Disinformation and protests hamper Bulgaria’s green transition

Bulgaria grapples with coal sector protests as it navigates a shift to green energy. Misinformation and media gaps hinder the transition, impacting public perception and readiness for the EU Green Deal.

Published on 30 November 2023 
Georgi Staykov
 

Emanuele Del Rosso | Cartoon 

A protest-torn Bulgaria stands at a crossroads. The country’s coal sector and the government seem more at loggerheads than ever. On 28 September this year, miners and energy workers, with the support of trade unions, blocked key road arteries in the country to demonstrate against plans for transitioning to green energy.

On 29 September, one day before the deadline, the Council of Ministers sent the territorial plans for the Just Transition Fund (JTF) to the European Commission. This led to discontent in the sector. The miners, energy workers and trade unions drew up a list of six specific demands and invited the government to a discussion in the Parliament. The meeting took place on 3 October and ended with the signing of an agreement that marks the beginning of more detailed negotiations.

More : The media and climate activists: Shooting the messenger

Media coverage in Bulgaria has focused on the roadblocks and on the question of who promised what. Headlines have focused on "The uprising of the miners and energy workers" and the attempts by certain prominent political figures to "quell" it. The Bulgarian media has yet to produce a sober analysis which might explain the situation to the public in a comprehensive and holistic way.

"Disinformation about the green transition and the EU Green Deal is expected to continue, especially in the context of the local, national and European elections in 2023-2024," says Remina Aleksieva, analyst for the Energy and Climate Programme at the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD).

The European Green Deal

In December 2019, the European Commission unveiled a roadmap to turn climate change and environmental challenges into opportunities. The European Green Deal is a multilateral growth strategy focused on transforming the European Union (EU) economy for a sustainable future: "cleaner air, water and soil; lower energy bills; renovated homes; better public transport and more charging points for electric cars; less waste; healthier food and better health for current and future generations".

The target of climate neutrality by 2050 shows that the road ahead is narrow and challenging. For each member state, the scale of the challenge depends on local economic conditions and dependencies. However, the European Green Deal made few headlines in the mainstream Bulgarian media.

In 2021, the European Parliament (EP) adopted the EU Climate Law, which will make emission reductions legally binding for all EU member states. It also introduced the Fit for 55 legislative package. It has not triggered much more attention from the press.
Bulgarian energy

Between 1945 and 1989, under communist rule, Bulgaria had a centrally planned economy. After 1989, in the post-communist period, the country's goals were to diversify energy development, reduce dependence on Russia and work towards sustainability. After Bulgaria joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in 2004 and the EU in 2007, economic and political developments had an impact on energy policy. The country embarked on a journey to reduce its dependence on Russian energy, supported by a pro-EU policy.

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The two biggest energy projects in the country were the Kozloduy and Belene nuclear power plants (NPPs). The Kozloduy NPP was the first in Bulgaria and in southeastern Europe. At the time of Bulgaria's accession to the EU, there were heated debates about the possible reopening of units III and IV of the plant. This never came to pass, and the period is marked as an unsuccessful chapter in Bulgaria's EU accession. Currently, only two out of six units are in operation. The lack of comprehensible, in-depth media coverage contributed to an ill-informed public opinion.

The Belene NPP project has a history of more than four decades. The project has gone through several attempts at renewal and a number of freezes. In July 2023, the Bulgarian Parliament overturned its previous decision to complete the NPP and decided to negotiate the sale of the equipment to Ukraine. Again, the media coverage was insufficient to help the public understand the matter better.

In 2022, coal energy was the main source of electricity production in Bulgaria. It accounted for 42% of total electricity generation in the country, followed by nuclear energy (33%). Hydro, gas, bioenergy, solar and wind together accounted for 25%. In the first five months of 2023, coal fell by 7% to 35% and to 17% in June, while nuclear reached 47%. Solar stood at 12% and hydro at 17%.

Green challenges and impact

The Green Deal story in Bulgaria is a contrasting one. The country has some 43,000 people directly or indirectly dependent on the coal industry, according to Martin Vladimirov, director of the CSD's energy and climate programme. While the Green Deal offers an opportunity to modernise industry, infrastructure and energy production, one of the biggest challenges is the lack of transparency about how this will affect the average person in one of the EU’s poorest countries. Misperception of the Green Deal is particularly acute in the three coal regions most affected by the changes to the Just Transition plans – Stara Zagora, which is expected to receive the largest financial injection, Pernik and Kyustendil.

"There has been no systematic, holistic and widespread publicity campaign by the government to explain the purpose, key aspects and expected results and changes of the Green Deal, especially in the coal regions," says Apostol Dyankov, Climate and Energy Programme Manager at World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) Bulgaria.

"We have been recommending this for the last two years, because unfortunately Bulgaria is the target of a general misinformation and disinformation campaign targeting the Green Deal as part of a larger hybrid communication operation aimed at discrediting Bulgaria's EU membership," he adds.

Public opinion in Bulgaria tends to believe that the “green agenda” is more of an imposition from “Brussels”, an assertion of European dominance. According to the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Bulgaria, classified as a "less ambitious member state", lacks the institutional capacity and political will to implement the green transition.

Bulgaria remains one of the most vulnerable countries in the EU to foreign influence, including media misinformation and disinformation: "Previous monitoring [by the CSD] in 2021 showed that most of the local disinformation related to the Green Deal was produced and disseminated by Bulgarian media and political and economic entities known for systematically amplifying the Kremlin's influence," CSD’s Aleksieva says.

One of the strongest arguments for prolonging the use of coal and fossil fuels is the lack of renewable-energy technology and investment.

"This is not true for technologies, but it is true for investments. This sector is so stagnant because of aggressive anti-renewable laws and restrictions, lack of clarity in licensing, and local resistance. [The sector is] even portrayed as belonging to oligarchs and the mafia. Bulgarians are suspicious of renewable energy. They're much more likely to support fossil solutions, despite the climate impact and lack of economic feasibility," says Dyankov.

