The Muslim-American legislators adding a new dimension to their country's democracy

The changing face of US politics is apparent in states throughout the country

Stephen Starr
Columbus, Ohio
Jan 06, 2023

It’s been a whirlwind week for Munira Abdullahi.

On Tuesday, she was sworn in as a representative at the Ohio state house — making history as the first Muslim woman to be elected to Ohio’s state legislature after last November’s midterm elections.

The swearing-in ceremony was followed by a reception and shortly after, a caucus meeting. Later that day, she visited her new office for the first time, delighting that it has a view of the Scioto River.

READ MORE
Muslim Americans fare well in midterm elections 2022

“The previous congresswoman who had the office left me a really nice letter saying how she is really proud of me, and to take the role seriously,” she tells The National.

“She also left me her couch, which was really nice of her.”

Ms Abdullahi, who was born in a refugee camp in Kenya, won her election with the help of fellow Somali Americans in Columbus, home to one of the largest Somali-American communities in the United States.

“The community really came out,” she says. “Some people had never voted before. It’s been really humbling.”

Ohio State Representative Munira Abdullahi. Photo: Stephen Starr

The 27-year-old legislator isn’t the only person sparking changes in American politics today.

This month, scores of Muslim-American women are making history by starting out in political careers at state houses, general assemblies, school boards and in other elected positions across the country.

Their experiences could reshape the local political landscape, for centuries dominated by white men, in the years to come.


In Ohio, Maine and Illinois, voters elected the first Muslim women to state legislatures.

In Illinois, Nabeela Syed, 23, defeated a Republican incumbent who was heavily tipped to hold his suburban Chicago district, while In Maine, voters elected two female Muslim candidates to the state house for the first time, with similar stories unfolding in Georgia, Minnesota and elsewhere.

Muslim and Arab-American midterm winners — in pictures






'It was wild for me to ever consider running for office at that age,' says 23-year-old Nabeela Syed. Photo: Nabeela Syed

It's an unprecedented event in American politics and is fuelled by several factors.

According to the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, a research institution in Washington, voter participation among Muslim Americans rocketed from 60 per cent in 2016 to 81 per cent in last year's midterms.

Many believe the actions of the Trump administration, which in 2016 banned all immigration from numerous Muslim-majority countries, prompted Muslim Americans not just to get out and vote, but to stand for political office at local and state level. Now, those decisions are bearing real fruit.

The letter from Ohio Representative Emilia Sykes, who previously occupied Ms Abdullahi's office space. Photo: Munira Abdullahi

For Ms Abdullahi, there’s a direct link between the ills she says her community have been facing and her own ambition to seek political office.

“[My activism] stemmed from things I see every day. There’s a lack of resources for mental health. There’s a huge issue around affordable health care,” she says.

Ms Abdullahi was involved in community work for a decade before running for political office in November.

“Transportation and housing costs are also huge issues for people in Columbus, in my district.”

Ohio State Representative Munira Abdullahi with friends and family at her swearing-in ceremony. Photo: Abdiselam Shahiy

She has also been influenced by the actions of her parents, who are involved in community activism, with her father helping to found two mosques.

For Ms Syed, the past few weeks have been similarly full-on, attending new member orientations and learning about introducing and getting bills past, as well as pensions and tax structure.

“People describe it like drinking out of a fire hose, and I think that’s an apt way to describe it,” she says. “It’s definitely been eye-opening.”

She feels that working on a punishing election campaign for most of last year, however, has prepared her for the steep learning curve and hard work ahead.

“We had a tough campaign. We flipped a Republican house seat to be Democrat. So being 23 years old it was a profound victory,” she says. “I just have to pinch myself.”

The path Ms Abdullahi and Ms Syed are about to embark on is a familiar one to Iman Jodeh, who two years ago made history by becoming the first Muslim and Palestinian American to be elected to Colorado’s General Assembly.


“It was very surreal and exhilarating; a little overwhelming in all the best ways,” she says of her first two years in office. Ms Jodeh represents a highly diverse district in Aurora, a suburb of Denver, and last November was re-elected to the General Assembly.

One of the main challenges she’s navigated over the past two years in office has been getting fiscal support from colleagues for policies that would help her constituents.

“The other thing that has unfortunately become commonplace for me has been navigating the space where I am the only Muslim or Arab,” she says.

“I welcome this all the time, I look at it as an opportunity to be that person in the room, to bridge that gap.”

Ms Jodeh has some advice for her fellow Muslim Americans setting out on a new political career this month.


“Be unapologetic about who you are. Stay true to your morals and understand you have the right to be in this space. You are representing people who have historically been underrepresented in politics,” she says.

“Representing a portion of Americans like Arabs or Muslims also means that you will be representing thousands of other people who may not share your identity but who share your values. We need to home in on our shared humanity.”

Still, the challenges are considerable. In many cases, the new politicos, such as Ms Abdullahi, will be faced with largely Republican-designed local political landscapes that have, in recent years, allowed its members establish an iron grip on many state houses through redistricting that oftentimes turns urban, liberal-leaning populations into minority voting areas.

“We’re being held back by things like gerrymandering, like lobbying,” Ms Abdullahi says. “Corporate politics really plays into our legislation.”


What does gerrymandering mean in US politics?

For Ms Syed, there is the prospect of helping to propose and draught laws to help govern a state of more than 12 million people that includes Chicago, America’s third-largest city. Springfield, the state capital of Illinois, is a three-hour drive from her home district.

