Netherlands’ government survives after minister resigns over politicians’ racist comments

MEMO
November 17, 2024

The Netherlands’ deputy Finance Minister Nora Achahbar speaks during a press conference, on November 15, 2024 in The Hague

 [INA SELG/ANP/AFP via Getty Images]

The Netherlands’ government and its coalition has survived despite a minister’s resignation over alleged racist comments made by officials following clashes in Amsterdam between Israeli football fans and pro-Palestinian locals.

On Friday this week, Dutch Junior Finance Minister Nora Achahbar resigned from the country’s cabinet in an unexpected move, protesting against some of her colleagues’ alleged claims that Dutch youth of Moroccan descent had attacked Israeli fans last week after a football match between Dutch team Ajax and Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv.

The reported comments by members of the Netherlands’ mostly far-right coalition government are in contradiction to extensive eyewitness and video evidence showing the Israeli fans aggravating the situation by first chanting anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian slogans while pulling down Palestinian flags, vandalising property, and assaulting those who attempted to prevent them.

READ: Dutch security units dismayed by Israeli influence on national politics

In her resignation letter to parliament, Achahbar – a Morocco-born former judge and public prosecutor – stated that the “polarising interactions of the past weeks made such an impact on me that I am no longer able to effectively carry out my duties as deputy minister”.

Her move had initially triggered an emergency meeting in which other cabinet members of her centrist New Social Contract (NSC) party also threatened to quit, igniting fears that the country’s four-party governing coalition would break down and lose its majority in parliament, which would have caused the government to collapse.

At a news conference at The Hague the same evening, however, Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof announced that “We have reached the conclusion that we want to remain, as a cabinet for all people in the Netherlands”. Referring to “the incidents in Amsterdam last week”, Schoof said that “there is a lot of upheaval in the country. It was an emotional week, a heavy week and a lot has been said and a lot happened.”

Despite having earlier linked the violence in the capital to those “with a migration background” who do not share “Dutch core values”, Schoof insisted that there “has never been any racism in my government or in the coalition parties”.

Amsterdam riots and the wolf who cried antisemitism

Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv fans ignited violence in Amsterdam, but the far-right is victimising them to repress Palestine solidarity, writes Alex de Jong.

Alex de Jong
14 Nov, 2024
NEW ARAB


The silence of the Dutch parliamentary left is making it easier for the right to whip up a climate of hatred against migrants, to link antisemitism with Islam, and to label Palestine solidarity as hostility to Jews, writes Alex de Jong. [GETTY]

Amsterdam’s liberal mayor Femke Halsema declared that the clashes which followed the Maccabi Tel Aviv and AFC Ajax match at the end of last week were the result of ‘a toxic cocktail of antisemitism, hooliganism and anger over the war in Palestine and Israel'. Whilst the description is not wholly false, it is certainly misleading. This was made clear by the municipal council’s own executive report in which Halsema wrote the above statement.

Now, the Dutch right is using a distorted interpretation of the violence in the city, and weaponising antisemitism, to further its racist agenda and to justify a crackdown on Palestine solidarity.

Already, prior to the game on Thursday evening, it was clear that Maccabi supporters had come to Amsterdam looking for a fight. They trooped through the city singing racist and genocidal chants and harassing people they assumed to be Muslim or Arab. Furthermore, given Amsterdam is generally a left-leaning city with a substantial Muslim community, it is not uncommon to see Palestinian flags hanging from balconies or in windows. Videos circulated showing Maccabi fans went around tearing them down.

Things further escalated when Tel Aviv team’s fans assaulted a taxi-driver, provoking a response from a closely knit and quickly mobilised group.
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Tensions had run so high before the match, that the Amsterdam municipal council executive even considered banning it. However, they decided against this out of fear that the hundreds of Maccabi fans in the city would become even more uncontrollable. Instead, the executive tried to reach out to football clubs to ask their supporters to calm down. The Israeli ambassador was also asked to make a statement that football and politics should not mix, but whether he responded to this has not been made public.

Double standards

This entire situation was the result of blatant hypocrisy on the part of Dutch authorities when it comes to the suffering of Palestinians. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Russian teams were banned, yet when similar requests were made by Palestine solidarity organisations to ban Israeli teams, they were ignored. The Amsterdam executive even claimed that Maccabi fans, who in Greece had hospitalised a man for wearing a Palestine scarf, were not known to be dangerous.

When the match in Amsterdam finally started, Maccabi fans loudly disrupted the minute silence for the victims of the flooding in Spain. This is perhaps no surprise as the Spanish government is one of the more outspoken European states when it comes to being critical of Israel's war.

After the match, houses with Palestinian flags were again beleaguered by groups of Maccabi fans.

Things escalated that night as groups of local youth got into fights with the Maccabi fans, seeking them out across the city. 62 people were arrested, ten of them were Israeli. After a day in which the police mostly took a hands-off approach to the Maccabi supporters, arrests disproportionately targeted local youth instead. The Jewish anti-Zionist group Erev Rav released a statement criticising the police force for targeting local young people of Moroccan background while 'Maccabi fans who initiated provocations faced no consequences'.

Erev Rav had initially planned to commemorate the 1938 pogrom in Germany last weekend, but cancelled their event. They explained that they had little trust in the Amsterdam police keeping anti-zionist Jews safe from the Maccabi supporters.

The group also denounced the instrumentalizing of Jewish identity by Maccabi supporters.
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Political opportunism

The Dutch far-right unsurprisingly saw an opportunity in all of this. After the match, Geert Wilders, leader of the largest party in the Dutch parliament, declared that what had happened was a 'pogrom of the worse kind' and called for Halsema to be sacked. He claimed that she had supposedly failed to protect Jews against antisemitic violence. It is undeniable that some people involved in the clashes threw around antisemitic insults and it was said that people who 'looked Jewish' were ordered to show their passports, all of which must absolutely be condemned, but to call this a pogrom is totally disproportionate.

In reality, the right is instrumentalizing the issue of antisemitism by equating all Jews with the state of Israel - the same tactic often used by the Israeli government that cynically deploys it against its critics. Wilders knows well that antisemitic statements are unfortunately not unknown in Dutch football, but he seems to pick and choose when to speak out against it. For example, a particularly infamous chant that is often hurled at Amsterdam team Ajax, calls for the gassing of all Jews. But because this form of antisemitism comes from mostly white football supporters, there has been far less interest from the Dutch right which puts its energy towards linking antisemitism to Islam and migrants.

Wilders is also not the only culprit. Upon returning from visiting far-right Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, Dutch PM Dick Schoof declared that antisemitism results from 'a failure to integrate' into Dutch society. For him, the problem is migrants, not the racist and fascist far-right rhetoric being peddled across Europe.


Where are left-wing politicians?

In the aftermath of the match the situation grew more tense. On Monday people clashed again with the police. This came after the executive had banned all demonstrations and a protest on Sunday had been dispersed. Between Sunday and Wednesday, scores of protesters were detained during heavy handed dispersals of demonstrations by the police. Activists had called a rally in defence of democratic rights and in solidarity with Palestine.

Despite all of this repression, the parliamentary left has been mostly absent. Though this comes as no surprise. There have been significant Palestine solidarity efforts in the Netherlands from demonstrations to sit ins, yet left-wing parties – with the exception of the small radical party BIJ1 – have hardly been involved. Worse still, large parts of the Dutch Labour Party have also historically been strongly pro-Israel.
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The silence of the parliamentary left is making it easier for the right to whip up a climate of hatred against migrants, to link antisemitism with Islam, and to label Palestine solidarity as hostility to Jews.

