IDF soldiers seen dancing with settlers in flashpoint West Bank town of Huwara

Clashes between settlers, Palestinians reported on Purim more than a week after rampage in city; several said injured, including 2 year old; IDF opens probe into dancing troops

By EMANUEL FABIAN and TOI STAFFToday, 4:41 am  

Settlers celebrating Purim are seen dancing with IDF troops in the West Bank town of Huwara, March 6, 2023. (Screenshot/Twitter; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Israeli soldiers were filmed dancing with settlers in the West Bank town of Huwara on Monday night, over a week after dozens of Israeli settlers rampaged violently for hours in the town in what a top Israeli general later said was a “pogrom”.

The town has been on edge amid increased Israeli military presence following the Israeli settlers’ attack on February 26, which came hours after Palestinian gunmen opened fire on an Israeli vehicle driving through the town, killing two brothers inside.

On Monday night, a video shared on social media showed settlers celebrating the Purim holiday in Huwara, with some soldiers joining them in a dance.

The Israel Defense Forces said it would open a probe into the incident, adding that the conduct of the soldiers in the video was “not consistent with what is expected of fighters in operational activity.”

Clashes between settlers and Palestinians in the town were also reported late Monday with a number of locals said to be wounded. Both Israeli settlers and Palestinians also reported that their cars were attacked with stones as they drove through the main road in the flashpoint northern West Bank town.

The Yesh Din rights group said four Palestinians were rushed to the hospital for medical treatment after being attacked by settler rioters, who were filmed hurling rocks and smashing car windows and storefronts on Monday night. Among those injured was a two-year-old girl who was pepper sprayed by a settler who doused her family with mace while they sat inside their car.

The Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa said one settler fired a gun at a Palestinian-owned car in Huwara, without causing injuries.

Yesh Din said that IDF soldiers were at the scene during the time of the attack and did not act to stop the settlers. Later, they did use riot dispersal measures to scatter the Palestinians who had gathered to push back the settlers.

“The pogroms in Huwara have continued, this time as part of the settlers’ Purim holiday celebrations. This all takes place under the auspices of the government and the lack of action by law enforcement agencies,” Yesh Din said.

In a statement, the IDF said “a number of gatherings developed” in Huwara on Monday, some of which there was “violent friction between Palestinians and Israeli citizens.”

“IDF and Border Police forces acted to disperse the incidents, using riot dispersal means,” the IDF said, adding that “all gatherings were dispersed.”

The settler response appeared to have followed stoning attacks by Palestinians on several cars with Israeli license plates. Israeli medics said at least three vehicles were hit but that no motorists were injured.

These clashes came just over a week after hundreds of settlers ransacked the town, torching homes, firebombing dozens of vehicles, and shattering store-fronts with stones in a rampage that killed one in unclear circumstances and injured over 100.

Footage taken after the attacks showed a group of Israelis dancing in Huwara with IDF soldiers.

Earlier Monday, the Central District Court reduced the administrative detention for two individuals held on suspicion of involvement in last week’s settler rampage of Huwara.

The detention of a 17-year-old was shortened Monday from four months to less than two. A day earlier, the same court shortened the detention order of the second suspect, 29-year-old David Chai Chasdai, from four months to three.

The IDF arrested 16 suspects after the Huwara riot. All but the two in administrative detention have been released.

The controversial practice of administrative detention allows individuals to be held without charge practically indefinitely, and the evidence against them to be withheld. Israel currently holds 967 Palestinians in administrative detention. Israeli detainees are in the single digits.

HALT ISRAEL ATTACKS ON SYRIA

To really help Syrian and Turkish earthquake survivors, we must be in it for the long haul

Only a month has passed since the February 6 tragedy but the news cycle is turning and the world is gradually focusing on other developments

THE NATIONAL
EDITORIAL

Emine Onal cries by the grave of her daughter, who was killed in the earthquake 15 days after having started her first job as a nurse in a Turkish state hospital. Reuters

It was 80 seconds of terror. In less than a minute and a half, the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the Turkey-Syria border on February 6 changed millions of lives forever.

Families were torn apart, children orphaned and thousands of people left to live with long-term physical and mental injuries. Homelessness and unemployment are now widespread after entire towns and cities, such as Antakya – once home to about 400,000 people – were left in ruins.

As difficult as the situation is however, almost 30 days after more than 51,000 people died in the first earthquake, the international news cycle has turned several times and the world is largely focused once more on other developments. This slow ebbing away of interest poses a very great threat to the survivors in Syria and Turkey.

This week, The National reported that in north-west Syria, the World Bank estimates the cost of the earthquake will run to $5.1 billion in direct physical damages alone. The Bank also reported that the damage in Turkey was equivalent to 4 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.

