An active duty member of the U.S. Air Force self-immolated while yelling “free Palestine” in a tragic protest of Israel’s genocide in Gaza in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. on Sunday afternoon. Aaron Bushnell, of San Antonio, Texas, was 25 years old and died later that day. In his final acts, Bushnell, donning his army fatigues, recorded and live streamed his protest.
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
Dakar, February 14, 2024—Senegalese authorities must identify and hold accountable police officers who attacked, harassed, and tear gassed or detained at least 25 journalists reporting on protests over the country’s delayed poll and allow the press to report the news safely and without fear of intimidation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Tuesday.
“Police in Senegal should be working to protect the press, not attacking and throwing tear gas at journalists to prevent them from reporting on political demonstrations,” said Angela Quintal, head of CPJ’s Africa program, in New York. “The detention and beating of journalist Absa Hane is a particularly alarming indication of the lengths Senegalese police seem to be willing to go to stop news coverage they do not like.”
As Senegalese security forces sought to quell protests on February 9 over the postponement of the presidential election until December 15, CPJ documented at least six incidents in the capital, Dakar, in which at least 20 journalists were physically attacked, briefly detained, targeted with tear gas, or harassed in other ways by police:
Amar said that another officer also hit him with his fist and repeatedly insulted him at the same time, as seen in a video recorded by a third reporter. The journalists said they were leaving the area as instructed by the police when the officers threw tear gas at them.
A statement by the Leral media group similarly described the police officer targeting journalists with tear gas and said the same officer also damaged a camera held by one of their reporters by grabbing and pulling out its microphone cable. The PressAfrik video shows the police officer dropping the cable.
CPJ also documented incidents involving five other journalists in the days before:
In a separate February 9 incident, police officers fired tear gas into the Dakar courtyard of the Wal Fadjri media group’s offices as its employees staged a sit-in to demand the restoration of the signal of its channel Walf TV, which was cut on February 4, according to Ayoba Faye, a reporter with the media group and news reports. Walf TV resumed broadcasting on February 11, after the media group’s directors met the president, according to a Ministry of Communication statement.
Police spokesperson Mouhamed Guèye told CPJ that he was not in Dakar at the time of the incidents, but that consultations would soon be held with journalists to enable them and police agents to work “in harmony.”
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
The party of jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, which according to still incomplete results has won most mandates in the February 8 elections, said it was ready to form a government amid warnings by the nuclear-armed country’s powerful military that politicians should put the people’s interests above their own.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has so far announced the winners of 253 of the 265 contested parliamentary seats amid a slow counting process hampered by the interruption of mobile service.
According to those results, independents backed by Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf (PTI) won 92 seats, while former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) garnered 71, and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) obtained 54 mandates. The remainder are spread among other small parties and candidates.
Both Khan and Sharif declared victory.
As results appeared to point to a hung parliament, PTI’s acting Chairman Gohar Ali Khan on February 10 told a news conference in Islamabad that the party aimed at forming a government as candidates backed by it had won the most seats.
Khan also announced that if complete results were not released by February 10 in the evening, the PTI intended to stage a peaceful protest on February 11.
Third-placed PPP, led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, a former foreign minister who is the son of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, could play kingmaker in case of talks to form a coalition government.
Sharif said on February 9 that he was sending his younger brother and former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as an envoy to approach the PPP and other political parties for coalition talks.
The elections were held in a highly polarized environment as Khan, a former cricket superstar, and his party were kept out of the election. Khan is currently in prison after he was convicted of graft and leaking state secrets. He also saw his marriage annulled by a court.
Earlier on February 10, the chief of Pakistan’s powerful military urged the country’s political class to set aside rivalries and work for the good of the people.
“The nation needs stable hands and a healing touch to move on from the politics of anarchy and polarization, which does not suit a progressive country of 250 million people,” General Syed Asim Munir said in a statement.
“Political leadership and their workers should rise above self-interests and synergize efforts in governing and serving the people, which is perhaps the only way to make democracy functional and purposeful,” Munir said.
