News and Analysis 6/3/21

Facebook has repeatedly bowed down to government demands to take down content that is against their interests including removing “posts from prominent Palestinian activists” and helped Indian PM Narendra Modi “stifle criticism of his government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic”:

• India and Israel Inflame Facebook’s Fights With Its Own Employees (NY Times)

UN decision to open an inquiry is a welcome first step towards justice for Palestinians as the international community “is left with no choice but to look into Israeli war crimes and HR abuses”:

• Will Israel Be Held Accountable For War Crimes? (Al-Jazeera)

Over 50 foreign and prime ministers have condemned Israel’s obstruction of the International Criminal Court’s efforts to investigate Israeli war crimes in Israeli occupied Palestinian territories:

• Senior Global Figures Slam ‘Obstruction’ of ICC Palestine Probe (Arab News)

Republican lawmaker Lindsey Graham said Israel would ask the US for $1 billion to replenish their Iron Dome security system:

• Sen. Graham Says Israel Plans to Ask for $1b in U.S. Aid Following Gaza Fighting (Haaretz)

Imad Barghouti, a renowned Palestinian astrophysicist, was arrested in 2020 and charged “in relation to the content of some of his Facebook posts” before being put under indefinite detention without trial:

• Renowned Palestinian Astrophysicist Imad Barghouthi Released from Israeli Prison (Palestine Chronicle)

India dismissed three Kashmiri employees without an inquiry, citing “security of the state”, while many see the sackings as part of Indian government efforts to have greater influence and control on government employees:

• India Sacks Kashmir Employees For Threatening ‘Security Of State’ (Al-Jazeera)

Two refugees unable to leave “the flood-prone island of Bhasan Char” after fleeing “violence in Buddhist-majority Myanmar” said that they “suffered baton injuries as they protested against the lack of access to a visiting U.N. team”:

• Rohingya Muslim Refugees ‘Injured in Protests’ on Isolated Island During UNHCR Visit (Reuters)

He predicted that he would be fired if he ever changes a single student’s mind; he never made it that far:

• A Teacher at a Main Line Jewish School Criticized Zionism on Twitter. Then He Got Fired (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Iran has claimed that it is unable “to pay the UN is because of US sanctions and it was trying to have the money paid by South Korea where Tehran has frozen funds”:

• Iran May Lose UN Voting Rights for Failure to Pay Dues (Iran International)

Abdullah Khan