Anti-Semitism and safety fears surge among US Jews, survey finds | Religion News

Nearly two-thirds of American Jews feel less secure in the United States than they did a year ago, according to a new national survey.

The American Jewish Committee (AJC), a prominent advocacy organisation, conducted the survey just as Israel’s war on Gaza began on October 7. The number of American Jews who say they feel less secure in the US jumped 22 percent since last year’s survey.

“This year’s study shows us very clearly that anti-Semitism that was really just a simmering flame is now, especially since October 7, a five-alarm fire,” Ted Deutch, CEO of AJC, told The Associated Press news agency.

The survey released on Tuesday found one-quarter of American Jews said they have been the target of anti-Semitism in the past year. Almost half of American Jews responding to the survey said they had altered their behaviour during the past year to avoid anti-Semitism – changing what they wore, what they posted online or where they went so other people would not know they were Jewish.

“I live in a rural area and my home is most likely the only Jewish home in a 30-mile radius,” a 62-year-old woman was quoted as saying in the survey report. “We don’t tell people and outside the home do not show that we are Jewish.”

That reticence is “an enormous challenge for the Jewish community,” Deutch said. “But it really represents a challenge for all of our society.”

The survey comes as Jewish and Muslim civil rights and advocacy groups have reported large increases in harassment, bias and physical attacks against their members in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.

Brian Levin, founding director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, said he has seen a surge in anti-Jewish and Islamophobic internet searches since last year, including “eliminationist” and homicidal language.

Levin, who is not affiliated with the AJC survey, said anti-Jewish hate crimes hit a record high last year in several big cities. “As Jews are understandably feeling more insecure, police and social science data back up why,” he said.

The AJC began its survey five years ago, after the Tree of Life synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh, the deadliest anti-Semitic attack on American soil. Since then, most Jews and more than half of Americans say they think anti-Semitism has increased, according to the AJC.

This year’s primary survey collected data from 1,528 Jewish adults in the US, while its companion survey collected data from 1,223 American adults. The surveys, conducted by the polling firm SSRS, had margins of error of 3.5 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively.

Jews aged between 18 and 29 were more likely to report being the victim of anti-Semitism. As universities grapple with anti-Semitism, about a quarter of Jewish college students or recent graduates reported hiding their Jewish identity or refraining from speaking about Israel on campus.

Most American Jews (85 percent) say the statement “Israel has no right to exist” is anti-Semitic. A 52-year-old male respondent is cited in the report as saying, “Criticising Israel’s political policies [ex: treatment of non-Jews in the country, Palestinians for example] is not anti-Semitic. Saying that Israel should not exist, as a result of these practices, is anti-Semitic.”

Most Americans who witnessed anti-Semitism saw it online or on social media, but only 5 percent said they reported it. More than one in five American Jews said an online incident made them feel physically threatened.

“So it’s not just some of the memes or jokes,” said Holly Huffnagle, the AJC’s US director for combatting anti-Semitism. “This is real, vitriolic anti-Semitism that’s affecting them, that’s making them feel physically unsafe.”

There is a growing awareness of anti-Semitism. Most American Jews and three-fourths of the general public now believe anti-Semitism is a problem in the US, according to the AJC. That number increases for non-Jews who know someone who is Jewish. About 90 percent of Americans said everyone is responsible for fighting anti-Semitism.

“That’s a good news piece,” Huffnagle said. “I think the question is, ‘How do we empower the general public who sees the problem now in ways they hadn’t four years ago?’”

Last year, the Biden administration released a national strategy to combat anti-Semitism, and the AJC is encouraging further action on those recommendations. Deutch, a former Democratic member of Congress, said they will keep working with the government to implement the national strategy.

“But ultimately,” Deutch said, “we’re really looking to our friends, our allies in other faith communities, in our places of work, in our schools, to stand with us, to understand how we feel and to work together to fight anti-Semitism and in turn to fight hatred of all kinds.”

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

US House speaker blasts Israel, Ukraine aid package as Senate advances bill | Russia-Ukraine war News

Republican Mike Johnson says the bill does not address the ‘most pressing’ issue of security at the US-Mexico border.

United States House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson has cast doubt on the fate of a $95.3bn aid package for countries including Ukraine and Israel as the Senate voted to advance the legislation aimed at reassuring Washington’s allies.

Johnson, the top Republican in the House, said the Senate had “failed to meet the moment” by not addressing security on the US-Mexico border, which he described as the “most pressing issue facing our country”.

“The mandate of national security supplemental legislation was to secure America’s own border before sending additional foreign aid around the world,” Johnson said in a statement on Monday. “It is what the American people demand and deserve.”

Johnson previously said that an earlier version of the bill would be “dead on arrival” as curbs it placed on unauthorised migration did not go far enough.

Last week, a majority of Senate Republicans voted to kill a bipartisan bill that included the most comprehensive immigration reforms in years amid opposition by former President Donald Trump, who has led his party to adopt more sceptical stances towards immigration and intervention overseas.

After stripping out the immigration provisions from the legislation, the Democratic-led Senate on Monday voted 66-33 to bring the military aid package closer to a final vote that could come as soon as Wednesday.

Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said the deal reflected “our security, our values, our democracy” and would be a “down payment for the survival of Western democracy and the survival of Western values”.

“The entire world is going to remember what the Senate does in the next few days,” Schumer said.

US President Joe Biden has urged Congress to quickly approve additional military aid for Ukraine, Israel and Asia Pacific allies including Taiwan.

Conservative Republicans in the House have resisted Biden’s calls, insisting on measures to tackle “illegal” immigration at the southern border and questioning the need to continue support for Ukraine.

Senator JD Vance, an Ohio Republican, on Monday blasted the push to support Ukraine as a “fetish”.

“There are some Republicans for whom Ukraine is the most important issue confronting the country,” Vance said in an interview with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon.

“And I just say, even if you’re pro Ukraine funding, and obviously I’m not, don’t we have 10 more important issues confronting this nation, between the border problem, the debt problem? Why are we so obsessed with this?”