The all-powerful coal industry

According to Lyubomir Spasov, director of the Bobov Dol coal-fuelled power plant, nearly 1,000 jobs at the plant are at risk. If the market and economic logic dictate that they have to reduce their production because there are new alternative technologies, sooner or later the plant will cease to operate. This scenario, strangely enough, seems to be coming to pass, given the development of solar technologies and the price of coal power across Europe. What cannot happen, according to Spasov, is that the coal industry is brought to a standstill by administrative decree.

"All transformations should be evolutionary, not revolutionary. We are struggling to make the next revolutionary leap and we are being led by people who may not know what they are talking about," Spasov says. "They [the government] are telling us 'these are our conditions, accept them'. That's not dialogue.”

The bottleneck created by the lack of public discussion of the Green Deal has inevitably led to the recent firestorm, forcing the current government to act due to looming deadlines. But the government's room for manoeuvre is limited. Bulgaria has already lost €100 million under the JTF in 2022. If the territorial plans for the green transitions were not submitted by 30 September, the country could have lost another €3.5 billion. If Bulgaria does not meet its commitments under the Recovery and Resilience Plan, it could lose around €17 billion. One such commitment is to reduce carbon emissions by 40% by 2026.

A weak green media agenda

The survival of a weak green media agenda is being tested, following five consecutive parliamentary elections in just two years in Bulgaria. The political instability and radicalisation following the results of the last parliamentary elections (April 2023) and the local elections in October 2023 have become the country’s most immediate challenges.

The Bulgarian media's specific choice of words on the subject of the green transition and its impact is crucial in shaping the public's perception of the Green Deal. Examples of headlines have included “Burning wood instead of renewable energy sources, and nuclear power plants instead of coal”, “Imminent riot against EU’s unrealistic climate goals”, and more extreme tabloid variants such as “The Green Deal is causing the country’s inflation”.

The main issue used to challenge the EU's green policies in Bulgaria is the potential impact of shutting down the coal industry. The pro-coal lobby claims that a functioning coal industry is an indispensable factor not only for energy independence, but also for maintaining state sovereignty and national security. In 2021, more than 70% of Bulgarians knew little about the Green Deal and even less about the country's official position on the EU's carbon neutrality target, but they did not like it and that was that.
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In June 2022, another survey was published which showed that 62% of the Bulgarian population thought that climate change was a real threat, but that 83% did not know where the money from Bulgaria's stimulus package was being spent. The situation is similar in 2023.

The common denominator in media coverage of the green agenda is that it either acknowledges the need to create a more sustainable future in the country and across the continent, but bashes the willingness, readiness and ability of Bulgarian politicians to make the transition to carbon neutrality; or it denies the need for such changes altogether, often leaning towards confusing conclusions and even deliberately misleading the public.

Bulgaria remains one of the most vulnerable countries in the EU to foreign influence, including media misinformation and disinformation

"Given Bulgaria's significant vulnerability to disinformation and the low level of information literacy in the country, the strengthening of the Kremlin's influence in Bulgarian media and political and economic institutions provides a significant headwind for Bulgaria's ability to meet its commitments under the EU Green Deal," says Aleksieva.

In addition to Kremlin disinformation and low media literacy, this situation is also a result of political pressure on editorial independence. Bulgaria does not have a well-functioning legal framework to regulate media ownership and provide safeguards against political interference. Bulgarian journalism has clearly failed to adequately unravel the complexity of the situation and provide any form of solution journalism.

In June 2023, the Open Society Institute Sofia reported that Bulgaria had dropped two places in the annual European Media Literacy Index ranking, from 33 in 2022 to 35 in 2023, out of 41 countries.

A can of worms

The April 2023 parliamentary elections saw the rise of the new Bulgarian nationalist and pro-Kremlin party Vazrazhdane (Revival). In two years it increased its score fivefold (from 2.45% in 2021 to 14.16% in 2023, on a 40.69% turnout, disheartening for a democratic EU state).

The rise of such politicians and parties and the controversies surrounding them – such as their condemnation of the COVID-19 green certificate while a third of the entire parliamentary group was vaccinated, and branding as “fascist scum” Bulgarian citizens protesting in support of the Chairman of the Parliament, Nikola Minchev in 2022 – has impacted public opinion on the Green Deal. In 2022, Kostadinov labelled it as “death for the Bulgarian economy”.
The future

According to WWF’s Dyankov, the public is beginning to see through the radicalisation.

"They [the protesters] may be strong [in the] short term, but they will continue to lose support. If we go into the very unfortunate scenario where we lose the JTF money and the plans are not adopted at all, I think it will be crushing for the coal regions themselves. They'll lose both the money and the public support. They're playing a very dangerous game. They're gambling a lot on this radical protest and they could lose everything.”

Today’s events follow a long period during which politicians refused to take responsibility for commitments that Bulgaria simply cannot ignore.

"In recent months the debate has normalised. Yes, there are loud voices, but the arguments for pricing energy production are there and people are starting to look for information on the subject. I'd recommend starting with the European websites. There are decent publications in Bulgarian, but these are isolated cases. I haven't seen systematic publications and transparency of information," says Boris Gurov, policy advisor to the EU Parliament, assistant professor at the Economic Research Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and assistant professor of political science at the American University in Bulgaria.

According to Gurov, Poland's situation with power plants was similar and the impact of the coal industry there was significant. The difference between Bulgaria and Poland is the proper communication strategy that was adopted in the latter, which provided an comprehensible and transparent overview of the whole process.
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Nevertheless, Bulgaria has shown that there is a clear pro-EU majority in the population. Aleksieva believes this should be enough to set the country on a green innovation path.

"However, further hiccups can be expected along the way, and Bulgaria's green transition journey should not be taken for granted. In particular, Bulgaria will be among the countries that will pay a high social price in terms of lost jobs and income in some areas of the country, and appropriate mitigation strategies need to be put in place quickly to protect vulnerable communities," she adds.

