Hundreds of thousands march in Israel as former security chiefs beg Netanyahu to halt legal overhaul

Thousands of Israelis march to Jerusalem in protest of plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to overhaul the judicial system, in Jerusalem, Saturday, July 22, 2023. Thousands of demonstrators entered the last leg of a four-day and nearly 70-kilometer (roughly 45-mile) trek from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Protest organizers planned to camp overnight outside Israel’s parliament on Saturday. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

PUBLISHED: July 22, 2023 
By JULIA FRANKEL

JERUSALEM — Tens of thousands of protesters marched into Jerusalem on Saturday evening and hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets in Tel Aviv and other cities in a last-ditch show of force aimed at blocking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious judicial overhaul.

Also Saturday, more than 100 of Israel’s former security chiefs signed a letter pleading with the Israeli premier to halt the legislation, and thousands of additional military reservists said they would no longer report for duty, in a protest against the plan.

In scorching heat that reached 33 C (91 F), the procession into Jerusalem turned the city’s main entrance into a sea of blue and white Israeli flags as marchers completed the last leg of a four-day, 70-kilometer (45-mile) trek from Tel Aviv to Israel’s parliament.

The marchers, who grew from hundreds to thousands as the march progressed, were welcomed in Jerusalem by throngs of cheering protesters before they set up camp in rows of small white tents outside the Knesset, or parliament, before Monday’s expected vote. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands flooded the streets of the coastal city of Tel Aviv, the country’s business and cultural capital, as well as in Beersheba, Haifa and Netanya.

4 of 16

Thousands of Israelis march along a highway towards Jerusalem in protest of plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to overhaul the judicial system, near Abu Gosh, Israel, Saturday, July 22, 2023. The 70-kilometer (roughly 45-mile) march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is growing as Netanyahu vows to forge ahead on the controversial overhaul. Protest organizers planned to camp overnight outside Israel’s parliament on Saturday. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Netanyahu and his far-right allies claim the overhaul is needed to curb what they say are the excessive powers of unelected judges. But their critics say the plan will destroy the country’s system of checks and balances and put it on the path toward authoritarian rule.

U.S. President Joe Biden has urged Netanyahu to halt the plan and seek a broad consensus.

The proposed overhaul has drawn harsh criticism from business and medical leaders, and a fast-rising number of military reservists in key units have said they will stop reporting for duty if the plan passes, raising concern that the country’s security interests could be threatened. An additional 10,000 reservists announced they were suspending duty on Saturday night, according to “Brothers in Arms,” a protest group representing retired soldiers.

More than 100 top former security chiefs, including retired military commanders, police commissioners and heads of intelligence agencies, joined those calls on Saturday, signing a letter to Netanyahu blaming him for compromising Israel’s military and urging him to halt the legislation.

The signatories included Ehud Barak, a former Israeli prime minister, and Moshe Yaalon, a former army chief and defense minister. Both are political rivals of Netanyahu.

“The legislation is crushing those things shared by Israeli society, is tearing the people apart, disintegrating the IDF and inflicting fatal blows on Israel’s security,” the former officials wrote.

“The legislative process violates the social contract that has existed for 75 years between the Israeli government and thousands of reserve officers and soldiers from the land, air, sea and intelligence branches who have volunteered for many years for the reserves to defend the democratic state of Israel, and now announce with a broken heart that they are suspending their volunteer service,” the letter said.

Israel Katz, a senior Cabinet minister from Netanyahu’s Likud party, said the bill would pass one way or another on Monday.

“I represent citizens who are not ready to have their voice canceled because of threats of refusal to serve” or by those blocking the airport, highways and train stations, he told Channel 12 TV. “There is a clear attempt here to use military service to force the government to change policy.”

After seven straight months of the most sustained and intense demonstrations the country has ever seen, the grassroots protest movement has reached a fever pitch.

The parliament is expected to vote Monday on a measure that would limit the Supreme Court’s oversight powers by preventing judges from striking down government decisions on the basis that they are “unreasonable.”

Proponents say the current “reasonability” standard gives the judges excessive powers over decision making by elected officials. But critics say that removing the standard, which is invoked only in rare cases, would allow the government to pass arbitrary decisions, make improper appointments or firings and open the door to corruption.

Monday’s vote would mark the first major piece of legislation to be approved.

The overhaul also calls for other sweeping changes aimed at curbing the powers of the judiciary, from limiting the Supreme Court’s ability to challenge parliamentary decisions, to changing the way judges are selected.