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Biden’s frustrations with Netanyahu ‘meaningless’ without action: Analysts | Israel War on Gaza News

Joe Biden is getting frustrated with Israel.

That is what unnamed sources have been telling media outlets in the United States, as the president faces widespread condemnation over his support for Israel’s war in Gaza.

But as Israel presses on with its military campaign, Biden is nearing “a breach” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, The Washington Post said on Sunday. And he has increasingly voiced anger towards the far-right Israeli leader, even calling him an a**hole on a few recent occasions, NBC News reported on Monday morning.

Yet, despite Biden’s supposed frustrations, analysts say the US president’s comments behind closed doors mean little if he remains unwilling to exert pressure on Israel to end its deadly military offensive in Gaza.

“For anyone with even a shred of conscience, Israel’s war should elicit frustration and anger. But in Biden’s case, it has not yet forced him to issue an absolutely necessary call for a ceasefire that can spare Palestinian lives,” said Imad Harb, the director of research and analysis at the Arab Cente Washington DC.

“Unfortunately, and despite the fact that the United States has many tools of pressure that it can use to change Israel’s policies and behavior, it is Israel that is in the driver’s seat,” he told Al Jazeera in an email.

Deadly Israeli attacks on Rafah

The reports about Biden’s growing frustrations with Netanyahu come as the United Nations and human rights groups have raised alarm over an expected Israeli ground offensive in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza.

Israel bombarded the densely populated city in the early hours of Monday, killing at least 67 Palestinians, including children.

Previously designated as a “safe zone” by Israel, Rafah is now home to more than 1.4 million people, many of whom are internally displaced from other parts of Gaza and have been sleeping in tents.

The strikes — which Israel said were carried out as part of an operation to free two Israeli captives — came less than 24 hours after Biden spoke with Netanyahu about the planned Rafah offensive.

The Israeli military operation should not proceed without “a credible and executable plan for ensuring the safety of and support for the more than one million people sheltering there”, Biden told the Israeli leader, according to a White House readout of Sunday’s talks.

Tariq Kenney-Shawa, a US policy fellow at Palestinian think tank Al-Shabaka, said Biden’s call with Netanyahu “was a green light” for the deadly overnight bombings.

“Biden’s harsh words for Netanyahu, if he even really said them, are nothing more than words. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is policy, and Biden’s policy has been unconditional support of Israel every step of the way,” Kenney-Shawa told Al Jazeera.

Iman Abid-Thompson, the director of advocacy and organising at the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, said Biden and his administration have been “cowardly” because they have voiced most of their criticisms behind the scenes.

Those criticisms, she said, “should be said at the forefront. They should be said out loud. They should be understood by the public and seen in formal statements.”

Abid-Thompson told Al Jazeera that Israel has been emboldened by the lack of pressure from the US, which provides the Israeli government with at least $3.8bn in military aid annually. She dismissed the idea that the US may be unable to rein in Israel’s military campaign.

“I think this idea of ‘What can we do?’ is just an absolute joke,” she said. “There is a lot to say about the lack of responsibility that the United States has taken in what has been happening to Palestinians, specifically by the Israeli government.”

Referring to Israel’s military campaign, she added: “We know that it’s only been upheld and it’s been strengthened because of the funding that the United States has provided unconditionally to Israel.”

Ways to exert pressure

Asked on Monday whether the Biden administration would consider cutting aid to Israel if it presses ahead with its plans in Rafah, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington “has pursued the policy that we think gives us the maximum ability to be successful in influencing how Israel conducts its military campaign”.

Miller told reporters that, “in many cases”, the administration has been unhappy with the results. But Washington has not assessed whether cutting aid “would be more impactful than the steps that we have already taken”, he said.

“I think that sometimes people pretend that the United States of America has a magic wand that it can wave to make any situation in the world roll out in exactly the way that we would want it to, and that is never the case,” Miller also said during the news conference.

“We use the tools that are available to try to influence policy.”

At a subsequent press conference, White House spokesman John Kirby echoed Miller’s stance. When asked if Biden had ever threatened to strip US military aid ahead of the anticipated Rafah offensive, he responded with a general statement of support for Israel.

“We’re going to continue to support Israel,” Kirby said. “They have a right to defend themselves against Hamas and we’re going to continue to make sure they have the tools and the capabilities to do that.”

But experts say the US could exert pressure on Israel by simply following its own laws. This includes applying the so-called Leahy Law, which prohibits the US government from providing military aid to foreign countries committing human rights abuses.

“Biden’s reported frustration is meaningless unless he ties it to concrete, tangible pressure on Netanyahu and the Israeli government as a whole,” said Kenney-Shawa. But, he added, Washington has instead “taken every step to minimise the cost of Israel’s assault”.

‘Moment of truth’

Since the Gaza war began, the Biden administration has approved weapons transfers to Israel despite concerns about alleged war crimes and the risk of genocide unfolding in the Palestinian territory.

It also has backed legislation that would provide more than $14bn in additional US security assistance to the country, refused to call for a long-term Gaza ceasefire and blocked attempts at the UN to end the war.

Raed Jarrar, the advocacy director at Democracy for the Arab World Now, a think tank in Washington, DC, said the administration “has failed miserably in managing the relationship” with Netanyahu.

But Washington can “redeem itself”, Jarrar told Al Jazeera, if it takes decisive action to prevent what he described as “the next chapter of genocide” in Gaza: the expected Israeli military offensive in Rafah.

“This week will actually be the moment of truth. What are they going to do when Netanyahu does not listen to them and goes ahead with the attack on Rafah? What are they going to do?” he asked.

“Are they going to continue the same failed policy, or are they going to switch to the only option that they should have considered all along, which is not aligning themselves with a genocidal maniac?”



Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

‘Just Like We Drew It Up’: What’s behind Joe Biden’s Super Bowl post? | Joe Biden News

It is an image that could belong to a film that is part horror, part sci-fi: US President Joe Biden standing against a murky background, bright-red laser beams emanating from his eyes, his United States flag brooch shining prominently against his lapel.