This article is part of a series dedicated to climate discourse in the European media. This project is organised by the Green European Foundation in collaboration with Voxeurop and the Green European Journal, and with the support of the European Parliament to the Green European Foundation.

 

India opts for coal comfort in meeting power demand

India’s power and renewable energy minister, RK Singh, in New Delhi asked private companies to invest in coal projects and “not miss the growth opportunity”

• 30 November, 2023

While India is urging investors, France, backed by the US, plans to seek a halt to private financing for coal-based power plants at the upcoming UN climate conference

By: Eastern Eye

INDIA last Tuesday (21) asked private firms to ramp up investments in new coal-fired power plants to meet a dramatic rise in electricity demand and bridge nearly 30-gigawatts of additional requirement by 2030, despite international pressure to stop building such facilities.

India’s power and renewable energy minister, RK Singh, in New Delhi asked private companies to invest in coal projects and “not miss the growth opportunity,” according to three sources present in the meeting.

The Indian government meeting with private investors comes weeks before the UN climate conference, at which France, backed by the United States, plans to seek a halt to private financing for coalbased power plants, according to a Reuters report.

India’s power ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The private investment share in the Indian power sector started dwindling after 2018, when it was more than, or at par with, government investments. Currently, it stands at 36 per cent of the country’s total installed capacity.

Most of the coal-based capacity under development is being set up by state-owned companies, with Adani Power and JSW Energy the only private companies building such plants.

Many private companies stopped building new coal-based plants in India over a decade ago due to a lack of financing in the absence of long-term power supply bids from consumers.

In recent years, however, energy demand has outpaced expectations in India, the world’s most populous country, as economy activity picked up.

Since August, the country’s energy demand rose 18 per cent to 20 per cent year-on-year. The government expects it to rise by at least six per cent annually till end of this decade.

Singh said new estimates see India’s peak power demand reaching 335-gigawatts by 2030 versus the present 240-gigawatts, according to the three sources. Private power companies were told the majority of the peak-hour electricity demand in India can be met by coal-based power stations, since storage technologies are costlier to support solar and windbased energy generation, officials said.

A total coal-based capacity addition of 58 gigawatts is in the pipeline, leaving an expected gap of over 30-gigawatts, they said.

“The minister assured that the government may look at funding support to such projects (from private firms) from state-run financiers such as Power Finance Corp and REC Ltd,” one of the sources said.

All three sources asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak to media.

Singh told the meeting that despite adding coalbased capacity, India will still meet its climate goals of shifting to 50 per cent non-fossil-based power capacity since the country is also adding renewable energy projects. (Reuters)

 

Saudi wealth fund acquires stake in Heathrow

The move leaves Qatar as its biggest shareholder

WHILE TORIES WRING THEIR HANDS 

OVER UAE BUYOUT OF DAILY TELEGRAPH

 
• 29 November, 2023

A general view of the Departure Hall in Heathrow Terminal 3 in London.. 

REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska

By: Pramod Thomas

SAUDI ARABIA’s sovereign wealth fund is to buy ten per cent of London’s Heathrow airport from Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial, whose departure from the hub after almost two decades leaves Qatar as its biggest shareholder.

Ferrovial late Tuesday (28) said it was offloading its 25 per cent stake for nearly £2.4 billion, with the other 15 per cent going to French private equity group Ardian.

Heathrow, which is one of the world’s busiest airports, is owned by the consortium FGP Topco Limited, which going forward is set to be led by Qatar Investment Authority, with an existing 20-per cent stake.

Ardian will be the second biggest player, while Riyahd’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) will join China Investment Corporation at ten per cent, around the level held by other members of the consortium.

It is yet to be seen if the UK government will intervene in the sale.

Last week, the Tory administration headed by prime minister Rishi Sunak said it was “minded” to review the proposed sale of the Telegraph Media Group to an Abu Dhabi-backed investment fund on public interest grounds.

Announcing Ferrovial’s exit, the head of its airport business, Luke Bugeja, said in a statement:

“Over the last 17 years, we have been contributing to Heathrow’s transformation, together with our fellow shareholders, achieving some excellent milestones throughout our long-term role as investor.

“We are very pleased to have made Heathrow one of the world’s most connected airports and the busiest airport in Europe.”

The specialist in transport infrastructure management operates a vast portfolio of global assets, including airport interests in Turkey and New York. Heathrow was not seen as a core asset by Ferrovial.

It bought its stake in Heathrow in a 2006 takeover and initially held 56 per cent of the hub, before gradually reducing its interest.

Heathrow recently said it recorded its highest-ever September passenger numbers of more than seven million, which also marked the first time it exceeded pre-pandemic traffic figures.

Ferrovial said it remains “fully committed to advancing its airport business”, which includes a 50-per cent stake in three other UK hubs — Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton.

It owns also 60 per cent of Turkey’s Dalaman Airport and a 49-per cent stake in the new Terminal 1 at JFK Airport in New York.

This summer, the firm angered Spain’s government by relocating its headquarters to the Netherlands in a decision it said would give it access to cheaper credit and make it more attractive to investors ahead of a planned US stock listing.

(AFP)

FREE NARGES NOW!: New Petition to Release Jailed Iranian Nobel Laureate
NOVEMBER 30, 2023
IRANWIRE

Narges Mohammadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last month for keeping up her fight against the “oppression of women” in Iran despite numerous arrests and spending years behind bars

The open expression advocacy group PEN America urges the public to join scores of writers, artists, human rights advocates and civil society organizations from around the globe in calling on the Iranian government to release human rights defender and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi from prison.

The petition FREE NARGES NOW! calls on Iranian authorities to immediately free Mohammadi, ensure she receives proper medical care, and allow her to travel to Oslo for the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony on December 10.

