‘Almost nobody is happy with Putin’

Meduza’s sources say a new wave of pessimism in the Kremlin has Russia’s hawks demanding more brutality in Ukraine while others scout for presidential successors

May 24, 2022
Source: Meduza

As of today, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has been underway for exactly three months. Throughout Moscow’s “special military operation,” representatives of the Russian elite have repeatedly changed their positions on the war in Ukraine and the crisis at home. Moderate optimism replaced what was initially extreme pessimism, only to be ousted by a wave of moderate pessimism. Sources close to the Kremlin told Meduza that these moods have shifted again, as more elites express dissatisfaction with Vladimir Putin directly. Frustration with the president, moreover, is rising among both supporters and opponents of the invasion.

In the three months since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the general mood among the elites in Moscow has flipped more than once. In early March, insiders told Meduza that President Putin’s decision to go to war horrified most Kremlin and ministerial officials, who feared that Western sanctions would ruin their careers and maybe even their lives. Shortly thereafter, however, a “patriotic surge” took hold. By April, several prominent figures were calling publicly to fight “to the bitter end.”

Now, three months into the war, pessimism is staging a comeback. “It won’t be possible to live like before. Any talk of development is out the window. But life goes on. There are gray imports. There’s trade with China and India,” said a source close to the prime minister’s cabinet.

At the same time, officials in the Kremlin still see no realistic scenario in which President Putin could end the hostilities in Ukraine and retain his high approval rating in Russia. As Meduza reported previously, the administration’s domestic policy team has been brainstorming strategies to “withdraw with dignity” since just a few weeks into the invasion, but officials have yet to come up with anything.
Unhappiness on all sides

“There’s probably almost nobody who’s happy with Putin. Businesspeople and many cabinet members are unhappy that the president started this war without thinking through the scale of the sanctions. Normal life under these sanctions is impossible. The ‘hawks’ are mad about the pace of the ‘special operation’; they think more decisive action is possible.”

This is how a source close to the Kremlin described the mood among Russian elites. Another two sources with knowledge of the Putin administration’s operations confirmed this analysis, as did two more individuals with ties to the prime minister’s cabinet.

Sources close to the Kremlin said the “hawkish” position (most popular among Russia’s security elites) is simple: “They figure, since we’re entangled there already, there’s no going soft now. We need to go even harder.” This would entail a broad mobilization of reservists, and “playing to win,” ideally by capturing Kyiv itself.

The Kremlin, however, isn’t ready to declare a full mobilization. In early April, citing the results of closed sociological studies, sources with knowledge of the Putin administration’s domestic policy work told Meduza that even the Russians who say they support the “special operation” in Ukraine are reluctant either to volunteer for the fight or to send their own relatives to the frontlines.

At the same time, Russia’s major businesspeople and most of the “civilian” state officials are also unhappy with the president’s actions and criticize him for failing to take real steps toward peace with Ukraine. Meanwhile, economic difficulties mount by the day.

“The problems are already visible, and they’ll be raining down from all sides by the middle of the summer: transportation, medicine, even agriculture. There was just nobody thinking about the scale [of the sanctions],” a source close to the government told Meduza, adding that no one in the Kremlin calculated the consequences of European countries completely boycotting Russian oil and gas. While such a boycott is still being discussed in the EU, Meduza’s sources say the president and his more “militant” advisers nevertheless dismiss the prospect as an empty threat by the West.

Vladimir Putin simply doesn’t want to think about the economic difficulties that are obvious to most officials, and he’s especially unwilling to link these problems to the war in Ukraine, two sources with ties to the Kremlin told Meduza.

The president has expressed this perspective publicly, as well. For example, when Anton Alikhanov met with Putin on May 20, the Kaliningrad governor described the decline in the region’s construction industry, saying, “After the start of the special military operation, our logistics links were temporarily disrupted. We still managed to buy a lot abroad, and we’ve been focused on transit through neighboring states’ territories. It took us some time to adapt the supply chain to the new realities, but it’s done now.”

In response, Putin repeatedly told the governor not to blame the region’s supply problems on the war: “There’s no need in this case to link this to our special military operation. You had a recession back in 2020 and 2021, too, and there was a noticeable decline in construction. So, the military operation in the Donbas has absolutely nothing to do with this.”

Meduza’s sources with ties to the Kremlin and the federal government say talk about “the future after Putin” is increasingly common among Russia’s elites. “It’s not that they want to overthrow Putin right now, or that they’re plotting a conspiracy, but there’s an understanding (or a wish) that he won’t be governing the state maybe in the foreseeable future,” explained one individual. “The president screwed up, but he might still fix everything later, coming to some agreement [with Ukraine and the West],” added another source, admitting that some Kremlin officials are quietly discussing Putin’s potential successors. (The list supposedly includes Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, National Security Council Deputy Chairman and former President Dmitry Medvedev, and First Deputy Chief of Staff Sergey Kiriyenko.)

Kiriyenko is reportedly in regular contact with Putin about the economy and the Donbas (where the president recently made him the administration’s point man). Meduza’s sources offer conflicting information, however, about Kiriyenko’s own plans: some say he aspires at least to the office of prime minister, while others guess that his current activity is intended to demonstrate his effectiveness inside the Kremlin.

Among Meduza’s sources, the consensus view is that Kiriyenko, like National Guard director Viktor Zolotov, for example, belongs to Putin’s “inner circle.” “[This group] now includes those participating in the operation — the ones leading the troops and dealing with the Donbas. The president is at war. These are the people who can cross the ‘red line,’ meaning they can wake the president with a phone call,” said one source.

Even when discussing Kiriyenko and Putin’s other hypothetical successors, Meduza’s sources said Russia’s elites recognize that only a major health issue could drive the president from office. As a result, dissatisfaction among senior officials amounts to little but idle conversations in private. As one source with ties to the government put it: “People are disgusted, but they’re still at their jobs, helping to put the country on a war footing.”

For instance, the Kremlin hasn’t abandoned the idea of annexing more of Ukraine by staging referendums in the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk “People’s Republics” and in the Kherson region, which Russian troops currently occupy. The situation at the frontlines will determine when these plebiscites can go ahead. Currently, the soonest voting could realistically take place is on September 11, when Russia holds its own local and regional elections. Meduza’s sources say Georgia’s breakaway Republic of South Ossetia might synchronize its own referendum on joining Russia for September, as well. Also, South Ossetian officials have announced a vote on July 17, but two sources close to the Kremlin told Meduza that the plebiscite’s date might be moved. (Anatoly Bibilov, South Ossetia’s former president who recently lost a reelection bid, is the one who set the July 17 date.)

The same sources didn’t rule out that Belarus might also hold a September plebiscite on the long-discussed question of “merging” with Russia. “But that depends on steamrolling [Belarusian President Alexander] Lukashenko, who resists this scenario in every way possible,” explained one individual.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not respond to Meduza’s questions for this article.


Text by Andrey Pertsev

Translation by Kevin Rothrock

The Philippines unleashed 'death squads' on suspected drug users. 

Will Bongbong Marcos end the war?

By East Asia correspondent Bill Birtles and Mitch Woolnough in Manila

The war on drugs in the Philippines has left thousands dead.

 (Reuters: Erik De Castro)

In the final days of his wild and bloody presidency, Rodrigo Duterte was wistful about a few things he had yet to achieve for the Philippines.

"Before I leave, let's finish three or five drug lords," he said.

"I want to kill them. I do not want them alive."

From the moment he was sworn into power in 2016, Mr Duterte declared that Filipinos had one common enemy: the drug trade.

Claiming that there were 3 million addicts in need of "slaughter", he said he would offer bounties to police for killing suspected users and dealers.

A bloodbath ensued.

Estimates vary, but the Philippines government says more than 6,000 people have been killed in police anti-drug operations over the past six years, and there have been more than 300,000 arrests.

