Search here...
Home Blog Page 15

Kanaky in flames: Five takeaways from the New Caledonia independence riots

By
David Robie
-
0
"No to neocolonialism" is the message from Christian Téin of the protest field group CCAT and thousands of protesters in Nouméa. Image: APR screenshot

ANALYSIS: By David Robie, editor of Café Pacific

Jean-Marie Tjibaou, a revered Kanak visionary, was inspirational to indigenous Pacific political activists across Oceania, just like Tongan anthropologist and writer Epeli Hao’ofa was to cultural advocates.

Tragically, he was assassinated in 1989 by an opponent within the independence movement during the so-called “les événements” in New Caledonia, the last time the “French” Pacific territory was engulfed in a political upheaval such as experienced this week.

His memory and legacy as poet, cultural icon and peaceful political agitator live on with the impressive Tjibaou Cultural Centre on the outskirts of the capital Nouméa as a benchmark for how far New Caledonia had progressed in the last 35 years.

However, the wave of pro-independence protests that descended into urban rioting this week invoked more than Tjibaou’s memory. Many of the martyrs — such as schoolteacher turned security minister Eloï Machoro, murdered by French snipers during the upheaval of the 1980s — have been remembered and honoured for their exploits over the last few days with countless memes being shared on social media.

Among many memorable quotes by Tjibaou, this one comes to mind:

“White people consider that the Kanaks are part of the fauna, of the local fauna, of the primitive fauna. It’s a bit like rats, ants or mosquitoes,” he once said.

“Non-recognition and absence of cultural dialogue can only lead to suicide or revolt.”

And that is exactly what has come to pass this week in spite of all the warnings in recent years and months. A revolt.

Among the warnings were one by me in December 2021 after a failed third and “final” independence referendum. I wrote at the time about the French betrayal:

“After three decades of frustratingly slow progress but with a measure of quiet optimism over the decolonisation process unfolding under the Nouméa Accord, Kanaky New Caledonia is again poised on the edge of a precipice.”

As Paris once again reacts with a heavy-handed security crackdown, it appears to have not learned from history. It will never stifle the desire for independence by colonised peoples.

New Caledonia was annexed as a colony in 1853 and was a penal colony for convicts and political prisoners — mainly from Algeria — for much of the 19th century before gaining a degree of autonomy in 1946.

"Kanaky Palestine - same combat" solidarity placard.
“Kanaky Palestine – same combat” solidarity placard. Image: APR screenshot

Here are my five takeaways from this week’s violence and frustration:

1. Global failure of neocolonialism – Palestine, Kanaky and West Papua
Just as we have witnessed a massive outpouring of protest on global streets for justice, self-determination and freedom for the people of Palestine as they struggle for independence after 76 years of Israeli settler colonialism, and also Melanesian West Papuans fighting for 61 years against Indonesian settler colonialism, Kanak independence aspirations are back on the world stage.

Neocolonialism has failed. French President Emmanuel Macron’s attempt to reverse the progress towards decolonisation over the past three decades has backfired in his face.

2. French deafness and loss of social capital
The predictions were already long there. Failure to listen to the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) leadership and to be prepared to be patient and negotiate towards a consensus has meant much of the crosscultural goodwill that been developed in the wake of the Nouméa Accord of 1998 has disappeared in a puff of smoke from the protest fires of the capital.

The immediate problem lies in the way the French government has railroaded the indigenous Kanak people who make up 42 percent of the 270,000 population into a constitutional bill that “unfreezes” the electoral roll pegging voters to those living in New Caledonia at the time of the 1998 Nouméa Accord. Under the draft bill all those living in the territory for the past 10 years could vote.

Kanak leaders and activists who have been killed
Kanak leaders and activists who have been killed . . . Jean-Marie Tjibaou is bottom left, and Eloï Machoro is bottom right. Image: FLNKS/APR

This would add some 25,000 extra French voters in local elections, which would further marginalise Kanaks at a time when they hold the territorial presidency and a majority in the Congress in spite of their demographic disadvantage.

Under the Nouméa Accord, there was provision for three referendums on independence in 2018, 2020 and 2021. The first two recorded narrow (and reducing) votes against independence, but the third was effectively boycotted by Kanaks because they had suffered so severely in the 2021 delta covid pandemic and needed a year to mourn culturally.

The FLNKS and the groups called for a further referendum but the Macron administration and a court refused.

3. Devastating economic and social loss
New Caledonia was already struggling economically with the nickel mining industry in crisis – the territory is the world’s third-largest producer. And now four days of rioting and protesting have left a trail of devastation in their wake.

At least five people have died in the rioting — three Kanaks, and two French police, apparently as a result of a barracks accident. A state of emergency was declared for at least 12 days.

But as economists and officials consider the dire consequences of the unrest, it will take many years to recover. According to Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) president David Guyenne, between 80 and 90 percent of the grocery distribution network in Nouméa had been “wiped out”. The chamber estimated damage at about 200 million euros (NZ$350 million).

Twin flags of Kanaky and Palestine flying from a Parisian rooftop
Twin flags of Kanaky and Palestine flying from a Parisian rooftop. Image: APR

4. A new generation of youth leadership
As we have seen with Generation Z in the forefront of stunning pro-Palestinian protests across more than 50 universities in the United States (and in many other countries as well, notably France, Ireland, Germany, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom), and a youthful generation of journalists in Gaza bearing witness to Israeli atrocities, youth has played a critical role in the Kanaky insurrection.

Australian peace studies professor Dr Nicole George notes that “the highly visible wealth disparities” in the territory “fuel resentment and the profound racial inequalities that deprive Kanak youths of opportunity and contribute to their alienation”.

A feature is the “unpredictability” of the current crisis compared with the 1980s “les événements”.

“In the 1980s, violent campaigns were coordinated by Kanak leaders . . . They were organised. They were controlled.

“In contrast, today it is the youth taking the lead and using violence because they feel they have no other choice. There is no coordination. They are acting through frustration and because they feel they have ‘no other means’ to be recognised.”

According to another academic, Dr Évelyne Barthou, a senior lecturer in sociology at the University of Pau, who researched Kanak youth in a field study last year: “Many young people see opportunities slipping away from them to people from mainland France.

“This is just one example of the neocolonial logic to which New Caledonia remains prone today.”

Pan-Pacific independence solidarity
Pan-Pacific independence solidarity . . . “Kanak People Maohi – same combat”. Image: APR screenshot

5. Policy rethink needed by Australia, New Zealand
Ironically, as the turbulence struck across New Caledonia this week, especially the white enclave of Nouméa, a whistlestop four-country New Zealand tour of Melanesia headed by Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, who also has the foreign affairs portfolio, was underway.

The first casualty of this tour was the scheduled visit to New Caledonia and photo ops demonstrating the limited diversity of the political entourage showed how out of depth New Zealand’s Pacific diplomacy had become with the current rightwing coalition government at the helm.

Heading home, Peters thanked the people and governments of Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Tuvalu for “working with New Zealand towards a more secure, more prosperous and more resilient tomorrow”.

His tweet came as New Caledonian officials and politicians were coming to terms with at least five deaths and the sheer scale of devastation in the capital which will rock New Caledonia for years to come.

News media in both Australia and New Zealand hardly covered themselves in glory either, with the commercial media either treating the crisis through the prism of “threats” to tourists or a superficial brush over the issues. Only the public media did a creditable job, New Zealand’s RNZ Pacific and Australia’s ABC Pacific and SBS.

In the case of New Zealand’s largest daily newspaper, The New Zealand Herald, it barely noticed the crisis. On Wednesday morning there was not a word in the paper.

Thursday was not much better, with an “afterthought” report provided by a partnership with RNZ. As I reported it:

“Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest newspaper, the New Zealand Herald, finally catches up with the Pacific’s biggest news story after three days of crisis — the independence insurrection in #KanakyNewCaledonia.

“But unlike global news services such as Al Jazeera, which have featured it as headline news, the Herald tucked it at the bottom of page 2. Even then it wasn’t its own story, it was relying on a partnership report from RNZ.”

Also, New Zealand media reports largely focused too heavily on the “frustrations and fears” of more than 219 tourists and residents registered in the territory this week, and provided very slim coverage of the core issues of the upheaval.

With all the warning signs in the Pacific over recent years — a series of riots in New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga and Vanuatu — Australia and New Zealand need to wake up to the yawning gap in social indicators between the affluent and the impoverished, and the worsening climate crisis.

These are the real issues of the Pacific, not some fantasy about AUKUS and a perceived China threat in an unconvincing arena called “Indo-Pacific”.