Protesters, who make up a wide swath of Israeli society, see the overhaul as a power grab fueled by various personal and political grievances by Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, and his partners, who want to deepen Israel’s control of the occupied West Bank and perpetuate controversial draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men.

In a speech Thursday, Netanyahu doubled down on the overhaul and dismissed as absurd the accusations that the plan would destroy Israel’s democratic foundations.

“This is an attempt to mislead you over something that has no basis in reality,” he said. Alarmed by the growing mass of reservists refusing to serve, the country’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, pushed for a delay in Monday’s vote, according to reports in Israeli media. It was unclear if others would join him.

Flooding on Canada's East Coast Causes 'Unimaginable' Damage; 4 People Missing

 July 22, 2023 
 Reuters

Buildings are seen in floodwater following a major rain event in Halifax, July 22, 2023. Intense thunderstorms dumped record amounts of rain across a wide swath of Nova Scotia.

OTTAWA — 

The heaviest rain to hit the Atlantic Canadian province of Nova Scotia in more than 50 years triggered floods causing "unimaginable" damage, and four people are missing, including two children, officials said Saturday.

The storm, which started Friday, dumped more than 25 cm (10 inches) on some parts of the province in just 24 hours — an amount that usually lands in three months. The resulting floods washed away roads, weakened bridges and swamped buildings.

An abandoned car in a mall parking lot sits in floodwaters following a major rain event in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, July 22, 2023.

"We have a scary, significant situation," said Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston, adding that at least seven bridges would have to be replaced or rebuilt.

"The property damage to homes ... is pretty unimaginable," he told a news conference. Houston said the province would be seeking significant support from the federal government.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Toronto he was very concerned about the floods and promised that Ottawa "will be there" for the province.

The flooding was the latest weather-related calamity to pound Canada this year. Wildfires have already burned a record number of hectares, sending clouds of smoke into the United States. Earlier this month, heavy rains also caused floods in several northeastern U.S. states.

Authorities have declared a state of emergency in Halifax, the largest city in Nova Scotia, and four other regions.

The regional municipality in Halifax reported "significant damage to roads and infrastructure" and urged people to stay at home and not use their cars.

Pictures posted on social media from Halifax showed abandoned cars almost covered with flood waters and rescue workers using boats to save people.

Houston, citing police, said two children were missing after the car they were in was submerged. In another incident, a man and a youth were missing after their car drove into deep water.

A man wearing chest waders walks through floodwaters in a mall parking lot following a major rain event in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, July 22, 2023.

At one point, more than 80,000 people were without power.

Environment Canada is predicting torrential rain in the eastern part of the province, continuing into Sunday.

"People should not assume that everything is over. This is a very dynamic situation," Halifax Mayor Mike Savage told the press conference, saying the city had been hit by "biblical proportions of rain."

Canadian Broadcasting Corp meteorologist Ryan Snoddon said the Halifax rains were the heaviest since a hurricane hit the city in 1971.

Early on Saturday, authorities in northern Nova Scotia ordered residents to evacuate amid fears that a dam near the St. Croix River system could breach. They later canceled the evacuation order.

 

Virginia Woolf: Personal copy of debut novel resurfaces

PublishedShare

IMAGE SOURCE,UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

By Leisha Chi-Santorelli

BBC News Culture

Virginia Woolf's personal copy of her debut novel, The Voyage Out, has been fully digitised for the first time.

The book was rediscovered in 2021, having mistakenly been housed in the science section of the University of Sydney library for 25 years.

It is the only publicly available copy of its kind and contains rare inscriptions and edits.

Another UK first edition used personally by Woolf is owned by a private collector based in London.

Scholars say the find is "remarkable" and could provide insight into the English author's mental health and writing process.

Woolf is considered to be one of the most important modernist 20th Century authors, publishing more than 45 works including To The Lighthouse and Mrs Dalloway.

She pioneered the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device and is a lasting literary influence to this day.

The University of Sydney hopes by publicly sharing their copy, the multiple notes showing the adopted and abandoned revisions will give a new generation of readers, literary students and scholars some insight into Woolf's thoughts.

IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES

Image caption,

Virginia Woolf suffered from anxiety, insomnia and repeated mental breakdowns during the writing of The Voyage Out

Woolf suffered from severe mental health breakdowns during the estimated seven year period it took to complete The Voyage Out.

She fell back into depression and was put in a nursing home the day before it was published in 1915, staying there for six months. Her husband Leonard Woolf said she was "writing every day with a kind of tortured intensity" to finish the novel.

