Jared Kushner’s Latest Massive Foreign Investment Deal Sparks Uproar

Talia Jane
Thu, May 16, 2024

NEW REPUBLIC


Jared Kushner secured a massive $500 million contract with the state of Serbia to build a hotel on the memorialized ruins of a former military base in Belgrade, The New York Times reported Thursday.

The announcement of the contract reportedly provoked protests in Belgrade against the deal, which is being bankrolled by Kushner’s Saudi-backed investment company, Affinity Partners. In defense of the contract, a Serbian government official described Kushner’s company primarily funded by foreign interests as a “reputable American company.”

“The government of Serbia has chosen a reputable American company as a partner in this venture, which will invest in the revitalization of the former Federal Secretariat for National Defense complex,” the statement read. The deal with Kushner’s company inked by Serbian officials includes a 99-year lease to convert the site into a luxury hotel, commercial space, and over 1,500 residential units.

This is one of the biggest investment deals Kushner has landed while his father-in-law, Donald Trump, runs for president.

Prior to approval of the contract, public officials in Serbia heavily opposed the deal for its insensitivity and potential for political manipulation. Serbian politician Borko Stefanovic described the location as “one of the pearls of pre-war architecture” to The Daily Beast, noting, “Most Serbs believe this site should not be desecrated in any way.”

A petition was launched in Serbia against the contract with Kushner in late March that generated 10,000 signatures in a matter of hours and over 25,000 within days, according to The Daily Beast. The location has long been sought after by Trump and his acolytes: In 2013, Trump expressed interest in turning the site into a hotel. In 2020, while serving as a diplomat for Trump, Richard Grenell—who joins Kushner on this contract—suggested “repairing” the complex.

The Yugoslav Ministry of Defense military complex was bombed by NATO forces in 1999 during a U.S.-backed campaign that killed an estimated 2,000 civilians and lasted until the Yugoslav Army retreated from Kosovo during the Kosovo War. The prospect of a U.S. company building anything on the site was described by Politico as “if the Taliban wanted to build a luxury apartment compound on the site of New York’s Twin Towers.”

Protests are planned in Serbia against a real estate project financed by Trump's son-in-law Kushner

DUSAN STOJANOVIC
Updated Fri, May 17, 2024 


A tram car passes by former Serbian army headquarters, destroyed during NATO's bombing campaign in Belgrade, Serbia, March 24, 2013. Opposition groups in Serbia are planning protests against a real estate development project that will be financed by the firm of Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, at the site of the former Serbian army headquarters destroyed in a U.S.-led NATO bombing campaign in 1999. The Serbian government earlier this week signed a deal with a Kushner-related company for the 99-year lease of land in central Belgrade for the "revitalization" of the bombed-out buildings. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Opposition groups in Serbia are planning protests against a real estate development project that will be financed by the firm of Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, at the site of the former Serbian army headquarters destroyed in a U.S.-led NATO bombing campaign in 1999.

The Serbian government earlier this week signed a deal with a Kushner-related company for the 99-year lease of land in central Belgrade for the “revitalization” of the bombed-out buildings. Kushner has confirmed reports that his company plans to finance the $500-million project. It would feature a high-rise hotel, a luxury apartment complex, office spaces and shops.

“The economic progress in Serbia over the past decade has been impressive,” Kushner said in a statement confirming the approval of the deal. “This development will further elevate Belgrade into the premier international destination it is becoming.”

Government officials have welcomed the project, but opposition groups and many in the general public have spoken out against it.

For many, the site of the bombed-out army command building is a potent symbol of Serbia’s resistance against what they call “NATO aggression” 25 years ago.

Serbian forces fought a 1998-99 war with ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo, which was then a Serbian province. About 13,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians, died until a 78-day, U.S.-led NATO bombing campaign pushed Serbian troops out of Kosovo.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008, but the government in Belgrade doesn’t recognize its neighbor as a separate country.

The leader of the Ecological Uprising opposition group, Aleksandar Jovanović, announced that the organization “will use all means, including physical” to defend the demolition of the old General Staff building and the handover to an American company.

“The moment the first bulldozers appear, we will be waiting for them,” Jovanović said at a press conference and called on all citizens to join them, especially members of the Serbian Armed Forces, “all those who have the courage to defend the old General Staff and not allow this crime to happen.”

Government officials defended the deal that was signed with Kushner's Affinity Partners company on Wednesday.

“We will restore the building 25 years after it was destroyed in the bombing,” construction minister Goran Vesić said. "For a quarter of a century, no one, before this Government, had thought to rebuild the complex. When this space is revitalized, it will contribute to the development of Belgrade and Serbia.”

He said that a bombing memorial will be built at the site, financed by the investor.

Earlier this year, the Albanian tourism ministry acknowledged it received an investment project application from Affinity Partners to turn a former military base on Sazan Island in the Adriatic Sea into a resort. Prime Minister Edi Rama said Albania was proud to have attracted such interest.

Serbia Approves Contract With Jared Kushner for Hotel Complex
Eric Lipton
Updated Thu, May 16, 2024 

Serbia Approves Contract With Jared Kushner for Hotel Complex

WASHINGTON — The Serbian government has approved a contract with Jared Kushner on plans to build a luxury hotel on the site of the former Defense Ministry in Belgrade, putting him directly into business with a European state as his father-in-law, Donald Trump, vies to return to the White House.

Kushner is pursuing the $500 million hotel project in partnership with Richard Grenell. A former Trump administration aide, Grenell first proposed that U.S. investors attempt to redevelop the long-vacant bombed-out site of the former Yugoslav Ministry of Defense while Grenell was still a diplomat, serving as a special envoy to the Balkans.

The deal, which provoked protests in Belgrade on Thursday, is with an affiliate of Kushner’s Affinity Partners, the 3-year-old, $3 billion investment fund backed by the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia.

“The government of Serbia has chosen a reputable American company as a partner in this venture, which will invest in the revitalization of the former Federal Secretariat for National Defense complex,” a Serbian government official said in a statement released Wednesday.

The complex was bombed in 1999 by NATO forces with the backing of the United States during the war Serbia was then waging with Kosovo. It is now considered a prime undeveloped real estate site in the middle of a much-changed city, and Trump himself considered building a hotel on it in 2013.

For Kushner, who is also planning two luxury hotel projects in neighboring Albania, these deals in the Balkans are among the largest he has made since starting his investment firm.

“The economic progress in Serbia over the past decade has been impressive,” Kushner said in a statement confirming the approval of the deal. “This development will further elevate Belgrade into the premier international destination it is becoming.”

The projects in Serbia and Albania both involve direct concessions from the governments there, meaning Kushner will be financially benefiting from foreign government acts potentially while his father-in-law is in the White House, even as these overseas officials might seek actions by the United States, such as support for Serbia’s bid to join the European Union.

The investments Kushner is making — with business partners in Israel, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Germany and the United States, among other locations — are also backed by a fund where the bulk of the money comes from the Saudi government, again creating questions about potential conflicts of interest if Trump returns to office, ethics lawyers said.

