Young Filipinos urge Israel boycott as they join global student movement for Palestine 

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Updated 29 July 2024
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Young Filipinos urge Israel boycott as they join global student movement for Palestine 

  • Thousands of people on various campuses voice support for Palestine, activists say 
  • Students draw attention to the Philippines’ own struggle against modern US imperialism

MANILA: Student organizers on campuses in the Philippines are calling for a cultural and academic boycott of Israel and Zionists, as they joined the global movement to support Palestinians. 

Pro-Palestinian student leaders and activists from various Philippine universities have been mobilizing their peers for months to raise awareness about Israel’s war on Gaza and organizing rallies in solidarity with Palestine. 

Young Filipinos are drawing attention to the struggle for liberation in Palestine and its similarities with the Philippines’ history and experience of occupation and colonialism, as they hope to engage more people and inspire further collective action in their community. 

“Filipino youths and students are aware that (the Palestinians’) struggle against settler colonialism is similar to that of colonial history in the Philippines, and that we perceive a common struggle with the Palestinians today, which is US imperialism,” student organizer Raphael Jourvy Gavino told Arab News. 

Filipinos suffered more than 300 years of Spanish colonial rule, from 1565 to 1898, and nearly five decades of American colonization from 1898 to 1946. Despite independence, activists say that the Philippines to this day is still a “semi-colony” of the US, citing the Southeast Asian country’s dependence on the US in economy and military. 

Gavino, who goes to the state-run Polytechnic University of the Philippines, is one of the conveners of the PUP for Palestine initiative. His school is known for its student activism and is the country’s largest college in terms of population.

“Thousands of PUP students participated virtually and voiced their support for Palestinians in their struggle against Israel’s genocide and apartheid, and called for justice,” he said. 

“Showing solidarity and support for Palestinians is important as students and especially as Filipinos simply because we cannot just stand still while thousands of fellow students, children and women are slaughtered right before our eyes.” 

Israel’s ground and air attacks in the past nine months have killed more than 39,000 Palestinian citizens in Gaza, according to official estimates, although a study published in the Lancet journal this month estimated that the actual death toll could be more than 186,000 victims. 

Israeli forces have also destroyed schools, universities and hospitals throughout the Gaza Strip. 

“No educational institutions in the country should be in close contact with a state that disregards the future of children by bombing their schools and universities,” Gavino added. 

For students at Ateneo de Manila University, one of the country’s top colleges, showing support for Palestine is crucial. 

“It is important for us, especially as students, to join the global call for liberation and the immediate stop to the genocide in pursuit of just and lasting peace because this is the world we will inherit,” A4P told Arab News in a statement. 

The group said it was inspired by the courage and determination of students abroad, who have staged encampments at their respective universities and called for divestments from “agents of genocide.”

“We aim to pinpoint linkages of our own university, if there are such connections, and call for its immediate end,” A4P said. 

“We would also like to call for a cultural and academic boycott by our universities of Israel and Zionist sources and instead uphold and support Palestinian academic and cultural institutions, and advocate for just and lasting peace by unequivocal support for the cause of national liberation.” 

The Ateneo group, which has more than 5,000 followers on Facebook, also condemned the Philippine government for funneling “billions of pesos in arms deals” to Israeli companies, including Elbit Systems, Rafael Advance Defense Systems and Israel Shipyards, as well as the Israeli government. 

“These weapons of destruction are likewise used to enact violence against indigenous communities in the Philippines, and extreme acts of state repression against its own citizens,” A4P said. 

At the Far Eastern University in Manila, student leaders in June founded the Tamaraws for Palestine initiative, which has so far organized rallies, fundraisers and held educational sessions and discussions on campus. 

“As Filipinos, the terrorism that is happening in Palestine is not new to us as we also experienced being colonized and threatened by multiple nations, such as Spain, America, and Japan. Even now, by China because of their aggressive actions in the (South China Sea),” Kyla Mae Alzado, Tamaraws for Palestine vice chairperson, told Arab News. 

“We are still oppressed by other nations and are facing being threatened in our own home. Palestine is currently in this situation and as a nation that understands and is presently in this setting, we must stand in solidarity with them.”

One of their main focuses is to raise awareness for the larger Philippine society on the violence that is happening in Gaza. 

“What we are hoping to achieve with our organization is to expand and gain more collective action, which could amplify the voices of the oppressed,” Alzado said. 

“Most importantly, we hope that our calls for the rights of Palestinians can help in supporting their liberation.”


India offers financial support to Maldives after talks to repair ties

Updated 7 sec ago
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India offers financial support to Maldives after talks to repair ties

NEW DELHI: India stepped up its development assistance to the Maldives after the two leaders held talks in New Delhi on Monday in a bid to repair strained ties that saw the president of the Indian Ocean archipelago forging closer relations with China.

After the talks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India will offer financial support to the cash-strapped Maldives in form of a $100-million treasury bills rollover. The countries also signed a $400-million currency swap agreement.

The two leaders virtually inaugurated a new international airport in the Maldives, and Modi announced that work will be accelerated on the India-assisted Greater Male Connectivity Project, which aims to link key islands of the Maldives through modern transport networks.

“India is Maldives’ nearest neighbor and a close friend,” Modi said during a joint news conference. He said the Maldives held an important position in India’s “neighborhood first policy.”

Tensions between India and the Maldives have grown since President Mohamed Muizzu, who favors closer ties with China, was elected last year after defeating India-friendly incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. Leading up to the election, Muizzu had promised to expel Indian soldiers deployed in the Maldives to help with humanitarian assistance.


Indian man charged with rape and murder of doctor that sparked widespread protests

Updated 07 October 2024
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Indian man charged with rape and murder of doctor that sparked widespread protests

  • The suspect, named as Sanjoy Roy, was arrested the day after the murder on August 9 and held in custody since
  • Roy, who had been working as a volunteer supporting patients, would potentially face death penalty if convicted

Kolkata: Indian police on Monday charged a man with the rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor, a crime which appalled the country and triggered wide-scale protests.
The discovery of the doctor’s bloodied body at a government hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata on August 9 sparked nationwide anger at the chronic issue of violence against women.
The suspect, named as Sanjoy Roy, arrested the day after the murder and held in custody since, was formally charged on Monday with a confidential document of evidence submitted to the court.
“Sanjoy Roy has been charged with the rape and murder of the on-duty trainee post-graduate doctor inside the hospital,” a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official told AFP.
Roy, widely reported by Indian media to be aged 33, and who had been working as a volunteer in the hospital supporting patients, would potentially face the death penalty if convicted.
Doctors in Kolkata went on strike for weeks in response to the brutal attack.
Tens of thousands of ordinary Indians joined in the protests, which focused anger on the lack of measures for women doctors to work without fear.
While most medics have returned to work, a small group began a hunger strike this month.
The doctors say the West Bengal state government had failed to deliver on its promises to upgrade lighting, security cameras and other measures to protect them.
India’s Supreme Court last month ordered a national task force to examine how to bolster security for health care workers, saying the brutality of the killing had “shocked the conscience of the nation.”
The gruesome nature of the attack drew comparisons with the 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman on a Delhi bus, which also sparked weeks of nationwide protests.
 


UK’s Starmer urges Middle East ‘restraint’ on Oct 7 anniversary

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer makes a statement on the anniversary of the Hamas terror attacks in Israel.
Updated 07 October 2024
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UK’s Starmer urges Middle East ‘restraint’ on Oct 7 anniversary

  • “All sides must now step back from the brink and find the courage of restraint. There is no military solution to these challenges,” Starmer said

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday urged “all sides” in the Middle East conflict to “find the courage of restraint,” on the first anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.
Addressing lawmakers in parliament, the UK leader said the region “cannot endure another year of this” and that “civilians on all sides have suffered too much.”
“All sides must now step back from the brink and find the courage of restraint. There is no military solution to these challenges,” Starmer told MPs in a somber House of Commons.
His comments followed a statement earlier Monday in which he paid tribute to the victims of those killed a year ago, saying: “We stand together to remember the lives so cruelly taken.”
Starmer, who took power in early July, added that Britain “must unequivocally stand with the Jewish community and unite as a country,” following a surge in reports of anti-Semitism across the UK.
“On this day of pain and sorrow, we honor those we lost, and continue in our determination to return those still held hostage, help those who are suffering, and secure a better future for the Middle East,” he said.
In his brief speech in parliament, Starmer said 15 British citizens were killed on October 7 in the attacks, and that another died while being held in captivity.
The Hamas onslaught left 1,205 dead on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on the latest official Israeli figures.
Some 251 people were captured and taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip. Of those 97 are still held captive including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Starmer also noted that more than 41,000 Palestinians had also been killed in Israel’s military response, reiterating his calls for immediate ceasefires in Lebanon and Gaza, and more aid to be allowed into the latter.
Again urging British citizens in Lebanon to leave, the UK leader noted 430 people had already left the country on government chartered flights over the last week.


Putin to meet Iran president in Turkmenistan Friday

Updated 07 October 2024
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Putin to meet Iran president in Turkmenistan Friday

  • Leaders will meet in Ashgabat while attending an event celebrating a Turkmen poet
  • Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin visited Iran last week for talks with Masoud Pezeshkian

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin is to meet Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian for talks Friday at a forum in the Central Asian country of Turkmenistan, a senior aide said Monday.
Yury Ushakov, Putin’s aide on foreign policy, told journalists the leaders will meet in Ashgabat while attending an event celebrating a Turkmen poet.
“This meeting has great significance both for discussing bilateral issues as well as, of course, discussing the sharply escalated situation in the Middle East,” Ushakov said.
Leaders of Central Asian countries are meeting to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the birth of 18th-century poet Magtymguly Pyragy.
Putin’s attendance had not been previously announced.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin visited Iran last week for talks with Pezeshkian and First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref.
The talks come as Israel intensively bombs Lebanon, targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah and Russia has evacuated some citizens.
Russia has close relations with Iran, and Western governments have accused Tehran of supplying Moscow with drones and missiles, which it has repeatedly denied.
Pezeshkian will also hold talks with Putin during a visit to Russia this month to participate in a BRICS summit of emerging economies.


Russia says grain harvest hit by Ukraine war, bad weather

A combine harvests wheat in a field in the Rostov Region, Russia July 10, 2024. (Reuters)
Updated 07 October 2024
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Russia says grain harvest hit by Ukraine war, bad weather

  • Russia, the world’s top wheat exporter, has officially forecast this year’s grain harvest at 132 million metric tons, an 11 percent drop from 148 million tons in 2023
  • However, after bad weather hit many grain-producing regions, the forecast is set for a downward revision

MOSCOW: Russia’s grain harvest will be hit by the impact of Ukraine’s attacks on grain-producing regions close to the border and by bad weather in many other regions, the RIA news agency cited Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut as saying on Monday.
Russia, the world’s top wheat exporter, has officially forecast this year’s grain harvest at 132 million metric tons, an 11 percent drop from 148 million tons in 2023 and a 16 percent drop from a record 158 million tons in 2022.
However, after bad weather, ranging from early spring frosts to drought and rain, hit many grain-producing regions, the forecast is set for a downward revision. The IKAR consultancy sees this year’s grain harvest at 124.5 million tons.
Concerns over Russia’s smaller-than-expected grain harvest supported international prices in recent months, with wheat reaching four-months high last week.
“We are currently calculating the figures, taking into account the bad weather in Siberia,” Lut was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying.
“And on the other hand, unfortunately, considering the inability to harvest crops in regions where a counter-terrorist operation regime has been introduced,” Lut added in a first public acknowledgment of the war’s impact on the harvest.
Russia introduced the regime in Kursk, as well as neighboring Bryansk and Belgorod regions, following a major Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region, Russia’s seventh-largest grain-producing region, on Aug. 6.
Both Belgorod and Bryansk regions, major grain-producing areas, have become targets of regular attacks by Ukraine’s military. Ukrainian forces still control a large swathe of the Kursk region.
Kursk Governor Alexei Smirnov said in September that after the attack, the harvesting of grains could not be completed on an area of 160,000 hectares. He estimated the damage from the attack at almost $1 billion.
Lut said the final estimate for this year’s harvest will be announced on Oct. 10. Sovecon consultancy earlier estimated that as of Oct.1, Russian farmers had harvested 111 million metric tons of grain.
Lut also said that winter crops sowing in many regions was difficult because of the continued drought. Sovecon consultancy said that no rains were expected in winter grain sowing areas until mid-October.
“The sowing is going very hard. We plan to sow 20 million hectares, as we did last year. But we are practically sowing in sand,” Interfax news agency quoted Lut as saying.