“Despite massive global recognition for her tireless advocacy for women's rights and human rights in Iran, Narges is currently serving multiple politically-motivated prison sentences totalling over 30 years,” it says. “Given the precarious state of her health, we are extremely concerned for her physical well-being.”

The petition also calls on the international community to press for Mohammadi's release, saying “it is a moral imperative to prioritize human rights over political considerations and to advocate for the freedom of those who use their voices to defy tyranny and to champion justice and equality.”

For over a decade, Mohammadi “has faced a sequence of ordeals including a series of arrests, false retaliatory charges, medical neglect, and abusive treatment in custody, including prolonged periods in solitary confinement,” the petition reads. “She has been torn away from her family and is not allowed even phone contact with her husband and children.”

The activist’s health has “severely declined due to egregious prison conditions and medical neglect by authorities”, it adds. “They have repeatedly refused to give her regular access to essential health check-ups with a specialist for an ongoing heart and pulmonary condition because she refuses to wear the mandatory hijab.”

Mohammadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last month for keeping up her fight against the “oppression of women” in her country despite spending years behind bars.

She was also awarded both the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award and the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize earlier this year.

 

Romania: EPPO carries out searches in probe into misuse of funds for Roma communities

Published on 30 November 2023

Image

(Luxembourg, 30 November 2023) – On Tuesday, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Cluj-Napoca (Romania) carried out searches at the offices of the Municipality of Deda and in other locations, in a probe into a suspected fraud involving programmes for the inclusion of Roma communities, co-funded by the EU. 

On the radar of the EPPO is the project ‘From marginalisation to integration’, run by the Mayor’s Office of the Municipality of Deda, in Mureș County, with a financing value of over €5.5 million (RON 27 195 393). Of this, over €4.6 million (RON 22 798 887) came from EU funds – with the remainder coming as non-reimbursable funds from Romania’s national budget.

The programmes emerging from this project were intended to improve the integration of marginalised Roma communities and reduce the risk of poverty and social exclusion – namely, by implementing early childhood education for Roma communities and by reducing early school leaving, as well as promoting their access to the labour market,  supporting entrepreneurship and improving housing conditions. The funds were also intended to finance anti-discrimination campaigns.

However, there are reasonable grounds to suspect that, instead of benefitting the Roma communities, the funds were in part used for other ends, by persons involved in the project or their associates, by submitting false and inaccurate documents to the managing authorities.

The searches were carried out at the offices of the Municipality of Deda, three private companies and at the suspects’ houses, and mobilised dozens of police officers from the Târgu-Mureș Organised Crime Brigade (Brigada de Combatere a Criminalității Organizate) and the Police Inspectorate of Mureș County (Inspectoratul Județean de Poliție), as well as the Cluj-Napoca and Târgu-Mureș  Special Operations Brigade (Brigada de Operațiuni Speciale) and the Romanian Gendarmerie (Jandarmeria Română – Gruparea Mobilă de Jandarmi Târgu-Mureș).

The investigation is ongoing, in order to ascertain the nature and extent of the suspected criminal activities.

The EPPO is the independent public prosecution office of the European Union. It is responsible for investigating, prosecuting and bringing to judgment crimes against the financial interests of the EU.

Kurdish, Armenian, Syriac and Georgian women come together in Yerevan

Women gathered in Yerevan to discuss violence against women, ways of organising and struggling against violence on the occasion of 25 November.

ANF
YEREVAN
Sunday, 26 Nov 2023

Kurdish, Armenian, Syriac and Georgian women came together in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, at a meeting organised by the Free Women's Union on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Lianna Mihoyan, a member of the Free Women's Union, read a statement on the meaning of 25 November, stressing that the day is based on the struggle of the Mirabel sisters and that this struggle continues today.

Mihoyan commemorated the resistance of many women from Jeanne d'Arc to Sakine Cansız and stated that women's struggle is growing.

In the speeches made at the meeting, political violence against women was discussed and the need to come together against the male system and the state was emphasised.

Lianna Mihoyan said, "We have the power to protect ourselves and take care of ourselves. We must feel each other's pain and create our own organisation so that we do not accept any kind of violence and injustice done to us."

Larisa Alaverdyan, a human rights defender in Armenia, stated that violence against women is not only physical but also mental, and that work should be done to change the mentality of society.

Syriac parliamentarian Zemfira Mirzoyev stated that they live in a world where strong men have a say and women have a great responsibility in every field.

Kristine Vardanya, President of the National United Social Organisation, said that women in every country in the world are subjected to male violence.

"Our actions should not be limited to today. Because women are subjected to violence every day, it exists in all nations and religions."

Maria Karapetyan, MP for the Party of Civil Contract, said that the ongoing wars in all parts of the world have caused many women and children to suffer and be subjected to violence.

"All states are run with a male mentality and these wars are also being fought with a male mentality," Maria Karapetyan said.

Women take to the streets across North-East Syria: “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî"

In the autonomous region of North and East Syria, numerous people took to the streets on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to send a strong signal against misogyny and patriarchal claims to power.

ANF
NEWS DESK
Saturday, 25 Nov 2023

In the autonomous region of North and East Syria, numerous people took to the streets on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to send a strong signal against misogyny and patriarchal claims to power. "Against all forms of violence and occupation: Jin, Jiyan, Azadî" was the motto of the demonstrations, which were organised by an alliance of women's organisations and institutions.

Qamishlo

In Qamishlo, thousands of people took part in a march through the city. Many participants carried banners with inscriptions such as "No to femicide" and "Jin, Jiyan, Azadî" as well as banners with pictures of leading figures in the struggle for equal rights for women and martyrs of the Kurdish liberation struggle. The photos of Sakine "Sara" Cansız, Arîn Mîrkan and Abdullah Öcalan were displayed by the crowd, as well those of as Jina Mahsa Amini. Many people also waved the flag of the women's umbrella organisation Kongra Star.

