Before and after pictures from NASA show the impact of Dubai floods

Images by Landsat 9 showed many areas were still underwater

 By Sarah Sebastian Updated: April 23, 2024 

Abu Dhabi. Before and after the floods | NASA

The US space agency NASA has released satellite images captured by the Landsat 9 satellite that shows large, lingering pools of floodwater in Dubai, which witnessed heavy showers last week.

According to the Earth Observatory, when Landsat 9 passed over the region for the first time since the desert storm, many areas were still under water though it was three days since the rains subsided.

The image shows flooding in Jebel Ali, a town 35 kilometres southwest of Dubai. Flooding can be seen in the industrial area of Jebel Ali just south of the port and near the green resorts and parks south of Palm Jebel Ali.

Dubai's Jebel Ali area before the floods

Jebel Ali after the floods

The satellite images also captured parts of Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s capital city, inundated. While the images on April 3 show a clearer image, those of April 19 show water covering the Sheikh Zayed Road, a major thoroughfare that runs through Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Patches of flooded areas are also visible in Khalifa City and Zayed City, residential areas southeast of Abu Dhabi’s downtown.

The images offer a clear view as the water is seen as pools of deep blue as compared to the region’s typically dry ground, which appears tan or light brown.

Normal life was thrown off tracks in the Emirate after about 25cm of rain - roughly twice the UAE's yearly average - fell in a single day. Roads were submerged, malls flooded and air traffic was disrupted. Though Dubai's Met agency had warned of the impending rains, the desert region's weather infrastructure struggled to prepare for the worst rain since 1949.

The Emirate received a record rainfall over the last two days with the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) calling the rains "an exceptional event in the UAE's climate history since the start of recording climate data".

The showers which began on Monday flooded the streets after which schools were suspended and government employees were forced to work from home.

Airports witnessed chaos as showers submerged the taxiway and passengers struggled to reach terminals through the floodwater covering surrounding roads.

 

Sahel heatwave impossible without human-caused climate change

23 April 2024

 

A girl in the Sahel collects water. Image: Riccardo Mayer/Shutterstock

Scientists believe that a deadly heatwave that struck parts of West Africa would have been impossible without human-caused climate change

By Stuart Butler

April in the Sahel region of West Africa is never a comfortable time of year. Throughout much of the region temperatures climb to 40 degrees Celsius and frequent bands of dust and sand, emanating from massive Saharan sand storms, reduce visibility to mere metres and coat everything in a fine dust. Merely crossing a road can turn into an ordeal, as melting tarmac sticks to the bottom of shoes and pulses of heat radiating off the black tarmac can make it feel like you’re melting.

But this year was even worse than normal, with an extreme heat event in late March and early April claiming many lives in a matter of days. Scientists studying the heatwave have said that human-caused climate change is to blame and that the Sahel region will likely see more frequent and intense heat waves.

The Sahel, which is a vast band stretching roughly from northern Senegal right across the breadth of Africa to Eritrea, is a hot, dry semi-desert transition zone between the true Sahara Desert to the north and the more humid tropical regions further south. The people living in the Sahel are more accustomed than most to very high temperatures, but the scale of this latest heatwave left many people struggling to cope. Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal, Guinea, Nigeria and Chad all recorded extreme temperatures with maximum average highs of 45° Celsius. In Kayes, Mali, the temperature reached a scorching 48.5° Celsius on 3 April, and in Burkina Faso minimum temperatures were still a sweltering 32° Celsius. In many of these countries, some of which are among the poorest in the world, power cuts occurred making it especially difficult for the population to cope with the extreme temperatures.

Even in highly developed nations with accurate and fast record keeping, the death toll from heatwaves is often underreported and not known until months after the event. However, the seriousness of this latest Sahel heatwave became apparent almost immediately when a surge in hospital admissions and deaths were reported from the Gabriel Touré hospital in Bamako, Mali between 1-4 April. The hospital recorded 102 deaths over the four-day period, which is significantly more than expected. A year earlier, in April 2023, the hospital recorded 130 deaths over the entire month. While statistics for the cause of death have not been reported, around half were over the age of 60, and the hospital reports that heat likely played a role in many of the deaths.

