Two Israelis killed in West Bank shooting amid deadly Jenin raids
Man and woman killed, third man critically injured in checkpoint shooting near Tarqumiyah, south of Hebron. At least two Israeli security personnel have been killed and another injured in a shooting at a checkpoint in Hebron, as Israel brought reinforcements in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin as part of its ongoing deadly raids. The shooting took place as the Israeli army continued its deadly assault on Jenin for a fifth consecutive day killing at least 24 Palestinians. Israel has killed more than 500 people as it intensified operations in the West Bank since it launched war on Gaza on October 7. More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the past 11 months. Israeli national emergency service Magen David Adom said on Sunday that a man and a woman were killed and that a third man in his 50s was being transferred to hospital in critical condition following the attack near the Tarqumiyah checkpoint, south of Hebron. The Maariv newspaper reported that the three casualties were policemen working at the Hebron station who were shot at from a Palestinian car driving past. “Attacks so far have been centered around the northern West Bank and in the Jordan Valley area and now we see more of them coming from the south of the West Bank,” Al Jazeera’s Niba Ibrahim, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said. The Israeli army said it was conducting a raid on the Palestinian village of Idna close to the scene of the shooting. Akram Natsheh, a journalist in Hebron, told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces have closed off all roads leading in and out of the southern city while drones have started hovering above it. “There is nothing but tension and apprehension as Israeli forces are coming in and around the entire area – the situation is likely to escalate,” he said. According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, six people, including three women, have been arrested in the Hebron area while raids have taken place in the nearby towns of Yatta and Halhul. Palestinians are stopped by Israeli security forces, during an Israeli raid in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank [Ammar Awad/Reuters] Meanwhile, Israeli siege on the city of Jenin has left Palestinians with no food, water, electricity and internet access. Local authorities said 70 percent of roads in the Jenin area have been bulldozed. Israeli forces stormed northern cities of Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas backed by tankers, drones and bulldozers as part of its largest operations in the West Bank since the second intifada in 2002. The Israeli army maintains that its intent is to target armed groups there to prevent future attacks. Gun battles have been reported in several locations and Hamas said at least 10 of its fighters, including a top commander, were killed this week. However, the trail of destruction the Israeli army left behind from areas it has withdrawn from, including Tulkarem and Tubas, have raised concerns among residents that the army’s intent is to extend the war in Gaza into the West Bank and to push Palestinians out of their homes. The Israeli army has severely destroyed infrastructures, water pipelines, and the electricity system. “Palestinians say the main goal of this military operation, the largest in more than two decades, is destruction,” Ibrahim said. “They say this is not a security-related necessity. It is to remind Palestinians of the cost they will incur if they choose to resist the Israeli military’s occupation,” she added. Adblock test (Why?)
Kicked out at 18 to live on the streets – a teenage migrant in Spain
Barcelona, Spain – The morning he turned 18, the Spanish children’s centre that Ilyas* had been sheltering in for two years since he arrived across the border from Morocco unceremoniously kicked him out. He wasn’t even permitted to stay for breakfast. Now that he was an adult, the authorities said; he was on his own. That was on January 30 this year and Ilyas – who doesn’t like to go by his real first name because of the shame he feels at being unemployed and homeless – left the centre for unaccompanied minors in the Spanish Ceuta enclave on the northern tip of Morocco and headed out in search of some other way to survive. The small amount of pocket money a social worker gave him before he left Ceuta’s migrant minors’ centre paid for the ferry to the Spanish mainland port of Algeciras. There, he was approached by local social workers who recommended he travel 98km (61 miles) up to the city of Jerez where a place in a facility for young migrants was vacant, they said. Six months later, Ilyas finally reached Barcelona where he still hopes to find work not just to support himself, but to help his sick father and family back home. But it hasn’t been an easy journey across Spain. One month after arriving in Jerez, the facility staff told him he could not stay any more. That