It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Wednesday, November 08, 2023
French-Algerian activist Amira Bouraoui sentenced to 10 years
A French-Algerian activist has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for allegedly leaving Algeria "illegally."
Bouraoui came to be renowned as a political activist in the mid-2010s with the Barakat Movement
An Algerian court on Tuesday sentenced French-Algerian activist Amira Bouraoui to 10 years in prison, media reported, in a case that sparked a diplomatic row between the two countries.
Bouraoui, who fled to France through Tunisia in February, was sentenced in absentia for an "illegal exit from the territory", one of the defence lawyers told Algerian media.
Journalist Mustapha Bendjama, who was accused of helping her escape, was also sentenced to six months in prison - time he had already served, following his arrest in February.
Bendjama was due to be released on Tuesday after having already served nine months of "arbitrary detention", said Khaled Drareni, the North Africa representative of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
But Drareni later posted that there was "great uncertainty" surrounding his release.
The prosecution had requested 10 years in prison for Bouraoui and three years for Bendjama.
The court in the northeastern city of Constantine also sentenced Ali Takaida, a border police agent, to three years in prison. Bouraoui's 71-year-old mother, Khadidja - whose passport the activist used to cross the border to Tunisia - was also handed a one-year suspended sentence.
Bouraoui's cousin, Yacine Bentayeb, as well as the taxi driver, Djamel Miassi, who drove her across the border, were sentenced to six months in prison each.
Bouraoui, a gynaecologist by training, was the host of a talk show on Radio M, an Algerian independent radio station whose editor, Ihsane El Kadi, was jailed last December on charges of threatening national security.
El Kadi also heads the news website Maghreb Emergent and is serving a seven-year prison sentence for "foreign financing of his company". His lawyers have described him as "a prisoner of conscience".
Bouraoui came to be renowned as a political activist in the mid-2010s with the Barakat Movement that opposed ex-President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's campaign for a fourth consecutive term.
Algiers deemed her flight to France an "illegal exfiltration", sparking a diplomatic dispute with Paris that has since been resolved.
Armed Israeli settlers attempt to seize Armenian Patriarchate property in Jerusalem's Armenian Quarter
NOT JUST MUSLIMS, CHRISTIANS TOO Ibrahim Husseini Jerusalem 07 November, 2023
"We are fighting for our existence". The Armenian community in occupied East Jerusalem is contesting a murky real estate deal signed between their Patriarchate and an Israeli settler.
The Armenian Convent, also referred to as Mar Yacoub, is situated within the Armenian Quarter within Jerusalem's Old City.
[Ibrahim Husseini/TNA]
Armed Israeli settlers stormed the Armenian Quarter in occupied East Jerusalem on Sunday, 5 November, in an effort to lay a hand on a piece of land following the signing of a murky deal between the Jerusalem Arminian Patriarchate and Xana Capital, owned by Jewish Australian investor Danny Rubenstein.
Rubenstein carries an Israeli passport and also goes by the name Danny Rothman.
News of the deal first emerged in 2021. It was contested by a group of Armenian priests who alleged it was done illegally without ratification by the Synod and the General Assembly.
Hagop Djernazian, a resident of the Armenian community and a leading activist against the land deal in question, told The New Arab, "We are fighting for our existence, for the status quo of Jerusalem, we have to maintain a Christian Armenian presence in Jerusalem".
The deal reportedly pertains to 11.5 dunams in the Armenian Quarter, which amounts to 25 per cent of the total size of the Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem's Old City. It includes a vast tract of land currently used as a parking lot, a seminary, and five residential homes.
Last month, the Armenian Patriarchate informed Xana Capital it was withdrawing from the deal. The deal's cancellation came following pressure from the local Armenian community and Areminians worldwide.
In May of this year, the Petra news agency reported that the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Jordan suspended Nourhan Manougian from his role as the Patriarch of the Armenian Church in Jerusalem because he "mishandl[ed] culturally and historically significant Christian properties in Jerusalem's Armenian Quarter".
