In Guernica, Spain, protesters formed the Palestinian flag in the same market square that was bombed by Nazi and fascist forces during the Spanish civil war.
See the video on Al Jazeera:
Tag: USA
Over 80 per cent of voters worried about US democracy
According to latest poll, over 80 per cent of American voters are worried about the state of democracy in the USA. The poll also shows that Americans are worried about the strong partisan political divisions: 59 per cent of the respondents didn’t believe that the political parties can pass bipartisan solutions.
Read the full story on The Hill:
Saudi Arabia appointed its first-ever non-resident ambassador to Palestine
During recent months, USA has been trying to push for normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. However, Saudi Arabia has understandably not been very keen to normalize relations with Israel, at least fully, particularly because of the current Israeli far-right coalition government. According to media reports, as part of the potential normalization deal Israel should “take major steps toward creating an independent Palestinian state” – this requirement is likely to be opposed by Israeli far right. (1) Saudi Arabia took a positive step by appointing its first-ever non-resident ambassador to Palestine who will also serve as non-resident consul general to Jerusalem. The non-resident status of the ambassador means that the appointment didn’t have to be approved by Israel – Israel sees the entire Jerusalem as its undivided capital. (2) Quite expectedly, Israel rejected any possibility of a physical diplomatic base in Jerusalem for Saudi Arabia’s envoy to Palestine (3).
References:
1) “Saudis said wary of full normalization with Israel, or a deal with current government” The Times of Israel 9.8.2023
2) “Saudi Arabia appoints its first ever non-resident ambassador to Palestine” The Times of Israel 12.8.2023
3) “Israel says no Jerusalem base for Saudi envoy to Palestinian Authority” Al Jazeera 13.8.2023
India and UAE will use local currencies in bilateral trade
One of the interesting developments in world politics has been the de-dollarization of international trade, increasing willingness to use local or other currencies instead of US dollar. One recent example of this has been the trade agreement between India and the United Arab Emirates (1). This agreement is interesting, because India and UAE are close allies of USA – for example, India and UAE are part of the India-Israel-US-UAE Alliance (I2-U2), economic group that was established in October 2021 (2).
References:
1) “India, UAE agree to use local currencies in bilateral trade” Middle East Monitor 16.7.2023
2) “The India-Israel-US-UAE Alliance (I2-U2): Background and Objectives” Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, Doha Institute 19.7.2022
Liz Cheney: “We are electing idiots”
Hello again after a while! A lot has been going on in the far-right scene and elsewhere in world politics, but before I write about other things, here is an interesting comment regarding American politics from Liz Cheney, daughter of infamous Dick Cheney who served as vice president under President George W. Bush during years 2001 – 2009:
“…I think that the country right now faces hugely challenging and fundamentally important issues. What we’ve done in our politics is create a situation where we’re electing idiots.”
Read the full story on The Hill:
Potentially 12 million Americans believe that violence is justified in order to help Trump back to power
According to recent survey conducted by University of Chicago, roughly 12 million or 4.4% of the adult population in the USA believe that violence is justified in order to help former president Donald Trump return to the White House.
Read the full story on The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/09/january-6-trump-political-violence-survey
FBI criticized for mass-shooting survival video
While the amount of mass shootings and mass killings continues to rise in the USA, FBI has been criticized for making a mass-shooting survival video. The video was released already in 2020 but it has now resurfaced. According to critics, the video will scare away foreign graduates and tourists. One critic wrote on Twitter: “America is broken. Instead of addressing the cause of the carnage, we’re talking about how to survive a massacre like it’s a damn tornado.”
Read the full story on The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/15/fbi-mass-shooting-survival-video
You can follow the gun violence statistics on Gun Violence Archive:
Acceptance of political violence in USA
During recent months there have been a lot of disturbing news about the violent plans and fantasies of the American far right. As the trials regarding the Capitol riot have continued, over 1,000 people have been charged for their participation in the riot on the 6th of January 2021. Nearly 85% of the people who have been facing charges do not have any known connection to extremist groups. (1) 14 members of far-right group Oath Keepers and four members of another far-right group Proud Boys, including their former leader Enrique Tarrio, have been found guilty of seditious conspiracy and other felonies. The Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys were accused of planning an “all-out war” and “violent overthrow” of the US Government. (2, 3, 4, 5) One far-right extremist, who took part in the riot, allegedly wanted to “wipe out” Jewish population in the USA (6). Republican far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said in December last year that if she and Steve Bannon, ex-strategist of former president Trump, had been in charge of organizing the insurrection at the Capitol, the attack “would have been armed” and they would have won (7). During his recent campaign trip, Trump embraced and praised a woman, who is an ardent supporter of Trump and who was jailed because of her participation in the Capitol riot and who believes that the members of Congress who voted to certify Biden’s presidential election should be executed. Trump has said that if he becomes president again, he will issue full pardons and a government apology to the rioters who stormed the Capitol. (8, 9)
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has expressed some controversial comments about the political violence during the Capitol riot. In March, Carlson caused outrage by showing selected security footage from the Capitol during the riot and by trying to portray violent attackers as peaceful protesters and tourists (10). Last week it was reported that Carlson wrote in one text message (11):
“…watching video of people fighting on the street in Washington. A group of Trump guys surrounded an Antifa kid and started pounding the living shit out of him. It was three against one, at least. Jumping a guy like that is dishonorable obviously. It’s not how white men fight. Yet suddenly I found myself rooting for the mob against the man, hoping they’d hit him harder, kill him. I really wanted them to hurt the kid. I could taste it. — …somewhere deep in my brain, an alarm went off: this isn’t good for me. I’m becoming something I don’t want to be. The Antifa creep is a human being. Much as I despise what he says and does, much as I’m sure I’d hate him personally if I knew him, I shouldn’t gloat over his suffering. I should be bothered by it. I should remember that somewhere somebody probably loves this kid, and would be crushed if he was killed. If I don’t care about those things, if I reduce people to their politics, how am I better than he is?”
