It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Monday, November 22, 2021
Vaccinations urged against shingles, a viral infection that's on the rise
Kevin McClintock, The Joplin Globe, Mo. Fri, November 19, 2021
Nov. 19—There's a life-altering infection out there that's plaguing people 65 and older, but it's not the novel coronavirus.
It's shingles, which is recognizable by a painful rash and blisters that scab and pus. While it looks like a skin rash to the naked eye, it's actually an infection to the nerve tissue buried beneath the skin, initiated by the same virus that causes the scourge of most children — chickenpox.
"(It's) not a fun thing," said Neosho resident Karol Meyers, who suffered through a round of shingles recently. "(I'm) hoping I don't ever get it again."
Shingles should never be taken lightly or brushed aside, said Dr. Henry Petry, geriatrician with Freeman Center for Geriatric Medicine.
"Almost all of the people who get it have had chickenpox in their lifetime," he said. "The older you are, the more likely you are to get it. Recent (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) studies state that 1 out of 3 people probably the age of ... 65 or above are probably going to get it."
When shingles first breaks out, "it is very painful," Petry said. The rash — mostly centered on the chest or abdomen, but it can also appear on the head or face a few days following the onset of pain — "can blister, and it's usually linear, meaning it goes from the back (of the body or head) to the front."
During that time, people will feel varying degrees of pain, which can flare up anywhere on the body where there are nerves. When shingles "gets back (in the nerves) it's like an infection in that area, and it kind of inactivates it and makes it do funny things it's not supposed to do," he said.
When treated, an episode can last between seven and 10 days. If untreated, "there's the possibility of developing a type of neuropathy," which is damage or dysfunction of one or more nerves that result in sporadic pain, numbness, tingling and muscle weakness for years on end, Petry said.
"I've had a couple of (patients) who had it, but they didn't get (shingles) around the chest but down their leg, and they developed permanent foot drop from the changes to the sciatic nerve," he said. Petry also said that should the rash appear on the face and blisters form in the eye, it can cause blindness.
These long-term complications of pain and dysfunction "can be very devastating to the quality of life of that person if it's not treated," he said. "The older you are, the more likely you'll have a problem with it."
While it's impossible for two people who previously had chickenpox to pass shingles to one another, it is possible for someone with shingles to pass it to someone who has never previously had chickenpox, he said.
To that end, CDC officials have noticed a slight increase in shingles cases over the past 24 months, most likely due to stresses brought on by COVID-19.
"Stress is a big immune system depressant," Petry said. "Any time that you have a change in your immune system ... that suppresses it, it's down; I don't mean depressed, but you're down" physically. Major stresses, and some back-to-back-to-back stressors lasting for years, "can make your immune system more susceptible to everything, even to the common cold."
There are ways to lessen the risks from shingles. There are three different types of antiviral drugs that work effectively to rid the body of the infection; steroids also help to reduce some of the post-shingles neuropathy symptoms.
But the best and safest way to protect oneself from shingles is to get immunized against it. CDC officials recommend that healthy adults 50 and older get the two-dose vaccine Shingrix. The vaccine, which two years ago replaced a single-dose vaccine, is more than 90% effective at preventing shingles.
Vaccination against shingles "is the one thing that we really, really recommend as you get older ... in order to prevent the spread of it so it can't be a life-altering infection," Petry said.
Kevin McClintock is features editor for The Joplin Globe.
Patience pays off: Female bowhunter from Nashville arrows 15-point buck in Wayne County
Art Holden Sun, November 21, 2021 Steph Genet, 29, of Nashville, shows off the 15-point buck she killed with a compound bow Oct. 31. She was hunting in Wayne County on her grandmother's farm.
Waiting for the chance to shoot an Ohio whitetail deer is nothing new for Holmes County hunter Steph Genet. She has enjoyed the process and knowledge she has garnered spending countless hours in the woods. Her patience finally paid off on the last day of October, when she shot a 15-point buck on her grandmother's property in Wayne County.
"It took me four years to shoot my first deer," said Genet, a 29-year-old who works for the Millersburg Police Department. "I was very particular. I wanted to make sure I could make a good shot, and, I was learning as I went."