led to living on the streets for several months while he scoured fruitlessly for job opportunities – nobody there wanted to employ a teenage boy from Morocco. Ilyas looks at his phone in search of shelters at Barcelona’s central bus station. He has no place to sleep tonight [Bianca Carrera/Al Jazeera] He finally decided to travel north to the more multicultural Barcelona in the hopes of finding a more sympathetic setting. But, now, Ilyas is broken after weeks of sleeping rough here too. “I am tired of life. I hope, for once, something works out well for me,” he sobs as he steels himself in the morning for another day of searching for somewhere he might have a shower and change his dirty clothes before he goes to ask social services for a place to sleep tonight. Ilyas has been sleeping rough for months now. Despite all of it, though, Ilyas says he does not regret leaving his hometown of Fnideq in Morocco, close to the Spanish border, when he was only 15. “Living on the street is better than living under my parents’ roof knowing that I have no future,” he says. Children and young men living in Morocco’s northern cities at the brink of economic collapse, he says, are born with a desire to migrate “inserted into their hearts”. Fnideq and other border towns have been suffering particularly since Spain closed the border during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and then never renewed the permissions for people to cross daily into Ceuta to work – the main source of local employment for thousands of people in his hometown. “From the second we are born, we know we need to leave this place.” ‘I am tired of life’. Ilyas has been sleeping rough on the streets of cities in Spain for months now. Despite his dire circumstances, he does not regret leaving Morocco [Bianca Carrera/Al Jazeera] ‘The worst night of my life’ At the same hour of the day, Ilyas’s mother, Aseya, 42, is partway through her shift as a cleaner at a restaurant by the sea in Fnideq. She is the holder of one of the remaining few jobs in the town. Aseya works 14 hours every day from 6am to 8pm for a salary of just 100 dirhams ($10.24). Ilyas’s four siblings – Boushra, 17, Zakarya, 12, Adam, 11, and Chaymaa, 8 – sit at one of the restaurant tables for hours waiting for their mother to finish work. They have little else to do. Boushra, the eldest since Ilyas left, takes care of the younger ones while Aseya is in the kitchen. Next year, she will finish high school and dreams of studying engineering in nearby Tetouan. It’s an unlikely dream, however, because of the cost it would involve. “Poor Ilyas,” her mother says softly as she washes dishes. “He used to see us, his parents, sometimes being able to work, sometimes not being able to work and put food on the table. So, he decided he had to do something to change this.” Aseya, Ilyas’s mother, works during the summer in the kitchen of a restaurant by the sea for 14 hours a day, earning 100 dirhams ($10) [Bianca Carrera/Al Jazeera] The day Ilyas left home – May 17, 2021 – Aseya was on one of her long shifts at work. That day marked a rapid deterioration in diplomatic relations between Spain and Morocco when, in a matter of hours, approximately 8,000 Moroccans – mostly men and boys, but some women as well – managed to cross from Morocco to Spain. Thousands of them swam along the coast to Ceuta and walked in off the beach. Ilyas was among the estimated 1,500 children who went. Madrid sent 200 extra police officers to help the 1,200 guarding the border with Morocco, but in the end, only 2,700 people were returned to Morocco. Juan Jesus Vivas, the president of the Spanish territory and a member of the right-wing main opposition People’s Party, described the arrivals as an “invasion”. The land border between the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and the Moroccan town of Fnideq. The number of people who cross early in the morning pales in comparison with the thousands who used to do so every day during the days of cross-border trade between the two sides, before the COVID-19 pandemic [Bianca Carrera/Al Jazeera] Ilyas had jumped at the opportunity when he heard so many were crossing to Spain. But his mother was devastated and furious when she discovered that he had left. “When he heard the news about the border, he went
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 919