Immediately after the end of the heatwave, a team of scientists from Mali, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United States and the United Kingdom examined the heat statistics over a five-day period between 30 March 30 and 4 April (when the heat wave peaked) in two areas: one that focused on southern regions of Mali and Burkina Faso, where the heat was most extreme, and a larger area including parts of Niger, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea, where temperatures were widely above 40°C. 

The scientists found that both daytime and nighttime heatwaves across both regions would have been impossible without human-caused climate change, which made the maximum temperatures 1.5°C hotter and the nighttime temperatures 2°C hotter for the Burkina Faso and Mali region and the five-day daytime temperatures for the wider region 1.4°C hotter. 

The scientists discovered that across much of West Africa, such high daytime temperatures can be expected only about once every 30 years. However, daytime temperatures like those experienced in southern Mali and Burkina Faso occur only around once every 200 years. The team of scientists concluded that human-caused climate change is likely to make extreme heat events in the Sahel much more common, with similar heat waves becoming ten times more frequent than in today’s climate.

Darfur at Risk of Imminent New Wave of Mass Atrocities: UN Security Council Must Act; UAE Must Restrain RSF

By Jeremy Konyndyk |

 April 23, 2024

Statement from Refugees International President Jeremy Konyndyk:

“Refugees International is gravely concerned about the high likelihood of a new wave of mass atrocities in Darfur. Multiple signals of imminent attacks by the Rapid Support Forces on the city of El Fasher – home to 800,000 civilians – are gravely alarming and demand urgent action. Across Darfur, some 9 million Sudanese need immediate humanitarian assistance. A battle for El Fasher would trigger further violence across the region and throw the population into a deeper crisis.

There are numerous indications that a new wave of mass atrocities could be imminent. Tensions have been rising in and around El Fasher amid advances by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in other parts of Sudan, and desires by the opposing RSF to capture the last Darfur city outside its control. Formerly neutral local armed groups have sided with the SAF in the face of the RSF threat to the city. The RSF–- the paramilitary force composed of former Janjaweed fighters responsible for the genocide in Darfur two decades ago – and its allied militias have staged their troops around El Fasher and have burned multiple surrounding villages in recent weeks.

Over the past year, the RSF has carried out extensive ethnically targeted violence elsewhere in Darfur, and previous RSF attacks on major towns in Darfur have resulted in widespread atrocity crimes. Refugees International reported on some of these massacres in a recent report titled “Bearing Witness: Atrocities and Looming Hunger in Darfur.” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an official atrocity determination on Sudan in December 2023, finding that the RSF and allied militias have committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

The United States and other UN Security Council members must take urgent action to deter the belligerents. In early March 2024, the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities. The recent Paris conference on Sudan in a Declaration of Principles called for “all foreign actors to cease providing armed support or material to the warring parties.”

The Declaration was signed by several key actors, including the UAE. Yet the UAE remains the principal supplier of arms and diplomatic support to the RSF, in direct violation of the existing UN Security Council Sudan arms embargo. If the RSF commits a mass atrocity event in El Fasher, they will do so using arms supplied illegally by the UAE and with the benefit of extensive UAE diplomatic promotion. As a nation that seeks to act as a humanitarian leader, the UAE must stop arming those responsible for atrocities, and intervene urgently with RSF leadership to prevent an imminent atrocity. More than any other country, the UAE has both the capacity and the obligation to restrain the RSF and prevent this catastrophe.

It is also imperative that the Sudanese Armed Forces halt their law-of-war violations. The SAF has used aerial bombardment, including on civilian areas. The SAF’s international supporters must also urge restraint and halt the flow of weapons: both Egypt and Iran have supported the SAF financially and reportedly with attack drones, which have been used on civilian targets.

As another bout of mass atrocities appears on the verge of unfolding in Darfur, the United States and other UN Security Council members must act urgently. Refugees International calls for an emergency Security Council session and clear denouncement of the UAE and other actors continuing to enable atrocities across Sudan, including once again, in Darfur.”