Under a long-established tradition that has been upheld for centuries, senior church appointments in the Holy Land usually necessitate the approval of the authorities governing the land. Presently, these authorities are Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan.
In a statement released on 6 November, the Armenian Patriarchate said that the party with whom it had signed the contract responded to the cancellation of the deal with "demolition of walls, demolition of the parking lot and scrapping of asphalt pavements".
According to Hagop Djernazian, following the deal cancellation, about 15 armed settlers broke into the Armenian Quarter and proceeded to knock parts of a stone wall. They also partially destroyed asphalt ground.
Soon after, several Armenian community members assembled and prevented the settlers from carrying out further damage to the property.
Activists Hagop Djernazian (L) and Setrag Balian (R) are challenging a real estate deal in a sensitive area in occupied East Jerusalem between the Armenian Patriarch and an Israeli settler. [Ibrahim Husseini/TNA]
Videos and images show the settlers armed with rifles accompanied by attack dogs rowing with the local community members.
"Danny hired the settlers from the Jewish Quarter", Djernazian told The New Arab.
After several hours of tense arguments, the settlers dispersed.
Djernazian told TNA that community members had organised to guard the property.
Djernazian estimates that around 1,000 people of Armenian descent reside in occupied East Jerusalem.
The Arminian Jerusalem Patriarchate isn't the only Christian Church to become embroiled in questionable real estate deals with Israeli settlers in occupied East Jerusalem.
The New Imperial Hotel, located in Jaffa Gate and long owned by the Greek Orthodox Church, was sold in 2004 to a right-wing Israeli group known as Ateret Cohanim. The Greek Orthodox Church claims the purchase of the properties was fraudulent and has challenged the deal's legality. However, the courts have ruled in favour of the settlers.
The New Imperial Hotel is a minute's walk from the property leased to Rubnestein in the Armenian Quarter. Both properties are within a minute's walk of the Holy Sepulchre, the Christian Quarter.
The offline onslaught that helps black out Israel's war crimes in Gaza
Israeli-imposed internet blackouts are silencing Palestinian voices in Gaza. Unable to contact their loved ones, Gazans are filled with dread over what is to come. However, citizen-led efforts are finding ways to help reconnect Gaza to the world
To hide the extent of its war crimes in Gaza, the Israeli occupation deliberately cut off Gaza's internet and communication services late last month.
In response, Gazans have desperately tried several ways to restore services to ensure the besieged enclave isn't condemned to digital darkness and isolation, while the death toll continues to mount.
“Due to the ongoing Israeli attack against Gaza, Israel's intense bombing in the last hours has destroyed all remaining international routes connecting Gaza to the outside world, in addition to the routes previously destroyed during the attack, which led to a complete interruption of Internet services to the Strip,” Palestinian Telecommunications Company, Paltel, announced on its social media platforms.
"Israel's deliberate Internet blackout and media siege in Gaza, amid ongoing aggression, underscores a troubling pattern of information control"
On the evening of October 27, there was a sudden interruption in communications and internet services. This happened a few hours after Israel announced their expansion of ground operations in Gaza.
It was part of a campaign to spread terror among the Gazans and to hinder ambulances and civil defence workers from performing their duties. The disruption lasted for around 36 hours.
Internet blackouts only heighten the anxiety of Gazans over what is happening. The lack of communication makes it even more difficult for civilians to know what to expect.
"The internet blackout has caused fear and horror in Gaza, especially as the bombing of Gaza has become worse. When Israeli forces strike, we worry about our family and our loved ones. We don't have any way of knowing if they are alive or dead," a 33-year-old Gazan resident, who wants to remain anonymous for security reasons, explained to The New Arab.
Marwa Fatafta, the Middle East and North Africa policy and advocacy manager at Access Now, explained to Al-Jazeera that "Israel used the shutdown as an opportunity to cover its potential war crimes as they began their ground invasion."
