No evidence but US Republicans approve Biden impeachment inquiry
Vote means investigation is likely to extend well into 2024 when Biden will be running for reelection, probably against Donald Trump. The United States House of Representatives has voted to launch a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, despite an ongoing investigation finding no evidence of wrongdoing by the Democrat. The Republican-controlled House voted 221-212 on Wednesday to approve the investigation, which is examining whether Biden improperly benefitted from his 53-year-old son Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings. The vote came hours after the younger Biden refused a call to testify behind closed doors and three months after Republicans informally began the probe. “We do not take this responsibility lightly and will not prejudge the investigation’s outcome,” Speaker Mike Johnson and his team said in a statement after the vote. “But the evidentiary record is impossible to ignore.” Authorising the inquiry ensures that the impeachment investigation extends well into 2024 when Biden will be running for reelection and seems likely to be squaring off against former President Donald Trump who was twice impeached during his time in the White House, including for inciting the January 2021 assault on the Capitol. Trump, who also faces four criminal trials, has pushed his allies in Congress to move swiftly on impeaching Biden, part of his broader calls for retribution against his political enemies. The White House has dismissed the initiative as unsubstantiated by facts and politically motivated. Biden swiftly condemned the vote. “Instead of doing their job on the urgent work that needs to be done, they [Republicans] are choosing to waste time on this baseless political stunt that even Republicans in Congress admit is not supported by facts,” Biden said in a statement following the vote. Hunter Biden offered to testify publicly to the Republican-led House Oversight Committee rather than in a closed-door session [Jack Gruber/USA Today Network via Reuters] The decision to hold a vote came as Johnson and his team faced growing pressure to show progress in their investigation, which has raised ethical questions but uncovered no evidence that Biden acted corruptly or accepted bribes either in his current role or when he was vice president between 2009 and 2017. Congressional investigators have obtained nearly 40,000 pages of subpoenaed bank records and dozens of hours of testimony from key witnesses, including several high-ranking Justice Department officials currently investigating the president’s son, Hunter Biden, on firearms and tax charges. The effort will almost certainly fail to remove Biden from office. Even if the House backs impeachment, the Senate would then have to vote to convict him on the charges by a two-thirds vote – a near-impossibility in a chamber where Biden’s fellow Democrats hold a 51-49 majority. “By endorsing this impeachment inquiry, the Republican Conference is signing up for another year of a ‘Do Nothing’ Congress: No substantive legislation or policy progress, all political fantasy and conspiracy theory,” Jamie Raskin, a Democrat, said in a statement after the vote. Adblock test (Why?)
‘Fighting is all around’: Myanmar faces deepening humanitarian crisis
In late October, Sai Lam had an uneasy feeling. The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), an ethnic armed organisation operating in Myanmar’s northern Shan State, was massing forces near his village on the Chinese border and he sensed that fighting was imminent. So the 27-year-old, who had already secured a job in the construction sector in China’s Yunnan province in order to support his family, decided to expedite his plan. He travelled from his village near the town of Mong Ko up to the border gate of Muse, and then crossed into China province using a temporary border pass. His wife and mother, meanwhile, stayed behind to look after their farmland and newborn baby. Days later, the MNDAA, together with its allies the Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army, launched Operation 1027, a joint offensive on military outposts in northern Shan State. Sai Lam’s family were forced to flee at dawn on October 27. They returned 10 days later, after the MNDAA had declared control over Mong Ko and the surrounding villages. Although the situation around Mong Ko has calmed, the military has relentlessly attacked other areas where it has lost ground, including the nearby town of Namkham, which it bombed on December 1 and again a week later. Worrying that the military could also attack Mong Ko, Sai Lam wants to bring his family to China, but they are unable to flee, because the roads out are now inaccessible due to the fighting. “They are still very scared and alert at all times because the military often fires heavy artillery and bombs from jets,” he said. Despite the challenges his family has endured, Sai Lam continues to support the ongoing resistance to the military, which seized power from the elected government in February 2021. “We are being oppressed, so we don’t want the military to win,” he said. “We expect that if the military loses and local resistance forces gain control, we may have more freedom and opportunities.” The Loikaw Local People’s Defence Force (PDF) preparing to go to the front line in Myanmar’s east [File: AFP] He and others interviewed for this report have been given pseudonyms due to the risk of military retaliation. Since the start of Operation 1027, Myanmar has seen the most significant escalation in hostilities across the country since the coup, which sparked a widespread armed uprising. Resistance forces have in recent weeks managed to overtake hundreds of military outposts, including strategic border crossings with China and India. They are also closing in on Loikaw, the Karenni State capital, as well as Laukkai, an enclave notorious for transnational human trafficking and online