‘No safe place’: Jenin’s Freedom Theatre raided, daubed with Star of David
The Freedom Theatre in Jenin, a popular symbol of peace and hope in the occupied West Bank, has been raided, vandalised and painted with Israeli religious and political symbols. In a film screening room inside the theatre, the Star of David has been daubed on the wall with spray paint while graffiti also depicting the Star of David and a menorah (a Hanukkah candle holder) has been scrawled on the outside wall. The Israeli military raid on the theatre took place on the night of December 12 and the early hours of December 13. Its two directors were arrested that night and the next morning. One of them, Ahmed Tobasi, was released after 14 hours, but the other, Mostafa Sheta, remains in detention. He is believed to have been taken to the Megiddo military prison in northern Israel, Tobasi said. Inside the cinema screening room at the Freedom Theatre, a Star of David has been spray-painted onto the screen and wall [Courtesy of Freedom Theatre] This is not the first time the community landmark has come under attack. The theatre has stood as a symbol of hope for residents of Jenin ever since it was first founded as the Stone Theatre in 1987 after the first Intifada by Arna Mer-Khamis, an Israeli peace activist who died in 1995. Mer-Khamis was a lifelong supporter of the rights of Palestinians, especially children. With her theatre, she hoped to offer children a space for healing and to empower women through the theatre and arts. The first building housing the theatre was destroyed in 2002 by Israeli forces during the second Intifada. In 2006, Juliano Mer-Khamis, Arna’s son by her Palestinian Christian husband, Saliba Khamis, reopened the theatre on a new site in Jenin, and it doubled as a community centre. Not everyone was a fan, however. In 2009, an unidentified person threw two Molotov cocktails at the theatre while it was empty. Juliano was shot dead by a masked attacker in Jenin in 2011 at the age of 52. His killing was never solved. One of the ransacked offices of the Freedom Theatre in Jenin [Courtesy of Freedom Theatre] Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza on October 7, tensions have mounted in the West Bank with regular and often brutal raids carried out by Israeli forces and strict curfews placed on Palestinian residents. Armed settlers and soldiers have blocked roads with trenches and frequently fired shots at anyone stepping outside their homes. About 58 Palestinians, including children, have been killed during 15 military incursions on the camp and the city. ‘No questions – they just took me’ During all this, the Freedom Theatre kept going – until Tuesday night last week. It particularly offered a space for children to heal from trauma through activities led by the theatre’s workers. The theatre raid was part of a military operation in Jenin by Israeli forces that began on December 12 and lasted for three days. During that time, 500 Palestinians were arrested and 100 continue to be detained, said Tobasi, who himself was held in poor conditions. Furniture in offices at the Freedom Theatre was overturned during the raid [Courtesy of Freedom Theatre] “How can we continue existing this way?” Tobasi, 39, asked. It was not the first time he had been detained. He spent four years in Israeli prisons after he was captured during a 2002 siege of Jenin. Born and raised in the Jenin refugee camp, Tobasi has been coming to the theatre since he was a child. He was part of the first group of children who participated in the Stone Theatre’s activities. Last Wednesday about 11am, however, Israeli forces broke down the front door of his home in Jenin and arrested him along with his brother. He told Al Jazeera how he was handcuffed and blindfolded before soldiers kicked him in the head and stomach. He was then taken to the Al-Jalama checkpoint, north of Jenin, where he was held in the cold, rain and mud for about 14 hours before being released. Mostafa Sheta, 43, one of the directors of the Freedom Theatre, was arrested after the raid on the theatre. He is still missing and is believed to have been taken to the Megiddo military prison in northern Israel [Mauricio Morales/Al Jazeera] “They did not tell me why they were there,” he said. “They did not tell me if I was wanted for any crime. No questions asked. They just took me.” Tobasi had recently returned to the occupied West Bank from France, where he was on tour with a theatre company. His family sent him photos and videos of the continuous raids that began after