Imperialism
Israel
Fig. 1. John Bolton and Binyamin Netanyahu at a press conference. Office of U.S. National Security Advisor, August 20, 2018, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
To be clear, the Israeli protests against Binyamin Netanyahu have little if anything to do with any rejection of the war on Gaza or how it is being conducted. This is partly about hostages Hamas and other groups still hold in Gaza.[1]
“If the families knew how small the gap is, which Netanyahu is refusing to close in negotiations with Hamas, they would explode,” said Amos Malka, a former head of the Israel Defense Forces’ military intelligence directorate who was among the speakers at the rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday.
Einav Zangauker, the mother of Matan Zangauker, who is still held in Gaza, said Netanyahu’s handling of the hostages situation had been “incomprehensible and criminal”.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu, after you abandoned our families on 7 October, and after 176 days when you didn’t bring a deal [for their return], and because you are continually engaged in torpedoing a deal, we have realised that you are the obstacle to the deal. You are the obstacle. You are the one who stands between us and the return home of our loved ones,” she said.[2]
But there’s also this pesky issue of Haredi men having to serve in the Israeli Defense Force:[3]
The issue isn’t how the Gaza war is being fought, but rather who must fight in it. While Israeli Jews are subject to a mandatory draft at age 18 — and regular reserve duty for decades afterward — an exception is made for the growing number of haredi Orthodox Israelis, who instead receive state funding to study Torah. (Arab Israelis also receive an exemption from military service.)
Israeli governments have come together and fallen apart due to debates over the haredi draft exemption. But this time, the stakes are higher: Israel is currently fighting a grueling war in Gaza and faces a looming conflict on its northern border — crises that have compelled hundreds of thousands of men to serve reserve duty for months on end.
Last month, to keep its troop numbers up, the government published proposed regulations that would lengthen reserve duty for soldiers. That spurred outcry from Israeli veterans who question why they must serve more while their haredi peers do not serve at all.[4]
In a separate protest, scores of demonstrators associated with the Brothers in Arms movement, formed of reservists, rallied in Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim neighbourhood on Sunday, demanding the conscription of ultra-Orthodox, also known as Haredi, men into the IDF.
“I believe, I believe, I believe in enlisting in the military,” the protesters chanted. Counter-protests by ultra-Orthodox men are expected this week.
As well as a deadline to end the exemption, which the Netanyahu government has sought to extend, Israel’s supreme court has also ordered an end to government subsidies from Monday for many ultra-Orthodox men who study the Torah in religious schools instead of serving in the army.[5]
Ben Sales, “Should haredi Orthodox Jews serve in the Israeli army? The debate could collapse Israel’s government,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, March 29, 2024, https://www.jta.org/2024/03/29/israel/should-haredi-orthodox-jews-serve-in-the-israeli-army-the-debate-could-collapse-israels-government
Lorenzo Tondo and Quique Kierszenbaum, “Tens of thousands of Israeli protesters call for Netanyahu’s removal,” Guardian, March 31, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/31/israeli-protesters-call-benjamin-netanyahu-removal
Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh
Century III Mall
Fig. 2. “The exterior of the closed Century III Mall taken from a drone . . . in West Mifflin.” Photograph by Benjamin B. Braun, May 11, 2023, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,[6] fair use.
Tawnya Panizzi, “Demolition starts on Century III Mall,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, March 31, 2024, https://triblive.com/local/demolition-starts-on-century-iii-mall/
Pennsylvania and surrounding areas
Pittsburgh, the Ohio Valley, and surrounding areas
Pollution
Fig. 3. Photographer unknown, circa 1940-1950, from Smoke Control Lantern Slide Collection, ca. 1940-1950, AIS.1978.22, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh, via Bloomberg,[7] fair use.
It seems carbon credits, which sound to me like a shell game, have arrived in Pennsylvania. Companies earn credits for capping the wells that can be sold to companies needing credits to appear “green.”[8]
Anya Litvak, “Pennsylvania’s many orphaned wells just might yield a pot of gold,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 1, 2024, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/powersource/2024/04/01/pennsylvania-orphan-wells-oil-and-gas/stories/202403170069
Illiberalism
Türkiye
Elçin Poyrazlar, “Turkey’s Erdoğan suffers blow in crucial mayoral elections as secular opposition surges,” Politico, April 1, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/turkey-election-president-recep-tayyip-erdogan-suffers-blow-as-opposition-rpp-holds-five-cities/
- [1]Lorenzo Tondo and Quique Kierszenbaum, “Tens of thousands of Israeli protesters call for Netanyahu’s removal,” Guardian, March 31, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/31/israeli-protesters-call-benjamin-netanyahu-removal↩
- [2]Lorenzo Tondo and Quique Kierszenbaum, “Tens of thousands of Israeli protesters call for Netanyahu’s removal,” Guardian, March 31, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/31/israeli-protesters-call-benjamin-netanyahu-removal↩
- [3]Ben Sales, “Should haredi Orthodox Jews serve in the Israeli army? The debate could collapse Israel’s government,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, March 29, 2024, https://www.jta.org/2024/03/29/israel/should-haredi-orthodox-jews-serve-in-the-israeli-army-the-debate-could-collapse-israels-government; Lorenzo Tondo and Quique Kierszenbaum, “Tens of thousands of Israeli protesters call for Netanyahu’s removal,” Guardian, March 31, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/31/israeli-protesters-call-benjamin-netanyahu-removal↩
- [4]Ben Sales, “Should haredi Orthodox Jews serve in the Israeli army? The debate could collapse Israel’s government,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, March 29, 2024, https://www.jta.org/2024/03/29/israel/should-haredi-orthodox-jews-serve-in-the-israeli-army-the-debate-could-collapse-israels-government↩
- [5]Lorenzo Tondo and Quique Kierszenbaum, “Tens of thousands of Israeli protesters call for Netanyahu’s removal,” Guardian, March 31, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/31/israeli-protesters-call-benjamin-netanyahu-removal↩
- [6]Neena Hagen, “The fall of the Century: Once a retail shopping jewel, the West Mifflin mall has been left to rot,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 21, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2023/05/21/centuryiii-west-mifflin-mall-slag-heap-kaufmanns-sears-police-closed-crime/stories/202305210039↩
- [7]Mark Byrnes, “What Pittsburgh Looked Like When It Decided It Had a Pollution Problem,” Bloomberg, June 5, 2012, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-06-05/what-pittsburgh-looked-like-when-it-decided-it-had-a-pollution-problem↩
- [8]Anya Litvak, “Pennsylvania’s many orphaned wells just might yield a pot of gold,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 1, 2024, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/powersource/2024/04/01/pennsylvania-orphan-wells-oil-and-gas/stories/202403170069↩