Yet, it was no meme page or troll account posting that image: It was posted on Biden’s own X page early on Monday. Coming against the backdrop of Israel’s brutal war on Gaza that has killed more than 28,000 people and that the US has backed, the image prompted particular criticism of Biden by some social media users.

Here is all we know about Biden’s post so far:

What was the post about?

Biden’s post came after the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl.

Singer Taylor Swift – arguably the biggest name in the world of entertainment who has previously criticised former US President Donald Trump, Biden’s chief rival in the 2024 election – is dating Travis Kelce, who plays for the Chiefs. While Swift’s appearance at National Football League (NFL) games this season has helped the sport’s brand, it has also sparked conspiracy theories from sections of the far-right, which have suggested that the NFL was conspiring to set up a win for the Chiefs to create a backdrop for Swift to endorse Biden’s candidature.

Though the Chiefs won, Swift is yet to declare support for any presidential candidate. That did not stop Biden from mocking the conspiracy theory with his tweet, suggesting that he had plotted the moment.

Biden’s tweet set off a range of reactions on X, from digital eye-rolls to responses expressing disappointment and outrage.

Several users questioned whether Biden’s account was hacked. Others joked about an intern posting the image while others remarked how they thought a parody account posted the picture at first glance.

Many suggested that Biden’s post was distasteful and insensitive as it came amid Israel’s devastating war on Gaza.

While calling for an end to civilian deaths in Gaza, the Biden administration continues to sell and supply weapons to Israel.

Given the war in Gaza, the post was not “appropriate”, said Ahmed Al-Rawi, an associate professor of news, social media and public communication at Simon Fraser University in Canada.

“But I don’t think Biden is thinking of the global audience here,” he said. “He is mostly thinking about his US audience.”

What is the Dark Brandon meme?

The alt text, or image description on Biden’s post, simply says, “dark brandon”. This is a reference to a meme that dates back to October 2021.

A crowd was chanting obscenities about Joe Biden during a race at the Talladega Superspeedway race track in Alabama. While interviewing race winner Brandon Brown, NBC’s sport reporter Kelli Stavast interpreted the chants to be, “Let’s Go Brandon”, and reported them as such on live television.

Since then, the phrase “Let’s Go Brandon” became code for verbal abuse at Biden, lending Republican politicians new language to use against Biden online, circumventing censorship and avoiding criticism. The phrase also started showing up as song lyrics.

The Brandon meme has since evolved and different renditions of Biden’s image with laser beams shooting out of his eyes – dubbed “Dark Brandon” – started making the rounds on the internet.

Cutouts of the Dark Brandon meme even made an appearance at the venue for the third Republican presidential primary debate in November 2023.

Cutouts of the ‘Dark Brandon’ internet meme are displayed across from the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, the venue for the third Republican presidential primary debate in Miami, Florida, on November 8, 2023 [Mandel Ngan/AFP]

Has Biden made similar posts in the past?

Regardless of origin, the meme that was intended to mock and criticise Biden has repeatedly been co-opted by Democrats and Biden himself. His tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement of the Brandon phrase began as early as 2021 and has continued.

In April 2023, Biden put on dark sunshades after making a joke about becoming the “Dark Brandon” persona during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, DC.

Biden made a joke about becoming the ‘Dark Brandon’ persona during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC on April 29, 2023 [Carolyn Kaster/AP]

Biden’s campaign made its first post on Truth Social, presidential race rival Donald Trump’s conservative social media network in October 2023. With the Dark Brandon profile picture, the verified @BidenHQ account posted, “Well. Let’s see how this goes. Converts welcome!”

This appropriation of memes is part of an ongoing political war, said Al-Rawi, who has researched and written about the politics of memes.

“The meme in itself is a political communication tool,” he told Al Jazeera. “It is being weaponised by different parties in order to attract attention and distract from other issues.”

Al-Rawi believes the Brandon meme has worked in Biden’s favour from the perspective of his supporters, who like the fact that he is taking on a political attack. On the other hand, Al-Rawi said, it could come across as insensitive in parts of the Global South.

Al-Rawi also attributed Biden’s efforts to “meme-ify” political messaging to attempts to connect with younger voters. Biden’s ability to govern has come under scrutiny due to his age and issues with his memory.

Biden is not the only politician who has used memes to relay political messaging. Social media teams and followers of politicians including former US President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have banked on memes and internet trends to further political messages.

World leaders used to communicate through press releases and statements aired on television, but the advent of social media has shifted how they communicate with the public, Al-Rawi said.

Memes are one such way.



Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Fifty years on, a case to uphold Indigenous rights resonates in the US | Indigenous Rights News

First, she heard a ping, then the sound of something hitting her boat.

It was 1975, and Norma Cagey, only 18 years old at the time, was alone with her husband on the calm waters of the Hood Canal, a tree-lined fjord in Washington state.

A member of the Skokomish Indigenous nation, Cagey was using nets to catch Coho salmon when a series of strange noises interrupted the tranquil: whirs, pings and thuds. That’s when the couple realised they were being shot at.

Cagey’s husband quickly turned on the boat motor, and the pair sped off. But the memory lingers with Cagey to this day.

Indigenous fisher Norma Cagey said she faced gunfire for casting nets in her ancestral territory [Courtesy of Norma Cagey]

“We were scared. It took a few days for us to get back out there. We needed the money,” Cagey told Al Jazeera.

She believes she was targeted as part of the “fish wars” in the 1960s and ’70s: a string of clashes over Indigenous fishing rights in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.

But 50 years ago, on February 12, 1974, a federal court decision would change the course of the conflict, delivering a compromise that remains controversial to this day.

The Boldt decision — named for its author, Judge George Boldt — upheld the Indigenous right to fish in Washington state, delivering a high-profile win to local tribes.

