https://archive.is/ltRZw

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/21201228

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/20643795

It's early morning, and Zelda Montes walks briskly through the crisp New York air as they head to Google's headquarters on Manhattan’s 9th Avenue. Montes, who self-identifies as they, fumbles with their ID card at the entrance, blending in with the steady stream of Googlers swiping through the security barriers as if it were just another day at the office.

Armed with an oversized tote bag, Montes pulls back their purple hair and heads to the 13th-floor canteen to order their usual: a dirty chai and an egg, avocado, and cheese sandwich with a bowl of raspberries.

Their hands tremble slightly as they grip the coffee cup.

Locking eyes with two others, they get the signal that the coast is clear, head down to the entrance, and sit. The three Googlers unfurl their banners and begin chanting to demand that Google do one thing: Drop Project Nimbus.

But this will be the last time they sit inside Google's New York office as Googlers, as Google itself refers to its own employees. "Getting fired felt like a possibility but never a reality," remarked Montes, one of 50 employees fired by Google for staging a 10-hour sit-in at one of its American offices in April.

For the last three years, Montes has been one of several activists calling for Google to drop Project Nimbus, a partnership Google and Amazon have with the Israeli government reportedly worth $1.2bn.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/26372640

Analysis from the BBC (who are usually quite motivated and effective at justifying Israel actions).

The sheer devastation is incredible. 66% of buildings damaged. 90% of the population displaced. Water and sanitation systems non-functional. 53/500 needed lorries entering the territory per day (down from 142). They're not even trying to look they're helping now. The population have been squeezed into over-populated tent cities.

It feels like they think if they create the conditions for disease and it kills people, they don't get blamed.

To me, it's hard to think of a way this could get closer to genocide. Absolutely sick.

Israel seem to be galvanised by inaction of the world and probably looking to do the same in Lebanon. Is Yemen after? Where does this stop?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/21201777

By Fayha Shalash in Ramallah, occupied Palestine
Published date: 6 October 2024 12:35 BST

By Mondoweiss Editors
October 6, 2024

• About 17,000 children are estimated to be unaccompanied or separated from parents and caregivers. The IRC thinks this figure could be three times as high (51,000).
• Frequent Israeli evacuation orders, detentions, and attacks have contributed to more families being separated in Gaza over the past few months.
• Some children have been found living alone in hospitals.
• Unaccompanied and separated children face high risks of child labor, exploitation, neglect, starvation, and long-term mental health impacts.
• Every child, parent, and caregiver in Gaza is experiencing trauma.
• IRC teams in Gaza are seeing increased rates of severe and acute malnutrition in children under five.
• Children in Gaza have now missed one year of education because of the collapse of the education destruction of school buildings caused by Israeli bombardment.

Hweihi was forced to hastily flee the tent the family set up in the courtyard of a school-turned-shelter in northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp.

This was because Israeli troops had suddenly begun to fire live bullets inside the school ahead of storming it during a devastating three-week assault on the camp in May.

Duaa, who was unable to speak or move, was left behind inside the tent because her father couldn’t carry her.

After the soldiers entered the school under the cover of heavy fire, men and women were separated.

Moments later, a soldier poured gasoline on dozens of tents in courtyards before setting them on fire.

His voice drowned out by the hammering blast of tanks and heavy gunfire, Hweihi stood watching silently and hopelessly.

“She was burnt alive while we couldn't move,” he said.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/21190458

Jake Johnson Oct 08, 2024

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/21190239

Jake Johnson
Oct 07, 2024

Risk of societal collapse

The climate emergency is not an isolated issue. Global heating, although it is catastrophic, is merely one aspect of a profound polycrisis that includes environmental degradation, rising economic inequality, and biodiversity loss (Hoyer et al. 2023). Climate change is a glaring symptom of a deeper systemic issue: ecological overshoot, where human consumption outpaces the Earth's ability to regenerate (Rees 2023, Ripple et al. 2024). Overshoot is an inherently unstable state that cannot persist indefinitely. As pressures increase and the risk of Earth's climate system switching to a catastrophic state rises (Steffen et al. 2018), more and more scientists have begun to research the possibility of societal collapse (Brozović 2023). Even in the absence of global collapse, climate change could cause many millions of additional deaths by 2050 (WHO 2023).

