Qatar to ICJ: Israel carrying out “genocidal war” on people of Gaza
NewsFeed Qatar told the ICJ “Israel’s genocidal war on the people of Gaza” is the most pressing threat to international peace and security. Qatar presented its argument on day 5 of the UN top court’s hearing into legal consequences over Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Published On 23 Feb 202423 Feb 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine two years on: towards an endless and wider war?
In an UpFront special, we discuss where the war in Ukraine currently stands and where it is heading. It’s been two years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, causing mass destruction and a mounting civilian death toll. Even with support from the West, Ukraine is facing increased weapons and infantry shortages as its fight against Russian forces carries on, seemingly with no end in sight. So what future lays ahead for Ukraine and could the war spill over into neighbouring countries? Are peace negotiations even possible or does it run the risk of becoming an endless war? In an UpFront Special, Marc Lamont Hill discusses the fallout of Russia’s war on Ukraine with Ukrainian Member of Parliament Lesia Vasylenko, political scientist Ilya Matveev, and journalist Aaron Mate. Adblock test (Why?)
Is the Red Sea becoming fully militarised?
Some major world powers are increasing their military presence in the region amid Houthi attacks and Israel’s war on Gaza. The Red Sea is one of the busiest shipping routes in the world and one that’s been a source of contention for some time. Houthi fighters in Yemen have been targeting vessels that they say are linked to Israel since the war on Gaza began. They have also recently banned ships from the United States and the United Kingdom from their surrounding waters. Vessels being re-routed have caused considerable delays and come at a high cost. Major powers like the US, the UK and China and found themselves pulled into the crisis. The US and UK have launched several air raids against Houthi targets in Yemen – in an effort to stop the attacks on ships. They are also launching a multinational force to protect trade – which the EU is now joining. So, what’s the impact of the region’s growing militarisation? Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom Guests: Betul Dogan-Akkas – Researcher at Ankara University who examines Gulf foreign policy, security strategies and political culture Stavros Karamperidis – Head of the Maritime Transport Research Group at the University of Plymouth Farea Al-Muslimi – Research fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House Adblock test (Why?)
Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz found guilty of perjury
Kurz receives eight month suspended sentence after being found guilty of lying to a parliamentary inquiry. Austria’s former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has received an eight-month suspended sentence after being found guilty of perjury by a Vienna court after a four-month trial. The former leader, once hailed as a “wunderkind” of Europe’s conservatives, had denied downplaying his influence over the appointment of executives to the state-holding company OBAG when he was chancellor, and whose appointments were formally his finance minister’s responsibility. But Kurz’s corruption case centred on his testimony to a parliamentary commission of inquiry that he was “involved in the sense of informed”, but did not play an active role in appointments. The court, however, agreed with prosecutors that Kurz was actually the ultimate decision-maker, and produced evidence, including text messages and testimony from former loyalist Thomas Schmid, the first head of OBAG, who turned state witness. The trial and other ongoing corruption investigations have damaged the reputation of the charismatic hardliner, and damaged any chance he had of a political comeback. In 2017, Kurz became one of the youngest leaders in the world at age 31 and formed a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party (FPO). Amid a scandal in 2019 when the FPO’s leader was embroiled in a video sting, the coalition collapsed. Kurz then won a snap election and formed a coalition with the Greens, who later forced him from office in 2021 due to the corruption investigation. But his Austrian People’s Party continues to lead the government under current Chancellor Karl Nehammer. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz waves as he leaves a session of the Parliament in Vienna, Austria May 27, 2019 [File: Leonhard Foeger/Reuters] Kurz has insisted he is innocent of having misled a parliamentary inquiry probing wide-ranging corruption scandals that brought down his first government with the far right in 2019. Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim of selective prosecution and an opposition out to “destroy him”. Kurz said that while he had been informed about Schmid’s appointment, he did not decide on it and dismissed suggestions that he had sought to control everything. On the other hand, Schmid testified that Kurz had built up a “system” where he held the reins and could veto any appointment of personnel in critical companies. Separately, prosecutors are still investigating Kurz on suspicion of having embezzled public money to fund polls skewed to boost his image and pay for the favourable coverage that allowed for his success in 2017. However, they have so far failed to obtain any convictions since a video emerged in 2019 showing Kurz’s then-vice chancellor of the FPO offering public contracts to a purported Russian investor for campaign help. After leaving politics, the conservatives, who are in an election year, have slid to second or third in the polls, making it likely that they will lose seats in a parliamentary election this year, prompting speculation that Kurz could eventually return to lead the party and reverse its fortunes. Polls, however, have shown that a clear majority of Austrians say they do not want to see his return to government, and Kurz has said that he is happy as a businessman and is now involved with numerous private international enterprises. Adblock test (Why?)
