After meeting Palestinian President Abbas, top US diplomat says Washington’s immediate priority is to defuse tensions
In rare — albeit implicit — criticism of Israel, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called out Israeli policies, including settlement expansion and home demolitions, as detrimental to the two-state solution.
Still, at a news conference at the end of his trip to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories on Tuesday, Blinken reasserted Washington’s “ironclad” commitment to Israel.
“The United States is committed to working toward our enduring goal of ensuring that Palestinians and Israelis enjoy equal measures of freedom, security, opportunity, justice and dignity,” Blinken said, stressing the need for preserving the “vision” of the two-state solution.
“The United States will continue to oppose anything that puts that goal further from reach, including but not limited to settlement expansion and the legalisation of illegal outposts, moves towards annexation of the West Bank, disruption to the historic status quo on Jerusalem’s holy sites, demolitions and evictions and incitement and acquiescence to violence.”
Rights advocates have long urged Washington to press Israel to end its abuses against Palestinians.
The US provides at least $3.8bn in military aid to Israel each year while pushing to block international efforts to denounce Israeli violations, including at the United Nations.
Successive US administrations, including that of President Joe Biden, have maintained unconditional support for Israel as they rhetorically back the two-state solution — a prospect that many experts say is no longer realistic because of Israel’s settlement policies.
“I reaffirmed to Israel and its people the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s security. The rising tide of violence has resulted in the loss of many innocent lives on both sides,” Blinken said on Tuesday.
Blinken met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in occupied Ramallah earlier in the day.
Last week, Israeli forces killed 10 Palestinians in the West Bank, including nine in the Jenin refugee camp. A day later, a Palestinian gunman fatally shot seven Israelis in occupied East Jerusalem.
Abbas’s office released a statement via the Palestinian news agency WAFA, blaming Israel for the recent crisis and accusing it of stifling the two-state solution and violating international law.
“This comes at a time when Israel continues — without any deterrent or accountability — its unilateral operations, including settlements, de-facto annexation, settler terrorism,” the Palestinian president said.
Abbas also decried that Israel was “violating the historic status quo and breaching the Al-Aqsa Mosque” and “withholding [Palestinian] funds, along with policies of ethnic cleansing and apartheid”.
Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians spiked earlier this month after an ultranationalist minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in a move condemned by Palestinian and Arab leaders as a “provocation”.
On Tuesday, Abbas implicitly hit out at US opposition to a Palestinian diplomatic push to seek accountability for Israeli abuses.
“The continued opposition to the efforts of the Palestinian people to defend their existence and their legitimate rights in international forums and courts, and to provide international protection for our people, is a policy that encourages the Israeli occupier to commit more crimes and violates international law,” Abbas said.
In his news conference, Blinken said Washington’s immediate priority is “restoring calm” and defusing tensions between Israelis and Palestinians before pushing towards a long-term settlement.
Blinken added that he asked members of his team to stay in the region to help with that aim.
Earlier in the day, he said the US is working to reopen a consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem – a Biden campaign pledge that remains unfulfilled amid Israeli opposition. Former President Donald Trump had shut down the US diplomatic mission for Palestinians as he all but severed ties with the Palestinian leadership.
On Tuesday, Blinken said Washington seeks to “rebuild” its relationship with Palestinians and the Palestinian Authoridy.
The top US diplomat did not mention Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, a US citizen who was fatally shot by Israeli forces last year, in public statements while in Israel.
Asked whether Blinken raised the killing of Abu Akleh with Israeli officials, a US Department of State spokesperson referred Al Jazeera to “public readouts” of the top diplomat’s meetings. Available readouts did not mention the slain journalist.
Blinken said on Tuesday that he discussed with Israeli officials deepening cooperation to counter Iran amid the stalling of diplomatic efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal that saw Tehran scale back its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions against its economy.
“We continued what has been an ongoing discussion of ways that we can continue to work together, collaborate — and not just us, with other countries — in countering the malicious actions that Iran is engaged in, whether it’s in this region or beyond,” Blinken told reporters.
Eldoret — A court in Eldoret has freed four suspects linked to the murder of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) activist Edwin Kiprotich Kiptoo alias Chiloba.
The four were released after the prosecution said it had no evidence to charge them, following 21 days of investigations that had been granted by the court.
