Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Modi's Hindu nationalist politics face a test as India holds fifth stage of national election

PIYUSH NAGPAL and BISWAJEET BANERJEE
Updated Mon, May 20, 2024 



An Indian Hindu holy man shows his finger marked with indelible ink after casting his vote during the fifth round of multi-phase national elections outside a polling station in Ayodhya, India, Monday, May 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

AYODHYA, India (AP) — When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened a Hindu temple on the site of a razed mosque in the holy city of Ayodhya in early 2024, he was making a bet on mixing Hindu nationalism and politics ahead of a national election in which he's seeking a rare third term.

On Monday, that bet faced a test as the northern city swarmed with voters, many of them Hindu devotees, lining up in scorching heat as India began the fifth phase of its six-week-long staggered national election.

Modi’s Hindu nationalist politics have resonated with many supporters, and most polls show his Bharatiya Janata Party in the lead. But it’s not clear whether that fervor can carry him to victory as Indians face rising unemployment and inflation.

“Issues like unemployment, inflation, lack of security and the government’s attempts to muzzle dissent are glaring problems that the BJP has no answers to,” said Amarnath Agarwal, a political analyst.

The staggered election will run until June 1 and nearly 970 million eligible voters, more than 10% of the world’s population, will elect 543 members to the lower house of Parliament for five years. The votes are scheduled to be counted on June 4.

Monday’s polling, in constituencies across six states and two union territories, is crucial for the BJP, as it includes some of strongholds in states like Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Modi hopes to see high turnout in areas like Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya, where a controversial temple to the god Ram was built on the grounds of a centuries-old mosque razed by Hindu mobs in 1992. Its opening was seen as a political triumph for the populist leader, who is seeking to transform the country from a secular democracy into a Hindu state. It also fulfilled a longstanding demand of the majority Hindus.

But Agarwal, the political analyst, said excitement over the Hindu temple may not have translated into a significant political issue for the ruling party and it is “evident from the lack of interest among voters, reflected in a notably low turnout.”

Most poll surveys show Modi and his party leading in the race for the lower house of Parliament. However, it faces stiff resistance from the opposition, a broad opposition alliance led by the Indian National Congress and powerful regional parties, which has tapped into discontent over bread and butter issues.

In Ayodhya, where the temperature is expected to touch 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday, voters lined up early.

Sudha Pandey, a teacher, said she isn't sure whether opening of the temple will benefit Modi's party, but said the Hindu majority is extremely happy about it.

"Ram Temple is a matter of our faith. Our faith has been emboldened by it,” she said.

Shachindra Sharma, who also votes Monday, said while the temple was a matter of faith for many Hindus like him, he would vote for a party that upholds constitutional values.

“Why should the Ram Temple be a guiding factor for voters? Lord Ram is a matter of faith, while voting is a democratic process to elect a government. Is there any guarantee that a party advocating for the Ram Temple will provide security and lead the country towards progress?" Sharma said.

His wife, Renuka Sharma, disagreed, arguing that the temple remains a crucial deciding factor in polls.

“I will vote for the party that built the Ram Temple because Lord Ram is the biggest issue in this election," she said.

Modi’s party has made the temple central to its campaign.

Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in an election rally last week, said the choice between “devotees of Ram” and “anti-Ram forces” is the defining theme of the national election, referring to the opposition parties.


“You should vote for devotees of Ram because they are the people who built Ram Temple for you,” he said.

Modi has sometimes falsely accused opposition parties of attempting to overturn the court’s verdict that allowed its construction. On Friday, he claimed that if the opposition comes to power it will raze the temple.

During election campaign, Modi has also increasingly used anti-Muslim rhetoric in his speeches. He has called Muslims “infiltrators,” insinuated that they produce more children and accused the opposition parties of planning to loot wealth from the country’s Hindus and redistribute it among Muslims.

Modi's speeches have triggered widespread criticism from the opposition, prompting him to distance himself from his comments in a series of interviews with the press. In a recent interview with News18 TV channel he denied using divisive rhetoric, and said the day he did so "I will be unworthy of public office.” He has nonetheless gone on to repeat the same rhetoric in election speeches since.

Monday’s polling will also see opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, the scion of the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty, facing voters in the Rae Bareli constituency in Uttar Pradesh state.

Gandhi also ran for office in Wayanad in southern India, which has already voted. India allows candidates to contest multiple constituencies, but they can represent only one. If he wins both, he will choose one and the other will hold a new election.

___

Banerjee reported from Lucknow, India.


As Indians Vote, Modi’s Party Misleads Online

Chad de Guzman
TIME
Tue, May 21, 2024 

A screenshot from a digital poster shared by BJP-affiliated social media accounts. Credit - X

Amid India’s weekslong election, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants voters to know that it’s about action, not talk.

“Congress will say, BJP will do,” a poster shared recently by state- and district-level BJP accounts on social media asserted, referring to the opposition Indian National Congress (or Congress Party).

The campaign poster features an image of Modi in front of an elevated metro-railway and touts the expansion of transit services in India over the last decade as evidence of the BJP’s can-do spirit and results-oriented governance. Except, the background photo isn’t of anything the BJP did. In fact, it’s not a train or railway in India at all.

Indian nonpartisan news outlet Alt News identified the misleading background as a free online stock image of Jurong East station in Singapore. (TIME can confirm that the background is of the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit system, which was apparently digitally manipulated to hide the SMRT logo from the front of the train and its side door.)


Stock photo described as “free HD photo of train, grey, singapore, and wallpaper.”shawnanggg/Unsplash

It’s the latest example of the flood of disinformation and misinformation spreading in the country, particularly around political discourse. India’s elections of 2019 were already dogged by concerns of rampant false information, but experts say the problem has only intensified—fueled by the growth of generative artificial intelligence as well as the failure of tech companies and social media platforms to enforce safeguards.

And though false information has been detected across the political spectrum—from deepfakes of Bollywood stars endorsing the opposition to video of a single person casting multiple ballots (shared out of context from a training mock exercise) that casts doubt on the integrity of the election—the BJP has been notorious for its cyber armies and organized social media manipulation efforts.

Read More: All the Elections Around the World in 2024

An April report found that the BJP uses “shadow advertisers” to spread ads in support of Modi, many of which are propaganda targeting the general opposition and/or hate-based. But while much of the disinformation and misinformation appeals to an undercurrent of Hindu nationalism, as employment has become perhaps the most salient election issue this year, the BJP and its supporters have also inflated the party’s economic achievements under Modi’s rule.

In the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Risks Report, India was the only country where surveyed experts ranked misinformation and disinformation as its greatest threat—even greater than extreme weather, or infectious diseases, or economic downturn.

Business and Bollywood vote in India's election
AFP
Mon, May 20, 2024 


India's financial capital Mumbai began voting Monday when six-week national elections resumed (Punit PARANJPE)

A parade of India's business and entertainment elite –- many of them supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- went to the polls Monday as the financial capital Mumbai voted in the latest round of the country's election.

But turnout in the fifth round of the mammoth democratic exercise fell to its lowest so far, election commission figures showed, as parts of the country sweltered under a heatwave that saw temperatures soar to 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit).

Modi, 73, is widely expected to win a third term when the election concludes early next month, thanks in large part to his aggressive championing of India's majority Hindu faith.

"My vote is for the BJP and Modi," said Deepak Mahajan, 42, who works in banking. "There is no other choice if you care about the future of the economy and business."

Big conglomerates have provided Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a campaign war chest that dwarfs its rivals, while Bollywood stars have backed its ideological commitment to more closely align the country's majority religion and its politics.

The BJP received $730 million in five years from leading companies and wealthy businesspeople through electoral bonds, a contentious political donation tool since ruled illegal by India's top court, making it by far the biggest single beneficiary.

Conglomerate owners support Modi's government because it caters to the needs of India's "existing oligarchic business elite", Deepanshu Mohan of OP Jindal Global University told AFP.

Lower corporate taxes, less red tape and cutting "municipal regulatory corruption" have also helped Modi win corporate titans' affection, he said.

N. Chandrasekaran, the chairman of Tata Sons, a sprawling Indian conglomerate with interests ranging from cars and software to salt and tea, cast his ballot at a polling station in an upper-class Mumbai neighbourhood.

"It's a great privilege to have the opportunity to vote," he told reporters.

Asia's richest man, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, voted at the same polling station, posing to show reporters his ink-stained finger.

Anand Mahindra, chairman of the eponymous automaker, told news agency PTI after voting: "If you look at the world around us, there is so much uncertainty, there is such instability, there's terror, there's war.

"And we are in the middle of a stable democracy where we get a chance to vote peacefully, to decide what kind of government we want. It's a blessing."

- Bollywood stars -

Modi's popularity is founded on his image as a champion of Hinduism, rather than an economy still characterised by widespread unemployment and income inequality.

This year he presided over the inauguration of a grand temple to the deity Ram, built on the grounds of a centuries-old mosque in Ayodhya razed by Hindu zealots in 1992.

Construction of the temple fulfilled a longstanding demand of Hindu activists and was widely celebrated across the country with back-to-back television coverage and street parties.

The ceremony was attended by hundreds of eminent Indians including Ambani, whose family donated $300,000 to the temple's trust, along with cricket hero and Mumbai native Sachin Tendulkar, and Bollywood film star Amitabh Bachchan.

Numerous actors backed Modi's administration since swept to office a decade ago.

Soap actor turned government minister Smriti Irani beat India's most prominent opposition leader Rahul Gandhi to win her seat at the last election in 2019.

Filmmakers have produced several provocative and ideologically charged films to match the ruling party's sectarian messaging, which critics say deliberately maligns India's 200-million-plus Muslim minority.

But some in Mumbai, like delivery driver Sunil Kirti voted for the opposition Congress party.

"In the past year I am earning less, but prices of basic essentials... food and vegetables have gone up," said Kirti, 29. "Who is to blame for that?"

- Heatwave returns -

India votes in seven phases over six weeks to ease the immense logistical burden of staging an election in the world's most populous country, with more than 968 million people on the roll.

Monday's polling took place as parts of India endured their second heatwave in three weeks, with temperatures soaring to 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit).

Turnout reached just 57.5 percent according to the election commission, its lowest so far.

"Voters came out in large numbers braving hot weather in many parts of the states that went for polls today," it said, but the numbers were down almost 12 percent on the previous phase on Friday.

Fewer than half of registered electors -- 48.9 percent -- went to the polling stations in Maharastra, the state which has Mumbai as its capital.

Constituencies in cities including Mumbai, Thane and Nashik in Maharashtra and Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, "continued the trend of urban apathy" from the last election in 2019, the commission said.

Scientific research shows climate change is causing heatwaves to become longer, more frequent and more intense, with Asia warming faster than the global average.

Turnout was already down from the previous vote, with analysts blaming widespread expectations of a Modi victory as well as the heat.

asv-ash/slb/dw


Bollywood and billionaires: India’s rich and famous cast their vote in the world’s largest election

Rhea Mogul, CNN
Tue, May 21, 2024 

Celebrities, industrialists and politicians cast their vote in the world’s biggest democracy as polls opened in India’s financial capital during a weekslong nationwide election, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking another five-year term.

Voting took place in six constituencies across Mumbai in the western state of Maharashtra, and 43 others nationwide, on Monday as millions flocked to polling booths to determine who will lead the world’s most populous country.

Across India’s richest city and the birthplace of the Bollywood movie industry, a bevy of celebrities were photographed casting their ballot, showing off purple-streaked index fingers – a sign that determines one has voted in an Indian election.

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, along with his family, leaves a polling booth after casting his ballot in Mumbai on May 20, 2024. - Sujit Jaiswal/AFP/Getty Images

The “King of Bollywood” Shah Rukh Khan was seen leaving a Mumbai polling booth with his family – wife Gauri, daughter Suhana, and sons Aryan and Abram. Elsewhere, one of India’s most famous actors, Amitabh Bachchan, also cast his vote at a polling booth in the suburb of Andheri.

“As responsible Indian citizens we must exercise our right to vote this Monday in Maharashtra,” Khan wrote on X over the weekend. “Let’s carry out our duty as Indians and vote keeping our country’s best interests in mind. Go forth Promote, our right to Vote.”

Film stars Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh, who are expecting their first child this year, were also pictured, as well as billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani with his wife, Nita and son Akash.

Bollywood actors Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone arrive to cast their ballots at a polling station in Mumbai on May 20, 2024. - Sujit Jaiswal/AFP/Getty Images

After casting his vote on Monday, actor Akshay Kumar said he wanted to see India become “developed and strong.”

Showing his ink-stained finger to local reporters, he added: “I voted… India should vote for what they deem is right…I think voter turnout will be good.”

Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan shows her inked finger after casting her ballot at a polling station in Mumbai on May 20, 2024. - Stringer/AFP/Getty Images

Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan at a polling station in Mumbai on May 20, 2024. - Stringer/AFP/Getty Images

But in keeping with previous elections, voter turnout in Mahrashtra on Monday remained low at 54% — with 47-55% across Mumbai’s six constituencies — according to data from the Election Commission. By comparison, in the northeastern state of West Bengal, some 73% of eligible voters cast their ballot, data showed.

The key election players in the city are Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition Indian National Congress, and two rival factions of Shiv Sena — a local ultranationalist grouping that has long played a key role in Mumbai’s politics.

Residents queue to cast their vote on May 20, 2024 in Mumbai, India. - Satish Bate/Hindustan Times/Getty Images

Mumbai, a city of more than 12 million, is often likened to New York and referred to as the “city of dreams,” where millions of migrants from across the country arrive to make their fortune and find purpose.

It’s a city of extreme wealth and extreme poverty, where skyscrapers tower over slum dwellings and poor children beg for money at the windows of chauffeur-driven cars carrying students to school.

And while the rich and famous were seen casting their vote, many migrant workers in the city will be left out of the election.

Voters wait to cast their vote in Chandivali, Mumbai, on May 20, 2024. - Satish Bate/Hindustan Times/Getty Images

Under India’s election rules, eligible voters can only cast ballots in their constituencies – meaning those working outside of their state have to return home to vote. For many out-of-state workers, especially underprivileged daily-wage workers in the unorganized sector, that’s nearly impossible, due to the cost associated with traveling home.

Many voters in Mumbai are concerned with growing inflation and are seeking better education and employment opportunities.

“The change I want to see is, things should become less costly,” 34-year-old grocer Sachin Chaudhary, previously told CNN, adding he also wants to see better opportunities in the employment sector.

CNN’s Jessie Yeung contributed reporting.

Analysis-As Modi faces resistance, fatigue in India election, parent group steps in



India's PM Modi holds an election campaign rally in New Delhi



By Rupam Jain and Rajendra Jadhav
Sun, May 19, 2024

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - As Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces voter fatigue and some resistance from a resurgent opposition in India's mammoth general election, foot soldiers of his party's Hindu nationalist parent have stepped in to help regain momentum, insiders said.

With less than two weeks left of a six-week voting schedule, voter turnout has been lower than previous elections, raising concern within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that some of its core supporters were staying away.

Modi's party, chasing a rare third term in office, has also faced stronger opposition than anticipated in a handful of states, leading election experts and Indian financial markets to adjust forecasts of a landslide win.

With no exit polls allowed until all the voting is completed on June 1, it's difficult to judge how well or poorly candidates are faring. But most analysts say Modi should be able to retain a majority in the 543-seat parliament when votes are counted on June 4.

"The trend is suggesting that Modi will be back in power with a reduced majority," said Rasheed Kidwai, a visiting fellow at the Observer Research Foundation think tank.

But he added: "Any shortfall of a clear mandate of 300 seats for BJP will reflect poorly on Modi."

At the start of the campaign, Modi was projected to win up to three-fourths of the seats, with the opposition led by Rahul Gandhi, the scion of the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty, a distant second.

After the first two phases of voting, though, analysts and political workers said the chances of the BJP getting above 362 seats, the two-thirds majority required to bring changes in the constitution, had been affected.

One reason the opposition is clawing back ground is the fading of the euphoria in India's Hindu majority when Modi inaugurated a temple in January on a site disputed with the country's minority Muslims.

Bread and butter issues seem to be replacing religious fervour in many parts of the country.

Jobless youth in northern Haryana state have held street protests against the BJP during the campaign and in western Maharashtra, farmers incensed over a ban on onion exports canvassed support for an opposition candidate.

In the big, battleground state of Bihar, a BJP lawmaker has defected to the opposition Congress party saying the poor have been left behind in India's world-beating economic growth.

Some of the unhappiness is resulting in a swing to the opposition or in apathy, analysts have said.

"The decline in voting has been a cause of concern in recent weeks and we have been working to bring a shift in the numbers," said Rajiv Tuli, an official at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Hindu group that is the ideological parent of the BJP.

"Meetings, outreach campaigns and even a renewed push to remind voters about ensuring a full-majority government comes to power did become critical after the first phase of voting."

GO OUT AND VOTE

RSS volunteers are hosting neighbourhood meetings in their homes to persuade people to go out and vote, said Ritesh Agarwal, the senior publicity official for the group in the New Delhi region.

Three national spokespersons of the BJP said they were aware that the RSS was working to help improve voter turnout but declined comment on how this would affect the BJP.

"I don't think there is any sense that BJP is in a weak position," said spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla, adding that a low turnout affected all parties and that voter numbers had increased after the first two phases.

In Haryana, some youngsters have criticised a government decision to cut back on recruitment to the military and switch to temporary commissions to control a bloated defence budget. Jobs are so scarce, residents say, that people are lining up for employment in Israel which has turned to India to plug a labour shortage following the war in Gaza.

"We see no future for ourselves," said 28-year old Kuldeep Singh in the northern state's Jahangirpur village, where black ink was smeared on walls displaying Modi's campaign slogans.

Ganesh Wadhwan, a farmer in Maharashtra's Dindori constituency said he sought funds for opposition candidate Bhaskar Bhagare ahead of the vote there on Monday to punish the Modi government for blocking onion exports.

"We believed Modi would double our income as promised. But instead, our incomes have halved," said Wadhwan.

Some analysts say there is also considerable disapproval of the government in Bihar, one of India's poorest states which has fallen behind as incomes climb in other parts of the country.

Together, Maharashtra, Bihar and Haryana account for nearly 100 seats in parliament, but it was not clear how far the discontent had spread there or in other parts of the country.

The opposition has said its campaign rallies are drawing good crowds and Gandhi, the alliance leader, is predicting it will unseat the BJP and form the government.

India's stock markets fell sharply last Monday on the possibility of political instability before recovering later in the week.

The underground betting market is currently predicting that the BJP will win fewer than 300 seats but well clear of the 272 required for a majority, according to a trader who runs one of the betting pools.

He declined to be identified as these pools are illegal.

Yashwant Deshmukh, founder of polling agency CVoter Foundation, said all the evidence pointed to Modi winning.

"Jobs and unemployment are huge issues but not really an electoral issue. When we asked who will give a solution to these problems - jobs, inflation, unemployment and the economic situation - Modi’s score was 2:1 over Rahul Gandhi."

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar in ROHTAK, Rupam Jain, Rajendra Jadhav, Shivangi Acharya and Nimesh Vora; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)


Mumbai Votes in India’s Election as Opposition Gets Boost

Saikat Das and Swati Gupta
Mon, May 20, 2024 







(Bloomberg) -- Voters in India’s financial capital Mumbai — home to billionaires, film stars and millions of slum dwellers — went to the polls on Monday, with the opposition alliance making a renewed push to break Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hold on power.

Voting is taking place in six constituencies in Mumbai as well as 43 others across the country in phase five of India’s seven-phase elections. Nationwide polls began on April 19 and will run until June 1, with almost 1 billion eligible voters choosing candidates for the 543 seats in the lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha. Results are expected on June 4.

Financial markets in India were closed Monday due to a public holiday in Mumbai to allow residents to vote.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was predicting a big majority win in India’s election, but a slight drop in voter turnout and media reports of a tight contest in some areas have raised questions about the party’s support. The BJP is facing an opposition alliance of more than 20 parties, which has been given a renewed boost recently following the release on bail of popular leader Arvind Kejriwal from jail.

He’s since criss-crossed the country to drum up support for the opposition alliance and criticize Modi’s government. Speaking to supporters in Delhi on Sunday, Kejriwal urged them to vote for the opposition, saying there was “anger everywhere” in the country because of inflation and high youth unemployment.

In Mumbai, voters are concerned about crumbling infrastructure and poor public transport that clogs up the city’s roads and sometimes results in tragic accidents, like the collapse last week of a massive billboard in a freak storm, killing 16 people. Voters in the city are also notoriously apathetic, with turnout reaching only 54% in the last election in 2019.

At 5 p.m. on Monday, average voter turnout had reached almost 56.7% for the fifth phase of polls in the country, according to the Election Commission of India.

“Mumbai is a maximum city where business, infrastructure and livelihood related issues play a bigger role as compared to any other social topics,” said Pradeep Gupta, a psephologist and the founder of Axis My India. “Overall, this year I expect the voting turnout to be better than 2019 as voters are more politically conscious than ever.”

The BJP along with regional allies have nominated prominent candidates in two constituencies in the city: Trade Minister Piyush Goyal and Ujjwal Nikam, the prosecutor in the trial against the 2008 Mumbai attackers.

A former bank director, Goyal is running for office for the first time and has spent the past few weeks holding roadshows and rallies in the congested Mumbai North constituency. He was previously appointed to the upper house of parliament three times.

Elections in Maharashtra state, where Mumbai is located, have been fairly predictable until 2019 with the regional Shiv Sena party dominating in alliance with the BJP. The state is now one of the biggest wild cards in 2024 with the Shiv Sena splitting and another regional party also dividing, resulting in family members fighting each other and party veterans resigning posts or campaigning for age-old rivals.

In Uttar Pradesh state, Rahul Gandhi of the main opposition Indian National Congress will contest elections from the Raebareli constituency, a seat held by his mother Sonia for four terms. Voting will also take place in Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh, a seat that Rahul Gandhi previously won in three elections before losing in 2019 to Smriti Irani, a cabinet minister.

“My family and I have a 100-year-old relationship with the people here,” Gandhi told supporters in Raebareli on May 17, flanked by his mother and sister Priyanka. “My home is in the hearts of the people of Raebareli and in the hearts of all Indians.”

With just 12 days of campaigning left for the remaining two phases of elections, political parties are organizing three to four rallies a day for their senior leaders. Voting in phase six of the election takes place on May 25, when voters in the capital Delhi go to the polls.

Voting also takes places in these key constituencies on Monday:

In Baramulla in Jammu & Kashmir, the former chief minister Omar Abdullah is contesting against two other regional parties. The BJP has chosen not to contest any of the three seats in the Muslim-majority region of Kashmir


In Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress party is fielding loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma to wrest control back from the BJP


Defense Minister Rajnath Singh will be contesting from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. He has been elected thrice to the lower house and has served three terms in the upper house of parliament

(Updates with average voter turnout in seventh paragraph.)

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I slept in my car and showered in the factory to work 12-hour shifts at Tesla. I still got laid off after 5 years.

Beatrice Nolan
Sun, May 19, 2024 

Nico Murillo was laid off from Tesla after five yearsNico Murillo

Nico Murillo, a former Tesla production supervisor, was laid off after five years at the company.


Murillo lived in his car in the factory's parking lot for a year to save commuting time.


Murillo said the layoffs came as a surprise, but he's trying to be optimistic.

This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Nico Murillo, a former production supervisor at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I started at Tesla in 2019 as an entry-level production associate.

I worked my way up at the company for over five years, eventually becoming a production supervisor.
ADVERTISEMENT


Half a decade felt like a long time to work at one place, so when the layoffs came in April, they were a total shock.

When I received the email stating that my position had been eliminated, I was already on my way to work.

I decided to try my badge on the turnstile in case it was a scam or a mistake, but a security guard confiscated it and told me I'd be affected by the job cuts.

I just walked back to my car in shock. It felt like a nightmare.
Camping in the car park

I worked really hard while I was at Tesla and wanted to be as efficient and productive as possible.

My shifts at Tesla were long, normally lasting around 12 hours. As I was working a salaried job, I sometimes needed to stay even longer to get things done.

In 2021, I started sleeping in my car and showering in the factory to avoid my lengthy commute.

I just felt like I needed more time to sleep — the job felt like being an industrial athlete because we were constantly moving. I needed more rest to be productive, efficient, and friendly at work. I decided it would be easier to stay at the factory and cut out my hour-and-a-half commute.

My coworkers were surprised when I told them I was sleeping in my car — it definitely turned heads as it wasn't normalized in the culture.

I was camping in the car between my work shifts for a whole year. My shift patterns alternated between three and four days a week, so it felt doable and put me in a better headspace.

I did a lot of research on how to design my Model Y Tesla to be in "camp mode." I realized I could live at the factory between my shifts as there were showers and a bathroom.

It was pretty comfortable and fun to create. In camp mode, the Model Y can stay at 70 degrees Fahrenheit the whole night, so you don't have to worry about it being too cold or hot.

Being awake and efficient at work was a priority for me. I needed more rest to achieve this, so cutting out my commute really helped.

When the weather got worse around December, I stopped sleeping in my car because it made it a lot more difficult. To get to the bathroom, I had to get out of my car and walk into the facility and back without getting everything wet.
'Grief moment'

Working at Tesla taught me that you have to pivot quickly in life.

You can't dwell on things or complain because that doesn't get you anywhere. When I found out I'd been laid off, it felt like a grief moment. I was in disbelief.

As I sat in my car outside the factory, it began to settle in. It hit me that I'd spent five years here, bonding with coworkers and camping in this parking lot.

In any negative situation, like a layoff, you can't control the outside events or your initial response. I've been trying to take a half-glass-full approach and think about everything I have time to do now I'm no longer working so hard at Tesla.

It's been about a month since I was laid off, and I've been seeing a lot of people in the EV industry being impacted by layoffs. It feels like it's happening to a lot of people.

Being laid off didn't change my opinion of Tesla. I still really resonate with its mission and what the company is trying to do. I worked hard for them, but that does not mean I plan to give up being a hard worker.

Right now, I'm a store manager at GNC, but going forward, I'm planning to grow my YouTube channel and I'm planning to move into my car full-time.
Amal Clooney silences TikTok critics after revealing secret work with ICC to prosecute Gaza war crimes

Mike Bedigan
Mon, May 20, 2024 

Angry TikTok critics who accused Amal Clooney of being “too busy” to speak out publicly about the war in Gaza were proved ironically somewhat correct on Monday, after it was revealed that she had been instead secretly working with the International Criminal Court for an arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister for possible war crimes.

For months, pro-Palestine social media users have been furious that Ms Clooney, an international human rights lawyer and wife of actor George, had not made public statements on the crisis in Gaza, declaring that she was a “disappointment.” Since the Met Gala, a mass unfollowing and blocking of celebrities who had not spoken out about the atrocities has been underway, dubbed #Blockout2024, with millions of people unfollowing influencers such as Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift.

Then on Monday, Ms Clooney published an expert report supporting ICC calls for arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as several Hamas leaders, over alleged war crimes. She also issued a statement saying that she did not provide “running commentary” on her work, which obviously had to remain secret due to the delicate legal nature of her work — but that hadn’t stopped social media from its own.


On TikTok, one woman accused her in January of “turning her back on the Palestinian cause” and caring more about her fashion industry endeavors and “celebrity status” than justice in the Middle East.

“Amal Clooney is nowhere to be found… this broad actually said her caseload was full,” said one user, in a video posted in December. “She’s as bad an actor as her husband... Your name means ‘hope’ — guessing you hoped we’d forget about you huh?” The video has since been viewed over 75,000 times.

Amal Clooney, international human rights lawyer and wife of Hollywood star George Clooney, had been criticised online for her perceived lack of comment on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East (Alberto Pezzali/Invision/AP)

“She’s another one that bites the dust badly,” said another user, in a video in February. “If a Lebanese… who has made it her life’s work to defend people against human rights abuses, can’t bring herself to say anything publicly… it really screams the question ‘is her Hollywood status really more important to her than saying something?’”

Ms Clooney is a British barrister born to Lebanese parents, and her maternal grandmother had Palestinian roots. In an online statement published Monday, Ms Clooney explained how she’d gotten involved in looking into possible war crimes in Gaza: “More than four months ago, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court asked me to assist him with evaluating evidence of suspected war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel and Gaza.

“I agreed and joined a panel of international legal experts to undertake this task. Together we have engaged in an extensive process of evidence review and legal analysis including at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.”

She added: “My approach is not to provide a running commentary of my work but to let the work speak for itself. I hope that witnesses will cooperate with the ongoing investigation. And I hope that justice will prevail in a region that has already suffered too much.”

Following the statements, some in the TikTok community pointed out that the “dragging” of Ms Clooney online had perhaps been “a little bit too much”.

In a video titled “Maybe a lot of you need to apologize to Amal Clooney now?” one user highlighted that Ms Clooney had been doing “incredibly important work” behind the scenes for the ICC, which meant she could not comment publicly.

“I know it’s really easy to think that speaking out is everything but when it comes to international law… speaking out is for people who can… and I think we have to just be a little bit mindful that it doesn’t always work like that for everyone,” the user said.

Earlier this month social media users called out celebrities for perceived inaction over the war in Gaza, staging a “blockout” to pressure the stars to take a stand. Ms Clooney was not specifically targeted in the blockout, but social media users have condemned online attacks on Ms Clooney on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“A timely reminder that performative activity on social media is not ‘action’,” wrote one user. “Amal Clooney has been dragged continuously for the past few months for supposedly being silent on Gaza. She was diligently doing her actual job and making a tangible difference in the real world.”


Amal Clooney supports ICC’s decision to seek arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders

Tara John, CNN
Mon, May 20, 2024 


Human rights attorney Amal Clooney is among a group of legal experts who advised the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor to seek arrest warrants against the top leaders of Israel and Hamas.

The panel was convened by the ICC prosecutor Karim Khan and tasked to review the evidence and legal analysis underpinning his application for warrants against three Hamas leaders and two Israeli politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

It issued a detailed legal report on Monday, which said the panel found “reasonable grounds to believe” that the individuals named in the arrest warrants have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity.

Clooney, who has represented victims of mass atrocities, faced online criticism prior to her announcement for not speaking about Israel’s siege on Gaza. In a statement shared on her Clooney Foundation for Justice website on Monday, she explained how she had found herself advising Khan.

“More than four months ago, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court asked me to assist him with evaluating evidence of suspected war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel and Gaza,” the statement said. “I agreed and joined a panel of international legal experts to undertake this task.”

She said the panel’s findings were “unanimous” despite their diverse backgrounds. “I served on this panel because I believe in the rule of law and the need to protect civilian lives. The law that protects civilians in war was developed more than 100 years ago and it applies in every country in the world regardless of the reasons for a conflict,” Clooney said in the statement.

The eight-person legal panel consisted of renowned legal experts, including Theodor Meron, former President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and Lord Justice Fulford, a former ICC judge. They “unanimously determined” that the court had jurisdiction over crimes committed in Palestinian territories and by Palestinian nationals, Clooney’s statement wrote.

The panel also was unanimous in concluding that “Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, including hostage-taking, murder and crimes of sexual violence.”

Clooney’s statement added there was also “reasonable grounds to believe” Netanyahu and “Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity including starvation as a method of warfare, murder, persecution and extermination.”

A panel of ICC judges will now consider Khan’s application for the arrest warrants.

Both Hamas and Israeli politicians condemned the arrest warrants, with Netanyahu calling it a “travesty of justice” and an “outrageous decision” that “creates a twisted and false moral equivalence between the leaders of Israel and the henchmen of Hamas.”

The application for warrants marks the first time the ICC has targeted the top leader of a close ally of the United States. Israel and the US are not members of the ICC. However, the ICC claims to have jurisdiction over Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank after Palestinian leaders formally agreed to be bound by the court’s founding principles in 2015.

The Biden administration on Monday forcefully denounced the ICC’s move, with President Joe Biden saying in a statement: “Whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas.”

Clooney, who is a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London and an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School, is married to the actor George Clooney. Alongside her husband, she co-founded the Clooney Foundation for Justice, which gives free legal support to victims of abuses of power, according to its website.

She has represented Yazidi victims of genocide “in the only three genocide cases against ISIS members in the world,” according to the website. She also was counsel to victims of genocide in Sudan’s Darfur and “helped to secure freedom for political prisoners around the world including journalists and opposition figures.”

CNN’s Ivana Kottasová contributed to this report.


Amal Clooney Approved War Crime Arrest Warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu

Dan Ladden-Hall
Mon, May 20, 2024 

Kena Betancur/Getty Images and Reuters/Nic Bothma

The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor on Monday said that he has requested a warrant for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders.

Karim Khan, the prosecutor, said he is filing the application for the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza. The warrants for the Hamas leaders—Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, and Ismail Haniyeh—relate to the Oct. 7 attacks in southern Israel and the subsequent treatment of the hostages kidnapped during the assault.

The warrant applications will now be considered by a panel of ICC judges. The requests alone are significant, however, with the court targeting the leader of one of the U.S.’ close allies for the first time, according to CNN.

A group of lawyers based in the U.K.—including Amal Clooneysaid they had been approached by Khan to advise on the warrant applications and had given their unanimous approval.

“The Panel... unanimously agrees that the evidence presented by the prosecutor provides reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Israel’s minister of defence Yoav Gallant have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity,” Clooney and the other legal advisors wrote in an op-ed published by the Financial Times.

In a statement, Khan said evidence collected and examined by his office gave him “reasonable grounds to believe” that Netanyahu and Gallant “bear criminal responsibility” for crimes including the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population, and “extermination and/or murder.”

The Hamas leaders are also suspected of extermination and murder, with Khan further seeking arrest warrants against the trio for hostage-taking, torture, and “rape and other acts of sexual violence as crimes against humanity.”

Sinwar is the leader of Hamas in Gaza. Al-Masri, commonly known as Mohammed Deif, is the head of the group’s military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, while Haniyeh leads the Hamas Political Bureau. Khan said there are reasonable grounds to believe that all three are “criminally responsible for the killing of hundreds of Israeli civilians in attacks perpetrated by Hamas… on 7 October 2023 and the taking of at least 245 hostages.”

Khan also said that his office is of the view that they “have through their own actions, including personal visits to hostages shortly after their kidnapping, acknowledged their responsibility for those crimes.” He said he’d heard from survivors of the Oct. 7 attacks about “how the love within a family, the deepest bonds between a parent and a child, were contorted to inflict unfathomable pain through calculated cruelty and extreme callousness.” “These acts demand accountability,” he said.

The prosecutor also said there are grounds to believe hostages taken during the attack have been “kept in inhumane conditions, and that some have been subject to sexual violence, including rape, while being held in captivity.” That suspicion, he said, is based on medical records, documentary evidence, and interviews with victims and survivors.

The allegations against Netanyahu and Gallant, Khan claims, relate to crimes “committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population pursuant to State policy.” “These crimes, in our assessment, continue to this day,” he said.

Khan claimed evidence shows that Israel has “intentionally and systematically deprived the civilian population in all parts of Gaza of objects indispensable to human survival” through the siege of the enclave which has prevented essential supplies from entering.

“This took place alongside other attacks on civilians, including those queuing for food; obstruction of aid delivery by humanitarian agencies; and attacks on and killing of aid workers, which forced many agencies to cease or limit their operations in Gaza,” Khan said.

The prosecutor acknowledged that Israel, like all states, has the right to take action to defend its population. “That right, however, does not absolve Israel or any State of its obligation to comply with international humanitarian law,” Khan said, alleging that Israel has sought to achieve its military goals through “criminal” means including intentionally causing death, starvation, and suffering.

“Today we once again underline that international law and the laws of armed conflict apply to all,” Khan said. “No foot soldier, no commander, no civilian leader—no one—can act with impunity. Nothing can justify wilfully depriving human beings, including so many women and children, the basic necessities required for life. Nothing can justify the taking of hostages or the targeting of civilians.”

Neither Israel nor the U.S. are members of the ICC. If the warrants are granted, however, those targeted could face arrest if they travel to any of the 124 nations which are—including most of Europe.

Netanyahu has not immediately responded to the application. Last month, when reports emerged that the ICC could seek warrants against Israel’s top officials over war crimes, Netanyahu said such warrants “would be an outrage of historic proportions.”

 The Daily Beast.



How Amal Clooney advised ICC prosecutor to seek arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Hamas leaders

Gabriella Ferrigine
Mon, May 20, 2024 

Amal Clooney Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images


Amal Clooney was among a group of lawyers based in the U.K. to advise the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor in issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders — Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, and Ismail Haniyeh.

Prosecutor Karim Khan said on Monday that the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant would be in relation to war crimes committed in Gaza, while the warrants for the Hamas leaders would be issued in connection to the Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel and the subsequent treatment of those taken hostage, as noted by The Daily Beast.

“The Panel . . . unanimously agrees that the evidence presented by the prosecutor provides reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Israel’s minister of defence Yoav Gallant have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity,” Clooney and other legal advisers wrote in an op-ed published by the Financial Times.

Clooney, who is married to actor George Clooney, is an accomplished human rights lawyer — as one X/Twitter user noted, she has been since "before George came along." Comedians Tiny Fey and Amy Poehler memorably jested at Clooney's legal and ethical accomplishments being overshadowed by her husband's celebrity status at the 2015 Golden Globes awards.

"Amal is a human rights lawyer who worked on the Enron case, was an advisor to Kofi Annan regarding Syria, and was selected for a three-person UN commission investigating rules of war violations in the Gaza strip," Fey said. "So tonight her husband is getting a lifetime achievement award."

Explainer-What happens after ICC prosecutor seeks warrants in Israel-Gaza conflict?


Updated Mon, May 20, 2024 

FILE PHOTO: Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, in Jerusalem

By Stephanie van den Berg

THE HAGUE (Reuters) -The International Criminal Court prosecutor's office has requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence chief, and also for three Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Here is a look at what happens next, and how the ICC prosecutor's move might impact diplomatic relations and other court cases focused on Gaza.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT AT ICC?

Prosecutor Karim Khan's request goes to a pre-trial chamber. The chamber will be composed of three magistrates: presiding judge Iulia Motoc of Romania, Mexican judge Maria del Socorro Flores Liera and judge Reine Alapini-Gansou of Benin.

There is no deadline for judges to decide whether to issue arrest warrants. In previous cases, judges have taken anywhere from just over a month to several months.

If the judges agree there are "reasonable grounds" to believe war crimes or crimes against humanity have been committed, they will issue an arrest warrant. The warrant must name the person, the specific crimes for which an arrest is sought and a statement of facts which are alleged to constitute those crimes.

Judges can amend arrest warrant requests and grant only portions of what the prosecutor is seeking. Charges can also be changed and updated later.

Israeli and Hamas leaders have dismissed allegations of committing war crimes, and representatives of both sides criticised Khan's decision.

WILL NETANYAHU AND THE HAMAS LEADERS BE ARRESTED?

The ICC's founding Rome statute combined with jurisprudence from past cases involving arrest warrants against sitting heads of state oblige all 124 ICC signatory states to arrest and hand over any individual subject to an ICC arrest warrant if they set foot on their territory.

However, the court has no means to enforce an arrest. The sanction for not arresting someone is a referral back to the ICC's assembly of member states and ultimately a referral to the U.N. Security Council.

CAN AN ICC INVESTIGATION OR WARRANT BE PAUSED?

The court's rules allow for the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution that would pause or defer an investigation or a prosecution for a year, with the possibility of renewing that indefinitely.

In past cases where a state has ignored its obligation to arrest an individual facing an ICC warrant, they have received a procedural slap on the wrist at most.

Israel or the Palestinian authorities could also formally petition the office of the prosecutor to defer the case because they are investigating or prosecuting the same people for substantially the same alleged criminal acts themselves.

The prosecutor would then need to pause the case and review if the state which requested the deferral is indeed carrying out a genuine investigation. If the prosecutor deems the national investigations are not sufficient, he can apply for judges to reopen the investigation.

CAN NETANYAHU AND HAMAS CHIEF YAHYA SINWAR STILL TRAVEL?

Yes they can. Neither the application for a warrant nor the issuance of an ICC arrest warrant curbs an individual's freedom to travel. However, once an arrest warrant has been issued, they risk arrest if they travel to an ICC signatory state, which may influence their decision-making.

There are no restrictions on political leaders, lawmakers or diplomats from meeting individuals with an ICC arrest warrant against them. Politically, however, the optics of this may be bad.

WILL THIS APPLICATION FOR WARRANTS INFLUENCE OTHER CASES?

Not directly, but perhaps indirectly.

The ICC application is a separate matter to, for example, court cases demanding an arms embargo against Israel or South Africa's attempts at the International Court of Justice to seek a halt to Israel's offensive on Rafah.

If the judges decide there are reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant are committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, it could strengthen legal challenges demanding an arms embargo elsewhere as numerous states have provisions against selling arms to states which might use them in ways that violate international humanitarian law.

(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Richard Lough and Alison Williams)


Hamas and Israeli leaders may face international arrest warrants. Here’s what that means

Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN
Mon, May 20, 2024 


The prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) is seeking arrest warrants for top Hamas and Israeli figures on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the October 7 attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.

If approved by a panel of judges, the arrest warrants would be issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Warrants are also being sought for three top Hamas officials: Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, political chief Ismail Haniyah, and Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, the leader of Hamas’ armed wing, who is better known as Mohammed Deif.

Here’s what we know about the ICC cases and what they mean for Israel and Hamas.
How would an arrest warrant affect Netanyahu or Hamas leaders?

The decision to seek arrest warrants doesn’t immediately mean the individual is guilty, but is the first stage in a process that could lead to a lengthy trial.

If the court finds sufficient evidence of crimes, it can summon the suspect to appear voluntarily. The court can also issue an arrest warrant, relying on member countries to make the arrest and transfer the suspect to the ICC.

If the suspect appears before the court, a pre-trial takes place in which the court decides if there is enough evidence for the case to go to trial. Then there is a trial before three ICC judges, in which the prosecution must prove “beyond reasonable doubt” that the individual is guilty of the crimes.

Once a verdict passes, the charged individual may be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison. Under exceptional circumstances, a life sentence can also be given, the court says.

The ICC has so far issued arrest warrants against 42 people, 21 of whom have been detained with the help of member states.

“The immediate problem for Israeli officials under any ICC arrest warrant would be that the court’s 124 member states would be under a legal obligation to arrest such officials if they traveled to any of those 124 countries,” Chile Eboe-Osuji, a former ICC president, wrote this month in Foreign Policy magazine.

“That obligation should not be underestimated,” he said, adding that “just last year, Putin canceled his plans to attend the BRICS summit in South Africa, in the apparent light of Pretoria’s obligation to arrest him.”

Of Hamas leaders for whom arrest warrants are sought, two – Sinwar and Deif – are believed to be in Gaza, while Haniyah resides in Qatar, which is not a signatory to the Rome Statute.
What is the ICC and who can it indict?

Headquartered at The Hague in the Netherlands, the ICC was established in 2002 and is tasked with prosecuting individuals for crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Unlike the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the ICC is not an organ of the United Nations and does not prosecute states.

While the ICC is independent of the UN, it is endorsed by the UN’s General Assembly and maintains a cooperation agreement with the UN. When a case is not within the ICC’s jurisdiction, the UN Security Council can refer that case to the ICC, granting it jurisdiction.

The court can investigate alleged crimes committed on the territory, or by a national, of any state that has accepted the court’s jurisdiction by signing the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC. Any member state can ask the ICC’s prosecutor to launch an investigation.

The court has previously issued arrest warrants against high-ranking individuals, including former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, Saif Gadhafi, the son of the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, and most recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Signatory states are obliged to apprehend those facing arrest warrants, but leaders have often sought to evade those warrants, restricting their freedom of movement.

The ICC does not have its own enforcement mechanism and has relied on countries’ support for arrests.
Does the ICC have jurisdiction over Israeli nationals?

Israel’s actions in Gaza were referred to the ICC by five countries – South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros and Djibouti – in November, calling on the court to investigate the possible crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, among others, in the Palestinian territories, and asked it to determine whether “one or more specific persons should be charged.”

Israel does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC as it hasn’t signed the Rome Statute. But that doesn’t mean its citizens cannot be prosecuted by the court.

The court had already been investigating possible crimes committed by Israel since 2014 in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem. The investigation began in March 2021, and was referred to the court by the Palestinian Authority, which adopted the ICC’s mandate in 2015 as the State of Palestine. The ICC concluded then that it has jurisdiction on the conflict and, “by majority, that the territorial scope of this jurisdiction extends to Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”

That investigation, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said, “is ongoing and extends to the escalation of hostilities and violence since the attacks that took place on 7 October 2023.”

Remarks by Netanyahu this month pointed to anxiety about the ICC probe. Issuing arrest warrants for Israeli officials would leave an “indelible stain” on the edifice of international law and justice, Netanyahu said, adding that the ICC was “founded as a consequence of the Holocaust” and should not attempt to “undermine” Israel’s fundamental right to self-defense.

The ICC action comes as the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a different court in The Hague, considers a case brought by South Africa in which Israel is accused of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Israel recognizes the ICJ.

Israel’s war in Gaza, prompted by the October 7 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel and took more than 250 others hostage, has dragged on for nearly eight months.

More than 35,000 people have been killed during Israel’s assault on Gaza, according to Palestinian authorities. Swathes of the territory have been reduced to rubble and more than half of its population of 2.3 million has been internally displaced. Famine has set in in parts of the strip.
Does the ICC have jurisdiction over Hamas?

Palestinian leaders signed up to the Rome Statute in 2015. As such, the ICC has jurisdiction over actors in Gaza and other Palestinian territories and by extension, over actors in those territories, including Hamas.

ICC prosecutor Khan confirmed this in October, saying alleged crimes committed by Israel in Gaza, or by Hamas in Israel, fall under the court’s jurisdiction, Reuters reported.

This means the court can indict Hamas leaders over possible crimes committed against both Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Shelly Aviv Yeini, head of the international law department at the Israeli Hostage and Missing Families Forum, said the ICC could make Hamas accountable for crimes even if the state of Israel does not recognize the authority of the court.

“We are an NGO, a private entity,” Yeini told CNN earlier, as the families of hostages held by Gaza gathered to submit a complaint against Hamas to the ICC. “We can bring about a claim in the name of the hostages even if the state (Israel) doesn’t recognize its (the ICC’s) jurisdiction.”

ICC prosecutor Khan said Monday he is seeking the warrants “on the basis of evidence collected and examined by my office,” and thanked families of the hostages “for their courage in coming forward to provide their accounts.”

According to Article 15 of the ICC Rome Statue, any individual, group, or organization can file complaints of potential crimes to the court.

A member of the Hamas political bureau, Muhammad Nazzal, told CNN in February that going to the ICC was “a mistake” that would stall negotiations to return the hostages.

“The shortest way to return their prisoners is to complete the ongoing negotiating process,” the Hamas member told CNN at the time.
How have Hamas, Israel and others reacted to the ICC’s action?

Both Hamas and Israeli politicians denounced the ICC’s move.

Hamas said it was an attempt to “equate victims with aggressors by issuing arrest warrants against a number of Palestinian resistance leaders without legal basis.” The militant group said warrant requests for Netanyahu and Gallant had come “seven months late,” referring to the duration of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Israeli politicians across the political spectrum condemned the decision. Foreign Minister Israel Katz called it a “scandalous decision” and an “unrestrained frontal attack on the victims of October 7 and our 128 hostages in Gaza.”

The leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid, called it “a complete moral failure” and said Israel “cannot accept the outrageous comparison between Netanyahu and Sinwar.”

The right-wing minister for National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, accused the ICC of antisemitism and called for an escalation of attacks against Hamas, while Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said: “We have not seen such a show of hypocrisy and hatred of Jews as that of the Hague Tribunal since Nazi propaganda.”

CNN has reached out to the Prime Minister’s office and Defense Ministry.

In the US, meanwhile, President Joe Biden has denounced the ICC prosecutor’s move, calling it “outrageous.”

“Let me be clear: whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas,” the president wrote. “We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US “fundamentally rejects” the ICC prosecutor’s announcement and warned it could “jeopardize” efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage release agreement.

“We reject the prosecutor’s equivalence of Israel with Hamas. It is shameful. Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that carried out the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and is still holding dozens of innocent people hostage, including Americans,” Blinken said in a statement.

He questioned “the legitimacy and credibility of this investigation,” and said the US believed the ICC to have “no jurisdiction over this matter.”

The US is not a signatory to the Rome Statute.

CNN’s Jeremy Diamond, Benjamin Brown, Melanie Zanona, Aber Salman and Michael Schwartz contributed to this report.

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France backs ICC arrest warrant for Israeli, Hamas leaders

RFI
Tue, May 21, 2024 


France’s Foreign Ministry has come out in support of the International Criminal Court and its issuing of arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and in Israel.

“France supports the International Criminal Court, its independence, and its fight against impunity in all situations,” the Foreign Ministry wrote in a statement published Monday night, following the ICC’s announcement.

Earlier the ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan said he had issued arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders—Yehia Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh—for crimes committed in Israel and Gaza on 7 October 2023 and after, including “extermination”, “taking hostages” and “Rape and other acts of sexual violence”.

Khan also issued warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes in Gaza following Hamas’ 7 October attack, including “starvation of civilians as a method of warfare”, “intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population” and “extermination and/or murder”.

The French Foreign Ministry said it “has condemned, as of 7 October, the anti-Semitic massacres perpetuated by Hamas. This terrorist group claimed the barbaric attacks directed at civilians, accompanied by acts of torture and sexual violence that they themselves documented”.

The United States objected to the ICC’s putting Israel and Hamas in the same warrant.

ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Israel's Netanyahu and Hamas leaders

Updated Mon, May 20, 2024 

ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Israel's Netanyahu and Hamas leaders

By Stephanie van den Berg, Anthony Deutsch and Charlotte Van Campenhout

THE HAGUE (Reuters) -The International Criminal Court's prosecutor said on Monday he had requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defence chief and three Hamas leaders over alleged war crimes.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement issued after more than seven months of war in Gaza that he had reasonable grounds to believe the five men "bear criminal responsibility" for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

He said he had applied for an arrest warrant for Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant as well as for Netanyahu. They have overseen Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza since the Palestinian militant group's deadly Oct. 7 raid on Israel.

Khan has also applied for arrest warrants for Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar; Mohammed Al-Masri, the commander-in-chief of the military wing of Hamas who is widely known as Deif; and Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas' Political Bureau.

A panel of pre-trial judges will determine whether the evidence supports the arrest warrants. But the court has no means to enforce such warrants, and its investigation into the Gaza war has been opposed by the United States and Israel.

Israel and Palestinian leaders have dismissed allegations of war crimes, and representatives for both sides criticised Khan's decision.

"I reject with disgust the comparison of the prosecutor in the Hague between democratic Israel and the mass murderers of Hamas," Netanyahu said, calling the move a "complete distortion of reality."

U.S. President Joe Biden called the legal step "outrageous", while Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it could jeopardize negotiations on a hostage deal and ceasefire.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the prosecutor's decision to request warrants for the three Hamas leaders "equates the victim with the executioner". Hamas demanded the arrest warrant request for its leaders be canceled.

NETANYAHU BEARS 'CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY'

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2023 over alleged war crimes in the Ukraine war, but Monday's step was the first time Khan has sought to intervene in the conflict in the Middle East.

"Israel, like all States, has a right to take action to defend its population," Khan said. "That right, however, does not absolve Israel or any state of its obligation to comply with international humanitarian law."

He said crimes against humanity allegedly carried out by Israel were part of "a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population pursuant to State policy."

"These crimes, in our assessment, continue to this day," he said.

Evidence his office collected showed Israel had systematically deprived civilians of "objects indispensable to human survival" including food, water, medicine and energy, he said. Netanyahu and Gallant bore responsibility, he said, for Israel wilfully causing great suffering and for killing as a war crime.

The Hamas leaders face allegations of bearing responsibility for crimes committed by Hamas including extermination and murder, the taking of hostages, torture, rape and other acts of sexual violence.

"Drawing parallels between the leaders of a democratic country determined to defend itself from despicable terror to leaders of a blood-thirsty terror organisation (Hamas) is a deep distortion of justice and blatant moral bankruptcy," Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz said.

WATERSHED EVENT

The ICC is the world's first permanent international war crimes court. It 124 member states are obliged to immediately arrest the wanted person if they are on a member state's territory.

A court of last resort, the ICC steps in only when a state is unwilling or genuinely unable to do so itself. Israel has said alleged war crimes in Gaza are being investigated domestically.

Israel and its main ally the United States are not members of the ICC, along with China and Russia.

Member states have in the past failed to hand over suspects who entered their territory, including Sudanese former President Omar Bashir, wanted since 2005 for war crimes and genocide.

But if warrants are issued against Israeli leaders, court members including nearly all European Union countries could be put in a diplomatically difficult position.

"This is a watershed event in the history of international justice," said Reed Brody, a veteran war crimes prosecutor. "The ICC has never, in over 21 years of existence, indicted a western official. Indeed, no international tribunal since Nuremberg (against representatives of Nazi Germany) has done so."

At least 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war in Gaza, according to the enclave's health ministry, and aid agencies have also warned of widespread hunger and dire shortages of fuel and medical supplies.

Some 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 rampage, according to Israeli tallies.

(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch, Charlotte Van Campenhout and Stephanie van den Berg; Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk in Washington; Editing by Timothy Heritage, Cynthia Osterman and Lincoln Feast.)

Yale graduates stage pro-Palestinian walkout of commencement

Updated Mon, May 20, 2024






Yale graduates stage pro-Palestinian walkout of commencement
Faculty and administrators protest the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, during the commencement at Yale University

By Michelle McLoughlin and Steve Gorman

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (Reuters) -Scores of graduating students staged a walkout from Yale University's commencement exercises on Monday, protesting the Israeli war in Gaza, Yale's financial ties to weapons makers and its response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations on the Ivy League campus.

The walkout began as Yale President Peter Salovey started to announce the traditional college-by-college presentation of candidates for degrees on the grounds of Yale's Old Campus, filled with thousands of graduates in their caps and gowns.

At least 150 students seated near the front of the audience stood up together, turned their backs to the stage and paraded out of the ceremony through Phelps Gate, retracing their steps during the processional into the yard.

Many of the protesters carried small banners with such slogans as "Books not bombs" and "Divest from war." Some wore red-colored latex gloves symbolizing bloodied hands.

Other signs read: "Drop the charges" and "Protect free speech" in reference to 45 people arrested in a police crackdown last month on demonstrations in and around the New Haven, Connecticut, campus.

The walkout drew a chorus of cheers from fellow students in the crowd, but the protest was otherwise peaceful, without disruption. No mention of it was made from the stage.

Yale is one of dozens of U.S. campuses roiled by protests over the mounting Palestinian humanitarian crisis stemming from Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip following the bloody Oct. 7 cross-border attack on Jewish settlements by Hamas militants.

The University of Southern California canceled its main graduation ceremony altogether, and dozens of students walked out of Duke University's commencement last week to protest its guest speaker, comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who has supported Israel throughout the war in Gaza.

ACADEMIC WORKERS STRIKE UC SANTA CRUZ

Fallout from a violent attack weeks ago on pro-Palestinian activists encamped at the University of California, Los Angeles, reverberated on the UC Santa Cruz campus on Monday as academic workers there staged a protest strike organized by their union.

Also on Monday, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Dartmouth College, an Ivy League university in New Hampshire, narrowly voted to censure president Sian Beilock, according to a college spokesperson, for her decision to call in police to dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment on May 1. The censure vote does not directly endanger Beilock's job.

The police action resulted in the arrest of 89 people and some injuries.

Much of the student activism has been aimed at academic institutions' financial ties with Israel and U.S. military programs benefiting the Jewish state.

Protests in sympathy with Palestinians have in turn been branded by pro-Israel supporters as antisemitic, testing the boundaries between freedom of expression and hate speech. Many schools have called in police to quell the demonstrations.

At UC Santa Cruz on Monday, hundreds of unionized academic researchers, graduate teaching assistants and post-doctoral scholars went on strike to protest what they said were the university's unfair labor practices in its handling of pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

The strikers are members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 4811, which represents some 2,000 grad students and other academic workers at UC Santa Cruz, and about 48,000 total across all 10 University of California campuses and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Last week, the UAW 4811 rank-and-file voted to authorize union leaders to organize a series of "standup" strikes through the end of June on individual or groups of UC campuses rather than across the entire university.

The Santa Cruz strike marked the first union-backed protest in solidarity with the recent wave of pro-Palestinian student activists, whose numbers, according to the UAW, include graduate students arrested at several University of California campuses.

Union leaders said a major impetus for the strike was the arrest of 210 people at the scene of a pro-Palestinian protest camp torn down by police at UCLA on May 2.

The night before, a group of pro-Israel supporters physically attacked the encampment and its occupiers in a melee that went on for at least three hours before police moved in to quell the disturbance. The university has since opened an investigation of the incident.

The strikers also are demanding amnesty for grad students who were arrested or face discipline for their involvement in the protests.

UC Santa Cruz issued a statement saying campus entrances were briefly blocked in the morning by demonstrators, prompting the school to switch to remote instruction for the day.

The University of California has filed its own unfair labor practice complaint with the state Public Employee Relations Board asking the state to order a halt to the strike.

(Reporting by Michelle McLoughlin in New Haven, Connecticut and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California; Editing by Richard Chang)



Hundreds of students stage walkout from Yale graduation in anti-Israel protest

Anders Hagstrom
FOX NEWS
Mon, May 20, 2024

Hundreds of Yale graduates staged a walkout from the university's graduation ceremony in Newhaven on Monday.

The protesting students could be seen waving Palestinian flags as well as banners demanding that the college "disclose and divest." Anti-Israel protests have ravaged campuses across the country for weeks, forcing some universities to cancel their end-of-year ceremonies altogether.

The student protesters at Yale's event walked out as diplomas were being handed out to graduates. The students also chanted "free Palestine" as Yale President Peter Salovey delivered his address.

"It is not enough to retreat into silos alongside those who are already inclined to agree with us. Nor is it effective to ostracize, call out, or shame or silence well-meaning others who do not," Salovey said in his speech.


Yale graduates stage a walkout during the commencement ceremony at Old Campus, New Haven, Connecticut, on Monday, May 20, 2024. The campus has been the site of anti-Israel protests this month along with many other campuses nationwide.

Students also waved Palestinian flags throughout the ceremony.

Yale's campus has been a hot spot for anti-Israel protests for the past several weeks. Police made dozens of arrests in a series of operations aimed at clearing out encampments.

The protest at Yale mirrored disruptions at graduation and commencement ceremonies taking place across the country. Drexel University in Philadelphia was forced to go into lockdown on Monday due to a resurgence in protests.


Yale has been a hot spot for anti-Israel protests. Police have made dozens of arrests in a series of operations aimed at clearing out encampments.

The University of Southern California was forced to cancel its graduation ceremony altogether.

Columbia University, the early center of the protests, also canceled its school-wide graduation ceremony.

"Canceling the traditional Commencement ceremony was one of the toughest calls in a year of many tough calls," Columbia University President Minouche Shafik wrote in a statement to students. "I recognize the toll the past few months have taken on your university experience, and I want you to know that I am deeply sorry for the disappointment that many of you may be feeling as a result."

The Yale protest mirrored disruptions at graduation and commencement ceremonies across the country.

"The conflict between the rights of pro-Palestinian protesters and the impact that their protests have had on some members of our Jewish community is what makes this moment singularly fraught," Shafik wrote.