UN experts challenge Vietnam’s treatment of Montagnard minority

Rapporteurs call for a response to concerns following the trial of 100 people in connection with a 2023 attack.

By RFA Vietnamese
2024.08.23

The trial of about 100 Montagnards in Dak Lak on Jan. 16, 2024.STR/Vietnam News Agency/AFP

United Nations experts are calling on Vietnam to answer their concerns over the trial of 100 Montagnards in January, in connection with a 2023 attack on government offices in which nine people were killed.

The special rapporteurs wrote to the government on June 14, and released the letter after a customary 60 days.

They said there were indications the Jan. 20 trial in Dak Lak did not meet fair trial standards under international human rights law.

They addressed allegations of illegal arrest and detention in connection with the case, torture and ill-treatment of Montagnard suspects, unexplained deaths in custody, allegations of terrorism, restrictions on freedom of expression and media participation, discrimination against indigenous peoples and repression of Montagnards’ religion and beliefs.

Montagnard is a term coined by French colonialists to describe a grouping of about 30 ethnic minorities in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. Since 1975, after the Vietnam War, the government has implemented a migration policy, bringing more than three million people to the region. 

According to government statistics in 2019, indigenous Montagnards accounted for 39% of Dak Lak province’s total population of 5.8 million.

The January trial followed attacks on June 11, 2023 when dozens of Montagnards, divided into two groups, attacked the headquarters of the People’s Committee and the police of Ea Tieu and Ea Ktur communes in Dak Lak province. Four police officers, two commune officials, and three civilians died in the attacks.

The trial was attended by 94 defendants with19 lawyers, while six defendants were tried in absentia. U.N. experts noted that the six had no legal representation in court.

At the end of the trial, 10 people were sentenced to life in prison on charges of terrorism against the government.

Forty-three people received prison sentences ranging from six to 20 years on terrorism charges. A further 45, including the six tried in absentia, received prison sentences ranging from three-and-a-half to 11 years on terrorism charges. Two others were sentenced to prison terms ranging from nine months to two years on charges of concealing criminals and helping others illegally enter and exit Vietnam.

The rapporteurs said most coverage by Vietnamese media relied on information provided by the Ministry of Public Security under the direction of the Central Propaganda Department, leading to censorship and self-censorship.

“Senior Vietnamese government officials made highly prejudicial pretrial public comments about the defendants’ perceived responsibility for terrorist crimes, and state-controlled media (including television) both reported on the defendants as ‘terrorists’ and published images of some of the recently captured defendants,” the experts said in their letter.

The rapporteurs also questioned the use of a “mobile court” for the Dak Lak trial.

“Vietnamese law has never sought to regulate the use of mobile court procedures, such that they lack an adequate legal basis and are necessarily arbitrary in operation,” they said, noting that the court didn’t follow procedures prescribed by international law, which requires similar cases to be treated the same way.

“An apparent purpose of ‘mobile trials’ is to ‘educate’ the public about the law,” the rapporteurs said. 

“However, we are concerned that the proceedings did not perform a legitimate educative function but resulted in publicly embarrassing, shaming, humiliating or degrading the defendants and their families before other members of their community.”

On Aug. 15, Vietnam’s Permanent Mission to the U.N. requested a two-month extension to respond to the questions in the letter. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not answer RFA’s calls seeking comment.

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‘Ethnic divisions’

The U.N. experts said they were also concerned the defendants didn’t have adequate access to lawyers during their long detention and when the trial took place, only 19 lawyers were assigned to 100 defendants who didn’t have the right to choose their own lawyers.

They also said there were indications that some arrests weren’t based on reasonable grounds backed with evidence. 

“We are concerned that the heavy security response after the 11 June 2023 attacks, including the state’s co-option of civilian vigilantes (of majority Kinh ethnicity), may have resulted in the arrest of innocent people,” they said. 

“These risks were accentuated by ethnic divisions, with Montagnards being publicly blamed by state officials and media, encouraging potential profiling and arrests on the basis of minority ethnic status. We note that arrests of detention on discriminatory grounds are arbitrary and unlawful.”

