Normalising hate: Israel leans in to anti-Palestinian violence, rhetoric
The US-imposed ceasefire of October 10 has not stopped Israel’s regular attacks on the Gaza Strip. Nor has it threatened to hold a parliament and society that largely cheered on the war, which has been deemed genocidal by multiple international bodies, accountable for their actions. Instead, fuelled by what analysts from within Israel have described as an absolute sense of impunity, anti-Palestinian violence has intensified across the country and the occupied West Bank while much of the world continues to look away, convinced that the work of the ceasefire is done. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list In the parliament, or Knesset, a senior lawmaker and member of the governing party openly defended convicted ultranationalist Meir Kahane, long considered beyond the pale even by members of Israel’s right wing and whose Kach movement has been banned as a “terrorist organisation”. At the same time, the parliament is debating reintroducing the death penalty, as well as expanding the terms of the offences for which it might apply – both unambiguously targeting Palestinians. Under the legislation, proposed by ultranationalist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir – who himself has past “terrorism”-related convictions for his outspoken support of Kahane – anyone found guilty of killing Israelis because of “racist” motives and “with the aim of harming the State of Israel and the revival of the Jewish people in its land” would face execution. That bill passed its first reading this week. “The absence of any attempt to assert accountability from the outside, from Israel’s allies, echoes into Israel’s own Knesset,” analyst and former Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy said. “There’s no sense that Israel has done anything wrong or that anyone should be held to account.” Even Israel’s media, traditionally cheerleaders of the country’s war on Gaza, has not proven exempt from the hardening of attitudes. Legislation is already under way to close Army Radio because it had been broadcasting what Defence Minister Israel Katz described as political content that could undermine the army, as well as extend what lawmakers have referred to as the so-called “Al Jazeera law”, allowing them to shutter any foreign media perceived as a threat to Israel’s national security. Advertisement “Israel has built up this energy through two years of genocide,” Orly Noy, editor of the Hebrew-language Local Call, told Al Jazeera. “That hasn’t gone anywhere. “Just because there’s a ceasefire and the hostages are back, the racism, the supremacy and the unmasked violence didn’t just disappear. We’re seeing daily pogroms by soldiers and settlers in the West Bank. There are daily attacks on Palestinian bus drivers. It’s become dangerous to speak Arabic, not just within the ‘48, but anywhere,” she said, referring to Israel’s initial borders of 1948. ‘May your village burn’ In the West Bank, Israeli violence against Palestinians has reached unprecedented proportions. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), there were 264 attacks against Palestinians in the month the ceasefire was announced: the equivalent of eight attacks per day, the highest number since the agency first started tracking attacks in 2006. An Israeli settler gestures as he argues with a Palestinian farmer (not pictured), during olive harvesting in Silwad, near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, October 29, 2025 [Mohammed Torokman/Reuters] Israel’s interior appears no less secure from the mob. On Tuesday, a meeting at a private house in Pardes Hanna near Haifa, hosted by Ayman Odeh, a Palestinian member of the Knesset, was surrounded and attacked by a mob of right-wing protesters. As police reportedly stood nearby, Israeli protesters surrounded the house, chanting “Terrorist! Terrorist!” and singing “May your village burn” in an attempt to interrupt the meeting, which was billed as a chance to build “partnership and peace” after “two years characterised mainly by pain and hostility”. And in the Israeli Supreme Court on Monday, two of the soldiers accused of the brutal gang rape of a Palestinian prisoner at Sde Teiman prison last year were met, not by condemnation, but applause and chants of “We are all Unit 100”, referring to the military unit accused of raping the Palestinian man. “They’re not cheering rapists, they’re cheering this idea that nothing matters any more,” Ori Goldberg, a political scientist based near Tel Aviv, said. “Genocide devalues everything. Once you’ve carried out a genocide, nothing matters any more. Not the lives of those you’ve killed and, by extension, not your own. Nothing carries any consequence. Not your actions, nothing. We’ve become hollow.” Seeming to prove Goldberg’s point in the Knesset on Wednesday was Nissim Vaturi, the body’s deputy speaker and a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing Likud party. Vaturi crossed one of Israel’s few political rubicons and directly referenced Kahane, whose name has become a rallying cry for settlers and ultranationalist groups across Israel. Meir Kahane’s violent anti-Arab ideology was considered so repugnant that Israel banned him from parliament and the US listed his party, Kach, as a ‘terrorist group’, October 27, 1988 [Susan Ragan/AP] Asked if he was in favour of “Jewish terror”, Vaturi replied “I support it. Believe me, Kahane was right in many ways where we were wrong, where the people of Israel were wrong,” he said, referencing the former lawmakers convicted of “terrorism” offences in both Israel and the US and whose party, Kach, remains a proscribed “terrorist group” across much of the world. Advertisement “Once you’ve manufactured consent for genocide, you need to be proactive in dialling the cruelty levels down, which is something we’re not seeing,” analyst and former Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy said. “If anything, we’re just seeing it continue. They have dialled the cruelty levels up to 11 … and they’re leaving them there.” Adblock test (Why?)
