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Greek Farmers Continue Their Protest

February 15, 2024 People's Dispatch. , , , ,
The protesting farmers in Greece decided to continue their agitations across the country with demands such as duty-free agricultural diesel, reduced electricity costs, and subsidies on supplies and animal feed, as negotiations with the government on February 13 yielded no results. A week-long protest, including rallies and blockades in major motorways across Greece, forced the New Democracy (ND) government to call the farmers’ groups for negotiations on Tuesday. The farmer’s unions rejected the meager concessions on electricity prices offered by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. They demanded effective measures for renegotiating the EU’s new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), full compensation for lost income during floods, and a cessation of labeling non-Greek produce as Greek.

Josep Borrell To World Leaders: ‘Cut Off Arms To Israel’

February 13, 2024 Jake Johnson, Common Dreams. , , , , , ,
The European Union's top foreign policy official said Monday that the Biden administration and other governments professing concern about the grisly death toll in the Gaza Strip should stop supplying so much weaponry to the Israeli military as it carries out one of the most devastating bombing campaigns in modern history. Pointing to U.S. President Joe Biden's statement late last week that Israel's war on Gaza has been "over the top," E.U. High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said during a press conference in Brussels, "Well, if you believe that too many people are being killed, maybe you should provide less arms in order to prevent so many people being killed."

In Europe, Platform Workers Are Winning Limited Protections

February 12, 2024 Ben Wray, Jacobin. , , ,
As the European Parliament heads toward fresh elections in June, there’s one unresolved file on the desk of Brussels’s politicians and technocrats. The European Union (EU) Platform Work Directive, an attempt to establish a unified set of labor standards for workers on digital platforms like Uber and Deliveroo, has turned out to be a thorny issue. The EU’s various institutions have been banging heads over platform work regulation for years now, unable to bridge conflicting interests and ideologies. If passed, the Platform Work Directive would establish a whole set of new rights relating to algorithmic management.

Climate Denial Network Behind ‘Classic Astroturf’ Farmers’ Campaign

February 8, 2024 Clare Carlile, Adam Barnett and Phoebe Cooke, DeSmog. , , , , ,
A network of climate science deniers has been accused of “hijacking” rural concerns over a new social media campaign “to save the farming industry”. ‘No Farmers, No Food’ has gained over 50,000 followers on X in the fortnight since its launch, which was framed as a response to the widespread farmers’ protests sweeping across Europe. The campaign, which started in the UK, has rapidly won support from a number of international pundits, from Canadian climate science denier Jordan Peterson, to Fox News contributor and host Tomi Lahren, who has called climate change a “hoax”. Populist politicians in the UK and elsewhere have also declared their support.

Western Officials Warn Of War-Crimes Complicity

February 3, 2024 Jake Johnson, Consortium News. , , , , , ,
More than 800 government officials in the United States and Europe released a letter Friday criticizing their countries’ leaders for providing unconditional military and diplomatic support to Israel as it inflicts disaster on Gaza’s population. The authors of the letter, who remain anonymous, wrote that their attempts to voice concerns internally about their governments’ support for Israel’s assault on Gaza “were overruled by political and ideological considerations.” “We are obliged to do everything in our power on behalf of our countries and ourselves to not be complicit in one of the worst human catastrophes of this century,” the letter reads.

Workers’ Party Demands Respect For Farmers Across Europe

February 2, 2024 Workers' Party Of Belgium, People's Dispatch. , , , ,
All across Europe, farmers are making their voices heard. In Belgium too, actions and blockages have been taking place across the country. The movement, which started from the base, is supported by agricultural unions, both in the south and the north of the country. “It is not normal that farmers cannot make a living from their work, we support their mobilization,” declares PTB president Raoul Hedebouw. For the agricultural world, the cup is full and the anger is deep. The reasons for this are numerous. Production costs have increased sharply for farmers in recent years, as have prices for the consumer. However, farmers do not sell their products more expensively.

Palestinian-Led Initiative Warns European Officials Of Intention To Prosecute Over Complicity With Israel

January 24, 2024 Justice and Accountability for Palestine, Popular Resistance. , , ,
The Justice and Accountability for Palestine Initiative has issued a stark warning to European public officials of the Austrian, French, German and Dutch governments that they could be individually liable for their role in aiding and abetting Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of Genocide through their involvement in providing military, economic, and political support to Israel.  Sustaining such assistance implicates European public officials in the perpetration of war crimes and crimes against humanity as well as failure to prevent the crime of genocide. This may render officials criminally liable for violating international law by ‘aiding and abetting’  Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people. 

EU Approves Law To Ban Greenwashing On Product Labels

January 19, 2024 Paige Bennett, EcoWatch. , , ,
The European Parliament has voted to adopt a law regulating sustainability claims on product labels. The law will prohibit retailers from making general environmental claims and sustainability claims without evidence. The law bans the use of terms including “eco,” “biodegradable,” “environmentally friendly,” “natural” and “climate neutral” without evidence. The EU will now require sustainability labels to be linked to official certifications or those established by public authorities, such as the the EU Ecolabel, the European Environmental Bureau reported. Further, the law addresses carbon offsetting, banning labels from noting that products have a “neutral, reduced or positive impact on the environment” because of companies’ participation in carbon offsetting programs.

Red Sea Politics: Ethiopia, Somalia, And The US/EU/NATO

January 18, 2024 Ann Garrison, Black Agenda Report. , , , , , ,
The world’s eyes are now on the geostrategic Red Sea waterways where Yemen’s Ansar Allah fighters have stopped Israeli and Israel-bound ships from passing. Other regional tensions have come into play since Ethiopia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Somaliland, a secessionist state within Somalia that has claimed its independence since 1991. Given the geostrategic importance of the Red Sea, the US/EU/NATO are no doubt involved behind the scenes. I spoke to Somali Kenyan scholar Abdiwahab Sheikh Abdisamad about Red Sea politics and the MOU.

Biden Tries To Rein In Spain After Veto Of EU Entry In Anti-Yemen Taskforce

December 26, 2023 News Desk, The Cradle. , , , , ,
US President Joe Biden spoke with his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez on 22 December to discuss bilateral relations and the “dramatic situation” in Gaza. The NATO partners “stressed the importance of ensuring the conflict does not expand in the region, to include condemning ongoing [Yemeni] attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea,” the White House readout of the call highlights. However, the official readouts do not mention Spain's role in the recently announced Operation Prosperity Guardian, as reports in Spanish media have revealed that Sanchez's office ordered Madrid's mission in Brussels to veto the participation of EU naval forces in the anti-Yemen coalition.

European Trade Unions March To Protest The EU-Imposed Austerity

December 15, 2023 People's Dispatch. , , , , ,
On December 12, trade unionists, political parties, and other working-class sections from around 30 countries participated in a major demonstration led by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) protesting the EU-imposed austerity in the region. The march was organized against the backdrop of the summit of EU leaders in Brussels on December 14 and 15 to find a consensus over a controversial reform of the EU’s economic governance rules called the ‘Stability and Growth Pact.’ Around 15,000 people marched in Brussels behind the banner Together Against Austerity sending a clear message to leaders that there must be no return to austerity.

NATO/West Or Global Majority?

December 5, 2023 Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson, Geopolitical Economy. , , , , , , , ,
Political economists Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson discuss the fracturing international order between the NATO/West bloc and the Global Majority, analyzing Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, Russia, Argentina, and Europe.

A Divided EU Can’t Agree On Ceasefire In Israeli Campaign Against Gaza

October 26, 2023 Marc Martorell Junyent, Scheer Post. , , ,
The disagreements over the EU position after the eruption of the Israel-Hamas war have been broader and more public than observers might have expected. At the same time, they hardly come as a surprise. The long-standing position of the EU on the conflict has been support for a two-state solution and the Palestinian Authority (PA) headed by Mahmoud Abbas. In the face of the growing number of settlements in the West Bank – where the PA suffers a profound crisis of legitimacy –, the worsening of the situation in the Gaza Strip under Israel’s siege and frequent bombings, and the establishment of the most right-wing government in Israel’s history in December 2022, the two-state solution already appeared more distant than ever before the recent events.

Manifiesta 2023: 15,000 Voices Amplify Call For Solidarity And Hope

September 19, 2023 People's Dispatch. , , ,
Approximately 15,000 people gathered in Ostend, Belgium, on September 9-10 for the latest edition of the solidarity festival Manifiesta. This year’s festival was an enormous success and featured additional programs designed to immerse visitors in the event. Music performances by Meteor and Axelle Red drew large crowds during the evenings, but so did Chris Smalls from the Amazon Labor Union, as he reminded listeners that the workers’ struggle is “a marathon, rather than a sprint.” The experience of building the Amazon Labor Union serves as a practical example of the possibility of creating a different world, a message that Manifiesta’s organizers are eager to convey in Belgium and on a global scale.

Niger Puts An End To Uranium And Gold Export To France

August 6, 2023 Al Mayadeen, Orinoco Tribune. , , , , , , , , , ,
With immediate effect, the Republic of Niger, under the leadership of new president General Abdourahamane Tchiani, and supported by the people of the country, announced the suspension of the export of uranium and gold to France on Sunday. In parallel to the decision, protestors were surrounding the French Embassy in Niger calling for the end of French colonial practices repeating the slogan “Down with France!” and reaffirming their support to the coup leader, Tchiani. Wazobia Reporters, a Nigerien news website,reported one protestor proclaiming “We have uranium, diamonds, gold, oil, and we live like slaves? We don’t need the French to keep us safe.”
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