Top Indian opposition leader released on bail ‘begs’ voters to fight ‘dictatorship’

NEWS WIRES
Sat, May 11, 2024 


A top opponent of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged his compatriots to resist "dictatorship" on Saturday, after the country's top court provisionally released him from jail to campaign in national elections.

Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of the capital Delhi and a key leader in an opposition alliance formed to compete against Modi in the polls, was granted bail on Friday after weeks in custody.

He is among several leaders of the bloc under criminal investigation, with his party describing his arrest as a "political conspiracy" orchestrated by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to sideline its opponents ahead of the vote.

In a defiant press conference the day after his release, Kejriwal said the outcome of the election would determine whether India remained a democracy.

"I have come to beg 1.4 billion people to save my country," he said. "Save my country from this dictatorship."

Kejriwal also personally accused the prime minister of targeting his opponents with criminal probes.

"Modi has started a very dangerous mission," he said. "Modi will send all opposition leaders to jail."

Kejriwal's government was accused of corruption when it liberalised the sale of liquor in 2021 and gave up a lucrative government stake in the sector.

More than 1,000 cheering supporters greeted him as he walked free from the capital's Tihar Jail on Friday night.

(AFP)

Indian Opposition Leader Hits Out at Modi After Release on Bail

Sidhartha Shukla
Sat, May 11, 2024 at 5:14 a.m. MDT·2 min read




(Bloomberg) -- Indian opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party is losing support in ongoing national elections and will struggle to form the next government, lashing out at his rival a day after he was released on interim bail.

Kejriwal said at a rally on Saturday that all opposition leaders risk being sent to jail should Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party return to power. The New Delhi chief minister was arrested in March on allegations of money laundering, and has been released for a few weeks to allow him to campaign.

“I talked to poll experts and people, BJP is not going to form govt after June 4,” Kejriwal said at the rally in the capital, adding that he believes his Aam Aadmi Party will be part of the central government.

Poor turnout is prompting concerns about voter disengagement in the world’s largest poll, though analysts say it doesn’t necessarily suggest an advantage for either side. Investors said the concerns are weighing on Indian markets, with the country’s main stock index suffering its biggest one-day drop in four months on Thursday over worries that low participation could hurt Modi’s re-election prospects.

Kejriwal, 55, is among several senior leaders of AAP who have been arrested on allegations that the party’s government in the national capital skewed the alcohol pricing in the region in exchange for bribes. AAP has consistently denied the allegations and often termed them as political witch-hunt by the BJP-led government that controls the federal investigative agencies.

Before Kejriwal, the chief minister of Jharkhand state, Hemant Soren, was also arrested by the Directorate of Enforcement.

Read More: In Bid for Survival, India’s Opposition Tries to Work Together

While Modi, 73, is widely expected to win a third five-year term in elections that conclude next month, there has been public discussion on how many terms he will ultimately contest. At an interview recently when asked if he would contest in 2029, Modi said a country shouldn’t be run on the basis of one person alone.

Kejriwal said on Saturday that he believes Modi will retire next year and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, his long time confidant, will be next in line to become prime minister.

Bloomberg Businessweek

India's opposition jubilant as Modi critic Kejriwal gets bail to campaign in elections

Updated Sat, May 11, 2024 






India's opposition jubilant as Modi critic Kejriwal gets bail to campaign in elections
Delhi CM Kejriwal receives temporary bail in a liquor policy case in New Delhi

By Sakshi Dayal and YP Rajesh

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India's top court gave temporary bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a graft case on Friday, allowing him to campaign in the ongoing general elections, boosting the opposition alliance of which he is a prominent figure.

The Supreme Court said Kejriwal - a fierce critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi - would be out on bail until June 1, the last day of the nationwide seven-phase vote, and would have to return to pre-trial detention on June 2.


India began voting on April 19 and elections for more than half of the 543 seats in parliament have now been completed following the third phase of the vote on May 7.

The two areas governed by Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) - the National Capital Territory that includes New Delhi, and the northern state of Punjab - go to the polls on May 25 and June 1 respectively.

Votes will be counted on June 4 and results are expected to be announced the same day.

"It feels good to be back among you," Kejriwal, dressed in a dark collarless T-shirt, told supporters through the sun-roof of a vehicle soon after being released from Delhi's Tihar jail.

Thousands of AAP supporters had gathered waving the party's yellow and blue flags, setting off firecrackers, shouting slogans and distributing sweets.

"I have only one request for you, we have to come together to save the country from dictatorship," Kejriwal said. "I am fighting with everything I have against this dictatorship. But 1.4 billion people will have to fight dictatorship," he said, referring to India's huge population.

The court had said last week that it may consider granting Kejriwal temporary bail "because of the elections" while it heard an appeal against his arrest, as that hearing could take a while to conclude.

Opposition parties have accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government of using investigative agencies to hurt its rivals, which the government denies.

Over the years Kejriwal has accused Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of damaging democracy, promoting corruption, throttling governance in Delhi, abusing their power and attacking the federal structure of the constitution among other things.

ARRESTED

BJP spokesperson Shazia Ilmi said the party has always respected the verdicts of the highest court.

"Kejriwal will not be able to play the victim card. He can't say that he is being discriminated against, that all the agencies and courts are against him," she told ANI news agency, in which Reuters has a minority stake.

"Secondly, and importantly, he has got interim bail, not freedom. He has to go back to jail on June 2," Ilmi added.

The Enforcement Directorate, India's financial crime-fighting agency, arrested Kejriwal on March 21 in connection with corruption allegations related to the capital territory's liquor policy.

Kejriwal's government and his AAP have denied the allegations. Modi and BJP say the investigating agencies are only doing their job and the government is not influencing them.

Kejriwal has been in pre-trial detention since April 1, and his wife Sunita has stepped in to campaign for his decade-old party which has been hobbled by the detention also of two other senior leaders in the same case.

Members of the INDIA alliance of more than two dozen opposition parties - Modi's main challenger which includes the AAP - said they were pleased that Kejriwal had received bail.

Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of the eastern state of West Bengal and a key INDIA member, said she was "very happy" Kejriwal got bail. "It will be very helpful in the context of the current elections," she posted on X.

Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Kejriwal's lawyer, had argued that Kejriwal was arrested just before the vote to stop him from campaigning against Modi, who opinion polls suggest will win a comfortable majority and secure a rare third straight term.

ED lawyers argued that giving bail to a politician just to campaign risked sending the message that there were different standards for such figures compared with other citizens.

(Reporting by Sakshi Dayal and YP Rajesh; Additional reporting by Arpan Chaturvedi; Editing by Hugh Lawson)


Top Indian opposition leader released on bail by court enabling him to campaign in elections

ASHOK SHARMA
Updated Fri, May 10, 2024


India Politician Bail
 Arvind Kejriwal, leader of the Aam Admi Party, or Common Man's Party, left, leaves in a car after a court extended his custody for four more days, in New Delhi, India, March 28, 2024. India's top court on Friday gave interim bail to the top opposition leader who was arrested nearly seven weeks ago.

 (AP Photo/Dinesh Joshi, File)

NEW DELHI (AP) — A top Indian opposition leader was freed from jail on interim bail by the Supreme Court on Friday nearly seven weeks after his arrest in a bribery case that opposition parties called a political move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government against one of his rivals during a national election.

