France’s hijab bans in sports ‘discriminatory’: UN experts

 United Nations rights experts have slammed decisions in France barring women and girls who wear the Muslim headscarf from sports competitions as “discriminatory”, demanding they be reversed.

France invoked its strict rules on secularism to ban its athletes from wearing religious symbols, including the hijab, during the Paris 2024 Olympics.

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France’s football and basketball federations have also opted to exclude players wearing the headscarf from competitions, including at the amateur level.

These decisions “are disproportionate and discriminatory, and infringe on their rights [of French athletes] to freely manifest their identity, their religion or belief in private and in public, and to take part in cultural life,” said the statement, signed by eight independent UN experts, issued on Monday.

“Muslim women and girls who wear the hijab must have equal rights to participate in cultural and sporting life, and to take part in all aspects of French society of which they are a part,” they said.

The statement was signed by the UN special rapporteurs on cultural rights, on minority issues, and on freedom of religion and belief, and members of the UN working group on discrimination against women and girls.

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They are independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, but who do not speak on behalf of the UN.

France’s laws on secularism are intended to keep the state neutral in religious matters, while guaranteeing citizens the right to freely practise their religion.

Among other things, they prohibit pupils and teachers in schools as well as civil servants from wearing “ostentatious” religious symbols.

But the experts insisted that “the neutrality and secular nature of the state are not legitimate grounds for imposing restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief.”

“Any limitations of these freedoms must be proportionate, necessary to reach one of the objectives stated in international law [safety, health and public order, the rights and freedoms of others], and justified by facts… and not by presumptions, assumptions or prejudices,” they said.

“In a context of intolerance and strong stigmatisation of women and girls who choose to wear the hijab, France must take all measures at its disposal to protect them, to safeguard their rights, and to promote equality and mutual respect for cultural diversity.”

The French contingent at the home Olympics in Paris did not include any hijab-wearing athletes. However, the International Olympic Committee allowed participants to wear the hijab in the athletes’ village.

UNRWA chief says Israeli forces damaged agency’s West Bank office

 Israeli bulldozers damaged the office of UN aid agency UNRWA in the West Bank’s Nur Shams camp on Thursday, the agency’s chief said, with Israel disputing his account in the latest exchange between both sides.

Philippe Lazzarini, who heads the UN Palestinian refugee agency, said on social media platform X that the office was severely damaged and was no longer usable. 

On Monday, Israel passed a law banning UNRWA from operating in the country, legislation that could impact its work in war-torn Gaza.

The lawmakers who drafted the law cited what they described as the involvement of some UNRWA staffers in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel and staffers having membership in Hamas and other armed groups.

Lazzarini called the vote a “dangerous precedent” that opposes the UN charter and violates Israel’s obligation under international law. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said UNRWA workers “involved in terrorist activities” must be held accountable.

UK court rules in favor of woman whose visa was revoked after she spoke of ‘joy’ over Oct. 7

 A UK court ruled that the British government did not sufficiently demonstrate that the student visa of a Jordanian-Canadian citizen should be revoked after she spoke of her “pride” and “joy” over what had happened in Israel in an interview on October 8, 2023, The Guardian reports.

Dana Abu Qamar, who is of Palestinian origin and is head of the Friends of Palestine society at the University of Manchester, has claimed she was misinterpreted and was not speaking in support of the Hamas terror group.

The British government revoked the 20-year-old’s visa in December 2023, but did not show that her presence in the UK was “not conducive to public good,” the tribunal ruled.

According to The Guardian, the tribunal said the decision on Abu Qamar’s visa was a “disproportionate interference with her protected right to free speech.”

Additionally, the judgment said Abu Qamar was “not an extremist,” and that her use of the terms “actively resisting” and “broke free” would have been understood by listeners as a reference to lawful resistance, The Guardian says.

