Just interviewed the Nigerian singer Chioma Ogbonna aka Cill, here is her amazing new song:
'Échí' by Cill x Destiny Trust Children
Interview to come soon on RFI English...
28/11/2024
On France's role in protecting Benjamin Netanyahu
27 Nov. 2024
In a statement shared this Wednesday, the French foreign ministry said France would 'respect its international obligations' but added that the Israeli leader was covered by immunity rules that apply to states that are not a party to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The statement goes on to say: "In accordance with the long-standing friendship between France and Israel, two democracies committed to the rule of law and to respect for a professional and independent justice system, France intends to continue working in close cooperation with Prime Minister Netanyahu and the other Israeli authorities to achieve peace and security for all in the Middle East."
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An israeli soldier pass by an army vehicle in tin Kiryat Shmona on the day that the ceasefire between Israel and Hizballa began, northern Israel, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) |
France's stance on potential immunity for Netanyahu prompted some strong reactions Wednesday, both at home and abroad.
Amnesty International called the French stance granting immunity to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu "deeply problematic", saying it ran counter to the government's obligations as an ICC member.
"Rather than inferring that ICC indictees may enjoy immunity, France should expressly confirm its acceptance of the unequivocal legal duty under the Rome Statute to carry out arrest warrants," said Anne Savinel-Barras, president of Amnesty International France.
According to law specialist Johann Soufi, quoting several Israeli media & Lebanon's L'Orient Le Jour, French president Emmanuel Macron might have agreed to recognise “immunity” to Netanyahu in exchange for the mention of France in the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon...
Europe Media and Editorial Director for Human Rights Watch, Andrew Stroehlein, wrote on social media:
"Some shocking nonsense from France here. No one gets immunity from an ICC arrest warrant because they're in office - not Netanyahu, not Putin, no one. See Article 27 of the Rome Statute".
He also frequently states: "If you only care about war crimes when your enemies commit them, then you don't really care about war crimes."
The choice of Macron's government also shocked some in France.
French Green party boss Marine Tondelier called the government's stance "shameful", adding it was probably the result of an agreement between the French and Israeli leaders.
"Surely that was the deal, that France would get a mention in the official statement announcing the ceasefire in Lebanon that was published by France and the United States yesterday," she wrote on her socials.
"Again, France is bending over backward to meet Benjamin Netanyahu's demand to pick him over international justice," she added.
26/11/2024
Ceasefire in Lebanon
Israel's Netanyahu says he backs Lebanon ceasefire deal with Hezbollah
Israeli prime minister says he will ask his cabinet to OK agreement, but vows to continue the war in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that he is asking his government to approve a ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon but promised that Israel's war on Gaza would continue.
Netanyahu said Israel's attacks on Lebanon had "set Hezbollah back by decades" and it was time to focus on Gaza and "intensify" pressure on Hamas.
He also said a ceasefire in Lebanon will allow Israel to "focus on the Iranian threat" and that the truce would speed up a delayed arms shipment from the United States.
Speaking in a televised address after getting backing for the ceasefire from his security cabinet, the Israeli prime minister said he would ask all of his ministers for their approval later on Tuesday. Lebanon's parliament is expected to meet on Wednesday morning to discuss the agreement.
25/11/2024
'Where Olive Trees Weep': Official Trailer (2024)
"Where Olive Trees Weep" offers a searing window into the struggles and resilience of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation. It explores themes of loss, trauma, and the quest for justice.
We follow, among others, Palestinian journalist and therapist Ashira Darwish, grassroots activist Ahed Tamimi, and Israeli journalist Amira Hass.
We witness Dr. Gabor Maté offering trauma-healing work for a group of women who have been tortured in Israeli prisons.
Ancient landscapes bear deep scars, having witnessed the brutal reality of ancestral land confiscation, expulsions, imprisonment, home demolitions, water deprivation, and denial of basic human rights.
