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Shooting Of Jacob Blake Sparks Protests In The US

After an alleged racially motivated shooting of Kenosha’s Jacob Blake, America is back on their feet with more people joining protests.

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Jacob Blake, a Black Wisconsin resident, has been left paralyzed from the waist down after he was shot seven times in the back by a White police officer who tried to detain him this week in Kenosha. After the video of the shooting went viral, there was another round of violent protests in Kenosha, but also throughout the entire country.

Blake, on the other hand, miraculously survived getting shot seven times in the back from point blank range, but was left paralyzed from the waist down – and handcuffed to the hospital bed.

“Why do they have that cold steel on my son’s ankle?” his father, Jacob Blake Sr. asked Friday morning in an interview with CNN’s Alisyn Camerota on “New Day.” “He can’t get up, he couldn’t get up if he wanted to.”

Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. David Wright explained earlier Friday that Blake was handcuffed to the bed because he “has felony warrants for his arrest from crimes he committed prior to the shooting incident.”

What Caused The Shooting Of Jacob Blake?

At the time of Sunday’s violent encounter with police, Blake had a warrant out for his arrest in connection to a domestic abuse call earlier this year.

A dispatcher appeared to warn responding officers about Blake’s warrant, referring to “family trouble” at the residence in Kenosha and an “alert at this address for a ninety-nine.” The police code 10-99 can refer to a wanted suspect. It is unclear if those officers were aware of why there was an outstanding warrant against Blake.

On May 3, Blake unlawfully entered the home and sexually assaulted a woman in her bedroom before leaving with her vehicle.

The criminal complaint filed on July 6 listed charges of felony third-degree sexual assault and misdemeanor trespassing and disorderly conduct. The arrest warrant against Blake was filed the following day.

The incident began when a woman called the police and said “her boyfriend was present and was not supposed to be on the premises,” the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation said.

Officers had tried to apprehend Blake and used a Taser in a failed attempt to stop him, the DCI said. He walked around his vehicle, “opened the driver’s side door and leaned forward,” the agency said.

State investigators did not specify the reason why police attempted to arrest Blake, whether he brandished or threatened to use a knife, or why officer Rusten Sheskey shot so many times into Blake’s back. It does not mention his children in the vehicle or other family members standing just feet away.

Sheskey and another officer have been placed on administrative leave.

Videos of the incident show a struggle between Blake and the police. He then walks around the front of a car and attempts to enter the driver’s side door. An officer is seen pulling Blake’s shirt after which seven shots are heard and Blake’s body going limp.

His attorneys stated that Blake did not have a weapon in the car.

Nation-Wide Unrest

On the same day of the shooting various videos went viral and showed disturbing scene, some worse than those after the May murder of George Floyd. One particular video showed a large fire burning dozens of cars in a Kenosha parking lot.

In the wake of the aforementioned murder of George Floyd, as well as the slayings of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, several large-scale demonstrations broke out all across the country in June. Some, like those in Seattle and Portland, virtually never stopped and there have been reports of citizens clashing with the police even in the days before the shooting of Jacob Blake.

One of the more interesting happenings occurred in the NBA bubble in Orlando, Florida. Day after Jacob Blake was shot, players from Milwaukee Bucks, a city some 40 miles from Kenosha where the shooting occurred, refused to step on the court and play their scheduled game against the Orlando Magic.

They stated that they are boycotting the game and their opponents and officials followed suit. Soon, the rest of the NBA teams refused to play and were joined in protest by the players of NFL, MLB, and MLS.

Protests Turn Deadly

A 17-year-old alt-right terrorist Kyle Rittenhouse is the primary suspect and has already admitted guilt to a friend in a phone call in the middle of his shooting spree which left two dead and another person critically wounded.

Rittenhouse, who isn’t even from Kenosha, took a ride there to participate in the protest. He was heavily armed and has stated that he only wanted to protect shops and business from looters.