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Etant Dupain at edupain@refugeesinternational.org.

 

Disease X: Scientists warn next pandemic could be triggered by virus of ‘deadly infectious illness'

ByAditi Srivastava

Apr 21, 2024 11:24 AM IST

Experts warn of Disease X as a potential cause of the next 

pandemic, with influenza identified as a major threat.

Sounding the alarm for a potential future crisis, scientists warn that the next pandemic might be caused by Disease X. Influenza, a familiar foe associated with seasonal illness, has emerged as a possible threat for this unpredictable and potentially devastating role. An international survey, to be published next weekend, will reveal that 57% of senior disease experts now believe a strain of influenza virus is the most likely cause of the next global outbreak of “deadly infectious illness.”

Influenza can trigger the next pandemic

The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that seasonal flu isn't just a winter nuisance. Every year, flu affects an estimated 1 billion people worldwide, with millions more suffering from severe complications. Even worse, it claims hundreds of thousands of lives annually. The WHO emphasises the dangers of new flu strains, for which people have no immunity, urging us to take influenza seriously.

Cologne University's Jon Salmanton-García's research backs up this concern. His research indicates that influenza is the biggest threat to the upcoming worldwide pandemic because of its continual evolution and mutation properties. “Each winter influenza appears, you could describe these outbreaks as little pandemics. They are more or less controlled because the different strains that cause them are not virulent enough – but that will not necessarily be the case forever.” He said as cited by the Guardian.

Scientists warn of Disease X

The survey results will be announced at the ESCMID congress next weekend. The unidentified “DiseaseX” virus is seen as the next most likely pandemic-causing virus, after influenza, according to experts. Experts believe a new strain of this virus could emerge ‘out of the blue’ just like Covid-19, which claimed the lives of millions across the globe and still remains a threat.

Also read: ‘100 times worse than Covid pandemic’: Experts on risk of H5N1 bird flu outbreak

These concerning details come on the heels of the World Health Organization raising concerns about the alarming spread of the H5N1 strain of influenza spreading rapidly in parts of the US. The organisation has warned of an “unprecedented surge” in the number of cases.

“This appears to be 100 times worse than Covid, or it could be if it mutates and maintains its high case fatality rate. Once it’s mutated to infect humans, we can only hope that the [fatality rate] drops.” John Fulton a pharmaceutical company consultant, said in a statement earlier.

According to WHO records, the data highlights that since 2003, 52 out of every 100 patients infected with the H5N1 virus have died, resulting in a fatality rate exceeding 50 percent. This rate is comparatively much higher than the current COVID-19 fatality rate, which stands at 0.1 percent.

Australian PM calls Elon Musk an 'arrogant billionaire' after X owner says government wants to 'control the entire Internet' over stabbing videos

By Mickey Carroll, science and technology reporter
Tuesday 23 April 2024 

Australia's prime minister said Elon Musk is an "arrogant billionaire who thinks he is above the law" over his reluctance to remove footage of last week's Church stabbing from X.

In response, Elon Musk thanked him "for informing the public that this platform is the only truthful one".


The spat comes after a week of legal battles and public arguments between X and the Australian government.

So what's going on?

Last week, two clerics at Sydney's Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd church were stabbed while live streaming a service.


Soon after, videos of the stabbing began circulating on social media. The Australian eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, issued notices to Meta and X to get them removed.

Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was stabbed during a livestream of his church service

The videos were classified under Australian law as 'class 1' material, depicting gratuitous or offensive violence with a high degree of impact or detail

Sky News ran some footage of the moments before the stabbing.

When the notice was issued, Meta complied and removed the videos from their platforms. X, however, announced it would challenge it.

X did block the videos in Australia but the government's eSafety department argued this wasn't good enough as the posts were still accessible globally.

Debate over 'control' of internet

On Monday night, eSafety got a legal injunction requiring X to hide the videos globally but it hasn't responded to that yet.

Now, Elon Musk has accused the eSafety commissar, whom he previously nicknamed the "censorship commissar", of wanting to control the internet.

"Our concern is that if ANY country is allowed to censor content for ALL countries, what is to stop any country from controlling the entire Internet?" he posted on X.