Yet, through the veil of oppression, we catch a glimpse of resilience—deep roots that have carried the Palestinian people through decades of darkness and shattered lives.
This emotional journey bares the humanity of the oppressed while grappling with the question: what makes the oppressor so ruthlessly blind to its own cruelty?
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If you' in Bristol, meet us here:
Sunday 8th December, 2024, at 13:30 to 15:50
Arnolfini, Bristol, BS1 4QA
This screening includes a Q&A with Ashira Darwish hosted by Melissa Chemam.
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To host a Screening:
https://whereolivetreesweep.com/host-a-screening/
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About "Where Olive Trees Weep" The film gives background to the current crisis in Israel/Palestine and brings to light the lives of people we met on our 2022 journey in the occupied West Bank. Their universally human stories speak of intergenerational pain, trauma and resilience. We hope they touch your heart, stir compassion and understanding, and give rise to a pursuit for justice. For without justice, peace remains an empty slogan. Cinema can be a powerful force for change. Our aim is, beyond mere education, to truly move hearts and minds and inspire audiences to echo the calls for freedom, equality and dignity that have gone unanswered for far too long. The film is our modest contribution towards our dream for an end to the occupation in Palestine, the attainment of equal rights and fair treatment for Palestinian people, and the spreading of healing for all intergenerational cycles of trauma in the region. Directors' Statement Where Olive Trees Weep explores themes of loss, trauma, and the quest for justice. We follow, among others, Palestinian journalist and therapist Ashira Darwish, grassroots activist Ahed Tamimi, and Israeli journalist Amira Hass. We also watch Dr. Gabor Maté support a group of women seeking understanding and healing and offer his insights into intergenerational trauma. Through the veil of oppression, we catch a glimpse of resilience—deep roots that have carried the Palestinian people through decades of darkness and shattered lives. This emotional journey bares the humanity of the oppressed while grappling with the question: what makes the oppressor so ruthlessly blind to its own cruelty?
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women at 25
This year 2024 marks 25 years since the declaration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which is why the General Assembly will hold an event to reflect on the progress and achievements made to eliminate gender violence.
Every 10 minutes, a woman is killed somewhere in the world.
Violence against women and girls remains one of the most prevalent and pervasive human rights violations in the world, according to the United Nations.
Globally, almost one in three women have been subjected to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both, at least once in their life.
For at least 51,100 women in 2023, the cycle of gender-based violence ended with one final and brutal act—their murder by partners and family members. That means a woman was killed every 10 minutes.
Grim figures
In France only, each year, 321,000 women aged 18 to 74 are victims of physical, sexual and/or psychological violence committed by their spouse or ex-spouse, but only 15 percent file a complaint. In 2023, there were 134 femicides in the country (an average of 1 death every 2.5 days), while one rape occurs every 7 minutes.
In Africa, the most prevalent forms of Violence Against Women and Girls reported and documented, include Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), which manifests in physical, sexual or psychological violence by an intimate partner; Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), which is a common cultural practice in some parts of Africa; Early Child and Forced Marriage where girls below 18 years are forced into marriage.
They also include Sexual Violence in Conflict (SVC) which includes rape, sexual assault with violent physical assault, kidnapping, sexual slavery and forced prostitution in conflict situations.
This scourge has intensified in different settings, according to UN Women, including the workplace and online spaces, and has been exacerbated by conflicts, and climate change.
Worldwide, 70 percent of women in conflict, war, and humanitarian crisis, experience gender-based violence.
The solution lies in robust responses, holding perpetrators accountable, and accelerating action through well-resourced national strategies and increased funding to women’s rights movements.
Move for social change
This year marks the 25th year of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Women's rights activists have observed 25 November as a day against gender-based violence since 1981. This date was selected to honour the Mirabal sisters, three political activists from the Dominican Republic who were brutally murdered in 1960 by order of the country’s ruler, Rafael Trujillo (1930-1961).