the start of the war on Gaza on October 7 and, he said, he felt the urge to come back to his people and his theatre. Since he was released, he had had no news about Sheta, 43, until he spoke to another friend from the theatre, Ismael Hussam Ibrahim, who was arrested on December 12 and released on December 13. Ibrahim said Israeli soldiers forced their way into his home, handcuffed and blindfolded him, and seized his laptop. One of the soldiers asked him about the whereabouts of Tobasi, but he said nothing. Ibrahim, 25, said he was taken to another location where he was able to raise his blindfold, and he saw Sheta, also blindfolded and handcuffed, sitting in the cold and mud close to him. “They took pictures with me. I felt humiliated,” he told Al Jazeera. Another of the ransacked rooms inside the Freedom Theatre [Courtesy of Freedom Theatre] No safe space The raid and ransacking of the Jenin Theatre have come as a huge blow to the community and the people who work there who viewed it as a safe place. One of them is Ranin Odeh, 32, the child and youth programme coordinator, who leads activities for traumatised children at the theatre “I’m not well,” she told Al Jazeera. “The occupying army stormed the
France passes tough immigration bill amid Macron party rebellion
The new legislation includes amendments on residency and citizenship that won the approval of the far right. The French parliament has passed by a wide margin an immigration bill backed by President Emmanuel Macron after a rebellion within his party over the toughened-up legislation that had secured the endorsement of the far right. The bill had been significantly toughened since it was first introduced, with some on the left of Macron’s ruling Renaissance party accusing his government of caving in to Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) in an attempt to secure support. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, an ambitious 41-year-old who has spearheaded the legislation, expressed relief that the votes of his coalition and conservatives were enough to get the bill through parliament. Some 349 members voted in favour with 186 against. The upper house had passed the legislation already. “Today, strict measures are necessary,” Darmanin said afterwards. “It’s not by holding your nose in central Paris that you can fix the problems of the French in the rest of the country.” An earlier version of the bill was voted down without even being debated in the National Assembly, in a major blow to Macron. Pressure from the right saw the government agree to water down regulations on residency permits while delaying migrants’ access to welfare benefits – including for children and housing – by several years. The amendments also introduce migration quotas, make it harder for migrants’ children to become French, and say that dual nationals sentenced for serious crimes against the police could be stripped of their French nationality. Le Pen had said the RN would endorse the amended legislation – prompting embarrassment among more left-wing members of Macron’s party who find it unpalatable to vote in unison with the far right. In the end, 20 members of Renaissance voted against the bill, 17 abstained and 131 voted in favour. After the vote, Le Pen claimed an “ideological victory”. The French have long prided themselves on having one of the most generous welfare systems in the world, granting payments even to foreign residents, helping them pay rent or care for their children with means-tested monthly contributions of up to a few hundred euros. The far right and, more recently, conservatives, have argued these should be reserved for French people only. Macron had made the migration bill a key plank of his second mandate and might have had to shelve it without the compromise. Dozens of NGOs condemned the legislation ahead of the vote. It is “the most regressive bill of the past 40 years for the rights and living conditions of foreigners, including those who have long been in France”, about 50 groups, including the French Human Rights League, said in a joint statement. “With this text directly inspired by RN pamphlets against immigration, we are facing a shift in the history of the republic and its fundamental values,” said French Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel. Adblock test (Why?)
Democracy strangulated by govt: Sonia Gandhi on suspension of MPs
Congress MPs held a protest against the suspension of opposition members outside Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in the Parliament complex.
