October, 29 2009, 01:18pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Lea Radick,
Communications Officer, Handicap International, Phone: +1 (301) 891-2138,
E-mail: lradick@handicap-
Zach Hudson,
Coordinator, USCBL, Phone: +1 (917) 860-1883, E-mail: zhudson@handicap-
Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund Supports US Campaign to Ban Landmines
United States Urged to Join Mine Ban Treaty
NEW YORK
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund has agreed to support the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines over the next year as it works to bring the United States in line with the international treaties banning landmines and cluster munitions.
"Through her work with landmine survivors, Diana, Princess of Wales understood the devastating effects that landmines and unexploded remnants of war had on civilians and raised awareness about the need to ban antipersonnel mines," said Samantha Rennie, Head of Partnerships at The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. "We are proud to support civil society efforts to urge the United States to not only provide victim assistance and support demining efforts, but to ensure that antipersonnel mines are never used again."
Many of the 156 governments that have joined the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty are expected to attend the agreement's Second Review Conference in Cartagena, Colombia, which will begin one month from today (November 29 - December 4, 2009). This milestone event, also known as the "Cartagena Summit on a Mine-Free World," is open to all states regardless of their position on banning antipersonnel landmines. The United States has been invited to attend, but it has not indicated whether it will participate.
"Most of the U.S.'s closest military allies have recognized that the human costs of these weapons far outweigh their military utility, but ten years on the United States still has not signed the Mine Ban Treaty," said Zach Hudson, USCBL Coordinator. "President Obama should initiate a comprehensive review of U.S. landmine policy and ensure that the U.S. re-engages with its allies on the landmine ban. The U.S. should also participate in the upcoming Second Mine Ban Treaty Review Conference in Cartagena which begins one month from today."
Although the United States was one of the first states to call for the eventual elimination of landmines in the mid-1990s, the U.S. did not sign the treaty when it opened for signature in 1997; instead President Clinton set 2006 as the goal for the U.S. to join the treaty. However, in 2004, President Bush reversed this decision.
The Mine Ban Treaty prohibits the use, production, stockpile and transfer of antipersonnel landmines. Since the treaty entered into force on March 1, 1999, new landmine use has been drastically curbed, casualty rates have fallen dramatically and large tracts of affected land have been cleared.
Last week Switzerland and the ICBL, together with Colombia and Norway, held a special event at the U.N. in New York to brief diplomats and the media on preparations for the Cartagena Summit. At the event, the United States and other governments that still have not joined the international treaty banning antipersonnel landmines were encouraged by the ICBL to participate in the forthcoming global summit and join the agreement without delay.
The United States Campaign to Ban Landmines is a coalition of non-governmental organizations working to ensure that the U.S. comprehensively prohibits antipersonnel mines--by banning their use in Korea--and joins the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, as more than 160 nations have done. It is the national affiliate of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), founded in New York in 1992 and recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate together with former ICBL coordinator Ms. Jody Williams of Vermont. We also call for sustained U.S. government financial support for mine clearance and victim assistance.
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Instead of Holocaust Museum, Detour Signs Direct Israel's Herzog to The Hague
"How is it possible that such a sacred space is being used to normalize genocide today?" asked one Dutch Jewish organizer behind the protest.
Mar 10, 2024
Human rights activists in The Netherlands greeted Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday with large protests and directed him towards the International Criminal Court at The Hague over his nation's alleged war crimes against the Palestinian people in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Herzog was in Amsterdam to attend the opening of the new National Holocaust Museum, but demonstrators said Herzog's presence needed to be challenged given the large scale death and destruction that Israel's military has unleashed in Gaza over the last five months.
As Al-Jazeerareports:
Dutch Jewish anti-Zionist organization Erev Rave, which organized the demonstrations at the musuem’s opening with the Dutch Palestinian community and Socialist International, said that while it is important to honor the memory of Holocaust victims, it cannot stand by while the war in Gaza continues.
"For us Jews, these museums are part of our history, of our past," said Joana Cavaco, an activist with Erev Rav, addressing the crowd before the museum's opening ceremony. "How is it possible that such a sacred space is being used to normalize genocide today?"
A pro-Palestinian Dutch organization, The Rights Forum, called Herzog's presence "slap in the face of the Palestinians who can only helplessly watch how Israel murders their loved ones and destroys their land."
Along Herzog's route through the city, members of Amnesty International—which has accused Israel of apartheid and backed the findings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which said policies in Gaza may amount to genocide—carried fake detour signs pointing the motorcade towards the nearby ICC.
