NIGERIA ON STRIKE OVER MINIMUM WAGE

An indefinite strike led by two of Nigeria's biggest unions kicked off on Monday, paralysing parts of the country. Airports were closed, the main power grid shut down, and schools, courts and the Ministry of Finance closed.

Their demands: a higher minimum wage and a reversal of electricity-tariff hikes. The government calls them unreasonable, but the unions point to government extravagance, branding it an insult amid austerity among the population. What the unions are demanding, they say, is not even enough to feed a family.

This is taking place on the back of one year of neoliberal policies from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's administration. This has included currency devaluations and stripping fuel subsidies, which has made life unbearable for millions of Nigerians.

Do you support the strike action?

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African women find themselves at a high risk of violence.

London is no exception. Black people comprise 13.5 per cent of greater London and just 2.7 per cent of the city of London. And, yet, Black women make up 40 per cent to 60 per cent of femicide victims, depending on the year. These women are killed not only because of their race but also because of their gender.

While the report that we drew these statistics from looks at the United Kingdom, Black women experience similar forms of violence around the world.

Continued….. According to the 2019 Global Homicide Report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, African women face the highest risk of femicide. According to South African NGO Women for Change, South Africa’s femicide rate is five times greater than the global average.

Women and girls of Africa and the African diaspora must organise collectively and fight for change within a global Pan-African framework. The violence of patriarchy is tightly bound to the capitalist and imperialist global system that dominates the world today. From London to Johannesburg to Rio de Janeiro, Black women cannot put an end to the gender-based violence we face until we dismantle the root of this global system.

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HARVARD GRAD SHAMES UNI OVER GAZA

In case you missed it, here’s the moment a Harvard University student grabbed global headlines with a stunning speech. Shruthi Kumar slammed the elite college for barring 13 students from graduating after they’d taken part in pro-Palestinian protests on campus. She’d won a competition to give the commencement address and took her chance to veer off noscript and lay into university authorities.

Her May 23rd outburst got a standing ovation and more than 1,000 students walked out of the ceremony waving Palestinian flags as part of a planned demonstration.

Since April, protests against Israel’s destruction of Gaza have been seen at colleges across the US.

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WHITES ONLY TOWN IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA!

South Africans went to the polls on 29th May - and the results were damning for the ruling African National Congress party, which has led the country since the end of apartheid 30 years ago. For the first time since 1994, its first election, the ANC failed to secure at least 50% of the vote (the threshold needed to form a government).

The drop in ANC support is seen as a verdict on its governance of the nation. Many Black South Africans accuse the government of not doing enough to dismantle apartheid-era socio-economic structures and injustices. Nothing exemplifies this better than the existence of Orania, a Whites-only town in the country's Northern Cape province.

Continued….. The town has been a source of tension since its establishment in the early ‘90s during the last days of apartheid. The founders and the residents of the town claim its purpose is to preserve the culture and identity of the Afrikaner people, White South Africans of mostly Dutch, French and German descent. However, many people think the town and its policy of not allowing non-White residents is nothing but a racist endeavour to maintain some vestiges of the apartheid system. The residents of the town insist that its existence is protected by Article 235 of the South African constitution, which guarantees self-determination. However, many have argued that the cited part of the constitution does not in fact permit people of a particular religious or cultural group to live in a secluded place away from other South Africans. In 2000, the Northern Cape High Court adjourned ‘sine die’ (without a further hearing date) after Orania’s proponents challenged attempts by the government to incorporate the town into the nearby municipal authority. In 2019, Zamani Saul, the elected leader of the Northern Cape province, vowed to set up an inquiry to review the legality of Orania - supporters saying that South Africa cannot move on from apartheid as long as places like Orania are allowed to exist. African Stream was shown around Orania by some of the locals, who shared their opinions about their community with us. We’d love to hear yours as well in the comments

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‘AMERICA SHOULD BE NEXT ON ICC LIST’ - S.A. FOREIGN MINISTER

To a US official’s worry that the International Criminal Court (ICC) may prosecute US leaders, Naledi Pandor replied, ‘Of course!’

Speaking in Cape Town recently, South Africa’s foreign minister affirmed her country’s support for the ICC in its work to bring war criminals to justice.

Pandor said Pretoria would throw its weight behind ICC arrest warrants for US officials, if it came to that. She was alluding to US House of Congress Speaker Mike Johnson’s statement that Washington intends to punish the ICC for issuing arrest warrants against top Israeli officials as a way to shield US officials from prosecution.

On 20 May, the ICC’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, announced he filed applications to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Gaza Strip since 8 October.