Tanzania’s president announces probe into post-election protest deaths
Samia Suluhu Hassan, whose re-election prompted protests and a deadly police crackdown, faces international calls for accountability. Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan says her government will launch an inquiry into the deadly unrest that erupted following her controversial re-election last month, as claims of an undemocratic vote process prompted mass protests. Speaking during the opening session of Tanzania’s new parliament on Friday, Hassan said she was “deeply saddened by the incident” and offered condolences to the families who lost loved ones in the crackdown. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “The government has taken the step of forming an inquiry commission to investigate what happened,” she added. Her comments mark the first conciliatory message since Tanzanian authorities violently cracked down on widespread demonstrations following the country’s October 29 presidential election. Hassan was declared the winner of the vote with nearly 98 percent support, after her leading rivals were barred from participating, fuelling anger and frustration among many Tanzanians who said the contest was unfair. While the exact death toll is unclear, Tanzania’s main opposition party has said hundreds of people were killed as the government sent troops into the streets to disperse the protests. Authorities also imposed an internet blackout on the East African nation. ‘Grave human rights violations’ Rights groups have called for an independent and thorough investigation into what happened, with Amnesty International saying the authorities committed “grave human rights violations that include unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, unlawful detentions”. Advertisement “Authorities should promptly, thoroughly, independently, impartially, transparently and effectively investigate all killings by security agents and bring to justice in fair trials those suspected of being responsible,” the organisation said in a statement in early November. The United Nations human rights chief, Volker Turk, also urged the Tanzanian government earlier this week to investigate the killings and other rights violations. He called on the authorities to provide information about the whereabouts of people who have gone missing and to hand over the bodies of those killed. Reports of families desperately searching everywhere for their loved ones, visiting one police station after another and one hospital after another are harrowing,” Turk said, adding that his office has been unable to verify casualty figures due to the security situation and internet shutdown. Probe into youth ‘offences’ Meanwhile, dozens of people have been charged with treason and other offences in relation to the protests. On Friday, President Hassan, who first took power in 2021 after the sudden death of her predecessor, John Magufuli, appeared to indicate there would be leniency. “I realise that many youths who were arrested and charged with treason did not know what they were doing,” she said during her address in parliament. “As the mother of this nation, I direct the law enforcement agencies and especially the office of the director of police to look at the level of offences committed by our youths. “For those who seem to have followed the crowd and did not intend to commit a crime, let them erase their mistakes,” she added. Hassan also acknowledged the demands of the opposition Chadema party, which has said, for any meaningful reconciliation to happen, constitutional reforms are needed. She said her administration would embark on a constitutional reform process within its first 100 days. Adblock test (Why?)