Some human rights groups believe the death toll is closer to 30,000 when including anti-drug deaths at the hands of vigilantes.

But the shock-and-awe enforcement methods have failed to severely reduce the nation's drug trade, leaving even passionate supporters of the outgoing the President to call for a more compassionate approach.

Now, his successor, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr, is under pressure to overhaul the brutal tactics.

Assassins, bounties and dead children

While Mr Duterte often portrayed the Philippines as a near "narco-state" awash with methamphetamines, the available data suggested a more complex situation.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime claimed in 2007 that the Philippines had the highest prevalence of meth use in the world.

But just a few years later, the same office said the nation had a low prevalence rate of drug users compared to the global average.

Critics say Rodrigo Duterte used flawed and exaggerated data to support his claim that the Philippines was becoming a "narco state".

(AP: Bullit Marquez)

But Mr Duterte's war on drugs was still a broadly popular campaign, which was initiated after his election win in 2016 and saw mass arrests, police shootings and killings of alleged drug dealers and users.

He established a national task force to target drug use and the gang-related trade, encouraged shootings in multiple public speeches, and even called for the killing of critics of his violent campaign.

Human rights groups believe the shootings not attributed to police officers were often carried out by vigilante assassins linked to law enforcement, so called "death squads".

Dozens of children and teenagers were killed, as were more than a dozen mayors and other public officials.

Critics say many victims were not even related to the drug trade.

Due to its location and long coastline, the Philippines has been a major hub for drug traffickers.

 (Reuters: Romeo Ranoco)

A separate campaign against an alleged Communist insurgency has simultaneously seen the police and the military facing accusations of extra judicial killings.

Last year the International Criminal Court (ICC) was set to investigate some of the anti-drug killings, including allegations that police fabricated evidence to suggest the shootings were in self-defence.

But the ICC backed off when Mr Duterte's Department of Justice pledged to open its own investigation into the cases.
The poor were often in the crosshairs of Duterte's war

While the campaign peaked in the initial years of the Duterte government, there were still dozens of deaths linked to the anti-drugs effort in 2021, according to data from US-based research organisation ACLED.

And while Mr Duterte vowed to target drug lords in his war, it was overwhelmingly the poor who were killed and jailed.

Bilog spent more than two years in jail for drug dealing, but continued offending when he was released. (ABC News: Mitch Woolnough )

"In order to feed your family, you need to sell drugs," said Bilog, a methamphetamine dealer in Masambong.

Bilog's neighbourhood is a drug war hotspot in Quezon city — part of Manila's capital region.

The 49-year-old was jailed for more than two years during Mr Duterte's crackdown.

But as soon as he was released, he went back to dealing.

He lives in a humid one-room shack he shares with two teenage sons. Both boys are also meth dealers.

"It's our basic source of income so we'll keep doing it in spite of what happened," he said.

"The drug war devastated my family and every family in the Philippines that sells drugs."

Bilog and his sons deal meth. He says it is the only way they can make ends meet. 

(ABC News: Mitch Woolnough )

His two years of incarceration plunged his family even further into poverty, but he told the ABC he was now finding it easier than ever to make money because he had a reliable supplier.

"The dealers who were jailed in the crackdown of course returned to selling after they got out of prison," he said.

One social justice campaigner told the ABC there were other ways for those at the bottom to earn an income but drug dealing was seen as "easy money".

Nonetheless, advocates for victims of the drug war say it is the persistent nature of the illicit drug trade among the country's poor that should prompt the incoming administration of Bongbong Marcos to rethink it.
Giving the dead a proper burial

Father Flavie Villanuevahei was once upon a time in the throes of drug addiction.

Father Flavie Villanueva helps organise proper farewells for those killed in the drug war. (ABC News: Mitch Woolnough )

These days he helps the families of drug-war victims who were buried in temporary graves to have a proper cremation.

Some of the dead may have been small-time dealers, but the families of others say they weren't involved in drugs at all.

"What Mr Duterte has left us with is a legacy of blood and an enterprise of killing," he said.

He fears the drug war will continue even after Mr Duterte leaves office.

"The problem with Duterte's administration is that instead of approaching it as a medical and psychological issue, they brought in fear and used law and order as the solution," he said.

Lourdes, who lost her husband in the drug war, wants the incoming government to "no longer kill innocent and helpless victims". 

(ABC News: Mitch Woolnough )

Among the relatives at Father Flavie's church is Lourdes De Juant.

Her husband was killed in the early years of the anti-drugs campaign.

"My husband's ambition was that some day our children will finish school," she said through tears.

"All I wish now is that our new president will give us justice and that they no longer kill innocent and helpless victims."

Families who lost loved ones in the drug war are able to give them a proper Catholic funeral, thanks to Father Flavie Villanueva.

 (ABC News: Mitch Woolnough )

Another woman attending a ceremony in Quezon City had two sons shot dead. She is now helping to look after 12 grandchildren.

"It's mainly the family breadwinners — the sons and husbands — who have been targeted," Father Flavie said.
As Duterte steps down, his daughter rises

During his presidential campaign, Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr promised to maintain Mr Duterte's anti-drugs effort, but to "do it with love".

He has pledged more funding for rehabilitation programs and to shift the enforcement side of the campaign towards the big fish, rather than those at the bottom.

Supporters of the incoming president tend to defend the anti-drugs campaign, even if they think it needs an overhaul.

Vince Avena says the crackdown has been necessary. (ABC News: Mitch Woolnough )

"Duterte did the tough part to shake the country, to shake the people, to wake them up," said Vince Avena, a Manila-based political commentator who supported the Marcos campaign.

And the appointment of Mr Duterte's daughter Sara as the new vice-president to Bongbong Marcos underscores the "tough on crime" continuity the new government is seeking.

"I can only hope the new administration doesn't just look at [the drug issue] from a criminal perspective," Gwen Pimental Gana, the country's outgoing human rights commissioner, said.

"The drug war should be recalibrated to recognise the multidimensional nature of drug dependence in the country."

Aside from a change in tactics, she's hoping victims of extrajudicial killings get justice.

Sara Duterte, the daughter of the outgoing the President, will be the country's new deputy leader. (AP: Aaron Favila)

"The perpetrators need to be held accountable," she said.

The pressure of a potential International Criminal Court investigation appears to have prompted the Mr Duterte's government to review dozens of cases alleging unjustified shootings by police.

The Department of Justice has already recommended prosecutions against 154 police officers, stemming from a review of 52 cases last year.

It was a rare admission of misconduct from the government. And authorities have pledged to review thousands more police operations that involved shootings.

But it is a long wait for answers and justice for the families of those killed.

And without a change in the overall culture of the anti-drugs policy, critics fear there will be many more deaths.

Some of those killed during the drug war were previously buried in temporary graves. (ABC News: Mitch Woolnough )

WITH NO REICHSTAG FIRE REQUIRED
Hungary's government gets emergency powers due to Ukraine war, PM Orban says


Hungarian PM Orban takes the oath of office in the Parliament in Budapest

Tue, May 24, 2022

BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Hungary's government will assume emergency powers in order to be able to respond more quickly to challenges created by the war in neighbouring Ukraine, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a Facebook video on Tuesday.

Orban, who won a fourth consecutive term in an election on April 3, has used the special legal order in the past, once due to Europe's migration crisis and later during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new state of emergency similarly empowers Orban's government to approve measures by decree.

"The world is on the brink of an economic crisis," Orban also said in the video, reiterating that Hungary must stay out of the war in Ukraine and "protect families' financial security."

Orban said his government's first measures would be announced on Wednesday.

Orban's government is having to deal with the consequences of the war in Ukraine, annual inflation of 9.5% and a budget deficit that ballooned in the first quarter due to a pre-election spending spree. He also needs to avoid a marked slowdown in the economy.

Orban, whose nationalist Fidesz party again won a two-thirds majority in parliament in the April election, has gradually increased his powers during his 12 years in office, often drawing criticism from the European Union and rights groups over what they say is an erosion of democratic checks and balances.