In an interview with Sky News at a Manchester rally on October 8, 2023, the day after Hamas launched its devastating onslaught against Israel, Abu Qamar said: “For 16 years Gaza has been under blockade, and for the first time they are actively resisting, they are not on the defense, and this is truly a once in a lifetime experience.”

“And everyone is, we are both in fear, but also in fear of what, how Israel will retaliate and how we’ve seen it retaliate overnight, and the missiles that it’s launched and the attacks, but also we are full of pride. We are really, really full of joy of what happened,” she said.

More from today’s Liveblog:

• UNRWA chief says agency’s office in West Bank camp was damaged by Israeli bulldozers

Resistance Armies Poised to Move On to Central Myanmar

 The Bamar People’s Liberation Army (BPLA) is poised to move on to central Myanmar after fighting in Karen and northern Shan states alongside allied ethnic armies, its commander Maung Saungkha announced on the anniversary of Operation 1027.

“The BLPA will soon be based in Anyar [central Myanmar] and launch operations there,” the poet-turned-revolutionary said on social media on Oct. 27. “I believe and expect people in Anyar will welcome us.”

Established two months after the coup in 2021, the BPLA boasts around 1,200 troops.

BPLA spokesman Ko Lin Lin told The Irrawaddy the group plans to launch military operations in Sagaing, Magwe and Mandalay.

As an army representing ethnic Bamar, the group aims to drive junta troops out of the region, where Bamar people make up the majority, he said.

“We have prepared for more than three years to base ourselves in central Myanmar,” he added.

The group will cooperate with local People’s Defense Force (PDF) groups loyal to the civilian National Unity Government (NUG) as well as other resistance groups, according to Maung Saungkha.

“In conducting military operations in Anyar, the BPLA will give priority to forging unity among resistance groups,” said Ko Lin Lin. “We are currently mobilizing smaller groups which are not under the NUG’s control and will then give them proper training. This will be followed by military operations.”

“We invite young people in Anyar who wish to fight the regime to join us,” he added.

But the BPLA declined to give details of its immediate targets or say if it has reached consensus with any anti-regime groups in the area yet.

Another armed group, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), is now also gearing up to conduct more offensives against the regime in central Myanmar after fighting alongside ethnic armies in northern Shan State and Mandalay Region during Operation 1027.

In the second phase of the operation, the PLA fought in northern Shan State as well as Madaya, Thabeikkyin, and Mogoke townships in Mandalay. Now it plans to launch military operations in Sagaing Region with new partners, PLA General Secretary Ni Ni Kyaw told The Irrawaddy.

“Besides the [NUG’s] Defense Ministry, there are many other local groups in Sagaing Region, and we will fight alongside them. The most important thing is to root out the common enemy, the fascist military, so we will fight together with them in unity and mutual respect,” he added.

While the majority welcome the groups’ planned penetration into the resistance stronghold of central Myanmar, some are concerned that it will create friction with established anti-regime groups there.

Ko Soe Win Swe, an official with grassroots pro-democracy platform Sagaing Forum, said: “We were fighting the regime even when we only had rudimentary hunting rifles and homemade bombs. The revolution will grow stronger if revolutionary groups from other region come and fight in our region,”

“But if they have a political agenda apart from fighting the regime, there must be preliminary negotiations and discussions,” he warned. “Otherwise things could get complicated.”

Ko Zeya Lwin, who is in charge of the 96 Soldiers PDF’s Anyar branch, welcomed the two armies’ plan to launch operations in central Myanmar, saying if they can cooperate effectively, it will give them military advantages.

One military observer predicted more battles for control of towns after the rainy season if troops loyal to the NUG are returing to Anyar.

“The fighting will intensify in the coming dry season,” he said. “Groups properly equipped with arms and weapons are coming back to central Myanmar. Military Region 1 of the [NUG] Defense Ministry is also mobilizing troops after seizing Pinlebu [in Sagaing Region], so you can expect battles for control of towns.”