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NYPD OFFICER DEFIANTLY WEARS ISRAELI FLAG PIN

One protester noticed something unusual about a New York police officer’s badge: A US-Israeli double flag pin.

This recording took place as the officer stood on a police line at a pro-Palestine demonstration on 31 May in New York’s borough of Brooklyn.

While it could not be confirmed, social media users have said a law prohibits New York police officers from wearing anything that may be perceived as political while on duty. 

Continued….. About 1,000 protesters had stormed the Brooklyn Museum that day to demand prominent institutions like the museum divest from Israel, which has k*lled more than 36,000 Palestinians with a military onslaught and escalated siege since 7 October. Some demonstrators had attempted to set up a tent encampment in the museum’s lobby while others unfurled a ‘Free Palestine: Divest from G*n*cide’ banner from the rooftop of the city’s second-largest museum. Recordings also showed police brutality against demonstrators, including Within Our Lifetime: United for Palestine organiser, Nerdeen Kiswani (@nerdeen_kiswani), whose hijab (Muslim head covering) came off while police tackled her to the ground.

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NASSER AND SIX-DAY WAR

Today marks the anniversary of the Six-Day War. On June 5th, 1967, Israel launched pre-emptive strikes against Egypt and its allies. Aided by the US, Israel went on to invade the Sinai Peninsular and colonise the West Bank, Golan heights and more.

At the time, Egypt was led by one of its most popular presidents, Gamal Abdel Nasser. He’d beaten the British, French and Israelis in 1956 Suez War and changed the landscape of his nation and the Arab world. He also pushed for more African integration with other leaders. But his socialist movement and defiance of the West ultimately came to a head.

Nasser remained resolute before and after defeat in the Six-Day War. Many believe if he hadn’t died in 1970, Egypt would still be fighting to free all the occupied lands. His successor, Anwar Sadat, did manage to liberate the Sinai Peninsula.

Continued…. However, his normalisation and peace deal with Israel after the Arab–Israeli War remains controversial topic among African and Arabs alike.

Listen to Nasser’s TV interview in 1967 where he spells out, in no uncertain terms, his take on Israel and the US, just before the conflict broke out.

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U.S. COURT CLEARS TECH GIANTS OF CONGO ABUSES

Not guilty.

That’s the verdict of a US federal appeals court in a case involving five tech companies accused of benefitting from child labour in Congolese mines. On 5th March, 2024, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia made a 3-0 decision in favour of (Google’s parent company) Alphabet, Microsoft, Dell, Tesla and Apple Inc. in a case filed by 16 former Congolese child miners and their guardians.

The plaintiffs accused the companies of “deliberately obscuring” their dependence on child labour, in effect abetting the exploitation of many children to ensure steady supplies of cobalt. Some of the complainants were the guardians of children who’d been killed in cobalt-mining operations.

Continued…. The court ruled that buying cobalt in the global supply chain did not amount to “participation in a venture,” and there was no proof that the tech giants had anything more than a buyer-seller relationship with suppliers or had the power to stop the use of child labour.

Cobalt is in high demand as competition for market leadership in Electric Vehicle sales kicks into high gear. Nearly two-thirds of the world’s cobalt is mined in DR Congo. The country has 2-million artisanal miners working under horrible conditions, according to DelveDatabase, an online database. Four critical minerals - copper, nickel, cobalt and lithium - will generate $16 trillion in the next 25 years, according to the IMF.

DR Congo’s vast wealth is the key reason for the country’s long history of exploitation and conflict - from Belgian King Leopold II running the country as his private estate to Western tech firms churning out high-end goods using Congolese minerals.

Help raise awareness of the exploitation of Congolese children by sharing this video widely.

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MANDELA’S GRANDSON CALLS FOR OLYMPICS TO BAN ISRAEL

Nelson Mandela’s grandson has pointed out the double standard in international sports. 

Nkosi Mandela, a former South African National Assembly member, called for the International Olympic Committee to ban Israel from the upcoming Paris Olympics during a 3 June press conference in Moscow.

As Russia faces sports bans over the Ukraine conflict, Israel continues to participate despite the International Court of Justice stating in its provisional ruling that it is ‘plausible’ that Tel Aviv is committing g*nocide in Gaza.

Mandela argued that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians mirrors apartheid and, thus, should not permitted on the global sports stage. Apartheid South Africa faced an Olympic ban from 1964 to 1988, and every major world sports federation barred the regime until apartheid ended in the early 1990s.

