Germany turns on the most powerful generator in history: It’s not a nuclear power plant

by Kelly L.
November 8, 2024



Credits: Sunfire


Germany is going all-out to join the green hydrogen energy revolution with energy company RWE’s new 300 MW hydrogen gas production plant in Lingen in Lower Saxony. In the project’s third phase, companies Sunfire and Bilfinger were brought on board to get a 100 MW alkaline electrolyzer into operation, which is set to start producing hydrogen in 2027. Did you se a nuclear power plant on the image? Let’s take another look.

Groundbreaking gas plant will generate hydrogen for Europe

RWE’s Lingen hydrogen gas production plant is a major achievement not only for Germany but for the whole of the continent. The plant was commissioned to specifically supply industrial clients in Lower Saxony and the North Rhine-Westphalia regions, but there’s a bigger picture in mind. The production installation is also integrated with the European Hydrogen Backbone, a collaboration to make hydrogen accessible across Europe through an extensive network of pipelines. The network is targeted at areas with a high demand for hydrogen, such as major shipping ports or industrial centers, which will contribute significantly to the EU’s broader vision to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

The Lingen plant aligns with German and European Union climate targets, indicating the commitment to clean energy solutions for the long-term future. On a smaller scale, making hydrogen available to the average consumer empowers them with more sustainable options when purchasing vehicles, for example, enabling them to move towards fossil fuel alternatives.
Sunfire’s 100 MW electrolyzer set to start operating in 2027: It’s not a nuclear power plant

Sunfire, a German company specializing in fuel cell technology and high-temperature electrolysis, is working with RWE (Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk AG) to get the state-of-the-art 100 MW alkaline electrolyzer pumping out hydrogen gas by 2027. This is not the only form of hydrogen generation that the Lingen plant utilizes, but it will add significantly to the plant’s output and, therefore, the reach of the product. The installation comprises 10 ultra-efficient pressurized modules, each producing 10 MW of green hydrogen.

When the electrolyzer is completely operational in 2027, the plant’s output will be two tons of hydrogen an hour, going a long way to meeting Germany’s industrial and manufacturing demands and replacing greenhouse gas-emitting systems in the process.

How does an alkaline electrolyzer work?

Alkaline electrolysis is a chemically reactive process of producing hydrogen gas from electricity and water. An alkaline electrolyte agent, usually a potassium hydroxide (KOH) or sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution, is needed to split the water molecules into hydrogen gas (H₂) and oxygen gas (O₂).

The Lingen plant’s 100 MW electrolyzer will be renewably powered by solar and wind energy, making the entire operation environmentally compliant. The hydrogen gas is mostly intended for various industrial applications in the region, making it possible for these operations to switch to clean energy, but some may be stored and transported further afield.

The advantages of hydrogen gas

The green energy revolution is sweeping the globe and technology is advancing at a phenomenal pace. Alternative fuels and sources of energy are a technological and developmental priority, especially in the transportation and manufacturing industries. All forms of hydrogen have a place in the race, and here are the benefits of hydrogen gas when used as a fuel:Efficiency: Hydrogen fuel cells deliver a high energy output compared to other kinds of fuels.
Versatility: Hydrogen gas can be used for heating, in vehicle powertrains, to create electricity, and to power machinery.
Environmentally safe: The only byproduct of hydrogen gas in fuel cells is water, making it one of the most environmentally friendly options to fossil fuels available.
Storage: Hydrogen is easy to store for long periods of time.
Contributions to the grid: Hydrogen can be utilized when other forms of renewable energy, such as wind or solar power, are not available.

It’s clear that Germany’s contribution to eradicating carbon emissions worldwide is a good example of how this can be carried out sustainably while promoting growth in the sector as a whole.

America fires up largest hydrogen generator in history: 3 tons per day in this state

by Kelly L.
November 10, 2024

Credits: SoHyCal

North America has cemented itself firmly in the green hydrogen game with the first operational plant in the United States. H2B2 Electrolysis Technologies owns the solar-powered hydrogen generator and has named the plant SoHyCal, alluding to its location in California’s Central Valley. The facility, which secured $3,96 million in funding, is expected to produce three tons of hydrogen each day, which will go a long way in the drive to eradicate carbon emissions and adopt clean energy.

SoHyCal unveiled as a pioneer of conservational hydrogen

The process of proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis technology is used to produce conservational hydrogen from biogas with a capacity of three tons a day, which is the equivalent of a 100-vehicle fleet traveling around 3,000 miles each, which is about the same distance as driving across the entire United States—every day! Spanish company Ingeteam, which specializes in energy conservation and management, is competently in charge of the cutting-edge PEM system.

Pedro Pajares, CEO of H2B2 USA, promoted the project as an example to others:


“In the quest for a greener energy transition, SoHyCal represents a cornerstone in California’s commitment to developing and promoting clean and sustainable hydrogen fuel technologies. The project is poised to significantly contribute to the surging demand for hydrogen, particularly for transportation applications, the reduction of emissions, and the decarbonization in mobility.”

Renewable hydrogen produced by renewable energy

Conservational hydrogen supplier H2B2’s 100% renewably powered plant SoHyCal is ready to revolutionize the energy market and impact the transport sector, especially in North America. Not only does it produce hydrogen as a clean energy product, but the plant is also powered by photovoltaic energy generated in an integrated solar power system. This means that the entire operation is sustainable, from the energy used to the power produced.

Benefits for the State of California and beyond

California is firmly behind the carbon-free revolution, and its goals are reflected in the support extended to the development of the SoHyCal hydrogen fuel plant. Under its main goal, the Californian administration also wants to see hydrogen refueling stations installed across the San Joaquin Valley and San Francisco Bay areas. There are numerous types of vehicles capable of operating on hydrogen, including cars, trucks, and buses, that will soon depend on the supply network and justify the installation of the infrastructure.

Among other benefits, this will encourage more transport customers to transition from gasoline and diesel to responsibly sourced hydrogen, ultimately leading to decreased emissions and improved air quality.

Global standards for ecological hydrogen production

SoHyCal goes beyond being an achievement for North America, it also has global relevance. The Hydrogen Valley Platform (H2V), which is a global forum for sharing information about significant hydrogen projects, identified SoHyCal as a role model for hydrogen generation projects on other continents.

Hydrogen is becoming an increasingly attractive option for numerous industries as technology and performance advance, such as power generation, transportation, and industrial manufacturing. The market for hydrogen is expected to be worth $10 trillion by 2030, which puts H2B2 in a position to take a lead in the emerging market. China is another contender, with hydrogen production and export increasingly accounting for a portion of the Asian country’s GDP.

Benefits of hydrogen as a renewable fuel

There are several advantages of hydrogen in fuel applications:Zero emissions: The only byproduct that hydrogen fuel produces is water vapor.