According to NetBlocks, an internet outage monitoring company based in London, the connectivity in the enclave had significantly dropped to 58% on October 30 from an average of 97% on October 7.
Many Palestinians have experienced a total loss of internet access and the ability to communicate electronically.
It seems Israel's internet blackout in Gaza first targeted journalists. During the first period of interruption, journalists covering Gaza on the ground reported that they were unable to contact ambulances and communicate with each other.
“Israel attempts to prevent us from covering its crimes and massacres in Gaza by cutting the internet, but this won't stop us from working. Every day will be a new way for us to complete our work. We have colleagues abroad who help us by sending e-SIMs to cover the truth,” a Palestinian journalist who wanted to remain anonymous for security concerns, said.
Mohammed, a Palestinian photojournalist, told The New Arab: “I felt as if I could not speak, it's as if Gaza had been sentenced to death. It's not an exaggeration when I say that I felt like I'd been killed."
Mohammed isn't wrong, when communications finally returned, ambulance and civil defence crews found hundreds of dead and wounded Palestinians among the rubble.
The Gaza Strip's health ministry said on November 7 that the death toll from Israel's bombardment has reached 10,328, including 4,237 children.
"The so-called safe [humanitarian] corridors have become corridors of death," said the ministry.
A group of international journalists and activists have launched a campaign to send free e-SIM cards to Gazan journalists as a way to support their work by communicating with them using their accounts published on the internet.
Tony Groves, an Irish journalist and owner of the Echo Chamber podcast, said, “The Echo Chamber podcast has covered global news for over six years. As a small media outlet, we face many challenges, but nothing like the challenges that many of our contributors in places like Colombia or Gaza would.
"When Gaza went dark I went looking for solutions," Tony continued. "The e-Sim idea was mentioned online and had an extensive list of people in Gaza, whom it was important to keep hearing from. We purchased dozens of eSIMs and provided them to friends, journalists, and contacts in both Gaza and the West Bank.
"The most important thing is that Palestinian voices continue to report on what is happening in Palestine. The e-SIMs, while not perfect, have helped us keep doing that."
Activists and influencers on the social networking site X (formerly Twitter) launched a global campaign calling on Elon Musk, who owns the satellite company SpaceX, to provide communications and the Internet to the residents of the Gaza Strip, as he did with Ukraine.
Elon Musk responded to this campaign that he would offer his Starlink satellite internet service to "internationally recognised aid organisations" in Gaza. However, the Israeli authorities decided to fight to prevent Elon Musk from providing the internet and communication to Gaza.
“The cut in phone and internet communication lines has exacerbated tensions and fears,” Thomas White, UNRWA's Gaza Strip director, said. “As a result, they feel isolated from their families, both inside Gaza and throughout the world.”
Israel's policy to blackout Palestinian media prevents the world from seeing what's happening in Gaza. It also signals Israel's intent to carry out further massacres in the besieged territory.
The deliberate internet blackout and media siege in Gaza, amid ongoing Israeli attacks, underscores a troubling pattern of information control.
These actions not only hinder the free flow of information but also exacerbate the suffering and isolation of the two million people in the besieged Gaza Strip, as access to information is a fundamental human right in times of aggression and crises. Mahmoud Mushtaha is a Gaza-based freelance journalist and human rights activist. He works as a media assistant at We Are Not Numbers, a project of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor Follow him on X: @MushtahaW Hadil Wadi is a Gaza-based freelance journalist and creative content writer Follow her on Instagram: @hadil.wadi
Does Israel have the 'right to self-defence' under international law in its war on Gaza?
Both Israel and the US invoke Article 51 of the UN Charter as an argument for Israel's 'right to self-defence' in its bombing of Gaza, although the reality is much more complicated
The UN Security Council members have been split on statements regarding Israel's bombardment of Gaza [Getty] advertisement
Israel and the US have both argued that the brutal four-week bombardment of Gaza is justified under international law, according to the pretext of "self-defence".
