JEWISH NATIONAL FUND

MEMO launches 'The JNF/KKL: A Charity Complicit With Ethnic Cleansing' by Dr Uri Davis

Davis highlights how the JNF has used setting up parks and planting trees to erase Palestinian villages and forms part of Israel's apartheid regime

Muhammad Hussein
alhussein1001

MEMO hosted the book launch of JNF/KKL: A Charity Complicit With Ethnic Cleansing, written by Dr Uri Davis, an Israeli academic and independent researcher who is noted to be a defender of Palestinian human rights, in London last night.

Held in London's P21 Gallery, the event started off with an introduction by MEMO's Nasim Ahmed, who highlighted that the book reveals one of the pillars of Israel's ethnic cleansing, and presented a video produced by Kholoud Al-Ajarma which exposes the Jewish National Fund's (JNF) key role in that crime.


The JNF/KKL: A Charity Complicit with Ethnic Cleansing

Dr Davis then shed light on the ongoing apartheid that Israel, its government and its forces are imposing on the Palestinian population. He called on people to show him any other member state of the UN which gives its constitutional rights to only one part of its population. "Show me just one more state. And [so far] there hasn't been any answer."

Stating that Israel is a racist endeavour, Davis expressed his belief that Jews do not have a specific right to self-determination. His main argument for that is that "there is no Jewish people other than in the framework of Zionist interpretation", attempting to tackle mainstream Zionist arguments.

Instead, he said, "Zionism politicises Jewish religion", and the "right of self-determination is the right of the indigenous people of Palestine." He also submitted the idea that Israel should be constitutionally like Switzerland, which identifies citizens by their respective languages and does not discriminate.

READ: Jewish National Fund Board to vote on $18m purchase of Palestinian land in Jordan Valley

Praising the book, Professor Nur Masalha recalled his travels throughout Palestine and the evidence of ethnic and cultural cleansing he witnessed. The JNF, he said, told Israel that if it doesn't bulldoze historic Palestinian houses quickly, then Palestinian refugees would return and try to take them back.

The event ended with a lively question and answer session, in which the audience had the chance to discover more about the JNF and the Palestinian history it has erased.

The audience and visitors also had the chance to buy copies of Uri Davis' book, which Ilan Pappe – professor with the College of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of Exeter – described as "an exposure of what really lies behind the past, present and future actions of the JNF. But more than anything else, it is an incisive exploration of the crimes Israel committed against the Palestinians and which still today are at best misrepresented and at worst denied outside the state of Israel. This book will be one of the best tools for those wishing to confront these misrepresentation and denial for the sake of peace and justice in the land of Palestine."

To purchase the book click here.

OPINION: Planting trees in the Negev is not 'forestation', it's about ethnic cleansing

UK Labour owes an apology to pro-Palestinian British Jews 'purged' from the party


A Labour Party logo during the Labour Party conference in Brighton 

[Hollie Adams/Bloomberg/Getty Images]

Nasim Ahmed
Nasimbythedocks
March 10, 2023 

It seems a long time since UK's Labour was accused of "purging Jews" from the party over allegations of anti-Semitism. But does the party and its leader Keir Starmer owe an apology to anti-Zionist Jewish members for the way they have been treated? Near universal concern over Israel's metamorphosis into an anti-democratic apartheid regime suggests that an apology is long overdue.

British Jews critical of Israel have faced shocking levels of "discrimination, victimisation and harassment" according to the left-wing, pro-Palestinian group, Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL). Details of the harassment we're outlined by JVL in a 2021 report submitted to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). It accused Starmer's Labour of "purging Jews from the party."

As many as 55 Jewish members are said to have been put under investigation by Labour over alleged anti-Semitism, of which 43 are said to have been sanctioned. One of the most shocking cases involves Diana Neslen, an 82-year-old Jewish South African émigré and former anti-apartheid activist, who had been investigated three times. The party dropped its case against her after she threatened to sue for discrimination.

READ: Attack on anti-Zionist Jewish leader exposes scale of UK Labour's anti-Palestine problem

The episode was one of the most shameful periods in the party's history. Jewish socialists who are vocal advocates for Palestinian rights and for holding Israel to account over its breaches of international law were not given protection from abuse by other party members. Left-wing Jews, said JVL, were "both insulted as antisemites and their right to identify themselves as Jews is constantly denied."

As far as left-wing Jews were concerned, Labour had replaced one form of anti-Semitism for another. Purging them was the party's way of rehabilitating itself from allegations of anti-Semitism. Starmer set the tone very early on by distancing himself from his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn by declaring that he "support[s] Zionism without qualification." Given how events in Israel have unfolded, the remark must rank as one of the most misjudged statements ever made by a Labour leader.

Would Starmer be as effusive and as categorical in his support for Zionism now as he was when first elected as Labour leader? What does unqualified support for Zionism mean? Does it require a person to defend Israel's ongoing colonial expansion and apartheid regime? What about "pogroms" as one senior Israeli commander said describing the actions of illegal settlers rampaging through Palestinian town, Huwara? Does supporting Zionism "without qualification" not mean solidarity with those advancing that ideology?

