(UN News)* — Amid a rising tide of anti-Muslim hate, top UN officials condemned the scourge on Friday [] as the General Assembly adopted a resolution to push back against it during commemorations marking the International Day to Combat Islamophobia.
The new resolution, tabled by Pakistan, calls for, among other things, concerted action to fight ongoing violence against Muslims and requests the UN Secretary-General to appoint a special envoy to combat Islamophobia.
The world body created the International Day through a resolution adopted following attacks on two mosques Christchurch, New Zealand, that left 51 people dead on this day in 2019.
Prior to adopting the new resolution, by a vote of 113 in favour to none against, with 44 abstentions, a divided Assembly rejected by a close margin two amendments proposed by a group of European nations.
(UN News)* — The war in Gaza has left a staggering almost 23 millions tonnes of rubble and unexploded weapons scattered across the enclave, UN humanitarians said on Friday [].
In a fresh alert about the disastrous humanitarian emergency still unfolding in the enclave, the UN agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, said on Friday that it will “take years” before the Strip is made safe again.
The lives of more than two million Gazans have been devastated by daily Israeli bombardment, since Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel on 7 October, the UN agency noted in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 14 2024 (IPS)* – The Biden administration’s sheer hypocrisy is reflected in its policy of dropping food packages into a devastated Gaza, while at the same time, it continues to arm Israel with missiles and heavy artillery to kill Palestinian civilians suffering hunger and starvation.
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Much of the Gaza Strip lies in ruins. Credit: UNRWA/Ashraf Amra. February 2024
As US Congressman Ro Khanna (Democrat of California) said last week: “You can’t have a policy of giving aid (to Palestinians) and giving Israel the weapons to bomb the food trucks at the same time.”
Western capitals no longer treat Israel like a state, a political actor capable of slaughtering children, but rather as a sacred cause. So any opposition has to be a blasphemy.
7 Mar 2024 – If you read the establishment media, you might conclude that a serious battle is being waged by Israel and its most ardent supporters to tackle an apparent new wave of antisemitism in the West.
Jonathan Cook
In article after article, we are told how Israel and western Jewish leadership bodies are demanding our concern, and outrage, at a rise in anti-Jewish hate incidents.
Organisations such as the Community Security Trust in the UK and the Anti-Defamation League in the US produce lengthy reports on the relentless increase in antisemitism, especially since 7 October, and warn that action is urgently required.
Undoubtedly, there is a real threat of antisemitism and, as ever, it comes largely from the far right. Israel’s actions – and its false claim to be representing all Jews – only help to stoke it.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Mar 13 2024 (IPS)* – Much higher interest rates – due to Western central banks – are suffocating developing nations, especially the poorest, causing prolonged debt distress and economic stagnation.
US Fed-induced stagnation
After the greatest US Fed-led surge in international interest rates in more than four decades, developing countries spent $443.5 billion to service their external government and government-guaranteed debt in 2022.
Jomo Kwame Sundaram
The World Bank’s last International Debt Report showed most of the poorest countries in debt distress as borrowing costs began to surge.
The increase has cut into scarce fiscal resources, reducing social spending on health and education.
Debt-servicing costs for all developing countries in 2022 increased by 5% over 2021. The US Fed continued to raise interest rates through 2023, compounding debt distress, while the European Central Bank warns against ‘prematurely’ lowering interest rates.
(UN News)* — Any assault by Israeli forces on the densely populated city of Rafah where 1.5 million have sought shelter following mass displacement, will hugely increase the risk of atrocity crimes, the UN High Commissioner for Human rights warned on Friday[].
Spokesperson for Volker Türk in Geneva, Jeremy Laurence, told journalists that an already catastrophic situation could “slide deeper into the abyss” in the coming days if Israeli forces make their move on the southern border city, carrying through with their threat to invade, unless Hamas militants hand over remaining hostages by the start of Ramadan.
(UN News)* —Days from the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan and with no ceasefire agreement in sight for Gaza, UN humanitarians reiterated deep concerns on Thursday [] that a growing number of children are dying of starvation.
“The situation is appalling. Every minute, every hour, it is getting worse,” the UN agency for Palestinians, UNWRA, said in a tweet on X, formerly Twitter.
(UN News)* —The plan by Israel’s Government to build more than 3,400 housing units in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank was condemned on Thursday [] by the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.
(UN News)* —At the current rate of investment, more than 340 million women and girls will still live in extreme poverty by 2030, according to UN Women.
As the world celebrates International Women’s Day on 8 March by investing in women, we look at what needs to be done to improve the economic situation of women around the world.
“This year’s theme – invest in women – reminds us that ending the patriarchy requires money on the table,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement for the International Day.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar 6 2024 (IPS)* – Brazil is beginning to test the effectiveness of a gender pay equality law passed in July 2023, a new attempt to reduce inequality for women in the world of work. | En español
Women march for their rights on Mar. 8, 2023, in Brasília. Every International Women’s Day, Brazilian women take to the streets in towns and cities to protest against sexism, racism and other factors of gender inequality. CREDIT: Lula Marques / Agência Brasil
This Friday, Mar. 8, International Women’s Day, is the deadline for companies with more than 100 employees to publish their first half-yearly salary transparency reports, with comparative data on remuneration and the distribution of hierarchical functions between men and women, and between different ethnic groups, nationalities and ages.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 