STOP #FEMICIDE

Hundreds protest against threat to close Turkish women's rights group

Hundreds took to the streets in Turkey to demonstrate against a move to close a prominent women's rights group in the country.

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
16 April, 2022

Representatives of opposition parties as well as relatives of domestic abuse victims took part in the demonstration [Getty]

Hundreds of people demonstrated on Saturday in several Turkish cities including Istanbul and Ankara against a move to close one of the country's most respected women's rights groups.

"It is not possible to stop our fight. We are not going to allow the closure of our association," the secretary-general of We Will Stop Femicide, Fidan Ataselim, told AFP.

An Istanbul prosecutor on Wednesday filed a lawsuit aimed at shutting down the association for "activity against law and morals".

We Will Stop Femicide publicises the murder and abuse of women in the mostly Muslim but officially secular state.

According to Ataselim, the lawsuit accuses the group of conducting activities that violate Turkey's "laws and morals".

The association was a vocal critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's decision last year to pull Turkey out of the Istanbul Convention, which requires countries to set up laws aimed at preventing and prosecuting violence against women.

We Will Stop Femicide says 280 women were killed in Turkey last year, many of the murders committed by family members.

Another 217 women died in suspicious circumstances, including those officially registered as suicide, the group says.

Ataselim said the lawsuit was filed based on a complaint registered by a group of Turks through a website set up by the presidency to field citizens' requests.

The complaint accused the group of "destroying the family based on the pretext of defending women's rights", Ataselim said.

The language is similar to that used by Erdogan in his decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, which Turkey signed in 2011.

Social conservatives in Turkey claim the convention promotes homosexuality and threatens traditional family values.

"Don't prosecute women, but murderers!" Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Istanbul shouted.

Representatives of opposition parties as well as relatives of domestic abuse victims took part in the demonstration.

"These women are fighters... I wanted to be there to support them," said Nihat Palandoken, the father of a young girl killed in 2017.

Arab leaders decry Israeli violence on al-Aqsa mosque

The New Arab Staff
16 April, 2022

The Palestinian foreign ministry has responded saying that international condemnation has not gone far enough

Videos emerging on social media show Israeli forces smashing windows, firing teargas inside the mosque and performing violent arrests [Getty]

Arab states have condemned Israeli violence at Al-Aqsa mosque, which left scores of Palestinians seriously injured and nearly 400 arrested after Israeli forces stormed the mosque during dawn prayers on Friday.

Libya, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and others all released statements decrying Israel's actions - while the US state department called for all "sides to exercise restraint (and) avoid provocative actions and rhetoric".

The Saudi foreign ministry statement condemned “the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque, closing of its gates, and attacking defenceless worshipers inside the mosque and in its external squares”.

“Israeli authorities must respect the right of Palestinians to practice their religious rights and to stop any practices that violate the sanctity of al-Aqsa mosque,” said the Emirati foreign ministry in their statement.

The Libyan supreme council condemned “repeated incursions and transgressions” by Israeli forces at the mosque, calling the actions “a coordinated escalation, and a blatant assault on the mosque for its unique position in the Islamic consciousness”.

Al-Aqsa mosque is the third holiest site in Islam and has been under Israeli occupation since 1967.

Israeli soldiers stormed the heart of the al-Aqsa complex on Friday morning, firing live rounds, smashing windows and performing violent arrests on men, women and children - according to videos circulating on social media.

Meanwhile, the UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres called for “the status quo at the holy sites in Jerusalem to be upheld and respected”, in a statement made by his spokesperson in New York.

The status quo at al-Aqsa mosque has been years of weekly incursions into the holy site by occupying forces and extremist Israeli settlers.

The Palestinian ministry for foreign affairs welcomed the supportive statements but spoke out saying that many did not reflect the seriousness of Israeli transgressions at al-Aqsa on Friday.

“The statements, in their entirety, did not live up to the level of the event and expectations, and did not touch on the truth or reflect on what happened but rather hid behind general rhetoric condemning an anonymous party - and calling on everyone to calm down,” said the Ministry.

“This aggression must be condemned by everyone and not covered up in general statements that provide protection for these racist behaviours…What we witnessed was violent aggression against worshipers, against Muslims and humanity,” the statement added.

Cuba condemns Israeli assault on Al-Aqsa Mosque

TEHRAN, Apr. 16 (MNA) – In continuation of the widespread condemnation of the Israeli brutal assault on Palestinian worshippers in Al-Aqsa Mosque, the foreign minister of Cuba Bruno Rodríguez strongly condemned it.

"We condemn the Israeli attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque which hosted hundreds of worshipers, including women, the elderly and children,"  Bruno Rodríguez strongly wrote in a post on his Twitter account.

The Cuban foreign minister further expressed his country's solidarity with the people of Palestine and their cause.

Dozens of Palestinians have been martyred and hundreds injured since the beginning of this holy month of Ramadan in the Israeli regime's raid on Al-Aqsa.