Genet said it took years to learn the habits and deer movement on her grandma's farm, putting in countless hours of scouting. She got into deer hunting seriously in 2014, and shot her first deer, a big 10-pointer, in 2018 with a shotgun. Since then, she's killed two does with a shotgun, and her second buck with a crossbow. Her latest deer kill was with a Hoyt Klash compound bow set at 55 pounds and shooting a Montec G5 fixed-blade broadhead.
And while she has yet to put a tape to her big buck, she said its mass is as impressive as its forked tines, which give it "characteristic."
"I had a good deer on my trail camera last year, but to say this was the same deer might be a stretch," said Genet. "But, I did have this deer on my camera for a few weeks before Oct. 31."
'I turned around and saw this buck chasing three does'
On that now unforgettable Halloween hunt, Genet got in the woods at 1 p.m., and immediately had deer all around her.
"But, there was nothing close enough to actually shoot," she said. "Just before 5 p.m., a button buck was chilling in front of me and it kept looking behind me. I turned around and saw this buck chasing three does."
Wondering if she would ever get a chance to draw on the bruiser, the scenario soon turned in Genet's favor.
"The does left, and I think the buck smelled the scent lick I had hung up," explained Genet. "I think he thought the button buck was a doe, and he came my way. He came in broadside at 20 yards, it couldn't have been any more perfect."
Genet let her arrow fly, and the buck took off running.
"The arrow was still in him, and I waited an hour to get out of the woods," said Genet. "I called my parents to come help me look for it. They know that if I call them and I can't speak, they know it's something big."
But, in the dark, the three couldn't find the deer
"I think we pushed it, so I made the decision to come back at daylight," said Genet.
Genet had help again on the morning track, as she recruited her best friend, Brooke Yoder, who also brought along her 1 1/2-year-old Drahthaar dog, a cross between a German Shorthair Pointer and a Griffon. A bird dog by breed, Yoder is cross-training her Drahthaar to also track deer.
It took just nine minutes for the dog to find the buck, locating it 500 yards away from where it was shot. But, there's a little more to the story.
"I'm thankful for Brooke showing up, because she had her first child just a week earlier," said Genet. "She called her mom to stay with the baby, she brought her dog and trampled down through the woods."
Just another chapter in the story of Genet's memorable late October hunt, one born out of the love of the outdoors.
"I've logged hours sitting in the woods hunting," said Genet, who also squirrel, turkey, rabbit and dove hunts, and last year also learned to process her own deer. "When I'm hunting in the woods, that's where I'm most relaxed, it's a time to unwind.
"I'm very thankful for the opportunity to take a deer, especially a big buck like this. My patience paid off."
Outdoor correspondent Art Holden can be reached at letsplabal@yahoo.com.
USA More changes on the COVID vaccine mandate for 11,000 Hanford workers Annette Cary Sun., November 21, 2021
Nearly 11,000 workers at the Hanford nuclear reservation have been given more time to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or receive an exemption.
There also appears to be a move by at least some employers at the site to allow accommodations that will allow more of those with approved religious or medical exemptions to continue working.
However, the deadline extension does not cover about 300 Hanford site workers who are employed directly by DOE. They face a Monday, Nov. 22, deadline to prove they are vaccinated.
The majority of Hanford workers are employed by DOE contractors and their subcontractors.
They had been given a vaccine mandate deadline of Dec. 8, but that has been extended to allow them until Jan. 18 to be fully vaccinated.
Because they are not considered fully vaccinated until two weeks after their final required dose of the vaccine, they have until Jan. 4 to receive the single dose required of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine or the second dose required of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.
The vaccine mandate for federal contractor employees has been contentious at Hanford, with almost 300 Hanford workers filing a lawsuit in federal court asking that the vaccine mandate be immediately overturned.
A Richland rally in opposition to the mandate drew hundreds on Nov. 3.
Workers may apply for a religious or medical exemption. But plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit say that while exemptions have been granted, accommodations have not been made in many cases to allow people who are not vaccinated to continue working.
