Thursday, April 25, 2024

Native American tribes want US appeals court to weigh in on $10B SunZia energy transmission project

BY SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN
April 25, 2024

Native American tribes and environmentalists want a U.S. appeals court to weigh in on their request to halt construction along part of a $10 billion transmission line that will carry wind-generated electricity from New Mexico to customers as far away as California.

The disputed stretch of the SunZia Transmission line is in southern Arizona’s San Pedro Valley. The tribes and others argue that the U.S. Interior Department and Bureau of Land Management failed to recognize the cultural significance of the area before approving the route of the massive project in 2015.

SunZia is among the projects that supporters say will bolster President Joe Biden’s agenda for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The planned 550-mile (885-kilometer) conduit would carry more than 3,500 megawatts of wind power to 3 million people.

A U.S. district judge rejected earlier efforts to stall the work while the merits of the case play out in court, but the tribes and other plaintiffs opted Wednesday to ask the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to intervene.

The Tohono O’odham Nation has vowed to pursue all legal avenues for protecting land that it considers sacred. Tribal Chairman Verlon Jose said in a recent statement that he wants to hold the federal government accountable for violating historic preservation laws that are designed specifically to protect such lands.

He called it too important of an issue, saying: “The United States’ renewable energy policy that includes destroying sacred and undeveloped landscapes is fundamentally wrong and must stop.”

The Tohono O’odham — along with the San Carlos Apache Tribe, the Center for Biological Diversity and Archeology Southwest — sued in January, seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the clearing of roads and pads so more work could be done to identify culturally significant sites within a 50-mile (80.5-kilometer) stretch of the valley.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs have alleged in court documents and in arguments made during a March hearing that the federal government was stringing the tribes along, promising to meet requirements of the National Historic Preservation Act after already making a final decision on the route.

The motion filed Wednesday argues that the federal government has legal and distinct obligations under the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act and that the Bureau of Land Management’s interpretation of how its obligations apply to the SunZia project should be reviewed by the appeals court.

California-based developer Pattern Energy has argued that stopping work would be catastrophic, with any delay compromising the company’s ability to get electricity to customers as promised in 2026.

In denying the earlier motion for an injunction, U.S. Judge Jennifer Zipps had ruled that the plaintiffs were years too late in bringing their claims and that the Bureau of Land Management had fulfilled its obligations to identify historic sites and prepare an inventory of cultural resources. Still, she also acknowledged the significance of the San Pedro Valley for the tribes after hearing testimony from experts.

SPACE

NASA astronauts arrive for Boeing's first human spaceflight

by Marcia Dunn

The two NASA astronauts assigned to Boeing's first human spaceflight arrived at their launch site Thursday, just over a week before their scheduled liftoff.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will serve as test pilots for Boeing's Starliner capsule, which is making its debut with crew after years of delay. They flew from Houston into Kennedy Space Center on Thursday.

Due to blast off May 6 atop an Atlas rocket, the Starliner will fly to the International Space Station for a weeklong shakedown cruise. Boeing is trying to catch up to SpaceX, which has been launching astronauts for NASA since 2020.

No one was aboard Boeing's two previous Starliner test flights. The first, in 2019, didn't make it to the space station because of software and other problems. Boeing repeated the demo in 2022. More recently, the capsule was plagued by parachute issues and flammable tape that had to be removed.

Wilmore stressed this is a test flight meant to uncover anything amiss.

"Do we expect it to go perfectly? This is the first human flight of the spacecraft," he told reporters. "I'm sure we'll find things out. That's why we do this."

NASA hired SpaceX and Boeing a decade ago, paying billions of dollars for the companies to ferry astronauts to and from the space station. The space agency is still keen on having two capsules for its astronauts, even with the space station winding down by 2030.

"That's vitally important," Wilmore noted.

Wilmore and Williams will be the first astronauts to ride an Atlas rocket since NASA's Project Mercury in the early 1960s.

Next up is launch, as Boeing's Starliner takes trek to Cape Canaveral

Saturn’s ocean moon Enceladus is able to support life − my research team is working out how to detect extraterrestrial cells there

THE CONVERSATION
Published: April 17, 2024

Saturn has 146 confirmed moons – more than any other planet in the solar system – but one called Enceladus stands out. It appears to have the ingredients for life.

From 2004 to 2017, Cassini – a joint mission between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency – investigated Saturn, its rings and moons. Cassini delivered spectacular findings. Enceladus, only 313 miles (504 kilometers) in diameter, harbors a liquid water ocean beneath its icy crust that spans the entire moon.

Geysers at the moon’s south pole shoot gas and ice grains formed from the ocean water into space.

Though the Cassini engineers didn’t anticipate analyzing ice grains that Enceladus was actively emitting, they did pack a dust analyzer on the spacecraft. This instrument measured the emitted ice grains individually and told researchers about the composition of the subsurface ocean.

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As a planetary scientist and astrobiologist who studies ice grains from Enceladus, I’m interested in whether there is life on this or other icy moons. I also want to understand how scientists like me could detect it.