Aside from the immediate need to provide survivors with food and shelter – itself a mammoth task – there must be a series of long-term aid commitments. There are also many questions left to address. How will children in the affected Syrian and Turkish towns, some of whom have already been displaced more than once, continue their education? Who will provide the sustained physical and psychological support needed by thousands? What about jobs and restoring some kind of economy? And before these questions are answered, thousands of building assessments need to be carried out as dangerous structures on the brink of collapse threaten more lives.

President Sheikh Mohamed visits an Emirates Red Crescent event for collecting aid for the victims of the earthquake in Syria and Turkey. Photo: Emirates Red Crescent

In the medium-term there also needs to be support for the health authorities in both countries to stave off the risk of disease. Last week, UN humanitarian affairs chief Martin Griffiths told the Security Council that north-west Syria – a region already suffering from years of war – faced the growing threat of a cholera epidemic. Getting vaccines to those already struggling to survive is itself a major challenge.

But the initial response to the earthquakes was promising, with many countries sending rescue teams and supplies as the public donated in the millions. That spirit, however, has to continue.

This week, President Sheikh Mohamed made a surprise visit to the Bridges of Goodness campaign collection centre in Abu Dhabi, where volunteers and Emirates Red Crescent employees are still gathering and assembling relief supplies.

As part of the UAE's humanitarian mission to help the quake-hit countries, it has sent almost 200 relief flights so far and delivered more than 5,500 tonnes of aid. An army of volunteers in the Emirates have also lent a vital hand to the continuing relief effort.

Some of the injured in Syria have been flown to Abu Dhabi for treatment, while the UAE set up a field hospital almost immediately after the disaster struck.

All this follows an outpouring of support from the different communities who make up the UAE, such as the thousands of people who have already come forward to pack aid at events in the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre and Expo City Dubai.

However, for the people of Gaziantep, Idlib and hundreds of other cities, towns and villages in the affected area, a month is barely enough time to even begin processing the tragedy that has befallen them. Other anniversaries of the earthquake will come and go but to really help the survivors in Syria and Turkey, we will all need to be in it for the long-haul.

Published: March 06, 2023

As Israel’s democracy erodes, its government delegitimizes criticism

European partners need to use their power to stop the erosion of the country’s democracy.

Israel's Prime Minsiter-designate Benjamin Netanyahu 

| Pooled photo by Amir Cohen/AFP via Getty Images

BY DVIR AVIAM-EZRA
MARCH 7, 2023 

Dvir Aviam Ezra is an Israeli-Dutch lawyer and human rights activist based in Tel Aviv. He has worked in the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel and the Mertez Party, and is a policy officer for Young European Federalists – Belgium.

Three months ago, Israeli politics were upended.

The cabinet of national unity, which spanned political parties from both the right to left and included an Arab-minority party, lost the elections. Instead, it was replaced by a far-right populist government led by the thrice-indicted Benjamin Netanyahu and, for the first time, included openly racist parties like “Jewish Power.”

The new government’s plans now include a reform to the judiciary, which would effectively give politicians full control over supreme court appointments and allow parliament to override judicial decisions. Meaning, that if the government gets its way, there would be a de-facto ban on Arab-minority parties running in elections. Furthermore, Netanyahu’s coalition wants to impose religious restrictions on a whole host of activities.

Meanwhile, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is set to be completely frozen. Indeed, not a single party in the incumbent coalition backs the two-state solution, and most even deny Palestinian nationhood and support the deepening of Israel’s occupation in the West Bank. NGOs and activists opposing the occupation may be restricted, as proposed laws would push the narrative that they’re foreign agents, and senior ministers are promising to prevent investigations of violent soldiers, as well as withhold funding from movies dealing with the occupation.

In such an environment, it isn’t surprising that criticism of Israel’s actions — both inside the country and the West Bank — is mounting. But the government has fallen back on a time-worn playbook — equating any criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism and violence, thus seeking to delegitimize critics. This is a dangerous approach.

Netanyahu had already stated that left-wing Israelis “forgot what it means to be Jewish” back in 1997. Now, we are faced with the same rhetoric once more, with the country’s diplomats calling Palestinian complaints to the International Criminal Court “diplomatic terrorism.”

Examples of modern anti-Semitism abound, of course, and they mostly have their roots deeply embedded in the far right. From Hungary’s smear campaign against George Soros to the prevalence of Nazi apologists in Germany’s Alternative for Democracy (AfD) party and the plight of Jews and their institutions in President Vladimir Putin’s Russia, intolerant ultranationalism poses a severe danger to Jewish people in Europe today. (That’s not to say that vitriolic discourse with anti-Semitic undertones doesn’t exist on the left, but research suggests it’s much more prevalent on the right.)

Yet, this fact doesn’t seem to pose a problem for Israel’s new governing coalition, or prevent it from nurturing contacts with some of Europe’s far-right parties, just because they’re ostensibly pro-Israel — or, rather, pro-Netanyahu — a cynical move by all concerned, made for short-term political gain.

