Photos: Farmers clash with police near the European Union headquarters
Farmers have clashed with police in Belgium, spraying officers with liquid manure and setting fire to piles of tyres in a fresh show of force as European Union agriculture ministers met in search of ways to address their concerns. Brussels police said that 900 tractors had entered the city of Brussels, many bearing down on the European Council building where the ministers were meeting. Smoke drifted through the air near where police in riot gear used water cannons to defend the EU’s headquarters from behind concrete barriers and barbed wire. The farmers are protesting against red tape and competition from cheap imports from countries where the EU’s relatively high standards do not have to be met. They lined up scores of tractors down main roads leading to the city’s European Quarter, snarling traffic and blocking public transport. A few tractors forced their way through one barrier, sending officers scurrying. Some are lamenting what they see as the slow death of working the land. “Agriculture. As a child you dream of it, as an adult you die of it,” said one. At the start of the month, a similar demonstration turned violent as farmers torched hay bales and threw eggs and firecrackers at police near a summit of EU leaders. The protests are the latest in a series of rallies and demonstrations by farmers across Europe. On Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron was greeted with boos and whistles at the opening of the Paris Agricultural Show by farmers who claim that he’s not doing enough to support them. Spain, the Netherlands and Bulgaria have been hit by protests in recent weeks. The movement has gathered pace as political parties campaign for Europe-wide elections on June 6-9. It’s already had results. Earlier this month, the EU’s executive branch shelved an anti-pesticide proposal in a concession to the farmers, who comprise an important voting constituency. On the other side of the barriers in Brussels, the ministers were keen to show they’re listening. The EU presidency, currently held by Belgium, acknowledged that the farmers’ concerns include the burden of respecting environmental policies, a drop in assistance from the bloc’s agricultural subsidy system and the impact of Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s grain supplies. “We hear, clearly, their complaints,” said David Clarinval, Belgium’s agriculture minister. Still, he urged the protesters to refrain from violence. “We can understand that some are in difficult circumstances, but aggression has never been a source for solutions.” Adblock test (Why?)
It is time to articulate a Muslim approach to justice and liberation
Millions of non-Palestinians have marched through the streets of the Americas, Europe and other continents demonstrating against Israel’s war on Gaza. Thousands of students throughout the world have also voiced their anger at the brutal occupation and mass killing. Recent outbursts of dissent against politicians at public events throughout the United States and other places also show the amount of disdain the world is feeling. These voices and protests against the war have certainly changed global public opinion, and Israel has lost whatever semblance of a good image it previously had. And yet those who are in a position to stop the killing in Gaza remain stubbornly attached to the claim: “Israel has a right to defend itself.” So what can or should be done to cause a major change or shift in policy? What can the Muslim community do for its part? Civic action and standing up against oppression are no doubt necessary to engage in. But they are short-term tactics and far from a comprehensive strategy. What I propose is a serious look into a long-term approach towards liberation that is based on ayaat (verses) of the Quran that give us, Muslims, clear guidance. The first important guidance to consider is that the Quran does not condone the art of the artist if it has no bearing on society and community affairs. Surah Ash-Shu’ara in verses 225-226 speaks about poets who “wander in all valleys” of the imagination and “say what they do not do”. In today’s context, the equivalent of such poets or artists in general are the “ivory tower” academics, whose art and intellectual effort do not come to terms with reality and civic engagement. The Quran makes an exception and “commends” those poets who believe, do good deeds and thus translate their art into real action. They also remember Allah plenty and thus live with the Real and seek vindication when the oppressed are wronged. The second guidance we find in the Quran is the idea of establishing and promoting academic engagement even in the face of civic struggle. Verse 122 at the end of Surah Taubah (9) says: “It is not proper for believers to go out and fight (in the path of Allah) all together. If only a group from each group (stay behind) and exert themselves to understand the religion (through studying and research) so that they may advise their people (who go out and fight) as they return to them, so that they (the activists) may be well advised and take precautions.” This is an obvious call for a dual duty of the Muslim community that reflects division of communal labour and activity. One department can be in charge of preserving peace and justice in the land, and the other can engage in learning and research – that is, writing, researching and formulating policy through educational