Energy efficiency: This means more “value” derived from the volume of full, resulting in longer ranges.

Industrial applications: Hydrogen is ideal for high-power applications like manufacturing, aviation, and shipping, where batteries are not capable of delivering sustained periods of high-power output.

Fast refueling: Hydrogen tanks are faster to refuel than charging batteries in electric vehicles, taking about the same amount of time as gasoline or diesel vehicles. This makes it an attractive choice for long-distance transportation and public transport.

The time of hydrogen is rising, and the United States is rising with it as the world looks to clean fossil fuel alternatives.

Is hydrogen the fuel of the future?

By Johanna Gardener • Updated: 10 Nov 2024 •  Euro Weekly News

Hydrogen production plant will hope to eventually provide hydrogen across Europe Credit: Shutterstock:Scharfsinn

Germany is showing its compliance with green initiatives as it turns on the most powerful hydrogen generator in Lingen, Lower Saxony.

The year 2024 seems to be leading the way in the push for a greener Europe and a more eco-friendly planet. With the promotion of hydrogen and electricity-fuelled vehicles, as well as new initiatives across many sectors to sustain our changing planet, baby steps towards global collaboration in protecting our planet appear to be advancing.

Germany is one country which is taking the question seriously. The country is going all-out to join the green hydrogen energy revolution. And it comes in the form of energy company RWE’s new 300 MW hydrogen gas production plant in Lingen in Lower Saxony.

What country is best for green hydrogen?

The hydrogen gas production plant is not only a significant achievement for Germany, but also for the rest of Europe. Despite the fact that the plant is currently only commissioned for specific supply in Lower Saxony and the North Rhine-Westphalia regions, forward-thinking plans include extending this further. The production installation is in-line with the European Hydrogen Backbone, which aims to make hydrogen accessible across Europe through an extensive system of pipelines. In order to control greenhouse gas emissions, hydrogen supplies will eventually be aimed at areas with high hydrogen demand including major shipping ports.

New hydrogen plant is compliant with European Union‘s climate targets

The Lingen Plant assimilates both Germany and the European Union’s climate targets for clean energy solutions for the foreseeable future. Making hydrohgen a feasible and available option for the average consumer is also a step in the right direction, especially when buying vehicles where non petrol or diesel vehicles are an alternative.

German company, Sunfire specializes in fuel cell technology and high-temperature electrolysis. Right now it is working with RWE (Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk AG) in a push to enable the revolutionary 100 MW alkaline electrolyzer to be ready by 2027 to pump out hydrogen gas. Lingen does have other forms of hydrogen generation, but this is an important addition for the plant’s output. Its installation is made up of 10 ultra-efficient pressurized modules, which individually produce 10 MW of green hydrogen.

What does a hydrogen electrolyser do?

Hopefully, by 2027, the electrolyser will be fully operational and two tons of hydrogen an hour will be supplied. This matches demands for Germany’s industry and manufacturing sectors and, at the same time, meets requirements for eco-friendly regulations.

Many might be asking: What is an electrolyser and how does it contribute to hydrogen production? Alkaline electrolysis is a chemically-reactive process, whereby hydrogen gas is produced through a process involving electricity and water. An alkaline electrolyte agent – most commonly, a potassium hydroxide (KOH) or sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution – is used to split water molecules into hydrogen gas (H₂) and oxygen gas (O₂).

Solar and wind power will power Lingen’s new electrolyzer ensuring that it operates fully via green systems. Although it will be supplied locally, clean hydrogen energy can also be stored and transported elsewhere.

What are the advantages of using hydrogen as a fuel?

Hydrogen gas is a bastion in the technological and developmental priorities listed on the EU’s agenda. It has numerous benefits including high efficiency and high energy output compared to other fuels. It can be used for heating, to create electricity and for machine power. More importantly, it is one of the most environmentally-friendly choices due to its only byproduct being water. Long term, it has a durable storage capacity and is a reliable source when other renewable energies like solar and wind energy are hard to come by.

Germany is clearly setting the trend for the rest of Europe: it shows us that whilst responding to the demands of industry and manufacture, countries can also mitigate the eradication of the carbon footprint.

Let’s hope that it serves as an example. Better still, that the whole of Europe can soon get a slice of the action!

Bipolar disorder: how lithium as a treatment fell out of favour


As UK diagnoses have doubled, prescriptions of the treatment have halved. While experts feud over its use, many patients feel it is an effective way of managing their condition


Christine Ro

THE GUARDIAN/OBSERVER
Sat 9 Nov 2024 


Occupational stress is a trigger for Rebecca Wilde, a 32-year-old tech worker in Buckinghamshire. Four years ago, work pressures combined with family issues affected her sleep, leading to a severe manic episode. She was hospitalised for a month and a half, and diagnosed with type 1 bipolar disorder, also known as bipolar 1, a mood condition that can have devastating consequences if not managed well. Mania, and sometimes psychosis, is present in type 1.

Wilde was experiencing both: at one point, she thought she could talk to dogs. She was put on the antipsychotic drug olanzapine and another mood stabiliser, lithium. She has now been taking lithium alone for a year, and it has been transformative. “On the lithium, I definitely feel like me,” she says.


While Wilde was transitioning to lithium only, researchers were furiously debating the evidence around the drug. In 2023, the journal Bipolar Disorders published an editorial co-written by editor-in-chief Gin S Malhi, titled “Lithium first: not merely first line”. This asserted that lithium should be considered not only as one of several possible initial treatments for bipolar disorder, but as the first and foremost of these. Lithium “needs to be championed”, maintains Malhi, a visiting psychiatry professor at Oxford University.


But the publication ignited a storm. “It enraged me to see this editorial,” says Haim Belmaker, emeritus professor of psychiatry at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in Beersheba, Israel. In the absence of new data, “to me it was a terrible hubris for them to come out and suddenly, in a triumphal way, say that lithium was great”. Belmaker fired off a letter to the editor calling it a mistake to consider lithium the gold standard. This was published after eight peer reviews – a highly unusual amount of scrutiny. Three other commentaries then waded into the debate.

This is not the only heated dispute among lithium researchers from the past couple of years. A 2024 critique led to professors trading words such as “pseudoscience” and “extraordinarily venomous”. Feuds such as these point to the high stakes over the declining popularity of lithium.
Globally, the most common reason medical professionals give for not prescribing lithium is patients’ negative beliefs

Medicinal lithium is remarkable. There is more evidence of lithium’s effectiveness in managing bipolar disorder than for any other medicine. As a naturally occurring ion, lithium can’t be patented. And unlike most medicines, it’s not metabolised by the body.

Malhi explains why this is significant: “With lithium, the body can be thought of simply as a bucket of water with input and output of fluid. Then, whatever lithium you add gives you a plasma level. It means we can accurately make changes with sensitivity around plasma levels and clinical response and tolerability.”