The military has run Pakistan for nearly half its history since partition from India in 1947 and it still wields huge power and influence.
The February 8 vote took place amid rising political tensions and an upsurge of violence that prompted authorities to deploy more than 650,000 army, paramilitary, and police personnel across the country.
Despite the beefed-up security presence, violence continued even after the election. On February 10, the leader of Pakistan’s National Democratic Movement, Mohsin Dawar, was shot and wounded in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal district.
Daward was shot and injured as he addressed supporters in front of a military camp in Miramsha in the country’s northwest.
Dawar, a well-known Pashtun politician, was shot in the thigh and rushed to a nearby hospital in stable condition. He was later transported to the capital, Islamabad, for further treatment. His injuries are not life threatening. Videos of a bloodied Dawar circulated on social media
Three supporters were killed and 15 more injured in the incident, Rahim Dawar, a party member and eyewitness who is of no relation to the Pashtun politician, told RFE/RL.
Dawar, who was running for the lower house of parliament, arrived at the headquarters of the regional election committee, located inside the military camp, to demand officials announce the result of the vote.
Soldiers barred Dawar from entering and he was later shot as he addressed supporters outside the office. Dawar’s supporters accuse the police and security forces of firing at them.
The security forces have yet to respond to the allegation. Local media, citing unidentified security sources, reported that some policemen were also killed in the incident, but RFE/RL could not confirm that.
Dawar won a five-year term in 2018 and served in parliament until it was dissolved. Election officials later in the day said Dawar had lost the election.
Crisis-hit Pakistan has been struggling with runaway inflation while Islamabad scrambles to repay more than $130 billion in foreign debt.
Reported irregularities during the February 8 poll prompted the United States, Britain, and the European Union to voice concerns about the way the vote was conducted and to urge an investigation.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry on February 10 rejected the criticism.
PTI was banned from participating in the vote because the ECP said it had failed to properly register as a party. Its candidates then decided to run as independents after the Supreme Court and the ECP said they couldn’t use the party symbol — a cricket bat. Parties in the country use symbols to help illiterate voters find them on the ballots.
Yet the PTI-backed independents have emerged as the largest block in the new parliament. Under Pakistani law, they must join a political party within 72 hours after their election victory is officially confirmed. They can join the PTI if it takes the required administrative steps to be cleared and approved as a party by the ECP.
Khan, 71, was prime minister from 2018 to 2022. He still enjoys huge popularity, but his political future and return to the political limelight is unclear.
This content originally appeared on News – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and was authored by News – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
Hungarian President Katalin Novak resigned on February 10, one day after thousands of demonstrators called on her to step down over a controversial pardon. The opposition Momentum Movement organized the protest march on February 9. It became known in recent days that among prisoners pardoned by Novak last year was the deputy director of a state-run children’s home who had helped his boss cover up sexual abuse. Novak’s move sparked criticism, in part because the ruling Fidesz party had promoted her as the face of its campaign for traditional family values.
This content originally appeared on News – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and was authored by News – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
The summer of 2020 was a hinge point in American history. The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police inspired racial justice demonstrations nationwide. At the time, the FBI was convinced that extreme Black political activists could cross the line into domestic terrorism – a theory federal agents had first termed “Black identity extremism.”
That summer, Mickey Windecker approached the FBI. He drove a silver hearse, claimed to have been a volunteer fighter for the French Foreign Legion and the Peshmerga in Iraq, and had arrest records in four states that included convictions for misdemeanor sexual assault and menacing with a weapon, a felony. He claimed to the FBI that he had heard racial justice activists speak vaguely of training and violent revolution in Denver.
The FBI enlisted Windecker as a paid informant, gave him a recording device and instructed him to infiltrate Denver’s growing Black Lives Matter movement. For months, Windecker spied on activists and attempted to recruit two Black men into an FBI-engineered plot to assassinate the state’s attorney general.
Windecker’s undercover work is the first documented case of FBI efforts to infiltrate the 2020 racial justice movement. Journalist Trevor Aaronson obtained over a dozen hours of Windecker’s secret recordings and more than 300 pages of internal FBI reports for season 1 of the podcast series Alphabet Boys.
This episode of Reveal is a partnership with Alphabet Boys and production company Western Sound.
This is an update of an episode that originally aired in September 2023.
Support Reveal’s journalism at Revealnews.org/donatenow
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get the scoop on new episodes at Revealnews.org/newsletter
This post was originally published on Reveal.
Miami, February 9, 2024—Haitian authorities should investigate the recent injuries of least five journalists who were covering anti-government protests and ensure that the media can cover matters of public interest without fear of injury, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Friday.
On Thursday, freelance journalist Jean Marc Jean was struck in the face by a tear gas canister fired by an officer with the national police’s anti-riot squad in the capital, Port-au-Prince, according to media reports, as violent protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry rocked Haiti during the week.
On Wednesday, at least three reporters—Wilborde Ymozan, Lemy Brutus, and Stanley Belford—were injured when police used tear gas to disperse about 1,000 anti-government demonstrators in the southwestern coastal city of Jérémie, according to local media reports.
Tensions had been rising in Haiti ahead of February 7, the day that new presidents are traditionally sworn in. Elections that Henry promised would take place in 2023 were not held. Haiti has not had a president since Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in 2021.
Between January 20 and February 7, at least 16 people were killed and 29 injured, mainly during confrontations between protesters and police, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement on Friday
On January 29, Charlemagne Exavier, a reporter with Radio Tele Lambi, was shot in the left leg by an unknown assailant while covering an anti-government protest in Jérémie, local media reported and the radio station’s owner, Michel Clérié, told CPJ.
CPJ has received reports from local media organizations — the Association of Haitian Journalists and the Online Media Collective — of as many as 11 journalists injured in protests across the country but has not been able to independently confirm the other six cases.
“We are very concerned about the wave of violent protests sweeping across Haiti and the impact they will have on journalists attempting to cover unfolding events,” said Katherine Jacobsen, CPJ’s U.S., Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator. “It is incumbent upon Haitian authorities to ensure that the media can safely report on such matters of public interest.”
In Port-au-Prince, Jean was taken to a local hospital on Thursday evening, according to Pierre Lamartinière, a video journalist who visited him.
“He was struck in the face and has a deep wound next to his nose. I am not a doctor, but I fear that he may have lost an eye,” Lamartinière told CPJ.
In Jérémie, Ymozan, who works for the online video outlet Tande Koze was hit in the leg by a projectile; Brutus, manager of local online video outlet Grandans Bèl Depatman, received stitches in his head after he was beaten and had his equipment stolen; and Belford, a reporter with Florida-based Island TV, sustained a hand injury, according to two local radio station owners, whose outlets covered the protests, and who spoke to CPJ on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.
The three journalists were treated in local hospitals for minor injuries, the news reports stated.
A photograph posted on X, formerly Twitter, by a local radio station on January 29 showed Exavier sitting in a hospital with a bandage on his leg. He was discharged later that day, Clérié told CPJ.
Haiti’s Inspector General of Police, Fritz Saint Fort, told CPJ that his office was looking into the five incidents but could not comment at this stage.
In a statement, Haiti’s national ombudsman, Renan Hedouville, who heads the Office for the Protection of the Citizen, called the incidents “a serious attack on press freedom.”
At least six Haitian journalists have been murdered in direct reprisal for their work since Moise’s assassination and the country. Haiti was ranked as the world’s third-worst nation in CPJ’s 2023 Global Impunity Index, which measures where killers of journalists are most likely to go unpunished.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
Last week, the Georgia Senate approved a bill aimed at expanding the state’s cash bail system while simultaneously criminalizing charitable bail organizations. This legislation seeks to prohibit activists detained for common protest-related charges, such as unlawful assembly and obstruction of a law enforcement officer, from securing release without paying bail. Additionally…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
An activist organisation is accusing the Aotearoa New Zealand police of brutality after arrests were made at a pro-Palestine protest in Lyttelton today.
About 60 people took part in the protest at Lyttelton Port this morning, and police said four people were arrested about 1pm after blocking traffic.
Protesters had blocked a tunnel and poured a liquid onto the road, a police spokesperson said.
Charges were being considered.
Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) secretary Neil Scott issued a statement saying members were “repulsed” by police actions at the protest, which he labelled “disgusting”.
“The police arrested seven people and pepper sprayed many, including senior citizens protesting peacefully,” Scott said.
Scott said the group was 17 weeks into protests calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza and for the government to condemn the violations since last month’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling.
Police ‘aggression’ increased
Police “aggression” toward the protest activities had been increasing during that time, Scott said, and the group wanted an investigation into officers’ actions at the latest protest.
Protest organiser Ihorangi Reweti-Peters told RNZ that police used “brute force” to stop protesters from blocking the road.
“Police were sort of rarking people up and saying, ‘come on then’, and ‘do it’.”
“Everyone was sprayed — pepper sprayed — and then the people were arrested.”
Three of those arrested had been released by early this evening, Reweti-Peters said.
Police have been contacted for comment.
This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.
If the bags under U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s eyes have looked heavier than usual recently, it might have something to do with the wake-up brigade camped outside his $5 million mansion. “Wakey wakey, war criminal! Good morning war criminal! How is your genocide coffee? How many kids did you kill while you were sleeping?” shouted Hazami Barmada at seven a.m. outside Blinken’s residence…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Up to 300,000 people took to the rainy streets of Berlin, Germany on Saturday as nationwide protests against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Protests were also taking place in dozens of other cities such as Freiburg, Dresden, Hannover, and Mainz, a sign of growing alarm at growing support for the AfD. Under the slogan “We are the Firewall” — a reference to the longstanding taboo…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Pacific protesters were prominent in the 17th week of Aotearoa New Zealand solidarity demonstrations for Palestine and a ceasefire in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in Auckland today.
Flags of Fiji, Tonga and West Papua were featured alongside the sea of Palestinian banners and at least one group declared themselves as “Tongans for Palestine – Long live the intifada”.
The rally in Auckland’s Te Komititanga — also known as Britomart Square, an urban transport hub — drew a large crowd in the heart of New Zealand’s largest city shopping precinct.
Thousands of people have been taking part in the weekly protest rallies and marches across New Zealand since the war on Gaza began after a deadly attack on Israel last October 7 following 75 years of repression and occupation since the Nakba — the “catastrophe” — in 1948.
South Africa has warned that Israel is ignoring the World Court’s “on notice” genocidal orders about its war on Gaza.
The death toll is now more than 27,000 — and more than 900 Palestinians have been killed since the ICJ (International Court of Justice) ruled that Israel must take steps to prevent civilian deaths.
Speakers in Auckland today drew parallels between the Zionist settler colonial project in Palestine and NZ’s colonial history, saying the Waitangi Treaty was now under threat from NZ’s most rightwing government in history.
The protest came just two days before Waitangi Day — 6 February 1840 — the national holiday marking the signing of the foundational Treaty of Waitangi between the British Crown and 500 traditional Māori chiefs.
“There are many things we can do in Aotearoa to stand on the right side of history,” said one of the organisers, Josie Sims of Solidarity Action Network Aotearoa (SANA).
“We’re calling on the NZ Defence Force to refuse their orders to go to Yemen. We’re asking for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador, and we’re asking that this government takes a clear position on an immediate ceasefire.”
This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.
U.S. officials have said they believe air strikes on dozens of Iranian-linked sites in Syria and Iraq late on February 2 in retaliation for the killing of three U.S. troops in northwest Jordan were successful and warned more strikes will follow, as Baghdad expressed anger and concerns persisted of widening conflict in the region.
U.S. President Biden had warned of imminent action after a drone attack at a U.S. base in Jordan killed three U.S. service members on January 28.
Washington blamed Iran and its supply of weapons to militia groups in the region.
Reports said the U.S. strikes had hit seven locations, four in Syria and three in Iraq.
“Our response began today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing,” U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement released shortly after the attacks that “our response began today,” adding, “It will continue at times and places of our choosing.”
“The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. But let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: If you harm an American, we will respond,” he added.
General Yehia Rasool, a spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani accused the United States of a “violation” of Iraqi sovereignty with potentially “disastrous consequences for the security and stability of Iraq and the region.”
After a previous U.S. air strike in Baghdad, Sudani asked for the 2,000 or so U.S. troops in Iraq to be withdrawn — a sensitive bilateral topic.
U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the United States “did inform the Iraqi government prior to the strikes” but did not provide details. He said the attacks lasted about 30 minutes and included B-1 bombers that had flown from the United States.
Kirby said defense officials would be able to further assess the strikes’ impact on February 3.
The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, which has extensive contacts inside Syria, said at least 18 pro-Iran fighters had been killed in a strike near Al-Mayadeen in Syria.
U.S. Central Command earlier confirmed the strikes, saying its forces “conducted air strikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups.”
“U.S. military forces struck more than 85 targets, with numerous aircraft to include long-range bombers flown from United States,” it said, adding that it had struck “command and control operations, centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces.”
Syrian state media said there had been a number of casualties in several sites in Syria’s desert areas along the border with Iraq.
U.S. officials have said that the deadly January 28 attack in Jordan carried the “footprints” of Tehran-sponsored Kataib Hizballah militia in Iraq and vowed to hold those responsible to account at a time and place of Washington’s choosing, most likely in Syria or Iraq.
On January 31, Kataib Hizballah extremists in Iraq announced a “suspension” of operations against U.S. forces. The group said the pause was meant to prevent “embarrassing” the Iraqi government and hinted that the drone attack had been linked to the U.S. support of Israel in the war in Gaza.
Biden has been under pressure from opposition Republicans to take a harder line against Iran following the Jordan attack, but said earlier this week that “I don’t think we need a wider war in the Middle East. That’s not what I’m looking for.”
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has said Tehran “will not start any war, but if anyone wants to bully us, they will receive a strong response.”
Biden on February 2 witnessed the return to the United States of the remains of the three American soldiers killed in Jordan at a service at the Dover Air Force Base, Delaware.
The clashes between U.S. forces and Iran-backed militia have come against the background of an intense four-month military campaign in Gaza Strip against the U.S.- and EU-designated terrorist group Hamas after a Hamas attack killed at least 1,200 people in Israel, most of them civilians.
Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen have also waged attacks on international shipping in the region in what they call an effort to target Israeli vessels and demonstrate support for Palestinians.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is traveling to his fifth round of crisis talks in the region from February 3-8, with visits reportedly planned to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and the West Bank in an effort to promote a release of hostages taken by Hamas in its brutal October 7 raids.
This content originally appeared on News – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and was authored by News – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
President Biden faced protests in Michigan this week over his ongoing support for the Israeli assault on Gaza. Michigan is a crucial swing state that could prove decisive in this year’s presidential election and is also home to the largest percentage of Arab Americans in the United States. Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, who refused to meet with Biden’s campaign manager last week…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
UAW Labor for Palestine, a coalition of United Auto Workers (UAW) union members who support the liberation of Palestine, voted unanimously on Wednesday to release an official statement calling for the labor group’s leadership to rescind its endorsement for President Joe Biden’s reelection. The coalition joins a growing number of rank-and-file member groups leveraging their unions’ political cache…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Taipei, February 1, 2024— A Hong Kong court found journalists Wong Ka-ho and Ma Kai-chung guilty of unlawfully entering the legislative council on July 1, 2019, during a protest where demonstrators stormed the parliament in opposition to an extradition bill that would have allowed authorities to send Hong Kong citizens to mainland China for trial, according to news reports.
Hong Kong authorities should drop the charges, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday, and allow journalists to report freely without fear.
At the time of the incident, Wong was reporting for a student publication at the City University of Hong Kong, while Ma worked as a reporter for the newspaper and online news website Passion Times.
The two were charged with rioting and unlawfully entering the legislative council along with 11 other co-defendants. Both Wong and Ma pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to Passion Times and a copy of the verdict reviewed by CPJ.
Authorities released the journalists on bail Thursday pending sentencing, according to those reports. They face a potential fine of 2,000 Hong Kong dollars (USD $255) and up to 3 months imprisonment, according to the city’s Legislative Council Ordinance.
“The verdict today contradicts the freedom of the press that Hong Kong authorities have repeatedly assured, and unfortunately, it could serve as a bellwether for future cases involving journalists covering significant events,” said Iris Hsu, CPJ’s China representative. “Journalists must be free to report on civil unrest without fear of being prosecuted.”
Hong Kong Journalists Association released a statement calling the verdict “unreasonable,” saying that it disregards the freedom of the press that is guaranteed by law.
CPJ was unable to confirm whether the journalists plan to appeal.
The Hong Kong Police Force did not immediately respond to CPJ’s email requesting comment.
China is the world’s worst jailer of journalists, according to CPJ’s annual prison census, with at least 44 journalists in prison for their work as of December 1, 2023.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
Several democratic, progressive and socialist organisations in Indonesia and in the Melanesian region of West Papua have come together in solidarity with Palestine and formed an alliance called the People’s Movement for Palestinian Independence (GERAK Palestine).
In a statement released by GERAK Palestine, the group declared full support for the Palestinian people to resist oppression and for their right to the return to their land, reports Arah Juang.
GERAK Palestine has also demanded an end to all aggression and an end to Israel’s war on Gaza that has killed more than 26,000 people so far — mainly women and children — and attacks on the West Bank with the arrest and imprisonment of Palestinian people.
The movement also wants the Indonesian government to cut all indirect diplomatic, economic and political ties with Israel and Zionist entities. It has also called for a “secular, democratic, just and independent Palestine”.
The alliance has held many actions in several Indonesian cities, but only gave details on those in November in its statement.
On Sunday, November 19, in Bojonegoro, East Java, the Socialist Youth League (LPS) joined GERAK Palestine to organise a campaign in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
A stall was opened in front of the Bojonegoro regency government offices on Car Free Day and leaflets and stickers were distributed with banners being displayed demanding “One State and an Independent Palestine”.
Papuan students
In the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar, the Student Struggle Center for National Liberation (PPMPN), the Indonesian Student Union (SMI), the Papua Student Alliance (AMP) and other organisations joined GERAK Palestine to hold an action with political speeches and poetry readings.
Earlier on November 16, the alliance held actions in the form of public discussions and a consolidation.
In Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, the Communal League joined with GERAK Palestine in a social media campaign and setup information stall providing readings on Palestine. The activists also handed out leaflets and issued a statement.
On Monday, November 13, in Jayapura, Papua, several different organisations joined GERAK Palestine to hold a consolidation and discussion on Palestine at the Green Papua Secretariat.
Following this, on November 15, alliance activists held a discussion around the theme “Update on the Palestinian Situation, Against Imperialism”.
On November 17, activists held a second more detailed discussion on the same theme and heading off for an action.
On Sunday, November 19, a free speech forum was held in the afternoon at the Sinak Student Dormitory featuring political speeches, songs of struggle and poems.
Police crackdown
In Sorong, South-West Papua, on November 21, several organisations joined an action with GERAK Palestine to launch an action. A police crackdown also claimed that the action was not in the context of solidarity with Palestine but was part of a pro-independence action for the Free Papua Movement (OPM).
