Pakistan in a quagmire: Resurgence of terrorism along with its relations with Afghanistan

January 5, 2023
By Safwan Ali


When Taliban took over Kabul in August 2021, a large faction of the Pakistani society including mainstream politicians amused the fact that reins of Kabul had become in control of Taliban. One obvious reason for this felicitation was the much awaited perceived stability in neighboring Afghanistan which had direct impact on Pakistan. The other reason for jubilation in some factions was about the solidarity with regards to the identity of Afghan people. As brotherly nation, perseverance of Afghan people against the scourge of prolonged war, that too against the strongest military alliance, was a matter of inspiration for many in Pakistan. However, the formal response of the government was very much aligned with the global response. Islamabad did not officially recognize the interim government of Taliban. The eventful month of August, 2021 was followed by some key developments.

Considering the geo-political change in the neighboring Afghanistan, Pakistan started to rethink its strategy at the western border. Through a backdoor channel, Islamabad approached the Taliban government to ensure the security of its western border from the hideouts of TTP living in Afghanistan. In short, Pakistan wanted the Taliban government to take strong action against TTP. However, in response to that, Kabul with TTP onboard, came up with a “quid pro quo plus” approach. It urged the Pakistan’s government to have a formal agreement with TTP which later on proceeded through a back door channels. In the agreement, TTP agreed for so called cease-fire along and inside Pakistan’s territory in exchange for cessation of Pakistan’s military operation against TTP. Moreover, the strangest of demands that Pakistan agreed to, was providing, the previously expelled TTP associates, with permission to come back and reside in districts of the tribal area. On the other hand, second critical development following the fall of Kabul, was Pakistan’s stance in the international community with respect to humanitarian concerns in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s foreign minister repeatedly urged the International community to establish a meaningful dialogue and engagement with the fragile state of Afghanistan to help the people of Afghanistan. He frequently argued that alienation of a rouge actor prompts even harsher human rights violation by that actor. Hence the world should not neglect Afghanistan and the people of Afghanistan Rather, it should accept the reality and engage with Afghanistan.

However, it is extremely unfortunate to write that, both the aforementioned developments, gave rise to a Pro-Taliban sentiment vis-à-vis Pakistan. Nevertheless, the same sentiment has often been misrepresented in the western literature, and the same narrative has also been used to demonize Pakistan at the international forums. However, in reality Pakistan had been the most affected country by terrorism and it had been fighting against the scourge of terrorism since over a decade now. What is even more unfortunate is that in the recent past, TTP announced to resume its nefarious terrorist activities in Pakistan. As a result, a spike in terrorist events specifically in KPK province has been witnessed. The December 21st,2022 military operation is a testament to aggravating law and order situation in the country, in which a group of 25 TTP associated terrorists had been killed, while holding a CTD compound, hostage in Bannu.

Because there is a resurgence of terrorism coupled with the international criticism due to perceived relations with Afghanistan under Taliban. “Pakistan is appeared to be in a quagmire.”

Now, what Pakistan can pursue to undo this, is to redevise a comprehensive plan of action against terrorism in KPK and former FATA. It should also formulate a clear strategy at the western border not to tolerate any presence as well as influx of militants from Afghanistan. Moreover, for future, the state of Pakistan should also learn from the abysmal agreement that it went in with a Non-State Actor (NSA). For NSA’s an agreement is nothing more than a concealing tool for a limited survival. It is because of the three reasons. First, an agreement is always done between two responsible actors; terrorist group like TTP has no burden of responsibility neither in a domestic setting nor at the international level. Whereas, a sovereign state has immense responsibility at the domestic and international level. Second, an agreement between two states holds significance because of the perceived repute in the international system, Whereas, for a non-state actor like TTP, International reputation never comes into the equation as such groups are already infamous for their terrorist agenda. Third, States are mostly bound to stick fast to their bilateral or multilateral agreements, because of the fear of diplomatic and economic sanctions once they pull back from the agreement. Whereas in case of Non-state actors, there exist no such incentive to remain in the agreement.

Considering all the three reasons, it is quite evident that engaging with TTP for so called ceasefire agreement was neither viable nor will it ever be, particularly because, as a state, Pakistan would have to offer a lot in exchange to absolutely nothing. Moreover, because of such an agreement, Pakistan would itself invite criticism from the already skeptical international community. Hence for Pakistan, no tolerance policy against terrorism is the only option possible in order to lower domestic and international cost simultaneously.

Quarry workers stumble upon remains of rare 16th-century English ship, researchers say

Layla Nelson

January 3, 2023




The remains of a rare 16th-century ship were unexpectedly unearthed along the English coast by quarry workers last year, archaeologists said.

Workers from CEMEX, a building materials company, were dredging a quarry near Kent in April when they came across the remains of the wooden ship and contacted experts, according to a December 30 press release from Wessex Archaeology.

“Very few English-built ships from the 16th century survive, making this a rare find from a fascinating period in maritime history,” said archaeologists.

The remains, including 100 English oak logs dating from 1558 to 1580, were found about a quarter of a mile from what is now the coast, archaeologists said. Experts believe the site was once on the coast and that the ship was likely wrecked or discarded.

The wooden remains are “really significant” because they allow for a broader understanding of trade and shipbuilding during the Elizabethan era, which lasted from 1558 to 1603, archaeologists said.



The era was a transitional period for shipbuilding, as shipbuilders were thought to have moved from a traditional building practice — like that observed with Viking ships — to a multi-part process of building the inner frame first, archaeologists said.

After the ship has been photographed and laser scanned, it will be reburied in the quarry so the silt can continue to support the wooden beams, archaeologists say.

“Finding a late 16th-century ship preserved in the sediment of a quarry was an unexpected but very welcome find,” said Andrea Hamel, marine archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology, in the press release.

A spokesman for Wessex Archeology did not immediately respond to a McClatchy News request for comment.

Million-year-old skull could hold key to understanding evolution, Chinese experts say

Layla Nelson

January 4, 2023


More than a million years ago, the first humans—upright creatures with long legs, short arms, and large brains—roamed the earth for the first time.

Now Chinese experts say they have unearthed the most complete skull fossil of one of these humans, known as Homo erectus, from about a million years ago. And it could contain important details about human evolution.

It took more than six months to fully unearth the fossil.

The fossil was discovered in the northern region of China’s Hubei province at the Xuetang Liangzi site, which the National Administration for Cultural Heritage says dates to the Paleolithic period. The skull was found in May, but it took experts until December 3 to safely and fully excavate it.

Two damaged ancient Homo erectus skulls were previously found at the site in 1989 and 1990, the administration said. These fossils were named “Yunxian Man”.

As of 2021, the Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology began a comprehensive search of the site for additional relics. Archaeologists found the third skull about 115 feet from where the first two were discovered, the administration said.

The discovery fills an existing gap in evolutionary understanding, Gao Xing, head of the archaeological team at the site and a researcher at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, told Xinhua News.

When the skull was unearthed, experts said they left a few inches of sediment for further sampling and study. The bone will now undergo further testing as researchers work to understand early humans and evolution.

Google Translate was used to translate press releases from the National Cultural Heritage Administration and the Institute of Archaeology.

Sacrificial pit – over 5,300 years old – containing jade relics found in China. Just look

Layla Nelson

January 4, 2023




An ancient sacrificial pit was recently unearthed in China along with hundreds of Neolithic artifacts including jade tools and clay vessels.

The discoveries were made at the ruins of Lingjiatan, an ancient archaeological site on the Yangtze River in China’s Anhui province, the Anhui Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology said in a Dec. 9 press release.

Researchers first came across the site in 1985, which is surrounded by two concentric moats. The settlement is between 5,300 and 5,800 years old.

The largest piece of jade unearthed at the Lingjiatan Relics site

It has been excavated five times over the years, and the most recent excavation, from October 2021 and April 2022, focused on a 327-square-meter area near a cemetery, archaeologists said.


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One of the most important finds was a sacrificial pit about 13 feet long and a foot deep. It was filled with baked mud bricks, broken stone tools, and several shards of bone.

The exact purpose of the pit is not clear, although Neolithic Chinese may have burned jade as part of a ceremonial sacrifice, according to Antiquity magazine.

A dragon-shaped jade discovered at the Lingjiatan Relics site

In addition to the pit, archaeologists exhumed over 400 artifacts including jade beads, bracelets, combs and other accessories. According to the press release, a dragon-shaped jade object was one of the “curiouser” finds.

The newly found jade objects are of great importance for the study of minerals and rituals in prehistoric China, officials said.

In addition, five Han Dynasty tombs dating from 206 B.C. to AD 220.

In addition to sacrificial pits and jade jewelry, previous excavations have uncovered altars and house foundations, according to the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology of Anhui Province.

Google Translate and Baidu Translate were used to translate the Anhui Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology press release.

Ankara: The Officious Intermedler in Paris Attacks Against Kurds

by Seth J. Frantzman
The Jerusalem Post
December 27, 2022

This is an abridged version of an article published originally under the title "Turkey Exploits Paris Attack on Kurds While Claiming to Be 'Anti-Terror.'"

Protests erupted in Paris following the murder of three people at a Kurdish cultural center on December 23, 2022.

A 69-year-old Frenchman has been charged with killing three people in Paris last week.

The attack targeted a Kurdish culture center, and three Kurds were murdered. Even though government authorities were quick to condemn the attack at the highest levels, there were days of protests and some riots and clashes after the killing.

Turkey's ruling party and pro-government media have led a campaign to exploit the attack, not sympathizing with the victims but condemning the protesters as "terrorism supporters."

Turkey has also summoned France's ambassador, claiming protesters spread anti-Turkish propaganda. This is a new type of exploitation, where an extremist murders members of a minority, and then a foreign country condemns the minority and bashes the country where it took place.

This is the latest incident of extremism in France. In the past, migrants have been attacked in racist assaults, and other people have been attacked by extremists and terrorists. For instance, a kosher deli was targeted in 2015, and media figures, teachers, a priest, a Jewish school and other people and institutions have been attacked in recent years.

Turkish presence in Paris' internal politics

Turkey has meddled in France's internal politics in the past. After a French teacher named Samuel Paty was beheaded by an extremist, Turkey slammed France for "Islamophobia" – in essence, inflaming the tensions after the beheading.

Ankara's new critique of France comes as Turkey has tried to get Sweden and Finland to crack down on dissidents and critics of Ankara. This often results in the targeting of Kurds, especially Kurds on the Left. Sweden and Finland want to join NATO, but Turkey, which is a member of NATO, has prevented them from joining until they agree to crack down on critics of Ankara. Recently, a court in Sweden appeared to prevent a dissident from being extradited.

"The shooting at a Kurdish cultural center and a nearby hairdressing salon on Friday sparked panic in the city's bustling 10th district, home to numerous shops and restaurants and a large Kurdish population," France24 reported. "Hundreds of people marched in Paris on Monday to pay tribute to the three Kurds shot dead."

In contrast to French media and most international coverage of the attack, Turkish media quickly began to criticize the protesters. Turkish pro-government media called the protesters "terrorists." This narrative was picked up by Ankara's Islamist media and online supporters.

Why would Ankara seek to exploit this case in France?

Turkey claims it is fighting "terrorism" even though there is no evidence of the kind of claims Ankara makes. Ankara wants support for a new invasion of Syria. In Syria, Turkey claims to be fighting the "YPG" and "PKK," two Kurdish groups. It claims that the US-backed SDF, another group, is the same as these "terrorists."

This is a kind of Orwellian rhetoric that condemns every critic and group as "terrorists" as a way to excuse targeting them. For instance, after a recent bombing in Istanbul, Turkey carried out dozens of attacks on Syria, even though there was no evidence linking the bombing to Syria.

By quickly using the media to claim any protesters in Paris were "terrorists," Ankara sought to prevent any criticism of Turkey and to prevent Kurds in France from being able to organize a protest.

Ankara fears Kurdish dissidents and any Kurdish groups abroad. It often works to target the Kurdish language, Kurdish music and flags. Ankara also knows that its opponents will sometimes use these events to raise their flags and voices, so it's easier for Ankara to claim "terrorists" are protesting than to try to segment out the organized critics from the innocent average people.

Major media in the West didn't portray the protesters as "terrorists" and generally sympathized with the Kurdish victims, even if some felt the riots were unacceptable.

The danger that Ankara's intervention represents is that Ankara is always willing to exaggerate and even willing to summon ambassadors of European countries, or try to force NATO not to admit democracies like Sweden, in order to force European countries to suppress critics and minorities in the same way that Ankara does at home.

So far, it appears that France's judicial system is doing the right thing and that peaceful demonstrations are now the norm in Paris. However, it should be noted that this incident of Ankara meddling in internal politics in France, just as it tried to do in 2020 with protests in the US, is a new escalation.

Ankara is seeking to exploit issues in Europe and the West to its benefit. Under the guise of claiming to be against "terrorism," it has warped language to an Orwellian degree.

This is a remnant in some ways of the US "global war on terror" and the way countries such as Turkey took this to mean it could do whatever it wants as long as it labels its adversaries "terrorists."

Seth Frantzman is a Ginsburg-Milstein Writing Fellow at the Middle East Forum and senior Middle East correspondent at the Jerusalem Post.

Dream of Normal Life Drives Rohingya Girls to Perilous Sea Voyage
January 04, 2023
Sarah Aziz

An unidentified Rohingya family is seen at their Cox's Bazar shanty in Bangladesh. The family, like many others in the community, has been unable to afford to marry off their oldest daughters, aged 20 and 18. (Noor Hossain/VOA)

Dressed in an embroidered salmon-hued outfit and sparkling silver boots, a girl gazes seriously into the camera. She stands in stark contrast to the dingy background — walls and a roof fashioned out of crisscrossed bamboo sticks and plastic drape sheets.

The photograph is sent to a network of relatives and family friends who forward it to prospective grooms.

The Rohingya Muslim girl, Mubina Khatoon, was 13 on Dec. 2, 2022, when she boarded a Malaysia-bound boat in Bangladesh. Accompanying her were at least 32 more unmarried Rohingya girls and women from refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Hamida Khatoon, Mubina's 20-year-old unmarried aunt, was also with her.

Rohingya refugee Mubina Khatoon, 13, poses for a photograph before boarding a Malaysia-bound boat, In Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Dec. 2, 2022. (Photo courtesy of family, and blurred at family's request)

The boat, belonging to an illegal ferry service operated by human traffickers, has been missing since December 8, along with about 180 passengers aboard, all of them Rohingya Muslim refugees.

In a statement issued on December 25, the United Nations refugee agency, or UNHCR, described the boat as "unseaworthy" and said it had likely sunk at sea, killing everyone on board.

Since the release of the UNHCR statement, gloom has descended on the Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar. More than a million members of the stateless Muslim minority call the ramshackle, congested shanty colony their home.

Mubina's father, Shah Alam, 35, is a day wage laborer. He is one of the hundreds of refugees in the camp who had loved ones aboard the missing boat and are fearing the worst.

"Mubina is the oldest of my four children. I do not earn enough to arrange for a wedding celebration and other necessities for my daughter or sister, here in Bangladesh. So, we decided to send them to the Muslim-majority Malaysia," Alam told VOA in a telephone interview.

"My wife has not eaten in days and keeps weeping since we got the news of the boat drowning. … All of us feel lost and distraught," he said.

His tone brightened, however, when he spoke of his family's dreams about life in Malaysia.

"In the last 10 to 15 years, thousands of young men have traveled to Malaysia from Bangladesh and Myanmar and settled down there with good jobs. They want to marry Rohingya women. A distant cousin in Malaysia said he could easily find grooms for Mubina and Hamida.

"Our girls would be safe and happy there; the economic and living conditions of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are atrocious," Alam said.

The promised land

Several girls have succeeded over the last few years in achieving the Malaysian dream — one of an average life.

Surah Khatoon, whose husband died in Myanmar in 2016, lives in Cox's Bazar now. Her oldest daughter, Sanowara Begum, now 20, married a Rohingya man in Malaysia after her arrival there in January 2021.

"My son-in-law earns well as a construction worker. Sanowara is very happy with him and their son, who is 1 now. Although I miss her often, it consoles me to remember that she is leading a good life now," Khatoon said in a telephone interview. She hopes to send her other children to Malaysia, too.

Rohingya refugee Surah Khatoon sits with her children in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, to speak to her daughter Sanowara Begum — who is in Malaysia— over a video call. Using an illegal boat service, Sanowara reached Malaysia in 2021, got married to a Rohingya man and has been living there ever since. (Mohammed Rezuwan Khan/VOA)

Between 2012 and 2015, a majority of the 100,000 Rohingya who took boats to Malaysia were young men, according to Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan Project, which works to support the heavily persecuted Rohingya population and monitor the community's movements.

"These young men who arrived earlier have by now managed to reimburse their debts for their own journey and to save some money to get married," Lewa said in a telephone interview. So, the men often offer to forgo the customary dowry and pay part or all of the cost of the journey of a bride to join them, she explained.

Soyed Alam, 28, is one such young man who works in a Kuala Lumpur restaurant after having moved to Malaysia from Bangladesh in 2014.

Shyly, Alam said, "I wake up every day hoping to receive news of the arrival of a suitable Rohingya girl in Malaysia from Bangladesh, whom I can marry. … I am past the usual age of marriage by my community's standards. There is a dearth of Rohingya girls in Malaysia, and there are many other expectant men here like me."

Settling down in Malaysia is no simple task for Rohingya refugees, however.

Until recently, the Malaysian government had been issuing UNHCR refugee cards to the Rohingya refugees who came to the country. A UNHCR registered refugee can work freely anywhere. According to the U.N., about 57% of the 181,000 officially registered refugees in Malaysia are Rohingya.

But for the last few months, the UNHCR has not been registering the new Rohingya refugees entering Malaysia, leaving them to enter surreptitiously by way of Indonesia with the help of traffickers.

Most of the Rohingya who have reached Malaysia in the last few months are unregistered refugees under the threat of arrest. They live inconspicuously to avoid police, settling in forest plantations, agricultural lands and rural areas.

No woman's land — or sea

The threats of drowning, dehydration and starvation are not the only ones faced by the Rohingya girls and women undertaking the illegal sea journey. Travel to Malaysia from Bangladesh for the Rohingya involves both sea and land-and-sea routes. Gender-based violence — particularly incidents of sexual abuse on the way — are common.

Most Rohingya girls are vulnerable to sexual abuse because they travel without a guardian, Jaan Mohammed, a refugee in Cox's Bazar, told VOA by telephone.

Fishing boats wait at a harbor near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Human traffickers use such boats to illegally ferry Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. (Noor Hossain/VOA)

"I am aware of many such incidents of abuse. But survivors rarely choose to speak about the abuse, fearing it would jeopardize their marriage prospects," Mohammed said.

"A female relative got married in Malaysia three months after her arrival there. But, only four months after the marriage, she delivered a child. It was later revealed that she had been raped by several men during her land-and-sea journey," he said.

Activist Lewa said that during the sea journey, Rohingya women and girls have been raped or sexually harassed on the boat by crew members but also sometimes by Rohingya smugglers aboard.

She described one such incident of abuse in 2020.

"In that case, some women who landed in Indonesia said that the smuggler on the boat had selected some good-looking girls among female passengers and offered them to the crew for the night," she said.

Even risks of death and sexual abuse are not deterring Rohingya families in Bangladesh from sending their daughters to Malaysia.

Rawshidullah, who like many Rohingya does not use a surname, saw his 16-year-old daughter, Umme Salima, off when she boarded the ill-fated Malaysia-bound boat on December 2.

"We took Salima's photograph before her departure and sent it to a cousin of hers who is married to a Rohingya man in Malaysia. She had promised to arrange for a groom for my daughter. It had been a big relief for our family," he said.

Echoing Rawshidullah's sentiments, Shah Alam accompanied his daughter to the boat to bid her farewell, knowing he might never see her again. The Rohingya have no legal travel documents and cannot return to Myanmar or Cox's Bazar once they leave for another country.

"I knew I would probably never see my daughter in person again," said Rawshidullah. "What I was not prepared for was for her to go missing."

CANADA/QUEBEC COLONY
Rich nations must press Haiti’s elite to resolve crisis: former governor general

By Dylan Robertson The Canadian Press
Posted January 4, 2023 

Haiti remains mired in a political and humanitarian crisis, and the situation seems to only be getting worse. Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations Bob Rae just returned from Haiti, and joins Antony Robart for more on what Canada is going to help – Dec 13, 2022

Former governor general Michaelle Jean says wealthy countries must admit mistakes they’ve made in Haiti and pressure that nation’s elite to find a path out of an ongoing humanitarian crisis.

“What is endangered, at great risk, is the very national sovereignty of this country,” Jean said in French, in an extensive interview with The Canadian Press.

Jean said countries such as Canada need to take responsibility for ushering in debilitating economic policies in Haiti and deporting criminals who have sowed chaos in its capital, Port-au-Prince.

READ MORE: Former Haitian prime minister asks court to overturn Canadian sanctions against him

“We cannot look at all this with fatalism and say that this country is cursed. It is not cursed. It carries within it men and women of very strong will, who have even worked very hard to find a Haitian solution — but who also realize that they cannot achieve it alone.”

Jean was born in Haiti and was the former UNESCO envoy for that country after serving as Canada’s representative of the British monarch from 2005 to 2010.

Violent, feuding gangs have taken over the Haitian capital in recent months, sexually assaulting women and children and curtailing access to health care, electricity and clean water.

Hundreds have been killed and kidnapped by gangs who have filled a power vacuum in Haiti, which has not held elections since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

5:15 Chaos in Haiti: What is Canada’s responsibility?

In July 2021, President Jovenel Moise was assassinated after a crackdown on Haitian democratic institutions that Jean argued the West should have called out, instead of allowing Moise to provide impunity to gangs.

“By destroying the country’s institutions, and even in wanting to manipulate the Constitution to stay in power _ eventually, the monster started to grow much stronger and bigger, and Jovenel Moise himself ended up being swallowed by this monster,” she said.

After his assassination, Canada joined the U.S., France and the UN in recognizing Moise’s unelected ally Ariel Henry as prime minister, who Jean said never had legitimacy in the eyes of the Haitian public.

A year later, as gangs took over the capital, Henry called for an international military intervention to allow for humanitarian aid and to create conditions safe enough to hold an election.

1:34 Trudeau promises $16.5 million in aid to stabilize Haiti as Francophonie summit closes

The U.S. supports the idea, arguing it could stem a growing migration crisis and prevent gangs from destabilizing the entire Caribbean.

Washington has said Canada would be an ideal country to lead such a force. But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has responded that Ottawa will only act based on a political consensus of Haitians.

Jean said that means there must be a deal between Henry and the civil society groups who have demanded his resignation.

She also said she supports the Liberals’ decision to sanction 13 of Haiti’s political and economic elite, saying it was one of the few times the people responsible for human trafficking and arms trade have been called out.

“Now, for the first time that sanctions have been imposed on these individuals, it’s panic for them,” said Jean.

READ MORE: Canada sanctions 2 Haiti cabinet ministers accused of helping violent gangs

The U.S. also sanctioned some of the same people, and Jean argued France should join them in applying pressure.

She also said rich countries need to own up to policies that have sowed instability in Haiti, from economic reforms that led to the collapse of agricultural sectors to turning a blind eye when leaders who support the U.S. undermine civil society.

“Haitians also recognize their own responsibility in this situation, which is bad governance,” Jean said.

She was among dozens of high-profile signatories to an open letter issued this week in French, with the title “Taken hostage, Haiti is dying.”

The letter argues Haiti needs international help to avoid becoming a failed state.

The signatories include Senegalese President Macky Sall, who currently chairs the African Union, former UN under-secretary-general Adama Dieng and the former heads of government of Timor-Leste, Chad, Mali, Nigeria and the Central African Republic.



1:42 Trudeau meets with French-speaking nations in Tunisia amid geopolitical turmoil

The letter notes that virtually the entire Haitian population descends from slaves brought from Africa, and that the country was the first to successfully overthrow a colonial government in 1804.

“The first Black republic, perhaps the most fragile within the family of nations, is short of food, drinking water, fuel, peace, justice,” the letter reads.

When the country ousted the French, Paris imposed a crippling debt to compensate slaveowners. The country faced a series of invasions, corrupt governments and deforestation.

“These factors could only result in a failed state, fed for many decades with the adrenaline of violence and the jolts of anarchy and chaos,” the letter reads.

READ MORE: Haitians want new government but are torn on military intervention, MPs hear

“It is difficult to imagine the resolution of this Gordian knot without outside intervention,” the letter reads, stressing that this might mean support for justice and governance systems instead of a military occupation.

Jean said that could mean building up institutions led by Haitians and providing technical support.

She said she witnessed RCMP and provincial officers provide training to local police that helped them prove more successful at weeding out crime than peers who had been instructed by UN peacekeepers.

“History will not be kind to those who remain inactive or who choose to look elsewhere,” the letter warns.

Proud Boys, far-right groups terrorize New York City drag event

Jesse Thomas

WSWS.ORG

A video showing New York City (NYPD) policemen holding the metro transit fare gates open for several members of the Proud Boys has surfaced on social media, garnering millions of views in the 48-hour period since its posting.

The individual filming the video can be heard questioning the officers’ actions in disbelief, demanding to know if the militia members were being allowed to evade the subway fare by the police.

The video was posted on TikTok on Sunday, and by Tuesday evening it had upwards of a third of a million individual user “likes,” 18,000 comments and 13,000 “shares.” A reposting of the video on Twitter showed 3.4 million more views, along with 13.9 million views of the thread to which it had been attached.

In an example of popular disgust with the collaboration between the police and the political far-right, one commenter wrote, “I’ve literally seen the NYPD chase people [for] fair evasion, this is insane.” Another user added, “cops let their own in.”

The video was filmed after the Proud Boys, along with the ultra-religious, anti-vaccine, anti-LGBTQ Guardians of Divinity, threatened a Drag Queen Story Hour (DSH) event at the Queens Public Library in Jackson Heights on December 29.

Between the two extreme-right organizations, over two dozen members were present at the event, while about 150 counter-demonstrators showed up in protest against the far-right provocateurs. Guardians of Divinity members and Proud Boys hurled slanderous epithets and attempted to intimidate supporters of the event.

Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio rallies in Portland, Oregon, Aug. 17, 2019 [AP Photo/Noah Berger]

Multiple publications reported that a masked neo-Nazi was on the scene, giving a “Heil Hitler” salute. Although the man was allegedly arrested, his identity has not been made public.

Dozens of NYPD police were on hand, ostensibly to hold the two groups of protesters apart, but essentially to protect the fascists.

DSH is a nonprofit organization that sponsors and arranges public events in which drag performers read stories aloud to children. The December 29 event followed similar incidents in New York City and a wave of extreme-right, anti-LGBTQ agitation around the country. Just a few weeks prior, a similar event organized by DSH was picketed by the Guardians of Divinity in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood.

On December 19, both the office and the home of Democratic New York City Councilman Erik Bottcher were attacked and vandalized with homophobic graffiti. Videos posted on social media accounts tied the attack to the Guardians of Divinity. Bottcher and Hudson are both openly gay politicians who have been outspoken about their sexuality in their political campaigns.

Earlier this fall, a similar demonstration was staged against a DSH event and was subsequently followed by an attack on the offices of Democratic City Councilman Shekar Krishnan, who represents the Elmhurst/Jackson Heights district.

On Sunday, December 18, a DSH-organized event in Austin, Texas was cancelled due to concerns over safety following provocations by the New Columbia Movement hate group at multiple locations across the state. As with the December 29 event in New York, Proud Boys and neo-fascists were present.

On the same day, members of the Proud Boys marched near a bar in Jacksonville, Florida. The group had been harassing the club owner with violent threats in relation to drag performances that had been hosted there. 

A drag show in Columbus, Ohio in early December was cancelled after Proud Boys threatened performers and staged armed demonstrations through the streets of the city. A Columbus police officer was seen giving a high-five to a white nationalist militia member marching with the demonstrators. An article in the Nation cited multiple connections between the Proud Boys and police in Columbus, with one Proud Boy claiming to be an officer himself.

While the Rupert Murdoch-owned New York Post has attempted to paint the counter-demonstrators at the December 29 event as violently anti-police, the New York Times has, in milquetoast manner, referred to the Guardians of Divinity merely as “protestors.”

The Democratic Party, which controls both the state and city governments of New York, has done nothing in response to multiple demonstrations of tacit or open police support for fascist groups such as the Proud Boys, and the failure of the NYPD to defend targets of far-right provocation and terror from outfits such as the Proud Boys and the Guardians of Divinity.

Instead, Mayor Eric Adams, a retired police captain, and Governor Kathy Hochul have competed with the Republicans in demonstrating their “law-and-order” and pro-police credentials.

Irish data privacy regulator levies Meta more than $400 million in fines

Data Privacy Commission says Meta breached transparency obligations and orders the company owned by Mark Zuckerberg to comply with EU rules within three months.

The watchdog fined Meta 210 million euros ($222.6 million) for violations of the European Union's strict data privacy rules involving Facebook and an additional 180 million euros ($190.8 million) for breaches involving Instagram. (Reuters)

Ireland's data privacy regulator has fined Meta a total of 390 million euros ($414 million) for breaches at its Facebook and Instagram services, and said both must reassess the legal basis on how they run advertising based on personal data in the European Union.

The Data Protection Commission (DPC) said in a statement on Wednesday that Meta breached "its obligations in relation to transparency" and used an incorrect legal basis "for its processing of personal data for the purpose of behavioural advertising".

The watchdog fined Meta 210 million euros ($222.6 million) for violations of the European Union's strict data privacy rules involving Facebook and an additional 180 million euros ($190.8 million) for breaches involving Instagram.

It is the commission's latest punishment for Meta for data privacy infringements, following four other fines for the company since 2021 that total more than 900 million euros ($954 million).

The decision stems from complaints filed in May 2018 when the 27-nation EU's privacy rules, known as the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, took effect.

DPC, which is the lead privacy regulator for many of the world's largest technology companies within the EU, directed the Mark Zuckerberg-owned company to bring its data processing operations into compliance within three months.

READ MORE: Meta may face another huge fine after EU privacy ruling

Previously, Meta relied on getting informed consent from users to process their personal data to serve them personalized, or behavioral, ads. When GDPR came into force, the company changed the legal basis under which it processes user data by adding a clause to the terms of service for advertisements, effectively forcing users to agree that their data could be used. That violates EU privacy rules.

Fresh Investigation

The Irish watchdog initially sided with Meta but changed its position after the draft decision was sent to a board of EU data protection regulators, many of whom objected.

In its final decision, the Irish watchdog said Meta “is not entitled to rely on the ‘contract’ legal basis to deliver behavioral adverts on Facebook and Instagram."

The penalties brought the total fines levied against Meta to date by the DPC to 1.3 billion euros ($1.38 billion).

It currently has 11 other inquiries open into Meta services.

Meta said in a statement on Wednesday that “we strongly believe our approach respects GDPR, and we’re therefore disappointed by these decisions and intend to appeal both the substance of the rulings and the fines.”

READ MORE: Irish privacy regulator fines Facebook $277 million

Erdogan's Syrian Gambit

by Burak Bekdil
The Gatestone Institute
December 28, 2022

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has partnered with Jihadi and Islamist organizations fighting the Kurds in northwest Syria.

The northernmost region of Syria, which has a 910-kilometer border with Turkey, offers one of the world's most complex war theaters. That is so not only because of the countless number of state and non-state actors operating in this third-world land with limited hydrocarbons, but also because of shifting alliances, conflicts with conventional and asymmetrical warfare tactics, and the surreal bedfellows that these factors often create.

The actors include countless radical jihadist groups and their 3.5 million civilian supporters; not-as-radical jihadist groups supported by Turkey, as well as Turkish, American, Russian and Syrian forces, and of course Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

Peace in this area often means just a short interval between outbreaks of war. Recently, violence was more or less in the background until a bomb exploded -- not in northern Syria, but some 1,300 km away.

On November 14, a blast near Istanbul's busy Taksim Square killed six people and wounded 81. Turkish police quickly arrested Ahlam Albashir, who had allegedly placed a bomb there. The investigation later led to the arrest of 47 more suspects.

Albashir is a young Syrian woman with links to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist group designated as terrorists by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union. According to the indictment, Albashir is an Arab who had been recruited by a Syrian Kurd. No organization claimed responsibility, and the PKK denied any involvement in the attack.

To further complicate matters, Turkey's security services claim that Albashir is a member of the People's Protection Units (YPG), the PKK's Syrian affiliate, which is a U.S. ally and happens to be fighting in Syria against the jihadists of the Islamic State. In short, the PKK is on the U.S. list of terror groups, while its Syrian branch is an American ally.

Once again, the attack heightened Turks' nationalistic feelings and united them behind Turkey's Islamist strongman, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, shortly before he launches his campaign for the June 2023 presidential elections.

Six days after the Istanbul bombing, Turkey sent F-16 jets to hit PKK/YPG/Kurdish targets in northern Syria and Iraq.

Turkey warned Washington of the operation two days before it took place: Ankara did not want to harm any U.S. military assets in the area. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the air strikes killed 31 people.

In retaliation, Kurdish groups fired rockets into a Turkish border town, killing three people, including a child and a teacher, after one of the five rockets hit a school building. Rockets fired from Syria also wounded six policemen and two soldiers at a border crossing.

Since the violence resumed, Erdogan has threatened to launch a full-scale military incursion into Syria's Kurdish areas — which would be the fourth such major Turkish incursion since 2016.

Erdogan most likely calculates that fresh epic tales of military heroism would further consolidate his nationalistic voting base, especially at a time when most Turks are struggling to survive after their incomes have severely eroded under a year-on-year inflation rate of 84%.

A Turkish military incursion would be a fight in a land that already looks like hell.

In a speech on December 12, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that an estimated 15.3 million Syrians (out of a population of 22.1 million) will require humanitarian assistance in 2023, compared to 14.6 million people in 2022. That number represents the highest number of people in need since the start of the conflict in Syria in 2011.

Data on humanitarian needs in Syria, collected by the UN and its partners from over 34,000 Syrian households in July and August, found that 85% of households were completely unable, or insufficiently able, to meet their basic needs -- an increase of 75% since 2021, according to the report.

The report also cited a 48% increase for 2022 in severe acute malnutrition among children aged 6 months to 5 years, compared to 2021. At least 25% of children under the age of five in some districts are stunted and at risk of irreversible damage to their physical and cognitive development as well as "repeated infection, developmental delay, disabilities and death."

In the predominantly Kurdish northeast Syria, the number of malnourished children has surged by over 150% just in the past six months.

What to do? In a December 7 speech, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov unsurprisingly put the blame on the U.S.:

Turkey is worried that the Americans are cultivating Kurdish separatism there. This also concerns other countries with Kurdish minorities, because it is an extremely explosive issue.

Lavrov did not mention that the PKK, on the U.S. list of terror groups, is a legal entity in Russia. So, Moscow is no help.

Washington also does not have a silver-bullet cure. James Jeffrey, Chair of the Middle East program at the Wilson Center and former U.S. ambassador to Ankara, wrote:

Washington fears that a new Turkish incursion into Syria—especially one in the northeast, near where U.S. forces and the SDF are operating against the Islamic State—could undercut the fight against that terrorist group and, in particular, the critical role the SDF plays in guarding thousands of Islamic State prisoners and family members and thus is urging Turkey in ever stronger terms not to launch an operation. The Turks do not appear to be heeding Washington's call, in part because they heard the same tune before their 2018 incursion against the SDF in Afrin, Syria, and didn't suffer any long-term consequences for ignoring it that time.

Jeffrey apparently thinks that Washington owes Ankara and U.S. citizens an answer to the question: "How does this all end?" No one knows, but further violence will not make an already miserable life better for any Syrian.

The only advantage of a Turkish military incursion might be for Erdogan, who may well be using a war in Syria to distract potential voters from the wretched economy he gave them.

Burak Bekdil is an Ankara-based political analyst and a fellow at the Middle East Forum.