The first victim of this attack, Joseph D. Rosenbaum allegedly threw a plastic bag in the direction of Rittenhouse who retaliated by murdering him. As bystanders were trying to administer help to Rosenbaum, his killer was heard talking to someone on the phone and clearly stating, “I just killed somebody”.

Moments later, he was seen running away and would later on murder 26-year-old Anthony Huber who was protecting his girlfriend that Rittenhouse has already shot in the arm.

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India: Violence Against Women on Holi Reeks of Communal and Racial Tensions

violence against women during Holi reek of not just communal but recently racial tensions.

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violence against women during Holi reek of not just communal but recently racial tensions.

Holi is a Hindu festival of colors and is celebrated across India with great enthusiasm. Numerous cases of violence, molestation, and harassment of women and minorities during March 7 and 8 when Holi was celebrated in various parts of the country came to light on social media. While “Bura na mano Holi Hai” (Don’t feel bad, it’s Holi) is used to justify all such nefarious behaviors, where women are most frequently the target, the celebration of Holi in India is frequently tarnished by incidences of molestation and harassment. However, in recent years, the festival has been marred by incidents of violence, particularly against women belonging to minority and marginalized communities.

This year, violence against women during the festivities of Holi emerged in the news of the incident met out to a Japanese woman. However, this was not the only incident of violence against women that took place at the festival of Holi. Other incidents with rather less to no reportage were the attacks to Muslim women and those belonging to marginalized communities. Over the years incidents of violence against women during Holi reek of not just communal but recently racial tensions.

Also, read Sopore Massacre 1993- When 57 Civilians Were Killed in Kashmir

‘I Was Terrified’: Japanese Woman Tweets After Being Assaulted During Holi

Recently, a video of a group of Indian men assaulting a Japanese woman in Delhi during the Holi celebrations went viral online. The woman responded to the incident on Twitter, calling it “unfortunate” and clarifying that her purpose was not to “defame the festival.” In a series of tweets roughly translated from Japanese, the woman wrote, “I had heard that it was very dangerous for a woman to go out alone during the daytime at the Holi festival, an Indian festival that I participated in, so I participated in the event with a total of 35 other friends. Unfortunately, this kind of situation happened…”

In the video, the men are seen smearing color on a Japanese woman and groping her. One of them even smashes an egg on her head. Before she manages to step away, the woman slaps one of the men who tried to grab her.

The foreign national who had tweeted the video on Thursday quickly deleted it. She claimed she “deleted the tweet” because she “was terrified” by the responses to the video. She posted in Japanese, “On March 9, I tweeted a video of Holi, but after that, the number of RTs and DMs surged more than I had anticipated, and I was afraid, so I deleted the tweet. She continued by saying that she had no intention of “conveying the abnormalities and damages of the Holi festival in India.”

In response to the footage, the police detained three people, among them a minor, in connection with the event. The police have pledged to intensify their investigation, and the woman expressed hope that harassment of women would considerably diminish.

Read here, Demolition Drives in Kashmir- Is India following the Israeli Model in Kashmir?

The Under-reported Crimes- Minor Muslim Girls Raped in Bihar during Holi

This Holi, two minor girls were raped by 2 men including the son of an ex-sarpanch in the Begusarai district of Bihar. Once news broke that two girls, aged 6 and 7, had reportedly been sexually assaulted by the son of a previous Sarpanch while others were playing Holi, the Begusarai district of Bihar was anxious. The girls are from a different community than the accused, who is a Hindu, according to the press statement. The accused Rajkumar alias Chhotu Mahato and his companion approached the minors as they were playing in a school near Panchdir Chowk, according to Begusarai police. The accused had both been drinking. After they raped the two minors, they fled the scene.