Anthony Albanese, the Australian prime minister, weighed in on the row during media rounds.

He told the Australian Broadcasting Company the country would "do what's necessary to take on this arrogant billionaire who thinks he's above the law, but also above common decency".

Anthony Albanese has called Elon Musk an 'arrogant billionaire who thinks he is above the law'. Pic: AP

He called Elon Musk "a bloke who has chosen ego and violence over common sense", in an interview with Sky News Australia.

"Australians will shake their heads when they think this billionaire is willing to go to court, fighting for the right to sow division and to show violent videos which are very distressing," he said.

'Road to freedom'

He also confirmed that other platforms had removed the videos.

In response, Mr Musk posted an image showing a 'road to freedom' with X at the end.

"Don't take my word for it, just ask the Australian PM!" he wrote.


What happens if X doesn't comply?

If X doesn't comply with eSafety's injunction, the company can be fined and face legal sanctions.

eSafety also has the power to get links to the content removed from search engines and remove X from app stores but there are no indications this is being considered.

SPACE

After months of sending gibberish to NASA, Voyager 1 is finally making sense again

By Sascha Pare published 5 hours ago


NASA's Voyager 1 probe has resumed sending usable data back to Earth after engineers fixed a computer error that caused the interstellar spacecraft to only transmit gibberish for five months.

NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is depicted in this artist’s concept traveling through interstellar space, or the space between stars, which it entered in 2012. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

NASA's Voyager 1 probe is once again sending readable radio signals back to Earth after engineers fixed a computer glitch that caused the spacecraft to malfunction in November.


For the first time in five months, Voyager 1 is now transmitting usable data about the health and status of its onboard engineering systems back to our planet, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced Monday (April 22). However, engineers have yet to fix the software that enables the spacecraft to return science data.


Voyager 1 is cruising through interstellar space roughly 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) away from Earth, which means mission control teams have to wait 22.5 hours for their commands to reach the spacecraft and another 22.5 hours for a response. Voyager 1 and its twin probe — Voyager 2, which continues to operate normally after a 2-week blackout last year — were launched almost 47 years ago and are the most distant human-made objects in existence.

Engineers first noticed something wrong with Voyager 1 on Nov. 14, 2023, when the probe suddenly began transmitting a nonsensical stream of ones and zeros instead of its usual neatly packaged science and engineering datasets.

Mission controllers could tell the spacecraft was still receiving their commands, however, indicating that its vital systems were operating normally.


Related: A mysterious 'hum' vibrates interstellar space. Voyager 1 has a recording of it.

In early March, after three months of unsuccessful tinkering, NASA engineering teams determined the issue was tied to one of Voyager 1's three onboard computer systems known as the "flight data subsystem" (FDS). The FDS is essential for packaging data harvested by the probe before they are sent to Earth, according to NASA's announcement.

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Engineers located the glitch by sending a command — or "poke" — that prompted the FDS to try new sequences of code in its software in case the issue could be resolved by skirting a corrupted section. The command triggered a signal that differed from the stream of gibberish the spacecraft had been sending back, and that engineers were able to decode.




After receiving data about the health and status of Voyager 1 for the first time in five months, members of the Voyager flight team celebrate in a conference room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on April 20. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

It turned out a single chip responsible for storing a portion of the FDS memory, including some of its computer software code, had stopped working. The loss of that code meant the probe's science and engineering data were unusable, according to NASA. To get around the issue, engineers broke up the code once stored in the chip and squeezed sections of it into functioning portions of the FDS memory.

—Historic space photo of the week: Voyager 2 spies a storm on Saturn 42 years ago

The team then rewrote some of the reshuffled code so it could work as a whole again.

Engineers saved these modifications to the FDS memory on April 18. Two days later, they received a response from Voyager 1 showing that the reshuffle worked. For the first time in five months, the probe's message contained readable data, prompting celebrations at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

However, solving the spacecraft's science data transmission will take further mending of the corrupted portions of the FDS software, NASA said in its announcement.

