Sunday, April 23, 2023

Activists gather for Earth Day, urge action to avoid 'dystopian' future

Reuters
April 22, 2023


(Reuters) - Climate change campaigners gathered outside Britain's parliament building ahead of Earth Day to urge action on global warming, while volunteers worldwide geared up to plant trees and clear trash to mark the 54th annual celebration of the environment.

Earth Day this year, officially on Saturday, follows weeks of extreme weather with temperatures soaring to record highs in Thailand and a punishing heatwave in India, where at least 13 people died of heatstroke at a ceremony last weekend.

Average global temperatures could hit all-time highs in 2023 or 2024, climate scientists have warned.

"Climate impacts are here," Areeba Hamid, co-executive director of Greenpeace UK, said on Friday as climate change activists walked down the street outside parliament, some dressed in green costumes and green paint.

Hamid said when she now visits her hometown of Delhi, it feels like "putting your head in the oven" and that London's 2022 heatwave was like "a dystopian film".

"We can't afford that anymore."

Activists led by the Extinction Rebellion group have gathered in London to kick off a four-day action, billed "The Big One", to coincide with Earth Day.

About 30,000 people have signed up for family-friendly rallies and marches, marking a change in strategy for a group known for its disruptive tactics, including blocking roads, throwing paint and smashing windows.

Globally, there has been a flurry of activity in the run-up to Earth Day, with events being planned in Rome and Boston and major clean-up campaigns at Lake Dal in India's Srinagar and Florida's hurricane-hit Cape Coral.

In Peru, shamans on Friday made an offering to the "Pachamama", or Mother Earth. Holding yellow flowers and rattles, the shamans walked around a papier-mache globe as they performed a cleansing ritual.

The ancestral rituals - whose origins lie in the Indigenous cultures of Peru - are done to thank the Earth and build awareness of the planet, said Walter Alarcon, the president of the Healing Shamans of Peru International Organization.

Earlier in the week, U.S. President Joe Biden pledged to increase funding to help developing countries fight climate change and curb deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest during a meeting with top world leaders.

Governments have fallen far short of pledges in the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit heating of the climate by shifting off fossil fuels, amid crises including COVID-19, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, food shortages and strained ties between China and the U.S., the top two greenhouse gas emitters.

A report by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says the planet is on track to warm beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times - a key threshold for even more damaging impacts - between 2030 and 2035.

"There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all," the IPCC has said. "The choices and actions implemented in this decade will have impacts now and for thousands of years."

(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Himani Sarkar; Editing by William Mallard)


















World Earth Day: Past 8 Years Hottest In Recorded History, 1 Million Species At Risk Of Extinction, Says UN

The World Earth Day is observed on April 22 every year. The first World Earth Day was observed in 1970 in the United States.

Extreme climatic events, such as last year's Pakistan floods, have got more frequent lately. AP Photos

UPDATED: 22 APR 2023

The United Nations on the occasion of World Earth Day noted in a report that the past eight years have been the hottest in record history.

The UN also said that 1 million species are currently at the risk of extinction as climate change threatens biodiversity in the world.

The World Earth Day is observed every year on April 22. The day was marked by a report titled State of the Global Climate in 2022 by World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the UN agency for weather, climate, and water.

Among the other things, the WMO report says record greenhouse gas-levels are causing changes in every sphere of environment.

"WMO latest State of the Global Climate report shows that the last eight years were the eight warmest on record, and that sea level rise and ocean warming hit new highs. Record levels of greenhouse gases caused 'planetary scale changes on land, in the ocean and in the atmosphere'," said UN in a release.

Here we explain what the UN report says, what the World Earth Day is, and what the UN proposes to be done on climate change.
What is World Earth Day?

The World Earth Day is observed on April 22 every year. The first World Earth Day was observed in 1970 in the United States.

Senator Gaylord Nelson was a key figure in promoting the Earth Day at the time.

The Library of Congress notes, "Earth Day was first observed on April 22, 1970, when an estimated 20 million people nationwide attended the inaugural events at tens of thousands of sites including elementary and secondary schools, universities, and community sites across the United States. Senator Gaylord Nelson promoted Earth Day, calling upon students to fight for environmental causes and oppose environmental degradation with the same energy that they displayed in opposing the Vietnam War."

The objective of the World Earth Day is to promote environmental protectionism. It is currently observed in over 190 countries and witnesses participation of over 1 billion people.

The World Earth Day movement is credited with leading to an increase in funding to green efforts, increased environmental literacy, and coming up of environment-related laws.

"Earth Day 1970 led to the passage of landmark environmental laws in the United States, including the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Many countries soon adopted similar laws, and in 2016, the United Nations chose Earth Day as the day to sign the Paris Climate Agreement into force," notes EarthDay.Org, which coordinates the movement.
Past 8 years hottest ever: UN report

The WMO, the UN agency for weather, climate, and water, in its State of the Global Climate report said that the period of 2015-22 was the hottest since tracking began in 1850.

The WMO also reported that "massively scaled-up investments" for anti-climate change efforts are required, noted the UN release.

The UN release said, "The organization says its report, released ahead of this year’s Mother Earth Day, echoes UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ call for 'deeper, faster emissions cuts to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degree Celsius', as well as 'massively scaled-up investments in adaptation and resilience, particularly for the most vulnerable countries and communities who have done the least to cause the crisis'," said the release.

WMO Secretary-General, Prof. Petteri Taalas also listed the recent climate disasters that highlight the gravity of climate change crisis. He said that
"populations worldwide continue to be gravely impacted by extreme weather and climate events" and stressed that last year, "continuous drought in East Africa, record breaking rainfall in Pakistan and record-breaking heatwaves in China and Europe affected tens of millions, drove food insecurity, boosted mass migration, and cost billions of dollars in loss and damage".

The report further noted that "Antarctic sea ice fell to its lowest extent on record and the melting of some European glaciers was, literally, off the charts".

On World Earth Day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres also spoke of the threat to biodiversity.

"In his message on Earth Day, UN chief Mr. Guterres warned that 'biodiversity is collapsing as one million species teeter on the brink of extinction', and called on the world to end its 'relentless and senseless wars on nature', insisting that 'we have the tools, the knowledge, and the solutions' to address climate change," said the UN release.



In Photos: The Climate Change Protests In London


Activists and organisations dedicated to combating climate change, such as Extinction Rebellion and Red Rebel Brigade, held a protest in London in front of the Parliament to call for tougher measures to address climate change. The protesters called for a stop on the usage of fossil fuels. Some wore masks depicting Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and ministers Michael Gove and Jeremy Hunt.


UPDATED: 22 APR 2023 

Members of the Red Rebel Brigade join Extinction Rebellion demonstrators in Westminster, London, on day one of the environmental action group's four days of action that they have called "The Big One".


Activists protest outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Extinction Rebellion and other environmental groups are protesting for four days from Friday to Monday, with an event they are calling "The Big One".


Activists wearing masks depicting Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, right, Michael Gove and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt as they protest outside the Houses of Parliament in London.

 

 


Activists wearing masks depicting Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt as they protest outside the Houses of Parliament in London.

Climate Protest | Photos: AP/Kin Cheung

4 Tips To Drive Action On Climate Change From Huge New Global Risk Study. Earth Day

Joan Michelson
Contributor
Apr 22, 2023

 Activists from climate group Fridays for Future shout slogans and march during a Global 
AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Do you feel safe? How do you perceive risk? Do you feel at risk from climate change? These are some of the questions that a massive new global study by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation and Gallup surveyed 120,000 people across 121 countries to find out. This Earth Day, their findings on perceptions of risk from climate change are especially salient.

Using local teams and survey techniques to ascertain authentic answers, Lloyd’s and Gallup found a wide range of fascinating information about how safe people really feel across the globe, and why.

