Far-right activist blasts Speaker Phelan for being “pro-Muslim” in political mailer
The card insinuates that Phelan wants to wish his constituents a happy Ramadan instead of a merry Christmas. Muslim Texans say it’s Islamophobic and some Republicans say it doesn’t reflect Christian values.
Gaza, US universities and the reproduction of power
On the morning of December 10, I awoke to two messages. The first was from my father. He was asking me to write to the US Department of State to request the evacuation of my uncle and his family from Rafah, in southern Gaza, where they are “without any food, shelter or water and very terrified from the bombing all the time”. My aunt, my uncle’s wife, was killed by the Israelis in Gaza in 2014. Now, he and his children face the real possibility of joining her in death. The second was an email from a friend in a senior leadership role at one of the large, multilateral organisations. We attended the University of Pennsylvania together and she was dismayed by the capitulation of its current president, Liz Magill, to the right wing. But she felt, justifiably, that she was unable to speak out because of the oppressive environment at work, and in America in general. If Magill, a moderate who stood for very little, could not stand up to a clutch of rusty pitchforks, what hope was there for a woman of colour with Middle Eastern roots? Those two messages, coming so close together, neatly captured the various fronts of the war on Palestinian lives. ‘We believed what we wanted to believe’ I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006 with a BA in political science. My experience of the school was mixed. Having resources – which Penn does – is a nice thing for lots of reasons. But having money may also indicate an excessive orientation around, and to, it. Back then, securing a well-paying job after college was the main thrum of undergraduate life. The internships with consulting and banking firms were highly prized and expected to lead to rich offers from those same firms in New York or London. Things don’t appear to have changed much: Penn ranked first, ahead of Princeton, Columbia, MIT and Harvard, in the 2024 Wall Street Journal/College Pulse Salary Impact study. Or, as the headline in the WSJ frames it, the school is first among “The Top US Colleges That Make Their Graduates Richer”. Which isn’t to say that Penn was an apolitical place; the accumulation of large amounts of money cannot possibly be apolitical. I recall an early conversation with a young woman who, upon learning I was from Palestine, responded with “there’s no such thing”. Separately, I remember being raged at by another undergraduate, in the context of my student activism, “if you don’t like it here you can go home, terrorist”. While I suspect that Penn’s focus on money may have been a major contributor to Magill’s ultimate undoing – her testimony at Congress has been cited as a reason for the withdrawal of a $100m donation – that is not the full story. My experience of Penn was representative of elite America’s pinched disdain for anything which threatens its conception of itself as meritocratic, deserving of exalted status and morally beyond reproach. It’s an essentially conservative posture, one that resists growth and defies all efforts at meaningful social education. I observed that posture later in life, as a graduate student at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. There, I met some of the high-achieving minds behind President George W Bush’s catastrophe in Iraq. I remember one conversation I had with a senior State Department official who now serves as ambassador to a large country in Asia. “Hans Blix,” I said, referring to the former head of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, “told you there were no weapons of mass destruction. Why did you go to war?” He explained, disarmingly, that “we believed what we wanted to believe”. In seven words, he captured the essence of a system that insulates its people from accountability, which today partially explains why my family in Gaza are left to die along with the rest of the Palestinians there. It explains President Joe Biden’s priggishness and the egg on his National Security Advisor’s long face. Reproducing power When I first learned of the hunt for large quarry at Penn and Harvard I shrugged. I regarded the topic as a sideshow; false moralism in an alternate universe meant to distract from the ongoing atrocities in Palestine. But now I think I was probably too dismissive of what was happening, and how it related in a direct, if multifaceted, way to the Israeli genocide in Gaza. The relationship between Capitol Hill, University City, where Penn rests, expansively, Cambridge and Rafah is correctly understood through the prism of power. The main role of elite higher education institutions in America is to reproduce power and the infrastructure which attends it. If society is an organism, the university is the clonal petri dish. But in nature, nothing is reproduced perfectly; evolution is an essential feature of every biological system. And evolution within the university leads to a divergence from the staunchly guarded power structures that define our existing political order. The grotesque threshing by the right wing, on television, in newspapers and through congressional inquiries, is animated by the awareness that young, educated people invariably think differently across generations. The assault on US universities is part of a larger effort to direct and control the evolution of thought in this society. In this context, values are relative and speech is only valuable insofar as it isn’t performed and lies dormant in the realm of abstract ideas, like “freedom” or “the arc of the moral universe”. Now Magill stands, unwillingly in all likelihood, as the lamb on the altar. Collateral damage in so many words. The people who demanded her resignation may not have been able to articulate their whole reason for wanting her ouster. But they demonstrate an innate understanding of the stakes: the capacity of the organism to reproduce itself is embedded within the university, more than anywhere else. What they fail to understand, however, is that like Daniel Dennett’s theory of the mind, independent thinking arises everywhere at once. Nothing
