Suella Braverman ousted from office, but threat of far-right still remains

After a year-long stint in the Conservative Party government, marked by animated racist fear-mongering, controversial UK home secretary Suella Braverman was asked to leave the office by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The Tory government sacked her following her tirade against security forces, for supposedly being “soft” on pro-Palestine solidarity demonstrators. Her statements ahead of the Palestine demonstration also stirred up a violent far-right response in London.

Sunak replaced Braverman with foreign secretary James Cleverly, while former PM David Cameron was chosen as the new foreign secretary. Even though, progressive groups expressed relief at the ouster of Mrs. Braverman, groups including Stand Up to Racism warned that “Braverman has gone but the government’s racist offensive and the threat of the far-right remain.”
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/11/14/suella-braverman-ousted-from-office-but-threat-of-far-right-still-remains/

Private sector stalls implementation of nurses’ minimum wage in Brazil

“What they don’t want is to reduce their profits. If we were talking about the philanthropic sector, which depends on government transfers, that would be fine, but supplementary healthcare is highly profitable. A report came out showing that the sector’s profit was R$2 billion [406 million USD] in the first half of 2023,” said Caetano, who gave Outra Saúde an overview of the current state of the struggle to implement the nurses’ minimum wage.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/11/14/private-sector-stalls-implementation-of-nurses-minimum-wage-in-brazil/

Today in Washington, DC, a crowd gathered in a “march for Israel,” a demonstration plagued with controversy with speakers such as far-right Pastor John Hagee ,who once claimed God sent Hitler to create Israel,” and with signs urging Israel to “finish the job.”
Participants chanted “no ceasefire”, heckling a speaker calling for an end to the bombing of Gaza.

🚨Israeli forces announced that they have begun a ground raid into Al Shifa hospital in the early hours of Wednesday, November 15. The raid comes after days of bombing and open firing on health workers, patients, and displaced people sheltering there.

The Director of the Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza told Al Jazeera at as a result of the days-long siege of Israel against the hospital, 40 of the wounded were martyred, surgeries must be performed for emergency cases without oxygen and anesthesia, and all hospital departments have stopped.

The military raid puts the lives of 7,000+ displaced people taking refuge there, the hundreds of patients-including newborn babies, & healthcare workers in grave danger.

🇵🇸 Israeli forces raid Al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest hospital

Israel’s ground forces stormed inside Al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest hospital on Wednesday, November 15 morning after having bombed its surroundings for weeks. Israeli tanks have reportedly surrounded the hospital compound.

Reports also claim that some of those sheltering inside the hospital were harshly interrogated and rounded up on the hospital grounds. While the official explanation provided for the operations is that the hospital is being prepared for evacuation, rights organizations have expressed concern about the possibility of more people being killed as the raid continues.

This is a rapidly developing story, due to communications blackout at the hospital not all details are available yet. This report is based on on the ground sources and trusted outlets.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/11/15/israeli-forces-raid-al-shifa-gazas-largest-hospital/

🇪🇬/🇵🇸 Egyptian Journalists Syndicate launches “Global Conscience Convoy” to push for opening of Rafah Crossing

The Egyptian Journalists Syndicate (EJS) has called on “the free people of the world” to join its “Global Conscience Convoy” aiming to apply pressure to open the Rafah Crossing – the Gaza Strip’s lifeline – to allow all forms of humanitarian aid, such as (food, water, medication, and fuel) to enter sustainably, and for an unconditional exit for the critically wounded.

The convoy is also demanding that medical, relief, humanitarian, and press crews enter Gaza, showing all forms of support to the Palestinian people in standing against the Israeli expulsion plans.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/11/15/egyptian-journalists-syndicate-launches-global-conscience-convoy-to-push-for-opening-of-rafah-crossing/

French Senate proposes new set of limitations to healthcare for migrants

French lawmakers will continue to discuss a set of changes to immigration law in early December after the Senate passed a list of repressive articles on November 14.

Among the measures passed is a right-wing-backed amendment to scrap State Medical Assistance (Aide Médicale de l’Etat, AME), a program that grants undocumented migrants the right to access healthcare.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/11/15/french-senate-proposes-new-set-of-limitations-to-healthcare-for-migrants/

🇵🇸 Israel ups it’s genocidal actions with raid on Gaza’s largest hospital.

The Al-Shifa hospital was raided by ground forces early on Nov 15 who opened fire against surgical and emergency buildings, and arrested journalists trying to cover the attack.

🇿🇲 Socialist Party of Zambia president Dr. Fred M’membe arrested on espionage charges

On November 15, the president of the Socialist Party (SP) of Zambia, Dr. Fred M’membe, was arrested on charges of espionage. The veteran journalist and political leader had been summoned at the Ibex Police Station for questioning on Wednesday morning.

Speaking to local media, M’membe’s counsel stated that the charge was related to an interview that the SP president had given to a journalist, Musorowegomo Nukosi, in a documentary on the recent elections in Zimbabwe. He added that the complainant in the case was the Zambian state.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/11/15/socialist-party-of-zambia-president-dr-fred-mmembe-arrested-on-espionage-charges/

Tune in to Give The People What They Want! for a special one hour live as your favorite weekly round up completes 150 episodes! Join the trio - Vijay Prashad, Zoe Alexandra and Prasanth R bringing you all you need to know from last week and more.
👉https://www.youtube.com/live/KyuPyXJiFOo?si=fFktP7WnPy0_e7zB

🇵🇸 The Israeli attack on Palestinian health workers in Gaza and the failure of the American Medical Association

Rupa Marya and Vijay Prashad have written about the Israeli attacks on Gaza, particularly targeting healthcare workers and facilities. They also discuss how the American Medical Association has had double standards when it comes to healthcare workers, depending on whether the attacks happened in Ukraine or Palestine.

"Israel’s attack on Gaza’s healthcare is an attack on the soul of the medical profession, for which JAMA has provided cover and the AMA supports through enforced silence. Why the American Medical Association can make such a blunt statement about Ukraine but want to remain silent about Palestine raises an important question: does the AMA advocate only for the issues outlined by the US State Department or are these the opinions of the doctors who make up its membership?"
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/11/16/the-israeli-attack-on-palestinian-health-workers-in-gaza-and-the-failure-of-the-american-medical-association/

🇮🇳/🇵🇸 Indian trade unions stand with Palestine, reject “export deal” to replace Palestinian workers in Israel

India’s Central Trade Union Organisations (CTUOs), representing approximately 100 million workers, have strongly condemned reported talks between New Delhi and the Israeli Occupation that could see the “export” of up to 100,000 Indian workers to replace Palestinian workers in Israel.

“The Indian Government is playing a despicable role of supporting the Israeli plans to throw out Palestinian workers…Nothing could be more immoral and disastrous for India than the said “export” of workers to Israel. That India is even considering “exporting” works shows the manner in which it has dehumanized and commodified Indian workers,” the joint platform of trade unions and independent federations wrote on a statement.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/11/16/indian-trade-unions-stand-with-palestine-reject-export-deal-to-replace-palestinian-workers-in-israel/

“If you don’t want a ceasefire, it means you’re happy enough with more Palestinian children dying”

Mick Wallace indicts those in Europe who have blocked ceasefire resolutions in Europe and green light Israel’s massacre of Palestinians.

🇧🇪/🇵🇸 Belgian unions call on government to impose arms embargo on Israel

Trade unions and civil society groups in Belgium have called for the imposition of a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel as it continues to wage a genocidal war on Palestine.

The appeal drew attention to Belgium’s obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty, which it had ratified in 2013.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/11/16/belgian-unions-call-on-government-to-ban-arms-transfers-to-israel/

Tomorrow, Nov 17, as part of a global day of action #ShutItDown4Palestine activists across the globe will stage shut downs of “business as usual” in solidarity with Palestine. Students will be walking out or occupying their universities, businesses will shutter, and activists will directly target the centers of power which enable Israeli genocide in Gaza.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/11/17/solidarity-activists-to-stage-mass-shutdowns-for-palestine/

"We are here to make a statement that we will stop the killing and stop it forever!”

Kwesi Pratt Jnr. of the Socialist Movement of Ghana on the Palestine solidarity mobilizations.
Footage credit: PanAfricanTv.

🇯🇴/🇵🇸 In Jordan, mass protests for Palestine express “a general popular sentiment”

Jordan has been at the center of West Asian protests against the ongoing Israeli war in Gaza which has killed over 11,500 Palestinians mostly children, women and elderly since it began on October 7.

One of the largest protests was registered on October 20 after the news of Al-Ahli Hospital attacks in which close to 500 Palestinians were killed. Protests, sit-ins, and rallies in the Jordan valley, on the border with the occupied West Bank, or in front of the Israeli and US embassies, have occurred on almost a daily basis since the beginning of the war. These actions have intensified with the rising death toll and continued atrocities.

Osama Abo Zineddin, a member of the Communist Party of Jordan told Peoples Dispatch that “these marches express a general popular sentiment, and they are not simply a reaction to what has happened and is happening in Gaza.”

Abo Zineddin notes that, “the Jordanian street is demanding its government, and all Arab countries, to cancel relations with the occupation and support Palestinian resistance forces, on the basis that resisting the occupier is a legitimate right of the people according to international law.”

“In Jordan, we say that we do not stand in solidarity with the Palestinian cause, but we are an essential part of it. The prevailing feeling is that it is one issue and one struggle” Abo Zineddin concludes.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/11/17/in-jordan-mass-protests-for-palestine-express-a-general-popular-sentiment/

🇵🇸 UNRWA claims deliberate attempts are being made to strangle its activities in Gaza

The United Nation Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) has claimed that there is a deliberate attempt to strangle its activities in the besieged Gaza strip by Israel which may lead to the shutting down all its humanitarian activities.

“I do believe there is a deliberate attempt to strangle our operation and paralyze the UNRWA operation,” Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/11/17/unrwa-claims-deliberate-attempts-are-being-made-to-strangle-its-activities-in-gaza/

Today, your hosts Zoe Alexandra, Prasanth R and Vijay Prashad celebrated the 150th episode of Give The People What They Want!

On today's episode, they talked about the Israeli genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the worldwide mobilizations against it, the #ShutItDown4Palestine movement.
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/peoples-dispatch/episodes/Give-The-People-What-They-Want--Episode-150-Special-one-hour-live-e2c2uvn

🇨🇺 International tribunal finds US blockade of Cuba in violation of international law

The tribunal held in the European Parliament in Brussels was organized by the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples and The Left, a parliamentary group in the European Parliament.

It sought to discuss the human impact of the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed on Cuba by the United States for the last 60 years. It focused on how the blockade violates international law and also the human rights of both the Cuban and the European people.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/11/17/international-tribunal-finds-us-blockade-of-cuba-in-violation-of-international-law/