Netanyahu’s government and affiliated academics have been happy to deepen cooperation with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Hungary; Netanyahu’s son expressed support for the AfD; and politicians from the ruling Likud Party have held closed-door meetings with officials from Austria’s right-wing populist Freedom Party.

But this is a perilous strategy.

On the one hand, it denies the legitimacy of mainstream criticism of Israeli settlements by labeling it anti-Semitic, and on the other, it cozies up to some of Europe’s most dangerous parties. It’s an approach that risks offending well-meaning friends and partners in Europe and isolating Israel, all while pushing it to ally with increasingly extreme European right-wing trends and actors that, in turn, influence policies in Israel.

Netanyahu himself is increasingly aping the techniques used by European far-right populist governments to erode democracy. If the prime minister gets his way with the “reforms” he’s proposing, my country may well soon become the Hungary of the Middle East — holding elections but possessing little of the characteristics that define a healthy democracy.

The use of false “anti-Semitism” accusations by Israel’s far right in order to restrict public discourse and demonize criticism should be rejected by our European partners. They shouldn’t let themselves to become accomplices in the severe erosion of Israel’s democracy. They should, however, use their moral, economic and political power to help the country’s broad-based democracy movement, and to insist there are concrete commitments made to democracy and peace from the Israeli side.

We liberal Israelis and Jewish people have long been aware of the importance of the historical and social bonds we have with Europe, and these bonds now have the potential to protect our freedom. Please use them.

Australia's Sovereign Wealth Fund Screening for Chinese Firms at Risk of US Bans


By Reuters
March 6, 2023


By Lewis Jackson

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's sovereign wealth fund, the Future Fund, is screening its portfolio for Chinese companies at risk of U.S. investment restrictions, its chairman said on Tuesday.

The Biden administration plans to ban investments in some Chinese technology firms and increase scrutiny of others, sources have said, as part of its plan to crack down on the billions that American firms have poured into sensitive Chinese sectors.

Peter Costello, chairman of the A$243 billion ($164 billion) fund and a former Treasurer, cited the experience of Western investments in Russia that were written to zero after waves of sanctions effectively shut foreign investors out of the country.

"Is it foreseeable that something similar could happen in China? I think it’s foreseeable," Costello said during a panel discussion at the Australian Financial Review business summit in Sydney on Tuesday.

"And so we’ve gone through very, very carefully as many companies as we can to try and drop stocks. Have we found every company? No, because you don’t know of a lot of these Chinese companies."

His remarks underscore the hesitancy of many large money managers who are choosing to steer clear of Chinese assets due to political risks - including tension over the war in Ukraine as well as over Taiwan - that have increasingly seen China and the West on opposing sides.

The U.S. in October placed sweeping restrictions on exports to China of American artificial intelligence (AI) chips, chipmaking tools and supercomputers among other technologies.

"What worries us is that as this decoupling goes on the U.S Commerce Department, the Bureau of Industry and Security is announcing various Chinese companies that you can't export high-tech equipment to."

Costello gave a hypothetical scenario where Chinese-made drones might be found in Ukraine and its manufacturers were hit with U.S. investment bans in response.

"I just think (this stance is) a prudent measure in this bifurcated world we’re going into," he said.

Costello added, however, that it was important for the fund to maintain its exposure to emerging markets and China was a large part of that.

His comments also come at a time when Australia and China are seeking to mend fences after a years-long diplomatic freeze, with Australia asking China to remove unofficial "trade blockages" on its exports.

The Future Fund was established in 2006 to cover escalating pension liabilities for public servants and rivals Australia's largest pension funds in size.

A spokesperson for the fund declined to comment on its current China-related holdings. The fund has in the past cut its exposure to emerging markets, including China, he said without elaborating.

($1 = 1.4859 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Lewis Jackson; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

ANTI-BDS DEFINITION
Georgia House votes to define antisemitism in state law

CAN'T CALL ISRAEL 'APARTHEID' STATE

By RUSS BYNUM

Rep. Esther Panitch, D-Sandy Springs, speaks in support of HB 30 in the House chambers during crossover day at the Georgia State Capitol on Monday, March 6, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Slitz)

The Georgia House voted Monday to define antisemitism in state law, a move supporters say would help prosecutors and other officials identify hate crimes and illegal discrimination targeting Jewish people.

Lawmakers voted 136-22 to approve the measure just a few weeks after some residents in suburban Atlanta found anti-Jewish flyers left in their driveways inside plastic bags. Among them was Democratic Rep. Esther Panitch, one of the bill’s sponsors and Georgia’s only Jewish legislator.

“Children who went out to play on their driveway picked up baggies filled with hate and asked their parents, `What is this?’” Panitch said, adding, “A bill of this type should be uncontested. It gives our legal system a clear definition of antisemitism.”