What’s more, it designated that Indigenous peoples could claim a share of the catch equal to that of non-Indigenous fishermen. In other words, the state’s fish harvest would be split 50-50.

Cagey was among the Indigenous residents present in court that day. She remembers a packed house, with tribe members decked out in regalia, hippies in tie-dye and Indigenous elders, comfortable in their everyday clothes.

“It was a surprise to see how many people turned up to support the Natives,” said Cagey, now a member of the Skokomish Tribal Council.

She considers the ruling a victory, albeit limited: “If you look at the history of Native Americans, we lost everything. We wanted a lot more, but we got some. And we can work with some.”

But others believe the Boldt decision was a setback, setting the stage for hurdles that persist into the present.

Coho salmon are among the species native to Washington state in the US [NOAA Fisheries handout/Reuters]

Fishing as an act of protest

The Boldt decision arrived in the twilight of the US civil rights movement, a time of racial awakening and cultural reckoning that started in the 1950s.

It was an era of civil disobedience, when Black and brown protesters took to the streets to denounce racial segregation and other discriminatory practices.

One of the most iconic forms of protest at the time was the sit-in. Demonstrators would occupy spaces where they ordinarily were not allowed, bellying up to segregated lunch counters or plopping down at segregated libraries where they would then refuse to move.

In the Pacific Northwest, Indigenous protesters created their own version of the sit-in: a fish-in.

The idea was to arrive at a waterway where they might otherwise be barred from fishing — and cast their nets en masse, defying orders to leave.

The tactic was part of a shift in the Indigenous rights — or “Red Power” — movement. Certain older Indigenous-led organisations had previously resisted the idea of public protest with slogans like “Indians Don’t Demonstrate”.

The fish-ins ultimately attracted major media attention and celebrity participants. Gary Peterson, 79, the former business manager of the Skokomish tribe, remembers that Academy Award winner Marlon Brando and comedian Dick Gregory took part.

“People were seeing it on the news every night,” Peterson said. “There were prominent people like Marlon Brando getting arrested.”

But unlike the fight to end racial segregation, the Indigenous protesters behind the fish-ins were not seeking assimilation. They were seeking sovereignty.

Actor Marlon Brando, right, speaks to the press in 1986 alongside Indigenous leader Janet McCloud, centre [Courtesy of the Museum of History and Industry/Seattle Post-Intelligencer Photograph Collection]

‘This paper secures your fish’

The US government had recognised certain Indigenous tribes as sovereign nations — at least, on paper. In practice, however, the treaties it signed with these nations were often violated with little consequence.

Such was the case in the Pacific Northwest. In the 1850s, Isaac Stevens, the first governor of the Washington Territory, drew up several treaties establishing the local tribes’ right to fish at “all usual and accustomed grounds”.

But the treaties served primarily as vehicles to strip Indigenous peoples of their land. Historians underscore that Stevens took advantage of language barriers — and threatened military force — to ensure the documents were signed.

Altogether, 64 million acres (25.9 million hectares) of Indigenous territory came under Stevens’s control. Still, he pledged to uphold tribal fishing rights.

“This paper secures your fish. Does not a father give food to his children?” Stevens reportedly said during one treaty negotiation.

Species like salmon were integral to the Indigenous communities in the region: They were a primary food source and an important part of spiritual life.

“It may sound foreign to people, but [fishing] is tied into our culture and who we are,” said Amber Taylor, the assistant director of the Puyallup Tribe’s Historic Preservation Department.

“So much so that when Stevens came to negotiate the treaty, our ancestors had the foresight to include those prefaces because we relied on them so heavily for our sustenance.”

But as settlers moved into the Washington Territory, access to ancestral fishing spots became increasingly fraught.

And then there was the population decline. The number of salmon had plummeted by the 20th century.

Manmade changes to the environment — including the canal between Lake Washington and Puget Sound, the dredging of the Duwamish River and various hydroelectric dams — had disrupted fish migration patterns, impeding their ability to breed.

Other factors like commercial fishing, urban development and pesticides also played havoc with the salmon populations. The shrinking number of salmon ultimately increased competition for fish harvests which, in turn, spurred hostility.

Nez Perce activist Elliott Moffett advocates for removing the dams along Snake River at Washington state’s Capitol building on June 9, 2022 [File: Ted S Warren/AP Photo]

Violence on the water

By the 1950s, the state of Washington sought to impose restrictions and regulations on Indigenous fishers, to bring them under state control. Arrests were made, charges were filed and tribe members had their gear confiscated or destroyed.

Peterson, the former Skokomish business manager, explained that non-Indigenous fishermen even targeted them for reprisals, fearing competition for their catch.

“There were a lot of angry non-Indian fishermen. They would bring cement blocks and throw them into Indian fishing nets and try to sink them. It always felt unsafe,” he said.

Indigenous residents took to fishing at night so they could maintain their cultural traditions and earn a livelihood with the least amount of violence, Peterson added.

Tensions came to a head in September 1970. Indigenous leaders had set up a six-week encampment on the Puyallup River, and violence broke out as police tear-gassed those present. Sixty people were ultimately arrested, including children.

Stan Pitken, a federal prosecutor, was there that day. What he witnessed would inspire him to file the court case United States v Washington. It argued that Washington state had not upheld the legally binding treaty rights it had made with tribes in the 1850s.

“To me, it was a matter of getting the federal government to do what they were supposed to always do,” Peterson said.

The late Nisqually tribal elder Billy Frank Jr in 2014 points to a photograph showing his wife Norma being arrested during the ‘fish wars’ of the 1960s and ’70s [File: Ted S Warren/AP Photo]

A breakthrough with a catch

Three years passed before the case finally reached trial. When the Boldt decision was finally pronounced, there was celebration that tribal fishing rights had been upheld — a breakthrough nearly a century in the making. The case was hailed as a major win for tribal sovereignty.

But that victory was tinged with downsides. It would take years for the decision to be fully implemented, and provisions like the division of the fish harvest sparked immediate criticism.