institutions, think tanks and NGOs. These researchers and academics would then advise policymakers and lawmakers to reform and change laws that are subject to ijtihad and politics (siyasah). As we call for Muslims to join in direct action in the short term, the Quran calls us to fund and support academic and research institutions for the sake of Muslim longevity. This is a model that has yet to be tested and tried in our modern global community. But there is historical precedent for it. The great Indian freedom fighter Mawlana Mahmud Hasan was imprisoned in Malta during World War I by the British for resisting their occupation in India. Yet while he was in prison, he continued engaging in his academic writings. Following his release after the war, he continued his revolutionary work at the Islamic Institute of Darul Uloom Deoband in both the political and intellectual realms, seeing them as mirror images of each other. Due to his work, he was honoured with the title “Shaykh al-Hind”, a recognition for his incessant efforts at resisting British imperialism and oppression in the Indian subcontinent. The effects of his work, both in the realms of political activism and intellectual engagement are still felt today through the institutions and movements he was integral to. His followers did not see academic engagement as being entirely separate from direct action to liberate the oppressed. Mawlana Mahmud Hasan’s efforts were contextual to his time and the unique circumstances of early 20th century British imperialism. The modern sociopolitical context requires new efforts that are similarly rooted in authentically Islamic content. The secularised language of decolonisation has proven to be a failure at actual and total liberation. Even as colonised countries have thrown off the yoke of imperialism in name, much of the world remains economically, socially, and culturally within the grasp of imperial powers. The need of the hour is to formulate new notions of sovereignty and articulate what an authentically Muslim form of justice would look like in the modern world. Muslims must not shy away from being creative in how they explore new possibilities of political and social theory at the local, national and international levels, even (and especially) in contrast to prevailing Western notions of modernity, sovereignty and justice. Muslim activism that is still rooted in the framework of Western imperial ideology and political theory is not sufficient. We must authentically articulate our approach on a theoretical and practical level. If modern Muslims are to once again lead the world community in resisting oppression and standing up for justice, there is no alternative to a twofold approach that recognises the political and the intellectual struggles that are necessary prerequisites to the manifestation of true liberation. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance. Adblock test (Why?)
Navalny was close to being freed from prison before his death, says ally
Maria Pevchikh says Alexey Navalny was due to be freed in exchange for a Russian FSB assassin imprisoned in Germany. Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny was close to being freed in a prisoner swap before his sudden death, according to his ally Maria Pevchikh. In a video posted to YouTube on Monday, Pevchikh claimed the planned swap involved exchanging Navalny and two unnamed US nationals for Vadim Krasikov, a Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) assassin in Germany. Navalny, an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died at 47 in an Artic penal colony, where he was serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges when he reportedly collapsed after a walk on the prison grounds. “Alexey Navalny could be sitting in this seat right now, right today. That’s not a figure of speech, it could and should have happened,” said Pevchikh. “Navalny should have been out in the next few days because we got a decision about his exchange. In early February, Putin was offered to exchange the killer, FSB officer Vadim Krasikov, who’s serving time for a murder in Berlin, for two American citizens and Alexey Navalny.” A German spokesperson told a press conference on Monday that the government was aware of the reports of an alleged swap, but could not comment on them. The Russian hitman Krasikov, who was part of the alleged deal, was jailed for life in Germany after being convicted of killing an exiled Chechen-Georgian dissident in Berlin’s Tiergarten Park in 2019 – an assassination that German authorities say was ordered by Russian intelligence services. In an interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson earlier in February, Putin signalled that he wanted to get Krasikov back. While Pevchikh did not name who the US nationals were, Washington said previously that it was trying to return Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, a former US Marine, back to the United States. Pevchikh claimed that the potential deal was in its final stages on the evening of February 15. She said Navalny was killed a day later because Putin could not tolerate the thought of him being free. World leaders, including in the US, have placed blame for Navalny’s death at the hands of Putin and issued sanctions in response. However, the Kremlin has denied the allegation that Moscow had anything to do with his sudden death and slammed those making allegations without providing proof. Adblock test (Why?)