As the war enters its 919th day, these are the main developments. Here is the situation on Sunday, September 1, 2024. Fighting A Russian guided bomb attack killed two people and injured 10 more including children in a village in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. He added that two women were confirmed killed, including one who was pulled out from the rubble. Kharkiv has been facing multiple strikes since the Russian invasion began in February 2022. Russia’s state news agency TASS reports that a fire at Moscow’s oil refinery has been assigned the highest level of complexity. The warning came as Russia reported that it repelled drone attacks in several parts of the country. Moscow has reported that it thwarted a “massive” drone attack on western Russia and another targeting the capital. Bryansk regional governor Aleksandr Bogomaz said at least 26 drones were “identified and destroyed” by the Russian military, without causing any casualties or damage. The Baza Telegram news channel, which is close to Russia’s security services, reported loud blasts were heard near the Konakovo Power Station in the Tver region, one of the largest energy producers in central Russia. Tver Governor Igor Rudenya said five drones were destroyed over his region northwest of the capital. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said a Ukraine-launched drone was destroyed near the Moscow Oil Refinery, which is owned by Gazprom. There was no damage or threat to the refinery’s production process, he said. Mikhail Shuvalov, head of the Kashira city district, said on Telegram that Ukraine also attempted to strike the Kashira Power Plant in the Moscow region with three drones. Independent Russian media outlet Mediazona reported an estimated that more than 66,000 Russian military personnel have died during the war in Ukraine as of August 30. Mediazona said the list has gone up by more than 4,600 in the last four weeks, adding this was not a definitive figure since many soldiers’ deaths are not made public. Politics and diplomacy Ukraine was fully within its rights to launch its surprise offensive into Russia’s Kursk border region as an act of self-defence, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told German newspaper Die Welt. He stressed that Ukraine “has a right to defend itself” and that Russian soldiers, tanks and bases in Kursk “are legitimate targets under international law”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has increased pressure on the United States to let Kyiv strike military targets deep inside Russian territory after his representatives met senior US officials in Washington. In his nightly video address, he said that deadly strikes like the one in Kharkiv that killed six people could be averted only “by striking Russian military airfields, their bases, and the logistics of Russian terror.” Adblock test (Why?)
UNRWA head accuses Israel of buying Google ads to block donations to agency
Commissioner-general says Israeli government has undertaken a defamation campaign against the UN agency. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has accused the Israeli government of “buying ads on Google to block users from giving donations” to the agency. UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a post on X that Israel’s attempts to defame the agency both harm its reputation and put the lives of its staff at risk. “These deliberate efforts to spread misinformation should stop + be investigated,” Lazzarini wrote on Saturday, calling for more regulations for companies, including social media platforms, to combat disinformation and hate speech. The spread of misinformation & disinformation continues to be used as a weapon in the war in #Gaza. As part of its campaign to undermine & discredit @UNRWA, the Government of Israel has been buying ads on @Google to block users from giving donations to the Agency + undertake a… — Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) August 31, 2024 “The spread of misinformation & disinformation continues to be used as a weapon in the war in Gaza,” he wrote. Israel has campaigned for years against UNRWA, the main organisation delivering humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory and providing services for Palestinian refugees in other countries since 1949, claiming it has connections with “terrorists” and lobbying for its closure. Last month, the UN denounced an Israeli government spokesperson after he described Lazzarini as a “terrorist sympathiser”. David Mencer had taken aim at Lazzarini in a videotaped speech, claiming the agency had been deeply infiltrated by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The UN said the comments were “reprehensible” and warned that they jeopardise Lazzarini’s safety. Earlier this year, Israel alleged that some of the agency’s staff participated in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on Israel, leading more than a dozen international donors to suspend support. A UN-authorised independent review found that Israel had not provided credible evidence for its accusations and most donors have since reinstated funding. Israeli attacks in Gaza have frequently targeted UNRWA facilities, killing 212 of its staff members and hitting at least 70 percent of its schools, according to the organisation. At least 40,691 people have been killed and 94,060 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza, according to according to the Gaza Health Ministry. At least 1,139 people were killed in the Hamas-led attacks on Israel, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on official Israeli statistics. Adblock test (Why?)