Ingredients for life

Just like Earth’s oceans, Enceladus’ ocean contains salt, most of which is sodium chloride, commonly known as table salt. The ocean also contains various carbon-based compounds, and it has a process called tidal heating that generates energy within the moon. Liquid water, carbon-based chemistry and energy are all key ingredients for life.

In 2023, I and others scientists found phosphate, another life-supporting compound, in ice grains originating from Enceladus’ ocean. Phosphate, a form of phosphorus, is vital for all life on Earth. It is part of DNA, cell membranes and bones. This was the first time that scientists detected this compound in an extraterrestrial water ocean.

Enceladus’ rocky core likely interacts with the water ocean through hydrothermal vents. These hot, geyserlike structures protrude from the ocean floor. Scientists predict that a similar setting may have been the birthplace of life on Earth.

The interior of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Surface: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute; interior: LPG-CNRS/U. Nantes/U. Angers. Graphic composition: ESA

Detecting potential life

As of now, nobody has ever detected life beyond Earth. But scientists agree that Enceladus is a very promising place to look for life. So, how do we go about looking?

In a paper published in March 2024, my colleagues and I conducted a laboratory test that simulated whether dust analyzer instruments on spacecraft could detect and identify traces of life in the emitted ice grains.

To simulate the detection of ice grains as dust analyzers in space record them, we used a laboratory setup on Earth. Using this setup, we injected a tiny water beam that contained bacterial cells into a vacuum, where the beam disintegrated into droplets. Each droplet contained, in theory, one bacterial cell.

Then, we shot a laser at the individual droplets, which created charged ions from the water and the cell compounds. We measured the charged ions using a technique called mass spectrometry. These measurements helped us predict what dust analyzer instruments on a spacecraft should find if they encountered a bacterial cell contained in an ice grain.

We found these instruments would do a good job identifying cellular material. Instruments designed to analyze single ice grains should be able to identify bacterial cells, even if there is only 0.01% of the constituents of a single cell in an ice grain from an Enceladus-like geyser.

The analyzers could pick up a number of potential signatures from cellular material, including amino acids and fatty acids. Detected amino acids represent either fragments of the cell’s proteins or metabolites, which are small molecules participating in chemical reactions within the cell. Fatty acids are fragments of lipids that make up the cell’s membranes.

In our experiments, we used a bacteria named Sphingopyxis alaskensis. Cells of this culture are extremely tiny – the same size as cells that might be able to fit into ice grains emitted from Enceladus. In addition to their small size, these cells like cold environments, and they need only a few nutrients to survive and grow, similar to how life adapted to the conditions in Enceladus’ ocean would probably be.

The specific dust analyzer on Cassini didn’t have the analytical capabilities to identify cellular material in the ice grains. However, scientists are already designing instruments with much greater capabilities for potential future Enceladus missions. Our experimental results will inform the planning and design of these instruments.
Future missions

Enceladus is one of the main targets for future missions from NASA and the European Space Agency. In 2022, NASA announced that a mission to Enceladus had the second-highest priority as they picked their next big missions – a Uranus mission had the highest priority.

The European agency recently announced that Enceladus is the top target for its next big mission. This mission would likely include a highly capable dust analyzer for ice grain analysis.

Enceladus isn’t the only moon with a liquid water ocean. Jupiter’s moon Europa also has an ocean that spans the entire moon underneath its icy crust. Ice grains on Europa float up above the surface, and some scientists think Europa may even have geysers like Enceladus that shoot grains into space. Our research will also help study ice grains from Europa.

NASA’s Europa Clipper mission will visit Europa in the coming years. Clipper is scheduled to launch in October 2024 and arrive at Jupiter in April 2030. One of the two mass spectrometers on the spacecraft, the SUrface Dust Analyzer, is designed for single ice grain analysis.

The SUrface Dust Analyzer instrument on Clipper will analyze ice grains from Jupiter’s moon Europa. NASA/CU Boulder/Glenn Asakawa

Our study demonstrates that this instrument will be able to find even tiny fractions of a bacterial cell, if present in only a few emitted ice grains.

With these space agencies’ near-future plans and the results of our study, the prospects of upcoming space missions visiting Enceladus or Europa are incredibly exciting. We now know that with current and future instrumentation, scientists should be able to find out whether there is life on any of these moons.

Author

Fabian Klenner

Postdoctoral Scholar in Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington
Disclosure statement

Fabian Klenner is an affiliate of the Europa Clipper mission (SUrface Dust Analyzer instrument). He receives funding from NASA.

Philippines' counter-terrorism strategy still stalled after 7 years since the 'ISIS siege' on Marawi

by University of Portsmouth

Following the 2017 siege of Marawi, the Philippines' counter-terrorism efforts have faced an increasingly complex and unpredictable landscape. While authorities have claimed victory, one which garnered global media attention during the peak of ISIS reign in Syria and Iraq, the aftermath of Marawi highlights the urgent need for a comprehensive reassessment of the country's counter-terrorism strategy.

A new study, led by experts in security and terrorism studies at the University of Portsmouth, provides a thorough examination of the terrorist environment following the armed conflict between Philippine forces and Islamist militants who seized the southern city of Marawi for five months, in which over a thousand people died and a million were displaced.

The research is published in the Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism.

