It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
150,000+ Guns and Weapons to Israeli Settlers Since October 7
by Visualizing Palestine / August 19th, 2024
It is farcical to suggest a distinction between settler and state violence: They are part of the same settler-colonial structure, and not only complement each other but depend on one another. — Fathi Nimer, The West Bank: Settler Colonial Spillover of the Gaza Genocide
While Israel continues its brutal genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, armed Israeli settlers, backed by the Israeli government, continue to expand illegal settlements in the West Bank. Our new visual captures how the Israeli government has transferred hundreds of thousands of guns and other weapons to Israeli settlers since October 7, as settler violence against Palestinian communities skyrockets with impunity.
Visualizing Palestine is the intersection of communication, social sciences, technology, design and urban studies for social justice. Visualizing Palestine uses creative visuals to describe a factual rights-based narrative of Palestine/Israel. Read other articles by Visualizing Palestine, or visit Visualizing Palestine's website.
Monday, August 12, 2024
The Incompetence of Masters of War
Western defense giants tout cutting-edge tech, but their “state-of-the-art” systems often fall short in asymmetrical warfare. From faulty missile defense systems to overpriced carriers, the only thing that consistently works is the profit machine.
The ineffectiveness of “cutting-edge” military technology shown in Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the spillover conflicts undermines the notion that the military-industrial complex aims to win wars. Instead, it reveals its true objective: profiting from ongoing conflicts.
Since its crushing victory in the 1967 Six-Day War, one of Israel’s primary functions as a US-European client state has been that of a weapons laboratory. Throughout eight decades of repressing, invading, and annexing the territory of regional countries, it has served as a proving ground for arms manufacturers.
This continuous opportunity for such demonstration has enabled Israel, starting in the 1980s, to develop its own highly globalized military-industrial complex. From tanks to drones, “Israel” became a byword for the technical superiority and unbeatable effectiveness of western hard power over those on its receiving end.
Since the turn of the millennium, however, and especially since the Hamas-led Palestinian offensive against Israel on October 7, the region has become a weapons lab of a very different kind. It now showcases the armaments of its enemies and their ability, for a fraction of the cost and technical complexity, to render its space-age technology uneconomical and, by extension, obsolete.
The spread of cheap, cost-effective arms among asymmetric opponents of the West has significantly blunted the power of conventional weapons systems. The rational thing to do is accept this and redirect these hundreds of billions of wasted dollars to social programs and infrastructure. Almost anything would be more defensible than the status quo.
Costly Defense, Cheap Defeat
By no means is this the first time the efficacy of Western armaments has been called into question. A near-identical situation unfolded more than three decades ago during the US-led war on Iraq over its occupation of Kuwait. Official outlets gloried in the technical prowess of the weaponry brought to bear against the Ba’athist armed forces, with the media marveling at the proclaimed effectiveness of the Patriot missile defense system. Its success rate at shooting down Iraqi ballistic missiles was almost immediately challenged. A subsequent US government study into the Patriot system’s performance revised the initial claims of an 80 and 50 percent interception rate in Saudi Arabia and Israel respectively to 70 and 40 percent. The report further notes that, according to the “strongest evidence,” the overall success rate of the Patriot system during Desert Storm dwindled to 9 percent.
In the intervening three decades, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor emeritus Theodore Postol has been one of the most consistent critics of missile defense systems, compellingly arguing they routinely fail to intercept their targets and are regularly known to misfire. A stark example of this occurred on April 13 of this year, when, after bombing the Iranian consulate in Damascus and killing several senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders, Israel faced the largest combined drone and missile barrage in history as Iran and its regional allies responded.
Although Israel claimed to have intercepted “99 percent” of the ordnance, the Iron Dome system relied heavily on the support of US, French, British, Saudi, and Jordanian militaries to prevent Iranian munitions reaching their targets. Despite this, and despite Tehran’s warnings that a strike was imminent, some missiles evaded the combined Israeli air defenses and struck critical military targets such as the Nevatim air base in the Negev desert. The total cumulative cost of this seemingly impressive feat of missile defense (assuming we take Israel at its word) has been estimated at more than $1 billion for all of the interceptor munitions fired, whereas the cost of the Iranian operation was at most $80 to $100 million — one-tenth of the price.
In a related theater of the conflict, the Yemeni political and military movement Ansar Allah began launching drones and missiles at commercial ships in the Bab al-Mandeb channel, in solidarity with Gaza. Instead of addressing the Houthis’ stated objectives, the West responded with armed force. Anticipating a US-led blitzkrieg against Yemen, one of the poorest Arab countries, online hawks warned Yemenis that they were “about to find out” why Americans “don’t have universal healthcare.” After eight months of the fiercest naval combat experienced since World War II, the unintended truth of that hollow bluster is more apparent than its authors could ever have intended.
Billion-Dollar Blunders
In June, the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, a supreme example of American hard power, was withdrawn from the Red Sea waters bordering Yemen. Conflicting reports emerged as to whether Ansar Allah had in fact successfully struck and damaged the vessel or whether it had simply exhausted its interceptors against the relentless barrage of disposable Shahed drones launched by the Yemeni movement. Regardless of the exact reason, the situation demonstrated that fielding the most powerful navy in history — and potentially losing its most powerful vessel — was prohibitively more expensive, in pure monetary terms, than the cost to its opponents of attacking it.