Funeral held for world marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum
NewsFeed “In Kelvin we saw the future of athletics in Kenya.” Kenya’s president was among hundreds of mourners who gathered for Kelvin Kiptum’s funeral on Friday. The world marathon record holder died in a car crash in Kenya on February 11. Published On 23 Feb 202423 Feb 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Qatar condemns ‘double standards’ at ICJ hearing on Israeli occupation
Qatar tells the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that it rejects the “double standards” when international law applies to some but not to others during a hearing on Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories. “Some children are deemed worthy of protection while others are killed in their thousands,” senior Qatari diplomat Mutlaq al-Qahtani said on Friday in The Hague. “Qatar rejects such double standards. International law must be upheld in all circumstances. It must be applied to all, and there must be accountability”. Al-Qahtani added that Israel had implemented an “apartheid regime” to maintain the “domination of Jewish Israelis over Palestinians”. He also said the occupation is “illegal” due to it violating the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. The court has the “clear mandate and indeed the responsibility to remedy this unacceptable situation. The credibility of the international legal order depends on your opinion, and the stakes cannot be higher.” Qatar, the United States and Egypt are currently mediating negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to stop the current war, which is taking a devastating toll on Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. Over the past week, the ICJ has been hearing the opinion of more than 50 countries on the legal implications of Israel’s occupation ahead of the court issuing a nonbinding opinion. The 15-judge panel has been asked to review Israel’s “occupation, settlement and annexation, … including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures”. But Qatar echoed similar statements from several countries in calling out Israel’s policy as a breach of international law, including South Africa, which also referred to the occupation as “apartheid”. Representatives from several other countries, including Pakistan, Norway, Indonesia and the United Kingdom, spoke at Friday’s hearing. Pakistani Minister for Law and Justice Ahmed Irfan Aslam said that while Israel had tried to make its occupation of the Palestinian territories irreversible, history has shown that change is possible, referring to the withdrawal of French settlers from Algeria in 1962. He added that a two-state solution “must be the basis for peace”. Norway’s representative said developments on the ground “give reason to ask whether the occupation is turning into a de facto annexation”, which is prohibited under international law. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, who said she left the G20 meeting in Brazil to address the ICJ personally, stated: “I stand before you to defend justice against a blatant violation of international humanitarian law that is being committed by Israel.” Marsudi added that Israel’s “unlawful occupation” should not be normalised or recognised, all actions that stop the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination “shall be unlawful” and it is clear that its “apartheid regime” is in breach of international law. The British representative was the only person to divert from what other countries had said on Friday and instead aligned with the US, who called on the court to reject issuing an advisory opinion. The representative said that while Israel’s occupation is illegal, it is a “bilateral dispute”, and issuing an opinion would affect the security framework led by the United Nations Security Council. The hearings are, in part, a push by Palestinian officials to get international legal institutions to investigate Israel’s occupation, especially in light of the current war on Gaza. During the past four months and after Hamas’s October 7 attacks in southern Israel, which killed 1,139 Israelis, Israel has conducted a military campaign in Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 29,000 Palestinians. In the occupied West Bank, settler violence has increased, and world leaders have issued sanctions to try to penalise and curb the attacks. Israel, which is not attending the hearing, has said the court proceedings could be harmful to achieving some kind of negotiated settlement. Adblock test (Why?)