Dr David Robie covered “Les Événements” in New Caledonia in the 1980s and penned the book Blood on their Banner about the turmoil. He also covered the 2018 independence referendum.

Loyalist French rally in New Caledonia
Loyalist French rally in New Caledonia . . . “Unfreezing is democracy”. Image: APR screenshot

Why is New Caledonia on fire? According to local women, the deadly riots are about more than voting rights

By
Cafe Pacific Publisher
-
0
Five people have died in the Kanaky New Caledonia riots this week
Five people have died in the Kanaky New Caledonia riots this week. French security reinforcements have been deployed, the capital Nouméa is under nightly curfew, and a state of emergency has been declared. Image: APR

ANALYSIS: By Nicole George

New Caledonia’s capital city, Nouméa, has endured widespread violent rioting over the past three days. This crisis intensified rapidly, taking local authorities by surprise.

Peaceful protests had been occurring across the country in the preceding weeks as the French National Assembly in Paris deliberated on a constitutional amendment that would increase the territory’s electoral roll.

As the date for the vote — last Tuesday — grew closer, however, protests became more obstructive and by Monday night had spiralled into uncontrolled violence.

In contrast, today it is the youth taking the lead and using violence because they feel they have no other choice.
In contrast with the 1980s, today it is the Kanak youth taking the lead and using violence because they feel they have no other choice. There is no coordination. They are acting through frustration and because they feel they have “no other means” to be recognised. Image: knky987

Since then, countless public buildings, business locations and private dwellings have been subjected to arson. Blockades erected by protesters prevent movement around greater Nouméa.

Five people have died. Security reinforcements have been deployed, the city is under nightly curfew, and a state of emergency has been declared. Citizens in many areas of Nouméa are now also establishing their own neighbourhood protection militias.

To understand how this situation has spiralled so quickly, it’s important to consider the complex currents of political and socioeconomic alienation at play.

The political dispute
At one level, the crisis is political, reflecting contention over a constitutional vote taken in Paris that will expand citizens’ voting rights. The change adds roughly 25,000 voters to the electoral role in New Caledonia by extending voting rights to French people who have lived on the island for 10 years.

This reform makes clear the political power that France continues to exercise over the territory.

The death toll has now increased to five.

The current changes have proven divisive because they undo provisions in the 1998 Noumea Accord, particularly the restriction of voting rights. The accord was designed to “rebalance” political inequalities so the interests of Indigenous Kanaks and the descendants of French settlers would be equally recognised.

This helped to consolidate peace between these groups after a long period of conflict in the 1980s, known locally as “les événements”.

A loyalist group of elected representatives in New Caledonia’s Parliament reject the contemporary significance of “rebalancing” (in French “rééquilibrage”) with regard to the electoral status of Kanak people. They argue after three referendums on the question of New Caledonian independence — held between 2018 and 2021 — all of which produced a majority no vote, the time for electoral reform is well overdue.

This position is made clear by Nicolas Metzdorf. A key rightwing loyalist, he defined the constitutional amendment, which was passed by the National Assembly in Paris on Tuesday, as a vote for democracy and “universalism”.

Yet this view is roundly rejected by Kanak pro-independence leaders who say these amendments undermine the political status of Indigenous Kanak people, who constitute a minority of the voting population. These leaders also refuse to accept that the decolonisation agenda has been concluded, as loyalists assert.

Instead, they dispute the outcome of the final 2021 referendum which, they argue, was forced on the territory by French authorities too soon after the outbreak of the covid pandemic. This disregarded the fact that Kanak communities bore disproportionate impacts of the pandemic and were unable to fully mobilise before the vote.

Demands that the referendum be delayed were rejected, and many Kanak people abstained as a result.

In this context, the disputed electoral reforms decided in Paris this week are seen by pro-independence camps as yet another political prescription imposed on Kanak people. A leading figure of one Indigenous Kanak women’s organisation described the vote to me as a solution that pushes “Kanak people into the gutter”, one that would have “us living on our knees”.

Beyond the politics
Many political commentators are likening the violence observed in recent days to the political violence of les événements of the 1980s, which exacted a heavy toll on the country. Yet this is disputed by local women leaders with whom I am in conversation, who have encouraged me to look beyond the central political factors in analysing this crisis.

Some female leaders reject the view this violence is simply an echo of past political grievances. They point to the highly visible wealth disparities in the country.

These fuel resentment and the profound racial inequalities that deprive Kanak youths of opportunity and contribute to their alienation.

Women have also told me they are concerned about the unpredictability of the current situation. In the 1980s, violent campaigns were coordinated by Kanak leaders, they tell me. They were organised. They were controlled.

In contrast, today it is the youth taking the lead and using violence because they feel they have no other choice. There is no coordination. They are acting through frustration and because they feel they have “no other means” to be recognised.

There is also frustration with political leaders on all sides. Late on Wednesday, Kanak pro-independence political leaders held a press conference. They echoed their loyalist political opponents in condemning the violence and issuing calls for dialogue.

The leaders made specific calls to the “youths” engaged in the violence to respect the importance of a political process and warned against a logic of vengeance.

The women civil society leaders I have been speaking to were frustrated by the weakness of this messaging. The women say political leaders on all sides have failed to address the realities faced by Kanak youths.

They argue if dialogue remains simply focused on the political roots of the dispute, and only involves the same elites that have dominated the debate so far, little will be understood and little will be resolved.

Likewise, they lament the heaviness of the current “command and control” state security response. It contradicts the calls for dialogue and makes little room for civil society participation of any sort.

These approaches put a lid on grievances, but they do not resolve them. Women leaders observing the current situation are anguished and heartbroken for their country and its people. They say if the crisis is to be resolved sustainably, the solutions cannot be imposed and the words cannot be empty.

Instead, they call for the space to be heard and to contribute to a resolution. Until that time they live with anxiety and uncertainty, waiting for the fires to subside, and the smoke currently hanging over a wounded Nouméa to clear.The Conversation

Dr Nicole George is associate professor in Peace and Conflict Studies, The University of Queensland. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

Flashback: Betrayal of Kanaky decolonisation by Paris risks return to dark days

By
David Robie
-
0
Libération front page in Paris today 16 May 2024
Libération front page in Paris today. Image: @libe

France has declared a state of emergency for 12 days on the Pacific territory of New Caledonia — New Zealand’s closest neighbour — after four people, including a police officer, have been killed in pro-independence riots over voting changes that further marginalise indigenous Kanaks.

Almost two and a half years ago, on 10 December 2021, I wrote an article after the third independence referendum debacle warning that “Kanaky New Caledonia is again poised on the edge of a precipice”.

ANALYSIS: By David Robie, 10 December 2021

After three decades of frustratingly slow progress but with a measure of quiet optimism over the decolonisation process unfolding under the Noumea Accord, Kanaky New Caledonia is again poised on the edge of a precipice.

Two out of three pledged referendums from 2018 produced higher than expected — and growing — votes for independence. But then the delta variant of the global covid-19 pandemic hit New Caledonia with a vengeance.

Flashback to turmoil in the wake of the 2018 independence referendum in New Caledonia
Flashback to turmoil in the wake of the 2018 independence referendum in New Caledonia … is France risking more violence? Image: APR screenshot ABC

Like much of the rest of the Pacific, New Caledonia with a population of 270,000 was largely spared during the first wave of covid infections. However, in September a delta outbreak infected 12,343 people with 280 deaths — almost 70 percent of them indigenous Kanaks.

New Caledonia referendum
NEW CALEDONIA REFERENDUM 2021

With the majority of the Kanak population in traditional mourning — declared for 12 months by the customary Senate, the pro-independence Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) and its allies pleaded for the referendum due this Sunday, December 12, to be deferred until next year after the French presidential elections.

In fact, there is no reason for France to be in such a rush to hold this last referendum on Kanak independence in the middle of a state of emergency and a pandemic. It is not due until October 2022.

It is clear that the Paris authorities have changed tack and want to stack the cards heavily in favour of a negative vote to maintain the French status quo.

When the delay pleas fell on deaf political ears and appeals failed in the courts, the pro-independence coalition opted instead to not contest the referendum and refuse to recognise its legitimacy.


The latest upheaval in Kanaky New Caledonia, 15 May 2024.   Video: Caledonia TV

Vote threatens to be farce
This Sunday’s vote threatens to be a farce following such a one-sided campaign. It could trigger violence as happened with a similar farcical and discredited independence referendum in 1987, which led to the infamous Ouvea cave hostage-taking and massacre the following year as retold in the devastating Mathieu Kassovitz feature film Rebellion [l’Ordre at la morale] — banned in New Caledonia for many years.