A relatively “low-tech” drone with a sufficient payload needs only to evade a carrier’s defenses and hit its target once, whereas these dollar defense systems must be successful every time. Comparing the cost of an interceptor missile (ranging from a minimum of $2 million apiece to as much as $28 million) to that of a Shahed drone ($20,000 to $50,000), this is a losing proposition in the long run. On top of this, the presence of this overwhelming firepower has done nothing to prevent Ansar Allah from strangling maritime traffic through the Red Sea and imposing yet another supply chain crisis on the global economy.
It may even be that the current spike in tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, possibly presaging a full-scale war, was brought on by exactly the kind of technical malfunction that Professor Postol has warned of. Israel’s July 30 assassination of the lead Hezbollah commander Fu’ad Shukr, which is expected to prompt imminent retaliation from Hezbollah, was claimed by Tel Aviv to have been in response for a missile strike on July 27 that killed twelve children in Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights.
This claim overlooks the fact that the area is Israeli-occupied Syrian territory and its residents have refused Israeli citizenship along with the “sympathy” of the Benjamin Netanyahu regime. Furthermore, the narrative surrounding this “attack” quickly buried suspicions that the missile involved was an Iron Dome interceptor that veered wildly off course, striking the very territory it was supposed to be shielding. If this hypothesis proves true, then the potentially calamitous war that may result will have been triggered by an errant missile fired by a prohibitively expensive and dangerously unreliable missile defense system.
Squandering Public Supports
If all this technical wizardry isn’t meant to win wars, one wonders about its purpose. It’s reminiscent of Boeing’s plea deal with the US government to avoid legal consequences for substandard manufacturing, which at its worst, killed more than three hundred passengers in two separate crashes. The priority is to sell planes, not to make sure they stay in the air.
One of the few sectors seemingly impervious to the stock market crash at the start of this August has been the defense industry. Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and General Dynamics have all been in a sustained uptrend over the past year, spiking very conspicuously around October 7. Clearly the large-scale and repeated demonstration of their products’ ineffectiveness is no obstacle to long-term profitability.
The most notorious example of wastefulness in military spending is undoubtedly the Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jet. From the program’s inception in 2006 to the present, the F-35 was projected to cost over $1.7 trillion over its lifetime. Persistent cost overruns and development woes have angered even the Pentagon itself, which opened the program up to competitive bidding in 2012. More than a decade later, the rapid spread of drone technology has made it possible for unmanned craft, sometimes referred to as “loitering munitions,” to perform many of the tasks traditionally handled by fighter jets — with little overengineering and none of the risk to an actual pilot. That the total budget of this program could eradicate all American student loan debt or cover half the cost of a national health system only adds to the obscenity of it all.
It is well-known that the military-industrial economy is dependent on public subsidy. The technology in mobile phones, computers, and the internet — essential to modern life —was not “invented” by figures like Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates, but was instead developed by public investment. The initial funding came from decades of American taxpayer dollars.
Capitalism is not designed to be ethically consistent, but if it were, companies whose business model depends on state supports would be paying out dividends to every single American as a return on their initial investment.
In 2024, the US military budget reached an incredible $841 billion. If even a fraction of these funds were to be spent on restoring the education system to a level befitting the richest country on earth, canceling university tuition debt, or creating a national health system, it would achieve far greater benefits. While $1 trillion might not result in effective missile shields, it is very likely capable of creating a functioning health or educational system.
FILE PHOTO: Demonstrators toss a trash bin during an anti-immigration protest, in Rotherham, Britain, Aug 4, 2024. (Reuters)
White supremacist groups have seized on riots in the UK as a recruiting opportunity, using the Telegram messaging site to promote conspiracy theories and incite violence in their bid to lure new members.
Hard-line organisations previously designated by the UK as domestic terrorists are calling for an overthrow of the British government with posts that say “the revolution has started”. Some extremist Telegram users have openly discussed how to capitalise on anti-immigrant sentiment in the UK to steer Britons to radicalised communities, according to findings from Logically, a UK-based firm that tracks online disinformation.
British authorities are trying to stamp out disturbances fuelled by online instigators following the July 29 murder of three schoolgirls in the UK town of Southport. Internet trolls falsely asserted the suspected killer was a foreign asylum-seeker, prompting officials to disclose that the suspect is a teenager born in Cardiff, Wales. A large police presence on British streets and involvement from thousands of anti-racist protesters have helped curb violent demonstrations.
“Using this incident, even though rooted in false information about the attacker’s place of birth, is an easy way for them to ‘evidence’ that immigration poses a threat,” said Katherine Keneally, director of threat analysis and prevention at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a think tank that tracks extremism.
Extremists adopt such talking points to draw sympathetic people into their ecosystem, then try to radicalise those newcomers, Keneally said. Slowly introducing recruits to violent memes and racist ideas normalizes the white supremacist philosophy. Some beginners then will be willing to take real-world action, according to researchers who track terrorism.
“In highlighting the arrests of rioters, they’re also able to ‘prove’ that the government is also against white people and is producing this conspiracy to get rid of white people,” Keneally said.
Sixteen prominent Telegram channels and groups have been posting, hosting and forwarding anti-Muslim and anti-migrant content since the riots began, according to ISD. Posts on X and Telegram that included false claims and inflammatory racial content from white supremacist groups have been viewed millions of times, researchers found.