Incumbent Saied, accused by the opposition and civil society of authoritarianism, was re-elected with an overwhelming majority of 90.7 percent of ballots in a vote considered a foregone conclusion and rigged by the authorities.

The election was marked by a record abstention rate. The voter turnout was 28.8 percent, the lowest since the introduction of democracy in 2011, following the ousting of longtime autocrat Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.

Some social media users also denounced the role played by the international community in Tunisia's autocratic drift, especially the European Union, which is accused of turning a blind eye to Saied's illiberal turn in exchange for his cooperation in preventing migration to Europe.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/21175343

Based on interview withh International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan. Article also contains a link to actual transcript of interview

September 26, 2024 9:53 PM ET

Reuters spoke with 24 volunteers who manage kitchens in Sudan's central state of Khartoum, the western region of Darfur and parts of the east where millions of people have been driven from their homes since fighting erupted between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

International humanitarian agencies, which have been unable to get food aid to parts of Sudan at risk of famine, have ramped up support for such groups. But that has made them more of a target for RSF looters, 10 of the volunteers told Reuters by phone.

"We were safe when the RSF didn't know about the funding," said Gihad Salaheldin, a volunteer who left Khartoum city last year and spoke from Cairo. "They see our kitchens as a source of food."

Both sides have also attacked or detained volunteers on suspicion of collaborating with their opponents, a dozen volunteers said. Most of the volunteers spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/21177135

By Mairav Zonszein

[Insightful article on current events and moods in Israel. Dehumanization of Palestinians has deepened]

Ms. Zonszein is the senior Israel analyst with the International Crisis Group. She wrote from Tel Aviv.

Oct. 7, 2024

In a 25-minute video commemorating the one-year anniversary of the 7 October Hamas-led attacks on Israel, in what the group and other Palestinian fighting factions have dubbed "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood", al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson Abu Obeida said he could not rule out more deaths among the remaining Israeli captives due to “the danger of crossfire”.

“You could have reclaimed all your captives a year ago,” he added, saying that the intention has always been to keep them alive in Gaza and exchange them for Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.

This is a fight meant to drain Israel of its resources, Abu Obeida said.

“[We face] an entity whose age is less than that of the shoes in mosques and churches in Gaza, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Hebron, and Jaffa, and Nablus, and Sidon and Tyre and Beirut,” he said.

In its relatively short life as a nation, he added that Israel has not lived a year without constantly being reminded it has “stolen Arab land” and that it occupies “our country”.

“What did the world do for our people in the West Bank?” Abu Obeida said. “Those who are subject to displacement and slow, systematic extermination?”

“This enemy only understands the language of power,” Abu Obeida said. “And the weapon is only confronted with the weapon.”

Elections to the territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the state of Haryana gave mixed results for political parties. A coalition led by the J&K National Conference won 49 (JKNC 42, Congress 6, Communist 1) of 90 elected seats in the territory. This puts JKNC leader Omar Abdullah in a comfortable position to form the next government, even with the addition of five members nominated by the federal government. The BJP, which leads India's federal government and controversially removed J&K's special status, won 29 seats.

In Haryana, the BJP overcame anti-incumbancy and farmer protests to win 48 out of a total 90 seats, thanks to a strong local campaign and a popular leader in Nayab Singh Saini. The opposition Congress improved its vote and seat-share, but failed to dislodge the BJP. Olympian wrestler Vinesh Phogat - who had accused Wrestling Federation President and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Singh of sexual assualt - was elected from Julana constituency representing the Congress Party.

While the JKNC and the BJP have cause to celebrate, these results weaken the Congress, challenging its demand for the leading position within the opposition. In the upcoming Maharashtra and Jharkhand state elections, it may have to concede seats - or even coalition leadership - to its allies.

https://archive.ph/mTiBH