With more than 10,000 Palestinians killed - the vast majority children and women - in Israel's one-month war on Gaza, the phrase "Israel has the right to defend itself" has been commonly deployed by US and EU officials, and even by the UN secretary general.
Last Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pushed this "right" to its extreme following a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, saying, "Israel not only has the right but also the duty to defend itself."
Arab states, human rights organisations, and international legal scholars - including the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court - disagree, calling for an immediate ceasefire to end further civilian suffering.
What is the 'right to self-defence' in international law?
The right to self-defence is linked to two articles in the UN Charter.
Article 2(4) of the UN Charter states: "All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations."
The second is Article 51 of the UN Charter, which more explicitly defines "self-defence": "Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of collective or individual self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken the measures necessary to maintain international peace and security.
"Measures taken by members in exercise of this right of self-defence shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security."
Other than the UN Charter, the other key factor in defining the use of self-defence in international law is under customary international law, which is basically "general practices accepted as law". This generally refers to an act or position agreed upon by governments as acceptable and therefore becomes de-facto and articulated in government documents, military manuals, state treaties, public announcements, etc.
Can Israel invoke Article 51 of the UN Charter?
Israel and its supporters, including the US, argue that it has "the right of self-defence" under Article 51 of the UN Charter.
Indeed, as of 21 October, Washington proposed a draft text to the UN Security Council that explicitly asserted "Israel's right to self-defence" after being reportedly disappointed that Brazil's previous text did not include this assertion.
The underlying point of both Israel and the US's interpretation hinged on the argument that Israel is not an occupying state, particularly regarding the Gaza Strip.
To bolster this argument, both parties point to the 2005 "disengagement plan" by Israel from the Gaza Strip that saw it withdraw its physical military presence and illegal settlements from the Palestinian enclave and, hence, according to their argument, could not be considered in "occupation" of Gaza.
International legal experts also assert that Israel has illegally occupied Palestinian territories, including Gaza, since 1967.
An "occupation" is defined under Article 42 of the Fourth Hague Conventions, as: "Territory is considered occupied when it is placed under the authority of the hostile army. The occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established and can be exercised."
While Israel, before its ground invasion of Gaza, did not have a physical military presence in Gaza, to quote the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights it still "retained effective control over the Gaza Strip by virtue of the control exercised over, inter alia, its airspace and territorial waters, land crossings at the borders, supply of civilian infrastructure, and key governmental functions such as the management of the Palestinian population registry". In other words, an occupation of Gaza.
Moreover, a year before the "disengagement plan", the International Court of Justice (ICJ) released a significant ruling concerning the construction of Israel's "Apartheid Wall" in the occupied West Bank. In a vote of 14 for and one opposed, the ruling explicitly states: "The Court considers that Israel cannot rely on a right of self-defence or on a state of necessity in order to preclude the wrongfulness of the construction of the wall."
Several international legal experts, including the UN Special Rapporteur of the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt), have used this ruling to counter Israel's actions against "threats" coming from the West Bank and Gaza, and those powers supporting Israel's "self-defence" argument. If Israel doesn't have the "right to self-defence" in accordance with international law, why are certain states asserting this?
International law – as interpreted by the vast majority - does not give Israel the "right to self-defence" against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip because it is an occupying state and, therefore, governed by international laws and conventions related to occupation, such as the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Nevertheless, Israel's backers, particularly the US, seek to essentially reinterpret the international texts, particularly Article 51, via customary international law to give it more room for military action and less accountability.