On 13 September 1987, a sham vote on New Caledonian independence was held. It was boycotted by the FLNKS when France refused to allow independent United Nations observers. Unsurprisingly, only 1.7 percent of participants voted for independence. Only 59 percent of registered voters took part.

After the bloody ending of the Ouvéa cave crisis, the 1988 Matignon/Oudinot Accord signed by Kanak leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou and anti-independence leader Jacques Lafleur, paved the way for possible decolonisation with a staggered process of increasing local government powers.

A decade later, the 1998 Noumea Accord set in place a two-decade pathway to increased local powers — although Paris retained control of military and foreign policy, immigration, police and currency — and the referendums.

New Caledonia referendum 2020
The New Caledonian independence referendum 2020 result. Image: Caledonian TV

In the first referendum on 4 November 2018, 43.33 percent voted for independence with 81 percent of the eligible voters taking part (recent arrivals had no right to vote in the referendum).

In the second referendum on 4 October 2020, the vote for independence rose to 46.7 percent with the turnout higher too at almost 86 percent. Only 10,000 votes separated the yes and no votes.

Kanak jubilation in the wake of the 2020 referendum
Kanak jubilation in the wake of the 2020 referendum with an increase in the pro-independence vote. Image: APR file

Expectations back then were that the “yes” vote would grow again by the third referendum with the demographics and a growing progressive vote, but by how much was uncertain.

Arrogant and insensitive
However, now with the post-covid tensions, the goodwill and rebuilding of trust for Paris that had been happening over many years could end in ashes again thanks to an arrogant and insensitive abandoning of the “decolonisation” mission by Emmanuel Macron’s administration in what is seen as a cynical ploy by a president positioning himself as a “law and order” leader ahead of the April elections.

Another pro-independence party, Palika, said Macron’s failure to listen to the pleas for a delay was a “declaration of war” against the Kanaks and progressive citizens.

The empty Noumea hoardings – apart from blue “La Voix du Non” posters, politically “lifeless” Place des Cocotiers, accusations of racism against indigenous Kanaks in campaign animations, and the 2000 riot police and military reinforcements have set a heavy tone.

And the damage to France’s standing in the region is already considerable.

Many academics writing about the implications of the “non” vote this Sunday are warning that persisting with this referendum in such unfavourable conditions could seriously rebound on France at a time when it is trying to project its “Indo-Pacific” relevance as a counterweight to China’s influence in the region.

China is already the largest buyer of New Caledonia’s metal exports, mainly nickel.

The recent controversial loss of a lucrative submarine deal with Australia has also undermined French influence.

Risks return to violence
Writing in The Guardian, Rowena Dickins Morrison, Adrian Muckle and Benoît Trépied warned that the “dangerous shift” on the New Caledonia referendum “risks a return to violence”.

“The dangerous political game being played by Macron in relation to New Caledonia recalls decisions made by French leaders in the 1980s which disregarded pro-independence opposition, instrumentalised New Caledonia’s future in the national political arena, and resulted in some of the bloodiest exchanges of that time,” they wrote.

Dr Muckle, who heads the history programme at Victoria University and is editor of The Journal of Pacific History, is chairing a roundtable webinar today entitled “Whither New Caledonia after the 2018-21 independence referendums?”

The theme of the webinar asks: “Has the search for a consensus solution to the antagonisms that have plagued New Caledonia finally ended? Is [the final] referendum likely to draw a line under the conflicts of the past or to reopen old wounds.”

Today's New Caledonia webinar at Victoria University
Today’s New Caledonia webinar at Victoria University of Wellington. Image: VUW

One of the webinar panellists, Denise Fisher, criticised in The Conversation the lack of “scrupulously observed impartiality” by France for this third referendum compared to the two previous votes.

“In the first two campaigns, France scrupulously observed impartiality and invited international observers. For this final vote, it has been less neutral,” she argued.

“For starters, the discussions on preparing for the final vote did not include all major independence party leaders. The paper required by French law explaining the consequences of the referendum to voters favoured the no side this time, to the point where loyalists used it as a campaign brochure.”

‘Delay’ say Pacific civil society groups
A coalition of Pacific civil society organisations and movement leaders is among the latest groups to call on the French government to postpone the third referendum, which they described as “hastily announced”.

While French Minister for Overseas Territories Sebastien Lecornu had told French journalists this vote would definitely go ahead as soon as possible to “serve the common good”, critics see him as pandering to the “non” vote.

The Union Calédoniènne, Union Nationale pour l’independence Party (UNI), FLNKS and other pro-independence groups in the New Caledonia Congress had already written to Lecornu expressing their grave concerns and requesting a postponement because of the pandemic.

“We argue that the decision by France to go ahead with the referendum on December 12 ignores the impact that the current health crisis has on the ability of Kanaks to participate in the referendum and exercise their basic human right to self-determination,” said the Pacific coalition.

“We understand the Noumea Accord provides a timeframe that could accommodate holding the last referendum at any time up to November 2022.

“Therefore, we see no need to hastily set the final referendum for 12 December 2021, in the middle of a worldwide pandemic that is currently ravaging Kanaky/New Caledonia, and disproportionately impacting [on] the Kanak population.”

The coalition also called on the Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama to “disengage” the PIF observer delegation led by Ratu Inoke Kubuabola. Forum engagement in referendum vote as observers, said the coalition, “ignores the concerns of the Kanak people”.

‘Act as mediators’
The coalition argued that the delegation should “act as mediators to bring about a more just and peaceful resolution to the question and timing of a referendum”.

Signatories to the statement include the Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era, Fiji Council of Social Services, Melanesian Indigenous Land Defence Alliance, Pacific Conference of Churches, Pacific Network on Globalisation, Peace Movement Aotearoa, Pasifika and Youngsolwara Pacific.

Melanesian Spearhead Group team backs Kanaky
Melanesian Spearhead Group team … backing indigenous Kanak self-determination, but a delay in the vote. Image: MSG

The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) secretariat has called on member states to not recognise New Caledonia’s independence referendum this weekend.

Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, which along with the FLNKS are full MSG members, have been informed by the secretariat of its concerns.

In a media release, the MSG’s Director-General, George Hoa’au, said the situation in New Caledonia was “not conducive for a free and fair referendum”.

Ongoing customary mourning over covid-19 related deaths in New Caledonia meant that Melanesian communities were unable to campaign for the vote.

Kanak delegation at the United Nations.
Kanak delegation at the United Nations. Image: Les Nouvelles Calédoniènnes

Hopes now on United Nations
“Major hopes are now being pinned on a Kanak delegation of territorial Congress President Roch Wamytan, Mickaël Forrest and Charles Wéa who travelled to New York this week to lobby the United Nations for support.

One again, France has demonstrated a lack of cultural and political understanding and respect that erodes the basis of the Noumea Accord – recognition of Kanak identity and kastom.

Expressing her disappointment to me, Northern provincial councillor and former journalist Magalie Tingal Lémé says: “What happens in Kanaky is what France always does here. The Macron government didn’t respect us. They still don’t understand us as Kanak people.”

Dr David Robie covered “Les Événements” in New Caledonia in the 1980s and penned the book Blood on their Banner about the turmoil. He also covered the 2018 independence referendum.

Violence erupts in New Caledonia as independence supporters oppose legislation in Paris

By
Cafe Pacific Publisher
-
0
Emotions are running high among Kanak independence supporters
Emotions are running high among Kanak independence supporters, who believe their position over France's electoral changes and the future political accord for Kanaky New Caledonia is not being respected. Image: NC La Première TV

Macron’s plan has backfired. But there can be no sustainable solution without cooperation of all parties, writes a former Australian diplomat in New Caledonia.

ANALYSIS: By Denise Fisher

Monday night saw demonstrations by independence supporters in New Caledonia erupt into serious violence for the first time since the 1980s civil disturbances.

The mainly indigenous demonstrators were opposing President Emmanuel Macron’s imposition of constitutional change to widen voter eligibility unless discussions about the future begin soon.

The protests occurred the day before France’s National Assembly was to vote on the issue, and just after Macron had proposed new talks in Paris.

On Monday, May 13, in Noumea, as France’s National Assembly debated the constitutional change in Paris, their local counterparts in the New Caledonian Congress were debating a resolution calling for withdrawal of the legislation.

The debate was bitter, after months of deepening division between independence and loyalist parties and focusing as it did on one of the most sensitive issues to each side, that of voter eligibility. The resolution was passed, as independence parties secured the support of a small minority party to outnumber the loyalists.