“It is a conflict of interest in the most stark sense: The president of the United States needs to be advancing the interest of the United States and not the financial interests of family members,” said Adav Noti, executive director of Campaign Legal Center, which tracks ethics issues in the federal government.

In total, 99% of the money placed with Kushner’s firm by investors has come from foreign sources, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in late March. Kushner says his overseas investments will not constitute a conflict of interest, as he has said that he does not plan to return to the White House if Trump is reelected.

Kushner and his partners plan to build a hotel, retail space and more than 1,500 residential units. The approved plan includes a museum and memorial complex to those injured or killed during the NATO bombings. The memorial will be owned and managed by the government and designed “in collaboration with Serbian architects,” Kushner’s company said in a statement.

Kushner is working with a longtime real estate partner on the Serbia project, Asher Abehsera, who will oversee the actual development. “Reconstruction does not only mean building buildings, but also building bridges between cultures, respecting the past and creating the foundation for a prosperous future,” Abehsera said in a statement.

Grenell, in a prior interview, said his original proposal from the time he was in the Trump administration and his current involvement in the project reflect his belief that the United States should help rebuild the site that it had played a role in bombing 25 years ago. He said the redevelopment could be part of a “healing” of relations between the two countries.

The Serbian government, in its own statement, said it would retain ownership of the site and that the investor group, Affinity Global Development, has a set period of time to complete the project, or the land will be returned to the government’s control.

But the approval of the contract — which includes a 99-year lease and an agreement to share profits from the development of the three-block area with the Serbian government — has drawn criticism from opposition leaders in the Serbian parliament, among others.

Protesters blocked traffic in front of the former Defense Ministry headquarters Thursday and put up signs questioning the decision, including some that said: “Stop Giving Army HQ as a Present to American Offshore Companies.”

Some in Serbia object to the plan because of the United States’ role in the bombing 25 years ago.

“Somebody is trying to clear up the mess that they did, and they are not those who should do anything in this place,” said Dragan Jonic, a member of parliament, who participated in the protest Thursday. “We’ll use all the legal means and civil disobedience to stop this.”

The project also has drawn attention from House Democrats who asked Republicans on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee to investigate the proposed deals, though there has been no movement by Republicans to do so.

“Jared Kushner is pursuing new foreign business deals, just as Donald Trump becomes the presumptive Republican nominee for the presidency,” Reps. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Robert Garcia, D-Calif., wrote in March, after The New York Times disclosed details of the planned projects.

Kushner, in an interview, has said that as a private citizen he has the right to pursue international real estate and business deals, even if they involve foreign governments.

But Kushner has played a role in the background, advising a nonprofit set up by backers of Trump that already is working on Trump’s possible transition back to the White House.

“One of the reasons I think firms like us as investors, they know that if Affinity comes in we’re a mark of kosher,” Kushner said in an interview in March. “Because again, we’re a highly scrutinized firm. We operate very professionally.”

SEE

Serbia leases ex-army HQ in Belgrade to Trump son-in-law's firm

Exclusive-Vietnam forfeits billions of dollars in foreign aid amid anti-graft freeze, document says

STALINISM CREATES ITS OWN OPPOSITION

Thu, May 16, 2024 

FILE PHOTO: A picture illustration shows U.S. 100 dollar bank notes taken in Tokyo

By Francesco Guarascio and Khanh Vu

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam forfeited at least $2.5 billion in foreign aid over the last three years and may lose another $1 billion because of administrative paralysis, the United Nations, the World Bank and Western donors told the government in a letter seen by Reuters.

The previously unreported figures from the unpublished document, dated March 6, highlight frustration among foreign investors over regulatory hurdles and lengthy approval procedures that have caused prolonged deadlock as the Communist-ruled country is gripped by an escalating anti-corruption campaign and political turbulence.


"Approximately $1 billion in development funding is awaiting approval, with an additional $2.5 billion returned due to funding expirations," said the letter, sent to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh - effectively signalling potential losses worth nearly 1% of the country's gross domestic product.

The expired funding could delay much-needed projects, such as infrastructure upgrades, and donors stressed in the letter that much more may have been lost in additional funds that have been "deterred by the protracted approval processes".

Two senior foreign officials interviewed by Reuters directly linked the administrative hurdles to the "blazing furnace" anti-graft drive, echoing similar comments from other diplomats and officials in recent months.

The anti-graft drive has created a sort of paralysis, in which bureaucrats are slow to approve or advance initiatives because they fear accidentally violating complex regulations.

Amid those constraints, the country is struggling to spend even its own public funds, having failed to invest about $19 billion from 2021 to 2023, one-quarter less than it had planned, according to the finance ministry.

The letter was sent by the heads of the U.N. and World Bank in Vietnam and is co-signed by 18 ambassadors, including from the United States, the European Union and Japan, and the head of the Asian Development Bank in the country.

Vietnam's prime minister's office and the investment ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

The U.N. and the World Bank said they kept working closely with the government on projects, with the U.N. acknowledging in a statement to Reuters that there were "challenges" for the use of funding.

POWER CONUNDRUM

Vietnam has made significant commitments to reduce its use of coal in exchange for Western climate funding, but a year and a half after a deal with Group of Seven (G7) nations was announced, no funds have been disbursed, while Vietnam is boosting its coal imports to avert power shortages in foreign-invested factories.

After multiple requests from donors, the government established a working group on the issue and instructed officials to review some regulations that hamper access to funds, one foreign official involved in the discussions told Reuters, noting that no deadline was set to complete the process.

The power grid, crucial infrastructure for the country, has been deemed in need of upgrades, and large amounts of foreign funds are available for the work. However, existing rules prevent the state-owned network operator from accessing that money at least until 2027 because of financial issues, the official said as an example of the deadlock.

Donors' frustration is leading to decisions that could reduce future assistance to Vietnam.

The World Bank, for instance, says it will merge its Hanoi office from July with operations in Cambodia and Laos to improve "management efficiency", a move that could lead to a shift in focus.

Vietnamese officials have urged foreign donors to reduce the costs of their funds, which come mostly in loans, often at market prices. But the country has also forfeited large amounts of grants, Western officials said.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; additional reporting by Khanh Vu. Editing by Gerry Doyle)

Sanctuary's 'Most Traumatized Bear' Is Living a Life 'of Hope and Happiness' a Year After Her Rescue

Kelli Bender
Thu, May 16, 2024 

Dawn the moon bear is thriving at Animals Asia's Tam Dao sanctuary in Vietnam after her rescue from a bear bile farm

Nezahat Sevim/Animals AsiaDawn the moon bear shortly after her rescue in Feb. 2023 (left) and Dawn a year after moving into an Animals Asia sanctuary in Vietnam

Dawn the moon bear spent 20 years living in a cage at a bear bile farm in Vietnam before


Animals Asia rescued Dawn in Feb. 2023 and brought her to a sanctuary where she began the long road to recovery


Dawn was scared, balding, and helpless when she first arrived at the sanctuary but is now thriving over a year after her rescue

Dawn the moon bear is a reminder that every creature deserves a second chance.