First children in Gaza given polio vaccines a day before planned UN rollout
WHO says that the official larger vaccine rollout, which aims to reach 640,000 children, will begin on Sunday. Several children in Gaza have been given polio vaccines a day before a large-scale campaign to inoculate children against the virus and a planned pause in fighting in the besieged territory, Gaza’s Health Ministry said. Reporters from The Associated Press news agency saw roughly 10 infants receiving doses of vaccine in the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on Saturday afternoon. “I was terrified and waiting for the vaccination to arrive and for everyone to receive it,” said Amal Shaheen, whose daughter received a dose. The WHO has confirmed that the official larger rollout of the vaccine will begin on Sunday. The three-day vaccination campaign aims to reach some 640,000 Palestinian children and comes after the first polio case in 25 years in Gaza was discovered this month. Reporting from Deir-el Balah, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said the rollout was set to begin in central Gaza on Sunday. “The other days will be in Khan Younis and the last rollout will be in the northern part of the Strip,” Mahmoud added. A Palestinian child is vaccinated against polio, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip [Mohammed Salem/Reuters] Israel has agreed to pause its military offensive in Gaza to allow health workers to administer the vaccines, UN officials have said. Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the Palestinian territory, said on Thursday that the three pauses will take place from 6am to 3pm (03:00 to 12:00 GMT) and last for three days each in different areas of Gaza, beginning on Sunday. The pauses are unrelated to the continuing ceasefire negotiations. “These are very momentary pauses from morning till mid-afternoon in each area. Considering the travel logistics for people in Gaza, this is not going to be easy for them to come and go safely,” Mukesh Kapila, a former WHO official, told Al Jazeera. He added that Palestinian parents will be concerned for the safety of their children as Israeli attacks on health facilities have continued. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has deepened during Israel’s assault on the territory that began after a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, which killed at least 1,139 people. Israel’s subsequent offensive has killed at least 40,691 people in Gaza. On Saturday, the Palestinian Civil Defence agency in Gaza said at least three people were killed and dozens injured in an Israeli attack in the vicinity of the al-Ahli Arab Hospital (Baptist Hospital). Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud said that in a previous attack at the hospital, hundreds of people were killed. “This is not the first time we’ve seen health facilities being directly and deliberately targeted by the Israeli military. This particular hospital was attacked in the initial weeks of this war, and hundreds of people were killed as they were in the courtyard of the hospital,” he said. The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent months trying to mediate a ceasefire in Gaza that would also see the remaining captives released. But the talks have repeatedly bogged down as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised “total victory” over Hamas and the Palestinian group has demanded a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory. Adblock test (Why?)
FIFA delays again review of Palestinian call to suspend Israel
The FIFA Council has delayed making a decision on a Palestinian bid to suspend Israel from international football until October. World football’s governing body FIFA has again delayed its review on a Palestinian bid to have Israel suspended from the international arena over its war on Gaza. FIFA said late on Friday it would now consider the Palestine Football Association’s (PFA) proposals against the Israel Football Association (IFA) in October. The PFA had submitted a proposal to suspend Israel in May, with FIFA ordering an urgent legal evaluation and promising to address it at an extraordinary meeting of its council in July. FIFA said last month the legal assessment would now be shared with its council by August 31. The Zurich-based body said it had now moved the assessment back to October. “FIFA has received the independent legal assessment of the Palestine Football Association’s proposals against Israel,” FIFA said. “This assessment will be sent to the FIFA Council to review in order that the subject can be discussed at its next meeting which will take place in October.” FIFA declined to give further details of the assessment, or when in October the meeting would take place. The Palestinian proposal accuses the IFA of complicity in violations of international law by the Israeli government, discrimination against Arab players, and inclusion in its league of clubs located in Palestinian territory. The IFA has rejected the allegations. The PFA has said at least 92 Palestinian players have been killed in the war, football infrastructure has been destroyed, its leagues suspended and its national team required to play World Cup qualifiers abroad. In its proposal, the PFA wanted FIFA to adopt “appropriate sanctions” against Israeli teams, including the national side and clubs At least 40,691 people have been killed and 94,060 wounded in since Israel’s war on Gaza began on October 7. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the attacks Palestinian group Hamas led on October 7. Adblock test (Why?)