“My grandma said we lost 50 percent of the fish when the Boldt decision landed,” said Taylor of the Puyallup Historic Preservation Department. “We really did — in a lot of folks’ minds — lose 50 percent of the harvest.”

In addition, the Boldt decision created boundary lines between tribes that did not previously exist.

Quoting the 1850s treaties, the decision re-asserted the right for Indigenous peoples to catch fish at “all usual and accustomed grounds”. But what those grounds were had not been legally established.

“The language in the Boldt decision complicated things,” Peterson said. “They hired an anthropologist to find out each tribe’s ‘usual and accustomed fishing areas’. It created boundaries where there had been none before.”

Colville Tribe member Pam James, the tribal liaison for the Washington State Historical Society (WSHS), explained that dividing up territory was not a part of traditional Indigenous culture.

“When we think about pre-contact, the resources were shared,” she explained.

But the Boldt decision changed that, demarcating areas for each tribe’s use.

“When these boundaries were put in, it didn’t just impact our fishing. It impacted our food, our food sovereignty and our medicines,” James said. “There are places we can’t go to gather. Now we have to get permits to go into national forests to gather our medicines.”

She added that the violence Indigenous fishers faced did not necessarily abate right away.

“After the Boldt decision, I think some of the violence was worse,” James said. “I remember being out on the beach digging clams and being shot at. We all had those kinds of experiences.”

Amber Taylor of the Puyallup Tribe, left, says her grandmother Ramona Bennett considers that the Boldt decision cost Indigenous tribes ’50 percent of the fish’ [Courtesy of Amber Taylor]

From the Boldt decision forward

Fifty years on, tribes in the Pacific Northwest are still fighting to maintain their ancestral ways of life. A 2021 report from Washington state’s Salmon Recovery Office found that several salmon populations in the region “still are teetering on the brink of extinction”.

That prospect is alarming to Taylor, from the Puyallup Tribe’s Historic Preservation Department.

“I was raised with my grandmother telling us that every river has a group of Native people who are there to protect the salmon and to ensure they are cared for,” she said. “Within my own family, we have a belief that when the salmon are gone, we are gone.”

She pointed to Indigenous culture as an example of sustainable living practices. “What we learn when we are out in the water is how to be a good steward. Our people have only taken what they needed.”

For James, the Boldt decision is a powerful reminder of the importance of holding federal and state powers accountable.

“One of things we always forget is there are three sovereigns in this nation: federal, state and tribes. We are sovereign nations. We stand shoulder to shoulder with the federal government,” she explained.

She warned, though, that the outcome of such cases has traditionally been unfavourable to Indigenous peoples. To her, the legacy of the Boldt decision is largely one of economics: How can tribes stay afloat financially while preserving their culture?

It’s a question, James indicated, that is vital to ensuring traditional foodways like the salmon harvest can endure for future generations.

“When I think about the future, I always say I do this work for my granddaughter. I don’t want her to read about who she is in a book. I want her to know it, experience it and pass it on to her grandchildren.”

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

As corporate America pivots to AI, consumers rejected for loans, jobs | Technology

New York City – Rachel S lives in a walkable neighbourhood in Brooklyn, New York. Most days she is able to live comfortably without a car. She works remotely often but occasionally she needs to go into the office. That’s where her situation gets a bit challenging. Her workspace is not easily accessible by public transportation.

Because she doesn’t need to drive often she applied for the car-sharing platform Zipcar to fulfill her occasional need. The application process is pretty fast allowing consumers to get on the road using its fleet of cars relatively quickly.

Unfortunately, that was not the case for Rachel. As soon as she pressed the submit button she was deemed ineligible by the artificial intelligence software the company uses. Puzzled about the outcome, Rachel got in touch with the company’s customer service team.

After all, she has no demerits that would suggest she’s an irresponsible driver. She has no points on her licence. The only flump was a traffic ticket she received when she was seventeen years old and that citation was paid off years ago.

Although the traffic citation has since been rectified, now in her thirties she is still dealing with the consequences.

She talked to Zipcar’s customer service team to no avail. Despite an otherwise clean driving record, she was rejected. She claims that the company said she had no recourse and that the decision could not be overwritten by a human.

“There was no path or process to appeal to a human being and while it is reasonable the only way to try again would be to reapply” for which there is a nonrefundable application fee, Rachel told Al Jazeera recalling her conversation with the company.

Zipcar did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

Rachel is one of the many consumers who were declined loans, memberships and even job opportunities by AI systems without any recourse or appeal policy as companies continue to rely on AI to make key decisions that impact everyday life.

That includes D who recently lost their job.

As a condition of the interview D requested that we only use their initial out of respect for their privacy. D searched religiously for a new opportunity to no avail.

After months of looking, D finally landed a job but there was one huge problem — the timing.

It was still several weeks before D started the new job and it was several weeks after that D received the first paycheck.

To get some extra help, D applied for a personal loan on multiple platforms in an effort to circumvent predatory payday loans, just to get by in the meantime.

D was rejected for all the loans they applied for. Although D did not confirm which specific firms, the sector has multiple options including Upstart, Upgrade, SoFi, Best Egg and Happy Money, among others.

D says when they called the companies after submitting an online application, no one could help nor were there any appeals.

When D was in their early twenties they had a credit card which they failed to pay bills on. That was their only credit card. They also rent an apartment and rely on public transportation.

According to online lenders driven by AI, their lack of credit history and collateral makes them ineligible for a loan despite paying off their outstanding debt six years ago.

D did not confirm which specific companies they tried for a loan. Al Jazeera reached out to each of those companies for comment on their processes — only two responded — Upgrade and Upstart — responded by the time of publication.

“There are instances where we’re able to change the decision on the loan based on additional information, i.e. proof of other sources of income, that wasn’t provided in the original application, but when it comes to a ‘human judgment call,’ there is a lot of room for personal bias which is something regulators and industry leaders have worked hard to remove,” an Upgrade company spokesperson said in an email to Al Jazeera. “Technology has brought objectivity and fairness to the lending process, with decisions now being made based on the applicant’s true merit.”

