Politico: Ukraine and Poland’s History Wars Are a Gift For Putin

After Russian propaganda sought to dismiss the Maidan revolution that ousted former President Viktor Yanukovych as an exclusively far-right protest, Ukrainians began using Bandera as a symbol to troll the Kremlin, and his popularity in the country has continued to rise to new heights. On New Year’s Day, thousands of Ukrainians marched in cities across the country to mark Bandera’s birthday. In the Ukrainian capital alone, over 2,000 people participated in the march, carrying torches through the center of Kiev while chanting, “Bandera is our prophet.”

The problem is that in neighboring Poland, Bandera is reviled on the same level as Adolf Hitler and his inner circle. Poles across political lines mainly remember him for collaborating with the Nazis and for his followers slaughtering Polish civilians. That conviction has heightened in recent years as the country has devoted increased attention to atrocities committed against Poles during World War II. [...]

This changing political landscape has left Warsaw as Kiev’s most reliable advocate within both the EU and NATO and the only guarantor that Ukraine will stay on the international agenda. Poles across all political lines view Russian influence in Eastern Europe as a detriment to their country’s security and stability. Warsaw has long made it a mainstay of its foreign policy, and the EU’s, to pull post-Soviet states out of Moscow’s orbit.

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The Guardian: Grassroots Labour supporters revolt against Jeremy Corbyn over Brexit

On Saturday night a highly critical open letter to the Labour leader, circulating on Facebook, had been signed by almost 2,000 members in constituency parties across the country, around half of whom are believed to have voted for Corbyn as leader. The letter, organised by a group called Labour Against Brexit, accuses Corbyn of a “betrayal of your socialist values” and of backing a policy that will hurt working people.

One of the organisers, Jonathan Proctor of the North Tyneside constituency Labour party, told the Observer that the motive was not to destabilise Corbyn, but to stand up for Labour principles and values. He said the response from members since its launch on Friday had been overwhelming. [...]

Tulip Siddiq, the MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, has left her frontbench post, and two whips, Thangam Debbonaire and Jeff Smith, have said they will not vote for the bill. Another shadow cabinet member, Rachel Maskell, is said by colleagues to be considering resigning, and Clive Lewis, regarded as close to Corbyn early in his leadership, now says he will vote against the bill at third reading unless there are a series of safeguards.

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Al Jazeera: Why is Russia so happy with Trump?

Both the elites and the ordinary people in Russia greeted the new US president, and even some in the political opposition saw the potential for positive developments under his administration.

The reason for Russia's warm welcome of President Trump had nothing to do with claims in US media that he was "a Kremlin agent" or that "Russian hackers" helped him win the election. It had much more to do with expectations among the elites, the ordinary people, and even the intelligentsia, of a new direction in US-Russian relations that would de-escalate internal and external tensions and favour their self-interests. [...]

The "new Yalta" would redistribute spheres of responsibility to recognised great powers. The Kremlin, of course, sees Russia as one of them (alongside with the US, China, and perhaps Europe).

Among the ruling elite, there is also a much more modest expectation from Trump concerning matters of self-interest. Since at least 2014, after the annexation of Crimea and Russian support to the anti-Kiev rebels in Eastern Ukraine, many members of the ruling class experienced the effects of sanctions targeting them. With Trump in the White House, they expect the sanctions to be lifted, if he indeed wants to start a new chapter in Russian-US relations.

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The Guardian: Trump banned refugees on Holocaust Remembrance Day. That says everything

In 1939, the German oceanliner St Louis and its 937 passengers, almost all Jewish refugees, were turned away from the port of Miami and sent back to Europe. Of those passengers, 254 were murdered in the Holocaust. The US government turned away those refugees, so heartbreakingly close to safety – and also restricted Jewish immigration and instituted new vetting procedures – because of rampant overblown fears that the Nazis might smuggle spies and saboteurs in among the Jewish refugees.

On Friday, which was Holocaust Remembrance Day, the White House put out a statement that failed to mention the 6 million Jews who were exterminated by the Nazis. Hours later, Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending all refugee resettlement for 120 days and indefinitely suspending the resettlement of refugees from Syria. [...]

We have freedom of belief. We do not have religious litmus tests for participation in society. Trump’s order is anathema to those founding principles. It violates the first amendment’s establishment clause, which prohibits the government from preferring or disfavoring any religion. Trump’s anti-Muslim policy also violates the equal protection clause, the part of the 14th amendment that guarantees that everyone is entitled to equal protection under the law. 

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Independent: Native American tribe vows to stop Donald Trump building Mexican border wall on their Arizona reservation

The Tohono O’odham Nation, a federally recognised tribe with a reservation that spans 75 miles along the US-Mexico border, said on Thursday that it does not support the proposed wall and will attempt to block construction if it goes ahead.

In a statement it criticised the White House for signing an executive order without consulting the tribe, and hinted at Standing Rock-style mass resistance if necessary. The tribal vice-chairman has previously said the government could build the wall “over my dead body”. [...]

The tribe, which has about 28,000 members, said it has suffered for decades from the "militarisation" of the international border, which cuts across its ancestral lands. Members have said they are frequently assaulted or threatened by border guards and impeded in visiting relatives south of the border.

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