World
First opposition rally in six years excites Tanzanian politicians
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – On Saturday, Chadema, Tanzania’s fundamental opposition social gathering, held its first public rally in additional than six years within the northwestern metropolis of Mwanza simply three weeks after President Samia Suluhu Hassan lifted a ban on political gatherings imposed in 2016.
There was a jubilant reception of social gathering leaders within the metropolis by tons of of supporters in uniforms with Chadema colors – pink, blue and white. There have been additionally poetry performances and contortionists readily available to entertain the supporters who thronged the Furahisha stadium, the rally venue.
In June 2016, Hassan’s predecessor John Magufuli prohibited elected officers from holding rallies exterior their constituencies. The previous president argued that election season was over and rallies had been a waste of time and a distraction from improvement.
This quickly grew to become a blanket ban for political gatherings because the police turned down opposition requests to organise rallies. In some circumstances, even inside social gathering conferences had been disrupted with leaders and their followers harassed and arrested.
However Magufuli himself stored holding rallies and crisscrossing the nation by highway along with his entourage, making quite a few impromptu stops to handle locals and make off-script selections.
Critics say his behaviour was a part of a plan to crush dissent inside the East African nation. After Magufuli’s sudden dying in workplace in 2021, Hassan grew to become president.
She made strikes to reconcile with the opposition however was additionally seen as persevering with among the draconian insurance policies of her predecessor – together with a seven-month detention of Chadema chief Freeman Mbowe on prices of “terrorism financing”.
On Saturday whereas addressing the social gathering’s cheering supporters, Mbowe was in a conciliatory temper, urging these gathered to shun hate in opposition to ruling social gathering supporters and their leaders as he showered reward on President Hassan.
“With out disgrace, I stand earlier than you and the world to thank President Samia Suluhu Hassan, for the best way she was affected person in lots of conferences that we held as I satisfied her to understand the necessity for reconciliation on this nation. This president accepted reconciliation,” mentioned Mbowe.
He described the resumption of rallies as a restoration of basic civic rights Tanzanians had been robbed of because of weak legal guidelines.
Tundu Lissu, Chadema’s presidential candidate who fled to Europe after the 2020 elections when at the very least 15 individuals had been killed by safety forces and aligned militia, has mentioned he’ll return dwelling now that the ban has been lifted.
Alvera Kizza, a resident of the Rumala space in Mwanza, who attended the rally, informed Al Jazeera individuals there had “no worry of tear gasoline or another type of confrontation with the police” and hoped that “these rallies shall be used to coach and marketing campaign for a brand new structure.”
She mentioned the liberty to conduct political actions could be helpful even to the ruling social gathering as it will study what its supporters and the opposition need and be capable to implement these calls for.
“There was once an enormous rigidity amongst people supporting opposing political events that neighbours wouldn’t assist one another throughout necessary social occasions comparable to weddings and funerals,” Jackson Benjamin, one other attendee informed Al Jazeera. “I hope this freedom to take part in political events would launch that rigidity.”
Benjamin mentioned he was moved by Mbowe’s speech and happy to see police sustaining order relatively than harassing opposition supporters on the rally like up to now.
Democratic reforms
The resumption of rallies is seen as a part of Hassan’s try to interrupt away from Magufuli’s management fashion which was extensively described as authoritarian.
From lifting a ban on a number of newspapers to permitting pregnant college students to return to highschool and embracing COVID vaccination, Hassan has been single-minded in undoing Magufuli’s many controversial actions and positioning herself as a reformist.
In December 2021, a particular activity power was fashioned to analyze and report on democratic processes within the nation. Three months later, the duty power introduced its report back to Hassan with the advice to renew public rallies. Different suggestions included the restoration of the constitutional reform course of and the overview of legal guidelines that stifle political processes within the nation.
In July 2022, because the nation marked 30 years of multiparty politics, Hassan authored an op-ed for the native paper The Citizen, summarising her intentions in what she coined as “4 Rs; Reconciliation, Resiliency, Reforms and Rebuilding.”
Bernadeta Killian, professor of political science on the College of Dar es Salaam mentioned the tip of the ban on political rallies had led to a excessive stage of pleasure among the many public. Subsequent gatherings forward of the 2025 elections would strengthen democratic processes within the nation, she mentioned.