Belmaker argues that lithium’s simplicity has made it alluring, but for some people this has hardened into an almost dogmatic belief in its superiority. Indeed, words such as “mystique” and “magic” pop up in the scientific literature around the medicine. It’s still not known how lithium works to stabilise moods.

Lithium’s potential to treat mood disorders began being discussed in earnest in the middle of the 20th century and was popularised in the 1960s and 70s. Research slowed after the 90s, when anticonvulsant and antipsychotic medicines started to be used for bipolar. Since then there’s been a decline in expertise about lithium, says Allan Young, chair of mood disorders at King’s College London. Resistance to the use of lithium has been building for decades.

A key reason is that lithium is cumbersome to manage. It works only within a very narrow range of doses; beyond this, lithium toxicity can develop quickly, sometimes fatally. Serious side-effects include damage to the kidneys, thyroid and parathyroid. Other side-effects, such as excessive thirst and urination, can disturb sleep.

Wilde, a keen runner, has noticed this. Initially, lithium would cause her hands to tremble with dehydration. So she’s more careful about replenishing liquids and electrolytes. This has involved more night-time toilet visits, which she calls “more of an annoyance than anything”.

Overall, lithium proponents argue that concerns about side-effects are exaggerated, including by health workers who may wrongly attribute kidney issues to lithium. The alternatives can also carry side-effects; Wilde experienced stubborn weight gain from an antipsychotic drug.

The anticonvulsant sodium valproate provides another example. According to Young, when valproate was marketed as a mood stabiliser in the 1990s, pharmaceutical companies described it as safer during pregnancy than lithium, which can increase the likelihood of a baby being born with a heart defect. “That almost certainly turned out to be erroneous, because if anything, we think valproate is worse than lithium” for foetuses, Young says. But the damage had been done: “We saw a real step back in interest in terms of lithium.”
View image in fullscreenA 300mg lithium pill. The drug’s usage in the UK is dropping despite bipolar disorder diagnoses doubling between 2001 and 2018. Photograph: Chris Marshall/Getty Images


Because lithium is so finicky, plasma levels need to be checked with regular blood tests: initially weekly, and then every several months. Eating disorders and sudden weight loss can make lithium risky. In comparison, “other drugs can be started rather cavalierly”, according to Belmaker.

It can take months or even years to know how well someone is responding to lithium. This depends on a certain continuity of care and flow of information between clinicians. Yet some argue that all these requirements are actually a benefit of lithium, as they make close monitoring of the patient essential.

This may depend on each patient’s capacity to speak up for themselves. Wilde is organised and active, so she does not mind following up on communications among her various public and private doctors, and getting blood and organ tests every few months: “It’s worth the faff.” However, she acknowledges that she is young and relatively healthy, and lives close to medical care. The calculus might be different for someone with health complications, mobility issues, or routines frequently disrupted by mania or depression.

NHS data for medicines prescribed in England shows that in 2015/16, 51,682 patients were prescribed lithium carbonate (tablets) and 941 lithium citrate (liquid). This dwindled to 42,534 and 822 in 2023/24.

Since 2014, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) guidelines has recommended lithium as the only first-line maintenance treatment for bipolar disorder in the UK. Lithium would have been expected to trend up based on this guidance, as UK bipolar diagnoses more than doubled between 2001 and 2018, according to a sample of electronic medical records. Instead, lithium prescribing for patients with bipolar dropped from 31% to 16%.skip past newsletter promotion


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Joseph Hayes, a psychiatry professor at University College London, co-authored the medical records study. With the overstretched state of the NHS and the scarcity of specialist bipolar clinics, “we’ve set up a mental healthcare service that makes it quite difficult to initiate lithium”, Hayes says. “There are clinicians who believe they can’t safely prescribe it,” even though in his experience lithium is distinct from other drugs in allowing some patients to thrive, not just get by.

“Lithium is woefully under-prescribed in the UK,” says Simon Kitchen, chief executive of the charity Bipolar UK. “Increasing lithium use means even more people living with bipolar will be able to stay well, keep out of hospital, get back into the workplace and live the lives they deserve.”
If lithium was new and drug companies could profit from it, they would shout from the rooftops about its effectiveness


Lithium’s declining use is a worldwide trend, though especially marked in North America. In North America, Europe and Australia, between 1998 and 2020, anticonvulsants, antipsychotics and antidepressants were all prescribed more often than lithium to people with bipolar disorder. Globally, the most common reason medical professionals give for not prescribing lithium is patients’ negative beliefs.

It’s less surprising that lithium would be underused in the US – with its complicated swirl of insurance policies, medical lawsuits, and pharmaceutical advertising. On the other hand, in low- and middle-income countries, insufficient resources for monitoring lithium are especially concerning.

So a niggling question is why lithium use has also dropped in countries such as the UK. Michael Gitlin, a psychiatry professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, says that while some Europeans may view Americans “as like children who are distracted by shiny new drugs”, the shiny new drug factor isn’t limited to the US. In 2023, Gitlin, Malhi and colleagues issued a “call to arms” to stem the decline of lithium therapy.

Lithium’s venerable status may actually be working against it. Because it has been around longer than any other drug to treat bipolar disorder, it’s had longer to rack up a history of potential side-effects. Lithium has been subject to lingering stigma from the antipsychiatry movements of earlier decades and the social media-amplified stigma from the critical psychiatry movement today, according to Hayes. Some psychiatrists report that patients have formed negative impressions of lithium long before it’s suggested to them as a treatment.

There’s another risk of complacency. Because, as Young says, bipolar is “such a highly recurrent disorder”, long-term maintenance is important though sometimes underappreciated. It can be dangerous to discontinue lithium, he warns. “One of the sad situations is if someone has responded really well to lithium and then they stop it, they may not respond that well to being reintroduced. And it can be quite a rocky road to getting someone back to recovery.”
View image in fullscreenOne in 150 adults, around 40 million people worldwide, live with bipolar disorder. Photograph: Peter Dazeley/Getty Images


Some researchers report that it’s becoming ever more challenging to obtain research funding for lithium. Pharmaceutical companies have little incentive to fund studies or the marketing of lithium, which will never be a big earner unless they bundle it into novel compounds. “If lithium was a new drug today and someone could make a profit from it, I think drug companies would be shouting from the rooftops about how effective it is,” Hayes says.

Even getting data for research can be tough, reports Carol Crean, an associate professor in physical and materials chemistry at Surrey University. Her team has been developing less invasive methods for monitoring lithium, such as wearable sensors. Wilde already uses a bipolar symptom-tracking app; continuous monitoring technologies would give people like her more power to check their own lithium levels, as people with diabetes do for blood glucose levels. But in a vicious circle, Crean says, “With fewer people taking the drug, it can be challenging to reliably get patient samples to help progress the work.”