Macron, in an eleventh hour bid to prompt all parties to participate in new discussions about the future, proposed on May 13 to hold talks in Paris, but only after the Assembly vote of May 14 (albeit before the next step in the constitutional amendment process, a meeting of both houses).

Independence party leaders had called on their supporters to demonstrate against the constitutional reform, to coincide with the National Assembly’s consideration of the issue. The evening of May 13 was marked by violence on a scale not seen in decades.

Burning of buildings, roadblocks
It included the burning of buildings and businesses, roadblocks preventing movement in and out of the capital, and the closure of airports and ports in some of the islands. Police were targeted with gunfire and stoning, resulting in 35 injured police.

As of yesterday, Tuesday May 14, people were being asked to stay at home, with a curfew imposed. France, which already had 700 police on the job in New Caledonia, has sent reinforcements to maintain order.

A curfew was imposed. France, which already had 700 police on the job in New Caledonia, has sent reinforcements
A curfew was imposed. France, which already had 700 police on the job in New Caledonia, has sent reinforcements to maintain order. Image: Al Jazeera screenshot APR

The violence immediately brought to the minds of leaders the bloodshed of the 1980s, termed “les événements”.

The French High Commissioner, or governor, suggested things were moving “towards an abyss” and cancelled some incoming flights to prevent complications from tourists being unable to access Noumea, while noting that the airport and main wharf remain open. He urged independence leaders to use their influence on the young to stop the violence.

The Mayor of Noumea, Sonia Lagarde, described the situation as “extremely well organised guerrilla warfare” involving “well-trained young people” and suggested “a sort of civil war” was approaching.

On the face of it, to an outsider, Macron’s plan to broaden voter eligibility to those with 10 years’ residence prior to any local election, unless discussions about the future begin, would seem reasonable.

He sees the three independence votes held from 2018–21 as legal, notwithstanding the largely indigenous boycott of the third. (Each referendum saw a vote to stay with France, although support was narrow, declining from 56.7% to 53.3% in the first two votes, but ballooning to 96.5% in the third vote boycotted by independence supporters.)

‘Radical’ for white Caledonians, ‘unconscionable’ for Kanaks
For New Caledonians, Macron’s positioning is radical. Loyalists see it as a vindication of their position.

But for independence parties, France’s stance has been unconscionable.  Independence leaders reject the result of the boycotted referendum and want another self-determination vote soon.

Some have refused to participate in discussions organised by France, although one of the most recalcitrant elements suggested some discussion would be possible just days before the violent demonstrations.

But they have all strongly opposed Macron’s imposing constitutional change to widen voter eligibility unilaterally from Paris. They were affronted by his appointment of a prominent loyalist MP as the rapporteur responsible for shepherding the issue through the Assembly.

They have instead been calling for a special mission led by an impartial figure to bring about dialogue.

Protests included the burning of buildings and businesses
Protests included the burning of buildings and businesses, roadblocks preventing movement in and out of the capital, and the closure of airports and ports in some of the islands. Image: NC La Première TV

More importantly, they see the highly sensitive voter eligibility issue as a central negotiating chip in discussions about the future. Confining voter eligibility only to those with longstanding residence on a fixed basis — not by a number of years prior to any local election as Macron is proposing — was fundamental to securing independence party acceptance of peace agreements over 30 years, after France had operated a policy of bringing in French nationals from elsewhere to outweigh local independence supporters who are primarily indigenous.

Differences have deepened
With the inconclusive end of these agreements, differences have only deepened.

Loyalist leaders have accused independence leaders of planning the violence. Whether it was planned or whether demonstrations degenerated, either way it is clear that emotions are running high among independence supporters, who feel their position is not being respected.

No sustainable solution for the governance of New Caledonia is possible without the cooperation of all parties.

It seems that, regardless of Macron’s evident intention of spurring parties to come to the discussion table, his plan has backfired. Discussions are unlikely to resume soon.

Denise Fisher is a visiting fellow at Australian National University’s Centre for European Studies. She was an Australian diplomat for 30 years, serving in Australian diplomatic missions as a political and economic policy analyst in many Australian missions in Asia, Europe and Africa, including as Australian Consul-General in Nouméa, New Caledonia (2001-2004). She is the author of France in the South Pacific: Power and Politics (2013). This article was first published by the Lowy Institute’s The Interpreter and is republished by Asia Pacific Report with permission.

Curfew in New Caledonia after Kanak pro-independence riots over French voting change plan

By
Cafe Pacific Publisher
-
0
Kanak protesters in Nouméa demanding independence and a halt to France’s proposed constitutional changes that alter voting rights
Kanak protesters in Nouméa demanding independence and a halt to France’s proposed constitutional changes that alter voting rights. Image: @CMannevy

By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster

French authorities have imposed a curfew on New Caledonia’s capital Nouméa and banned public gatherings after supporters of the Pacific territory’s independence movement blocked roads, set fire to buildings and clashed with security forces.

Tensions in New Caledonia have been inflamed by French government’s plans to give the vote to tens of thousands of French immigrants to the Melanesian island chain.

The enfranchisement would create a significant obstacle to the self-determination aspirations of the indigenous Kanak people.

A Nouméa factory burns after last night's rioting followed a day of pro-independence protests in New Caledonia
A Nouméa factory burns after last night’s rioting followed a day of pro-independence protests in New Caledonia over proposed French electoral changes that will make indigenous Kanaks even more marginalised. Image: @CMannevy

“Very intense public order disturbances took place last night in Noumea and in neighboring towns, and are still ongoing at this time,” French High Commissioner to New Caledonia Louis Le Franc said in a statement today.

About 36 people were arrested and numerous police were injured, the statement said.

French control of New Caledonia and its surrounding islands gives the European nation a security and diplomatic role in the Pacific at a time when the US, Australia and other Western countries are pushing back against China’s inroads in the region.

Kanaks make up about 40 percent of New Caledonia’s 270,000 people but are marginalised in their own land — they have lower incomes and poorer health than Europeans who make up a third of the population and predominate positions of power in the territory.

Buildings, cars set ablaze
Video and photos posted online showed buildings set ablaze, burned out vehicles at luxury car dealerships and security forces using tear gas to confront groups of protestors waving Kanaky flags and throwing petrol bombs at city intersections in the worst rioting in decades.

Blazing cars in Nouméa as protests turn violent over French political plans for New Caledonia
Blazing cars in Nouméa as protests turn violent over French political plans for New Caledonia. Image: @ncla1ere

A dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed today and could be renewed as long as necessary, the high commissioner’s statement said.

Public gatherings in greater Noumea are banned and the sale of alcohol and carrying or transport of weapons is prohibited throughout New Caledonia.

The violence erupted as the National Assembly, the lower house of France’s Parliament, debated a constitutional amendment to “unfreeze” the electoral roll, which would enfranchise relative newcomers to New Caledonia.

It is scheduled to vote on the measure this afternoon in Paris. The French Senate approved the amendment in April.

Local Congress opposes amendment
New Caledonia’s territorial Congress, where pro-independence groups have a majority, on Monday passed a resolution that called for France to withdraw the amendment.

It said political consensus has “historically served as a bulwark against intercommunity tensions and violence” in New Caledonia.

“Any unilateral decision taken without prior consultation of New Caledonian political leaders could compromise the stability of New Caledonia,” the resolution said.

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told his country’s legislature that about 42,000 people — about one in five possible voters in New Caledonia — are denied the right to vote under the 1998 Noumea Accord between France and the independence movement that froze the electoral roll.

“Democracy means voting,” he said.

New Caledonia’s pro-independence government — the first in its history — could lose power in elections due in December if the electoral roll is enlarged.

New Caledonia voted by small majorities to remain part of France in referendums held in 2018 and 2020 under a UN-mandated decolonisation process. Three ballots were organised as part of the Noumea Accord to increase Kanaks’ political power following deadly violence in the 1980s.

Referendum legitimacy rejected
A contentious final referendum in 2022 was overwhelmingly in favour of continuing with the status quo. However, supporters of independence have rejected its legitimacy due to very low turnout — it was boycotted by the independence movement — and because it was held during a serious phase of the covid-19 pandemic, which restricted campaigning.

Representatives of the FLNKS (Front de Libération Nationale Kanak et Socialist) independence movement did not respond to interview requests.

“When there’s no hope in front of us, we will fight, we will struggle. We’ll make sure you understand what we are talking about,” Patricia Goa, a New Caledonian politician said in an interview last month with Australian public broadcaster ABC.

“Things can go wrong and our past shows that,” she said.

Confrontations between protesters and security forces are continuing in Noumea.

Darmanin has ordered reinforcements be sent to New Caledonia, including hundreds of police, urban violence special forces and elite tactical units.

