March 16-17
- Netanyahu’s I-Me-Mine politics
- Free UAE museum during Ramadan
- Fox cosplaying in Virginia
- … and much more.
⬇️ STARTER
Israel's not alone: the other Middle East players blocking a Gaza truce
Famine creeps into Gaza, one could expect a certain pragmatism would push influential countries in the region to intervene. Yet each of these countries has its own political agenda.
The Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar is one of the facilities that the U.S. is using to supply the Israeli military with weapons and ammunition for its war on Gaza. The Israeli daily Haaretz has documented dozens of U.S. military transport planes traveling from Al-Udeid to Israeli military airports.
Yet Doha is also Hamas's alternative capital, where the group's exiled leadership resides. And it is from the Qatari capital that Hamas's military wing, the Qassam Brigades, broadcast — via Al Jazeera — its first statement on the Oct. 7 attack.
This is not to demonize Doha or throw doubt on its positions, rather to question why negotiations on the Israel-Hamas war are blocked. On one side, Israel is pursuing war — despite the bloody and genocidal costs — until Hamas is eliminated. While Hamas insists on a permanent ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip.
Doha is one of the capitals managing the war game's political, media and logistical aspects.
Doha also had a hand in the construction of tunnels in Gaza — Hamas’s only investment in the strip — which were built with funds that Doha sent in bags to Hamas via Israel's Ben Gurion Airport. This funding was facilitated by Benjamin Netanyahu's government, which believes that Hamas's presence in Gaza — by weakening the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority — is necessary to block the political future of the Palestinian cause.
In this complex context, one would expect a certain pragmatism from the influential people in Qatar to stop the river of Palestinian blood in Gaza. But so far, that hour does not seem to have come.
The positions of the United Arab Emirates and the Arab Gulf monarchies toward the Palestinian tragedy go even beyond the ambiguities of Qatar's role.
A second supply bridge between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv has run parallel to the one between Al-Udeid and Tel Aviv. Its goal is to provide Israel with civilian and consumer needs during the war. Here, too, Abraham Accords are present. This model of “peace without conditions” prompted Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to say, only a few days before Oct. 7, that the Palestinian cause is no longer a condition for peace with Arab countries.
In this political and moral chaos, the exiled Palestinian leader Mohammed Dahlan, who's been living in the UAE and who advises Abu Dhabi, has suddenly woken up. Dahlan has offered his relief capabilities in coordination with Hamas and with Tel Aviv's knowledge (he has a long history of relationships with Israeli security services). It appears Dahlan has found an alternative path to Hamas, after their bloody war in Gaza.
Those of us who do not have all the facts must stop criticizing Hamas as long as Israel is killing the people of Gaza. We must also congratulate Hezbollah for adding us to the “Unity of the Squares” without asking anyone's opinion. [...]
— Read the full article by Hazem el-Amin for Daraj, translated into English by Worldcrunch.
🎲 OUR WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ
1. Five Palestinians were killed after the technical failure of what kind of humanitarian aid delivery?
2. U.S. whistleblower John Barnett was found dead from apparent suicide just days after testifying against which airplane and arms manufacturer?
3. Which Asian country has just narrowly avoided falling into a technical recession?
4. What has Airbnb decided to ban? One-night-only rentals / Weak WiFi / Indoor cameras / “Live, Laugh, Love” signs
*\[Answers at the bottom of this newsletter\]*
#️⃣ TRENDING
Thousands of Dragon Ball fans have gathered at the landmark obelisk in Buenos Aires to mourn Akira Toryama, the author of the world-famous Japanese media franchise. Tribute has been paid with cosplayers of every age, sharing a loving moment together dressed up as their favorite Dragon Ball’s characters.
🎭 5 CULTURE THINGS TO KNOW
• The stories of immigrant women, painted by an exiled Russian artist: Dubai’s NIKA Project Space showcases the first solo exhibition in the UAE of New York-based artist Katya Muromtseva, an anti-war activist who was forced to leave her native Russia. “Over the Slopes of Speech” features monumental watercolor triptychs that each tells the story of immigrant women from various countries, which were based on interviews the artist conducted both in Dubai and New York.
• In memoriam: U.S. singer-songwriter Eric Carmen, the frontman of the power pop band Raspberries and singer of solo hits including All By Myself and Hungry Eyes, has died aged 74; Welsh-born musician Karl Wallinger, who fronted solo project World Party and played with The Waterboys, died at 66; Greek-American artist Lucas Samaras, a pioneering figure in digital art known for pushing the boundaries of self-portraiture, has died at 87 years old.
• Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation offers free entry during Ramadan: The United Arab Emirates’ Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation, which displays thousands of artifacts and currently hosts an exhibition dedicated to the mutual influence between Islamic and Indian art, is free to access during Ramadan. Accessible every day except on Friday, the institution has adapted its opening times with iftar (the fast-breaking evening meal) and prayer schedules in mind.
• BTS’ Jungkook breaks Billboard Hot 100 record: South Korean artist Jungkook, member of Kpop band BTS, has become the longest-charting Kpop solo artist on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 main singles chart after Psy. The singer’s Standing Next to You stayed on the chart for 18 consecutive weeks, the second song by a Korean artist to achieve such a milestone since Psy’s 2012 hit Gangnam Style.
• Tate Britain unveils artistic response to offensive Rex Whistler mural: A controversial 1927 mural which had been sealed off from the public since 2020 is back on display at London’s Tate Britain, alongside a film by British artist Keith Piper that seeks to challenge and contextualize it. Rex Whistler's painting features two enslaved black children and caricatures of Chinese people. With his 20-minute film Viva Voce, multimedia artist and academic Keith Piper “wants to give a sense of how and why the mural exists.”
🇵🇸🇮🇱 The real reasons behind Netanyahu’s opposition to a Gaza ceasefire
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is waging a “war of survival,” a claim that may be correct, as Oct. 7 was not like other bouts of fighting in the 75-year-long conflict. Rather, it can be viewed as a first step on the path to liberating all of Palestinian territories and the annihilation of the Zionist entity. But the Prime Minister, we should remember, is also concerned about his political future, preserving his post — and his historical legacy. He seeks to escape the dramatic fate that will haunt him if the war ends without achieving its declared goals. It won’t be limited to his removal from office, because he could wind up in prison for earlier corruption charges.
Read the full story: Make No Mistake, Netanyahu’s Hard Line On Gaza Is All About Himself
🇸🇻♀️ Progress on the path to overturn El Salvador’s strict anti-abortion laws
El Salvador is one of Latin America's most restrictive states in terms of women's sexual and reproductive rights. Abortion is banned as the state considers persons to exist from the moment of conception, contrary to the advice of international human rights groups. With this ban, women who have had pregnancy complications, prenatal deaths or miscarriages have been charged with premeditating abortion. In December 2023, Lilian was the last Salvadoran woman to regain her freedom after spending seven years in prison for an obstetric emergency, when she was found guilty by the court of “murdering” her unborn baby in 2015 when it was actually a uterus complication.
Read the full story: The Dark State Of Abortion Rights In El Salvador, And First Signs Of Light
🏰 What the Middle Ages can teach us about remote working
A sort of remote working system already existed in the Middle Ages across the European countryside. Since the rural work was tied to the seasons, it left intervals of free time that could be exploited in other ways, especially to round out wages, which were often close to subsistence. Once the town merchant invested his money in raw materials and tools, he gave them to the workers to process the products that were later paid by piece. This was called the “putting-out-system.”
Read the full story: Remote Working: The Middle Ages Did It Better
👗 BRIGHT IDEA
Sasha McKinlay from MIT’s Architecture Department collaborated with the Ministry of Supply to create the “4D Knit Dress,” a sustainable garment using heat-activated yarn for a customizable fit and style. The dress, designed to evolve with changing trends and body shapes, minimizes textile waste through a seamless knitting process. It allows wearers to alter its shape and style over time by applying heat. This innovative approach addresses mass-produced clothing's inadequacy in accommodating unique body shapes and tackles the environmental impact of fast fashion.
🦊 SMILE OF THE WEEK
A video posted by the Richmond Wildlife Center in Virginia shows how committed employees are when it comes to caring for orphaned baby foxes, or kits. Executive Director Melissa Stanley is seen wearing a red fox mask while feeding a tiny kit sitting on top of a large stuffed animal fox that is supposed to look like her mother. These measures will eventually help the kit’s reintroduction into the wild someday. “It’s important to make sure that the orphans that are raised in captivity do not become imprinted upon or habituated to humans,” said the organization in a Facebook post.
📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO
➡️ Watch the video: THIS HAPPENED
⏩ LOOKING AHEAD
• U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to impose new sanctions on two illegal outposts in the West Bank that were used as bases for violent attacks on the Palestinian citizens. It would be the second round of sanctions from the Biden administration against the Israeli officials, and the first time against illegal outposts and not just against settlers.
• Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Australia, after releasing an interim proposal to eliminate tariffs on Australian wines, raising a surge of optimism that the nearly three-year imposition of duties may soon come to an end. Meanwhile, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will meet Antony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, on Thursday after tensions between the Philippines and China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
• France will pay a national homage next week in Paris to the memory ofAdmiral Philippe de Gaulle, son of World War II icon and French President Charles de Gaulle. The son, who died Wednesday at the age of 102, was in his early twenties when he took part in the French resistance that his father led.
👓 WORLDCRUNCH MAGAZINE
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News quiz answers:
1. Five people were killed in Gaza after a humanitarian airdrop parachute failed to open. The enclave is undergoing severe famine while Israel is blocking aid through land routes.
2. A formerBoeing employee who raised concerns about the firm's production standards has been found dead in the U.S.state of South Carolina. In the days before his death, he had been giving evidence in a whistleblower lawsuit against the company.
3. Japan has avoided falling into a technical recession after its official economic growth figures were revised. The revised data shows gross domestic product (GDP) was 0.4% higher in the last three months of 2023 compared to a year earlier.
4. Airbnb says it isintroducing a worldwide ban next month on the use of indoor cameras inside rental properties in order to protect privacy.
✍️ Newsletter by Worldcrunch
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*Photo: Katya Muromtseva/IG
