APPLE SQUEEZED OVER CONGO MINERALS

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has hired lawyers to press Apple about its supply chain after evidence emerged that the tech giant could be sourcing minerals from conflict areas in the east of the country. It’s alleged that people who worked on Apple’s supply-chain verification in Congo had their contracts terminated after they raised concerns over ’blood’ minerals.

On April 22nd, 2024, the group of lawyers gave Apple CEO Tim Cook and the company’s French subsidiaries three weeks to respond to queries about the matter. Apple has neither acknowledged receipt of, nor responded to the queries. It has previously said it does not directly buy, procure or source primary minerals.

Rebels from the M23 rebel group captured DRC’s Rubaya town, a key mining base for coltan used in smartphones and other appliances. UN reports have said M23 is supported by Rwanda.

Do you have an iPhone?

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The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has today, 24 May, ordered Israel to halt a military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah that began on 6 May.

ICJ judges ruled 13-2 in favour of an urgent request South Africa lodged on 10 May, asking the court to stop the offensive as it would further endanger more than 1.4 million Palestinians taking refuge in the city.

Uganda’s Julia Sebutinde and Israel’s Aharon Barak dissented, as they had done with most decisions in the 26 January provisional ruling.

The court also said today that Tel Aviv’s claim that it had taken enough measures to avoid civilian casualties was unsatisfactory. Between 26 January and today, Israel has k*lled more than 9,000 Palestinians, bringing the death total to over 35,000. The majority are women and children.

Continued….. In their application, South African lawyers stated, ‘The very manner in which Israel is pursuing its military operations in Rafah, and elsewhere in Gaza, is itself g*n*cidal.’

The court has also ordered Israel to allow humanitarian aid through the Rafah border crossing and fact-finding missions into the Gaza Strip. The court called for Israel to provide a report showing adherence to these measures within a month.

The urgent request is an addition to South Africa’s case against Israel, charging it with violating the 1948 UN G*n*cide Convention in its military assault and escalated siege on Gaza.

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U.S. NETWORKS CUT OFF RUTO SPEECH

Kenya’s President Ruto failed to wow the US media during his state visit to Washington. Two networks cut away from the African leader as he took to the podium to speak after President Biden. And from this clip, it does look like Fox News and MSNBC couldn’t pull the plug quick enough.

To be fair, CNN did broadcast the address given by Ruto who’s the first African leader to make a state visit to Washington in 16 years. He says he wants to strengthen ties with the US, which will designate Nairobi a major non-NATO ally. Ruto also needs deals to help bolster his country’s economy hit by massive inflation and tax hikes. Although he didn’t do himself any favours by flying to the US in a private jet costing his taxpayers $1.5m. A move that’s sparked plenty of criticism back home. So, loads to talk about, but obviously not enough for some networks!

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KENYA BECOMES A MAJOR NON-NATO ALLY

Kenya has moved closer to NATO after U.S. President Biden said he’s working with Congress to designate the East African country a non-NATO ally. It would make Kenya the fourth African country to have the status, after Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. While some see it as a win for President Ruto, others say the Kenyan leader is abandoning a non-alignment policy favoured by previous administrations. It also represents a growing security divide in Africa, with Sahelian states going the other way and ditching Washington’s military deals and bases. Something that concerns the US amid growing Russian and Chinese influence on the continent.

Ruto’s three-day US state visit also spotlights the deployment of 1,000 Kenyan police to Haiti. They’ll form part of a Washington-funded, UN-backed multinational force to ‘restore order’ on the Caribbean island. The U.S. has pledged $200m for the mission, but it’s been delayed amid last-minute legal challenges in Kenya.

SUDAN: WHERE IS OUR FAULT IN THIS WAR?

Here’s a reminder that war is raging in Sudan and doing untold damage to civilians. Sudanese are furious with the two generals inflicting hostilities on their beautiful land and its innocent people.

These are Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) and Abdel Fattah al-Burahn - and the man in this clip says God will judge them.

Do you think they will be punished for their crime?

