Bats showing signs of a comeback in Nova Scotia, decade after 90% were wiped out by disease

Researchers in Nova Scotia are baffled over the number of bats they’re seeing. A decade ago, a fungus wiped out 90 per cent of the province’s bats. The disease spread across North America, killing millions of these winged mammals. But as Ross Lord explains, the bats appear to be coming back.

Margaret E. Atwood @MargaretAtwood
We bats rejoice! Bat population in Nova Scotia showing signs of recovery | CBC News www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/bat-population-in-nova-scotia-showing-signs-of-recovery-1.6077404?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar
Twitter2021-07-05 1:21 p.m.

Researchers believe Nova Scotia's bat population is recovering

It's been about 10 years since more than 90% of Nova Scotia's bat population died due to 'one of the worst wildlife diseases in modern history'

 By: Chris Stoodley

(stock photo)

Researchers believe that bats native to Nova Scotia are recovering after a fungus disease nearly killed off the entire population 10 years ago.

Prior to 2011, it was common for many people to step outdoors in Nova Scotia and encounter bats.

However, a fungus was introduced to North America causing bats across Canada and the United States to develop white-nose syndrome.

Lori Phinney, a wildlife biologist with Nova Scotia's Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute, said the disease killed more than 90 per cent of the province's bat population between 2011 and 2013. Across North America, that disease has killed millions of bats.

"It was quick, it was fast and the bat population just plummeted," she told NEWS 95.7's The Rick Howe Show. "Now, we've been doing some monitoring to check how those bats are doing."

The Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute handles the province's bat conservation website, and Phinney said there have been very few reports of bat sightings over the past decade — but that's been changing.

"Recently, with some of the places we've monitored and from the public, we think this is a really good year for bats," she said. "We're actually seeing some of the colonies we monitor ... the numbers are a lot higher. So, we think that it's a good year for bats and that the public might be seeing them more often."

In 2018, Nova Scotia's largest known bat colony had a population of around 380. This year, that number grew to around 600.

Another site had 157 bats this year, up from 58 the previous year.

Phinney said the colonies are of female bats and their pups, and they usually live in bat boxes, sheds, attics and, sometimes, trees.

While this could be evidence of the bat population recovering, it's also possible that bats in Nova Scotia are just gathering at fewer sites.

Either way, Phinney said it'll likely be a long time for the population to make a full comeback.

"This is probably one of the worst wildlife diseases in modern history," she said.

White-nose syndrome causes the bats to wake up during hibernation. Since there are no bugs for them to eat during the winter, the bats usually die.

"With bats, what's going to happen with them is we're not going to see this rebound really quickly. Although it's been about 10 years — almost — since the population dropped off, they only have one pup per year."

Nova Scotia has three main species of bats that hibernate, and they're the main species the institute is monitoring: the little brown bat, the northern myotis and the tri-coloured bat.

Phinney said bats are important to the local ecosystem because they eat a large number of insects, and they act similarly to barn and tree swallows.

Since the province's bat population is so low, Phinney said every single bat a person sees is important to saving the population.

People who do see a bat are urged to report it on the institute's bat conservation website so it can track where people are seeing bats.

At the minimum, people should report the location and time of where they saw the bat. But including information on what the bat was doing, other comments and photos can also be helpful.

ECOCIDE
Florida breaks annual manatee death record in first 6 months

FILE - In this Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, file photo, manatees crowd together near the warm-water outflows from Florida Power & Light's plant in Riviera Beach, Fla. More manatees have died already in 2021 than in any other year in Florida’s recorded history, primarily from starvation due to the loss of seagrass beds. (Greg Lovett/The Palm Beach Post via AP, File)

STUART, Fla. (AP) — More manatees have died already this year than in any other year in Florida’s recorded history, primarily from starvation due to the loss of seagrass beds, state officials said.

The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission reported that 841 manatee deaths were recorded between Jan. 1 and July 2, breaking the previous record of 830 that died in 2013 because of an outbreak of toxic red tide.

The TCPalm website reports that more than half the deaths have died in the Indian River Lagoon and its surrounding areas in Volusia, Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin counties. The overwhelming majority of deaths have been in Brevard, where 312 manatees have perished.