scams. Analysts now say that the military is at its weakest since the coup, with some even suggesting its imminent collapse. But alongside resistance gains, there has been a serious humanitarian cost. From October 26 to December 8, more than 578,000 people were newly displaced on top of nearly 2 million who were already displaced before the surge in fighting according to the United Nations, which said 363 civilians had been killed and 461 injured since late October. And at a time when UN agencies and international nongovernmental organisations have struggled to reach affected populations, it is community-based organisations, charity groups and local volunteers who are taking life-threatening risks to help civilians. “We all know that doing this kind of work is very dangerous, but if we don’t do it, there’s no one,” said Nway Thitsar, who works with a Christian faith-based organisation operating in northern Shan State to deliver food aid. “I can hear the sounds of bombing and gunfire all the time,” she added. “[But] I’m still safe enough that I can help people facing danger.” No refuge Even before the start of Operation 1027, Myanmar was experiencing unprecedented levels of armed conflict and a humanitarian crisis. Within months of the coup, autonomy-seeking ethnic armed organisations had joined forces with newly-formed groups, commonly known as people’s defence forces, to drive the military from power and establish a federal democracy. In response, the military scaled up its use of “four cuts,” a strategy it has long employed against ethnic minorities in the country’s border areas and which seeks to starve resistance groups of food, funds, intelligence and recruits by going after their civilian support base. Since the coup, it has bombed schools, hospitals and displacement camps across the country, burned tens of thousands of homes, and committed widespread atrocities including torture and mass executions, according to the UN. In March this year, its human rights office found that the military’s use of four cuts was driving a “perpetual human rights crisis” across Myanmar. The crisis has only worsened in recent weeks. In Shan State, some of the most intense fighting has been near Laukkai, one of several criminal hubs along Myanmar’s eastern border run by Chinese gangs. Capitalising on China’s desire to crack down on the industry, which also involves the large-scale trafficking of Chinese nationals, resistance groups have declared combating cybercrime as one of their goals. As they close in on Laukkai, the city has seen a mass exodus, but those fleeing face a perilous journey. On November 11 and 22, shelling killed multiple civilians as they attempted to leave by car. There are also few places of refuge. About 40,000 people have taken shelter in an autonomous region run by the United Wa State Army, Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic armed organisation, but most displaced people are stranded. About 50,000 are camping under tarpaulin sheets at the border, where China built an electrified metal fence topped with razor wire during the pandemic. On November 25, Chinese authorities fired tear gas to disperse the displaced, but most have nowhere else to go. Some people also remain trapped in Laukkai, where many are squatting in unfinished construction sites, according to Nway Thitsar, whose organisation is working to send them food in spite of roadblocks, checkpoints, telecommunications outages and active conflict. Their funds are also being syphoned off on inflated fuel costs. “If
What to know about Turkey’s football crisis after attack on referee
Turkey is set to resume its league football on Tuesday, ending a brief suspension in the domestic competition caused by an attack on a referee by a club’s president who was later arrested by local authorities. Turkish football’s “night of shame” has caused the country’s most popular sport to spiral into a crisis and has raised questions about on-pitch violence towards match officials. Here’s a look at the events that unfolded since the violent incident in Ankara: What happened during and after the match? The Turkish Super Lig match between MKA Ankaragucu and Caykur Rizespor ended in a 1-1 draw on Monday after the visitors equalised in the last minute of added time. After the full-time whistle was blown, Ankaragucu President Faruk Koca rushed onto the pitch with a group of men and knocked out referee Halil Umut Meler with a blow to the left side of his face. Meler was kicked several times in the ensuing melee, which occurred when fans invaded the pitch. The 37-year-old match official was shown standing minutes later with a black eye that had swelled up the left part of his face. He eventually made it to the dressing room with the help of the police. Why was the referee attacked? Koca appeared to be incensed at Meler for sending off one of his players and then awarding a stoppage-time goal that allowed Rizespor to leave Ankara with a draw. Meler released a statement on Tuesday saying Koca had threatened his life. “Faruk Koca punched me under my left eye, and I fell to the ground. While I was on the ground, they kicked my face and other parts of my body many times,” Meler said. “[He] told me and my fellow referees: ‘I will finish you.’ Addressing me in particular, he said: ‘I will kill you.’” Meler was released from hospital in Ankara on Wednesday after undergoing observation and receiving a phone call from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Meler, a respected referee with accreditation to officiate international matches, is expected to recover and join the refereeing crew of the Euro 2024 championship, to be held from June to July in Germany. Halil Umut Meler leaves the hospital in Ankara on December 13, 2023 [Cagla Gurdogan/Reuters] Who is Faruk Koca? MKE Ankaragucu’s Koca is a politician, former parliamentarian, aspiring Ankara mayor and member of Erdogan’s AK Party. “If I am entrusted with the task of being the metropolitan municipality mayor, I will do what is necessary,” Koca said this year. However, the ruling party has initiated procedures to expel Koca. Since the incident, Koca has resigned as club president – a role he took up in 2021 – but insists that his team was cheated by the referee. “No matter how great an injustice or how wrong [the officiating] was, nothing can legitimise or explain the violence that I perpetrated,” Koca said in a club statement. “I apologise to the Turkish refereeing community, the sports public and our nation,” he added. Turkish Football Federation (TFF) chief Mehmet Buyukeksi said the sport’s governing body will announce penalties for the altercation. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said Koca and two others were formally arrested for “injuring a public official” after prosecutors took statements from them. “The investigation is continuing meticulously,” he said on the social media platform X. Turkey’s president was also quick to condemn the incident. “Sports means peace and brotherhood. The sport is incompatible with violence. We will never allow violence to take place in Turkish sports,” Erdogan wrote on X. What has FIFA said? FIFA President Gianni Infantino said the events after the match were “totally unacceptable and have no place in our sport or society”. “Without match officials, there is no football,” he added. European football’s governing body, UEFA, also condemned the incident. “We urge the authorities and the responsible disciplinary bodies to take decisive and necessary action against anyone involved in acts of abuse and violence against referees,” UEFA said. Statement from FIFA President Gianni Infantino: 🔗 https://t.co/mBhi38Nf40 pic.twitter.com/YqJ3KqeWqy — FIFA Media (@fifamedia) December 12, 2023 Matches were suspended indefinitely hours after the incident, but on Wednesday, the TFF said action will resume next week. Is there a history of violent attacks on referees and match officials? Violence in football is commonplace in Turkey despite efforts to clamp down on it although direct attacks on top-level referees are rare. Still, Buyukeksi blamed the attack on a culture of contempt towards referees. “Everyone who has targeted referees and encouraged them to commit crimes is complicit in this despicable attack,” he said. “The irresponsible statements of club presidents, managers, coaches and television commentators targeting referees have opened the way for this attack.” Pierluigi Collina, chairman of FIFA’s referees committee, said the incident was horrific. “Neither the referee nor the man deserved to live the experience he lived yesterday in Ankara. He was doing his job when he was assaulted on the field of play at the end of a match he just officiated,” Collina said on Tuesday. Hugh Dallas, Turkish Super Lig’s head of referee education, was in the stadium when the incident happened and has called for governments to take action. Referees in Turkey are often criticised by club managers and presidents for their decisions. “I think a lot of club presidents, media and others will take a look at themselves today and realise when you whip up that type of mass hysteria regarding refereeing, this is the result,” he told the BBC. “There has to be legislation and punishments put in place for clubs, players, owners or whoever when they behave in such a manner because it definitely can’t continue.” Adblock test (Why?)
Tesla recalls nearly all US vehicles over autopilot system defects
The firm’s largest-ever recall comes after a two-year investigation by federal safety regulator focused on autopilot function. Tesla is recalling more than two million cars in the United States, nearly all of its vehicles sold there, after a federal regulator said defects with the autopilot system pose a safety hazard. In a recall filing on Wednesday, the carmaker said autopilot software system controls “may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse”. “Automated technology holds great promise for improving safety but only when it is deployed responsibly,” said a spokesperson for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which has been investigating the autopilot function for more than two years. “Today’s action is an example of improving automated systems by prioritizing safety.” The decision marks the largest-ever recall for Tesla, as autonomous vehicle development in the US hits a series of snags over safety concerns. The company has said that it will install new safeguards and fix current defects. The recall covers models Y, S, 3 and X produced between October 5, 2012, and December 7, 2023. Speaking before the US House of Representatives on Wednesday, acting NHTSA Administrator Ann Carlson said she was happy Tesla had agreed to a recall. She said that the agency first started investigating Tesla’s autopilot function in August 2021 after hearing about several fatal crashes that occurred when the autopilot was on. “One of the things we determined is that drivers are not always paying attention when that system is on,” she said. Documents posted on Wednesday by the agency said the current autopilot design can lead to “foreseeable misuse of the system,” and that the changes to be instituted will “further encourage the driver to adhere to their continuous driving responsibility”. Some experts have raised questions over whether such steps go far enough. “The compromise is disappointing,” Phil Koopman, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University who studies autonomous vehicle safety, told The Associated Press. “Because it does not fix the problem that the older cars do not have adequate hardware for driver monitoring.” Driverless cars, exalted by supporters as an exciting technological advancement, have faced a series of setbacks in recent months. In October, California suspended testing by the self-driving car firm Cruise, after California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) raised questions about safety concerns. Adblock test (Why?)