Copyright ©2015-2024, BenarNews. Used with the permission of BenarNews.

Caitlin Johnstone: Using a fictional antisemitism crisis to support a real genocide

By
Cafe Pacific Publisher
-
0
This is a fiction. The TV man
"This is a fiction. The TV man 'Dr Phil' McGraw is citing a fake statistic from the Anti-Defamation League, who after October 7 began categorizing pro-Palestine rallies as antisemitic incidents, including rallies organised and attended by Jewish groups." Image: caitlinjohnstone.com.au

COMMENTARY: By Caitlin Johnstone

One of the most frustrating things happening in the world right now is the way people of conscience are doing everything they can to bring a stop to Israel’s US-backed atrocities in Gaza, and Israel supporters are responding to this by pointing at an epidemic of “antisemitism” which has no existence outside their own imaginations — but we’re all expected to pretend it’s real and worthy of respect.

TV’s “Dr Phil” McGraw flew to Jerusalem to give war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu an hour-long platform on which to justify his genocidal violence in Gaza to an American audience, shamelessly assisting the Israeli prime minister’s apologia with common hasbara talking points of his own.

The duo spent lot of time smearing anti-genocide protesters at US universities as evil Jew haters. At one point Netanyahu went so far as to advance the ridiculous suggestion that this sudden wave of support for Palestinians has nothing to do with Israel’s actions in Gaza at all, but is solely due to a massive “explosion” in antisemitism which just so happens to coincide with those actions.

“It’s not directed at what we do, it’s directed at who we are,” Netanyahu said of the protests, adding, “It’s an antisemitic explosion that threatens all of civilisation.”


“Antisemitic activity has gone up 360 percent in America since October 7, and it was already high before October 7, and it’s gone up 360 percent,” McGraw responded in furious agreement.

This is a fiction. The TV man is citing a fake statistic from the Anti-Defamation League, who after October 7 began categorizing pro-Palestine rallies as antisemitic incidents, including rallies organised and attended by Jewish groups. This propagandistic manipulation allowed the Israel-friendly mass media to falsely report a massive spike in antisemitism in the wake of October 7 which had not actually occurred.

“One of the most spellbinding doublespeak contortions over the past seven months is this line that there’s just been this random, spontaneous outburst of vicious anti-Semitism which just happens to correlate 100 percent perfectly with Israel’s US-backed pulverisation campaign in Gaza,” journalist Michael Tracey tweeted of the exchange.

Real antisemitism — by which I mean prejudice against Jews as a group — certainly exists. But it’s a fringe position in our society, and it’s almost never what you’re hearing about when Israel apologists are talking.

In fact you very seldom see Israel apologists and institutions like the ADL, who are supposedly responsible for fighting antisemitism, going after actual antisemites who harbor actual ill will toward the Jewish people. What you typically see them doing instead is using the “antisemitism” label to falsely smear people of conscience who criticise the actions of the state of Israel.

Generally when you hear an Israel apologist use the word “antisemitism”, they’re actually talking about people like the campus protesters, or public figures like Jeremy Corbyn — lifelong anti-racists who are fervently opposed to prejudice and persecution against any group of people, including Jews. Their crime isn’t that they have an abusive hatred of Jews, it’s that they don’t share Israel’s abusive hatred of Palestinians.


During a recent congressional hearing some unbelievably stupid assertions were put forward by Florida Representative Aaron Bean, who chaired the meeting.

“It’s hard to grasp how antisemitism has become such a dominant force in our K-12 schools,” Bean said. “Some kids as young as second grade are spewing Nazi propaganda, which begs the question, who has positioned these young minds to attack the Jewish people?”

To be clear, nobody on planet Earth believes what Aaron Bean just said, including Aaron Bean. There is not one single person anywhere in this universe who sincerely believes that there is an epidemic of second graders across America being brainwashed to spout Nazi propaganda.

It is not happening, and we all know it’s not happening. But people like Aaron Bean pretend to believe this complete work of fiction is an actual real-life occurrence in order to defend the very real atrocities that are being committed by their favorite apartheid state.

This freakish narrative push isn’t just happening in the US. Here in Australia there’s been a nonstop deluge of melodramatic concern trolling about a completely fictional epidemic of Jew hatred, one recent example appearing in an article for The Age titled “When uni students endorse terrorism, it’s time for political intervention”.

In it, The Age’s “chief political correspondent” David Crowe argues that Canberra must move swiftly to shut down the campus protests sprouting up in this country under the legal justification of stopping “hate speech” and fighting “terrorism”. The only examples of “hate speech” Crowe cites are protesters using the word “intifada” and the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” both of which only qualify as hate speech by the most tortured of mental contortions.

The only example of “endorsing terrorism” Crowe cites is some random student protester in Canberra telling the ABC “I actually say that Hamas deserve our unconditional support,” after which she quickly clarified “not because I agree with their strategy … (I have) complete disagreements with that.”

After making it absolutely clear that he is calling for the government to forcibly shut down and outlaw obvious political speech, Crowe writes that “Universities should be open grounds for free speech, not platforms for antisemitism and violence.”

Western Empire managers and their propagandists are so freaked out by this new protest movement that they have to do this hilarious dance where they hop forward and go “Of course I support free speech and dissent is always legal in our country, BUUUUT” and then hop back and explicitly advocate government oppression of obvious political speech. They do this by pointing to a crisis of “antisemitism” which they invented inside their own skulls.

And it’s just so indescribably insane how people who care about humanity, truth and justice are talking about actual children getting killed by the thousands, and Israel and its apologists are responding to this by talking about an entirely fictional “antisemitism” crisis that exists nowhere outside the imagination.

It’s like responding to warnings of another holocaust by babbling about Sauron.

It’s like we’re going, “Oh my god, civilians are being massacred on a daily basis by a racist apartheid regime!” And they’re going, “Oh yeah well you know what we should really be worried about? Sauron, the Dark Lord.”

You’d be like, “What?? I’m talking about a real thing that’s actually happening to actual real-life human beings! You’re talking about a work of fiction by JRR Tolkien.”

“Oh so you’re just going to dismiss Sauron’s plan to overrun Middle Earth with orcish hordes as soon as he recovers the One Ring?” they’d say. “What are you, some kind of Mordor sympathizer?”

“What the hell are you on about?” you’d protest. “We’re talking about actual, physical people being ripped apart by actual, physical military explosives, and you’re talking about some imaginary fantasy land like it’s a real thing!

“How are we supposed to address this actual real-life problem when you keep trying to drag the conversation kicking and screaming into a debate about something that has no existence outside the realm of the imagination?”

“I guess you just hate hobbits,” they’d say.

I mean, how do you even argue with someone like this? How do you debate someone about a real-life problem of unparalleled urgency when all they want to talk about is a completely made-up crisis that absolutely is not happening on this material plane?

It’s the most frustrating thing in the world.

Caitlin Johnstone is an independent Australian journalist and poet. Her articles include The UN Torture Report On Assange Is An Indictment Of Our Entire Society. She publishes a website and Caitlin’s Newsletter. This article was first published here and is republished under a Creative Commons licence.

On second anniversary of Shireen Abu Akleh killing, press advocates push for justice

By
Cafe Pacific Publisher
-
0

Advocates say the lack of accountability in Al Jazeera journalist’s killing reflects a pattern of impunity in Israel’s attacks on press, reports Ali Harb.

SPECIAL REPORT: By Ali Harb

In 214 days, Israel has killed 142 journalists in Gaza, approximately one every 36 hours. The staggering death toll makes the war the deadliest conflict for journalists in modern history.

But activists say the case of renowned Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, a United States-Palestinian citizen, underscores the fact that Israel has been killing journalists with impunity long before the current war.

Today marks the second anniversary of her death after she was shot by Israeli forces while reporting in the occupied West Bank on 11 May 2022.

The lack of accountability in her killing helped pave the way for the rampant Israeli abuses taking place in Gaza, said Yousef Munayyer, head of the Palestine/Israel Programme at the Arab Center Washington DC.

“What we have seen Israel do in terms of killing a record number of journalists in Gaza is directly connected to the lack of accountability for Shireen,” Munayyer told Al Jazeera.

“If you can kill an American citizen, who was among the highest profile journalists in the Arab world, on camera and get away with it, that sends a very clear message about what’s permissible.”

Dressed in a blue vest marked with the word “press”, Abu Akleh was killed while covering an Israeli raid in Jenin, a city in the northern part of the West Bank.


Shireen Abu Akleh . . . a voice for Palestine.         Video: Al Jazeera

Initially, then-Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett falsely accused Palestinian fighters of shooting her — an allegation that was quickly disproven by independent reports.