(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Chris Reese)

Hungary: Orban says gov’t to assume new powers over Ukraine war

Prime Minister Viktor Orban says the war in Ukraine represents ‘a constant threat to Hungary’.

The state of emergency empowers Orban's government to approve measures by decree [Facebook/Viktor Orban/Reuters TV]

Published On 24 May 2022

Hungary’s government will assume emergency powers in order to be able to respond more quickly to challenges created by the war in neighbouring Ukraine, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said.

Orban, who won a fourth consecutive term in an election early last month, has used the special legal order in the past, once due to Europe’s migrant and refugee crisis and later during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new state of emergency similarly empowers Orban’s government to approve measures by decree.

In a video posted on Facebook on Tuesday, Orban said that the war in Ukraine represents “a constant threat to Hungary” which was “putting our physical security at risk and threatening the energy and financial security of our economy and families”.

Orban said his government’s first measures would be announced on Wednesday.

The move came after Orban’s ruling party passed a constitutional amendment on Tuesday allowing for legal states of emergency to be declared when armed conflicts, wars or humanitarian disasters were taking place in neighbouring countries.

The special legal order permits the government to enact laws by decree without parliamentary oversight, and permits the temporary suspension of and deviation from existing laws.

Hungary’s government implemented similar measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to outcry from critics and legal observers, who argued they gave the government authority to rule by decree. That special legal order was set to expire on June 1.

Orban’s government has been accused of eroding democratic freedoms in Hungary since taking power in 2010, and using state resources to cement its power. The governing Fidesz party won a fourth-straight election victory on April 3, giving Orban, the longest-serving leader in the European Union, an additional four-year term.

In a statement on Tuesday, Emese Pasztor of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union wrote that Hungary’s government was “once again adapting the rules of the game to its own needs”.

“By always allowing the possibility of introducing a special legal order in the future, it will lose its special character. It will become the new normal, which will threaten the fundamental rights of all of us, and rule by decree will further diminish the importance of Parliament,” Pasztor wrote.

Governmental decrees issued through the special legal order are valid for 15 days unless extended by Hungary’s parliament. Orban’s Fidesz party has held a two-thirds majority in parliament since 2010.

Transparency International urges Sri Lanka to fight corruption to overcome crisis

by Melani Manel Perera

No economic recovery plan can work without strong action against kleptocratic practices. The NGO makes 15 recommendations for Sri Lankan leaders. They include an open digital platform on donations and loans and use of funds, external audits of public companies and the establishment of an Authority for the recovery and management of illegally acquired assets held abroad.

Colombo (AsiaNews) – Corruption is a major cause of Sri Lanka’s current economic crisis, this according to Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL).

For decades, public resources were misappropriated and poorly managed as a result of kleptocratic practices, systemic corruption and a general lack of transparency and accountability among elected officials and in the public service.

If a solid economic recovery plan is the top priority at present, any effort is likely to fail if the people and agencies tasked with its implementation are corrupt or perceived as such.

For this reason, TISL recently made public 15 recommendations to fight corruption.

The first step is obviously to make sure that government agencies are entrusted to people with a track record showing their integrity and genuine commitment to public service. Along with this, however, certain concrete actions are required.

One is an open digital platform to share all information relating to donations and foreign loans obtained by Sri Lanka with detailed information on their use.

The NGO calls for the repeal of the 20th amendment to the constitution since it removed essential accountability measures in governance.

Provisions should be introduced to strengthen Parliament's oversight of public finances, and mandatory accountability measures should be put in place to supervise public procurement under a National Procurement Commission with supervisory authority.

The NGO has strong reservations about the country’s presidential system because it concentrates power in the hands of a single person, and insists on depoliticising the public service through constitutional changes that would boost the independence of public servants.

TISL goes further, recommending that all state-owned enterprises be subject to external audits to monitor the use of public funds, while concrete action should be taken to recover stolen assets. An independent Asset Management Authority should be established to recover and manage stolen wealth held abroad.

Lastly, a new law is urgently needed to regulate election campaign financing.

“We urge citizens to continue to actively seek information and knowledge on the types and impact of corruption and to be informed of the essential systemic and cultural changes needed to uplift the country,” said Nadishani Perera, TISL’s executive director.

“We stand with citizens in demanding accountability and corrective action from our public representatives in a peaceful manner,” she added. “Together we can weather this storm and create the change we thought may not be possible in our lifetime.”

Delaware Gov. John Carney vetoes marijuana legalization bill

Delaware Gov. John Carney has vetoed a bill to legalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana by adults for recreational use

By Randall Chase Associated Press
May 24, 2022


DOVER, Del. -- Delaware Gov. John Carney on Tuesday vetoed a bill to legalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana by adults for recreational use, drawing the wrath of fellow Democrats who have fought for years to make weed legal.

In vetoing the measure, Carney reiterated his previously expressed concerns about legalizing recreational pot — concerns that did not dissuade fellow Democrats from pushing the legislation through the General Assembly.

“I recognize the positive effect marijuana can have for people with certain health conditions, and for that reason, I continue to support the medical marijuana industry in Delaware,” Carney said in returning the bill to the state House. “I supported decriminalization of marijuana because I agree that individuals should not be imprisoned solely for the possession and private use of a small amount of marijuana — and today, thanks to Delaware’s decriminalization law, they are not.

“That said, I do not believe that promoting or expanding the use of recreational marijuana is in the best interests of the state of Delaware, especially our young people. Questions about the long-term health and economic impacts of recreational marijuana use, as well as serious law enforcement concerns, remain unresolved.”

Carney’s veto comes just days after legislation to establish a state-run marijuana industry in Delaware failed to clear the state House for a second time. The Democrat-controlled chamber voted 23-15 on Thursday to approve the bill, which fell two votes short of the required supermajority. The proposal requires a three-fifths majority in both the House and Senate because it creates a new tax, consisting of a 15% levy on retail marijuana sales.

Last week’s vote came two months after a similar measure failed in the House on a 23-14 vote, and just hours after Carney’s office received the companion legalization bill. Without legalization, the creation of a state-run pot industry is a moot issue.

It’s unclear whether Democratic lawmakers will try to override Carney’s veto, which would be a rare occurrence. The last time Delaware lawmakers held a vote to override a veto was in 1990. The last time they succeeded was in 1977, when the House and the Senate voted to override then-Gov. Pete du Pont's veto of the state's budget bill.

Rep. Ed Osienski, a Newark Democrat and chief sponsor of both bills, said in a statement that he was “deeply disappointed” by Carney’s decision and would review his options.

Senate Democrats echoed Osienski's assertion that Carney had chosen to “ignore the will” of Delawareans.

“The members of the Delaware General Assembly have been fighting for years to end the failed war on marijuana and we will not be stopped by this latest setback,” read a statement from chief Senate sponsor Trey Paradee and Senate president Dave Sokola.

Betsy Maron, chairwoman of the Delaware Democratic Party, said she was confident that lawmakers could trump Carney's veto and make legalization a reality.

“Last year, we went as far as to include it in our party platform, which passed unanimously at the 2021 state convention,” Maron said in a statement. "Delaware’s voters have further solidified their voice on the matter by electing Democratic candidates to the legislature that support legalization. We are confident those legislators will override the veto knowing they have the support of Delaware’s Democrats.”

Osienski carved the legalization and industry-creation proposals into two separate bills in late March after the House rejected broader legislation that sought to do both. That cleared the way for passage of the legalization bill, which did not include any tax provision and thus required only a simple majority.

The legalization bill cleared the Democrat-controlled Senate with no Republican support. Sen. Bruce Ennis of Smyrna was the only Democrat joining GOP lawmakers in opposition. Two Democrats, including Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, voted against the l egalization bill in the House, along with 12 of the 15 GOP representatives. Ennis and Schwartzkopf are both retired state troopers.