Russians flee Putin regime to join Ukraine refugees in Israel


People protest against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in front of the Russian embassy in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv - 

Copyright AFP/File JACK GUEZ

Delphine Matthieussent

By AFP
Published April 16, 2022

The moment Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, Russian filmmakers Anna Shishova-Bogolyubova and Dmitry Bogolyubov knew they had to leave Moscow.

“We were the next on the list,” the couple told AFP in their borrowed flat in Rehovot, a quiet Israeli city 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Tel Aviv.

Once you’re on the list of alleged “foreign agents”, you face a life of “self-censorship or, sooner or later, prison”, said Bogolyubov, who directed the German-financed 2019 documentary “Town of Glory”.

The film portrays President Vladimir Putin’s use of references related to the fight against Nazi Germany to establish his authority in Russian villages.

As its international isolation has deepened, Moscow has come to view all movies made with foreign financing with suspicion, including documentaries, and the couple said theirs was no exception.

“Over the past few years, we felt threatened. In the past few months in particular, people were spying on us and taking photographs on our film sets,” Shishova-Bogolyubova said.

The couple decided to continue working in Russia but, taking advantage of their Jewish ancestry, they obtained Israeli citizenship just in case.

Israel’s Law of Return gives the right of citizenship to anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent, a criterion that tens of thousands in both Russia and Ukraine meet.



– Opposition to war –



Since Russian troops invaded on February 24, nearly 24,000 Ukrainians have fled to Israel, some but not all taking advantage of the law, according to immigration ministry figures.

They have been joined by around 10,000 Russians, an Israeli immigration official told AFP.

“Most of those are young graduates, from the urban middle class,” the official said, asking not to be identified.

Like the Bogolyubovs, Moscow-born linguist Olga Romanova had prepared for the day when she no longer felt safe in Russia.

She applied for an Israeli passport after Putin’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

“I always thought that one day I would join my children in Israel, but it was then that I realised that things were going wrong in Russia,” the 69-year told AFP in her son’s house outside Jerusalem surrounded by photographs of her grandchildren.

When the invasion started on the morning of February 24, “it was proof that I needed to leave as quickly as possible.

“The war in Ukraine is incompatible with my way of thinking and my moral values. It makes me sick,” she said, fighting back the tears.



– New home or stopover? –



The wave of immigration from Ukraine and Russia over the past seven weeks is the largest Israel has seen since the early 1990s when the collapse of the Soviet Union prompted hundreds of thousands to seek a new life on the shores of the Mediterranean.

“Here, we feel safe and we can sleep peacefully once more,” said Shishova-Bogolyubova.

“My four-year-old daughter, who is diabetic, is completely taken care of.

“But we don’t know if we will stay — that depends on our work. Right now, we just want to live for the moment and recover from our emotions. Afterwards, we will see.”

Sergey, a violinist who asked to be referred to by a pseudonym for fear of retribution, left Moscow for Israel with his pianist wife and three young children but expects to move on.

“I don’t know if we’ll stay here. We’ll probably go somewhere else,” he said.

Even for those who qualify for citizenship, Israel can be a terra incognita for new arrivals and nostalgia for Russia is never far below the surface.

Romanova, the linguist, found space in her 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of luggage for just two books, one an academic work, the other a novel by famed Russian novelist Mikhail Bulgakov which always accompanies her on her travels.

“I lost my country. It was stolen from me. It was taken by Putin and those KGB thugs,” she said wistfully.

‘We’re Exhausted’: Palestinians Decry Israeli Raids as Collective Punishment

At least 14 Palestinians have been killed in a widespread Israeli military operation in the West Bank, launched in response to a string of attacks in Israel that killed 14 people.

Khuloud Zakarneh, the mother of 16-year-old Mohammad Zakarneh, who she says was shot and killed by Israeli forces, comforts her daughter Sedra in their home in the West Bank city of Jenin.

Credit...Samar Hazboun for The New York Times


By Raja Abdulrahim
April 16, 2022

JENIN, West Bank — Ramadan nights in this Palestinian city are normally spent staying up late watching drama and comedy series during what is peak TV season, praying or drinking coffee and smoking hookah pipes at all-night cafes.

But this year in Jenin, amid a widespread Israeli military operation throughout the occupied West Bank, residents are staying up late waiting for the next military raid in their city.

“We’re exhausted,” said Israa Awartani, 32, who works at a theater. “We start to think: ‘When will it be my turn? When will it be my son or another family member?”

For the past week, Israeli forces have carried out a widespread campaign of raids into towns and cities across the West Bank, in a response to a wave of recent Palestinian attacks inside Israel that have killed 14 people. The Israeli authorities have imposed temporary economic sanctions and arrested dozens of people.

Israel says that the stepped-up military activities are a counterterrorism effort to prevent further attacks, and that it has focused them on the hometowns and villages of the recent attackers. However, Palestinian residents and critics say the operation amounts to collective punishment and is counterproductive, as it will only further stoke the cycle of hatred and bloodshed.



Walking through the Jenin refugee camp. On April 9, Israel’s defense minister, Benny Gantz, closed border crossings between Jenin and Israel.