Arvind Kejriwal, the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, or Common Man’s Party, is the chief elected official in the city of New Delhi and one of the country’s most influential politicians of the past decade.

The court order enables him to campaign in the country's national election until the voting ends on June 1, Kejriwal's attorney said.

Opposition leaders hailed the court verdict. "It will be very helpful in the context of the current elections,” said Mamata Banerjee, the top elected official of West Bengal state.

However, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, a leader of the ruling party, said the court’s decision did not mean that Kejriwal has been exonerated in the bribery case. He will have to go back to jail on June 2 as pre-trial court proceedings are still taking place.

Supporters waving yellow and blue satin party flags greeted Kejriwal as his car came out of the prison gate hours after the court ruling. ``Long live Kejriwal,” they chanted.

``Long live revolution,” Kejriwal responded as he emerged from the roof of his car and briefly addressed them. His supporters lit firecrackers and danced.

`` I feel very happy to be amongst you. I told you that I would come early. I have one request to make. I seek your cooperation to save the country from dictatorship. That’s my fight,” he said in an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government for arresting him.

Judges Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said in their order that the national election was an important event. They rejected the prosecutors' plea that their decision would put Kejriwal in a beneficial position compared with ordinary citizens.

They did, however, impose some conditions on Kejriwal for granting interim bail. He will not be allowed to visit his office and some decisions he makes as chief minister of New Delhi must be approved by the capital’s governor. Also, he cannot interact with any witnesses in the case, they said.

Kejriwal was arrested by the federal Enforcement Directorate, India’s main financial investigation agency, on March 21. The agency, controlled by Modi’s government, accused his party and ministers of accepting 1 billion rupees ($12 million) in bribes from liquor contractors nearly two years ago. The arrest triggered days of protests by party activists supported by other opposition parties.

Kejriwal, who has remained New Delhi's chief minister, has denied the accusations. His party is part of a broad alliance of opposition parties called INDIA, which is the main challenger to Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party in India's six-week-long general election, which began last month.

Kejriwal's case was the first time that a chief minister in India was arrested while in office. His arrest, which occurred before the start of the election, dominated headlines for weeks.

His attorney, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, said he was a serving chief minister and not a “habitual offender” and deserved to be released to campaign. Kejriwal’s deputy, Manish Sisodia, was also arrested in the case earlier, weakening his party’s campaign in national elections.

The Enforcement Directorate opposed his bail, saying that releasing Kejriwal to campaign would indicate that there were different judicial standards for politicians and other citizens.

"The right to campaign for an election is neither a fundamental right nor a constitutional right and not even a legal right," it said, adding that Kejriwal is not a candidate in these elections.

Kejriwal's party is the main challenger to Modi’s governing BJP in the Indian capital New Delhi and Punjab state where voting will take place on May 25 and June 1 respectively.

The national elections that started on April 19 are due to conclude on June 1. Votes will be counted on June 4.

While the federal agency accused Kejriwal of being a key conspirator in the liquor bribery case, the opposition parties said the government was misusing federal investigation agencies to harass and weaken its political opponents. They pointed to a series of raids, arrests and corruption investigations of key opposition figures.

Kejriwal called his arrest a “political conspiracy” to prevent him from campaigning, and accused the Enforcement Directorate of “manipulating investigative agencies for political motives.”

Modi’s party denies using law enforcement agencies to target the opposition and says the agencies act independently.

Kejriwal, a former civil servant, launched the Aam Aadmi Party in 2012. He promised to rid the Indian political system and governance of corruption and inefficiency.

The party’s symbol — a broom — and its promise to sweep the administration of graft struck a chord with Delhi residents, fed up with runaway inflation and slow economic growth.

——

Woman found living in rooftop grocery store sign for nearly a year, Michigan cops say

Kate Linderman
Fri, May 10, 2024 




A 34-year-old woman made a home inside a grocery store’s rooftop sign for nearly a year, Michigan police said.

She had made the Family Fare market’s sign a home over the last year, adding flooring, a computer, printer and coffee maker to the enclosed sign, police in Midland told MLive.

She was discovered in April by contractors, who needed a ladder to reach the location, and was later asked to find a new place to live by police, the Detroit Free Press reported. According to police, there was no access door to the roof, WILX reported.

“They knocked on the door and she opened the door up and they essentially told her, ‘Hey, you can’t be here,’ and the interaction was rather brief. She fully understood,” Brennon Warren, a public information officer with the Midland Police Department, told the Detroit Free Press.

Police told WEYI the woman was offered housing resources, but she declined.

The store did not press criminal charges against the woman and plan to work with the woman to get her belongings back to her, police told WEYI.

Family Fare’s parent company, SpartanNash, said in a statement, “We are proud of our associates for responding to this situation with the utmost compassion and professionalism. Ensuring there is ample safe, affordable housing continues to be a widespread issue nationwide that our community needs to partner in solving. Out of respect for privacy for the individual involved, we will not be sharing further comment,” according to the Midland Daily News.

Midland is about a 130-mile drive northwest of Detroit.

Canada abstains on Palestine recognition at UN, open to statehood before peace

The Canadian Press
Fri, May 10, 2024 



OTTAWA — Canada abstained from another United Nations vote Friday aimed at formally recognizing Palestine, while opening the door to supporting statehood before the end of the current conflict.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it's part of Canada's efforts to stop the Israeli government from blocking an eventual Palestinian state.

"Our long-standing position (was) that you could only recognize the State of Palestine as an outcome at the end of a process leading to a two-state solution," he told reporters in West Kelowna, B.C.

"We now recognize that it may happen sooner than at the end of the process, as a way of pushing toward that two-state solution."

The UN General Assembly voted by a wide margin Friday morning to grant the Palestinian delegation more procedural rights in UN forums, and ask the Security Council to reconsider blocking Palestine from full status as a member state.

Canada was among 25 countries to abstain, and Trudeau said this is a deliberate change from Canada's stance of voting against most motions that target Israel. Ottawa has previously deemed these to be one-sided motions that hinder peace talks.

"The Israeli government under Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu has unacceptably closed the door on any path toward a two-state solution and we disagree with that fundamentally," Trudeau said, in explaining his rationale.

He reiterated positions Canada has taken for months on the conflict, including the need for Hamas to surrender its hostages and stop fighting, and for Israel to stop limiting humanitarian aid due to "famine conditions that are quickly developing and the horrific loss of life."

In a statement, Global Affairs Canada wrote that it will recognize the State of Palestine "at the time most conducive to lasting peace," adding that this isn't necessarily after a final peace accord with Israel, and that peace talks "cannot delay the creation of a Palestinian state."

The Palestinian delegation in Ottawa wrote in a press release that the shift is "a positive step forward" but argued a full recognition would better reflect Canada's aspirations for peace in the region. Israel's ambassador in Ottawa argued that full UN membership for Palestine would reward Hamas.

Canada has also joined the European Union in condemning two arson attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied area of eastern Jerusalem on the local building used by UNRWA, a UN agency supporting Palestinians.

Israel has accused UNRWA of links to terrorism, which led Western countries to suspend or freeze funding, though an independent probe found Israel had not provided evidence for its claims. The statement notes "the services UNRWA provides in Gaza and across the region are essential," and it calls on Israel to ensure the safety of UN staff and premises.

Despite that concern, Canada has yet to follow through on a promise three months ago to sanction violent West Bank settlers, a move taken by the U.S. and the U.K. months ago.