UK billionaire Jim Ratcliffe to buy 25 percent stake in Manchester United
Ratcliffe will also provide $300m for future investment into the struggling football club’s Old Trafford stadium. INEOS Chief Executive Jim Ratcliffe has become a minority shareholder in Manchester United, buying a 25 percent stake at a price of $33 per share, says the Premier League club. Ratcliffe, the chairman of the petrochemicals giant, and United entered an agreement on Sunday under which he will acquire 25 percent of the Class B shares held by the owners, the Glazer family, and up to 25 percent of the Class A shares. Ratcliffe will also provide $300m for future investment into the club’s Old Trafford stadium. “As part of the transaction, INEOS has accepted a request by the board to be delegated responsibility for the management of the club’s football operations. This will include all aspects of the men’s and women’s football operations and academies, alongside two seats on the Manchester United PLC board and the Manchester United Football Club boards,” said a club statement. Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani was also looking to buy the club but dropped out of the bidding process, saying he would not be raising his $6bn offer, leaving the British billionaire to strike a deal with the Glazer family. Ratcliffe, 71, said he wanted to see the struggling United “back where we belong, at the very top of English, European and world football”. He said he wanted to see the struggling 20-time English champions back on top of European football and committed himself for the long term. “As a local boy and a lifelong supporter of the club, I am very pleased that we have been able to agree a deal with the Manchester United board that delegates us management responsibility of the football operations of the club,” he said. “Whilst the commercial success of the club has ensured there have always been available funds to win trophies at the highest level, this potential has not been fully unlocked in recent times. “We will bring the global knowledge, expertise and talent from the wider INEOS Sport group to help drive further improvement at the club.” Sunday’s agreement ends more than 12 months of speculation over the ownership situation and heralds a new era at a club that has fallen well behind cross-town rivals Manchester City. Ratcliffe’s INEOS also owns French Ligue 1 club Nice, Swiss Super League side FC Lausanne-Sport, and works with Racing Club Abidjan of Ivory Coast Ligue One. It is also behind the Grenadiers, one of the world’s most successful cycling teams. Adblock test (Why?)
India suspends newly-elected wrestling body after top athletes protest
The suspension comes days after a new president replaced the old head who was charged with sexually harassing wrestlers. India’s Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has suspended the newly-elected governing body of the scandal-hit wrestling federation, accusing it of ignoring rules by hastily announcing championships. The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has “been instructed to suspend all its activities until further orders”, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. Following the suspension, the ministry asked the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to create a temporary panel to govern the WFI, Indian media reports said. “Taking note of the compelling current situation arising out of the influence and control of the WFI’s former office bearers, serious concerns have arisen about the governance and integrity of the WFI,” said the letter, according to the reports. The suspension of WFI’s governing body comes days after Sanjay Singh was elected to replace his close ally Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a parliamentarian charged with sexually harassing women wrestlers. Many of India’s top wrestlers had led a noisy sit-in protest in New Delhi earlier this year, demanding Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s removal after the allegations came to light in January. The accused 66-year-old member of parliament from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) denied all charges and claimed he was the victim of a conspiracy to force him out of parliament. A criminal case against him is ongoing and could see him sentenced to five years in prison if found guilty. Wrestling is hugely popular in rural northern India, and star athletes saw a wellspring of public support. Earlier this week, top female wrestler Sakshi Malik, also one of the accusers in the case against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, addressed an emotional news conference, announcing her decision to quit the sport over Sanjay Singh’s election. On Friday, Bajrang Punia, the first Indian wrestler to win four world championship medals, announced he will return his Padma Shri – India’s fourth highest civilian award – in protest over the election. The new president defeated Anita Sheoran, who won a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and supported the campaign by athletes against his predecessor. She is also a witness in the case. The WFI election was supposed to have ended the federation’s suspension by United World Wrestling, the international governing body, but that is now unlikely with the government’s order. Sanjay Singh won the ballot on Thursday, and shortly after, he met with the former head before announcing that the national junior wrestling championships would be held before the end of the year. “The actions smack of complete arbitrariness on the part of the new president,” the statement by the Sports Ministry said, adding that the new board “appears to be in complete control of former office bearers”. Adblock test (Why?)