Green party Mayor Halsema has only added fuel to the fire in her insistence on comparing the events over the recent days with pogroms. Her imposition of the ban on protests in Amsterdam is also clearly an attempt to avoid further criticism from the right, but this has only legitimised an authoritarian crack down on Palestine solidarity in particular.

The longer term consequences of the recent events remain to be seen, but the general trajectory is clear. Aided by the silence and opportunism of the centre-left, the far-right has been the main beneficiary.

A moral panic has taken hold in the country, and once again, Muslim youth, especially those of Moroccan descent, have been declared an existential threat to Dutch society. This time, it’s over their supposed innate antisemitism. As Right-wing parties float the idea of stripping them of Dutch nationality (at least for those who hold a dual nationality), as a punitive measure, the hooliganism by Maccabi supporters and their glorification of Israel's genocide has fallen to the wayside.

In the coming weeks and months attempts to criminalise Palestine solidarity will likely to grow, and supporting Palestine liberation will be increasingly synonymous with antisemitism. Already just last month, a spokesperson from the Palestine solidarity organisation Samidoun was banned from the country and the Dutch cabinet has asked for the organisation to be entirely banned.

The only way to resist the right's authoritarian policies and racism, is for the left and solidarity activists to stick together, tell the whole story of what happened in Amsterdam and defend the rights to organise and speak out in solidarity with Palestine.

Alex de Jong is co-director of the International Institute for Research and Education (IIRE) in Amsterdam, Netherlands and editor of the Dutch socialist website Grenzeloos.org.
Follow him on Twitter (X): @AlexdeJongIIRE

Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff.

Dutch govt could fall over handling of Amsterdam PROTEST  violence: media report

Reuters | Dawn.com | Anadolu Agency

Published November 15, 2024 

A man carries Palestinian flags in Dam Square in front of the Royal Palace of Amsterdam on November 15. — AFP

The Dutch cabinet met in an emergency session on Friday amid reports the coalition could implode over the government’s handling of violence linked to a Europa League football match involving an Israeli team, local media reported.

Nora Achahbar, junior finance minister in the coalition led by anti-Muslim populist Geert Wilders’ PVV, had earlier resigned over remarks by ministers on Monday about clashes around the match between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel Aviv, several media reported, citing sources in the ongoing cabinet session.

Achahbar’s resignation led to the crisis cabinet meeting on Friday afternoon in which other cabinet members of her centrist NSC party also threatened to quit, broadcasters NOS and RTL said, citing government sources.

Achahbar felt several cabinet members had “crossed a line with hurtful and possibly racist comments about the attacks on Israeli football fans” in Amsterdam and riots in the days after the match, Dutch paper De Volkskrant reported.

Wilders has repeatedly said, “Dutch youth of Moroccan descent were the main attackers of the Israeli fans”. But the police have given no details about the background of the suspects.

Neither Wilders nor Achahbar, who was born in Morocco and served as public prosecutor before she joined the government in July, were available to comment as the cabinet meeting was ongoing on Friday afternoon.

Party leaders have been summoned to join the cabinet meeting on Friday evening, media said. Achahbar’s office and government spokespeople could not be immediately reached by Reuters.

If the NSC party pulls out, the other three coalition members would either have to go ahead as a minority coalition or call early elections.

Achahbar’s resignation follows a turbulent week in Amsterdam, where the local police department has said Maccabi fans last week attacked a taxi and burned a Palestinian flag before being chased and beaten by gangs on scooters.

While unanimously condemning the violence, left-wing parties have called for dialogue with the Muslim community instead of “dividing the country”.

“I share the condemnation of the violence in Amsterdam and yes, there was indeed anti-Semitic violence,” left-wing opposition leader Frans Timmermans said.

“You are simply stoking the fires while this country has a need for politicians to unite people and find solutions,” Timmermans told Wilders.

According to social media videos, eyewitness accounts, and pro-Palestinian activists, the Maccabi supporters had armed themselves with sticks and rocks earlier in the day and shouted provocative anti-Arab chants.

Jazie Veldhuyzen, a senior city councillor, had earlier confirmed that Israeli hooligans instigated the violence in Amsterdam. He stressed the need for a thorough and objective examination.

He said that on Wednesday night, “Maccabi hooligans had initiated to attack houses with Palestinian flags and pro-Palestinian Amsterdammers. That’s when the violence started.”

Amsterdam’s Police Chief Peter Holla had also confirmed that Maccabi supporters attacked a taxi and set a Palestinian flag on fire on Wednesday, according to the BBC.

Prime Minister Dick Schoof on Monday said the incidents showed that some of the youth in the Netherlands with a migration background did not share “Dutch core values”.

 

Community protected by law on coast of Southeast Brazil is threatened by litter tourists leave on beach

Researchers partnering with the City of Guarujá (São Paulo state) conducted a study that found a high level of contamination on Perequê Beach, with plastics and cigarette butts predominating. The results will be useful for policymakers

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

 

image: 

Ribeiro (with hat) and a volunteer collecting cigarette butts on Perequê Beach. Each cigarette butt contains thousands of toxic substances

view more 

Credit: Italo Braga Castro

A study conducted by researchers at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) found high levels of contamination on Perequê Beach in Guarujá, a city on the coast of São Paulo state, Brazil, with plastic litter and cigarette butts predominating. The detailed survey, one of only a few of the kind conducted worldwide, will contribute to the implementation of public policies to mitigate the problem.

An article reporting the results is published in Marine Pollution Bulletin.

The project was a partnership between UNIFESP’s Marine Research Institute (IMAR) in Santos and the City of Guarujá’s Department of the Environment. It set out to understand the sources of contamination of the beach, which is part of an Environmental Protection Area (Área de Proteção Ambiental) called APA Marinha do Litoral Centro, is heavily used by tourists, and is home to one of the largest and oldest communities of fishers in the Baixada Santista metropolitan area, which comprises nine municipalities including Guarujá and Santos.

On the beach, the researchers collected all the litter and waste from ten sites of 100 square meters each, every day in summer and winter including Saturdays and Sundays. “The analysis showed that litter on this beach results mainly from tourism. It’s worst in summer, suggesting that visitors are the principal source, although residents may be responsible for some of it,” said Ítalo Braga de Castro, last author of the article and a professor at IMAR-UNIFESP.

Levels of contamination by plastics and cigarette butts were considered high according to an internationally recognized beach litter index. In 12 studies conducted worldwide using the same method, Perequê ranked as the dirtiest beach. “Cigarette butts are the type of waste most frequently found on beaches in studies conducted not just here but worldwide. This is alarming because they contain many toxic substances – over 7,000 in some cases. At least 150 are dangerous to human health and biota. They’re known as ‘chemical bombs’,” said Victor Vasques Ribeiro, first author of the article and a PhD candidate at IMAR-UNIFESP with a scholarship from FAPESP.

From plastic to concrete

To arrive at the results, the group picked ten sites on Perequê Beach – five each in the wet and dry parts, delimiting in each site an area of 100 square meters from which all waste with more than 3 centimeters was removed and stored. Some 20 volunteers collected the material with the scientists, in the winter and summer of 2022 and 2023, at weekends and on weekdays.

The waste was later sorted into plastic, metal, glass, paper, cardboard, clothes, textiles and processed wood (used in furniture and buildings). Owing to high incidence and potential impact, cigarette butts were given a separate category. Material that did not fit into any of the categories was considered “Other”.

The group collected 2,579 items in an area of 4,000 sq. m., ranking Perequê Beach as “dirty” on the Clean-Coast Index (CCI) scale. The CCI was published in 2007 and has been used in many comparable studies.

The volume of litter increased in summer compared with winter, when it was considered “moderate”. This difference was expected in view of the increase in numbers of visitors during the summer tourist season. The results were similar to those found in other studies for Brazilian and Latin American beaches generally.

In both seasons, the volume of waste was larger in the dry part of the beach than in the part that receives the impact of waves. This was also foreseeable since lighter material is normally blown to the dry part by the wind and people use the dry part for picnics and to smoke, throwing away packaging and cigarette butts there. On the other hand, heavier items such as ceramic and concrete shards were more frequently found in the wet part of the beach, given that they could not be moved by wind or tides.

A total of 603 cigarette butts were collected. According to a scientifically recognized estimate of the contaminants that can leak from cigarette butts, affecting humans and other living beings, this amounted to “severe pollution”, the highest level found in the 12 studies of beaches and urban areas conducted to date on the basis of this method.

Another beach with almost as high a level of pollution is also in a marine protected area (MPA) around Saint Martin Island in Bangladesh. Comparable, albeit lower, levels were found in Colombia and Iran as well as urban areas in the Brazilian cities of Santos (São Paulo state) and Niterói (Rio de Janeiro state).

“We didn’t find a significant difference between the amount of litter on weekdays and weekends, probably because the city sweeps the beach with a tractor on Fridays. But this operation misses the cigarette butts because they’re too small to be caught by the chain harrow,” Ribeiro said.

Another measure of the amount of waste, in this case comprising material that can injure bathers and fishers, such as ceramics, concrete and metal, as well as potentially infectious medical objects and personal hygiene items, was class 3, meaning “a considerable amount of hazardous litter is seen”.

The levels are similar to those found in coastal environments in Chile, Colombia, Morocco and Nigeria, but higher than in most countries surveyed on the same basis, such as Bangladesh, China, Italy and Qatar, among others.

“The results provide a very clear picture of the situation and the need for intervention. Education to raise awareness, installation of ash trays and litter bins, fines, even banning smoking on the beach, as has been done in Barcelona, Spain, are some of the options available to lawmakers and city managers to mitigate the problem,” Castro said.

About São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is a public institution with the mission of supporting scientific research in all fields of knowledge by awarding scholarships, fellowships and grants to investigators linked with higher education and research institutions in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. FAPESP is aware that the very best research can only be done by working with the best researchers internationally. Therefore, it has established partnerships with funding agencies, higher education, private companies, and research organizations in other countries known for the quality of their research and has been encouraging scientists funded by its grants to further develop their international collaboration. You can learn more about FAPESP at www.fapesp.br/en and visit FAPESP news agency at www.agencia.fapesp.br/en to keep updated with the latest scientific breakthroughs FAPESP helps achieve through its many programs, awards and research centers. You may also subscribe to FAPESP news agency at http://agencia.fapesp.br/subscribe.

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Journal

Marine Pollution Bulletin

DOI

10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117031 

Article Title

Marine macrolitter and cigarette butts hazard multiple-use marine protected area and fishing community at Brazil

A Christian Zionist will be US new ambassador to Israel

(RNS) — Mike Huckabee’s theology about the end times may be unclear, but his views on today’s Israel aren’t.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee takes questions from the media, prior to laying a brick at a new housing complex in the West Bank settlement of Efrat, Aug. 1, 2018. President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate Huckabee as ambassador to Israel. Trump said Tuesday that Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel’s interests as it wages wars against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)

Mark Silk
November 13, 2024
(RNS) — You’ve got to hand it to President-elect Donald Trump.

After cuddling up to Muslims and winning more of their votes than his Democratic rival a week ago, he’s thrown them under the bus with an alacrity remarkable even for him. In a dream come true for Israel’s annexationist right wing, he announced Tuesday (Nov. 12) that his ambassador to Israel will be former Arkansas Gov. and Baptist minister Mike Huckabee.

From the Israeli right: “He’s a great friend to Israel,” said Yishai Fleisher, spokesperson for the Jewish Community of Hebron, on the West Bank. “We’re thrilled to have him.”

From America’s Arab American community: crickets.

It should surprise no one that Trump would send a pro-Israel evangelical Christian to the Jewish state. At the ceremony marking the opening of the American Embassy in Jerusalem in 2018, the clergy speakers comprised one American rabbi and two prominent evangelical ministers: the Rev. Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, and the Rev. John Hagee, pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio and founder of Christians United for Israel.

Huckabee has connections to this crowd. He made an appearance at Hagee’s church in December 2007, when Huckabee was seeking the Republican presidential nomination. That year, Hagee was dealing with the controversy he had stirred up in the evangelical world with “In Defense of Israel,” a book that rejected what’s known as supersessionism, the idea that “Israel has been rejected and replaced by the church to carry out the work once entrusted to Israel,” as Hagee explained in the book.

But Hagee called this notion that “the Jewish people have ceased to be God’s people, and the church is now spiritual Israel” a “misconception … rooted in the theological anti-Semitism that began in the first century.” It was time, he wrote, “for Christians everywhere to recognize that the nation of Israel will never convert to Christianity.”

So much, evidently, for the widespread evangelical belief that come the end times, Jews will return to Israel and many will convert and be saved.


Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee prays for political leaders at an American Renewal Project pastor luncheon in Henderson, N.C., Sept. 24, 2024. (RNS photo/Yonat Shimron)

What Huckabee himself believes about Judaism is not so easy to determine. Reporters covering his impressive 2008 presidential run — which included a victory in the Iowa caucuses — were able to come up with a tape of just one of the innumerable sermons he recorded during his 12 years as a Baptist pastor. In a 2010 New Yorker piece, he hedged on the question of end times Jewish conversion.

In 2008, he did say that “there’s really no such thing as a Palestinian” and that the notion of a Palestinian state is used as a “political tool to try and force land away from Israel.” Visiting the West Bank seven years ago, he said, “There is no such thing as a West Bank. It’s Judea and Samaria,” adding that “there’s no such thing as an occupation.”

He’s long been an advocate of a one-state solution (i.e., Israel) and, according to the AP, he recently said, “the title deed was given by God to Abraham and to his heirs.” That would be a reference to the 12th chapter of Genesis, where God says to Abraham, “Unto thy seed will I give this land.” Huckabee calls himself a Zionist.

“President-elect Trump has made an inspiring choice,” Hagee said in a statement from CUFI after Huckabee’s appointment was announced.

Speaking on Israeli Army Radio on Wednesday, Huckabee was asked whether Israeli annexation of the West Bank would be a possibility after Trump takes office in January. “Well, of course,” he answered. “I won’t make the policy, I will carry out the policy of the president.”

That policy is best characterized as Christian Zionist.

In Mike Huckabee, Israel will have a longtime friend and true believer as ambassador

(RNS)—The former Arkansas governor and pastor-turned-Fox News host has been a supporter of Israel since his first visit in the 1970s. He sees the growth of Israel as a sign that biblical prophecies are true.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee takes questions from the media, prior to laying a brick at a new housing complex in the West Bank settlement of Efrat, Aug. 1, 2018. President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate Huckabee as ambassador to Israel. Trump said Tuesday that Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel’s interests as it wages wars against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)

Bob Smietana, Yonat Shimron, and Jack Jenkins
November 14, 2024

(RNS) — Mike Huckabee’s journey to becoming the U.S. ambassador to Israel began 50 years ago.

The former Arkansas governor, presidential candidate and Fox News host first visited Israel with a friend on a tour of the Middle East not long after graduating from high school. “This is a place I’d never been, but I felt at home,” Huckabee said in a podcast interview at the National Religious Broadcasters convention earlier this year, about his experience as a teen.

“I felt an overwhelming spiritual reality of understanding this is the land that God has given to the Jews,” he told Paul Lanier, board chair of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, for the “Nourish Your Biblical Roots” podcast.

Huckabee said he began hosting his own tours of Israel in the 1980s and has visited the country more than 100 times. He’s a longtime supporter of pro-Israel groups like IFCJ — a nonprofit that seeks to strengthen ties between Christians and Jews and does humanitarian work in Israel — and has helped raise money for the group.

Huckabee has also long articulated staunchly pro-Israel political views. As a candidate for president in 2008, Huckabee said he believed there is “no such thing as a Palestinian,” according to CNN. He argued that the very concept of Palestinian identity is “a political tool to try and force land away from Israel.”

When he ran for president again in 2015, he held a fundraiser in one of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law.

In his conversation with Lanier, Huckabee compared the origin of Israel to the founding of the United States, saying both were started by people who moved to a new land to find peace and security. He also said the growth of Israel since 1948 is like biblical prophecies come true.

“I’ve seen Scripture come to life,” he said. “The desert has bloomed before my eyes.”

If confirmed by the Senate, Huckabee may be the first political appointee — as opposed to interim career foreign service officers — to come to the U.S. Embassy in Israel from a group known as Christian Zionists, who back Israel for theological as well as geopolitical reasons. (The current U.S. ambassador is Jack Lew, an American Jew who served as secretary of the Treasury under Barack Obama.)



Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump talks with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee during a roundtable at the Drexelbrook Catering & Event Center, Oct. 29, 2024, in Drexel Hill, Pa. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Many Christian Zionists are millenarianists — they view the creation of the modern state of Israel as a necessary precondition for the second coming of Jesus and the apocalyptic purification of the world in the end times. Israel, along with the occupied territories it captured in 1967, is considered given by God to the biblical patriarch Abraham, who is told in the Book of Genesis, “God will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.”

Huckabee’s own biblical approach to Israel shows up in his habit of referring to the West Bank as “Judea and Samaria” — a way of signaling a belief that the land has always belonged to the Jewish people.

That divine patrimony, believers say, should shape how nations, including the United States, treat Israel and how individual Christians should view the nation. Over the past 30 years, evangelicals, including Southern Baptists like Huckabee, but also growing groups of charismatic nondenominational Christians, have duly formed strong alliances with Israeli leaders and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in particular.

They give more to Israeli causes than Jewish Americans do and have formed strong support groups. With 5 million members, Christians United for Israel, led by San Antonio pastor John Hagee, is thought to be the largest pro-Israel nonprofit in the United States. In 2017, when then-President Donald Trump moved the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the move was applauded by Christian Zionist supporters, and Hagee spoke at the dedication of the new embassy.

RELATED: What evangelicals say they want from a second Trump term

Mordechai Inbari, a professor of religion at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, said Huckabee’s appointment as U.S. ambassador to Israel would be greeted “with open arms” by the Netanyahu government. “Huckabee belongs to the network of supporters of Netanyahu and his government among evangelicals and is considered to be a strong supporter of Israel,” said Inbari.

Huckabee was pressed by Israeli radio Wednesday (Nov. 13) on whether he believed the Trump administration would support annexation by Israel of the occupied territories, principally the West Bank, but also Gaza. He demurred but made it clear that he sees his job as following the decisions made by the president.

“There’s never been an American president,” he added, “that has been more helpful in securing an understanding of the sovereignty of Israel — from the moving of the embassy, recognition of the Golan Heights, and Jerusalem as the capital, no one has done more than president Trump and I fully expect that will continue,” Huckabee said.

Inbari, for one, didn’t think the new Trump administration would rush to see Israel annex the territories. Trump has shown a desire to expand the Mideast peace deal known as the Abraham Accords, inked in his first administration, to include Saudi Arabia. The accords, signed in 2020, normalized Israeli relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and later Sudan and Morocco.

Israel and Saudi Arabia appeared close to a deal in 2023, but the negotiations were derailed by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. Saudi Arabia now insists it will only normalize ties with Israel if there is a pathway for a Palestinian state, which the Israeli government currently rejects.

“I think Trump would want peace with Saudi Arabia rather than Israel annexing the West Bank,” said Inbari. “And so I don’t think that this is something that’s going to happen.”

Yael Eckstein, president of the IFCJ, who traveled to Israel with Huckabee earlier this year to deliver humanitarian aid there, said the former governor has the best interests of the United States and Israel at heart and she views his new role as ambassador as a good thing.

“I think it’s wonderful news, not just for Israel, but for America and the entire world,” she said. “Because I think the stronger Israel and America are in their bond and relationship, the stronger the entire world is.”

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee prays for political leaders at an American Renewal Project pastor luncheon in Henderson, N.C., Sept. 24, 2024. (RNS photo/Yonat Shimron)

Luke Moon, executive director of the Philos Project, a pro-Israel group, likewise called Huckabee a good choice. Moon cited Huckabee’s past support for Israel and the fact that as an evangelical, he’s not involved in the internal politics of the American Jewish community.

Moon also said that the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and the war in Gaza — and the campus protests in the U.S. against that war — likely played a role in the 2024 election.

Whether people were voting for Israel or they were opposed to pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses, said Moon, “either way I’ll take it.”

Brent Leatherwood, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said he was encouraged that Huckabee was one of the first ambassadors to be named by Trump.

“That shows that Israel is top of mind for President-elect Trump,” he said. “I think that is a good thing.”

Spain to Block Maersk Ships Bound to Israel After Pressure From Activists

By Ana Vracar

November 12, 2024

Source: People's Dispatch


Image from Wikimedia Commons


The Spanish government has announced it will block two ships—Denver and Seletar—operated by shipping giant Maersk and carrying military cargo bound for Israel, from docking at the port of Algeciras. This decision comes just days after the Mask off Maersk campaign released a report exposing the company’s regular use of the Spanish port for transferring cargo that enables the ongoing genocide against Palestinians, despite Spain’s stated arms embargo.

Researchers from the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) and Progressive International (PI), who contributed to the report, told Peoples Dispatch that it is unclear whether Pedro Sánchez’s administration was genuinely unaware of the shipments or deliberately chose to look the other way. What is clear, however, is that since Sánchez announced the embargo in May, Maersk has succeeded in delivering thousands of tons of military cargo to Israel. It appears that Maersk typically sends one ship per week from New Jersey to Spain, carrying around 1,000 tons of military cargo destined for the Israeli military, the report states.

These shipments end up being used in Gaza, facilitating the killing, torture, and kidnapping of Palestinians. In recent months, Maersk has transported aircraft parts, armored vehicles, and projectile bodies—much of which has been essentially subsidized by US tax dollars. The shipments also included nearly 300 tons of goods labeled as “diplomatic cargo,” a classification that, according to PYM and PI researchers, is undoubtedly being used to obscure the true nature of the containers. This is one of several strategies used to evade oversight over shipments bound for Israel; others include submitting blank designations and relying on freight forwarders to mask the trace of what is being transported.

These entities, including Interglobal Forwarding Services (IFS) used by Israel, can get very creative in how they describe cargo. The Mask off Maersk report documents such practices and makes it clear that shipments bound for Israel should undergo regular oversight and inspection in order to stop ammunition and other military cargo being transported there. Between 2011 and 2014, for example, IFS managed to transport over 16,000 tons of “diplomatic” cargo on Maersk ships, according to the report. This designation appears to establish a stable supply chain of goods whose true nature remains concealed from customs authorities and the public, PYM and PI warn.

Maersk is fully aware of these operations, as well as of the nature of the cargo its ships transport, and could halt them immediately if it chose to, the report’s authors told Peoples Dispatch. However, it continues to enable this flow of deadly cargo, fueling the genocide. As a result, responsibility to block these shipments now lies with the governments of the countries whose ports are used in the transfers. Researchers noted that Morocco, Egypt, Italy, and Turkey must all be held to the same scrutiny as Spanish authorities. For instance, after being denied access to Spanish ports, the Maersk Denver sought permission to dock in Tangier, Morocco, sparking a BDS call urging local activists to mobilize and prevent this. Reports that Mediterranean ports might allow these ships to dock are deeply troubling and, moreover, stand in violation of several UN resolutions and recommendations.

The researchers emphasize that pressure must continue on the Sánchez administration until it commits to inspect every Maersk vessel originating from the US and carrying cargo to Israel, given the practices highlighted in the report. “These vessels must be blocked from docking—nothing more and nothing less,” stated PYM and PI activists.

Without grassroots pressure, governments are likely to ignore public opposition and continue allowing military cargo to flow to Israel through their logistical hubs. What’s needed now, according to the researchers, is a stronger mobilization of trade unions and workers’ actions against these shipments. For example, in October, dockworkers at Athens’ Piraeus port successfully blocked a shipment of ammunition destined for Israel.

Though such direct action triggers government repression, PYM and PI researchers argue that it remains one of the few effective ways to disrupt and halt Israel’s arms supply chain. The two Maersk ships Spain decided to block are not the only ones expected to bring more weapons to Israel—but the full list can be stopped through strong workplace mobilizations. Advocacy alone will not be enough to get the governments to act against the genocide in Palestine; only a people-led strategy, with trade unions playing a central role, can accomplish this goal.

With the US Election Over, Israel’s Genocide Continues With No End in Sight

Donald Trump has given every indication that Israel’s atrocities will continue unchecked in his second term.

By Michel Moushabeck , 

Truthout

November 10, 2024

A displaced Palestinian woman looks through a fence in a tent camp in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on November 9, 2024.Majdi Fathi / NurPhoto via Getty Images

My Palestinian American family is in great pain. Every member of my Arab American community lost a relative or a friend during the past 13 months. We are torn to pieces and outraged by the U.S. support for Israel’s war on Gaza and the ravages wrought in southern Lebanon. Having lost several family members and friends — among them artists, teachers and academics I’ve known and writers with whom I’ve worked — I too wake up every morning in pain.

I am in pain because my Palestinian parents died before they could realize their dream of returning to their home in West Jerusalem. My father used to lament and say: “We were expelled from our home even though we had nothing to do with the Holocaust. And yet, we Palestinians have paid dearly for Europe’s crimes.” I am in pain because my people have experienced unimaginable suffering for 76 years with no end in sight — especially those living and dying in Gaza today, who were expelled from their homes in 1948 and 1967 and have been under siege for the past 17 years. They have not known a single day of peace in their lives and are now suffering from a live-streamed annihilation in front of the eyes of the entire world.

Every day in Gaza is a day of massacres, slaughter, death and destruction. Every day in Congress and the White House is a day of complicity, violating U.S. and international law by continuing to arm and support Israel’s ongoing genocide.

Both major political parties support funding and arming Israel’s genocide of Palestinians, against the will of the majority of the American people. Since October 2023, U.S. taxpayers have paid for 70 percent of Israel’s military assault, which has resulted in the total destruction of Gaza, the death of at least 43,000 Palestinians and the displacement of nearly 90 percent of Gaza’s residents. According to the UN, 96 percent of Gaza’s population of 2.15 million people face acute levels of food insecurity as a result of Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon of war.

In southern Lebanon, Baalbek and parts of the Bekaa Valley, Israeli airstrikes have obliterated 37 towns and villages, including historic sites — claiming that Hezbollah turned them into fortified combat zones — killed more than 3,000 people, maimed and wounded thousands more and displaced over 1.2 million in a country that was already bleeding from an economic collapse and political paralysis.

Related Story

Palestine Was a Top Concern for Many Voters. Harris Refused to Listen to Them.
After refusing to call for an arms embargo, Harris lost to Trump, to the delight of Israel’s right-wing leaders.
By Marjorie Cohn , TruthoutNovember 7, 2024

The U.S. is the only reason Israel has been able to sustain its genocidal practices for 13 months.

In the 2024 presidential election, racism, reproductive rights, immigrants and border control, gun laws, the economy, our constitutional democracy — even fascism — were on the ballot. Genocide was not.

We Are Unlikely to See a Change in US Foreign Policy Toward Israel

Israel is hell bent on a war of total destruction and ethnic cleansing. It will do so with the overwhelming support of the majority of Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Congress. It will do so under the watchful eye of the president of the United States who will not have the will or the courage to stop the Israeli assaults, displacement and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the ongoing Israeli land grab. For more than a year now, Joe Biden has not wavered in his material support of Israel as it conducts genocide. We can expect that support to continue under Donald Trump when he takes office again.

Since October 7, Donald Trump has urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to “finish the job” and “do what you have to do.” On the campaign trail, Trump promised “We’re going to do a lot for Israel; we’re going to take care of Israel.”

U.S. unconditional support will continue in order to help Israel achieve its endgame of the “out-of-state” solution: emptying Gaza of Palestinians and continuing its ethnic cleansing of the West Bank and East Jerusalem — and now southern Lebanon — in order to realize its ultimate goal of a greater Jewish ethnostate.

While Trump was in office, Netanyahu called him “the best friend that Israel has ever had in the White House.” He called Trump’s victory this week “history’s greatest comeback” and “a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America.” Other members of his far-right coalition have also expressed their praise for Trump and their excitement for his return to office.

Fighting US Complicity Must Continue Beyond the Election

Kamala Harris lost the presidential election in part because the Democratic Party has lost touch with the American people and abandoned the working class in exchange for war profiteers. The Biden-Harris administration’s active support for the Gaza genocide caused a significant shift in the voting patterns of the American Muslim and Arab American communities, which led a large percentage to ditch the Democratic Party. What’s more, Harris suffered a decline in support among young voters, Black voters and other key elements of the Democratic base. With the Vice President running to the right, the Democratic and Republican candidates looked as though they represented two sides of the same coin.

While there are major policy differences between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to domestic issues as well as international affairs, their unconditional support for Israel is not an issue of disagreement.

On the contrary, we’ve seen both parties on the campaign trail vigorously competing with each other to show us who is a better friend to Israel. President-elect Trump even went as far as saying President Biden was “like a Palestinian,” using the word as a slur or an insult to prove his greater love of Israel. Both Trump and Harris are staunch supporters of Israel and both said on numerous occasions that Israel has the “right to defend itself” even though international law clearly prohibits an occupier from bombing the occupied. Both candidates vowed to continue U.S. military aid to Israel and dismissed the calls from the majority of Americans who support a ceasefire and an arms embargo of the Israeli state.

So when it comes to the genocide in Gaza — and the war on Lebanon — Arabs and Arab Americans on the whole already knew their fight would continue regardless of the outcome of the election.
Trump’s Past Actions Give Us a Clue of Future Policy

In 2017, during his first term as president, Donald Trump moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in violation of international law and several UN resolutions. He also suspended U.S. opposition to the establishment and expansion of illegal Israeli settlements on stolen Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.

In 2018, in another blow to Palestinians, President Trump shut down the office of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) mission in Washington, D.C.

In 2019, President Trump’s official recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in Syria upended half a century of U.S. Middle East policy.

In 2020, Trump initiated and mediated an agreement known as the Abraham Accords, a series of bilateral agreements that saw the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and four Arab countries — the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan — breaking a long-held Arab policy of refusing to recognize the Israeli state until Israel ends its occupation.

In the same year, he announced the “Trump peace plan” for the Middle East in a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The plan provided for a unified Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and the principal Jewish settlements in the West Bank, amounting to annexation of roughly 30 percent of the territory. The Palestinians would be offered some desert areas near the Egyptian border, limited sovereignty and a non-contiguous state with numerous Israeli enclaves. The New York Times wrote that “rather than viewing it as a serious blueprint for peace, analysts called it a political document by a president in the middle of an impeachment trial working in tandem with Mr. Netanyahu, a prime minister under criminal indictment who is about to face his third election in a year.”

Trump’s son-in-law and former senior adviser, Jared Kushner, has also offered some signal of what we might expect. When Israel dropped dozens of bunker buster bombs on Beirut in September, killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Kushner called it “the most important day in the Middle East since the Abraham Accords breakthrough” in a statement that flagrantly called for Israel to expand its war across the Middle East with continued U.S. support.

Kushner, who was one of the brokers of the Abraham Accords, went on to say: “The Middle East is too often a solid where little changes. Today, it is a liquid and the ability to reshape is unlimited. Do not squander this moment.”
What Next for the Palestine Solidarity Movement?

Over the last 13 months, we’ve witnessed incredible solidarity movements, with millions of people in the U.S. and around the globe organizing, marching and protesting against Israel’s atrocities in Gaza and its apartheid system and inhumane treatment of Palestinians.

From ending the Vietnam War to dismantling the apartheid regime in South Africa, students have long been at the forefront of movements that made history by speaking up against injustice and endless wars. Today they are proving again to be the conscience of the nation by challenging the genocide in Gaza and standing up against the anti-Palestinian racism on their university campuses as they are being met with increasing repression and violence. Colleges and universities across the country have arrested students for peaceful protests; they have enacted policies that stifle pro-Palestinian activism; and have created a hostile environment for pro-Palestinian students, faculty, staff and members of the community.

Trump’s response to the student protest movement: “Deport pro-Hamas radicals.”

Still, those students remain determined to end the U.S.’s shameful policy of enabling Israel’s genocide and they are clearly not about to give up.

Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard wrote recently in Haaretz:

“Generations of Israelis will have to live with what we have done in Gaza over the last year … Generations of Israelis will have to explain to their children and grandchildren why we behaved that way. Some will have to explain why they didn’t refuse to bomb. And some will have to explain why they didn’t do more to stop the horror.”

We in the U.S. will also have to explain to our children and grandchildren why our country did nothing to stop the genocide.

While we are embarking on a period of political uncertainty, it is likely that the U.S.’s destructive foreign policy towards the Palestinians will continue. But so will our fight for Palestinian freedom, equality and an end to occupation.

Copyright © Truthout. 

Michel Moushabeck  is a Palestinian American writer, editor, translator and musician. He is the founder and publisher of Interlink Publishing, a 37-year-old Massachusetts-based independent publishing house. Follow him on Instagram: @ReadPalestine.

CROCK O SHIT 💩💩💩

U.S. says Israel now in compliance with law on humanitarian assistance to Gaza


A truck carrying humanitarian aid passed into the Northern Gaza Strip as another drives back into Israel at the Erez Crossing checkpoint after delivering supplies on May 5, 2024. The United States said Tuesday that Israel had largely satisfied its demand for "concrete measures" to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza within 30 days or risk military assistance being suspended. File Photo by Jim Hollander/UPI | License Photo

Nov. 13 (UPI) -- The United States has determined that Israel has substantially met its demand to take "concrete steps" to improve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza within 30 days or risk losing military assistance provided by Washington in line with U.S. law.

While more needed to be done, Israel was not in breach of U.S. law, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told the department's regular press briefing Tuesday -- the day the 30-day deadline set by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expired.

Patel said Israel had taken a number of steps to address the measures laid out in an Oct. 13 letter penned by Blinken and Austin including reopening the Erez crossing, establishing a new crossing at Kissufim and waiving certain customs requirements for the Jordanian armed forces corridor.

Other improvements included the opening of additional delivery routes within Gaza, including Bani Suheila Road, greater use of the Israeli fence road, repairs to the coastal road and the resumption of some deliveries to the north -- to Gaza City and most recently to areas around Jabalia -- and the expansion of the Mawasi humanitarian zone.

"This is all to say, we at this time have not made an assessment that the Israelis are in violation of U.S. law. But most importantly, we are going to continue to watch how these steps that they've taken, how they are being implemented, how that they can be continued to be expanded on," said Patel.

"And through that, we're going to continue to assess their compliance with U.S. law. We've seen some progress being made. We would like to see some more changes happen. We believe that had it not been for U.S. intervention these changes may not have ever taken place. But most importantly, we want to see continued progress, and that's what we're looking for."

Aid agencies and the United Nations, however, disagreed, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Tuesday told a Security Council briefing that "conditions of life across Gaza are unfit for human survival."

While welcoming the opening of the new Kissufim crossing at the 11th hour on Tuesday morning, Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Joyce Msuya warned of potential famine and grave violations of international laws in Gaza, calling for unimpeded humanitarian access to those in need.

Msuya said that as she spoke Israeli authorities were blocking humanitarian assistance from entering North Gaza, where fighting continued, and around 75,000 people remained with dwindling water and food supplies.

"Conditions of life across Gaza are unfit for human survival. Food is insufficient. Shelter items -- needed ahead of winter -- are in extremely short supply. Violent armed lootings of our convoys have become increasingly organized along routes from Kerem Shalom, driven by the collapse of public order and safety.

"Essential commercial goods and services including electricity have been all but cut off. This has led to increasing hunger, starvation and now, as we have heard, potentially famine. We are witnessing acts reminiscent of the gravest international crimes.

"The latest offensive that Israel started in North Gaza last month is an intensified, extreme and accelerated version of the horrors of the past year," she said.

With fuel for mechanical diggers blocked by Israel, many remained trapped beneath rubble and first responders had been prevented from reaching them. Ambulances had been destroyed and hospitals attacked.

Supplies to the north were being cut off and people pushed further south, Msuya said.

"The daily cruelty we see in Gaza seems to have no limits. Beit Hanoun has been besieged for more than one month. Yesterday, food and water reached shelters, but today, Israeli soldiers forcibly displaced people from those same areas. People under siege now tell us they are afraid that they will be targeted if they receive help," she added.

Many food assistance kitchens had been forced to close and daily food distribution during October was down almost 25% from September levels.

Msuya said these were not logistical problems but issues that could be resolved with the right political will, adding that the Israeli military's announcement that the Kissufim crossing into central Gaza is now open "cannot come soon enough."

Eight aid agencies, including Oxfam, Save the Children and the Norwegian Refugee Council said Tuesday that the measures Israel had taken failed to meet any of the specific criteria set out in the U.S. letter.

"Israel not only failed to meet the U.S. criteria that would indicate support to the humanitarian response, but concurrently took actions that dramatically worsened the situation on the ground, particularly in Northern Gaza. That situation is in an even more dire state today than a month ago.

"The principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee now assess that the entire Palestinian population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence."

The NGOs said their scorecard underscored Israel's failure to comply with U.S. demands and international obligations and that it should be held accountable for the end result of failing to ensure adequate food, medical, and other supplies reached people in need.

Blinken and Austin's letter demanded Israel allow 350 aid trucks daily into Gaza at a minimum, but U.N. data showed just 37 a day during October, the lowest figure since the conflict started, although that number has risen this month.

The arm of the Israeli military responsible for humanitarian affairs in the Gaza Strip, GOGAT, insisted Israel had complied with U.S. demands, telling the BBC "most aspects have been met and those which have not are being discussed, [and] some U.S. demands are for issues that were being resolved already."

Why authoritarian fossil fuel states keep hosting climate conferences

Photo by Leonard von Bibra on Unsplash
gray high-rise building

The Conversation

November 14, 2024

For the third year in a row, the United Nations Climate Change Conference will be hosted by an authoritarian state that sells fossil fuels. This week the 29th “conference of the parties”, COP29, is being held in Baku, Azerbaijan. It follows COP28 in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates last year and COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt the year before that.

It’s concerning that a succession of authoritarian and fossil fuel-rich states have been selected to host international climate negotiations. It means we must pay extra attention to political influences on the talks and beware of greenwashing by the hosts.

The domestic politics of these states also shapes global supply chains of fossil fuels and critical minerals. This in turn directly affects Australia’s trade, economy and foreign policies.

There are now more authoritarian and hybrid regimes globally than there are democracies. So some basic understanding of how authoritarian states respond to climate change matters, for Australia and the rest of the world.

What is an authoritarian state and why should we care?

Power in authoritarian states is concentrated in the hands of a single ruler or group of elites. People under authoritarian rule lack many basic human rights, and risk punishment for speaking out against the political regime. Rule of law and political institutions are weak, so abuse of power can go unchecked.

Not all authoritarian states are fossil fuel producers, although many are. Some also supply critical minerals for electric vehicles and renewable energy.

China dominates global critical minerals supply chains and electric vehicle manufacturing.

Russia remains one of the largest fossil fuels producers and exporters, despite sanctions since 2022. It is also using revenues from these exports to continue its war in Ukraine.

Most of the major oil, coal and gas producers in the Middle East and Central and Southeast Asia are non-democracies or hybrid autocracies. UAE lifted oil production after hosting COP28.

Indonesia, considered “partly free”, is the world’s largest coal exporter. Despite having signed the Paris Agreement, the Indonesian government recently approved close to one billion tonnes of coal mining. Domestic coal consumption and export is expected to rise.
What is at stake at COP29?

At COP29, countries are expected to announce stronger national climate commitments. This is essential for limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C and achieving net-zero emissions by mid-century.

It is hoped more concrete steps will also be taken towards providing financial support to developing countries struggling with the energy transition.

In previous years, authoritarian states have been able to block or undermine progress at international climate negotiations. Expect to see more of this at COP29.

China’s cautious approach to phasing out coal has affected COP negotiations in the past. Even after COP28, where a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuel was agreed, coal remains crucial to China’s economy.

At COP27 in Egypt, Russian energy lobbyists were permitted to attend even after the invasion of Ukraine. They met with heads of states and energy ministers from Africa, Asia and the rest of the world.

Russia will likely use COP29 to promote its own agenda, including its nuclear export industry. Since the war began, Russia has sought to frame Western-led cooperation on climate as a form of neo-colonialism designed to undermine its economy and others like it.

The mere fact COP29 is being held in Azerbaijan may be a consequence of Russian intervention. Russia reportedly opposed COP29 being held in Bulgaria after the European Union condemned the invasion of Ukraine and imposed sanctions.

Climate politics in autocracies

Finally, evidence suggests as climate change intensifies, authoritarianism could gain legitimacy over liberal democratic norms, for several reasons.

First, authoritarian states can provide effective short-term disaster response and relief. The central authorities in these states can mobilise considerable human and material resources without many institutional checks and balances.

Second, authoritarian states can introduce large-scale green energy technologies, such as solar, wind, hydro and nuclear, using substantial government funding. This has happened in China and many other states, including Laos, Vietnam, and Morocco. In doing so, authoritarian states can portray themselves as more capable than democracies.

Finally, following the demise of fossil fuel-related industries, functioning authoritarian states can manage massive job losses and suppress social resentment in ways democratic governments do not.

Challenges lie ahead

Long-standing democracies such as the United States and Australia have been bogged down in the complex politics around climate and energy transition. This has led to scientific evidence being questioned, crackdowns on environmental activism, and restrictions on media freedom. We need to make sure addressing climate change doesn’t undermine democratic principles.

What’s more, authoritarian and fossil fuel rich states have actively funded climate denial in democratic societies. For example, Russia was found to be promoting anti-climate misinformation on social media.

As far as China goes, the global superpower is extending its geopolitical influence by helping developing countries access cheap renewable energy technologies from non-Western sources. This challenges the leading role of the US and the West in the field of international cooperation on climate change.

As COP29 gets underway, the potential for authoritarian states to shape the outcomes remains strong. Understanding how these regimes work, and what they want, is vital as they affect global cooperation on climate change.

Ellie Martus, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University and Fengshi Wu, Associate Professor in Political Science and International Relations, UNSW Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

 CAN THE UN SUSPEND ISRAEL?

Aidan Hehir Published November 10, 2024

THE CONVERSATION

Tanzanian Ambassador to the UN Salim A Salim announces that South Africa has been suspended from the UN General Assembly on November 12, 1974 

| United Nations

"Where is the UN?” is a question that has often been asked since the start of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza. As the death toll rises and the conflict spreads, the UN appears woefully unable to fulfil its mandate to save humanity “from the scourge of war” — as it was set up to do.

While the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, has repeatedly condemned Israel — and been banned from the country for his pains — his pleas have been ignored. Attempts by the UN to sanction Israel have also failed. UN sanctions require the UN Security Council’s consent. The US has used its power as a permanent member to veto draft resolutions seeking to do so.

There have also been calls to suspend Israel from the UN. On October 30, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Michael Fakhri, called on the UN General Assembly to suspend Israel’s membership because, as he said: “Israel is attacking the UN system.”

Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, is reported to have told a news conference the same day that the UN should “consider the suspension of Israel’s credentials as a member of the UN until it ends violating international law and withdraws the ‘clearly unlawful’ occupation.”



Given the US’s veto power in the Security Council, it may be politically very difficult, but it is legally possible. And there’s a precedent

But suspending a member is more complicated and politically fraught than many appreciate.

Israel and the UN

For decades, Israel’s relationship with the UN has been fractious. This is primarily because of the UN’s stance on what it refers to as Israel’s “unlawful presence” in what it defines as “occupied territories” in Palestine. In the past 12 months of the latest conflict in Gaza, this relationship has deteriorated further.

Many have argued that Israel has repeatedly violated UN resolutions and treaties, including the genocide convention during its campaign in Gaza. Some UN officials have accused Israel — and certain Palestinian groups — of committing war crimes. Israel has also come into direct conflict with UN agencies — some 230 UN personnel have been killed during the offensive, and many governments and UN officials have alleged that Israel deliberately targeted UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.