She was institutionalised and attempted suicide several times throughout her life. She died in March 1941, aged 59, after filling her coat pockets with stones and walking into the River Ouse.

Handwriting match

The University of Sydney said it appeared the rediscovered copy of The Voyage Out had been lost "through the bustle of everyday campus and library life".

Simon Cooper, Metadata Services Officer from the Fisher Library, found the book incorrectly shelved in 2021.

He said: "I knew the book didn't belong there, so I took it out and then saw the author's name handwritten on the first page.

"So, I looked up her handwriting to compare it, and it matched. It's her copy".

IMAGE SOURCE,UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

Image caption,

The Voyage Out was incorrectly shelved and eventually found in the science section of Rare Books and Special Collections

The University acquired the book in the late 1970s through Bow Windows Bookshop in Lewes, East Sussex.

Woolf and her husband Leonard Woolf had lived in the area - and members of the public can still visit their 16th-Century country retreat, Monk's House, which is owned by the National Trust.

'Unique object'

Original copies of her manuscripts, novels, essays and short stories now sell for huge sums.

One of the world's oldest antiquarian booksellers, Maggs Bros in London, told the BBC the rediscovered Woolf copy could be worth about £250,000 ($321,500) given the other first edition copy sold for just over £91,000 in 2001.

"Prices have increased for this material since then, in some places quite substantially," said Bonny Beaumont, Modern Firsts specialist at Maggs Bros.

IMAGE SOURCE,UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

Image caption,

Sydney University Fisher Library staff member Simon Cooper found the book incorrectly shelved in the science section

In the rediscovered edition of The Voyage Out, handwritten edits made by Woolf can be seen in blue and brown pencil, with typed excerpts pasted onto the pages.

Some of the changes could have been made by an editor or someone else.

IMAGE SOURCE,UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

Image caption,

An example of Virginia Woolf's edits

Academics say the rare text reflects Woolf's understanding of her own process of writing and how she developed the craft.

"It carries iconic value," said to Mark Byron - a professor of Modern Literature at the University of Sydney, who has studied the book in person.

"The revisions are fascinating in terms of what Woolf was thinking at the time," he added.

"Its role in Woolf's editorial decisions towards the first American edition of the novel in 1920 is an important element of its textual history."

"The inclusion of Woolf's annotations and corrections in her own hand, in pasted typed sheets, and in marginal editorial instructions, make this a unique object, shining a light on the composition processes of a pivotal novel in Woolf's career, and thus in the history of the novel in the 20th Century."

He added that the difficult composition of the novel led to the first significant adult breakdown for Woolf, suggesting the subject matter and narrative technique deployed in the novel may shed some light on matters of psychology and mental distress and its connection to Woolf's emergent career as a writer.

Some have speculated that Woolf was "potentially uncomfortable with how closely the reflections mirrored her own mental health when she was writing the book" which is what led to the changes, Mr Byron said.

The Voyage Out has been fully digitised and is currently the only one of two copies made publicly available

Most of Woolf's works are housed at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts and the Berg collection at the New York Public Library.

Many have long believed that the other first edition of The Voyage Out owned by Woolf was held in an undisclosed private collection in the US. It is known as the "Adams" copy as it used to be part of a library belonging to a Mr FB Adams.

However, the BBC has learned that the Adams copy is in London and owned by a private British collector. He acquired it through the rare book dealer Peter Harrington at an auction held by Sotheby's in 2001.

Peter Harrington's son, Pom, who now runs the business, said he was excited by the rediscovery and digitalisation of The Voyage Out, and keen to examine the difference between the two copies.

South Africa polyamory: When three's not a crowd in a relationship

IMAGE SOURCE,NHLANHLA MOSHOMO

By Mpho Lakaje
BBC Africa Daily, Johannesburg

A new trend appears to be emerging among young South Africans - polyamory - having romantic relationships with multiple partners at the same time.




With her short hair and matching white trousers and top Lethabo Mojalefa cuts a striking figure.


She is a bisexual woman who started dating Fletcher Mojalefa in December 2018.


Fletcher, who equally oozes confidence and charisma, is a flamboyant man often wearing a colourful flowery shirt and a bucket hat.



The couple, who are in their 20s, live together with their son, nearly two years old, in a semi-rural township outside Burgersfort in South Africa's Limpopo province.


When they first got together, however, Fletcher had no idea that Lethabo was bisexual.



"I broke the news two or three months into our relationship because I realised that I could actually be open with this guy," Lethabo says.


Fletcher was fine with it.


"I felt happy that she went public with me and she came out," he says. "If she didn't, we were going to have other secret relationships and we were not going to last."


The couple realised early on that if their relationship was going to work out, they would have to fulfil Lethabo's sexual and emotional needs as a bisexual woman, as well as Fletcher's as a straight man.


So, they came up with a rather radical idea. They would bring a third person into their relationship.


Together they decided to actively go out and search for that individual.

Fletcher (L) and Lethabo (R) have a child together

In August last year, they met Lunya Makua, a bisexual woman who works as a stripper at a nightclub in the small town of Burgersfort. She too is in her early 20s.


"We got along. We would relate to most of the stuff we would talk about. He liked her from the beginning. He liked her when he realised she's a go-getter. I know he likes females who are like that," Lethabo says.


"With me it was the same thing because I am also into doing similar stuff, I'm also a hustler. We clicked because of the same thing."


Lunya feels the same way.


"Lethabo is the one who approached me, so I started dating her. She then introduced me to Fletcher. We all later got into a relationship," Lunya says.


"I had feelings for Lethabo. The first time I realised I had feelings for Fletcher [as well], we were at a social event. I found myself kissing him.



"In no time we all hooked up. The three of us were sharing the same bed, especially when attending social events and staying at a guest house."


But understanding a polyamorous relationship in Limpopo province, a rural part of South Africa, was always going to prove difficult for the local community.


Lethabo admits that some of their peers still do not get it and often mistake it for polygamy, which is common among some South African communities.

'I'm accused of being possessed'


"They ask me how I handle my partner having another partner. I just explain to them that it's not just his partner, I'm dating her too.


"Once people realise that she's my partner too, they start accusing me of being possessed, saying this is not normal," she says, seemingly unfazed by the criticism.


"It doesn't matter to me, I'm conscious of what I am doing and I am aware of the decisions I'm taking."


Fletcher says these reactions are influenced by lingering homophobia in the conservative community.


"They strongly do not believe that a lady would be attracted to another lady."


The three often have to explain how their relationship works.


"I tell them It's not just the guy who can have sex with whoever he wants," says Lethabo.


Fletcher backs her up: "The girls can have sex with each other too, without me."

Lethabo (R) approached Lunya (L) to see if she wanted to be in a polyamorous relationship


Clinical psychologist Dr Ian Opperman says what defines polyamorous relationships is consent.


"People of different sexual orientations are part of the community and form a network of relationships with the agreement of their partners.


"Many things differentiate polyamory from other types of non-monogamous relationships." For example, there are those who agree to have sex outside their main relationship but do not form an emotional bond with that sexual partner.


Relationship counsellors here say they are now seeing more people involved in polyamory and say that it is more common than expected in South Africa.


Polyamorous people often start dating online.


Even though those in polyamorous relationships are frowned upon in some circles, there is a growing group of polyamorous people organising events to meet others with a similar outlook in the main cities of Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.

'Not just young people'


From the clients she has seen, intimacy and relationship coach Tracy Jacobs says that while polyamory is on the rise, she has noticed that it is not exclusively among young people.


"Although it does tend to be more popular among the younger generations, such as the millennials and Gen Z, there are also other individuals in older age groups who practise polyamory or other forms of ethical non-monogamy.


"The range of these individuals who identify as polyamorous is quite broad and there's no real clear-cut age," she says.


Intimate relationship counsellor Elizabeth Retief says polyamorous relationships are also more attractive because they offer more flexibility and challenge traditional roles that is very different to polygamy.


"If you live in a house with your partner and her other partner, and their one kid, your gender roles don't necessarily come to play as automatically as what it does in monogamy or in polygamous set-ups," the counsellor says.


"Ethical polyamory is egalitarian, whereas polygamy very much says: 'One person in this relationship has more rights than the other.'"


The most commonly asked question about polyamory is how it affects the children, particularly in cases like that of Lunya, Lethabo and Fletcher.


"I think he's going to grow up knowing that he has two moms. I've seen polygamous families where the husband has several wives and they are raised in one yard and one house. So, I think everything is going to be fine," says Lethabo about her son with Fletcher.


Lunya agrees and says she is involved in raising the child, even though she is not his biological mother.


"Lethabo is usually busy. So, when I'm not, I visit him [the child]. I think one day I will also have a baby, but for now it's not possible due to the nature of the work that I do.


"If we are going to have a child, we need to all agree. I need to talk to Lethabo, if she's OK with it, we can then have a baby."

Lunya (L) says that one day she may also have a baby


But Dr Opperman says conversations involving children need to be approached carefully.