Pro-Palestine protesters block road at Tacoma port where US weapons ship bound for Israel is docked
Hundreds of protesters calling for Gaza ceasefire blocked traffic at the Port of Tacoma, where a military supply ship allegedly with US weapons bound for Israel is docked
Protests in solidarity with Gaza have erupted all across the US [Getty] Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza blocked traffic Monday at the Port of Tacoma, where a military supply ship had recently arrived. Organizers said they opposed Israel's war on Gaza and targeted the vessel — the Cape Orlando — based on confidential information that it was to be loaded with weapons bound for Israel. Those claims could not immediately be corroborated. In an emailed statement, Air Force Lt. Col. Bryon J. McGarry, a spokesperson for the Department of Defense, confirmed that the vessel is under the control of the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command and is supporting the movement of U.S. military cargo. “Due to operations security, DoD does not provide transit or movement details or information regarding the cargo embarked on vessels of this kind,” McGarry said. The Cape Orlando drew similar protests in Oakland, California, where it docked on Friday before it sailed to Tacoma. About 300 protesters delayed its departure, and the U.S. Coast Guard detained three people who climbed onto the ship.
The three were released on a pier in San Francisco, Petty Officer Hunter Schnabel said Monday. He said investigations are ongoing against the three and others who had breached the federal maritime area. By midmorning Monday, about 200 protesters remained at the Port of Tacoma, some carrying signs reading “No Aid For Israel” and “Free All Palestinian Prisoners,” emblazoned with watermelons, a symbol of Palestinian freedom. No arrests had been made, said officer Shelbie Boyd, a spokesperson for the Tacoma Police Department. The protesters' goal was to block the Cape Orlando from being loaded, said Wassim Hage, with the San Francisco-based Arab Resource and Organizing Center. "It speaks to the historic moment where people are coming out to say, ‘No. No funding for genocide, no U.S. bombs for bombing hospitals and killing children in Gaza,’” he said Monday. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 23, which represents workers at the Port of Tacoma, did not immediately returned phone messages from the Associated Press on Monday. Gaza’s Health Ministry said more than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed in nearly a month of war in Gaza, and more than 4,000 of those killed are children and minors. That toll likely will rise as Israeli troops advance into dense, urban neighborhoods.
Military Sealift Ro/Ro Departs Tacoma Despite Pro-Palestinian Protest
The civilian-crewed sealift ship Cape Orlando has loaded cargo at the Port of Tacoma and departed, despite the efforts of pro-Palestinian demonstrators to block the ship's progress. Protest organizers believe that the ro/ro ship was in Tacoma to take on a cargo of military aid for Israel, part of the Biden administration's effort to support Israeli self-defense.
According to protest organizers, several hundred people arrived at the terminal gates Monday morning in an attempt to block cargo operations for the Cape Orlando. A small group of kayaking protesters and members of the Salish tribe attended from the water side, monitored by a U.S. Coast Guard patrol vessel.
The degree of any impact on Cape Orlando's schedule appears to have been limited, and the vessel departed Tacoma later the same day. The U.S. military has declined to comment on sealift movements like Cape Orlando's, citing its operational security policy, and the ship has ceased transmitting her position on AIS.
Unlike the previous protest at Port of Oakland, the demonstrators did not breach the security perimeter or board the ship. According to the Coast Guard, three protesters who worked their way onto the Cape Orlando's pilot ladder in Oakland are under investigation for potential violations of federal law.
The protest's organizers believe that Cape Orlando is now headed to Israel. The Israeli military is currently engaged in an operation to eliminate Hamas, the terrorist organization that killed 1,400 Israeli civilians and military personnel on October 7.
So far, an estimated 10,000 Gazan residents have passed away during the Israeli response, though the numbers are provided by a Hamas-controlled health agency and cannot be verified. The conflict has polarized the American public, and the protest at Oakland was not an isolated incident: On Saturday, thousands marched in San Francisco and Washington to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The stevedores' union of the port of Barcelona (OEPB) has also indicated that it would block arms shipments, though it is not known whether such shipments were planned through ports in Catalonia.
"We have decided in assembly not to allow our port the activity of ships containing war materiel, with the sole purpose of protecting the civilian population, whatever the territory. No cause justifies the sacrifice of civilians," said the OEPB in a statement. "We pray that an immediate ceasefire be proclaimed and the search for peaceful solutions to the various conflicts."