Credit...Samar Hazboun for The New York Times


At least 14 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of Ramadan on April 2, including 16-year-old Mohammad Zakarneh, who was shot and killed on Sunday during one of the Israeli raids in Jenin, his mother said. He was leaving work at a produce shop and was heading home to break his Ramadan fast. The Israeli military would not comment on his death.

Also killed was Ghada Sabteen, 47, a widow and mother of six who was shot in the leg as she approached soldiers at a checkpoint near Bethlehem. Palestinian authorities have called for an investigation into her killing, but the Israeli military has not commented on whether it would conduct one.

On Wednesday, Mohammad Assaf, a 34-year-old lawyer, was shot in the chest and killed during a raid in the city of Nablus, reportedly shortly after dropping his children off at school.

Israel’s military operation comes in the wake of the worst wave of violence in Israel since 2016. The latest attack, on April 7, was carried out by a 28-year-old Palestinian gunman from Jenin who opened fire outside a busy bar in Tel Aviv, killing two people and wounding 13 others. He was later shot and killed by Israeli police forces. Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, condemned the attack.

This week, Palestinian authorities also condemned Israel’s raids in the West Bank and killing of civilians, calling it collective punishment, and they urged the international community to intervene. The Palestinian foreign ministry said in a statement that it held Israel fully responsible for the repercussions of its actions.


Posters in Jenin of Palestinians killed by Israel — some of them members of Palestinian militant groups, some of them civilians.

Credit...Samar Hazboun for The New York Times


Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and controls over 60 percent of its territory. It maintains a two-tier legal system there — one for the five million stateless Palestinians and one for Israeli settlers — and restricts Palestinian movement and other rights, a system that a growing number of human rights groups and advocates have called apartheid.

The Israeli government, in response to a recent such accusation from a United Nations investigator, said that it was unfair to blame Israel for the system given the threats posed by armed Palestinian groups in the occupied territories.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Israel had gone on the offensive.

“The State of Israel will do everything necessary to overcome this terrorism. We will settle accounts with everyone who was linked, either directly or indirectly, to the attacks,” he said, adding, “We will reach anywhere necessary, at any time, in order to root out these terrorist operations.”

He said there were “no restrictions” on the country’s security forces.

For the last week, Israeli forces have raided Jenin nearly every day or night, local officials and residents said. The city, like most Palestinian urban centers in the West Bank, is governed by the Palestinian Authority, but Israeli forces still regularly carry out night raids and arrests in these areas. In January during one such raid in the village of Jiljilya, a 78-year-old Palestinian American man died while in custody.

Rather than containing the latest wave of attacks, Israel’s actions will have the opposite effect, said a Western diplomat in Ramallah. The aggressive Israeli approach risks creating a new cycle of frustration, despair and victims, said the diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive political matters.

Before leaving for work each morning, Ms. Awartani checks the latest news on local social media.

“I fear I could be going to work and suddenly come upon Israeli soldiers in the street and they could shoot me,” said the mother of three girls, twin 7-year-olds and a 3-year-old. “I could die, I could become paralyzed. Then who is going to take care of my daughters?”



Israa Awartani and her daughters tidying up their bedroom. “I fear I could be going to work and suddenly come upon Israeli soldiers in the street and they could shoot me,” she said.

Credit...Samar Hazboun for The New York Times


Ms. Awartani works in accounting at the well-known Freedom Theater, the epicenter of cultural resistance in Jenin. The theater canceled its month of programming throughout Ramadan out of respect for those killed during Israeli raids in the city and its refugee camp.

Mustafa Sheta, the theater’s manager, said he feared taking his four kids to school each morning, worried Israeli snipers might still be positioned on rooftops.

Ms. Awartani said her sister-in-law refused to go to sleep before her two university-age sons did, fearful that they would leave the house at night and be shot dead during a raid.

“We’re all afraid of losing our children,” Ms. Awartani said.

Jenin was also targeted by economic sanctions. On April 9, Israel’s defense minister, Benny Gantz, closed border crossings between Jenin and Israel, preventing tens of thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel from coming to Jenin to shop — a major pillar of the city’s economy.

Jenin’s merchants and businesspeople who have permits to enter Israel were no longer allowed to cross, and the transportation of all goods and products from Jenin was also banned. Permits that had been issued for 5,000 Jenin residents to visit relatives in Israel were also revoked.

Border crossings were reopened Saturday, but it was unclear if other restrictions would also be lifted.


Mustafa Sheta, the Freedom Theater’s manager, sitting in an empty room. The theater canceled its month of programming throughout Ramadan out of respect for those killed during Israeli raids in the city and its refugee camp.

Credit...Samar Hazboun for The New York Times


“The objective is always to increase pressure but it never works. If it worked you wouldn’t see the same cycle of violence we see annually,” said Tahani Mustafa, a West Bank analyst with the International Crisis Group. “Israel recycles the same heavy-handed response to what it sees as Palestinian provocation.”

The Recent Rise in Violence in Israel

Card 1 of 4

Confrontation at a holy site. On the first day of a rare convergence of Ramadan, Passover and Easter on April 15, clashes between the Israeli riot police and Palestinians erupted at the Aqsa Mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount — a complex in the Old City of Jerusalem that is sacred to both religions.