The increasing sophistication of technology for personalised medicine could help reverse the plummeting of lithium use. If clinicians were able to more accurately predict who would do well on lithium, it could be a gamechanger. Young is part of an EU-funded research project seeking to determine the biomarkers related to lithium response, using tools including activity sensors, blood tests, machine learning and MRI techniques to directly measure the distribution of lithium in the brain. “This is probably one of the most exciting things to happen with lithium research in decades,” says Young.

Another possibility is that as the prescription of lithium for bipolar disorder keeps falling, interest in other applications of lithium will rise. Researchers continue to investigate its protective effects against suicide and dementia, and its supplementary use in microdoses. This has generated much excitement, though some remain concerned about the potential for overhyping lithium in new ways.

These controversies remain academic for patients who will ultimately choose the least bad option for them. Since childhood, Wilde has tried to avoid medication where possible. She still recognises the limitations of any mood stabiliser: “I really don’t think it’s just lithium that’s going to keep me, or anyone really for that matter, stable.” But combined with therapy, work-life balance, physical activity, medical checks and a strong support system, lithium has helped her get back to herself. “As long as it’s working for me, I will stay on it.”

Strange Metal From Beyond Our Planet Found in an Ancient Treasure Stash

09 November 2024
ByMichelle Starr
The Treasure of Villena. (Municipal Archaeological Museum of Villena)


Amidst a cache of glittering golden treasures from the Iberian Bronze Age, a pair of corroded objects might be the most precious of all.

A dull bracelet and a rusted hollow hemisphere decorated with gold are forged, researchers have found, not out of metal from beneath the ground, but with iron from meteorites that fell from the sky.


The discovery, led by now-retired head of conservation at the National Archeological Museum Spain, Salvador Rovira-Llorens, was revealed in a paper published in January, and suggests that metalworking technology and techniques were far more advanced than we thought in Iberia more than 3,000 years ago.


The Treasure of Villena, as the cache of 66 mostly gold objects is known, was discovered more than 60 years ago in 1963 in what is now Alicante in Spain, and has since come to be regarded as one of the most important examples of Bronze Age goldsmithing in the Iberian Peninsula, and the whole of Europe.

The iron-and-gold hemisphere, which has a maximum diameter of 4.5 centimeters (1.77 inches). (Villena Museum)

However, determining the age of the collection has been somewhat difficult to do, thanks to two objects: a small, hollow hemisphere, thought to be part of a scepter or sword hilt; and a single, torc-like bracelet. Both have what archaeologists have described as a "ferrous" appearance – that is, they seem to be made of iron.


In the Iberian Peninsula, the Iron Age – where smelted terrestrial iron began to replace bronze – didn't start until around 850 BCE. The problem is that the gold materials have been dated to between 1500 and 1200 BCE. So working out where the ferrous-looking artifacts sit in the context of the Treasure of Villena has been something of a puzzle.


But iron ore from Earth's crust is not the only place source of malleable iron. There's a number of pre-Iron Age iron artifacts around the world that were forged from the stuff of meteorites. Perhaps most famous is the meteoritic iron dagger of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, but there are other Bronze Age weapons made of the material, and they were very highly prized.


There is a way to tell the difference: iron from meteorites has a much higher nickel content than iron dug out of Earth's ground. So researchers obtained permission from the Municipal Archaeological Museum of Villena, which houses the collection, to carefully test the two artifacts, and determine just how much nickel they contained.

The iron bracelet, which measures 8.5 centimeters (3.35 inches) across. (Villena Museum)

They carefully took samples of both artifacts, and subjected the material to mass spectrometry to determine their composition. In spite of the high degree of corrosion, which alters the elemental makeup of the artifact, the results strongly suggest that both the hemisphere and the bracelet were made from meteoritic iron.

This neatly solves the dilemma of how the two artifacts align with the rest of the collection: they were made around the same period, dating back to around 1400 to 1200 BCE.

"The available data suggest that the cap and bracelet from the Treasure of Villena would currently be the first two pieces attributable to meteoritic iron in the Iberian Peninsula," the researchers explain in their paper, "which is compatible with a Late Bronze chronology, prior to the beginning of the widespread production of terrestrial iron."


Now, because the objects are so badly corroded, the results aren't conclusive. But there are more recent, non-invasive techniques that could be applied to the objects to obtain a more detailed set of data that would help cement the findings, the team suggest.

The findings were published in Trabajos de Prehistoria.

ICYMI

Canada braced for migrants as Trump reiterates mass deportation vow


Police say plans in place to deal with rise in border crossings as US president-elect pledges to remove 11m people

Leyland Cecco in Toronto

Fri 8 Nov 2024 
THE GUARDIAN

Canada is bracing for a surge of migrants to its southern border after Donald Trump doubled down on his pledge to conduct the largest mass deportation in American history.

On Thursday, Trump told NBC News there was “no choice” but to proceed in removing some of the estimated 11 million undocumented people in the United States.

During Trump’s first term in office, tens of thousands of Haitians fled to Canada after he ended temporary protected status for the group (it was later restored). Many passed through the Roxham Road crossing, a rural country road that served as funnel for refugees attempting to safely traverse the world’s longest land border.

That crossing was closed in 2023 after Canada and the US amended the Safe Third Country Agreement, expanding it to cover the entire land border instead of only formal crossings.

The RCMP says it has plans to deal with a fresh increase in crossings that has been “several months” in the making. A spokesperson for the federal police said officers had the “tools and insight” to deal with another increase, including a scenario in which hundreds of people cross every day.

If those crossing claim asylum, the RCMP cannot send them back to the United States. Instead, their claims are entered into a system with an estimated backlog of 250,000 cases. The average processing time for a case is 44 months, a parliamentary committee heard on Thursday.

Experts fear that with formal crossings closed to migrants, desperate families will take increasingly dangerous routes across the 5,500-mile border. In many locations, the terrain and the weather can be deadly.

In January 2022, a family of four – including a baby – died after attempting to cross from Canada to the United States. Police said the group died from the intense cold and punishing winds, where temperatures had dipped to -35C (-31F).

Last year, the bodies of eight people, including two young children and their parents, were discovered on the banks of the St Lawrence river near the Mohawk community of Akwesasne, which spans Quebec, Ontario and New York state.


Both cases involved groups heading from Canada into the US, but migrants heading north face the same challenges, which as winter approaches include sub-zero temperatures, deep snow and frostbite.

In Quebec, the province that absorbed most of the crossing, politicians warned the federal government was unprepared for a repeat of the last Trump administration.

Yves-François Blanchet, leader of the separatist Bloc Québécois party, said Ottawa was “refusing to acknowledge an obvious and very serious situation” and that more resources were needed to anticipate new routes used by human smugglers.