Body builder Dennis Litali was completely freed while three other suspects will report to police every month for three month.
Senior Principal Richard Odenyo however directed that prime suspect Jacktone Odhiambo to face murder charges at the High Court.
Odhiambo was immediately taken to the High Court to face murder charges. Chiloba was found murdered and his body stashed in a metal box which was dumped at Hurlingham village near Kipkaren on January 3rd 2023.
As Pope Francis visits the DRC and South Sudan, we take a look at previous papal voyages to the continent.
Pope Francis is heading to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, his fifth trip to Africa since being elected head of the Catholic Church in 2013.
The 86-year-old had to postpone the trip last year after suffering knee problems. But he was determined to undertake the visit, which will bring to 10 the number of African countries he has visited.
We take a look at previous papal visits to the continent.
Pope Paul VI
1960: Uganda
In the 1960s, popes didn’t travel much outside Vatican City. Pope Paul VI bucked the trend and became the first reigning pope to visit Africa.
It was a major event when he visited Uganda in 1969. Among other activities, Paul VI made a pilgrimage to the Uganda Martyrs Shrine Namugongo. During his visit, twenty-two Catholic martyrs were canonised.
Pope Paul VI standing in an open car waves to the crowd jamming the road to welcome him to Africa, accompanied by Archbishop of Kampala Emmanuel Kiwanuka Nsubuga, right, in Kampala, Uganda [File:AP]
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II travelled widely throughout Africa during his more than 26-year pontificate. His first tour was in 1980.
1980: The Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast
During his first African tour, he visited six countries in 11 days. At the time the Democratic Republic of the Congo was known as Zaire and Burkina Faso was known as Upper Volta.
In Ouagadougou, the capital of Upper Volta, he made an appeal for international assistance for the country as it suffered a devastating drought. The donations received set in place the foundations for the establishment of the John Paul II Foundation for the Sahel in 1984.
During his trip, he reportedly criticised Marxism as an ideology and welcomed the religious enthusiasm he encountered.
On his last day, he also said: “There is a great temptation to demolish instead of building, to procure weapons at a great price for populations that need bread, to want to seize power – sometimes confronting one ethnic group with another … while the poor sigh for peace, succumb to the desire for profit benefitting a privileged class.”
Pope John Paul II arrives in Nairobi, Kenya, and celebrates a mass on May 6, 1980 [AP]
1982: Nigeria, Benin, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea
John Paul II’s second tour took place in February 1982, nine months after an attempt on his life.
In Benin where church-state relations were rocky, he listened as President Matthieu Kerekou delivered a lecture on ‘the socialist struggle’, according to the UPI news agency. He then celebrated mass for approximately 20,000 people at the stadium in Cotonou.
After five days in five Nigerian cities, including Lagos and Onitsha, the pope said the visit left him with “‘an unforgettable memory of a country which is a credit to Africa, to the world and to the church of Jesus Christ”.
In the northern city of Kaduna, he called for unity at a gathering of Muslim religious leaders, saying: “All of us, Christians and Muslims, live under the sun of the one merciful God.”
He also
Pope John Paul II waves to the crowds during a visit to Ibadan, Nigeria on February 15, 1982
1985: Togo, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Morocco
This third tour of Africa was in August 1985, and his 27th trip outside Italy.
During this tour, he dedicated the biggest church in the world, the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, the capital of Ivory Coast. During his visit to the country five years earlier, he had blessed the foundation stone as construction began.
In a homily in Lome, the Togolese capital, he said he wanted to preach a faith that was ”authentically Christian and authentically African” in response to the matter of Catholicism adapting to traditional African practices.
He ended the tour with a plea to Muslims and Christians to put aside their differences and work together to create a better world.
During this trip, Pope John Paul II arrived in the Kingdom of Lesotho before a bloody shootout between police and gunmen who hijacked a busload of nuns and children while demanding to see the pope.
The pope arrived in Lesotho eight hours behind schedule and just 20 minutes before the tense hostage drama was resolved. One hostage died and eleven others were wounded but the others were rescued.
According to reports, the religious leader condemned apartheid in South Africa during this trip – in Lesotho.