Escalating tensions. The clashes capped weeks of rising violence and deadly attacks in Israel and the occupied West Bank. More than 30 people have died in what is now the biggest wave of violence, outside of a full-scale war, in several years.

A deadly sequence. Before violence erupted in Jerusalem, a shooting on April 7 was the fourth lethal episode in recent weeks. The series began on March 22, when an assailant killed four people in southern Israel. Other fatal attacks occurred near Tel Aviv and in Hadera, a city in northern Israel.

Israel steps up raids. In response to the attacks, Israeli forces have carried out a widespread campaign of raids into towns and cities across the West Bank. As a result, at least 14 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of Ramadan on April 2, including a 16-year-old boy.

In the wake of last week’s attack in Tel Aviv, some Israelis said the violence had brought up memories of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, and its violent suppression by Israel, a period of unrest that lasted from 2000 to 2005 and that killed about 3,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis.

For Palestinians, too, Israel’s response is evoking memories of the intifada, which has left scars still visible in Jenin. In the part of the city that originated as a refugee camp, bullet holes pockmark the walls of many buildings. Many homes were constructed after 2002, when Israel leveled hundreds of buildings in response to a string of suicide bombings.

Everywhere along the walls are posters of those killed by Israel — some of them members of Palestinian militant groups, some of them civilians. The faces of those killed in the last week of violence have yet to be added to the camp’s walls.

The belongings and bed of Mohammad Zakarneh remained untouched in his house.

Credit...Samar Hazboun for The New York Times

On a recent morning at intersections and roundabouts, schoolchildren walked past tires stacked like pillars and dumpsters used to block roads to slow Israeli incursions. Hours after Israeli forces pulled out, one dumpster was still smoldering as children walked home.

At a jewelry shop in Jenin’s main shopping district, lights glinted off rows of gold jewelry. But there were few buyers.

With Israel banning crossings into Jenin, business owners say they have lost more than half of their customers leading into the end of Ramadan, one of the busiest shopping seasons of the year.

The jewelry shop’s owner, Abdullah Dawaseh, 60, said that just as Palestinians had survived the intifada, they would survive this.

Hours earlier, the Israeli military had raided a neighborhood less than half a mile from the commercial drag.

“When you punish an entire population, then the entire population is going to erupt,” he said, speaking from behind a counter full of diamond rings. “Just as they want to be safe when they go to the market, we, too, want to be safe when we go to the market.”

Sweden prepares for more clashes as far-right, anti-Islam rallies continue

The Danish far-right group Stram Kurs is planning to go ahead with Quran-burning plan in southern Sweden, where more clashes are expected.

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
16 April, 2022

Nine police officers were injured yesterday in clashes between demonstrators and far-right group Stram Kurs [Getty]

Police in Sweden say they are preparing for new violent clashes following riots that erupted between demonstrators and counter-protesters in the central city of Orebro on Friday ahead of an anti-Islam far-right group’s plan to burn a Quran there.

Kim Hild, spokeswoman for police in southern Sweden said that the police would not revoke permission for a planned demonstration by the Danish right-wing Stram Kurs party in the southern town of Landskrona on Saturday because the threshold for doing that is very high in Sweden, which values free speech.

The right of the protesters "to demonstrate and speak out weighs enormously heavily and it takes an incredible amount for this to be ignored," Hild told Swedish news agency TT.

Violence erupted between demonstrators and counter-protesters in the central city of Orebro on Friday (TT via AP)

Police said, however, that the rally would be moved to another undisclosed location, according to TT. Stram Kurs’ leader Rasmus Paludan was also planning a Quran burning in Landskrona, the agency said.

Hild said police were preparing for the demonstration and possible violence with extra resources "given what has happened in recent days" in the Nordic country.

Two days of riots in various Swedish cities and towns, triggered by Stram Kurs’ demonstration, culminated in the violent clashes in Orebro late Friday that left 12 police officers injured and four police vehicles set on fire.

Sweden Demonstration Violence. Picture: PA

Sweden to investigate teacher for bullying Muslim students

Video footage and photos from chaotic scenes in Orebro showed burning police cars and protesters throwing stones and other objects at police officers in riot gear.

Clashes were reported the past few days also in Stockholm and in the cities of Linkoping and Norrkoping- all locations where Stram Kurs either planned or had demonstrations.

Paludan, a Danish lawyer who also holds Swedish citizenship, set up Stram Kurs, or "Hard Line" in 2017. The website of the party, which runs on an anti-immigration and anti-Islam agenda says "Stram Kurs is the most patriotic political party in Denmark".

HINDUTVA IS NOT HINDUISM

Clashes erupt in India’s New Delhi during Hindu procession

Police stand guard in Jahangirpuri, New Delhi, on April 16, 2022, 

after clashes between members of two communities [Deepak/AFP]

Published On 16 Apr 2022

Clashes broke out during a Hindu religious procession in the Indian capital, New Delhi, on Saturday that left several people and police officers injured.

The violence erupted between Muslims and Hindus during the procession in Jahangirpuri, a suburb of New Delhi, eye witnesses said.

Police said they were still investigating the source of the disturbances.