“There will be plenty of driving involved, that’s for sure,” she says.

But on a more serious note, her growing profile means she often faces Islamophobic activity — recently she received a note demanding she burn her hijab in public.

“It’s not easy to see that, but I think it’s one of the things that comes with being among the first. I don’t think it should be normalised by any means, [but] continuing to bring more diversity is how we fight back against it,” she says.

If anything, the note has emboldened Ms Syed.

“The profound impact of being the first person to legislate on the house floor wearing a hijab,” she says. “It’s empowering.”
Updated: January 06, 2023, 11:59 a.m.

Taliban frees women’s activist Farhat Popalzai

• By Amu TV
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Afghan women’s rights activist Farhat Popalzai, who was detained by the Taliban intelligence two months ago, was released from Taliban custody two weeks ago, sources told Amu TV.

A source, who wished to remain anonymous, told Amu TV that Popalzai has been released on surety from Taliban custody.

According to the source, the Taliban has warned Popalzai not to share details of her release or her imprisonment with the media; therefore, Farhat kept silent about her release.

A relative of Popalzai also confirmed this to Amu TV.

The source stated that Farhat went through a bad time in Taliban custody and that she is not in a good state mentally. 

According to the source, the Taliban put severe pressure on Popalzai during the interrogation. The Taliban has also made her promise not to divulge details of what she witnessed in prison.

Meanwhile, a source close to women’s rights activist Zarifa Yaqoubi also said that four of her male colleagues who were arrested along with Yaqoubi have been released from a Taliban jail.

The Taliban have arrested a number of women’s rights activists and advocates in the past 18 months since regaining control of the country. Many are still in custody.

AND THAT IS ALL THERE IS TO SAY...

Prince Harry’s revelations are a major act of self-sabotage

...ABOUT  THAT

ByRob Harris
January 9, 2023 — 

London: Prince Harry cut a lonely figure during those heady days last September following the death of his beloved grandmother, the late Elizabeth II.

Courtesy of his controversial memoir, we now know just how lonely. Harry has revealed he’d only learned of her passing from an online BBC news story, and there were no family members with him to offer support as his charter flight landed in Scotland.

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex leave Westminster Hall, London, after the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II was brought to the hall to lie in state last September.

CREDIT:AP

The contents of his book Spare were supposed to have been tightly held, but mistakenly hit the shelves in Spain on Thursday. According to multiple reports, the Duke of Sussex writes that he was instructed by his father, King Charles III, to leave his wife, Meghan, behind if he was to journey to Balmoral.

“He told me I was welcome at Balmoral, but… without her [Meghan],” Harry is quoted as saying about their phone conversation.

“He started to explain his reasons, but they didn’t make any sense at all, and it was disrespectful as well. I did not tolerate it from him [...] don’t even think about talking about my wife like that.”

His father, he claims, was then “repentant”, explaining he simply didn’t want the place to be full of people.

“Nobody’s wife was going to go, not even Kate, he told me, so Meg shouldn’t either,” Harry writes.

Prince Harry is becoming increasingly irrelevant to the royal family.

CREDIT:AP

There is perhaps no better example of just how far the once-popular prince had drifted from his family, in particular his father and his brother during the past two years.

And ahead of four major television interviews this week to accompany his worldwide book launch on Tuesday, it now seems unimaginable that he will ever be able to fully reconcile with them.

If his full-scale charm offensive had gained the Sussexes a little momentum following their Netflix series last month, the past few days during which the world’s press has picked apart his memoir has dented that. He has been mercilessly mocked at home and abroad – even in the United States where the pair is looked on rather favourably.

The book appears to provide great fodder and gossip for readers and journalists alike, but it is clear it has been a major act of self-sabotage. Yes, it has ensured long-term financial security for his family, but it has undoubtedly ended any chance he could be publicly rehabilitated in the eyes of the silent majority.



Royal expert Russell Myers speaks about why the family 'won't want Harry near Charles' coronation' as memoir fallout continues. Meanwhile, Harry opens up about Diana's death.

His grotesque disclosures of his sexual activities and recreational habits might win him short-term plaudits for his honesty among a certain demographic, but they will ultimately place him alongside the bearded lady at the sideshow alley freak show.

There really isn’t much justification for announcing to the world whether he and his brother, a future king, are circumcised or not. If anything, it is the type of nasty breach of privacy he has long bemoaned.

A journalist should never complain about honesty and transparency, but there is little doubt his account of his tours of Afghanistan, in which he detailed the number of Taliban scalps he’d taken, could also place his security at great risk.

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Diana’s brother called coffin procession a barbarity; Harry speaks of guilt over public grief

The charm and fascination of William and Harry is that a generation has grown up with them, having shared so many intimate moments following the death of their mother, their weddings and the births of their children.

And while his father and brother stay silent, offering only background comments from their press secretaries that they hope reconciliation is possible, it appears Britain is done with them. And if reactions from other far-flung parts of the world are anything to go by, the UK is not alone.

Once the most popular royal, Harry now ranks among the least. His wife, Meghan, ranks above only Prince Andrew, who was accused of a historical account of sexually assaulting a minor, Virginia Giuffre (an allegation he denies, despite the parties reaching a settlement last year).

When your family tree is perhaps one of the most documented in Western history, it takes a lot to truly stand out from the crowd. And thanks to this lineage, we know that Harry’s latest efforts are not really even original.