US airman who set himself on fire outside Israeli embassy dies
BREAKINGBREAKING, Aaron Bushnell yelled “Free Palestine!” after he lit himself on fire and fell to the ground. A US military service member who had set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, in an apparent act of protest against Israel’s war in Gaza, has died, the Pentagon said. The 25-year-old airman, Aaron Bushnell, of San Antonio, Texas, died from his injuries, the Metropolitan Police Department said on Monday. Representatives for the police in Washington did not immediately return a call requesting comment on the reports. Over the weekend, US media reports said Bushnell live streamed himself on Twitch, wearing fatigues and declaring he would “not be complicit in genocide” before dousing himself in liquid. He then lit himself on fire while yelling “Free Palestine!” until he fell to the ground. The footage has since been removed from Twitch. Local police said they are investigating the incident. The latest incident comes amid ongoing pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests in the United States following the Hamas October 7 attack on Israel, which has killed 1,200 Israelis and seized 253 hostages in a cross-border attack. Since then, Israel’s embassy has been the target of continued protest against the Israeli war on Gaza. In December, a protester set herself on fire outside the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta. A Palestinian flag was found at the scene, and the act was believed to be one of “extreme political protest”. Adblock test (Why?)
Ex-PM Nawaz’s daughter is Pakistan’s first female provincial chief minister
Maryam, Nawaz Sharif’s eldest daughter and apparent political heir, becomes the first female chief minister of Punjab province. Islamabad, Pakistan – Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of three-time former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has been elected the chief minister of the key province of Punjab – the country’s first woman to hold the post. Maryam’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) and its allies on Monday received 220 votes in the 371-member Punjab Assembly in an election boycotted by the opposition Sunni Ittehad Council party, backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Khan alleges the February 8 parliamentary and provincial elections were rigged – an allegation denied by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). “I am disappointed the opposition is not here to be part of this democratic process,” Maryam, 50, said on the opposition’s boycott of her election. Maryam is the fourth member of her family to become Punjab chief minister after her father, Nawaz Sharif, his brother, Shehbaz, and Shehbaz’s son Hamza who held the post for a few months last year. Maryam is seen as the political heir of her father, three-time PM Nawaz Sharif [File: Rahat Dar/EPA] Shehbaz could return as prime minister for a second term when the parliament meets later this week. Born in 1973, Maryam is the eldest among four siblings and was not into politics until 2013 when Nawaz became the prime minister for the third time. Soon, she emerged as the family’s apparent political heir while her brothers handled the business. After Nawaz was disqualified from the post of prime minister in 2017 for lying in his assets declarations before the ECP, Maryam assumed a more prominent role in the party. However, days before the 2018 election, which she planned to contest, a court in capital Islamabad convicted her of corruption, along with her father and her husband. The conviction disqualified her from contesting elections for a decade. A year later, she was relieved in the case while Nawaz, suffering ill health, went into self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom, from where he returned in October last year. ‘Landmark event’ Nida Kirmani, associate professor of sociology at Lahore University of Management Science, told Al Jazeera Maryam’s election as Punjab chief minister “may not necessarily be a victory for women’s empowerment, it is certainly a landmark event” in Pakistan’s political history. “One hopes that she will use her position to further the cause of gender equality in her province and set an example for the rest of the country to follow,” Kirmani said. Maryam became the face of the PMLN party after her father went into exile in the UK [File: Shahzaib Akber/EPA] Pakistan was the first Muslim-majority country to elect a female prime minister when Benazir Bhutto took over in 1988. She won for a second time in 1993. Both Maryam and Bhutto belong to Pakistan’s prominent political dynasties who have been ruling over the country for decades. Bhutto’s son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is currently the head of the Pakistan People’s Party, the second-largest party in parliament and a dominating player in the Sindh province. Kirmani said Maryam’s appointment follows a trend of dynastic politics not only in Pakistan but across the region. “It is a reality that many women who occupy powerful positions do so partially because of their familial backgrounds. Changing this would require a change in the structure of the political system and the structure of patriarchy itself,” she said. “Like other women in powerful positions, Maryam will have to work twice as hard to prove herself as a worthy political leader in her own right.” However, with questions over the legitimacy of the election and faced with reviving her party, other observers say Maryam’s tenure will not be an easy one. Political commentator Asma Shirazi told Al Jazeera the biggest challenge for her would be to revive the PMLN’s popularity in a province considered the party’s bastion. “She has to focus on performance, but also how she behaves with her rivals. She must keep the house [provincial assembly] together,” she said. But Afiya Shehrbano Zia, scholar and gender rights activist, thinks Maryam should reach out to those committed to fighting the larger challenges in the province. “If [her] office shows a compassionate but strong female face, much can be achieved and she will gain legitimacy. But it cannot be performative. She must carve out her own identity which will require angering and crossing the old Punjabi men and holding her own,” she told Al Jazeera. Adblock test (Why?)