Palestinian Authority security members threaten to dissent after Blinken-Abbas meeting
Unrest brews in the West Bank after the US secretary of state met Palestinian president in Ramallah on Sunday while Israel continues its military offensive on Gaza. Meanwhile, Israel's West Bank ramp-up killed 14 Palestinians in the last 48 hours.
Palestinians continue to protest in West Bank cities as Israeli forces have killed 151 across occupied West Bank since 7 October. [Qassam Muaddi /TNA]
Dozens of Palestinian security forces' members will declare 'disobedience' unless Palestinian president Abbas declares 'total confrontation' with Israel, a statement made public through Telegram by an alleged group calling itself 'The Sons Of Abu Jandal' said on Monday, 6 November.
The alleged group claimed to be formed of Palestinian security servicemen, naming itself after Yousef Rihaneh, known as 'Abu Jandal. A Palestinian security officer joined Palestinian fighters in the Jenin refugee camp during the battle of Jenin in 2002 and was killed after leading the battle.
Daily night protests have been held in Ramallah in solidarity with Gaza since 7 October. [Qassam Muaddi/TNA]
"For far too long, we have endured the orders given to us while we were ripped apart, every day and every minute, at the sight of women and children torn to pieces [by Israeli bombings]", said the statement.
"We declare that as of today, the Palestinian leadership has the historical responsibility of declaring full confrontation with the occupation", it read. "If within 24 hours President Abu Mazen [Abbas] does not declare full confrontation and dissociates himself from the declarations of the criminal Blinken, then we will have no obedience or allegiance to any security apparatus."
The statement came a day after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in Ramallah on Sunday. During the visit, Abbas said that the Palestinian Authority would return to administrate the Gaza Strip only as part of a "comprehensive political solution" that would include the establishment of a Palestinian state, Palestinian sources said.
Abbas laid his conditions for his administration's takeover of the administration in Gaza during his meeting with the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken during his visit to Ramallah. According to sources, Blinken told Abbas that the Palestinian Authority has to play a role in the administration of Gaza following the current war.
Abbas's position echoed previous comments by Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh last week. At the same time, Israel continues the bombing of Gaza for the fourth week as its troops push deeper into the Strip, engaged by Palestinian fighters. On Sunday, hundreds of Palestinians marched in Ramallah, protesting Blinken's visit. Protesters held the US administration, including US President Biden and Blinken himself, directly responsible for the killing of more than 10,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, including more than 4,000 children, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Meanwhile, Palestinian sources affirmed on Sunday that the PA refused to receive the Palestinian customs money from Israel after Israel had deducted the Gaza Strip's share.
On Monday, Prime Minister Shtayyeh said that Israel's decision to deduct some 140 million dollars from Palestinian customs money was "a political decision aimed at separating Gaza from the West Bank".
Meanwhile, Israeli forces continue to ramp up their raids on Palestinian cities and towns in the occupied West Bank, killing more than 151 Palestinians since 7 October, raising the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since the beginning of the year to 350. The largest spike in Palestinians killed in the West Bank since 7 October started on Sunday, as Israeli forces killed 14 Palestinians in the West Bank in the last 48 hours, eight of them since Monday.
On Monday, Israeli forces killed four Palestinians in a raid on Tulkarm, northwest of the West Bank. The four men were Saed Balaawi and Qasem Rajab, both aged 20, Jihad Shehaadeh, 22, and Ezedin Awad, 25
Local sources told TNA that an Israeli force infiltrated Tulkarm in a car with Palestinian licence plates and opened fire on a car where the men were driving, killing all four instantly. Israeli media quoted Israeli forces saying that the four men were fighters in the Tulkarm Brigade.
Also on Monday, Israeli forces killed 21-year-old Mahmoud Al-Atrash in the town of Halhoul, near Hebron.
"Mahmoud loved life and had many expectations", Al-Atrash's father told Palestinian media on Monday. "He worked as a plumber and was finishing to build his own house, hoping to form a family."