Vietnam accused all those involved of having links with U.S. and Thai-based Montagnard organizations who they say helped plan the 2023 attack..

On March 6, 2024, the Ministry of Public Security designated the group Montagnards Stand for Justice, or MSFJ, a terrorist organization. It was established in Thailand in 2019 with a representative in the U.S. 

Vietnamese authorities said the group operates by spreading propaganda to recruit members, providing training and funding attacks with the aim of establishing an autonomous state in the Central Highlands.

The government said MSFJ organized the 2023 attack with the aim of establishing Montagnard state.

MSFJ rejected the charges saying they are aimed at preventing the group from documenting rights abuses against Montagnards.

Founding member Y Quynh Bdap, who has been living in Thailand since 2018, is on remand in Bangkok, facing possible extradition at Vietnam’s request, to serve a 10-year sentence for “terrorism” in connection with the attack. Vietnam sent public security officers to attend his trial.

The rapporteurs said they were worried for the safety of Montagnards in Thailand given reports of illegal abductions by Vietnamese security agencies of activists such as blogger Truong Duy Nhat and freelance journalist Duong Van Thai.

They said international human rights law prohibits forcing people back to places when there are grounds for believing they would be at risk of “irreparable harm on account of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, or other serious human rights violations.”

They concluded by noting signs of continued discrimination against Montagnards in the Central Highlands.

“The excessive response to the 11 June 2023 attack, the unfair mass trial of January 2024, the listing MSFJ as terrorist in March 2024, and the alleged intimidation of Vietnamese refugees in Thailand in March 2024 seem to be part of a larger and intensifying pattern of discriminatory and repressive surveillance, security controls, harassment and intimidation against the Montagnard indigenous minority peoples.”

Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn.

AUSTRALIA

Stuck in Sydney harbour for 22 hours, humpback whale finally returns home after rescue


A humpback whale was entangled in ropes and buoys in the Sydney harbour before being rescued. — Pictures from Facebook/ORRCA

Friday, 23 Aug 2024 1:33 PM MYT

SYDNEY, Aug 23 — A juvenile humpback whale was freed today after it was entangled in ropes and buoys in the harbour of Australia’s largest city for 22 hours.

Rescuers in Sydney received a call yesterday afternoon that the whale had become entangled and raced under fading light to save it.

By dawn, rescuers followed the whale in an inflatable boat and used specialised equipment to hold the whale in place while they cut the debris away.

The whale was freed shortly before midday today, and swam off to the open ocean after its 22-hour ordeal.

Jessica Fox, from the Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia, told AFP that efforts to save the whale were “incredible”.

“It is not uncommon for a whale to enter Sydney Heads — they pop their heads in time to time, but to have one entangled in Sydney Harbour is extremely rare.”

For decades, humpback whale populations were hunted to the brink of extinction — at one stage there were only an estimated 1,500 of the animals left in Australian waters.

But they are a rare conservation success story after global protections were afforded to the whales in 1965.

Humpback whale numbers now exceed 40,000 — a number close to pre-whaling levels — and the marine animal has since been removed from Australia’s threatened species list.

“With so many more whales in the ocean and more humans in the ocean, there is going to be greater potential for conflict,” Fox said. — AFP

Pacific leaders confront ‘polycrisis’ of rising seas and climbing tensions


By AFP
August 23, 2024

Pacific Islands Forum head Baron Waqa has warned the US and China to take their geopolitical 'fight' out of 'our backyard' - Copyright AFP Yuichi YAMAZAKI

Pacific island leaders gather for a key summit in the Kingdom of Tonga on Monday, aiming to navigate rapidly rising seas, damaging great power rivalries and violent unrest in New Caledonia.

This year’s Pacific Islands Forum takes place in Nuku’alofa, a breezy coastal capital still finding its feet after a calamitous volcanic eruption and tsunami in 2022.

Since they last met, the forum’s 18 scattered members have been buffeted by economic headwinds and escalating competition between the United States and China.

