"I will disgust their lives" How did Macron disappoint the French in their country?
French President Emmanuel Macron threatened vaccine opponents to "disgust their lives", in press statements that negatively affect efforts to combat the health crisis, while it comes as an extension of a bleak presidential outcome at the end of his term, which leads the French to fear the future inside the country.
"I will disgust their lives," with these words, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to refuse to receive the vaccine from the general population. This was in an interview with the newspaper "Le Parisien", on Tuesday, January 4th, while this caused an uproar and many reactions considered it a "vulgar" departure from the President of the Republic.
Macron said that his next strategy for managing the vaccination process is to "disgust the lives of the unvaccinated", as "I will not put them in prison, I will not force them, so we must tell them: from January 15, you will not be able to go to a restaurant, and you will not You can have coffee in a café, or go to the theater or cinema", stressing that "we will continue this until the end. This is the strategy."
While these statements are only a drop in the sea of tragedies that the French are experiencing as a result of the great outbreak of the Corona virus, tragedies in which they hold the President of the Republic and his government responsible for mismanaging the health crisis, in addition to the bleak outcome of the ongoing presidential term that was marked by the end of the social gains of the French, the widespread repression of freedoms, And disregard for the threats of climate change taking place, which made a large section of the people not only lose confidence in their president, but also terrified of the future of their country.
"Vulgarity" hinders vaccination!
Reactions to Macron's statements were combined, describing them as "vulgar". And commented the leader of the "France proud" presidential candidate Jean - Luc Malanhun, at its own expense , saying , Twitter - : " Are you aware of what the president says? World Health Organization says: persuasion rather than coercion." "It's shocking," he adds.
On the far right, the far-right candidate of the National Rally, Marine Le Pen, said that "a president should not utter such words. The person who is supposed to be the guarantor of the nation's unity, insists on dividing it and wants to make the unvaccinated citizens second-class citizens", before concluding that Emmanuel Macron "does not deserve his position."
In addition to the reactions, Macron's recent statements negatively affect the measures taken to limit the spread of Corona, and the country is experiencing a large wave of infection spread, as it coincides with the ongoing debate in Parliament about strengthening and extending the validity of the "health passport".
For two years of the Macron government’s management of the health crisis, the current results demonstrate the failure of the way in which it dealt with it, as well as the popular discontent that it has reaped, as 62% of the French do not trust the government’s ability to confront the health crisis, 73% are concerned about its ability to achieve economic recovery, and 41% do not They think it is able to achieve the goals of the mass vaccination program, according to opinion polls .
A quarter of them fear the future
More broadly, opinion poll numbers are piecing together to paint a grim tally of five years near the end of Macron's rule. Starting with political and religious rights, Macron’s term witnessed a great obsession with freedom of expression, led by the suppression of protest movements, the attempt to silence journalists under the Public Security Law, and the attack on Muslims with the “combating isolationism” law.
This is expressed in opinion polls , with 54% of the French saying that democracy in the country is in a bad state, and 48% blaming Emmanuel Macron for its deterioration. On the other hand, according to another poll , 64% of the French do not trust their country's police.
From the economic and social aspect, most of Macron’s decisions harmed the poor classes of the French, and the reforms he approved destroyed the economic gains enjoyed by workers, the unemployed, and students before him, which led to the explosion of huge protest movements, the most important of which is the yellow vest movement and union strikes. In addition to this, he constantly defends the companies that pollute the environment, led by Total Energy , while ignoring the dangers of climate change.
In this context, probing opinions about the French government’s handling of social movements says that 71% of the French think that Macron’s response to the outbreak of the yellow vest movement is insufficient, and 79% say it came too late, and about the environmental risks, 75% of the French are afraid. from the future. In general, 64% of the French do not trust their president and his government, according to other polls.
Netherlands: Stop funding a Palestinian organization for its association with the PFLP
On Wednesday, the Netherlands announced that its country will cut funding to the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, due to its association with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.
In an official letter addressed to Parliament, the Dutch government affirmed that: "The individual links between the UAWC and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the lack of openness in this area on the part of the UAWC is a sufficient reason for not funding the UAWC's activities."
In the same context, the government explained that the external investigation on which its decision was based did not prove the existence of organizational links between the Union of Agricultural Work Committees and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, nor did it prove the existence of financial flows between the Union of Agricultural Work Committees and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
For its part, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees expressed its shock and sadness at the Dutch government's decision, stressing that this investigation was motivated from the beginning by political considerations.
The organization is one of six Palestinian non-governmental organizations, which Israel has designated since the end of last October as a terrorist organization, due to its supposed links with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. This is against the background of the arrest of two men working for the union in September 2019 who were suspected of being involved in the bombing in the West Bank, which killed a 17-year-old Israeli girl, after which the attack was attributed to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Despite their discharge from the organization and its confirmation in a letter to the Dutch authorities that neither of them participated in activities funded by the Netherlands, the Dutch government decided in 2020 to suspend its funding, after it became clear to it that the two suspects were receiving part of their salaries in the form of public expenses.
Meanwhile, an external investigation was opened to reveal any organizational links between the Union of Agricultural Work Committees and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The investigation showed, according to what the Dutch government later revealed, that on the individual level there are connections between about 12 people, including employees and members of the board of directors of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
With the announcement of the Dutch authorities' decision to stop funding the organization, Israel welcomed this. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement that "Israel will continue its dialogue with the Netherlands and other countries regarding these organizations."
The ministry stressed that supporting these organizations constitutes a violation of Israeli law.
Russia-led coalition decides to send peacekeepers to Kazakhstan
The Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization announced Thursday that it will send peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan in response to a request by the president of the country mired in popular protests that necessitated the imposition of a state of emergency.
The Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization announced Thursday that it will send peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan in response to a request by the president of the country mired in popular protests that has prompted the imposition of a state of emergency.
"The organization will send collective peacekeeping forces to the former Soviet Republic for a limited period in order to stabilize and normalize the situation caused by external interference," the organization's head, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Facebook.
And on Wednesday evening, the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, asked for help from this Moscow-backed military alliance to confront the riots that rock the country, which, according to him, are carried out by "terrorists" trained abroad, while a state of emergency was declared in the entire territory of the Central Asian country.
Eight members of the security forces and the army were killed in the riots that rocked Kazakhstan for several days, according to local media, quoting the Ministry of the Interior.
The ministry said that "317 members of the police and the National Guard were wounded by the unruly crowd."
"Today I called on the heads of state of the Collective Security Treaty Organization to help Kazakhstan defeat the terrorist threat," Tokayev said in a statement to state television, adding that "highly trained terrorist gangs abroad are leading the demonstrations."
The agencies "Interfax", "TASS" and "Ria Novosti" reported that Kazakhstan had declared a state of emergency, citing a statement reported by Kazakh television.
On Wednesday, the Internet and mobile phone network were cut off in the country.
Earlier, the president considered in a televised speech that "these disturbances led to massive attacks on the security forces, in whose ranks there were dead and wounded." He added: "Groups of criminal elements are beating and humiliating our soldiers."
"As president, it is my duty to protect the security and safety of our citizens, and I worry about the territorial integrity of Kazakhstan," he said, adding that "he has the intention to act as firmly as possible."
The protest movement, which began on Sunday after an increase in liquefied natural gas prices in the western city of Zhanazin, spread to Almaty, the economic capital and the country's largest city, on Tuesday/Wednesday night.
After a night of rioting that led to the arrest of more than two hundred people, thousands of demonstrators stormed the city administration building and managed to enter despite the police firing stun grenades and tear gas, according to AFP correspondents.
Attacking government buildings
Agence France-Presse reporters in Almaty also saw men in police uniforms pile their shields and helmets on the ground and then hug protesters. The men in police uniform refused to speak to reporters. "Move to our side," a woman embracing one of the protesters chanted.
Local media reported that the demonstrators then headed to the president's residence in the city, and that the two buildings were on fire.
Information, which could not be immediately verified, spoke of unrest throughout the country and the control of the Almaty Airport by the demonstrators.
Aeroflot canceled its flight from Moscow to the city.
This crisis poses the biggest threat yet to the regime installed by President Nazarbayev, who ruled the country until 2019 but still wields significant influence.
In an attempt to stem the crisis, President Tokayev dismissed the government and declared a state of emergency in several regions, including Almaty and the capital, Nursultan, which was recently renamed in honor of Nazarbayev.
A night curfew was imposed from 23:00 until 07:00 local time.
Internet failure
Demonstrations are very few in Kazakhstan, where gatherings must obtain prior permission.
On Wednesday, it was not possible to form a complete view of the situation in the country, as journalists and witnesses did not have access to the Internet or the telephone network.
"The country is experiencing a nationwide internet outage," the group specialized in monitoring the Internet, NetBlocks, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. The NGO added that "this outage is supposed to severely limit coverage of the intensifying anti-government demonstrations."
It was not possible to contact AFP correspondents on Wednesday evening. Earlier, they had reported that the internet was intermittent and the messaging apps Telegram, Signal and WhatsApp were not available.
The demonstrators chanted anti-government slogans such as "Let the government go" and "Old man go", referring to former President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Nazarbayev, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, remained the head of the powerful Kazakh Security Council, but Tokayev announced on Wednesday that it was he who assumed this position.
Russia, which places great importance on Kazakhstan as an economic partner, on Wednesday called for dialogue, not riots, to settle the situation.
In Washington, the White House, for its part, called on the Kazakh authorities to exercise restraint.
Gas crisis
The protest movement began on Sunday after an increase in liquefied natural gas prices in the western city of Zhanazin, before spreading to the large city of Aktau on the Caspian Sea, and then to Almaty.
The government initially tried to calm the demonstrators, but to no avail, by reducing the price of liquefied gas and fixing it at 50 tenge (0.1 euros) per liter in the region, compared to 120 at the beginning of the year.
Kazakhstan, the largest economy in Central Asia accustomed in the past to growth rates of more than ten percent, suffered from the consequences of low oil prices and the economic crisis in Russia, which led to the devaluation of the Kazakhstani tenge and strong inflation.
The Guardian: Britain accused of targeted killing and the assassination of an arms dealer in Syria
The Guardian newspaper published a report by its correspondent for defense and security affairs, Dan Sabbagh, in which he said that a human rights organization wants to obtain answers from the British Ministry of Defense regarding the killing of Abu Hamza al-Shuhail in Syria, in October 2021.
And the report stated that Britain was accused of carrying out targeted killings after a drone strike on an arms dealer dealing with the “Islamic State” organization. The newspaper said that Britain has become accused of reviving the policy of “targeted killing” after the killing of the arms dealer through a precise march, which prompted the human rights organization “Reprieve” to question the criterion used to justify targeting him in the “follow and kill” attack, and asked the ministers to inform Parliament about attack and why it was necessary.
The human rights organization’s comments come in the wake of the Defense Ministry’s announcement, more than a month after the attack on its website, that a “Reaper” drone armed with 100-pound Hellfire missiles had “followed a known terrorist in northern Syria.” And the ministry added in a brief statement: “In a safe moment, when the individual was alone in a field, we launched a successful attack.” The attack took place on October 25 and was revealed on November 27.
The “Syrian Truth and Justice” group conducted investigations on the ground and concluded that the victim was a well-known arms dealer who dealt with all parties during the civil war, specifically with the “Islamic State” organization.
"The operation was announced on a quiet Sunday morning on the department's website and reveals a new British policy on targeted killing," said Jennifer Gibson, who leads the extrajudicial killing program at Reprieve. Accordingly, “What is the standard for prosecution and murder? How can we determine that this person deserves to be assassinated? Why was Parliament not consulted or even informed?
The Ministry of Defense commented on the words of its spokesperson, that it has not changed its policy, and that it has a precise policy in the process of verifying the target and works according to strict rules of engagement and fully abides by international law. It publishes “regular summaries” of the raids it carries out against ISIS targets, for “full transparency.”
It seems that the raid on al-Shuhail was carried out in cooperation with Turkey. After the attack, the Turkish ground forces besieged a nearby farm and killed an armed man in the complex related to al-Shuhail and two civilians unrelated to the incident who were by chance in the place, according to the investigation of the Syrian Truth and Justice Group.
Al-Shuhail had moved to the Ras al-Ain area, which is under the control of the Turkish forces, after he was smuggled from an area under the control of the Syrian Kurds. They asked the arms dealer to help them search for ISIS locations and weapons, which made him fear for his life, according to local reports.
British Royal Air Force planes and drones carried out more than 5,000 air operations against the “Islamic State” organization in Syria, after MPs voted on military intervention in Syria in 2015, while the attacks in Iraq were approved in 2014.
Reprieve believes that the targeting of the arms dealer is the first in Syria since the killing of British citizen Riyad Khan in a drone attack in Syria in August 2015, although the circumstances are different. At the time, MPs did not vote to launch air strikes in Syria, but only in Iraq.
Two weeks after his murder, then Prime Minister David Cameron came to Parliament and justified Khan's killing as "necessary, appropriate and individual self-defense for Britain". He said that the intelligence revealed a big plot planned by Khan. It was later revealed that Britain had prepared a "kill list" to pursue individuals in the "Islamic State" organization after the general elections in 2015.
Reprieve hopes Defense Secretary Ben Wallace will be impeached in Parliament on Monday for the latest killing. There is no evidence linking Al-Shuhail to Britain.