The demonstration culminated in a rally on the central Şehîd Rûbar Qamişlo Square. Speakers included Remziye Mihemed from the Kongra Star coordination organization, who emphasised the importance of responding to patriarchal violence with organised struggle, saying: "We must unite and organise and fight all forms of violence in order to be free. This is the only way to overcome patriarchy and occupation."

Raqqa

In Raqqa, Zenûbiya Women's Community organised a demonstration together with the Syrian Women's Council, in which hundreds of people took part, including many activists and actors from political, military and civil society institutions. The march started in front of the Children’s Hospital in Raqqa and ended at the Square of the Free Woman. The town is notorious for the crimes committed by the jihadist militia ISIS, which proclaimed Raqqa the capital of the "ISIS caliphate" in 2014 and imposed a reign of terror based on the Salafist interpretation of Sharia law.

In the Free Woman Square, which was renamed after the liberation of Raqqa in 2017, ISIS had operated a "slave market". Bêrîvan Xalid, Co-Chair of the Executive Council of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), recalled this in a speech and said: "This square is witness to numerous crimes committed by ISIS against women. Today and every year on 25 November, we remember and renew our promise to all women that our struggle will continue until all women are liberated." After the demonstration, Zenûbiya and the Syrian Women's Council opened the "Park of the Free Woman", which is located on the site of the old ISIS slave market.



Kobanê

In Kobanê, too, many people took to the streets to denounce patriarchal gender relations and express their anger at violence against women. In a speech about the women's liberation struggle, Macida Hesun from the local branch of Kongra Star focused on the influence of Abdullah Öcalan, the founder of the Kurdish liberation movement. "Abdullah Öcalan rightly pointed out that the liberation of society is impossible without the liberation of women. The Rojava Revolution was built on the foundation of this ideology of women's liberation, so it has a firm basis."

The programme continued with a performance by the cultural movement Hîlala Zêrîn and the group Şehîd Sakine. With this impressive performance, the actresses and activists expressed their anger about femicide. The play, which was performed on the street, aims to put an end to the patriarchal normality and will also be performed at other events in the near future.

Manbij

Hundreds staged a march in Manbij, after which a press statement was made, saluting the struggle of women against the crimes of the Turkish state forces and allied mercenaries in the occupied territories.

Hesekê

Hundreds of women and residents of the Hesekê Canton participated in a march to mark 25 November. Speaking at the rally that followed the march, Kongra Star Coordination Spokesperson Rihan Loqo said: “Our gathering here and our solidarity committed to Leader Abdullah Öcalan’s philosophy and ideas shows the power of women in Rojava and the fact that they will be victorious in their resistance.”

Cizire Region Executive Council Co-Chair Vivian Beho Osê highlighted the importance of women’s unity. After speeches, members of the Hilala Zêrin movement in Hesekê staged a play about violations of women’s rights.

Aleppo

Kongra Star organised a march in the self-governing Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, which was attended by thousands of women, members of NGOs, HPC (Women's Civil Defense Forces) and Internal Security Forces.

Democratic Union Party (PYD) General Assembly member Velentîna Ebdo said: “The Turkish state and mercenary allies attack our territories, targeting our pioneers. The goal of the attacks is to break the will of women. They can’t achieve it because we enhance our struggle and we fight to free ourselves from the savagery of hegemonic systems.”

Kongra Star Academy Administrator Muna Kibik pointed out that women could not make this much advance if it was not for the Kurdistan Freedom Movement and Leader Abdullah Öcalan.


Shehba

Women in the Shehba Canton staged a march from the Ehdas district centre to the Şehit Viyan Amara Academy. Speaking after, PYD Shehba and Afrin Canton member Sureya Mistefa spoke about the achievements of women and the great changes they have made in North-East Syria.

Elif Mihemed, member of the Kongra Star Coordination in Shehba and Afrin Cantons, said: “Leader Öcalan states that the freedom of women is the freedom of society. The building of a society based on co-existence and equality started with the Autonomous Administration, and it is expanding. Women have made major gains and now they have a place in all areas of life.”


Deir ez-Zor

Zenubiya Women’s Community in Deir ez-Zor organised a series of activities to mark 25 November, which concluded with a march on Saturday.

Zenubiya Women’s Community member Îxlas El Ehmed said: “Women have learned not to surrender to attacks. They organised against the repressive system and responded strongly against all forms of violence.”

YJA Star: The PKK is the movement of hope for all peoples

Celebrating the foundation anniversary of the PKK, YJA Star Central said, "PKK is the movement of hope for all peoples. PKK is the name of insisting on remaining human. Being a PKK member is the definition of remaining honourable in the 21st century."

ANF
BEHDINAN
Sunday, 26 Nov 2023

The Central Headquarters Command of YJA Star (Free Women’s Troops) made a statement marking the 45th founding anniversary of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party).

The statement released by YJA Star Central Headquarters Command on Sunday includes the following:

"We welcome this 27th of November, the 46th anniversary of our party, which is also the 51st year of struggle of our Leader, with the great enthusiasm of the belief in victory in our positions where we have peaked our resistance. We greet with love, respect and great longing our Leader, who has carried us to this day, and we celebrate this day for our Leader, all our comrades resisting in prisons, the families of our martyrs, our patriotic people who are devoted to the PKK cause and the world humanity. We commemorate with respect and gratitude all our comrades from Haki Karer to Axîn Muş, Jîndar Rûmet Meyaser, Andok and Egîd Kobani, who have been eternalised in the Apoist sacrifice line, and we express our promise and determination to crown our resistance with victory as a requirement of loyalty to their memories.

'Our Party is the embodiment of the resurrection of a people'

Our Party, as the embodiment of the resurrection of a people, has been waging a great struggle for existence for nearly half a century. Today, the most intensified version of this is being waged in Zap, Hill Amediyê, Hill Cûdî, Şehit Pîrdoğan and in the four parts of Kurdistan. The pioneer of this unique resistance waged by the most valuable sons and daughters of our people is Leader Apo (Abdullah Öcalan). Since the first day he started his freedom march, Leader Apo has never for a moment compromised on the morality of freedom. This principled stance of Leader Apo has become a character in our people and today the PKK has reached a leadership that inspires the whole world.

