Latest news with #pro-Palestinian
RTÉ News
an hour ago
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Committee to hear from Shatter, Palestine Alliance on Occupied Territories Bill
Consideration of the Occupied Territories Bill will resume at the Oireachtas Committee of Foreign Affairs this afternoon. The commitee will hear from former justice minister Alan Shatter, of the Ireland Israel Alliance, who opposes the measure, and from speakers from pro-Palestinian organisations based in Ireland. For some weeks the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade has been scrutinising the bill, known as the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories Bill, which prohibits the importation of goods from those settlements. In his opening statement. Mr Shatter will claim the bill is a sectarian measure, based on falsehoods, riddled with anomalies and obscurity and detached from historical and present day reality. He is expected to say the bill discriminates against Jewish people. Chair of the Ireland Palestine Alliance Eamonn Meehan will say the bill is an appropriate legal and necessary measure given the illegal occupation of Palestinian lands as judged by the UN's International Court of Justice. The court, he will add, has ruled Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal and it must be brought to an end, with Israel evacuating existing settlements. Following committee scrutiny. the proposed Government legislation is due to return to the floor of the Dáil for further debate, but with the Dáil rising for the summer on Thursday, that will not happen until the autumn.
Express Tribune
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Dark days ahead for protest music
It all started when the BBC cancelled its broadcast of the Irish pro-Palestinian band Kneecap during the Glastonbury music festival after the lead singer was charged with a terrorism offence for allegedly holding a banned Hezbollah flag - which he denies. But when British punk-rap duo Bob Vylan were streamed live instead, the band led chants of "Free, free Palestine" and "Death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)" that were broadcast across the nation. A screen at the back of the stage displayed the message: "United Nations have called it a genocide. The BBC calls it a 'conflict,'" reports DW. The backlash was rapid and unrelenting. The BBC apologised for airing chants it called "antisemitic"; the British police launched a criminal investigation into the incident, and Bob Vylan's agent, UTA, cut its ties with the act. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer chimed in, calling the chants "appalling hate speech" as the US State Department revoked visas for the band - which was due to tour North American in November. Bob Vylan "glorify violence and hatred" and "are not welcome visitors to our country," said US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau in a statement on X. It didn't stop there. After festivals in Manchester and France scratched Bob Vylan from their line-ups, the band was also dumped from playing concerts in Germany with the band Gogol Bordello in September. The BBC also announced it was changing its procedures around live music events: Any music performances deemed "high risk" will no longer be broadcast or streamed live. A large crowd focus on the stage as a sea of flags fly at an outdoor concertA large crowd focus on the stage as a sea of flags fly at an outdoor concert 'Distraction' from Gaza genocide The duo defended its anti-IDF chants, denied the accusation of hate speech and called the backlash a "distraction" from "the slaughter of innocents" in Gaza - at least 58,000 Palestinians following the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 1,200 Israelis on October 7, 2023, according to the UN. "The bombing of hospitals, we hate that," singer and guitarist Bobby Vylan said at a concert in Greece following their Glastonbury performance - 94 per cent of hospitals in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, according to the World Health Organization. "If you're talking about innocent civilians and children getting sniped in the head, we hate that," he added. "We are generally not hateful people, but we do hate war, and we do hate injustice." The frontman is of Jamaican descent and has sung often about racism and politics since Bob Vylan formed in 2017. But their Glastonbury performance has sparked a global firestorm that threatens the band's career. Band shuts down chants in London When Bob Vylan played their first post-Glastonbury gig in the UK on July 9, Bobby Vylan tried to stop the London audience from initiating the anti-IDF chant. "No, you're gonna get me in trouble. Apparently, every other chant is fine, but you lot will get me in trouble," he said. He then broke into a chorus of "Free, free Palestine." By trouble, he could be referring to a police investigation and potential prosecution in the vein of Liam Og O hAnnaidh, one of the frontmen for pro-Palestine group Kneecap. He faces terrorism charges for allegedly flying the Hezbollah flag in 2024. "This is a carnival of distraction," said the Irish singer when charged in May. "14,000 babies are about to die of starvation in Gaza, with food sent by the world sitting on the other side of a wall, and once again the British establishment is focused on us." The number refers to an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report that states that nearly 71,000 children under the age of 5 in Gaza are expected to experience acute malnourishment from April 2025 to March 2026, and that among these, "14,100 cases are expected to be severe." Support amid censorship Chuck D, rapper with legendary US hip-hop act Public Enemy, came out in support of Bob Vylan. "When people say 'death to a country,' they're not saying 'death to a people,'" he said in an interview with the British Independent newspaper. "They're saying 'death to imperialism,' 'death to colonialism.' Bob Vylan ain't got no tanks. They're using words to say something must end." After Bob Vylan were dumped from the Manchester Radar festival, which was held July 4-6, several bands refused to play there in solidarity with the punk-rap duo. Irish band The Scratch were one of three acts to withdraw from the festival. "The censorship and de-platforming of artists speaking out against the ongoing genocide in Gaza is greasy, dangerous and must be challenged," they wrote in a social media post. The band acknowledged that the Radar Festival was put in "an incredibly difficult and complex situation," with the whole event threatened with closure if Bob Vylan played. Organiser Catherine Jackson-Smith said in an interview that the owner of the venue issued an ultimatum to the festival, as reported in Billboard magazine. "It was categorically one of the most horrendous professional discussions I've ever had," she said. "I cannot express clearly enough that I wanted Bob Vylan to perform at our festival. But this was not our decision." Meanwhile, a debate in the UK parliament about the controversy saw Conservative Party politician Stuart Andrew invoke the importance of free speech and political activism for a "healthy democracy" before adding that the Bob Vylan chant "crosses the line to incitement to violence." UK culture publication Face Magazine disagreed: "Does anyone actually believe this is incitement for your average Glastonbury-goer to fly to Israel and attack an IDF soldier?" "The fact that the Bob Vylan situation is being given equal time to international conflict feels like a bizarre and deliberate distraction."
Kuwait Times
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Kuwait Times
Zionists kill thirsty children as Gaza martyrs top 58,000
GAZA: Gaza's civil defense agency said Zionist air strikes on Sunday killed 139 Palestinians, including at a market and a water distribution point, and injured 452 others, as talks for a ceasefire between the Zionist entity and Hamas stalled. At least 58,026 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in the Zionist offensive campaign in Gaza. On the ground, civil defense agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said eight children were among the 10 victims of a drone strike at a water point in the Nuseirat refugee camp, while 12 were killed when a market in Gaza City was hit. The Zionist military claimed it had been targeting a member of Hamas ally Islamic Jihad in Nuseirat but 'as a result of a technical error with the munition, the munition fell dozens of meters from the target,' a statement read. Khaled Rayyan told AFP he was woken by the sound of two large explosions after a house was hit in Nuseirat. 'Our neighbor and his children were under the rubble,' he said. Another resident, Mahmud Al-Shami, called on the negotiators to secure a deal. 'What happened to us has never happened in the entire history of humanity,' he said. 'Enough.' UN agencies on Saturday warned that fuel shortages had reached 'critical levels', threatening to worsen conditions for Gaza's more than two million people. 'Only 150,000 litres of fuel have been allowed in over the past few days — an amount that covers less than one day's needs,' the head of the Palestinian NGOs Network in Gaza, Amjad Shawa, told AFP on Sunday. 'We require 275,000 litres of fuel per day to meet basic needs.' The Handala — a former Norwegian trawler loaded with medical supplies, food and children's equipment — set sail from Italy, with the pro-Palestinian activists on board hoping to reach Gaza, despite the Zionist entity having recently detained and deported people aboard a previous vessel. Delegations from the Zionist entity and Hamas have now spent a week trying to agree on a temporary truce to halt 21 months of devastating fighting in the Gaza Strip. But on Saturday, each side accused the other of blocking attempts to secure an agreement at the indirect talks in the Qatari capital, Doha. Talks to seal a 60-day ceasefire and captive release were in the balance on Saturday after and Hamas accused each other of trying to block a deal. Hamas wants the complete withdrawal of Zionist forces from Gaza, but a Palestinian source with knowledge of the talks said the Zionist entity had presented plans to maintain troops in more than 40 percent of the territory. The source said the Zionist entity wanted to force hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into the south of Gaza 'in preparation for forcibly displacing them to Egypt or other countries'. The Zionist campaign against Hamas has displaced almost the entire population of more than 2 million people, but Gazans say nowhere is safe in the coastal enclave. Early on Sunday morning, a missile hit a house in Gaza City where a family had moved to after receiving an evacuation order from their home in the southern outskirts. 'My aunt, her husband and the children, are gone. What is the fault of the children who died in an ugly bloody massacre at dawn?' said Anas Matar, standing in the rubble of the building. 'They came here, and they were hit. There is no safe place in Gaza,' he said. – Agencies
Barnama
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Barnama
Freedom Flotilla Coalition's Handala Ship Sets Sail For Gaza
KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 (Bernama) -- The Handala ship, owned by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) and carrying humanitarian aid supplies, set sail for Gaza from the Port of Siracusa, Italy, on Sunday. In a statement on Monday, the Chief Executive Officer of Humanitarian Care Malaysia (MyCARE), Kamarul Zaman Shaharul Anwar, said that the Handala ship will sail to several countries in Northern Europe before continuing its journey to Gaza as part of the 'For the Children of Gaza' mission. 'The ship is carrying around 15 pro-Palestinian international activists as well as humanitarian aid supplies,' he said. bootstrap slideshow He added that the voyage is intended to show solidarity with the people of Gaza amid ongoing mass killings and a deepening humanitarian crisis. During its journey, the Handala ship is scheduled to stop in Gallipoli, southeastern Italy, and will be joined by two French members of parliament from the 'La France Insoumise' party on July 18. Kamarul Zaman said this voyage marks FFC's fourth attempt to break through the Israeli blockade. Previous attempts included the incident involving two Zionist military drones attacking the ship Conscience in Maltese waters in early May, as well as the detention of activists by Israeli forces on June 12 while they were aboard the ship Madleen en route to Gaza, he said. He stated that this mission is intended to protest the inhumane blockade imposed by the Israeli regime on the people of Gaza, which has prevented humanitarian aid from entering the conflict-stricken territory. This mission also highlights the ongoing violence and brutality of the Zionist regime in Gaza, he added.
Politico
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Politico
‘Ideological deportation' trial continues
With help from Josh Gerstein 'IDEOLOGICAL DEPORTATION': A coalition of academics suing the Trump administration for what it describes as 'ideological deportation' will continue to make their case in federal court today that the administration has been targeting faculty and students, who partake in pro-Palestinian activity. — The American Association of University Professors, a union and membership association of academics, accused the Trump administration of punishing noncitizens with lawful status who the administration disagrees with. — The Trump administration tried to get the case dismissed, but Judge William Young, a Ronald Reagan-appointee, ordered a trial, which began last week. — A State Department official defended the Trump administration's moves in a Boston courtroom on Friday to cancel the visas of pro-Palestinian academics, arguing that the effort does not infringe upon free speech, while arguing that a 'ideological deportation policy' was not underway. — 'I have heard that accusation. I believe it's groundless,' said John Armstrong, State's top consular official, who has worked at the agency for more than 30 years. — 'I run the Bureau of Consular Affairs. I'm responsible for everything those 13,000 people do,' Armstrong added. 'I would know if there's an ideological deportation policy going on that involved the Bureau of Consular Affairs. It's silly to suggest that there's such a policy that I wouldn't know about.' — However, AAUP argues that recent deportations, detentions and arrests have created a chilling effect on campuses across the country. The plaintiffs and their witnesses point to examples such as Columbia University graduate and activist Mahmoud Khalil and Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk, who co-authored an op-ed calling for Tufts leadership to condemn certain Israeli actions. — Some professors testified in court that these efforts have dissuaded them from speaking in support of pro-Palestine advocacy. — 'I actually just decided on a blanket policy that I would keep my head down completely,' professor of philosophy Bernhard Nickel, a German citizen, said during his testimony last week, according to Harvard Magazine. — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell co-led a coalition of 19 attorneys general who outlined their concerns about the Trump administration's treatment of noncitizen academics and students in an amicus brief. — 'No student should ever live in fear of detention or deportation for what they believe or express. School campuses are not places where young people should be silenced, targeted, or made to feel unsafe,' Campbell said in a statement. 'I am proud to defend the rights of our international students and faculty who add to the rich dialogue on our campuses and to our global competitiveness as a nation.' — The trial is expected to continue throughout this week. IT'S MONDAY, JULY 14. WELCOME TO WEEKLY EDUCATION. I'm your host, Rebecca Carballo. Let's talk: rcarballo@ The team: Bianca Quilantan at bquilantan@ Juan Perez Jr. at jperez@ and Mackenzie Wilkes at mwilkes@ Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You'll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day's biggest stories. In the States ACCREDITATION: Florida university leaders took initial steps toward creating a new multistate college accrediting board Friday, putting into motion the first major attempt to reform accreditation under the Trump administration, our Andrew Atterbury reports. — The state university system's Board of Governors voted to establish the so-called Commission for Public Higher Education as a nonprofit in Florida and set up a board to run it, with hopes of scoring a final U.S. Department of Education approval by mid-2028. Major universities in five other Southern states have already signed on to the idea, signaling a possible shift in the higher education landscape as Republicans rail against 'woke indoctrination' on college campuses. — 'We believe that the best way to improve the marketplace is to have more choice, and we believe this is a choice whose time has come,' said Ray Rodrigues, chancellor of Florida's university system. DEI SCRUBBING DEI: A Harvard alumni group, Crimson Courage, criticized the university for rolling back diversity equity and inclusion language across its website. — The university shuttered its diversity office and replaced it with an Office for Academic Culture and Community, The Harvard Crimson reported last week. Webpages for the Harvard College Women's Center, Office for BGLTQ Student Life, and Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations were taken down that week. — The alumni group wrote they had concerns that the impact of Harvard's actions extend further than their own campus, setting a dangerous precedent. — 'We write with deep concern about the dismantling of diversity efforts at Harvard College and the FAS, an apparent capitulation to illegal federal overreach that represents a troubling submission to their coercive demands,' the group wrote in a letter to university officials. 'This moment is not just about internal policy shifts, but about the erosion of academic freedom under pressure and the dangerous precedent it sets for the future of American education and democratic society.' Harvard did not immediately respond to a request for comment. THE SENATE 'GENDER IDEOLOGY': Sens. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho) are introducing a bill in their chamber that aims to codify an executive order from President Donald Trump that would ban federal funding to teach about 'gender ideology' in schools. — The executive order that the senators reference in their bill declares there are 'two sexes, male and female' and rescinds a list of Biden-era policies pertaining to LGBTQ+ themes and transgender equality. — 'Our children go to school to be educated, not indoctrinated,' Tuberville said in a statement. 'I've always said that education is the key to unlocking opportunity. But under Joe Biden, Democrats turned our children's classrooms into woke propaganda HQ. Schools should focus on teaching kids to read, write, and do math. I'm proud to join my colleagues in introducing the Say No to Indoctrination Act to get woke politics out of the classroom.' — Joining in: Sens. Tuberville and Risch were joined by Sens. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) in cosponsoring this legislation. Syllabus — After Northwestern scientist questioned for China ties died by suicide, family sues and speaks out. NBC News. — After a child care worker is detained by ICE, a community is left reeling. The 19th. — A federal program helps NYC families eat healthy meals. Trump's new legislation cuts it. Chalkbeat.