On February 22, 2023, Animals Asia rescued Dawn from a bile farm— a facility where a bear's bile is painfully extracted while the animal is confined to a cage — in Phung Thuong, Vietnam.



Before the nonprofit arrived, Dawn spent 20 years in a small cage at the bile farm, undergoing routine bile extractions. Life on the bile farm left Dawn balding, fearful, and emotionally helpless. Animals Asia said the moon bear was "the most traumatized bear" the organization had seen when they rescued her in 2023.

Over a year later, Dawn is one of the happiest bears at Animals Asia's Tam Dao sanctuary in Vietnam. To celebrate Dawn's transformation and May 17's Endangered Species Day, Dame Joanna Lumley created a video with Animal Asia about the resilient moon bear.


In the moving clip, Lumley recounts Dawn's devastating beginnings and the many milestones the bear surpassed to reach where she is today.

"Seeing Dawn's transformation from a life of darkness to one of hope and happiness is a profound reminder of the resilience of those magnificent animals and the power of compassion," Lumley said in a statement. “This video not only tells the story of one bear's journey to freedom but also calls on each of us to act and help end the cruelty of bile farming. I am so proud to stand with Animals Asia, an organization poised to eradicate the centuries-long practice of bile farming in Vietnam and rescue the remaining bile bears in the country. Together, by supporting this vital cause, we can provide these endangered animals with the dignified life they rightfully deserve."



Nezahat Sevim/Animals AsiaDawn the moon bear on the day of her rescue

Animals Asia believes bear bile farmers placed Dawn in a dark, cramped cage when she was a cub and kept the bear there for 20 years until her rescue. When Animals Asia went to transport the cub to its sanctuary, employees found a bear distressed by the sight of humans after a lifetime of neglect.

Dawn exhibited signs of psychological trauma — like head-swaying and a "learned helplessness" that left the moon bear curled up in a tight ball at the slightest provocation. Animals Asia also found evidence of physical injuries, including hypertension, broken teeth, arthritis, an infected gallbladder, and malnourishment.

After 20 years in her tiny cage, Dawn finally left and moved into the quarantine area of Animals Asia's Tam Dao sanctuary, where she stayed for 60 days. Despite having a much larger space, several dedicated caretakers, and plenty of food, Dawn struggled to adapt to her new surroundings at first because of the trauma she endured.

Nezahat Sevim/Animals AsiaDawn smiling during her recovery at Animals Asia's Tam Dao sanctuary

"While she is often calm, engages well with enrichment activities, and will even hand-feed, she can become overwhelmed in certain situations and completely shuts down. In these moments, she retreats to a corner, turns her back to whatever frightens her, tucks her head into her abdomen, curls up into a ball, and visibly flinches at any noises while in this state. It is one of the worst things I have seen in my time here, how incredibly fearful and shut down she is in these situations. Dawn has obviously learned this: no matter what she does, terrible things will keep happening to her," Sarah van Herpt, Animals Asia senior bear team manager, shared after the moon bear arrived at the sanctuary.

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Thankfully, through patience and compassion, the staff at Aniamls Asia taught Dawn that the "terrible things" she went through had ended. In Spring 2023, Dawn started smiling and acting more social with her human caretakers, who worked to gain the bear's trust through rapport-building sessions with lots of treats.

Nezahat Sevim/Animals Asia

Dawn the moon bear making friends with another bear at Animal Asia's Tam Dao sanctuary in Vietnam

Related: Bear Breaks into Calif. Family's Fridge, Steals a Watermelon, and Picnics in the Yard: Watch!

Many more firsts followed Dawn's initial smile. In May 2023, the moon bear was released from the quarantine area and moved into her new den at the sanctuary. Shortly after that, Dawn luxuriated in her first bath. In June 2023, after undergoing dental surgery, Dawn started to eat solid food. In the Summer of 2023, Dawn began making friends with a few other bears at the sanctuary and took her first steps outside.

After all these milestones, Dawn is a far different bear than when she first arrived at Animals Asia's sanctuary in 2023. She has grown back all her fur, exhibits curiosity and playfulness, and trusts that the humans around her are there to care for her—and they are!

Nezahat Sevim/Animals Asia

Dawn the bear taking a bath

Related: Wild Bear Cub Pulled from Tree for Selfies Is 'Doing Well' in N.C. Animal Refuge's Care

"It's hard to believe Dawn is the same frightened little bear who came through the sanctuary gates just over a year ago." Jill Robinson, Animals Asia's founder, said. "Today, she has a life she never dared dream of: grass under her paws, the breeze ruffling her fur, and a love she'd never known warming her heart. Dawn's journey is a testament to the resilience of the spirit and the healing power of kindness."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.

Nezahat Sevim/Animals Asia

Dawn enjoying time outside at Animals Asia's Tam Dao sanctuary in Vietnam

Animals Asia is working to bring this kind of happy ending to all the bears stuck in bile farms in Vietnam. In 2017, after years of negotiation with Animals Asia, the Vietnamese government agreed to end bear bile farming and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Animals Asia, naming the charity their official partner in closing the industry.

Since then, Animals Asia has been working to move all the bears remaining on bile farms to its sanctuaries. In November 2023, Animals Asia opened its second sanctuary in Vietnam. Once this sanctuary is full, Animals Asia estimates that no more bears will be trapped in bile farms in Vietnam.

To learn more about Dawn and how to support bears like her, visit Animals Asia's website.

Libcom.orgfiles.libcom.org/files/2023-08/beasts of burden antagonism.pdf

Beasts of Burden: Capitalism - Animals - Communism - Libcom.org

Beasts of. Burden. Capitalism · Animals. Communism as on ent ons. s a een ree. Page 2. Beasts of Burden: Capitalism - Animals -. Communism. Published October ...

Jellyfish could be one marine creature that benefits from climate change

Rosie Frost
Thu, May 16, 2024 


Climate change is putting countless marine animals under pressure but jellyfish could actually benefit from warming ocean waters.

A study by researchers at Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) looked at eight different species of Arctic jellyfish. They exposed them to rising water temperatures, sea ice retreat and other changing environmental conditions through computer models.

Scientists found that by the second half of the century, seven of the eight species could expand their habitat polewards under these conditions. Simulations showed that the lion’s mane jellyfish - one of the biggest stinging jellyfish- in particular could nearly triple the size of its current habitat.

Just one species, Sminthea arctica, would experience a minor decrease in habitat since it would have to retreat to greater depths in order to find its optimal temperature range.

“These results clearly show how dramatically climate change could affect the ecosystems of the Arctic Ocean,” says Dmitrii Pantiukhin, a doctoral candidate in ARJEL (Arctic Jellies), a junior research group specialising in Arctic jellyfish at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI).

“The projected expansion of the jellyfish habitats could have tremendous, cascading impacts on the entire food web.”

Despite their importance in the marine ecosystem, the transparent gelatinous organisms are often forgotten in ecological studies. This research closes an important gap in our knowledge.

Lion's mane jellyfish could triple their habitat as oceans warm. - Oleksandra Kharkova/Getty via Canva

Climate change could mean an ocean dominated by jellyfish

Researchers say that in the future, jellyfish and other gelatinous zooplankton may be some of the few organisms to benefit from climate change.