Some biologists believe water pollution is killing the seagrass beds in the area.

“Unprecedented manatee mortality due to starvation was documented on the Atlantic coast this past winter and spring,” Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute wrote as it announced the record Friday. “Most deaths occurred during the colder months when manatees migrated to and through the Indian River Lagoon, where the majority of seagrass has died off.”

Boat strikes are also a major cause of manatee deaths, killing at least 63 this year.

The manatee was once classified as endangered by the federal government, but it was reclassified as threatened in 2017. Environmentalists are asking that the animal again be considered endangered.

The federal government says approximately 6,300 manatees live in Florida waters, up from about 1,300 in the early 1990s.

The 11,000-Year-Old Site Where Neolithic Humans Got Absolutely Hammered


By Ross Pomeroy
June 29, 2021

Nestled near the top of a gentle sloping hill in the Southeastern Anatolia region of Turkey, surrounded by picturesque views of coarse, grassy savannah stretching into the distant horizon, rests the ruins of an ancient site dated to between 9,400 and 11,000 years ago. This is Göbekli Tepe. Though its dilapidated stones and worn-down pillars might hint at humble, solemn uses, archaeological examinations over the past decade have revealed a more convivial truth: Göbekli Tepe may have hosted some truly epic parties.

Southern Anatolia is at the northern end of the Fertile Crescent, a region in the Middle East invigorated by the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, where hunter-gatherers first settled down to farm. Göbekli Tepe was constructed sometime during this lifestyle transition, perhaps by different groups lured together through innate social desires. Exquisite carvings, decorated pillars, and animal-like figurines first suggested to researchers that this was a temple of some sort, intended for worship. Then, in 2012, archaeologists uncovered six large limestone troughs that could have each held up to 42 gallons of liquid. At the bottom of these structures were faint traces of oxalate, a compound which develops during the mashing and fermentation of cereals. To the researchers, this new evidence suggested that site's previously modest narrative needed a rewrite.

Limestone vessels likely used for brewing beer.
K. Schmidt, N. Becker, DAI

"At the dawn of the Neolithic, hunter-gatherers congregating at Göbekli Tepe created social and ideological cohesion through the carving of decorated pillars, dancing, feasting—and, almost certainly, the drinking of beer made from fermented wild crops," they wrote.

Whatever "worship" was going on at Göbekli Tepe, it was lively, to say the least.

Subsequent finds have reinforced this tale. In 2019, archaeologists examined more than 7,000 artifacts from the site. They described grinding tools that would have been used to process grains, as well as pieces of decorated stone drinking vessels. Absent from the area were any sort of storage facilities, suggesting that people didn't live at Göbekli Tepe, they just ate, drank, and partied there.

"Our findings... suggest that such feasts were held strategically in seasons favorable to the natural availability of plant food and meat between midsummer and autumn," they wrote.


Even more intriguing, the researchers found several miniature stone masks, suggesting that attendees may have masqueraded.

"We assume that the stone masks are miniature representations of real organic masks actually worn."

The festivals may have occasionally involved more 'freaky' activities, if a 2017 study is any indication. Scientists with the German Archaeological Institute detailed three modified skulls found at Göbekli Tepe.

"These skulls... attest to the special postmortem treatment of certain individuals at Göbekli Tepe. Special status of the individuals could have been emphasized through the application of decorative elements to the crania, which were then displayed at designated points around the site. At present, it is unknown whether these treatments were performed in the frame of ritual activities in the monumental buildings or were brought to the ritual center from settlement sites," they said.

Between boozy beer, tasty food, ornamented skulls, sculpted figures, incredible views, and great company, Neolithic parties at Göbekli Tepe more than 10,000 years ago must've been exciting spectacles. It may have been events like this that helped convince wide-ranging hunter-gatherer groups to settle down into more permanent villages. That way, they could party every night!

UK Labour Party reinstates controversial member accused of Islamophobia

July 7, 2021 



Nasim Ahmed
Nasimbythedocks
July 7, 2021 

The British Labour Party has become embroiled in another major race row following its decision to readmit Trevor Phillips to the party just over a year after he was suspended for alleged Islamophobia. The 67-year-old writer and broadcaster is one of the most high-profile members of the party. As the former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the head of its forerunner the Commission for Racial Equality he made a name for himself as an anti-racism campaigner. When he speaks about race, people tend to take him seriously.

