The impact of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiment in the US | Israel War on Gaza

Following an inflammatory piece in the Wall Street Journal, Marc Lamont Hill talks to Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud.

Since the October 7th attacks and the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, there’s been an uptick in anti-Muslim and anti-Arab rhetoric and incidents across the United States.

A few weeks ago, an opinion piece published by the Wall Street Journal labelled the city of Dearborn, Michigan, home to one of the largest Arab and Muslim communities in the US,  as “America’s Jihad Capital”. The op-ed has left many of the city’s residents concerned that the piece plays into growing anti-Arab and Islamophobic sentiment.

Meanwhile, continuing US support for Israel has left many Muslim Americans feeling alienated by the current administration. With the 2024 election campaigns fully under way, uncertainty about the Arab-American support for US President Joe Biden continues to grow.

So what impact has Israel’s war on Gaza had on Muslim and Arab communities in the US? And how will it affect the upcoming Presidential election?

This week on UpFront, Marc Lamont Hill talks to Dearborn’s Mayor, Abdullah Hammoud, on the Arab and Muslims and their reaction to the rising tensions and the upcoming presidential elections.

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Former director of Israel’s Mossad on civilian deaths in Gaza | Israel War on Gaza

In this week’s episode, Marc Lamont Hill challenges Mossad’s former director, Efraim Halevy, on Israel’s war on Gaza.

As Israel’s war on Gaza enters its fifth month, over 27,500 people have been killed and 85 percent of the total population has been internally displaced. The war has also spurred regional tensions and threatened stability across the Middle East.

Efforts to halt the war have been in vain, with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who recently rejected a truce offer, saying there will be no end to the war until Israel wins.

So, when will the attacks and killings stop? And what is the Netanyahu government’s long-term strategy?

This week on UpFront, Marc Lamont Hill challenges Efraim Halevy, the former director of Mossad, Israel’s national intelligence agency.

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‘It’s immoral’: UN special rapporteur on UNRWA funding cuts | Israel War on Gaza

What impact will UNRWA funding cuts have on Gaza? Marc Lamont Hill speaks to UN Special Rapporteur, Francesca Albanese.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is worsening with more than 26,000 Gaza Palestinians killed and another 1.7 million displaced since October 7th.

At least a dozen countries have announced they will be suspending funds for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) after Israel accused 12 of the agency’s employees of participating in the October 7th attacks.

UNRWA has been a crucial provider of humanitarian aid in Gaza, so why, during a time of crisis and based only on allegations, have countries pulled their funding? What will happen to civilians who depend on the agency for survival?

On UpFront this week, Marc Lamont Hill talks to the UN’s special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, on the impending consequences of UNWRA’s funding cuts.

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Can South Africa’s genocide case at the ICJ stop Israel? | Israel War on Gaza

South Africa’s ambassador to the US talks to Marc Lamont Hill about the implications of the case and the court’s ruling.

Last week, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered provisional measures in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel. The ruling states that Israel must prevent and punish incitement of genocidal acts and allow civilians access to humanitarian aid.

The decision comes after nearly four months of war in Gaza, which has killed more than 26,000 people and caused a major humanitarian crisis.

While the interim ruling on South Africa’s case has been hailed as a legal win for Palestinians and their supporters, many are questioning what practical implications this will have on the war and for the people of Gaza. Will South Africa’s case help change the course of the conflict?

This week on UpFront, Marc Lamont Hill talks to South Africa’s ambassador to the United States, Ndumiso Ntshinga.

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Fighting for Space: The Low Earth Satellite Race | Al Jazeera

People & Power investigates the new satellite space race and its implications for the future.

Space may be infinite, but the Earth’s orbit is not. Since 2019, the number of satellites circling the planet has more than doubled. Companies like Elon Musk’s Starlink, OneWeb, Amazon’s Project Kuiper, and even entities as large as the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) have launched thousands of satellites in hopes of gaining an upper hand in the lucrative market of orbital space around the Earth.

The commercial possibilities of space offer the potential to empower the roughly three billion people who are currently without broadband internet and provide an invaluable tool for researchers. But there is potential peril embedded in the promise. Expanded internet access increases the surveillance capabilities of government and private entities. The military use of satellites has already resulted in sabre-rattling between world powers. Reflected light from satellites could change the way we see the stars in the night sky. And every new satellite increases the chance of a disastrous collision which could set off a chain of events that could render the Earth’s orbit unusable.

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Al Jazeera journalist Samir Sassi arrested in Tunis | Media News

Sassi was arrested after a raid on his family’s home on Wednesday night.