Instead, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly applied sanctions to four men in Iran whom Ottawa accused of providing military training and resources to help bolster Hamas. Those listed are members of the militant group, or of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2024.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press


Australia’s support for UN resolution on Palestinian membership ‘not recognition of statehood’

Daniel Hurst and Tory Shepherd
Fri, May 10, 2024

Australia's foreign minister Penny Wong addressing the UN general assembly in September 2023. Australia appears likely to back a vote on Palestine’s status after resolution was watered down.Photograph: Craig Ruttle/AP


Australia’s support of a UN vote on Palestinian membership is “the opposite of what Hamas wants”, and is not about recognising Palestine as a state, according to the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong.

The draft resolution was significantly watered down in last-minute negotiations and Australia was among 143 UN general assembly members to pass the resolution calling on the security council to reconsider granting full membership to Palestine.

On Saturday, Wong said the vote was about awarding “modest additional rights to participate in United Nations forums”, and that Australia would only recognise Palestine “when we think the time is right”.

She said Australia’s policy had changed to be open to recognition during a peace process, “not necessarily only at the end of the peace process”.

That small but significant shift in policy was revealed in April, and some interpreted it as a signal Australia could recognise Palestine in the near future, although Wong said there is no move to do that. Wong also emphasised there would be no role for Hamas in a future Palestinian state.

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The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said the backing of the resolution was consistent with Australia’s support for a two-state solution.

He said the government continued to “unequivocally condemn” Hamas’s actions on 7 October and call for the release of the hostages. But he said Palestinians have a right to live in peace and security side-by-side with Israel.

In a statement explaining the vote, the Australian government said the resolution’s language expressed “unwavering support for the two-state solution of Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security within recognised borders”.

“Like many other countries, our vote for this resolution is not bilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood,” it said.

“Nevertheless, Australia no longer accepts that recognition can only come at the end of the peace process.

“We have been clear there is no role for Hamas in a future Palestinian state.”

France, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand were among the countries that voted for the resolution at an emergency session of the general assembly in New York on Friday.

The US and Israel were among nine countries to oppose the resolution, while 25 others abstained.

Australia was leaning towards abstaining on the original resolution, in which the UN general assembly would have requested the 15-member security council to “favourably” reconsider Palestine’s application for full UN membership status.

Last month the US used its veto power to scuttle the proposal at a security council meeting, and full membership is impossible without that body’s consent.

In addition to the symbolic move of requesting a rethink by the security council, the general assembly was to consider granting Palestine rights and privileges “to ensure its full and effective participation … on equal footing with member states”, according to a draft version of the resolution circulating among diplomats last week.

An official with knowledge of the negotiations said the most recent version circulated by the United Arab Emirates was significantly watered down from earlier drafts and demonstrated “major concessions” by the Palestinians and the Arab Group.

The amended version enhanced the Palestinian mission to the UN with a range of new rights and privileges but made clear that these did not include voting rights.

After a week in which pro-Palestinian encampments were accused of antisemitism, Wong said she understood the Australian Jewish community were “feeling distressed and isolated”.

“You have a right to be safe … and antisemitism has no place anywhere. I stand against it, we all must stand against it.

“This resolution that we have supported is about long-term peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians.”

The vote was the “opposite of what Hamas wants”, Wong said.

The Coalition’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Simon Birmingham, said the government had “proven overnight that they lack the courage to stand against pressure and by sound principles”.

Birmingham said the resolution sent “a shameful message that violence and terrorism get results ahead of negotiation and diplomacy”.

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry had also urged Wong to vote against the resolution.

The ECAJ president, Daniel Aghion, said it was “grandstanding” that would “do nothing to free the Israeli hostages or break the grip of Hamas and alleviate the plight of Gazan civilians”.

“One can only conclude that Australia’s vote was driven by domestic political considerations, and not by principle, which makes it a sad and shameful day for all Australians,” he said.

“Australia should have joined the UK, Canada and the US in abstaining or voting against the resolution.”

Related: Why Anthony Albanese will face a tough call when the UN votes on full membership for Palestine

This was Australia’s most highly anticipated UN vote since December, when it supported an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and the unconditional release of hostages.

The Australian government continues to express alarm about the “devastating” consequences of an impending Israeli ground offensive into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians have taken shelter.

The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, said the UN vote was a “positive step” but wouldn’t be enough to stop “Netanyahu’s catastrophic invasion of Rafah”.

Australia was not inclined to oppose the UN resolution, after signals from Wong, about the need to kickstart progress towards a two-state solution to end the cycle of violence.

Palestinian diplomats at the UN represent the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Authority is dominated by Fatah, a rival to Hamas.

The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network’s president, Nasser Mashni, said the UN had still “failed to recognise Palestinians’ basic, inherent right to participate in decision-making about issues that directly affect their lives and political aspirations”.

UN General Assembly set to back Palestine’s bid for membership

Shweta Sharma
Fri, May 10, 2024 

Scroll back up to restore default view.


The UN General Assembly will vote on Friday on a resolution to grant membership to Palestine, a longstanding pursuit for the Palestinians that has faced staunch resistance from Israel and its allies.

The draft resolution has been put forward by the UAE in its capacity as the Arab Group’s chair for the month, and includes a call for the Palestinians to be given new “rights and privileges” within the UN. Palestine has been a UN non-member observer state since 2012.

The final text of the draft has been reached after amendments were made to try and alleviate the concerns of key member states, including the US, Russia and China.

Nonetheless, the US said late on Thursday that the Biden administration opposes the draft resolution, which still requires the approval of the UN Security Council before a state of Palestine could be granted full General Assembly membership.

Under the UN Charter, prospective members must be deemed "peace-loving”. The draft resolution does not explicitly say that Palestine is a “peace-loving state” in the General Assembly’s judgement – instead, simply that the body “determines” that it qualifies for membership. It recommends that the Security Council reconsider its request “favourably”.

On 18 April, the US vetoed a widely-backed council resolution that would have made Palestine a full member. During the vote, Britain and Switzerland abstained, while the other 12 council members voted in favour.

Robert Wood, US deputy ambassador to the UN, suggested American opposition to the resolution was based on a question of due process.

"We’ve been very clear from the beginning there is a process for obtaining full membership in the United Nations, and this effort by some of the Arab countries and the Palestinians is to try to go around that," Mr Wood said. "We have said from the beginning the best way to ensure Palestinian full membership in the UN is to do that through negotiations with Israel. That remains our position."

But unlike the Security Council, there are no vetoes in the 193-member General Assembly and the resolution is expected to be approved by a large majority, three Western diplomats told the Associated Press.

The Palestinian UN mission in New York, in a letter to UN member states, said the adoption of the resolution would be a step towards a two-state solution in the Middle East.

It said it would "constitute a clear reaffirmation of support at this very critical moment for the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to their independent state."

The renewed effort to secure full Palestinian membership in the UN comes amid a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, one that may only be compounded further by an expected Israeli ground offensive into the refugee city of Rafah.

The humanitarian crisis confronting Palestinians in Gaza, coupled with the reported death toll of over 34,000 individuals in the territory, has drawn widespread condemnation in numerous Security Council and General Assembly sessions.

According to diplomats, Russia and China, which have called on Israel to cease its action in Gaza, were concerned that granting the list of rights and privileges detailed in an annex to the resolution could set a precedent for other would-be UN members – with Russia concerned about Kosovo and China about Taiwan.