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Royal family
‘What father doesn’t forgive?’ Charles certain he will reunite with Harry

In 1951, a scandalous royal memoir revealed a tale of press intrusion, casual racism, stuffy courtiers refusing to modernise an outdated institution and a man falling in love with an American divorcee.

Edward VIII’s autobiography, A King’s Tale, was penned from exile in France. Seven decades on and a new version of an old tale has emerged, a tell-all tale of press intrusion, casual racism, stuffy courtiers refusing to modernise an outdated institution and a man falling in love with an American divorcee.

Edward’s decision, rightly or wrongly, forever damaged his own legacy and his own personal family relationships. Ultimately, the monarchy survived and thrived without him. Those who stayed behind to pick up the pieces to selflessly serve are the ones forever remembered fondly.

Charles and William are said to be seething at Harry’s actions and heartbroken at his choices. Both plan to keep a dignified silence.

Harry might have worldwide fame now, but beyond his 15 minutes he will eventually return to exile with little currency or gravitas. And then, most likely, he will fade into obscurity.

Israeli researchers uncover earliest silver used as currency in Levant

The hoards date back more than 3,600 years—to the Middle Bronze Age—or about 500 years before prior estimates.

Silver pieces dating back 3,600 years are the earliest evidence of currency being used in trade in the Levant.

 Credit: Lena Cooperschmidt/Israel Antiquities Authority.

(January 8, 2023 / JNS) Israeli archaeologists announced on Sunday the discovery of the earliest evidence of silver used as currency in the Levant, an area including present-day Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and most of Turkey.

It is believed the silver relics, known hacksilber, a German term indicating they were cut to specific weights, originated in ancient Anatolia.

The silver hoards were unearthed during excavations in Israel’s Shiloh, Megiddo and Gezer, as well as Tel el-‘Ajjul in the Gaza Strip, and date back more than 3,600 years—to the Middle Bronze Age—or about 500 years before prior estimates, according to researchers from the University of Haifa and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

To identify their source, an isotopic test was performed and the results compared to the composition of ores of known origin, as well as to other silver objects.

That the pieces of silver were unpolished—suggesting that they were not used as jewelry or ornamental objects—and generally found together wrapped in cloth and kept in pottery, indicates they were used as a form of payment

The discovery shows that cities across the Middle East engaged in more extensive trade than previously thought, paying for large purchases such as for land with silver.

One shekel is believed to have been equal to approximately 16 grams of silver.

The findings were published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

COMMUNAL POLITICS

Why Israeli democracy is under serious threat as extreme right-wing coalition takes power

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his conservative allies dream of making the nation a Jewish supremacist state.

Boaz Atzili, The Conversation
2 hours ago

Menahem Kahana/AFP

Democracy is not just about holding elections. It is a set of institutions, ideas and practices that allow citizens a continuous, decisive voice in shaping their government and its policies.

The new Israeli government, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu and sworn in on December 29 is a coalition of the most extreme right-wing and religious parties in the history of the state. This government presents a major threat to Israeli democracy, and it does so on multiple fronts.

Here are the four ways that Israel’s democratic institutions, customs and practices are endangered by the new government, based on policies and legislation that might be enacted or that are already in process.

1. Free speech threatened

Prime Minister Netanyahu has been working for years to consolidate his grip on Israeli media. The new government plans to accelerate the privatisation of media in the hands of friendly interests and brand as anti-Israeli and treasonous media outlets its leaders deem hostile. The signs of this delegitimisation are already here.

Credit: Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP

Even before the newly appointed minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, took office, the police briefly arrested and interrogated journalist Israel Frey after he posted a controversial tweet hinting that the Israeli military may be a legitimate target of Palestinian attacks. The police claimed the tweet incited terrorism, and the arrest showed journalists who favour an open and free press that they might face retaliation.

Ben-Gvir, the head of the Jewish Power party and now overseer of the police, was convicted in the past for supporting Jewish terrorism and for racist incitement against Israel’s Arab minority. In his inauguration speech on January 1, the new minister branded “Jewish anarchists” – a code he often uses for leftists and human rights organisations – as threats that “needed to be dealt with.”

2. Diminishing equal rights

The Netanyahu government appears poised to allow discrimination against the LGBTQ community and women, thus undermining equality before the law, an important democratic principle.

Incoming National Missions Minister Orit Strock said in an interview in late December, “If a doctor is asked to give any type of treatment to someone that violates his religious faith, if there is another doctor who can do it, then you can’t force them to provide treatment.”

Netanyahu condemned Strock and other coalition members who stated that gay people could be denied service by businesses if serving them contradicts the business owner’s religious beliefs. Yet, journalists report that Likud and other coalition partners agreed in writing to amend the law against discrimination to allow exactly such a policy.

During early coalition negotiations, ultra-Orthodox parties demanded new legislation that would allow gender-based segregation in public spaces and events. Netanyahu has reportedly agreed, which means these laws are expected to pass the Knesset. Segregation in educational spheres, public transportation and public events is often translated into exclusion of women and weakening of women’s voices, and hence contradicts basic democratic principles such as freedom and equality.

3. West Bank annexation

The new government’s intention to de facto annex the West Bank will turn hollow Israel’s claims of being the only democracy in the West Asia.

In a December 28 tweet, Netanyahu announced that his government’s guidelines will include the principle that “the Jewish people have an exclusive and unquestionable right to all areas of the Land of Israel,” including the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967 and populated by a Palestinian majority.