The lawsuit claims that so many Hanford workers could lose their jobs due to the mandate that the nuclear reservation could not be kept safe and secure.
Scott Sax, president of Central Plateau Cleanup Co., said in a memo to workers late last week that leaders there would re-evaluate exemption requests.
They will to determining if a combination of masking, social distancing and weekly testing could be considered a suitable accommodation based on job classifications and workers’ day-to-day tasks.
The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force has identified COVID-19 testing as a potential alternative to vaccination, he said in the memo.
“These are difficult decisions being made in very challenging times,” he said. “Each of us is entitled to our respective viewpoint and choice.”
Amy Schatz, manager of workforce resources at Washington River Protection Solutions, sent a similar message to that contractor’s employees.
“My hope is that each of you recognizes that we are making our best effort to choose a path that will protect our employees and bring us into compliance with our federally mandated contract requirements,” she told employees.
Most Hanford workers are being told they need to submit their vaccination status in the next few weeks.
Some contractors are contacting employees who have not yet submitted information and one is sending out a questionnaire for them to answer.
Some 94% of staff were fully or partially vaccinated by the deadline.
PNNL has lost 31 employees, or less than 1 % of its workforce, to retirement, resignation or termination because of the requirement to be vaccinated or have an exemption approved.
On the scrap heap: Syria's 'horrific' child labour
Syria's decade-long conflict forced 15-year-old Mohammad Makhzoum out of the classroom and into a scrapyard, where the orphan works 12 hours a day to support his younger siblings.
Syrian boys transport coal in the town of al-Bab; conditions children work in are described as 'horrific' by the UN
Mohammad, who has been working since he was nine, leaves home everyday at dawn for a basic foundry where he helps melt metal amid thick and toxic black fumes.
Mohammad Makhzoum, 15, was orphaned during Syria's civil war and now works at a scrapyard, supporting his younger siblings
He said he wanted to make sure his sister and two brothers avoid a fate that has beset so many of Syria's children.
"I am their mother and father," he said, his face covered in soot, speaking from the run-down scrapyard in the northern city of al-Bab.
"I work so that they can continue their studies, because... they shouldn't be denied an education like I was."
An estimated 2.5 million children in Syria are out of school, with another 1.6 million at risk of dropping out, according to the UN's children agency UNICEF.
It estimates that nine in ten children in Syria live in poverty and more than 5,700 children -– some as young as seven -– have been recruited to fight. - Worsening situation -
There is no official data in Syria on child labour rates. But they are believed to have steadily increased throughout the course of the conflict, with the coronavirus pandemic and an economic crisis fuelling further spikes over the past year.
Twelve-year-old Amer al-Shayban works at a makeshift oil refinery, seen here holding his baby sister in the Syrian town of al-Bab
"It is evident that child labour has increased in Syria...because of Covid-19 and the worsening economic crisis," UNICEF spokesperson Juliette Touma said.
"Children in Syria, when they are involved in labour, are exposed to conditions that are absolutely horrific," she said.
Few of Syria's children currently stand a chance of getting a decent life
Mohammad, who originally hails from the town of Maarat al-Numan in Idlib district, dropped out of school at the age of nine to support his family after his father was killed by artillery shells fired by government forces.
Nadim al-Nako, aged 12, has given up hope of ever returning to school, after he dropped out two years ago
Two years ago, his mother was killed during a battle between rebels and regime forces in the same area.
He fled with his siblings to al-Bab, where they live in a small bullet-riddled flat, furnished with nothing but thin foam mattresses.
His weekly income of five dollars barely covers their food needs, but Mohammad still manages to source enough for his siblings' school supplies.
"I work for their sake... I like to see them comfortable," he said. "I want to see them become doctors or teachers, without having to suffer like I had to."
But few of Syria's children currently stand a chance of getting a decent life.
- 'War destroyed our dreams' -
At a makeshift oil refinery in al-Bab, 12-year-old Amer al-Shayban knelt in the freezing mud as he packed handfuls of charcoal in a plastic bag.
Then he dragged the heavy bag -- nearly half his size -- to feed a furnace that emits toxic fumes.
"I am forced to work... it's not in my hands," Amer said, explaining that he is the main breadwinner for his family.