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The top picture is of nine-year-old Robby Novak - famous for playing Kid President in a YouTube series - looking up at then-president Barrack Obama. Below, sporting a far more childish grin, is Kenya’s William Ruto, who’s currently in the States - and who’s been allowed to sit on US president Joe Biden’s chair in the Oval Office. Ruto’s been a good boy. He’s signed up to be imperial America’s Blackface in Haiti by agreeing to send Kenyan police to the troubled island nation (the US knows sending its own men would be a bad look). If you ask us, young Novak looks far more composed and in control. Perhaps he should lead Kenya?

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NYPD ATTACKS PRO-PALESTINE PROTESTERS

This @statuscoup video shows New York Police Department (NYPD) officers assaulting pro-Palestine supporters in Brooklyn during an 18 May march marking the 76th anniversary of the Nakba, the Arabic word describing when Israeli settlers expelled about 750,000 Palestinians after establishing the state of Israel with the UK’s support.

The video shows NYPD officers shoving women, confiscating flags, slamming people onto concrete to arrest them, and punching a man, bloodying his face while handcuffing him. They are also seen in the video harassing and grabbing journalists covering what appeared to be a peaceful procession through the streets of Bay Ridge, a Brooklyn neighbourhood with a large Arab population, including Palestinians.

Continued….. This is not the first time the NYPD has violently repressed pro-Palestine demonstrations. Other street protests over several months have met police violence. Plus, the student encampment a few miles north at Columbia University experienced a similar fate in recent weeks as police arrested more than 200 people while disbanding students’ tents on campus. US police agencies have arrested more than 2,900 students throughout the United States during more than 60 university campus protests, according to a New York Times tally. 

However, many forms of pro-Palestine actions continue from New York City to San Francisco, as the US population demands its government stop shipping arms and funding Israel’s military onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

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HAITIANS IN U.S. PROTEST KENYA’S RUTO

A group of Haitians called Kenyan President William Ruto a ‘slave’ on 23 May for trying to push through a US-backed and -funded deployment of Kenyan police officers to the Caribbean state that Western enslavement, occupation and interference has ravaged for centuries.

Kenyan critics’ litigation to stop the government’s plan has delayed Ruto’s effort to deploy police. Haitians, too, have said they don’t want foreign police or military on their soil, as past occupations have brought deaths, sexual assaults and diseases. Further, many have questioned how Haiti can agree to a deployment without a working national assembly.

This protest in Washington occurred during Ruto’s state visit to the United States

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AFRICAN LIBERATION DAY

Happy African Liberation Day! It’s an annual call to action, a time to renew our commitments to the struggle for liberation and unity. Some people wrongly think it celebrates the founding of the African Union. It was actually started in support of African national liberation struggles against settler or Portuguese colonialism in the 1960s and 1970s. And it still has huge relevance today. Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have formed the Alliance of Sahel States to push back against French neocolonialism. Resource-rich DRC, Sudan and the diaspora in Haiti are other examples where Africans continue to be oppressed.

While some refer to it as ‘Africa Day’, we’ll refer to the full noscript until the continent has freed itself from imperialism. To learn more about African Liberation Day or to see if there is an event near you, check out africanliberationday.net.

Are you observing African Liberation Day this year? Let us know how in the comments.

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FIFA WEIGHS ISRAEL BAN

A footballing ban against Israel is on the cards. World governing body FIFA is seeking legal advice over a Palestinian request to bar Israeli teams from international matches. FIFA members will decide what action to take at an extraordinary council meeting to be held within two months.
It’s hard to imagine why they wouldn’t sanction Israel. Palestinian football chiefs say nearly 200 Palestinian players are among the thousands dead following Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. Sporting infrastructure in the Strip has been obliterated. Even before the massacre, Palestinian players have faced years of discrimination and travel restrictions by Tel Aviv. However, up until now, FIFA has failed to act. Surely, isn't this the moment to take a stand?

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WALTER RODNEY’S AFRICAN LIBERATION DAY SPEECH

At an African Liberation Day event held in San Francisco in 1972, the great Pan-African Marxist historian Walter Rodney delivered a clear message to his African brothers and sisters. The Guyanese-born author of ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa’ makes it clear: Africans of the diaspora are indeed Africans!

While Rodney was born in the Caribbean and educated in Jamaica and the United Kingdom, he identified strongly with Africa and chose to spend a formative part of his career in Tanzania. His scholarship has long served as a bridge linking Mama Africa to her scattered children across the world.