The UN marks it by launching a special series of events for awareness: UNiTE campaign, held between 25 November and 10 December. The initiative of 16 days of activism will conclude on the day that commemorates the International Human Rights Day, on 10 December.
This 2024 campaign Every 10 Minutes, a woman is killed. #NoExcuse. UNiTE to End Violence against Women aims to draw attention to the alarming escalation of violence against women to revitalise commitments, call for accountability and action from decision-makers.
24/11/2024
Has COP29 failed?
Comments from Nazanine Moshiri, the International Crisis Group’s Senior Analyst on Climate, Environment and Conflict on COP29:
"
At COP29 in Baku, while negotiators acknowledged the urgency of
improving climate finance access for vulnerable nations, what was agreed
falls far short of what’s required.
Remember, these negotiations happened against the backdrop of escalating global crises, from the war in the Middle East, Ukraine and the re-election of Donald Trump.
Billions have been promised, but developing countries' adaptation needs,
including those of Africa, are in the trillions. Adaptation risks
across the continent could lead to disastrous neglect without adequate
funding. "
"Many African nations are deeply disappointed. Despite
being hardest hit by the dual crises of conflict and climate shocks,
they were unable to secure a real breakthrough at this COP.
Our research in regions like the Sahel and the Horn of Africa highlights that adaptation is not just about protection—it’s about ensuring stability.
Investing in resilience can prevent the cascading effects of social tensions, displacement and conflict.
Looking ahead to COP30 in Brazil, the prospects for progress on climate and conflict remain uncertain. Brazil has historically hesitated to fully integrate these issues into the global climate agenda, leaving Africa’s urgent needs unanswered."
22/11/2024
What is wrong with Algerian writer Kamel Daoud
I hate to criticise writers, I'm all for freedom of expression, but profiting from a woman's suffering, and bashing your home country to gain attention in its former coloniser's literary scene... doesn't sound like the right approach to me.
I'm from both countries myself, born in France, my whole family in Algeria apart from my parents, my sister and once cousin, and I have the utmost respect for what Algerians wen through since French troops set a foot on their soil in 1830. They are courageous people and have suffered a lot.
If I believed Daoud's book was to benefit most of the readers, I would review it. I don't.
Here is a draft I wrote today, story to come on RFI English soon.
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A controversy in Algeria overshadows writer Kamel Daoud's prize for his novel 'Houris'
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Franco-Algerian author Kamel Daoud is accused by a victim of the civil
war in Algeria of having exploited his history and his traumas to write
his recent novel, Houris, which won the most prestigious French prize earlier in November.
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| Kamel Daoud in Paris, receiving its recent prize - Photo by AP |
The Algerian woman, Saâda Arbane, 30, survived a massacre during the "black decade" (1992-2002) of the civil war, and is now bringing accusations against the Algerian-turned-French author Kamel Daoud.
Arbane says she has recognised her own story in that of the character of Aube, the heroine of the novel.Moreover, with supporting documents, she has revealed this week that she was followed in psychiatry by Kamel Daoud's wife, in Oran, between 2015 and 2021.
She now accuses her and him of having violated the confidentiality of her medical file and "the privacy of her private life".
According to Arbane, Daoud had made several requests to adapt her story, which she always refused.
She now says he has published the novel nonetheless, without her consent or the one of her parents.
Her lawyer, Fatima Benbraham, told RFI that she had the documents proving that psychiatrist Aïcha Dahdouh, has been following her client since 2015.
"If the evidence did not exist, the claim would have been inadmissible... My client's rights will never remain violated, by anyone," she said. "We want justice."
Daoud and his wife Aicha Dehdouh are now being sued in Algeria's court of Oran for allegedly using her personal story without consent and for violating medical confidentiality.
“Right after the publication of the book, we filed two complaints against Kamel Daoud and his wife, Aicha Dehdouh, the psychiatrist who treated the victim,” lawyer Benbraham told the press on Wednesday.