Neither X nor Telegram responded to requests for comment on Friday. A Telegram spokesperson previously said the site’s moderators are removing calls for violence.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned on Friday that social media platforms are “not a law-free zone” and that his government would be looking more broadly at regulation. One step would be to revive a key provision in the Online Safety Act giving authorities more power to enforce curbs on harmful content, Bloomberg reported.
UK authorities are investigating possible foreign involvement in the false online posts about the crime and its aftermath, Bloomberg reported. At least 13 international Telegram channels are focused on the rioting, according to Logically.
Neo-Nazi organisers urged supporters to “mask up” and appear at immigration offices throughout the country where they can “hand out balaclavas” to other rioters, Logically found. Users associated with the so-called Atomwaffen Division, a militant group split into small cells that advocate societal collapse and racial conflict, in recent days have planned disorder at locations that are popular among the Islamic community.
Other channels based in the US are also working to amplify messaging around the riots, according to Bjørn Ihler, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Revontulet, which monitors extremist activity. Groups within those Telegram channels are associated with the Terrorgram, an online network that distributes instructions on how to carry out violence against minority communities.
The British government in April declared Terrorgram a terrorist organisation, making it illegal to join or support the group, whose members have frequently praised notorious figures like Adolf Hitler online.
A coalition of so-called Active Groups is also circulating Telegram messages about the UK unrest to recruit new followers. Active Groups seek out white men looking to sharpen their mental and physical fitness. Such communities throughout the world encourage members to participate in street fights, paste racist stickers through their local neighbourhood with QR codes that direct visitors to Telegram and broadcast pictures of members holding white supremacist paraphernalia.
Researchers who study extremism say the clubs exist to bring new followers into the white supremacist ecosystem and function as a kind of standing militia in the event of violent protests or disputed elections.
Active groups
One Active Group on Telegram included the message “No More Immigration” along with a list of refugee centres that its members could target. Other Active Groups based in Canada, New York, the American Midwest and elsewhere have activated messaging about the UK riots, leaning heavily on Islamophobic posts and portraying young Muslim men as the aggressors in recent street fights.
Known members of the Terrorgram collective within the US also are amplifying UK extremists’ messaging, according to Ihler, of Revontulet. Such focused propaganda broadcasting is the result of an informal network of small militant organisations that support one another from different areas of the world, researchers said.
Neither the FBI nor the US Department of Homeland Security responded to questions about potential concerns of spillover violence into the US.
UK: Thousands join anti-racism rallies, far right stays away
Rallies were held in several UK cities, including outside the London office of Nigel Farage's Reform UK party. Britain has been rocked by several days of anti-immigration riots, fueled by misinformation.
Several hundred people rallied outside the London office of the populist Reform UK party
Tayfun Salci/ZUMA Press Wire/IMAGO
Anti-racism protests held across the United Kingdom on Saturday drew thousands of people, aimed at countering a wave of riots in several cities blamed on the far-right.
Several nights of violent disorder erupted nearly two weeks ago due to misinformation online that the suspect in a knife attack that killed three young girls in northwest England was a Muslim asylum seeker. What happened on Saturday?
Large crowds of anti-racism protesters gathered in London, Glasgow, Belfast, Manchester and numerous other UK towns and cities for the second time in a week. By the late afternoon, however, feared violent confrontations with anti-immigration agitators had failed to materialize.
In London, hundreds massed outside the office of Brexit architect Nigel Farage's Reform UK party before marching to parliament. Farage and other far-right figures have been blamed for helping to fuel the riots through anti-immigrant rhetoric.
In the northeastern English city of Newcastle, shop owners boarded up their stores ahead of a possible far-right protest on Saturday afternoon.
A small group of anti-immigration protests gathered in the city's famed Bigg Market. Police said social media posts boasting of a large crowd were false.
A much larger anti-racism demonstration was held nearby, but both rallies were cleared by police following the granting of a dispersal order. Fourteen arrests were made.
The far-right riots have been met with scores of anti-racism protests in several UK cities
Alberto Pezzali/AP/dpa/picture alliance
Antiracism rallies held in Scotland, Northern Ireland
Hundreds of anti-racism protesters gathered at rallies outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh and in Glasgow's George Square.
In Belfast, Northern Ireland, as many as 15,000 people took part in the United Against Racism rally, with many people holding placards with pro-migrant messages.
A petrol bomb was thrown at a mosque in a town east of Belfast in the early hours of Saturday, but it failed to ignite. Police said they were treating the incident as racially motivated. No spillover to football matches
The new season of the English Football League — below the high-profile Premier League — kicked off on Saturday, including in cities that have seen disorder.
UK authorities are concerned that some far-right groups have links to England's decades-old football hooligan scene. Police said forces nationwide were collaborating to ensure that "all relevant intelligence" was shared ahead of the matches.
At some grounds, crowds of supporters chanted the name of anti-Muslim agitator Tommy Robinson, who has been accused of helping to fuel the unrest through constant social media posts.
More than 80,000 fans watched Manchester City beat Manchester United on penalties in the FA Community Shield at Wembley Stadium, which passed off without disorder.
Also Saturday, several more people were arrested over their roles in earlier riots. Many others appeared in court, facing possible jail time.
A hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham, northern England, was set alight during the riots
Image: Hollie Adams/REUTERS
How the UK riots unfolded
The violence erupted after the murder of three young girls and the wounding of several others in a mass stabbing in the northwestern city of Southport on July 29.
Far-right commentators spread false information that the 17-year-old male suspect held over the knife attack was a Muslim asylum seeker. He was born in Wales.
More than a dozen places across England as well as Belfast were hit by riots over several days. Groups of thugs targeted mosques and hotels linked to immigration, as well as police, vehicles and other sites.
More than 700 people have been arrested and numerous people have been quickly jailed — some for several years — to deter further violence.
mm/rmt (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)
Thousands of anti-racism protesters demonstrate outside Reform UK headquarters
Organisers said the turnout of about 5,000 people showed the depth of support for refugees and other minority groups targeted in recent disorder
A Stand up to Racism protest in central London (Jacob Freedland/PA)
Sat, 10 Aug, 2024 - 19:04
Jacob Freedland, PA
Thousands of anti-racism protesters have gathered outside Reform UK’s headquarters with some accusing party leader Nigel Farage of spreading “dangerous rhetoric”.
Demonstrators joined Stand up to Racism’s gathering which met outside the party’s headquarters in Victoria, central London, chanting in support of refugees before marching through Whitehall and towards Trafalgar Square to listen to speeches from activists.
Organisers said the turnout of about 5,000 people showed the depth of support for refugees and other minority groups targeted in recent disorder, amid fears of further violence this weekend.
Samira Ali, who made the closing speech, told the PA news agency: “We feel like we have turned the tide. It’s a testament to our mobilisation that they failed to come out.
“They would not have been stopped if it was not for our mobilisation.”
Another speaker, Gary McFarlan, 63, told the crowd: “A few days ago, the atmosphere was very different. Lots of people were very scared, worried about coming out on to the streets, thinking, ‘Will I get a half-brick in my head? Will I get kicked in the face by a Nazi?’. We turned it around this week.”
Mr McFarlan, a journalist from Haringey, north London, made historical comparisons to emphasise the significance of Saturday’s march.
Referring to the Battle of Cable Street, he said: “We smashed them in 1936. We gave our strength in the East End of London. We smashed them in the 1970s with anti-Nazi leagues.
“We’ve had our battles since then, against the British National Party, the English Defence League – the back of which was broken 12 years ago.”
That’s why we brought the protest to his doorstep today, because we believe he has questions to answer for
Ms Ali said organisers had chosen Reform UK’s headquarters as the starting point for the demonstration because of Mr Farage’s stance on immigration.
She said: “We were protesting outside of Reform UK, against the likes of Nigel Farage and his dangerous rhetoric.Learn
“The constant rhetoric about ‘stop the boats’, about immigration being a problem, about refugees and Muslims being to blame in society. This is all rhetoric that’s been replicated on the far-right riots. That’s created the toxic atmosphere in which the far right have been able to build.
“That’s why we brought the protest to his doorstep today, because we believe he has questions to answer for.”
Ms Ali dismissed the suggestion that Saturday’s demonstration would mark the end of the counter-protest movement after rioting.
She said: “We want this movement to reach into every area, every workplace, every community. The far right is on the back foot now, but we’re going to keep pushing.”
Nigel Farage (Zac Goodwin/PA)
As protesters marched down Whitehall, a GB News reporter said his broadcast had been interrupted after a demonstrator “attacked” one of the crew.
Charlie Peters, who said he had been reporting on the “mostly peaceful” protest since it started, told PA: “As we approached Downing Street one of the protesters recognised us as GB News and people started chanting ‘GB News off our streets’.
“One man got close and started gesticulating towards the camera while we were filming and tried to stop us broadcasting. In doing so, he then attacked one of my colleagues.
“It’s a shame that journalists have to have security arrangements while broadcasting in central London.”
10 Aug: anti-racist organisation from below has turned the tide
Now let's keep up the pressure and confront all forms of racism
3,000 in Glasgow, the biggest of today’s anti-racist demonstrations
The tide has now turned sharply and unmistakably against the recent far right surge of murderous attacks.
It’s mobilisation by massive numbers of people on the streets that achieved this, not the cops and the courts.
Wednesday was the key day when tens of thousands came out even thought there was a real possibility they might be met by baying mobs of fascists determined to torch migrant centres and welfare organisations.
But Saturday’s day of unity, organised by Stand Up To Racism (SUTR), was bigger in many places. It was a sea of anti-racist unity across Britain and saw powerful turnouts in some places where before the response had been small.
There was also a very important demonstration of around 2,000 outside the headquarters of Reform UK in London, underlining Nigel Farage’s role in enabling and encouraging far right violence.
SUTR co-convenor Weyman Bennett told the crowd, “We have to build a movement of millions to throw back the fascists and the far right.”
After the rally, the crowd marched off to parliament. By the time it reached Trafalgar Square, other anti-racist demos in the capital had joined and the anti-racist crowd had swelled to 5,000.
In Hull, some 400 anti-racists defied the racist violence of the previous week and rallied in the town centre.
“It was fantastic, I can’t believe it” reports Eleanor.
“There was no sign of the far right—we filled the square with music and chanting. We chanted, ‘When immigrant rights are under attack, what do we do, unite, push back’.”