“The rallies will rejuvenate each the ruling and opposition events,” Killian mentioned. “Fact is, even the ruling social gathering was in some way constrained in its political actions. By their very nature, rallies often act as platforms to articulate public calls for and channel them into decision-making processes. With their resumption, they’ll improve individuals’s participation in political actions and assist them make knowledgeable political selections.”
Killian linked the change of coverage to the presidential activity power fashioned to overview the nation’s democratic processes and ongoing negotiations that senior ruling social gathering officers held with their Chadema counterparts.
Though particulars of negotiations between the 2 events haven’t been made public, Chadema has up to now mentioned that the resumption of public rallies and the necessity for a brand new structure are high of their agenda.
Ismail Jussa, an opposition politician from Zanzibar Island, informed Al Jazeera that Hassan has proven a willingness to start out afresh and launch political rigidity which had engulfed the nation for near a decade.
“This is a chance for us politicians to grab and discover efficient methods to carry the federal government accountable,” Jussa, who’s a part of the Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT–Wazalendo), the nation’s third-largest political social gathering, mentioned.
“We now have a platform to point out the general public different management and insurance policies that Tanzanians deserve, one thing that we weren’t capable of do in near seven years.”
The Israeli military claimed responsibility for a series of airstrikes in Yemen on Thursday that hit Sana’a International Airport and other targets in the Houthi-controlled capital.
The Israel Defense Forces said the strikes targeted military infrastructure used by the Houthis to conduct acts of terrorism.
“The Houthi terrorist regime has repeatedly attacked the State of Israel and its citizens, including in UAV and surface-to-surface missile attacks on Israeli territory,” the IDF said in a statement.
“The targets that were struck by the IDF include military infrastructure used by the Houthi terrorist regime for its military activities in both the Sana’a International Airport and the Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations. In addition, the IDF struck military infrastructure in the Al-Hudaydah, Salif, and Ras Kanatib ports on the western coast.”
PROJECTILE FROM YEMEN STRIKES NEAR TEL AVIV, INJURING MORE THAN A DOZEN: OFFICIALS
Black smoke rises near Sana’a International Airport in Yemen after reported Israeli airstrikes. (Reuters)
The strikes come days after Israel’s defense minister promised retaliation against Houthi leaders for missile strikes launched at Israel from Yemen.
Houthi rebels, who control most of northern Yemen, have fired upon Israel for more than a year to support Hamas terrorists at war with the Jewish State. The Houthis have attempted to enforce an embargo on Israel by launching missiles and drones at cargo vessels crossing the Red Sea – a major shipping lane for international trade.
US NAVY SHIPS REPEL ATTACK FROM HOUTHIS IN GULF OF ADEN
This photo released by the European Union’s Operation Aspides naval force shows the oil tanker Sounion burning in the Red Sea following a series of attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, on Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (European Union’s Operation Aspides via AP)
Overall, the Houthis have launched over 200 missiles and 170 drones at Israel since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of 1,200 people. Since then, the Houthis have also attacked more than six dozen commercial vessels – particularly in the Bab-el-Mandeb, the southern maritime gateway to Egypt’s Suez Canal.
On Saturday, a projectile launched into Israel from Yemen struck Tel Aviv and caused mild injuries to 16 people, Israeli officials said. The incident was a rare occasion where Israeli defense systems failed to intercept an attack.
NETANYAHU WARNS HOUTHIS AMID CALLS FOR ISREAL TO WIPE OUT TERROR LEADERSHIP AS IT DID WITH NASRALLAH, SINWAR
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, November 7, 2024. (REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)
Israel retaliated by striking multiple targets in areas of Yemen under Houthi control, including power plants in Sana’a.
Israeli leaders have vowed to eliminate Houthi leadership if the missile and drone attacks do not cease.
On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “We will strike their strategic infrastructure and decapitate their leaders. Just as we did to [former Hamas chief Ismail] Haniyeh, Sinwar and Nasrallah, in Tehran, Gaza and Lebanon – we will do in Hodeidah and Sanaa.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also urged Israelis to be “patient” and suggested that soon the military will ramp up its campaign against the Houthis.
