Poland’s new parliament choses a speaker, but the transition of … The Associated Press
Day: November 13, 2023
Anti-Jewish hate is rarely seen as part of a European racism that encompassed colonialism and slavery, with each distinct prejudice influencing the other
On Saturday, hundreds of thousands took part in a history-making march for Gaza, while the hate mobs imagined by the now former home secretary Suella Braverman turned out to be the far right, who clashed with police. It’s true that the Palestine solidarity march did contain a fringe of hateful messages, but to portray these as characteristic of the whole is absurd. Protesters called for a halt to the death, catastrophe and terror being inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza. Demands for a ceasefire are accelerating globally, as about 11,000 people have been killed in the sealed Gaza Strip, including over 4,000 children – and with thousands more injured or orphaned. The Palestinian cause is close to the hearts of leftists, but polling shows it goes wider than that: most of the British public support a ceasefire.
Saturday’s demonstration contained a sizeable Jewish bloc, who marched despite alarmist warnings across our politics and media that the protests were hotbeds of antisemitism. Jewish people (me included) attend Gaza solidarity marches for many reasons. But I would bet that none include giving free passes on antisemitism to leftists – and neither should a Jewish presence be used to discount the existence of any such prejudice at these protests. More likely, we understand that while this ancient hatred can appear anywhere, it is not the fault of Palestinians that Christian Europe has a long, lingering and largely unacknowledged problem with antisemitism.
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Magnitude 4.3 quake hits Iran
The Foreign Ministers discussed how to strengthen the cooperation with Armenia and support its democratically elected authorities, its resilience, its security and continuation of reforms in the country, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said at a press conference following the meeting of EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels.
“We decided to beef up out mission in Armenia with more patrols in the sensitive areas of the border. And we will explore a possible support to Armenia under European Peace Facility and an option for visa liberalization for Armenia,” he said.
“We have to be very much vigilant for any attempt of destabilization of Armenia. Our message to Azerbaijan has been clear: any violation of Armenian territorial integrity would be unacceptable and have severe consequences for the quality of our relations,” the EU foreign policy chief said.
He called for resumption of negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan based on the work done by the President of the EU Council.
“We need a peace treaty to be concluded, and we are committed to continue our mediating role,” Borrel said.
He informed that the EU Foreign Ministers have decided to invite Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan to join them on the margins of the next Foreign Affairs Council.