SUTR activists organised today’s protest despite being forced to run away from fascists just seven days previously.
Then hundreds of racists and fascists targeted a hotel used to house asylum seekers, throwing concrete blocks and smashing windows.
“We were overwhelmed last week and had to run. They had broken through police lines, and one police officer said to me, ‘You better go or they’ll kill you’,” said Eleanor.
But today was a different story—and was a result of dedicated organising in the face of the far right threat.
“Ahead of today, we had a planning meeting with a few other groups. So everybody was there and united. There was a rep from Hull Trades Council, who spoke about the importance of the trade unions in fighting racism.”
Hull shows it is possible to transform the scenes of racist thuggery into ones of united resistance.
Around 3,000 people joined an anti-racist rally in Glasgow, reports Raymie. It was the first mobilisation in the city since the start of the far right’s offensive in Glasgow.
Two fascists turned up but were chased away by a huge crowd and the police had to rescue them.
Refugee organisations were among the speakers, and there were banners from the Unison, PCS, EIS, Unite and other unions.
The next major event is on 7 September when the far right, backed by Tommy Robinson, have stated they will march.
Over 2,000 anti-racists turned out at the Edinburgh Parliament to show the far right they are not welcome here, reports Alan. “Speeches from, SUTR and EIS, PCS unions, Green Party, Scottish National Party and Labour among other campaigns.
“Speakers talked about defending our community if there are any threats from the far right. They spoke of how racism from the top of society is used to divide the working class.
“It was a jubilant atmosphere with chants of ‘Nazi-scum off our streets’ and ‘Refugees welcome here’.”
There were also 450 in Dundee where a few known Nazis scuttled off.
In Norwich, 500 anti-racists totally outnumbered 15 fascists. Around 300 anti-racists came out in Cambridge and 100 in Southend.
Fascists were planning to turn up to the Cedar Court Hotel in Wakefield near Leeds to attack refugees and migrants living there. Around 400 anti-racists came out in Hull where the week before fascists had driven off anti-racists
Instead, some 300 anti-racists rallied outside the hotel, and not a single member of the far right was to be seen.
“There were brilliant speakers including Sarah Woolley, bakers’ union general secretary, local NEU reps, local churches and lots of people from Love Music Hate Racism,” Andy reports.
He said it was an “amazing” atmosphere outside the hotel—and a stark contrast to last weekend when a racist mob of 300 gathered.
“We managed to get a big turnout because of the level of anger this time. People were fearful—that’s turned into anger and it motivated them.”
In the town, the Labour Party had visited mosques hoping to convince Muslim activists not to go on the streets. But despite the heavy-handed techniques by the council, the crowd outside Cedar Court was “very diverse,” said Andy.
“We haven’t had this kind of moment in West Yorkshire. It wasn’t really until Wednesday that the mood changed—but there wasn’t a fascist presence planned then. Today we got to test it out.”
Dave reports that in Shrewsbury, Saturday’s result was “SUTR 500, fascists 20. They left after about an hour and a half.”
Leicester saw 350 anti-fascists take on three Nazis, who spent most of their time talking to police. Shockat Adam MP was among the speakers at the anti-racist rally. There were more than 300 anti-racists in Oxford.
Aroundd 500 joined a SUTR unity demo in Portsmouth. Jon reports, “It took over the Guildhall Square. Last Saturday there had been over 200 far right thugs in the square and only 50 on the counter-protest.
“This week the racists managed two people.
“There was a real determination to make sure we have a good turnout for next Saturday when the far right has said it will return. Today was a big step forward for the anti-racist movement in the city.”
Over 400 anti-racists flooded the centre of Hastings to say, “Refugees are welcome here.”
It follows the 600-strong protest against the far right threat on Wednesday and a mobilisation to defend a mosque four days previously.
5,000 anti-racists in Trafalgar Square after the march from the Reform UK headquarters
“This rally bounced off the fantastic success of Wednesday night,” Simon said.
“We had speakers talking about the importance of opposing Islamophobia and defending refugees. They attacked the politicians at the top—the likes of Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman.”
Anti-racists are right to keep arguing for the biggest possible numbers on the streets to combat the far right threat.
Julia Hilton, the Green Party leader of the council, spoke at Saturday’s rally, despite arguing publicly that Wednesday’s protest shouldn’t go ahead.
SUTR activists are busy preparing for an organising meeting on Monday—and have already had to change to a bigger venue.
Over 200 people joined a rally at Chesterfield town hall jointly called by Chesterfield TUC , SUTR and Derbyshire County Unison branch.
James reports, “Powerful speeches came from a range of people including the chair of Chesterfield Muslim Association, the Chesterfield African Caribbean Community Association, Derbyshire Green Party, local Labour councillors and Derbyshire NEU union.
“Barbara from the local refugee support group spoke about how on Wednesday when rumours were circulating of a potential threat, volunteers put together a programme of practical support for people who felt unable to return to the hotel, including overnight accommodation and a meal donated by the local Asian Association. The crisis of far right violence and fascism in Britain Read More
“The rally brought together experienced campaigners amd lots of new people enthusiastic to get involved in building SUTR.”