Supporters of a state-run marijuana industry argue that it would create jobs, boost state coffers and shrink the illegal black market.

Opponents contend that legalization and a state-licensed cultivation and sales would lead to increased marijuana use among teens and young adults, expose business owners to liability, and result in more traffic deaths and injuries. They also say establishing a state-run market with a 15% tax on retail sales would do little to eliminate illegal sales.

The Associated Press reported earlier this year t hat legalization had done little to discourage black market sales in California, and that some licensees there are simultaneously participating in the black market in order to make a profit. California’s governor has now proposed a temporary tax cut for the marijuana industry to help struggling businesses.

Currently, recreational marijuana use is permitted in 18 states and the District of Columbia.

‘No excuses’: limited conservation efforts could save at least 47 Australian animals from extinction

Scientists hope Albanese government addresses extinction crisis as new research shows 63 vertebrates face annihilation by 2041

Victoria’s Baw Baw frog is at high risk of extinction, however new research shows a small amount of extra conservation effort could bring it back from the brink.

 Photograph: Zoos Victoria


Lisa Cox

Tue 24 May 2022 

More than 40 Australian animals at the highest risk of extinction in the next two decades could be saved – and it would take only a small amount of extra conservation effort to achieve this, according to new research.

A team of Australian scientists has identified the 63 vertebrates they believe are most likely to go extinct by 2041, and found at least 47 can be brought back from the brink.


They say while the data is alarming it presents an opportunity for the new Albanese government to invest in conservation improvements.


‘Worst it’s ever been’: a threatened species alarm sounds during the election campaign – and is ignored

The 47 animals include 21 fish, 12 birds, six mammals, four frogs and four reptiles, with nine of those species estimated to have a greater than 50% risk of extinction in the next 20 years.

Among the most desperate are small freshwater fish from the group known as galaxiids, including the stocky galaxias – found in the Kosciuszko national park – and Victoria’s Yalmy galaxias and West Gippsland galaxias.

These fish live in the headwaters of streams where the main threat to their survival is invasive trout.

Other animals considered at high risk include the western ground parrot, found in Western Australia, the swift parrot, which is under pressure from logging in its habitat range, and Victoria’s Baw Baw frog.

Prof John Woinarski, one of the paper’s co-authors, said the research was an opportunity to take action to prevent extinctions.

“We have no excuses for not saving these species. We know which species they are, where they occur and what threatens them,” he said.

There was greater concern for another 16 animals – five reptiles, four birds, four frogs, two mammals and a fish – on the list of 63, for which there were no recent confirmed records.

The scientists said at least four of those species were almost certainly already extinct, including the Christmas Island shrew, which was last seen in the 1980s, and the Victorian grassland earless dragon.

“That’s a sobering reminder that what we know of the extinction of fauna in Australia is probably a fraction of what have really become extinct,” Woinarski said.

He said the picture was also likely to be worse for invertebrate species, which were often overlooked in conservation planning.

Research leader Stephen Garnett, of Charles Darwin University, said the future for the remaining 47 species was more hopeful and that the actions required to save them were affordable.


‘Overlooked’: 14,000 invertebrate species lost habitat in Black Summer bushfires, study finds

More than half of the habitat for those animals falls within conservation reserves and the habitat range for several was small, meaning targeted conservation efforts to address threats such as invasive species were possible.

“These are not hugely expensive projects because they are localised,” Garnett said.

Some animals, such as the King Island brown thornbill and the swift parrot, would require tougher protections to prevent clearing of their habitat.

A King Island brown thornbill. Photograph: Chris Tzaros/Birds Bush and Beyond

Other simple steps for government would be to ensure all of the species were officially listed for protection under national environmental laws.

At the time of research, the scientists wrote that 25 of the species, including 18 fish, were not on the national threatened species list.


Sarah Legge, one of the paper’s co-authors and a member of the threatened species scientific committee which advises the federal government on new listings, said work had begun to address this.

She said all of the species identified in the paper were now either listed for protection or were being considered for listing.

The federal election campaign delivered little focus on nature, despite multiple official reviews in the last term of government recommending major changes to arrest to decline of Australian wildlife.

But the swing to more environmentally minded candidates has sparked hope within the conservation movement.

Two days before the election, Labor announced several new environmental commitments, including that it would establish an independent environment protection agency and would commit to conservation targets on land and in marine areas.

Euan Ritchie, a professor in wildlife ecology and conservation at Deakin University, he said the scientists who worked on the paper had demonstrated more wildlife species were likely to go extinct in the near future unless there were “urgent and substantial improvements to conservation policy and actions”.

“It’s well established that Australia’s conservation record and ongoing predicament is utterly abysmal,” he said.

“With the recent change of government, perhaps we’ll also see a sorely needed change of heart and a far stronger commitment towards ending Australia’s extinction crisis.”

War in Ukraine sets energy transition in "hyperdrive"

May 24, 2022

GZERO Staff

GZERO Media caught up with Microsoft's Chief Environmental Officer Lucas Joppa at the World Economic Forum in Davos to discuss ways to keep nations focused on climate change amid the converging crises of war and pandemic.

Tony Maciulis: When you have these very immediate and acute crises happening concurrently like pandemic and now of course the war in Ukraine, has it been a challenge to keep the focus on climate change?

Lucas Joppa: I would say yes and no. It's a challenge because obviously these are crises in and of themselves and they need to be dealt with and focused on. But on the other hand, I think that these crises, what they've done is they've really shown society that we have things that are going to happen to us. And if we know that they are coming, it would behoove us to do something about them now to prepare for it now. The biggest thing that we have coming for us is the impacts of a rapidly changing global climate system. It's front and center of our minds. We know we have to get out and do something about it. And so on the one hand, yes, we're focusing on these crises, but it hasn't shifted focus off of climate either.

Tony Maciulis: One thing that the war in Ukraine has certainly done is make some countries like Lithuania, for example, rethink their dependence on Russian gas. To what extent do you think the war has an opportunity to change the way countries think about energy in general? And will it in some way hasten a shift toward alternative energies?

Lucas Joppa: Well, it's really put everybody's thinking about the energy transition in hyperdrive. It has forced people to start thinking about the future of energy in a way that they hadn't had to before. We are at a critical juncture where people can choose a more clean, just, equitable future from an energy perspective or double down on the energy sources of the past. I think we know what a mistake that latter option would be. And so I'm just really excited about the fact that people are getting out there really thinking through and starting to put in place the infrastructure investments that they're going to need to pull off that net zero carbon transition.

Tony Maciulis: We last spoke to you, of course, in Glasgow for COP26. That's more than six months ago. What kind of progress has been made since then? And are you optimistic that by the time we get to Sharm el-Sheikh, there'll be something tangible to show?

Lucas Joppa: Well, I think that the world has been occupied with dealing with some of these crises that are in front of them. But I think that, especially with the energy crisis in Europe, there is actually a lot of progress, a lot of unexpected progress in a clean energy transition. And so that's fantastic. I think as we go from Scotland to Egypt, from COP26 to COP27, you're going to see a significant shift from not just focusing on mitigation from a climate perspective, but also adaptation and helping to build a more just and equitable future. And so I think that that's going to be an incredibly important addition to the conversation that the world's been having over the past decade or so.

Tony Maciulis: When you say adaptation, explain what that means exactly.

Lucas Joppa: Well, adaptation simply recognizes that climate change isn't something that's going to happen into the future. Climate change is something that's already happening today. And no matter how quickly we achieve a net zero economy, there are going to be human impacts of climate that have changed. And so we need to be able to help people adapt to that. We need to be able to shift our energy, our agriculture, and our other socioeconomic systems to help people adjust to the changing climates that we know are going to come. Whether that's a 1.5 degree celsius temperature increase, a two degree celsius increase, or something in between. We know that that temperature increase is going to lead to changes for human society and it behooves us to start focusing now on how we're going to help people adjust to those climactic changes.