According to the Guardian, Phillips was reinstated by the party "at least three weeks ago", without the matter going to a National Executive Committee disciplinary panel. "A Labour source said that the investigation into Phillips is ongoing and its procedures allow for this to happen even after a member's suspension has been lifted."

With Labour embroiled in an ongoing civil war over a number of issues, including its handling of alleged racism within the party, the decision to reinstate Phillips, who has a track record of making highly offensive comments considered by many to be Islamophobic, has fuelled anger and accusations of double standards. Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn MP is still denied the party whip in parliament over comments he had made last year following the publication of a report by the EHRC on anti-Semitism within Labour.

READ: 'The concept of Islamophobia' is anti-Semitic claims pro-Israel commentator

The report was based on a 17-month long investigation which found no evidence of anti-Semitism attributable to the former leader, or any evidence of institutional racism within the Labour Party. It has been pointed out that there is a strong case to be made that the EHRC findings were further confirmation that Labour's anti-Semitism "crisis" was fuelled by a right-wing faction in order to undermine Corbyn. This was the conclusion of an internal 851 page report by the Labour Party's Governance and Legal Unit.

As the party turned to the right under current leader Sir Keir Starmer, Corbyn's suspension triggered a civil war within Labour. Suspending Corbyn, Starmer claimed that his predecessor had "undermined" the EHRC report with his comments that the scale of anti-Semitism in the party had been "dramatically overstated". Starmer is on record saying that he "support[s] Zionism without qualification."

While Corbyn waits to have the whip restored, several Labour members are still serving suspensions for alleged anti-Semitism. Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, a senior member of Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL) is one of those suspended under questionable circumstances. Wimborne-Idrissi is also vice-chair of her local party. She and the chair, Gary Lafley, were both suspended last December for asking questions about Corbyn's suspension.

"I feel bloody uncomfortable seeing damned good comrades and friends of mine being suspended from this party for doing nothing more than trying to discuss the questions which led to Jeremy Corbyn's unjust suspension," said Wimborne-Idrissi following Starmer's move against Corbyn. "We know it was unjust because he was readmitted, and then the question of the whip being taken from him which is almost certainly unconstitutional in the party."




Trevor Phillips, member of the Labour Party in London, UK on 26 October 2010 [Empfang/Flickr]

The obvious double standard has been pointed out by senior Labour MPs. "The continuing refusal to restore the Labour whip to Jeremy Corbyn becomes even more bewildering and unjustifiable in the light of this decision," tweeted former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP, following Phillips' reinstatement.

The divisions of the past five years have resurfaced with Labour MPs questionings their party's pledge to take Islamophobia seriously.

"Anything less than a full apology before readmittance makes a mockery of the idea that Labour takes Islamophobia seriously," said the Coventry South MP Zara Sultana. She cited comments made by Phillips about Muslims which many consider to be racist and Islamophobic and led to his suspension. Muslims, he claimed, "see the world differently from the rest of us"; they are a "nation within a nation".

South African author and former politician Andrew Feinstein tweeted that, "Trevor Phillips' reinstatement despite his Islamophobic comments shows again that the Labour party has a hierarchy of racism. Many anti-racist Jews remain suspended for supposed anti-Semitism while Islamophobe readmitted. U r either antiracist or u r part of the racism problem!"

READ: Starmer's refusal to challenge a far-right conspiracy theorist was shocking

The perception of double standards is fuelled in large part because many see Labour adopting a casual attitude towards explicit bigotry and hatred against Muslims. Meanwhile, it takes a harsh approach against alleged anti-Semitism even though the latter is often conflated with legitimate criticism of the policies and practices of the state of Israel.

Phillips' comments are cited as a clear example of how it is acceptable in 21st century Britain to talk about Muslims in ways that would be wholly unacceptable about any other minority. In an article in the Sun, for example, he said that placing a Christian girl into Muslim foster care was "akin to child abuse". He is accused of peddling unfounded claims about Muslims that not only align with those made by far-right Islamophobes, but are also used by anti-Muslim groups to justify their divisive targeting of Muslims.

