Foreign News
UN Highlights Human Cost of Transatlantic Slave Trade, denounces Racism
The UN on Tuesday remembered the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade and its continued impact on the modern world, by honouring the tradition of resistance to slavery and unity against racism through personal stories of courage.
In a commemorative event at the UN headquarters that included remarks from Member States from around the world, top UN officials denounced racism and discrimination.
The President of the General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, called for greater commitments to social justice, and the celebration of all communities, irrespective of caste, creed or skin colour.
He also spoke personally about his visit to the Island of Gorée, off the coast of Senegal, which from the 15th to the 19th century, was the largest slave-trading centre on the Africa.
“Standing in solidarity with victims is the bare minimum we can do,” Shahid said. “We must act to address these inequalities.”
Secretary-General António Guterres also spoke about the ongoing obstacles faced by people of African descent, who “are often among the last in line” for quality healthcare, education, justice and other opportunities.
He noted that ending racism is imperative for justice, adding that “this imperative implicates us all – we are all responsible to stand up and speak out in solidarity against racism wherever, whenever we encounter it.”
The 2022 theme for the commemorative event is Stories of Courage: Resistance to Slavery and Unity against Racism.
Some of them were recounted by Nikole Hannah-Jones, the keynote speaker at the event, who is also the creator of The New York Times’ 1619 Project, which aims to place the consequences of slavery in the United States, and contributions of Black Americans, more at the centre of the national narrative.
A descendant of slaves whose family went on to be sharecroppers in the southern U.S., Ms Hannah Jones told how her grandmother fled to “plant the seed of freedom that she would never see herself”.
Jones noted that “as we remember our brutal enslavement by people who saw themselves as civilised, we must remember the fierce black tradition of resistance.”
She noted Zumbi dos Palmares in Brazil, Queen nanny of the Maroons in Jamaica and the independence of Haiti as some of the examples, stressing that “resistance remains the legacy of slavery”.
Resistance is also the theme of Equiano Stories, a film based on the memoir of Olaudah Equiano, who, after decades of slavery, was able to buy his freedom.
He wrote about his life in The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African.
His story is told through first-person video, still images and text, as if Equiano had a cell phone in 1756. The result is an Instagram feed of a little boy growing up in a West African village, who is then kidnapped and sold into slavery.
“Equiano Stories connects us to the past in a way that is often hard to achieve, particularly as we are prone to see the past as something long ago, distant and unrecognisable,” Shahid said.
The film was introduced by producer Mati Kochavi, in a special event organised by the Office of the President of the General Assembly, with participation from the Permanent Missions of Israel, Jamaica, Senegal, the United States and the African Union.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams attended the event, in his first visit to the UN Headquarters since taking office in January 2022.
Addressing participants, Adams drew parallels between the evils shows in the film and global ills today, such as accelerating climate change, hunger and conflicts.
Urging multilateral action, he said “the UN must be more than a symbolic building, it must be a rallying cry”. (NAN)
Israel has sent two planes to evacuate fans from Amsterdam after violent clashes between Israeli supporter and pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the fringes of Ajax versus Maccabi Tel Aviv Europa Cup match.
“The Prime Minister has directed that two rescue planes be sent immediately to assist our citizens,.
“The harsh pictures of the assault on our citizens in Amsterdam will not be overlooked’’ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office posted on X on Friday morning.
The Israeli leader’s office called the incident horrifying and demanded that the Dutch government and security forces take vigorous and swift action against the rioters, and ensure the safety of our citizens.
This clash was however unclear and yet to be unfolded.
The exact events remain unclear. The violent disturbances occurred around the Europa League football match between Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday evening. Ajax won 5-0.
There were clashes in several locations in the centre of the Dutch capital; though it was not specified which side started the violence.
Around 60 people were detained temporarily on Thursday evening, the police said.
Amsterdam TV station AT5 reported that demonstrators threw chairs at Maccabi fans.
The police’s mobile units reportedly shielded the Israelis and escorted them to their hotels.
There were also clashes in the afternoon between Israeli football fans and security forces in the city centre.
According to police, about a dozen people were arrested for disturbing public order and illegal possession of fireworks.
Even before the match, there were isolated altercations near the stadium in the south-east of the city, the police said.
More than 200 demonstrators attempted to reach the venue, according to the police.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof condemned these “unacceptable antisemitic attacks on Israelis’’ on X and said he had since spoken with Netanyahu.
Far-right Dutch leader Geert Wilders called it a pogrom.
“We have become the Gaza of Europe,’’ he said, adding that Muslims with Palestinian flags were hunting down Jews.
Israel’s UN ambassador also referred to the incident on X as a pogrom.
Steffen Seibert, Germany’s ambassador to Israel condemned the incident.
“Chasing and beating up Israeli soccer fans is not anti-war protest.
“It is criminal and intolerable and we must all stand against it. As a European I am ashamed to see such scenes in one of our great cities,’’ he wrote on X.
However the Reaction from the United States (U.S.).
In New York, Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), described itself as the world’s largest anti-hate organisation.
He demanded that the Dutch government ensure the safety of Israeli fans, apprehend and prosecute the perpetrators and apologise for the violence.
“This is exactly what ‘globalise the intifada’ looks like,’’ Greenblatt wrote on X, saying there were mobs of hate-filled people who had attacked Israelis who came to Amsterdam to enjoy a football game.
Even New York Attorney General Letitia James chimed in on X, calling the attacks against Jews in Amsterdam “deeply disturbing and horrifying.’’
New York State, particularly metropolitan New York City, has a large Jewish population.
“We must do everything in our power to protect Jews in America and across the world.
“This anti-Semitism and violence must end now,’’ she wrote. (dpa/NAN)
Three Israelis are missing following clashes between Israeli football fans and pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the fringes of football club Maccabi Tel Aviv’s match in Amsterdam, according to Israeli authorities.
Ten people were injured in the violence, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Friday morning.
The degree of their injuries was initially unclear.
The ministry urged its citizens to use public transport to travel to the airport, after Israel had announced it was sending two planes to evacuate the fans.
Local security forces had been deployed, the ministry said.
The ministry had initially advised fans not to leave their hotels.
It also advised its citizens not to wear Jewish or Israeli symbols in public.
(dpa/NAN)
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius is to travel to France for talks with his French counterpart Sébastien Lecornu on Wednesday evening, following Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.
The talks are expected to focus on the consequences of Trump’s victory.
In particular for the future support for Ukraine, which has been fighting for more than two and a half years against Russia, as well as for European defence policy?
Washington has been a central provider of military support to Ukraine, which Trump has long criticized.
During his election campaign, Trump promised to end the war in Ukraine in a very short time and has held Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky jointly responsible for the war.
(dpa/NAN)
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