Also, read How Practical is the Secular Democracy of India? Curbing of Religious Freedom in Kashmir

Other Incidents of Violence against Women and Minorities

In a separate incident, a 65-year-old woman in the eastern state of Jharkhand was beaten to death by a group of six people for allegedly stopping them from applying colors to her son. The incident happened during Holi when the woman, who has been identified as Bucchi Devi, got into a fight with the group and forbade them from painting her kid Murari with colors. According to the local police, the group beat the woman and her son until they both passed out. Murari woke up to see his mother laying dead, according to accounts.

In another incident, a video was circulated on social media showing a lone Sikh man being attacked during the festivities of Holi. The disturbing visuals showed him being beaten and his turban being torn off.

Read here, India: School Principal Booked After Students Recite Iqbal’s Poem- What Makes Muhammad Iqbal a Contentious Figure in India?

History of Violence Against Women during Holi Festivities

In some parts of India, Holi has been used as a pretext to attack Muslim communities. In 2018, a video surfaced on social media showing a group of men in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district, throwing color and attacking Muslim women, while chanting religious slogans. The violence is not limited to physical assault but also includes sexual harassment and molestation.

The incidents of violence against women during Holi are a reflection of the larger problem of violence against women in India. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, in 2019, there were 4,05,861 cases of crimes against women reported in India. These included rape, sexual harassment, domestic violence, and dowry-related violence.

The government has taken several measures to address the issue of violence against women, including setting up fast-track courts to hear cases of sexual assault and harassment. The government has also launched a national helpline for women in distress. However, these measures have not been enough to curb the violence against women, particularly during festivals like Holi. It is important for the government and civil society to work together to address the underlying social and cultural attitudes that perpetuate violence against women.

The festival of Holi, traditionally a celebration of spring and love, has unfortunately become a time when women are targeted for sexual harassment and assault. The Indian government has taken steps to address violence against women, including the introduction of stricter laws and the establishment of special courts to handle cases of sexual violence. However, implementation and enforcement of these measures remain a challenge, and cultural attitudes toward gender and religion continue to perpetuate violence against women.

The nature of this violence is deeply concerning and highlights the intersectional discrimination faced by Muslim women in India. Not only are they vulnerable to gender-based violence, but they also face religious and communal hostility, which can exacerbate their situation. It is important to acknowledge and condemn all forms of violence against women, regardless of their religion or ethnicity. Muslim women, in particular, considering their unacknowledged minority status deserve to live in a society where they can freely practice their religion and move out of their homes without fear of harassment or discrimination.

Also, read Lawlessness in Police Custody- Custodial Killings in Kashmir

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Crimes Against Humanity

Israel’s intense Practices to Uproot the Palestinians in Jerusalem

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Israeli forces demolish a Palestinian house in Jerusalem

Palestinians experienced the bloodiest and most brutal year of all time in 2022. They witnessed an unprecedented increase in the number of settlers, settlement expansion, martyrs, and confiscation of lands, especially in Jerusalem. The occupation’s relentless endeavours aim at uprooting the Palestinians in Jerusalem by controlling more Palestinian lands. They try to impose facts on the ground by building and expanding settlements and legitimizing building settlements, especially in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is like no other city in Palestine. Israel’s ideology puts more greed in Jerusalem than any other city in Palestine. The focus on Jerusalem pictures a conflict between two histories, two geographies and two very different identities. It includes the Palestinian Arab native and the trespassing zionist. Accordingly, Israel’s ideology directs at eliminating the cultural landmarks of the capital or the Holy City. In addition, it aims to fake history aimed at reshaping the city with its exclusive Jewish output. They make it after erasing the Arab historical identity and its expression of Christian and Islamic diversity. Consequently, taking into consideration all intense practices to uproot the Palestinians in Jerusalem. 