Gaza girl shares story of being found alive in morgue after Israeli attack
Raghad al-Assar, 12, continues to suffer trauma after her home in central Gaza was bombed, killing two of her sisters. Twelve-year-old Raghad al-Assar lay unconscious in a Gaza mortuary for eight hours after she was declared dead following an Israeli attack on her home in central Gaza last year. “We were sitting in our home like everyone else when suddenly bullets, planes and drones came down on us,” she told Al Jazeera. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Al-Assar was saved by chance when a Palestinian man searching for his son’s body in the morgue saw the young girl’s fingers moving as she lay on a cold slab. “I was in a coma for two weeks, and when I woke up, my family told me that I had been placed in the morgue refrigerator,” she recounted. Two of al-Assar’s sisters were killed in the attack on June 8, 2024, and other members of her family were hurt as well. “All my family was injured, and two of my sisters were martyred. My eldest sister’s condition is worse than mine. She can’t see in one eye, has burns, deep wounds and stomach problems,” al-Assar revealed. Her story is one of the many to emerge from Israel’s war on Gaza, which United Nations experts have described as a genocide. According to the UN Children’s Fund, some 64,000 children have “reportedly been killed or maimed” in Israeli attacks on coastal Palestinian territory. Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 69,187 Palestinians and wounded 170,703 since its start in October 2023. ‘Changed her into another person’ Al-Assar’s father, Mohammed, was working when his house was attacked. A relative had called to tell him what happened. “News came to me that my house was targeted. I was at work, not at home. I rushed from work to the hospital to check what happened,” he said. Advertisement “We went to the house to look for Raghad under the rubble. We did not find any sign of her.” After he reunited with his daughter, Mohammed noticed the attack had completely changed her. “The incident that occurred to her changed her mental health and personality into another person,” he explained. “There would be incidents where we walk on the street, where she faints while we’re walking on the street.” Al-Assar told Al Jazeera she suffers from nightmares and anxiety whenever she recalls the day of the attack. “I don’t like to remember, don’t want to hear war sounds, and avoid things that bring back memories. If I hear bombing or planes, I get frightened,” she said. Her family is hoping to get al-Assar and her sister medical treatment abroad. “I want to go abroad for treatment. That is my dream,” al-Assar said. “It is a child’s right to live just like other people abroad — for them to have play and have wellbeing.” Two years of Israeli bombardment across Gaza have destroyed many health facilities and killed hundreds of medics, resulting in the collapse of the territory’s medical infrastructure. While Hamas and Israel agreed last month to a ceasefire, Israel continues to conduct attacks on the enclave, and at least 260 people have been killed since the truce began on October 10. Adblock test (Why?)
Italy’s PM Meloni determined to continue sending migrants to Albania
Giorgia Meloni’s plan to use detention centres in Albania has faced numerous legal challenges and human rights criticism. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has doubled down on her government’s plans to send migrants and asylum seekers to detention centres in Albania, despite opposition from Italian judges and the European Union’s top court. Speaking at a summit in Rome alongside Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Meloni said her right-wing government was “determined” to forge ahead with its scheme of sending migrants and asylum seekers outside the EU while their claims are processed. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “Certainly, the protocol will work when the new [EU] migration and asylum pact comes into effect,” Meloni said on Thursday, citing a legal framework slated for 2026. “When the migration and asylum pact comes into effect, the centres will operate exactly as they should have from the beginning.” In a separate deal approved by the Albanian Parliament in February 2024, Albania agreed to hold up to 3,000 migrants and asylum seekers at any one time in two Italian-run processing centres located near the port of Shengjin. Under the plan at the time, the migrants and asylum seekers would be held for periods of about a month. It was expected that up to 36,000 people a year could be sent from Italian custody to Albania over an initial period of five years. According to the deal, people would be screened initially on board the ships that rescue them before being sent to Albania for further screening. The centres were meant to be operated under Italian law with Italian security and staff. Italian judges would hear the immigration cases via video from Rome. Advertisement The agreement was denounced by rights groups, with the International Rescue Committee describing it as “dehumanising“. Amnesty International condemned it as “illegal and unworkable”. As of August 1, Italy saw 36,557 migrant arrivals in 2025. That number is slightly up from the same period of 2024, but far below the 89,165 recorded over the same time span in 2023. Following parliamentary approval, Italy sent its first ship carrying asylum seekers and migrants — 10 men from