Tony Maciulis: So one thing that you hear as a solution out there when it comes to adaptation is, okay, the temperatures are getting hotter. So we have to rely on more coolants, more air conditioning, right? How do you adapt to climate change without creating a bigger carbon emission problem?

Lucas Joppa: Well, that is the question. You can either adapt to climate change by making it worse or you can adapt to climate change by making it better. I mean, even if you just think about the built environment, the built environment is one of the largest sources of emissions across all sectors. And why is that? Well, it's because we've never been all that efficient with the way that we build, the way that we design, site, build, and then operate these buildings all around us. And so we know there are incredibly simple things, whether it's just the directional facing that we put buildings, the insulation and the energy efficiency that we build into these buildings. I think all of that is stuff that we can start doing now. It's not rocket science. We've known how to do it. But really it just sharpens the focus on making sure that all of this is coming together in a way that, as you said, adapts people to the changing climates, but does so in a way that also hastens our net zero transition as opposed to postpones it.

Tony Maciulis: And finally, here we are in Davos as the world economic forum is now in day two. Obviously climate and energy are on the agenda, but what are you hoping to hear and see? And what do you think would be a great result to have come out of this?

Lucas Joppa: Well, I think, A, it's fantastic to see that climate and sustainability remains as a top priority on the world economic forum agenda. That's fantastic. And now we really need to see the organizations, whether that's public, private sector that are here really start moving the conversation from pledges, which was really a focus of Davos in 2020, people pledging the progress that they were going to make. We need to move from the pledges to actually the progress that we need to make. And so seeing people really doubling down on their commitments, seeing people really doubling down on operationalizing and executing against their commitments, that's going to be critical.

Grieving against the neoliberal university’s collusion with apartheid Israel, Zionist donors, and private tech companies

Dr. Tomomi Kinukawa shares their opening and closing statements in their grievance hearing against San Francisco State University for suppressing justice-centered pedagogy critical of Israel.

BY TOMOMI KINUKAWA MAY 20, 2022 1

DR. TOMOMI KINUKAWA

On March 18, 2022 the hearing was held for the grievance that I, faculty lecturer in Women and Gender Studies (WGS), filed against San Francisco State University for its Administration’s role in silencing the AMED/WGS open classroom on “Whose Narratives? Gender, Justice, & Resistance: A Conversation with Leila Khaled,” that I had a great honor to co-organize with Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi, Director of Arab Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas (AMED) Studies. After an adjournment, the remaining part of the grievance hearing was held on April 12, 2022.

 


On April 26, 2022, Faculty Hearing Panel (FHP) ruled unanimously in favor of our academic freedom; ordered SFSU to apologize to Drs. Rabab Abdulhadi and myself, and promptly hold our open classroom, “Whose Narratives? Gender, Justice and Resistance: A Conversation with Leila Khaled.” (see here). The landmark decision affirms:

“We unanimously conclude that the Employer [SFSU] violated the Grievant’s [Professor Kinukawa] right to academic freedom. The Grievant has carried their burden of persuasion in demonstrating the grievance.

Given the nature of the injury, we conclude the following remedies are appropriate:

1. San Francisco State University issues a public apology to Dr. Kinukawa for failing to uphold their right to academic freedom.

2. Develop a workaround from Zoom for delivery of the event (or similarly situated events) to avoid disruption of academic scholarship and teaching. This remedy may not (and likely will not) require creation of a new platform from scratch. Rather, the remedy orders the Employer to coordinate a good-faith resolution of this matter and bring an end to the continuing violation of working conditions.”

In addressing the remedies, the FHP stated:

“Pursuant to the Faculty Hearing Manual, this Faculty Hearing Committee is given ‘discretion’ in fashioning remedies. See Faculty Hearing Manual IV. Relevant considerations include: (a) how serious was the violation; (b) was the violation prejudicial; (c) what loss did the faculty member suffer as a result of the violation; and (d) based on the nature of the loss, what remedies will make the faculty member whole for any losses suffered. Id. at IV(B).”

The FHC meticulously built their case using the “broken pipe” theory that Dr. Abdulhadi discussed in her testimony and that which she had conceptualized right after the silencing in September 2020 (Abdulhadi, October 23, 2020). The FHC’s righteous decision underscores our colleagues’ resolve in refusing to remain silent against injustice and defy what Dr. Abdulhadi (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017) has called the New McCarthyism replicating the McCarthy witch hunt era–an unfortunate abdication of academic integrity which took decades to rectify.

The decision is our collective victory and a vindication for the movement fiercely led by Dr. Abdulhadi to defend AMED and Teaching Palestine: Pedagogical Praxis and the Indivisibility of Justice at SFSU and beyond, supported by CFA SFSU Chapter and the amazing and invincible members of the International Campaign to Defend Professor Rabab Abdulhadi, whose names I will list and recognize each and everyone for their steadfast support and having our backs.





Following the unanimous decisions by two Faculty Hearing Panels’ that sided with Dr. Abdulhadi in her two statutory grievances, the third FHP’s decision sent a powerful message to SFSU administrators, condemning their collusion with private tech companies, the apartheid state of Israel, Zionist organizations and their multi-year attempts to censor our teaching, control our curriculum, silence Dr. Abdulhadi and AMED Studies, and smear, bully and seek to dismantle the justice-centered critical AMED pedagogy that is inspired by the spirit of ’68 SFSU Strike, led by the Black Student Union and the Third World Liberation Front.

In a complete disregard for the faculty shared governance, however, SFSU President Lynn Mahoney vetoed all the three rulings by the faculty panels. On May 17, 2022, following her vetoes of the faculty panel rulings for Dr. Abdulhadi’s grievances, President Lynn Mahoney yet again vetoed the unanimous ruling in favor of my grievance. As Dr. Abdulhadi’s friend, the late Palestinian Al Jazeera reporter, Shireen Abu Akleh, who was assassinated by the Israeli occupying army in Jenin, affirms, “Dissemination of truth is the biggest fear and threat” to Israeli Zionists. President Mahoney’s vetoes only prove her fear of Dr. Abdulhadi’s work that deeply resonates with Shireen Abu Akleh’s insistence to speak truth to power, for which she lost her life.

In protesting against the massive injustice, I am publishing the opening and closing statements that I read at my grievance hearing. I wrote both statements in a close collaboration with Dr. Abdulhadi. Throughout the grievance process, Dr. Abdulhadi generously shared her decade-long critical theorizing with me and ensured that I am always intellectually empowered. Dr. Abdulhadi also even helped copy-edit my drafts of the statements and sharpen my argument at the earliest hours in the morning of the hearing. The capitalist and colonial notion of authorship does absolutely no justice to our collaborative working process.

CONTINUE READING

Grieving against the neoliberal university’s collusion with apartheid Israel, Zionist donors, and private tech companies – Mondoweiss

Shireen Abu Akleh was ‘shot dead in targeted attack’ by Israel, CNN investigation concludes

CNN investigates the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on May 11 and says she was targeted by Israeli sniper positioned 600 feet away from her with a clear line of sight.

BY PHILIP WEISS MAY 24, 2022 

SHIREEN ABU AKLEH (SOCIAL MEDIA)

Today CNN published its own investigation of the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on May 11, and it says that new eyewitnesses, videos and ballistic analysis bear out what Abu Akleh’s colleagues said that day: The AlJazeera correspondent was targeted by an Israeli sniper positioned about 600 feet away from her with a clear line of sight.

CNN’s team of six journalists writes:

[A]n investigation by CNN offers new evidence — including two videos of the scene of the shooting — that there was no active combat, nor any Palestinian militants, near Abu Akleh in the moments leading up to her death. Videos obtained by CNN, corroborated by testimony from eight eyewitnesses, an audio forensic analyst and an explosive weapons expert, suggest that Abu Akleh was shot dead in a targeted attack by Israeli forces.