The first draft conferred on Palestine “the rights and privileges necessary to ensure its full and effective participation” in the assembly’s sessions and UN conferences “on equal footing with member states”.

The final text in the draft has dropped the language that called for putting Palestine “on equal footing with member states.”

And to address Chinese and Russian concerns, it would decide “on an exceptional basis and without setting a precedent” to adopt the rights and privileges in the annex.

The draft also adds a provision in the annex on the issue of voting, stating categorically: “The state of Palestine, in its capacity as an observer state, does not have the right to vote in the General Assembly or to put forward its candidature to United Nations organs.”

Additional reporting by agencies

Fort McMurray under evacuation alert due to out-of-control wildfire nearby

The Canadian Press
Sat, May 11, 2024 



FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. — An evacuation alert was issued in Alberta for Fort McMurray on Friday evening as an out-of-control wildfire burned nearby.

Residents in the northern oilsands hub and the nearby community of Saprae Creek were told to be ready to leave on short notice.

Jody Butz, regional fire chief and director of emergency management for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, said in a video update posted on Facebook late Friday that the two communities were not at risk and winds were pushing the wildfire away from Fort McMurray, he said.


Officials said the fire was 16 kilometres southwest of Fort McMurray as of 9 p.m. local time.

Alberta Wildfire said in the late afternoon that the wildfire was about two square kilometres in size, but by early evening that had grown to 10 square kilometres.

Butz said in the video update that fire behaviour had dropped with lower temperatures, and the spread was expected to slow as temperatures dropped further overnight.

"We expect things to look better tomorrow morning," he said.

Alberta Wildfire said four crews of wildland firefighters, three helicopters and airtankers were fighting the fire, to be joined by night-vision helicopters overnight.

Fort McMurray has a population of about 68,000. A wildfire there in 2016 destroyed roughly 2,400 homes.

Later Friday, the County of Grande Prairie issued an evacuation order for an area roughly 50 kilometres northeast of the city of the same name.

Alberta Wildfire estimated an out-of-control blaze there to be about 0.4 square kilometres in size. It said the the fire was about four kilometres east of the hamlet of Teepee Creek and burning away from the community.

Evacuees were told to register at the Pomeroy Hotel and Conference Centre in the city of Grande Prairie.

Just after midnight on Saturday, an evacuation order was also issued in the MD of Greenview Number 16, northeast of Grande Prairie.

The wildfire is burning north of Highway 43 and has jumped the Smokey River.

Everyone living in the North Goodwin area west of Range Road 21 and between Township Roads 741 and 734 is required to evacuate.

A evacuation centre has been set up in Valleyview, a town about an hour east of Grande Prairie.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2024.

The Canadian Press


Thousands in Fort Nelson, B.C., ordered to evacuate as wildfire threatens town

The Canadian Press
Fri, May 10, 2024 



FORT NELSON, B.C. — Thousands of people in northeast British Columbia were ordered to evacuate and flee south late Friday as a fast-growing wildfire neared the town of Fort Nelson.

The evacuation order was issued by the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality and Fort Nelson First Nations around 7:15 p.m., with residents being told to flee to Fort St. John, 380 kilometres away.

The communities were being threatened by an out-of-control wildfire that the municipality said was about 12 kilometres west of Fort Nelson, after it exploded in size late Friday.

Fort Nelson and the Fort Nelson Indian Reserve, in the far northeast corner of B.C. about 1,600 kilometres from Vancouver, have a combined population of about 3,000.

The B.C. Wildfire Service said the blaze measured eight square kilometres in size and was "highly visible" from the town, as groundcrews and nine bucketing helicopters battled to control it.

The service said that in addition to wildfire service firefighters, members of the local fire department and the RCMP were responding, and air tanker support had been assigned.

The municipality said the fire posed an "immediate threat to life, health and property."

"Residents are advised to evacuate the area immediately and begin driving south towards Fort St. John," it said.

"If you have a recreational vehicle, or your own vehicle, fuel stations are being planned along the route south."

The municipality said drivers should bring any additional passengers they could.

The fire grew rapidly late Friday. The wildfire service had said in a social media post at 5:25 p.m. that the suspected human-caused fire was half a square kilometre in size, but by 6:30 p.m. it was listed on the service's website as measuring four square kilometres, before that doubled again.

Less than two hours before the full evacuation was ordered, the municipality had been ordering residents in neighbourhoods west of the town to muster in the community's recreation centre.

That plan was swiftly overwhelmed.

The fire was fanned by a dry cold front that the wildfire service said had been expected to cross the Fort Nelson zone mid-afternoon Friday.

"While no lightning is expected during this time, wind gusts may exceed 70 kilometres per hour and shift direction rapidly," the service had said on Thursday.

It said the conditions were "likely to contribute to continued new growth on holdover fires from the 2023 season," but the blaze threatening Fort Nelson is a new fire, detected on Friday.

"The top priorities of the BC Wildfire Service are life, health and safety of responders and public. The Prince George Fire Centre is actively working with municipal partners, industry and other government ministries to ensure these priorities are achieved," it said.

The service said an incident management team would assume command in the fire zone.

DriveBC said the Alaska Highway, also known as Highway 97, had been shut due to the fire.

B.C. Premier David Eby said on social media platform X that he was "thinking of people evacuated from Fort Nelson and Fort Nelson First Nation as wildfire activity grows close to their communities."

"BC Wildfire Service is responding and we will be working around the clock to support people," he said.

The Yukon government said late Friday that the wildfire near Fort Nelson had caused a 911 and telecommunications outage in the territory affecting internet, landlines and cellphones. It said a geomagnetic storm was potentially affecting satellite phones as well.

Residents needing to report an emergency were told to go to the nearest RCMP station or detachment, health centre or hospital.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2024.

The Canadian Press

Trudeau points to fire fight, says Meta news ban degrades safety as it makes billions

The Canadian Press
Fri, May 10, 2024 



WEST KELOWNA, B.C. — Canada's dispute with Meta is a "test moment" for the country to stand against the social media giant that's making billions off people, but taking no responsibility for the well-being of communities it profits from, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday.

Trudeau made his comments in West Kelowna, one of several B.C. communities involved in evacuations of thousands of people last summer, while information about wildfires and escape routes were blocked on Meta's Facebook platform.

He called Meta an "irresponsible web giant," that had previously been making a huge profit sharing information from local journalists who worked hard to make sure people were properly informed.

"This is a test moment where countries are going to have to realize that either we stand up for journalism and the profession faced with internet giants that refuse to actually participate in it, or we bow down to them and allow them to make billions more dollars, while degrading the safety, well-being and communities that thrive in our democracy."

Meta has blocked Canadian news from Facebook and Instagram over the federal government’s Online News Act, which seeks compensation for news outlets whose stories are used on the social media feeds.

Trudeau said he knows there are many people trying to figure out ways to keep everyone informed, especially in emergency situations, but countries need to stand up for journalism.

He noted his government had the same disagreement with Google, but the company "stepped up" with $100 million to make sure that local journalism was thriving.

B.C. Premier David Eby announced last month that the province had worked out an agreement with Meta and had received assurances that it would work with B.C. emergency officials to deliver and amplify public information in case of natural disasters such as wildfires.

Meta began blocking Canadian news content on its platforms in August just before fires swept through B.C.'s southern Interior.