His reinstatement by Labour while others who have been suspended are left out in the cold risks splitting the party even more.

"We are once again in a position where we must express the deep disappointment and frustration of Muslim members and supporters across the UK," said the Labour Muslim Network in an official statement. "Trevor Phillips' case is one of the most high-profile recent examples of Islamophobia within the Labour Party and quietly readmitting him behind closed doors, without apology or acknowledgement, will only cause further anxiety and hurt amongst Muslims."

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

Marriage law vote proves that even 'left' Zionism is racism

July 10, 2021

Thousands of Israelis celebrate the country's new government, ending the 12-year reign of Premier Benjamin Netanyahu at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, Israel on June 13, 2021 [Eyad Tawil‎ / Anadolu Agency]

AsaWinstanley
July 10, 2021 

This week, Israel's Parliament the Knesset failed to pass an extension to Israel's racist marriage law.

The law bars the spouses of Palestinian citizens of Israel from receiving citizenship.

This means that Palestinians from Haifa, Acre or Jaffa are effectively banned from marrying Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza and Arabs from a series of other "enemy" states.

I say "effectively" since technically they could marry, but would then be forced to live apart since Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are banned from living inside "Israel proper" by a whole series of other racist laws.

The law does not apply to marriages of Jewish Israeli citizens to Jewish Israeli settlers in the West Bank. It is indisputably a racist law, discriminating against Arabs.

It was introduced as a supposed "emergency" law in 2003, but until now, it has been renewed annually without fail. However, what that does mean is that the Knesset must vote each year to ensure the law stays in full effect.

But what happened this week was not some sudden radical change of heart by Israeli lawmakers. It was rather a matter of opportunism by the new opposition, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, the last prime minister. The vote to extend the law failed by the narrowest possible margin, 59 to 59.

Read: Israel Knesset member calls for killing of people in mixed marriages

Netanyahu and his political allies in the opposition support the law in principle, and have voted to extend it many times in the past. They simply sought to embarrass the fragile new coalition government led by Naftali Bennett (another hard-right racist and a former Netanyahu coalition partner).

Only a tiny minority of six Knesset lawmakers voted against the law as a matter of principle. These were Palestinians from the Joint List group.

In a crude reminder of how all Zionism is racism – and not only the right-wing Zionism promoted by demagogues like Netanyahu and Bennett – even the supposedly "left-wing" Meretz party voted to extend the racist marriage law.

Meretz is part of the new coalition government led by hard-right racist Bennett, so there was an element of political opportunism to Meretz's vote in favour of the racist law. But mostly, it was ideological: Meretz is a Zionist party, so it voted for a Zionist law.

One of their lawmakers, Yair Golan, ranted against the opposition in the Knesset.

He accused Netanyahu and his ultra-right allies in the opposition (such as Kahanist party leader Itamar Ben-Gvir) of being in the "anti-Zionist, anti-nationalist camp" and of "betraying the Zionist vision."

A retired high-ranking military officer, Golan spoke in openly racist terms of the opposition supposedly wanting to "drown Israeli citizens in a sea of Palestinians." Some leftist. It was a phrase that could have just as easily come out of the mouths of Katie Hopkins or Tommy Robinson.

And it wasn't only Meretz.

Arise Israel, an activist group that had been one of the leaders of the long-running anti-Netanyahu protests, also lashed out against the opposition in racist terms. This is the consequence of Zionism: the institutionalisation of racism across an entire society on every level.

Seeing a video of opposition politician Bezalel Smotrich, another Kahanist, declaring his refusal to vote with the government on the racist marriage law, the group responded on Twitter accusing him of: "Voting against the state of Israel and against the security of the state of Israel… shame on you."

When I broke the story of Assaf Kaplan, the Israeli spy hired by the Labour Party to help run its social media "listening" campaign, Zionists were hard put to come up with a defence. That didn't stop them trying though, with one weakly describing Kaplan as an "anti-Netanyahu protester".