Letter accuses US security agency of turning ‘blind eye’ to Gaza suffering
Washington, DC – More than a hundred staff members from the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have signed an open letter to Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas denouncing the department’s handling of the war in Gaza. The letter, exclusively obtained by Al Jazeera, expresses frustration with the “palpable, glaring absence in the Department’s messaging” of “recognition, support, and mourning” for the more than 18,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza since the start of the war on October 7. “The grave humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the conditions in the West Bank are circumstances that the Department would generally respond to in various ways,” the letter, dated November 22, said. “Yet DHS leadership has seemingly turned a blind eye to the bombing of refugee camps, hospitals, ambulances, and civilians.” The letter’s signatories include 139 staff members from DHS and the agencies it manages, like Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). But some staff members “elected to sign this letter anonymously” for fear of backlash, the document explained. It called for DHS to “provide a fair and balanced representation of the situation, and allow for respectful expression without the fear of professional repercussions”. DHS did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment by the time of publication. The letter is the latest indication of fractures within the administration of President Joe Biden, who has faced internal criticism for his government’s stance on the Gaza war. Last month, more than 500 officials from 40 government agencies issued an anonymous letter pushing Biden to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Another letter, signed by 1,000 employees from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), expressed a similar appeal. But Biden has been reluctant to criticise Israel’s ongoing military offensive in Gaza, instead pledging his “rock solid and unwavering” support for the longtime US ally. In an internal message on November 2, Mayorkas echoed Biden’s stance. He denounced the “horrific terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7”, perpetrated by the Palestinian group Hamas, but made no mention of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. “The impacts [of October 7] continue to sweep through Jewish, Arab American, Muslim and other communities everywhere,” Mayorkas wrote. “I am heartened knowing that our Department is on the front lines of protecting our communities from antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of bigotry and hate.” US President Joe Biden has expressed ‘unwavering’ support for Israel as it conducts a months-long military offensive in Gaza [Leah Millis/Reuters] But two DHS staff members who spoke to Al Jazeera on the condition of anonymity felt that department leadership should be going further to address the mounting death toll in Gaza, where civilians remain under Israeli siege. United Nations experts have already warned of a “grave risk of genocide” in the territory, as supplies run low and bombs continue to fall. “I’ve been very dedicated to the federal government,” one anonymous DHS official said. “I’ve served in different capacities. I very much believed in our mission. “And then, after October 7, I feel like there has just been a drastic shift in this expectation of what we’re supposed to do when there’s a humanitarian crisis and what we’re actually doing when there’s politics involved, and that has a very, very scary, chilling impact.” The staff’s open letter calls for DHS to take actions in Gaza “commensurate with past responses to humanitarian tragedies”, including through the creation of a humanitarian parole programme for Palestinians in the territory. That would allow them to temporarily enter the US “based on urgent humanitarian or significant public benefit reasons”. The letter also pushed DHS to designate residents of the Palestinian territories eligible for “temporary protected status” or TPS. That would permit Palestinians already in the US to remain in the country and qualify for employment authorisation. Such programmes have been put in place for other conflicts, including for Ukrainians facing full-scale invasion from Russia. Last month, 106 members of Congress — including Senator Dick Durbin and Representatives Pramila Jayapal and Jerry Nadler — even sent a letter to Biden, urging a TPS designation for the Palestinian territories. Biden has been criticised for offering temporary protected status for Ukrainians but not for Palestinians in Gaza [Evan Vucci/AP Photo] But one of the anonymous DHS officials who spoke with Al Jazeera said that, although there has been discussion about a possible TPS designation, action seems unlikely. “There have been a lot of serious systemic and programmatic obstacles driven purely by politics,” she said. Part of the challenge is that the US does not recognise Palestine as a foreign state, putting its eligibility for TPS in doubt. “We don’t recognise Palestine as a state. We don’t code them with that,” the DHS official explained. “And that’s something across Customs and Border Protection, ICE and USCIS. There have just been obstacles raised at the highest levels of those agencies.” The official suspects she knows why. “They’re worried about their own operations in terms of removing or deporting people to Gaza and the West Bank, if they were to change these codes.” But that inaction has levied a steep toll on employees’ mental health, according to the DHS officials Al Jazeera spoke to. One described how colleagues with family in Gaza had received no support from DHS leadership as they tried to bring their relatives to safety. The other, a senior staff member who has spent more than a decade working for the federal government, described having nightmares of losing his own children. He said he wakes up “with the knowledge that we’re not actually doing all that we can to provide programmes and relief for the Palestinians”. “It’s definitely distressing and dispiriting to feel like, for political considerations, we’re not addressing [the conflict] in the same way that we would other previous, recent humanitarian crises, for instance, like Ukraine.” Houses are left in ruin after an Israeli air strike in Rafah, part of the southern Gaza