Carlson’s text message about the video he saw reportedly caused panic among Fox’s board and top-level executives, and officials were worried that the contents of Carlson’s messages could become public and prove embarrassing for the network.
According to polls, majority of Americans are worried about political violence. Last November, week after the attack on the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 88% of American adults were “concerned that political divisions have increased the risk of politically motivated violence” in the USA. However, supporters of the two main parties blamed each other: 66% of Democrats blamed the Republican Party for the risk of violence, and 56% of Republicans blamed the Democratic Party. (12)
Several polls have also revealed that some Americans accept political violence. According to a poll that was published in March this year, 27% of Republicans approved the Capitol riot on the 6th of January 2021 and 54% of Republicans thought that the rioters “participated in legitimate political discourse” (13). Last year, University of California published a vast survey that had quite disturbing findings. According to the survey, roughly 20% of American adults believed that political violence is justified at least in some circumstances and 3% believed that political violence is usually or always justified. Around 41% agreed with the idea that “in America, native-born white people are being replaced by immigrants” and roughly the same proportion of the respondents believed that “our American way of life is disappearing so fast that we may have to use force to save it”. Over 12% said that they would be willing to “threaten or intimidate a person” and 10% were willing to “injure a person” in the pursuit of their political objectives. Quite shockingly, 7.1% said that they would be willing to kill a person to advance an important political goal. 50.1% of the respondents agreed with the contention that in the next few years there would be another civil war in the USA. (14)
References:
1) “1,000 people have been charged for the Capitol riot. Here’s where their cases stand” NPR 25.3.2023
https://www.npr.org/2023/03/25/1165022885/1000-defendants-january-6-capitol-riot
2) “Six Additional Oath Keepers Members and Affiliates Found Guilty of Charges Related to Capitol Breach” U.S. Department of Justice 21.3.2023
3) “Enrique Tarrio, three other Proud Boys convicted on seditious conspiracy” The Hill 4.5.2023
4) “Oath Keepers called for ‘violent overthrow’ of US government, trial hears” The Guardian 18.11.2022
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/18/oath-keepers-trial-closing-arguments-capitol-attack
5) “Proud Boys were ready for ‘all-out war’ before January 6, prosecutors argue” The Guardian 24.4.2023
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/24/proud-boys-jan-6-attack-trial-closing-arguments
6) “Military Veteran Who Allegedly Wanted To ‘Wipe Out’ Jews Convicted In Capitol Attack” Yahoo! News 7.3.2023
7) “Marjorie Taylor Greene: Capitol attack ‘would’ve been armed’ if I was in charge” The Guardian 12.12.2022
8) “Donald Trump embraces Jan. 6 defendant who wants Mike Pence executed” NBC News 28.4.2023
9) “Trump vows pardons, government apology to Capitol rioters if elected” The Washington Post 1.9.2022
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/01/trump-jan-6-rioters-pardon/
10) “Fox News’ Tucker Carlson distorts capitol attack footage to push pro-Trump conspiracy theories” Le Monde 8.3.2023
11) “Tucker Carlson text about ‘how white men fight’ alarmed Fox leaders before ouster: report” The Hill 3.5.2023
https://thehill.com/homenews/3985372-tucker-carlson-text-white-men-fox-leaders-before-ouster-report/
12) “Americans express broad concerns about the risk of political violence: POLL” ABC News 4.11.2022
13) “More than a quarter of Republicans approve of Capitol attack, poll shows” The Guardian 16.3.2023
14) “One in five US adults condone ‘justified’ political violence, mega-survey finds” The Guardian 20.7.2022
Mass killings in gun-loving USA
Mass killings in the USA seem to become an increasingly worrying problem this year. The latest mass killing took place on Friday night in Texas, where an intoxicated man shot five of his neighbors after they had complained about the noise he caused while shooting in his yard. That incident was the 17th mass killing and 174th mass shooting in the USA this year. This may be a record-breaking year for mass killings. There has been a mass killing approximately every 6.5 days, so far. (1)
Americans love guns. According to statistics, USA has by far the highest rate of civilian gun ownership in the world, 120.5 civilian-owned guns per 100 people. Falkland Islands has the second highest rate, 62.1 guns per 100 people. (2) About 46 % of Americans live in a household that has a gun. During the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020 – March 2022) there was a noticeable increase in gun sales. 20 million guns were sold per year during 2020 and 2021 and 18 % of the American households bought a gun since the start of the pandemic. During previous years (2010 – 2019) approximately 13 million guns were sold each year. (3)
Republicans and other hardline right-wingers have defended fiercely the right to own and carry a gun and they show their love for guns. When American talk show host Bill Maher talked about political advertising in the USA, last year, he also showed how politicians like to shoot things – watch, for example, a video of Republican far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene where she shows how she would want to handle “the Democrats’ Socialist agenda.” (4) Republican far-right congresswoman Lauren Boebert insisted on bringing a gun to Capitol in January 2021, soon after the Capitol riots (5). During recent National Rifle Association (NRA) lobbying leadership forum, Republican governor Kristi Noem told to the audience that her two-year-old granddaughter has several guns (6). Republican politicians have proposed more than a dozen bills to remove gun safety laws, cut taxes for gun buyers, and offer special protections for the firearm and ammunition industries (7). 26 states in the USA allow people to carry a concealed gun without a permit and 25 states allow people to carry a gun openly without a permit (8, 9). Incidentally, most of these states are ruled by Republicans.