In this study, called “A Resilient World?,” they explored how safe people feel in their homes, communities, countries and in society at large, sometimes employing strategies such as questioning men and women in separate rooms at the same time to enable women to speak freely and confidentially.



Sarah Cumbers, Ph.D., Lloyd's Register Foundation
SARAH CUMBERS, PH.D.

In an exclusive, in-depth interview about the World Risk Poll’s findings on Electric Ladies Podcast recently, Dr. Sarah Cumbers, Director of Evidence and Insight at Lloyd's Register Foundation who led the survey, explained that they could ascertain some sense of the how the interviewees are perceiving “risk” and “safety” based on the contexts of their lives. “The 2019 poll included a question about the meaning of the word risk. And we know that people around the world interpret that word differently and to some risk is about opportunity and for some it's about harm…it will just depend on the context, ” Cumbers said.

“We're (Lloyd’s Register Foundation) a global safety charity. We've got a mission to make the world a safer place, and we invest in research and education and, and innovation programs around the world that impact on the safety of life and property,” Cumbers said. “And that's why we commissioned this poll, because we wanted to understand how people around the world think about their risk and safety and how they experience different risks.”

Clarifying “risk”


Nuclear hazard signs are seen in the village of Kopachi on January 29, 2006 


Because we all think of “risk” and “safety” and “resilience” differently, Lloyd’s and Gallup chose to let the respondent’s perceptions prevail, and put their responses into the context of their lives. “We'll record the sex of the respondent, their income, their educational status, where they live, whether it's rural or urban. And so, we can start to look at the data in a really granular fashion to understand what are the factors that are driving, for example, whether people think about risk as opportunity, or harm.”

They also drilled down to explore the respondents’ daily lives. “One of the most ambitious questions that we ask in the poll,” Cumbers said, “is ‘what's the greatest source of risk to your safety in your daily life?’ And so, you can see that with the framing there, you introduce the concept of risk and it being about, you know, risk to safety and in daily life. But then you let the respondent interpret that in their own context and, and give their response.”

“One of the great things about this data set, that it can be used in a very granular fashion, by all kinds of agencies, you know, civil society, policy makers, academics, et cetera, governments,” Cumbers added, so they sought to gather data that could be used at all levels.

Screenshot - Lloyd's Register risk poll, climate & education & personal experience chart. 

Here are four key findings related to climate change (you can find the full summary here):

· Women are more concerned about climate change in high-income countries: “We need to look at those granular differences at the country level, and particularly actually when it comes to climate change, it's country income that has an impact,” Cumbers explained, “So, women tend to be more worried about it than men in high income countries, but in low income countries it's the reverse.” These findings align with a recent study on the U.S. from the Yale Center for Climate Communications that women in the U.S. are more likely than men – 59% to 52% – “to be either Alarmed or Concerned about global warming.”

· People who have experienced natural disasters are more likely to view climate change as a “very or serious threat”: “Research shows that experience of severe weather is a driver of people's concern about climate change,” Cumbers explained. “So, people are more likely to understand, particularly if they don't have high levels of education, the concept of severe weather, because it's something tangible to them, it's something they've experienced, whereas climate change is quite an abstract construct.”



· Communication around climate change needs to be personal – and simplified: Building on the point that personal experiences with natural disasters increases climate change awareness, Cumbers emphasized keeping it personal. She said, “that gives climate change communicators a really important tool to be able to connect with people around the world, regardless of their income status, regardless of their level of education, to actually tap into people's increasing experience with severe weather and to make that link then with the changing climate. And then you can start to build action strategies on top of that In terms of building resilience, in terms of early warning, early action.”

Their research also found that communication needs to be simplified to get across, adding that, “Learning around climate change, communication and using clear and simple language.”

· Take “a granular approach to resilience”: “If you look at resilience, the key learning really is about taking a granular approach to resilience,” Cumbers reflected. “Unless you really understand the context of community that you are wanting to support, you are going to fail to have an impact and build resilience.”


Screenshot - Lloyd's Register Resilience Index lrfoundation.org.uk

They also developed the Resilience Index, which their brochure describes as: “an exploratory approach towards creating an indicator of how well-equipped people are to handle adversity based on their personal circumstances and perceptions of support.”

Focused on taking action


The researchers’ hope, Cumbers summarized, is that their data is used to make an impact, to improve people’s lives.

“We want data that that is actually going to drive impact. So, we always ask, ‘and what would you do with it? And what consequence would it have and how would it change things? And how would it actually make the world safer on the ground? What's the impact on people going to be?’ “

To that end, they invited proposals for “turning the World Risk Poll into action.”

Listen to the full interview with Dr. Sarah Cumbers on Electric Ladies Podcast here.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.

Joan Michelson is an ESG consultant, host of the acclaimed Electric Ladies Podcast, dynamic public speaker and career advisor.

Earth Day 2023 and our fatal affinity for fossil fuels

Photo by Wojtek RADWANSKI / AFP via Getty Images
A young demonstrator holds placard reading “There’s no planet B” as she takes part in a “Fridays For Future” demonstration calling for climate action in the streets of Warsaw on September 20, 2019, part of a global action day. (Photo by Wojtek RADWANSKI / AFP)

The starting point for any discussion of Earth Day 2023 is the climate report released late last month by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Think about the IPCC members as the scientists in disaster movies who try to warn indifferent political officials about the doomsday natural disasters that predictably devastate the earth after their scientific advice is ignored.

Earth Day is a celebration for many people, but a party would be premature, according to the panel’s research. The report catalogs the dangerously elevated level of fossil fuel emissions that exist in the earth’s atmosphere. The study highlights the urgent need to reduce the carbon output and subsequent warming trend by 2035, which is only 12 years away. The panel of scientists warns, “The world is running out of time to avoid catastrophe.”

The comments on the IPCC study from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres include chilling statements, such as “Humanity is on thin ice — and that ice is melting.” And “The climate time bomb is ticking.” He added that the “IPCC report is a how-to guide to defuse the climate time bomb” and that “it will take a quantum leap in climate action” to avoid disaster. Discussing the scientific evidence, Ani Dasgupta, the president of the World Resources Institute, stated, “Our planet is already reeling from severe climate impacts, from scorching heat waves and disastrous storms to severe drought and water shortages.”

Fortunately, most Americans understand the alarming need to confront the crisis head-on — even if Republicans in Congress don’t. The public support for climate change action should not come as a surprise. Millions of people who watch news shows are treated to a heavy dose of weather disasters that reap personal and economic havoc over the length of breadth of our great nation. The crazy weather that has brought drought to the Western U.S., tornadoes to the Mid-South and flooding to the eastern part of the nation.

A new national survey by the Pew Research Center demonstrates that the public sees the connection between the climate emergency and fossil fuels. Seven out of every 10 people favor President Biden’s goal of net-neutral carbon emissions by 2050. About the same number of people believe that the government should prioritize the development of clean energy such as wind and solar power over fossil fuels like oil and coal. Almost all Democrats and most independents want a big change in the energy mix to fight climate change and meet the president’s climate benchmark. Less than half of the Republican identifiers in the body politic feel the way same.

The GOP theme song for the impending environmental doomsday is “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”

The GOP’s fatal affinity for fossil fuels is an insult to public opinion. Climate deniers, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), seem to take pride in in their disregard of scientific facts and disdain for the looming environmental disaster. Greene recently tweeted that “if you believe that today’s ‘climate change’ is caused by too much carbon, you have been fooled.” A few years ago, she endorsed the notion that wildfires in the American west were caused by “Jewish space lasers.” Given the falsity of these statements, we should take her views on weather with many heavy grains of salt. 

Unfortunately, most Republicans and even a few Democrats feel the same way. They believe that the president’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 is extreme, but the IPCC analysis is that the world will suffer greatly if we don’t reach that standard by 2035.

Republican indifference and the avarice of the Big Oil companies have generated billions of dollars in federal subsidies for the fossil fuel industry. The oil companies, the ultimate welfare queens, are reaping record profits but they’re still on the government dole. Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress last year contains much-needed federal aid for the clean energy development, but that support is just a pittance compared to the money that Big Oil gets in federal aid.

While Americans want to focus more on development of clean energy, many Republicans want to reduce the small amount of money that we have started to spend on alternatives to fossil fuels to respond to the looming climate emergency. The Freedom Caucus, a powerful and influential group within the GOP majority in the House of Representatives, just released a plan to cut climate funding that was part of Biden’s aggressively forward-looking legislation. A better course of action for budget hawks would be to eliminate tax breaks for oil companies, which is the president’s proposal.

Earth Day is a chance to celebrate the world’s natural splendors or an opportunity to mourn its impending decline. But the anniversary must herald the urgency to act to preserve our natural legacy. We ignore the climate crisis at our own peril!

 Brad Bannon is a Democratic pollster, CEO of Bannon Communications Research and the host of his weekly “aggressively progressive” podcast, “Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon.” Follow him on Twitter: @BradBannon



Lauren Boebert says liberals want Earth Day to be about climate change 'to divide us'

David McAfee
April 22, 2023

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert speaks during CPAC Texas 2022 conference at Hilton Anatole. 
(Shutterstock.com)

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R) celebrated Earth Day Saturday by attacking climate change and calling out liberals for trying "to divide us."

Boebert, who warned last year against hosting drag queen "storytime" events in her Colorado district only to see them do it anyway and achieve enormous success, made exactly one tweet about Earth Day. At the end of the day, Boebert posted on Twitter that we should celebrate the day by remembering "to appreciate this incredible world God has given us."

She further insisted that liberals are trying to change the purpose of the holiday.

"Liberals will try to make this day about climate change to divide us," the congresswoman wrote. "Let’s focus on being appreciative, good stewards of what God has given us instead."

Contrary to Boebert's message, the origins of Earth Day are secular. According to National Geographic, Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970 by a US Senator from Wisconsin sought to raise awareness about environmental issues like climate change.

Saturday, April 22, 2023

Uganda's Museveni conditionally backs controversial anti-gay laws

By Philip Andrew Churm
with AP Last updated: 3 hours ago
UGANDA


Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni, has backed a controversial bill with some of the world's harshest anti-LGBTQ legislation but will pass it back to parliament to include provisions for gay people to be rehabilitated.

However, at a National Resistance Movement (NRM) meeting on Friday, Museveni praised the lawmakers for approving the bill and insisted he would never bow to international condemnation.

“I want to congratulate the honourable members of parliament on your stand on the “Ebitingwa,” [Runyankore word for gay men]," he said

"Congratulations, I congratulate you for that strong stand. It is good that you rejected the pressure from the imperialists.”

The bill, which prescribes the death penalty in some cases, was passed last month and has already triggered a wave of arrests and attacks against LGBTQ Ugandans.

But Museveni rejected criticism from human rights groups.

“Europe is lost. So they also want us to be lost, but in order to fight we must be patriotic.

"If we are parasitic in mind, mind of a parasite, there is no way you can fight, that’s how you become a prostitute because you feared sacrifice, you fear difficulties. Somebody says I will give you money if you become a prostitute. And that’s what they want us to be.

"They want Africa to be prostitutes. Do what we don’t believe in because we want money.”

Those who advocate or promote the rights of LGBTQ people can be jailed for up to 20 years and be sentenced to death for an offence of “aggravated homosexuality.”

The U.S. has warned of economic consequences if the legislation is enacted. A group of U.N. experts has described the bill, if enacted, as “an egregious violation of human rights.”



World's 'oldest' tree able to reveal planet's secrets

The Conversation
April 22, 2023, 

Antonio Lara, a researcher at Austral University, studies the 5,000-year-old Great Grandfather Fitzroya tree
© MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP

In a forest in southern Chile, a giant tree has survived for thousands of years and is in the process of being recognized as the oldest in the world.

Known as the "Great Grandfather," the trunk of this tree measuring four meters (13 feet) in diameter and 28 meters tall is also believed to contain scientific information that could shed light on how the planet has adapted to climatic changes.

Believed to be more than 5,000 years old, it is on the brink of replacing Methuselah, a 4,850-year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine found in California in the United States, as the oldest tree on the planet.

"It's a survivor, there are no others that have had the opportunity to live so long," said Antonio Lara, a researcher at Austral University and Chile's center for climate science and resilience, who is part of the team measuring the tree's age.

The Great Grandfather lies on the edge of a ravine in a forest in the southern Los Rios region, 800 kilometers (500 miles) to the south of the capital Santiago.

It is a Fitzroya cupressoides, a type of cypress tree that is endemic to the south of the continent.

In recent years, tourists have walked an hour through the forest to the spot to be photographed beside the new "oldest tree in the world."

Due to its growing fame, the national forestry body has had to increase the number of park rangers and restrict access to protect the Great Grandfather.

By contrast, the exact location of Methuselah is kept a secret.

Also known as the Patagonian cypress, it is the largest tree species in South America.

It lives alongside other tree species, such as coigue, plum pine and tepa, Darwin's frogs, lizards, and birds such as the chucao tapaculo and Chilean hawk.

For centuries its thick trunk has been chopped down to build houses and ships, and it was heavily logged during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Excitement in scientific community

Park warden Anibal Henriquez discovered the tree while patrolling the forest in 1972. He died of a heart attack 16 years later while patrolling the same forest on horseback.

"He didn't want people and tourists to know (where it was) because he knew it was very valuable," said his daughter Nancy Henriquez, herself a park warden.

Henrique's nephew, Jonathan Barichivich, grew up playing amongst the Fitzroya and is now one of the scientists studying the species.

In 2020, Barichivich and Lara managed to extract a sample from the Great Grandfather using the longest manual drill that exists, but they did not reach the center.

They estimated that their sample was 2,400 years old and used a predictive model to calculate the full age of the tree.

Barichivich said that "80 percent of the possible trajectories show the tree would be 5,000 years old."

He hopes to soon publish the results.

The study has created excitement within the scientific community given that dendrochronology -- the method of dating tree rings to when they were formed -- is less accurate when it comes to older trees as many have a rotten core.

'Symbols of resistance'

This is about more than just a competition to enter the record books though, as the Great Grandfather is a font of valuable information.

"There are many other reasons that give value and sense to this tree and the need to protect it," said Lara.

There are very few thousands-years-old trees on the planet.

"The ancient trees have genes and a very special history because they are symbols of resistance and adaptation. They are nature's best athletes," said Barichivich.

"They are like an open book and we are like the readers who read every one of their rings," said Carmen Gloria Rodriguez, an assistant researcher at the dendrochronology and global change laboratory at Austral University.

Those pages show dry and rainy years, depending on the width of the rings.

Fires and earthquakes are also recorded in those rings, such as the most powerful tremor in history that hit this area in 1960.

The Great Grandfather is also considered a time capsule that can offer a window into the past.

"If these trees disappear, so too will disappear an important key about how life adapts to changes on the planet," said Barichivich.

Brazil celebrates its giant trees on Earth Day 2023

By Philip Andrew Churm
with AP

Imperial Palms form an avenue in Rio's botanical garden and organisers are hoping, by establishing their own trail of giant trees, it will help to promote awareness of their environment.

These trees - and the animals which rely on them - are threatened and botanists are keen that everyone joins in the effort to preserve the country’s unique forests, inside and outside the Amazon.

Botanists calculating the carbon content of the garden studied 4633 trees, bushes and palm trees and discovered where the tallest were.

To catalogue the volume of the trees, the botanists used lidar technology which stands for ‘light detecting and ranging’.

It is used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the US and is a combined laser, scanner and GPS receiver which generates accurate 3D information.

Marcus Nadruz is one of the botanists at Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden explains how computer-aided mapping can help measure the trees.

"Depending on the colour, the more yellow, the higher is the tree. You can see the yellow colour much more intensely here, which is precisely the location of the highest tree in the botanical garden, measuring almost fifty metres."

The garden was originally created in 1808 to acclimatise plant species from other continents.

At the time Brazil was searching for new crops to boost the economy after gold production had been depleted.

Another botanist, Rafaella Forzza, works regularly in the Amazon where she became familiar with Brazil's recently discovered largest tree, the red angelim or Dinizia excelsa.

The largest tree measuring 88 metres was first discovered 4 years ago using lidar and it was only reached by land last September 2022.

"Once you reach the foot of the tree, it is hard to see, because the canopy of the forest obstructs the top of the tree, you cannot see," she explains.

"The branches of the angelim or the sumauma begin to branch out above the normal canopy of the forest."

The grand imperial palms are the second highest trees in the garden. One original palm tree has reached 48.1 metres in height.

The garden is also home to a Tasmanian eucalyptus, known commonly as a blue gum which is 39.5 metres tall. It can reach up to 45 metres in its natural habitat.

Many of these trees are threatened, the samauma is used to make plywood and the angelim is Brazil's most exported tree.

With Earth Day 2023 falling on April 22nd the botanists are hoping these giants will not go unnoticed.

Written in the glare of the United States' war on Indochina, and first published as a separate book in that war's dire aftermath, The Word for World is Forest ...

Iran’s storytelling tradition spans centuries. A woman in Tehrangeles has revolutionized it


(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

BY DEBORAH NETBURNSTAFF
 WRITER APRIL 22, 2023




In a lavish West Hollywood banquet hall adorned with the colors of spring, the Iranian epic storyteller Gordafarid strides across the stage like a mythical heroine, dressed in a white embroidered vest, black bell sleeves and white knee-high boots. A silver beaded scarf is arranged like a crown on top of her long, dark hair.

It is Nowruz — the Persian New Year — and the Iranian American Jewish Federation has invited the 46-year-old to perform along with other Iranian female artists — drummers, dancers and singers. The event and fundraiser is a celebration of the country’s cultural heritage and a tribute to the female artists back home who are forbidden by the government to sing, dance or play music in public.

The audience falls quiet as Gordafarid’s commanding, raspy alto fills the room with melodic Persian. With a mixture of prose, poetry, stomping and pantomime, she captivates the audience as she has others for more than 25 years, with tales from the Shahnameh — the national epic poem of Iran completed by the poet Ferdowsi in the year 1010.

For centuries, skilled Iranian storytellers known as Naqqals have transfixed audiences in traditional coffeehouses with stories from the 50,000-verse Shahnameh, but historically it was an art performed by men, for men. Gordafarid, whose life story is an epic in itself, is the first known female Naqqal to have learned the craft the traditional way, from the Morsheds, or Naqqali masters.

Gordafarid’s fearlessness and determination have made her a beacon of inspiration to Iranian audiences around the world at a time when female-led protests have erupted across her homeland after the death in custody last year of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly not covering her hair properly.


CALIFORNIA
Iranian women at home and abroad cut their hair to protest Mahsa Amini’s death
Oct. 6, 2022

“When you hear a young lady like Gordafarid, who is so devoted to preserving the heritage that the Islamic Republic has tried very hard to annihilate over the years, it is reminiscent of what we’re seeing from the youngsters on the streets of Iran,” said Zohreh Mizrahi, an immigration lawyer in L.A. who served as emcee for the Nowruz event. “People feel like there is hope, and we see that hope in her.”


Los Angeles resident Gordafarid is the first known woman to have mastered the ancient Iranian storytelling art of Naqqali.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Gordafarid moved to Los Angeles from Tehran in 2010, after the government banned her from speaking in public. People often cry when they see her perform.

“I think I touch their heart with my energy because I am onstage with all of myself, all of my soul, in every word,” she said.

The night of the Nowruz celebration she explained the origins of the festival as a tribute to Jamshid, whom the Shanameh describes as the greatest Iranian king. Then she told the story of another ancient king who stumbled across a beautiful palace while searching for his mythical horse, Rakhsh. In rhyming couplets, she described the wonders of the castle, speaking faster and faster until the audience stood on its feet, applauding with awe.

“It’s incredible, just incredible,” said Saleh Mishael of West Hollywood, who was wearing a deep V-neck top and black leather skirt. “The way she was saying all the adjectives and that she memorized it all, it was incredible.”

After a buffet dinner, Gordafarid returned to the stage to tell the story of her namesake — the female warrior Gordafarid, who rode into battle to defend her country when the men were too afraid to fight.

Even a non-Persian speaker could make out the key elements of the tale — Gordafarid donning a helmet to obscure her femininity, riding her horse fearlessly into battle, sending her arrows flying through the wind. When her attacker finally removes her helmet with a spear, he is stunned to discover his adversary is a beautiful young woman with long, flowing hair.

“Like Joan of Arc in Western culture, Gordafarid epitomizes the character and strength of women from ancient times,” Mizrahi said. “Any time you deal with a woman who is very strong and very determined, and not afraid of anything, we call her a Gordafarid.”



A few weeks after the performance, the modern-day Gordafarid (she officially changed her name to Gord Afarid after receiving U.S. citizenship) pushed a basket of flatbread to the side at a Persian restaurant near her home in Encino and apologized. “It’s not fresh,” she said. “I don’t know why.”

Then she opened Google Translate on a silver laptop to help her more accurately express herself in English as she prepared to tell her own story.

It begins in the city of Ahvaz in the southwest of Iran, where she grew up the daughter of a farmer and a homemaker, the eldest of five children. The 1979 Islamic Revolution began two years after she was born, and for the next nine years, Ahvaz, which sits near the Iraqi border, was engulfed in war. On her computer she calls up photos of tanks in city streets, men with large guns, piles of rubble where buildings once stood.


“I think I touch their heart with my energy because I am onstage with all of myself, all of my soul, in every word,” Gordafarid says.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

“I remember all of this,” she said, scrolling through the images. “A lot of rockets, a lot of people died; some of my family died. That’s why I say, my city was so beautiful, but after the war. … I remember all these things.”

Her family members, most of whom still live in Ahvaz, are Muslim, but in her teens she decided she didn’t like religion. When her father tried to force her to marry at 15, she refused. She rebelled at school, but always loved theater and tales of adventure.

Many Iranians grow up hearing the stories of the Shahnameh, known in English as the Book of Kings, from their parents. But Gordafarid knew only the few tales she learned at school. It wasn’t until 1998, when she was a university student in Tehran, that she saw her first Naqqali performance. She was drawn to it instantly.

“In its own way, it is a one-person theater,” she said, stirring a pat of butter into her white- and saffron-colored Persian rice. “A Naqqal edits his own scripts, directs the performance himself, and creates various characters. He does not hesitate to imitate the lion’s roar, the horse’s neigh, and the roar of the dragon.”

She asked the performer — a student himself — to teach her Naqqali, and after just a few lessons she was invited to perform at a private salon for 300 people. A friend introduced her, and let the spectators know they were about to witness something historic: The first woman known to perform Naqqali before an audience.

Gordafarid remembers stepping quickly onto the stage and beginning with a traditional song, from which she took courage. Then she recited from the Shahnameh for the next half-hour.


Nowruz celebrants applaud Gordafarid at her performance in West Hollywood.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

“It was my first time in front of people, and they were shocked because I memorized 30 minutes of Shahnameh,” she said. “They clapped for me, and then they got my phone number.”

She met her mentor, the late Naqqali master Morshed Torabi, a few months later. She had been invited to give a public Naqqali performance for Nowruz, but because reporters and news cameras were going to be present, this time she felt she needed help.

The men at the theater building where Torabi worked refused to give her his phone number because she is a woman. “They were closed-minded,” Gordafarid said. “They made excuses, like, ‘He doesn’t have a phone.’” Eventually she found his number and called him. “His voice was warm and scratchy,” she said. “A rusty voice.”

She told him she needed a toomar, or traditional Naqqali script, that would be appropriate for Nowruz. He told her she must recite the story of Jamshid and how the festival came about. She asked if she could come meet him, and he agreed.

She traveled across town to the same theater building where she had originally been turned away. They spoke for a few minutes, and then he handed her a few lines written on a piece of paper — a brief outline of what she should say.


Iranians urge their children to flee: ‘I want them to be safe’
March 16, 2023

“Morshed said, based on this summary of explanations, ‘You write, you edit, you organize your own toomar,’” Gordafarid said. “He was very rough and tough.”

Soon she was following Torabi around the city, silently taking notes on his performances in the all-male spaces where Naqqali is traditionally done. Although he let her know where he would be, he did not offer to teach her. “He was very impatient, so I didn’t ask him any questions,” she said. “I was very patient, and I had a lot of respect for him.”

One day an old man at a traditional coffeehouse asked the Naqqal about the girl in the corner. Torabi thought and thought. “She is my student,” he said at last.

“It was hard for him because it is taboo,” she said. “But he admitted he had never seen so much follow-up, effort and respect from his male students.”


A certificate signed by four famous Naqqals declares Gordafarid the first female Naqqal in history.

(Courtesy of Gordafarid)

Two years later, at the famous City Theater in Tehran, Torabi presented Gordafarid with his sturdy wooden cane — a public acknowledgment that she was not just his student, but his heir.

“Always when I have a goal, I focus on it with all my cells,” she said. “Everything. And maybe I don’t care if it is a taboo or not. Several times I broke taboos, not just this. I fought with my father, the city, school rules, because everywhere was a dictatorship.”

As a scholar and performer of Naqqali, she traveled across Iran to study with other teachers. She spent four hours a day strengthening her voice and taught Naqqali to others. She performed in front of audiences of tens of thousands and received a certificate signed by the top Naqqals in the country declaring her to be the first female Naqqal in Iranian history.

Naqqali was placed on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding in 2011; photos and video of Gordafarid’s performances were included alongside those of other masters.

But around 2009 and 2010 she found it increasingly difficult to find work in Iran. In addition to performing Naqqali, she also worked as a writer, programmer and presenter for television and radio. Along with many other women, she was banned from working in those fields by an increasingly conservative government.

“In that time it was forbidden for a woman to raise her voice in public, and I did, a lot,” she said.

Falling into a depression, she decided to move to Los Angeles, wondering if she would have to take a job at McDonald’s.

Instead, she started getting Naqqali work in L.A., which is home to more than 130,000 Iranians, the largest population outside of Iran. She was invited to perform at museums, universities, for cultural federations. She toured Europe and Canada.

“That was good,” she said, as she cut into the sweet and sticky zoolbia, a crispy fried dough dessert at the Encino restaurant. “I thought maybe they will forget me in history, but no.”



Last year, Gordafarid was commissioned by the Farhang Foundation, a nonprofit devoted to celebrating and promoting Iranian art and culture, to make a video in honor of the Iranian winter solstice holiday, Shab-e Yalda.

In the video, released on YouTube at the end of December, she is dressed in form-fitting black velvet with her signature bell sleeves and a thick belt around her waist. Images appear behind her to illustrate a different tale from the Shahnameh: The story of the malevolent King Zahhak, who falls under the sway of an evil spirit who curses him. The spirit makes two serpents grow out of his shoulders; they must feast each day on the brains of young people.

For some, the story serves as a gruesome metaphor for the Iranian government’s deadly crackdown on the many young people who took to the streets last fall to protest the country’s restrictive clerical rule after Amini’s death. Government agents were responsible for the deaths of at least 44 children during the months-long uprising, with hundreds more detained, according to Amnesty International and other human rights groups.

Gordafarid whispers conspiratorially when she speaks as the flattering evil spirit. When she is Zahhak, her arms turn into two vicious snakes that hiss at the air.

“It’s really a David and Goliath story, and it is very relatable to what is going on in Iran,” said Alireza Ardekani, executive director of the Farhang Foundation. “The great thing about the epic Book of Kings is there’s always a story that can be relatable to anything in life.”



Gordafarid says she can never go back to Iran. “I would love to go, but I’m sure if I go there — straight to jail,” she said.

She misses her home country, but she has made a life for herself in Los Angeles. When she is not performing Naqqali, she works as an occasional instructor for UCLA Extension, where she teaches Persian language, Naqqali and the Shahnameh. Recently, she was hired by Disney as a mythologist to advise writers on a project due out in 2024. And she makes ends meet by working as a medical assistant at an inpatient anorexia clinic.

In the meantime, she is an inspiration to a new generation of female Iranian artists, some of whom are incorporating the art of Naqqali into their own performances.

They may study her work on YouTube rather than at the traditional coffeehouses of Iran, but they, too, are learning the ancient art of Naqqali from a master.



Deborah Netburn covers faith, spirituality and joy for the Los Angeles Times. She started at The Times in 2006 and has worked across a wide range of sections including entertainment, home and garden, national news, technology and science.

ICRC: Guantanamo Bay Prisoners Show Signs of ‘Accelerated Ageing’


TEHRAN (FNA)- Prisoners who have been held for years by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility are showing signs of “accelerated ageing”, a senior official of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said.

Patrick Hamilton, the ICRC’s head of delegation for the US and Canada, said on Friday that the “physical and mental health needs are growing and becoming increasingly challenging” for those still imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, Al-Jazeera reported.

“We’re calling on the US administration and Congress to work together to find adequate and sustainable solutions to address these issues,” Hamilton said in a statement.

“Action should be taken as a matter of priority,” he added.

The Guantanamo prison camp in Cuba was established by US Republican Party President George W Bush in 2002 to house foreign suspects following the 2001 plane attacks on New York and the Pentagon, which killed some 3,000 people.

The camp came to symbolise the brutality of the US’s so-called “war on terror” because of harsh interrogation methods that critics have said amounted to torture.

Hamilton’s comments on the health of the prisoners came after a visit to the facility in March following a 20-year hiatus. He said he was “struck by how those who are still detained today are experiencing the symptoms of accelerated ageing, worsened by the cumulative effects of their experiences and years spent in detention”.

He called for detainees to receive adequate mental and physical healthcare as well as more frequent family contact.

The US defence department “is currently reviewing the report”, a Pentagon spokesperson told the Reuters news agency.

There were 40 detainees at Guantanamo when US President Joe Biden, a Democrat, took office in 2021. The Biden administration has said it wants to close the facility but has not presented a plan for doing so. About 30 detainees remain at the prison.

Two Pakistani brothers held at Guantanamo Bay without trial for more than 20 years were freed by the US in February and returned home. Abdul, 55, and Mohammed Rabbani, 53, were reunited with their families after a formal questioning by Pakistani authorities.

Hamilton called on Washington to resolve the fate of the detainees, urging action to transfer out those eligible.

US releases Algerian detainee from Guantanamo Bay prison

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
22 April, 2023

Bakush's release from the notorious Cuban prison brings down Guantanamo Bay's population to 30 detainees.



The US military said on Thursday that it had released an Algerian held at the Guantanamo prison for two decades, leaving 30 men still held extrajudicially at the US navy base in Cuba.

The Pentagon said Said bin Brahim bin Umran Bakush was transferred to Algeria after an official decision on his release was made earlier this year.

Detaining Bakush, 52, was deemed "no longer necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the national security of the United States," the Pentagon said in a statement.

Bakush was apprehended in 2002 in Faisalabad, Pakistan as the US swept up hundreds of suspected Al-Qaeda operatives and fighters in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States by the group.

Although never seen as more than a low-level Al-Qaeda fighter not directly connected to the 9/11 plot, he was nevertheless held since then at the prison on the US base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Like fellow prisoners, he was deemed an enemy combatant without recourse to the US justice system.