Al Jazeera journalist Samir Sassi has been arrested by Tunisian “anti-terrorism” officers at his home in Tunis.

According to Sassi’s wife, a squad of officers raided their home on Wednesday night, going through the family’s possessions and confiscating mobile phones from every member of the family as well as Sassi’s laptop and copies of novels he had written and published locally in Tunisia.

According to Al Jazeera Bureau Director Lotfi Hajji, a team of lawyers spent nearly 12 hours after Sassi’s arrest to try to ascertain where he had been taken.

Mysterious detention, worried family

“They went from one police station to another, one court to another, until finally they were able to find out that he had been taken to the anti-terrorism unit in Ariana,” Hajji said. Ariana is a province just north of the capital Tunis.

Thus far, Hajji added, the government has not provided any information regarding what Sassi might be charged with and it is not expected that there will be any such announcement before 48 hours have passed since his arrest.

Tunisia implements an automatic 48-hour period during which a detained person cannot access a lawyer if they have been arrested on “terrorism-related” charges.

Sassi’s wife and children are still shaken by the experience and are very worried about him, Hajji said. While Sassi is generally in good health, it is hard to guess what conditions he is being held in and what impact that will have on him physically, he said.

Sassi’s youngest child, Moayed el-Hak, is six years old and lives with chronic health issues. His three older siblings are his brother Mortadha, 19, sister Tuqa, 16, and brother Mohamed, 13.

Stifled freedoms

Freedom of the press has been dramatically curtailed in Tunisia, not least following the introduction of Decree 54 in September 2022.

While the law is ostensibly to target the spreading of false information online, it has been used to target journalists and online activists, with at least 20 journalists, critics and activists arrested under it so far, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

Al Jazeera’s bureau was closed by President Kais Saied’s government in July 2021 when Saied was engaged in a power grab at the end of which he was ruling the country by decree and had hobbled all its institutions.

Al Jazeera journalists are still accredited in Tunisia and continue their work.

Tunisia has come under increasing international pressure since its racially charged crackdown on the undocumented Black migrants who travel from across Africa to enter the country, as well as its increasingly authoritarian responses to most forms of criticism.

Currently, many opposition members, including Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of the self-styled Muslim Democrats, Ennahda, are in prison.

Most recently, police arrested three journalists – Khalifa Guesmi of Mosaique FM; Chadha Hadj Mbarek; then well-known radio journalist Zied el-Heni on December 28, charging him with insulting the Tunisian commerce minister, Kalthoum Ben Rejeb, on his radio programme, Emission Impossible, the same day.

The National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists had held a meeting to discuss how to help Guesmi, Mbarek and el-Heni on January 3, hours before Sassi’s home was stormed.

Responding to the current wave of arrests, Salsabil Chellali, HRW’s Tunisia director, told Al Jazeera: “The arrest of these journalists is an ominous start to 2024.

“We’re still finding out the details of Sassi’s arrest, but it’s clear that, this year, the threats against the free press and journalists are becoming action.”

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Secrets of the Clergy | Al Jazeera

Fault Lines examines how state laws in the US can lead to child sexual abuse in religious communities going unpunished.

Over the past 20 years, religious organisations from the Catholic Church to Jehovah’s Witnesses have had a reckoning with cases of child sexual abuse. Many states have tried to tackle the abuse by making clergy mandatory reporters of abuse to officials, just like doctors, therapists and teachers are. However, more than 30 states in the United States do not require church officials to report knowledge or allegations of child abuse if the information is deemed privileged, specifically coming from confession or counselling. It means that abuse can all too often be hidden – and survivors are left without recourse or justice.

Fault Lines investigates how state laws in the US can lead to child sexual abuse in religious communities going unpunished.

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A Crude Mistake? | Al Jazeera

People & Power investigates what major new oil projects in Uganda mean for the country, its people and the environment.

In this documentary, People & Power investigates what major new oil projects in Uganda mean for the country, its people and the environment.

As nations gather for COP28, one issue is expected to expose deep divisions between the Global North – largely responsible for the ravages of global warming – and the aspirations of developing countries in the South, who must deal with the consequences.

Can COP28 agree on a funding package to allow the South to both mitigate the damage and develop sustainably? And what could it mean for a country like Uganda, which is banking on major oil projects to create growth and prosperity, while facing criticism over the impact on the environment and human rights? Despite protests, drilling has commenced on two huge new oil fields on the banks of Lake Albert.

In 2023, final approval was granted for the construction of what will be the longest heated oil pipeline in the world, the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline. But will the people of Uganda gain any benefit from the controversial exploitation of their oil – and can any such profits be seen to balance out the environmental damage to the country?

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