These guidelines, combined with new nominations of far right politician Bezalel Smotrich as the minister responsible for Jewish settlements and Ben-Gvir as the minister in charge of the border police, could provide justification for annexation of the occupied Palestinian territories.

Based on much of the rhetoric of right-wing leaders such as Smotrich, Palestinian residents of these lands will have neither equal rights nor voting rights. This means apartheid, not democracy.

4. Separation of powers

In the Israeli system, the executive and legislative branches are always controlled by the same coalition. The courts are the only institution that can check the power of the ruling parties and uphold the country’s Basic Laws, which provide rights in the absence of a formal constitution.

But the new government wants to erase this separation of power and explicitly aims at weakening the courts. On January 4, after less than a week in his role, new Minister of Justice Yariv Levin announced the government’s plan for a radical judicial reform, which will include the “override clause.” That clause will allow a simple majority in the Knesset to re-enact any law struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional.

Credit: Amir Cohen/POOL/AFP

This would, in effect, remove all barriers placed upon the power of the majority. The coalition could legislate policies that are not only unconstitutional, but which clearly contradict ideas of human rights and equality that are enshrined in Israel’s Declaration of Independence.

The government’s plan also includes reforms that would allow the coalition to control nomination of judges. In a small country that does not have a strong constitution and in which there is no separation of power between the executive and legislature, this move, again, would weaken the authority of the court and make judges beholden to politicians.

These so-called reforms “threaten to destroy the entire constitutional structure of the State of Israel,” said Yair Lapid, head of the opposition and former prime minister.
Netanyahu’s woes

All of these threats to Israeli democracy are more likely to materialise because of Netanyahu’s current personal problems.

Netanyahu is an experienced politician who in the past managed to quell the most extreme elements of his coalition partners, and his own Likud party, by paying them lip service while being more cautious on actual policies.

Many analysts do not believe this time will be the same.

The prime minister is facing corruption and fraud trials in three separate cases and is focused on protecting himself through whatever legislative and executive power he can muster. Netanyahu is beholden to his coalition for this task, which makes him vulnerable to their ultra-Orthodox agenda and demands for laws to perpetuate Jewish supremacy.

Any one of these changes present a serious democratic erosion. Together, they pose a clear danger to the existence of Israeli democracy.

Israel will continue to have elections in the future, but it’s an open question whether these will still be free and fair. With no judicial oversight, with constant disregard of human rights, with annexation of Palestinian lands and the disenfranchising of their people, and with a media that normalizes all of these processes, the answer is probably no.

As in Turkey, Hungary or even Russia, Israel could become a democracy in form only, devoid of all the ideas and institutions that underpin a government that is actually of the people and by the people.

Boaz Atzili is Associate Professor of International Relations, American University School of International Service.

This article first appeared on The Conversation.

Israel's Ben-Gvir orders police to bar Palestinian flags from public spaces

Previous policy dictated that due to freedom of expression laws, the flag could only be confiscated if it had 'the potential to instigate a disturbance of the peace'

A Palestinian demonstrator waves flag in front of Israeli soldiers following protest against expropriation of Palestinian land in village of Kfar Qaddum, near Jewish settlement of Kedumim on 6 January (AFP/File photo)

By MEE staff
Published date: 8 January 2023 

Israel’s new national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has ordered Israel's police commissioner to enforce a directive to remove Palestinian flags from public spaces a day after one was waved at an Israeli-led anti-government protest in Tel Aviv.

UN Security Council members 'concerned' after Israel's Ben-Gvir storms Al-AqsaRead More »

Ben-Gvir sent out the order to commissioner Kobi Shabtai on Sunday, flexing unprecedented powers granted to the ultra-nationalist politician as part of recent coalition negotiations to form Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Channel 13 news, which reported the initial order, also reported that Israeli police were unsure of the unilateral decree, as Israel's High Court of Justice has already deemed in many rulings that the right to expression regarding the flag must not be restricted, unless there is near certainty of a grave and genuine threat to public safety.

The court on 7 November rejected a petition was filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) against the police commissioner, Jerusalem district commander, and state attorney, demanding an end to the harassment of demonstrators carrying the Palestinian flag. The court said the petition had been rejected because the Attorney General had already issued an update informing officers not to interfere with the flying of the flag unless it "has the potential to instigate a disturbance of the peace", as per policy.

Still, far right pundits and policy makers expressed outrage following a display of the flag in Tel Aviv on Saturday, including Prime Minister Netanyahu who slammed "the opposition" and "mainstream media" for failing to condemn such "wild incitement".

"I demand that everyone stop this immediately," the prime minister tweeted.

In 2021, former Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev told commissioner Shabtai to only order the confiscation of Palestinian flags in exceptional security situations.

Historically, much discretion over whether the Palestinian flag should be permitted to fly has been left up to the police commissioner, with policy generally dictating that the flag be barred from Jerusalem where it is seen as having a "high level of probability of a major violation of public order", but allowed in Tel Aviv, which lacks many of the flashpoint characteristics of the holy city.

Ben-Gvir took exception however, to the flag's presence in Haifa district's village of 'Ara over the weekend during a celebration of the release of Palestinian prisoner Karim Younis, who was freed on Thursday after 40 years in Israeli prison.