Australia cricketer Khawaja will ‘fight’ to wear Palestine solidarity shoes
Australian cricket player Usman Khawaja has promised to “fight” a ruling by the sport’s governing body that he says has stopped him from displaying messages in support of “those who don’t have a voice”. In an emotional video posted on his social media, Khawaja clarified that his message was “not political” and that the “bigger problem” was people calling him up to berate him for his stance. The opening batter was seen wearing cricket boots with “all lives are equal” and “freedom is a human right” written on them in the colours of the Palestinian flag during Australia’s training session prior to their Test series against Pakistan. The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) rules do not allow players to display “non-compliant” wording or logos on clothing or equipment worn during international matches. It means that the batter will not be able to wear the boots during Australia’s first Test match against Pakistan, starting on Thursday, December 14. “I will respect their view and decision, but I will fight it and seek to gain approval,” Khawaja said. “I’m just speaking up for those who don’t have a voice.” The ICC has declined Al Jazeera’s request for a comment. All Lives are Equal. Freedom is a Human right. I’m raising my voice for human rights. For a humanitarian appeal. If you see it any other way. That’s on you… pic.twitter.com/8eaPnBfUEb — Usman Khawaja (@Uz_Khawaja) December 13, 2023 ‘I imagine my two girls – what if it were them’ Khawaja said he was speaking up for the thousands of children that are being killed [in Gaza] “without any repercussions or remorse” and that his message was not “political” as seen by the ICC. At least 7,700 children have been killed in Gaza since the war began in October, according to government and health officials in the besieged strip. “This is close to my heart,” he said in the video with a quivering voice. “When I see thousands of children dying without any repercussions or remorse, I imagine my two girls – what if this was them?” Khawaja has two daughters, Aisha and Ayla, with his Australian-born wife Rachel whom he married in 2018. “No one chooses where they are born, and then I see the world turning their backs on them, my heart can’t take it,” he went on to say in the video. The 36-year-old, who was born in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad before moving to Australia as a child. He has often spoken of his experience and the problems he has faced moving through the Australian cricket circuit. “I already felt my life wasn’t equal to others when I was growing up,” he said. “But luckily for me, I have never lived in a world where the lack of inequality was life or death.” Usman Khawaja gives an on-field interview holding his daughter Aisha [File: Paul Childs/Action Images via Reuters] Khawaja questions backlash Khawaja, who has represented Australia in 115 international matches in a 12-year career, said he wanted to ask those people who got offended by his act of solidarity, “Is freedom not for everyone?” “To me, personally, it doesn’t matter what race, religion or culture you are – but if me saying ‘all lives are equal’ has offended people to the point of – these people obviously don’t believe in what I have written.” “What I have written is not political, I’m not taking sides. Human life to me is equal. One Muslim life is equal to one Jewish life, is equal to one Hindu life, and so on.” Despite Khawaja’s revelation about a shocking number of people calling him up to tell him off, he has found support from Australia’s Sport Minister Anika Wells. “Usman Khawaja is a great athlete and a great Australian,” Anika Wells told local media. “He should have every right to speak up on matters that are important to him. He has done so in a peaceful and respectful way.” Meanwhile, Australia captain Pat Cummins said he spoke with Khawaja and confirmed that the batter won’t display the messages despite them “not being divisive.” “On his shoes he had ‘all lives are equal’. I think that’s not very divisive. I don’t think anyone can really have too many complaints about that,” he told reporters in his pre-match news conference. “I don’t think his intention is to make too big of a fuss, but we support him,” Cummins said. ‘Political messaging makes regulatory bodies nervous’ Experts believe how the ICC reacts to Khawaja’s appeal will set a precedent for the handling of such issues by sport bodies. “I think many eyes in the sporting world will look at how this matter is resolved,” Ian Bayley, a senior lecturer in media and public relations at the University of Staffordshire, told Al Jazeera. When asked if Khawaja had approached them to seek approval to wear the messaging on his boots, they had “no comment, nothing has happened.” “The ICC code of conduct on this issue is quite explicit,” Bayley said. “But Khawaja’s counter-argument that his messages are not political but are, in fact, humanitarian is an interesting one. The academic said, “Sport has always offered a strong and powerful platform for political messaging.” “But it is a fact that, rightly or wrongly, political messaging tends to make regulatory bodies nervous. “Setting aside the arguments about free speech, it is not surprising that many [sports bodies] have rules in place which effectively limit, or even ban, competitors from displaying political messages.” Former England cricketer Moeen Ali has also been at the receiving end of the ICC’s warning for showing support for Palestinians. In the middle of the 2014 war in Gaza, Ali was asked to stop wearing wristbands showing support for Gaza during a Test match against India. More recently, Pakistan wicketkeeper Muhammad Rizwan dedicated his country’s win against Sri Lanka at the Cricket World Cup in India to the people of Gaza but did not face any sanctions as the comments were made after the match. ‘Double standards’ Cricket
Palestine’s and Turtle Island’s liberation are entwined