"He left his house for work when protests and shootings were taking place in the town", his uncle said. "He was shot, but he had no business in any trouble", he added.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces dispersed protests in solidarity with Gaza at the entrance of the village of Beit Fajar, south of Bethlehem in the southern West Bank, using live fire and killing 18-year-old Yousef Taqatqah.
Medical sources at the Beit Jala Hospital in Bethlehem said that the teenager was killed by a live bullet in the head. He will buried on Tuesday in his home village of Beit Fajar.
Israeli forces have also arrested dozens of Palestinians since Sunday, including Palestinian activist and former detainee 23-year-old Ahed Tamimi.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Club said in a statement on Tuesday that Israeli forces have arrested 2200 Palestinians in the West Bank since 7 October.
The number of Palestinian prisoners currently stands at 7,000 Palestinians, including an unprecedented peak of 2,700 detainees without charges under the Administrative Detention system.
Iraq announces return of 487 Yazidis to Sinjar, nine years on from genocide by Islamic State
Iraq's migration ministry said almost 500 Yazidis had returned to Sinjar, nearly a decade on from genocide and mass displacement of the ethnoreligious group from their heartland.
Some 487 Yazidis returned to the Sinjar district of northwestern Iraq, the country's migration ministry said on Monday, more than nine years after hundreds of thousands of people from the ethnoreligious minority fled persecution by the Islamic State (IS).
IS captured swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in the summer of 2014, but exercised particular brutality when it came to the Yazidis, who they considered infidels. IS enslaved thousands and killed thousands more in what has been recognised in several countries as being a genocide.
War to push the extremist group out of the area saw much of the area's infrastructure destroyed, and some 400,000 Yazidis were displaced from their heartland of Sinjar.
A security vacuum has long existed in the area, with various armed groups claiming control of different parts of the district. Turkey frequently strikes Sinjar, where there are local fighters affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Some 200,000 Yazidis remain displaced, according to official figures, with many living in camps scattered across Iraqi Kurdistan.
Thousands more are still missing, and the process of exhuming mass graves and identifying the victims of the IS genocide has been painstakingly slow.
The Iraqi government has been widely criticised for its failure to make Sinjar safe, to compensate survivors, and to punish perpetrators of the genocide.
UNITAD, the UN mission established to help get justice and accountability for Yazidis, has also been brought to an abrupt end, further dimming hopes of perpetrators being held to an account.
The head of the Pentagon office responsible for investigating UFOs is stepping down from his post in December, he said in an exclusive interview Tuesday.
Sean Kirkpatrick, the head of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, is retiring from the federal government after nearly 18 months on the job. He deferred his planned retirement last year to take on the job atop AARO and now feels he has achieved his goals, he said.
“I’m ready to move on. I have accomplished everything I said I was going to do,” Kirkpatrick said, adding that he still wants to finish a few tasks, including wrapping up the first volume of a historical review of the unidentified anomalous phenomena issue, before leaving.
Kirkpatrick’s deputy, Tim Phillips, will lead the office in an acting role until the Pentagon hires a permanent replacement, Kirkpatrick said.
A physicist, Kirkpatrick took on the role at AARO after spending decades in a variety of scientific jobs for the military.
Kirkpatrick’s tenure has been marked by a high level of public and congressional interest in the issue of UFOs and the possibility of extraterrestrial life. The Biden administration established the office in July 2022, under Kirkpatrick’s leadership, to look into the unidentified craft military pilots have increasingly reported seeing in the skies, and whether they posed a threat to national security. Since then, Kirkpatrick has investigated more than 800 cases.
AARO has been in the news frequently in the last few months, including for its role in helping the U.S. detect a fleet of Chinese surveillance balloons.
Kirkpatrick himself made headlines this summer when he fired back at a whistleblower’s explosive claim that the government is covering up a decadeslong program to reverse-engineer alien craft. AARO has not uncovered any evidence to support the claim, Kirkpatrick said at the time, calling the comments “insulting.”