‘Deepening occupation’: Turkey condemns Israel on last day of ICJ hearing
As the UN’s top court holds its final day of hearings, more countries assert Israel’s decades-old, illegal occupation of Palestine must end. Turkey has joined a large number of countries that have condemned Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Turkey’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmet Yildiz was the first representative to speak on the last day of the hearings on Monday, capping a weeklong event that saw 52 countries and several international organisations testify to Israel’s occupation of Palestine. He said the long-running conflict could have been settled by now if international and human rights laws were upheld by Israel and its Western allies, and emphasised how the United Nations Security Council has failed to protect the unalienable rights of the Palestinians. He said the “deepening occupation by Israel of the Palestinian territories” and the failure of its allies to commit to implementing a two-state solution were the main underlying issues. Reporting from outside the court in The Hague, Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith said Turkey echoed many of the arguments that have been made by dozens of countries since last week. “Turkey said Palestinians were subject to practices from the Middle Ages under occupation, it said that Palestinians only need emancipation with dignity,” he said. “And there was particular focus from the Turks on the Haram al-Sharif as it is called by Muslims, or the Temple Mount as the Jews call it, which is supposed to be administered by the Jordanians in a longstanding principle dating to before the creation of the state of Israel. Turkey accuses the Israelis of frequently abusing the independence of Haram al-Sharif.” This case is separate from the genocide case by South Africa against Israel for its ongoing war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 30,000 Palestinians since October 7, mostly women and children. The Israeli army has killed about 400 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in the same period. The Israeli military continued to shell various parts of the Gaza Strip during the ICJ hearing, killing more than 90 Palestinians and wounding 164 in the 24 hours leading to the final hearing. Tamer Qarmout, assistant professor of public policy at Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said Turkey had taken more drastic measures in the past when dealing with Israel, including the severing of diplomatic and economic ties. “But in this war, we have seen a different stand,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that the Turkish government is still critical of Israel but does not take similar positions like the ones in the past. “I think [this] has to do with Turkey’s internal policies and politics,” he said, citing Turkey’s recovery from a serious economic crisis as a cause. “They [Turkish officials] don’t want to antagonise other key partners in the West by taking drastic positions.” ‘Racial domination’ The unprecedented scrutiny at the world’s highest court of Israel’s ongoing occupation and the system of apartheid it imposes on Palestinians comes after the UN General Assembly in December 2022 passed a resolution calling for an ICJ opinion. The United States defended Israel at the hearings, which itself had refused to attend, claiming its presence would jeopardise a future settlement with Palestinians. “Under the established framework, any movement towards Israel’s withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza requires consideration of Israel’s very real security needs,” Richard Visek, a US State Department legal adviser, told the court last week. Arab nations on Monday reiterated their diverging views from Washington on the issue, with the group of 22 countries telling the court it condemns violations of international law arising out of Israel’s “racial domination and apartheid perpetrated against the Palestinian people”. “Palestinian people have been denied the exercise of their legal right to self-determination through the more than century-long, violent, colonial racist effort to establish a nation-state exclusively for the Jewish people in the land of Mandatory Palestine,” representative Ralph Wilde said. Adblock test (Why?)