Over the past two months, protest marches in solidarity with the Palestinian people have taken place all across the United States and Canada. They have attracted a diverse crowd of people, including many Indigenous nations and communities. Participants have denounced “US imperialism” for enabling Israeli aggression, ethnic cleansing and genocide while others have charged Israel itself with “settler colonialism”. However, many attendees – especially pro-Palestinian immigrants – have failed to comprehend their own relationship to settler colonialism. Many of us see the US and Canada as secular democracies that provide good economic opportunities and not as settler-colonial societies, serving as the blueprint for Israel. We have ignored our own complicity as settlers. Muslims and South Asian, North African and Arab immigrant settlers must interrogate the legitimacy of America’s and Canada’s right to exist and the costly trade-off they make in taking on national identities in these countries that come at the expense of Indigenous peoples at “home” and imperialist adventurism abroad. Settler-colonial history ignored A significant number of migrant Muslims do not seem to comprehend that American societies are animated by white supremacist religious doctrines such as manifest destiny and doctrines of discovery and terra nullius, Protestant ethics, common law property rights, and Victorian notions of gender and sexuality. Rather, Muslim “arrivants” to the US should consider the history of settler colonialism in the Americas – a history that sees Islamophobia and anti-Indigenous narratives as well as anti-Blackness and anti-Jewishness inextricably bound. In the late 15th century, Christopher Columbus’s conquistador invasion of the Americas commenced as the European Crusading eviction, murder and forced conversion of Muslims and Jews in Andalusia was coming to an end. There, Muslims and Jews were racially and religiously cast as “enemies”, “savages” and “heathens”, an othering that tinted the lens through which Columbus and his successors saw Indigenous peoples in the Americas, describing them as “blood drinkers”, “cannibals” and “devils”. As Alan Mikhel writes in his book God’s Shadow, Columbus described the weapons used by the Indigenous Taíno people of the Caribbean as “alfanjes, the Spanish name for the scimitars used by Muslim soldiers”, while Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés identified 400 Aztec temples in Mexico as “mosques”, described “Aztec women” as “Moorish women” and referred to Montezuma, the Aztec leader, as a “sultan”. Later, in the 16th century, as the transatlantic slave trade got under way, Africans – 20 to 30 percent of whom were Muslims – would become the new “infidels” and “savages”. These were not mere insults but Euro-American Christian religious and racial narratives of dehumanisation that eventually found their way into US religious doctrine, law and settler attitudes. They were used to justify the expropriation of Indigenous land and resources as well as the enslavement and continued “after-life of slavery” projects targeting Black peoples. They also drove the Islamophobia that in recent years has resulted in Muslim bans, unmitigated US government support for Zionist settler colonialism as well as the death and destruction wrought as part of the “war on terror”. Rather than question the US settler-colonial project root and branch, Muslim immigrants have taken it for granted and tried to entrench themselves as “good liberal settlers”, eliding their own settler-colonial complicities, even when they have come from countries ravaged by the effects of imperialist US foreign policy. American nightmare This love for the delusional promise of the “American dream” runs counter to what the selectively quoted anti-American Muslim Malcolm X, referred to as an “American nightmare” and exists despite a surge in recent years of Indigenous activism as well as a vast body of scholarship in Indigenous, Palestinian and comparative settler-colonial studies. This activism and work help us understand that the US’s imperial commitments abroad are informed by the violence it has wreaked against Black peoples and Indigenous peoples in North America – or what the latter refer to as Turtle Island. As Eve Tuck, professor of critical race and Indigenous studies at the University of Toronto, and K Wayne Yang, professor of ethnic studies at the University of California, San Diego, wrote in a paper titled Decolonization is not a Metaphor: “Oil is the motor and motive for war and so was salt, so will be water. Settler sovereignty over the very pieces of earth, air, and water is what makes possible these imperialisms. … ‘Indian Country’ was/is the term used in Viet Nam, Afghanistan, Iraq by the U.S. military for ‘enemy territory’.” A case in point is the Iraq war. Critics and some US officials were adamant that the war – spearheaded by Vice President Dick Cheney, a former CEO of oil giant Halliburton – was intended to benefit big oil. However, it was missed that US fighter jets, cruise missiles and armoured vehicles could not have descended on Iraq in 2003 without the fuel derived from abundant oil supplies tapped from Indigenous lands, which today makes the US the world’s largest oil producer and, by far, the largest polluter. Indigenous-led NoDAPL protests in 2016 against the Dakota Access Pipeline, which was set to run close to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation were a missed opportunity for Muslim and pro-Palestinian activists to centre and draw deeper connections between settler colonialism at home and abroad. Another blatant instance of the relationship between settler colonialism at home and abroad is at Cornell University, the Ivy League institution where I was a visiting scholar last year and which has also been a hub of pro-Palestinian activism in recent weeks. Set among the bucolic countryside of upstate New York and flush with waterfalls, gorges and evergreens, Cornell is regarded as the largest university land grab in US history and the single largest beneficiary of the 1862 Morrill Act, which saw 10.7 million acres (4.3 million hectares) stolen from 250 different Indigenous peoples in 15 states and handed over to universities. In this, Cornell accrues benefits from the principal revenue and capital of the land as well as surface extraction rights involving minerals, resources, mining and water. Cornell University is also partnered with Technion-Israel Institute of Technology,
How is the Gaza War seen beyond the US and the West?