How the US re-defined accountability
Immediately after Abu Akleh’s shooting, the administration of US President Joe Biden called for accountability, saying that “those responsible for Shireen’s killing should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law”.

But Washington shifted its position after Israel admitted that its soldiers killed Abu Akleh and dismissed the incident as an accident, refusing to open a criminal investigation.

By September 2022, the US dropped its demand that the perpetrators be prosecuted.

Accountability, officials said, could instead be accomplished by Israel changing its rules of engagement — a demand that was openly rejected by Israeli leaders.

Washington has also rejected calls for an independent probe into the incident, arguing that Israel has functioning institutions capable of investigating the case.

But Palestinian rights advocates have long said that Israel rarely prosecutes its own soldiers for abuses and should not be trusted to investigate itself.

To Munayyer, the Biden administration paved the way for Israel to allow the killing to fade into the background.

“It really sent a very dangerous message and, I think, contributed to an open season on Palestinian journalists in Gaza,” Munayyer said.

Even when Al Jazeera referred the Abu Akleh case to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for investigation, the US publicly opposed the court’s involvement, reiterating its stance that Israel should take up the matter itself.

The Biden administration also failed to condemn the Israeli assault on Abu Akleh’s funeral in Jerusalem, wherein armed officers beat her pallbearers with batons.

Israel’s attacks on Al Jazeera
With no meaningful accountability for the killing of Abu Akleh, Israeli attacks on press freedom — and Al Jazeera specifically — have worsened with the outbreak of its war in Gaza.

In January, for instance, an Israeli drone targeted an Al Jazeera crew in Khan Younis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip. Israeli forces then prevented medics from reaching cameraman Samer Abudaqa, who was wounded in the strike.

Abudaqa, who was described by his colleagues as fearless, hard-working and joyful, eventually bled to death. The network’s Gaza bureau chief Wael Dahdouh was wounded in the same attack.

Israel also has killed several members of Dahdouh’s family, including his son Hamza, a journalist who contributed to Al Jazeera.

Earlier this month, Israel — which has blocked foreign journalists from entering Gaza — banned Al Jazeera from operating and broadcasting within its borders.

That decision prompted an outcry from some US politicians, for whom Abu Akleh’s death signalled a trend of attacks against press freedom.

“Two years ago, Israeli forces assassinated American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and then brutally attacked her funeral,” US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib told Al Jazeera in an email this week.

US failed to hold Israel accountable
“Since then, the Biden Administration failed to hold the Israeli government accountable and let them operate with complete impunity. Now, the Israeli apartheid regime has shut down Al Jazeera’s coverage to stop the world from seeing their war crimes.

“I will continue to defend the freedom of the press and demand justice for Shireen and every journalist killed by the Israeli government.”

On Friday, Reporters Without Borders, known by its French acronym RSF, called the killing of Abu Akleh a “chapter in the story of Israel’s relentless attack on the Al Jazeera channel”. It also decried the persistent “impunity” for killing journalists, including in the ongoing Gaza war.

“This pattern endangers the lives of journalists throughout the world and the public’s right to free, independent and pluralistic information,” Jonathan Dagher, head of RSF’s Middle East desk, said in a statement.

The Biden administration, meanwhile, expressed “concern” earlier this month over the Al Jazeera ban. But Munayyer said toothless criticism is often ignored by Israeli leaders.

“The Israelis do not care that the United States is concerned. They don’t take those words seriously,” he said.

“And the only time that we’ve seen any shifts in Israeli behaviour — particularly over the last seven months — was when serious consequences were threatened.”

Israel receives at least $3.8 billion in US military aid annually, and Biden approved $14 billion in additional aid to the country last month despite a growing outcry about the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians.

‘We still don’t have justice’
Abu Akleh’s family has pushed the US to pursue accountability in her death, by meeting with legislators and officials and speaking out about the issue.

“The past two years feel like it went by very fast, but unfortunately two years later and we still don’t have justice, we still don’t have accountability,” Lina Abu Akleh, the slain journalist’s niece, said at an event in Washington, DC, last week.

“The US administration has failed our family, has failed Shireen, an American citizen and journalist, a female journalist.”

Late in 2022, several news reports indicated that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had opened its own probe into the incident. But the Justice Department, which oversees the bureau, declined to confirm that such an investigation exists.

“The last thing we know is that the FBI opened an investigation just a few months after Shireen was killed, but we still don’t know where that investigation is heading towards. We haven’t received any updates,” the younger Abu Akleh said.

On Friday, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged transparency from the FBI about the supposed probe.

“It is time to break Israel’s longstanding impunity in journalist killings, which have only multiplied in the Israel-Gaza war,” CPJ programme director Carlos Martinez de la Serna said in a statement.

FBI ‘needs to disclose timeline’
“The FBI needs to disclose a timeline for the conclusion of its investigation, and Israel must cooperate with the FBI probe and any future ICC probe.”

Last year, on the first anniversary of Abu Akleh’s killing, the CPJ released a report detailing how Israeli forces killed 20 journalists in the two decades prior, in what it called a “pattern”.

“No one has ever been charged or held accountable for these deaths,” it said.

That pattern of impunity appears to have intensified with the war on Gaza. But advocates say they will continue to push for justice for Abu Akleh, particularly as the number of Israel violations against press freedom grows.

“We’re not going to forget. And an important reason we’re not going to forget is because the consequences of these failures to achieve accountability for the killing of Shireen are on display in Gaza every day,” Munayyer said.

Republished from Al Jazeera in collaboration with Pacific Media Watch.

Former Fiji PM Voreqe Bainimarama jailed over block of USP police probe

By
Cafe Pacific Publisher
-
0

RNZ Pacific

Former Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has been sentenced to one year in prison, Fiji media are reporting.

Bainimarama, alongside suspended Fiji Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho appeared in the High Court in Suva today for their sentencing hearing for a case involving their roles in blocking a police investigation at the University of the South Pacific in 2021.

Qiliho has been sentenced to two years jail.


Bainimarama and Qiliho jailed.      Video: Fiji Village

Bainimarama, the 69-year-old former military commander and 2006 coup leader, had been found guilty of perverting the course of justice.

Qiliho had been found guilty of abuse of office by the High Court Acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo, who upheld the state’s appeal.

Bainimarama and Qiliho walked out of the High Court in Suva in handcuffs, and were escorted straight into a police vehicle.

“The former PM and the suspended COMPOL were found not guilty and acquitted accordingly by Resident Magistrate Seini Puamau at the Suva Magistrates Court on 12 October 2023,” the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said.

“The State had filed an appeal against their acquittal where the Acting Chief Justice, Salesi Temo then overturned the Magistrate’s decision and found the two guilty as charged. The matter was then sent back to the Magistrates’ Court for sentencing.

Headlines on the Fiji state broadcaster FBC website today 9 May 2024
Headlines on the Fiji state broadcaster FBC website today. Image: FBC screenshot APR

“In sentencing the duo, Magistrate Puamau announced that both their convictions would not be registered. The former PM was granted an absolute discharge while the suspended COMPOL received a conditional discharge with a fine of $1500 on 28 March 2024 by the Suva Magistrates Court following which the State had filed an appeal and challenged the discharge for a custodial sentence.

“The Acting Chief Justice quashed the Magistrate Court’s sentence and pronounced the custodial sentences respectively.”

Qiliho walks out of the Suva High Court and escorted by police officers to the be taken to jail. 9 May 2024
Qiliho walks out of the Suva High Court and escorted by police officers to the be taken to jail. Image: Fiji TV screenshot RNZ

Earlier today, local media reported an increased police presence outside the Suva court complex.

“There is more pronounced police presence than usual with vehicles being checked upon entry. A section has been cordoned off in front of the High Court facing Holiday Inn,” broadcaster fijivillage.com reported.

State broadcaster FBC reported that police only allowed close relatives and Bainimarama and Qiliho’s associates, along with the media, to sit in the courtroom.

MPs from the main opposition FijiFirst party in Parliament, including opposition leader Inia Seruiratu, Faiyaz Koya were present in court.

Brief timeline:

  • The duo were sentenced by the Magistrates Court on 28 March.
  • Magistrate Seini Puamau gave Bainimarama an absolute discharge — the lowest level sentence an offender can get and no conviction was registered.
  • Qiliho was fined FJ$1500 and without a conviction as well.
  • The 69-year-old former military commander and 2006 coup leader was found guilty of perverting the course of justice in a case related to the University of the South Pacific; and suspended police chief Qiliho was found guilty of abuse of office by the High Court Acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo.
  • Magistrate Puamau’s judgement had left many in the legal circles and commentators in the country perplexed.
  • The State – through the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution – had appealed the sentencing straightaway to the High Court.
  • They were back in court 7 days later — during the court appearance at the High Court, the Acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo, gave time until the 24 April for the respondents to file their submissions and for the State to reply by the 29th.
  • The sentencing hearing was last Thursday, 2 May.
  • Acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo sentences Bainimarama to one year in jail and Qiliho for two years.