CNN’s devastating report shows the media are not dropping the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, even if the Israeli government is. Hopefully this will bring added pressure on the U.S. government to investigate the case on its own, as 57 Congresspeople have urged it to do, and demand accountability for the killing.

The new investigation, which follows on similar forensic analyses by Bellingcat and B’Tselem, supports the assertions of journalist eyewitnesses, in the face of Israeli denials.

All of the journalists were wearing protective blue vests that identified them as members of the news media. ​

“We stood in front of the Israeli military vehicles for about five to ten minutes before we made moves to ensure they saw us. And this is a habit of ours as journalists, we move as a group and we stand in front of them so they know we are journalists, and then we start moving,” [reporter Shatha] Hanaysha told CNN…

CNN points out that an Israeli army spokesperson Ran Kochav described the journalists as “armed with cameras” later that day.

The CNN investigation reviewed a 16-minute video shot by Salim Awad, a 27-year-old Jenin camp resident.

His video captures the moment that shots were fired at the four journalists — Abu Akleh, Hanaysha, another Palestinian journalist, Mujahid al-Saadi, and Al Jazeera producer Ali al-Samoudi, who was injured in the gunfire — as they walked toward the Israeli vehicles. In the footage, Abu Akleh can be seen turning away from the barrage. The footage shows a direct line of sight towards the Israeli convoy.

Awad witnessed the attack.

“We saw around four or five military vehicles on that street with rifles sticking out of them and one of them shot Shireen. We were standing right there, we saw it. When we tried to approach her, they shot at us. I tried to cross the street to help, but I couldn’t,” Awad said.

Another witness reinforced this account:

Jamal Huwail, a professor at the Arab American University in Jenin, who helped drag Abu Akleh’s lifeless body from the road, said he believed the shots were coming from one of the Israeli vehicles, which he described as a “new model which had an opening for snipers,” because of the elevation and direction of the bullets.

“They were shooting directly at the journalists,” Huwail said.

The investigation analyzed videos and photos of the scene with the help of two military experts, to conclude that the shot that hit Abu Akleh was fired by a sniper aiming at a target in a manner that points to Israeli soldiers positioned about 600 feet away.


“The number of strike marks on the tree where Shireen was standing proves this wasn’t a random shot, she was targeted,” [Chris] Cobb-Smith [a weapons expert and British army veteran] told CNN, adding that, in sharp contrast, the majority of gunfire from Palestinians captured on camera that day were “random sprays.”…

At 200 meters, Cobb-Smith said that there was “no chance” that random firing would result in three or four shots hitting in such a tight configuration. “From the strike marks on the tree, it appears that the shots, one of which hit Shireen, came from down the street from the direction of the IDF troops.”

PHOTO OF 3 GROUPED GUNSHOTS ON TREE BESIDE SHIREEN ABU AKLEH SUPPORT THE IDEA THAT SHE WAS TARGETED AND NOT THE VICTIM OF A BURST OF GUNFIRE. FROM THE CNN INVESTIGATION, MAY 24, 2022.

A second expert consulted by CNN was Robert Maher, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Montana State University, who specializes in forensic audio analysis. Maher analyzed the intervals between the sounds of bullets leaving the barrel and the subsequent muzzle explosions recorded on video to assess the distance of the shooter from the camera.

“That would correspond to a distance of something between 177 and 197 meters,” or 580 and 646 feet, he said in an email to CNN, which corresponds almost exactly with the Israeli sniper’s position.

The best thing about the CNN report is that it shows that international media are not going to forget about Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing. We can only hope that more media and free speech organizations become advocates for Abu Akleh in death, as governments try to push the case aside.

Shireen Abu Akleh in her own words

In addition to being a courageous journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh also wrote in-depth articles reflecting on the role of the media in the struggle for Palestinian human rights.

BY MUHAMMAD ALI KHALIDI MAY 23, 2022 

(FILE) A PHOTO TAKEN ON OCTOBER 15, 2018. AL JAZEERA JOURNALIST SHIREEN ABU AKLEH TAKES A PHOTO DURING THE COVERAGE OF THE CLOSURE OF LUBBAN AL-SHARQIYA SCHOOL SOUTH OF NABLUS CITY, IN THE WEST BANK. (PHOTO: WAJED NOBANI/APA IMAGES)


As is now widely known, Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed on May 11, 2022, while covering an Israeli military raid on a refugee camp in the occupied Palestinian territories for Al Jazeera. Her TV channel has accused Israel of “assassinating her in cold blood,” and her funeral included thousands of marchers in Jerusalem.

To add injury to injustice, her pallbearers and mourners were attacked by baton-wielding Israeli soldiers, who tried to prevent marchers from waving Palestinian flags.

After initially vigorously denying that she was shot by an Israeli sniper, Israel first said it would investigate the crime, then callously refused to do so. Abu Akleh was the latest victim of the longest military occupation in the contemporary world, and one of an estimated 50 Palestinian journalists killed since 2000, six of them in the past two years, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.

What is not so well known is that, in addition to being a courageous journalist of great integrity, Abu Akleh also wrote in-depth articles reflecting on the role of the media in the struggle for Palestinian human rights. Tragically, she wrote about a number of issues that are directly relevant to her assassination by the Israeli occupation forces.

An article written in 2016 for the Arabic-language journal of the Institute for Palestine Studies, discussed media coverage of the Palestinian “Popular Rebellion” (al-Habbah al-Sha’biyyah) of late 2015 and early 2016, which was ignited by Israeli raids on the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem.

The article reflects broadly on the complexities of reporting under military occupation. In it, Abu Akleh describes the readiness of the Israeli military to use lethal force against unarmed civilians, she discusses Israeli attacks on the news media, and she analyzes Israeli attempts to deny culpability for crimes committed against Palestinians.

She also comments on the fact that Palestinians killed by the Israeli military are often portrayed as heroes and role models by local Palestinian media, whether or not they want to be seen as such.

In one passage, Abu Akleh observed, with tragic prescience, on the ease with which Israeli soldiers killed unarmed civilians during the “Popular Rebellion” of 2015-2016:

In the most recent rebellion, the media was at least able to undermine the Israeli narrative – if not refute it entirely – when it came to the killing of many young men and women, notably in cases where there were no Israeli casualties. It became clear during the recent rebellion that Israeli soldiers would not hesitate to pull the trigger on Palestinians on the barest suspicion of their intention to carry out an operation.

She also commented on the media’s success in challenging the official Israeli explanation in some civilian deaths, on grounds of self-defense:

The media also succeeded in raising questions about Israel’s killing of suspects, many of whom were minors, when there was no need to do so. Images clearly showed numerous instances in which Palestinians were executed even though they posed no threat to soldiers’ lives.

She was sharply critical of Israeli attacks on Palestinian media outlets that covered violent assaults on civilians and documented the brutality of the Israeli occupation:

It’s not surprising that Israel regards the media as an agitator against the occupation and takes extreme measures against the news media, such as shutting down three radio stations in Hebron and confiscating all their equipment… Dozens of journalists have been injured by Israel with live ammunition and rubber-coated bullets in the course of their reporting. And at least 19 have been arrested in the most recent assault…

Meanwhile, Abu Akleh was attuned to the alienation of Palestinian youth from their political leadership and tried to convey their sense of political impotence:

It’s hard to discuss the recent rebellion without at least mentioning the role of the political leadership and the Palestinian political factions. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say: without mentioning their absence. After years of political impasse and the ongoing division between the two parts of the nation [the West Bank and Gaza Strip], and in light of the inability of the political factions to effect any change on the political scene, a general sense of alienation has arisen between the younger generation and the political leadership.