Studies have confirmed that marine organisms known as cnidarians, ctenophores and pelagic tunicates can thrive not only in rising water temperatures but also when there is nutrient contamination or overfishing.

When combined, all of these factors could mean a shift from a diverse marine ecosystem dominated by fish to an ocean full of jellyfish. Many researchers are already warning of impending ‘ocean jellification’.

“Jellyfish play an important part in the marine food web,” explains Pantiukhin.

“Now that climate change is putting more stress on marine organisms, it can often give the gelatinous zooplankton a leg up on their competitors for food, like fish.

“This in turn affects the entire food web and ultimately the fish themselves: many types of jellyfish feed on fish larvae and eggs, which can slow or prevent the recovery of fish populations already under pressure, which are often also heavily fished by humans.”

Pantiukhin adds that anyone interested in how fish - an important food source for many people - will develop in the future need to keep an eye on jellyfish.

US proposes ending new federal leases in nation's biggest coal region

Thu, May 16, 2024 



BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration on Thursday proposed an end to new coal leasing from federal reserves in the most productive coal mining region in the U.S. as officials seek to limit climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions from burning the fuel.

The Bureau of Land Management proposal would affect millions of acres (millions of hectares) of federal lands and underground mineral reserves in the Powder River Basin area of Wyoming and Montana.

The immediate impact is likely to be limited because coal leases take many years to develop and demand has flagged in recent years. But the proposal drew a harsh pushback from Republicans in Congress, coming just weeks after President Joe Biden's Democratic administration unveiled an air quality rule that could force many coal-fired power plants to reduce their pollution or shut down.

Thursday's proposal was made in response to a 2022 court order that said two federal land management plans drafted for the Powder River Basin during former President Donald Trump's administration had failed to adequately take into account climate change and public health problems caused by burning coal.

In response, the Biden administration is issuing plans that would stop further coal leasing in the region while preserving existing leases. The plans are subject to a 30-day public protest period before they become final.

Federal officials said they anticipate coal mining to continue from existing leases through 2041 in Wyoming and through 2060 at a mine in Montana.

Another Montana mine, the Spring Creek Mine, could run out of federal coal reserves by 2035 — more than 50 years earlier than if leases were to continue being issued, according to government analyses of the proposal.

Fourteen active coal mines in the region in 2022 produced almost 260 million short tons of coal — about 40% of total U.S. production.

Yet mining volumes already had dropped by almost half over the past two decades as competition from renewable energy and cheap natural gas shuttered many coal-fired power plants served by the mines.

Conservationists said the proposal marks a historic shift for the nation's coal program, which over the past half-century allowed companies to extract billions of tons of the fuel at low cost from massive strip mines, primarily in Western states.

Mark Fix, a southeast Montana rancher and member of the Northern Plains Resource Council conservation group, said the Biden administration proposal was a “commonsense plan” given the current state of the coal market.

“Coal companies in this region already have decades of coal locked up under leases, and it's hard to imagine they'll find buyers that far into the future given the competition from more affordable energy sources,” Fix said.

Elected officials in Wyoming and Montana responded with outrage, characterizing the proposal as an assault on domestic energy sources that will kill coal jobs and cost the states millions in lost revenue.

“Wyoming has been targeted left and right by rule after rule handed down by this administration,” said Wyoming Republican U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis. “Wyoming coal is needed now more than ever to power our nation and the world."

Montana Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke — who sought to boost coal production with little success while serving as Trump's Interior Secretary — said coal provides reliable power for the electric grid and modern mining technologies have reduced its environmental impacts.

However, the improved technologies have not halted greenhouse gas emissions from burning coal to make electricity.

Ending federal leasing would reduce those emissions by the equivalent of 293 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, according to the government analyses. That's comparable to emissions from about 63 million gasoline-power vehicles, the analyses said.

Bureau of Land Management spokesperson Brian Hires declined to provide further details on why the agency was proposing to end new leases.

A longstanding partisan divide over federal coal reserves was deepened by 2016 federal lease sale moratorium under former Democratic President Barack Obama. Trump officials scuttled the moratorium before it was revived in 2022 by a federal judge.

An appeals court in February struck it down, raising fears among environmentalists of a potential mining resurgence on federal lands.

Thursday's proposals and the increasingly bleak market for coal in the U.S. would make such a resurgence more difficult.

Conor Bernstein with the National Mining Association said the change to the coal program “handcuffs” the industry's ability to respond to the market and make plans for future mining.

Global coal production has reached new highs in recent years even as mining companies in the U.S. have faced declining demand.

Matthew Brown, The Associated Press

Man accused in death of Sikh activist appeared in court just 2 days before the killing

CBC
Thu, May 16, 2024 

MODI ASSASSINS  COLLECTORS CARD #4

Amandeep Singh, who resided in Brampton, Surrey and Abbotsford, has been arrested in connection with the killing of B.C. Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. (IHIT - image credit)

Amandeep Singh, the fourth man charged in connection with the killing of prominent Sikh-Canadian activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, was already caught up in the Canadian justice system at the time of Nijjar's death, CBC News has learned.

The Indian national, who entered Canada on a temporary visa, appeared in a Surrey, B.C. courtroom to answer charges on an unrelated matter just two days before, according to police, he lay in wait for Nijjar at the entrance to the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara. Nijjar was shot multiple times and died at the scene.

Amandeep Singh had been arrested in Surrey, B.C. on a warrant after fleeing from police in March 2023. He was charged with flight from police and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and made a first court appearance on June 16, 2023. Nijjar was killed on June 18.


Court documents show that his case came up before the court again 19 days after the killing, on July 7, and was proceeding through the system toward a trial, scheduled for later this year, when he was arrested on separate firearms and drug charges in Brampton, Ont. last November.

B.C. court documents from last June also show that Singh signed an undertaking agreeing to not possess firearms or ammunition, and to not be in the driver's seat of any motor vehicle.

Amandeep Singh was not among the first group of three men arrested by the RCMP in connection with Nijjar's killing on May 3 in raids in the Edmonton area. At the time, he was already in custody in Ontario for the November charges.

British Columbia's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) charged him in the Nijjar case on May 11. IHIT said it had "pursued the evidence and gained sufficient information for the B.C. Prosecution Service to charge Amandeep Singh with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder."

On Wednesday, he appeared in a Surrey provincial court virtually from a detention centre in Ontario to answer those charges.

He now faces the same charges as co-accused Karan Brar, Karanpreet Singh and Kamalpreet Singh, who are all alleged to have participated in killing Nijjar.

This still of security footage shows Hardeep Singh Nijjar leaving the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara on the evening of June 18, 2023.

This still image from security footage shows Hardeep Singh Nijjar leaving the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara on the evening of June 18, 2023. (Submitted by name withheld)

All four men charged with Nijjar's murder are expected to appear in court next Tuesday, May 21. None of them have entered a plea yet.