“A civilization of justice, peace and love mean recognition of the dignity of each human being,” he was quoted as saying. “It means each human being can exercise fundamental rights without restrictions or limitations supposedly justified by racial segregation or by social discrimination.”
He also visited eSwatini, then still known as Swaziland.
Pope John Paul II greets some 10,000 believers from a stage erected for him before giving a holy open-air mass at Maseru, Lesotho, September 15, 1988
1989: Madagascar, Reunion, Zambia, Malawi
This was his fifth trip to Africa as a Pope and his 41st trip outside Italy.
According to reports, his interest in Africa was driven largely by the rapid expansion of the Church during those years. Vatican sources said the church gained 2.5 million new adherents in Africa in 1989 alone.
There was also the beatification of Victoria Rasoamanarivo – a member of the Malagasy elite who encouraged Catholica communities at a time when Christianity was outlawed in the country – as a saint in Antananarivo, Madagascar.
In 1990, John Paul II made two trips to Africa. In January that year, he went to Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Chad.
In September, he travelled to Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and Ivory Coast.
In Tanzania, where one million of its 24 million people were living with AIDS, the pope stressed the need for a ”supreme effort of cooperation among governments as well as the scientific and medical communities”.
1992: Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Angola
This was his 8th tour of Africa.
His visit to Angola coincided with the 500th anniversary of the coming of Christianity to the Central African country.
Pope John Paul II arrives at Dakar Airport in Senegal, the first stop of his tour, in February 1992. He is received by Muslim Senegalese President Abdou Diouf, centre, and his Catholic wife, Elisabeth [AP]
1993: Benin, Uganda, Sudan
During his 9th tour to Africa, John Paul II said the Vatican would strongly resist the imposition of Islamic law on Christians in Sudan.
“You absolutely cannot impose this law on those of other faiths who are Christian,” the 72-year-old Pope told reporters, according to a report by the New York Times.
“The role of the church, the Holy See and the bishops is to remind leaders of Muslim countries that Islamic law can be applied only to the Muslim faithful,” he said.
1995: Cameroon, South Africa, Kenya
Catholics in South Africa will long remember the historic visit by Pope John Paul II.
A longstanding opponent of apartheid, the pope refused several invitations to visit South Africa. But this time, he was received by the late President Nelson Mandela, the country’s first Black president, who praised his stand against apartheid.
“Today my journey brings me to a new South Africa, a ‘rainbow nation,’ indicating the diversity of races, ethnic groups, languages and culture which characterise it,” the pope said.
1998: Nigeria
This was his last trip to sub-Saharan Africa at the age of 77.
During his trip, he encouraged human rights within the country which was then under the authoritarian rule of the late Sani Abacha.
“Respect for every human person, for his dignity and rights, must ever be the inspiration and guiding principle behind your efforts to increase democracy and strengthen the social fabric of your country,” he said in a mass in Abuja.
“The dignity of every human being, his inalienable fundamental rights, the inviolability of life, freedom and justice, the sense of solidarity and the rejection of discrimination: these must be the building blocks of a new and better Nigeria,” he added.
Pope John Paul II waves to the crowd on March 23 before the start of a mass in the village of Kubwa on the outskirts of the capital Abuja [File: Reuters]
2000: Egypt
This trip was his first visit to the country.
The pope was greeted by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak with a handshake at the foot of the plane’s stairs as he stepped onto the tarmac at Cairo International Airport.
A band played the processional from Verdi’s Aida, an opera associated with Egypt, as Mubarak then escorted the pope, leaning on a walking stick, to stand before the flags of Egypt and the Vatican.
“We never could have imagined that we would have the pope under our roof,″ said Samir Yassa, who designed the New Cathedral of Our Lady of Egypt where the pope met with Orthodox and Coptic clergymen in a display of their shared roots. “A brother is returning to a land where Christ walked.″
Pope John Paul II pauses to make a remark to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during arrival ceremonies in Cairo on February 24, 2000
Pope Benedict XVI
2009: Cameroon, Angola
On Pope Benedict’s first trip to Africa, he urged Angolans, still recovering from nearly three decades of civil war in their oil-rich country, to build peace and understanding between peoples.
“Dear Angolans, your land is abundant, and your nation is mighty. Make use of these advantages to build peace and understanding between peoples,” the pope said.