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U.S. HOUSE VOTES TO SANCTION ICC OVER ISRAEL WARRANTS

The US House of Representatives voted 247-155 on 4 June to sanction International Criminal Court (ICC) officials for seeking arrest warrants for top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Measures include visa restrictions and economic sanctions. House Speaker Mike Johnson said legal recourse against Israel sets a bad example and opens the door for countries that have faced US violence to consider similar charges.

In this video, @CodePink’s Medea Benjamin confronts Joe Wilson, a congressperson who has received $1 million from the arms industry and $300,000 from the Israeli lobby, according to @codepinkalert. His reason for voting against the ICC is that it ‘hates Jews.’ Anti-Semitism has been a go-to excuse, despite mounds of evidence that Israeli aggression over 76 years—marked by land theft, k*llings, kidnappings and apartheid—has caused instability and violence in Palestine.

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ANOTHER VIDEO OF IDF SOLDIERS MOCKING PALESTINIANS

Another shocking video has surfaced appearing to show Israeli troops mocking traumatised Palestinians.

According to @mintpress , the US news website, soldiers uploaded this video of themselves re-enacting people grieving loved ones in Gaza. They’ve covered their faces in dirt and mimic the pain and anguish being felt.

Offensive posts like this aren’t new.
At the start of the year, Israeli soldiers circulated videos of themselves gloating after they’d bombed Palestinian homes.

The death toll in Gaza currently stands at 36,550. Most of the dead are women and children and a further 80,000 have been injured since October 7th, 2023.

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SLOW BOMB SHIPMENTS TO ISRAEL CAUSING JOB LOSSES - U.S. REP

US Congressperson Ann Wagner said the state of Missouri's economy is at risk because the Biden administration is delivering weapons to Israel too slowly.

During a 22 May session of the US House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee, Wagner grilled US Secretary of State Antony Blinken about a shipment of 6,500 JDAMs (Joint Direct Attack Munitions). These items convert free-falling bombs into 'smart munitions.' So far, Israel has k*lled more than 36,000 Palestinians with foreign military aid. However, Wagner said the shipment delay dents Washington's credibility as the 'arsenal of democracy.'

Continued….. Since Israel's founding in 1948, the settler-colonial state has received $310 billion in US economic and military aid. Additionally, Washington has since 2019 provided $3.8 billion annually in financial assistance, which will end in 2028. Since the 7 October escalation in the 76-year Israeli occupation of Palestine, the US has provided at least $26 billion in funding and made more than 100 weapons deliveries to Tel Aviv, of which only two had congressional approval. 

Although US President Joe Biden has warned he would halt shipments if Israel went ahead with an offensive against the Gaza Strip's southern city of Rafah, he said the 26 May attack that k*lled about 45 Palestinian refugees did not cross his 'red line.'

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DECOLONISING MEDIA LANGUAGE ON PALESTINE

Subtle words and phrases used by the media can greatly influence your opinion of a story. And we want to draw your attention to a few that severely misrepresent what’s happening in Palestine.

In this episode of Africa in 90, @ahmed.ghoneim.official decolonises reports that happily call g*nocide a war, or colonialism a conflict.

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ZIONIST KILLS SOUTH AFRICAN OVER PRO-PALESTINE VIEWS

A self-declared former Zi*nist and allegedly an estranged adopted son of Julian Beare, a wealthy South African, appeared in court in the city of Durban, facing charges for k*lling a woman and injuring her husband and son. 

The 44-year-old suspect, Grayson Beare, said in this viral video that he attacked 46-year-old Halima Hoosen-Preston because she allegedly had laughed at his cousins in Israel being k*lled.

Authorities say the incident took place in Hoosen-Preston’s home in the early hours of 2 June. While the victim died on the scene, her husband and son remain in the hospital with serious injuries. Police had said they found a man with a blood-stained knife, but did not identify that person.

The victim’s 10-year-old daughter said she believed Beare attacked them for supporting Palestine. He had allegedly threatened to r*pe the girl.

Continued….. Beare appeared in court on Tuesday in ankle cuffs. The judge postponed the suspect’s court date to 11 June for a bail investigation and so Beare could undergo a mental examination. The state has said they will oppose any bail attempt. Reports have said Beare plans to plead not guilty.

According to news outlets, Beare’s estranged family released a statement expressing condolences to the victims and mentioning Beare’s years of treatment for mental illness and substance abuse.

Commenting on the incident, Africa4Palestine Communications and Campaigns Manager Alie Komape said attacks on pro-Palestine activists have increased across the country since the 7 October escalation in the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

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