Irrelevant. As their behaviour in Israel this week shows, the Zionist "left" is equally as racist as the Zionist right. Israel's new President Isaac Herzog is another example of that.

The failed Israeli Labor Party leader now holds the mainly ceremonial role. He's being praised as a sensible centrist in the West.

But this is the same guy who said that Jews marrying non-Jews is an "actual plague", was formerly a spy in Israel's violent cybercrime and blackmail operation Unit 8200, and who ran an openly racist election ad in which his comrades gushed that he "understands the Arab mentality" because he has seen "the Arabs" through "the sight of a rifle".

Progressive Israel!

Read: Another Palestinian couple has been separated due to Israeli restrictions

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

Egyptians are quietly being executed

July 8, 2021

A group of people gather to stage a protest against executions in Egypt, in front of the New York Times Building, in New York, United States, on 02 March 2019 [Atılgan Özdil/Anadolu Agency]


AdnanHmidan
July 8, 2021 a


News of the execution of 25-year-old engineering student Moataz Mostafa Hassan in Egypt has passed quietly. He was found guilty of questionable charges as have the 97 other citizens who have been executed in Egypt since the 2013 coup.

A few lonely voices denounced the crime on social media. While loud voices kept supporting and applauding the oppressor.

A report issued by an independent Egyptian human rights organisation has confirmed that 68 citizens are awaiting execution after 'exhausting all forms of litigation'.

Last month, Egypt's Court of Cassation upheld death sentences issued against 12 political detainees in the case known to the media as the Rabaa sit-in dispersal, including prominent leaders of the January revolution such as Mohamed Beltagy, preacher and political activist Safwat Hegazi, scholar Abdel Rahman Al-Barr, and former minister of youth Osama Yassin, along with others.



A senior political figure of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Beltagy, is seen behind prison bars in Cairo, Egypt on 10 December 2016 [Moustafa Elshemy / Anadolu Agency]

These sentences can only be seen as retaliatory and unjust, especially in a country where sham trials are the norm, with judges receiving orders from the military over the phone. What is most painful in a world that claims to reject mass death sentences, even against murderers and rapists, is the voices that remain deadly silent when it comes to these detainees, in particular the Islamists.

The double standard with which the West treats our human rights issues and just demands is the main reason why many chose the path of extremism and adopt more fanatic views. It is responsible for tilting the balance.

READ: International call to stop political executions in Egypt

Even worse, the international community chose silence and betrayal, and only cared for Israel, allowing whoever befriends it to become the adored companion of the West and enjoy having their mistakes permanently overlooked by powerful states.

In April, Amnesty announced that there had been a 300 per cent rise in executions in Egypt and that Cairo had become the third most frequent executioner worldwide. But even this classification was not enough reason for US President Joe Biden to denounce the regime, despite his attack on his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi during his election campaign.

In this world full of injustice, the icon of the January revolution, Dr Mohamed Beltagy, the peaceful oppositionist of the coup, is tried over the blood that was spilled in Rabaa Square.

Beltagy receives a death sentence despite offering his daughter – Asmaa – as a martyr to this injustice, after an army sniper shot her in the head. Capital punishment has been issued against Beltagy, the victim, while the killer enjoys freedom and life, as the perpetrators of the mass killing in the Rabaa sit-in dispersal have not been formally interrogated to date.

No security or stability can be built on a sea of the blood of innocent citizens.

This article first appeared in Arabic in Arabi21 on 7 July 2021

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

The West Bank is under two occupations

July 10, 2021

Palestinians protest against illegal Israeli settlements in Beita district of Nablus, West Bank on July 02, 2021 [İssam Rimawi / Anadolu Agency]

Majed El-Zebdah
July 10, 2021 at 12:46 pm

The suppression of freedoms, threats and political arrests in the West Bank have increased following the assassination of political activist and parliamentary candidate Nizar Banat. Banat was killed under torture by a security force affiliated with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Area C, under Israeli occupation control. This suggests a high level of coordination between the PA and the Israeli occupation regarding silencing any voice opposing the security coordination and cooperation with the Israeli occupation.