To be a Palestinian child, trying to survive Israeli jail
For 10 long months, 16-year-old Hussein* lived in the same clothes he was wearing when he was detained on October 3. His trousers were still bloodstained when he was released. On October 3, he was shot in the right thigh by Israeli forces in a watchtower near the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. Hussein fell to the ground and saw two Israeli soldiers walking towards him. They beat him, kicking him in the head until he lost consciousness. He woke up three days later in a hospital, only to realise he had undergone surgery and was about to be taken to Ofer Prison. That was only days before Israel unleashed its continuing assault on Gaza and the last time he received any medical attention in detention. Can’t walk Hussein is one of hundreds of children Israel has detained over the years, a number that has multiplied dramatically since Israel began its assault on Gaza on October 7 and intensified its daily raids and mass arrest campaigns in the West Bank. He used to love going to the gym, challenging himself to lift more. He also loved playing football with his friends. Now, he limps, needs crutches to walk, and spends most of his day lying on a mattress. He will require joint implant surgery once he is done growing at the age of 18. “I’m really struggling … I can’t walk properly or catch up with any of my friends any more,” Hussein told Al Jazeera. Medical negligence is just one of the many forms of abuse, torture, humiliation and mistreatment Palestinian prisoners face in Israeli detention facilities, according to several rights groups. Along with UN agencies, they have shed light on the systematic abuse being committed. More than 700 arrests of children have been documented by the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society since October 7. Currently, 250 of them remain in Israeli detention. “This number, especially compared to previous periods, is very high,” said Amani Sarahneh, spokesperson for the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society. Sarahneh added that children are abused and tortured the same way adult Palestinian prisoners are. “A Palestinian child will likely experience every abuse tactic you can think of,” she said, adding that Israeli forces have used them on Palestinian children for many years. Palestinian detainees are beaten, exposed to the cold for prolonged periods, and deprived of food, sleep, water and medical attention, a report by the UN Human Rights Office last month revealed. Children today live “in a constant state of hunger inside Israeli jails”, Sarhaneh said. ‘Just enough to keep us alive’ When Wassim left detention, he had vitamin, iron and calcium deficiencies. “The prison was … unlivable,” he said. “I would ask for medical treatment every single day, but … no doctors showed up, they didn’t even exist [in the prison],” Wassim said. The frequency and intensity of arrests after October 7 are ‘unprecedented’, Palestinian Prisoner’s Society says [File: Mussa Qawasma/Reuters] Food rations were also largely inadequate: Hussein said that he and the nine other prisoners in his cell would receive food in “a tiny plastic cup”. “It was just enough to keep us alive,” he said. “Most days, it was white rice … sometimes, it was undercooked. We’d eat, be full for five minutes, and then continue the rest of the day as if we were fasting. “We’d be begging for water, and end up drinking contaminated water from the bathroom. We had to … we had no choice,” he recalled. Israeli prison authorities shut down the canteen where prisoners could buy food and basic supplies and removed electrical devices including hotplates and kettles. Hussein’s father Omar* said he was worried sick about his son, especially after October 7. “After the war on Gaza, when we heard how bad things had gotten for Palestinians in Israeli jails, we were devastated,” Omar told Al Jazeera. “We cried … day and night,” he recalled. Omar had hoped Hussein would be released in November when Israel and Hamas reached a temporary ceasefire agreement that included the exchange of dozens of Palestinian prisoners with some of the captives held in Gaza. But despite his injury, Hussein was not released. “They deprived him of his childhood, and the rest of his life,” Omar said. According to Omar, a much quieter Hussein is now struggling to reintegrate back into his community. In crowds, he will often retreat into a corner and often wakes up with nightmares. ‘I just want to work and build a home’ In the town of al-Mughayyir, near Ramallah, another Palestinian boy was freed on August 8. Ahmed Abu Naim, now 18, has been in and out of Israeli detention facilities since he was 15 years old, held at times under administrative detention – being held for renewable six-month periods under the pretext of secret evidence. There has been an “unprecedented and terrifying spike” in the number of child administrative detainees, according to Palestinian Prisoner’s Society’s Serhaneh, who said at least 40 children are held under the widely criticised practice. When asked to compare being in detention before and after October 7, Abu Naim said, “The last time I was arrested, it was different; it was much worse than the other times.” The first time he was arrested, it was for two days. The second time, he was held for just more than a year. The third time, he spent six months in detention. He said his most recent experience was “1,000 times harder”. Ahmed Abu Naim has been in and out of Israeli detention facilities since he was 15 [Al Jazeera] “They didn’t treat us any different because we were minors,” Abu Naim, who recalled being severely beaten “so many times”, said. “We were even sprayed with gas sometimes,” he said. Wearing a baseball cap, he was trying to speak boldly, eager to appear both older and stronger. Abu Naim has been recovering from scabies, a skin disease that spread in the Megiddo prison, where he was held. “Hygiene standards were abysmal. We were not
The danger of ‘pro-EU’ Euroscepticism in the Western Balkans