Promoting Love or instilling Hate and Fear

Ram Puniyani

India’s anti colonial struggle was accompanied by various diverse social phenomena. One major of this was the ‘Hindu-Muslim’ Unity, and the emergence of the overall identity of Indians amongst people of all religions. The national, anti-colonial stream promoted this and the best embodiment of this was Mahatma Gandhi, who took three bullets on his bare chest for striving for this. He wrote, “The union that we want is not a patched up thing but a union of hearts based upon a definite recognition of the indubitable proposition that Swaraj (self rule) for India must be an impossible dream without an indissoluble union between the Hindus and Muslims of India. It must not be a mere truce. It cannot be based upon mutual fear. It must be a partnership between equals, each respecting the religion of the other.”

In contrast to this the streams basing their nationalism under the mask of religion not only kept aloof from anti colonial struggle but also sowed the seeds and nurtured the plants of Hate and divisiveness. Golwalkar, the second Sarsanghchalak of RSS, wrote, “German race pride has now become the topic of the day. To keep up the purity of the Race and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the Semitic Races—the Jews. Race pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also shown how well-nigh impossible it is for Races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by.” - We, or Our Nationhood Defined (Bharat Publications, Nagpur, 1939). This set the tone for RSS to propagate hate against Muslims and Christians in India.

This Hate was the marginal tendency for decades but has emerged as the dominating ‘social common sense’ leading to series of anti-Muslim violence, their intimidation, lynching and whatnot leading to the phenomenon of ghettoisation, and relegating them to secondary position in society. The process is still on and different RSS-BJP leaders have used all their ‘innovation’ to create more hatred, they have kept adding on to the catchy slogans to demonize the Muslims. ‘They can be identified by their clothes’, ‘Shamshan-Kabristhan’, series of Jihads ‘Vote jihad’ being probably the latest among them. There is a long list of these. To cap it all two of their top leaders have peaked this phenomenon in recent times.

One of them is Giriraj Singh who is amongst those leading the pack of Hate promoters. Recently he stated, "If a Muslim/Ghuspetiya (infiltrator) slaps you once, everyone should come together and slap him 100 times....Keep a sword, spear and trident in the house, worship it and if someone comes, protect yourself from him..."

One is incidentally reminded of the father of the nation who went on to say that if someone slaps you on one Cheek put forward the other cheek. The two ideologies of Gandhi’s Indian nationalism, amity and love are being totally countered by the ideology of Hindu Nationalism by provoking violence, and hate. The downslide of amity and rise of Hate have run parallel with the divisive politics of sectarian nationalism, particularly after demolition of Babri mosque, followed by series of divisive campaigns. With BJP coming to power at center, the various wings of RSS and foot soldiers of divisive nationalism have felt that now they can enjoy impunity to the fullest extent.

Around this time another divisive leader Yogi Adityanath, the introducer of bulldozer (in)justice has also thrown up a phrase ‘Batenge to Katenge’, i.e. Hindus should remain united else they will be slaughtered. This slogan has various dimensions, and the peak organization of Hindu nationalism has approved it. “The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Saturday (October 26,2024) backed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s controversial remark — ‘*batenge to katenge*’, claiming that Hindus ‘will be slaughtered if divided’ — with RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale saying that the slogan, calling for unity among Hindus, is the lifetime pledge of the Sangh.”

This has multiple dimensions. One is that RSS strategists feel that the decline of BJP fortunes in last Lok Sabha elections was due to shift of dalit votes to the INDIA coalition which stood solidly with the concept of social justice and demanding the caste based census. The threat that if dalit-OBC go to INDIA coalition Hindus will be slaughtered! By whom? As per this slogan it will be by the Muslims. On the contrary they have been left in the lurch during the last 75 years. RSS combine may even prop up the non-applicable example of plight of Hindus in Bangladesh after the uprising (2024). Pakistan is always an evergreen (pun intended)example of the worsening plight of Hindus there.