Israel was isolated with a few allies in the UN General Assembly vote. An overwhelming call at the United Nations General Assembly for a ceasefire in Gaza. Israel and the United States were among the few voting against the resolution. How isolated are these two nations from most of the world, which opposes the war? Can international opposition have any impact? Presenter: Adrian Finighan Guests: Temir Porras – former career diplomat in Venezuela and policy adviser specialising in Latin American economics and geopolitics Melanie Verwoerd – former South African ambassador and member of parliament during Nelson Mandela’s administration Sami Hermez – associate professor at Northwestern University in Qatar who specialises in social movements, the state and security in the Arab world Adblock test (Why?)
Finding a fix: Nigerian women lead drive to upcycle plastics
Lagos, Nigeria — For years, Maryam Lawani was really pained when it rained. She lived in the Oshodi Isolo area of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, where canals often overflow messily into the streets during downpours. Additionally, she was always struck by the huge amount of plastic waste on the streets after the rains receded and how this in turn affected mobility or even made the roads deteriorate. After even a little rain in Lagos, the streets get muddy and potholes brimming by the side with broken plastics, gin sachets, pure water nylons, used diapers and other items. “I felt a strong need to prevent climate crises as a response to a personal pain point,” she told Al Jazeera. So she began to research the recurring problem and then discovered that plastic pollution was a global issue. According to the United Nations, on average, the world produces 430 million tonnes of plastic every year; wrappers for chocolate bars, packets and plastic utensils. And there are consequences; every day, the equivalent of over 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic are dumped into water bodies. As a result, plastic pollution is set to triple by 2060 if no action is taken. UN reports also say that Nigeria generates about 2.5 million metric tonnes of plastic waste annually. Of that, over 130,000 tonnes of plastic make their way into water bodies, putting the country among the top 20 contributors to marine debris globally. And while Nigeria has several dumping sites for waste, those in the environmental sector like Olumide Idowu, executive director for International Climate Change Initiative, say there is no exact data on their number or capacity to handle large volumes of waste sufficiently. So waste has visibly caused blocked drainages and pollution, even as climate shocks like floods hit parts of sub-Saharan Africa. This is most obvious in Lagos, the country’s most populated city, with an estimated 24 million people. [embedded content] Challenges Compared to other developing countries like Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania, which have banned single-use plastics or are gradually eliminating them, Nigeria hasn’t done much to combat plastic pollution, experts say. In 2020, the Ministry of Environment launched the Nigeria Circular Economy Policy to help transition the country to a circular economy and promote sustainable waste management. But Idowu says proper waste collection and recycling facilities are still needed for Nigeria to tackle plastic pollution effectively. “Nigeria may also need to strengthen existing regulations or introduce new ones to address plastic pollution,” he says, adding that the country’s large population could also be a challenge in enforcing them. ”[But] economic constraints and lack of alternative packaging options may hinder the transition away from single-use plastics.” “As more individuals, businesses, and the government recognize the value of upcycling, it is likely that the sector will grow and contribute to a more sustainable and circular economy in Nigeria,” Idowu says. Climate Lead’s Oladosu says there is a need to involve as many people as possible in the movement for a cleaner, greener Nigeria. “We need to make people understand that climate change is real, and it will affect everyone regardless of where they live, Ajegunle or Lekki,” she said. “We can all feel the heat of the sun, the impact of flooding, etc. There are different angles to mitigating climate change and recycling is just one. Another is responsible consumption. There is a need for everyone to be climate and environmentally conscious.” The recycling mission During her research, Lawani discovered she could recycle plastics to help clean up the neighbourhood mess. So in 2015, she founded Greenhill Recycling which now recovers an average of 100-200 tonnes of waste monthly, she says. Her business also provides a means of supplemental income for people around her, by paying them around 100-150 naira ($0.1265) for every kilogramme of trash collected. “We encourage and sensitise people not to thrash waste but to bag them neatly in their homes,” she told Al Jazeera. “We pick up from their