Sources inside the police investigation, and sources in the government of Canada with knowledge of its intelligence-gathering and intelligence-sharing with Five Eyes partners, have told CBC News that evidence connects the murder plot directly to the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, now campaigning to win a third term as leader of the world's most populous nation.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, walks past India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi as they take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Raj Ghat, Mahatma Gandhi's cremation site, during the G20 Summit in New Delhi, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, walks past India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi as they take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Raj Ghat, Mahatma Gandhi's cremation site, during the G20 Summit in New Delhi on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

Like the other three accused, Amandeep Singh is believed by investigators to be affiliated with an Indian organized crime group led by Punjabi gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.

He divided his time between Surrey, Abbotsford B.C. and Brampton, all home to large Sikh communities.

Amandeep Singh has been in custody since his car was stopped in Brampton on Nov. 3 by the Special Enforcement Bureau of the Peel Regional Police. Police say he was found in possession of a Fabrique Nationale Model 509 semi-automatic pistol with a 24-round extended magazine loaded with 20 9mm rounds.

Another car stopped later the same day was searched and found to contain two more extended magazines.

Pistol magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds are prohibited items under Canadian law.

Singh was charged with a number of firearms offences as well as two counts of possession of a controlled substance.

Four other men were arrested in the two vehicle stops: Jobanpreet Singh, 20, Maninder Singh, 21, Ramanpreet Singh, 30, and Swaranpreet Singh, 20. All are listed as residents of Brampton and all remain in custody on firearms possession charges. They were not charged with drug offences and are not accused in the Nijjar murder.

SCOTLAND

Care staff ‘left in limbo’ over pay rise balloted on strike action

Ryan McDougall, 

PA Scotland
Thu, May 16, 2024

Council workers are to be balloted on strike action after being left “in limbo” as local authority leaders delay making a pay offer, a union has said.

GMB Scotland and Unite’s care worker members employed by Scottish councils will receive a ballot on strike action next week, with the vote to close on June 19.

Unison will also be balloting its refuse and recycling worker members in the coming days, with members in schools and social care to be balloted later in the summer.

The unions have accused council leaders of time wasting and creating uncertainty among workers.

GMB Scotland members have already voted overwhelmingly in a consultative ballot to back industrial action if the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) does not make an acceptable pay offer.

The union said council leaders were told on Wednesday that GMB’s residential and home care workers will make a decision on strike action after no offer was received, despite being told one was due.

Workers in other areas are also being balloted on industrial action as council leaders reputedly discuss an offer of 2%, the union said.

Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland senior organiser in public services, said: “This offer is already far too late and, from what we have heard, is almost certain to be far too low.

“Our members have already shown great patience, but enough is enough.

“Council leaders must already suspect their offer will not be accepted but continue to waste time and inflict uncertainty.

“They claim to have no money but have made no serious attempt to persuade Scottish Government ministers to provide the money needed for a realistic, acceptable offer.

“They are leaving our members in limbo and Scots relying on frontline council services facing disruption.

“Our members in social care are among the lowest paid council workers delivering some of the most important frontline services.

“They deserve better than this. So do their colleagues, and so does every Scot relying on them to deliver the services Scotland is built on.”

Graham McNab, Unite’s industrial officer, said on Wednesday the lack of action from Cosla is “history repeating itself”.

Unions said social care staff ‘deserve better’ (Alamy/PA)

He added: “There isn’t even an offer on the table for our local government membership to consider.

“Unite has no choice but to initiate an industrial action ballot process which will in the end force Cosla into making a credible pay offer.

“It really is a sorry state of affairs and the pay negotiation process has clearly demonstrated that is not fit for purpose.

“Let’s also be clear that the Scottish Government are equally to blame for this unacceptable situation.”

Unison Scotland lead for local government David O’Connor said: “The employers promised an improved offer would come this week. Council staff have made it very clear that they’re not willing to be strung along.

“If Cosla makes a better proposal soon, it’ll be considered. Strike action is always the last resort but, as it stands, there’s no choice but to start an official ballot.”

A Cosla spokesman said: “Learning from the last few years, we are working hard to maintain a dialogue with our SJC trade unions partners, whilst we explore all avenues.

“We are doing all that we can to get the best possible offer on the table. It is important to reiterate that this is against the context of a flat-cash settlement from Scottish Government, which leaves very little room to manoeuvre without service reductions and job losses, which we want to avoid at all costs.

“We understand our unions’ frustrations over the difficulties in getting a realistic pay offer to them given the constraints noted above.

“We remain committed to doing the best by our workforce, who deliver essential local services in every community across Scotland.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Local government pay negotiations are a matter for unions and local authorities as the employers.

“Ministers recognise the crucial role councils and their employees play in communities across Scotland.

“That’s why, despite UK Government cuts, this year the Scottish Government has made available over £14 billion to local councils – a real-terms increase of 2.5% compared with the previous year.

“The Scottish Government urges all the parties involved to work together constructively to reach an agreement which is fair for the workforce and affordable for employers.”

Council workers could strike as union says sides are ‘miles’ apart in pay talks

Nick Forbes, PA Scotland
Wed, May 15, 2024



The largest union in local government has said its members could take strike action over a pay offer that it describes as “miles away” from what staff could accept.

Unison officials will meet on Thursday to decide whether to ballot members for strike action over the latest pay offer from Cosla, which is involved in setting salaries for local government employees.

They are unhappy with the delay in a formal offer being made, saying they had been expecting to receive this last week but have now been told it could take until the last week in May.

Union officials also describe the prospective pay offer of 2% or 39p per hour, as set out in a letter from Cosla, as “another real-terms pay cut” which council staff are unlikely to accept.

Unison local government lead David O’Connor said: “Unison’s local government committee will meet tomorrow to decide whether we ballot our members for strike action. Local government workers are getting very frustrated with the delays.

“The figures quoted by the employer are miles away from anything staff are likely to accept, it is asking council workers to take another real-terms pay cut, which is unacceptable.

“No one wants a repeat of last year’s disruption but it’s been made abundantly clear that staff cannot wait for months to get a fair pay offer.”

A spokesperson for Cosla said: “Learning from the last few years, we are working hard to maintain a dialogue with our Scottish Joint Council trade unions partners, whilst we explore all avenues – this includes a third meeting next week.

“As our trade unions know, we are very close to making an offer, based on the mandate given by council leaders. We are doing all that we can to get the best possible offer on the table.

“It is important to reiterate that this is against the context of a flat cash settlement from Scottish Government, which leaves very little room to manoeuvre without service reductions and job losses which we want to avoid at all costs.”

Siemens Energy boss says there can be no energy transition without China

BACK TO FREE  MARKET BASICS

Christoph Steitz
Thu, May 16, 2024 

FILE PHOTO: Siemens Energy CEO Christian Bruch
In this article:

By Christoph Steitz

MUELHEIM AN DER RUHR, Germany (Reuters) - Europe's energy sector relies too much on China to entertain the idea of de-risking, the CEO of Siemens Energy said, reflecting the dilemma of an industry in need of supplies from the world's No.2 economy - but not the competition that comes with it.