Over the past few years, attitudes towards accession to the European Union in Western Balkan candidate states have been increasingly negative. In countries like Serbia, the desire to join the union has slumped to 40 percent from 57 percent in 2014; in North Macedonia – to 68 percent from 84 percent in 2012. While frustration over the slow pace of the process and various challenges along the way may be one of the main drivers of this trend, there is another, largely overlooked one: parts of the civil society in these countries, which largely identifies as pro-EU, have started to espouse what really are anti-EU stances. Indeed, there has been an inexplicable alignment of views between proponents of democracy and European values and their ideological opponents – those who support the authoritarian tendencies of Serbia’s Aleksandar Vučić, North Macedonia’s Hristijan Mickovski and Albania’s Edi Rama. This has taken place gradually and through the promotion of seemingly neutral ideas, such as regional projects of EU-like integration, the need for stability and respect for national sovereignty, and criticism of anti-democratic forces within the EU. Over the past decade, various ideas about how to approach regional integration have circulated among civil society actors in the Western Balkans. While there is nothing wrong with proposing and endorsing such initiatives, some of them have been pushed as a priority over EU accession. Some have argued that regional integration needs to take place first to “prepare” Western Balkan membership candidates to join the Union. The problem with this argument is that regional integration becomes a justification for indefinitely delaying serious action on EU accession. A case in point is the “Open Balkan” initiative launched in 2019 and championed by Vučić and Rama. Its declared aim was the economic integration of Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia, through increased trade, mobility of citizens, improved access to labour markets, and others. Despite the hefty goals of “Open Balkans” and inspirational declarations made by the leaders involved, little progress has been made on its implementation. While some civil society actors have criticised the initiative, others have continued to push the regional integration mantra, failing to see the danger it poses to delaying indefinitely EU accession and promoting Eurosceptism among the general population. Another idea that has crept into civil society in the Western Balkans is that the EU accession has led to internal divisions and instability and has infringed on the national sovereignty of candidate countries. This idea has been especially popular in North Macedonia where the negotiating framework for accession has been perceived to hurt the national interest due to special conditions imposed by Bulgaria, regarding the Bulgarian minority in the country. This has led some public supporters of EU membership to call for “pausing” the accession process until national cohesion and stability are regained. Like regional integration, promoting the idea that candidate countries need to “fix themselves” first implies that EU accession will be postponed indefinitely and may not be pursued at all. Finally, there has been the assertion that EU accession is driven by or empowers anti-democratic forces. This may appear confusing to some, so let me illustrate. At a 2023 event held in Skopje which I attended, a think tank researcher presented a study which emphasised that autocrats like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán want Western Balkan countries to join the EU. The takeaway from this presentation was that since bogeyman Orbán wants us in – irrespective of the fact that someone like Germany’s Olaf Scholz wants us in too – we should be careful about pursuing EU membership. Others have argued in papers and at conferences I have attended that aspects of the EU enlargement process itself encourages autocratic and anti-democratic tendencies. The implication is that accession should be delayed indefinitely supposedly in the name of democracy: “not to reward autocrats like Vučić”. There has also been vocal criticism of the EU: that it is “undemocratic” and “unprincipled” in its treatment of candidates. My most recent media monitoring study of the region of Western Balkans shows that this discourse coincides almost perfectly with the pro-Kremlin narratives on the question of EU enlargement in the region. This Euroscepticism creeping through the civil society in the Western Balkans may be wrapped up in “pro-democracy” rhetoric but it is essentially the same as the one espoused by leaders with autocratic tendencies in Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania. The EU is not a perfect organisation and there are legitimate concerns and reasons for criticism of its track record. However, by espousing Eurosceptic rhetoric, calling for a “pause” in accession efforts, and spreading mistrust within the general public towards the EU, self-declared EU-philes are helping forces that would like to see the Western Balkan enlargement sabotaged. We must be realistic about the current geopolitical environment. The idea of absolute sovereignty – which excludes geopolitical alignment with the major regional powers – is a political unicorn. The idea of nonalignment collapsed with the dissolution of Yugoslavia, and its resurrection in the present circumstances is unlikely. Countries like North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Albania face a geopolitical choice. The EU may have its problems, but with its structures and organisation, it offers geopolitical stability – something that alignment with Russia and China does not. This has become even clearer after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Going down the Eurosceptic path at this time is dangerous. Pulling out of the accession process would set a precedent that would be destabilising to the regional and continental geopolitical equilibrium. No wonder Turkey is still at least formally an EU candidate country. Civil society actors would do well to consider the dangers of spreading “alternatives” to EU accession and undermining the public’s belief that this is the right path. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance. Adblock test (Why?)