But is the encroaching peril of climate change that is expected to sit highest on the agenda.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres will make a rare appearance at the forum, throwing his weight behind Pacific leaders mounting a renewed climate call to arms.

Once seen as the embodiment of palm-fringed paradise, the South Pacific now occupies one of the most climate-threatened pockets of the planet.

Low-lying nations such as Tuvalu could be almost entirely swallowed by rising oceans within the next 30 years.

“Climate change, as ever, remains the top-line priority for leaders,” said Mihai Sora, director of Pacific research at Australia’s Lowy Institute.

“I think the presence of the UN secretary-general is intended to attract that international interest, to put pressure on international partners.”

It is potentially awkward terrain for forum member Australia, a coal-shovelling mining heavyweight belatedly trying to burnish its green credentials.

Australia wants to co-host the COP31 climate conference alongside its Pacific neighbours in 2026.

But first, it must convince the bloc it is serious about slashing emissions.



– Pacific ‘polycrisis’ –



It will be the first meeting under new forum boss Baron Waqa, who has warned China and the United States to take their “fight” out of “our backyard”.

Beijing has been determinedly courting Pacific nations, using its largesse to build government offices, sporting venues, hospitals, highways and more.

Fearful that China could spin this into a permanent military presence, the United States and Australia have responded by dishing out aid, inking bilateral agreements and re-opening long-dormant embassies.

“China has significantly increased its engagement efforts in the Pacific in recent years, particularly aimed at the security sector,” said Kathryn Paik, a former Pacific expert on US President Joe Biden’s National Security Council.

“As Chinese interest in the region amplifies, however, the US, Australia and other like-minded partners are ever-more focused on ensuring that China does not obtain a military foothold.”

Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has described the cocktail of geopolitical tensions and pressing climate threats as a “polycrisis” in the making.



– French diss –



The unresolved crisis in French territory New Caledonia, a full forum member, also looms large this year.

The Pacific Islands Forum has been trying to send a team of observers to take the pulse in New Caledonia’s riot-crippled capital Noumea.

But the fact-finding mission fell apart on the eve of the summit as squabbling officials failed to agree on terms.

Much of New Caledonia’s ethnically Melanesian Kanak population fears that voting reforms proposed by Paris could forever crush their dreams of independence.

It is a cause that resonates widely in the Pacific bloc, which is stacked with former colonies now fiercely proud of their hard-won sovereignty.

“There’s a lot of concern about the way France is behaving in New Caledonia,” said Tess Newton Cain from the Griffith Asia Institute.

“The French rhetoric is really causing some concern among the forum’s leadership.”



– Dog days are over –



A parade of premiers, ambassadors and business moguls have been drawn to Nuku’alofa, meaning “abode of love”, the seat of the Tongan king.

Just finding enough beds for delegates has proved an immense logistical challenge.

Many of Nuku’alofa’s seaside hotels were levelled by a tsunami in 2022, triggered by the immense Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption.

To plug the gap, Tongan Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni has urged the city’s 20,000 residents to throw open their doors and dust off their spare beds.

The city’s roaming posses of not-always-friendly stray dogs have posed another headache.

A team of veterinarians has been sent from nearby Fiji to round up and neuter homeless hounds scratching around the conference venue and main hotels.

Forum preparations have not escaped the gaze of jostling foreign powers either.

Teams of labourers have worked around the clock to finish the summit venue, a $25 million gift from Beijing.

China has also offered 20 motorcycles and “motorcade training” to help Tonga’s police corral officials.

Not to be outdone, Australia has offered Tonga 25 police vehicles, two mini-buses and its own squad of security advisers.

Georgia Young Democrats president confronts Ramaswamy at DNC 

Washington Post Aug 22, 2024 

The President of the Young Democrats of Georgia Parker Short on Aug. 22, confronted former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy at the Democratic National Convention. 

Read more: https://wapo.st/3MduRXw.

 

Full interview with Sen. Bernie Sanders at DNC | Politico  

Aug 19, 2024 

Teaching About Race is Good, States Need to Stop Banning It

by Ian Wright

 August 23, 2024
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Cover art for the book Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race (First Conversations).