READ: Minister Ben-Gvir, journalist exchange accusations over events in Israel

I do believe Starmer is appalled by the "pogrom" carried out by Israeli settlers even though he has not denounced it publicly. However, given his endorsement of Zionism without qualification, it's not unreasonable to want the Labour leader to denounce the horrific acts of Israeli settlers seeing as they are carried out in the name of a political ideology he supports. Starmer isn't unique in this regard. Declaring undying support for Israel is considered part of the course. Such proclamations expose a gap between imaginations of Israel and the reality of its occupation. Simply put, the likes of Starmer are not as concerned in uncovering the truth about the plight of the Palestinians, let alone standing up for their rights, as much as they are in tailoring remarks about the occupation state to sections of their electorates, especially the sensibilities of some section of the UK Jewish community. To support Zionism "without qualification", one must turn a blind eye to the brutal reality of the occupation and Israel's practice of apartheid.

The same disconnect between reality and imagination is precisely why Labour MP Kim Johnson was forced to apologise after she referred to the Israeli government as "fascist". It is another instance of how when it comes to Israel, UK Labour is "more catholic than the pope," especially given that Israelis themselves are calling their leaders fascists and declaring their country to be an apartheid state. Both remarks will not only be slammed as anti-Jewish racism under the extremely controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism adopted by Labour, they will also lead to one's expulsion from the party. Seven of the 11 examples cited in the definition conflate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism which further highlights the disconnect between reality and imagination.



Anti-Zionist Jews did not suffer from this disconnect. Their crime was to speak uncomfortable truths about Israel which advocates of the apartheid state did not wish to hear. Events over the past few months have vindicated JVL and other critics of Israel. Not a week goes by where Jewish leaders are seen issuing stark warnings about Israel. This week it was the turn of 138 American Jewish groups, including community leaders who admitted to having never lobbied against Israel but felt compelled to speak out and urge others to do the same.

In the UK, senior Labour leaders like Margaret Hodge, long seen as one of the main instigators of the witch-hunt against fellow Jews in the party, are no longer standing on the side-line. "We, the Jewish diaspora, cannot just stand by," said Hodge in an article for the Guardian commenting on the current far-right Israeli government's proposal to overhaul the judiciary. It's more likely that Hodge and others are motivated far more by their desire for Israel's well-being than any distress they feel over the plight of the Palestinians, but nevertheless, their concern highlights the fact that the image of Israel as a progressive democracy -curated and defended for decades – is nothing more than a figment of their imagination.

Supporters of Zionism "without qualification" are discovering that their political opponents in the Jewish community have been right all along. With Israel crumbling under the weight of its own contradictions it will not be able to escape morphing into an apartheid state ruled by an authoritarian government that is completely at odds with the values which the west claims to stand for. Anti-Zionist Jews have known this fact all along and have paid a price for pointing this out. If UK Labour cared as much about truth as British Jews "purged" from the party it would apologise and reinstate them immediately.

Iran- Saudi political ties to lead to cease-fire in Yemen: Tehran


A man in Tehran holds a local newspaper reporting on its front page the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.

[ ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images]

March 12, 2023

Iran said the resumption of political relations with Saudi Arabia will accelerate efforts aimed at reaching a cease-fire in war-torn Yemen, Anadolu reports.

"The relations between Riyadh and Tehran are important at three bilateral, regional, and international levels," Iran's permanent mission to the United Nations said in a statement cited by the state news agency IRNA.

"The restoration of political ties between the two countries will be positive at all three levels, including West Asia and the Islamic world," it added.

The mission said political ties with Riyadh will "accelerate the ceasefire, help start a national dialogue, and form an inclusive national government in Yemen."

Iran and Saudi Arabia on Friday agreed to resume their bilateral relations after several days of talks facilitated by the Chinese government.

Yemen has been ravaged by violence and instability since 2014, when Iran-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

Reaction to Iran and Saudi Arabia resuming ties – Quotes


Iran's top security official Ali Shamkhani (R), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (C) and Musaid Al Aiban, the Saudi Arabia's national security adviser pose for a photo after Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to resume bilateral diplomatic ties after several days of deliberations between top security officials of the two countries in Beijing, China on March 10, 2023

 [CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY/Anadolu Agency]

Reuters
March 10, 2023

Here are some key quotes and reactions after Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed on Friday to re-establish relations in a deal announced after four days of previously undisclosed talks in Beijing.
Statement issued by Iran, Saudi Arabia and China

Tehran and Riyadh agreed "to resume diplomatic relations between them and re-open their embassies and missions within a period not exceeding two months".

"The agreement includes their affirmation of the respect for the sovereignty of states and the non-interference in internal affairs," the statement said.
Saudi National Security Adviser, Musaad Bin Mohammed Al-Aiban

"The Kingdom's leadership welcomes the initiative of His Excellency, President Xi Jinping, based on the Kingdom's consistent and continuous approach since its establishment in adhering to the principles of good neighbourliness, taking everything that would enhance security and stability in the region and the world, and adopting the principle of dialogue and diplomacy to resolve differences."