We must unite as Indians were the central plank of the freedom movement. Indian was the core theme of our unity during anti colonial struggle and it gets reflected in our Constitution. Gandhi, the greatest Hindu of 20^th Century, never called for unity as Hindus. Neither the likes of Maulana Azad, Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan called for unity as Muslims.

For BJP, which is not concerned about the welfare of ‘person standing last in line’, all its ideology, actions and utterances are contrary to what united India. It ridicules Rahul Gandhi’s(RG) call for ‘Mohabbat ki dukan’ (Shop of love) and questions as to why Rahul Gandhi does not meet RSS. Counter question is, why RSS wants to meet RG? RS knows its politics is based on Hate (Muslims, Christians and those opposed to Hindu Nationalism), while RG is trying to put life back into the Indian National ethos of love and amity as underlined in our Constitution. Why should RG be interested in ideologues against whose ideology he is trying to raise his voice?

If RSS wants to RG to meet RSS, it has to drastically change its ideology of division and adopt the values of Indian Constitution, the core of which is unity as Indians and fraternity between people irrespective of their religion. It is precisely for this reason that Nehru, Gandhi’s disciple, never gave importance to RSS, it is for this reason that Indira Gandhi refused to concede RSS Chief Balasaheb Deoras's request to meet her. RSS as per its character wants to derive its legitimacy even from those who oppose its politics .

A Duty to Warn America: A Face-off with a Future of Fascism?

Thomas Drake

German American Bund parade on East 86th St., New York City, October 30, 1937. / World-Telegram photo. Public Domain.

Is it a time of historical reckoning for America, in this social media dominated age, riddled by lots of gaslighting hyperbole and rabbit-holed halls full of meme-filled mirrored walls?

Is it just a caricatured stage play of days long political games with a crazy old man on one side telling people the country is like a garbage can occupied by enemies and overrun by immigrants and a place to dump on democracy — poisoning the blood and streams of America while appealing to the pro-bros disassociated from society?

And on the other side is a cheerleading ms congeniality, projecting a why-can’t-we-all-just-get-along plan focused on the dominion of democracy, while joyfully rationalizing an America high on its own shining city beamed from a mythical hill on the other?

It seems too many are living in a co-dependent alternative reality, addicted to an endless array of attention deficit disordered soap opera dramas, pitting Americans against each other.

Caricatures, stereotypes and the tossing around of pejoratives and projection are very much in abundance this election season, but behind some of them are disturbing realities.

For example, those who accuse others of Trump Derangement Syndrome, are in reality, really allergic to the truth and any evidence of holding Trump accountable and responsible.

Trump is clearly painting a very dark future that exists outside the bounds of law and civic decency who also clearly and willfully violated his oath as President with impunity to not preserve, not protect and not defend the Constitution, when he attempted to unlawfully remain in power.

So what’s really going on?

There is an insidious and insipid mind space war of memes and manipulation to accept without question a whole landscape of lies — and to denigrate and dismiss anyone who desists, resists or speaks out against those who distrust objective truth — despite what one sees with their own eyes.

What we are seeing is a reinventing of reality through a concerted and concentrated effort, by various disinformation and agitprop operations (both foreign and domestic), to own the climate of public opinion, occupy their minds and generate coded cognitive response patterns that suspend reason and deconstruct objective reality.

This is meant to trigger an induced subconscious switch to accept the replacement of grounded rationality with reconstructed irrationality — through base reactive emotion and dissociative counter-narrative mind virus manipulation.

Trumpism is a particularly virulent and toxic form of a neo-fascist, true believer fueled, cult-like, authoritarian, populist political movement bent on disabling and dismembering the rule of law, abandoning democracy and subverting the Constitutional Republic.

In other words, based on their own words and the blueprint written down in Project 2025, Trumpism, with all its compulsive narcissism and various confederate acolytes and nativist nationalist demands — possesses the express intent of turning America into an Orwellian Fourth Reich of AmeriKa, allergic to the unblinking eyes of history — while embracing a whole litany of lies, hate-infused tropes, racism, lawlessness, vindictiveness, ritual revenge and retribution and the urging of violence as well as calling out individual names and creating lists of ‘enemies from within’ to target and attack.