The assassination of Banat exposed the painful reality of the West Bank, which is under two occupations. The first occupation aims to confiscate land, displace Palestinians and bury their dreams of building a state and independence. The second seeks to strengthen the police grip, seize freedoms and suppress any Palestinian voice calling for building a state of law or abolishing the security and economic dependence on the occupying power.

The PA's leadership and Fatah in Ramallah are in denial of the major changes witnessed in the Palestinian streets after the battle of Saif Al-Quds. Currently, there is overwhelming support for the Palestinian resistance and a sharp decline in the popular support of the PA and Fatah. This has been confirmed by numerous recent opinion polls, including one published by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah a few days ago. The poll showed that 53 per cent of Palestinians believe that Hamas is the movement most worthy of representing and leading the Palestinian people, compared with only 14 per cent who voted for Fatah led by Mahmoud Abbas. This shows that the PA has become a heavy burden standing in the way of Palestinian liberation from the Israeli occupation.

There has recently been a significant escalation in the following areas: Palestinian security services' attacks against the families of political detainees in Ramallah; the arrests of dozens of human rights defenders, writers and ex-prisoners; the abuse of women; torture of people in the streets; the arrests of journalists and the confiscation of their equipment; the prevention of peaceful sit-ins; the masked men roaming the streets of the West Bank in the name of Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, issuing threats against those who think of protesting against the repressive measures of the authority and requesting the occupation to support the PA in its repression demonstrations.

Read: AIPAC calls out Palestinian Authority's abuse of journalists but neglects Israel's attacks

In addition to all of the above, according to Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, there are suspicions of corruption surrounding the coronavirus vaccines deal associated with high-ranking officials of the PA, according to a leaked official document published by Quds News Network. Moreover, there was the arbitrary dismissal of Palestinians denouncing the state of repression in the West Bank. The latest of such incidents was the dismissal of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Public Library Ihab Bseiso, as well as the dismissal of the diplomat at the Palestinian Embassy in Lisbon Shahd Wadi, because they denounced the killing of Banat and refused to provide political cover for his killers. All of these acts are evidence confirming that the leadership of the PA and the Fatah movement in Ramallah have become a fascist dictatorship against their own people, and that they no longer object to collaborating with the occupation in its oppression and persecution against Palestinians to deprive them of their right of expression.

The Fatah movement and the PA's leadership have underestimated the public's anger which escalated with the assassination of political activist Banat. Rather than trying to lessen this anger by dismissing Mohammad Shtayyeh's government and bringing security services' leaders to justice for giving the direct orders that led to his murder, they called for a governmental investigation committee headed by the minister of justice of the same government. The committee lacked transparency, especially after Banat's family representatives and human rights organisations withdrew from its membership. In addition, the committee refrained from announcing its findings. Meanwhile, intelligence services pressured leaders of Fatah in Gaza to provoke protests and clashes with the security services in Gaza to draw attention away from the ongoing acts of repression and suppression of freedoms taking place in the West Bank.

Recent attacks of security authorities against those who denounced the assassination of Banat, insisting on suppressing freedoms and violating them in the Palestinian streets, are all a natural extension of Abbas's failure and his monopoly in representing Palestinians and making decisions for them. Abbas, who is the president of the PA in Ramallah, committed a number of legal violations when, in December of 2018, he dissolved the Palestinian Legislative Council and reconstituted the Supreme Judicial Council in Ramallah in early July 2019. This was a major encroachment on the judicial and legislative systems and a clear violation of the Palestinian Basic Law that stipulates the principle of separation of powers. It is as if Abbas was preparing for these days in which masses in the streets of the West Bank are rising up to demand freedom, only to find themselves facing a fully repressive regime that is not different from the occupation regime oppressing Palestinians for decades.

The PA's leadership in Ramallah and the security services may temporarily succeed in suppressing protests calling for freedom of expression and peaceful demonstrations in support of political detainees, but they will certainly not succeed in stifling the free Palestinian voice. Palestinians are no longer afraid of subjugation and persecution. They now see the repression of the security services as an extension of the occupation, and believe that they need to be freed from them as a necessary prelude to liberation from the oppression of the occupation and its occupiers.

Translated from Felesteen, 8 July, 2021.