Announcing the new flag directive, Ben-Gvir's bureau also noted that the minister had instructed Shabtai to open an internal investigation to examine why his previous instruction to prevent celebrations of the prisoner's release in 'Ara were only partially carried out by officers, Haaretz reported.

Ben-Gvir nixes rule allowing any MK to visit jailed terrorists

"The visits resulted in incitement and the promotion of terrorist actions,” the Israeli national security minister said.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir arrives at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, Dec. 29, 2022. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.

(January 8, 2023 / JNS) Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced on Sunday the cancelation of a regulation implemented by the previous government that allowed any lawmaker to meet with jailed Palestinian terrorists.

Ben-Gvir said that he took the step after “concluding that these visits resulted in incitement and the promotion of terrorist actions.”

The policy will now revert back to that of the past when only one legislator from each political party was permitted to meet with imprisoned terrorists, and under “appropriate supervision.”

“I believe that meetings between Knesset lawmakers and security prisoners can give those prisoners a boost….It’s time to stop the rewards for terrorists, ” said Ben-Gvir.

The decision follows Ben-Gvir’s tour last week of the maximum security Nafha Prison, near Mitzpe Ramon in the Negev, during which he vowed that Palestinian terrorists would not benefit from renovations at the facility, including those resulting from a High Court ruling that they have at least four square meters (43 square feet) of living space per inmate in their respective cells.

“I came to ensure that the murderers of Jews are not getting better conditions as a result of the construction…and I was glad to see that the Israel Prison Service does not intend to improve [them],” Ben-Gvir, who is in charge of the police and prison system, said.

Hamas called Ben-Gvir’s decision “a dangerous escalation” and “unprecedented criminal behavior towards [Palestinian terrorists].”

Ben-Gvir on Tuesday created an international firestorm by defying Hamas and the Palestinian Authority and ascending the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City.

“The Temple Mount is the most important place for the people of Israel,” Ben-Gvir noted during his visit, adding: “We maintain the freedom of movement for Muslims and Christians, but Jews also go up to the site, and those who make threats must be dealt with with an iron fist.”

In response, the U.N. Security Council convened an emergency meeting, during which Robert Wood, a diplomat representing the U.S., said, “We are concerned by any unilateral acts that exacerbate tensions or undermine the viability of a two-state solution.” He added that Washington “firmly supports the preservation of the historical status quo with respect to the holy sites in Jerusalem, especially on the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount,” using both the Islamic and Jewish/Christian names for the site.

“In this spirit, we oppose any and all unilateral actions that depart from the historical status quo that are unacceptable,” Wood said, noting that he expects Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to follow through on a commitment to maintaining the status quo at the holy site.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations said he was “overjoyed” when he heard that the Security Council was holding an emergency meeting over the “quiet, orderly, uneventful” visit of an Israeli government minister to the Temple Mount.

“I figured that if this important body is meeting to discuss such a trivial matter, then we clearly achieved world peace overnight,” Gilad Erdan said, mocking the council’s decision to submit to the Palestinians’ demand for a discussion on the matter.

Erdan noted that Ben-Gvir entered through the only entrance for non-Muslim to the Mount at one of the limited designated times of the week for Jewish admittance, entered alone save for the security detail needed to protect him and made no attempt to pray.

He went into a lengthy history lesson about the Temple Mount and the status quo there, saying, “Israel has not harmed the status quo and has no plans to do so. The only side that is changing the status quo is the Palestinian Authority. Why? Because by turning the site into a battleground…the Palestinian Authority is making it clear that not only is Jewish prayer intolerable on the Temple Mount, but so is any Jewish presence.”

A longtime advocate for Jews being allowed to freely visit and pray at their holiest site, Ben-Gvir vowed on the campaign trail to change the status quo preventing them from doing both.

UK

MORNINGSTAR

Editorial:

Working people deserve better than Austerity 2.0 from Labour


Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer

UNITE leader Sharon Graham is absolutely right to demand assurances from Keir Starmer that a Labour government will not mean a continuation of austerity.

On this issue she speaks not just for her union but for the working class as a whole.

Austerity has beggared Britain over the last 13 years, impoverishing the public realm, cutting real wages for millions, and it is at the root of the cost-of-living crisis engulfing the country.

It is the expression of the drive by the capitalist class to make workers pay for the crisis which has unfolded, with pauses but without ending, since the bankers’ crash in 2008.

An end to austerity should therefore be the first and unbreakable commitment of any Labour government, as it was under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.

Yet Graham’s fears are not without foundation. Keir Starmer and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves are missing no opportunity to assure the City and the Treasury that a Labour government would mean no significant change in public spending levels.

Starmer has pledged that there will be no “big government cheque book” and added that “we won’t be able to spend our way out of their mess.”

So, according to the Labour leader, a crisis caused in significant part by cuts in public spending cannot be addressed by increasing public spending.

This is not the logic of Thatcher or Blair as much as it is the logic of Philip Snowden, chancellor in Ramsay MacDonald’s ill-starred government of 1931.

Snowden was prepared to impose any sacrifice on the working class to keep the bankers onside, and did so all the way to the government’s treacherous collapse.

Labour now offers regional devolution as a panacea instead of increased funding. Such devolution has its own merits of course, but they are diminished sharply if unaccompanied by real resources. Devolving austerity has no attractions.

The latest of Starmer’s much-massacred 2020 leadership election pledges to fall victim to this attitude appears to be the scrapping of university tuition fees. Starmer could only waffle when asked to confirm that abolition of the burdensome charges was still Labour policy.