But the enmity between Israel and the UN came to a head on October 28, when the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, banned the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from operating inside Israel, sparking a wave of condemnation.

The UN’s powers

Given this open hostility towards the UN, it is not surprising that some are now calling for Israel’s membership to be suspended.

But can the UN legally suspend a member? The answer is yes. Under articles 5 and 6 of the UN charter, a member state may be suspended or expelled if it is found to have “persistently violated the principles contained in the present Charter.”

But articles 5 and 6 both state that suspension and expulsion require the consent of the General Assembly as well as “the recommendation of the Security Council.” As such, suspending Israel requires the consent of the five permanent Security Council members: the US, UK, China, Russia and France.

And, given the US’s past record and current president Joe Biden’s affirmation of his “ironclad support” for Israel, this is effectively inconceivable. But while it is, therefore, highly unlikely that articles 5 or 6 will be invoked against Israel, there remains a potentially feasible option.

The South Africa precedent

At the start of each annual General Assembly session, the credentials committee reviews submissions from each member state before they are formally admitted. Usually, this is a formality, but on September 27, 1974, the credentials of South Africa — which was then operating an apartheid system — were rejected.

Three days later, the General Assembly passed resolution 3207, which called on the Security Council to “review the relationship between the United Nations and South Africa in light of the constant violation by South Africa of the principles of the Charter.”

A draft resolution calling for South Africa’s expulsion was eventually put to the security council at the end of October, but it was vetoed by the US, the UK and France.

However, on November 12, the president of the General Assembly, Algeria’s Abdelaziz Bouteflika, ruled that given the credentials committee’s decision and the passing of resolution 3207, “the General Assembly refuses to allow the delegation of South Africa to participate in its work.” South Africa remained suspended from the General Assembly until June 1994, following the ending of apartheid.

It is important to note that South Africa was not formally suspended from the UN, only the General Assembly. Nonetheless, it was a hugely significant move.

A viable solution?

Could the same measure be applied against Israel and would it be effective? The South Africa case shows it is legally possible. It would also undoubtedly send a powerful message, simultaneously increasing Israel’s international isolation and restoring some much-needed faith in the UN.

The 79th session of the UN General Assembly began in September, so it’s too late for the credentials committee to reject Israel. But this could conceivably happen prior to the 80th session next year, if there was sufficient political will. But this is a big “if”.

Though a majority of states in the General Assembly are highly critical of Israel, many do not want the credentials committee to become more politically selective, because they fear this could be used against them in the future. Likewise, few want to incur the wrath of the US by suspending its ally.

As ever, what is legally possible and what is politically likely are two very different things.

The writer is Reader in International Relations at the University of Westminster in UK

Republished from The Conversation

Published in Dawn, EOS, November 10th, 2024

A summit to nowhere

Zahid Hussain 

November 13, 2024

 DAWN

AFTER silently watching Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza for the past one year, the leaders of the Arab and Muslim countries have once more met in Riyadh to discuss the escalating conflict.

The so-called international alliance conceived by Saudi Arabia, with its aim of pressing for the establishment of a Palestinian state, failed to formulate a concrete plan of action to stop the Israeli invasion that has been extended to Lebanon.

Interestingly, the resolution issued at the conclusion of the joint summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and Arab League is restricted to the usual condemnation of Israeli aggression. It doesn’t even plainly describe the ongoing Israeli military action in Gaza, which has killed more than 43,000 people, mostly women and children, as a genocide.

There is no suggestion to sever the diplomatic and trade ties with Israel that some of these countries continue to have, despite the war crimes being committed by the Zionist forces. With the complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, more than a million people face death by starvation and disease. Mere condemnation cannot stop Israel’s genocidal war. It is nothing short of a betrayal of the hapless people of Palestine.

In fact, the inaction of the Muslim world has given impunity to the Zionist state, which is now threatening to annihilate the entire occupied territory. The latest summit was held a year after a similar gathering in Riyadh. Then, too, the leaders had merely condemned the Israeli military action in Gaza. They could not agree on even a minimum plan of action to stop Israeli atrocities.

The OIC-Arab League resolution does not go beyond the usual condemnation of Israel.

They did not even leverage their oil and economic capabilities to apply pressure on countries supplying arms to Israel to stop the war. One year of war crimes doesn’t seem to have brought any change in their position, which can be described as capitulation. The resolution is as toothless as the previous one.

The most shocking part of the resolution is the decision “to affirm support and express appreciation for the tireless efforts made by the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Qatar in cooperation with the United States of America to achieve an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip… “. It couldn’t get more outrageous given that the ongoing genocide in Gaza is essentially supported by the US. It is massive American military aid that has helped Israel sustain its war.

Notwithstanding the occasional rebuke by US officials, there has never been any real American pressure on Israel to implement a ceasefire. In fact, the Biden administration has repeatedly vetoed resolutions in the UN calling for one. Some of the Arab rulers are believed to have tacitly supported what Israel has described as its war against Hamas. Moreover, America has its bases in Arab countries, and concerns have been raised that they could have supplied Israel with weapons to kill Palestinians. These countries have not prohibited the use of these bases.

Significantly, the latest summit took place soon after Donald Trump’s victory, which has been hailed by some member countries, prompting observers to conclude that it was meant to send a message to the incoming US administration. It seems that the ‘international alliance’ is now pinning its hopes on the incoming Trump administration to get Israel to agree to a ceasefire and accept the creation of a Palestinian state.

For instance, while addressing a Council of Foreign Ministers preparatory meeting a day before the summit, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar expressed the hope that the incoming US administration would “lend its weight to reinvigorate efforts for peace in the Middle East”. His remarks show his utter ignorance about Trump’s hard-line approach to the Middle East conflict.

Such expectations from the president-elect, who is considered even more pro-Israel than the outgoing Biden administration, are unrealistic. During his election campaign, Trump had called on Israel to finish the offensive and “get the job done”. He has stated that he would “defend our friend and ally in the State of Israel like nobody has ever”.

How can one forget that in his previous term he shifted the American embassy to occupied Jerusalem? The move defied Washington’s earlier position of not recognising one of the most sacred of Islam’s holy places as Israel’s capital. In his previous term, Trump had also endorsed Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank, which are illegal under international law. Under the so-called Abraham Accords, he oversaw the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco.

Although Saudi Arabia did not enter into such an agreement, it did indicate its willingness to recognise Israel in return for security and economic benefits, though insisting there would be no diplomatic ties without a Palestinian state. Some analysts believe that the Riyadh summit has sent a clear signal to the incoming Trump administration that it can rely on the kingdom as a strong partner in extending American interests in the region. The summit has pushed for greater American leverage in bringing the war to an end.

But it is very clear that the incoming Trump administration will not push for the establishment of a Palestinian state as envisaged by the ‘international alliance’. There has been no mention of the two-state solution in his recent statements on the Middle East conflict.

Since winning the election, Trump has spoken to the Israeli prime minister more than once. Therefore, it’s not surprising to see the right-wing Israeli government harden its position after Trump’s election.

In a recent statement, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar opposed the establishment of a Palestinian state, saying it was “unrealistic”. Surely the inaction of the Arab and Muslim countries has made things worse for the Palestinians. The joint resolution indicates that these countries do not have any intention of using their leverage to put pressure on Israel and its allies to end the war.

The writer is an author and journalist.

zhussain100@yahoo.com

X: @hidhussain

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2024