Trudeau was in West Kelowna last August, just days after a wildfire destroyed hundreds of homes.

On Friday, the prime minister said he met with mayors and fires chiefs of those same communities, along with a number of families who lost homes in the B.C. Interior and who are still impacted by the situation.

“We know from the forecasts in Western and Northern Canada, because of the dry winter … it is likely to be a very bad forest fire season," he said during a news conference at the West Kelowna firehall.

He said lessons learned last year would help minimize the impacts of the fires expected this summer.

B.C.'s snowpack is at the lowest level ever recorded and drought levels are already high in the province's northeast.

Drought conditions in B.C. stretch back to 2022, and forecasters have said the province is heading into this summer with "multi-year" precipitation deficits

West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund met with Trudeau before the news conference on Friday with some requests.

Brolund became the face of the B.C. wildfires last summer as he described the battle against the blazes and the loss they incurred. The chief later spoke to a United Nations conference on climate change, saying the firefight was the toughest three days of his career as entire neighbourhoods burned.

He said fire crews were facing blazes that were nearly impossible for them to defeat, partly because of changing climate that made it easier for the fires to burn.

Brolund said he thanked Trudeau for doubling the tax credit for volunteer firefighters, which adds an extra $425 for each volunteer, but he wants that to be even larger.

He said he asked him to reinstate the joint emergency preparedness grants for training and equipment for fire departments, and they want the fire smart program rolled out on a national scale to have measurable impacts in communities.

"I felt like his ears were wide open," Brolund said of Trudeau.

Temperatures could reach record levels in B.C.'s Interior this weekend, and Brolund said they're watching the weather closely.

June is historically the rainiest month and fire officials were hoping to get that this year, the chief said.

"If we don't, our departments are ready. We have new equipment, we have new training, we have firefighters in place," he said.

"What we have the most of is a sense in spirit of co-operation among the region. And we saw that today when the mayors and fire chiefs came together to share our experience with the prime minister."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2024.

Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press

Women’s participation in ‘naked festival’ a sign of how aging is forcing changes to male-centric Japanese traditions

Himari Semans and Chris Lau, CNN
Fri, May 10, 2024 at 6:58 p.m. MDT·6 min read


With a history spanning more than 1,200 years, “hadaka matsuri,” or the naked festival, is Japanese masculinity on full display. Quite literally.

Across Japan, in freezing winter, thousands of men strip naked — except for a delicate piece of crotch-covering white loincloth — to jostle around their local shrines. Each participant tries to get as close as possible to a man playing the role of “shin-otoko,” a god-man who wards off bad luck.

On one hand, the ritual illustrates Japan’s steadfast respect for tradition and cultural heritage. But on the other, its insistence on excluding women — only men are considered pure in the traditional Japanese culture — bears all the hallmarks of one of the country’s greatest modern struggles: gender inequality.


To this day, men hold the country’s highest offices and most of the top jobs at prestigious private firms.

Last year, the World Economic Forum ranked Japan 125th in its Global Gender Gap Index report, far below other G7 countries such as Germany, Britain and the United States. It was just a few spots ahead of India and Saudi Arabia — both notoriously poor performers on gender equality.

Some women in Japan still battle deep-rooted cultural expectations that require them to take the role of “shufu,” or housewife, experts say. Meanwhile, the country’s painstakingly long work hours and male-centric institutional culture conspire further against women who are already burdened disproportionately by more family duties than men.

But in the naked festival, women have recently found hope. Even the country’s most entrenched male-centric tradition was recently subverted by another wrinkle in the national fabric: a shrinking population.

Men strip naked — except for a delicate piece of crotch-covering white loincloth — to take part in the naked festival at Konomiya Shrine on February 22, 2024. - Christopher Gallagher/Reuters

In February, as the number of male participants dwindled, the country’s oldest hadaka matsuri, at the Konomiya Shrine in central Japan, welcomed 41 women to take part for the first time.

“One reason to permit women to participate in such a traditional festival is due to the shortage of men,” said Mikiko Eto, emerita professor who specializes in gender politics at Hosei University in Tokyo.

“The number of young men is declining rapidly. Women should be welcome because of shortage of male participants, so we’ve been very welcome.”

Haruhiko Nishio, 57, a member of an alumni club for shin-otoko involved in organizing the hadaka matsuri at the Konomiya Shrine, recalled: “Last year, the festival had only 1,700 attendees, only one-fifth of pre-pandemic crowds.”

He said women had never been explicitly banned from taking part, but such mass participation was a first.

The female group, known as Enyukai, was assigned a minor role on the day (and the women agreed they should keep their clothes on). But for those who took part, it was deeply symbolic.

“Japan can’t help but put men at the front and women in the back. I want to unleash female power from now on,” participant Atsuko Tamakoshi, 56, told CNN.

Women — donning happi, a traditional festive coat — are responsible for carrying a bamboo offering during the naked festival at Konomiya Shrine on February 22, 2024. - Chris Gallagher/Reuters

For the organizer, it may be a practical decision. But vice president of Enyukai, Ayaka Suzuki, 36, said: “It’s about gender equality.”

It does not end there, scholars say. With no easy solutions in sight, Japan’s declining population may not only reshape the millennium-old festival, but also transform the world’s fourth-biggest economy.

“The impact of an aging society is very important for the Japanese economy. You need more working people, more active people. So why are women still at home? Let women participate in the labor market,” Eto said.

“Aging society is a chance for women to achieve gender equality because our society needs more able people,” she said.
‘Now or never’

Japan’s number of births dropped for the eighth consecutive year in 2023, plunging 5.1% from the previous year to an all-time low of 758,631, according to the Ministry of Health.

With a fertility rate hovering around 1.3 in recent years — far below the rate of 2.1 required to maintain a stable population (Japan has very low levels of immigration) — the Japanese government has long described its mission to boost births as a question of “now or never.”

Eto, from Hosei University, said the consequences of a declining population aren’t confined to small towns or traditional rituals.

Japan’s workforce totaled 66 million people in 2023, including foreign nationals, according to a report released in January this year by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). But the figure will plunge by more than half to about 32 million by the turn of the century if Japan’s fertility rate continues to stagnate, the report predicted.

And as the population crisis spirals, the government and many businesses have started asking why women are still bound by social expectation to stay home, Eto said.
Amplified voices

There have been improvements, according to Eto, though — as with the changes to the hadaka matsuri — the motives may have been more pragmatic than progressive.

Many businesses are promoting greater gender equality in workplaces to make women feel more welcome. The government has also introduced a string of initiatives to lessen the burdens on mothers, including a vision to encourage 85% of male workers to take paternity leave by 2030, for a more even division of domestic labor.

Examples of women leaders include Mitsuko Tottori, who took the helm of Japan Airlines on April 1 to become its first female president and CEO. Seasoned politician Yoko Kamikawa was appointed foreign minister last September, becoming the first woman to take up the role in two decades.

But in general, women’s representation in politics and management remains unsatisfactorily low, experts note. Only five of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s 20-member cabinet are women and, as of 2023, less than 13% of senior and leadership posts in businesses were held by women, according to the Global Gender Gap report.

A lack of innovative policies, such as quota systems for women adopted by some European countries, is holding Japan back, Eto said.

Kaori Katada, an associate social science professor at Hosei University, said Japan’s improvement on gender equality has been incremental and nuanced. While women are given more opportunities, she said, bias and stereotypes persist.