This all establishes once again that Starmer’s strategy for securing office rests largely on appeasing the Establishment, and assuring the elite that he can be depended on not to rock the boat.

He will eschew public ownership of failing utilities and prioritise balancing the books over alleviating the social misery which will be his inheritance.

As with the original austerity introduced by the Cameron-Clegg coalition, this is a political choice, not an economic necessity. The giveaway here is Reeves’s commitment not to introduce a wealth tax.

Were balancing the books really the priority, increasing the tax take from the wealthiest would make sense. However, not unbalancing the distribution of wealth and power is more the Starmer-Reeves manifesto.

Unions are correct to call out this Establishment appeasement. It is wrong for some leaders to pre-emptively apologise for the next Labour government not increasing public spending, just as it is wrong to make light of the ban on Labour frontbenchers supporting picket lines. Solidarity matters.

The labour movement should not be in the business of dampening working people’s expectations. Nor should it adapt its horizons to whatever the capitalist class believe to be affordable.

Working people deserve nothing less than a complete change of economic course, with ditching austerity as the essential start.

As for Starmer, he should remember 2015. Labour fought an election equivocating on austerity, and ended up with just 30 per cent of the vote.

That led in turn to Corbyn’s election as Labour leader — anger will find an out.

Thousands of Kurds march in Paris to protest unresolved killings


Kurdish activists march during a protest in Paris, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023.

KURDS from throughout France and beyond marched in their thousands in Paris on Saturday to show their anger over the unresolved killing of three Kurdish activists in the French capital 10 years ago.

The marchers were also mourning the shooting of three people, Abdurrahman Kizil, Mir Perwer and Emine Kara, by a man outside a Kurdish cultural centre in Paris in December in what prosecutors are calling a racist attack.

Ms Kara was the leader of the Movement of Kurdish Women in France.

Organisers said at least 25,000 people took part in the rally, police put the figure at 10,000.

Kurdish activists from Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium arrived in buses escorted by police and joined fellow Kurds from France in a peaceful march through the streets of north-east Paris.

More than 1,200 people also marched in the southern French city of Marseille on Saturday.

The demonstrations marked the 10th anniversary of the killings of Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Saylemez.

Mr Cansiz was a founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which Turkey and the European Union have designated a terrorist group.

Kurdish activists accuse the Turkish intelligence service of being involved in the killing. The suspected attacker, a Turkish citizen, died in French custody before the case reached trial.

Turkish officials claimed at the time that the killings may have been part of an internal feud among Kurdish activists or an attempt to derail peace talks.

On Saturday marchers carried banners bearing the victims’ portraits, as well as flags for the PKK, which has waged a separatist insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.

Berfin Celebm, who came from Amsterdam for the march, accused Turkey of involvement in both the 2013 and 2022 attacks.

“I want to support my struggle and I want to support Kurdish women,” she told reporters.

Ibrahim Halac, a Turk living in Paris who attended the march, said: “Today we are here to support our Kurdish friends because I am Turkish myself, and it is very important, because what is happening with the Kurdish people can happen to us as well tomorrow.”

The Turkish military has carried out a series of attacks against the Kurds in south-east Turkey and in northern Iraq that have cost the lives of hundreds of civilians.

MORNINGSTAR CPUK

Activists in Nicosia protest the Paris massacre

Kurds and their friends protested in front of the French Consulate in Nicosia condemning the murder of Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Şaylemez in Paris ten years ago.

ANF
NICOSIA
Sunday, 8 Jan 2023, 18:39

Kurds and their friends took to the streets in Nicosia, capital of Cyprus, on Sunday to mark the 10th anniversary of the triple murder in Paris of PKK founding member Sakine Cansız (Sara), KNK Paris representative Fidan Doğan (Rojbîn) and Kurdish youth movement member Leyla Şaylemez (Ronahî) on 9 January 2013.

Anarchist, ANTIFA Nicosia, Ramon and IWW youth members also attended the protest march from the Interior Ministry of Cyprus to the French Consulate.

In addition to the images of the three Kurdish women, the crowd also displayed images of Evîn Goyî, Mîr Perwer and Abdurrahman Kızıl, victims of another triple murder against the Kurdish community in Paris on 23 December 2022.

The march was followed by a rally in front of the French Consulate. The demonstration here began with a minute of silence in memory of the three female revolutionaries, after which a leaflet prepared by the Kurdish People’s Council in Cyprus was read out.

Politician Lezgin Serhat and the Co-Chair of the Kurdish People’s Council in Cyprus, Fatma Doğan, addressed the crowd and vowed to keep the struggle going.

What challenges will Brazil's President Lula da Silva face?
Thomas Milz
01/01/2023

January 1, 2023

Brazil's outgoing government leaves behind holes in the budget and social disruption. Unlike his first term, new President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva cannot count on a commodity boom and rapid growth in China.

https://p.dw.com/p/4LEqw

When left-wing politician Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva takes over as Brazilian president on January 1, 2023, he will inevitably be compared to the Lula who took over from then-President Fernando Henrique Cardoso in the very same location 20 years earlier. Cardoso, a Social Democrat, had left his successor a solid economic foundation, which allowed Lula to foster growth and reduce poverty.