There were huge turnouts in Manchester—up to 3,000—and 1,000 at a solidarity gathering at Finsbury Park mosque in north London. Over 350 gathered in Coventry and around 1,000 in Liverpool.
Over 2,000 anti-racists were on the streets in Newcastle. Rob reports, “The far right managed to turn out around 40-50 miserable-looking bigots. There was a large contingent of Newcastle United football fans, trade unionists and campaigning activists.”
There was a crowd of between 100 and 150 anti-racists at the Harlow, Essex, SUTR Rally—and one fascist.
In Nottingham, reports Martin, “At least 300 attended with speakers from various organisations including the refugee forum, trades council, Muslim action group, PCS union and others.
“There were no fascists in sight except a couple who were trying to get a video.
“Today we came together and showed the power of unity against fascism and racism.”
About 400 joined a rally in Birmingham, where anti-racists are preparing for next Saturday when the far right says it is coming.
There were 150 anti-racists out in Abergavenny in South Wales and 100 in Tenby, West Wales.
Around 300 anti-racists rallied in Hackney, east London. One speaker was from Hackney Migrant Centre, where anti-racists gathered on Wednesday in solidarity.
She said, “Migrants don’t feel safe. But that’s not just because of fascists—that’s because of the policies of the state.”
At least 300 people gathered in York. The open mic rally included a speech from Labour MP Rachael Maskell.
Over 600 rallied in Windrush Square in Brixton, south London, before marching on to the protest outside Reform UK.
The successes this week need to be driven home. The fascists will lick their wounds and hope to come out snarling again. Only the utmost anti-racist vigilance will keep them caged.
That’s because the bitterness in society, the squeeze on ordinary people and the racism of mainstream politics constantly give opportunities for the far right to exploit
This week must be the basis for a mass attack on state racism and Islamophobia, as well as fascist Tommy Robinson and his admirers.
Let’s use the momentum from this week to crush Nigel Farage and Reform UK.
Let’s now unite against the anti-migrant laws that mean refugees drown in the Channel, and campaign to force the Labour government to stop deportations.
Never again should a Labour MP be allowed to condemn the asylum seekers who try to come to Britain, or to demand they are driven out of the hotels where they are housed.
We need to confront the police who harass and sometimes kill black and Asian people.
And crucially, there has to be a wider class approach. The racists feed off the crisis and decomposition of politics and the anger at the rotten system that wrecks so many lives.
The anger against that system can go to the left or the right. We have to direct it leftwards.
The puny methods of the trade union leaders and Labour MPs won’t cut it in the face of a society of mass hardship and poverty, the sense of no future, war, environmental collapse and oppression.A huge anti-racist demonstration swept through Belfast on Saturday. People Before Profit assembly member Gerry Carroll said, “15,000 people flooding the streets of Belfast for the United Against Racism demo today. Belfast overwhelmingly shows we are anti-racist and anti-fascist. Solidarity to our migrant, refugee, asylum seeker, and minority communities.”
Keep up the activityTrade unionists’, MPs’ and campaigners’ unity statement against the far right. Use the statement in your workplace and your local area. Add names and see the full list of supporters here
Campaign launch on Saturday 17 August with Jeremy Corbyn, Daniel Kebede, Bimini and many others. For details go here
Sunday, August 04, 2024
WWIII
Legal complexities add to Beijing's South China Sea disputes with its neighbours
South China Morning Post Fri, Aug 2, 2024
Tensions are mounting in the South China Sea - a hotly contested and globally significant waterway that's become a flashpoint for conflict. In the third instalment of a four-part series we look at some of the claimants' legal efforts to support their case.
In recent weeks, two of the countries with competing territorial claims in the South China Sea have asked the United Nations to recognise that the outer limits of their boundaries should extend beyond 200 nautical miles (370km).
Vietnam's proposal in July to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) followed a similar submission the previous month by the Philippines. Both could bring added complexity to the tensions surrounding the disputed waterway.
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Hanoi and Manila are each seeking formal recognition that they have an extended continental shelf (ECS) into a contested part of the South China Sea which is subject to multiple claims - including from both parties, as well as Beijing.
The latest requests bring the total ECS submissions in the South China Sea to five, with the first dating back as far as 2009. None have been resolved and the outer limits outlined in the proposals frequently overlap.
Success would grant the submitting states exclusive sovereign rights to the natural resources of their continental shelves. But to complicate matters further, the CLCS will not review submissions that are embroiled in land or maritime territorial disputes.
While there is a strong possibility that the submissions may not be actively reviewed by the CLCS, Chinese experts are keeping a keen eye on the potential repercussions they could have on Beijing's claims in the waters.
According to an associate professor in Guangzhou who specialises in the South China Sea and asked to remain anonymous, the number of ECS submissions related to the waterway could continue to grow and Beijing should not overlook them.
"Staking claims to ECS is poised to deepen the intricacies of the already complex dispute. Each nation involved is keen to innovate strategies to bolster its maritime claims, with the ECS claim to emerge as a key tactic," he said.
"This approach could potentially open up a new front for verbal skirmishes among the claimant countries."
The area within 200 nautical miles of a state's coastline is generally recognised as its exclusive economic zone, with the waters beyond designated as the high seas.
However, if a state has a continental shelf that extends beyond 200 nautical miles of its coastline, the CLCS is the only viable channel to establish sovereign rights over the area.