Women are mostly confined to junior positions and caretaking jobs, such as kindergarten care and nursing, and they are generally paid less than their male counterparts, she said.

“(This means) women have to take care of the house and children, which forces them into part-time work. They cannot accept high-responsibility management positions because they need to look after children too,” she said.

And not all social institutions are ready to embrace women as much as the hadaka matsuri at Konomiya Shrine, as the handful of women who try to set foot in the ring of sumo wrestling, another male-dominated sport, can testify.

Hiyori Kon, 26, a top amateur sumo wrestler and the protagonist in the 2018 Netflix documentary “Little Miss Sumo,” told CNN she is often confronted by disapproval, reminding her that Japan has a long way to go on gender equality. Once, she said, her male colleague told her: “If you continue sumo, you won’t be able to marry, so you better quit soon.”

World's Largest Vacuum to Suck Carbon From Atmosphere Turns On for First Time

Victor Tangermann
Sat, May 11, 2024





Suck It, Carbon!

A new carbon capture facility that claims to be the biggest of its kind in the world began quite literally sucking the carbon from the atmosphere this week.

The plant, called "Mammoth" by Swiss company Climeworks, kicked off operations in Iceland on Wednesday, CNN reports, grabbing the available carbon from the air and injecting it deep below the surface to lock it up permanently.

Best of all, the operation is entirely powered by the island nation's geothermal energy, allowing it to put a dent in the abundance of carbon dioxide polluting our planet's atmosphere without adding to the problem.


However, whether direct air capture (DAC) plants are our best bet to ward off an impending climate catastrophe remains a heated debate, with experts arguing they're merely a distraction from the root causes of climate change.
Making a Dent

Giant fans at Climeworks' Mammoth plant suck in the surrounding air, scrubbing it of carbon and pumping it deep into the ground where it turns into stone.

As its name suggests, the plant is absolutely enormous: ten times bigger than its three-year-old predecessor called Orca.

At full capacity, the company claims the facility can suck 36,000 tons of carbon from the atmosphere annually, the equivalent of taking 7,800 combustion-engine cars off the road per year.

But the process isn't cheap. While Climeworks didn't reveal the exact cost, each ton of carbon costs close to $1,000 to remove, CNN reports. To make the process economically feasible, that cost would have to sink closer to $100 a ton, something that Climeworks co-founder Jan Wurzbacher says would be possible by around 2050.

The idea has also caught on in the US, with startup Occidental announcing plans to build an even bigger DAC facility called STRATOS last year, which is designed to suck up 500,000 tons of CO2 per year.
Squeezing the Last Drop

However, experts remain skeptical that such facilities will be the key to fending off climate change. Many of them claim it's a dangerous distraction from far more glaring issues.

Even more worryingly, Big Oil has already adopted the concept with the hopes of extracting even more oil from the captured carbon — in the eyes of many, a step in the wrong direction.

"One of the concerns that we have is that folks are going to try and use this as an offset for continued fossil fuel production," nonprofit Carbon180 executive director Erin Burns told Axios last year, "when largely the role of carbon removal is to address legacy emissions."

"And we are seeing oil companies talk about this being a way to offset continued oil production," she added. "That's concerning."

More on carbon capture: Scientists Say New Material Can Suck Carbon Out of Atmosphere Faster Than Trees

The world’s largest direct carbon capture plant just went online

It can capture around 36,000 tons of CO2 per year, but that’s just a drop in the bucket.

Lawrence Bonk·Contributing Reporter
Fri, May 10, 2024

Climeworks


Swiss start-up Climeworks has done it again. The company just opened the world’s largest carbon capture plant in Iceland, dwarfing its own record of how much CO2 it can pull from the air. The company’s previous record-holding carbon capture plant, Orca, sucks around 4,000 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere per year, but the new plant can handle nearly ten times that, as reported by The Washington Post.

The plant’s called Mammoth and boasts 72 industrial fans that can pull 36,000 tons of CO2 from the air each year. Just like with Orca, the CO2 isn’t recycled. It’s stored underground and eventually trapped in stone, permanently (within reason) removing it from the environment. The plant’s actually located on a dormant volcano, so it’ll make a great hideout for a James Bond villain should it ever cease operations.

The location was chosen for its proximity to the Hellisheidi geothermal energy plant, which is used to power the facility's fans and heat chemical filters to extract CO2 with water vapor. After extraction, the CO2 is separated from the steam, compressed and dissolved in water. Finally, it’s pumped 2,300 feet underground into volcanic basalt. This compound reacts with the magnesium, calcium and iron in the rock to form crystals, which become solid reservoirs of CO2. It’s pretty nifty technology.

However, it’s not the end-all solution to climate change. It’s barely a blip. For the world to achieve "carbon neutrality" by 2050, "we should be removing something like six to 16 billion tons of CO2 per year from the air," said Climeworks founder Jan Wurzbacher, according to reporting by CBS News.

Therein lies the problem. This facility, the largest of its kind by a wide margin, can capture up to 36,000 tons of CO2 from the air each year, but that’s just 0.0006 percent of what’s needed to meet the minimum annual removal threshold as indicated by Wurzbacher. There are other plants, of course, but all of them combined don’t make a serious dent in what’s required to pull us from the brink.

To that end, Wurzbacher has pleaded with other companies to take up the cause. He says that Climeworks has a goal of surpassing millions of tons captured per year by 2030 and a billion by 2050. The company’s chief technology officer, Carlos Haertel, told 60 Minutes that scaling up the process globally is possible, but requires political will to rally behind the initiative.

The Biden administration recently committed $4 billion to jumpstart the industry here in the states and earmarked $1.2 billion for a pair of large-scale projects. The US Department of Energy also started a program called Carbon Negative Shot, with a goal of fostering the development of budget-friendly carbon capture technology.

The method of carbon capture deployed by Climeworks is just one of many approaches. These processes range from stacks of limestone blocks that absorb CO2 like a sponge to giant hot air balloons that freeze and trap the chemical compound. Restoring forests is another option, which is something companies like Apple and Goldman Sachs have experimented with. Which one is best? All of them together deployed at global scale. Whatever it takes. Climate change isn’t fooling around.

B.C. halts new jade mining in northwest, five-year transition for existing operations

DARK GREEN JADE

The Canadian Press
Fri, May 10, 2024 



VICTORIA — British Columbia has prohibited mining activities on new jade tenures in the northwest, while setting a five-year wind-down period for existing operators.

A statement from the Ministry of Energy and Mines says officials have been working closely with First Nations to address concerns about the effects of jade mining on sensitive alpine environments in the area near Dease Lake.

It says an order under the Environment and Land Use Act was necessary to protect the area from further harm and disturbance.

The ministry says mining activities on new tenures must stop immediately, while existing tenure holders may continue operating for five years with "enhanced regulatory requirements," allowing them "adequate time to wind down."

In addition to environmental harms, the ministry says jade mining has posed significant challenges when it comes to permitting, compliance and enforcement in northwestern B.C., where many sites are only accessible by helicopter.

The province says the order is limited to jade mining in that region, and it does not affect other kinds of mining or jade tenures elsewhere in B.C.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2024.

The Canadian Press

Gaza campus protests: what are students’ free speech rights and what can universities do?