Defending champion Novak Djokovic knocked out of US Open
Alexei Popyrin stuns the world No 2, who will end the season without a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2017. Defending champion Novak Djokovic suffered a major upset at the US Open, losing to Alexei Popyrin, who ended the Serbian’s bid for a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title. Australian Popyrin defeated Djokovic 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the third round at Flushing Meadows on Friday. “I spent a lot of energy winning the gold, and I did arrive to New York just not feeling fresh mentally and physically,” Djokovic told reporters. He won the gold medal in the men’s singles at the Paris Olympics earlier this month. Popyrin, who lost to Djokovic at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year, raised his arms in triumph as he reached the round of 16 of a major for the first time. “Third time lucky I guess,” Popyrin said in an on-court interview. Djokovic, 37, was uncharacteristically sloppy, with 14 double faults – a record for him in a Grand Slam match – while his 25-year-old opponent smacked 50 winners. The world No 2 had five break point chances in the opener but failed to convert any of them, while Popyrin broke serve on his first opportunity for a 5-4 lead and won the first set. Popyrin broke again in the second when Djokovic’s volley landed wide for a 3-2 advantage and took control of the match with a perfectly executed serve and volley to take the second set. Alexei Popyrin will next try to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal by getting past Frances Tiafoe [Julia Nikhinson/AP Photo] Djokovic showed some life in the third, but the comeback was shortlived as Popyrin crushed a ferocious forehand winner for a break of serve and 3-2 lead in the fourth. “I have played some of the worst tennis I have ever played, honestly,” Djokovic said. “Serving – by far – the worst ever.” His defeat followed the shocking exit of the 2022 champion, Carlos Alcaraz. Alcaraz entered the US Open as the tournament favourite having won the French Open and Wimbledon, but was eliminated by 74th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday. It’s only the third time in the Open era that two of the top three men’s seeds at the US Open crash out before the fourth round, the other such instances in 1973 and 2000. “It was just an awful match for me,” Djokovic said. “I wasn’t playing even close to my best. It’s not good to be in that kind of state where you feel OK physically, and of course you’re motivated because it’s a Grand Slam, but you just are not able to find your game. “That’s it. The game is falling apart, and I guess you have to accept that tournaments like this happen.” Djokovic was attempting to become the first player in tennis history with 25 Grand Slam singles titles. Instead, after knee surgery in June, he finishes a year without claiming at least one major championship for the first time since 2017. Djokovic has reached the US Open final 10 times, and won in 2011, 2015, 2018 and 2023. Popyrin will now try to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal by getting past Frances Tiafoe, who advanced on Friday with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3 win over Ben Shelton in a matchup between two Americans. “If he serves well, plays well, he can beat anybody,” Djokovic said about Popyrin. “Look, Alcaraz is out. I’m out. Some big upsets. The draw is opening up.” Adblock test (Why?)
Afghanistan is a US election issue. Will its refugees’ voices be heard?