NASA's Voyager 1 phones home after months

Agence France-Presse
April 23, 2024 

NASA's Voyager 1

NASA's Voyager 1 probe -- the most distant man-made object in the universe -- is returning usable information to ground control following months of spouting gibberish, the US space agency announced Monday.

The spaceship stopped sending readable data back to Earth on November 14, 2023, even though controllers could tell it was still receiving their commands.

In March, teams working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory discovered that a single malfunctioning chip was to blame, and devised a clever coding fix that worked within the tight memory constraints of its 46-year-old computer system.

"Voyager 1 spacecraft is returning usable data about the health and status of its onboard engineering systems," the agency said.

"The next step is to enable the spacecraft to begin returning science data again."

Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 was mankind's first spacecraft to enter the interstellar medium, in 2012, and is currently more than 15 billion miles from Earth. Messages sent from Earth take about 22.5 hours to reach the spacecraft.

Its twin, Voyager 2, also left the solar system in 2018.

Both Voyager spacecraft carry "Golden Records" -- 12-inch, gold-plated copper disks intended to convey the story of our world to extraterrestrials.

These include a map of our solar system, a piece of uranium that serves as a radioactive clock allowing recipients to date the spaceship's launch, and symbolic instructions that convey how to play the record.

The contents of the record, selected for NASA by a committee chaired by legendary astronomer Carl Sagan, include encoded images of life on Earth, as well as music and sounds that can be played using an included stylus.

Their power banks are expected to be depleted sometime after 2025. They will then continue to wander the Milky Way, potentially for eternity, in silence.

Biden campaign hammers Trump on anniversary of 'inject bleach' comment

David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement
April 23, 2024 




Four years ago today then-President Donald Trump, on live national television during what would be known as merely the early days and weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, suggested an injection of a household "disinfectant" could cure the deadly coronavirus.

The Biden campaign on Tuesday has already posted five times on social media about Trump's 2020 remarks, including by saying, "Four years ago today, Dr. Birx reacted in horror as Trump told Americans to inject bleach on national television."

Less than 24 hours after Trump's remarks calls to the New York City Poison Control Center more than doubled, including people complaining of Lysol and bleach exposure. Across the country, the CDC reported, calls to state and local poison control centers jumped 20 percent.

"It was a watershed moment, soon to become iconic in the annals of presidential briefings. It arguably changed the course of political history," Politico reported on the one-year anniversary of Trump's beach debacle. "It quickly came to symbolize the chaotic essence of his presidency and his handling of the pandemic."

How did it happen?

"The Covid task force had met earlier that day — as usual, without Trump — to discuss the most recent findings, including the effects of light and humidity on how the virus spreads. Trump was briefed by a small group of aides. But it was clear to some aides that he hadn’t processed all the details before he left to speak to the press," Politico added.

“'A few of us actually tried to stop it in the West Wing hallway,' said one former senior Trump White House official. 'I actually argued that President Trump wouldn’t have the time to absorb it and understand it. But I lost, and it went how it did.'"

The manufacturer of Lysol issued a strong statement saying, "under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route)," with "under no circumstance" in bold type.

Trump's "disinfectant" remarks were part of a much larger crisis during the pandemic: misinformation and disinformation. In 2021, a Cornell University study found the President was the "single largest driver" of COVID misinformation.

What did Trump actually say?

“And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out, in a minute,” Trump said from the podium at the White House press briefing room, as Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx looked on without speaking up. “Is there a way we can do something like that? By injection, inside, or almost a cleaning, ’cause you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that. You’re going to have to use medical doctors, right? But it sounds interesting to me.”

Within hours comedian Sarah Cooper, who had a good run mocking Donald Trump, released a video based on his remarks that went viral:

The Biden campaign at least 12 times on the social media platform X has mentioned Trump's infamous and dangerous remarks about injecting "disinfectant," although, like many, they have substituted the word "bleach" for "disinfectant."

Tuesday morning the Biden campaign released this video marking the four-year anniversary of Trump's "disinfectant" remarks.