The study evaluated the effectiveness of strategies implemented by Philippine security forces since the battle and found that while steps have been taken in the right direction, the opportunity to fundamentally reset counter-terrorism has been squandered.

The analysis reveals that, seven years after Marawi, the focus on combating the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in Sulu has overshadowed persistent security threats posed by long-standing insurgent groups such as the MNLF, MILF, and the NPA. The proliferation of these other rebel groups and the resurgence of terrorism pose significant challenges that demand commitment and capability to a more nuanced and comprehensive approach to peace in the region.

Other key findings from the paper include the politicization of US security assistance to the Philippines in wake of confrontation with China in the South China Sea dispute. Similarly, the concerning ongoing struggles with anti-corruption and human rights issues; the ineffectiveness of the National Action Plan for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (NAP-P/CVE); and an in-prepared judicial system that has struggled to implement The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.

Study co-author, Ann Bajo from the University of Portsmouth and former National Defence Analyst from the Philippines, said, "Our findings underscore the importance of addressing systemic issues such as governance and community neglect in Marawi. Failure to address these issues risks undermining the progress made in counter-terrorism efforts and perpetuating instability in the region.

"Philippine security forces must be receptive to developing softer skills and collaborating with civil society and international partners to gauge their impact on communities and strike a balance in their approach. This necessitates a commitment to ongoing training and reforms, particularly in community engagement and welfare operations.

"Moreover, addressing generational grievances requires sustained effort and a long-term perspective, with a focus on cultivating trust and respect within communities being paramount."

The authors argue that heavy handed military attention centered around local militants branding themselves "ISIS" must be measured by an approach targeting the symptoms of extremism, risks exacerbating grievances and further alienating communities, rather than addressing the underlying causes of violence.

Co-author Dr. Tom Smith, Associate Professor in International Relations at the University of Portsmouth and Academic Director of the Royal Air Force College, said, "The international media attention Marawi received at a time during the height of the global campaign against ISIS in Syria and Iraq has diminished. Yet the city is still in ruins, along with the lives of hundreds of thousands who have no homes to return to.

"Seven years later violence in Marawi is flaring up again from the very same groups thought extinguished at great cost. We show how, despite changes, the opportunity to build peace in the rubble of Marawi has been squandered.

"While changes in strategy, resource allocation, and legal frameworks have been initiated, their tangible outcomes on the ground remain to be seen in terms of a reduction in terrorist violence across the country's complex landscape.

"As such, the journey towards effective counterterrorism in the Philippines post-Marawi is one that demands an as yet unseen perseverance and adaptability, and a steadfast commitment to rebuilding the city and lives destroyed."

Bajo added, "The release of our paper comes at a critical juncture for the Philippines, as it grapples with ongoing security challenges and seeks to chart a course for sustainable peace and stability. It is hoped that the findings and recommendations outlined in the paper will inform policy discussions and contribute to the development of more effective counter-terrorism strategies."

More information: Tom Smith et al, The false dawns over Marawi: examining the post-Marawi counterterrorism strategy in the Philippines, Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism (2024). DOI: 10.1080/18335330.2024.2346472

Provided by University of Portsmouth Early chances to identify terrorists are missed due to inadequacies in UK data sharing laws, says study

New 'cold war' grows ever warmer as the prospect of a nuclear arms race hots up

by Becky Alexis-Martin, The Conversation

nuclear missile — Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Champagne corks popped on December 3, 1989 as Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US president George H.W. Bush met on the cruise ship, Maxim Gorky, off the coast of Malta to declare the end of the cold war.

Gorbachev and Bush's predecessor in the White House, Ronald Reagan, had—at two summits over the past five years—thrashed out agreements that would limit and reduce both sides' nuclear arsenals. With the cold war over, Gorbachev liberalized the Soviet Union, presiding over its dismantling, which formally occurred on December 26, 1991.

To those adversaries who accused him of capitulation and the tame surrender of the Soviet bloc countries, his reply was simple: "To whom did we surrender them? To their own people."

Reagan and Gorbachev agreed that a nuclear war couldn't be won, so must never be fought. Yet this month, the UN's high representative for disarmament affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, warned that "the risk of a nuclear weapon being used is higher now than any time since the height of the cold war and the architecture designed to prevent its use is ever more precarious."

So how did we get here? Russia's aggression under the leadership of Vladimir Putin has plunged the world into a new era of nuclear uncertainty by reasserting Soviet isolationist strategies. By embracing the notion of a nebulous western threat, he has preserved his totalitarian leadership, while justifying political isolation, party control within Russia, and revanchist adventurism abroad—the latest of which has been the unlawful invasion of Ukraine.

Nuclear saber-rattling and posturing are unsettling features of Putin's military strategy. He has now explicitly threatened to resort to use of nuclear weapons three times since launching his invasion in 2022. And he recently ordered that tactical weapons be stationed in Belarus.

His strategists clearly see the threat of a nuclear confrontation as a realistic deterrent to Nato intervention in Ukraine. Nuclear blackmail is being used to guarantee Russian sovereignty, to coerce and force adversaries to adhere to Russian terms, and to dissuade global actors from meaningful intervention or resolution in Ukraine.