What’s at stake is NOT the false dichotomy and faux equivalency divisions of left right, liberal conservative or democrat republican — too often centered on disinformation and diversion. The mantra that is cast is do not believe the truth, but do embrace the lethality of lies — a stunning departure from widely accepted norms of plain civil decency, civic democracy and just basic humanity.

And when lies are surrogates for the truth, truth dies.

What’s REALLY at stake is the very heart, character and continuing promise of the Great American Experiment — replaced by the prospect of an AmeriCon on America with a retrograde rewriting of history and the full, no guard third rail unleashing of an autocratic klepto-chaoscracy — that sells out and sells off what is left of America.

This virulent neo-fascist form of raw, unchecked power is intended to control and suppress the lives and liberties of people it unilaterally decides are threats or even declared as internal enemies of the state resisting or speaking out against the abuse of unconsented authority and the dismantling of democracy.

It’s We the People who are on trial.

So we must stop and ask the really hard look-in-the-mirror question: What future do the majority of We the People want to keep?

Why? When looking out either the front window or the rear view mirror of history, objects of concern accelerating toward you that may create harm or injury ARE actually closer than they appear.

I, for one, do not want to see the arc of American history burn out upon the funeral pyre of fear and phobia even with all its faults and original sins — including slavery, atrocities against indigenous peoples, forcing native Americans onto reservations, blatant racism and discrimination against immigrants, the shame of internment camps during wartime, the exceptionalism of manifest destiny, rank militarism and the raft of tragic foreign misadventures for starters.

Yes, America is also a contradiction and and a paradox at the same time.

But do we really want to see the ugly specter of fascism with its confederate-laced flags of vendetta and violence flying high above the remains of democracy’s ashes — as much as some DO want to see it all burn down and slide into the whirlpool of soft tyranny with zero tolerance for opposing opinions and dissent or those daring to speak truth about abuse of power?

America continues to face serious problems and serious challenges and remains a very imperfect Union — including inadequate governance, failures in public safety and widespread political and corporate corruption — that are all too very real. Yet America also needs the most serious of people to help face and solve them.

Better to turn out and defend an imperfect Union and rededicate ourselves to the work of further unifying and forming a “more perfect Union” for the common good rather than tuning out and supporting division and disunion that could further disunite and end the dream of the Great American Experiment and turn it into a dystopian nightmare.

Who are the rest of the defending avengers and protectors of democracy?

It is us.

We really do not want to make fascism favorable or in fashion in America again and do so at our own peril.

History awaits the verdict.

The deafening bells of history are clanging very loudly in my ears.

I am reminded yet again of a quote from Benjamin Franklin that provides a stark relief in terms of what is at stake in America.

Elizabeth Willing Powel, a quite prominent woman from Philadelphia during the founding years of the US (yet erased from most histories), and based on the journal notes of delegate James McHenry of Maryland, purportedly asked Franklin, as the Constitutional Convention concluded, “What have we got — a republic or a monarchy?”

Franklin replied, “A republic — if you can keep it.”

Benjamin Franklin advocated for the rights of the individual and considered democracy and liberty as foundational cornerstones of the Great American Experiment.

I really don’t want to see or experience the remains of the Republic and democracy burn out in front of me by the spreading fire of fascism and authoritarianism — or as Padme said in Star Wars, “So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause.”

As for me?

I have Obi Wan on repeat exclaiming, “Anakin, my allegiance is to the Republic, to democracy!” after Anakin angrily asserted to Obi Wan that he, Anakin, brought “…peace, freedom, justice and security…” to his new empire.

For further reading check out this deeply insightful and thought provoking article on the huge challenges democracy faces from the pathological forces hellbent on ruling America through raw power and authoritarianism.

It is time to heal, renew and recreate democracy in America — and to the Republic for which it stands.

What future do we want to keep?

Thomas Drake is a former senior executive at the National Security Agency. 

New York woman who pepper-sprayed Muslim Uber driver charged with hate crime

 (CNN) — A New York woman has been indicted on hate crime charges after allegedly pepper-spraying a Muslim Uber driver while he was praying, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

Jennifer Guilbeault, 23, was indicted on multiple hate crime charges on Monday after allegedly pepper-spraying a 45-year-old Uber driver while he began praying in Arabic, according to a press release from the prosecutor.

Guilbeault lunged forward toward the driver’s seat and sprayed his face with pepper spray, inflicting pain and burning sensations, as the driver started praying, officials said, citing court documents and statements made in court. The attack occurred on July 31 on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, near Central Park — the intersection of East 65th Street and Lexington Avenue, the release says.

The driver, identified by CNN affiliate WABC as Shohel Mahmud, subsequently called 911 and Guilbeault was arrested. She has been formally charged by the state Supreme Court, and is set to return for a court appearance in January. Her attorney, Michael J. Alber, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

“As alleged, Jennifer Guilbeault senselessly assaulted a Muslim Uber driver while he was just doing his job. The victim is a hardworking New Yorker who should not have to face this type of hate because of his identity. Everyone is welcome to live and work in Manhattan,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

The charges against Guilbeault include one count each of Assault in the Second Degree as a Hate Crime, Assault in the Third Degree as a Hate Crime and Aggravated Harassment in the Second Degree.

CNN reached out to the NYPD for comment.

Bragg emphasized Manhattan’s commitment to inclusivity and the ongoing efforts of the Hate Crimes Unit to combat bias-motivated violence.

Myanmar ‘risks becoming a forgotten crisis’, UN envoy warns

 Criminal networks operating from Myanmar have spiralled 'out of control' with 3.4 million people displaced by fighting, special envoy says

The United Nations' special envoy to Myanmar has denounced what she called a "zero-sum mentality" among those involved in the long-simmering conflict there, saying that only a stop to the violence would open the door to reconciliation.

Julie Bishop made the comments on Tuesday in her first address to a UN General Assembly committee since being named to the position in April.

Myanmar's military, which seized power in a 2021 coup, has faced intensified fighting for the past year from armed groups across the Southeast Asian nation, especially an alliance of ethnic rebel groups.

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"Any pathway to reconciliation requires an end to violence, accountability and unfettered access for the UN and its partners," especially marginalised groups such as the mostly Muslim ethnic Rohingya, she added.

"The Myanmar conflict risks becoming a forgotten crisis. The people of Myanmar, having suffered so much, deserve better."

Bishop, a former Australian foreign minister, said everyone involved in the conflict agrees that "the human suffering has reached unprecedented levels", highlighting the plight of the 3.4 million people displaced by the fighting.

The UN envoy said she had been able to visit Myanmar, and met with junta chief Min Aung Hlaing.

General Min Aung Hlaing inspects troops in Myanmar's capital Naypyitaw. Photo: Reuters

Bishop also met with representatives of ethnic rebel groups and various political parties, including that of jailed Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, whose government was ousted in 2021.

But she seconded the scepticism expressed by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres about the possibility of the junta organising elections while fighting is ongoing.

The envoy also lamented that criminal networks operating from Myanmar had spiralled "out of control".

"The sheer scale of arms production and trade, human trafficking, drug manufacture and trafficking, and scam centres means Myanmar now ranks highest among all member states for organised crime," she said.

Nicholas Koumjian, who heads the UN mechanism tasked with independent investigation of crimes committed in Myanmar, denounced an increase in the "frequency and brutality of war crimes and crimes against humanity" there.

He specifically criticised an uptick in the number of air strikes by Myanmar forces, which killed "hundreds of civilians" in recent weeks, but noted his group was also collecting evidence about crimes committed by other armed groups.