Especially the participation of Kurdish women in the PKK movement from the very beginning, in the person of Sara and her likes, has turned the PKK into a women's party. In this sense, the women who united under the slogan 'Jin, Jiyan, Azadî' (Woman, Life, Freedom) have set the most concrete example in the expression of this female essence of the PKK. As the party of the exploited, oppressed and ignored peoples, women and youth, the PKK has demonstrated that it is the most effective means of freedom by developing self-defence consciousness in all segments of society. And it is women who have embraced this the most. The women's self-defence forces organised as YPJ (Women’s Defense Units) and YJŞ (Shengal Women’s Units) from Rojava to Shengal are the visible expression of this. The YJA Star, which has been fighting in the mountains for more than 30 years as the most effective means of freedom, is the monument of honour of the woman who came to life in the PKK. Women who deeply felt the fact that those who could not realise their self-defence would be condemned to slavery, that is, extinction, united in the PKK, became PAJK and YJA Star, and succeeded in transforming the historical defeat of women into victory. In this context, the PKK is the party of women's victory. The PKK is the main living space where women's greatest gains have been realised. The woman who realised her rebirth in the PKK is the birth of a new society, and thus of a new life. The woman who gains willpower in the PKK is the society that gains willpower and fights for its freedom. The PKK is the party of our people, women and all humanity. The PKK is the only alternative of the reality of free life in which the new life is embodied.

The international conspiracy against our Leader, who created all these developments, was realised to prevent these developments. The main purpose of the insistence on the absolute isolation of our leader is to completely sever our leader's ties with our movement, the people and women, and to erase our leader, who creates continuous development, from the social memory. However, these efforts have been frustrated for 25 years in the person of our Leader. With his 'breathless' resistance, our leader has shown everyone, especially us militants, how to frustrate the conspiracy. In this context, our attitude towards the immoral war against the paradigm of democratic modernity in the person of the guerrilla is to resist to the end with the strength we take from our leader. The compass of Leyla Sorxwîn, Axîn Muş, Destan Botan, Ardem Ararat and dozens of other martyred comrades has been the resistance attitude revealed in the stance of the Leader. Our basic reality that makes us fight is this stance put forward by our Leader and our martyrs.

'We call on everyone to be a soldier of the freedom dance'

As the militants of the leader and the successors of our martyrs, we are also in position, in action and in resistance. With the awareness that the PKK is a movement of labour and revenge, every day we hit colonialism right in the heart like Sara and Ruken, Rojhat and Erdal did. The most recent revolutionary operation action at Hill Amediye, in which 49 invaders were punished, is once again proof that the PKK militancy, advancing in the line of the Leader and martyrs, will sooner or later but surely defeat colonialism. In this sense, we believe that the insistence on the PKK militancy, which has been in resistance for 46 years and every moment of which is experienced breathlessly, will bring our people, women and humanity the free future they deserve, and we call on everyone who seeks freedom to be a soldier of the freedom dance around this glorious resistance.

With each passing day, the influence of the PKK is spreading, the injustice of the conspiracy against our Leader is being exposed, and the crime of genocide against our people is being understood. The participation from 74 countries of the world in the campaign launched with the slogan 'Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan, Solution to the Kurdish Question' and the increasing efforts to remove the PKK from the terrorist list are linked to this reality. Everyone who meets with the PKK sees the rightness of the PKK's ideological, political and military line and agrees with this rightness. This level that the PKK has reached is a great achievement particularly for our people and for the entire world humanity. In this sense, the PKK is a stand against injustice, inequality and marginalisation. The PKK is the movement of hope for all peoples. PKK is the name of insisting on remaining human. Being a member of the PKK is the definition of remaining honourable in the 21st century. In this context, we once again salute our Leader, who has conduced to our resurrection with the PKK, and congratulate him once again on this sacred day. Our struggle will be based on claiming and protecting the PKK life created by our Leader until the end.

As YJA Star forces, we have reached the level to perform the most effective strike with the vast experience we have gained in the war. Our strength is professional, warrior and sacrificial. With this power and motivation, there is no task that we cannot accomplish, and we have the determination and ability to overcome all obstacles. In this sense, we welcome the coming year on the basis of the claim to embrace our gains, to expand them and to win victory. Our tasks for the period are clear and we are ready. We know that our people will embrace our glorious resistance in this process in which we are in resistance at every moment, and with the strength we receive from them, we are advancing towards our goals with unwavering determination. We welcome the process with the militant reality locked on victory and express our promise and determination to resist until the end. Victory will surely be for those who resist in the Apoist sacrifice line."

 

Nepal registers first same-sex marriage hailed as win for LGBT rights

 

 

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By Rama Parajuli and Nicholas Yong

Surendra Pandey and Maya Gurung have been together for almost a decade and wed in a temple ceremony in 2017, but their marriage has only just received legal recognition (file photo taken on 30 August 2023). Photo: AFP

Nepal has registered its first same-sex marriage, following a protracted legal battle by the couple and activists.

Authorities in the western Lumjung district formally registered the union of Maya Gurung, 35, and Surendra Pandey, 27, on Wednesday.

It came five months after the Supreme Court issued an interim order allowing same-sex couples to register their marriages.

Taiwan is the only other place in Asia that has legalised same-sex marriage.

Gurung told the BBC that their registration was a "big day" not just for the couple, but all sexual minorities.

"The fight for rights is not easy. We have done it. And it will be easier for future generations," she said. "The registration has opened doors to a lot of things for us."

The couple had said that they wanted to open a joint bank account and share ownership of the land they bought. But their biggest dream was to adopt a child, once their finances were more stable.