The comments by Christian Bruch come as global trade tensions with China are heating up, with the U.S. raising tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles this week and the European Union looking into similar steps to protect local players from unfair competition.

Meantime, the EU has launched an investigation into Chinese wind turbine makers and whether they benefit from subsidies in their efforts to undercut the pricing of Western companies like Vestas, Nordex and GE Vernova.

"The last thing I would do is advocate something like departing or de-risking. We have a connectivity between the two regions that is fruitful and unavoidable," Bruch told a briefing with journalists this week.

"Trying to build a wind turbine without any Chinese supply will be close to impossible. Energy transition without China doesn't work."

The manufacturing of wind turbines heavily depends on materials from China, most notably rare earths and permanent magnets and there are limited options for the sector to change that, usually at much higher prices.

While Siemens Energy makes only a fraction of its sales in China, around 1.5%, its wind division relies almost entirely on rare earth and permanent magnets from China.

Bruch's comments also indicate a divide between Germany's government, which has suggested companies cut their relative exposure to China, and the leaders of companies such as Volkswagen and BASF, which have increased their engagement.

LEVEL PLAYING FIELD

Bruch said it was vital that Chinese wind turbine makers be held to the same local standards as European companies when they sell their turbines locally, adding there had to be a middle ground between full-on protectionism like in the United States and a free market.

"I'm not in favour of blocking the European market. But I think we still need clear rules in terms of how companies are financed, where do they get guarantees from and what do they pay for it. This needs to be somewhat consistent," Bruch said, adding he hoped that the EU investigation would achieve this.

Siemens Energy last week announced far-reaching changes to its crisis-ridden wind turbine division, including cutting or paring back the number of markets where it wants to compete, such as Latin America and Africa, which is partly a consequence of cheap Chinese competitors.

Bruch said wind unit Siemens Gamesa would not compete in markets where it was up against two or three Chinese players if price was the only differentiator.

He said that while the company had weighed an exit from onshore wind, which has been plagued by quality issues, Siemens Energy had decided against it for now because it would have been more expensive than staying in.

Bruch made clear, however, that the turnaround plan for onshore, which includes a target for double-digit profit margins, had to produce tangible results within the next 4-5 years or a different solution would have to be found.

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Susan Fenton

Muslim, Jewish voters leaning away from the federal Liberals as Gaza war grinds on: poll

CBC
Thu, May 16, 2024 

Protesters for Gaza gather outside a downtown hotel in Toronto, the planned location of an event for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, on Friday, Mar. 15, 2024. (Cole Burston/The Canadian Press - image credit)


A new poll suggests Muslim and Jewish voters are leaning away from the federal Liberals in voting intentions — a possible sign that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's efforts to straddle gaps in public opinion over the Israel-Hamas war are falling short.

The new poll of voting intentions by the Angus Reid Institute says the federal NDP is leading the Liberals among Muslim voters 41 per cent to 31 per cent, while the federal Conservatives are beating the Liberals among Jewish voters 42 per cent to 33 per cent.

"This does feel to the Liberals, in terms of their outreach around diaspora politics, to now be a fairly untenable situation," Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute, told CBC News.

"The Jewish diaspora is now saying, 'You haven't gone far enough in condemning Hamas and condemning the violence and stopping antisemitism in Canada.' And you've got pro-Palestinian voters and populations, many of whom are Muslim, obviously saying, 'You haven't gone far enough to condemn the Israeli Defence Forces for its counterattack in Gaza.'"

The data shows only 15 per cent of Muslims polled say they would vote for the Conservatives, while just 20 per cent of Jewish voters say they would support the New Democrats.

Protestors are seen on Parliament Hill during a pro-Israel protest on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Monday, Dec. 4, 2023.

Protesters attend a pro-Israel rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, Dec. 4, 2023. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press)

Kurl said that under Trudeau's leadership, the Liberals have made a concerted effort to appeal to Muslim voters since 2015, when the Conservatives under Stephen Harper ran an election campaign that included controversial promises like a ban on the niqab and a "barbaric cultural practices" tip line.

An Environics Institute poll looking back on that election found 65 per cent of Muslims who said they voted cast their ballots for the Liberals, while only 10 per cent voted for the NDP.

"We saw the Liberals go out and court Muslims in Canada to vote Liberal," Kurl said.

She said the Liberals appear to be feeling the fallout from trying to appease both Muslim and Jewish voters since Hamas's attack on Israel of Oct. 7, 2023. Israeli officials say up to 1,200 Israelis were killed and 253 were taken hostage in that attack. Health authorities in Gaza say the Israeli military operation launched in response has killed almost 35,000 people.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre addresses the national Conservative caucus on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. The Conservative Party of Canada raised more than $35 million during Pierre Poilievre's first full year as leader — and the federal Liberals brought in less than half that amount.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre addresses the national Conservative caucus on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

Asked at a news conference Thursday about his party's apparent slide among Muslims and Jewish voters, Trudeau defended the Liberals' approach and accused the other parties of picking sides while he has been striving for unity.

"To put it in political terms, I think it's important that there be at least one major party in this country, in our democracy, that has both lots of Jewish MPs and lots of Muslim MPs," he said, adding that he will continue to advocate for a two-state solution and a ceasefire.

In December, CBC News reported a group representing influential Canadian Muslim donors was leaving the top donor ranks of the Liberal Party, citing Trudeau's disinclination at the time to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The government started to call for one a few days later after that announcement.

In February, hundreds of mosques and Muslim organizations co-signed a letter telling Canadian MPs not to appear at mosques during Ramadan unless they were willing to openly call out Israel for "war crimes" or demand the government stop sending weapons to Israel.

The Liberals have pointed out that they have not exported lethal aid to Israel since the start of this latest conflict and also voted in favour of a heavily amended NDP motion that called on Canada to "cease the further authorization and transfer of arms exports to Israel."

That motion outraged many Jewish-Canadians. "We are deeply disappointed that the Liberal government has chosen to effectively sub-contract Canadian foreign policy to anti-Israel radicals within the NDP and the Bloc Québécois," the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said in a media statement at the time.

No party leader making a dent with either group

Angus Reid also polled respondents on their opinions of Trudeau, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. Fifty-one per cent of Muslims said their opinion of Trudeau had "worsened recently," according to the Institute, while a similar share, 47 per cent, said the same about Poilievre.

Forty-seven per cent of Muslim respondents said their opinion of Singh had not changed.

Among Jewish voters, 49 per cent said their opinion of Trudeau had worsened; a slightly lower number, 38 per cent, said the same of Singh. A quarter of Jewish respondents said their opinion of Poilievre had improved, but 31 per cent reported the opposite.

By law, the next federal election must be held by October 2025.

As with most recent polls since last summer, this latest one shows the Conservatives would be in a comfortable position to form a majority government if an election were held today.

Kurl said the data held no big surprises, given recent events. "You just see the hill that the Liberals now have to climb, or call it the corner they have painted themselves into," she said.

Editor's note: The Angus Reid Institute survey was conducted online from April 19-23, 2024 among 3,459 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. A probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

From April 19 to May 9, the Institute also polled 166 Canadian Muslim, 164 Canadian Hindu, 165 Canadian Jewish and 118 Canadian Sikh adults online. These samples are not included in the general population sample.

Canada sanctions four Israeli 'extremist settlers' accused of attacking Palestinians

THERE ARE 700,000 ILLEGAL SETTLERS ***

IN THE WEST BANK & EAST JERUSALEM 

The Canadian Press
Thu, May 16, 2024 



OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is imposing sanctions on Israelis she accuses of "extremist settler violence" in the West Bank, three months after pledging to do so.

"While I was in the region recently, I heard directly from families that have been forced to leave their homes and farming lands as a direct result of violence and threats by extremist settlers," Joly wrote in a statement.

"With these measures, we are sending a clear message that acts of extremist settler violence are unacceptable and that perpetrators of such violence will face consequences."

Joly originally promised these sanctions in February, and calls them "a significant step" in Canada's approach to the region, as it tries to maintain the prospect of a two-state solution involving a Palestinian country living in peace next to Israel.

Israel has occupied the West Bank, which is separate from the Gaza Strip, since 1967, and settlers have increasingly built communities that Canada and many other countries say violate international law.

An attack last October by Hamas in Gaza prompted Israel to bombard that territory, and the United Nations says there has been a sharp uptick in West Bank settlers attacking Palestinians.

The sanctions announced Thursday apply to four men Ottawa accuses of "violent and destabilizing actions against Palestinian civilians and their property in the West Bank." All four were listed by the U.S. and U.K. earlier this year.

They include David Chai Chasdai, whom the U.S. State Department has accused of leading a rampage in which multiple vehicles and buildings were set on fire and one civilian was killed.

Yinon Levi has regularly led settlers to assault Palestinian and Bedouin civilians, Washington says, setting their fields on fire and threatening more violence if they don't leave.

Moshe Sharvit "repeatedly harassed, threatened, and attacked Palestinian civilians and Israeli human rights defenders," according to the State Department, including making 100 Palestinians flee after ordering them to leave.

Zvi Bar Yosef was accused by Washington of "repeated violence against Palestinians" and blocking access to their lands.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that Canada will no longer automatically vote against most UN resolutions targeting Israel, because the right-wing coalition government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been thwarting efforts toward a two-state solution.

The Israeli Embassy in Ottawa has been asked for comment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2024.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press

Canada sanctions 'extremist' Israeli settlers

CBC
Thu, May 16, 2024 

A Palestinian girl looks through her family home's shattered window after a settlers' attack in the West Bank village of al-Mufagara, near Hebron, on Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021. (Nasser Nasser/Associated Press - image credit)


Canada is imposing sanctions on "extremist" Israeli settlers in the West Bank, Global Affairs Canada announced Thursday.

"The sanctions are a response to the grave breach of international peace and security posed by their violent and destabilizing actions against Palestinian civilians and their property in the West Bank," Global Affairs said in a news release.

Canada is sanctioning four people, the department said: David Chai Chasdai, Yinon Levi, Zvi Bar Yosef and Moshe Sharvit. Global Affairs Canada said the four have engaged in violence against Palestinian civilians and their property.

The four men are among the eight people the U.S. sanctioned earlier this year. Canada's sanctions come months after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly first said the government would be imposing them.

The U.S. government also sanctioned the two outposts the settlers have established: Zvi's Farm, northwest of the West Bank's main city Ramallah, and Moshe's Farm in the Jordan Valley. It also sanctioned agricultural enterprises run out of the outposts. Canada has sanctioned only individuals.

"With these measures, we are sending a clear message that acts of extremist settler violence are unacceptable and that perpetrators of such violence will face consequences," Joly said in a media statement Thursday.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly speaks to reporters in the Foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Monday, March 18, 2024.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly speaks to reporters in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Monday, March 18, 2024. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press)

The United Nations has reported an escalation in settler attacks in the Palestinian territories since the Oct. 7 attacks.

Acts of violence by settlers and moves to dispossess Palestinians of their property were on the rise before the attacks and followed the election of the current Netanyahu government at the end of 2022.

That government is dominated by pro-settler parties and includes a number of West Bank settlers in its cabinet. Prominent members of the government have visited and spoken in support of the outposts where the sanctioned settlers live.

About 4,000 Palestinians were displaced from their land and homes in 2023, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. It's the highest number recorded in the past 20 years.

"Attacks by extremist Israeli settlers — a long-standing source of tension and conflict in the region — have escalated alarmingly in recent months," the Global Affairs statement said. "This has undermined the human rights of Palestinians, prospects for a two-state solution and posed significant risks to regional security."

Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, it is considered a war crime for a country to move its own population into territory occupied in war. Violations of the Geneva Convention are also offences under Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act.

Historically, however, little action has been against the more than 700,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, who include a significant number of Canadian citizens.

Earlier this year, Canada sanctioned nearly a dozen people connected to Hamas's Oct 7 attack on Israel, including Hamas leaders. It was the first time Canada had imposed individual sanctions on non-state actors.

Israel ‘needs to do more’ to stop settlers sacking Gaza aid trucks, US says

John Bowden and Andrew Feinberg

THE INDEPENDENT 
Thu, May 16, 2024 



Israeli officials “need to do more” to stop settlers attacking trucks loaded with food, water and other critical supplies from entering Gaza, a State Department spokesman said on Thursday.

The remarks came after videos emerged on X/Twitter showing Israeli settlers destroying packages of humanitarian assistance held on trucks bound for Gaza.

Vedant Patel, state spokesperson, said that he could not verify the fate of the trucks seen in the video. But he added that Israeli officials “need to do more to hold actors like this accountable when action is taken that is inconsistent with what we know is important, which is getting more humanitarian aid into Gaza”.

“What I can say...humanitarian aid must not, and can not, be restricted, stopped or interefered with,” he said.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre also addressed the issue of aid convoys being blocked or harrassed on Thursday. “We remain concerned about ongoing limited operations at the Rafah boarding crossing,” she said.

“This level of aid remains insufficient,” said Jean-Pierre at her daily briefing. “And we want to continue to press Israel to increase the level of assistant moving into Gaza. I cannot speak to the prime minister or domestic politics that is for him to speak to, what I can speak to is what we have been working on doing, and how much we understand the importance of getting that humanitarian aid in. And that's what we've been doing.”

A video posted by Axios’s Barak Ravid on Twitter on Monday showed at least a dozen if not more Israelis throwing packages appearing to contain bottled water on the ground, smashing them, as they crossed from the West Bank into Israel, bound for Gaza. Other videos and news reports, such as one from Haaretz this week, have also indicated that truck drivers have been subject to assaults for participating in aid convoys.



The US continues to insist that these incidents (and the inability or unwillingness of Israeli security forces to stop them from occurring) do not amount to officially-sanctioned efforts by Israel’s government to restrict or halt the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, which would violate international law. But the State Department in particular has faced heavy criticism for that finding, in particular following the publication of a report last week which also found that in some “instances” Israeli forces could be reasonably found to have violated international humanitarian assistance laws.

In general, the Biden administration continues to tread a fine line on the issue of aid to Gaza and Israel’s treatment of Palestinian civilians. The US has repeatedly fought back against accusations that Israel (with US assistance) is committing a genocide in Gaza, and rejected the authority of an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into the matter. At the same time, White House and State Department officials have repeatedly publicly pressed Israel’s government to increase aid crossings and to take further steps aimed at protecting civilians from harm, while condemning rhetoric from rightwing Israeli politicians embracing the destruction of Gaza.

President Joe Biden drew his red line for Israel’s conduct in a recent interview with CNN, saying that he would halt the transfer of some weapons to Israel should a major military assault against the city of Rafah in southern Gaza begin. While violence has been reported in the area, State Department officials have told reporters that the Israeli operations in the area are limited and have thus far avoided population centres, skirting the president’s threat.

Israeli officials have pushed back against the US president’s warning and have vowed to move forward with an invasion of Rafah, where more than one million refugees have fled fighting that has utterly leveled large parts of Gaza’s north. More than 35,000 people, with over half being children, are thought to have been killed since the fighting began last year following a deadly Hamas terrorist attack in Israel that killed 1,152 people and resulted in hundreds being taken hostage by militants.

Over the weekend, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was questioned about the US’s handling of relations with Israel during an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press and denied that the US was avoiding more serious criticism for fear of angering a US ally.

“We don’t have double standards,” Blinken said.“We treat Israel, one of our closest allies and partners, just as we would treat any other country, including in assessing something like international humanitarian law, and its compliance with that law.”




‘Barbaric’: Palestinian lorry drivers recount settlers’ attack on Gaza aid convoy

Lorenzo Tondo, Sufian Taha and Jason Burke in Jerusalem

Thu, May 16, 2024 

A worker clears piles of spilled food parcels scattered across the ground in a lorry park.Photograph: Oren Ziv/AFP/Getty Images

Palestinian lorry drivers delivering aid to Gaza have described “barbaric” scenes after their vehicles were blocked and vandalised by Israeli settlers, preventing humanitarian supplies reaching the territory where much of the population face imminent starvation.

Drivers and contractors who were targeted on Monday at the Tarqumiya checkpoint in the occupied West Bank also said Israeli soldiers escorting the convoy did nothing to stop the attack.

The incident sparked international condemnation after videos emerged on social media that appeared to show Israeli settlers throwing boxes of much-needed supplies on the ground and at least one vehicle being set ablaze.

Yazid al-Zoubi, 26, said between 50 and 60 lorries had set out in the convoy.

“We were carrying oil, sugar and other things and driving from the Tarqumiya crossing,” he said. “We left in a convoy with an army vehicle in front of us and an army vehicle behind us, and we took a special army road that civilians could not cross. Suddenly, after 20 minutes on the road, near the crossing, we were surprised by at least 400 settlers. They attacked us. The rest of the drivers and I escaped from the vehicles after the settlers starting throwing stones at us.’’

Zoubi said the situation escalated when the settlers started breaking the windscreens of the lorries and piercing the tyres, then climbed on to the vehicles and threw packages of food into the road.

Aid agencies have described famine conditions in parts of Gazathat they have said have been caused by Israeli restrictions on aid entering the Palestinian territory. Humanitarian officials say the population of Gaza needs at least 500 daily lorryloads of food, fuel and other essentials but have received a fraction of that amount.

Zoubi said that during Monday’s attack the Israeli soldiers escorting the convoy stood back and watched as the settlers rampaged.

“We are shocked and surprised that the army did not provide us with any kind of protection,” he said. “Even though they were present and watching what was happening. The army was at the service of the settlers.’’

Zoubi said the drivers fled the scene but that when they returned later to retrieve their belongings, they were attacked by the settlers, some of whom were armed.

‘’At that point the army gathered us and ordered us to raise our hands on the walls,” he said. “The settlers were free to terrorise us. I have never been attacked so brutally before.

“The state of terror I experienced is indescribable. Even now I have nightmares at night. My psychological state is broken, I cannot think properly, I can’t sleep. I cannot work. We are not smugglers. We agreed to transport goods legally from the crossing under the watch and supervision of the Israeli authorities.”

Footage of the incident appears to show the Israeli soldiers taking no action against the settlers.

Haitham abu Khairo was also part of the aid convoy and the owner of one the lorries vandalised. He said he had lost approximately 250,000 Israeli shekels (£53,700) in the attack, which came after several trouble-free trips transporting aid for Gaza across the West Bank and Israel from the Jordanian border.

“I managed to escape but what happened is serious. The Israeli government must punish those who commit such an act with the most severe punishment. Because it will affect the country’s economy in the future, as many truck drivers will leave their jobs to ensure their safety,” he said.

The violence has prompted dozens of Palestinian drivers to refuse to transport supplies to Gaza. Adel Amer, a member of a hauliers’ union based in the West Bank, told Reuters about 15 lorries had been damaged in the attack and that the total damage amounted to about £1.6m.

Monday’s attack sparked strong condemnation from Israel’s allies. The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, described the incident as a “total outrage” while the UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, said it was “appalling”.

This month, the UK and EU imposed sanctions against Israeli settlers including some accused of violence towards Palestinians on the West Bank. The US has imposed sanctions on a handful of individuals and organisations linked to attacks on Palestinian civilians, with measures first announced in February then expanded twice in March and April.

The Israeli police said the incident, in which several people were arrested, was being investigated.

The Israeli military said it had worked throughout the seven-month war “to allow and facilitate the entry and delivery of extensive humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, out of its commitment to international humanitarian law”.

It added: “Each incident involving humanitarian aid convoys, facilities or personnel is being thoroughly examined, including those mentioned in the report, and according to the examination’s findings, lessons are learned and implemented in order to prevent reoccurrence of such incidents and if so required, command, disciplinary and other measures are taken against individuals responsible.”

Monday’s attack was claimed by a group calling itself Order 9, which said it had acted to stop supplies reaching Hamas and accused the Israeli government of giving “gifts” to the Islamist group.

It was not the first time that Israeli settlers have tried to stop the flow of aid to Gaza. Last week, demonstrators blocked a road near the desert town of Mitzpe Ramon to protest against the delivery of aid lorries into Gaza.

This year, there were frequent demonstrations at crossings from Israel into Gaza, which hindered aid shipments into the territory. In March, the international court of justice ordered Israel to allow unimpeded access of food aid into Gaza.

• The second video embedded in this article was amended on 16 May 2024. An earlier version said that a convoy of around 50 trucks carrying oil, sugar and other supplies was attacked by Israeli soldiers; this should have said Israeli settlers.Un.org
www.un.org/unispal/document/human-rights-council-hears-that-700000-israeli-settlers-are-living-illegally-in-the-occupied-west-bank-meeting-summary-excerpts/

***  Human Rights Council Hears that 700,000 Israeli Settlers are Living ...
Mar 28, 2023 ... These settlers lived illegally in 279 Israeli settlements across the occupied West Bank, including 14 settlements in the occupied East ...