"I work summers and winters in the refinery to support my parents... my chest hurts regularly because of the smoke and fumes."
When Amer finishes his shift, he washes off soot from his hands and walks to a nearby displacement camp, where he lives with his parents and five younger siblings.
His father suffers from diabetes and clogged arteries, leaving the family mostly reliant on Amer's monthly income of five dollars.
"I dream of carrying a pen and a notebook and going to school," he said. "That is better than the furnaces, the diesel and this smell."
Nadim al-Nako, aged 12, has given up hope of ever returning to school, after he dropped out two years ago.
Nadim works with a blowtorch most of the day -- without any safety googles -- in his father's workshop to make pots and pans.
His salary goes entirely to household expenses, he said.
"War destroyed our dreams," he said. "I don't care anymore about school or anything of the like, the only thing I care about is this profession."
str/rh/ho/jmm/pjm
AFP
Five years after peace pact, violence haunts Colombia Soldiers still patrol Marquetalia, birthplace of the now-defunct FARC guerilla group
(AFP/Raul ARBOLEDA)More Hector Velasco Mon, November 22, 2021,
In 2016, the world hailed the peace accords that saw Latin America's most fearsome guerrilla group lay down arms to end a devastating, near six-decade conflict in Colombia.
But five years on, the peace remains fragile and violence endemic.
The accords dramatically slowed the national homicide rate.
Some 3,000 people per year were killed on average over more than five decades as a direct result of the conflict, according to Hernando Gomez Buendia of the Razon Publica news site.
In 2017, this number dropped to 78.
Overall, Colombia's homicide rate before 2012, when peace talks began, was about 12,000 per year -- those directly linked to the conflict and not, Juan Carlos Garzon of the Ideas for Peace Foundation told AFP.
From 2013 to 2016, it dropped to about 9,000 per year.
But the rate is on the rise again as Colombia experiences its most violent period in years.
"The bad news is that between January and September 2021, we are again at the level of 10,500 homicides," said Garzon.
Despite the dissolution of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), thousands of dissidents battle rivals for control of drug fields, illegal gold mines and lucrative smuggling routes.
According to the Indepaz peace research institute, there are 90 armed groups with some 10,000 members active in Colombia.
They include more than 5,000 FARC dissidents who rejected peace, some 2,500 members of the National Liberation Army or ELN -- the country's last active guerrilla group, and another 2,500 rightwing paramilitary fighters.
Last month, the UN warned that the deteriorating security situation represented a "considerable challenge" to the country's 2016 peace accords.
"The disarmament of FARC has produced a power void... that has benefited other armed actors," said Garzon.
- Narco wars -
The accords signed on November 24, 2016 promised to bring peace to a country traumatized by years of violence.
But things got off to a rocky start: Just days before the signing, 50.21 percent of Colombians rejected the deal in a referendum -- a setback that required last-minute adjustments to the document and deeply divided the country.
The justice promised in the more than 300-page peace deal for hundreds of thousands of victims of the conflict is yet to come.
A special tribunal set up to try the worst atrocities has charged former FARC commanders with the kidnapping of at least 21,000 people and the recruitment of 18,000 minors.
Senior military officials have been charged with killing some 6,400 civilians presented as guerillas.
No verdicts have yet been passed.
The tribunal has the authority to offer alternatives to jail time to people who confess their crimes and make reparations to victims -- a system some fear will let criminals get off scot-free.
"The peace process has served the culprits, but it has not served the victims of the FARC," police general Luis Mendieta, held hostage by the rebels for 12 years, told AFP.
"We are cooperating... but it was a war of more than 50 years and solving it in one, two or three years will not be possible," said ex-guerilla-turned senator Sandra Ramirez. - Return to criminal life -
Former combatants of the FARC, which has since transformed itself into a minority political party, have also paid a heavy price: some 293 have been killed since the signing of the accords, either by rival groups or their dissident former brothers in arms.
Others, like FARC commander Ivan Marquez who helped negotiate the deal, took up arms again.