Geographical and Demographical Judaization

Israel’s Jewdization ideology plan started its first steps in Jerusalem by initially cutting off Jerusalem from its perimeter. Their point was isolating Arab Jerusalemites from their civil, national and administrative institutions and from any activity that would maintain their interdependence. Their first planned step was initiating a vast campaign to isolate Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings, politically, geographically, economically, socially and demographically. They also erected the apartheid wall around the Holy City as well as settlement belts around it entirely. Israel also constructed and strengthened settlements in the heart of Arab neighbourhoods and the Old Town in  Jerusalem.
Read more on this: Israel is Hiding Crucial Demographic Facts About Palestinians

Land Confiscation

Moreover, Since Israel’s occupation of Jerusalem in 1967, Israel has begun confiscating lands inside Jerusalem, and other Palestinian cities until it expanded to the ghetto of the Old Town which Arabs inhabited and had no trace of Jews. Land confiscation expanded until it reached the Mughrabi neighbourhood, Beit Safafa village, Beit Jala, al-Nabi Ya ‘qub, and Sheikh Jarrah area lands. Land confiscation has been happening and still happening until this day under Israel’s false pretexts. Israel has also promulgated legislation and laws prohibiting construction in large areas covering various areas of the city. In addition, they have announced other areas as “green areas” for no building. 

To this day, The Israeli occupation exploits the classification of Palestinian lands according to the Oslo Accord (a, b and c) to tighten control over Palestinians, especially in areas classified as (c) under its full control over security, planning and construction. Israel’s occupation directly exploits 76% of the total area classified as (c); 63% of which regional colonial councils control. Equally important, the areas confiscated for military bases and military training sites represent about 18% of the West Bank area, as well as the apartheid wall and expansion that isolated more than 10% of the West Bank area. 

Shamelessly, Israel’s military forces forcibly expel Palestinian citizens from their homes, inhabit them by Jewish settlers arriving from abroad, and transfer Palestinian properties to the settlers. For example, Sheikh Jarrah’s neighbourhood has been suffering from this issue. In 2008, the occupation authorities forcibly expelled the first Palestinian families from the neighbourhood and were repatriated by Jews. They expelled the Al-Ghawi family by force of arms from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood. To date, 28 Palestinian homes remain threatened with expulsion and transfer of their homes to settlers. 

Al Ghawi family's house after expelling them and moving its property to Israeli settlers
Al Ghawi family’s house after expelling them and moving its property to Israeli settlers

Demolishing “Unauthorized Construction”

In order to build homes in East Jerusalem and Area C, Palestinians must apply for a permit from the Israeli authorities, who control these areas. The vast majority of demolition orders are issued because a home or structure has been built without an Israeli permit. Every year Israel demolishes hundreds of Palestinian homes under the pretext of what Zionists call illegal construction in East Jerusalem (unauthorized construction).

Zionist authorities impose doubled penalties on Jerusalemites such as high financial fines reaching tens of thousands of shekels, actual imprisonment, and instructions requiring Jerusalemites to prove ownership of their land by highlighting the land registry. They would also oblige Palestinians to obtain the consent of their neighbours including the Mukhtar of the village or the village chief. Generally, demolition orders are based on false pretexts that Israel considers demolishing their homes itself or even making the situation harder by issuing self-demolition for the Palestinians.

Israel demolishes Palestinian houses for false pretexts

Residence, Mariage, and family reunion

In order to maintain its grip over Jerusalem, Israel took racist Judaizing uprooting practices for the Palestinians in Jerusalem. They included the withdrawal of Jerusalemites’ identities, based on a series of racist regulations, laws and judgments. This policy abolished the residence right of Palestinians living in Jerusalem, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and outside Palestine. In that case, when the families of the banned Palestinians from entering Jerusalem apply for permission to visit them, they grant them an exit permit without returning, nonetheless.

Israel has also applied a compulsory approach to students studying outside Jerusalem. It requires them to renew their identity cards in a manner that disrupts their studying. The right of residence is revoked for those who spend seven years outside Jerusalem for the sake of education. Israel can, under its laws, easily deprive any Palestinian of residence in the city. Internal staff shall apply these instructions automatically without referring to any other reference.