In this back to school season, millions of American students are returning to classrooms where the wrong course, lesson, or textbook can lead to deep trouble. Why? Because for the last several years, conservative activists and lawmakers have been waging a crusade against “critical race theory,” or CRT.

Critical race theory is an academic concept acknowledging that racism isn’t simply the result of individual prejudice but is also embedded in our institutions through laws, regulations, and rules.

As school districts have emphasized, it’s a higher education concept rarely taught in K-12 schools. But cynical activists have used CRT as a catch-all term to target a broad range of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives — and seemingly any discussion about race and racism in the classroom.

Since January 2021, 44 states have “introduced bills or taken other steps that would restrict teaching critical race theory or limit how teachers can discuss racism and sexism,” according to Education Weekly. And as of this writing, UCLA has identified 807anti-CRT “bills, resolutions, executive orders, opinion letters, statements, and other measures” since September 2020.

Critics claim — falsely — that CRT teaches that all white people are oppressors, while Black people are simply oppressed victims. Many opponents claim it teaches white students to “hate their own race,” or to feel guilty about events that happened before they were born.

In reality, CRT gives students of every race the tools to understand how our institutions treat people of different races unequally — and how we can make those systems fairer. That’s learning students of every race would be better off with.

But instead, this barrage of draconian legislation is having a chilling effect on speech in the classroom.

In 2022, Florida passed the “Stop W.O.K.E. Act,” which prohibits teaching that could lead to a student feeling “discomfort” because of their race, sex, or nationality. But the law’s vague language makes it difficult for educators to determine what they can or cannot teach, ultimately restricting classroom instruction. In my home state of Texas, SB3 similarly restricts these classroom discussions.

Running afoul of these laws can get teachers and school administrators in trouble. As a result of this hostile environment, the RAND Corporation found that two-thirds of K-12 school teachers have decided “to limit instruction about political and social issues in the classroom.”

Notably, this self-censorship extends beyond states with such policies: 55 percent of teachers without state or local restrictions on CRT have still decided to limit classroom discussions of race and history.

As a student, I find this distressing.

My high school history classes gave me a much richer understanding of race in our history, especially the discussions we had at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests. And in college, I’ve gotten to learn about racial inequalities in everything from housing and real estate to health care, politics, education, and immigration policy.

As a person of color, I can’t imagine where I’d be without this understanding. Neither white students nor students of color will benefit from laws designed to censor their understanding of history, critical thinking, and open dialogue in the classroom.

The fight against CRT is a fight against the principles of education that encourage us to question, learn, and grow. Rather than shielding students from uncomfortable truths, which they can certainly handle, we should seek to equip them with the knowledge to navigate the world, think critically about our history and institutions, and push for a more inclusive country.

Ian Wright is a Henry A. Wallace Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and a student at Rice University from Dallas, Texas.

Israeli intel chief warns Netanyahu of 'Jewish terror' amid settler attacks

Head of Shin Bet insisted that the violence should be recognised as a coordinated campaign aimed at dominating a minority, with attackers now openly using lethal weapons.


Bar sounded the alarm that the Israeli military is neither trained nor equipped to manage the expanding scope of this Jewish terror. / Photo: AA

Israel's internal security service chief has sounded the alarm to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about his extremist political allies, labelling the escalating iilegal settler violence in the occupied West Bank as "Jewish terror" and placing the blame squarely on National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and his henchmen, according to a report by Israeli TV Channel 12.

In a no-holds-barred letter delivered on Thursday, Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar pointed to the alarming surge in attacks by the setters, like the recent assault on the Palestinian village of Jit, as evidence that the situation is spiralling out of control, putting Israel on the brink of disaster.

Bar's message, according to the Jerusalem Post, was clear: Ben-Gvir and other members of the coalition are not just complicit but are actively stoking the flames.

He cited Ben-Gvir's provocative visit to the Al Aqsa Mosque Compound, referred to as the Temple Mount by Jews, which defied government policy and encouraged mass violations of the status quo, as a glaring example of this reckless behavior.