Ukraine demands Poland punish protesting farmers for dumping grain
Ukraine has called on Poland to punish those responsible for destroying 160 tonnes of Ukrainian grain in an attack at a Polish railway station. Kyiv sent a note to Warsaw demanding that the Polish authorities find and punish the guilty, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on X on Monday. The official said the destruction of the grain at the railway station amid protests was an act of “impunity and irresponsibility”. “Those who have damaged Ukrainian grain must be found, neutralized, and punished. Two friendly civilized European states are interested in this,” Kubrakov wrote. Earlier, the official had reported that 160 tonnes of grain, en route to other countries via the port of Gdansk, had been dumped at the railway station near Bydgoszcz, in eastern Poland. It was reportedly the fourth instance of Ukrainian grain being spilled by protesting Polish farmers in recent weeks. Those who have damaged Ukrainian grain must be found, neutralized, and punished. Two friendly civilized European states are interested in this. Such planned demonstration videos and comments have similarities with the russian hybrid war. The @minfrastucture and the @UKRinPL… pic.twitter.com/O0corRKY2T — Oleksandr Kubrakov (@OlKubrakov) February 26, 2024 Polish farmers have been at the forefront of the widespread protests by European farmers over recent weeks. However, they have been protesting against “unfair competition” from Ukraine for over a year. The European Union suspended import duties, quotas and trade defence measures for imports from Ukraine in June 2022, after Russia’s war closed down many of the country’s usual grain export routes. However, the flow of cheap grain from the east quickly sparked protests by farmers and truckers in neighbouring countries. Encouraged by the former nationalist government, which ruled until last year, Poland’s farmers and truckers have blocked border crossings and motorways. Like peers across Europe, the new government in Warsaw has been wary of confronting farmers, apparently eyeing significant public support and the risk that a strong response to the protests could prove a boon for the far right at European Parliament elections in June. On Friday, a Ukrainian government delegation visited the border with Poland to discuss the protests. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Kyiv had developed a five-step plan “of mutual understanding” to find a compromise for both countries. “The blockade hits the entire Polish-Ukrainian trade and the economy of our countries. Not only Ukraine is losing from it, but Polish entrepreneurs who export goods worth $12bn annually to our market are losing from it.” The plan outlines Ukraine’s agreement with a European Commission proposal to restrict poultry, eggs and sugar exports, including an appeal to the EU to ban Russian agrarian exports. He added that Kyiv is also ready to apply a verification mechanism to grain, corn, sunflower and rapeseed exports. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that it was important for Kyiv to maintain close relations with Poland. Still, he added that his country is ready to defend businesses that had been hurt by the border blockades. Ukrainian border service spokesperson Andriy Demchenko said on television, “Unfortunately, the blockage continues.” “In total, 2,200 lorries are queueing on Polish territory and [Polish] farmers are letting several vehicles through per hour in both directions. More blocked are those lorries coming from Ukraine,” he said. Burning tyres Beyond Poland, farmers from across Europe, including France, Germany and Belgium, have been blocking roads and protesting against foreign competition, as well as environmental regulations, raised costs, and low prices for produce. Ukraine has said blockades on its grain exports have caused severe economic losses and affected its war effort. On Monday, tractors surrounded the EU’s headquarters in Brussels as ministers met to seek ways to streamline farming rules and red tape fuelling the protests around the bloc. Farmers burned tyres and set off fireworks in the street. Police used water cannon to douse the flames as the ministers discussed concessions. Adblock test (Why?)