Bangladesh and six from Egypt — to Albania’s Shengjin port in October 2024. But very quickly, four of the men were identified as “vulnerable” and sent back to Italy. Within two days, the remaining 12 men were sent back too, after an Italian court ruled against their detention. Italy then sent ships of asylum seekers to Albania in January and April 2025, despite court challenges. Meloni’s plan has been mired in legal challenges from the start. Italian judges have repeatedly rejected deportations from the centres, ruling that the asylum seekers’ countries of origin were not safe enough for them to be sent back. The cases were referred to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which had earlier established that asylum applicants could not undergo a fast-track procedure for repatriation if their home countries were not deemed safe. The ECJ ultimately backed Italian judges in a ruling in August, questioning Meloni’s list of “safe countries”. Meloni’s government had issued a decree establishing a list of 19 supposedly safe countries of origin, which includes Egypt and Bangladesh. However, the EU has not classified either as a safe country of origin. The ECJ said Italy is free to decide which countries are “safe” but warned that such a designation should meet strict legal standards and allow applicants and courts to access and challenge the supporting evidence. The ECJ also said a country might not be classified “safe” if it does not offer adequate protection to its entire population, agreeing with Italian judges who had raised the same issue last year. The detention facilities in Albania have been empty for months due to the judicial obstacles. Earlier this year, a report found that their construction cost was seven times more than that of an equivalent centre in Italy. Adblock test (Why?)
Journalist Sami Hamdi arrives in London after 2 weeks in ICE detention
NewsFeed British Muslim journalist and political commentator Sami Hamdi has arrived in London after being held in a US immigration detention centre for more than two weeks. He had been on a speaking tour in the US when his visa was revoked. Supporters say the Trump administration targeted him for his pro-Palestinian advocacy. Published On 13 Nov 202513 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Iraqi PM al-Sudani’s coalition comes first in parliamentary election
With no clear majority, formation of next government will require intensive deal-making among strongest blocs. A coalition led by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has emerged as winner in Iraq’s parliamentary election, according to electoral authorities. The Independent High Electoral Commission said on Wednesday that al-Sudani’s Reconstruction and Change coalition received 1.3 million votes in Tuesday’s election, about 370,000 more than the next closest competitor. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Speaking after the initial results were announced, al-Sudani hailed the voter turnout of 56 percent, saying it was “clear evidence of another success” that reflected the “restoration of confidence in the political system”. However, while al-Sudani, who first came to power in 2022, had cast himself as a leader who could turn around Iraq’s fortunes after decades of instability, the poll was marked by disillusionment among weary voters who saw it as a vehicle for established parties to divide Iraq’s oil wealth. Turnout was lower in areas like Baghdad and Najaf after populist Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of the Sadrist Movement, called on his vast numbers of supporters to boycott the “flawed election”. As expected, Shia candidates won seats in Shia-majority provinces, while Sunni candidates secured victories in Sunni-majority provinces and Kurdish candidates prevailed in Kurdish-majority provinces. But there were some surprises, notably in Nineveh, a predominantly Sunni Arab province, where the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) secured the highest number of seats. Meanwhile, in Diyala province, which has a significant Kurdish minority, no Kurdish candidates won seats for the first time since 2005. Advertisement No party can form a government on its own in Iraq’s 329-member legislature, so parties build alliances with other groups to become an administration, a fraught process that often takes many months. Back in 2021, al-Sadr secured the largest bloc before withdrawing from parliament following a dispute with Shia parties that refused to support his bid to form a government. “None of the political factions or movements over the past 20 years have been able to gain a total majority … that allows one bloc to choose a prime minister, so at the end, this is going to lead to rounds of negotiations and bargaining among political factions,” said Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, reporting from Baghdad. The poll marked the sixth election held in Iraq since a United States-led invasion in 2003 toppled longtime ruler Saddam Hussein and unleashed a sectarian civil war, the emergence of the ISIL (ISIS) group and the general collapse of infrastructure in the country. The next premier must answer to Iraqis seeking jobs and improved education and health systems in a country plagued by corruption and mismanagement. He will also have to maintain the delicate balance between Iraq’s allies, Iran and the US, a task made all the more delicate by recent seismic changes in the Middle East. Adblock test (Why?)