Historical biases amplified

But it isn’t as simple as that. Existing historical biases are often amplified with modern technology. According to a 2021 investigation by the outlet The Markup, Black Americans are 80 percent more likely to be auto-rejected by loan granting agencies than their white counterparts.

“AI is just a model that is trained on historical data,” said Naeem Siddiqi, senior advisor at SAS, a global AI and data company, where he advises banks on credit risk.

That’s fueled by the United States’ long history of discriminatory practices in banking towards communities of colour.

“If you take biased data, all AI or any model will do is essentially repeat what you fed it,” Siddiqui said.

“The system is designed to make as many decisions as possible with as less bias and human judgment as possible to make it an objective decision. This is the irony of the situation… of course, there are some that fall through the cracks,” Siddiqi added.

It’s not just on the basis of race. Companies like Apple and Goldman Sachs have even been accused of systemically granting lower credit limits to women over men.

These concerns are generational as well. Siddiqi says such denials also overwhelmingly limit social mobility amongst younger generations, like younger millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996) and Gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2012), across all demographic groups.

That’s because the standard moniker of strong financial health – including credit cards, homes and cars – when assessing someone’s financial responsibility is becoming increasingly less and less relevant. Only about half of Gen Z have credit cards. That’s a decline from all generations prior.

Gen Zers are also less likely to have collateral like a car to wager when applying for a loan. According to a recent study by McKinsey, the age group is less likely to choose to get a driver’s licence than the generations prior. Only a quarter of 16-year-olds and 45 percent of 17-year-olds hold driving licences. That’s down 18 percent and 17 percent, respectively.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has stepped up its safeguards for consumers. In September, the agency announced that credit lending agencies will now need to explain the reasoning behind a loan denial.

“Creditors often feed these complex algorithms with large datasets, sometimes including data that may be harvested from consumer surveillance. As a result, a consumer may be denied credit for reasons they may not consider particularly relevant to their finances,” the agency said in a release.

However, the agency does not address the lack of a human appeal process as D claims to have dealt with personally.

D said they had to postpone paying some bills which will hurt their long-term financial health and could impact their ability to get a loan with reasonable interest rates, if at all, in the future.

‘Left out from opportunities’

Siddiqi suggests that lenders should start to consider alternative data when making a decision on loans which can include rent and utility payments and even social media behavior as well as spending patterns.

On social media foreign check-ins are a key indicator.

“If you have more money, you tend to travel more or if you follow pages like Bloomberg, the Financial Times, and Reuters you are more likely to be financially responsible,” Siddiqi adds.

The auto-rejection problem is not just an issue for loan and membership applications, it’s also job opportunities. Across social media platforms like Reddit users post rejection emails they get immediately upon submitting an application.

“I fit all the requirements and hit all the keywords and within a minute of submitting my application, I got both the acknowledgement of the application and the rejection letter,” Matthew Mullen, the original poster, told Al Jazeera.

The Connecticut-based video editor says this was a first for him. Experts like Lakia Elam, head of the Human Resources consulting firm Magnificent Differences Consulting says between applicant tracking systems and other AI-driven tools, this is increasingly becoming a bigger theme and increasingly problematic.

Applicant tracking systems often overlook transferable skills that may not always align on paper with a candidate’s skill set.

“Often times applicants who have a non-linear career path, many of which come from diverse backgrounds, are left out from opportunities,” Elam told Al Jazeera.

“I keep telling organisations that we got to keep the human touch in this process,” Elam said.

But increasingly organisations are relying more on programs like ATS and ChatGPT. Elam argues that leaves out many worthwhile job applicants including herself.

“If I had to go through an AI system today, I guarantee I would be rejected,” Elam said.

She has a GED—- the high school diploma equivalency — as opposed to a four-year degree.

“They see GED on my resume and say we got to stay away from this,” Elam added.

In part, that’s why Americans do not want AI involved in the hiring process. According to an April 2023 report from Pew Research, 41 percent of Americans believe that AI should not be used to review job applications.

“It’s part of a larger conversation about losing paths to due process,” Rachel said.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

In New York, a head-to-head House race foreshadows national elections | US Election 2024 News

Glen Cove, New York – Mansions rise from the coastline. Sailboats clip the waves. And overlooking the landscape, atop a grassy hill, sits the house of a former president, Theodore Roosevelt.

Nestled on the north shore of Long Island, New York’s third congressional district is the wealthiest in the state — and recently, it has emerged as a key battleground for control of the United States House of Representatives.

On February 13, all eyes will be on the district as it holds a special election to fill its House seat, left vacant after the expulsion of former Representative George Santos.

But the stakes go beyond a single district. Experts say the race can be seen as a preview for the general elections on November 5, when the presidency and every seat in the House will be up for grabs.

“February 13 is really about November 5 in a lot of suburbs around the country, not just this one,” said Lawrence Levy, associate vice president and executive dean at the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University.

“Both parties see this as a bellwether to test strategies and tactics and messages — to see how they deal with various minefields they’re facing.”

For Democrats, Levy dubbed those political minefields “the three I’s”: immigration, inflation and Israel. For Republicans, one of the primary hurdles is the issue of abortion, he said.

Stickers greet early voters at a polling station in Massapequa, New York, on February 9 [Adam Gray/Reuters]

Republicans ‘can’t afford to lose a seat’

To tackle those issues, control over the House of Representatives is critical. Republicans currently hold the most seats in the House — though their lead is razor thin and declining.

The party occupies 219 seats, down from 222 at the start of last year. At least two Republicans have resigned in the interim, and another left to grapple with cancer.

With Democrats holding 212 seats, the House is vulnerable to a shift in party leadership. Any district that flips — or changes party — during the upcoming election could help tip the balance of power towards the Democrats.

Levy said races like the one in New York’s third district could prove pivotal. He pointed out that, to pass its current House agenda, Republicans need every vote they can muster to overcome Democratic opposition. Even a small degree of party dissent can stymie legislation.