COVID-19 surge: Maharashtra reports 50 new cases, 9 JN.1 infections
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified the new strain as a separate “variant of interest” given its rapidly increasing spread but said that it poses a “low” global public health risk.
‘Will explore legal options if…’: WFI Chief Sanjay Singh to talk to PM Modi after suspension of wrestling body
The reaction came after the Centre instructed the Indian Olympic Association to set up an ad-hoc panel to manage the working of the Wrestling Federation of India.
Watch: Shah Rukh Khan greets fans gathered outside Mannat with folded hands post Dunki success
Shah Rukh Khan was seen waving at his fans gathered outside bungalow Mannat and folded his fans to thank them.
Ukraine picks new Christmas date in break with Russian tradition
For the first time in a century, Ukraine will celebrate the holiday on December 25 rather than January 7. Ukraine will formally mark Christmas Day on December 25 this year, in a symbolic shift away from Russia, which celebrates the holiday on January 7. It will be the first time in more than a century that Ukraine observes the date in line with the Gregorian calendar, along with most of the world’s Christians. Ukraine’s government passed legislation in July making the date change, in what was viewed as a snub to Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church, which follows the Roman-era Julian calendar for religious occasions. The law signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that Ukrainians wanted to “live their own life with their own traditions and holidays”. It allows them to “abandon the Russian heritage of imposing Christmas celebrations on January 7”, it added. Christianity is the largest religion in Ukraine, with the Russian Orthodox Church historically dominating religious life. Battle over heritage Ukraine’s date change is part of a series of moves since Russia’s invasion to dispel any traces of the Russian and Soviet empires, such as renaming streets and removing monuments. A Christmas tree stands next to the grave of a Ukrainian soldier at Lychakiv cemetery, in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv [Yuriy Dyachyshyn/AFP] The Orthodox Church of Ukraine, a newly created independent church that held its first service in 2019, has also changed its Christmas date to December 25. It formally broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church over Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine. The political rift has seen priests and even entire parishes swap from one church to another, with the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine growing fast and taking over several Russia-linked church buildings in moves supported by the government. The historically Russia-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church, meanwhile, is keeping the January 7 Christmas date. This church claims to have cut ties with Russia because of the war but many Ukrainians view this with scepticism. The country’s third Orthodox denomination, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, will also hold Christmas services on December 25. Ukraine had been under Moscow’s spiritual leadership since the 17th century at the latest. Under the Soviet Union and its profession of atheism, Christmas traditions such as trees and gifts were shifted to New Year’s Eve, which became the main holiday and still is for many families. Ukrainian Christmas traditions include a dinner on Christmas Eve with 12 meatless dishes, including a sweet grain pudding called kutya, and people decorate homes with elaborate sheaves of wheat called didukhy. In some areas, children go from house to house singing carols called kolyadky and performing nativity scenes. Children sing carols during a Christmas Eve performance in Lviv, Ukraine [Gleb Garanich/Reuters] Adblock test (Why?)
Muted Christmas as Palestinian Christians mourn for Gaza
In a traditional season of merriment, many Palestinian Christians – in Bethlehem and beyond – are gripped with helplessness, pain and worry amid Israel’s brutal war on Gaza. Some are mourning, lobbying for the war to end, scrambling to get relatives to safety or seeking comfort in the Christmas message of hope. In the occupied West Bank, Suzan Sahori, executive director of Bethlehem Fair Trade Artisans, an organisation selling crafts, will pray for peace and justice. She’s grateful she’s safe – but wonders if that could change. She’s also angry. “The joy in my heart is stolen,” she said. “I’m saying, ‘God, how are you allowing all these children to die?’ … I’m mad at God; I hope He forgives me.” In better times, she finds the Christmas spirit in the Bethlehem area unmatched: It’s in songs cascading into streets bedecked with lights, markets displaying decorations, and the enthusiasm of children, families and tourists snapping photos with towering Christmas trees. Now, it’s all quieter, sombre. Tree lighting ceremonies she attended last year have been scrapped. The heads of churches in Jerusalem have urged congregations to forgo “any unnecessarily festive activities”. They encouraged priests and the faithful to focus on Christmas’s spiritual meaning and called for “fervent prayers for a just and lasting peace for our beloved Holy Land”. More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza, launched after Hamas’s October 7 attack that left nearly 1,200 people dead and Hamas taking more than 200 others captive. Days before Christmas, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said two Christian women at a church compound in Gaza were killed by Israeli sniper fire. The Israeli military said troops were targeting Hamas fighters in the area. It said it was investigating the incident. There are 50,000 Christian Palestinians estimated to reside in the West Bank and Jerusalem, according to the US State Department’s international religious freedom report for 2022. Approximately 1,300 Christians lived in Gaza, it said. Some Christians are also citizens of Israel. Many Palestinian Christians live in diaspora communities. In Bethlehem, the Reverend Munther Isaac, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church, said tears flow during Sunday services. Many are anxious; some have packed up and left. Isaac was part of a group who travelled to Washington to advocate for a ceasefire. “A comprehensive and just peace is the only hope for Palestinians and Israelis alike,” said a letter signed by several Christian pastoral leaders in Bethlehem. Addressed to President Joe Biden, it asked him to help stop the war. The signatories said they lamented all deaths, Palestinian and Israeli. “We want a constant and comprehensive ceasefire. Enough death. Enough destruction. … This is our call and prayer this Christmas.” Israel, whose forces have faced accusations by some of using excessive force, says it aims to destroy Hamas and accuses it of endangering civilians. Israel and its US ally are also increasingly facing international alarm over the scope of deaths, destruction and displacement in Gaza. Among those killed in Gaza, more than 80 percent are civilians, according to Palestinian authorities. Isaac’s church is displaying a nativity scene where a baby Jesus figure, wrapped in a black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh, is lying in the rubble. Making the display was an emotional and spiritual experience, he said. “We see Jesus in every child that’s killed, and we see God’s identifying with us in our suffering.” Adblock test (Why?)
Iran summons Russia’s envoy again over islands dispute
This is the second time the Russian envoy to Tehran is being summoned over the same issue. Tehran, Iran – Iran has once more summoned the Russian envoy to Tehran after Moscow signed another joint statement with Arab nations calling for negotiations over three disputed islands that the United Arab Emirates claims as its own. The Russian envoy was summoned to the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to receive Tehran’s “strong protest” over the statement, the state-run IRNA news website said late on Saturday. At the Foreign Ministry, the Russian envoy was reportedly told that respect for the territorial integrity of nations is a fundamental tenet in relations between any two countries. IRNA also said the official was told the three disputed islands “forever belong to Iran” which renders any outside claims unacceptable. The islands in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, namely the Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa, have been governed by Iran since 1971 when its navy took control of them after British troops withdrew from what is today the UAE. The UAE claims them as part of its territory as well and has recently received increasing support on them from Russia and China, which Tehran also counts among its allies. Iran had summoned the Chinese envoy to Tehran over a similar joint statement with Arab nations of the region in December 2022 and had also summoned the Russian ambassador in July over an almost identical joint statement. Russia’s joint statement this week, signed during the sixth edition of the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum in Morocco, supported “peaceful solutions and initiatives aiming to resolve the conflict through bilateral negotiations or the International Court of Justice, according to international law and the UN Charter”. The Foreign Ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, had condemned it earlier this week, and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian raised the issue with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, who had led the delegation to Morocco. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov told Amirabdollahian that Russia has always respected Iran’s territorial integrity and “this official policy by Moscow must never be doubted”. Maybe Russia should talk to Japan? The joint statement also irked some Iranian lawmakers, who took to social media to try to make it clear that the issue is non-negotiable. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that increasingly warming ties with Russia are based on mutual respect and any claims that threaten Iran’s territorial integrity will be met with a “serious response”. “Russia must be careful about the West taking advantage of its mistakes,” he wrote. Ghalibaf also pointed out that Iran has not remained idle on the islands, and has been undertaking a variety of efforts to populate and develop them. He promised that the parliament would legally back efforts to develop the islands. Other lawmakers had harsher words for both Moscow and Abu Dhabi. “It looks like the language of kindness must change, at least with the UAE,” Hadi Beiginejad wrote on X. Another MP, Ebrahim Rezaei, said “if they suggest negotiations, then we also invite the Russians to negotiate with Japan over the Kuril Islands”, in reference to a dispute over four islands between Russia and Japan. [embedded content] Adblock test (Why?)