The Week That Was: Global News in Review
Foreign Policy | By: Ibrahim Castro | September 10, 2024
Featured Photo collage by Indy Silva for U.S. Resist News, 2024
__________________________________
A man walks on a damaged road following an Israeli army raid in Jenin. West Bank. Wednesday Sept.4.2024 (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed) What to know about the deadliest West Bank operation since the war began | AP News
Israeli Raids in The West Bank
For more than a week, Israeli forces have carried out the largest operation in the occupied West Bank in over two decades. Israeli military officials have said that the operation was carried out in order to eliminate militants in the various refugee camps that they say pose a threat to Israeli civilians in the West Bank. The ensuing military action in the Occupied Territory has been devastating for Palestinian civilians. Infrastructure has been destroyed, services such as electricity and water have been cut, families have been confined to their homes, and emergency services evacuating the wounded have been slowed or halted on their way to hospitals. During the recent raids 33 Palestinians have been killed thus far, and over 680 people have been killed since October 7 last year.
Many of the refugee camps that were the targets of the military assault were originally established to house Palestinians who fled or were forced from their homes during the war surrounding Israel’s creation in 1948. However, over time with the lack of resolution on the status of a Palestinian state, the refugee camps turned into permanent crowded informal neighborhoods subjected to frequent military raids. Additionally, last week a 26 year old American citizen, Aysenur Eygi, was fatally shot in the West Bank where she was taking part in a protest against Israeli settler occupation. Since Oct. 7, there has been a surge of violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, and an increase in the construction of settlements in the occupied territory. Israel’s policy of settling its civilians in occupied Palestinian territory and conducting frequent military raids breaks fundamental rules of international humanitarian law and is a constant hindrance to peace negotiations. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies”.
Alternative for Germany party leader Bjorn Hocke has been fined more than once for using Nazi slogans, but economic issues and traditional values are more important for many voters in eastern Germany [Ronny Hartmann/AFP]
Far-Right Wins in Germany For The First Time Since WWII
A far-right party has won elections in Germany for the first time since the end of World War II. The success of Alternative for Germany (AfD) has caused concern among the country’s mainstream political parties.The far-right party won the East German state of Thuringia and came in a close second in Saxony. The AfD’s gains were especially large among young voters in both states. Björn Höcke, the leader of the AfD in Thuringia is considered one of the most extreme politicians in the party, having been convicted twice already by a German court for using Nazi rhetoric.The far-right party, for now, is likely to face difficulties in securing the cooperation of rival parties. However the AfD’s growing popularity among German voters continually places it ever closer to replacing mainstream parties and implementing its far-right ideology in the EUs’ most populous country.
Support for halting German military aid for Ukraine and restricting immigration were key issues during the East German elections. Chancellor Scholz’s center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens and the fiscally conservative Free Democratic Party (FDP), took significant losses in the ballots. Nearly one in three voters in both the states of Thuringia and Saxony supported the AfD. Their win despite warnings from officials over selecting the political extreme, speaks to the widespread public distrust in mainstream parties and institutions in Germany.
Great Hall of the People, Beijing, September 5, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo
China-Africa Summit
Dozens of African leaders gathered in Beijing last week for a summit that saw China promise billions in investment and loans to African countries over the next three years. Chinese President Xi Jinping, in addition to investment, proposed that relations with all African countries that have diplomatic ties with China be elevated to a “strategic” level above what is currently in place.
The summit signaled China’s continuing influence on the continent over Western powers. Chinese companies have already invested heavily in mining for the resources Chinese industry needs, and it has made billions in loans to build railways, roads and other infrastructure under Xi’s Belt and Road project. African leaders are seeking to continue to industrialize their economies and expand exports to reduce the trade deficit with China, which has become the continent’s largest bilateral trading partner.
Edmundo González looks on on the day he casts his vote in the country’s presidential election, in Caracas, Venezuela, July 28, 2024. Photo by Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters
Venezuela Opposition Candidate Gonzalez Seeks Asylum in Spain
Last week Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez fled to Spain, seeking political asylum amid turmoil in his country after a disputed presidential election. The Venezuelan opposition maintains that it has evidence that Gonzalez won the July 28 presidential election by a wide margin against current President Nicolas Maduro.
The crack down on post election protests has left some 27 people dead and 2,400 more arrested. Spain has been a major point of exodus for Venezuelans, particularly those leading the opposition to Maduro’s regime. So far this year 44,000 Venezuelans have immigrated to Spain. The last government statistics from 2022 said that some 212,000 Venezuelans lived in Spain. Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado is trying to reassure supporters that her opposition coalition still has a chance of gaining control of the presidency despite the departure of their presidential candidate into exile.
A Mexican flag stands in the empty corridors of the federal court during a strike led by judicial workers on August 19 [Fernando Llano/AP Photo]
Mexico’s Outgoing President and Judicial Reform
Mexico’s Congress is expected to vote soon on the controversial constitutional reforms to the judiciary proposed by outgoing Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador. The judicial overhaul is backed by incoming president Claudia Sheinbaum, and has sparked strikes by judicial workers and strained relations with the United States and Canada. The constitutional reform would see more than 7,000 judges and magistrates elected by popular vote rather than appointed by the President. It would reduce the number of judges on the Supreme Court from 11 to 9, and shorten their terms from 15 to 12 years. It would also create a new body to supervise judges.
Following the announcement of the reforms came criticism from the US ambassador to Mexico. American ambassador Ken Salazar called the proposal a risk to democracy that would endanger Mexico’s commercial relationship with the United States. President Obrador’s administration put relations with the United States and Canadian embassies on pause. Obrador called the comments “disrespectful of our national sovereignty” and claimed it amounted to interference in Mexico’s domestic affairs.
For more updates, articles, in-depth analysis and weekly reviews on Global News, click here.
Stay informed with the latest insights from our dedicated reporters by subscribing to the U.S. Resist Weekly Newsletter. Your support is crucial in safeguarding fearless, independent journalism. If you appreciate our content, please consider donating today to continue in helping to protect democracy and empower citizenship.