The 21-member body, established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) includes experts on geology, geophysics and hydrography, who consider geophysical and bathymetric information presented by claimants.
However, the CLCS "is purely a scientific body, not a legal body", explained Chen Chen-ju, associate professor of National Chengchi University's College of Law in Taiwan.
"The roles of its members differ from those in courts or arbitration tribunals. Hence, the commission is not tasked with dispute settlement," she said.
The CLCS reviews the submitted material and determines whether it meets the requirements laid out in the convention, before making its recommendations - which countries can choose not to follow or make a revised submission, but that will become binding if accepted.
"Although the legal term is a 'recommendation', it comes with legally binding effect, which means that the outer limits will become a fixed boundary separating seabed areas within national jurisdictions and the international seabed areas, which are reserved for the common heritage of humanity," Chen said.
The Philippines' claims have so far been rejected by China, Vietnam and Malaysia and other states are likely to reject the Vietnamese claim, potentially stalling the progress of both submissions.
According to maritime experts, considerations of the unilateral submissions from the Philippines and Vietnam are likely to be deferred by the CLCS, which has yet to review more than 40 claims accumulated internationally since 2001.
Liu Dan, a research fellow at Shanghai Jiao Tong University's KoGuan School of Law, said that even an uncontested ECS submission usually took years to consider because "the caseload is piling up for the commission to review".
But coastal states were entitled to file submissions and it was worth doing, because of the potential benefits of obtaining maritime entitlements from a legally recognised continental shelf, she said.
"Filing a claim poses no risk to the Philippines, as the worst-case scenario is that the claim might not be considered by the commission. However, it could help attract support from other countries, helping to reinforce its footing in the South China Sea."
Chen said Manila's ECS submission could be interpreted as a continuation and practical application of its South China Sea lawfare - which culminated in a 2016 arbitration ruling in its favour, a result Beijing has not accepted.
According to Chen, "by inheriting the results of the arbitration finding and proposing that the seabed surrounding features [in the Spratly Islands] is within part of its ECS, Manila is leveraging the arbitration to further advocate its South China Sea claims".
An image provided by the Philippines' armed forces of an encounter between the Chinese coastguard and a Philippine resupply mission at the disputed Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on June 17. Photo: AP alt=An image provided by the Philippines' armed forces of an encounter between the Chinese coastguard and a Philippine resupply mission at the disputed Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on June 17. Photo: AP>
In the anonymous Guangzhou academic's view, the invocation of the ECS represents a strategic move from Manila to effectively challenge Beijing, "compelling it to stretch its resources in response".
"Such an approach of extending its continental shelf is a coordinated move together with the arbitration ruling to further cause harm to Beijing's stance," she said.
Expert opinion diverged on Hanoi's impetus for following Manila's lead and seeking recognition of its own extended continental shelf, and whether the claimants were coordinating their submissions to the CLCS.
Isaac Kardon, senior fellow for China studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that Vietnam and the Philippines might demonstrate a certain level of coordination, or at least convergence of interests in their latest actions.
"There appears to be some coordination between them, or at least shared sympathies and momentum towards making clear, legal claims that contradict and counteract China's opaque claims," he said.
The associate professor in Guangzhou contended that Vietnam's submission was likely to have been approved by President To Lam to score domestic political support by increasing his country's posture in the dispute.
China and Vietnam have competing claims in the South China Sea. Photo: Reuters alt=China and Vietnam have competing claims in the South China Sea. Photo: Reuters>
Ding Duo, deputy director of the Institute of Maritime Law and Policy at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, said Vietnam's submission was "clearly a countermeasure" to the Philippines' ECS claims.
"The Philippines' submission is notably extensive and stretches westward, encroaching significantly into the area Vietnam recognises as its 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone and continental shelf boundaries," he said.
But Ding noted that the timing was opportune for Hanoi and it had its "nuanced calculations".
"The Philippines' current maritime provocations have significantly dominated China's attention and energy. Consequently, should Vietnam lodge a similar claim now, it is less likely to become the main focus of attention," he said.
"This strategic timing means Vietnam can assert its claims without becoming a main target of China's, [as opposed to] if it were to proceed alone at a different time, which might spotlight Vietnam undesirably."
According to Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Liu, the latest ECS claims could lead to a "spillover effect", encouraging other claimant states to make similar moves.
The enduring negative impact of the 2016 arbitration case, coupled with the repercussions of such ECS claims in the region, could pose a serious threat to Beijing's claims, she said.
"[These factors] could potentially encourage other claimants to overlook China's legal assertions in the South China Sea, opting to partition and gradually encroach upon the waters through ECS claims or bilateral or multilateral boundary agreements."
Liu was referring to the 2009 maritime boundary agreement between Brunei and Malaysia, as well as the 2003 continental shelf delimitation agreement between Indonesia and Vietnam.
In late 2022, Hanoi and Jakarta also successfully finalised long-running negotiations to delineate the borders of their exclusive economic zones in the region.
Strategically, China could not afford to disregard the ECS claims, even though the possibility they would be reviewed by the CLCS might be minimal, Liu said.
"China should attach great importance to such submissions. They are essentially tests to determine its stance and resolve amid the ongoing and intense disputes in the South China Sea."
Experts noted that China had yet to publish its baselines in the broader South China Sea region, a necessary step before the breadth of a maritime territory can be measured under UNCLOS.