Putin's behavior is emblematic of a global shift in attitude towards the nuclear taboo. Other leaders, among them the former US president Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong-un have carelessly returned nuclear warfare to the table as a viable strategy instead of a deterrence.

'Nuclear neolateralism'

This is an age of nuclear neolateralism. Nation states have unstable and mercurial political, economic and cultural relations involving new networks, conflicts and complexities. Since the turn of this century, the world has seen the resurgence of populism and religious nationalism, the near ubiquity of digital technology, and an increasing velocity of nuclear proliferation and brinkmanship.

These factors make our current situation more complex than the cold war. A new Silk Road nexus has emerged across China, Russia, Iran, Israel and North Korea since the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. This web of relationships is shaped by regional dynamics, strategic interests and global power shifts that influence security and global weapons proliferation.

China and Russia have recently developed stronger strategic ties. But tensions remain along shared borders—and freshly leaked classified papers reveal Russia's fear of Chinese nuclear attack. China has 500 active nuclear warheads, and is expanding its nuclear arsenal. Beijing is also learning lessons from Russia and Israel about how a future Taiwanese conflict may unfold.

An unexpected alliance has arisen between North Korea and Russia. Historically, Russia advocated for diplomatic solutions to North Korean nuclear proliferation. Pyongyang has supplied weapons to Russia since 2023 in violation of UN security council sanctions, and seeks to leverage this support to gain acceptance as a nuclear state.

In 2019, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un warned his people to prepare for war with the US by 2024. A leaked military document confirmed this, saying: "the Dear Supreme Commander will dominate the world with the nuclear weapons." On April 22, Pyongyang claimed it had tested a new command-and-control system in a simulated nuclear counter-strike exercise.

South Korea has responded by developing its own submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) in 2022 and is the only nation state to possess SLBMs without nuclear warheads. In February 2023, the leader of the People Power Party, Chung Jin-suk, argued that South Korea needs nuclear weapons. But this strategy could also make South Korea more vulnerable to attack from hostile North Korea.

Iran and Russia are cooperating in the nuclear sphere. Iran's nuclear weapons program was limited under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. But Trump pulled the US out of the treaty in 2018 and there is strong evidence (denied by Iran) that it has reinvigorated its weapons program. In 2023, UN inspectors reported that Iran had enriched trace amounts of uranium to almost weapons grade.

Israel has targeted Iran with assassinations, cyberwarfare, drone attacks and commando raids to destroy its burgeoning nuclear program, adding to Middle East tensions. Saudi Arabia does not have nuclear weapons, but officials have said that they will acquire them if their regional rival, Iran, becomes nuclear.

A new arms race

The UN has said that a quantitative arms race seems imminent. The latest US nuclear posture review revealed a plan worth US$1.5 trillion (£1.21 trillion) to modernize US nuclear capability and create a "nuclear sponge" of 450 nuclear silos to absorb a future Russian attack.

Now the UK has announced it will increase its defense budget to 2.5% of GDP to put it on a "war footing." The government has reaffirmed its commitment to its nuclear arsenal, despite Britain's UN ambassador, James Kariuki, stating: "Nuclear war cannot be won and must not be fought" at a recent security council meeting.

Professor Ramesh Thakur, the director of the Center for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament at the Australian National University, expressed the same thought more hauntingly when he wrote: "If you want the peace of the dead, prepare for nuclear war." We must hope that this new cold war doesn't become hot.

Provided by The Conversation

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Russia announces its suspension from last nuclear arms agreement with the US, escalating nuclear tension

OPINION

‘The political-media-industrial complex’ undermining truth and democracy in service of Israel

by Nasim Ahmed
April 25, 2024

Students at New York University (NYU) continue their demonstration on campus in solidarity with the students at Columbia University and to oppose Israel’s attacks on Gaza, in New York, United States on April 22, 2024.

[Fatih Aktaş – Anadolu Agency]

In the relentless propaganda war waged against Palestinians, the scales have been heavily tipped in favour of Israel. Disinformation and half-truths are routinely employed to depict Palestinians as aggressors, terrorists or simply as non-existent entities within their own homeland. Every assertion made by Israeli officials in this theatre of misinformation is accepted as the unassailable truth until proven false, while any evidence that contradicts the Israeli narrative is swiftly dismissed as falsehood, requiring an overwhelming burden of proof to even be considered.

The emergence of social media and alternative news sources has helped to reverse this trend and create a more even playing field. Yet, despite these strides towards a more equitable exchange of ideas, the entrenched nexus of politics, media and industry, often referred to as the “political-media-industrial complex”, remains steadfastly aligned with the interests of the Israeli state.

Such unwavering allegiance to Israel not only undermines the pursuit of truth, exemplified by Western complicity in the unfolding genocide in Gaza, but also imperils the foundational values of a free and democratic society, illustrated by the violent crackdown on student protestors in the US.

The toll on Palestinian lives and the enduring damage to the principles of a free and democratic society, wrought by the propaganda-driven narrative perpetuated by the “political-media-industrial complex” is glaringly evident. Since 7 October, scarcely a week has passed without a stark reminder of the extent to which the West has placed itself in a highly compromised moral and legal position due to its unwavering backing of Israel.