Quebec’s premier, François Legault, told reporters he did not believe the province had the capacity to absorb a significant number of new arrivals, adding that although border security falls under the purview of the federal government, his government would possibly send its own officers to monitor crossings.

Earlier this week, the deputy prime minister, Chrystia Freeland, said her government “absolutely recognize[d] the importance to border security and of controlling our own border, of controlling who comes into Canada and who doesn’t”.

Olympian, veteran, first Canadian Indigenous police officer honoured in Belgium

Rick Decoteau (left) is seen with his wife Melinda (middle), and Elder Debbie Eisan (right). (Derek Haggett/CTV Atlantic)


Derek Haggett
CTV News Atlantic Journalist
Follow |Contact
Published Nov. 9, 2024 


Alex Decoteau didn’t live to see his 30th birthday, but what he accomplished in his 29 years of life was simply remarkable.

An emotional ceremony on National Indigenous Veterans Day was attended by Belgian and Canadian dignitaries in Zonnebeke, Belgium, on Friday.


Decoteau was killed in the First World War during the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917.

Before he enlisted to serve Canada in the Great War, Decoteau was an Olympian and Canada’s first Indigenous police officer.

A plaque was unveiled in his honour near the location where he was shot and killed by a German sniper.

His great grand nephew, Rick Decoteau, is part of a Canadian delegation in Belgium that are honouring Canadian Indigenous Veterans.

He was very proud to represent his ancestor and speak on behalf of his family.
The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

“It is heartwarming,” said Decoteau. “I’ve got a pretty big extended family. The majority of them are Decoteaus and over the course of the years people didn’t know there any Decoteaus left.”

According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, Alex Decoteau was born in 1887 on the Red Pheasant First Nation in Saskatchewan.

His father was Métis(opens in a new tab), while his mother was Cree(opens in a new tab).

Decouteau joined the Edmonton City Police in 1909 and patrolled the streets on his motorcycle.

He was also a long-distance runner who represented Canada at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden in the 5,000 metre event.

Today, the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) hold an annual run in his honour and a city park has been named after him.

Rick Decoteau said a lot of his great grand uncle’s running memorabilia is on display in the atrium of the EPS headquarters.

“He was involved in a lot of foot races overseas. Won a lot of medals, trophies which are on display at the Edmonton Police Service headquarters in downtown Edmonton,” said Decoteau.

\A ceremony honouring Alex Decoteau in Zonnebeke, Belgium. (Derek Haggett/CTV Atlantic)Corps Sergeant Major Christa Laforce of EPS was chosen to represent the department that helped fund Decoteau’s memorial.

“He took a leave of work to come over here and fight in World War I serving his greater community in Canada. There was nothing more honourable than being part of that history over in Belgium for Alex. He’s still a member of the Edmonton Police Service,” said Laforce. “Once a member, always a member.”

An emotional day too for Laforce who was deeply touched to be present and speak at the ceremony.

A ceremony honouring Alex Decoteau in Zonnebeke, Belgium. (Derek Haggett/CTV Atlantic)“I don’t have the words to say. It’s super heart warming to be here and the impact he’s had in the community is astonishing,” said Laforce.

Nicholas Brousseau, Canada’s ambassador to Belgium, said it’s impossible to overstate the significance of Decoteau’s decision to fight for his country.

“At a time when many Indigenous people were denied full citizenship rights, Alex Decoteau volunteered not just for Canada, but for the ideals of freedom, sacrifice and shared humanity,” said Brousseau.

After the ceremony, everyone in attendance travelled 400 metres up the road of the Flemish countryside to the military cemetery where Alex Decoteau is buried.

Rick Decoteau placed a wreath at the foot of his grave and Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre(opens in a new tab) Elder Debbie Eisan provided a blessing.

Flowers are laid on Alex Decoteau's grave. (Derek Haggett/CTV Atlantic)Earlier in the day, Decoteau shared an incredible story about his ancestor’s death about a gold pocket watch which had been given to him from King George V.

“The story goes that when Alex was killed in the war by a German sniper, the German sniper took the watch and a couple of days later Alex’s comrades shot and killed the same sniper that took the watch and got his watch back,” said Decouteau. “That is now in the Edmonton Police Service showcase in downtown Edmonton.”

Click here for more photos(opens in a new tab) from around Ypres.

This article was produced in partnership with Visit Flan

A ceremony honouring Alex Decoteau in Zonnebeke, Belgium. (Derek Haggett/CTV Atlantic)

'Silly and the epic erasure': Oliver's novel offends Indigenous Australians

According to the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation, the fantasy novel's subplots contribute to the 'trivialisation, and stereotyping of First Nations peoples and experiences'.


Reuters

Indigenous campaigners were particularly aghast that neither Oliver nor his publishers. / Photo: Reuters


A children's book written by British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been withdrawn from sale after it was criticised for offending Indigenous Australians.


The Guardian newspaper reported Saturday that the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation blasted “Billy And The Epic Escape,” which was published earlier this year, for employing a series of tropes and stereotypes about Indigenous Australians, including their relationships with the natural and spiritual worlds.


The group criticised one of the fantasy novel's subplots, which tells the story of an Indigenous girl living in foster care, for contributing to the “erasure, trivialisation, and stereotyping of First Nations peoples and experiences."


In a statement, Oliver, 49, said he was “devastated” to have caused offence and apologised “wholeheartedly.”


“It was never my intention to misinterpret this deeply painful issue," he said. "Together with my publishers we have decided to withdraw the book from sale.”


Indigenous campaigners were particularly aghast that neither Oliver nor his publishers, Penguin Random House, had consulted with them before the novel was published.


“It is clear that our publishing standards fell short on this occasion, and we must learn from that and take decisive action,” the publisher said. "With that in mind, we have agreed with our author, Jamie Oliver, that we will withdraw the book from sale.”


Oliver, who is in Australia promoting his latest recipe book, is among a long list of celebrities who have signed children's books. This trend has been criticised by many children's authors, who say they are being crowded out of their market.


Oliver released his first children’s book, “Billy And The Giant Adventure,” last year and said in a social media post that he had “carefully chosen the font to make sure the text is as clear as possible” as dyslexic people like himself can find it hard to read.


Oliver, who rose to fame in 1999 with his book and television show “The Naked Chef,” has long campaigned on children’s food and nutrition and caused a furore in 2005 when he hit out at the nutritional of some school dinners in the UK.

British chef Jamie Oliver pulls book after Indigenous uproar

Oliver's book, "Billy and the Epic Escape", tells a fictional account of a group of friends on a summer adventure when an Indigenous girl living in foster care is abducted.



Reuters Archive

"It was never my intention to misinterpret this deeply painful issue. Together with my publishers we have decided to withdraw the book from sale," Jamie Oliver said. / Photo: Reuters Archive


British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has announced he will no longer sell his children's book, after coming under fire for what Indigenous critics called "erasure, trivialisation and stereotyping".