With Bakush's release, 30 detainees remain at Guantanamo, down from a peak of nearly 800.

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Brooke Anderson

Of them 16 are eligible for transfer and the Pentagon and State Department are seeking countries to accept them.

Another three are eligible for a Periodic Review Board assessment, while nine are facing charges under military commissions and two have been convicted in such commissions.

Guantanamo Bay detainee transferred to Algeria, fuelling hopes of facility's closure


Brooke Anderson
Washington, D.C.
22 April, 2023

The US has transferred a detainee from the Guantanamo Bay detention centre to his home country of Algeria, fuelling hopes that the controversial facility could soon be closed.


A longtime Guantanamo Bay detainee from Algeria has been transferred to his home country, fuelling hopes the controversial facility could soon be closed.

News of the release of Said bin Brahim bin Umran Bakush, also known as Abdul Razak Ali, has highlighted the ongoing debate over the continued use of the detention facility in Cuba which has symbolised US hypocrisy on its human rights record.

Like former President Barack Obama, Joe Biden promised to close the notorious detention centre while campaigning for office.

Guantanamo held 684 detainees in June 2003, but the outflow of detainees has seen their number shrink to just 30 - a fact critics of the facility hope means its end is near.

According to recent news reports, Biden has been looking at options for finally closing Guantanamo Bay down before the end of his current presidential term.
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The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Bakush was captured in Pakistan in March 2002. He was living at a house linked with several men affiliated with Al Qaeda. He claims he was the victim of mistaken identity.

The US government determined last April that he was cleared for transfer, following its Periodic Review Board process.

"We welcome this latest transfer and continue to urge the Biden administration to finally close this symbol of injustice that has stained the international reputation of our nation for far too long," said Robert McCaw, government affairs director with the Council on American-Islamic Relations in a public statement.

"Only the release of all cleared detainees and the closure of the entire facility will end this dark chapter in American history," he added.

More Than 100 Human Rights Groups Warn UN Against Antisemitism Definition


TEHRAN (FNA)- More than 100 human rights and civil rights organizations warned the United Nations against the use of a definition of antisemitism that could be exploited to restrict criticism of the Israeli occupation and undermine support for Palestinian rights.

The letter, signed by groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, voiced strong support for the UN’s commitment to the fight against antisemitism in line with international human rights standards and raised concerns of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) working definition of the ideology, presstv reported.

The letter said those who use the IHRA definition and terminology tend to rely on a set of 11 contemporary examples of antisemitism, seven of which refer to the “state of Israel”.

The signatories said antisemitism "poses real harm to Jewish communities around the world" but the IHRA's use of the word could "inadvertently embolden or endorse policies and laws that undermine fundamental human rights”.

The rights groups warned that if the UN adopts the IHRA definition, governments and courts could misuse it to silence criticism of the policies of the hardline Israeli cabinet, creating "a chilling effect on freedom of expression.”

The letter stressed that Ken Stern, the main drafter of the IHRA definition, raised his own concerns about institutions adopting the terminology, which he said has been used as "a blunt instrument to label anyone an antisemite.”

Such terminology "opens the door" to labeling as antisemitic criticism of the Israeli policies and practices by human rights organizations that the regime’s authorities are committing various crimes against Palestinians, according to the groups.

"The UN should ensure that its vital efforts to combat antisemitism do not inadvertently embolden or endorse policies and laws that undermine fundamental human rights, including the right to speak and organize in support of Palestinian rights and to criticize Israeli policies," the letter said.

The signatories added that the terminology could also be used to label as antisemitic documentation showing that the illegal entity’s founding involved dispossessing Palestinians.

In 2017, after the British government adapted the IHRA definition on a national level, at least two universities in the country banned activities planned for "Israel Apartheid Week", including a talk at the University of Central Lancashire on boycotts, divestment and sanctions.

In February 2020, Israeli advocacy groups in the US attempted to disrupt a Palestinian film screening at Pitzer and Pomona College, citing "clear indicators of antisemitism under the examples listed by the IHRA”.
Panamanian tribe to be relocated from coastal island due to climate change: "There's no other option"


BY MANUEL BOJORQUEZ, KERRY BREEN
APRIL 22, 2023 / CBS NEWS

For hundreds of years, the ocean has protected the Guna Yala culture on Cardi Sugdub, or Crab Island, located off the coast of Panama.

On the island, every square inch is occupied by about a thousand members of the Guna Yala tribe. There are no cars or motorcycles, people dress in traditional attire, and residents still speak their native tongue. Generations ago, members of the tribe settled on the island to escape aggression from Spanish colonizers and the Panamanian government.

But now, things are changing: Rising water levels are threatening the island and other nearby sites, forcing one of the largest migrations due to climate change in modern history.

Flooding on the low-lying islands has become more frequent due to the effects of sea level rise.

Magdalena Martinez, a resident of the island, told CBS News in Spanish that the flooding is a "sad reality" of life on the island. But in 30 years, scientists predict the islands will be completely underwater. Overpopulation is also an issue, but climate change is hte biggest threat, said Laurel Avila, a member of Panama's Ministry of the Environment.

  
Cardi Sugdub, or Crab Island.CBS SATURDAY MORNINGS

Avila explained that increased carbon emissions have raised the earth's temperature and caused glaciers to melt. This means water molecules expand, eventually leading to flooding like the kind seen on Crab Island. In the 1960s, the water around the islands rose at a rate of around 1 millimeter per year. Now, though, it's rising at about 3.5 millimeters a year, according to tide-gauge data from the Panama Canal Authority and satellite data from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"(The tribe has) to be moved. There's no other option," Avila said. "The rise of the sea level is not going to stop."

It's a reality that the island's residents have only recently started to accept, after years of putting up a fight. Some members of the tribe see the move as a problem caused by the industrialized world unfairly bearing down on them and the culture they've defended.

Some residents, including Augusto Boyd, have put up a fight by using rocks and remnants of coral reefs to try to expand the island and keep the water at bay. However, he's realized it's a losing battle and the only option is to leave it all behind.

"Filling, filling, filling all the time, because the water doesn't stop. It keeps going up," he told CBS News in Spanish. "It's difficult. Everything you did here stays behind."

There is a place for the tribe to relocate to, but it's a stark, cookie-cutter subdivision with rows of houses that could not be more different than life on Cardi Sugdub. It's being built on land owned by the tribe, with the majority of the funding coming from the Panamanian government.

While life will be different on the mainland, Martinez says she knows the tribe's traditions will carry on.

"We carry that here, inside," she said.
Why Trump as Jesus Christ makes perfect sense to US evangelists

Hamid Dabashi
18 April 2023 

A growing movement analogising the 45th president with the martyred son of God taps into Christian fundamentalist convictions about a divine US dispensation

Murals of Jesus and former US President Donald Trump on a building owned by a commissioner in Fulton County, Pennsylvania, US, 6 December 2022 (Reuters)

“Jesus was arrested and murdered by the Roman government. There have been many people throughout history that have been arrested and persecuted by radical corrupt governments and it’s beginning today in New York City.”

So said Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, sharing her heartfelt theological concerns over the arraignment of former US President Donald Trump earlier this month in New York.

Episcopal Bishop Reginald T Jackson, who oversees more than 500 churches in Greene’s home state of Georgia, did not care for the analogy and considered it “blasphemous and disgusting”, but Greene had countless other Americans supporting her sentiments.

Trump was arraigned in Manhattan because of allegations of corruption based on hush money he reportedly paid a porn star to keep her relationship with him secret so as not to damage his reputation as he was running for office.

Those allegations do not seem to bother his evangelical base, devoted as it is to the former US president's image as a devout Christian, to the extent that the sanctity of the figure of Christ is affixed to him. The roots and manifestations of this peculiar version of evangelical theology are extremely important for any understanding of American politics.