They have been together for almost a decade. The couple wed in a temple ceremony in 2017 and had sought legal recognition of their union this year.

Gurung is a transgender woman who has not changed her gender on official documents. Pandey was born and identifies as male.

On 13 July, a district court in Nepal's capital Kathmandu, refused to register their marriage despite the Supreme Court's order that directed the government to register such unions until it prepared legislation to change the law.

The district court had argued that lower courts were not bound to follow the order as it was only directed at the government.

But on Wednesday, Hem Raj Kafle, chief administrative officer of the Dordi rural municipality, told Reuters: "We have issued the marriage registration certificate to the couple in consideration of the Supreme Court order and instructions from relevant government authorities".

Leading LGBT rights activist Sunil Babu Pant called the "historic" moment a victory for sexual and gender minorities.

"Now we can register our marriage as do the regular couples. But we still have to do more to get other rights," he told the BBC.

- This story was first published by the BBC

OPINION

This is how Palestinians, young and old, are taught to hate Israel

November 30, 2023 

Relatives of Palestinian minors detained in Israeli jails hold placards during a gathering to ask for their release

 [ABBAS MOMANI/AFP via Getty Images]

by Dr Mustafa Fetouri
MFetouri


According to B’TSELEM, an Israeli Human Rights Organisation in the Occupied [Palestinian] Territories, Israel has been holding 146 Palestinian minors in different jails, all on “security grounds”. This was up to September this year but, since then, the number has increased, particularly during the Israeli brutal war on Gaza Strip.

A Palestinian rights organisation, Defence for Children International – Palestine, says that, every year, Israel incarcerates between 500 to 700 children, many as young as 12 years old. The regularly occurring cycle is repeated across all Palestinian Occupied Territories in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Both organisations highlight two things: one, many jailed children are accused of “stone throwing” at the Israeli soldiers, in most cases causing neither harm nor damage; and, two, almost all of the jailed children are prosecuted before military courts.

Last July, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian Territories said that anywhere between 500 and 1000 children are held in Israeli military detention every year.

OPINION: Rosa Luxemburg Foundation please note: ‘A time comes when silence is betrayal’

Save The Children, a global non-governmental organisation dedicated to the worldwide protection of children, gives similar figures with a focus on what jail life is like for such children. Based on interviews with former child prisoners, it said that 97 per cent of the detainees are boys, with ages averaging between 12 and 17 years old. Shockingly, the organisation says, “Palestinian children in the Israel military detention system” face physical and emotional abuse, with four of every five of them (86 per cent) being “beaten”, while 69 per cent were “strip-searched” and about 42 per cent usually suffer injury at the point of their arrest. Such injuries include gunshot wounds and broken bones, sometimes leading to physical impairment of some kind. Many such children have also reported “violence of a sexual nature”.

Worst of all kinds of treatment is how such child prisoners are transported between jail centres and courts when their cases are being heard. The report says they are usually taken in “small cages”, fitting the Israeli Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant’s description of Palestinians as “human animals”, when he announced to the world his plans to “wipe out Hamas off the face of the earth” after its daring 7 October attack on Israel, triggering the current war on the Gaza enclave—that is, before he was forced to negotiate with the same “human animals”, of course.

To see further undeniable proof that Israel is the worst enemy of Palestinian children, much worse than poverty, disease and malnourishment, combined — of which Israeli Occupation is the main perpetrator of them all— look at the mounting civilian casualties in its war on the Gaza Strip. Out of the estimated 15,000 civilian deaths, almost 70 per cent are women and children. This horrific number excludes the number of children, dead or alive, believed to be under the rubble of their homes as rescue teams could not reach them, thanks to Israel’s destruction of roads.

Reading such reports, especially coming from Israeli and international organisations and certified by the United Nations’ relevant organs, gives rise to the simple question: Is not Israel, in every sense of the word, teaching future Palestinian generations to hate it more than anything else in the world? Is it possible, after these atrocities, for anyone, especially someone with a shred of humanity, to be surprised by any current or future Palestinian reaction to Israel? Add to that the fact that most such children are actually descendants of refugees forced out from their homes when Israel was created, and it would become clearer why Hamas’s Al-Aqsa Flood Operation was so violent. These decades’ long Israeli practices are an open invitation to all sorts of Palestinian reactions, however violent they might appear, and they are perfectly understandable. It is inconceivable that Israel did not think of this before the Hamas attack—worse still, it does not appear it is prepared to change anything.

Ironically enough, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on 18 November, said that the future Gaza Strip must not be governed by any “ civil authority that educates its children [Gazan] to hate Israel, to kill Israelis, to eliminate the State of Israel …”. He was referring to the Palestinian Authority’s potential role in the enclave, once the war is over.

The fact of the matter is that Israeli is its own dangerous enemy and remains the world’s number one of best educators of hatred. Generations of Palestinians, under Israeli Occupation for the last 75 years, cannot recall any good thing done to them by Israel, which deliberately keeps violating every single obligation, as an occupying power, under international law.

OPINION: Israel clearly learnt nothing from France’s blood-soaked occupation of Algeria

For the young Palestinian generations, Israel is making sure that it will never be accepted, let alone liked. Just imagine a young boy or girl, sent by the family to the corner grocery store to buy bread, becomes a target of an Israeli bullet the moment he steps outside. He gets hit on the head and ends up in a coma in a hospital, while his family is still waiting for the bread he went out to buy. Not only that, he is immediately taken to prison, accused of attempting (suspected attempt) to throw a “petrol bomb” at the soldiers who are not supposed to be there in the first place because they are Occupation forces. He did not yet throw anything when he was shot!

That is exactly what happened to 14 year old Abdurahman Al-Zaghal on 18 August 2023, in the town of Silwan. He ended up in an intensive care unit, where he stayed until Hamas included him in its list of released detainees in the third batch of exchanges with Israel on 26 November.