Apart from this, Israel prohibits Palestinians from marrying or reuniting with their spouses from the West Bank and Gaza. As racial discrimination reflects the demographic conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Consequently, all these tyrannical practices serve the interest of Israel to forcibly uproot the Palestinians in Jerusalem.
For more: Israel Has No Right to Exist if Palestine Has No Right to Exist

General view

Psychological warfare is Israel’s best-known ideology for uprooting Palestinians to clamp down on Palestinians compelling them to leave their lands.  Palestinians will never forget Israel’s true face. They will never forget the execution of the veteran journalist Shirin Abu Akleh. They will never forget the illegal assassinations, willful injuries, arbitrary arrests, torture and other ill-treatment, persecutions and collective punishments against Palestinians, including many children. violence has always been a key feature of Israel. Palestinians will never forget. And they will never forgive.

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Christian militia infiltrate Lebanon

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God's soldiers logo

Despite Lebanon’s economic and security problems, an extremist Christian group has emerged.

Many Lebanese people had questions about who these people were, who financed them, and what their agenda was, with supporters and opponents divided.

who are “Soldiers of God”?

A group of young men calling themselves “Soldiers of God” march out against the Lebanese with swords, sharpened crosses, uniform black clothing, and religious hymns and prayers in the Achrafieh district of Beirut.

Soldiers of God with a Church priest celebrating
Soldiers of God with a Church priest

As a result, there were many questions about their identity, tendencies, ideas, beliefs, goals, and supporters, with very few answers, which exacerbated the ambiguity and general suspicion.

In the Achrafieh region, on the tenth of December, a dispute took place in Sassine Square between a group of young men from outside the Christian-majority region, who arrived on motorcycles flying Moroccan, Palestinian, and Syrian flags to celebrate the victory of the Moroccan national team and its qualifying for the World Cup semi-finals.

Also Read: Death is chasing Lebanon: A new catastrophe took place!

Soon, the celebration turned into launching religious and sectarian slogans of an Islamic nature, which provoked some Christian youths in the region, leading to a major conflict and disagreement in which the “Soldiers of God” emerged after some of them intervened, before the military and security forces separated the combatants.

A Prelude to Civil War

A report by the Army Intelligence indicated that members of a group calling itself “Soldiers of God” rose that night in the “Tayouneh crime”, on October 15, 2021, when members of the Lebanese Forces opened fire on demonstrators, killing seven and wounding dozens.

clashes in Tayouneh between Hezbollah and Lebanese forces
clashes in Tayouneh

To ratchet up sectarian tensions, crosses and religious slogans were drawn and written in several eastern neighborhoods before the ambush. Social media incitement was there at the same time.

 According to the records, many of them deployed and “are on alert without visible weapons” at several points.

Also read: The Church in Lebanon defends normalization in the name of religion

The documents also listed the names of members of this gang who took part in the shooting and revealed their connections to and funding from Anton Sehnaoui, the chairman of the Societe Générale Bank’s board of directors.

Christian soldiers are closer than the security forces

A woman was robbed in Achrafieh, B according to a deputy in Parliament, who claimed that after she went to the Achrafieh police station to report the crime, the soldiers of God showed up at her house and, when she asked how they knew, said that the police station had informed them of the incident.

According to a statement,No contact was received in this regard from a woman with any of the Achrafieh, Gemmayzeh, and Al-Nahar factions.

Also, the last two factions have moved since 11-25-2022 to another building due to maintenance work in the old building as a result of the Beirut port explosion, and until this moment, work is underway to install landline phone numbers in these two factions.

Also Read: Lebanon’s ‘Deliberate depression’

The Beirut Police Operations Room after reviewing the recordings did not receive any communication from a woman in this regard.

The agenda of the Soldiers of God comes under the framework of self-protection aimed at renouncing any sect that is outside the Christian sect and does not follow the teachings of the Church, and this may be a precursor to a civil and bloody war in Lebanon, and it is indispensable for it.

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