OPINION: Israel faces an unprecedented global academic boycott

This week it was Germany’s resumption of funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). In the catalogue of hoaxes and misinformation employed to justify Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the attack on UNRWA will perhaps be remembered as one of the most egregious.

In another powerful demonstration that, when it comes to Israel, claims of the apartheid state, however improbable, are accepted as true until proven otherwise, Germany, along with 19 donor countries, halted funding to UNRWA. The move was entirely based on Israeli allegations.

The funding was cut despite the dire needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza, most of whom have been forced from their homes by the Israeli offensive since 7 October and have been struggling to find water, food, shelter or medical care. The decision to defund UNRWA based on unverified claims was met with condemnation, especially as one of the provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in Israel’s genocide case was the free access and delivery of aid.

Berlin’s decision to resume funding came after an independent review, conducted by former French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna, found that Israel had not provided any evidence to support its claims that UNRWA staff took part in the 7 October attack.

OPINION: Will Netanyahu win the battle of Rafah?

The findings of the Colonna report add to the growing list of disinformation campaigns by Israel over the past six months, casting doubt on the credibility of its statements regarding Gaza and its attempts to undermine UNRWA’s work. Israel’s claims about 7 October atrocities carried out by Hamas have also come under scrutiny. With no evidence of beheaded babies, “babies cooked in ovens” or systematic rape, it is widely recognised that Israel falsified atrocities in order to justify its military operation in Gaza.

It was evident from the beginning that Israel’s attack on UNRWA was a politically motivated attempt to shut down the UN agency once and for all, a goal which it has been seeking since its establishment in 1949. Over the decades, Israel has repeatedly called for the Agency’s dissolution, arguing that it perpetuates the Palestinian refugee problem and hinders a resolution to the conflict.

Israel has lobbied donor countries to reduce or cease funding to the Agency, accused UNRWA of inciting violence and promoting anti-Israel sentiment in its schools and pressured the UN to merge UNRWA with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Israel becomes ‘largest cumulative recipient’ of US foreign military aid – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]With no evidence to back up its claims, 7 October presented an ideal opportunity to exploit the sympathy of its Western allies and use the shock fuelled by reports of the alleged atrocities committed by Hamas to shut down UNRWA permanently.

Top Israeli officials have acknowledged that their campaign to halt international funding to UNRWA has failed. Political sources in Israel are said to have acknowledged in talks with foreign diplomats in recent days that they had not succeeded in influencing the Colonna report in the way they had hoped, and that it is clear following the report’s publication, other countries will join Germany and renew funding for the Agency. The UK is also now considering renewing funding to UNRWA, which will leave the US as the only country to continue suspending funding to the UN agency.

Predictably, the question on the minds of many is why Western governments suspended funding initially, despite the lack of evidence from Israel to support its claim and the long-standing objective to dismantle UNRWA. The decision to adopt the Israeli narrative has not only resulted in the loss of Palestinian lives in Gaza, particularly as the besieged enclave grapples with famine and starvation, but has also eroded Western credibility even further.

The credulous manner in which the political-media-industrial complex accepts the Israeli account has not only made Western governments complicit in the unfolding genocide in Gaza, but the same credulity is also imperilling the foundational values of a free and democratic society.

The people who caused mass hysteria by pushing the allegations about UNRWA employees working for Hamas are the same people, from the same political-media-industrial complex, who are now pushing another hoax. Aiming to forcibly silence students, they are fomenting hysteria over anti-Semitism on US college campuses. In scenes reminiscent of police crackdowns on students protesting the Vietnam War, more than 100 pro-Palestinian activists were arrested this week on the campus of New York’s Columbia University.

OPINION: Why doesn’t Sisi want to run the Gaza Strip?

Protesters at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) and the University of Southern California (USC) have also been arrested as student-led demonstrations against Israel’s war on Gaza intensified across the US and pro-Israel members of Congress suggest calling in the National Guard. Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has called the pro-Palestinian protesters “anti-Semitic mobs” that are taking over “leading universities”.

However, the student-led protests have been peaceful and largely respectful. Nevertheless, in clear violation of the right to freedom of expression, they have been met by heavy-handed action from many universities. Jewish students have refuted allegations levelled by pro-Israel members of US Congress and university officials that protests calling for their institutions to cut ties with companies linked to Israel over the war in Gaza were anti-Semitic.

The case of UNRWA serves as a stark reminder of the dangers of blindly following Israel’s lead, as the decision to suspend funding based on unsubstantiated claims has not only exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in Gaza but also undermined the pursuit of truth and justice. Similarly, the crackdown on peaceful student protesters in the United States, fuelled by baseless accusations of anti-Semitism, demonstrates how the unwavering allegiance to Israel’s narrative has led to the suppression of free speech and the violation of democratic values.

It is time to end the unquestioning acceptance of the Israeli narrative by the political-media-industrial complex. It has not only placed the West in a highly compromised moral and legal position, but support for Israel is undermining the very essence of what we are told is the West.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor

Nasimbythedocks

Testimonies From The Occupied Palestinian Territory Show New Depths Of Israel’s Atrocities: UN Expert

Friday, 26 April 2024,
Press Release:

UN Special Procedures - Human Rights

CAIRO (25 April 2024) – The Occupied Palestinian Territory is enveloped in a spiral of unstoppable violence, with stories Palestinians and other witnesses relay adding new depths to atrocities the world has witnessed since the beginning of Israel’s assault on Gaza over six months ago, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Francesca Albanese said today.