Bainimarama’s attempt to pervert the course of justice charge had a maximum tariff of five years while Qiliho’s charge of abuse of office carried a maximum tariff of 10 years.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ and Asia Pacific Report.

‘We are witnessing an unfolding genocide’ – Israeli historian

By
Cafe Pacific Publisher
-
0

Team Zeteo

After months of threats and speculation, the Israeli military has officially begun to move into the southern Gazan city of Rafah, sending in tanks and taking control of the border crossing with Egypt.

The UN Secretary-General has warned an assault on Rafah would be a “humanitarian nightmare,” while US President Joe Biden appears unfazed as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu violates what the US president previously called his “red line.”

In response to these escalations, Mehdi Hasan hosted a town hall for Zeteo paid subscribers with Israeli Holocaust scholar Professor Raz Segal and Palestinian lawyer Diana Buttu.

Professor Segal, who has previously called Israel’s war on Gaza a “textbook case of genocide,” said: “If we finally recognised Israel for what it is, which is a white supremacist settler state, then the problem is that it’s not just confined to that.

“We have to recognise the whole system behind it, its support, its allies, including white supremacy and settler colonialism in the US.”


A society ‘awash with war criminals’.    Video: Zeteo

Zeteo contributing lawyer Diana Buttu reminded viewers that Israel’s latest escalations in Rafah were, unfortunately, “no surprise”, stating that the invasion was what “Netanyahu always wanted”.

“He’s made it clear since the beginning that they were going to continue to push Palestinians further south,” Buttu told Mehdi.

“And the point is very clear, that they want to get rid of Palestinians.”

Buttu also discussed her new Zeteo column, ‘A Diary of a Palestinian Living in Israel,’ in which she describes the “genocide fever” that’s taken over Israel.

Information about subscribing to Zeteo here.

How an ‘antisemitism hoax’ drowned out the discovery of mass graves in Gaza

By
Cafe Pacific Publisher
-
0
One might have expected the discovery of mass graves of hundreds of Palestinians to be front-page news
One might have expected the discovery of mass graves of hundreds of Palestinians to be front-page news -- especially since the same World Court ruled four months ago that a “plausible” case had been made that Israel was committing genocidal acts in Gaza. And yet, like so many other Israeli atrocities, this one barely caused a ripple in the news cycle. Image: www.jonathan-cook.net

Fake Israeli claims keep Western publics focused on “evil” humanitarian aid workers and “evil” anti-war protesters rather than the kind of evil that dares in broad daylight to kill 15,000 children, destroy hospitals, and hide bodies in mass graves.

ANALYSIS: By Jonathan Cook

A gruesome discovery was made in Gaza last month. Some 300 Palestinian bodies — of men, women and children — were unearthed from an unmarked mass grave in the courtyard of the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.

Even given Israel’s record of committing relentless atrocities in Gaza over the past seven months — killing tens of thousands of Palestinians, most of them women and children — this one stood out.

Some bodies were reported to have been found with their hands and feet bound, and stripped of clothing, strongly suggesting they had been executed during a three-month invasion of the city by Israeli soldiers. Others were said to be decapitated, or their skin and organs removed.

Some 10,000 people had been sheltering at Gaza’s second-largest hospital when it was attacked back in February. At the time there were reports of patients and staff being picked off by sniper fire. The medical facility was left in ruins.

Another 400 people are still reported missing in Khan Younis. More mass graves have already been uncovered.

Referring to some of the bodies, Yamen Abu Suleiman, a civil defence leader in Khan Younis, told CNN: “We do not know if they were buried alive or executed. Most of the bodies are decomposed.”

The revelations from Khan Younis fit a pattern that has been gradually emerging as Israeli troops have pulled back.

Latest mass graves
The latest of several mass graves were found at Gaza’s largest hospital, al-Shifa. Israel left the area earlier last month after destroying the hospital. Together, the graves are reported to have contained hundreds of bodies.

Further unmarked graves have been discovered in Beit Lahiya.

The United Nations human rights chief, Volker Turk, said he was “horrified” by the reports.

Back in the 1990s, the identification of mass graves of thousands of Muslim men from the Bosnian town of Srebrenica led to the setting up of a special war crimes tribunal of the International Criminal Court. It ruled in 2001 that a genocide had occurred in Srebrenica committed by Bosnian Serbs — a judgment later confirmed by the International Court of Justice, sometimes referred to as the World Court.

In the circumstances, one might have expected the discovery of mass graves of hundreds of Palestinians to be front-page news — especially since the same World Court ruled four months ago that a “plausible” case had been made that Israel was committing genocidal acts in Gaza.

And yet, like so many other Israeli atrocities, this one barely caused a ripple in the news cycle.

Months ago, the establishment British media largely lost interest in reporting on the continuing slaughter in Gaza. The contrast with the media’s early coverage of Ukraine has been stark. The discovery of a mass grave containing some 100 bodies in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha — blamed on Russian troops — caused international outrage.

Bucha byword for Russian savagery
Bucha quickly became a byword for Russian savagery, and the discovery sustained months of calls for Russian leaders to be tried for genocide.

The general indifference of British media outlets to the mass graves found in Gaza is hugely convenient for Britain’s two main political parties.

The UK has avoided pushing for a ceasefire to end Israel’s bloodletting in Gaza. It refuses to stop selling Israel weapons and components that have helped in the killing of Palestinians — and potentially aid workers too.

On Israel’s say-so, Britain cut funding to Unrwa, the UN aid agency best placed to stop a famine Israel is wilfully inducing in the enclave by blocking aid. And a British abstention helped foil a vote in the United Nations Security Council last month to recognise Palestine as a state, something 140 other nations have already done.

The Labour party has offered only muted opposition.

Bipartisan support in the UK for Israel’s plausible genocide has provoked a groundswell of public anger, including regular protests in London that attract hundreds of thousands of marchers.

Once again, however, the British media has seemed far less interested in reporting Israeli atrocities than in imputing malign motivations to large sections of the British public incensed by what is happening in Gaza.

Mass graves ‘drowned out’
It was quite extraordinary that the discovery of mass graves in the enclave was almost completely drowned out by an all-too-obvious hoax pulled by an Israel lobbyist.

Gideon Falter, chief executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, has been trying to shut down the peaceful London marches calling for an end to the butchering of men, women and children in Gaza since Israel began its military assault more than six months ago.

In Falter’s words, the hundreds of thousands of people who turn out regularly to call for a ceasefire — including a large bloc of Jews — are “lawless mobs” posing a direct threat to Jews like himself.

He has found powerful allies in the government. Home Secretary James Cleverly said the march organisers have “real evil intent”, while his predecessor Suella Braverman labelled the protests calling for a ceasefire as “hate marches”.

Both have put pressure on the police to ban the protests for being supposedly antisemitic

There is precisely no evidence for any of these claims. In fact, according to police figures, Glastonbury music festivalgoers were nearly four times more likely to be arrested than those attending the London marches.

Which has left the continuing mass marches a major embarrassment to both the UK government and the opposition Labour party by highlighting their continuing complicity in what has become — with revelations like the discovery of mass graves — ever more clearly a genocide.

That is the proper context for understanding Falter’s latest intervention.

Engineering a provocation
As the Metropolitan police are only too aware, Falter’s group, along with other pro-Israel activists, have every incentive to engineer a provocation to add to the already considerable pressure on the police to ban the London marches and further curtail a fundamental civil liberty — the right to protest.

A video on social media shows Falter being confronted by police in a previous incident in which he tried to drive a large van with pro-Israel messages down the march route.

But his breakthrough came last month when, accompanied by an Israeli-trained security detail and a film crew, he tried repeatedly to break through a police line along the route and walk against the flow of the march. Responsible for maintaining public order at large protests, Met officers stopped him.

There are well-known rules imposed by the police surrounding large protests on highly charged ideological issues like this one.

The marchers are not allowed to stray from the route determined by the police, and opponents — whether Israel apologists like Falter or Islamophobic white nationalists — are not allowed to approach and antagonise the marchers. The job of the police is to keep the sides apart.

Blocked by officers, Falter had his script ready. He simply insisted on his right to “cross the street” as a Jew going about his business.

