Ireland Recognizes Palestine, Broaches sanctions on Israel for “Barbaric” Airstrikes, Settler Violence Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Ireland joined Spain and Norway on Tuesday in formally recognizing Palestine as a “sovereign and independent state” in Gaza and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital, inside 1967 borders. The prime minister or Taoiseach of Ireland, Simon Harris, proclaimed, “Ireland’s decision is about keeping hope alive. It […] |
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Ireland joined Spain and Norway on Tuesday in formally recognizing Palestine as a “sovereign and independent state” in Gaza and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital, inside 1967 borders. The prime minister or Taoiseach of Ireland, Simon Harris, proclaimed, “Ireland’s decision is about keeping hope alive. It is about believing that a two-state solution is the only way for Israel and Palestine to live side by side in peace and security.” The Irish government called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. In his speech to parliament or the Dáil, Harris said, “Last week, I expressed that recognition sends a message to those in Palestine who advocate and work for a future of peace and democracy. We fully respect your aspirations to be living freely in your own country, in control of your own affairs under your own leadership. “In lockstep with our European colleagues, we aimed to be bearers of hope. We wanted to reaffirm our belief that peace is possible, justice is achievable, and that recognition of both states, Palestine and Israel, is the only cornerstone upon which that peace must be built. You cannot have a two-state solution without two states. “We have long recognized the State of Israel and its right to exist in peace and security within internationally agreed borders. “Today, we equally recognize the State of Palestine and its right to exist within internationally agreed borders. So, I want to conclude today by reiterating my statement from last week to the people of Palestine in the West Bank, in Gaza, in refugee camps, in exile, and those who joined us in the Dáil today and around the world. “Here in Ireland, we see you, we recognize you, we respect you, and today Ireland formally recognizes the state of Palestine. Thank you.” The center-right Irish government usually defers to the United States in foreign policy and it had repeatedly refused to impose sanctions on Israel for its long term occupation of the Palestinians. It is clear that the Israeli total war on Gaza for the past nearly 9 months, and the way in which the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly thumbed its nose at international legal institutions, was what changed Irish minds. Harris went so far as to broach sanctions on Israel in reaction to Sunday evening’s bombing of a refugee tent camp in what had been declared a safe zone, which set fires that devoured some 45 persons, according to the BBC: “Overnight we have seen Israel attack a displaced person centre, a place where parents were told to flee with their children, and they bombed it. “In relation to sanctions, I don’t think anything can be off the table when it comes to Israel, particularly with what we’re seeing currently happening in Rafah now, when we’re seeing the international community being ignored, when we’re seeing international courts being ignored.” PM Harris also condemned rising violence by Israeli squatters on Palestinian land against the indigenous population in the occupied West Bank, saying, “In today’s West Bank we see an extreme form of Zionism fuel settler violence and appropriation of land, illegal actions that largely go unchecked.” The idea of sanctioning Israel had been earlier pushed by the opposition left wing party, Sinn Fein. Member of Parliament Matt Carthy, speaking a few days ago, had said, ““The state that we will now officially recognise has long endured oppression, occupation and apartheid. Today the people of Gaza face a relentless genocide . . . “Israel must be held to account and meaningfully sanctioned for the ongoing gross violations of international law in Gaza and across Palestine.” It is an impressive achievement for Netanyahu to have brought the whole spectrum of Irish politics, from the center right to the left, together. The deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, Micheál Martin, said, according to Euronews, “Today’s decision by the Government represents our conviction that a political way forward is the only way to break the cycle of dispossession, subjugation, dehumanisation, terrorism and death that has marred the lives of Israelis and Palestinians for decades.” Martin also excoriated Israel for the Rafah tent strike, calling it “barbaric,” according to the BBC: “I condemn the violence . . . The rockets that were struck at Tel Aviv and the heinous attack on the Rafah tent refugee camp where innocent children and civilians were killed. What we witnessed last night is barbaric. Gaza is a very small enclave, densely populated conurbation.” “One cannot bomb an area like that without shocking consequences