Washington, DC – Nasrin will not be able to vote in the United States elections in November. Still, the 27-year-old has a message for the presidential candidates, on behalf of Afghans like herself who fled as the US withdrew its troops from Afghanistan in August 2021. “I really want them to hear us, especially to hear those voices that worked for the US,” Nasrin, who asked to use a pseudonym, told Al Jazeera. Friday marks three years since the last American soldiers left Afghanistan, ending a two-decade military presence that began with the toppling of the Taliban government in 2001. But the chaotic nature of the military withdrawal — and the swift reestablishment of Taliban rule — have cast a long shadow over US politics. A source of ongoing bipartisan criticism, the withdrawal has become a prominent talking point in the 2024 presidential race, with Democrats and Republicans exchanging blame for the lives lost during the troops’ departure. But Afghans like Nasrin say there is an important perspective lost in the election-year sparring: theirs. “This election is not only important for America. It’s also important for Afghans,” said Nasrin, who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. “For Afghans who immigrated here and for Afghans in Afghanistan … especially the women, this election will have a huge impact.” A 2021 protest in Los Angeles called for an ‘open door’ policy for Afghan evacuees and expedited processing of immigration cases [File: Ringo HW Chiu/Reuters] Two parties, one controversy What happened in 2021 is a story that embroils the central players in this year’s presidential race. In 2020, the administration of Republican President Donald Trump reached a controversial agreement with the Taliban to withdraw all US forces from Afghanistan within 14 months. A few months later, Trump lost his bid for re-election. His successor, Democratic President Joe Biden, oversaw a mad-dash evacuation of US citizens, coalition allies and tens of thousands of vulnerable Afghans as the deadline loomed. By August 2021, the Taliban had swept across the country in a lightning offensive, reclaiming its former power. Its forces entered the Afghan capital Kabul on August 15. The last US plane flew out of the city on August 30. In those final days, a bomb attack killed about 170 Afghans hoping to enter the airport, as well as 13 members of the US military. Government investigators have blamed the administrations of both Biden and Trump for the chaotic situation: Trump for reaching an agreement seen as favouring the Taliban and Biden for moving forward with the plan without putting in safeguards to stop the Taliban. Trump has also faced criticism for limiting the pathways for Afghans to escape to the US. He is now, once again, the Republican candidate for president. Meanwhile, Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, is heading the Democratic ticket. A lingering failure But advocates say both parties must still confront an enduring dilemma: how to protect the hundreds of thousands of Afghans who fear repression under the Taliban. Many who were left behind are considered likely targets for the Taliban, especially if they worked for the US military or the US-backed government. Even among those who were evacuated, many have been left in perpetual uncertainty, with no clear path to US residency or citizenship. Others have found the legal pathways to the US too narrow and have sought more dangerous routes to enter the country. For her part, Nasrin said she worked as an interpreter for the US embassy in Kabul. After fleeing, she was able to become a US resident through a “Special Immigrant Visa” (SIV) programme designated for Afghans who worked for the US government. Another evacuee, who asked to be identified only as Nazanin, fled Kabul on an evacuation flight with her 16-year-old sister following the Taliban’s rise. She has since been granted asylum in the US, but she said she sees only broken promises from both parties as many other Afghans both in the US and in Afghanistan have been left in the lurch. “I don’t think Afghan voices are being heard by politicians,” she told Al Jazeera. “My message to the presidential candidates is that you do not represent the majority of the refugee society or Americans that I know or see their perspective on social media platforms and that your false promises are noted.” Inadequate immigration pathways Arash Azizzada — the executive director of Afghans for a Better Tomorrow, an advocacy group — said members of the Afghan community in the US, like him, feel a “sense of anger and disappointment” this election season “when we look at both candidates”. “We are feeling pretty invisible this election season,” he added. Azizzada’s group has spent the last three years pushing for more immigration pathways for those fleeing the Taliban, including an increase in special visas for Afghans who worked directly with the US and pathways to permanent residency for other evacuees. But little progress has been made, Azizzada explained. “It has been the hallmark of Biden’s presidency to consider anything related to Afghanistan radioactive,” Azizzada said. “And Democrats have gone through this election season with barely any mention of Afghanistan or the Afghan people.” That includes not mentioning the 160,000 Afghans who have been successfully relocated to the US since the withdrawal, something Azizzada argues could be framed as a victory for Democrats. The Biden administration has upscaled the processing of Special Immigrant Visa applications, which had all but ground to a halt under Trump. Still, as of March, 60,230 applicants had submitted all the required paperwork and were awaiting initial approval to move ahead with the process, according to the US State Department. Another 75,000 were also in the process of applying. The administration has also increased refugee processing for Afghans, with 11,168 refugees admitted so far in fiscal year 2024. That is up from approximately 6,500 admitted in fiscal year 2023 and just over 1,600 in the immediate wake of the withdrawal, in fiscal year 2022. Critics nevertheless say legal pathways