The deal also has not brought an end to Colombia's vast and violent narcotrafficking problem, with many of those who signed the pact having "returned to criminal life" as "coca grew exponentially," according to President Ivan Duque in a recent interview with AFP.
The document encouraged the voluntary substitution of illicit crops -- mainly coca used in cocaine-making -- with legal ones, but farmers complain that they have not received any help.
Colombia remains the world's biggest producer and exporter of cocaine.
In the cities, too, violence is rife amid high levels of unemployment and poverty, with a recent wave of often deadly robberies that prompted the government in September to deploy some 1,500 soldiers to assist police in crime prevention.
In May, violence also marred anti-government protests that were brutally put down by the police and soldiers.
More than 60 people were killed in weeks of clashes and a clampdown condemned by the UN, United States, European Union and international rights groups.
hec/vel/mlr/ec
Doomed 'Dune' storyboards sell for 2.7mn euros
Mon, November 22, 2021
The storyboards for the doomed 1970s film version of sci-fi classic "Dune" sold for 2.66 million euros ($3 million) at auction on Monday, around 100 times the expected price.
Long considered a mythical object by sci-fi fans, the notebook of drawings for the film by Franco-Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky triggered a bidding war at Christie's in Paris.
The film project was supposed to bring together some major stars of the period including Salvador Dali, Mick Jagger and Pink Floyd -- but fell apart after four years of preparation due to lack of funding.
The auction went down to two determined bidders, with an American eventually emerging victorious.
Christie's admitted their initial valuation for the drawings -- between 25,000 and 35,000 euros -- had failed to account for the spike in interest triggered by the new version of the film starring Timothee Chalamet, that has topped box offices around the world in recent months.
The drawings are collected in one large notebook, and were made by celebrated French graphic novelist Moebius (alias Jean Giraud, who died in 2012) and Swiss illustrator Giger, who went on to design the movie "Alien" in 1979 and died in 2014.
As well as Dali and Jagger, the tumultuous Dune project was also due to feature veteran Hollywood legends Orson Welles and Gloria Swanson in the cast, with Pink Floyd among the bands approached for the soundtrack.
Its infamous collapse was retold in the 2013 documentary "Jodorowsky's Dune".
The brainchild of author Frank Herbert, the novel "Dune" was first published in 1965 and became a six-volume space opera of massive influence, not least on the "Star Wars" franchise.
Following the latter's blockbuster box office success, Hollywood took renewed interest in "Dune" in the early 1980s.
That led to David Lynch's version, released in 1984 with a cast including British musician Sting and Patrick Stewart of "Star Trek: Next Generation". But that Dune movie had its own troubles and became one of the decade's biggest flops.
Jodorowsky's storyboards were said to have influenced later hits of the genre including "Blade Runner".
"We know of several other copies: one was offered for auction several years ago, another is in Jodorowsky's possession... A third has been partially reproduced online," said Christie's.
It said around 10 to 20 copies were produced, though it was hard to be certain.
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Climate warming forecasts may be too rosy: study
by Marlowe Hood
Most studies on global warming impacts contrast a "do nothing" scenario of unabated carbon emissions with a not-always plausible pathway to a 1.5C world.
UN projections of how much current climate policies and national pledges to cut carbon pollution will slow global warming are more uncertain than widely assumed, researchers reported Monday.
Leading into this month's COP26 summit, the UN said existing policies would see Earth's average surface temperature rise a "catastrophic" 2.7 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels by 2100.
Renewed pledges from large emitters such as India would have a negligible effect on warming this century, the UN said during COP26, and were still worlds away from the Paris Agreement temperature goal of 1.5C of warming.
But the apparent precision of these estimates is misleading, according to a new study, written by several contributors to the UN reports it calls into question.
"The false precision to climate outcomes given during COP26 may lead countries to believe they are making good progress, when the opposite may be true," said first author Ida Sognnaes, a senior scientist at the CICERO climate research centre in Olso.
At issue is the standard method used to connect the dots between a set of climate policies and the end-of-century temperature increases they might lead to.
Most climate projections are based on models that start with the desired temperature outcome –- a cap on global warming of 1.5C or 2C, for example -– and then work backwards to see what policy levers need to be pulled in order to get there.