“We are still assessing how many people are injured … some policemen have also been hurt,” said Deependra Pathak, a police official in Jahangirpuri.

The violence broke out during a procession to mark the Hindu festival of Hanuman Jayanti, police said without giving further details.

Earlier on Saturday, protesters in New Delhi shouted slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government saying Muslims had been violently targeted by authorities last week in the aftermath of Hindu-Muslim clashes in parts of three states ruled by Modi’s Hindu nationalist party.

The clashes last Sunday during a religious festival prompted police to impose a curfew in one town and ban gatherings of more than four people in parts of the states.

Local authorities tore down the homes and shops of suspected Muslim rioters in central Madhya Pradesh state in the aftermath of last weekend’s violence that broke out during the Hindu festival of Ram Navami, said a police official who did not want to be named.

In Modi’s home state, Gujarat, authorities demolished makeshift shops belonging to those they said were involved in the riots in which one man was killed.

Opposition politicians have accused Modi’s right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party of stoking tensions between majority Hindus and Muslims in states that it rules.

Leaders of 13 opposition parties issued a joint statement calling for peace and harmony after the religious clashes.

“We are extremely anguished at the manner in which issues related to food, dress, faith, festivals and language are being deliberately used by sections of the ruling establishment to polarise our society,” the leaders said.

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Protesters in New Delhi claim Muslims have been violently targeted by authorities following Hindu-Muslim clashes.

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
16 April, 2022

Protesters stood against Islamophobia in New Delhi [Getty]

Protesters in New Delhi shouted slogans against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government on Saturday, saying Muslims were violently targeted by authorities in the aftermath of Hindu-Muslim clashes.

The clashes on Sunday during a religious festival prompted police to impose a curfew in one town and ban gatherings of more than four people in parts of three states ruled by Modi's Hindu nationalist party.

Local authorities tore down the homes and shops of suspected Muslim rioters in central Madhya Pradesh state in the aftermath of the violence that broke out during the Hindu festival of Ram Navami, according to a police official who did not want to be named.

In Modi's home state, Gujarat, authorities demolished makeshift shops belonging to those they said were involved in the riots in which one man was killed, said an official in Anand district in Gujarat, where the clashes erupted.

The clashes saw Hindus and Muslims throw stones at each other, injuring at least 24 people.

Hindu extremists then attacked Muslims and burned down a mosque while police reportedly stood by.

Police and local authorities told Reuters after the clashes that they were free from bias and acting within the law.

Opposition politicians have accused Modi's right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party of stoking tensions between majority Hindus and Muslims in states that it rules.

Police in India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh on Friday arrested nine people from a hardline Hindu group suspected of torching the home of a Muslim man who married a Hindu woman. At the protest attended by scores of people in New Delhi, Kavita Krishnan, a social activist, said India was being transformed from a constitutional democracy to a Hindu supremacist state.

Leaders of 13 opposition parties made a joint statement calling for peace and harmony and after the religious clashes.

"We are extremely anguished at the manner in which issues related to food, dress, faith, festivals and language are being deliberately used by sections of the ruling establishment to polarize our society," the leaders said.

(Reuters)

(File Photo)

Apocalypse of hatred, bigotry, intolerance, untruth engulfing India: Sonia Gandhi

April 16, 2022

In India, main opposition party, Congress President, Sonia Gandhi says hatred, bigotry and intolerance are engulfing the country under Modi led BJP regime.

In an article, she said people cannot stand by and watch as peace and pluralism are sacrificed at the altar of bogus nationalism.

She also highlighted the rising chorus of hatred, the unconcealed instigation of aggression and even crimes against the minorities across India.

Sonia Gandhi said all dissent and opinion that are opposed to the ideology of those in power are sought to be ruthlessly stifled.

She said political opponents are targeted and the full might of the state machinery is unleashed against them.

She said that activists are being threatened and sought to be silenced while social media particularly is being used to propagate lies and venom.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also shared the article on twitter saying that every Indian is paying the price for the hate fuelled by BJP and RSS.

French protests in large numbers against 'extreme right' ahead of final round of elections
Protesters urge voting against candidates, massive abstention
17.04.2022


By Shweta Desai

PARIS

The French turned out in large numbers Saturday to oppose the extreme right and outgoing President Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the final round of presidential elections.

Nearly 22,000 participated in about 50 rallies, including 9,200 in Paris alone, according to a FranceInfo report, citing Interior Ministry data.

Demonstrations were held under the slogan: “Neither Le Pen, nor Macron” which is fast becoming a trend one week before the final round of the election. Protesters expressed discontent about the two finalists and called for mass abstention on April 24.

Protestors were seen holding banners that said: “All Against Macron,” “The young (expletive) on National Rally,” “Against the extreme right,” “Insecurity is hate at the Elysee,” and “Better a vote that stinks than a vote that kills.”

Police blocked metro stations in Paris to control protesters with signs and banners from joining the rallies.

Officials denied permission for the rallies in several cities with officials anticipating violence and disturbance of the public order.

The rallies were organized by trade and workers unions and civil society associations like the League of Human Rights, SOS Racism, Syndicate of the Judiciary and the National Trade Union Center (CGT).