Suzanne Whitten, Lecturer in Political Theory and Philosophy, 

Queen's University Belfast
Fri, May 10, 2024 a

Students expressing solidarity with Palestinians and protesting Israel’s war in Gaza have set up encampments on campuses around the UK. Around 15 encampments have emerged in Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Warwick Manchester and others. They’ve also emerged in other countries including France and Ireland.

Broadly, students are calling for transparency over and divestment from universities’ financial links with Israeli companies (particularly those involved in the arms industry). They are demanding university leaders cut ties with Israeli universities, increase resources (including scholarships for Palestinian students and make long-term commitments relating to the rebuilding of higher education in Palestine.

The encampments follow similar action at more than 140 universities in the US. There, scenes of police arresting protesters have sparked intense debate about when (if ever) it is permissible to limit the free expression of students.

Read more: US student Gaza protests: five things that have been missed

Universities have a difficult balance to strike between protecting student speech rights and ensuring campus safety.

In the US, public universities (as “arms of government”) are prevented from interfering with free speech under the constitution’s first amendment. While this doesn’t apply in the same way to private universities, most have agreed to uphold policies that closely resemble it. These rights must be balanced against reasonable considerations about the time, place and manner of the speech, as well as civil rights laws against harassment.

The UK does not have the same free speech protections, but many university leaders have made clear that their institutions support freedom of expression. They have reminded students of their duties to ensure that protest activities remain lawful and do not risk the safety of others.

They have encouraged students to follow university policy, and be mindful of other students, staff and members of the public. This generally means that they should not obstruct their access to work or get in the way of their education.

Rishi Sunak met with 17 vice-chancellors and representatives from the Union of Jewish Students (UJS), seeking reassurance that any antisemitism arising from the protests would be swiftly dealt with. And the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, called for vice-chancellors to “show leadership” to ensure that campuses are a safe place for all students.
Are the protests legal?

Protests that take place on university campuses in the UK are considered legal exercises of the right to freedom of expression. The rights of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly are protected by the European Convention on Human Rights, which is enshrined in UK law under the Human Rights Act.

These rights are further reinforced by a 1986 UK education law, which requires universities to take “reasonably practicable” steps to protect freedom of speech on campus. This includes permitting and facilitating the right to protest.

There are notable exceptions. In England and Wales, speech that incites violence is considered unlawful, as is harassment on the basis of protected characteristics (race, religion, sexuality and so on). The law is slightly different in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Expressed support for one of the UK government’s 79 proscribed organisations (including Hezbollah and Hamas) is also criminalised by the Terrorism Act.

When it comes to semi-permanent occupations, duties to facilitate freedom of expression will be in tension with universities’ obligations to keep students and staff safe. Sally Mapstone, the president of the vice-chancellors’ group Universities UK, said universities “may need to take action” if encampments interfere with the ability to take exams, graduate or go about other business.

In the past, universities have ended occupations by applying for a “possession order” from the High Court. This can lead to students being removed by bailiffs, as happened in March 2023 when the University of Bristol evicted students taking part in a rent strike.

In April 2024, Bristol Students Occupy for Palestine ended a four-week occupation of the university’s executive management building after they were served with a possession order.

Any universities that take this route would need to show that they have considered protestors’ freedom of expression and assembly rights, and that these have been outweighed by other competing obligations.

The encampments could also risk breaching the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act and the Public Order Act, introduced in 2022 and 2023. These controversial laws limit noisy protests and make it unlawful to cause “public nuisance”.

They also ban protests that cause serious disruption to the life of the community, including by tunnelling, locking-on and taking part in slow-walking protests. Again, any interventions (from either the university or the police) must be weighed against the freedom of expression rights of protesters.
Successful negotiations

So far, some of the protests have been successful. Management at Goldsmiths, University of London agreed to protesters’ demands, including investing in a number of scholarships for Palestinian students and reviewing the university’s investment policy. The encampment at Trinity College Dublin has ended after the university agreed to divest from “Israeli companies that have activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and appear on the UN blacklist in this regard”.

The University of York has also agreed to divest from weapons manufacturers. Other universities have established meetings between protesters and management, though most negotiations are still in the early stages.

Apart from upholding their legal obligations, universities should maintain open lines of dialogue with protesters. Doing so is not only essential from a safety perspective, but ensures that all are able to exercise their rights effectively. So far, most universities have been clear about their commitment to free expression, acknowledging lawful protest as a fundamental component of university life.

The free exchange of ideas will often make some people feel uncomfortable. But speech which harasses or threatens others is not only unlawful, it prevents them from taking part in university life as equals. Universities must also offer accessible channels of complaint for students and staff who have experienced abuse from others on campus.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The Conversation

Suzanne Whitten does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

 What's the history of 'outside agitators'? Here's what to know about the label and campus protests

GRAHAM LEE BREWER
Sat, May 11, 2024 a
    

Historically, when students at American universities and colleges protest — from the Civil Rights Movement to Black Lives Matter — there's a common refrain that “outside agitators” are to blame. College administrators and elected officials have often pointed to community members joining protests to dismiss the demands of student protesters.

Experts say it's a convenient way for officials to delegitimize the motivations of some political movements and justify calling in law enforcement to stop direct actions that are largely nonviolent and engaging in constitutionally protected speech.

“This tactic shifts focus away from genuine grievances and portray radical movements as orchestrated by opportunistic outsiders," said Shanelle Matthews, a professor of anthropology and interdisciplinary studies at the City University of New York and a former communications director for the Movement for Black Lives.


Over the last few weeks, students on campuses across the country have built encampments, occupied buildings and led protests to call on colleges and universities to divest their endowments from companies profiting from the Israel-Hamas war. Several college and city leaders have pointed to the threat of outsiders when describing the protests — and some have responded by cancelling or shifting plans for commencement ceremonies.

Here's what to know about the phrase “outside agitators” used during historic student movements.

THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT (1960s-1970s)

Protest movements are typically comprised of local community members and organizers from other parts of the state or country that work together toward a common goal. In the 1960s, state and local officials often focused on this hallmark of community organizing and suggested that civil rights protests were organized by people outside of a given community.

In 1960, a group of Black college students took out a full page ad in Atlanta newspapers called “An Appeal for Human Rights” that expressed solidarity with students everywhere protesting for civil rights. Segregationist politician and then-Georgia Gov. Ernest Vandiver suggested it was created by foreigners and called it a calculated attempt “to breed dissatisfaction, discontent, discord and evil."

“It did not sound like it was prepared in any Georgia school or college; nor in fact did it read like it was written even in this country,” he told the press.

The idea that outside agitators were involved in civil rights protests became so common that Martin Luther King Jr. spoke out against the label in his letter from the Birmingham Jail in 1963.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” King wrote. “Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial ‘outside agitator’ idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.”

Former President Richard Nixon hoped to tie the 1970 shooting deaths of Kent State students by the National Guard to outside agitators, but the FBI was unable to provide such a link. The students had been protesting the Vietnam War.

During the Civil Rights Movement, the label was used as a weapon against community members who spoke up or provided support to protesters and organizers, said Dylan C. Penningroth, an author and historian who teaches law and history at the University of California, Berkeley.

“It delegitimizes internal dissent against the status quo. So anyone who speaks up against the status quo, whatever that is, is by definition an outsider,” he said.

It also ignores the fact that local civil rights organizers often take cues from other protest movements, Penningroth said, and building solidarity with others around the country is often an important part of enacting change.

BLACK LIVES MATTER (2013-present)

Nearly a half-century later, the 2014 killing of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, sparked widespread protests against police brutality.