UN agency warns of ‘looming famine’ in Gaza
Famine is stalking Gaza as aid agencies struggle to deliver food to the north of the enclave, the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has warned. Humanitarian aid has not reached people in northern Gaza for more than a month, Philippe Lazzarini said on Sunday. “The last time UNRWA was able to deliver food aid to northern Gaza was on January 23,” Lazzarini wrote on social media. Aid agencies claim that Israel has been delaying deliveries. Tel Aviv denies that charge as it prepares to report to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the measures it has taken to avert suffering in the besieged enclave. Lazzarini said calls to allow food distribution in Gaza amid the ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hamas have been denied or “have fallen on deaf ears”. Warning against “looming famine”, the UN official said the situation is becoming a “man-made disaster”. The last time @UNRWA was able to deliver food aid to northern #Gaza was on 23 January. Since then, together with other @UN agencies, we have: 🛑 Warned against looming famine.🛑 Appealed for regular humanitarian access.🛑 Stated that famine can be averted if more food… — Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) February 25, 2024 At least 500,000 people are facing famine while nearly the entire population of Gaza, 2.3 million people, is experiencing acute food shortage, figures from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) show. On Sunday, a two-month-old Palestinian boy died of starvation, according to reports. Obstacles Israel – which controls Gaza’s border crossings – has opened just one entry point into the enclave since the start of the war and imposed “endless checking procedures” for trucks to pass through, UN agencies say. Right-wing Israeli protesters have also blocked aid convoys at the Karem Abu Salem entry point – known as Kerem Shalom by Israelis – into southern Gaza, saying the Palestinian people should not be given aid. Since February 9, the average number of trucks that entered Gaza daily was about 55, compared with 500 that used to enter before the start of the conflict, according to OCHA. The agency reports that the flow has sharply reduced further in recent days. Palestinian police officers have stopped providing escorts after at least eight of them were killed in Israeli attacks in southern Rafah, according to UNRWA and US officials. This has prompted others to leave their posts, paving the way for a breakdown in civilian order. Last week, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced the suspension of aid deliveries to northern Gaza after crowds of hungry people stripped goods and beat a driver. Convoys also faced gunfire, with verified video on social media showing Palestinians fleeing to take cover amid the sound of gunshots and clouds of fumes from smoke bombs. Palestinian children are also seen scooping up spilled flour from the ground. The lack of Israeli assistance is further complicating deliveries, UN agencies say. According to OCHA, the majority of aid missions between January 1 and February 15 for northern Gaza – 39 out of 77 – were denied by Israel and less than 20 percent were facilitated by Israeli authorities. ‘No limit’ However, Israel denies that it is obstructing aid deliveries. “There is no limit to the amount of humanitarian aid that can be sent to the civilian population of Gaza and northern Gaza,” Israel’s coordination office for its activities in Palestine (COGAT) wrote in a post on X. Israel is due on Monday to report to the ICJ what it has done to open the way to increased deliveries of humanitarian aid – one of the measures Israel was ordered to comply with by the UN’s top court last month to prevent genocide in Gaza. But Human Rights Watch said on Monday that Israel was not adhering to the court’s order, citing a 30 percent drop in the average number of aid trucks entering Gaza daily over the weeks since. “The Israeli government has simply ignored the court’s ruling, and in some ways even intensified its repression, including further blocking lifesaving aid,” said Omar Shakir, the agency’s Israel and Palestine director. Meanwhile, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned that a full-scale Israeli military operation in the southern city of Rafah would “put the final nail in the coffin” of aid programmes in Gaza. Adblock test (Why?)
Nigerians suffer along border with Niger as economic sanctions bite
Under the midday sun in northern Nigeria, three sisters trek across the border on their way to a wedding in Niger, carrying their babies on their backs. The 1,600km (1,000-mile) frontier has officially been closed since August last year, when West African leaders imposed sanctions on Niger following a military coup that overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum. The closure has taken a heavy toll on both sides. In Nigeria, it has sharpened the effects of an economic crisis and exposed already vulnerable communities to an increase in violent crime. The hardship has been immense, hitting traders especially hard – but for many, the border is still porous. The three women, who have family on either side, passed by the post at Jibia town in Nigeria freely on their way from northwestern Katsina state to Dan Issa village in Niger. Authorities tend to turn a blind eye to pedestrians, and motorists have also found other routes to skirt round checks. The women said the 800 naira ($0.50) fee for a motorbike taxi to their destination was too expensive. “We can’t afford it, which is why we decided to trek,” said 30-year-old Saadatu Sani. Women walk by the closed Niger-Nigeria border in Jibia [Kola Sulaimon/AFP] Hit twice Nigeria used to be one of Niger’s main trading partners, exporting $193m worth of goods to Niger in 2022, according to the United Nations, including electricity, tobacco and cement. Niger’s exports to its neighbour totalled $67.84m in the same year, including cattle, fruit and refined fuel. It is tougher for traders to cross the border, and they say the