Demonstrations emerged after the results of the first round of elections April 10 that qualified Macron and Le Pen for the final round.

There is widespread anger toward the candidates for encouraging right-wing ideology, hatred and violence.

Agitated student associations at several universities blocked campuses this week and are mobilizing campaigns to “oppose the hatred and fascism that are at the gates of the Elysee.”

Le Pen described the protests as deeply anti-democratic.

Analysts estimate if there is mass abstention in the final round it will adversely affect Macron’s chances of being re-elected and can tilt votes in Le Pen’s favor.

Currently, voting intentions for Macron are at 55% and 44% for Le Pen, according to a BFMTV poll.

Police clash with ‘Neither Macron, nor Le Pen’ protesters (VIDEOS)

About 10,000 people gathered for a political demonstration in central Paris

© AP / Christophe Ena

French police used tear gas during a brief clash with demonstrators in Paris who had taken to the streets to oppose both remaining candidates for the presidency: incumbent Emmanuel Macron and the National Rally’s Marine Le Pen.

Ahead of the second round of the election, which is scheduled for April 24, thousands of people took part in anti-fascist and anti-racist demonstrations in dozens of cities around the country, with the largest one unsurprisingly taking place in the capital. The main goal of the demonstrators was to show their opposition to Le Pen, who leftists consider a far-right politician. However, many of Le Pen’s opponents apparently do not relish the prospect of another term for Macron. In fact, one of the most popular slogans of the march was “Ni Macron, ni Le Pen” (“Neither Macron nor Le Pen”).

© AP / Christophe Ena

Though more than 30 organizations and unions took part in the demonstration, it gathered fewer than 10,000 people, according to figures provided by the Paris prefecture. This is a far cry from the size of the anti-Le Pen crowds that assembled between the two rounds of the previous presidential election in 2017.

At about 5 pm at the Place de la Republique square, law enforcement responded to protesters who were throwing projectiles and burning bicycles and waste by briefly dispersing tear gas. Soon after the incident the march resumed.

Le Pen, speaking to reporters in southern France, commented on the demonstrations against her, saying that “protesting against election results is deeply undemocratic.”

“I say to all these people just go and vote. It's as simple as that,” she said.

© AP / Christophe Ena

The ‘Neither Macron nor Le Pen’ protest was one of at least six demonstrations that took place in Paris on Saturday. There was also a separate demonstration against Macron’s policies, a march in support of Ukraine and two Yellow Vest protests: one against obligatory Covid-19 vaccinations and another one for “social, financial and climate justice.”

READ MORE: Macron to face Le Pen in F

The presidency will be decided by a runoff between incumbent President Emmanuel Macron and Le Pen, who in the first round garnered a respective 27.6% and 23.41% of the vote. Polls have so far been pointing to Macron as the likely winner when the two go head to head on April 24.

French election: Thousands protest against

far-right ahead of presidential run-off

By Euronews with AFP • Updated: 16/04/2022 - 

Demonstrators hold a banner reading: Against Le Pen, during a protest 

against far-right in Paris, Saturday, April 16, 2022. - 

 Copyright AP Photo/Christophe Ena

"Better a vote that stinks than a vote that kills". In Paris and in towns and cities across France, thousands of people protested against the far-right ahead of next weekend's presidential run-off.

Many made it clear that in saying "no to the far right" they did not support Emmanuel Macron either — but would reluctantly cast their ballots for the current president in order to keep out his far-right rival.

"Not a single vote for Marine Le Pen!" chanted people in Lille, where several hundred demonstrators turned out. Ousted left-wing candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon repeated the phrase several times in a speech to supporters last weekend.

"We are here to say no to the far right. (...) for society, freedoms but also the climate. It would be a real regression if it came to power," said Jean-François Julliard , Managing Director of Greenpeace France. He was one of several thousand people who protested in Paris.

One sign in Paris recalled: "2002 was no, 2022 is still no", a reference to the "republican front" which saw millions mobilise to re-elect Jacques Chirac and keep out the far-right former "Front National" leader Jean-Marie Le Pen who had made it to the second round.

There were similar scenes in Marseille too, the city where Emmanuel Macron held a meeting on Saturday. "We are here to block the far right", exclaimed one high school student, Medina Bayoui.

In Lyon, where the demonstrators were mostly young people, Emma, ​​a 23-year-old student, said she was taking a stand "against the trivialisation of dangerous ideas, against racism, exclusion, potential dictatorship".

Bruno, a 60-year-old teacher, came from Chambéry to Lyon to say "no to nationalism, populism, xenophobia".

Marine Le Pen, who campaigned earlier in Saint-Rémy-sur-Avre, west of Paris, criticised the protests. "Coming to demonstrate against the results of an election", she said, was "deeply anti-democratic... I think the French find it unpleasant to see their choice being challenged in the street, through demonstrations"

"Neither Le Pen nor Macron"

While the demonstrations were all against the far right, many who turned out made it clear they did not back the outgoing president either.