He rejected the term "nationalistic crimes" for the current settler violence in the West Bank, insisting it must be called what it is — Jewish terror.

This is no longer about isolated acts of violence but a concerted campaign to impose domination over a minority, with the attackers now brazenly using lethal weapons, Bar reportedly said.

The extremists, who once operated in the shadows, are now emboldened by the expectation that their coalition allies will shield them from any real consequences, even providing financial support, the letter states.

This unchecked violence, Bar warned, is tearing apart Israel's social fabric and jeopardising international support, even from Israel's staunchest allies.

He also sounded the alarm that the Israeli military is neither trained nor equipped to manage the expanding scope of this Jewish terror.

Ben-Gvir responded furiously, demanding Bar's dismissal during an Israeli cabinet meeting on Thursday night, accusing him of October 7 security failures, and attacking his letter.


1,270 attacks on Palestinians in West Bank

A disciple of the extremist rabbi Meir Kahane, Ben-Gvir was ushered into the Israeli parliament three years ago after a deal brokered by Netanyahu with religious extremists.

Since then Ben-Gvir has gone from being a fringe settler boss, Palestine-hating, far-right provocateur to holding a key position in the Israeli regime.

Most recently he distributed weapons to Zionist settlers in areas of the occupied West Bank, where Palestinians have faced almost daily onslaught from Israeli troops and settlers.

Israeli troops and Zionist settlers have killed nearly 680 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since October last year.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says it has recorded some 1,270 attacks by illegal Israeli settlers against Palestinians over the past 10 months, "causing deaths and injuries and damage to property."

Israel plans colony on UNESCO heritage site, as land theft surges

Tamara Nassar  

ELECTRONIC INTIFADA

Rights and Accountability

23 August 2024

Palestinians inspect damage wrought by Jewish settlers on the village of Jit in the occupied West Bank, on 16 August 2024.

 Mohammed NasserAPA images

When a group of more than 100 Jewish pogromists, masked and armed with pistols and automatic rifles, killed a Palestinian, injured others and burned homes in the Palestinian town of Jit in the northern occupied West Bank last week, the Israeli government swiftly condemned them.

“It is an extreme minority that harms the law-abiding settlement community and the entire settlement and the name and status of Israel in the world,” Isaac Herzog, Israel’s president, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office reportedly called for the arrest and trial of “those responsible for any offense.”

Indeed, a grand total of four settlers were arrested.

The settlers shot at Palestinian villagers, threw stones at their homes and set fire to their vehicles and homes, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights reported.

Settlers shot 23-year-old Rashid Mahmoud al-Sadeh in the chest, killing him instantly.

An hour into the settler assault, Israeli forces joined the attack, violently dispersing Palestinians and “hindering them from extinguishing the fires engulfing their homes and vehicles.”

The Israeli forces “fired live bullets and tear gas canisters into the air and took no action to halt the settlers’ rampage.” Instead, they made sure settlers securely withdrew from the village.

Israeli occupation forces sealed the entrances to the village, blocking ambulances and first responders.

“This crime is part of a broader range of violence fueled by the ongoing incitement campaign by Israeli ministers,” PCHR said.

“Such attacks are propelled by the institutionalized impunity for settler violence amid unabated support from Israel’s top political and military echelons.”
The settlers are the state

But the Israeli government claims that a handful of settlers are bad apples in an otherwise “law-abiding settlement” barrel, is an attempt to distract from who the settlers actually serve, and to whitewash the settlement project as a whole.

The settlers are the foot soldiers of the Israeli colonizer state and as the recent attack on Jit illustrates, they work hard in glove with the army.

The surge in settler violence since 7 October is not caused by a minority of rogue actors, as sanctions imposed by the US and some European states would have people believe.

The United States, France, the United Kingdom and other allies of Israel who have constantly supported its actions in Gaza announced sanctions on a small number of Israeli settlers in recent months.