Beijing has only specified a set of base points in the Gulf of Tonkin, the northwestern portion of the South China Sea where Beijing and Hanoi signed a delineation agreement in 2000.
Beijing has also not clarified the legal meaning of its vast nine-dash line, which encompasses up to 90 per cent of the disputed waters, stretching about 2,000km (1,240 miles) from the Chinese mainland to within just a few hundred kilometres of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
Ding noted that baseline information was a prerequisite for the CLCS to make a determination. China's lack of defined baselines would present a legal and technical challenge when it tried to submit its own ECS claims, he said.
According to Chen, Beijing could hit a bottleneck in its narrative if it advances ECS claims in the southern part of the South China Sea. It may become difficult to reconcile such submissions with the established stance of its nine-dash line, she said.
Beijing may opt out of submitting its own ECS proposals in the Spratly Islands, avoiding the need to clarify the legal justification of the nine-dash line and preserve the flexibility of its interpretation, Chen said.
Ding said another calculation that Beijing may be making in not actively seeking the validation of an ECS lies in the fact that such submissions are not conducive to solving maritime disagreements among the claimant states.
"China's primary priority is to tackle issues of territorial sovereignty and manage conflicts effectively," he said. "Ultimately, the path to resolving the disputes will necessitate a return to the negotiation table and claimant states engaging in thorough consultations."
Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
GREEN CAPITALI$M
Pusan National University researchers explore the potential of clean energy markets as a hedging tool
Researchers investigate clean energy investments emphasizing their potential to stabilize and enhance portfolios during fluctuating market conditions
Pusan National University
image:
Researchers demonstrate that investing in clean energy assets, such as renewable energy stocks, green bonds, and clean technology indices, can help mitigate risks associated with stock market volatility. These investments are influenced by different factors than traditional assets, providing diversification and reducing overall portfolio risk.
Credit: Professor Sang Hoon Kang from Pusan National University, Korea
Climate change has significantly impacted lives worldwide and prompted governments to adopt policies promoting sustainability and use of clean energy sources. This shift to clean energy has triggered increased investments in renewable energy and technologies. Clean energy assets possess a unique advantage – they are not affected by parameters influencing their traditional stock market counterparts. However, the interactions between the clean energy and traditional stock markets are not well understood.
To fill this gap, a group of researchers led by Professor Sang Hoon Kang from Pusan National University explored the relationship between clean energy indices and major international stock markets. The researchers investigated if clean energy investments could provide stability when traditional stock markets experience turbulence. Their findings were published online on 10 July 2024 in the journal of Energy Economics.
The researchers used a method called tail quantile connectedness regression to study how different financial assets interacted, especially during extreme market conditions. This method let them examine how shocks from major stock indices like the SP500 and the FTSE100, as well as the Renewable Energy and Clean Technology Index (RECTI), affect other indices such as Japan's Nikkei225 and the Global Clean Energy Index (GCEI).
Prof. Kang explains, “Investors seek to protect their portfolios from volatility by diversifying with assets that don't follow the same trends as traditional stocks. Clean energy assets are promising for this purpose because they are influenced by different factors, such as government policies and technological advancements in renewable energy.”
The study found that financial shocks often start in major markets like the US, the EU, and the UK, and from indices such as the RECTI, then flow to markets in Japan and the GCEI. During normal and bull market (when stock prices are increasing) phases short-term effects dominated, whereas during declining or busting market states, the impacts ranged from intermediate to long-term ones. This shows that different clean energy indices play unique roles in the global financial system, affecting how information and risks are spread across markets, and highlights their resilience and lasting influence, even in challenging economic climates.
Furthermore, the study identified specific roles played by different clean energy indices in information transmission. For instance, the RECTI tends to act actively, while the Green Bond Index remains relatively isolated. The GCEI, on the other hand, tends to receive information passively.
These findings suggest that clean energy investments can act as hedges or buffers during fluctuating market conditions, promoting financial stability and resilience against economic turbulence.
Prof. Kang elaborates, “Our findings suggest that clean energy assets paired with other financial assets such as WTI and CSI300, should form a significant portion of a diversified investment portfolio to mitigate risks during different market conditions.”
He concludes with the long-term impact of their study, “Heightened awareness and better understanding of the spillover effects between these markets can drive policy decisions that support sustainable economic growth and environmental protection, ultimately fostering a more resilient global financial system.”
In summary, the expanding clean energy sector holds great potential to promote financial stability amidst fluctuating markets.
About the institute Pusan National University, located in Busan, South Korea, was founded in 1946, and is now the No. 1 national university of South Korea in research and educational competency. The multi-campus university also has other smaller campuses in Yangsan, Miryang, and Ami. The university prides itself on the principles of truth, freedom, and service, and has approximately 30,000 students, 1200 professors, and 750 faculty members. The university is composed of 14 colleges (schools) and one independent division, with 103 departments in all.
About the author Professor Sang Hoon Kang received a PhD degree from UniSA Business, University of South Australia. He is currently working for Business of School, Pusan National University. He has publications in many refereed journals, including Energy Economies, Resource Policy, Finance Research Letters, International Review of Financial Analysis, Pacific-Basin Finance Journal etc. His research interests include financial time-series analysis, energy finance, and connectedness network.