in terms of innocent children and civilians”. Martin predicted that more member states of the 27-state European Union will join in recognizing Palestine. Prior to Tuesday, Sweden, Cyprus, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria had recognized Palestine; for the eastern Europeans, that step was taken when they were Socialist states. Slovenia and Belgium are already weighing this decision. Countries get enormous pressure, and threats, from Israel and the United States to keep the Palestinians stateless and helpless and to de facto perpetuate the Apartheid situation imposed by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In a formal statement posted to “X,” Martin said, “Today’s Government decision authorises the establishment of full diplomatic relations with the State of Palestine. Subject to the formal request from the Palestinian authorities, the Government will upgrade the status of the Palestinian Mission in Ireland to that of an Embassy, and authorise the appointment of an Ambassador from the State of Palestine to Ireland. “Our decision today also authorises the upgrading of the current Representative Office of Ireland in Ramallah to an Embassy. “Recognition of Palestine is not the end of a process; it is the beginning. We are deeply committed to the pursuit of peace and support for Palestinian state-building. Ireland has reaffirmed this commitment over many decades, through intensive diplomacy and our long-standing development cooperation programme. “It is vital that the Palestinian Authority is given the full backing of the international community in its reform and service delivery efforts and we will redouble our energies to this end. “In recent days, I have held substantive discussions on the path ahead with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa and engaged with European and Arab partners on the Arab Peace Vision as a meaningful way forward in achieving peace. “Ireland will continue to work closely with the Palestinian Authority, and our EU and international partners, in creating a political path that can stop this horrific conflict and humanitarian disaster, ensure the release of all hostages, and realise the vision of a sovereign, independent Palestinian State existing alongside the State of Israel in peace and security.” How America’s 25 Gigs of New Solar will help keep Power on during our Coming Scorching Summer By: Robert Zullo – ( Florida Phoenix ) -With some parts of the country already facing heat waves, the organization in charge of setting reliability standards for the American electric grid is warning that a scorching summer could lead to a shortage of power generation in some regions. The warning comes as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there’s […] |
The warning comes as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there’s a 99% chance that 2024 will rank among the five warmest years on record and 55% chance it will be the hottest on record. Overall, though, the analysis by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation painted a rosier picture than last year’s report, in part because of a surge in solar power development. The nation has enough energy supply to handle normal peak demand, called “load” in the electric industry, largely because of 25 gigawatts of new solar power capacity — at full capacity that’s the rough equivalent maximum output of 25 large fossil or nuclear power plants. (The number of homes that can be powered from one gigawatt of solar can vary widely across the country). But the new panels have helped move some areas from what NERC calls “elevated risk” of power shortfalls in last year’s analysis to “normal risk” this year. “Resource additions are providing needed capacity to keep up with rising peak demand in most areas,” Mark Olson, the organization’s manager of reliability assessments, told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week. New power transfer agreements, growth in demand response programs, which incentivize customers to reduce power usage during times of grid stress, and delayed power plant retirements “are also contributing to an overall improved resource outlook for the upcoming summer,” NERC says. A solar surgeA separate FERC staff presentation said solar will make up 10% of overall national electric generation capacity by the end of this summer, with natural gas providing 42%, coal providing 14% and wind power at 13%. Solar power is growing fast across the country, with the U.S. hitting five million total solar installations (most of them residential), per the Solar Energy Industries Association. Reaching that milestone took 50 years, but the industry group projects that hitting 10 million solar installations will only take six years. Solar power for the first time accounted for more than half of new electric generation capacity added in 2023, the group noted. The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects “a record addition” of new utility-scale solar power this year, with about 36.4 gigawatts projected to be installed. More than half of that new capacity is planned for Texas, California and Florida.