"While we value what we have reached, we hope that we will continue to continue the constructive dialogue, in accordance with the pillars and foundations included in the agreement, expressing our appreciation for the People's Republic of China's continued positive role in this regard."
Iran's Foreign Minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian

"The neighbourhood policy, as the key axis of the Iranian government's foreign policy, is strongly moving in the right direction and the diplomatic apparatus is actively behind the preparation of more regional steps."
China's top diplomat, Wang Yi

"This is a victory for dialogue, a victory for peace, offering major good news at a time of much turbulence in the world."

China will continue to play a constructive role in handling hotspot issues in the world and demonstrate its responsibility as a major nation, Wang said. "The world is not just limited to the Ukraine issue," he said.

US President, Joe Biden

"Better relations between Israel and their Arab neighbours are better for everybody," he said after being asked by reporters about the Iran-Saudi deal.
White House National Security Council spokesperson, John Kirby

"Generally speaking, we welcome any efforts to help end the war in Yemen and de-escalate tensions in the Middle East region. De-escalation and diplomacy together with deterrence are key pillars of the policy President Biden outlined during his visit to the region last year," Kirby said.

"The Saudis did keep us informed about these talks that they were having, just as we keep them informed on our engagements, but we weren't directly involved."
UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the deal and praised China, Oman and Iraq for promoting the talks.

"Good neighbourly relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia are essential for the stability of the Gulf region," UN spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement.

"The Secretary-General reiterates his readiness to use his good offices to further advance regional dialogue to ensure durable peace and security in the Gulf region," he said.
Chief Negotiator of Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi Movement, Mohammed Abdulsalam

"The region needs the resumption of normal ties between its countries for the Islamic nation to reclaim its lost security as a result of foreign interference."
Hezbollah

The Head of Lebanon's powerful armed group said the resumption of ties between its backer, Iran, and long time rival, Saudi Arabia, was a "good development".
Oman Foreign Minister, Badr Albusaidi

"This is a win-win for everyone and will benefit regional and global security. We hope, in the longer term, there's also potential for increasing economic benefits for all."
Anwar Gargash, Diplomatic Adviser to United Arab Emirates President

"We welcome the agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran to resume diplomatic relations, and we hail the Chinese role in this regard," he tweeted.

"The UAE believes in the importance of positive communication and dialogue among the countries of the region towards consolidating the concepts of good neighbourliness and starting from a common ground to build a more stable future for all."
Qatar

Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who also acts as Foreign Minister, called the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia to welcome the deal.
Iraq State News Agency

Iraq welcomes "turning a new page" between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Egypt Foreign Ministry

Hopes agreement will contribute to easing of tension in the region.
Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Political Scientist at Rice University's Baker Institute in the United States

"Further regional instability is not in Saudi or Iranian interest at the moment."

"And for the Chinese to have addressed this at a time when the US stance toward Iran is becoming more hawkish sends a powerful signal in itself."

Anti-government protests resume in Israel for 10th straight week


An aerial view of streets where Israelis take part in the "Day of Resistance" rally to protest the Israeli government plan to introduce judicial changes, seen by the opposition as an attempt to reduce the powers of the judicial authority in favor of the executive authority in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 11, 2023. [Amir Terkel - Anadolu Agency]

March 12, 2023 

Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets Saturday to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing policies and a plan that would restrict the powers of the judiciary, Anadolu reports.

Israelis have held demonstrations every Saturday against the judicial regulation of the extreme right-wing coalition government led by Netanyahu.

They were on the streets again Saturday in the tenth consecutive week of protests held in dozens of cities, including Tel Aviv, Haifa, West Jerusalem, Beersheba and Netanya.

Representatives from different NGOs made pro-democracy speeches on a stage set up in Tel Aviv's Kaplan square near the government complex.

Demonstrators also chanted slogans against Netanyahu, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Yair Lapid, former prime minister and leader of the opposition Yesh Atid party, attended demonstrations in the southern city of Beersheba.

"Together with more than 10,000 mighty protesters in Beersheba, fighting for the state," Lapid wrote on Twitter.

Proposed by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the reform plan, if enacted, would be the most radical change ever in the system of government in Israel.

The change would severely limit the power of the Supreme Court of Justice, give the government the power to choose judges and end the appointment of legal advisers to ministries by the attorney general.

Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, has insisted his plan would enhance democracy.

Where have the defenders of Israeli democracy been hiding?

Israelis continue rallies against gov't judicial overhaul plan

Ibrahim Hewitt
ibrahimhewitt56
March 9, 2023 

It is heartening to see so many Israelis taking to the streets to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned judicial reforms which will basically give politicians the final say on many judicial issues. It is being seen by his opponents as a way for him and other politicians facing criminal charges to get off the hook. He denies this, of course.

The protesters have declared today to be a "Day of Resisting Dictatorship" and they are gathering near Ben-Gurion Airport as Netanyahu gets set to fly to Italy for talks with another far-right leader. What is perhaps more worrying for the Israeli government is that more and more Israel Defence Forces (IDF) reservists are joining the protests. The IDF is held in great esteem in Israel, which has conscription for all but its ultra-Orthodox and Arab citizens. It is, in every sense, a very militarised society, so to see bomber pilots, for example, refusing to turn up for training, is a major concern, as will be the images in the media today showing members of the elite Armoured Corps blocking a major road between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

This is all well and good. Israel's supporters around the world, although worried about the political shift to the far-right and the damage this does to the occupation state's global image, will point to the protests and say that they are healthy in a thriving democracy. It is ironic, therefore, that the protesters feel the need to defend that democracy against a government that has been labelled the most extreme in Israel's history of extreme governments.

