Why should we pay attention to white nationalist rhetoric in the Christchurch attacks? Kanishk Tharoor challenges the white supremacist ideas that have become a global phenomenon.
5 April 2019
The Guardian: I fought South African apartheid. I see the same brutal policies in Israel
As a Jewish South African anti-apartheid activist I look with horror on the far-right shift in Israel ahead of this month’s elections, and the impact in the Palestinian territories and worldwide.
Israel’s repression of Palestinian citizens, African refugees and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza has become more brutal over time. Ethnic cleansing, land seizure, home demolition, military occupation, bombing of Gaza and international law violations led Archbishop Tutu to declare that the treatment of Palestinians reminded him of apartheid, only worse. [...]
The parallels with South Africa are many. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, recently said: “Israel is not a state of all its citizens … Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people – and them alone.” [...]
The anti-apartheid movement grew over three decades, in concert with the liberation struggle of South Africa’s people, to make a decisive difference in toppling the racist regime. Europeans refused to buy apartheid fruit; there were sports boycotts; dockworkers from Liverpool to Melbourne refused to handle South African cargo; an academic boycott turned universities into apartheid-free zones; and arms sanctions helped to shift the balance against South Africa’s military.
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The parallels with South Africa are many. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, recently said: “Israel is not a state of all its citizens … Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people – and them alone.” [...]
The anti-apartheid movement grew over three decades, in concert with the liberation struggle of South Africa’s people, to make a decisive difference in toppling the racist regime. Europeans refused to buy apartheid fruit; there were sports boycotts; dockworkers from Liverpool to Melbourne refused to handle South African cargo; an academic boycott turned universities into apartheid-free zones; and arms sanctions helped to shift the balance against South Africa’s military.
read the article
euronews: Bad diets deadlier than smoking tobacco, warns new study
An analysis of almost 20 years of diet data from 195 countries found that poor diets killed 11 million people globally in 2017.
The biggest killer of them all is salt, which was found to have shortened the lives of 3 million people, according to the global burden of disease study published by the Lancet on Thursday.
Cardiovascular disease was a major killer for approximately 10 million out of 11 million food-related deaths.
Consuming not enough fruit was found to have contributed to the death of 2 million people, while a diet of too little whole grains contributed to the death of 3 million lives. [...]
China in particular had the highest rates of diet-related cardiovascular disease deaths (299 deaths per 100,000 people) and the highest rates of diet-related cancer deaths (42 deaths per 100 000 population).
Vox: Congress passes historic resolution to end US support for Saudi-led war in Yemen
The war in Yemen, directed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (or MBS, as he’s commonly referred to in Washington), has killed more than 50,000 people and left more than 20 million Yemenis in need of humanitarian assistance. [...]
That means the US is partially culpable for the death and destruction of Saudi’s enemies in the war — the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels — and the thousands of civilians who have been killed. In one particularly egregious incident, a coalition warplane bombed a school bus full of children last August with an American-made bomb, killing at least 40 of them.
The Yemen resolution invokes the War Powers Resolution of 1973 (WPR), which gives Congress the power to direct a president to remove troops involved in “hostilities” abroad if there has been no formal “declaration of war or specific statutory authorization” from Congress.
Not only does it serve as a censure of Saudi’s conduct in the war, it’s also a clear check on executive power; if the US wants to be involved in a war in Yemen, Congress has to declare it. The Republican-led Senate passed the resolution in March, and it now heads to Trump’s desk. The White House says the president plans to veto it.
Quartz: Male refugees commonly experience sexual violence on the route to Europe
In the hopes of making migration routes safer and improving responsive care, the commission, a rights advocacy group for displaced women and children, took a deeper look (pdf) at the experiences of men and boys who identify as males, as well as gay, transgender, and bisexual men. They found that while sexual violence is one of many reasons (paywall) thousands of migrants and refugees leave their homes for Europe, it is also something they encounter—sometimes repeatedly—along the route.
Last year, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) reported that requests for care aboard their search-and-rescue ship in the Mediterranean, the Aquarius, from male sexual abuse survivors jumped from 3% of rescued males in 2017 to 33% in 2018. [...]
The Commission met with more than 50 male refugees between 15 and 40 years old and refugee healthcare providers in Italy, and heard instances of rape, castration, and sexual humiliation. The refugees said the abuse would often occur at borders or checkpoints, with guards requesting payment before crossing. Sexual violence would happen even if they had funds demanded. Sometimes, abuse was taped or aired on a call with families for ransom. [...]
The group is calling on the EU to stop deporting migrants back to Libya or their home country, where they may face sexual abuse again. They have asked the new right-wing Italian government to stop the criminalization of search-and-rescue operations and to reopen ports for rescued migrants. And they have also requested support from the UN for local organizations working with survivors of sexual violence. Enjoy this content in the new Quartz app Get the app
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