This is an apparent attempt to divert attention from their complicity in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, while falsely convey the impression that settler violence is caused by a few bad apples. The sanctions, if at all serious, should be against Israel and its leaders, not a few individuals.

Settlers are essential to Israel’s policy of settler-colonization, which is inherently violent, and is accelerating as all eyes have been on Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

“Setter violence is inseparable from Israel’s broader policy to establish full sovereignty over the West Bank and continuing its plan to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians,” PCHR said.

What Herzog, the Israeli president, calls the “law-abiding settlement community” is a reference only to Israeli law – which is barely enforced on the settlers anyway.

In reality, Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Syria’s Golan Heights are illegal under international law and are considered a war crime.

In building settlements, Israel perpetuates human rights violations against the occupied Palestinian population, including home demolitions, forced displacement and theft of land.
Settlement on UNESCO site

Meanwhile, the Israeli government is advancing plans to construct Jewish-only settlements on land belonging to the Palestinian village of Battir, designated in 2014 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

UNESCO’s designation aimed to protect Battir’s unique, ancient agricultural landscape and culture from Israel’s plans to build its separation wall through it.

“The Battir cultural landscape encompasses ancient terraces, archaeological sites, rock-cut tombs, agricultural towers, and most importantly an intact water system, represented by a collection pool [and] channels,” UNESCO states. “The integrity of this traditional water system is guaranteed by the families of Battir, who depend on it.”

The world cultural body adds that “the water distribution system used by the families of Battir is a testament to an ancient egalitarian distribution system” that dates back to antiquity.

This month, the Civil Administration – the bureaucratic arm of Israel’s military occupation – unveiled a “blue line” map around Battir land, designating it for construction of the so-called Nahal Heletz settlement.The “blue line” represents land the Israeli government purports is “state land,” and thus open for it to steal and colonize. Much of the land is private land held and cared for by Battir families for generations – as is the case with land all across the West Bank that Israel is colonizing.



Israel’s pseudo-legal maneuvers are a charade of legal process to prettify its outright theft of Palestinian land at gunpoint.

It aims “to legitimize the settlement enterprise,” settlement watchdog Peace Now states.

But Palestinians have no meaningful way to defend their rights through Israel’s court system, in which many of the judges are themselves settlers.

The occupation initially allocated 30 acres for the construction of the settlement. The new “blue line” seizes 150 acres more as “state land” and another 130 acres for potential future development, according to Peace Now – all within the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“The new settlement at Nahal Heletz will create an isolated enclave deep within Palestinian territory,” the group added. But it is undoubtedly only intended as a starting point for future expansion.

Nahal Heletz is one of five settlements approved by the Israeli cabinet in June, four of which had been outposts – a term Israel uses for small new colonies erected by settlers ostensibly in violation even of Israeli regulations.

“The pace of declarations of blue line boundaries and state land is unprecedented,” Peace Now says.

Bezalel Smotrich, the ultra-far-right Israeli finance minister, and Netanyahu “are relentlessly advancing de facto annexation, blatantly disregarding the UNESCO Convention to which Israel is a signatory,” Peace Now says.
Facts on the ground

Asked last week about the planned settlement in Battir, US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said that “every single one of these new settlements would impede Palestinian economic development and freedom of movement.”

Notably, Patel made no reference to Israel’s settlements violating international law.

When probed about whether US opposition to settlements would stop them from getting built, Patel brushed off settlement expansion as “unilateral Israeli actions” and suggested no US action to stop them.

“You’ve opposed hundreds of settlement announcements, and they are all then built. So what’s the point of repeatedly saying you oppose them?” BBC correspondent Tom Bateman asked.

“It is important for us to make clear our perspective and our point of view,” Patel responded.

This succinctly captures the process, which begins with supposedly “extremist” settlers stealing Palestinian land and culminates in facts on the ground that the United States is more than willing to tolerate.

The Israeli government allows and assists the settlers to establish outposts and then officially recognizes them.

Once recognized as official settlements by the Israeli government, the US responds with empty rhetoric about settlement expansion hindering the moribund “two-state solution.”