“The pace and intensity with which this violence has spread to the rest of the occupied territory confirms that no Palestinian is safe under Israel’s unfettered control,” Albanese said, concluding a visit to Egypt and Jordan.

The Special Rapporteur said Israel had once again arbitrarily denied her access to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, compelling her to report on the situation of Palestinians under occupation from neighbouring states.

Albanese said her visit demonstrated that the situation in Gaza is worse than previously assessed, with serious and multi-layered long-term implications. Most victims she met had endured catastrophic injuries, witnessed family members killed and experienced the effects of Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s health infrastructure, even after 26 January 2024, when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a ruling ordering Israel to prevent genocide in Gaza.

Patients that previously arrived in Egypt primarily with explosive and war injury-related symptoms are now joined by patients with chronic diseases and/or malnutrition, especially children, arising from Israel’s intentional humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

“Photos from a mere eight months ago show a chubby-cheeked 8-year-old Hamid, now rake thin and spending his days in excruciating pain due to pancreatitis developed through the harsh conditions of the siege,” the Special Rapporteur said.

“Those who have left Gaza come out fractured and wracked by ‘survivors’ guilt’ and severe trauma,” Albanese said. “Just 50 kilometers away from the Gaza Strip, crucial, life-sustaining aid and goods, including water desalination equipment, first aid kits, oxygen cylinders and portable toilets – paid for by taxpayers across the world – languish in warehouses, barred entry into Gaza on the pretext of use by combatants.”

“Humanitarian measures implemented so far – airdrops and maritime corridors – are a mere palliative for what is desperately needed and legally due,” the expert said. “These measures are grossly inadequate to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe that Israel’s assault has created.”

“At this point, Israel has reneged on its international obligations to a degree that warrants a call for sanctions,” Albanese said.

The Special Rapporteur said her visit only confirmed how critical the UN Relief and Works Agency’s mandate is to Palestinians and people across the region as Palestinians once more flee to safety.

“Surrounding countries cannot alone absorb the impact of Israel’s pernicious practices of killing and displacement from Gaza,” Albanese said, calling for the supply chain of support to be mainstreamed through the UN Humanitarian Coordinator. “This will alleviate responsibility for Egypt and the Egyptian people,” she said.

Albanese reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire, an end to Israel’s illegal control of Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territory and a protective presence to ensure peace and stability in the region.

“It is critically important that the UN assumes full responsibility of humanitarian operations in accordance with Security Council resolution 2720,” the Special Rapporteur said.

“The horrors that people have seen in Gaza are unspeakable,” Albanese said. “But this visit also confirms that attention on the worsening situation in the West Bank including East Jerusalem has lapsed.” Increased restrictions and abuses, arbitrary detention and extrajudicial killings by Israeli soldiers and armed settlers alike are widely reported.

“Israeli policies spanning the occupied Palestinian territory are unquestionably endangering Palestinian existence on their land,” she said. “The focus of the international community must zero-in on the most likely implication – the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians – and States must do everything in their power to prevent it.”

Albanese said she had undertaken the devastating experience of meeting with Palestinians from Gaza and recording their testimonies, trusting that UN member states will act to end the slaughter and ensure accountability.

“States must insist on an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and impose sanctions on Israel to avoid further calamity,” the Special Rapporteur said.

A full report is to follow.

Ms. Francesca Albanese is the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.

Party defending Palestinians' rights expected to run in Belgian elections in June

Viva Palestina party aims to work for recognition of Gaza genocide

Melike Pala |25.04.2024 -

ANKARA

The Viva Palestina Party, which aims to defend the rights of Palestinians, is expected to participate in the Belgian general and regional elections.

The party is expected to enter the elections, which will held June 9 in the Brussels region.

Viva Palestina aims to "work for the recognition of the Gaza genocide and lead international justice efforts," according to a website for the party, led by author and Palestine activist Dyab Abou Jahjah.

The party is "determined to eliminate Israel's apartheid system targeting Palestinians through sanctions and boycotts and to make Brussels a pioneer in the global struggle for this.”

It also aims to defend Palestinians' rights to self-defense, self-determination and statehood.

The Viva Palestina party is committed to leading international efforts to bring Israel's war criminals and those responsible to justice.

Meanwhile, a disciplinary investigation was initiated against Khadija Zamouri, a member of parliament from the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats, for to her support for the Viva Palestina party.

Zamouri announced that she resigned from the party following an investigation and pressure campaign launched against her.

Israel has waged a brutal offensive on Gaza since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group, Hamas, on Oct. 7, which Tel Aviv said killed less than 1,200 people.

More than 34,300 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, mostly women and children, and nearly 77,300 injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.

More than six months into the Israeli onslaught, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar

U.S. University protests over Israel-Hamas war in Gaza lead to hundreds of arrests on college campuses

April 25, 2024 /

CBS/AP

Chaos erupted overnight as police tried to break up a pro-Palestinian encampment at Emerson College in Boston, the latest flashpoint in a growing movement on college campuses around the country protesting Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. Hundreds of people have been arrested in Massachusetts, Texas and California during the tense protests, following several rounds of arrests in New York in recent days.