Given the way the public discourse about Israel and antisemitism has been malevolently manipulated by the British establishment over the past eight years — after the long-time Palestinian solidarity activist Jeremy Corbyn was elected Labour leader — Falter could not lose in this encounter.

Filmed ‘evidence’
If the police arrested him, he would have filmed evidence that he was being victimised as a Jew by an antisemitic police force.

If they refused to let him “cross the street”, he would have filmed proof that the march was indeed filled with Jew haters posing a threat to his safety.

And if the police failed in their duties and let him and his retinue walk against the flow of the packed protest, he — like anyone attempting to do this — would at the very least be jostled. Based on the established credulity of the establishment media in covering antisemitism, Falter was presumably confident that this could be spun as a hate crime against him.

The police clearly seemed to understand Falter’s game plan. They appeared extremely reluctant to arrest him, even though a former chief superintendent, Dal Babu, observed that, in trying to push past them, Falter could have been charged with “assault on a police officer and breach of the peace”.

Instead, the officers patiently argued for at least a quarter of an hour with Falter, pointing out that he could bypass the march using a different route.

But in this lengthy, testy encounter, the Campaign Against Antisemitism boss finally got what he wanted. One officer made a slip-up, suggesting that the problem was that the skullcap-wearing Falter was “openly Jewish”.

As noted, lots of Jews attend the march and do so under banners declaring that they are Jews. Despite being “openly Jewish”, all say they are warmly welcomed by other demonstrators.

Manipulated public discourse
The officer’s mistake was understandable. Israel apologists and the British establishment spent years manipulating the public discourse to conflate Israel, the political nationalist ideology of Zionism and Jewishness in a blatant ploy to vilify supporters of Corbyn, the anti-racist former Labour leader, as antisemites.

The problem wasn’t that Falter is “openly Jewish”, it was that he is a vocal, openly Zionist supporter of Israel, one who makes excuses for its genocide and vilifies those who are opposed to the bloodletting. It is not his ethnicity or religion that are a provocation, it is his ugly politics.

But with the officer’s comment in the can, Falter released a heavily edited version of his confrontation with the police to an establishment media only too willing — at least, initially — to swallow two completely implausible ideas Falter was peddling.

First, that the police officer’s comment was proof that the Met is institutionally racist against Jews and that is why it has allowed the anti-genocide marches to go ahead. Falter called for the head of the Met, Sir Mark Rowley, to be sacked.

And second, and more importantly, that the officer’s comment was proof that the marches are indeed “hate marches” consisting of — as he declared to a BBC interviewer — “racists, extremists and terrorist sympathisers”.

It may all have been fake news but it fitted an agenda the media has been promoting for years: that anything more than the lightest-touch criticism of Israel is evidence of antisemitism.

The political and media class have been increasingly struggling to credibly sustain that idea in the face of Israel committing a genocide — but Falter’s video served briefly as a shot in the arm.

Verbal slip-up
From one police officer’s brief, verbal slip-up, he was able to fire up a national debate that took as its premise the idea that police were colluding with “antisemitic hate marches”.

On the back foot, the Met hurriedly agreed to meet Falter and “Jewish community leaders”, seemingly to get their advice on what needed to be done about the marches.

BBC evening news reported that pressure was growing on the Met “to get the balance right between allowing legitimate protest and cracking down on hate speech and intimidation”.

Good Morning Britain’s hosts fawned over Falter on Monday morning, accepting uncritically that the march posed a threat to him as a Jew and expressing concern that the police were not getting that balance right.

But quite unlike the years-long  accusations of fake antisemitism whipped up by Falter and others to oust Corbyn, one that was enthusiastically amplified by the state-corporate media, the Met had powerful allies inside the establishment that pushed back.

Before Falter’s hoax could properly take hold, Sky released a much longer video of his confrontation with the police. It showed that they had blocked his way after identifying him as a provocateur. Police can be heard accusing him of being “disingenuous” and telling him to stop “running into protesters”.

Former police officers, including Babu, were invited on TV to offer a counter-narrative that cast Falter in a far less sympathetic light.

Falter ‘fakery’ the victor
By Tuesday, the Met chief Rowley was feeling confident enough to go on the attack, praising the officer at the centre of the row and accusing pro-Israel activists of using “fakery” to undermine the Met.

But even wounded, Falter emerged decisively as the victor.

No one is talking — as they should be — about why groups like the Campaign Against Antisemitism, which regularly and so visibly meddle deeply in British politics in the interests of a foreign power, Israel, are treated as charities.

Instead, Falter has given the political and media class more ammunition to argue that the marches need to be banned, and has put police decision-making under yet more scrutiny.

Whatever bullishness Rowley exhibited in public, his battles behind the scenes against a government keen to silence the marches will have been made far more complicated.

But, more importantly, Falter has played an invaluable role in bolstering Israel’s favourite tactic. He has deflected attention in the UK away from its war crimes — including the mass graves in Khan Younis — to squabbles entirely divorced from reality about whether Jews are safe from the anti-war movement.

Precisely the same dynamic is playing out in the United States, where the establishment – from President Joe Biden down – is painting peaceful protests on college campuses against the genocide as hotbeds of hatred and antisemitism.

US arrests of protesters
There, things are even more out of hand, with the police called in to make arrests of students and faculty.

In both cases, the real debate — about why Britain and the US are still actively supporting the bombing and starvation of Gaza’s population after six months of genocide — has once more been muffled by the Israel lobby’s fake news.

Establishment media have once again seized on any pretext available to them to focus on a twig rather than the forest.

The pattern is hard to miss: the British establishment, including the government and the BBC, are working hand in hand to help Israel and its genocide apologists win the public relations battle.

Only briefly, when the honour of the police — the establishment’s fist — got a bloodied nose, was there a degree of pushback.

Take, for example, the day in January when the World Court ruled there was a “plausible” case made by South Africa’s lawyers that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. That same day Israel successfully sabotaged the devastating news with a scoop of its own.

It alleged that some 12 UNRWA staff members it had seized in Gaza – out of a total of 13,000 in the enclave on the agency’s payroll — had confessed to taking part in Hamas’ attack on October 7, in which some 1150 Israelis were killed.

Cut funding demand
Israel demanded Western states immediately cut all funding to UNRWA. It has been Israel’s long-term goal to eliminate the refugee agency and permanently erase the rights of Palestinians to return to homes their families were expelled from in 1948 in what is now Israel.

Most Western capitals, including the UK, dutifully complied, even though the decision was certain to plunge Gaza even deeper into a famine Israel has been engineering as part of its genocidal policies.

But the announcement’s timing was important too. Western media focused their coverage on a story about UNRWA that should have been marginal, even were it true.

The World Court’s finding that Israel was plausibly committing genocide was far more significant. Nonetheless, reporting on the ruling — especially the fact that the court suspected Israel was carrying out genocidal acts — was entirely overshadowed by the claims against UNRWA.

Late last month, months on, an independent review commissioned by the UN and led by the former French foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, found that Israel had still failed to produce any evidence to support its allegations against UNRWA.

But just as with Falter’s hoax, the goal of such accusations by Israel is never to expose the truth. The aim is to distract from the truth.

The same can be said of Israel’s still unsubstantiated claims of unprecedented savagery committed by Hamas on October 7, from beheading babies to carrying out systematic mass rape.

None of these allegations, which have been widely regurgitated by the establishment Western media, have ever been backed up with evidence. Whenever testimonies have been scrutinised, they have unravelled.

But all these claims have served a purpose. They keep Western publics focused on evil humanitarian aid workers and evil anti-war protesters rather than the kind of evil that dares in broad daylight to kill 15,000 children, destroy hospitals, and hide bodies in mass graves.

Jonathan Cook is a writer, journalist and self-appointed media critic. Winner of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. This article was first published by Middle East Eye and is republished here with the author’s permission.

1...141516...90Page 15 of 90

Popular Posts

Twitter

Follow, subscribe, interact via Café Pacific's social platforms (below).

DavidRobie.nz

The latest

An indictment of NZ’s settler colonial and ‘Five Eyes’ spy paranoia over political critics

Articles 0
REVIEW: By David Robie Four months ago, a group of...

Caitlin Johnstone: Biden administration finally declares that a genocide is happening – in Sudan

Articles 0
COMMENTARY: By Caitlin Johnstone The Biden administration, which has been...

Five Pacific region geopolitical ‘betrayals’ in 2024

Analysis 0
COMMENTARY: By David Robie With the door now shut on...

Subscribe

© 2023 DavidRobie.nz. All Rights Reserved. Served by Multimedia Investments Ltd.