Critics slam Colorado Supreme Court for removing Trump from state’s 2024 ballot: ‘A mockery’
Republicans and other allies of former President Donald Trump are slamming the Colorado Supreme Court for removing him from the state’s 2024 ballot. The divided court declared that Trump was ineligible for the White House under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause and removed him from the state’s presidential primary ballot, setting up a likely showdown in the nation’s highest court to decide whether the front-runner for the GOP nomination can remain in the race. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who ran against Trump in the 2016 presidential election, called the ruling “garbage,” and predicted it would be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said the United States had effectively relinquished its role of promoting democracy abroad. Trump’s youngest son, Eric Trump, said the Court’s decision would add five percentage points to his father’s “already runaway polls.” Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina likewise predicted the ruling would only make Trump stronger in the polls. Republican Party Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the Court’s decision amounted to “election interference.” “This irresponsible ruling will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and our legal team looks forward to helping fight for a victory,” McDaniel tweeted. “The Republican nominee will be decided by Republican voters, not a partisan state court.” ‘BIDENOMICS’ MESSAGING LEAVES MAJOR DEMOCRATIC DONOR CONFUSED: ‘WHAT THE F—’ DOES THAT MEAN?’ GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas called on the U.S. Supreme Court to “set this right,” saying that only “American citizens have the right to vote for whoever they want. That’s democracy.” Actor James Woods argued that Trump has yet to be found guilty of any crime, much less “convicted of insurrection.” GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said the Court’s decision had made “a mockery of our political system.” He vowed to introduce a bill that would “stop this nonsense and ensure any constitutional challenges go to the sole place they belong: the U.S. Supreme Court.” Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican contender in the 2024 presidential election, called the decision “un-American, unconstitutional, and unprecedented.” After the decision, he vowed to withdraw his name from the Colorado primary ballot unless Trump was reinstated. The Colorado Republican Party said that wouldn’t be necessary because “we will withdraw from the Primary as a Party and convert to a pure caucus system if this is allowed to stand.” Fellow GOP contender in the 2024 race, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, called out the Left for invoking Democracy “to justify its use of power, even if it means abusing power to remove a candidate from the ballot based on spurious legal grounds. SCOTUS should reverse.” Former Democratic Congresswoman and 2020 presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard said that Democratic leaders “have completely lost faith in democracy.” Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich likened removing a top political rival from the ballot to “third world, country ending stuff.” Journalist Matt Taibbi called the court’s ruling a “major escalation of the lawfare phenomenon that’s zoomed from simmer to boil in the seven short years since Trump was first elected in 2016.” CONSERVATIVES LASH OUT AT TRUMP AFTER HE ATTACKS CHIP ROY, CALLS FOR HIM TO FACE PRIMARY CHALLENGE: ‘IDIOTIC’ The decision from a court whose justices were all appointed by Democratic governors marks the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate. “A majority of the court holds that Trump is disqualified from holding the office of president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,” the court wrote in its 4-3 decision. Colorado’s highest court overturned a ruling from a district court judge who found that Trump incited an insurrection for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, but said he could not be barred from the ballot because it was unclear that the provision was intended to cover the presidency. The court stayed its decision until Jan. 4, or until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the case. Colorado officials said the issue must be settled by Jan. 5, the deadline for the state to print its presidential primary ballots. “We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” wrote the court’s majority. “We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Women and children among dead in Israeli attacks in south Gaza
NewsFeed Dozens of people including women, children and a journalist have been reported killed in Israeli attacks on residential homes in Rafah in south Gaza, where Israel told people to flee to in recent weeks. Published On 20 Dec 202320 Dec 2023 Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 665
As the war enters its 665th day, these are the main developments. Here is the situation on Wednesday, December 20, 2023. Fighting Ukraine’s military said Russia launched its fifth air attack this month on the capital, with air defence systems destroying all weapons on their approach to Kyiv. “According to preliminary information, there were no casualties or destruction in the capital,” Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app. Russia’s Defence Ministry said it brought down a Ukrainian drone near the capital that led to restrictions on flights at Moscow’s main airports. No casualties were reported. Ukraine said its military was holding the line in the eastern Kharkiv region, despite being outgunned by Russian forces trying to take control of the town of Kupiansk. “The situation is complicated. We have to fight in conditions of superiority of the enemy both in weapons and in the number of personnel,” said Oleksandr Syrsky, the head of Ukraine’s ground forces. Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had repelled eight Ukrainian attacks around Kupiansk with artillery. Firefighters working at an apartment block in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine’s Donetsk after the building was hit by shelling [AFP] Politics and diplomacy Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the military had asked for the mobilisation of 500,000 more people in the fight to remove Russian forces from its territory and urged the United States and Kyiv’s other Western allies to maintain their support for his country. He said he also hoped prisoner swaps, which he said had been delayed as a result of unspecified “reasons” on the Russian side, would soon resume. The last exchange took place in early August. Russian President Vladimir Putin told defence and military chiefs that Moscow had the momentum in its war in Ukraine and was well-positioned to reach its goals, claiming that attempts to defeat it had failed. Putin also said Moscow was upgrading its nuclear arsenal and maintaining the military at its highest level of readiness. Italy’s cabinet passed a decree allowing it to supply “means, materials and equipment” to Ukraine in its fight against Russia until the end of 2024. Supplies will include not only weapons but also power generators and “everything needed to support military operations in defence of unarmed civilians”, a Defence Ministry statement said. Volker Turk, the United Nations’s human rights chief, said there were indications Russia had committed war crimes in Ukraine, including 142 cases of “summary executions” of civilians as well we enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment such as sexual violence against detainees. A court in Poland convicted 14 citizens of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine for being part of a spy ring preparing acts of sabotage on behalf of Moscow. They were given jail terms ranging from 13 months to six years. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the media the military was asking for the mobilisation of 500,000 more troops [Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo] A former Russian soldier sought asylum in the Netherlands and said he wanted to testify at the International Criminal Court (ICC) about Russian war crimes he witnessed while fighting in Ukraine. A Dutch legal source told the Reuters news agency the man had been a member of Russian-backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine since 2014 and had also worked as an instructor for the Wagner mercenary group there. Chuck Schumer, the majority leader in the US Senate, said the upper house aimed to pass an agreement to provide additional aid to Ukraine and bolster US border security as soon as it returns to Washington, DC in January after the Christmas and New Year holidays. Weapons Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister, said that since the country began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it had increased production of tanks by 5.6 times, drones by 16.8 times and artillery shells by 17.5 times. Speaking during Putin’s meeting with military chiefs, Shoigu said Russian forces had also laid 7,000sq km (2,703 square miles) of minefields in Ukraine – some of them as much as 600 metres (1,969 feet) wide – along with 1.5 million anti-tank barriers and 2,000km (1,243 miles) of anti-tank ditches. Zelenskyy said Ukraine planned to manufacture some 1 million drones next year for use on the battlefield. Ukraine and Russia use drones to scope out enemy positions, drop explosives and launch attacks on the enemy. Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu talked optimistically about Moscow’s chances of achieving its goals in Ukraine [Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP] The US charged Hossein Hatefi Ardakani, an Iranian, and Gary Lam, a Chinese national, with allegedly supplying dual-use US-manufactured microelectronics to Iran’s drone programme. “These very components have been found in use by Iran’s allies in current conflicts, including in Ukraine,” special agent Michael Krol said. Both men remain at large. The US Treasury Department, meanwhile, announced that it was imposing sanctions on a network of 10 Ardakani-linked entities as well as four individuals based in Iran, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Indonesia, for circumventing export bans to procure US components for Iranian-made attack drones. Adblock test (Why?)
Israel bombs charity building in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp
NewsFeed This is the aftermath of an Israeli air strike on the Al Salam Charitable Society building in northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, which killed and injured dozens of Palestinians. Civilians are searching under the rubble for survivors. Published On 20 Dec 202320 Dec 2023 Adblock test (Why?)
‘We don’t…’: BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on opposition camp’s PM candidate
Reacting to some leaders suggesting Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s name as the prime ministerial candidate of the INDIA bloc, which was eventually turned down by Kharge, West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said that the Bharatiya Janata Party is not interested in who is the Prime Minister from the opposition camp as it has a powerful leader like Narendra Modi in theirs.
INDIA bloc to hold nationwide protest on Dec 22 after 141 Opposition MPs suspended from Parliament
As many as 49 more opposition lawmakers were suspended from Lok Sabha on Tuesday for unruly behaviour, taking the total number of MPs suspended in both Houses of Parliament to 141.
Texas led the nation in population growth in the last year
Texas grew by nearly half a million people in the past year, accounting for nearly 30% of the 1.6 million people gained in the U.S. and driving population growth in the South.