In this "backcasting" approach, experts adjust variables such as coal use, renewables and afforestation to hit the end-of-century target.
"Our study is a 'forecast'," said CICERO's director of research Glen Peters. "We model out where existing policies take us and then see where we end up."
Seven different climate modelling groups used this technique to assess how voluntary pledges under the Paris treaty running to 2030—known as nationally determined contributions—would play out by 2100.
Unrealistic scenarios
Their estimates, published in Nature Climate Change, ranged from 2.2C to 2.9C, roughly in line with the UN figures.
What stood out, however, was the lack of certainty.
"If you take the low end of that range, it may sound like we are really close to meeting the Paris goals," Peters told AFP.
"But it is equally likely that the outcome could be up around 3C, in which case much stronger policies would be needed."
Peters compared the new study's methods to those used to measure the impact of COVID policies such as mask wearing, social distancing or vaccination.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic in early 2020, COVID modelling has been updated every few months based on how policy is seen to be affecting the spread of the virus.
"New policy is based on where we are actually heading, not where we may have been heading if there was no action taken," Peters said.
Most studies on global warming impacts contrast a worst-case scenario of unabated carbon emissions, on the one hand, with aggressively optimistic pathways to a 1.5C world on the other.
The reality, however, is somewhere in between these extremes, and is likely to stay there for decades.
‘Becoming Cousteau’ Shows Jacques Cousteau Sound Alarm For Climate Change In The ‘70s – Contenders Documentary
Fred Topel Sun, November 21, 2021
Becoming Cousteau director Liz Garbus said her documentary about ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau shows that he recognized the dangers of climate change decades ago. Garbus spoke with Deadline’s Matthew Carey at Contenders Film: Documentary.
“We saw him start talking about it as early as 1971,” Garbus said. “When he started talking about coral reefs, he started talking about species of fish that were no longer populating areas he was diving in. And so he just, through firsthand experience, became concerned about the undersea world.”
Cousteau attended the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro as one of the only non-heads of state invited to speak. By then, he had a lot more to warn polluters about.
“He [was] really granted that global audience to sound the alarm for protecting the oceans, which he saw correctly as entirely linked to the survival of humanity,” Garbus said.
Early in his career, Cousteau helped oil companies map sites for offshore drilling. But the Frenchman expressed his regret for aiding in the environmental pollution that resulted from the practice.
“He said that he was told he was responsible for the great wealth of Abu Dhabi,” Garbus said. “I’m sure that’s an overstatement. I’m sure there were many facets of that wealth, but yes, he was a part of it and he did come to regret that and decry oil companies and their disregard for regulations.”
Becoming Cousteau also features underwater footage Cousteau captured, now restored to 4K quality. Garbus said she hopes new viewers hear his message.
“He’s important because for the past 50 years, he’s been sounding the alarm about the undersea world and our need to protect it,” Garbus said. “Of course, that has only become more urgent. And also as a voice who was beloved who could unite people from all factions to get behind this love of our planet and desire to protect it. That voice is sorely absent and needed today.”
Screening the National Geographic film at festivals including Telluride and Toronto, Garbus said many viewers become frustrated when they learn that Cousteau, who died in 1997 at 87, already was aware of environmental issues that have yet to be addressed.
“There’s been that sense of outrage like, ‘Wow, I cannot believe he’s been saying this since the ‘70s — how is it taking so long?’” Garbus said.
Becoming Cousteau is now playing in limited release. It premiere November 24 on Disney+.
Portugal becomes fourth EU country to stop using coal plants
Environmental activists are welcoming the end of electricity generation from coal in Portugal
ByThe Associated Press
22 November 2021
LISBON, Portugal -- Environmental activists are welcoming the end of electricity generation from coal in Portugal, though they said Monday the possible conversion of the country's last coal-fired power plant into one that burns wood pellets would be a step in the wrong direction.
The Pego plant located 150 kilometers (90 miles) northeast of the Portuguese capital Lisbon stopped generating over the weekend, as Portugal became the fourth European Union country to stop burning coal to produce electricity.