“They can’t afford to lose a seat even now,” Levy said, “particularly when there are Republicans who are looking out for their own skin in their own competitive suburban districts.”

Those Republicans, Levy explained, “might be inclined to make a deal with Democrats to maintain the image of being a moderate” in order to boost their individual election prospects — even at the expense of party priorities.

Campaign signs for candidate Mazi Melesa Pilip sit in a Long Island snowbank [Yasmeen Altaji/Al Jazeera]

A history-making campaign, up in flames

New York, therefore, is one of several states where both Republicans and Democrats are hoping to make gains this year in their House membership.

Though New York state leans Democratic overall, its more localised House races can be volatile: Experts said at least seven of the state’s 26 House districts could see nail-biter elections this November.

District 3 is one of them. In 2022, the district made national headlines with its surprise election of Santos, a political newcomer and the first openly gay Republican non-incumbent elected to the House.

He was part of a miniature red wave in Long Island, where two seats were wrested from the Democrats’ grasp. He credited his victory to the power of grassroots campaigning.

“The one thing I’m proud of is I can prove that there is diversity of thought in this country. Just because you’re gay does not mean you have to be a Democrat,” Santos told the public radio station WNYC, speaking to his historic victory.

But even before he took office, Santos became mired in controversy, as allegations emerged that he had lied about his education, his work history and even his religion.

“I said I was Jew-ish,” he said in a New York Post interview acknowledging his Catholic faith.

Santos was ultimately booted from the House in December, after an investigative subcommittee said it had uncovered “substantial evidence” that he had committed crimes.

Republican candidate Mazi Melesa Pilip visits an early voting location in Massapequa, New York, on February 9 [Adam Gray/Reuters, pool]

The veteran versus the outsider

Republican Party leaders have sought another political outsider to replace Santos: Mazi Melesa Pilip, an Ethiopian American and former paratrooper for the Israeli military.

In December, the publication Politico reported that Pilip — who campaigns as tough on immigration and crime — has been a registered Democrat since 2012. It described the race as “destined for drama”.

Democrats, meanwhile, put forward Tom Suozzi, an Italian American political veteran who held the House seat before Santos. He is considered a familiar face in Long Island politics.

Levy described the Democrats’ choice as safe — and an appeal to the middle ground.

“Democrats went with a local name brand that was actually known around the state: someone who had held the office. So he’s got a record, which can be a plus or minus,” he said.

Long Island voter Debbie Rocco, 70, is among those familiar with the Suozzi family name. A lifelong resident of Glen Cove, a small waterside town, she said the Democrat has hometown appeal. He has lived in the quiet cluster of suburbs for years.

“Everybody in Glen Cove knows Tom,” Rocco said. “I worked with him, because I used to be involved with a charity in Glen Cove, and he’s been the mayor here.”

But Rocco added that just because she knew Suozzi did not mean she was enthusiastic about voting for him. “He’s the lesser of two evils at this point,” she said.

Levy, meanwhile, indicated that Pilip’s nomination might be designed to lure voters away from the Democratic Party.

“[Pilip] is an Orthodox Jew who has served in the Israeli military,” Levy said. “She might appeal to some Jews who normally would vote Democratic.”

Former Democratic Congressman Tom Suozzi has returned to the campaign trail in a bid to reprise his former House seat [File: Craig Ruttle/Reuters pool]

Gaza war a leading issue

Standing outside her snow-covered home, Rocco and her longtime friend and housemate Susan Corbo, 68, described themselves as independent voters. Rather than following party lines, they said they vote by issue.

“Besides abortion”, Corbo said she was particularly concerned about continued access to “social security and Medicare and Medicaid”, the latter two of which are government health insurance programmes.

“They want to take that away from us,” Corbo explained.

She and Rocco also pointed to Israel’s war in Gaza as another critical issue driving them to vote in the February special election.

Both Pilip and Suozzi have been vocal supporters of Israel amid its months-long military campaign in the Palestinian territory. More than 27,900 Palestinians have died since the war began on October 7, prompting international concern about the possibility of genocide.

A former Israeli soldier, Pilip has made backing Israel a cornerstone of her candidacy, a position popular among Republicans. But Levy pointed out that Suozzi is in a more delicate position.

The Democratic base is split over whether Israel’s war is justified — and whether a ceasefire should be called. A February poll from the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 50 percent of US adults felt Israel had “gone too far”.

But President Joe Biden and other top Democratic leaders have thus far refused to demand a ceasefire, alienating progressive members of their own party.

As Suozzi attempts to balance opposing views within his own party, Levy said he faces a situation similar to Biden’s.

“The war in Gaza is a particular problem for the Democratic candidate,” he said. “President Biden and Suozzi’s support for Israel has the potential of turning off some younger voters who have expressed concerns about the way the Israeli army has conducted their offensive.”

In that way, February’s special election could even forecast Biden’s re-election prospects.

“This race has been nationalised and even internationalised,” Levy said.

Candidate Tom Suozzo hails from the small suburban town of Glen Cove on Long Island, New York [Yasmeen Altaji/Al Jazeera]

Money flows into district race

That heightened public attention has translated into an outpouring of money in the race, as each party angles to notch a high-profile victory.

According to data from the Federal Election Commission, which maintains a public record of campaign contributions and spending, Pilip’s team has raised a total of about $1.3m since December 2023.

Suozzi’s campaign, meanwhile, has raised about $4.5m in recent months — more than triple what Pilip has brought in.

Gara LaMarche, former president of the liberal donor network Democracy Alliance, said the numbers are telltale signs of today’s campaign fundraising climate.

“Politics has become more than ever like sports,” LaMarche said. “A lot of people are paying close attention to these races, and a lot of people give directly to campaigns.”

LaMarche describes the campaign contributions as a symptom of a rising awareness among Democrats that their seats in Congress could be vulnerable.