The Gemini facility scheduled to begin operation this year near Las Vegas, with a planned solar capacity of nearly 700 megawatts and battery storage capacity of up to 380 megawatts, is expected to become the nation’s largest solar project. Battery storage is also growing rapidly, with more than 14 gigawatts expected to be added this year, according to the EIA. Batteries complement solar generation well, since solar’s peak production doesn’t generally line up with peak demand on the grid, which happens later in the day. Batteries allow excess solar power to be banked for when it’s needed. But a changing power mix also comes with new challenges and risks, NERC warned. In his presentation to FERC, Olson said that while the overall summer electric reliability outlook has improved, some regions are seeing what he described as growing risks during extreme weather. “Shortages could occur when demand is high and solar, wind or hydro output are low,” he said. Those regions include parts of the Midwest and South in the grid area managed by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, New England, Texas, much of the Southwest and California. Grid operators, though, are becoming increasingly adept at planning and running electric grids with large amounts of intermittent resources. “It’s refreshing to finally get the recognition that renewables can help with reliability,” said Simon Mahan, executive director of the Southern Renewable Energy Association. Shifting seasons and climate changeWhile most of the country has historically been “summer-peaking,” meaning regions hit their highest demand for electricity during the summer months, some areas are increasingly seeing demand spike in winter, a trend that is expected to continue as result of heating electrification, other decarbonization policies and more extreme, protracted cold weather events. Indeed, the majority of recent electric grid failures have been during severe winter weather, such as Winter Storm Elliott in 2022, which caused blackouts in several southern states and Uri in 2021, which caused a catastrophic collapse of the Texas electric grid that caused an estimated 246 deaths. But summer heat still poses risks, NERC says, contributing to both high demand and power plant outages, such as at natural gas power plants. “Last summer brought record temperatures, extended heat waves and wildfires to large parts of North America,” the organization said. And though energy emergency alerts were few and no electricity supply interruptions happened as a result of insufficient power resources, grid operators “faced significant challenges and drew upon procedures and protocols to obtain all available resources, manage system demand and ensure that energy is delivered over the transmission network to meet the system demand.” Utilities and state and local officials in many areas also “used mechanisms and public appeals to lower customer demand during periods of strained supplies,” NERC added. Christy Walsh, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Sustainable FERC Project, said the reliability reports show how climate change is central to the pressures facing the electric grid. “And it needs to be at the center of our solutions too,” she said in a statement to States Newsroom. “Earlier and more intense hurricanes brought on by increasing sea temperatures are a new and noteworthy concern, and this underscores the need for more large-scale transmission and connections between regions. Most of the new additions were wind, solar and storage, and last summer especially we saw just how crucial these resources can be during extreme heat events. We need to make sure we have a grid that can withstand the weather and move resources around during times of stress.”  Robert ZulloThe intersectionality of Hate helps us understand the Ideology of Donald Trump and the Far Right By Francis Dupuis-Déri, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) | – (The Conversation) – A new conceptual tool is required to fully understand the most recent rhetorical strategies of far-right activists and politicians, including former U.S. President Donald Trump. This is precisely what the concept of “intersectionality of hate” aims to do. Analysts and academics […] |
(The Conversation) – A new conceptual tool is required to fully understand the most recent rhetorical strategies of far-right activists and politicians, including former U.S. President Donald Trump. This is precisely what the concept of “intersectionality of hate” aims to do.
Analysts and academics have been talking about the intersectionality of hate for several years now. In doing so, they draw on the notion of intersectionality developed by African-American law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw to designate a reality shaped by sexism, racism, classism and other categories (there are some 30 in all).
Crenshaw points out that African-American women have always been aware of this complex reality. Mary Church Terrell, a Black suffragist, declared around 1920 that “a white woman has only one handicap to overcome, that of sex. I have two: sex and race.”
While researching anti-feminism and discourses of men’s victimhood related to a so-called crisis of masculinity, I became aware of how the new concept of intersectionality of hate makes it possible to understand the interweaving of hateful discourses. The French historian Christine Bard, with whom I have the good fortune to collaborate, rightly points out that “anti-feminism practises intersectionality, but it’s the intersectionality of hate,” which brings together sexism, racism, antisemitism, xenophobia and homophobia.
This interweaving of hate speech can also be viewed from different points of view, for example, from the racist and xenophobic or “anti-gender” and transphobic movements.
Conceptual innovation
The popularity of the concept of intersectionality no doubt explains the synchronous appearance of the intersectionality of hate on both sides of the Atlantic.
The article “How Trump Made Hate Intersectional” appeared in New York magazine on November 9, 2016, the day after Trump’s election. It was signed by the African-American intellectual Rembert Browne, who explained how the Republican candidate federated voters. “Trump won the presidency by making hate intersectional. He encouraged sexists to also be racists and homophobes, while saying disgusting things about immigrants in public and Jews online.”