UN: Israel demolished, seized 421 Palestinian homes since start of 2021

Report: US smuggled 2 scientists out of Iran before assassination of nuclear programme mastermind

July 12, 2021

Iranian intelligence minister Mahmoud Alavi in Tehran on February 23, 2016 [BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP via Getty Images]

July 12, 2021 at 9:45 am

The US smuggled two Iranian Defence Ministry scientists out of the country only two weeks before the assassination of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Ensaf News quoted a former security official as stating.

Ensaf News's report has reportedly prompted the Iranian authorities to threaten the news website, which is known for its ties to reformist forces, and pressure it to remove the report from the website.

The former official added that Fakhrizadeh's name was leaked to the assassins following reports about the theft of the nuclear programme official documents by the Israeli occupation.

Fakhrizadeh was the mastermind behind Iran's nuclear programme and head of the Defence Ministry's Organisation of Defence Innovation and Research. He was assassinated on 27 November of last year in the Damavand district near the capital, Tehran.

YOU MAY REMEMBER THIS ASSISSINATION WHEN IRAN CLAIMED A REMOTE CONTROLED HIGH POWERED MACHINE GUN WAS USED TO KILL THE NUCLEAR SCIENTISY

Iranian Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi indicated that one of the accomplices in the assassination was a former armed forces member who had fled Iran before the operation was carried out.

This is not the first time that Iranian scientists working on Iran's nuclear programme have been assassinated. Between 2009 and 2011, four Iranian nuclear scientists linked to the programme were also assassinated in Tehran.

The killing of Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh and how Israel and Saudi Arabia might be behind it? – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

Palestinian-American Christians urge Biden 

to reconsider Hamas policy

July 10, 2021 

US President Joe Biden seen in Washington D.C. US, on May 25, 2021 [Tasos Katopodis/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images]

July 10, 2021 at 11:47 am

A letter sent by Palestinian-American Christians has asked US President Joe Biden to reconsider his policy towards Hamas, stressing that it is not a terrorist group, but a freely-elected movement.

The letter was sent to Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken by the Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace (PCAP). It came following remarks made by Blinken in Ramallah on 25 May.

According to PCAP, at a press conference in Ramallah, Blinken acknowledged Palestinians' aspirations: "To live in freedom; to have their basic rights respected, including the right to choose their own leaders; to live in security; to have equal access to opportunity for themselves, for their children; to be treated with dignity."

The letter, written by the board of PCAP, recognises: "That more positive cooperation has been taking place between the United States and the Palestinians." PCAP called for the Biden administration to "reconsider its policy towards Hamas" and: "To support fair and transparent elections for Palestinians including Hamas and their candidates, and voters in East Jerusalem."

Replying to a question about the timing of the letter, PCAP co-chair Alex Awad stated: "During the events last month in Sheikh Jarrah, around the Damascus Gate and at the Al Aqsa Mosque, followed by Israel's bombing of Gaza, major media in the US repeatedly described Hamas as a terrorist organisation." He argued:


That single description reported over and over justifies Israel's asymmetric response to Hamas's actions in the minds of many Americans. We wanted to reach out to American officials and the American public to help them see another perspective.

Awad added: "We believe that assigning the label of 'terrorist organisation' to Hamas hides the more complicated truth that Hamas is a reflection and result of the untenable and unjust status quo in the land."


PCAP wrote that Hamas won the 2006 parliamentary elections with the support of the US president and observed by US NGOs. But when Hamas won, the letter stated: "The US backed away from its endorsement of the democratic process and halted aid to the PA."

The letter also affirmed that Hamas provides: "Most everyday functions and services for its more than two million residents. In addition, many Palestinians support Hamas because they have seen little to no benefit from Fatah rule and what they have concluded are phony peace processes."

Meanwhile, PCAP asserted: "We have to say that Hamas is responding to decades of Israel's violence and to the over fourteen years-long land, air and sea blockade that has devastated the Gaza Strip."

PCAP's letter also calls attention to a little-reported fact: "Hamas even has a number of Palestinian Christians among its representatives and constituents."

Read: Abbas meets US Congress delegation, applauded Biden's support for Palestinians

Biden Administration Vows Only to 'Condemn' Cuba Violence As Havana Accuses U.S.

BY JACK DUTTON ON 7/12/21 

WHAT VIOLENCE THE POLICE ARRESTED PROTESTERS IN SCUFFLES

THET DIDN'T WEAR ARMOR AND BEAT THEM LIKE IN PORTLAND


The United States on Monday vowed only to "condemn" violence in Cuba at the anti-government protests that have swept across the country, shortly before Havana accused Washington of "betting on" the unrest.

The communist Caribbean Island has been seeing its biggest anti-government protests in decades. Thousands marched on Havana's Malecon promenade and elsewhere on the island on Sunday to demand President Miguel Diaz-Canel step down, shouting slogans like "freedom" and "unite." There were also a smaller number of pro-government protesters that were chanting "Fidel," referring to Fidel Castro, Cuba's former long-time communist head of state.

Special forces jeeps with machines on the back were seen through the capital on Sunday night, with a heavy police presence even hours after most of the demonstrators were home after the 9 p.m. curfew.

The demonstrations take place against the backdrop of the country's raging COVID-19 epidemic and its worst economic crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union, its old ally. U.S. sanctions imposed during Donald Trump's tenure as president have further crippled the Latin American country's economy. Cubans have taken to the streets in Havana, as well as San Antonio de los Baños and Palma Soriano, to complain about food shortages and high prices amid the COVID-19 crisis. Many Cubans in Miami also were out to protest against the communist government.

In a tweet early on Monday, Jake Sullivan, U.S. national security advisor, said: "The U.S. supports freedom of expression and assembly across Cuba, and would strongly condemn any violence or targeting of peaceful protesters who are exercising their universal rights."

Cuba's Director General for U.S. Affairs Carlos de Cossio hit back on Twitter, writing: "[The] US State Department and its officials, involved to their necks in promoting social and political instability in #Cuba, should avoid expressing hypocritical concern for a situation they have been betting on. Cuba is and will continue to be a peaceful country, contrary to the US."

Other Biden administration officials showed their support for the anti-government protests. "Peaceful protests are growing in #Cuba as the Cuban people exercise their right to peaceful assembly to express concern about rising COVID cases/deaths & medicine shortages. We commend the numerous efforts of the Cuban people mobilizing donations to help neighbors in need," tweeted Julie Chung, acting assistant secretary for state for Western Hemisphere affairs, on Sunday night.

Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also applauded the rare anti-government protests, as Díaz-Canel blamed the U.S. for the unrest in a nationally televised speech.

"Florida supports the people of Cuba as they take to the streets against the tyrannical regime in Havana," DeSantis tweeted. "The Cuban dictatorship has repressed the people of Cuba for decades & is now trying to silence those who have the courage to speak out against its disastrous policies."

Earlier that afternoon, Díaz-Canel accused Washington of "provoking a social uprising" in an alleged plot to legitimize a military intervention. "We are not going to hand over the sovereignty or the independence of the people," he said. "There are many revolutionaries in this country who are willing to give our lives, we are willing to do anything, and we will be in the streets fighting."

"The order to combat has been given. Revolutionaries need to be on the streets," Díaz-Canel concluded, not making concessions to protesters.

State run media has said that Diaz-Canel will address the nation again at 9 a.m. local time on Monday.

Protesters gather in front of Versailles restaurant to show support for the people in Cuba, who took to the streets there to protest on July 11, 2021 in Miami, Florida. The United States has vowed only to “condemn” violence in Cuba at the anti-government protests that have swept across the country, shortly before Havana accused Washington of “betting on” the unrest.JOE RAEDLE

CONTRARY TO THE REACTIONARIES IN MIAMI THIS WAS NOT AN ANTI COMMUNIST ANTI GOVERNMENT DEMO IT WAS OVER SHORTAGES CAUSED BY THE RENEWED USA EMBARGO

Demonstrators in Havana protest shortages, rising prices

By ANDREA RODRIGUEZtoday

HAVANA (AP) — Thousands of Cubans marched on Havana’s Malecon promenade and elsewhere on the island Sunday to protest food shortages and high prices amid the coronavirus crisis, in one of biggest anti-government demonstrations in memory.