White House explores $2,000 tariff dividend; budget experts are sceptical
United States President Donald Trump is committed to providing Americans with $2,000 cheques using money that has come into government coffers from Trump’s tariffs. On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump’s staff is exploring how to go about making the plan a reality. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The president proposed the idea on his Truth Social media platform on Sunday, five days after his Republican Party lost elections in Virginia, New Jersey and elsewhere largely because of voter discontent with his economic stewardship — specifically, the high cost of living. A new AP-NORC poll finds that 67 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy, while 33 percent approve. The tariffs are bringing in so much money, the president posted, that “a dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.’’ “Trump has taken to his favorite policymaking forum, Truth Social, to make yet another guarantee that Americans are going to receive dividend [cheques] from the revenues collected by tariffs,” Alex Jacquez, who served on the National Economic Council under former US President Joe Biden, said in a statement provided to Al Jazeera. “It’s interesting that Trump’s arguments—which he has been pushing forward for several months now on Truth Social—do not match the arguments that his lawyers are making in court. It seems he is trying to pressure the Justices by implying that this will be some massive economic disaster if they rule against the tariffs.” Advertisement Budget experts have scoffed at Trump’s tariff dividend plan, which conjured memories of the Trump administration’s short-lived plan for Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) dividend cheques financed by billionaire Elon Musk’s federal budget cuts. “The numbers just don’t check out,″ Erica York, vice president of federal tax policy at the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, told the Associated Press. Details are scarce, including what the income limits would be and whether payments would go to children. Even Trump’s US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, sounded a bit blindsided by the audacious dividend plan. Appearing on Sunday on the ABC News programme This Week, Bessent said he hadn’t discussed the dividend with the president and suggested that it might not mean that Americans would get a cheque from the government. Instead, Bessent said, the rebate might take the form of tax cuts. The tariffs are certainly raising money — $195bn in the budget year that ended September 30, up 153 percent from $77bn in fiscal 2024. But they still account for less than four percent of federal revenue, and have done little to dent the federal budget deficit, a staggering $1.8 trillion in fiscal 2025. Budget wonks say Trump’s dividend math doesn’t work. John Ricco, an analyst with the Budget Lab at Yale University, reckons that Trump’s tariffs will bring in $200bn to $300bn a year in revenue. But a $2,000 dividend — if it went to all Americans, including children — would cost $600bn. “It’s clear that the revenue coming in would not be adequate,” Ricco said. The analyst also noted that Trump couldn’t just pay the dividends on his own. That would require legislation from Congress. Legal challenges Moreover, the centrepiece of Trump’s protectionist trade policies — double-digit taxes on imports from almost every country in the world — may not survive a legal challenge that has reached the US Supreme Court. In a hearing last week, the court’s justices sounded sceptical about the Trump administration’s assertion of sweeping power to declare national emergencies to justify the tariffs. Trump has bypassed Congress, which has authority under the US Constitution to levy taxes, including tariffs. If the court strikes down the tariffs, the Trump administration may be refunding money to the importers who paid them, not sending dividend cheques to American families. Trump could find other ways to impose tariffs, even if he loses at the Supreme Court, but it could be cumbersome and time-consuming. Mainstream economists and budget analysts note that tariffs are paid by US importers who then generally try to pass along the cost to their customers through higher prices. Advertisement The dividend plan “misses the mark,” the Tax Foundation’s York said. “If the goal is relief for Americans, just get rid of the tariffs.” Adblock test (Why?)