Portugal has no coal, oil or gas, which are all imported, and has been investing heavily in green energy in recent decades.
“Coal’s dire economics and public desire for climate action are driving faster and faster phase outs across Europe," said Kathrin Gutmann, campaign director for Europe Beyond Coal, which aims to ensure coal is phased out in Europe by 2030.
Coal power is the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions.
"The challenge now is to ensure utilities do not make the mistake of replacing coal with fossil gas, or unsustainable biomass,” Gutmann said said in a statement.
But proposals for the continued use of Pego, which is out to tender, include biomass.
Portuguese Environment Minister João Pedro Matos Fernandes says other proposals include solar energy and electric vehicle production. Proposals must be presented by Jan. 17.
“Freeing ourselves from our biggest source of greenhouse gases is a momentous day for Portugal. But it is soured by the prospect of the plant being converted to burn forests,” said Francisco Ferreira, head of the Portuguese environmental association ZERO.
“Ditching coal only to switch to the next worst fuel is clearly not an answer," he said.
"Israel is my country, the Palestinians are my people"
Interview with Arab Israeli MP Essawi Frej
Essawi Frej, the first ever minister of Arab origin in an Israeli government, explains in interview with Markus Bickel what can be achieved in a coalition of opposites
The rotating government of alternating prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid(the latter is scheduled to lead the cabinet from August 2023) is unprecedented in Israel's history as a coalition of eight parties – from left-wing liberal to right-wing nationalist, Zionist to Arab. It has a mere one-vote majority in the Knesset and was initially united solely by the will to finally replace long-term Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud party.
Elected in mid-June, this executive has so far withstood the pressure of its opponents and avoided any major tests of strength. Bennett's mantra – "we must overcome the politics of hatred and division within the nation" – is still proving an acceptable foundation for all 27 ministers to engage in the political process. One of them, Essawi Frej of the Meretz Party, head of the department for regional co-operation, is hoping at some stage to resume negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. Trade and economic aid for the West Bank could be a way of gaining the necessary acceptance for such a proposal in Ramallah.
Mr. Frej, are you proud to be the first Arab minister in Israel's history?
Essawi Frej:You can ask me that question at the end of my term. I wish to be judged on my achievements, and it is too early for that. After all, we are just over a hundred days into Prime Minister Bennett's new government. What is at stake is the goal of making progress for Israel's Palestinian residents – and opening doors for the next generation. If this is achieved, maybe we will have something to be proud of one day.
In the 1990s, Arab parties secured Yitzhak Rabin a majority in the Knesset without being part of his cabinet. Today, the Islamist Ra'am party is openly in coalition with a right-wing head of government like Bennett, and you are part of his government. What has changed in the last thirty years?
Frej:Israel is my country; the Palestinians are my people. But the land comes first – a view, by the way, shared by ninety percent of Arabs in Israel. You cannot be part of this society and constantly attack it with stones and verbal abuse. And you cannot be part of this state and say that you hate it. It is not possible to hate something, while wanting to belong to it at the same time. I know that Arab Israelis are not equal to their Jewish fellow citizens. That's why I will continue to do everything I can to change the situation.
Israel's fragile cabinet formation: the new coalition government in Israel consists of several ultra-right and conservative parties led by former Netanyahu allies, centre-left parties such as Yesh Atid and the Labour Party, the left-wing Meretz, the Kachol Lavan party (centre) and the Arab Ra'am party, which represents sections of Israel's Palestinian citizens. Foreign Minister Jair Lapid, head of the second largest Yesh Atid party, is considered the architect of the broad party alliance
Is that possible with this government?
Frej:I will not give up my fight for equality. You see, every one of the nine million Israelis has two identities – one national and one civil. My neighbour's nationality may be Jewish, and mine is Arab. That's where we differ, but our civil identity is the same: it's Israeli, and it keeps us together, even though people have repeatedly tried to divide us by claiming otherwise over the past seventy years. That is what I believe in, and that is what I stand for, as a member of the Knesset and as a minister.
What you say applies to the Palestinians in Israel. But negotiations with the leadership of the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories have been rejected by the coalition led by Bennett and alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid. Why?