Oliver's book, "Billy and the Epic Escape", tells a fictional account of a group of friends on a summer adventure when an Indigenous girl living in foster care is abducted.


The story sparked outrage among Indigenous authors and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation called for the book to be withdrawn, The Guardian reported on Saturday.


The corporation told The Guardian the book was "disrespectful" and contributed to the "erasure, trivialisation, and stereotyping of First Nations peoples and experiences".


Thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were taken from their homes and put into foster care with white families under official policies that persisted into the 1970s -- now known as the "Stolen Generations".


Oliver said he was "devastated" to have caused offence and apologised "wholeheartedly", The Guardian reported.


"It was never my intention to misinterpret this deeply painful issue. Together with my publishers we have decided to withdraw the book from sale," he said.



The Guardian said the book had incorrectly used Indigenous words.


A spokesperson for publisher Penguin Random House said it was "clear" its publishing standards "fell short", according to the report.


"We must learn from that and take decisive action," the spokesperson said.


"With that in mind, we have agreed with our author, Jamie Oliver, that we will be withdrawing the book from sale."


The book was still available for purchase online Sunday.


Oliver launched to fame when his TV show "The Naked Chef" aired in 1999, and he has since filmed several other shows and published numerous cookbooks.

'Costly genocide': How social media dissected Democrat setback in US polls

As election results trickled in, social media buzzed with sharp, polarised responses, reflecting Americans’ deeply fractured views on issues from Amish voter turnout to US-Israel relations.

EDIBE BEYZA CAGLAR

TRT/AA
\\\\\\\

AP

Millions of US citizens have called on the Biden administration to halt arms sales since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023. / Photo: AP


Widespread criticism of the Biden administration’s steadfast support for Israel echoed across social media, with many attributing Kamala Harris’s flagging poll numbers to this controversial stance.


The Biden administration’s approach to Israel’s war in Gaza and Lebanon has driven significant discontent among local voters. In a closely contested battleground state, this disenchantment could prove decisive in a tight presidential race.


“Genocide is costly after all,” remarked Omar Suleiman, a prominent leader in the Muslim American community, responding to initial tallies.


He continued in a post, “And those who responded to that agony with sheer arrogance are responsible for their own downfall. The rest of us will keep fighting evil whether it’s wrapped in red or blue.”


With the Associated Press reporting Donald Trump in the lead across 31 states and Vice President Kamala Harris holding 12, the intense showdown between Trump and Harris sparked fervent commentary.


Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and owner of X (formerly Twitter) and a vocal Trump advocate, wrote, “Game, set and match,” adding in a later post, “The prophecy has been fulfilled!”


Amish support for Trump


The Amish, often disengaged from mainstream politics, emerged as an unexpected Trump-leaning bloc in Pennsylvania, with reports suggesting 180,000 Amish voters had cast ballots for him.


This turnout, attributed by some to the community’s discontent with the Biden administration, underscored Trump’s appeal across surprising demographics.

Musk acknowledged this shift by sharing the song “Amish Paradise” with the caption, “Great song.”


Social media user enthusiasm was equally high. One commenter claimed, “President Trump won more votes out of Lancaster County than in 2020. The Amish delivered.”


Unwavering support for Israel


Criticism of the Biden administration’s unwavering support for Israel reverberated online, with many linking this stance to Harris’s lagging numbers.


Prominent campaign adviser Peter Daou condemned the administration’s policy in Gaza, posting, “This is what killing babies for a year gets you,” before later adding, “Genocide wasn’t a good election strategy.”

Others suggested that, despite slight variations, both candidates would likely maintain US backing for Israel, with one voter noting that “both candidates will end up supporting genocide in Gaza”.


Reflecting a blunt take on the election’s outcome, William Youmans, a professor at George Washington University, tweeted, “It’s the genocide, stupid.”


Divided reactions among political commentators


The election’s implications for global power dynamics sparked reactions among pundits. Ian Bremmer, a political scientist, summarised the situation tersely, writing, “Putin: winning; Iran: screwed; China: nervous.”


In contrast, TV host Jimmy Failla made light of the Democrats’ loss, quipping, “Nothing could be funnier than Democrats calling Trump racist for 10 years and losing because black men voted for him. Hilarious.”


Meanwhile, Sean Johnson, a CEO and investor who supported Harris, critiqued the Democrats’ introspection, remarking, “I voted for her. I think he’s a bad guy. But if you lose the senate, house, electoral college, and popular vote, and you think the lesson is half the country is racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, and stupid… wrong lesson. And the same thing will likely happen in 2028.”


Trump endorser Bill Mitchell dismissed Harris’s candidacy with a scathing remark: “Women don’t want the first woman president to be an idiot.” This tweet echoed widely, with many social media posts arguing women “deserve better representation.”



Riley Gaines, host of “Gaines for Girls,” credited Trump’s potential success to Musk’s acquisition of X, stating, “This election cycle would have been very different had Elon not bought X.”


Activist Medea Benjamin, an outspoken critic of both candidates, lamented, “A lot of Americans… like what Donald Trump is selling—racism, sexism, hatred of immigrants. And, along with Harris, genocide against Palestinians. Sad but true.”

SOURCE: TRTWORLD AND AGENCIES

Edibe Beyza Caglar
She is deputy producer at TRT World
@edibebeyza

Europe’s growing border barriers: an invisible threat to wildlife

As the EU builds more fences to curb migration, these structures disrupt wildlife habitats, posing significant ecological challenges.



Reuters

From lynxes and bears to reptiles, these barriers block critical migration paths and isolate animal populations, damaging Europe’s already fragile ecosystems. / Photo: Reuters


In recent years, the European Union has intensified its border security to prevent illegal migration, erecting physical barriers through some of the continent’s largest forests.


According to data from the European Parliament, the total length of border fences at the EU’s external and internal borders within the EU/Schengen area expanded from 315 kilometres in 2014 to 2,048 kilometres by 2022.

However, these fences—often stretching through biodiverse regions like the Carpathians, the Balkans, and the Białowieża Forest in the Polish-Belarusian wall—pose significant threats to Europe’s wildlife.


Walls and fences designed to secure borders could make it difficult for almost 700 mammal species to roam freely as they do seasonally, thus impacting their ability to adapt to climate change, according to a study by the Natural Environment Research Council.


From lynxes and bears to reptiles, these barriers block critical migration paths and isolate animal populations, damaging Europe’s already fragile ecosystems.

The Białowieża Forest, which spans the border of Poland and Belarus, is one of Europe’s last remaining primaeval forests and home to species such as European bison, wolves, and lynxes.


Here, fences prevent animals from following natural migratory paths, effectively trapping them in isolated habitats on one side of the border.


The inability to cross over means animals like the endangered European bison, which roam across large areas for food, are cut off from essential resources, impacting their survival.