READ: Sharp split among Israelis over Netanyahu government's 'judicial reform'

What is even more interesting, though, is that all of these people concerned about democracy have failed to speak up about the inequalities embedded in Israeli society. Israel's Arab citizens are equal citizens in name only; from government spending to law and order, land and housing rights and due process when in detention, Arab Israelis are much worse off than their Jewish neighbours. The Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel — Adalah — listed in 2017 more than 65 laws "that discriminate directly or indirectly against Palestinian citizens in Israel and/or Palestinian residents of the Occupied Palestinian Territory on the basis of their national belonging." The database of the laws can be viewed here.

More recent laws will need to be added to the list because, as Adalah points out, "Successive Israeli governments regularly enact legislation which excludes, ignores and discriminates against the Palestinian Arab minority." Moreover, "Since the establishment of the state [in 1948], Israel has relied upon these laws to ground their discriminatory treatment of Arab citizens and allow the unequal status and unequal treatment of Jewish and Arab citizens to persist."

This, needless to say, is not what democracies should do. As my colleague Nasim Ahmed asked on 21 February, "Israel has never had a democracy, so how can it lose it?" It's a good question. And we are entitled to ask where the latest defenders of Israeli democracy have been hiding for all of these years. Does democracy only really matter when the rights of Jewish citizens are perceived to be threatened? Far from illustrating that Israel is a healthy democracy, the "defend our democracy" protests serve to confirm the apartheid nature of the state: democracy is only worth defending when a "dictatorship" threatens one specific group of citizens, not all of its citizens.

READ: Israel waging 'all-out war' against Palestinians

When B'Tselem, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International made it clear that Israel fulfils the legal requirements to be classed as an apartheid state, pro-Israel lobbies and politicians across the West threw their arms up and denied the facts in front of their eyes. Allegations of "anti-Semitism", weaponised to shut down honest discussion about Israel and Zionism, are hurled at those who dare to use the A word to describe Israel. This is yet another example of Western hypocrisy when it comes to holding Israel to account for its war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Have the pro-democracy protesters not noticed any of this before now? Israeli history is replete with examples of the state showing contempt for democratic laws and values. Every settlement it builds on Palestinian land is illegal under international law; as are the settlers who live there. How many more Palestinians must be killed before people wake up to the fact that Israel is a rogue state careering out of control?

The elephant in the room is Israel's founding political ideology, Zionism, which is inherently racist in nature. As it stands, according to Israel's Basic Law, "The State of Israel is the nation state of the Jewish People in which it realizes its natural, cultural, religious and historical right to self-determination. The realisation of the right to national self-determination in the State of Israel is exclusive to the Jewish People." In other words, the 20 per cent of Israeli citizens who are not Jews have no right to self-determination. What is that but apartheid?

READ: More elite IDF troops join anti-Netanyahu protests

The current protests against the judicial reforms planned by extreme right-wing politicians are great, but don't let them stop there. Israel will only truly be a democracy when it ditches Zionism and becomes a state for all of its citizens. Until then, the contradictions contained within "Israeli democracy" which promote one racial group over all others will continue to dominate, and it will continue to be an apartheid state that these protesters are defending, not a democratic state.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

PRO PALESTINE CANADIAN JEW

Harry interviewed by Jewish Holocaust survivor smeared as 'anti-Semitic'

Prince Harry addresses the United Nations (UN) general assembly during the UN's annual celebration of Nelson Mandela International Day in New York, United States on July 18, 2022. [ Lokman Vural Elibol - Anadolu Agency]

March 6, 2023 

A "disgusting" claim of anti-Semitism has been made against a Jewish survivor of the Nazi Holocaust because of his solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Gabor Maté is a Hungarian-Canadian physician renowned for his work on trauma and addiction. On Saturday, he conducted an interview with Britain's Prince Harry during which the latter shed light on his mental health struggles and spoke about his book, Spare.

The right-wing media have been very critical of the interview, especially Harry's decision to be interviewed by Maté because of previous comments made by the 79 year-old in solidarity with Palestine. A self-declared anti-Zionist, Maté has long spoken of his journey from being a Zionist who believed in the need for a Jewish state after the Holocaust to becoming a harsh critic of the state of Israel. Many Zionist Jews have had a similar journey after discovering the brutal reality of the occupation and the violence and human rights abuses carried out to preserve Israel's system of apartheid.

Writing in 2014 following Israel's deadly military onslaught against the besieged Gaza strip, Maté spoke about how the "Beautiful Dream of Israel has Become a Nightmare". He mentioned his trip to Gaza and the West Bank where he saw multi-generational Palestinian families weeping in hospitals around the bedsides of their wounded and at the graves of their dead.

"These are not people who do not care about life" wrote the physician. "They are like us — Canadians, Jews, like anyone: they celebrate life, family, work, education, food, peace, joy. And they are capable of hatred, they can harbour vengeance in the hearts, just like we can."

He slammed the mainstream narrative about Gaza and the media misrepresentation. "There is no understanding Gaza out of context." Although Hamas rockets are "unjustifiable", they exist within the context of "the longest ongoing ethnic cleansing operation in the recent and present centuries" and "the ongoing attempt to destroy Palestinian nationhood."

Describing Israel's ongoing settler colonialism, Maté said: "In Israel-Palestine the powerful party has succeeded in painting itself as the victim, while the ones being killed and maimed become the perpetrators."

Predictably, Mate's interview with Harry was slammed by pro-Israel groups and his past remarks in solidarity with Palestine were highlighted in order to smear him as an "anti-Semite". American news site TMZ ran with the headline "Alleged anti-Semitism afoot". The tabloid cited Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, who blasted Harry for his affiliation with Maté. Cooper told the Jewish Chronicle: "Whoever made the arrangements to have this individual appear with Prince Harry, did him no favours. If Prince Harry knew this man's record and still chose him for the interview, our Centre would criticise the prince for such an inappropriate choice."

Defending his father, Aaron Maté said on Twitter: "@TMZ and others: if you're depraved enough to suggest that Gabor Maté is 'anti-Semitic' for supporting Palestinian rights, you should at least inform your audience that he's a Jewish survivor of the Nazi Holocaust."

Social media users expressed solidarity with Maté and slammed the anti-Semitism smear as "disgusting".

Morocco opens first lab for cannabis use in industry, medicine

March 6, 2023 

Cannabis [Pexels]

March 6, 2023 

Morocco, on Monday, inaugurated the country's first laboratory for medical and industrial use of cannabis, Anadolu News Agency reports.

In a statement, the Cooperative Bio Cannat said the lab in the north-western city of Chefchaouen will be used to process cannabis in food and pharmaceutical industries.

According to the statement, the lab had obtained a permit for the use of cannabis in industry and medicine in October 2022.

It said the substance will be used in food, industrial, medical and paramedical industries due to the many scientifically proven benefits in relieving pain.

"There will be agricultural experiments with some farmers in Chefchaouen in order to provide raw materials after having provided the seeds intended for this purpose," it added.

Last November, the Interior Ministry said its efforts to tackle illegal cannabis trade had led to an approximately 80 per cent drop in its cultivation.

Last year, Moroccan unveiled a plan for the medical and industrial use of cannabis. It has also passed a law to legalise the use of the substance in industry and medicine.

India’s Education Market: The Next Neo-Colonial Frontier

BY BINOY KAMPMARKFacebook

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Photograph Source: Envision Studio – CC BY-SA 2.0

Over the last week or so, Australian politicians and representatives of the university sector got busy pressing flesh in India, hoping to open avenues that have largely remained aspirational.  It was timed to coincide with G20 talks in New Delhi, which has seen a flurry of contentious meetings traversing security, economics and education, all taking place in the shadow of the Ukraine War.

A starring outcome of the various discussions was an agreement between Canberra and New Delhi to ensure the mutual recognition of qualifications.  On March 3, the Australian Minister for Education, Jason Clare, stated in a media release that the Mechanism for the Mutual Recognition of Qualifications was “India’s most comprehensive education agreement of its type with another country.”

Such a mechanism would ensure that Indian students attaining a degree from an Australian university would have it recognised should they wish to continue higher education in India.  The release continues to optimistically extol the merits of the mechanism, which would open “a world of possibilities to develop flexible and innovative partnerships between the two countries.”  Minister Clare and his counterpart Shri Dharmendra Pradhan also reaffirmed their wish to establish an Australia India Working Group on Transnational Partnerships.

A number of memoranda of understanding, totalling 11 in all, were also signed, stressing bilateral cooperation between India and Australia in a number of fields, including law and bio-innovation.  “The developments today,” announced the Indian Ministry of Education with certain effusion, “will create more opportunities for two-way mobility of students and professionals for the purpose of education and employment, and pave the way for making education the biggest enabler in taking India-Australia bilateral relationship to greater heights and shared aspirations.”

The public relations front was also busy with fanfare.  Brian Schmidt, Nobel laureate and vice-chancellor of the Australian National University, met students and officials at Sri Venkateswara College of the University of Delhi.  His polite welcome was shaded by the more raucous one given to former Australian test cricketer Adam Gilchrist, who acts as the University of Wollongong’s global brand ambassador. For such institutions, brands come before brains.

Gilchrist’s presence was unsurprising, given the zeal with which the university he represents is pursuing a base in India.  (The added point here is that Indians are utterly bonkers for cricket.)  The soft power of cricketing appeal has been twinned with the hard corporate agenda.  In July 2022, a Letter of Intent was signed between the University of Wollongong and the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City).  According to the university, the intention is “to establish a location for teaching, research and industry engagement in GIFT City within a partnership or a stand-alone basis.”  This will further supplement pre-existing research collaborations in a number of fields, including 3D bioprinting, transportation and advanced medicine.

These events have served to show how starry-eyed education apparatchiks in Australia are increasingly looking to India as an alternative to China.  Earlier this year, applications for student visas from India exceeded those from China.

What will eventuate from this round robin chat fest is hard to tell.  The modern university behaves much as a colonial enterprise, with all its failings and brute drawbacks.  In certain practices, they resemble the VOC or British East India Company.  The guns and ammunition might have been abandoned but the residual ruthless mercantilism remains.

This takes the form of International Branch Campuses (IBCs), a booming neo-colonial favourite of universities from the United States, UK, Australia and a number of EU member states.  Between 2002 and 2006, the number of IBCs grew from 18 to 82.  By 2009, that number had swollen to 162.  In some part, the move into the global education market, with its emphasis on academic capitalism, was encouraged by declines in domestic government funding.  But it also betrayed a lazy myopia on the part of university managers.

Vice-chancellors, equipped with the powers of petty despotism, resemble functionaries in the service of capital, and not always good capital at that.  They continue to embrace the plundering model of the rich student market, hoping to reap the rewards of the developing world spouting cliches about mutual advantage and “world class” education.  If China falls out of favour, another market will take its place.

Deakin University’s vice-chancellor, Iain Martin, gives us a sense of this attitude.  India had “250 million people between the ages of 18 and 26 and an overcrowded, overly stressed domestic education system.”  Alas, standalone institutions from the outside were hard to establish as things stood.  Thankfully, “the government has realised it needs to work with others outside India to open up educational opportunities.”

As the Australian Financial Review reports, “the sound of billions of dollars in tuition fees from a new generation of Indian students who are not just keen to study here, but to stay on to work and gain permanent residency, is pure happiness to the ears of vice-chancellors.”

The welfare of such students, however, is quite a different thing.  Those who tend to represent cash cows are rarely taken seriously, except for their cash.  The quality of what they receive is less significant than what they provide to university coffers.  This works both ways, whether through the IBCs, or in the metropole where the main university campus is located.  The treatment meted out to international students by Australian universities during the pandemic was nothing short of atrocious, characterised by callousness regarding the delivery of courses and uneven support schemes.

Another area of educational importance is also being neglected in these latest negotiations.  India’s officials and policy makers have expressed considerable interest in the role of vocational education.  (This was touched on in the Australia India Future Skills initiative announced in March 2022 by the previous government.)  A number of Australian universities are what are termed “dual sector” entities, straddling both tertiary and vocational. But its conspicuous absence on this occasion suggests that Australian universities, and some of their counterparts, are hoping for the easy cash-filled options.

Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: bkampmark@gmail.com

U.S. Military Out of the Philippines

BY SEIJI YAMADA, ARCELITA IMASA, AND RICHARD ROTHSCHILLER

 MARCH 7, 2023
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Photograph Source: U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. 1st Class John Etheridge – Public Domain

In January, the Philippine and US governments announced plans to allow U.S. military access to four additional bases in the Philippines. This agreement to base more U.S. military assets in the Philippines poses a threat to peace.

Signaled by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton writing in Foreign Policy in 2011, the Obama administration made a “pivot” from the Middle East to the Asia-Pacific.

Open markets in Asia provide the United States with unprecedented opportunities for investment, trade, and access to cutting-edge technology. Our economic recovery at home will depend on exports and the ability of American firms to tap into the vast and growing consumer base of Asia. Strategically, maintaining peace and security across the Asia-Pacific is increasingly crucial to global progress, whether through defending freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, countering the proliferation efforts of North Korea, or ensuring transparency in the military activities of the region’s key players….

[…] in Southeast Asia, we are renewing and strengthening our alliances with the Philippines and Thailand, increasing, for example, the number of ship visits to the Philippines and working to ensure the successful training of Filipino counter-terrorism forces through our Joint Special Operations Task Force in Mindanao. [1]

Thus, while economic interests (selling to the “consumer base”) are paramount, military means (the Orwellian “peace and security”) are employed. Fundamentally, the U.S. seeks to contain China in their inter-imperialist competition. By allowing the U.S. to place more military assets in the Philippines, the nation fulfills its client state role in the U.S. empire: to serve as bulwark and a staging area for military operations against China.

In the aftermath of the Yolanda/Haiyan typhoon of November 2013 (officially 6,300 deaths, 1,062 missing, and 28,688 injuries), the U.S. government deployed its military assets in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR). The effort to win over “hearts and minds” was explicit. Within days of the typhoon, in an opinion piece in U.S.A. Today, RAND Corporation political scientist Jonah Blank noted,

The best battle is the one you don’t have to fight. Most of the deployment of U.S. military resources is preventive: The U.S. stations troops throughout the world in the hope of shaping the political environment so as to avoid sending them into combat. . . . In these terms, deploying military resources for disaster relief is a remarkably effective — and inexpensive — investment in the future. [2]

That the U.S. response was intended, at least to some extent, to buoy public opinion of the U.S. among Filipinos became evident within six months of the typhoon. In April 2014, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) – allowing the U.S. military access to facilities in the Philippines, including the stationing of troops, and prepositioning of weaponry – was signed during a visit by President Obama to President Aquino. The current agreement for access to four additional bases is an extension of EDCA.

Subsequently the U.S. government has pursued an increasingly explicit confrontationist stance against China, escalating further under the Trump and Biden administrations. If anything, Democrats have been more hardline than Republicans, as demonstrated by Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last August.

In sending military aid to Ukraine, the Biden administration has shown itself to be willing to risk a wider war, perhaps even nuclear war, in order to “weaken” (per Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin) Russia, another designated enemy. Since February 2022, the U.S. has sent more than $18 billion in military aid to Ukraine.[3] The Defense budget has grown by over 4 percent per year over the last two years,[4] and the arms industry saw its stock prices climb by 32% during 2022.[5] The military-industrial complex is benefiting handsomely from the war in Ukraine and from preparations for war against China in the Asia-Pacific. U.S. Air Force General Mike Minihan, who heads the Air Mobility Command, recently stated, “My gut tells me we will fight in 2025.”[6] Military analysts are constantly “gaming” scenarios. While some are tabletop exercises, others involve military forces and equipment. In April 2022, the US sent 5,000 troops to the Philippines for the yearly Balikatan war exercises. In July 2022, 38 warships, more than 170 aircraft, and some 25,000 personnel from more than two dozen countries converged on Hawaiʻi for the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises. Pointedly, China, which had been invited to participate in previous RIMPACs in 2014 and 2016, has been disinvited since 2018.[7]

During the Vietnam War, U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay and Clark Air Base were among the largest overseas U.S. military bases. The U.S. military presence in the Philippines was characterized by environmental contamination, the exploitation of women,and many documented human rights violations. According to a 1992 U.S. Government Accounting Office report on Subic Bay and Clark – highly carcinogenic polychlorinated biphenyls, banned in the U.S. in 1979, were used at Subic’s power plant. Only 25% of the five million gallons per day of sewage was treated. [8] The U.S. military presence was characterized by fuel spills and dumping of asbestos, mercury, lead, and other heavy metals, leading to asbestosis and other toxic health effects. [9] Reports of increased birth defects and problems such as kidney disease among the people living in the vicinity have not been adequately assessed, let alone compensated by the U.S. military. [10]. Red-light districts in Olongapo (on Subic Bay) and Angeles City (near Clark) burgeoned during the Vietnam War and were viewed as “rest and recreation” spots by U.S. servicemen. The servicemen thus came to view Filipina women as objects for sexual exploitation. Even after the closure of the Naval base, in Olongapo City in 2014 Jennifer Laude, a Filipina transwoman, was strangled and drowned in a toilet by the U.S. Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton after he had discovered that she was transgender.

Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who was president from 1965 and declared martial law in 1972. As a military ally of the U.S. the elder Marcos’s brutal regime received support from the U.S. He was deposed in February 1986 through the People Power Revolt, and the U.S. military was evicted from the Philippines in 1991. The Marcos Jr. regime has continued the Duterte regime’s “red-tagging” of civil society activists, labeling them communists so they can be detained, or made the targets of extrajudicial killings [11] By throwing open the Philippines to the U.S. military, Marcos Jr is posturing in a desperate attempt to gain international respectability within the U.S. orbit.

Progressive forces in the Philippines protested the arrival of US Defense Secretary Austin and called the building of new US bases a foreign military intervention. Renato Reyes of people’s alliance Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) noted, “The matter of asserting Philippine sovereignty and sovereign rights rests with the Filipinos, not any foreign power.”[12] U.S. military presence in the Philippines makes it a target in a conflict, similarly to Taiwan, Guam, Okinawa, South Korea, and Japan. The people of Asia and the Pacific experienced enough war during the twentieth century. The Biden administration’s policy continues to prioritize U.S. strategic interests over human rights. Peace-loving citizens in solidarity with the Filipino people’s struggles are calling for an end to using American people’s tax dollars to fund the Philippine military. It is outrageous that the Biden administration pursues military dominance of the Asia-Pacific by re-building its military facilities in the Philippines.

We in Hawai‘i who support the call of the Filipino people do not want any more military abusers and murders and prostitution. We do not want World War III. We don’t want RIMPAC back in 2024. We want international peace and friendship. We reject U.S. military intervention in the Philippines!

Portions of this article previously appeared in “Hearts and Minds: Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan and the Use of Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief to Further Strategic Ends.” Social Medicine, 4 July 2017. https://www.socialmedicine.info/index.php/socialmedicine/article/view/916 and “Get U.S. Military Out of the Philippines.” Honolulu Star-Advertiser. 26 Feb 2023. https://twitter.com/seijihawaii/status/1629884677103271937

[1] Hillary Clinton. “America’s Pacific Century: The future of politics will be decided in Asia, not Afghanistan or Iraq, and the United States will be right at the center of the action,” Foreign Policy. 2011 Oct 11.http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/10/11/americas_pacific_century.

[2] Jonah Blank. “How Philippines typhoon aid helps USA.” U.S.A. Today. 14 Nov 2013 http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/11/11/philippines-typhoon-us-aid-column/3500637/

[3] Congressional Research Service (CRS), “U.S. Security Assistance to Ukraine,” 26 Jan 2023.https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12040

[4] Eric Lipton, Michael Crowley, John Ismay. “Military Spending Surges, Creating New Boom for Arms Makers,” New York Times, 12 Dec 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/18/us/politics/defense-contractors-ukraine-russia.html

[5] Doug Cameron. “Why Ukraine Hasn’t Been a Boon to U.S. Defense Companies,” Wall Street Journal 31 Jan 2023.https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-ukraine-hasnt-been-a-boon-to-u-s-defense-companies-11675176026

[6] Idrees Ali, Ted Hesson. “U.S. four-star general Mike Minihan warns of war with China in 2025,” Reuters 28 Jan 2023. https://www.reuters.com/world/us-four-star-general-warns-war-with-china-2025-2023-01-28/

[7] Kevin Knodell, Navy expects 27 countries to attend RIMPAC this summer. Honolulu Star-Advertiser 23 Feb 2022. https://www.staradvertiser.com/2022/02/23/hawaii-news/navy-expects-27-countries-to-attend-rimpac-this-summer/

[8] U.S. General Accounting Office. Military Base Closures U.S. Financial Obligations in the Philippines. Jan 1992. https://www.gao.gov/assets/nsiad-92-51.pdf

[9] Center for Environmental Concerns. The Casualties of War. Dec 2017. Quezon City, PH.

[10] Ted Regencia. “Toxic trail shadows US-Philippine bases deal.” Al Jazeera, 28 Apr 2014. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/04/toxic-trail-shadows-us-philippine-military-bases-deal-20144286574888208.html

[11] Investigate PH. https://ichrp.net/iph/

[12] Abby Boiser. “US pledges failed to stop Sino moves in WPS – Bayan.” Philippine Daily Inquirer, 4 Feb 2023.https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1724830/us-pledges-failed-to-stop-sino-moves-in-wps-bayan/amp

Seiji Yamada, Arcelita Imasa, and Richard Rothschiller are members of the Hawaii Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines.

The First Lady of homophobic prayers

Kenya's Rachel Ruto was condemned after saying even talking about LGBTQ rights was like 'throwing our morals into the dustbin'

Rachel Ruto has criticised even talking about LGBT rights in Kenya 

THE FIRST Lady of Kenya has declared nationwide prayers against homosexuality across the country and denounced it as a threat to the family unit.

Rachel Ruto delivered the homophobic prayer after the Supreme Court ruled that an LGBT rights group being banned from officially registering themselves was wrong.

The National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC) sought to be recognised in 2013, but the move was blocked by the country’s NGO board.

The newest ruling by Kenya’s highest court means the decision cannot be overturned.

The judges said that “it would be unconstitutional to limit the right to associate, through denial of registration of an association, purely on the basis of the sexual orientation of the applicants,” adding that they still believe gay sex should be illegal.

Ms Ruto led prayers in east-African after the seminal ruling for the country during a Sunday church service.

“We should not even try to talk about LGTBQ. This is a conversation we should not even have in our country because accepting it is like throwing our morals into the dustbin,” said the first lady.

“We want to strengthen the family institution where we have a father, a mother and children. LGBTQ is forbidden even in the Bible and the African culture. Let us hold on to family values.”

Homosexuality remains illegal under British colonial-era laws that make gay sex punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

The Supreme Court determined that denying the LGBT community the right to register themselves as a lobby group would go against their right to association, in accordance with the Kenya constitution.

The ruling came under attack from religious leaders in evangelical churches and Lady Ruto who criticised the move.

The First Lady of Kenya had previously established a Faith Diplomacy Office and announced it will be reinforcing a prayer culture throughout the country, saying that it would “ensure family values are protected.”

“I would like us to pray on matters of family. The family has become an institution that has been very much attacked…,” she is understood to have said in local media reports.

The declaration of nationwide prayers comes after the tragic killing of LGBTQ rights activist Edwin Chiloba.

The 25-year-old model was found dead stuffed inside a box on a roadside in Eldoret, Kenya.

Police are continuing their investigations into the motivations behind the killing, but LGBT rights groups demanded justice for Chiloba after a series of attacks against the LGBTQ community in the country.

African is arguably undergoing a reckoning of anti-gay laws after MPs in Uganda re-introidcued a new hard-line bill against the LBTQ community. Homosexuality in the country is already punishable by life imprisonment, but the new anti-LGBT law calls for the death penalty for those who partake in gay sex.

During a press conference in South Africa, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was asked by a reporter if he would be willing to meet with the gay community in his country before laughing at the suggestion.

Mr Museveni later appeared on CNN where he was asked if he personally disliked homosexuals, he replied: “Of course. They are disgusting. What sort of people are they? I never know what they are doing, I’ve been told recently. What they are doing is terrible.

 

After facing pushback for the country’s anti-LGBT laws, he hit back and said to “respect African societies and their values. If you don’t agree, just keep quiet.”

LGBT activists continue to criticise both Kenya and Uganda over the recent remarks regarding their community.

Since the Supreme Court decision, Kenya’s attorney-general said that the government will challenge the court’s decision, insisting that the ruling didn’t lie with courts but through public consultation.

The court ruling : “Despite gayism being illegal (in Kenya), they have a right of association.”