Greta Thunberg joins protest against Israel’s Eurovision inclusion
Climate change activist Greta Thunberg was among more than 10,000 pro-Palestinian protesters who staged a rally in Sweden’s Malmo city against the participation of Israel in this weekend’s Eurovision song contest.
In the hours ahead of the Israeli entrant’s qualification for the finale, Thunberg joined thousands of other demonstrators who gathered in Malmo’s main square before marching through the southern Swedish city’s central pedestrian shopping street.
Hundreds of artists in Sweden and elsewhere have pushed for Israel to be blocked from taking part in the contest over its war on Gaza.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg takes part in the Stop Israel demonstration against Israel’s participation in the 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, on May 9
Arizona State University scholar terminated after verbal assault
Arizona State University (ASU) has announced that a scholar who was involved in a verbal assault of a woman wearing a hijab was terminated and barred from returning to campus to teach.
“He is no longer permitted to be on campus and will never teach here again,” ASU President Michael Crow said in a statement to CNN about Jonathan Yudelman, who was placed on leave after the May 5 incident.
Yudelman, a postdoctoral researcher at the university, was recognised and accused of intimidating two people near a pro-Israel rally in a widely circulated social media video. Yudelman, who was identified on various platforms on May 6, works as a postdoctoral fellow at the university’s School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership.
Palestinian student says UK visa cancelled over ‘national security’
Dana Abuqamar, a Palestinian law student at the University of Manchester who has lost 15 family members in Gaza, said the UK government has withdrawn her student visa, deeming her a “national security” threat.
“During this genocide, the UK Home Office decided to revoke my student visa following public statements supporting the Palestinian right to exercise under international law to resist oppression and break through the siege that was illegally placed on Gaza for over 16 years,” Abuqamar told Al Jazeera.
“Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, but it seems to not apply to ethnic minorities, particularly Muslims and Palestinians like myself.”
The UK’s decision comes after Abuqamar made comments at a pro-Palestine rally last year in the aftermath of the October 7 attack on Israel, stating: “We are full of pride, we are really, full of joy at what happened.”
Abuqamar later told the BBC those remarks had been misconstrued and that “the death of any innocent civilian should not be condoned ever”.
Mandela’s grandson defends pro-Palestine protesters: ‘You are our heroes’
Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, the grandson of South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela, has urged students around the world to emulate the pro-Palestine protests seen in US universities and elsewhere, and slammed the UK’s shadow foreign secretary for suggesting his grandfather would not have backed the demonstrators.
In a statement posted online, he said his late grandfather was a champion of student protest movements and committed to “the Palestinian struggle”.
He added that the UK shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy of the main opposition Labour party, should “stop being an apologist for genocide and instead encourage all students on UK and European university campuses to emulate their fellow students in the USA in their call for a ceasefire in Gaza and support the struggle of the Palestinian people for freedom”.
Zwelivelile Mandela also said: “Youth are the conscience of our world and their voices are the moral compass that guide us to a better future. Rather than brutalize them and criminalize their protest actions, we must encourage them to continue to stand for justice, human rights and dignity for all humanity.”
Addressing the protesters, he said: “You are our heroes, we salute you.”
Pro-Palestine encampment outside the US embassy in Indonesia’s Jakarta
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