Continued….. African Liberation Day was the perfect occasion for him to diffuse his message and connect with the people. The event was founded in 1963 to support the ongoing armed national liberation struggles unfolding at that time across southern Africa, as well as in Guinea-Bissau. For decades, African Liberation Day has served as an occasion to show pride in African heritage and the fruits of the African liberation struggle.

Have you read Rodney?

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF PAN-AFRICAN CONGRESSES

The historic struggle to liberate and unify the African continent dates much further back than many people may realise.

In this 1996 video clip, @aaprpinternational co-founder Kwame Ture traces the history of Pan-African conferences and congresses, starting in 1900. The foundation for the movement had already been laid by the end of the 19th century, when the term ‘Pan-Africanism’ was first coined. As early as 1887, the Kansas African Emigration Association stated its goal of establishing the ‘United States of Africa for the elevation of the African.’

Continued….. According to Ture of @aaprp, the most important of the congresses was the fifth held in 1945 in Manchester, United Kingdom. For the first time, African workers and students participated alongside intellectuals. They hailed from various parts of Africa as well as the diaspora. The congress impacted Kwame Nkrumah, who returned to his native Ghana to lead his country to independence. Ghana then became a symbol and hub for the global Pan-African struggle.

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UNITE OR PERISH: THE BATTLE FOR AFRICA

Today is African Liberation Day! And it is also the anniversary of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the precursor to the modern African Union. So you might think the former is somehow connected to the latter - correct, but it’s no mere celebration of the founding…

The OAU came about as a form of compromise between two rival factions in the early days of African flag independence. For the progressive Casablanca Group, Africa’s destiny lay in total liberation and unification under a socialist economy.

Continued….. But the more conservative Monrovia Group fiercely guarded their micro-national sovereignty, not wanting to give up independence for the states carved out by European colonialism. They advocated for capitalism and close relationships with European states.

While the Organisation of African Unity represented the looser and vaguer form of unity advocated for by the Monrovia Group, it still issued some radical resolutions - including the founding of African Liberation Day, which was meant as a show of support for the ongoing national liberation struggles unfolding in Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe at the time. The Liberation Committee within the OAU was the most militant wing of the organisation as it lent support to armed anti-colonial struggles in multiple African countries.

However, once that phase of the struggle had ended, the OAU and later the African Union ended up largely submitting to the conservative and neo-colonial orientation of the Monrovia Group. African states continue to struggle with economic development, a just distribution of resources and the safety and security of their people - all issues that could be addressed through a unified Pan-African state. For this reason, Pan-Africanists continue to recognise African Liberation Day and call for the complete liberation and unification of the continent.

How are you marking the occasion?

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LONGTIME DIASPORA ACTIVIST SEEKS PAN-AFRICAN UNITY IN BURKINA FASO

New Afrikan organiser Siphiwe Baleka (@siphiwebaleka) recently visited the Thomas Sankara Centre (@burkinabooks) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, seeking to connect the struggle of African peoples in the diaspora with the fight waged on the continent.

He used his family’s history starting from the European Slave Trade to bridge Africa and the Americas.

Baleka travelled to Burkina Faso with the African Diaspora Development Institute (ADDI), meeting with President Ibrahim Traoré to discuss the importance of defending Africans in the diaspora, supporting a potential reparations case at the International Court of Justice, and granting diaspora Africans citizenship in Burkina Faso. Former African Union Permanent Representative to the United States Arikana Chihombori-Quao is ADDI’s founder and president.

Continued…. Baleka identifies as a New Afrikan instead of as ‘Black American’ or ‘African American.’ The former term describes a descendant of enslaved Africans in the United States seeking to reclaim a historical land base in the US South, where their ancestors were forced into labour. The term signifies a collective identity rooted in shared experiences, acknowledging the unique history, culture, and struggles. Some have noted the contradiction in claiming land unceded by the region’s indigenous peoples.

Baleka also represented the Pan African Federalist Movement (PAFM) West Africa Region, of which he is Head of Research and Strategy. The organisation seeks to create a federal ‘United African States’ to benefit the diaspora, potentially granting citizenship in a new Pan-African superstate.

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