Back then, Lula referred to a "cursed legacy" all the same. Cardoso had reacted to rising inflation in 2002 by raising key interest rates. "When he takes over his time, he will find out what a really cursed legacy is," Carlos Melo, a political scientist at the Sao Paulo-based Insper Institute, told DW. Right-wing populist and outgoing head of state, Jair Bolsonaro, left behind deep budget holes and a complicated relationship with parliament, he said.
Compromises needed

This time around, the challenge is much greater, Melo said, pointing out that Lula must balance the budget, "which requires a new way of dealing with parliament; because he needs money, he needs to pass new laws, and for that he needs the legislative."
Bolsonaro supporters have called for the military to step inImage: Silvia Machado/TheNEWS2/ZUMA/picture alliance

However, the right-wing camp gained in the October elections. "The Bolsonaro forces plus the so-called Centrao's center parties have the majority — that's where Lula will have to seek compromises," according to the political scientist.

How he handles parliamentary budget requests, billions of dollars of which Bolsonaro had transferred to parliamentarians in exchange for their support, will be crucial.

In the election campaign, Lula had pledged he would get rid of the non-transparent budgets. In any case he will have to negotiate with the powerful president of the Chamber of Deputies, Artur Lira. In 2015, his party colleague and successor, Dilma Rousseff, was caught up in a power struggle with Chamber President Eduardo Cunha that precipitated Rousseff's fall. Lula needs to focus on compromises with the legislative, Melo argued.


Lula 2023 is not the same as Lula 2003

The current political environment cannot be compared with that of 2003, said Marco Antonio Carvalho Teixeira, a political scientist at the Fundacao Getulio Vargas (FGV) think tank — "also because the election results are different today."

At the end of 2002, Lula received more than 61% of the vote; last October, he received only 50.9%. "In 2002, Lula was practically the consensus, the opposition we see now didn't exist," he told DW, and recalled the corruption scandals that landed Lula in prison for a year and a half in 2018. Although the sentences were annulled, they disqualify Lula in the eyes of many Brazilians. Bolsonaro supporters take to the streets daily, demanding the military intervene against Lula's inauguration.

Outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro leaves behind debt and a split societyImage: Andressa Anholete/Getty Images

"With under 2%, the outcome of the election was close, and now there are groups among the population who oppose him," said Teixeira, adding that that is something the new president will have to overcome quickly.

Lula should form a government of national unity with a wide range of political movements, he said, adding that while Lula's Workers' Party (PT) dominated the government in 2003, he is now trying to integrate forces like the right-wing Uniao Brasil party.
Lula must 'deliver quickly'

The Bolsonaro government's inaction contributed to the illegal protests, according to Carlos Melo. They deliberately turned a blind eye, he said. As soon as the new government restores order in the security apparatus, the protests will dwindle, he argued, adding that Lula will then have to deliver quickly and show success to reduce opposition to his government.

It won't be easy. "Brazil is currently experiencing an economic crisis that is worse than in 2002," the FGV's Teixeira said, conceding however that the economic situation has improved in recent months thanks to electoral gifts from the Bolsonaro government including pandemic aid and increased social benefits.

They tore such deep holes in the budget that Lula needs parliamentary approval to suspend the debt brake and a majority for the necessary tax reform. "If Lula doesn't get broad political support now, he runs the risk of starting off with a crisis," Melo said.
Foreign policy success might be easier

On the global stage, on the other hand, rapid success is possible. Bolsonaro's legacy on the environment and human rights is very poor on the international stage, so the fact of Lula's election has already given Brazil more space globally," Teixeira said, pointing out that Lula's visit to the COP27 climate summit in Egypt in November was a strong message.

Lula needs to control deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, like here near Manaus

Image: Bruno Kelly/REUTERS

Carlos Melo also sees internal challenges regarding the environment. Lula lost the vote in those districts in Amazonia where deforestation is highest. That is where Lula must take action against the destruction, all the while offering locals alternatives for the sustainable use of the forests' resources, he said. He also said Lula must get the agricultural sector involved, which is important for exports.

"Brazil's image abroad is extremely dependent on its environmental policy," Melo said, adding if there is no improvement in the sector, Lula ,might as well forget any plans to put Brazil back on the international stage.

If Lula succeeds in making rapid progress, however, Brazil can expect foreign investments in environmental protection and sustainable economic use, he said.
No commodity boom like in 2002

Stimulating growth would be important in the current difficult situation. China's phase of rapid growth, which boosted Brazil's exports during the first Lula administration, is over, he said, adding that in turn, cheap imports from China have led to a worrying degree of de-industrialization.

The country urgently needs a policy that promotes industry, Teixeira warned. "If we don't focus on technology and innovative sectors, we will return to being a purely agricultural producer that will have to import industrial goods."

"It's urgent," Carlos Melo said.

This article was originally written in German.

Iran protesters told they are ‘bringing down the patriarchy’

Thousands of protesters gathered at Marble Arch before marching through central London to Trafalgar Square for the Iran Solidarity Rally, which marked 115 days of protests.
Demonstrators march through Piccadilly Circus in London, to protest against the Islamic Republic in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini (Aaron Chown/PA)

SUN, 08 JAN, 2023 - 18:02
LUKE O'REILLY, PA

Comedian Omid Djalili told Iranian protesters that they are “bringing down the patriarchy” at a protest in London.

Thousands of protesters gathered at Marble Arch before marching through central London to Trafalgar Square for the Iran Solidarity Rally, which marked 115 days of protests.


Organisers, including human rights organisation Amnesty International, set up a stage beside Nelson’s Column, from which the British-Iranian comedian addressed the crowd.

Demonstrators in Trafalgar Square in London protest against the 

Islamic Republic in Iran (Aaron Chown/PA)

Mr Djalili told them that they are “changing the axis of the world”.

“When British women scream and shout for the women and girls in Iran, they are not just shouting for them, they are shouting for themselves,” he said.

“They are shouting to bring down the patriarchy. That’s what we are doing.

“We are changing the axis of the world. This is why the men are joining the women of Iran, because together we know that the patriarchy hurts people.

You do not mess with women, let alone Iranian women

He added that “woe betide” the men who do not listen to women.

“And right now we see with this regime… when women speak you listen, and if you don’t listen to women, woe betide the men.

“You do not mess with women, let alone Iranian women.”

Attendees carried the country’s flag with the slogan “Freedom for Iran” written on them.

Others held banners with the faces of protesters killed by the regime.

Demonstrators march towards Piccadilly Circus in London (Aaron Chown/PA)

The banners read: “What crime were we killed for?”

The protesters also chanted slogans made popular during the protests in Iran, including “woman life freedom” and “justice for Iran”.

Among the thousands of attendees at the protest was engineer Farshid Farmani.

He said that the UK Government should treat Iran like it treats Russia.

“The UK Government can expel the ambassadors,” he said. “What they have done to Russia they can do to Iran.

Omid Djalili addressed demonstrators in Trafalgar Square (Anthony Devlin/PA)

“A lot of the relatives (of the regime) live here, and they have lots of capital here.

“They can block that capital and put pressure on them and sanction them.”

He added that the protests in Iran were for freedom.

“It’s just for freedom, basic rights,” he said.

“We are all human and we have right to live freely.”

Protesters march through London to a rally in Trafalgar Square (Aaron Chown/PA)

Writer Elika Ansari, 32 also attended the protest.

“I think it’s really important for Iranian people and everyone who supports democracy to come together to support this cause,” she said

“It’s one of the biggest protests I have been to yet.”

She said the people in the UK can show their support by signing petitions and sharing the news.

Pakistan risks ‘extraordinary misery’ without flood recovery help: UN


By AFP
Published January 8, 2023

Pakistan is still reeling from the unprecedented monsoon floods - Copyright AFP Asif HASSAN
Nina LARSON

The international community must help Pakistan recover from last year’s devastating floods and boost climate resilience, or the country will be locked in misery, the head of the UN development agency told AFP.

Pakistan is still reeling from the unprecedented monsoon floods unleashed last August which killed more than 1,700 people and affected some 33 million others.

To meet the acute needs, the country and the United Nations will on Monday co-host an international conference in Geneva seeking billions of dollars in donor pledges and other support towards a long-term recovery and resilience plan.

“The sheer destruction of these floods, the human suffering, the economic cost… turns these floods truly into a cataclysmic event,” said United Nations Development Programme administrator Achim Steiner, whose agency is helping organise the conference.

In an interview ahead of the event, he said the situation remained dire months after the monsoon rains ended.

– Needs ‘massive’ –

“The waters may have receded, but the impacts are still there,” Steiner said.

“There is a massive reconstruction and rehabilitation effort that needs to be undertaken.”

Millions of people remain displaced, and those who have be able to go back home are often returning to damaged or destroyed homes and mud-covered fields that cannot be planted.

Food prices have soared, and the number of people facing food insecurity had doubled to 14.6 million, according to UN figures.

The World Bank has estimated that up to nine million more people could be dragged into poverty as a result of the flooding.

Monday’s one-day conference, which will open with speeches by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, aims to secure commitments of support towards the country’s $16-billion recovery and reconstruction plan.

Pakistan’s government aims to cover half that amount with “domestic resources”, including through public-private partnerships, but is looking to the international community to cover the rest.

Steiner insisted the international community had a moral duty to help Pakistan recover from a catastrophe clearly amplified by climate change.

The country is responsible for less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions but is one of the most vulnerable nations to extreme weather caused by global warming.

– ‘Victim’ –

Pakistan “is essentially a victim of a world that is not acting fast enough on the challenge of climate change”, Steiner said.

The enormous shocks Pakistan is facing, he said, “require the international community to step up in partnership”.

Otherwise, the country will face “an extraordinary amount of misery and suffering” in the long term, he warned.

Pakistan “will essentially remain locked into a situation where it cannot recover, and for years, maybe for decades will lag behind… its potential”.

As the world reels from multiple overlapping crises, from the Covid pandemic to the war in Ukraine and resulting food and energy price hikes, the $8 billion Pakistan is seeking might sound like a big ask.

But Steiner said the figure likely “underestimates not only the cost of what is needed, but also the potential of international support”.

He pointed out that the short-lived but dramatic and deadly floods around Ahr in Germany in 2021 ultimately cost around 33 billion euros ($35 billion).

By comparison, Pakistan saw large swaths of its territory flooded for months, with the water yet to recede in some areas in the south, leaving an unfathomable trail of destruction.

“No country in the world could really recover from this without the solidarity and support of others,” Steiner said.

Helping a climate-vulnerable country like Pakistan to rebuild in a more resilient fashion is the only way to limit the damage as global warming worsens, he said.

“I think the world has begun to realise that climate change has arrived,” he said.

“We will have to not only rethink the way our economies are run, but also how we deal with the catastrophic and almost unprecedented scale of these impacts in the years to come.”