“To this end, I ask you: do not yield to the law of the strongest! God has enabled human beings to fly, over and above their natural tendencies, on the wings of reason and faith.”
The Pope’s rejection of the use of condoms in the fight against HIV/AIDS sparked controversy during this trip.
2011: Benin
His last tour to Africa was a three-day visit to Benin at a time when the Catholic Church was growing faster than on any other continent.
At the end of 2011, the Catholic population worldwide reached 1.2 billion. According to America Magazine, there was a 4.1 percent increase in Catholics in Africa, twice the change in Asia, the second fastest-growing Catholic population globally.
Pope Benedict XVI, right, kisses a child during his visit to the foyer Paix et Joie at the St Rita Church in Cotonou, Benin
Pope Francis
2015: Kenya, Uganda and Central African Republic
The Argentine-born pontiff made his first trip to Africa in November 2015, with a six-day visit to Kenya, Uganda and Central African Republic (CAR).
He brought with him a message of peace, social justice and dialogue with Islam on a trip that included a visit to a Nairobi slum and a mosque in the CAR capital Bangui.
In CAR, he urged warring factors to lay down their weapons and hailed Africa as “the continent of hope”.
2017: Egypt
In April 2017, Pope Francis paid a two-day visit to Cairo in support of the largest Christian community in the Middle East, the Coptic minority in Egypt, who have been subject to marginalisation and deadly attacks for years.
He also reached out to Islamic leaders, visiting Al Azhar, the centre of Sunni Muslim learning presided over by its grand imam, Ahmed al-Tayeb – one of Islam’s leading religious authorities.
2019: Morocco
At the invitation of King Mohammed VI, Francis visited the North African country of Morocco in March 2019.
His trip was marked by calls for religious tolerance, freedom of religion and also respect for the rights of refugees and migrants.
He also warned the Christian faithful against trying to convert others, preaching “no proselytism” ahead of a mass for thousands of Catholics in Rabat.
2019: Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritius
In September 2019, the pope visited Mozambique and the Indian Ocean nations of Madagascar and Mauritius, again calling for peace and social justice.
In Madagascar, 30 years after the last papal visit made by John Paul II, Francis made an impassioned plea for the environmental protection of the island known for its immense diversity of flora and fauna.
A court in the United States has awarded the family of Ugandan activist Esther Nakajjigo, 25 US$ 10.5 million( about shs40billion) after she died from injuries caused by a falling unsecured metal gate that pierced through her car and severed her head, killed her instantly in 2020.
Nakajjigo’s budding career as a celebrated human rights activist a was cut short in 2020 while on a trip with her husband Lodovic Michaud to Utah’s Arches National Park when she was decapitated by a metal gate that swung into the couple’s car as they exited the park.
The family sued the US government for compensation.
Whereas in their suit, the family sought $140 million in damages over negligence by the national park, the ruling by Federal US judge, Bruce S. Jerkins in Salt City indicated that the court had awarded $9.5 million to Nakajiggo’s husband and $ 1 million to Nakajiggo’s parents – $700,000 to her mother and $350,000 to her father.
The federal judge described the case as unusual since neither the victim nor complainants were US citizens.
“The husband is a French citizen, employed in and a resident of the United States. The parents are citizens of Uganda, a poor and heavily populated African nation, formerly part of the British empire. The deceased, Esther Nakajjigo was a citizen of Uganda, but at the time of her death, a United States resident, newly married to Plaintiff Ludovic Michaud,” Jerkins said.
“What remained of her(Nakajjigo) in the front seat and floor of the car was gruesome and overwhelmingly shocking.”
Cabinet Expected to Address Calls for State of Disaster for Load Shedding
Declaring a national State of Disaster to address the country’s worsening power crisis is expected to be one of the key items on the agenda when President Cyril Ramaphosa convenes his Cabinet for a lekgotla (a meeting of leaders) today, February 1, 2023, EWN reports. The State of Disaster will likely fast-track government actions to end load shedding which has intensified across the country.