Again, outside agitators were frequently invoked and blamed for destruction, looting and the burning of buildings.

The same language was used to describe protests in the wake of the 2020 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, which resulted in over 10,000 arrests nationwide.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz suggested that 80% of those who participated in the unrest that followed in Minneapolis were from out of state. But an Associated Press analysis found that 41 of the 52 people cited with protest-related arrests had Minnesota driver’s licenses.

PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTS (2024)

The number of people arrested in connection with protests on college and university campuses against Israel’s war in Gaza has now topped 2,800. The Associated Press has tallied at least 70 incidents on at 54 schools since the protests began at Columbia on April 18.

Official have used outside agitator rhetoric in a handful of examples nationwide. After dozens of students were arrested in May 4 demonstrations at the University of Virginia, a top law enforcement official suggested outsiders had “bull horns to direct the protesters on how to flank our officers.”

“We’re receiving intelligence that outside agitators are starting to get involved in these campus protests,” Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares told Fox News on May 6.

In anti-war protests on campuses at Atlanta’s Emory University, Boston’s Northeastern University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, school officials and law enforcement have made inaccurate claims about the presence of non-students.

NYC PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTS (2024)

On April 30, New York City police officers in riot gear entered Columbia University’s campus and cleared an encampment, arresting more than 100 people. New York City Mayor Eric Adams has repeatedly cited the presence of “outside agitators” to justify the use of police force.

“There is a movement to radicalize young people and I’m not going to wait until it’s done and all of a sudden acknowledge the existence of it,” Adams said at a May 1 news conference.

Pressed for specifics, though, the mayor and police officials have had little to say. Adams has repeatedly said that he decided police intervention was necessary in Columbia’s demonstrations after learning that the husband of one “agitator” was “arrested for federal terrorism.”

But the woman referenced by the mayor wasn’t on Columbia’s campus that week, isn’t among the protesters who were arrested and has not been accused of any crime.

Nahla Al-Arian told The Associated Press she was visiting the city last month and briefly stopped by the campus to see the protest encampment. She also said Adams was mischaracterizing the facts about her husband, a former computer engineering professor who was charged two decades ago with giving illegal support to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group in the 1980s and 1990s.

Students involved in the Columbia protests have told The AP it is true that some people not affiliated with the university have been on campus and played an active role in the demonstrations, but they have vehemently denied that those allies were leading or “radicalizing” the students.

“While it's true that people with nefarious intentions crash protests, it's the exception rather than the rule,” Matthews said. “Given that, people should be wary of this narrative.”

____

AP writers R.J. Rico in Atlanta, Steve LeBlanc in Boston, David B. Caruso in New York and Jim Vertuno in Austin contributed.




UK

Vice-chancellors warn Rishi Sunak over non-student ‘agitators’

Nick Gutteridge
Thu, May 9, 2024

Gillian Keegan, Education Secretary, and Rishi Sunak meet vice-chancellors in Downing Street - Carl Court/Pool via REUTERS


Leading universities have raised concerns that non-student “agitators” are infiltrating on-campus protests over Gaza to “stir division”.

Vice-chancellors sounded the alarm over the presence of extremist groups at the demonstrations in a meeting with Rishi Sunak.

They were summoned to Downing Street by the Prime Minister on Thursday for talks on the spread of pro-Palestinian encampments. The meeting came after the University of Cambridge rejected calls to clear a pro-Gaza camp on the lawn outside King’s College.

The US-style protests, which have seen students occupy the grounds of universities across the country, have been raging for five days. They have sparked concerns about rising anti-semitism and the intimidation of Jewish students, though the organisers insist their aims are peaceful.

At the gathering Mr Sunak warned universities that they must “root out” protesters on their grounds who “incite violence or glorify terrorism”.

Vice-chancellors in turn voiced concerns the demonstrations are being infiltrated by non-students to whip up hatred against Jewish people.

“Concerns were raised around non-student ‘agitators’ infiltrating on-campus protests in order to stir division,” Downing Street said after the talks.

The heads of 17 top universities including Oxford and Cambridge, which have both been gripped by controversial protests, were at the meeting.

Representatives from the Union of Jewish Students and the Community Security Trust, which monitors incidents of anti-semitism, were also present.

But the scandal-hit National Union of Students was not invited after ministers suspended cooperation in 2022 over allegations of anti-semitism.

Mr Sunak told the vice-chancellors they must take “personal responsibility for protecting Jewish students” and adopt a “zero tolerance” approach to anti-Semitism.

He made the remarks after earlier telling his Cabinet that there had been “an unacceptable rise in anti-Semitism on our university campuses” in recent times.

Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, warned university leaders that “freedom of speech didn’t extend to the right to abuse or intimidate”.

He added that he was “personally committed” to supporting institutions that needed help managing the protests and rooting out extremists.
Cambridge rebuke

His remarks appeared to be a rebuke to Cambridge, which justified its decision not to clear the King’s College camp on free-speech grounds.

Mr Sunak also urged vice-chancellors to discipline student protesters who crossed the line and said they should call in the police if necessary.

“He was clear they should take disciplinary action if students are found to have been guilty of anti-Semitism or glorification of terrorism or any form of intimidation or violence,” the Prime Minister’s spokesman said.

“The police already have powers such as if people are engaging in illegal activity or acting on behalf of a proscribed group, they have legal powers to take action.

“Universities themselves would want to identify if there are non-student agitators engaging on university premises.”

He added that the demonstrations “must happen in a way that does not intimidate Jewish students and does not incite violence or glorify terrorism, and clearly universities should be held to account for dealing with these protests appropriately”.

The encampment at Newcastle University as protesters enjoy a morning lie-in - Raoul Dixon / NNP

Vice-chancellors told Mr Sunak they were ready to use eviction orders to clear out protesters where they were in clear breach of university rules.

The meeting came as Prof Dame Sally Mapstone, the head of Universities UK, said institutions “may need to take action” if the protests interfere with campus life.

She said there should not be an “automatic” presumption that the camps should be cleared and that decisions should be made based on the behaviour of the protesters.

“Where there is clear evidence that encampments are interfering with good university business and with the rights of students and staff to go about their business – to take exams, to do their degree shows, to graduate - then universities may need to take action,” she said.
Lisa Fithian

Meanwhile, the mayor of New York Eric Adams warned that “outside agitators” were infiltrating the pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University and released a video of “protest consultant” Lisa Fithian.

She has been arrested between 80 and 100 times having supported everything from anti-Iraq War demos to Occupy Wall Street.

The president of Columbia University said the protests were made worse by “external forces” and “those from outside our community”.

Baroness Shafik, a British-American peer and former civil servant, called for universities to “heal and unify” after weeks of protests and encampments that have often ended in clashes with the police.

She said the protests had been exacerbated by people from outside the university that had whipped up hate speech and anti-Semitism and held separate demonstrations outside Columbia’s gates in New York.

“It would be a mistake to think that a small group of students with connections to the Arab world drove these protests,” she wrote in an article for the Financial Times.

“What I saw was a broad representation of young people of every ethnic and religious background — passionate, intelligent and committed.

“Unfortunately, the actions and anti-Semitic comments of some — especially among those from outside our community — stirred fear and discomfort."

Demonstrators line up behind makeshift shields as police prepare to advance on them on the UCLA campus, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. 

AP Photo/Ethan Swope,