In 2020, Georgia passed a hate crimes law that allows additional penalties for crimes motivated by race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender or disability.

Panitch and other supporters of House Bill 30 said its legal definition of antisemitism is necessary because officials don’t always recognize it. The bill advances to the Georgia Senate for further debate.

The measure would adopt into state law a definition by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which defines antisemitism as a “perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews” and can have both “rhetorical and physical manifestations.”

This includes “targeting of the state of Israel,” although the alliance says on its website that “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”

Some lawmakers who voted against the measure said they feared it would infringe on free speech rights, including the right to criticize the Israeli government.

“How far will you go to police our words?” said Rep. El-Mahdi Holly, D-Stockbridge, adding: “We must preserve our American values and vote no on this definition.”

Panitch said her bill wouldn’t create any new crimes, but rather would guide prosecutors in deciding whether there’s sufficient evidence in criminal cases to trigger enhanced hate crime penalties. Legally defining antisemitism would also help in cases of illegal discrimination, she said.

“You need a definition to be able to say that a swastika is antisemitic,” Panitch said. “It’s as simple as that. Things that you think would be obvious are not obvious.”

Rep. John Carson, R-Marietta, said similar proposals have become law in states including Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa and Tennessee. Other supporters of the Georgia measure said they’re concerned that antisemitism in the U.S. appears to be on the rise.

A survey conducted last fall by the American Jewish Committee found that four in five American Jews said antisemitism in the U.S. has grown in the past five years. A quarter of respondents said they were directly targeted by antisemitic expressions, either in person or on social media.

In Afghanistan, Women Humanitarians Continue Work Amid Environment of Fear

Banning women from working for NGOs halted the delivery of a significant part of critical humanitarian services in Afghanistan. 

Heart, 7 March 2023 – A winter sun shines down on Afghanistan’s westernmost province which borders the Islamic Republic of Iran. At the border in Islam Qala, the IOM reception centre is one of the busiest in the country. Weary from their long and arduous travels, dozens of undocumented women, men and children, who have returned to the country rest on benches. After the registration process, they are provided with a hot meal and medical care.

On average, between one and three thousand* individuals return to Afghanistan from Iran daily, many in need of emergency assistance and support following difficult journeys.


Undocumented women travelling alone receive fewer services at their point of entry into the country.

Every day, approximately 200 undocumented women arrive through Islam Qala. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and partners previously had 13 female staff supporting them. These staff’s work is critical, as gender norms prohibit Afghan women from interacting with any males outside their family.

Today, that number is reduced to zero following the de facto authorities’ (DfA) latest decree on 24 December 2022 banning women from working with national and international humanitarian organizations.

“Now, they banned women from working while our country is facing a massive wave of poverty like never before,” says Noor*, a 33-year-old mother of three who works for IOM.

UN agencies are currently exempt from the new decree, but humanitarian access for women aid workers is negotiated daily and varies throughout the country. The result has been catastrophic for women and girls who rely on female humanitarian staff to provide support.


Restrictions on women's freedom of movement in Afghanistan are among the harshest in the world. 

Photo: IOM/Léo Torréton

Before the ban, female staff working for IOM used the road between Herat and Islam Qala to reach vulnerable women at the border. This road is now dotted with numerous checkpoints run by the DfA, some of whom are unhappy to see women continuing to work.

“The main challenge I face when I’m not at home is a lack of security,” says Zahra*, who started working for IOM three years ago.

“We always feared these checkpoints, they were always there. Now there are more of them, and I still fear them even though I hold proper documentation and a permission letter, because [the DfA] are often verbally aggressive to me. Sometimes when I am in the car, they look at me very angrily and that makes me feel afraid.”

Women humanitarians in Afghanistan also face threats from civilians. “Earlier last year there was a shooting in our province, we were in the field and while community members were fighting with each other, one of them shouted, ‘Where are the women staff? Tell me! I will kill them! Where are they?’ We were petrified,” Noor adds.

Before resuming operations following the issuance of the decree, IOM put in place mitigating measures to reduce the risk faced by female staff. This includes continued negotiation efforts at the central and local level to obtain assurances on the safety of female staff, and exemptions for them to provide direct assistance to affected communities.

Freshta, a 46-year-old mother of seven and returnee from Iran, received mental health support from a female IOM counselor upon her return to Afghanistan.




An IOM mental health and psychosocial support counselor leads a session with a woman. Photo: IOM/Léo Torréton



But female staff who screened vulnerable women traveling alone returning to Afghanistan and referred them to the transit centre for mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) or any other type of assistance can no longer reach the border.

Restrictions on women’s freedom of movement in Afghanistan are among the harshest in the world. Risks of harassment, an enforced dress code, and the requirement to be accompanied by a male guardian (mahram) at checkpoints make moving and travelling a high-risk activity. This violation of women and girls’ right to freedom of movement has a cascading effect. DfA-imposed restrictions on movement coupled with socio-cultural barriers create an environment in which it is dangerous for women to go about daily life, and enjoy their rights to livelihoods, education, water, health care and more.

“I don’t have a mahram available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Apart from doing my work, I must go out and buy our family’s basic needs, such as food, clothing and so on. When I go outside, I'm afraid that the DfA will stop me and beat me,” says Noor.

Noor was a strong advocate for women’s rights in Afghanistan. Following 15 August 2021, she hid for over four months in her home due to threats. To date she has been involved in some of the toughest humanitarian responses organized by IOM. Returning from her latest assignment, she stands in the winter sunshine and reflects on what the future holds for the women of her beloved country.



The restrictions on movement not only compromise the agency of Afghan women but the important role that they play in the economy, education and overall development of the country. 

“People who read books will never be enslaved. We will continue together to build the bridge of knowledge firmly, so that tomorrow, Afghanistan is not a source of darkness, ignorance, and illiteracy. No matter how desperate we are. The women here are heroes, not just because of their work or their success, but because they are women in Afghanistan, and that will make them heroes for eternity.”

Every month, IOM reaches on average 162,000 women in Afghanistan with MHPSS, medical assistance, emergency shelter and non-food item (NFI) distributions, protection, cash assistance and livelihood support, which would not be possible without female humanitarian staff. Women play a critical role in the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Banning women from working for NGOs has effectively halted the delivery of a significant part of critical humanitarian services to millions of the most vulnerable Afghans. Full participation of women across the spectrum of aid delivery is not just a principled response but an imperative for operational effectiveness. More importantly, these restrictions not only compromise the agency of Afghan women but the important role that they play in the economy, education and overall development of the country. It’s the future of Afghanistan that is at stake.

Names and identifying details have been changed to protect the identity of returnees and staff working for IOM.

*Return data is according to IOM Afghanistan, February 2023

Photos: IOM/Léo Torréton

This story was written by Léo Torréton, Media and Communications Officer, IOM Afghanistan. For more information, please contact: ltorreton@iom.int

'Like a war zone': NZ extends state of emergency for cyclone-hit communities

By Richard Wood • Senior Journalist

Mar 7, 2023

An Australian woman who just returned from New Zealand has described the "apocalyptic" scenes in parts of the North Island hit by Cyclone Gabrielle.
Stella Mountain, from Sydney, was in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island helping her Kiwi boyfriend and his relatives recover from the disaster after the cyclone hit nearly three weeks ago.

Cyclone Gabrielle left at least 11 people dead across New Zealand and destroyed or damaged homes, businesses, farms and infrastructure, including kilometres of roads.

READ MORE: State warned of worst weather conditions since 2019

Residents in Napier, New Zealand, continue to recover after the Cyclone Gabrielle disaster. (Kerry Marshall/Getty Images)

Apples are strewn over a road in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand after Cyclone Gabrielle struck. The disaster came on the eve of the apple and grape harvest. (Photo by Kerry Marshall/Getty Images) (Getty)

This week New Zealand extended the state of national emergency for a further seven days for the Tairāwhiti and Hawke's Bay areas.

Mountain filmed scenes of the damage as she drove in areas around the coastal city of Napier in Hawke's Bay.

Her footage showed upturned vehicles, wrecked homes and large trees uprooted

"It felt like I was driving through a war zone, they were apocalyptic scenes," she told 9News.com.au

Mountain said the region faces a long road to recovery and struck on the eve of the apple and grape harvest, a big blow for growers and wineries.

"The vineyards and orchards were covered in mud and had to be removed by hand," she said.

New Zealand authorities have launched a huge recovery operation over the past weeks aiming to rebuild vital infrastructure and restore essential services.

Recovery teams across Hawke's Bay in New Zealand continue to clear roads from debris caused by Cyclone Gabrielle. 

(Photo New Zealand Transport Agency) (Supplied/Facebook)

A New Zealand Defence Force Hercules lands at Hawke's Bay airport in Napier, bringing further supplies as personnel and volunteers continue work clearing debris from Cyclone Gabrielle across the region. (Christel Yardley/Stuff)

New Zealand's Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty said thousands of residents continue to be affected by the disaster.

"The impact of Cyclone Gabrielle continues to be deeply felt by many communities in the North Island," he said.

"In the the Tairāwhiti and Hawke's Bay regions, thousands of people are still unable to return to their homes due to flood damage."

The Cyclone Gabrielle disaster is the third national state of emergency after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and COVID-19 pandemic in 2020

26 Feb 2023

Cyclone Gabrielle: Size of debris dam illustrates huge infrastructure challenges ahead

Flood damage, as seen from the sky over Tokomaru Bay around the Mangahauini River. Photo: RNZ / Ashleigh McCaull

 26 February 2023 Share on Linked In

Ashleigh McCaull

ashleigh.mccaull@rnz.co.nz

First person - Tokomaru Bay residents got temporary clearance to return home after being evacuated on Thursday due to fears a debris dam would burst.

But their return could be short as heavy rain is forecast for Monday so locals are being advised to be ready to evacuate again.

Ashleigh McCaull was in the air and took a look at the debris dam on the Mangahauini river.

While other media and I waited for our helicopter to fly us over the Mangahauini River between Tokomaru Bay and Te Puia Springs, we saw box after box of bottled water and other supplies being stacked on one helicopter, while others - including mayor Rehette Stoltz - were flown to the small hanger at the back of Gisborne Airport after visiting the area.

It has been almost two weeks since Cyclone Gabrielle struck the East Coast and the aftermath is still heavily impacting whānau.

Officials are monitoring the river 24/7 after worries Tokomaru Bay could have become like many other areas across the North Island and turned the town itself into a muddy river.

Residents of 64 homes were evacuated from Tokomaru Bay to one of the local marae on Thursday night because of fears the debris dam upstream of the town would fail from the heavy downpours.

The road between Tokomaru Bay and Te Puia Springs is blocked by a huge slip, damming the river and creating a temporary lake.

Tairāwhiti Civil Defence estimates it holds about 400,000 cubic metres of water, silt and trees.

A massive chunk of road along the Mangahauini River is completely gone, the only vehicle that sits close to the edge is a token yellow digger.

Parts of what is left of State Highway 35, around the river catchment, appear as if they are ready to crumble at any moment.

A solitary yellow digger is stationed near the edge of a washed-out road along the Mangahauini River. Photo: RNZ / Ashleigh McCaull

The Mangahauini River itself still resembles a torrent of mud overflowing onto a single slab of road that wasn't washed away.

Tairāwhiti Civil Defence Controller Ben Green said the immediate danger was over for now.

"Our key concern for Tokomaru Bay was the debris damn and actually where we are now it hasn't presented any more risk than where it was [on Friday]," Green said.

"We've had engineers and the team on the ground and with that level of comfort we've allowed people back in their houses and, equally, further work to take place in the catchment."

Yesterday a group of engineers was set to blow up the dam with explosives but after an assessment it was decided that wasn't needed as the dam didn't budge despite the heavy rain on Friday night.

Roadblocks are set up to stop access to areas of concern around the Mangahauini River catchment and Tokomaru Bay.

It has been almost two weeks since Cyclone Gabrielle struck the East Coast, causing extensive damage. Photo: RNZ / Ashleigh McCaull

Although there are no weather warnings currently in place, MetService is predicting heavy rain for Te Tai Rāwhiti on Monday which is not set to ease until Tuesday evening.

On a personal note, although I have never lived around the East Coast, I have links back here through my Ngāti Porou side.

My great-grandmother is buried in Te Puia Springs and my first thought - and I'm sure the thoughts of many locals between Tokomaru Bay and Te Puia Springs - is 'how long is it going to take to connect both sides again?'.

Seeing the size of the debris dam, the massive slip and the size of the road that was taken out, you can tell this is definitely a massive job that's going to take a very long time to fix.

MUSKTWITTER (C)(TM)(R)

On Twitter, thousands of pro-Trump bots are attacking DeSantis, Haley

By —David Klepper, Associated Press

Politics Mar 6, 2023 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Over the past 11 months, someone created thousands of fake, automated Twitter accounts — perhaps hundreds of thousands of them — to offer a stream of praise for Donald Trump.

Besides posting adoring words about the former president, the fake accounts ridiculed Trump’s critics from both parties and attacked Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador who is challenging her onetime boss for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

When it came to Ron DeSantis, the bots aggressively suggested that the Florida governor couldn’t beat Trump, but would be a great running mate.

As Republican voters size up their candidates for 2024, whoever created the bot network is seeking to put a thumb on the scale, using online manipulation techniques pioneered by the Kremlin to sway the digital platform conversation about candidates while exploiting Twitter’s algorithms to maximize their reach.

The sprawling bot network was uncovered by researchers at Cyabra, an Israeli tech firm that shared its findings with The Associated Press. While the identity of those behind the network of fake accounts is unknown, Cyabra’s analysts determined that it was likely created within the U.S.

To identify a bot, researchers will look for patterns in an account’s profile, its follower list and the content it posts. Human users typically post about a variety of subjects, with a mix of original and reposted material, but bots often post repetitive content about the same topics.

That was true of many of the bots identified by Cyabra.

“One account will say, ‘Biden is trying to take our guns; Trump was the best,’ and another will say, ‘Jan. 6 was a lie and Trump was innocent,'” said Jules Gross, the Cyabra engineer who first discovered the network. “Those voices are not people. For the sake of democracy I want people to know this is happening.”