References:
1) “Texas man fatally shoots five neighbors after noise complaint, sheriff says” The Guardian 29.4.2023
2) “Gun Ownership by Country 2023” World Population Review
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/gun-ownership-by-country
3) “One in Five American Households Purchased a Gun During the Pandemic” NORC 24.3.2022
4) “New Rule: The United States of Dumb-merica” Real Time with Bill Maher 4.6.2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dMOfwUP0F0
5) “Boebert Clashes With Capitol Police After Setting Off Metal Detectors” CPR News 12.1.2021
6) “South Dakota governor says her two-year-old grandchild has several guns” The Guardian 15.4.2023
7) “The GOP’s extreme bills: Repeal gun safety laws” The American Independent 20.3.2023
https://americanindependent.com/gop-extreme-bills-repeal-gun-safety-laws/
8) “Which States Allow The Permitless Carry Of Guns? [Infographic]” Forbes 6.4.2023
9) “Florida becomes 26th state to allow permitless carry of concealed guns” Axios 3.4.2023
Developing cooperation in BRICS
Political expert Marco Carnelos wrote in January that year 2022 will probably be seen as “a watershed, when the world began its tectonic shift from a post-Cold War unipolar order to a still undefined and uncertain multipolar one.” The conflict in Ukraine has led to a situation where “Global West and Global Rest” are “on two different tracks regarding the conflict and other global issues” and the “Western-centric perceptions of world events have been utterly dismissed for the first time.” Carnelos referred to a foreign minister from one of the BRICS countries who said that “the problems of Europe and the US are no longer the problems of the whole world.” Carnelos also pointed out that BRICS – economic bloc consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – has become increasingly popular. Many traditional allies or partners of the USA, for example Saudi Arabia and Turkey, are keen to join BRICS. (1) BRICS will decide this year whether it will admit new members to the bloc (2).
The current BRICS countries have also been talking about their developing cooperation. A little while ago, a delegation from the South Africa’s ruling party ANC visited United Russia Party in order to discuss “recalibration of the global order” (3). Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in January that BRICS countries will discuss creating a common currency at the group’s summit in South Africa in August (4). During his recent visit to China, Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticized the dominance of US dollar in world trade and suggested that developing nations should use alternative currency (5). Brazil and China agreed to boost their economic and other cooperation. The relations between Brazil and China were strained when Brazilian far-right president Bolsonaro was in power (6). Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is also visiting Brazil – this and President Lula da Silva’s visit to China are part of diplomatic reset and Lula’s determination to recover Brazil’s international reputation after Bolsonaro’s disastrous presidential term. Lula also wants to take actively part in international politics and he would like Brazil to be involved in peace brokering in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. (7)
References:
1) “US-China: How 2022 saw the old world order start to crumble” Middle East Eye 19.1.2023
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/us-china-old-world-order-crumble-how
2) “BRICS discussing decision on Saudi Arabia, Iran memberships this year” Middle East Monitor 16.2.2023
3) “S.Africa party officials in Russia for talks on new ‘global order'” A News 2.4.2023
4) “Russian FM says BRICS group to consider common currency” Anadolu Agency 25.1.2023
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/economy/russian-fm-says-brics-group-to-consider-common-currency/2797085#
5) “Lula Advocates From China For De-dollarization In World Trade” TeleSUR 13.4.2023
6) “Lula and Xi pledge to boost ties in Beijing meeting” Al Jazeera 14.4.2023
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/14/lula-and-xi-pledge-to-boost-ties-in-beijing-meeting
7) “Lavrov’s Brazil visit highlights Lula’s neutral foreign policy despite US dismay” The Guardian 17.4.2023
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/17/brazil-lula-neutral-foreign-policy-lavrov-visit
IDIS Observer 