"Children of polyamorous unions may experience confusion... and it can happen when parents aren't honest about the nature of their relationship.


"If children aren't exposed to the fact that love can be expressed in a multitude of ways, they can become confused."


There is a chance that Lunya, Lethabo and Fletcher could invite a fourth person into their relationship.


"We are open to getting another female," says Lethabo, "but only if the third female is fine with it."


Right now, Fletcher is the only man in the relationship and says this is what makes him honour his two girlfriends.


"When two women get along, it's actually precious… So, I'm lucky. I actually appreciate it and I step back and I support this by any means."


But how would things change if Lethabo, the mother of his child, brought another man to the relationship?


"I wouldn't be part of that relationship because I'm a straight man. But if she wants to commit to another relationship with a man, that would be OK, " he says.

IMAGE SOURCE,NHLANHLA MOSHOMO

Bisexual men tend to be perceived as more masculine-sounding than both gay and straight men, study finds

2023/07/20


Research published in the Journal of Sex Research aimed to determine whether listeners could detect if a man is bisexual from his voice alone. The findings indicate that people are not able to determine if a man identifies as bisexual based on his voice alone. Additionally, when people listened to the voices of gay, straight, and bisexual men, they perceived the bisexual men as the most masculine among all the speakers they heard.

Bisexuality is often overlooked in the discourse about sexual orientation, leading to “bisexual erasure,” where bisexuality is often perceived as a phase or an illegitimate sexual identity. This erasure has led to a lack of research focused on bisexuality and an increased sense of invisibility and isolation among bisexual individuals, which has further implications regarding discrimination and social connection.

Previous research has identified specific voice characteristics that are often associated with gay men. These characteristics include higher pitch, wider pitch range, longer vowels, expanded vowel space, and more precise pronunciation.

However, while these vocal cues could be influenced by social and biological factors linked to sexual orientation, their application to bisexuality has not been studied extensively. Given that previous research has suggested that bisexual men often fall between gay and straight men in terms of self-reported and observer-reported masculinity and femininity, it was hypothesized that bisexual men might sound more feminine than straight men but less feminine than gay men.

The ability to identify a man’s bisexual identity from his voice has critical social implications. It could increase vulnerability to discrimination, but it might also help reduce feelings of erasure and alienation.

For their study, James Morandini of the University of Sydney and his colleagues recruited 160 participants (80 male, 80 female) who were asked to listen to voice samples of 60 men (20 gay-identified, 20 bisexual-identified, and 20 straight-identified) and rate their perceived sexual orientation on a scale from 0 (exclusively heterosexual) to 10 (exclusively homosexual). The listeners also rated the perceived level of femininity or masculinity in the voices on a visual analogue scale.

The male speakers were asked to recite the first two lines of the Australian national anthem and record themselves using their smartphone. The voice samples were then prepared by removing any background noise and normalizing the volume levels to ensure consistency.

The results showed that listeners could distinguish between gay and straight men’s voices with an accuracy rate of 62%, which was consistent with previous research. However, listeners could not distinguish between bisexual and straight men’s voices with any degree of accuracy. The study also found that female listeners were more accurate than male listeners in identifying gay men’s voices.

The researchers found that bisexual men’s voices were perceived as being more exclusively attracted to women compared to both gay and straight men’s voices. Bisexual men’s voices were also rated as more masculine than gay men’s voices and straight men’s voices.

The study’s authors discussed the implications of their findings for understanding the relationship between voice and sexual orientation. They noted that the study’s results suggest that the perceptual voice and speech features that allow listeners to identify gay men’s voices may not be present in bisexual men’s voices. The authors also noted that the study’s findings challenge the assumption that bisexual men’s voices are a blend of gay and straight men’s voices.

The study had several limitations that the authors acknowledged. One limitation was that the study only included Australian participants, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to other cultures. Another limitation was that the study did not control for the recording environment or microphone-to-mouth distance, which could have affected the quality of the voice samples. The authors also noted that the study’s use of smartphone recordings limited the frequency range of the voice samples, which may have excluded important spectral properties of the speakers’ voices.

Overall, this study contributes to our understanding of the relationship between voice and sexual orientation and highlights the need for further research to explore the perceptual voice and speech features that allow listeners to identify gay and bisexual men’s voices. Bisexual men are less likely to be identified through verbal conversations and less vulnerable to discrimination. However, they may have their sexuality misidentified.

The study, “Can listeners detect if a man is bisexual from his voice alone,” was authored by James S. Morandini, Damien Beckman-Scott, Catherine Madill, and Ilan Dar-Nimrod.

© PsyPost