She also wrote somewhat critically on the Palestinian media’s commemoration of all victims of the Israeli occupation as martyrs and heroes, whether they like it or not:

The local news media generally propagate the image of the martyr as a role model and hero. The families of martyrs are often enlisted to glorify martyrdom, irrespective of their actual feelings. On October 27, 2015, I was covering the funeral of Iyad Jaradat, who was killed in the town of Sa’ir northeast of Hebron, when he was shot with a bullet to the head during confrontations with the Israeli occupation forces. Approaching his mother before the arrival of the body, I wondered what I could possibly ask her. As soon as I asked permission to interview her, relatives who were standing beside her began repeating the stock phrases used in the aftermath of martyrdom. “Tell them that he died for the sake of al-Aqsa mosque, the nation, Palestine, and Jerusalem.” So I asked a different question from the one I had prepared: “Is it any consolation to you that your son died for the sake of al-Aqsa?” She raised a finger to indicate negation and said: “No, nothing can be a consolation.”

That mother’s testimony says it all. Even though Shireen was killed in the line of duty, as she bore witness to the injustice and brutality of military occupation to the world, nothing can be a consolation for her loss.

The entire translated text of the article was published on the Institute of Palestine Studies’ blog, Palestine Square.

Shireen Abu Akleh: Two Assassinations, Four Funerals

The mass outpouring of national unity that followed the martyrdom of Shireen Abu Akleh reflects a historic moment of unified Palestinian struggle and consciousness.

BY KHALED FARRAJ MAY 21, 2022 

STUDENTS CARRY A MOCK COFFIN AS THEY HOLD A SYMBOLIC FUNERAL FOR SLAIN AL JAZEERA JOURNALIST SHIREEN ABU AKLEH, AT AL-AZHAR UNIVERSITY IN MUGHRAQA, CENTRAL GAZA STRIP, ON MAY 16, 2022. (PHOTO: ASHRAF AMRA/APA IMAGES)

Editor’s Note: This article was first published by the Institute for Palestine Studies on May 17, 2022 and has been translated and republished with their permission.

This is not a lament for Shireen, nor is it a political article. It is not a press report, nor is it a study. It is not a tribute or condolence, because Shireen Abu Akleh deserves more than all of these. These are mere observations and impressions of The Assassination of Shireen, of the deep sadness that has stricken people, all people, not only in Palestine, but across the world. These are impressions of “real funerals” rather than metaphorical, of the sanctity of the casket and coffin, of the raised flags, and those that fell to the ground, of the capital and the conflict over the capital, of the tragic departure of a dear friend, an exceptional human at all levels. I do not write this to praise her virtues, everyone has done so already, although she deserves a lot, and a lot from us.
Shireen Abu Akleh renewed Palestine and the values of the Palestinian people

Shireen was insidiously and aggressively assassinated. With her martyrdom, every Palestinian felt that they had lost their own someone dear. Shireen, who had entered every house through al-Jazeera for a quarter of a century of hard, respectful, and professional journalism, is entering houses this time as a member of every Palestinian family, in the east, west, north, and south. Every Palestinian felt personally touched by her martyrdom, and thus felt subjugated and humiliated. Everyone is asking “how could a well-known journalist be killed in the field dressed in such a way that clearly indicates that she is a journalist: a helmet and a vest with the word ‘PRESS’?” This act targets those who tell the truth, the truth about daily killing in Palestine.

The assassination of Shireen, turning her into news, is an Israeli attempt to hide the truth; and to discipline, intimidate, and deter those who seek to show it. However, the reaction to her murder exceeded all expectations, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets to express their anger, not only in solidarity with Shireen’s small family, but because to most of them Shireen is family.

This large and massive participation in the funeral is but an expression of great anger, and the retrieval of the concept of Palestine, that is still under occupation, thus the retrieval of collective values of people under occupation, the most important of which is the collective sense of the need to be rid of this occupation and end it through resistance. With all its political and religious diversity, including diversity imposed by the Israeli occupation (West Bank, Palestinians of lands occupied in 1948, and the Gaza Strip), the Palestinian people expressed unprecedented national and on-the-ground unity. What made this unity special is that it was not emotional or sentimental, but an extension and an accumulation of what happened in May 2021 during attacks on the Gaza Strip and Sheikh Jarrah, an extension of the great solidarity with the prisoners of the Freedom Tunnel last September. These heroic prisoners, whose heroic and courageous actions reverberated around the whole world, are still being punished by the occupation through the murder of their siblings. Now comes the martyrdom of Shireen Abu Akleh, which served to crown, perpetuate, and define this moment of a great unitary struggle, which will inevitably be understood in the future as a moment of continuity with the events of the past year.

Jerusalem the Capital

MOURNERS CARRY SLAIN AL JAZEERA VETERAN JOURNALIST SHIREEN ABU AKLEH DURING HER FUNERAL PROCESSION IN THE OLD CITY OF JERUSALEM ON MAY 13, 2022. (PHOTO: JERIES BSSIER/APA IMAGES)

“Jerusalem is Arab”; this is not just a slogan that the residents of the West Bank shouted near Israeli checkpoints that surround the city, which they are forbidden from entering, these are the cheers of hundreds of thousands who shouted from the walls of the Old City, and in its alleyways. This simply means that the conflict over the city has been resolved by Palestinian and Arab consciousness, by global popular consciousness and, will of course be introduced and reintroduced, in international forums.

As for the nuclear state, with a smart, powerful, and technologically advanced, “most ethical” army, as it claims, it proceeded for six consecutive hours to confiscate Palestinian flags carried by mourners, who not only raised the Palestinian flag, but also removed Israeli flags off their flagpoles at Jaffa Gate, one of the gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. This means that 74 years on, this “strong” state is still not able to control neighborhoods in its capital or in “the capital”, which says a lot.

This “strong” state attempted to limit the number of mourners participating in Shireen’s funeral, and planned to implement this order, demanding that the funeral be limited to religious rites, and that mourners would not raise Palestinian flags, and thus deployed police forces to the vicinity of the (St. Louis) French Hospital to tighten its control over the funeral.

This “strong” state permitted itself to do what no one in history has done, no matter their religion, and assaulted the casket in a very hideous way that will forever be engraved in people’s memories. With this assault, Israel assassinated Shireen Abu Akleh again, but in doing so, it strengthened the resolve of mourners to participate mightily in the funeral, in a manner deserving of a martyr from Palestine, and instilled in the minds of people in the entire world the most heinous picture of this occupation.

ISRAELI SECURITY FORCES ATTACK PALLBEARERS CARRYING THE CASKET OF SHIREEN ABU AKLEH OUT OF THE ST LOUIS FRENCH HOSPITAL IN OCCUPIED EAST JERUSALEM’S SHEIKH JARRAH NEIGHBORHOOD. BEFORE BEING TRANSPORTED TO A CHURCH AND THEN HER RESTING PLACE IN JERUSALEM. (PHOTO: AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP)

The heroes: Protectors of the funeral and coffin

Let’s imagine for a second the brutality with which young Jerusalemites and non-Jerusalemites who carried Shireen’s coffin on their shoulders were beaten. Let’s imagine the thick batons that the (Israeli) police used to beat them. Let’s imagine the poisonous gasses that polluted the air of the funeral, the filthy wastewater that contaminated the area, on a sanitary level, since it was in the vicinity of a hospital, as well as on an ethical level, since it held the body of a martyr.

These heroes received batons, punches, and severe beatings, and yet held on to the coffin, they endured this much blind loathing and held on to the coffin, raised high on their shoulders, as a martyr from Palestine deserves, as Shireen Abu Akleh deserves.
The hero and heroes who saved Shatha Hanaysha and tried to save Shireen at the outskirts of the camp the moment of the crime

It is not only the brutal image of the occupation and its crimes that would remain engraved in our minds, nor just the pictures of the funeral, nor just the pictures of the young men who climbed the walls of the Old City, but the pictures of the heroes who could not care less about their lives, and insisted on reaching the site of Shireen’s martyrdom, with journalist Shatha Hanaysha, whom they saved from a certain death. They managed to take Shireen to a hospital despite the intensity of the murderers’ bullets at the site. These young men, although not fighters, have turned into heroes in everyone’s eyes. Is there an act higher than the sacrifice they have made?