Private, horrific story
In an interview with a private Algerian television channel, Saâda Arbane has claimed that there are striking similarities in the novel with her own life.
She cited the nature of her scar, the tattoo she has, the cannula, her pension, the abortion, the hair salon, the Lotfi high school, her complicated relationship with her adoptive mother and her love of horses, as an equestrian champion.
Arbane says she was shocked by what she read in Houris: "I don't like talking about my story, it's something that disturbs me in life," she says.
She was 6 years old when her village in Tiaret was attacked in 1993, many of her neighbours massacred, and her family decimated.She was left for dead with her throat half slit, her vocal cords wrecked, and scarred for life.
Ongoing controversy
Houris is indeed inspired by some of the tragic events that occurred in Algeria during the civil war of the 1990s.
Up to 200,000 people were killed in the conflict and thousands more disappeared, or subjected to torture and sexual violence.
But "its plot, its characters and its heroine are purely fictional," its publisher, Gallimard, stated in a press release.
Gallimard thus denounced "defamatory" attacks against the Franco-Algerian author, winner of the 2024 Goncourt Prize for this novel.
Daoud claims he is the target of "violent defamatory campaigns organised by media close to" the Algerian regime.
He added that Houris is banned in Algeria.
The head of the Gallimard was even forbidden from presenting his works at the Algiers International Book Fair, which ended on 17 November.
The ban on participating in this fair was notified to Gallimard publishing house at the beginning of October, when Houris was already seen as one of the big favorites for the Goncourt.
Arbane's lawyer, Benbraham, however accuses Daoud of defaming victims of terrorism and of violating the Algerian law on national reconciliation, which prohibits publication of details about the so-called black decade.The complaints were first lodged in August, Benbraham added, some time before Daoud won the Goncourt, but they did not want to talk about it, "so it wouldn’t be said that we wanted to disrupt the author’s nomination for the prize,” she said.
Daoud, who used to live in Algeria and work as a columnist, was columnist for the French right-wing weekly news magazine Le Point for 10 years, and moved to France in 2023.He has been
regularly decried for his overt anti-Arab racism, since, in 2016 –
following numerous cases of sexual assault on women by Arab migrants in
Cologne, Germany – he wrote an op-ed piece published in the New York Times called "The Sexual Misery of the Arab World".
He has also been linked with French far-right intellectuals.
Two positive stories from Africa!!
My two latest stories for RFI:
As the COP29 talks stall, some optimistic prospects in Africa
>> Plastic-eating mealworms found in Kenya offer hope for waste crisis
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African cinema takes to global stage with diverse storytelling
As African cinema is taking centre stage at festivals around the world, filmmakers and curators reflect on the future of the film industry and creativity on the continent.
“It is always a pleasure to show my African films around the world,” Mauritanian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako told RFI.
The Oscar-Nominated director was in London, where his latest film Black Tea, closed the Film Africa festival in London this month, opening discussions on how African stories are perceived globally.
From 25 October to 3 November, the festival showcased over 70 films from 25 African countries, coinciding with Black History Month. Organised by the Royal African Society, it celebrates the richness of African storytelling.
“This is a great time for African cinema,” said Keith Shiri, the festival’s lead curator adding that African filmmakers no longer rely on foreign resources or perspectives.
Read on from here:
African cinema takes to global stage with diverse storytelling
21/11/2024
ICC issues arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in Gaza
The international criminal court has issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war.
It is the first time that leaders of a democracy and western-aligned state have been charged by the court, in the most momentous decision of its 22-year history.
Netanyahu and Gallant are at risk of arrest if they travel to any of the 124 countries that signed the Rome statute establishing the court. Israel claims to have killed Deif in an airstrike in July, but the court’s pre-trial chamber said it would “continue to gather information” to confirm his death.
The chamber ruled there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore criminal responsibility as co-perpetrators for “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.
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