Settlers carried out at least 1,270 attacks against Palestinians since 7 October, according to UN monitoring group OCHA.

These include attacks resulting in injuries to Palestinians as well as property damage.

Israeli settlers threaten Palestinians at gunpoint, vandalize their property, hamper their access to water, ruin their trees, damage their vehicles, steal their belongings and intimidate and physically attack them.

This violence is planned and calculated to terrorize Palestinians from farming or accessing their land, so the settlers can take it, the Israeli state can recognize the theft, and the United States can then urge Palestinians to “compromise” by giving the land up in a future “peace” deal.

From 7 October 2023 to mid-August this year, Israel had demolished, confiscated or forced the demolition of over 1,400 Palestinian-owned structures in the occupied West Bank, more than a third of them inhabited buildings.

That is double the number of demolitions compared with the same period before 7 October.

These demolitions have driven about 3,200 Palestinians out of their homes, 1,400 of them children.

Tamara Nassar's blog

WAIT, WHAT?!

"Ban on political parties is a democratic process," - Georgian prime minister

• JAMnews

• Tbilisi 23.08.2024

Georgian prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze stated that the ban on political parties is a “democratic process.”

He explained that when there are “all legal grounds,” this is what should happen in a democratic state. Kobakhidze claimed that political parties are being banned “one by one” in Ukraine and Moldova, and that the European Union views this positively.

In Ukraine and Moldova, only political parties linked to Russia have been banned.

What Irakli Kobakhidze said

“The Saakashvili regime is not the Georgian state. Therefore, we are talking about a trial of the Saakashvili regime, and this process in no way threatens our national interests, which should be clear to everyone.

As for banning an illegitimate, unconstitutional political party, this is a normal democratic procedure. When all legal grounds are present, this is how it should be in a democratic state.

You also know that political parties are being banned one by one in Ukraine and Moldova, and this has received very positive assessments, including from the European Union.

It is a democratic process when a political party creates problems for the national interests of the state, when a party is essentially unconstitutional and undemocratic. Of course, banning such a party is the state’s duty to its country and democratic system,” said Kobakhidze.

"Georgian Dream got hysterical" – Experts assess ruling party's statement

Georgian experts believe that Georgian Dream’s statement is populism and hypocrisy. According to them, the ruling team needs this only for pre-election publicity, and they won’t even remember it afterward

On August 20, the political council of “Georgian Dream” issued a statement emphasizing the need for a constitutional majority and listing several reasons for it.

The statement from “Georgian Dream” mentioned that immediately after securing a constitutional majority, it would initiate a “legal process” that would result in the “National Movement” and all its “satellite and successor parties” being declared unconstitutional.

Poll shows 85% of Britons view nation as deeply divided amid rising concern over extremism

In the wake of recent unrest, 84% of respondents are concerned about the safety of people living in communities affected by riots

Aysu Biçer |23.08.2024 -


LONDON

An Ipsos poll on Thursday revealed a deepening sense of division in British society as public concern over extremism and the state of the nation continues to rise.

The poll, conducted between Aug. 9-12 in the aftermath of recent riots and unrest, highlights the public's anxiety about various pressing issues, including extremism, the economy and public services.

According to the poll, 85% of Britons believe that society is more divided than ever -- sentiment that has remained consistently high since 2021.

This figure marks a four-point increase since March, underscoring the growing sense of societal fracture.

Concerns about extremism have also intensified. The poll shows that 74% of respondents are worried about the rise of religious extremism in Britain, a significant nine-point increase since March.

Similarly, 73% express concern about the growth of right-wing extremism and 59% about left-wing extremism, both of which have seen notable increases of nine and seven points, respectively.

These numbers reflect a heightened public awareness of the dangers posed by extreme ideologies across the political spectrum.

Safety concerns following riots

In the wake of the recent unrest, 84% of respondents are concerned about the safety of people living in communities affected by the riots. The violence has brought to the forefront fears about public safety and the well-being of local communities.