Black Families Return After Forced Removal From Simon’s Town 60 Years Ago
Sixty years after about 1,500 residents from a small community on the mountain slopes overlooking False Bay were forcibly removed by the apartheid government enforcing the Group Areas Act, just over 100 families will return to Simon’s Town. More than 700 land claimants from the small community of Luyolo who were resettled in the Gugulethu township, initially lodged their land restitution claims in the early 1990s. Many chose to take a cash pay-out of R22,000 after becoming disillusioned with the land claims process.
Tshwane Residents Plead for Water, Electricity
Residents in the City of Tshwane are pleading for clean running water and for the lights to stay on in their neighbourhoods, EWN reports. The plea comes as water levels at some of the largest reservoirs in the capital continued to decline. A recent heatwave and rampant power cuts has led to a strain on infrastructure Rand Water reports.
Hundreds of thousands of teachers are among those who walked off to demand wages that keep pace with inflation.
Up to half a million British teachers, civil servants, train drivers, and university lecturers have walked out over pay and conditions in the largest coordinated strike action in a generation, as wages fail to keep pace with soaring inflation.
About 300,000 on strike on Wednesday are teachers, according to the Trades Union Congress (TUC).
Across schools in England and Wales, teachers formed picket lines as they called for higher salaries in demonstrations which have divided public opinion.
Some locals in cars beeped their horns and raised a fist in solidarity as they drove past, while others walking by, who disagreed with the industrial action, questioned teachers on their motives.
Home-schooling and home-working reminiscent of COVID lockdowns returned to many households, as school gates remained closed and most trains were halted.
According to a YouGov poll late last year, 59 percent were in favour of the education sector striking.
The National Education Union said some 23,000 schools will be affected on Wednesday, with an estimated 85 percent fully or partially closed.
A sign held up by a striking teacher at a demonstration in Manchester, England [Jon Super/AP Photo]
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who crossed the picket lines to join striking workers in London, called for a “fairer taxation system”.
“This country cannot afford the levels of inequality we have,” Corbyn told Al Jazeera.
“There are more billionaires in Britain than ever before, many people, billionaires and millionaires, made a lot of money during COVID-19 they haven’t been taxed for it,” he added.
Jack, a teacher who was on strike, told Al Jazeera that it was “almost impossible” to help every child that needs support under current conditions.
“Teachers are not just teachers. They are social workers, they are nurses, they are all sorts of different professions within the job itself – and on an emotional side, it’s not sustainable for teaching long term,” Jack said.
Striking workers attend a march in London [Toby Melville/Reuters]
Others also on strike range from museum workers and London bus drivers to coastguards and border officials manning passport control booths at airports.
More action, including by nurses and ambulance workers, is planned for the coming days and weeks.
Union bosses say that despite some pay rises – such as a 5 percent offer the government proposed to teachers – wages in the public sector have failed to keep up with skyrocketing prices, effectively meaning workers have been taking a pay cut.
The TUC says the average public sector worker is 203 pounds ($250) a month worse off compared with 2010, once inflation has been taken into account.
Al Jazeera’s Neave Barker, reporting from Parliament, said teachers were demanding significant pay increases to beat the “soaring levels of inflation that currently stand at around 10.5 percent, the highest among the G7 group of advanced economies”.
“Many teachers are saying, ‘Look we cannot afford 2023 prices given that many of us still earning what we were earning a decade ago’,” he said.
Striking teachers sit on a train at Hammersmith to travel to a protest march in London, Britain
On Monday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told public health workers he met on a visit: “I would love, nothing more would give me more pleasure than, to wave a magic wand and have all of you paid lots more.”
“An important part of us getting a grip on inflation and halving it is making sure the government’s responsible with its borrowing, because if that gets out of control that makes it worse and it’s about making pay settlements reasonable and fair.”
Gillian Keegan, education minister, said on Wednesday that the government’s response was unchanged and that higher wage increases would fuel inflation further.
Mary Bousted, head of the National Education Union, gave the government a deadline.
Almost 300,000 teachers are striking on Wednesday
“We want this to be a one-day strike and what I would say to the government is that you have now got 27 days until the next strike in England, which is a regional strike in the northwest. That’s 27 days where you can sit down and really negotiate with us, we’re ready to do that,” Bousted told Sky News.
“We have to find a way to address the workforce crisis in our schools, we have to find a way of a long-term correction for teachers’ pay which has declined so drastically over the last 12 years, to a much worse extent than nearly any other profession.”