Hatred is mixed here with the fear of being robbed of one’s country, institutions and personal achievements, and with anger at not having what one thinks one is entitled to simply by virtue of being a heterosexual white male. This attitude is reminiscent of that of the “Angry White Men” that was much talked about just a few years ago: it is no longer limited to blaming a single group for real or imagined personal problems but blames all minority groups. That means there is no longer a single scapegoat, but a whole herd.
At the same time, in France, Bard, who has shown that anti-feminism and lesbophobia are intertwined and mutually reinforcing, analyzed 1,367 articles dealing with women, gender and sexuality published in the far-right weekly Minute.
MSNBC: “‘He’s broke’: AOC roasts Trump for hosting a campaign rally in the Bronx”
She found that “the intersectionality of hate is practised, associating feminism, homosexualism, Islamism and immigrationism.” She notes that political and media figures are targeted with particular intensity if they are women, and also if they are Jewish, Muslim or of African origin. The historian concludes that this intersectionality of hate runs counter to any egalitarian or inclusive perspective.
Attacks on progressives
Shortly afterwards, the journal Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture, and Social Justice devoted a short special report to the intersectionality of hate, associating it with the far right, which attacks progressives and accuses them of imposing their values and defending “minorities.”
In addition to racist and sexist attacks, there are also virulent accusations against “cultural Marxists” (or “wokes”) who allegedly control the State in order to develop “positive discrimination” programs and influence the education system to be able to indoctrinate young people with “political correctness.”
Each attack is an opportunity to point out that the essence of the United States is European, Anglo-Saxon, Christian, heterosexual, capitalist and meritocratic. The attacks also serve to distract attention from the elite that really dominates the country, which is made up of multi-billionaires in the White House, as well as heads of big business and media.
The intersectionality of hate is disseminated by influential traditional (Fox News) and web (Daily Stormer and Daily Wire) media, think tanks like the National Policy Institute and polemicists like Christopher Rufo and Ben Shapiro.
Terrorism
The notion of intersectionality of hate is taken up again in the analysis of hate speech and those associated with terrorist attacks. For example, a study in Europe, Intersectional Hate Speech Online, concludes that “Women remain the group of people most often targeted by intersectional hate speech […], for example Muslim women, Roma women or Women of Colour. […] Another target group for intersectional hate speech is women in public positions.”
Europol also mentions the intersectionality of hate in its 2020 Terrorism Situation and Trend Report. The agency presents a list of attacks motivated by anti-feminism, racism and xenophobia. It gives the example of the one perpetrated in 2011 in Norway by the Nazi Anders Breivik, who claimed in his manifesto to be defending Christian European civilization, and who massacred 76 young socialists.
Europol also mentions Elliot Rodger, who committed one of the first mass murders associated with involuntary celibates in California in 2014, and who also expressed sexist and racist hatred in his manifesto.
“I was anti-everything,” answered a former French gendarme when the court asked him if he was homophobic, during a trial for having planned attacks on several targets. The defendant had also written a neo-Nazi manifesto celebrating Breivik.
Other Islamophobic attackers had planned to attack feminists. The one who targeted the Québec mosque in 2017 was interested in feminist groups at Laval University, and the one who decimated a Muslim family in Ontario, in 2021, had scouted abortion clinics.
Finally, British journalist Helen Lewis points out in her article “The Intersectionality of Hate”, published in The Atlantic, on a mass killer who targeted Buffalo’s African-American community in 2022, that his manifesto included antisemitic cartoons.
Victim rhetoric
So, the intersectionality of hate works by superimposing similar analytical frameworks that systematically deduce the same dynamics from reality, and always lead to the same conclusion: the white heterosexual male is a victim of “minorities” he must resist.
This rhetoric helps to legitimize even the most obvious abuses, such as voting for the would-be dictator for a day Trump, or imposing one’s vision of things through terrorist violence.
The intersectionality of hate also targets progressives and reflects the refusal to recognize that the “majority” of white heterosexual men is, in reality, a minority whose claim to superiority, or even supremacy, is well and truly contested in the name of social justice.
Francis Dupuis-Déri, Professeur, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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