The poll also reveals a mixed public response to the handling of the riots by political leaders and social media companies. While the police have received broad support, with 59% of respondents saying they have done a good job, political leaders have faced more criticism.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's response to the unrest has been met with a split opinion: 39% approve of his handling of the situation, while 29% disapprove.

In contrast, only 13% believe former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak did a good job, with 41% expressing criticism. Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform UK party, another prominent political figure, received approval from 21% of respondents, but nearly half (48%) disapproved of his response.

Social media companies, however, have been overwhelmingly criticized for their role in the riots, with 60% of Britons believing they have done a poor job in responding to the unrest.

The UK has seen a surge in charges as authorities respond to the violent riots, which were fueled by false online claims that the suspect in the fatal stabbing of three children in the English seaside town of Southport on July 29 was a Muslim asylum seeker. The identification of the attacker as Axel Rudakubana, a 17-year-old from Cardiff with Rwandan parents, has done little to deter the far-right mobs.

Prime Minister Starmer has vowed swift justice for those involved, and the National Police Chiefs' Council anticipates that arrests and charges will continue to rise as investigations proceed.

On Aug. 7, three men became the first individuals to be jailed for their involvement in the Southport and Liverpool riots. Prosecutors have warned that these cases represent only "the tip of the iceberg" as the crackdown on rioters continues.

GEMOLOGY

The biggest diamond in over a century is found in Botswana — a whopping 2,492 carats

August 23, 2024
The Associated Press

Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi holds the 2,492-carat diamond that was unearthed at one of its mines and will be put on show, on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Gaborone.AP/AP

GABORONE, Botswana — The largest diamond found in more than a century has been unearthed at a mine in Botswana, and the country's president showed off the fist-sized stone to the world at a viewing ceremony Thursday.

The Botswana government says the huge 2,492-carat diamond is the second-biggest ever discovered in a mine. It's the biggest diamond found since 1905.

The as-yet-unnamed diamond was presented to the world at the office of Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi. It weighs approximately half a kilogram and Masisi was one of the first to get to hold it.

“It is overwhelming,” Masisi said. "I am lucky to have seen it in my time.” He gasped and said “wow" before calling senior government officials over to take a closer look.
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Officials said it was too early to value the stone or decide how it would be sold. Another smaller diamond from the same mine in Botswana was sold for $63 million in 2016, a record for a rough gem.

“This is history in the making,” said Naseem Lahri, Botswana managing director for Lucara Diamond Corp., the Canadian mining company that found the diamond. “I am very proud. It is a product of Botswana.”

Lucara said in a statement Wednesday that it recovered the “exceptional” rough diamond from its Karowe Mine in central Botswana. Lucara said it was a "high-quality" stone and was found intact. It was located using X-ray technology designed to find large, high-value diamonds.

“We are ecstatic about the recovery of this extraordinary 2,492-carat diamond,” Lucara President and CEO William Lamb said in a statement.

The weight would make it the largest diamond found in 119 years and the second-largest ever dug out of a mine after the Cullinan Diamond that was discovered in South Africa in 1905. The famous Cullinan was 3,106 carats and was cut into gems, some of which form part of the British Crown Jewels.

A bigger, less pure black diamond was discovered in Brazil in the late 1800s, but it was found above ground and was believed to have been part of a meteorite.

Botswana, a country of 2.6 million people in southern Africa, is the second-biggest producer of natural diamonds behind Russia and has unearthed all of the world's biggest stones in recent years. The Karowe Mine has produced four other diamonds over 1,000 carats in the last decade.

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Before this discovery, the Sewelo diamond, which was found at the Karowe Mine in 2019, was recognized as the second-biggest mined diamond in the world at 1,758 carats. It was bought by French fashion house Louis Vuitton for an undisclosed amount.

The 1,111-carat Lesedi La Rona diamond, also from Botswana's Karowe Mine, was bought by a British jeweler for $53 million in 2017. Another diamond from Karowe, The Constellation, was sold for the record $63 million.

Diamonds are formed when carbon atoms are squeezed together under high pressure deep underground. Scientists say most diamonds are at least a billion years old and some of them more than 3 billion years old.