At Emerson, 108 people were arrested and four police officers suffered injuries that were not life-threatening at the encampment, Boston police said Thursday. Those arrested were expected to appear in Boston Municipal Court.

Police move in to arrest pro-Palestinian supporters who were blocking the road after the Emerson College protest camp was cleared by police in Boston, Massachusetts, April 25, 2024.JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

In nearby Cambridge, Harvard University had sought to stay ahead of protests this week by limiting access to Harvard Yard and requiring permission for tents and tables. That didn't stop protesters from setting up a camp with 14 tents Wednesday following a rally against the university's suspension of the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee.

Students protesting the Israel-Hamas war are demanding schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies enabling its monthslong conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus as graduation nears, partly prompting a heavier hand from universities.

Harvard law student Tala Alfoqaha, who is Palestinian, said she and other protesters want more transparency from the university.

"My hope is that the Harvard administration listens to what its students have been asking for all year, which is divestment, disclosure and dropping any sort of charges against students," she said.
USC protests

Another 93 people were arrested Wednesday night during a protest at the University of Southern California and accused of trespassing, the Los Angeles Police Department said. There were no reports of injuries.

Tensions were already high at USC after the university canceled a planned commencement speech by the school's pro-Palestinian valedictorian, citing safety concerns. After scuffles with police early Wednesday, a few dozen demonstrators standing in a circle with locked arms were detained one by one without incident later in the evening.

Officers encircled the dwindling group sitting in defiance of an earlier warning to disperse or be arrested. Beyond the police line, hundreds of onlookers watched as helicopters buzzed overhead. The school closed the campus.

"Both sides of my family were displaced from Palestine, and I'm here using my voice because my grandparents couldn't," protester Randa Sweiss told CBS Los Angeles.

University of Southern California safety officers try to disperse students protesting Israel's war in Gaza, at the school's Alumni Park in Los Angeles, California, April 24, 2024.REUTERS/ZAYDEE SANCHEZ

In Northern California, students at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, barricaded inside a building for a third day, and the school shut down campus through the weekend and made classes virtual.
UT Austin protests

At the University of Texas at Austin, hundreds of local and state police — including some on horseback and holding batons — moved against protesters Wednesday, at one point sending some tumbling into the street. Officers pushed their way into the crowd and made 34 arrests at the behest of the university and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, according to the state Department of Public Safety.

A photographer covering the demonstration for Fox 7 Austin was in the push-and-pull when an officer yanked him backward to the ground, video shows. The station confirmed that the photographer was arrested. A longtime Texas journalist was knocked down in the mayhem and could be seen bleeding before police helped him to emergency medical staff.

Dane Urquhart, a third-year Texas student, called the police presence and arrests an "overreaction," adding that the protest "would have stayed peaceful" if the officers had not turned out in force

University of Texas police detain a man at a protest over Israel's war in Gaza at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, April 24, 2024.JAY JANNER/AUSTIN STATESMAN/USA TODAY NETWORK VIA REUTERS

"Because of all the arrests, I think a lot more (demonstrations) are going to happen," Urquhart said.

Police left after hours of efforts to control the crowd, and about 300 demonstrators moved back in to sit on the grass and chant under the school's iconic clock tower.

In a statement Wednesday night, the university's president, Jay Hartzell, said: "Our rules matter, and they will be enforced. Our University will not be occupied."

A student stares at a row of Texas state troopers as students protest the Israel-Hamas war on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, on April 24, 2024.SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Columbia University protests

While grappling with growing protests from coast to coast, schools have the added pressure of May commencement ceremonies coming up. At Columbia University in New York, students defiantly erected an encampment where many are set to graduate in front of families in just a few weeks.

Columbia continued to negotiate with students after several failed attempts to clear the encampment and over 100 arrests in recent days.

The university averted another confrontation between students and police Wednesday. University President Minouche Shafik had set on Tuesday a midnight deadline to reach an agreement on clearing an encampment, but the school extended negotiations for another 48 hours

Students prepare to spend another night maintaining a protest encampment in support of Palestinians on the Columbia University campus in New York City, April 24, 2024.REUTERS/CAITLIN OCHS

On a visit to campus Wednesday, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, called on Shafik to resign "if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos."

He claimed the university is being taken over by a radical and extreme ideology, citing several recent incidents of antisemitic language by protesters on and off campus.

"We need the National Guard, law enforcement or someone to come in here and take control," Johnson told CBS News correspondent Nancy Chen. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul accused Johnson of politicizing the protest by coming to campus and said she has no plans to call in the National Guard for now.

On Wednesday evening, a Columbia spokesperson said rumors that the university had threatened to bring in the National Guard were unfounded. "Our focus is to restore order, and if we can get there through dialogue, we will," said Ben Chang, Columbia's vice president for communications.

Columbia graduate student Omer Lubaton Granot, who put up pictures of Israeli hostages near the encampment, said he wanted to remind people that there were more than 100 hostages still being held by Hamas.