Poor Abdurahman has already been transferred between two hospitals, further increasing his suffering. Given his medical condition, his release only meant the removal of the electronic bracelet from his leg which he had already been fitted with since he was first shot, three months earlier.

Even the simple joy of celebrating Palestinian boys’ freedom from jail is banned. Here is Israel’s National Security Minister, Ben Gvir’s instructions:”there are to be no expressions of joy. Expressions of joy are equivalent to backing terrorism”, but Israelis are encouraged to celebrate the release of their captives. Only monsters in children’s fairy tales would do that except that, this time, the monster is for real and not an imaginary one.

The trauma and psychological upheavals of the freed children will only start after their release and the end product is clear: a person filled with hatred of anything Israeli, thanks to Israel’s system of hatred teachings that has been going on for decades.

Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi freed from Israeli prison in latest exchange


By Victoria Bisset andNiha Masih
November 30, 2023 



Ahed Tamimi, a prominent 22-year-old Palestinian activist, was released from Israeli prison on Nov. 30 as part of the latest exchange between Israel and Hamas.

Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi was freed from prison in Israel as part of the latest exchange in a captive release deal between Israel and Hamas.

The 22-year-old, one of the highest-profile Palestinian activists, as a teenager became a potent symbol of protests against the Israeli occupation in the West Bank.

She was added Monday to an expanded list of prisoners approved for release under the deal and was among 30 Palestinian prisoners and 10 Israeli hostages due for release Wednesday.

After her release, video from the Associated Press showed her surrounded by supporters. One woman embraces her and tells her to be strong.

“Of course, I am always strong,” she replies.

Tamimi, born to a well-known activist family, rose to international prominence after footage of her slapping and kicking two Israeli soldiers in her village of Nabi Saleh went viral in 2017 and she served eight months in prison on assault and incitement charges. Her imprisonment drew attention to the issue of Palestinian minors detained in Israeli prisons.

Tamimi’s most recent arrest came on Nov. 6, a month into the war with Gaza. She was one of several Palestinians who the Israel Defense Forces said were arrested in the West Bank in early November on suspicion “of involvement in terrorist activity and incitement.” The IDF shared a screenshot of what it said was a story posted on her Instagram account that contained violent threats toward settlers in the West Bank.

Tamimi’s mother, Nariman, denied the charges against her daughter, telling The Post that it was not written by Tamimi and that her daughter’s most recent Instagram account “was hacked 10 months ago.”

Tamimi’s father, Bassem, was arrested the week before, Nariman Tamimi said.

Amani Sarahneh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Prisoners Society, told The Post on Tuesday that Ahed Tamimi was being held at Dimona prison.

Dozens of Palestinians have been accused of terrorism or similar charges over messages posted on social media in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7 cross-border attack inside Israel, something rights groups have criticized as a crackdown on free speech. According to one rights group in Haifa, Israel, hundreds of Palestinian Israelis have faced hearings at their workplaces or universities over their social media posts.

The release of Tamimi and 29 other Palestinians came on the sixth consecutive day of captive exchanges between Israel and Hamas since a pause in fighting came into effect on Friday. The agreement was originally due to last four days and include the release of 50 Israeli hostages and 150 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, but it has since been extended to allow for additional releases.

Tamimi’s image became a fixture on murals and posters around the globe after her 2017 arrest. Nabi Saleh, her village, had been the site of weekly protests since Jewish settlers confiscated some of the land in 2009.

Her defense said the soldiers were part of a group that had shot her cousin, Mohammed al-Tamimi, moments before the 2017 incident seen on video. A senior Israeli military official denied Mohammed had been shot, despite evidence from medical records and witness testimony, The Washington Post reported at the time.

“There is no justice under the occupation,” she told the military court during her sentencing.

Rights groups including Human Rights Watch have argued that incarcerating minors from occupied territory inside Israel poses humanitarian concerns.

After completing her sentence, Tamimi arrived home to a hero’s welcome and was greeted by crowds of supporters. “Anyone who also chooses this path should prepare themselves to spend time in prison,” she told reporters.

A man walks past a section of Israel’s separation barrier, painted with a portrait of Ahed Tamimi, in the occupied West Bank on Nov. 6. (Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images)

Israel’s free speech crackdown: ‘War inside of a war’

Last week, Israel’s Justice Ministry published a list of 300 prisoners who could be eligible for release as part of the exchanges — most of them male, and more than a third of them minors. The youngest on the list were 14 years old. On Monday night, Israel added 50 Palestinian female prisoners to the list who could be released in exchanges.

Israel has described the Palestinian prisoners on the lists as “terrorists” in its communication with media organizations. The people on the list are accused of crimes ranging from throwing stones to attempted murder. Many of the people listed have not been formally sentenced, which could suggest that they have not stood trial. Some have been held in “administrative detention,” under which individuals in the occupied West Bank can be held without charge or trial indefinitely. Rights groups have raised concerns about a lack of due process in Israel’s judicial system, especially in the country’s military courts.

According to Israeli human rights organization HaMoked, almost a third of Palestinian prisoners are held under administrative detention.

How Israel keeps hundreds of Palestinians in detention without charge

Since the beginning of the current war, Israeli forces have made almost 3,300 arrests, including of some people who were released after a few days, according to Sarahneh, of the Palestinian Prisoners Society.

The West Bank has seen unprecedented levels of violence from Jewish settlers, according to rights groups, with President Biden condemning the attacks by “extremist settlers,” which he said amounted to “pouring gasoline” on an already volatile situation.

At least 295 attacks on Palestinians by settlers, in many cases accompanied or supported by Israeli forces, have been recorded in the West Bank since Oct. 7, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Wednesday. Most of the incidents involved damage to Palestinian property, but 33 incidents resulted in Palestinian casualties, the agency added.

As settler violence surges, West Bank Palestinians fear new displacement

Miriam Berger, Annabelle Timsit, Lior Soroka and Loveday Morris contributed to this report.