doorstep, their homes and not in dump sites.” “Waste is a currency to address other issues around poverty, unemployment and the environment. People are able to exchange waste for profitable things like school fees, clothes and even food,” Lawani added. Like Lawani’s Greenhill Recycling, several other women-led upcycling and recycling companies have sprung up in Africa’s largest economy, in addition to the well-known Wecyclers social enterprise. In coastal Lagos, RESWAYE (Recycling Scheme for Women and Youth Empowerment) works in communities with women and young girls who are trained to go into schools and estates to retrieve plastics. Their collections go to a sorting hub and from there to upscalers. Doyinsola Ogunye, founder of RESWAYE told Al Jazeera that it has reached 4000 women in 41 coastal communities in Lagos, while also giving personal hygiene kits to them and providing scholarships for children. There is also the nonprofit Foundation for A Better Nigeria (FABE) founded by Temitope Okunnu in 2006 to create awareness about climate change in schools. It operates across three states. “We visit primary, secondary schools and universities to sensitise young children about climate issues,” she said. “Behavioural change is still a big issue in this part of the country which is why we are focused on young children.” Through an initiative called EcoSchoolsNg, it teaches students skills such as sustainable waste management – by recycling, upcycling or composting – and sustainable gardening. FABE says it promotes plastic upscaling because according to Okunnu, “plastic is money but only a few people know this”, she told Al Jazeera. The increasing awareness about recycling plastic into usable products can also be great for keeping youth engaged, says Adenike Titilope Oladosu, founder of ILead Climate, a climate justice advocacy. A police officer stands next to boxes of expired AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines at the Gosa dump site in Abuja, Nigeria, December 22, 2021 [Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters] The need for more work Despite the work of these women and numerous non-profits to educate Nigerians on the adverse effects of climate
Tunisian opposition leader Chaima Issa gets suspended jail term
Military court hands Issa one-year suspended sentence for insulting the president, inciting soldiers to disobey orders. A prominent Tunisian opposition activist has been handed a one-year suspended prison sentence for insulting the president, her lawyer says. Chaima Issa was convicted by a military court on Wednesday of inciting soldiers to disobey orders and insulting President Kais Saied, Islem Hamza said. Issa denies wrongdoing. The charges relate to comments Issa made accusing Saied of trying to create “tyranny”, saying parliamentary elections in 2022 were useless and calling on the army not to be involved. Issa’s sentence is widely seen by Tunisia’s opposition as a step to silence Saied’s critics. The president, who was democratically elected in October 2019, launched a power grab in July 2021, ousting the former parliament and prime minister and giving himself sweeping emergency powers. He has since pushed through a new constitution to weaken parliament and cracked down on his political opponents. Issa herself was among 20 political leaders detained in February on suspicion of “plotting against state security”. She was released in July pending her trial. Rights groups have urged authorities to free the other political detainees, including former parliament speaker and leader of the Ennahdha party Rached Ghannouchi. Saied has rejected such calls, describing the detainees as “terrorists” and “traitors” and warning that judges who release them would be abetting their crimes. Issa, a member of the National Salvation Front coalition, said after a court hearing on Tuesday that Saied’s opponents were being treated like “criminals”. “We are not criminals,” she said. “We are not plotters. We are not traitors. We are politicians, opponents of the coup of July 25, 2021.” ‘Opinion trials must end’ Rights activists slammed Issa’s conviction and the fact that she was tried under a military court. “She should have never been prosecuted for expressing her opinions nor tried by a military court,” Salsabil Chellali of Human Rights Watch said on X, formerly Twitter. En #Tunisie, la militante Chaima Issa vient d’être condamnée à un an de prison avec sursis par un tribunal militaire pour avoir critiqué le président Kais Saied. Elle n’aurait jamais dû être poursuivie pour avoir exprimé ses opinions, ni jugée par un tribunal militaire @hrw_fr https://t.co/Yc8lJ8zzS5 — Salsabil Chellali (@SaChellali) December 13, 2023 Samir Dilou, a senior official in the National Salvation Front and a lawyer for Issa, said: “The military court does not have the authority to try opponents. Opinion trials must end.” “A country in which there was a revolution against injustice would not have the right to put opponents on trial for their ideas and opinions,” Dilou said. Adblock test (Why?)