"I see all the people behind me advocating for human rights," he said. "I don't think they have one word to say about the fact that people their age, that were kidnapped from their homes or from a music festival in Israel, are held by a terror organization."

On Wednesday about 60 tents remained at the Columbia encampment, which appeared calm. Security remained tight around campus, with identification required and police setting up metal barricades.

Columbia said it had reached an agreement with protest representatives that only students would remain at the encampment, and that the protesters "have taken steps to make the encampment welcome to all and have prohibited discriminatory or harassing language."

Elsewhere in Manhattan, at New York University this week, police said 133 protesters were taken into custody. And on Monday, more than 40 protesters were arrested at an encampment at Yale University in Hew Haven, Connecticut, and charged with criminal trespass, a misdemeanor.

Faculty at University of Texas Austin Strike in Solidarity with Student Protesters

Pro-Palestine movements on college campuses are facing harsh repression, and faculty across the nation are taking action in solidarity. At UT Austin, faculty are the first to call a strike in solidarity with their repressed students. More faculty across the country must follow suit.

Olivia Wood

April 25, 2024

LEFT VOICE

\Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP

Faculty from universities across the country have begun to mobilize in solidarity with the student movement for Palestine. From NYU, where faculty linked arms to protect students from police; to Columbia University, where faculty engaged in a solidarity walkout with the Gaza Solidarity Encampment; to Barnard College, where faculty planned a sick-out in defense of their students — faculty are rising up in defense of their students. At the University of Texas Austin, faculty have announced a 24-hour work stoppage as part of the fight against student repression.

The action is the first so far in which faculty are using their power as workers to halt university operations in solidarity with student protestors. They are leveraging the fact that they make the university run in order to grind it to a halt. As we noted recently, while the past few years have seen many graduate worker and contingent faculty strikes, it’s very unusual in recent decades for faculty to mobilize to this extent outside of the context of collective bargaining.

Notably, public sector workers in Texas have serious restrictions on collective bargaining, meaning they do not have the ability to organize unions and negotiate from those unions. In other words, these workers are acting as a united group without having a union. Additionally, Texas has a full ban on public sector workers engaging in work stoppages — this means faculty at UT Austin are acting together, without a union, to break the law and stop work in order to protect the student movement. This action shows that, even if workers have no current legal pathway for unionization, they can still act as a union — in fact, public sector collective bargaining rights were won through strikes like these.

UT Austin faculty released the following statement on their action:

This action from UT Austin is incredibly important, and one that must not stop at this university. Faculty across the nation are moved to act in defense of the student movement — let us use our power as workers to do so most effectively. We are the reason the university runs, and we must grind it to a halt in the face of repression.

Amid Campus Crackdowns, Gaza War Triggers Freedom Of Expression Crisis

Friday, 26 April 2024,
Press Release: UN News

Across the United States, “heads are rolling” at the top of some Ivy League universities amid a campus-wide crackdown on students protesting Israel’s war in Gaza, shining a spotlight on the question of freedom of expression worldwide, said UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan.

“The Gaza crisis is truly becoming a global crisis of the freedom of expression,” said Ms. Khan, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. “This is going to have huge repercussions for a long time to come.”

Demonstrations around the world have been roundly calling for an end to the war, which began in October following Hamas-led attacks on Israel that left 1,200 people dead and 250 taken hostage, 133 of who remain captive in Gaza.

Since then, Israeli military operations have killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry, which now faces a man-made famine UN agencies have said stems from Israel’s restrictions on aid deliveries.

In an exclusive interview on Wednesday, she told UN News the way academic freedom in the United States is being restricted is infringing on people’s rights to protest over the on-going war and occupation, including on campuses of such elite Ivy League schools as Colombia, Harvard and Yale universities.

“One after the another, the Ivy League heads of colleges and universities, their heads are rolling, they’ve been chopped off,” she said. “That clearly polarises even further the political climate on this issue between ‘them’ and ‘us’.”

Confusion over political views and hate speech

Pointing to a troubling rise in hate speech on both sides of the protests, she said that at the same time, people must be allowed to express their political views.

In many of these protests, she said there is a confusion between what is hate speech or incitement to violence and what is basically a different view of the situation in Israel and the occupied territories - or criticism of the way Israel is conducting the conflict.

“Legitimate speech must be protected,” she said, “but, unfortunately, there is a hysteria that is taking hold in the US.”

Criticising Israel is ‘perfectly legitimate’

Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia must be prohibited, and hate speech violates international law, she said.

“But, we must not mix that up with criticism of Israel as a political entity, as a State,” she said. “Criticising Israel is perfectly legitimate under international law.”

She said special rapporteurs have already detected a bias against pro-Palestinian supporters on social media.

“We need freedom of expression,” she said, adding that it is a fundamental right that is important for democracy, development, conflict resolution and building peace.

“If we sacrifice all that, politicising the issue and undermining the right to protest and the right to freedom of expression, then I believe we are doing a disservice for which we will pay a price,” she said. “It will be harder to negotiate if you shut down one side.”

Special Rapporteurs and other Human Rights Council-appointed experts are not UN staff and are independent from any government or organization. They serve in their individual capacity and receive no salary for their work.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment