Saturday 8 June 2024

FROM this week’s news ON: politics & democracy, and international affairs, including the war in West Asia [Note: Content Warning - links to distressing reports on this topic. Reader discretion is advised]

Note: CONTENT WARNING - some of this content is about upsetting, disturbing or triggering events & attitudes. Seek competent help - including professional - if you need it. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that linked articles may contains names and/or images of deceased people. READER CAUTION IS RECOMMENDED! For anyone distressed by anything in this post, or for any other reason considering seeking support, resources are available in Australia here, here, and here. In other nations, you will have to do an Internet search using terms such as “mental health support - <your nation>” (which, for instance, may lead to this, this, and this, in the USA, or this, this, and this, in France [biased towards English-language - my apologies]), or perhaps try https://www.befrienders.org/. 

Note: in my “from the news” posts, quotes are shown italicised and blue, my comments are in a different shade of blue, and “good” items are (when I remember) shown in green. I have loosely grouped the posts where such seemed reasonable, but that is subjective (i.e., my opinion - others are free to disagree), and challenging, as some posts belong in multiple “groups”.

 

From thiis week’s news on the war in West Asia, politics & democracy, and international affairs (note: I may continue to add links for a few days, possibly up to a week, after these are published), and noting the conflicts, listed here, for instance, and other global issues, such as those listed here, that may not have made it into this weeks news (please note: this is a cut down and/or  version of what I used to do): 

 

the war in West Asia (note: I object to the colonial term “Middle East”), in imperialistic Israel, Gaza, and adjoining nations: 

Note: my usual preamble to these posts can be found on the post at https://politicalmusingsofkayleen.blogspot.com/2024/04/from-this-weeks-news-on-war-in-west_24.html. I will omit the full version of that from now on for the sake of brevity, but the main points are:   (i) I do not give violent extremists/other mass murderers the oxygen of publicity, nor the satisfaction of using the t word;   (ii) _____ have for many years been identified as genocidal;   (iii) I consider a safe place for Jewish people must exist because of the world's collective failures on antisemitism - everywhere, not only Germany of the 1930s/40s, but the Arab nations’ proposal for a single nation with Arab and Jewish provinces should have been given more consideration, IMO;   (iv) now, Israel's existence can ONLY be morally justified as part of a two state solution where Palestine becomes a modern, functional, prosperous sovereign nation-state;   (v) I note   https://theconversation.com/when-is-criticism-of-israel-antisemitic-a-scholar-of-modern-jewish-history-explains-220995   on when criticism of Israel becomes antisemitic;   (vi) Israel’s conduct since the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the collapse of the Oslo Accords has been both devastating to its victims and damaging of its standing, and its conduct now risks an even more self-damaging Pyrrhic “victory”;   (vii) note that the ICJ has issued preliminary directions, but not made a formal finding regarding genocide.





on peace/ceasefires:


  • “A Gaza Ceasefire”   https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/east-mediterranean-mena/israelpalestine-united-states/gaza-ceasefire   “The ceasefire deal the US has tabled represents the best – and perhaps last – hope for both ending the Gaza war and getting the hostages held in the strip back any time soon. Israeli and _____ leaders should accept it.   ...   “The war cabinet has closely guarded the proposal’s full text ... lest spoilers, especially to Netanyahu’s right, try to torpedo it.”   ...   The two sides’ acceptance of the ceasefire deal would be just the start of difficult talks, requiring concerted diplomacy from the U.S., Egypt, Qatar and pressure and support from others, to bridge what for now seem almost unsurmountable differences and sustain negotiations. But a rejection of the proposed plan will make arrangements for the day after more complex than they already are.”   This is a good, detailed assessment of the proposal and situation      



on human rights and human suffering (on both sides) aspects:


  • “Dozens feared dead in Israeli airstrike on UNRWA school in Gaza”   https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/06/1150721   “... humanitarians warned that cholera and other potentially deadly diseases stalk people uprooted by the war, forced to live among “mountains of trash”.”      “‘We have normalised horror’ says agency official, after Israeli strike on school”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/07/we-have-normalised-horror-says-agency-official-after-israeli-strike-on-school   “In previous conflicts, single incidents like this would cause shock and outrage and would be remembered forever. Whereas it seems in this conflict it will be this one will be replaced by another in a few days’ time unless it all comes to an end. So, it almost becomes commonplace and mundane that these things are happening. We have normalised horror.”     

 

  • “Lebanon: Israel’s White Phosphorus Use risks Civilian Harm”   https://www.juancole.com/2024/06/lebanon-phosphorous-civilian.html   “Under international humanitarian law, the use of airburst white phosphorus is unlawfully indiscriminate in populated areas and otherwise does not meet the legal requirement to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm.”     

 



regionally:



internationally:

 

  • “How rich philanthropists exert undue influence over pro-Palestinian activism at universities”   https://theconversation.com/how-rich-philanthropists-exert-undue-influence-over-pro-palestinian-activism-at-universities-230507   “Our work, however, shows that philanthropy’s “goodness myth” obscures the fact that “philanthropic wealth and power emerge through social relations of colonial and capitalist accumulation, which produce the very societal harms … that are the target of philanthropic interventions.”   ...   Philanthropy therefore allows wealthy people to exchange financial capital for social and symbolic capital”       
  • “Pro-Palestine protests targeting MPs’ electorate offices ‘have no place in a democracy’, Albanese says”   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/jun/04/pro-palestine-protests-targeting-mps-electorate-offices-have-no-place-in-a-democracy-albanese-says   “Prime minister denounces ‘actions to intimidate’ as Australia Palestine Advocacy Network condemns his remarks”   IMO, both sides are being somewhat disingenuous: APAN’s comments about needing to do more after eight months of conventional activism are valid, making the advise to more of what wasn’t working - against a genocide - an attempt to silence or at least limit dissent and/or the sort of enhanced and urgent accountability required by an active human rights massacre, but the comments by protestors that they had stood aside when ordered to do so by police simply confirm that a police presence was necessary - and if an upset pensioner saw this when they wanted to talk to am MP’s office, they would shy away. I also know the impact of this on the staff at MP offices       

 


global:  

 

 

  • “Putin warns Russia could supply weapons to other countries to strike Western targets”   https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240605-putin-warns-that-russia-could-supply-weapons-to-others-to-strike-western-targets   “President Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday that Russia could provide long-range weapons to others to strike Western targets in response to NATO allies allowing Ukraine to use their arms to attack Russian territory.”   And this (escalation/wider conflict) is one risk of those that need to be considered - as are the risks associated with Ukraine losing this war ... I also note that Putin has warned that military training staff in Ukraine from other nations are valid targets, and that is probably correct       

 

 



Australia: 







  • “‘Sliding doors’: the groundbreaking study charting the lives of 167 Australians over 34 years | Australia news | The Guardian”   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/jun/06/sliding-doors-the-groundbreaking-study-charting-the-lives-of-167-australians-over-34-years   “...   the erosion of the postwar social contract, and the fraying of public services and the social safety net hit some people harder than others.   ...   “the odds are stacked against those who can’t seem to break free of poverty and disadvantage, no matter how hard they try.”   Many of the policy recommendations the researchers made still remain: fair and adequate income support; accessible and responsive health and support services for parents from non-English speaking backgrounds; reinvestments in safe, secure public housing, accessible public transport infrastructure, and more.”   This has been known by those living it (especially here in Victoria, where Kennett savaged society in the 90s) and advocates ever since it started happening, but this evidence will greatly aid the understanding of many and the efforts to accomplish to change for the better       


  • “Big business interests are behind Canberra’s persecution of refugees”   https://socialism.com/fso-article/big-business-interests-are-behind-canberras-persecution-of-refugees/   The racist aspects of the ALP’s early years are also discussed in “A little history of the Australian Labor Party”, by Nick Dyrenfurth and Frank Bongiorno (pub. Uni of NSW Press, 2011, ISBN 978-1-74224-030-5). However, I am less convinced by the arguments about cheap labour (although that is an aspect of private prisons, IMO), and consider corporate profits from running our refugee jails a more significant issue - but less significant than Australia’s racist xenophobia      



My links for activism post may aid any activism you may decide to do on any/all of these. If you do, don’t get too fixated on specific instances of problems - important though they may well be: take a moment to also consider the broader issues these incidents and groups of incidents may suggest/reveal.

Note: as with other mass murderers/serial killers/and the like, violent extremists and other evil people/groups crave publicity, so I refuse to give that to them - including not using their names (which is a policy adopted by good law enforcement and media for other mass murderers - and I can do as I am a secondary news source [the name(s) are often in the primary sources if people wish to know them] ).

 

Assumptions / basis 

In writing this, I have assumed / started from the following: 

  • this blog states quite clearly that it is about political and human rights matters, including lived experience of problems, and thus I will assume readers are reasonable people who have noted the content warning in the post header;

Possible flaws 

Where I can, I will try to highlight possible flaws / issues you should consider:

  • there may be flawed logical arguments in the above: to find out more about such flaws and thinking generally, I recommend Brendan  Myers’ free online course “Clear and Present Thinking”; 
  • I could be wrong - so keep your thinking caps on, and make up your own minds for yourself.

 

If they are of any use of interest, the activism information links from my former news posts are available in this post. 

 

If you appreciated this post, please consider promoting it - there are some links below. 

Note that, as with my main blog [see here], I am cutting back on aspects of my posts.

Remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing, and all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk & accept that all insistence on the use of “trans” as a descriptor comes with commensurate use of “cis” as a descriptor to prevent “othering”.

Copyright © Kayleen White 2016-2024     NO AI   I do not consent to any machine learning aka Artificial Intelligence (AI), generative AI, large language model, machine learning, chatbot, or other automated analysis, generative process, or replication program to reproduce, mimic, remix, summarise, or otherwise  replicate any part of this post or other posts on this blog via any means. Typo’s may be inserrted deliberately to demonstrate this is not an AI product.     Otherwise, fair and reasonable use is accepted under Creative Commons 4.0 on an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike basis   https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/  

 

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