Why France is ready to pull the plug on Shein
Days after Shein opened its first location in Paris, France, is threatening to ban the Chinese fast-fashion giant. The threat follows months of hand-wringing over Shein’s growing footprint in France, topped off by the discovery of child-like sex dolls and weapons from third-party sellers on its website and on its third-party online marketplace. With the growing backlash, will the controversial company survive in Europe’s fashion capital? Published On 12 Nov 202512 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Trump ‘spent hours’ with victim at Epstein’s house, email alleges
A 2011 email sent by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein says that United States President Donald Trump “spent hours” with one of the victims – an allegation that is likely to further fuel calls for releasing files relating to the late, disgraced financier. The email, made public by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday, was sent to Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year jail sentence for sex trafficking. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “i want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is trump. [Victim] spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned,” Epstein wrote according to the email, which was shared with the victim’s name redacted. It is not clear what Epstein was referring to. The email was sent to Maxwell two years after Epstein had spent 13 months in prison for his sex crimes. Maxwell responded, “I have been thinking about that…” In another email, sent in 2019, Epstein says Trump “knew about the girls”. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt dismissed the emails on Wednesday, saying that they were “selectively released”. “The ‘unnamed victim’ referenced in these emails is the late Virginia Giuffre, who repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever and ‘couldn’t have been friendlier’ to her in their limited interactions,” Leavitt said in a statement. “The fact remains that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for being a creep to his female employees, including Giuffre.” Trump has previously acknowledged that he had issues with Epstein because the late sex offender recruited – or as the US president put it, “stole” – young women who worked at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Advertisement The US president had personal ties to Epstein – a millionaire who was connected to powerful figures in politics, popular culture, finance and academia – and later became known for his rampant sex abuse against girls and young women. Epstein first pled guilty to charges of solicitation of prostitution with a minor in 2008 and was given a lenient sentence that critics describe as a sweetheart deal that did not match the severity of the offence. After the Miami Herald investigated the prosecution against Epstein, federal authorities reopened the case against him, arrested him and charged him with sex trafficking of minors in 2019. Two months later, he was found dead in his jail cell in New York City. His death was ruled a suicide. Epstein’s associates included former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, the United Kingdom’s Prince Andrew, and former US President Bill Clinton. The scandal and the manner in which Epstein died have fuelled conspiracy theories and speculations that he may have been working for foreign or domestic intelligence services. Some activists – including many Trump supporters – have been calling for years for the release of all government documents relating to Epstein. But the Trump administration has refused to make the so-called Epstein files public, citing the privacy of the victims. Earlier this year, the Justice Department and FBI also dismissed claims that Epstein may have used his sex trafficking operation to blackmail people who frequented his home and private island, reasserting that he died by suicide. “Through this review, we found no basis to revisit the disclosure of those materials and will not permit the release of child pornography,” they said in a memo in July. “One of our highest priorities is combating child exploitation and bringing justice to victims. Perpetuating unfounded theories about Epstein serves neither of those ends.” The US president also scolded commentators who are focused on Epstein, calling the issue a “waste of time”. But many of the president’s supporters were not satisfied with that explanation, especially after leaks and allegations raised questions about Trump’s own relationship with Epstein. Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal published what it said was a birthday card with sexual connotations that Trump sent to Epstein with a message written inside of a drawing of a naked woman. Trump denied writing or drawing the card and sued the newspaper over the allegation. In June, after former White House billionaire aide Elon Musk fell out with the US president, he said, “the real reason” Trump has not released the “Epstein files” is that he is mentioned in them. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
Will South Africa’s Biko inquest finally yield justice for struggle icon?