Soon after the Iranian revolution of 1977-1979, I began collecting evidence of the visual iconography of the revolution in whatever form and shape I could find.

My colleague, Peter Chelkowski, later joined me and together we wrote a book, Staging a Revolution: The Art of Persuasion in the Islamic Republic of Iran (1999), in which we offered a detailed interpretation of the visual iconography of the revolution.

A central theme in that iconography was of course the Shia martyrology that identified Ayatollah Khomeini and a whole generation of the victims of the Iran-Iraq war with Shia holy men.

Trump as Jesus Christ

Reminiscent of that Islamic martyrology we documented four decades ago in Iran, the patently Christian art now gathering momentum around the cultic figure of Trump is something quite serious. It would be a mistake to dismiss it with the usual arrogance of the liberal corporate media, which has generated much anger among the millions of people who consider themselves besieged and beleaguered “white Christian Americans”.

Yes, there are profound elements of white supremacy and racism in this Trump cult. But not all of this diehard Christian piety can be explained away thus.

There is genuine pain and evident hurt, some of it economic, some of it emotional, mixed with a sense of anomie and alienation. Some people who identify as white, Christian and conservative feel that their country, their culture and their religion are all under attack by coloured people, non-Christian people, radical liberals and the left. They are trying to “get their country back”.


Trump and the myth of American democracy
Read More »

People like Trump bank on such feelings and exploit them to their political advantage. Visionary but defeated statesmen such as Bernie Sanders were aware of such facts and sought to address them. But the dominant ideologues of the Democratic Party, represented by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, were entirely complicit in their root causes and unable to address them.

It was only quite recently that a sizable industry of Christian iconography surrounding the figure of Trump emerged. Identification of Trump with the figure of Christ as he is perceived in the evangelical imagination is a key component of this political iconography.

“Since late 2020,” according to Snopes, a US fact-checking website, “a rather curious and controversial image has been floating around the internet. It's an image of a painting that shows former US President Donald Trump crucified like Jesus, with an American flag serving as the loin cloth worn by Jesus in most artistic depictions of the crucifixion.”

The iconography is complete with the figure of the former speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, piercing Trump's side with a spear while, Mary-like, Melania Trump sits at his feet, crying.

Trump has a history of comparing himself to Jesus Christ. “Someone said to me the other day,” he said back in 2020, “‘You’re the most famous person in the world by far’. I said, ‘No, I’m not’… they said, ‘Who’s more famous?’ I said: ‘Jesus Christ.'”

Connecting with his evangelical base and abusing their faith, while fulfilling his insatiable thirst for fame and fortune, are the common staples of Trump's political parlance.

Evangelical imperialism

The Christian Zionism embedded in this ideology has not been lost on either Trump or, of course, on Israeli propagandists. Trump has declared himself "the king of Israel" or "the chosen one", while his followers have not shied away from calling him “the second coming of God”.

When Trump moved the US embassy to occupied Jerusalem, the Israelis were ecstatic, actively comparing him to Cyrus the Great and minting a coin in his honour. According to Associated Press, “the Mikdash Educational Centre said the 'Temple Coin' features Trump alongside King Cyrus, who 2,500 years ago allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem from their exile in Babylon.”

Woman with a painting of Jesus wearing a 'Make America Great Again' baseball cap at a rally for Donald Trump in New York City, October 25 2020 (AFP)

The full dimensions of Evangelical imperialism gathering momentum around the mythic figure of Trump, however, goes far beyond the delusional attempts of Israelis to hang to any straw in their futile attempt to steal the entirety of Palestine.

In this figure of Trump as Christ, we are facing a Christian nationalism of much deeper and bolder proportions - the evidence of an imperial imagination that connects US warmongering around the globe with the Christian zeal of the conquistadors at the time of Christopher Columbus.

It is the Holy Roman Empire that this political theology fathoms, with Trump as the figure of not Just Christ but, in fact, Charlemagne.

That missionary zeal has now found a widely popular artist to give it artistic panache.
Lucrative market

“Conservative artist Jon McNaughton doesn't care about the haters, he just wants to paint Trump and Jesus.” That is the title of a piece detailing how Christian pop artist McNaughton has emerged at the centre of this renewed burst of Christology around the figure of Trump.

McNaughton is a Utah-based political artist devoted to a conservative and Christian perspective - and in the persona of Trump he has found his deepest inspirations. It is evidently a lucrative market, too.

A key aspect of this hugely popular art is that it goes viral on the internet. Central to its popularity is the mixing of biblical and American histories to forge a mythic space where Americans feel connected to a divine dispensation - and thus their proverbial sense of “exceptionalism” is theologically reasserted.

There is a deeply rooted Christian Republic, with its imperial imagination bursting to come out from within the American political culture

McNaughton's most recent painting, we learn, titled "Crossing the Swamp", went viral for its recasting of Emanuel Leutze's "Washington Crossing the Delaware" with members of the Trump administration.

We learn that the "painting depicts Trump as Washington, while paddling through a swamp outside the US Capitol building surrounded by National Security Adviser John Bolton holding a hunting rifle a la Elmer Fudd, Vice President Mike Pence holding the American flag, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson apparently paddling in the wrong direction”.

The politics of this art form is self-evident, with Trump and his MAGA diehards the last remaining bastions in the battle to save America from powerful liberal establishment forces.

But what McNaughton is doing is far more than a contemporary political act. He is actively reimagining American history in unabashedly evangelical, white supremacist and racist images.

There is a deeply rooted Christian republic, with its imperial imagination bursting to come out from within the American political culture - with a potent antisemitism and now Islamophobia as its key manifestations.

When he wrote his now classic book, American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century (2006), Kevin Phillips was fully aware of this fact and had seen the George W Bush presidency as the epitome of it.

Almost two decades later, the prospect of a rank charlatan taking hold of this deep-rooted, blindfolded evangelical vision of the world in the US is ever stronger.

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

Hamid Dabashi is Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in the City of New York, where he teaches Comparative Literature, World Cinema, and Postcolonial Theory. His latest books include The Future of Two Illusions: Islam after the West (2022); The Last Muslim Intellectual: The Life and Legacy of Jalal Al-e Ahmad (2021); Reversing the Colonial Gaze: Persian Travelers Abroad (2020), and The Emperor is Naked: On the Inevitable Demise of the Nation-State (2020). His books and essays have been translated into many languages.

Christian nationalist and pro-Trump pastor insists 'believers' should 'be the ones writing the laws'

Maya Boddie, Alternet
April 22, 2023

Twitter

Sean Feucht, a proud MAGA preacher, expressed his bold and controversial Christian nationalist views during an appearance earlier this week at a church led by former President Donald Trump supporter, Jackson Lahmeyer, Rolling Stone reports.

Per Rolling Stone, Lahmeyer is not only the pastor of Sheridan Church, but also the founder of Pastors for Trump.

During his speech, Feucht, who "once prayed over Trump in the Oval Office," insisted church and state should not be separate by saying, "America should be governed according to biblical law for the benefit of believers, as a way to prepare for the second coming of Christ," according to Rolling Stone.

"It's all part of The King coming back," Feucht said to the congregation. "That's what we're practicing for," he said, adding, "That's why we get called 'Christian nationalists.'"
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Rolling Stone reports:

Feucht is currently on a fifty-state worship tour to bring his now-open brand of Christian nationalism to every state capitol in the land. That tour has the backing of Turning Point USA, the far-right political shop headed by Charlie Kirk. Its initiative TPUSAFaith has partnered with Fuecht's Let Us Worship project to stage the Kingdom to the Capitol tour. TPUSAFaith's website tells visitors: 'TOGETHER WE CAN RESTORE AMERICA’S BIBLICAL VALUES.'

The tour kicked off in Washington, D.C., last month, with a prayer service in the Capitol rotunda, surreptitiously organized by Boehbert.