Additionally, this confinement reduces genetic diversity by limiting breeding options, leading to weaker populations that are more susceptible to disease and environmental changes.

Habitat degradation

The Carpathian Mountains, spanning multiple Central and Eastern European countries, host diverse wildlife, including brown bears, lynxes, and wolves.

Border fences cut through these vast forests, obstructing the movement of these apex predators that rely on large hunting grounds. Without access to adequate territory, bears and wolves are forced into smaller areas, leading to conflicts over resources and driving them closer to human populations.

The barriers and fences built to prevent human migration also pose a direct physical threat to many animals. In the Balkans, where cross-border migration of large animals is common, deer and wolves often try to navigate these barbed wire fences, leading to injuries or even death.

Smaller animals, like certain reptiles and amphibians, struggle to reach water sources and breeding grounds, putting local populations at risk. The isolation of habitats by fencing impacts everything from plant life to insects and small mammals, further undermining local biodiversity.

Beyond physical harm, the ecological impact is far-reaching.

Fences alter predator-prey relationships, as animals forced into confined areas can overgraze or overhunt certain regions, leading to habitat degradation.

‘NYTimes’ biased coverage of Amsterdam soccer violence attempts to hide Israeli racism

The New York Times buried the fact that racist Israeli soccer fans instigated attacks in Amsterdam, and instead pushed a false narrative that the violence was driven by antisemitism.

Media Analysis
By James North 

 November 10, 2024
MONDOWEISS

New York Times headquarters. (Photo: Wikipedia)

The New York Times report on the recent soccer clashes in Amsterdam was so biased that you wouldn’t be entirely surprised if you found out that Israel’s propaganda/disinformation ministry had kidnapped the paper’s reporters and put guns to their heads.

At this site, Sana Saaed has already done an impressive post surveying the widespread global media bias about the events. But, unfortunately, the New York Times is the most important source of coverage of Israel/Palestine for Americans. The Times sets the tone for the cable TV networks, and other U.S. papers have cut back or ended their foreign coverage. So a closer scrutiny of its ongoing slant is indispensable.

The Times report, which started on page 1, used the word “antisemitic” six times, beginning in the headline. The first six paragraphs uniformly described the “Israeli soccer fans” as the victims, recounting their injuries, and dwelling on the Israeli government’s chartering of “at least three flights to bring Israeli citizens home,” insinuating that innocent people had to completely flee the country for their lives.

You had to jump to paragraph 7, buried on an inside page, to learn that the Israeli fans had, in fact, been violent and provocative the night before the game: they “vandalized a taxi and burned a Palestinian flag.” On game day itself, Israeli fans shouted “an anti-Arab chant,” but the Times never bothered to tell us what they were shouting. (Reports elsewhere said that one of the chants was: “Why is school out in Gaza? There are no children left there.”)

After these brief hints that at least some of the Israelis had not behaved like peaceful sports fans, the Times got back to hammering away at the antisemitism theme. The next to last paragraph is a cunning example of the slant.

To further illustrate the alleged rise in antisemitism in Europe, the paper said:


“Earlier this year, when the Netherlands opened a National Holocaust Museum — almost 80 years after three-quarters of the Dutch Jewish population was killed in the Holocaust — an angry crowd of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered outside and yelled, ‘There is a holocaust in Gaza.’”

1.) The murder of Dutch Jews, although of course tragic, has nothing to do with Israel’s murder of Gazans today. And if you are going to bring up percentages, what proportion of the Gazan people are also already dead? 2.) Outside a Holocaust museum is an entirely appropriate place to protest another holocaust that is ongoing. 3.) The Times dismisses the demonstrators as “angry” and “yelling,” loaded words that the reporters left out of their vocabulary in their earlier brief mentions of the chants from the visiting Israelis.

The Times could have reported this story more fairly. By contrast, let’s look at how it was covered in the Jewish Daily Forward. A reporter there named Arno Rosenfeld apparently knows how to use the telephone and/or the internet, because he was able to quickly get through to Amsterdam’s Jewish community, an obvious move that the (three) Times reporters failed to do.

Rosenfeld did report that many Amsterdam Jews were in fact fearful after the violence. But he also informed Forward readers that there was another side to the story:

But some Dutch Jews noted that roving bands of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans had spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights marauding through the city center chanting racist anti-Arab slogans, climbing a facade to rip a Palestinian flag off the second story of an apartment building and assaulting a Moroccan taxi driver.

Jelle Zijlstra, who is Jewish and works as a community organizer in Amsterdam, made a post that went viral on Instagram stating that ‘multiple truths can exist at the same time.’ It highlighted both the assaults on Israelis and footage of the fans shouting ‘F— Palestine’ the night before.

There was definitely antisemitism involved in some of the events that took place, Zjilstra said in an interview. ‘Were Jews attacked in the streets? Yes, but those Jews were also violent hooligans.’”

Arno Rosenfeld showed that reporting on the Amsterdam events with balance and fairness was not impossible. Maybe the New York Times should offer him a job?

No, there were no ‘antisemitic pogroms’ in Amsterdam. Here’s what really happened.

Media claims of ‘antisemitic pogroms’ against Israeli fans in Amsterdam are the latest in a pattern of false narratives fueling anti-Muslim violence and justifying the genocide in Gaza.

By Sana Saeed 

 November 9, 2024 
MONDOWEISS

A crowd of Israelis tear down a Palestinian flag hanging on a building in the city of Amsterdam. Hundreds of Israelis and fans of the notoriously racist Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer team had traveled to the city for a match in the city. Following a string of attacks and vandalism carried out by Israelis, the Maccabi fans were targeted in what the media dubbed an ‘antisemitic pogrom’. (Screenshot, X)


“Olé, olé!

Olé, olé, olé!

Let the IDF win and fuck the Arabs!

Olé, olé!

Olé, olé, olé!

Why is school out in Gaza? There are no children left there!”

On the night of November 7th, there was an anti-Jewish pogrom in Amsterdam as young Dutch Moroccans on scooters descended onto the streets to assault Israeli Jewish football fans.

At least, that’s the story being told in Western newsrooms and by American and European leaders as the Israeli extermination of Gaza – especially the north – continues unencumbered.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a “horrific antisemitic incident.”

President Joe Biden released a statement on X saying “the Antisemitic attacks on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam are despicable and echo dark moments in history when Jews were persecuted.” He ended by reiterating “We must relentlessly fight Antisemitism, wherever it emerges.”

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof promised that “the perpetrators will be tracked down and prosecuted.”

EU commissioner Ursula Von Der Leyen gave the reminder that “antisemitism has absolutely no place in Europe.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated “the news out of Amsterdam last night is horrifying. This is a dark moment for our world — and one we have seen before.”

The Anti-Defamation League called it a “modern day pogrom”, its CEO Jonathan Greenblatt drawing comparisons to Kristallnacht, saying that “Jews on the streets of Amsterdam were hunted, chased, attacked and forced to hide from an antisemitic mob whose goal was to harm as many Jews as possible.”

Headlines across U.S. news coverage, especially, signaled similar alarm: “Violent Attacks in Amsterdam Tied to Antisemitism”, “‘Scooter Youths,’ Not Soccer Fans, Hunt Jews in Amsterdam”, “Israeli soccer fans suffer ‘anti-Semitic attacks’ in violent Amsterdam incident: Officials”, “Amsterdam bans protests after ‘antisemitic squads’ attack Israeli soccer fans”, “Israeli Soccer Fans Targeted in ‘Antisemitic’ Attacks In Amsterdam”.

But that’s not what happened.

On November 5th, hundreds of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans – reportedly accompanied by Mossad agents – had flown into the city for a game against Ajax FC. It was reported, in the preceding days, that pro-Palestinian groups were planning a large protest outside the stadium against the presence of the Israeli football team. In the two days before the game, there were many reported incidents of violence and intimidation from the Israeli fans – including anti-Arab chants, attacking taxi drivers, ripping down Palestinian flags and attacking homes with any Palestinian imagery.

Emerging video evidence and testimonies from Amsterdam residents (here, here and here for instance) indicate that the initial violence came from Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, who also disrupted a moment of silence for the Valencia flood victims.

But despite that footage and Amsterdammer testimonies, coverage – across international media, especially in the United States – has failed to contextualize the counter-attacks against the anti-Arab Israeli mob.

Where there have been mentions of the actions of the Maccabi fans, the critical context of anti-Arab violence and chants is simply an additional detail versus the foundation of the counter-violence. The context of the violence and racism against Arabs is also downplayed, with less severe language being used to describe it.

Note this excerpt from a Reuters report on the Amsterdam incident:


Videos on social media showed riot police in action, with some attackers shouting anti-Israeli slurs. Footage also showed Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters chanting anti-Arab slogans before Thursday evening’s match.

Wishing death to Arabs at the hands of the IDF and mocking dead Palestinian children, we are told, is a slogan. Forcing Israelis to say “Free Palestine!” is a slur. Through the use of these two words, the weight of violence and of blame is immediately shifted to those victimized.

Then there’s this Channel 4 news report, which shows a bit of a masterful narrative manipulation. It begins with images of people draped in Palestinian flags, marching in the streets of Amsterdam, with the voiceover talking about the ‘shocking’ violence, and how “men on scooters hunted down Israelis to beat them”. We immediately see footage of random Israelis being beaten in the streets and then a jump to the Dutch PM condemning these actions. When presented this way, it is shocking – your initial introduction to this story is that Israeli Jewish football fans were ‘hunted’ and assaulted in the streets by pro-Palestinian hooligans.

A little over a minute into the three-minute report, we move onto what is the critical context: 36 hours of violence and racist slurs and chants by the Maccabi fans. The report spends about 40 seconds going over it, only to return to framing the incident as antisemitic. It concludes with a brief acknowledgement that Maccabi fans have a history of anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian racism but its final note is about the historical memory of Jews with regards to being ‘hunted and chased’ in the streets.

Nevermind the present experience of Arabs, of Muslims being exterminated in their homes, hospitals, schools and tents by a Jewish military.

It’s also worth mentioning here that during the course of writing this piece, Sky News posted and deleted a video report on the racist Israeli mob’s instigation and violence — only to repost the report, with its content and copy edited to center the “antisemitism” framing. In other words, a real-time manufacturing of a story to fit a specific narrative, despite all the evidence available. Few things have captured the intentional complicity of the news media, in the genocide of Palestinians, as transparently and poignantly as this.


The coverage of events in Amsterdam reveals a troubling, but transparent and tired pattern: it serves as a rhetorical tool to justify violence against Arabs and Muslims, whether in Gaza or within the streets of Europe.

The coverage of events in Amsterdam reveals a troubling, but transparent and tired pattern: it serves as a rhetorical tool to justify violence against Arabs and Muslims, whether in Gaza or within the streets of Europe. Each narrative, whether centered around October 7th or November 7th, invariably positions Jewish suffering and historical trauma at its core, thus reinforcing the notion of a Jewish right to violence. Any contextualization that portrays Israelis or Jewish Zionist as aggressors threatens to disrupt this carefully curated monopoly on suffering.

In the case of Amsterdam, the media framing and sensational headlines reinforce an image of the Israeli mob as victims, besieged by an enraged Arab mob that “hunts Jews” in the streets. The timing—occurring just before the anniversary of Kristallnacht—adds a haunting resonance that has allowed the narrative of Jewish persecution to be put at the center of coverage and condemnation.

This framing, both directly and indirectly, echoes Israeli and Zionist propaganda reliant on manufactured antisemitism and long-standing racist tropes about Arabs and Muslim; it perpetuates a narrative of eternal victimhood that is wielded to justify the ongoing extermination of 2.2 million Palestinians. And thus our media gives permission for violence – American, European and Israeli – toward Arabs and Muslims. It gives permission for the U.S.-backed Israeli eradication of Palestinians because, we are told again and again, that Jews are not safe anywhere.

This framing, both directly and indirectly, echoes Israeli and Zionist propaganda reliant on manufactured antisemitism and long-standing racist tropes about Arabs and Muslim; it perpetuates a narrative of eternal victimhood that is wielded to justify the ongoing extermination of 2.2 million Palestinians.

This has lent itself to fabricated stories – about beheaded babies, babies in ovens, mass rapes of Israeli women, command centers under hospitals, UNRWA involvement in October 7th, journalists as “terrorists”, unfettered antisemitism on college campuses and pogroms against Jews in Amsterdam – defining American, Canadian and European coverage of the genocide of Palestinians. The claims and experiences of Israelis, of pro-Israel Jews are presented as sacrosanct, to question them is antisemitic; it is to deny and support the sort of dehumanization and violence that led to the Jewish Holocaust.

The claims and experiences of Palestinians, of Arabs and Muslims, might be tragic but we must always consider Jewish suffering and trauma first and foremost – that is what must always be protected, always at the helm of our outrage.

The coverage of the anti-racist counter-attacks in Amsterdam exemplified that: on the same day Western leaders flocked to condemn a non-existent pogrom against Jews, the UN Office on Human Rights released a report indicating that 70% of those killed in Gaza are women and children – mainly children, between the ages of 5 and 9. And the lack of condemnation, of outrage – even acknowledgement – of that from Western leaders and newsrooms, who are culpable in that 70%, is why there is condemnation of a pogrom that never happened.

SEE

Dozens detained after protesters defy ban in Amsterdam

Israeli fans attack pro-Palestine supporters in Amsterdam