Hours after Trump's remarks, from his personal account, Joe Biden posted this tweet:

       

WOLA Applauds Efforts to Declassify U.S. Documents on Brazil’s Military Dictatorship


23 APR 2024 | NEWS

The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) alongside the Washington Brazil Office and other Brazilian civil society organizations supported a congressional letter that circulated this month calling on President Biden to declassify documents related to the period of Brazil’s military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985. In addition to Reps. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) and Susan Wild (D-Penn.), who organized the effort, the letter garnered the signatures of 14 members of the U.S. House.

Coming on the heels of the 60th anniversary of the coup that ushered in two decades of military rule in Brazil, still classified documents may hold clues to the U.S.’s role in supporting the dictatorship. Declassifying the trove of 13 documents outlined in the letter would represent an important step toward truth and reconciliation. Similar to the Biden administration’s decision last year to declassify documents on the 1973 Chilean coup d’état, this gesture of transparency would serve to fortify the U.S.’s stated commitment to human rights in the region.

“As we strive to foster open dialogue and strengthen the ties between our nations, we believe that declassifying these documents will demonstrate our dedication to transparency, justice, and the advancement of democratic principles. By doing so, we can contribute to healing historical wounds and ensuring that the lessons of the past guide our efforts toward a shared future founded on democracy and human rights.”

French MP summoned by police for questioning over support for Palestine

'Our stance against genocide perpetrated against Palestinian people remains steadfast,' says Mathilde Panot

Anadolu Staff |23.04.2024 



ANKARA

Mathilde Panot, a member of parliament representing the La France Insoumise in France, has been summoned by authorities for questioning on charges of "terrorism propaganda."

Panot, known for her vocal support for Palestine, finds herself at the center of a legal storm following a statement she made on her social media platform.

The summons, issued by the Paris Police Headquarters, has sparked widespread debate and condemnation among political circles. As the deputy group leader of LFI in the parliament, Panot took to social media to announce the development, expressing her unwavering commitment to advocating for the rights of the Palestinian people.

"I will not be deterred by any summons or intimidation tactics," she asserted.

"Our stance against the genocide perpetrated against the Palestinian people remains steadfast."

She further called upon the public to recognize the "disturbing attacks" being made on freedom of expression and democracy.

The news of Panot's summons reverberated beyond national borders, drawing reactions from fellow politicians, including member of the European Parliament, Manon Aubry.

In a statement posted on her social media account, Aubry characterized the summons as "unprecedented and extremely serious," urging individuals to stand in solidarity with Panot.

Similarly, MP Farida Amrani joined the chorus of voices condemning the move, highlighting the broader implications of attempting to silence voices speaking out against the alleged genocide in Palestine.

 

Elites In The Global North Are Scared To Talk About Palestine

Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Article: Globetrotter

Israeli bombs continue to fall on Gaza, killing Palestinian civilians with abandon. Al Jazeera published a story about the destruction of 24 hospitals in Gaza, each of them bombed mercilessly by the Israeli military. Half of the 35,000 Palestinians killed by Israel were children, their bodies littering the overwhelmed morgues and mosques of Gaza. The former United Nations assistant secretary-general for human rights Andrew Gilmour told BBC Newsnight that the Palestinians are experiencing “collective punishment” and that what we are seeing in Gaza is “probably the highest kill rate of any military, killing anybody, since the Rwandan genocide of 1994.” Meanwhile, in the West Bank section of Palestine, Human Rights Watch shows that the Israeli military has participated in the displacement of Palestinians from 20 communities and has uprooted at least seven communities since October 2023. These are established facts.

Yet, these facts—according to a leaked memorandum—cannot be spoken about in the “newspaper of record” in the United States, the New York Times. Journalists at the paper were asked to avoid the terms “genocide,” “ethnic cleansing,” and “occupied territory.” Indeed, over the past six months, newspapers and television shows in the United States have generally written about the genocidal violence using passive voice: bombs fell, people died. Even on social media, where the terrain is often less controlled, the ax fell on key phrases; for instance, despite his professions of commitment to free speech, Elon Musk said that terms such as “decolonization” and phrases such as “from the river to the sea” would be banned on X.