Five drown as migrant boat capsizes during rescue operation off Malta
Eight other people were injured and 21 were rescued by Malta’s armed forces. Five people have died and eight others were injured after the boat they were in capsized during a rescue operation by armed forces from Malta off the Mediterranean island. The armed forces deputy commander Colonel Edric Zahra told reporters that the incident happened at about midday (around 11:00 GMT) on Friday when the eight-metre (26-foot) migrant boat was 6.5km (four miles) south of Malta. “The boat capsized suddenly while the rescue operation was under way,” he said. “Eight are receiving medical care in hospital and unfortunately five were brought ashore dead,” he said, adding that the deceased included four men and one woman. Among the injured were two people who swallowed a considerable amount of seawater and fuel. Some 21 migrants were rescued and taken to a migrant centre. The passengers are believed to have set sail from Libya, but they hail from Egypt, Eritrea, Ghana and Syria. Search operations were continuing offshore to ensure no other passengers remained in the sea. The armed forces said they had been alerted earlier on Friday to a boat carrying several migrants close to fish farms off Zonqor on Malta’s southern coast. A surveillance plane confirmed the location and a patrol boat was dispatched to the area. A photograph released by the armed forces showed the patrol boat nearing the migrant vessel, with some on board wearing what looked like red life jackets. “These migrant boats are usually heavily loaded with people. The chances are that when people move about, the boat loses balance,” Zahra said, adding that “the migrants ended up in the water.” He said there had been no collision, but the boat capsized “due to instability” as the passengers moved around. The armed forces later sent more boats to try to help, and a police investigation was launched. Malta rescued 380 migrants at sea in 2023 – its lowest annual total in years and just 10 percent of the number of irregular migrants who reached the island in 2019. The country has also stepped up its relocation and repatriation efforts in recent years, relocating 159 irregular migrants and deporting roughly 1,700 others in 2023. Most people who attempt the Central Mediterranean crossing from North Africa to Europe land in Italy, which recorded just under 160,000 arrivals last year. Mediterranean sea crossings from North Africa to Italy or Malta are among the most dangerous migration routes in the world. Last year almost 2,500 migrants died or went missing on those routes, the International Organization for Migration says. Adblock test (Why?)
Palestinian Authority says Israeli post-war Gaza plan ‘destined to fail’
The Palestinian Authority has sharply criticised a “day after” plan for Gaza presented by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling it “destined to fail”. “If the world wants security and stability in the region, it must end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and recognise the independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, was quoted as saying on Friday by the Palestinian state news agency Wafa. Netanyahu’s plan is his first official proposal for what comes after the war in Gaza – in which Israel has killed more than 29,000 Palestinians. According to the document, presented to members of Israel’s security cabinet on Thursday, Israel would maintain security and military control over all land west of Jordan, including the occupied West Bank and Gaza – territories where the Palestinians want to create their independent state. In the long-term goals listed, Netanayhu also rejected the “unilateral recognition” of a Palestinian state. He said a settlement with the Palestinians will only be achieved through direct negotiations between the two sides – but it did not name who the Palestinian party would be. In response, Abu Rudeineh rejected any effort to separate governance in Gaza from the West Bank. “Gaza will only be part of the independent Palestinian state … Any plans to the contrary are destined to fail,” he said. “Israel will not succeed in attempts to alter the geographic and demographic reality in the Gaza Strip.” “Netanyahu’s proposed plans aim to perpetuate Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state,” Abu Rudeineh added. Gaza to be run by ‘local officials’ The war in Gaza has revived international calls – including from Israel’s main backer, the United States – for the so-called two-state solution as the ultimate goal for resolving the decades-long Israel-Palestinian conflict. However, many senior Israeli politicians oppose the creation of a Palestinian state. While on Gaza, Netanyahu’s plan emphasised that the war would continue until Israel had achieved all of its announced goals: the dismantlement of military capabilities and infrastructure operated by Hamas and Islamic Jihad; the return of all captives taken on October 7; and the removal of all security threats originating from Gaza. The enclave will then be run by “local officials” who are not tied to “countries or entities that support terrorism”. Commenting on the plan, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara said that the identity of these officials was unknown. “We don’t know who they are, he [Netanyahu] doesn’t know either … I don’t think they exist. There were attempts in the 1970s and 1980s to create such entities among the Palestinians and it failed in no time,” he said. It is also unclear whether representatives of the Palestinian Authority (PA) will be involved in controlling Gaza. Reporting from occupied east Jerusalem, Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut highlighted that, in his draft plan, Netanyahu did not mention the PA’s role. “He [Netanyahu] didn’t say this officially in his plan but used broader terminology probably to reach a consensus among his right-wing government,” she said. “Remember the Israeli prime minister is under immense pressure from the Americans who want to see a revitalised PA to take over once the war is over. But Netanyahu has been quiet defiant to come in and take over Gaza,” Salhut added. The Israeli prime minister’s plan also outlined demilitarisation and deradicalisation as goals to be achieved in the medium term in Gaza. It does not elaborate on when that intermediary stage would begin or how long it would last, but says that the “the Israeli army will maintain indefinitely the freedom to intervene in Gaza to prevent the resurgence of terror activity”. It also proposes that Israel have a presence on the Gaza-Egypt border in the south of the enclave and says that Israel should cooperate with Egypt and the US in that area to prevent smuggling attempts, including at the Rafah crossing. [embedded content] Plans for UNRWA’s closure Lastly, Netanyahu’s plan also says that the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, would be shut. Israel has long tried to eliminate the UN agency, which enshrines the right of Palestinian refugees to return home. Israel has recently made claims that UNRWA has links to Hamas, a claim that the body has fiercely denied, and that US intelligence assessments have cast doubt on, according to reports. Tamara Alrifai, UNRWA’s director of external relations and communications told Al Jazeera that attempts to get rid of UNRWA should be seen alongside efforts to remove the future prospect of a Palestinian state, highlighting Netanyahu’s display of a map of Israel that included the occupied West Bank, Gaza, and occupied East Jerusalem during an address at the UN General Assembly in September. “A map which includes and encompasses all the Palestinian territories where UNRWA works. I don’t find this a coincidence,” she said. According to Al Jazeera’s Bishara, this plan is not official and is one that Netanyahu is floating to the cabinet, in order to leak it to the media and to do a number of other things. “Firstly there is that approach towards his own base. He’s telling his radicals in the government and public that he remains steadfast … Secondly, I think it is quite stupid to be honest, because we know the Israelis have tried this [plan to take control of Gaza in some form or the other] before and it never worked,” Bishara said. “Lastly, it [the plan] is so sadist. We are in the midst of the fifth month of genocide against the Palestinian people. Still, the Israeli prime minister insists they will maintain control … that kind of sadism is unprecedented.” Adblock test (Why?)
Mexico’s teachers seek relief from pandemic-era spike in school robberies
Guadalajara, Mexico – In Maria Soto’s classroom, nearly half of the fourth-graders have not yet learned how to read. The rest are at least a year behind. For these kids, the pandemic era continues, even if no one wears a mask anymore. But as Soto sees it, the problem lies not just in learning delays accumulated during months of remote education. It stems equally from an ongoing trend of classroom crime. The Eduardo O’Gorman elementary school, in Guadalajara’s impoverished Chulavista neighbourhood, has been the victim of near-constant robberies since 2020, Soto said. The latest occurred this past October. Bit by bit, furniture, electrical equipment and plumbing infrastructure — down to the toilets and sinks in the bathrooms — have disappeared from the campus, which features a pair of skeletal two-storey buildings linked by a square patch of asphalt, decorated with hopscotch squares. The school has become a buffet for local criminals who resell stolen goods, at the expense of the community’s children. Many of the thefts occurred in broad daylight, with multiple witnesses and security camera footage as evidence. But police investigations have not yielded any answers or any change, Soto said. “They stole everything little by little, the cables, the windows, the sinks,” she explained. “The neighbours had to have seen who was doing it, but no one admitted that they saw anything.” What is happening at O’Gorman elementary is part of a nationwide trend. In the year after the COVID-19 pandemic began, the National Union of Educational Workers (SNTE), Mexico’s largest teachers’ union, estimated that 40 to 50 percent of the nation’s schools had faced robbery or vandalism. Teachers and education advocates like Soto say that heightened risk has yet to subside. And they fear that the continued threat of theft will exacerbate the education setbacks wrought by the pandemic. “We couldn’t return to school for two years, so we did online class, and now 35 percent of the kids can’t read,” Soto said. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in educational setbacks, including lower reading scores [File: Gustavo Graf/Reuters] Fernando Ruíz, an investigator at Mexicanos Primero, a non-profit involved in improving the Mexican public education system, told Al Jazeera that school robberies continued throughout 2023 at high levels, affecting 11,000 of the schools his organisation worked with last fall. The damage can end up shuttering educational facilities indefinitely, he added. “There are schools that remain pretty much abandoned.” Ruíz and other advocates suspect the number of schools affected is likely much higher. But the Mexican government has not collected data on the subject since 2022. In a press conference in July 2023, Daniel Covarrubias Lopez, the SNTE’s secretary general, remarked on the frequency of school robberies by saying, “This is our daily bread.” For Soto — a short teacher with tall, block heels whose firm, measured tone lays bare her decades of experience — the constant repairs and replacements required at her school have left classrooms with few resources. Midway through the pandemic, the school was able to gather money from state government grants, allowing it to make the minimum necessary repairs. “When we were able to raise money, the first thing we did was replace the electricity, so workmen could come do construction,” Soto said. “But the next day, the new cables were gone.” Because the school could not afford further fixes, students continued online classes well after the risk of COVID-19 abated in the community. In-person classes only resumed in 2022, thanks to further government assistance and a private donation. Nearly four years after the start of the ordeal, the school is still struggling to keep afloat. Some days, students are turned away at the school gate because the water tank has malfunctioned, rendering the bathrooms unusable. The school does not have the funds to repair the issue. “We started just telling the kids to hold it in,” Soto said. Every time she leaves for a weekend or holiday break, Soto fears she will return to a school in tatters. “One time [in April 2023], I opened the door to my classroom, and it had been completely vandalised as well,” Soto said. “On the wall there was a message addressed to me, and I realised the person who did it had likely been my former student.” Advocates say schools are struggling to replace stolen items amid an ongoing wave of thefts [File: Daniel Becerril/Reuters] While drug lords like Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and his four sons, Los Chapitos, have gained a kind of celebrity status in Mexico, the everyday reality of organised crime intersects more often with poverty than with riches and fame. The most recent government statistics, from 2022, indicate that 43.5 percent of the Mexican population grapples with poverty. Slightly more than 7 percent — or 9.1 million people — face extreme poverty. Those numbers were even higher during the pandemic. Extreme poverty touched nearly 11 million people in 2020 alone, as businesses shuttered and residents self-isolated to reduce infection. In low-income urban areas, the economic drought that characterised the pandemic years lingers. Advocates like Ruíz say already-vulnerable public schools are paying the price. “What we’ve seen is the formation of groups dedicated to stealing electrical wiring. They’ve found the weak spots,” Ruíz said. “The minute [the schools] replace something, they come and take it again.” Ruíz explained that the schools best able to recover from theft are the rare examples of community cooperation: institutions where parents, teachers and local officials all pitch in. But most schools struggle to keep parents engaged, much less local officials. Ruíz added that law enforcement likewise devotes little time to the schools’ protection and upkeep. “Most schools make police reports just to receive government aid if it is available,” Ruíz said. The police “almost never actually follow up with the cases”. Teachers and education advocates are hoping school thefts will subside as the economy recovers [File: Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters] Even some of the schools that face only one or two robberies are left in precarious financial situations.
Crisis in eastern DR Congo
NewsFeed Heavy fighting between Congolese armed forces and the M23 rebel group have forced thousands of civilians to flee their homes in east Democratic Republic of the Congo. Al Jazeera’s Catherine Soi explains what’s caused the crisis. Published On 23 Feb 202423 Feb 2024 Adblock test (Why?)