“We will take forceful, determined and sophisticated action. Even if it takes time, the result will be the same,” he said. “Just as we have acted forcefully against the terror arms of Iran’s axis of evil, so too will we act against the Houthis.”
Fox News Digital’s Amelie Botbol contributed to this report.
United States President Joe Biden’s administration is facing criticism after a US-backed report on famine in the Gaza Strip was retracted this week, drawing accusations of political interference and pro-Israel bias.
The report by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), which provides information about global food insecurity, had warned that a “famine scenario” was unfolding in northern Gaza during Israel’s war on the territory.
A note on the FEWS NET website, viewed by Al Jazeera on Thursday, said the group’s “December 23 Alert is under further review and is expected to be re-released with updated data and analysis in January”.
The Associated Press news agency, quoting unnamed American officials, said the US asked for the report to be retracted. FEWS NET is funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
USAID did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment on Thursday afternoon.
Israel’s war in Gaza has killed more than 45,300 Palestinians since early October 2023 and plunged the coastal enclave into a dire humanitarian crisis as access to food, water, medicine and other supplies is severely curtailed.
An Israeli military offensive in the northern part of the territory has drawn particular concern in recent months with experts warning in November of a “strong likelihood” that famine was imminent in the area.
“Starvation, malnutrition, and excess mortality due to malnutrition and disease, are rapidly increasing” in northern Gaza, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said in an alert on November 8.
“Famine thresholds may have already been crossed or else will be in the near future,” it said.
The report
The FEWS NET report dated December 23 noted that Israel has maintained a “near-total blockade of humanitarian and commercial food supplies to besieged areas” of northern Gaza for nearly 80 days.
That includes the Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoon areas, where rights groups have estimated thousands of Palestinians are trapped.
“Based on the collapse of the food system and worsening access to water, sanitation, and health services in these areas … it is highly likely that the food consumption and acute malnutrition thresholds for Famine (IPC Phase 5) have now been surpassed in North Gaza Governorate,” the FEWS NET report had said.
The network added that without a change to Israeli policy on food supplies entering the area, it expected that two to 15 people would die per day from January to March at least, which would surpass the “famine threshold”.
The report had spurred public criticism from the US ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, who in a statement on Tuesday said FEWS NET had relied on “outdated and inaccurate” data.
Lew disputed the number of civilians believed to be living in northern Gaza, saying the civilian population was “in the range of 7,000-15,000, not 65,000-75,000 which is the basis of this report”.
“At a time when inaccurate information is causing confusion and accusations, it is irresponsible to issue a report like this,” he said.
— Ambassador Jack Lew (@USAmbIsrael) December 24, 2024
‘Bullying’
But Palestinian rights advocates condemned the ambassador’s remarks. Some accused Lew of appearing to welcome the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza.
“To reject a report on starvation in northern Gaza by appearing to boast about the fact that it has been successfully ethnically cleansed of its native population is just the latest example of Biden administration officials supporting, enabling and excusing Israel’s clear and open campaign of genocide in Gaza,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement.
The group urged FEWS NET “not to submit to the bullying of genocide supporters”.
Huwaida Arraf, a prominent Palestinian American human rights lawyer, also criticised Lew for “relying on Israeli sources instead of your own experts”.
“Do you work for Israel or the American people, the overwhelming majority of whom disapprove of US support for this genocide?” she wrote on X.
Polls over the past year have shown a high percentage of Americans are opposed to Israel’s offensive in Gaza and want an end to the war.
A March survey by Gallup found that 55 percent of people in the US disapproved of Israel’s actions in Gaza while a more recent poll by the Pew Research Center, released in October, suggested about three in 10 Americans believed Israel’s military offensive is “going too far”.
While the Biden administration has said it is pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza, it has rebuffed calls to condition US assistance to Israel as a way to bring the war to an end.
Washington gives its ally at least $3.8bn in military assistance annually, and researchers at Brown University recently estimated that the Biden administration provided an additional $17.9bn to Israel since the start of the Gaza war.
The US is required under its own laws to suspend military assistance to a country if that country restricts the delivery of American-backed humanitarian aid, but Biden’s administration has so far refused to apply that rule to Israel.
“We, at this time, have not made an assessment that the Israelis are in violation of US law,” Department of State spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters in November despite the reports of “imminent” famine in northern Gaza.
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