The Listening Post cuts through the confusion about Zionism and anti-Zionism in Western media and politics.
Sunday, June 2, 2024
Voting begins in Mexico's 'bloodiest' election
Mexicans are voting in elections which are expected to give their country its first woman president. The two leading candidates to replace outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador are both women.
Six In The Morning Sunday 2 June 2024
Children die of malnutrition as Rafah operation heightens threat of famine in Gaza
Arrival of Israeli troops in the southern border town has choked aid supplies, as hunger deepens in southern Gaza
Fayiz Abu Ataya was born into war and knew nothing else. Over his first and only spring, in a town stalked by hunger, he wasted away to a shadow of a child, skin stretched painfully over jutting bones.
In seven months of life, he had little time to make a mark beyond the family who loved him. But when his death from malnutrition was reported last week, it sounded a warning around the world about a rapidly deepening crisis in central and southern Gaza, triggered by the Israeli military operation in the southern town of Rafah.
At least 30 child victims of malnutrition have been recorded in Gaza, but almost all died in the north, until recently the area with the most extreme shortages of food and medical care, where a top US aid official said famine had taken hold in some areas.
Rwanda ClassifiedEurope's Deals with an Autocrat
German conservatives want to negotiate a migration deal with Rwanda and the EU is funding a marketing campaign for the country. But Rwanda is an autocracy that aggressively goes after its detractors, as reporting has shown.
By Sophia Baumann, Heiner Hoffmann, Bastian Obermayer und Maria Retter
German parliamentarian Jens Spahn takes a close look at the beds. Two small pillows have been neatly placed at the heads, the sheets are bright white, and a brown decorative ribbon is draped across the covers. Spahn, of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), seems satisfied. The tour then continues to the sickbay, which is equipped with a bed, and to the computer room with its desktop devices. Everything is in perfect shape.
A number of journalists, politicians and other emissaries have already been led through the Hope Hostel in Kigali, and now it is the turn of Jens Spahn. This is where migrants from Great Britain are to be housed in the future. The idea is that instead of being granted asylum in Great Britain, migrants will be sent straight to Rwanda – in order to deter others from making the trip. It is a plan that has triggered intense international criticism and was briefly suspended by the courts. Nevertheless, Spahn would like to see the EU make a similar deal. The prospects are good, Spahn says in Kigali.
Top Indian opposition leader returns to jail, vows to fight ‘dictatorship’ as Modi eyes victory
A top opponent of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed Sunday to keep fighting "dictatorship" before he returned to jail Sunday, following elections widely expected to produce another landslide victory for the Hindu-nationalist leader.
Arvind Kejriwal is among several opposition leaders under criminal investigation, with colleagues describing his arrest the month before the general elections began in April as a "political conspiracy" orchestrated by Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The chief minister of the capital Delhi and a key leader in an alliance formed to compete against Modi, Kejriwal was detained in March over a long-running corruption probe.
He was later released and allowed to campaign but ordered to return to jail once voting ended.
"When power becomes dictatorship, then jail becomes a responsibility," said Kejriwal, who promised to continue "fighting" from behind bars.
North Korea to stop flying trash-filled balloons south
North Korean officials say they will temporarily halt sending balloons filled with trash into South Korea but are ready to resume if Seoul sends leaflets north.
After sending hundreds of balloons loaded with trash and excrement across the border into South Korea, North Korean officials said on Sunday the effort would be halted.
"We will temporarily suspend the action of scattering waste paper beyond the border," said the official Korean Central News Agency. "This is because our action is a thorough countermeasure."
They warned that the balloons would fly south again if Seoul sent any anti-North Korean leaflets northwards.
50 bodies recovered from Jabalia refugee camp
- Qatar, Egypt and the United States call on Hamas and Israel to finalise an agreement that embodies the principles outlined by US President Joe Biden on May 31, 2024. Meanwhile, a Hamas leader says the group is still waiting to receive the proposal.
- Rescuers find 50 more bodies from the Jabalia refugee camp days after the end of Israel’s three-week operation. Nonstop Israeli attacks on Gaza continue, killing at least 60 people in the last 24 hours.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) says there are almost no health services remaining in Rafah after the city’s last partially functioning hospital, al-Helal al-Emirati, shut down amid the ongoing hostilities.
- Thousands of Israelis took to the streets urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike a deal with Hamas and free the captives held in Gaza.
- At least 36,439 Palestinians have been killed and 82,627 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from Hamas’s attacks is at least 1,139, with dozens of people still held captive in Gaza.
With shake-up at defense ministry, ‘Putin’s chef’ gets his wish from beyond the grave
Removing a long-time defense minister from his post is nothing out of the ordinary. Arresting five of his senior staff, however, is clearly more than just a search for fresh blood — especially in Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
After the shock ouster, two weeks ago, of Sergei Shoigu as the minister for defense, a wave of arrests has gutted the defense ministry’s top brass under the guise of an anti-corruption campaign.
The timing is as intriguing as the arrests and reshuffle. After almost three years of failure on the battlefields in Ukraine, Russia has just gained the upper hand. It has, in recent weeks, launched a largely successful offensive in the north, toward Kharkiv, coupled with victories in the Donbas region in the east, too.
Saturday, June 1, 2024
How the EU compromised its values on migration | Mapped Out
The European Union’s migration policy has been failing for decades. The question of how to deal with the arrival of migrants and refugees has divided the continent like no other. Far-right politicians have seized upon that as a part of successful campaigns. Today it’s heading in a different direction: border fences and agreements with autocratic leaders.
Six In The Morning Saturday 1 June 2024
Israel’s Lapid urges government to lay out post-war plan
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has criticised the government for lacking a plan for the day after the war ends in Gaza.
“Seven months ago I published the program ‘Gaza: The Day After’. I didn’t think the government would take the plan and implement it, but I hoped that Netanyahu would at least implement his own plan in response.
- Hamas says it regards President Joe Biden’s ceasefire proposal “positively”, raising hopes of a halt to Israel’s eight-month war that has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians – mostly children and women. Nearly 100 killed in the last 24 hours.
- The United States president says the new Israeli proposal for a Gaza truce is “a roadmap to an enduring ceasefire and the release of all hostages”, adding that “it’s time to end this war.”
- But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists on Hamas’s destruction as part of an Israeli plan presented by Biden.
South Africa to embark on new political path after ANC loses majority
After 30 years in power, the African National Congress, which took 40.2% of the vote, must engage in tricky coalition talks with rivals
The African National Congress’s (ANC) three decades of political dominance in South Africa has come to an end after it was announced that it had won just 40.2% of the vote in last week’s general election.
The ANC’s dramatic decline – the first time it has failed to win a majority of the votes since Nelson Mandela led it to victory in the first democratic election in 1994 – will lead to a chaotic round of coalition negotiations, with all of its potential partners posing difficulties.
War with China 'neither imminent nor unavoidable,' US says
The US defense chief has told a security forum that Washington and Beijing must remain in dialogue amid Asia-Pacific tensions. China, for its part, says it sees the US as being the main challenge to peace in the region.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday said a constant dialogue with China and its neighbors was needed to prevent an escalation of current tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, while underscoring Washington's regional security commitment.
Austin's comments at the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore come as the US deepens defense ties with several Asian-Pacific countries in the face of growing territorial assertion by China.
The conference is taking place a week after China carried out military drills around the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own, as a "punishment" for comments seen as advocating separatism made in the inauguration speech of new Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te.
Juno Beach, where locals honour the memory of Canadian D-Day veterans
More than 14,000 volunteer soldiers from across Canada – fighting alongside British and US troops – seized the beaches of Normandy on D-Day to help liberate the region from German occupation. Eighty years since that fatal day in June 1944, a handful of local inhabitants have made it their mission to preserve and pass on the lesser-known stories of Canadian soldiers.
At the break of dawn on June 6, 1944, more than 14,000 Canadian soldiers landed or parachuted on Juno Beach – a 10-kilometre stretch of French coastline in Normandy. Their objective was simple, albeit deadly. Braving intense fire from German defenders, these volunteer servicemen were to take back control of the beach and move inland to liberate the city of Caen from Nazi occupation.
After over a month of intense and bloody fighting in an area that barely covers more than 20 kilometres in total, Canadian and British Allied forces finally liberated Caen on July 9, 1944.
A total of 359 Canadians were killed on D-Day alone and more than 5,000 lost their lives during the Battle of Normandy. Most of them have been laid to rest just a few metres from the battlefields, in two separate cemeteries.
Russia opens a new front: Mapping three key battles in the Ukrainian war
Russia has opened up a new front in its invasion of Ukraine, launching a surprise offensive in the northeastern region of Kharkiv after focusing much of their forces this year on the east.
The assault, which began earlier this month, saw thousands of Russian soldiers punch through the northern border, and forced Ukraine to move in troops from other areas to defend positions.
It serves as an example of how Russia has been exploiting Ukraine’s main vulnerabilities: insufficient manpower, artillery shortages, sparse air defenses and inadequate defensive fortifications.
Philippine president warns China against 'acts of war'
Tessa Wong, BBC News, Singapore
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has warned China not to cross a red line in the South China Sea, where a standoff between the countries continues to escalate.
If any Filipino died as a result of China’s willful actions, he said on Friday, the Philippines would consider it as close to “an act of war” and respond accordingly.
Mr Marcos was speaking at a security forum in Singapore attended by defence chiefs from around the world, including the US's Lloyd Austin.
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