As the president of Israel, Amnesty International Netherlands said Herzog "is the political symbol of the humanitarian disaster in Gaza. It is unfortunate that Herzog was invited after his controversial statements. That is why we are taking action."
Amnesty and other rights groups have documented numerous incidents in Gaza and the West Bank that they say may amount to "war crimes," including the indiscriminate bombing of civilians areas, the use of prohibited weapons like white phosphorous, attacks on hospitals and emergency medical personnel, the blocking of life-saving food, water, and other supplies, and other acts of "callous disregard for Palestinian lives."
At a square nearby the museum where Herzog gave his speech, reportsReuters, demonstrators crowded the streets and chanted slogans like "Cease-fire Now!" and "Stop Bombing Children!" as they held signs that read "Jews Against Genocide" and "The Grandchild of a Holocaust Survivor Says: Stop Gaza Holocaust."
Israeli President Isaac Herzog attended an opening of Amsterdam’s Holocaust museum, where pro-Palestinian protesters demanding an end to Israel's assault in Gaza booed him https://t.co/L3NceMdAwk pic.twitter.com/ZspcNrl8FF
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 10, 2024
Ahead of Sunday's opening, the Jewish Cultural Quarter that operates the new museum, said in a statement that it was "profoundly concerned by the war and the consequences this conflict has had, first and foremost for the citizens of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank."
The statement said the museum stands "for a just and resolution for all those directly involved" and the impact the ongoing violence and hatred is having beyond the Middle East:
The reduction to black-and-white opposites and apparently incompatible arguments – oppressed against oppressor, good against bad, truth against lie. This polarization has spread hatred toward Jews and Islamophobia. It takes courage to speak out against injustice. It takes courage to recognize that the real world is complex and contradictory, and that our empathy need not be confined to one side.
At the heart of the National Holocaust Museum's mission is the desire to build a just society in the Netherlands by signalling the danger of dehumanizing and excluding those who live among us. That is the message in our presentation, our educational program and our events.
The group said Herzog had been invited to attend the opening prior to the Hamas-led attack on October 7 of last year, but that the fighting since has only further revealed the importance of remembering and learning from the past.
That "the war continues to rage," the statement concluded, "makes our mission all the more urgent."
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Biden Says Netanyahu 'Hurting Israel' With Gaza Policy But Vows Unwavering Support, Weapons
"Biden said the death toll in Gaza is 'contrary to what Israel stands for,'" said one critic. "Maybe it's time to admit that that is what Israel stands for."
Mar 10, 2024
President Joe Biden said Saturday that Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not handling the situation in Gaza the way it should be, but said U.S. support for its ally will remain.
Following the State of the Union address on Thursday, Biden was caught on a hot mic telling Democratic lawmakers that he had privately told Netanyahu that "you and I are going to have a 'Come-to-Jesus' meeting," suggesting a crossroad when it comes to the U.S. president's so far unconditional support for the Israeli prime minister and his government's policies.
Asked about the comment on Saturday during an interview with MSNBC, Biden said the death toll in Gaza—which he placed at 30,000 people, the approximate current figure used by the health ministry in Gaza—is "contrary to what Israel stands for. And I think is a big mistake."
Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch and now a visiting professor at Princeton University, took on Sunday issue with Biden's remarks, even as they reflected a much more critical stance.
"Biden said the death toll in Gaza is 'contrary to what Israel stands for,'" said Roth. "But Israel is imposing it deliberately, just as it imposes apartheid and the expansion of war-crime settlements. Maybe it's time to admit that that is what Israel stands for."
Biden said Netanyahu is "hurting Israel more than helping Israel" by the way he continues to conduct the assault on Gaza, and said that he wants "to see a cease-fire" so that a "major, major" prisoner exchange can take place with an initial six-week period in which fighting is stopped and noted the start of the holy month of Ramadan that begins next week.
Biden further called the looming threat to invade Rafah, where an estimated 1.5 million Palestinians with nowhere else to go have sought shelter and safety, a "red line" that he does not want Israel to cross, but added that he would "never leave Israel" or stop supporting what he called the nation's right to defend itself.
"The defense of Israel is still critical, so there's no red line I'm going to cut off all weapons so they don't have the Iron Dome to protect them," Biden said.
“The defense of Israel is still critical,” President Joe Biden tells Jonathan Capehart. “But there's red lines that if he crosses…cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead.” pic.twitter.com/0SAPJySAYS
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 9, 2024
On Friday, the U.N. High Commission for Human Rights warned the "already catastrophic" situation in Gaza would "slide deeper into the abyss" if Israel carried out its promised attack on Rafah.