Cape Town, South Africa – On an August evening in 1977, 30‑year‑old Steve Biko was on his way back from an aborted secret meeting with an anti-apartheid activist in Cape Town, taking the 12‑hour drive back home to King William’s Town. But it was a journey the resistance fighter would never finish, for he was arrested and, less than a month later, was dead. Against the backdrop of increasingly harsh racist laws in South Africa, Biko, a bold and forthright youth leader, had emerged as one of the loudest voices calling for change and Black self-determination. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list A famously charming and eloquent speaker, he was often touted as Nelson Mandela’s likely successor in the struggle for freedom after the core of the anti-apartheid leadership was jailed in the 1960s. But his popularity also made him a prime target of the apartheid regime, which put him under banning orders that severely restricted his movement, political activities, and associations; imprisoned him for his political activism; and ultimately caused his death in detention – a case that continues to resonate decades later, largely because none of the perpetrators have ever been brought to justice. On September 12 this year, 48 years after Biko died, South Africa’s Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi ordered a new inquest into his death. The hearing resumed at the Eastern Cape High Court on Wednesday before being postponed to January 30. There are “two persons of interest” implicated in Biko’s death who are still alive, according to the country’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), which aims to determine whether there is enough evidence that he was murdered, and therefore grounds to prosecute his killers. Advertisement While Biko’s family has welcomed the hearings, the long wait for justice has been frustrating, especially for his children. “There is no such thing as joy in dealing with the case of murder,” Nkosinathi Biko, Biko’s eldest son, who was six at the time of his father’s death, told Al Jazeera. “Death is full and final, and no outcome will be restorative of the lost life.” The Biko inquest is one of several probes into suspicious apartheid-era deaths that South Africa’s justice minister reopened this year. The inquiries are part of the government’s plan to address past atrocities and provide closure to families of the deceased, the NPA says. But analysts note that the inquest comes amid growing public pressure on the government to bring about the justice it promised 30 years ago, as a new judicial inquiry is also probing allegations that South Africa’s democratic government intentionally blocked prosecutions of apartheid-era crimes. Anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko is seen in an undated image. He died in police detention in 1977 [File: AP Photo/Argus] Biko: ‘The spark that lit a fire’ Steve Biko was a medical student and national youth leader who, in the late 1960s, pioneered the philosophy of Black Consciousness, which encouraged Black people to reclaim their pride and unity by rejecting racial oppression and valuing their own identity and culture. The philosophy inspired a generation of young activists to take up the struggle against apartheid, pushed forward by the belief that South Africa’s future lay in a socialist economy with a more equal distribution of wealth. In his writings, Biko said he was inspired by the African independence struggles that emerged in the 1950s and suggested that South Africa had yet to offer its “great gift” to the world: “a more human face”. By 1972, Biko’s student organisation had spawned a political wing to unify various Black Consciousness groups under one voice. A year later, he was officially banned by the government. Yet, he continued to covertly expand his philosophy and political organising among youth movements across the country. In August 1977, despite the banning order still being in effect, Biko had travelled to Cape Town with a fellow activist to meet another anti-apartheid leader, though the meeting was aborted over safety concerns, and the duo left. According to some reports, Biko heavily disguised himself for the road journey back east, but his attempts at going unnoticed were to no avail: When the car reached the outskirts of King William’s Town on August 18, police stopped them at a roadblock – and Biko was discovered. Advertisement The two were taken into custody separately, with Biko arrested under the Terrorism Act and first held at a local police station in Port Elizabeth before being transferred to a facility in the same city where members of the police’s “special branch” – notorious for enforcing apartheid through torture and extrajudicial killings – were based. For weeks in detention, he was stripped and manacled and, as was later discovered, tortured. On September 12, the apartheid authorities announced that Biko had died in detention in Pretoria, some 1,200km (746 miles) away from where he was arrested and held. The minister of justice and police alleged he had died following a hunger strike, a claim immediately decried as false, as Biko had previously publicly stated that if that was ever cited as a cause of his death, it would be a lie. Weeks later, an independent autopsy conducted at the request of the Biko family found he had died of severe brain damage due to injuries inflicted during his detention. Following these revelations, authorities launched an investigation. But the inquest cleared the police of any wrongdoing. Saths Cooper, who was a student activist alongside Biko, remembers the moment he found out about his friend’s death. Cooper was in an isolation block on Robben Island – the prison that also held Mandela – where he spent more than five years with other political prisoners who had taken part in the 1976 student revolt. “The news stilled us into silence,” the 75-year-old told Al Jazeera, recalling Biko’s provocatively “Socratic” style of engagement and echoing Mandela’s description of Biko as an inspiration. “Living, he was the spark that lit a veld fire across South Africa,” Mandela said in 2002. “His message to the youth and students was simple and clear: Black is Beautiful! Be proud