Walid, Guevara, Sandy, Wissam, Najwan, Samir, Elias and injured Ali Samoudi, as well as other al-Jazeera crew members working in Palestine

AL JAZEERA JOURNALIST GUEVARA AL-BUDAIRI BIDS FAREWELL TO AL JAZEERA JOURNALIST SHIREEN ABU AKLEH, WHO WAS KILLED DURING AN ISRAELI RAID, IN THE WEST BANK CITY OF RAMALLAH ON MAY 12, 2022. (PHOTO: WAJED NOBANI/APA IMAGES)

About those heartbroken by the death of a friend, colleague, sister and journalist, about their bravery to continue to report, pictures and news, despite their great loss, and about their heavy tears as they covered the news, and about their coherence in the funeral, during the burial procession, and in funeral homes. It was as if they had agreed to postpone their grief until after they finished their duty of covering (the news) in a way that their colleague Shireen deserved. They continued their coverage for five days, covering not only the funeral route and the ceremony, but also the news of Palestine – specifically, the raids against the Jenin refugee camp on the day of the funeral.
Iman, Manal, Wasim, Carol, Jamal, Michael, Nadia, Nay, Marian, Rita, Malak, Faten, Fouad, Haitham, and other close friends

All of these friends concurred that Shireen had honored them with her friendship, and that their loss was great and very painful; to Shireen they were family, and at the same time Shireen was family to them. The impact of her loss was enormous, a great silence ensued, and their eyes reflected the entire sadness of this tragedy. But the determination of Shireen’s colleagues and friends to take part in her farewell from Jenin to Jerusalem, through all the cities and towns, to commemorate her, and the continued talk of her, gave them the strength to cope with the shock of her departure.
Her brother Antoine, his wife Lisa, son Nasri and daughters Lena and Larrain

Antoine, the brother who received the news of his sister Shireen’s injury, and then her martyrdom, via breaking news thousands of miles away from Palestine, for him to begin the risky return journey from Somalia, where he works with the United Nations, which was under complete closure due to general elections, he had to travel most of the distance to the airport on foot and reached it without a ticket or any preparation to travel in the times of Covid-19 and its procedures. On board, he saw everything happening in Palestine, he saw the Israeli police storming his home in Beit Hanina, he had to experience a thousand thoughts all while also experiencing this overwhelming sadness.

Shireen conjured Palestine up with her death, and this may be a consolation for her small family and for all of us.

An only brother loses his only sister, his two daughters and son lost their only aunt, they were deprived of an aunt; Antoine’s wife, Lisa, lost her sister-in-law, her friend and her sister. What brutality is this?

What consoles Antoine, Lisa and their children is that Shireen regained the Arabism of Jerusalem, she united Palestinians, restored the spirit of international solidarity with Palestine, and redirected the compass to its rightful place. Shireen conjured Palestine up with her death, and this may be a consolation for her small family and for all of us.
Finally, the murderer’s narrative

Shireen’s greatest passion was to expose the crimes of the Israeli occupation in Palestine, and through her work as a journalist, she exposed murders, confiscations, Judaization, repression, and racial discrimination. She was always face-to-face with the Zionist narrative, exposing its lies and claims. I do not want to go into the mazes of the investigation, nor the identity of who is behind the murderer, or the justifications they gave to media, let alone their ghastly confusion, their attempt to confuse the world’s public opinion in turn, the ensuing obfuscation, and so on.

There is a known murderer with a name and a commander, the commander has a higher commander, and the higher commander reports to a political official, all of whom decided on the 11th of May, 2022 to continue to shed Palestinian blood. Those behind the crime are the occupation authorities who sent their special forces to practice what they do best: killing Palestinians wherever they are, regardless of profession. Over time, the occupation has killed journalists, lawyers, doctors, children, young men, and women, without being prevented by any taboos. I repeat that there is a known murderer, and when the occupation ceases to carry out daily killings in villages, cities and refugee camps in Palestine, it will lose its raison d’être.

The departure of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh entails a lot of work that the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian and international human rights institutions have to do to expose the practices of this occupation. The forces of political and civil society have a lot of burdens to bear in order to maintain the momentum of solidarity that the departure of martyr Abu Akleh has left, an unprecedented international solidarity that must be preserved, observed, developed, and supported.

Translated by Nina AbuFarha

Khaled Farraj
Khaled Farraj is the Director General of the Institute for Palestine Studies.

Israeli lawmaker warns Palestinians of another ‘Nakba’ if they fly Palestinian flag

Israel Katz warns Palestinians who fly the Palestinian flag to ask their parents about "your Nakba" -- and warns, “If you don’t calm down, we’ll teach you a lesson that won’t be forgotten”.

BY JONATHAN OFIR MAY 24, 2022 

ISRAEL KATZ

A member of the Israeli parliament, Israel Katz, warned Palestinians of another “Nakba” if they fly the Palestinian flag. The Likud lawmaker put up a video on his twitter this morning featuring him speaking at the parliament, with the message:

Yesterday I warned the Arab students, who are flying Palestine flags at universities: Remember 48. Remember our independence war and your Nakba, don’t stretch the rope too much. […] If you don’t calm down we’ll teach you a lesson that won’t be forgotten.

His actual speech elaborates a bit more:

Ask your elders, your grandfathers and grandmothers, and they will explain to you that in the end, the Jews awaken, they know to defend themselves and the idea of the Jewish state. Don’t stretch the rope too much.

The plenum seems to be quite empty, but Palestinian Israeli lawmaker Aida Touma-Sliman from the Joint List of Palestinian parties is there, and at this point she counters him: “Are you threatening?”

Katz answers, “Listen, listen, this is also meant for you.” He then tells her how Arabs in Israel have it better than in any Arab country, with welfare and democracy, and chides Touma-Sliman for being a Communist, who joins “the worst of Israel’s enemies – they speak of coexistence, while supporting the enemies of Israel… we will bring this to an end”

MEMBER OF KNESSET AIDA TOUMA-SLIMAN ENGAGES KATZ: “ARE YOU THREATENING?”

Then he comes with that final sentence: “If you don’t calm down, we’ll teach you a lesson that won’t be forgotten”.

Touma-Sliman responds with a “Wow”.

Well it is wow, isn’t it? Katz is a former minister of finance, foreign affairs, and intelligence under Netanyahu– he is from the heart of the Israeli political establishment. But it’s not a very new occurrence, that Israeli lawmakers come up with warnings of another Nakba.

In May 2018, Likud lawmaker Avi Dichter (former head of Shin Bet) warned that the Great March of Return in Gaza would turn into “the great Nakba”. This is where Israel took the liberty to target unarmed civilians who posed no danger with live ammunition, targeting also journalists and humanitarian workers. The carnage resulted in over 200 dead and 33,000 wounded, many maimed for life, over those 86 weeks. As Israeli journalist Orly Noy says, “the IDF has done little more than whitewash its own violence”.

One really has to ask oneself why there is so much discontent among Israeli apologists, when Rep. Rashida Tlaib sponsored a resolution to recognize the Nakba. I mean, the Israeli fascists use the term regularly! And they deliberately taunt Palestinians with it. They threaten Palestinians with it.

It’s not like this is a novel and exclusive Palestinian narrative – Israelis know exactly what it’s about, and they use the term as a weapon.

This points to the fact that the Nakba is not merely an historic event, but rather an ongoing reality, just as Tlaib said:

The Israeli apartheid government’s ongoing ethnic cleansing seeks to degrade Palestinian humanity and break the will of the people to be free. Fortunately, as Palestinians and their allies prove time and time again, we will persist no matter the circumstances until peace, freedom, equity and respect for all people are secured and protected.

So let’s not just recognize and commemorate the Nakba – let’s oppose it as it keeps unfolding.

H/t Annar Follesø