"Any ground assault on Rafah would incur massive loss of life and would heighten the risk of further atrocity crimes," said the Commission's spokesperson Jeremy Laurence. "This must not be allowed to happen."
During his interview with MSNBC, Biden downplayed those in Democratic primaries over recent weeks who have voted "uncommitted" to voice their disapproval of his unrelenting backing of Israel as it carries out what experts and critics have said is a clear case of genocide in Gaza.
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Doing Something Trump Almost Never Does, Biden Apologizes
Following criticism, Biden said he regrets using the noun "illegal" to characterize an immigrant during his State of the Union address.
Mar 10, 2024
President Joe Biden did something Saturday night his 2024 Republican rival Donald Trump rarely, if ever, does: he apologized in the form of expressing regret.
Following vocal criticism of his use of the word "illegal" to describe an immigrant during Thursday's State of the Union address, Biden admitted during his weekend interview with MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart that he should not have used the word widely spewed by right-wing xenophobes and GOP lawmakers to denigrate undocumented migrants and refugees residing in the country.
"I shouldn't have used 'illegal,' it's 'undocumented,'" Biden said.
"When I spoke about the difference between Trump and me, one of the things I talked about in the border was his, the way he talks about 'vermin,' the way he talks about these people polluting the 'blood.' I talked about what I'm not going to do. What I won't do. I'm not going to treat any of these people with disrespect."
Watch:
NEW: President Biden tells @CapehartJ that he regrets using the word "illegal" during his State of the Union speech to refer to the alleged killer of Laken Riley.
“I shouldn't have used 'illegal.' It's undocumented."
Tune in at 6pm ET on MSNBC for the full interview. pic.twitter.com/EX7XuyhF1N
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 9, 2024
"It takes a big person to admit their mistakes," said Santiago Mayer, executive director of Voters of Tomorrow, a voter mobilization group. "As an immigrant, this retraction means a lot to me."
During his Thursday night address, Biden took the bait from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), shouting about a woman named Laken Riley, who was allegedly killed by an undocumented immigrant and has now become the latest victim of violence exploited by the GOP to demagogue and fearmonger over immigration.
"Laken Riley" said Biden in response to Greene, "an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal. "To her parents, I say my heart goes out to you."
The president was immediately and roundly rebuked by progressives and immigrant rights advocates for the comment.
"Let me be clear: No human being is illegal," said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), responded by saying: "Just like we should not be implementing Republican policy, we should not be repeating Republican rhetoric."
Despite many reactions like that, Biden defended his use of the word again on Friday. When asked about his use of the word by a reporter, Biden said, "Technically, they are not supposed to be here."
But Saturday's reversal was welcome by many of the same voices who had earlier condemned the president's choice of words.
"I'm glad to hear Biden taking back his comment," said Erika Andiola, an immigrants rights activist, who on Thursday night called Biden's remarks hurtful and argued that "words matter" because they ultimately shape opinion and policy.
"He's the President," Andiola said late Saturday in response to Biden's new comment. "His words can shape narratives and using the 'I' word to describe any undocumented person or asylum seeker can have negative consequences against our communities."
As is well-documented, but requires repeating every time the issue arises, U.S. citizens commit violent crimes at much higher rates than undocumented people but this has never stop the political right from deploying these tropes—especially during election years.
Despite the ability to reverse course on rhetoric, it has been Biden's policies around the border which have most concerned immigrant rights defenders.
Ahead of a visit to a border area in Texas last month, Amnesty International USA called on Biden to reverse course on supporting a legislative deal, now languishing in Congress, that largely embraced "cruel" Trump-like policies of deterrence and rolled back key protections for refugees and those seeking asylum.
"President Biden needs to find the political courage to rise above the growing tide of xenophobia and return to his promise to push for commonsense solutions that center safety and human rights," said Amy Fischer, director of refugee and migrant rights for Amnesty, at the time. "Until he does that, he'll only be on a race to the bottom as far as who can be the cruelest to those who need protection."
The propensity of Trump—who still broadly refuses to admit he lost the 2020 election to Biden even as he faces federal charges over his role in the January 6 insurrection effort—to never show contrition or confess wrongdoing has been widely documented in articles over the years with headlines like: "Donald Trump is not sorry. Ever"; "Trump Never Apologizes But Says It's a Great Thing"; "Trump's Rare Apology—A FactCheck"; and "Trump's Apology That Wasn't."
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