Frej:We have to proceed with caution if we are to build trust between the two sides. Since 2008, there have been no meetings at the highest level; only military officials have spoken directly to each other on pressing issues. That has changed under the new government: Defence Minister Benny Gantz met Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, in August. I have also met my counterpart from Ramallah. And there has also been a meeting between the health ministers. That would seem to imply change.
You don't really believe there can be a lasting solution to the conflict without the resumption of political negotiations ...
Frej: ... you have to distinguish between my personal opinion, my party's position and government policy. My opinion is clear: we are committed to a two-state solution. It is also the view held by the Meretz Party, a stance that is unlikely to change. At the same time, we are part of a government that does not want to move on implementation, because the coalition agreement stipulates that controversial issues such as the ongoing construction of settlements and a resumption of the political process should not be addressed. But that is not going to stop us from talking about it. Peace negotiations are part of our agenda.
Should there be negotiations with Hamas as well?
Frej: I am convinced we need to include Hamas. Again, however, the same thing applies: if we were to try to speed up the political process now, there would soon be no government.
End of the Netanyahu era: for the first time in twelve years, Israel has a
government without Benjamin Netanyahu at the helm. The new eight-party coalition
has a razor-thin majority in parliament. Despite ideological rifts, the broad coalition
under Prime Minister Naftali Bennett agreed on a budget on 4 November 2021.
A new election has thus been averted for the time being. Naftali Bennett and
Yair Lapid intend to occupy the position of prime minister on a rotating basis
How then do you intend to achieve improvements for the Palestinian side during your time in office?
Frej:Before I became a politician, I worked in the private sector. I know what people need is to feel their situation is improving economically. Since our government has been in office, we have issued 15,000 new work permits for Palestinians working in Israel. Nevertheless, there are still 50,000 workers who are without official papers – and who have always received their wages in cash. This must change. If we can get Israeli employers to transfer this money to Palestinian banks in future, it would also boost the economic cycle there. I am hopeful we can achieve this by the end of the year.
Will such small steps make a difference? The Palestinian economy is on its knees, not only in Gaza, but also in the West Bank, where there is little reason for hope.
Frej: This is exactly why we are working to facilitate the transport of goods across the Green Line. Currently, goods are only allowed to enter and leave through four of the main checkpoints between the West Bank and Israel. Our goal is to open at least six to facilitate trade. We also promised a loan of 500 million shekels to the Palestinian Authority in August. This money is urgently needed, but so is donor support to give hope to the people. And quickly, because the situation is extremely precarious.
Again the question: are such steps really enough?
Frej: As I said, the Bennett administration is committed to bringing about incremental change at an economic and civil level. It's about creating a basis for negotiations, but for that you need solid ground, and currently that doesn't exist.
Is a two-state solution realistic at all, or is there a need for other models, such as a federation with equal rights for all citizens – regardless of whether they live in the West Bank, Israel or the Gaza Strip?
Frej: As long as all parties involved come together around one table, any and all of the options can be addressed. But what is needed in the end is an agreement. If we are strong, it should be possible, based on our common humanity, to reach an agreement.
What about the Abraham Accords? One year after Israel established diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates and the State of Bahrain, the euphoria appears to have faded.
Frej: There has been an exchange of ambassadors with both the Emirates and Bahrain, and we hope Morocco will soon open its own consulate in Israel. Together we are thinking about how investments can be strengthened and peace passed on to the people. Moreover, relations with Egypt and Jordan, which had been somewhat strained lately, have also improved since the new government took office.
Do you expect other Arab countries to conclude normalisation agreements with Israel soon?
Frej: There is soon to be a joint meeting in the United Arab Emirates involving ministers from all six of the Arab states that are pursuing diplomatic relations with Israel. Far away from the cameras, to get to know each other personally. That is a good step and I am optimistic that it will be the first of many.
Essawi Frej, 57, has been minister for regional cooperation under Prime Minister Naftali Bennett since June. In 2013, he entered the Knesset for the first time as an MP for the left-wing liberal Meretz party. The politician, who comes from the Israeli-Arab town of Kufr Kasm, has a degree in economics.