In the Central Java city of Yogyakarta, several different organisations joined GERAK Palestine to hold a demonstration demanding full independence for Palestine. The action began with a long-march from the Abu Bakar Ali parking area through the Malioboro shopping district to the zero kilometre point in front of the Central Post Office.
The protesters carried posters and held speeches condemning Israel’s brutal actions in Palestine.
In Ternate, North Maluku, several organisations and students groups from a number of different campuses joined GERAK Palestine to hold a solidarity action and support Palestinian independence.
In Semarang, Central Java, activists from the Semarang XR Youth Resistance and IDPAL joined together to demand Palestinian independence during an action at the Semarang Water Fountain.
In Jakarta, a Palestine solidarity action was attended by around 100 people from different organisations. The police however prevented protesters from displaying banners and posters as symbols of solidarity.
At the end of the rally, the protesters read out a statement in solidarity with Palestine and demanded that the Indonesian government cut all diplomatic, economic and political ties with Israel.
On November 21 the Bali Committee of the Democratic National Student Secretariat (SDMN) and the Women’s Studio (Sanggar Puan) held online and offline discussions under the theme “Palestinian Genocide and the Feminist Response” focusing on the history of settler-colonialism carried out by Israel, the international politics surrounding the War on Gaza, the genocide committed by Israel against Palestine and gender-based violence in war and conflict.
Translated by James Balowski for IndoLeft News from Arah Juang. The original title of the article was “Aksi Serentak Nasional Gerakan Rakyat untuk Kemerdekaan Palestina”.
This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
As The New York Times reported Sunday that more than 1,000 Black American pastors have joined the widespread call for a cease-fire in Gaza, U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi suggested the demand was “Putin’s message” and said the FBI should investigate groups that are speaking out about Biden’s pro-Israel policies. On CNN, the former House speaker, a California Democrat, told Dana Bash that the “call for a…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
KYIV — Ukrainian officials on January 27 said Russia had intensified attacks in the past 24 hours, with a commander saying the sides had battled through “50 combat clashes” in the past day near Ukraine’s Tavria region.
Meanwhile, Kyiv and Moscow continued to dispute the circumstances surrounding the January 24 crash of a Russian military transport plane that the Kremlin claimed was carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Kyiv said it has no proof POWs were aboard and has not confirmed its forces shot down the plane.
RFE/RL’s Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia’s full-scale invasion, Kyiv’s counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL’s coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.
General Oleksandr Tarnavskiy, the Ukrainian commander in the Tavria zone in the Zaporizhzhya region, said Russian forces had “significantly increased” the number of offensive and assault operations over the past two days.
“For the second day in a row, the enemy has conducted 50 combat clashes daily,” he wrote on Telegram.
“Also, the enemy has carried out 100 air strikes in the operational zone of the Tavria Joint Task Force within seven days,” he said, adding that 230 Russian-launched drones had been “neutralized or destroyed” over the past day in the area.
Battlefield claims on either side cannot immediately be confirmed.
Earlier, the Ukrainian military said 98 combat clashes took place between Ukrainian troops and the invading Russian army over the past 24 hours.
“There are dead and wounded among the civilian populations,” the Ukrianian military’s General Staff said in its daily update, but did not provide further details about the casualties.
According to the General Staff, Russian forces launched eight missile and four air strikes, and carried out 78 attacks from rocket-salvo systems on Ukrainian troop positions and populated areas. Iranian-made Shahed drones and Iskander ballistic missiles were used in the attacks, it said.
A number of “high-rise residential buildings, schools, kindergartens, a shopping center, and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed or damaged” in the latest Russian strikes, the bulletin said.
“More than 120 settlements came under artillery fire in the Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, and Mykolayiv regions,” according to the daily update.
The General Staff also reported that Ukrainian defenders repelled dozens of Russian assaults in eight directions, including Avdiyivka, Bakhmut, Maryinka, and Kupyansk in the eastern Donetsk region.
Meanwhile, Kyrylo Budanov, chief of Ukrainian military intelligence, said it remained unclear what happened in the crash of the Russian Il-76 that the Kremlin claimed was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were killed along with nine crew members.