Sasha Halgand, an activist from SOS Racisme, regretted being faced with "a Macron / Le Pen duel which young people don't want," explaining that a vote for Macron would be tactical. "If Marine le Pen came to power, there would be fascist militias, draconian laws."

Lucile Muller, 19, a student in Paris, took issue with both candidates. "We already had the same result five years ago but we did not know Macron. Then we saw police violence, draconian laws (.. .) We would have preferred a second round between Mélenchon and Macron, with debates on ecology for example”.

In Paris, a few clashes broke out between police and around 100 people towards the end of the march.

And if in Paris a sign recalled: "2002 (Editor's note: Jean-Marie Le Pen against Jacques Chirac in the second round) it was no, 2022 is still no", recalls a sign in Paris.

Anti far-right demonstrators in Lyon, April 16, 2022Lauren Chadwick/ Euronews

Anti far-right demonstrators in Lyon, April 16, 2022Lauren Chadwick/ Euronews

Anti far-right demonstrators in Lyon, April 16, 2022Lauren Chadwick/ Euronews

Anti far-right demonstrators in Lyon, April 16, 2022Lauren Chadwick/ Euronews

Protestors walk through tear gas during a demonstration against ‘racism and fascism’ in Paris on April 16, 2022. — AFP 

Macron woos ecologically conscious French voters, slams right-wing project as ‘climatosceptique’

French president promises hosts of green measures to make France ecological economy

17.04.2022


By Shweta Desai

PARIS

Outgoing President Emmanuel Macron held a campaign rally Saturday to woo left-wing environmental voters by promising a host of green measures and castigating his far-right opponent’s political program as “climatosceptique.”

“The far-right is a climatosceptique project … it does not believe in (climate change),” Macron said of the National Front’s candidate Marine Le Pen at the rally in Marseilles.

Macron, the candidate for the Republic on the Move party, is facing widespread criticism and discontent from younger voters and students for neglecting the climate program and indulging in right-wing politics.

In the face of ongoing demonstrations that are calling for mass abstention for the final round of the presidential election on April 24 and to vote “neither for Le Pen nor for Macron,” the president is facing a steep challenge to ensure maximum votes in his favor.

Macron must attract every vote from opponents if he wants to maintain a lead against Le Pen, according to pollsters. He must particularly target left-wing voters and supporters of Jean-Luc Melenchon who came third in the first round of voting last week with 21% of votes.

The majority of those voters have intended to not vote for Macron for failing to give weight to ecological and socio-economic issues.

Macron confessed that during his first term his government did not do much and promised to act moving ahead.

“A good part of our compatriots made us hear on April 10 at the polls to put the environment at the heart of our campaign and the years to come for France,” he said, calling voters to have a “new perspective” by re-electing him to a second term.

Addressing the mostly young crowd who are worried about the future of the planet, Macron said it is a challenge to convert “eco-anxiety” into action and ambition.

He said if elected, his government will divert its attention to ecological issues. He wants to appoint ministers for energy planning to eradicate France’s use of “gas, oil and coal" and another point person for territorial ecological planning for environmental transition, and ensure the next prime minister is “directly responsible for ecological planning."

He said steps will be taken to build the French economy ecologically and move “towards carbon neutrality by 2050."

He also promised to train more than 400,000 people in ecological transition energy, industry, recycling, and repair, organize a Nature Festival and improve air quality, among other measures.

Activists block roads in Paris, London to draw attention to climate crisis

A large crowd of demonstrators calling themselves Extinction Rebellion demanded slashing of new infrastructure plans linked to fossil fuels and warned about climate change at protests in the capitals of the UK and France.

Activists of the climate change action group Extinction Rebellion block the Paris Grand Boulevard during a demonstration in Paris, on April 16 2022. (AFP)

Several hundred activists demonstrated in London and Paris in response to a call from an environmental movement named Extinction Rebellion to demand the immediate cessation of new infrastructure linked to fossil fuels and warn about the climate emergency.

The group blocked major roads in central Paris and London, disrupting traffic to protest "inaction" on climate change from world leaders.

Around 300 metres (980 feet) of the main thoroughfare in central Paris was taken over by activists over the Easter weekend, with some of them moving in hay bales and cement-filled containers to block traffic.

Extinction Rebellion tweeted "thousands" of protesters were "occupying" London's Marble Arch roundabout during a sit-in close to Hyde Park, demanding an end to the fossil fuel economy.

Demonstrators also glued themselves to a limousine in central London.

The Metropolitan Police said in a tweet that the protest caused "significant traffic disruption" and that the protesters "locked onto a stationary vehicle in the middle of the road... believed to be their own."

Activists from the group had glued themselves to a tanker earlier on Saturday, blocking the vehicle on a road near Hyde Park.

A few hundred activists from the environmental group Extinction Rebellion set up shop on April 16, 2022 morning on part of the Grands Boulevards, in the center of Paris, in order to make it "a great agora" on the climate during the Easter weekend. (AFP)

'End fossil filth'

Three activists including 2012 Olympic canoe slalom champion Etienne Stott climbed onto the tanker belonging to British energy giant Shell, unfurling a banner saying, "End fossil filth," Extinction Rebellion said.

"I am aware that my actions will cause anger to many people and I am prepared to be held accountable," Stott said.

"But our government should also be held to account for its decisions which are destroying our planet's ability to support human civilisation."

Six people were arrested, the Metropolitan Police said.

In Paris, activists hung out a large red banner that read: "This world is dying. Let's build the next one." The protest is scheduled to continue until Monday.

"Rebelling is our duty," had been daubed in graffiti on a wall nearby.

"This is the only way of ensuring that everyone talks a bit about climate change," Antoine, a young activist who declined to give his surname, told AFP.

A line of French riot police stood opposite the protesters, but officers did not intervene.

Activists from the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion (XR) block Blackfriars Bridge in London on April 15, 2022, one of a series of actions aiming to stop the fossil fuel economy. (AFP)

Anger over official policies

Extinction Rebellion has carried out a series of protests in Britain in the past week, including shutting down four of London's busiest bridges on Friday.

A scientist from the group, Emma Smart, was freed on Saturday after starting a hunger strike following her arrest earlier in the week during a protest targeting the British energy ministry, Extinction Rebellion said.

After several oil depots were targeted by the campaign group Just Stop Oil in recent days, many companies including ExxonMobil successfully took out injunctions to stop such actions, the government in London said.

The British government last week presented a new energy security strategy after the war in Ukraine and soaring inflation, with a greater focus on nuclear power and renewable energy, but also oil from the North Sea.

The strategy has angered many activists who believe the government is not doing enough to move away from fossil fuels.

Many French environmentalists have been left despondent after the first round of presidential elections last weekend in which Greens candidate Yannick Jadot and hard-left ecologist Jean-Luc Melenchon were eliminated.

A second-round run-off will be held next Sunday between centrist President Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen

.

City of London police speak with activists from the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion (XR) as they block Blackfriars Bridge in London on April 15, 2022, one of a series of actions aiming to stop the fossil fuel economy. (AFP)

AUSTRALIA
Fears second Darwin port and industrial hub could have ‘significant adverse impacts’ on health


Proposed $1.5bn development announced by Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce may threaten air, soil and water quality, NT environment report says

Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce with country Liberal candidates Jacinta Price (right) and Damien Ryan announcing the second port for Darwin. Photograph: Aaron Bunch/AAP

Australian Associated Press

Sun 17 Apr 2022 

A new Darwin port industrial hub spruiked by the deputy prime minister could have severe impacts on human health, a Northern Territory government environmental report says.

Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce on Tuesday announced $1.5bn to transform Middle Arm peninsula into a world-leading gas, hydrogen and minerals processing and export precinct.

The proposed NT-led development also includes a petrochemicals plant for plastic, pesticide and fertiliser production.

The nationally-significant infrastructure project is set to create 20,000 jobs and turbocharge the regional economy, the NT government says.
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But an NT risk assessment released the same day says the hub could have “significant adverse impacts” on community health.


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The report also found air quality in the area may be significantly affected.

The Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct is about 3km south-west of Palmerston and 13km south-east of Darwin, which have a combined population of about 160,000.

Soil and water quality could also suffer if erosion, leaks, discharge of wastewater or spills of hazardous materials occur.

Threatened species and sensitive vegetation may be adversely affected when the site, which is about the size of 750 AFL ovals, is cleared.

The potential threats were identified in a risk assessment the NT government was required to submit under the environmental approvals process.

It also flagged potential damage to the seabed and marine ecosystems during dredging, infrastructure construction and shipping operations.

The slated development would also likely stop the NT achieving its greenhouse gas emissions targets.

Indigenous sacred sites could be affected during dredging, land clearing, shipping and industrial operations, the report found.

Darwin’s existing port was controversially leased to Chinese company Landbridge for 99 years by the territory government in 2015.

Joyce says the new project is vital for Australia’s strategic interests amid growing geopolitical tensions and will help develop Darwin into a gateway to the wealth of south-east Asia.

The taxpayer funds have been earmarked to help build port infrastructure, including a wharf and offloading facility.

Joyce says it’s likely to lead to more than $16bn in private sector investment.

The investment promise also includes $440m to build logistics hubs at Alice Springs, Katherine and Tennant Creek, and $200m to develop a rail spur and new road network.

Environment minister Sussan Ley says ongoing assessment will enable the commonwealth and NT governments to identify environmentally significant areas and reduce impacts.


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“The Morrison government is committed to assessment and approval processes that protect the environment without creating unnecessary duplication and delay that can cost our economy millions of dollars and jobs,” she said.

Local activist group, Environment Centre NT, says the project is not sustainable and Territorians don’t want toxic industries on their doorstep.

“It is outrageous that this plan is being called ‘sustainable development’ when it is really about Morrison government funding for the fossil fuel industry, that’s leading us to hotter temperatures and more extreme weather events,” campaign manager Jason Fowler said.

He said industrialisation in Middle Arm is also likely to lead to loss of mangroves and species, such as turtles, dugongs and dolphins.

The Middle Arm peninsula is already home to a liquefied natural gas hub, where the Santos-led Darwin LNG and INPEX-led Ichthys LNG onshore processing facilities operate.