Silence on the College Campuses

At the University of Southern California (USC), Asna Tabassum, a South Asian American, was to deliver an address on campus to 65,000 people as the valedictorian of the class of 2024. Involved in the conversation around the Israeli war against the Palestinians, Tabassum was targeted by pro-Israeli activists who claimed to feel threatened. On the basis of this feeling of endangerment, whose source the university refused to disclose, USC decided to cancel her speech. In a thoughtful response, Tabassum—who majored in biomedical engineering and history (with a minor in resistance to genocide)—implored her classmates “to think outside the box—to work towards a world where cries of equality and human dignity are not manipulated to be expressions of hatred. I challenge us to respond to ideological discomfort with dialogue and learning, not bigotry and censorship.” Tabassum is 21 years old. The USC provost who canceled her speech, Andrew Guzman, is 56 years old. His reasons for shutting her down are less mature than her plea for dialogue.

College students across the United States have been trying desperately to raise awareness about what is happening in Gaza and have sought to get their campuses to divest from companies with investments in Israel and in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Early protests were tolerated, but then U.S. politicians got involved with congressional hearings and rash comments about these students being funded by the Chinese and Russians. College administrators, afraid of their donors and of political pressure, buckled and began to censor the students from one end of the country (Columbia University) to the other (Pomona College). College presidents invited local police departments onto their campuses, allowed them to arrest the students, and suspended them from their colleges. But the mood is undeniable. Student unions across the country—from Rutgers to Davis—voted to force their administrations to divest from Israel.

What’s Repugnant?

On April 12, 2024, the Berlin police closed a Palestine conference that brought together people from across Germany to listen to a range of speakers, including from other parts of Europe and from Palestine. At the airport, the police detained and then deported the British-Palestinian doctor, Ghassan Abu Sitta, who had volunteered in Gaza and had witnessed the genocidal war firsthand. The former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis was to give an online speech at the conference. He was not only prevented from giving that speech, but also was issued a betätigungsverbot—or a ban from any political activity in Germany (ban from entry into Germany and a ban from doing an online event). This, Varoufakis said, is essentially the “death knell of the prospects of democracy in the Federal Republic of Germany.”

A few days before the conference in Berlin, Professor Jodi Dean published an essay on the Verso Blog called “Palestine Speaks for Everyone.” The essay is rooted in the simple, and unobjectionable, idea that oppressed people have the right to fight for their emancipation. This is the basis of the International Declaration of Human Rights, also cited frequently by Varoufakis. The day after the Palestine conference was shut down in Berlin, Jodi Dean’s employer, President Mark Gearan of Hobart and William Smith Colleges in the United States, published a statement announcing that Professor Dean cannot teach the rest of her classes this term. Gearan wrote that not only was he in “complete disagreement” with Dean, but he also found her comments to be “repugnant.” It is interesting that since October, Gearan has only released a public statement condemning Hamas, but nothing about the horrendous genocidal violence against the Palestinians.

What did Jodi Dean write that was so “repugnant”? Gearan focused on the word “exhilarating,” which Dean used to describe her reaction to paragliders that went beyond the Israeli occupation fence around Gaza. She did not actually celebrate the attacks of October 7, but merely used the paragliders as a metaphor to consider the politics of hope and liberation from a Palestinian standpoint (citing the last poem of Refaat Alareer, killed by Israel on December 6, 2023, with its meditation on kites to highlight the idea of soaring above oppression). Gearan did not want a dialogue about the occupation or about the genocide. Like the editors and publishers of the New York Times, like the German government, and like other U.S. college presidents, Gearan wanted to curtail conversation. Tabassum’s plea for “dialogue and learning” was muzzled; too scared to actually talk about Palestine, people like Gearan prefer “bigotry and censorship.”

By Vijay Prashad

Author Bio: This article was produced by Globetrotter. Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, editor, and journalist. He is a writing fellow and chief correspondent at Globetrotter. He is an editor of LeftWord Books and the director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. He has written more than 20 books, including The Darker Nations and The Poorer Nations. His latest books are Struggle Makes Us Human: Learning from Movements for Socialism and (with Noam Chomsky) The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Fragility of U.S. Power.

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