groups hold joint military drill

TEHRAN, Dec. 28 (MNA) – 

The joint operations room of the Palestinian resistance groups announced today, Wednesday, the large-scale military exercise "Al-Rakan al-Shadid 3" in Gaza.

According to Palestine Al-Yom (Palestine Today), the large military exercise "Al-Rakan al-Shadid 3" was held in the north of the Gaza Strip with the participation of elite fighters.

"This exercise was held in order to assess the reaction speed of the resistance forces in any emergency situation and to test the readiness of the fighters to mobilize and confront the enemy," It is stated in this statement:

"We assure our heroic prisoners that the Palestinian resistance will continue to work day and night until their shackles are broken, and we will try to free every prisoner who is in the enemy's prisons," the resistance groups also emphasized

According to the statement, the exercise included various tactical scenarios and most importantly, an attack behind enemy lines.

The resistance groups held this exercise with live ammunition, during which the operation to capture the Zionist soldiers were simulated.

MNA/5667546

DHS warned of domestic violent extremist threats related to end of Title 42

By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN
Wed December 28, 2022
Source: CNN

The Department of Homeland Security recently warned of potential domestic violent extremist acts related to the anticipated lifting of a Trump-era border restriction, according to a memo obtained by CNN, just days before the termination of those limits was halted by the Supreme Court.

“So far, we have observed calls for attacks targeting primarily migrants and critical infrastructure, but our insight into DVE plotting is constrained by these individuals’ use of online security measures to limit exposure to law enforcement,” reads the memo, dated December 23.

Threats against the United States are increasingly unpredictable and complex amid a host of conspiracy theories, foreign interference and calls for violence.

Grievances over immigration policy and animosity toward immigrants have previously fueled extremist acts, including the 2019 Walmart shooting in El Paso, Texas, that killed 23 people and left another 23 wounded. Authorities said at the time the accused shooter drove to the West Texas border city with the sole intent of killing immigrants and Mexicans.

The December memo obtained by CNN focuses on the lifting of a public health authority known as Title 42, which has been a source of tension between Democrats and Republicans and linked to a surge of migrants at the US-Mexico border.

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the public health order has allowed officials to turn away thousands of migrants encountered along the US southern border, marking an unprecedented break from previous protocols. The Biden administration was initially on track to end Title 42 on December 21 to comply with a lower court order.

In anticipation of the termination of Title 42, DHS observed chatter about potential violence directed toward migrants and other targets. The bulletin, from the department’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis, is dated four days before the Supreme Court said Title 42 will remain in effect while legal challenges play out – a process that will take months.

The December memo cites violent tactics discussed among social media users against migrants, including “firearms attacks, the placement of land mines along migration routes, and luring migrants into trailers to poison them with gas.” Other users discussed shooting electrical substations near the US-Mexico border, likely to disrupt immigration facilities.

“We have not previously observed calls for substation attacks in response to immigration-related concerns, and these recent discussions may stem from widespread media coverage of recent attacks against other substations across the United States, particularly in Moore County, North Carolina,” the memo reads.

CNN has reached out to DHS for comment.

DHS also acknowledges in the memo that domestic violent extremists have historically cited “immigration-related grievances” to justify violence and notes that militia groups have previously interfered with border operations

Depollution of Gold Mining Sites: Phytoremediation, the Miracle Remedy (French)

Country:
BURKINA FASO

According to Dr. Martine Diallo/Koné, Chrysopogon zizainoides is perennial, non-invasive and resistant to pests and bush fires. Image by Swidaya. Burkina Faso, 2022.

Nature, like humans and animals, also uses plants to heal itself. This is the case with phytoremediation, an ecological technology used in the Central-Western and Central-Southern regions of Burkina Faso to clean up an environment damaged by the chemicals used in artisanal and semi-mechanized gold panning.

At noon on Tuesday, December 6, 2022, about fifty people, including a dozen children, some under the age of 10, are jostling each other in the bowels of the earth. The crackling of metal detectors held by teenagers, coupled with the noise of picks and grinders, constitute an infernal background sound for these adventurers from the four corners of Burkina Faso. In the middle of this anthill, which is only the tip of the iceberg, a Caterpillar machine has come to a standstill, its shovel set to bite into the potentially mineral-rich earth.

We are on a section of the Nébia gold panning site, in the commune of Dassa, Sanguié province, nearly 160 km from the capital Ouagadougou, in west central Burkina Faso. "The Caterpillar is not stuck. The truck we have to load had a puncture on the way…", says the driver Seydou Séré, 33, with a cigarette butt in his hand. The native of Ouagadougou, who has been hanging around the site for four years, feels like a "stranger" and says he has no power to chase away the many village kids who swarm the site.

Oumarou Bayili (21), a first-year history student, has been helping his father crush laterite for a month. The risk for him of becoming attached to the present of gold to the detriment of the past of History, is not to be dismissed. But he maintains that he will rejoin the campus as soon as classes are scheduled. After 12 years of activity, "for lack of having found something better", Salifou Bayili, 32 years old, is still working in this "dangerous" place, in view of the deadly landslides that he has seen since the discovery of the gold vein.

If the occupants of the Nebia gold panning site are mainly concerned with the search for the yellow metal and the foreign currency that comes with it, other actors are concerned about the artisanal use of cyanide and other heavy metals that are harmful to humans, the environment and animals. This is the case of the Institute of Research in Applied Sciences and Technologies (IRSAT). In 2020, with the support of the National Fund for Research and Innovation for Development (FONRID), it has implemented on a gold mining site, a technology for "depollution of artisanal and semi-mechanized gold mining sites by phytoremediation.
In Nebia, for the past ten years, young and old have been eagerly searching for gold. Image by Swidaya. Burkina Faso, 2022.
For Etienne Nacoulma, the physiognomy of the Nimbrongo site shows that depollution is underway. Image by Swidaya. Burkina Faso, 2022.
Kougré Sia has been working in cyanidation since 2015 on the Nimbrongo site. Image by Swidaya. Burkina Faso, 2022.

Authors:


Traore Mamadou
CONGO BASIN RJF GRANTEE


Sita Soro
CONGO BASIN RJF GRANTEE

This story excerpt was translated from French. To read the original story in full, visit Sidwaya. You may also view the original story on the Rainforest Journalism Fund website here. Our website is available in English, Spanish, bahasa Indonesia, French, and Portuguese.