closure has had a severe effect. Truck driver Hamza Lawal said his business had ground to a halt. He said food had become so expensive people could “hardly eat three meals in a day”. Locals say they have been struck by a double catastrophe, with food prices soaring since the border closure as well as reforms brought in by Nigeria’s new president which have plunged the country into a wider economic crisis. After coming to office last year, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ended a fuel subsidy and currency controls, leading to a tripling of petrol prices and a spike in living costs as the naira has slid against the dollar. The country’s inflation rate reached almost 30 percent in January, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. In Jibia, 100kg (220 pounds) of millet now costs about 60,000 naira ($40) – double the last year’s price. Hassan Issa, Doctors Without Borders (known by its French initials MSF) coordinator in Katsina, fears malnutrition rates will reach new highs this year. With Ramadan starting next month, he worries families in the predominantly Muslim state will “quickly exhaust their reserves during the festive period and find themselves with nothing very early in the year”. Musa Abdullah, 67, the head of the herders in Jibia [Kola Sulaimon/AFP] Bribes and banditry The border closure has also worsened insecurity in the region. Over the years, old tensions between herders and farmers have morphed into a deadly conflict involving criminal gangs. Armed “bandit” groups kill, loot and terrorise the population. They have stepped up attacks despite Nigerian military operations in the vast Rugu forest, one of their hideouts. The conflict has driven farmers from their land, and bandits also steal livestock. “We and the people of Niger are brethren, we are kith and kin,” said 67-year-old herder Musa Abdullahu. “They bring these livestock to us to buy. Since the border is closed they cannot bring the livestock to us … and the local livestock have all been rustled by these evil people [bandits],” he said. The economic fallout from the border closure has also led some Nigerians to turn to banditry. “Poverty can lead to theft and murder … anything for survival,” said Jibia’s traditional leader Sade Rabiu. But it is not just bandits that locals have to contend with. Philip Ikita, project director for the Mercy Corps NGO in Katsina, said insecurity has risen since the closure thanks to the actions of “government security agencies as well as the bandits”. At checkpoints along the road from Katsina city to Jibia, police, soldiers, local security groups, and self-appointed inspectors take money from road users. Ikita said officials were stopping traders “not really to enforce the law but … to negotiate heavy bribes”. “The bandits are underground, they can’t come out in the open,” he said. “The people that are supposed to enforce the law and protect us from bandits are the biggest burden to our free trade.” Adblock test (Why?)
Israel’s war on Gaza: List of key events, day 143
As it continues with its offensive, Israel is expected to submit a report to the ICJ regarding its actions in Gaza. Here’s how things stand on Monday, February 26, 2024: Fighting and humanitarian crisis The Israeli military shelled and fired on crowds of Palestinians waiting for food aid trucks to arrive in Gaza City, killing 10 people, the Wafa news agency reported. At least 15 people were injured in the attack, which occurred on the coastal road in northern Gaza City on Sunday evening. They have been transferred to the nearby al-Shifa Hospital. “Reports that a two-month-old baby died of hunger in Gaza are horrific,” said UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, in a post on social media. Photos and testimonies have documented the Israeli army targeting two Palestinian sisters, killing one of them, as they searched for food on farmland in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip. The Israeli war cabinet has approved a military plan for “providing humanitarian assistance” in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, an Israeli military offensive in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah could be “delayed somewhat” if a deal is reached for a weeks-long truce between Israel and Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. Regional tensions and diplomacy On January 26, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) gave Israel one month to “submit a report to the Court on all measures taken to give effect” to its order in the genocide case brought by South Africa. Israel is expected to submit that report today, Monday, February 26. Meanwhile, the final day of public hearings has begun in a separate ICJ case on Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories since 1967. In the United States, an active US military service member set himself on fire, in an apparent act of protest against the war in Gaza, outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, authorities said. US media reports said Aaron Bushnell, 25, livestreamed himself on Twitch, wearing fatigues and declaring he would “not be complicit in genocide” before dousing himself in liquid. He then lit himself on fire while yelling “Free Palestine!” until he fell to the ground. Violence in the occupied West Bank Israeli forces have erected a tower and placed surveillance cameras on it at the western wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, the Wafa news agency reports. The report comes as the Israeli government is expected to place restrictions on worshippers trying to pray at Islam’s third-holiest site during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which will likely start on March 10. Israel plans to build more than 3,300 new homes in settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in response to a fatal Palestinian shooting attack, a senior cabinet minister said. The decision drew an angry response from the US at a time of growing tensions over the course of Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Adblock test (Why?)