It’s caused somewhat of an awakening among largely Democratic states, LaMarche said, following the loss of Democratic seats in past elections. Currently, all four House seats in Long Island are Republican-held, as opposed to a 50-50 split just two years ago.

“One of the reasons Republicans have control of the House is because, in the blue states, people weren’t paying enough attention to these House races,” he said.

He cites cases of gerrymandering, a practice of manipulating district maps to favour a particular party, in states like New York and California as a flaw in past Democratic strategy.

In states “where there is Democratic hegemony”, LaMarche said, “Democrats were too greedy with gerrymandering.” In 2022, for instance, New York’s highest court struck down redrawn districts thought to have heavily favoured Democrats.

In December, the court allowed the Democrat-controlled legislature to take a second shot at recalibrating the map for House districts, sparking Republican concern for 2024. Gerrymandering is barred under state law, but deciding what qualifies can be tricky.

The ongoing battle to draw New York’s House districts — and the heated race in Long Island — are both part of an overall phenomenon of widening party polarisation, LaMarche said.

That phenomenon is relatively new, he added. “The two parties in this country were not as ideologically polarised as they are today.”

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Echoes of Bagram: Moazzam Begg returns to Afghanistan | Human Rights

Human rights advocate Moazzam Begg returns to Afghanistan to battle demons and champion justice in the shadow of war.

Haunted by nightmares of torture and abuse, British human rights campaigner Moazzam Begg decides to return to Afghanistan to confront the horrors of his past.

Moazzam was detained at the notorious Bagram and Guantanamo Bay prisons without charge or trial, before being released in 2003. Ever since, Moazzam has fought for the rights of those imprisoned during the so-called, US-led war on terror.

In Afghanistan, Moazzam advocates for the freedom of Mohammad Rahim, the last Afghan held in Guantanamo Bay.

As the nation grapples with the scars of war under new Taliban leadership, can Moazzam ever make peace with his past?

Echoes of Bagram is a film by Michael McEvoy and Horia El Hadad.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Kansas Chiefs beat 49ers in Super Bowl eclipsed by Taylor Swift mania | Entertainment News

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman scores winning touchdown with three seconds left in overtime.

The Kansas City Chiefs have defeated the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 to become back-to-back Super Bowl champions.

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman scored a touchdown with three seconds left in overtime to nab the title, after a 3-yard pass from quarterback Patrick Mahomes at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

The victory makes the Kansas City Chiefs the first team to win the Super Bowl back-to-back in nearly two decades.

For much of the game, Kansas City looked like they would be denied glory by San Francisco, who went into half-time leading 10-3.

“With all the adversity we’ve been through this season to come through tonight. … I’m proud of the guys,” Mahomes said after the game. “This is awesome. Legendary.”

The Super Bowl, the biggest event on the United States’s sporting calendar, drew particular attention this year thanks to the attendance of global pop sensation Taylor Swift, whose relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has been the focus of a media and pop culture frenzy.

The 14-time Grammy winner on Saturday wrapped up the Japan leg of her Eras Tour with a sold-out show in Tokyo to dash back to the US on a private jet so she could cheer on Kelce.

As the winning touchdown was scored, TV cameras panned to Swift to see her smothered by a mob of people at the viewing box she was sharing with Kelce’s family and her celebrity friends Blake Lively and Ice Spice.

During the post-game celebrations on the side of the field, Swift and Kelce embraced and kissed in view of the crowd and the assembled media.

Swift has attended numerous NFL games to watch Kelce play since they began dating last year, with NFL officials crediting her with driving a sudden surge in the popularity of the sport among young women.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Taylor Swift cheers on boyfriend Travis Kelce at Super Bowl | Entertainment News

The 14-time Grammy-winner completed the Japan leg of her Eras Tour on Saturday before returning to the US on a private jet.

Global pop sensation Taylor Swift has made it to the Super Bowl to cheer on her boyfriend Travis Kelce after days of breathless speculation about whether she would attend the biggest event in the United States’s sporting calendar.

Swift arrived at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas more than an hour before kickoff to watch Kelce kit out for the Kansas City Chiefs against the San Francisco 49ers.

After the game got under way, Swift, wearing a gold necklace bearing Travis Kelce’s number, 87, could be seen watching the action from a luxury suite accompanied by Blake Lively and rapper Ice Spice.

Some San Francisco 49ers fans jeered after Swift was flashed on the big screens in the stadium during the first half of the game, prompting the pop star to grab a drink and chug it down.

The 14-time Grammy winner on Saturday wrapped up the Japan leg of her Eras Tour with a sold-out show in Tokyo, before dashing back to the US on a private jet to attend the game.

Swift, who began dating Kelce last year, has attended 12 American football games to watch the Kansas City Chiefs tight end play.

Swift’s relationship with Kelce has been at the centre of a media and pop culture frenzy for months, with NFL officials crediting her presence at the games with driving a sudden surge in the popularity of the sport among young women.

“Obviously, it creates a buzz, it creates another group of young fans, particularly young women, that are interested in seeing, ‘Why is she going to this game? Why is she interested in this game?’” National Football League (NFL) Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters earlier this week.

“Besides Travis, she’s a football fan and I think that’s great for us.”

Kelce joked earlier this week that he feels under pressure to win after Swift on Sunday picked up a record fourth Grammy for album of the year for Midnights.

“She’s rewriting the history books herself,” Kelce said at a news conference on Monday. “I told her I would have to hold up my end of the bargain and come home with some hardware, too.”

Swift’s appearance at the 58th edition Super Bowl, which regularly attracts more than 100 million viewers, could help drive the audience for the NFL showcase to new heights.

The defending champion Chiefs are taking on the San Francisco 49ers in the 58th edition of the NFL’s title game at Allegiant Stadium.

The Kansas City Chiefs are the defending Super Bowl champions, and a win on Sunday would deliver their third title in five years.

The San Francisco 49ers, who were leading 10-3 at halftime, are vying for their first title since 1994 for a record-tying sixth Super Bowl win.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Exit mobile version