Bots, as they are commonly called, are fake, automated accounts that became notoriously well-known after Russia employed them in an effort to meddle in the 2016 election. While big tech companies have improved their detection of fake accounts, the network identified by Cyabra shows they remain a potent force in shaping online political discussion.

The new pro-Trump network is actually three different networks of Twitter accounts, all created in huge batches in April, October and November 2022. In all, researchers believe hundreds of thousands of accounts could be involved.

The accounts all feature personal photos of the alleged account holder as well as a name. Some of the accounts posted their own content, often in reply to real users, while others reposted content from real users, helping to amplify it further.

“McConnell… Traitor!” wrote one of the accounts, in response to an article in a conservative publication about GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell, one of several Republican critics of Trump targeted by the network.

One way of gauging the impact of bots is to measure the percentage of posts about any given topic generated by accounts that appear to be fake. The percentage for typical online debates is often in the low single digits. Twitter itself has said that less than 5 percent of its active daily users are fake or spam accounts.

When Cyabra researchers examined negative posts about specific Trump critics, however, they found far higher levels of inauthenticity. Nearly three-fourths of the negative posts about Haley, for example, were traced back to fake accounts.

The network also helped popularize a call for DeSantis to join Trump as his vice presidential running mate — an outcome that would serve Trump well and allow him to avoid a potentially bitter matchup if DeSantis enters the race.

The same network of accounts shared overwhelmingly positive content about Trump and contributed to an overall false picture of his support online, researchers found.

“Our understanding of what is mainstream Republican sentiment for 2024 is being manipulated by the prevalence of bots online,” the Cyabra researchers concluded.

The triple network was discovered after Gross analyzed Tweets about different national political figures and noticed that many of the accounts posting the content were created on the same day. Most of the accounts remain active, though they have relatively modest numbers of followers.

A message left with a spokesman for Trump’s campaign was not immediately returned.

Most bots aren’t designed to persuade people, but to amplify certain content so more people see it, according to Samuel Woolley, a professor and misinformation researcher at the University of Texas whose most recent book focuses on automated propaganda.

When a human user sees a hashtag or piece of content from a bot and reposts it, they’re doing the network’s job for it, and also sending a signal to Twitter’s algorithms to boost the spread of the content further.

Bots can also succeed in convincing people that a candidate or idea is more or less popular than the reality, he said. More pro-Trump bots can lead to people overstating his popularity overall, for example.

“Bots absolutely do impact the flow of information,” Woolley said. “They’re built to manufacture the illusion of popularity. Repetition is the core weapon of propaganda and bots are really good at repetition. They’re really good at getting information in front of people’s eyeballs.”

Until recently, most bots were easily identified thanks to their clumsy writing or account names that included nonsensical words or long strings of random numbers. As social media platforms got better at detecting these accounts, the bots became more sophisticated.

So-called cyborg accounts are one example: a bot that is periodically taken over by a human user who can post original content and respond to users in human-like ways, making them much harder to sniff out.

Bots could soon get much sneakier thanks to advances in artificial intelligence. New AI programs can create lifelike profile photos and posts that sound much more authentic. Bots that sound like a real person and deploy deepfake video technology may challenge platforms and users alike in new ways, according to Katie Harbath, a fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center and a former Facebook public policy director.

“The platforms have gotten so much better at combating bots since 2016,” Harbath said. “But the types that we’re starting to see now, with AI, they can create fake people. Fake videos.”

These technological advances likely ensure that bots have a long future in American politics — as digital foot soldiers in online campaigns, and as potential problems for both voters and candidates trying to defend themselves against anonymous online attacks.

“There’s never been more noise online,” said Tyler Brown, a political consultant and former digital director for the Republican National Committee. “How much of it is malicious or even unintentionally unfactual? It’s easy to imagine people being able to manipulate that.”

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A BIT LATE

Turkish watchdog says it's fining Elon Musk over Twitter takeover

 06 Mar 2023

Elon Musk (via REUTERS)

A Turkey’s competition watchdog has said that it was fining Elon Musk for taking over Twitter without first seeking the watchdog's permission

Turkey’s competition watchdog said Monday it was fining Twitter owner Elon Musk for taking over the social media platform without first seeking the watchdog's permission.

The Turkish Competition board said the billionaire would be required to pay 0.1% of Twitter’s gross revenues in Turkey in 2022, without providing a figure for the fine.

Musk would be able to challenge the decision at an administrative court in the Turkish capital of Ankara within 60 days of receipt of a formal notification, said the board which is tasked with ensuring fair competition in the country.

The decision, which was made public on Monday, was reached “unanimously" on March 2, according to a statement from the board.

In 2021, Turkey forced Twitter and other social media platforms to form legal entities inside the country.

Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion in late October

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A Republican talking head called for the ‘elimination of transgenderism’ – but the UK beat him to it

On 4 March, American commentator and media host Michael Knowles called for the elimination of “transgenderism” at a Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Knowles hosts a podcast for the right-wing media outlet Daily Wire. His comments rightfully drew intense scrutiny and pushback from commentators and publications on the internet.

In particular, Knowles called Rolling Stone’s chosen headline “libelous” and demanded a retraction:
CPAC Speaker Calls for Transgender People to be ‘Eradicated’

Knowles said:
For the good of society … transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely — the whole preposterous ideology, at every level.

He called for the eradication of “transgenderism”, as if this is not synonymous with the eradication of trans people. However, the problem from a UK standpoint is that transphobic ‘gender critical’ activists have used similar rhetoric here for years. You might have heard it on our national broadcaster or in the halls of our government.

What’s more, it hasn’t received anywhere near enough pushback.

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The argument from Knowles and his ilk is that trans people do not exist. We are merely confused people afflicted by ‘gender ideology’ or ‘transgenderism’. Our detractors frame this ‘ideology’ as a set of beliefs and practices, rather than a state of being.

Knowles has made statements similar to his CPAC speech on his podcast. In 28 February’s installment of the Daily Wire‘s The Michael Knowles Show, he said:

I don’t know how you could have a genocide of transgender people because genocide refers to genes, it refers to genetics, it refers to biology. And the whole point of transgenderism is that it has nothing to do with biology.

He went on:
But furthermore, nobody’s calling to exterminate anybody because the other problem with that statement is that transgender people is not a real ontological category. It’s not a legitimate category of being.

It is easy to recognise this wording as fascist. Stating that being trans is not “a legitimate category of being” is dehumanisation. This is one of the hallmarks of fascism. A genocide cannot take place against trans people because there aren’t any trans people, he says. Exactly how Knowles intends to eliminate ‘transgenderism’ is left to the listener’s imagination.

What does elimination look like?

The most obvious course of action would be to make trans people cis. However, so-called ‘conversion therapy’ – the attempt to convince a trans person that they are not trans – doesn’t work. What’s more, it is actively dangerous to the people it is inflicted upon – it doubles the rate of suicide in recipients.

So if a trans person cannot be made cis, what does our eradication look like?

You might try to convert me anyway, and damn the fact that it might kill me. After numerous u-turns, the UK government only saw fit to outlaw this two months ago.

Alternatively, you could take away my healthcare. The British public, at least, believes that trans healthcare should be the purview of the rich, who can afford private access. Just 33% think that the NHS should provide hormone replacement therapy.

Failing this, you might simply try to make trans lives unlivable. Just removing equalities protections would be enough to enable bigots to freely abuse trans people. PM Rishi Sunak has already indicated that he wishes to remove trans protections from the equality act, which would enable this abuse.

Eliminationism in the UK

Of course, there is always the option of outlawing ‘being trans’ altogether. Even if you can’t stop a trans person being trans, you could stop them from saying that they are trans, from participating in public life as a trans person. The UK already treats the recognition of our gender as a reward for compliance; our genders are recognised until that becomes inconvenient, until we become inconvenient. But some transphobes want to go even further.

Back in 2021, the Women’s Human Rights Campaign (WHRC) submitted a response to a government inquiry into the Gender Recognition Act. Referring to a UN convention on discrimination against women, the WHRC declaration said:

The convention calls for the ‘elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women’ (Article 5).

We can all get behind that, right? The elimination of prejudice and stereotypes based on sex – sign me up. However, the document continued:

We consider that the practice of transgenderism clearly falls under this article because it is based on stereotyped roles for men and women.

If this sounds familiar, it should. The reference to “transgenderism”, its framing as a “practice”, the call for its “elimination” – all of it beat Knowles to the post two years ago. UK transphobia recycled in the US: who’d have thought it?

…And the condemnation?

As reported by Pink News, the signatories to the declaration include the LGB Alliance, Transgender Trend, Labour Women’s Declaration, WoLF (Women’s Liberation Front), Standing For Women, Safe Schools Alliance UK, and For Women Scotland.

However, rather than being widely recognised as calling for trans elimination, supporters of the WHRC have been granted media attention and government influence. The Tory Party conference has hosted the LGB Alliance two years in a row. Stephanie Davies-Arai, founder of Transgender Trend, was awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen’s birthday honours. For Women Scotland appeared before Scottish parliament to argue that new hate crime laws might do too much to stop it from being transphobic.

The eliminationism supported by these groups is the same as that spat out by Knowles to Republican applause. Both work towards the destruction of my way of life, and that of my trans siblings.

I am trans. We are trans. We cannot be stopped from being trans. However, without something fundamental changing in the UK’s attitude to trans people, we can and will be stopped from being.