The whistleblower, retired Air Force intelligence officer Maj. David Grusch, has refused multiple requests to interview with AARO, Kirkpatrick said.
Lawmakers, witnesses and UFO enthusiasts, however, have continued to criticize what they call a lack of transparency from the government regarding the phenomenon.
But Kirkpatrick said AARO has made strides where transparency is concerned, including launching a long-anticipated online tool for former and current service members and government employees to report UFOs.
“Dr. Kirkpatrick has served the American people with honesty and integrity, tackling an incredibly difficult mission to explain the unknown,” Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said in a statement. “His commitment to transparency with the United States Congress and the American public on UAP leaves a legacy the department will carry forward as AARO continues its mission.”
Another memorable moment came when he co-authored a draft academic paper positing that the unidentified objects AARO is studying could be alien probes from a mothership sent to study Earth.
Kirkpatrick said the document that was posted online was in draft form and did not have permission to be published. However, he does not regret his involvement.
In fact, he believes “the best thing that could come out of this job is to prove that there are aliens” — because the alternative is a much bigger problem.
“If we don’t prove it’s aliens, then what we’re finding is evidence of other people doing stuff in our backyard,” he said. “And that’s not good.”
Mexico’s hurricane reconstruction plans prioritize military barracks, owners left to rebuild hotels
Soldiers guard the streets while residents take items from local stores after Hurricane Otis ripped through Acapulco, Mexico, Oct. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File) Damaged buildings stand after Hurricane Otis ripped through Acapulco, Mexico, Oct. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez, File) Downed electrical poles and lines blown over by Hurricane Otis blanket a road in Acapulco, Mexico, Oct. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez, File)
November 7, 2023
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s government laid out hurricane reconstruction plans Tuesday for the resort of Acapulco that seem to give as much priority to building military barracks as re-opening hotels.
But his administration plans to build 38 new barracks in the resort for the quasi-military National Guard, in addition to five that already exist there. Each barracks will house 250 Guard troopers, who are recruited from or trained by the army.
That would mean between 9,500 and 10,000 Guard troops would be stationed permanently in the resort, about the same number sent there following the hurricane, which caused at least 48 deaths.
OTHER NEWS
In the days following the storm’s Oct. 25 landfall, Guard troops proved incapable of stopping days of ransacking that stripped every large- and medium-sized store in Acapulco to the walls.
López Obrador has promised a barracks in every neighborhood of the resort, which has also been hit by nearly 20 years of drug cartel violence. The president has given the armed forces almost exclusive control of the fight against the cartels and has proposed placing the National Guard under army command.
López Obrador has refused to consider government loans or grants to the hotels, most of which had windows or walls blown out. Many were reduced to their skeletal concrete or steel frames.
Instead, he said the government would pay half the interest on reconstruction loans from private banks. But with no cash flow, many hotel owners doubt they can qualify for big private bank loans.
López Obrador has also refused to earmark specific funds in the 2024 budget for reconstruction efforts, a move that has led to demonstrations by a protest caravan of Acapulco residents who drove to Mexico City this week.
Evodio Velázquez, an opposition party member and former mayor of Acapulco, said the demonstrators were demanding a rebuilding program roughly four times the size of the $3.4 billion plan the president announced last week.
“We want dignified treatment for Acapulco in the federal budget,” Velázquez said Monday.
The protesters camped out Tuesday in tents outside Mexico City’s National Palace, where López Obrador lives and works.
Much of the $3.4 billion aid program will go to making payments of $2,000-$3,000 per damaged home, setting up temporary job programs and providing free electricity for residents for several months. The government is also handing out 250,000 appliances like refrigerators and fans and providing weekly food packages for each family.
Some stores in Acapulco began tentatively re-opening this week, but they reportedly stocked only basic goods and let in only 20 customers at a time.
The federal civil defense agency tallied 220,000 homes that were damaged by the hurricane, which ripped the tin roofs off thousands of homes.