The Kremlin said the military transport plane was shot down by a Ukrainian missile despite the fact that Russian forces had alerted Kyiv to the flight’s path.
Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov told RFE/RL that it had not received either a written or verbal request to secure the airspace where the plane went down.
The situation with the crash of the aircraft “is not yet fully understood,” Budanov said.
“It is necessary to determine what happened – unfortunately, neither side can fully answer that yet.”
Russia “of course, has taken the position of blaming Ukraine for everything, despite the fact that there are a number of facts that are inconsistent with such a position,” he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has insisted Ukraine shot down the plane and said an investigation was being carried out, with a report to be made in the upcoming days.
In Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced the creation of a second body to assist businesses in the war-torn country.
Speaking in his nightly video address late on January 26, Zelenskiy said the All-Ukraine Economic Platform would help businesses overcome the challenges posed by Russia’s nearly two-year-old invasion.
On January 23, Zelenskiy announced the formation of a Council for the Support of Entrepreneurship, which he said sought to strengthen the country’s economy and clarify issues related to law enforcement agencies. Decrees creating both bodies were published on January 26.
Ukraine’s economy has collapsed in many sectors since Russia invaded the country in February 2022. Kyiv heavily relies on international aid from its Western partnes.
The Voice of America reported that the United States vowed to promote at the international level a peace formula put forward by Zelenskiy.
VOA quoted White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby as saying that Washington “is committed to the policy of supporting initiatives emanating from the leadership of Ukraine.”
Zelenskiy last year presented his 10-point peace formula that includes the withdrawal of Russian forces and the restoration of Ukrainian territorial integrity, among other things.
This content originally appeared on News – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and was authored by News – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
A highly anticipated Chicago City Council vote will have to wait. The council delayed voting on a cease-fire resolution that was originally scheduled for Wednesday, a move urged by more than two dozen alderpersons that does not necessarily indicate how they might ultimately vote. But on the same day, Mayor Brandon Johnson — in a major announcement — declared his support for the resolution and…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
The Supreme Court quietly declined on Monday to consider a lawsuit against the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) brought by an Israeli Zionist group called the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and U.S. citizens living in Israel. The federal lawsuit, first filed in 2019, claimed that USCPR provided “material support” for “terrorism” allegedly linked to Hamas in the Gaza Strip…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Students at Columbia University in New York held an “emergency protest” Wednesday over the school’s response to an attack on members of Columbia University Apartheid Divest at a rally on campus last Friday. Police in New York are investigating the attack on pro-Palestinian students, who say they were sprayed with a foul-smelling chemical. Eight students were reportedly hospitalized…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Right-wing lawmakers in Georgia are advancing two bills that would erode free speech and protest rights in the state. HB 30 would categorize criticism of Israel as antisemitic hate speech and SB 359 would significantly expand the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law, enhancing sentencing based on “political beliefs.” “Don’t sleep on this red clay fascism y’all,”…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
As part of their organizing efforts against Israeli apartheid, Columbia University student groups, including Barnard-Columbia Abolition Collective, Student-Worker Solidarity, and Columbia-Barnard Young Democratic Socialists of America announced a tuition strike for the spring 2024 semester. The coalition of student groups is calling for the “university to refuse to invest in ethnic cleansing and…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
As day broke over the small mountain town of Elliston, Virginia one Monday in October, masked figures in thick coats emerged from the woods surrounding a construction site. Three of them approached three excavators and, one by one, locked themselves to the machines, bringing the day’s work to a halt. As they did so, several dozen of their fellow protesters gathered around them…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Today is my 43rd birthday. Two decades ago, this milestone seemed improbable, if not impossible. And yet, here I am, living in improbable, impossible times. Having survived what might have killed me, I sit upright and pour tears and laughter into a keyboard, which lets them loose upon the world. Upon our burning, broken, beautiful world… As I celebrate another year on this Earth, I am also taking…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.