Additionally, during his appearance, the right-wing evangelical leader performed "an imaginary dialogue" before the Sheridan Church audience, mocking "secular critics," asking, "You want The Kingdom to be the government?"

He then answered himself: "Yes!"

Feucht continued, "You want God to come on over and take over the government?"


Again, he replied, "Yes!"

The MAGA minister then proclaimed — referring to Christian nationalists like himself — "We want God to be in control of everything! We want believers to be the ones writing the laws! Yes! Guilty as charged."

Rolling Stone reports:

After this story was first published, Lahmeyer sent an email to supporters titled, 'The Rolling Stone Is After Me, Sheridan.Church & Sean Feucht… AGAIN!' In the body of the email, Lahmeyer characterized this article as part of 'the constant attack' waged against 'authentic Christianity' in America. He called on the faithful 'to engage to preserve our Christian Nation' by acting to 'make sure that President Trump is elected for a third time in 2024' — a reference to the baseless conspiracy theory that Trump won the 2020 election. Lahmeyer insisted that ex-'President Trump has proven to be a friend of the Church in America.'

According to The Christian Post, Feucht has vocalized his opposition to COVID-19 vaccinations and precautions, saying he was "'shocked with the number of pastors and other leaders who complied with the mandates' after government officials restricted or banned public gatherings and worship services in cities across California and around the country."

The Christian Post reports:

Feucht then started a 'Let Us Worship' petition to keep churches open amid the pandemic. After the petition garnered more than 100,000 signatures, Feucht held his first open worship at the Golden Gate Bridge in July 2020.


Iraq: Evangicals spark outrage by praying 'to break power' of Yazidi temple

A video posted by the Light a Candle organisation appeared to show activists praying against the 'Satanic curse' of the temple

An activist from Light a Candle prays at a Yazidi temple in Iraq (screenshot)

By Alex MacDonald
Published date: 21 April 2023

A video apparently showing evangelical Christians praying at what they brand a "Satanic" Yazidi temple in northern Iraq has sparked outrage.

Light A Candle, an organisation that professes to "shine the light and love of Jesus by preaching the Gospel", on Thursday posted a story on its Instagram page showing a number of its missionaries praying outside the temple overlayed with a caption reading "We see chains broken and the enemy's power defeated.

"So right now we just break the power of this temple, we break the power of the Satanic curse that it places on people who enter Jesus... and we curse all of the enemy that is attached to this, we say it will come to nothing," one of the activists can be heard saying in the video.

Social media users identified the temple as being near the Yazidi-majority town of Ba'adre, which is located in a region disputed between Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), though the latter is currently in control of the town.

Middle East Eye could not independently verify the location, however.

Yazidis have for centuries faced persecution from other Abrahamic religions which claim that Melek Taus, the central figure in the Yazidi religion, is analogous to Satan.

Accusations of Satanism have been used to justify numerous attacks on the group, including the massacre of thousands of Yazidi men, and the enslavement of thousands more Yazidi women, by the Islamic State group in 2014.

Online outrage

The video sparked outrage online with many questioning why the local authorities had allowed the visit to take place.

MEE contacted Light a Candle to ask if they stood by the implication of the Yazidi religion as akin to Satanism, but had received no response at time of publication.

Narin Briar, a Kurdish human right activist, said that the act was particularly offensive considering the "centuries of genocide and erasure" that Yazidis had faced.

'American Christian missionaries are hunting Yazidis , falsely labelling them as "Satanic" in their social media posts, in hopes of forcefully converting them and erasing their ancient culture even further'
- Narin Briar, activist

"Just recently, the Yazidis fled the Ezidi Genocide at the hands of [the Islamic State]" she told MEE.

"Now, through an organisation called Light a Candle, American Christian missionaries are hunting Yazidis , falsely labelling them as 'Satanic' in their social media posts, in hopes of forcefully converting them and erasing their ancient culture even further."


Light a Candle was founded by Sean Feucht, a singer-songwriter and activist who claims to have had four number one albums in the Christian Worship section of iTunes.

The group has been involved in distributing aid to displaced people in northern Iraq, including Yazidis, but has also been accused of attempting to recruit Christian converts during their visits.

In the pinned tweet of his Twitter account, Feucht claims leftists have "hijacked" the minds of the younger generation and calls for "REVIVAL" as the solution, while lambasting such policies as student loan forgiveness, "open borders", abortion and LGBTQ rights and the "mutilation of children’s bodies".

A profile in Rolling Stone characterised Feucht as having a "far-right Christian nationalist agenda" and being a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump. It also suggested he had made considerable sums of money out of his work, owning homes in the US valued at over $2m.

MEE also contacted the KRG for comment, but had received no response at the time of publication.

'Threatened to burn mosque down': Canadian Muslims reel after botched attack in Markham

The attack on the Islamic Society of Markham is the latest in a number of Islamophobic incidents in Canada


The Islamic Society of Markham held a press conference on 10 April 2023 in Markham, Ontario, Canada
(Courtesy Islamic Society of Markham)

By Azad Essa
Published date: 10 April 2023 

Muslims in Canada are calling for more protection and a serious engagement with Islamophobia after a man entered a mosque brandishing a weapon, threatened congregants, damaged mosque property, and tried to run over worshippers in the parking lot.

At a press conference at the Islamic Society of Markham on Monday, Qasir Nasir Khan, the mosque's president, said the incident had shocked the community.

“It was shocking. It could have resulted in serious injury or, God forbid, even fatalities,” Khan said. “Make no mistake, we could have been at a funeral today," Khan said.

"He threatened to burn the mosque down," Khan added.

The incident, which took place late last week, is just the latest in a spate of Islamophobic attacks in Canada that has left experts and observers pondering over the rise of hate-based crimes in the US.

"Those who frequent this Markham mosque, and their loved ones, have been deeply anxious this weekend. We must do all we can to counter the hate that threatens our rights and freedoms and hold perpetrators accountable," Amira Elghawaby, the country's newly appointed special representative on combating Islamophobia, said in a statement.

On Sunday, local police said it had charged 28-year-old Sharan Karunakaran with several criminal offences after a suspected hate-motivated incident.

Several commentators have speculated that Karunakaran has ties with Hindu far-right groups, but the police have so far said they didn't believe the suspect had links to such groups.

Nadia Hassan, from the Islamic Society of Markham, reiterated that the connections were mere speculation and that "police were still investigating all angles".

"They have faced other incidents and threats but nothing quite like this," Hassan told Middle East Eye.

York regional police did not reply to MEE's request for comment.
 
Calls for accountability


The attack on the mosque, located around 30km from Toronto, also prompted condemnations from several elected officials.

On Monday, Helena Jaczek, the member of parliament for Markham, said she was "appalled to hear of the violent hate crime the Islamic Society of Markham was subject to, especially during the holy month of Ramadan. Muslim Canadians deserve to feel safe in our community".

Likewise, Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng said she was "deeply disturbed to hear of the violent hate crimes and racist behaviour at the Islamic Society of Markham. To Muslims in Markham and Canada, I stand with you."


Assault in Toronto mosque highlights alarming rise of Islamophobia in Canada
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The incident comes just days after police opened a case into a possible hate crime in Toronto, after a local mosque was vandalised, raising additional questions over the safety of Muslims in the country.

There has been a rise in Islamophobic incidents in Canada in recent years. Observers say that the rising Islamophobia has exposed the myth of Canadian multiculturalism.

In August 2022, government agency Statistics Canada reported that hate crimes against Muslim communities across Canada had increased by 71 percent in 2021 alone.

In June 2021, four members of a Muslim family were killed when a 2o-year-old man ran them over with his pick-up truck in London, Ontario.

In 2020, a mosque caretaker was killed in the Toronto area, while three years earlier, a gunman killed six Muslim men at a mosque in Quebec City.

Following the attack on worshippers at the Quebec City Mosque in 2017, the Canadian parliament passed Motion 103, a non-binding resolution, that condemned Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism.