Category Archives: Global Politics

New York police investigate deaths of Saudi sisters found bound together | US news | The Guardian

The day before the bodies were discovered on 24 October, the sisters’ mother told detectives that she had received a call from an official at the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington, ordering the family to leave the US because her daughters had applied for political asylum, New York police said on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia’s consulate general in New York said in a statement that it had “appointed an attorney to follow the case closely”. It said embassy officials in Washington had contacted the family and “extended its support and aid in this trying time”. It added that the sisters were students “accompanying their brother in Washington”. The case has immediately heightened tension over relations with Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of the killing of Saudi dissident and Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi embassy in Istanbul earlier this month.

Source: New York police investigate deaths of Saudi sisters found bound together | US news | The Guardian

Hearing of woman rights defender Israa Al-Ghomgham, who faces execution, postponed – IFEX

During the first session of her trial, the Public Prosecution presented a list of eight main charges against Al-Ghomgham, including allegedly: “joining a terrorist entity aimed at creating chaos and unrest within the Kingdom,” “participating in marches and gatherings in the province of Al-Qatif and encouraging young people to go to those marches and gatherings in addition to photographing, documenting and publishing these gatherings through social networks sites,” “participating in the funeral of victims of security clashes with protesters,” “preparing, sending and storing material that would harm the public order and punishable under Article 6 of the Cybercrime Act of 2008,” “creating an account on social networking sites and using it to encourage rallies to riot and incite young people against the state and security forces in addition to publishing pictures and video clips of these rallies and marches about a number of victims of security clashes,” and “creating a channel on YouTube for the publication of video clips of victims of security clashes.” The prosecution asked the court to sentence her to death by beheading and the SCC postponed the hearing to 28 October 2018.

Source: Hearing of woman rights defender Israa Al-Ghomgham, who faces execution, postponed – IFEX

bellingcat – The Unintelligent Design of SureFire Intelligence – bellingcat – in short a fraud…

When searching for the various employees who list their employment as SureFire Intelligence, nearly all of them use stolen profile photographs. In particular, many of these photographs use the sepia-toned filter that was likely used to disrupt reverse image search algorithms. Their “Tel Aviv Station Chief” uses a photograph of Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli.

Source: bellingcat – The Unintelligent Design of SureFire Intelligence – bellingcat

Trump eyeing an executive order to end citizenship for unauthorized residents’ children born in U.S. – Los Angeles Times – feed hate and fear is all he knows – he’d kick his grandparents out and send his wife’s family back to where they came from!

Source: Trump eyeing an executive order to end citizenship for unauthorized residents’ children born in U.S. – Los Angeles Times

Trump’s veiled anti-Semitism comes home to roost in Pittsburgh | +972 Magazine

Trump does not need to mention Soros’ Jewish identity at all; the implication of mentioning Soros in the first place is totally clear. That’s the beauty of dog-whistling — the president doesn’t have to talk about “the Jewish agenda” to make clear to his followers who or what he is referring to. And while Trump may actually only be talking about Soros — who holds significant political and economic power — his most radical followers make no distinction between Soros as a person and Soros as codeword for “Jews.” Robert Bowers may have despised HIAS and its support for refugees and immigrants, but his attack on a Jewish place of worship is proof that Trump’s brand of veiled anti-Semitism is no less dangerous than the kind one finds on the front page of the Daily Stormer. That is what precisely makes it so sinister: the president knows exactly what he is doing. He is well aware of what kind of violence his remarks can inspire and fuel, yet he continues to make them anyway.

Source: Trump’s veiled anti-Semitism comes home to roost in Pittsburgh | +972 Magazine

A Coup in Asia’s Oldest Democracy: A Statement by Sri Lankan Students – Groundviews

Security forces outside the Petroleum Ministry after a shooting in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Sunday. Photo Credit Eranga Jayawardena/Associated Press 28th October 2018 We are a group of Sri Lankan stu…

Source: A Coup in Asia’s Oldest Democracy: A Statement by Sri Lankan Students – Groundviews

Opinion | When Hate Goes Mainstream – The New York Times

eeding this upsurge in hate is the toxic soup of anti-Semitism found online. According to a report that the A.D.L. released just a day before the Pittsburgh attack, far-right extremists and the so-called alt-right have stepped up their efforts on social media to attack and intimidate Jews, and especially Jewish journalists, in the run up to the midterm elections. These radicals engaged in “Twitter bombing” of Jews, barraging our community with an estimated five million highly politicized and anti-Semitic tweets per day. Social media creates its own realities for individuals, where people feed off the anonymity and tailor what they read and whom they speak with so that it can feel that everyone thinks and talks as you do. As much as this is distorting, it also can be empowering. Similarly emboldening is when anti-Semitism and hateful rhetoric is elevated or tolerated, either through appropriating the anti-Semites’ rhetoric outright, “dog-whistling” to them, or allowing their hate to go unanswered. And this is what has accelerated over the past few years. Anti-Semitism is being normalized in public life.