Massachusetts’ Charlton Public Library is now one title richer, thanks to one man’s detective work. Richard Whitehead uncovered a century-old controversy when doing some research for his new position as one of the library’s trustees: a book banned in 1906 because it contained naked images. That weren’t graphic. Of Eve…
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Mahmoud Abbas will postpone security council vote but has broken US hegemony over peace talks, diplomats say Mahmoud Abbas submits his bid for recognition of Palestine as a state to the United Nations on Friday at the end of a week that has seen a dramatic shift in the diplomatic ground in the Palestinians’ favour even though their request to the security council is likely to fail. The Palestinian leader is expected to hand over the letter seeking to join the UN as a state shortly before he addresses the general assembly to plead the case for admission. The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, is scheduled to speak shortly afterwards and is likely to denounce the Palestinian move as destabilising and a threat to the peace process, even though that is largely dormant. Abbas’s determination to press ahead in the face of strong US opposition has prompted the most serious attempt to revive the peace process in years as Washington, London and Paris seek to avoid a showdown in the security council that could severely damage their standing in a rapidly changing Middle East. The US said it would veto statehood, and Britain and France were likely to abstain. The days of diplomatic wrangling, much of it behind the scenes but some of it on the open stage of the UN general assembly, have resulted in a compromise. Abbas will submit his application but any vote will be put on hold to allow for fresh attempts to revive peace talks. While Abbas has climbed down from an immediate confrontation, some senior Palestinian officials and European diplomats believe he may have won a significant victory because the US grip on the oversight of the peace process, which has been decidedly in Israel’s favour, has been weakened and other countries now want to force the pace of peace negotiations. Washington’s claim to dominate mediation has not only been damaged by its unwavering threat to veto a Palestinian state in the security council, setting up a confrontation that alarmed Britain and France, but by Barack Obama’s speech to the UN, which was widely seen as openly partisan in favour of Israel and offered no new initiatives. That has opened the way for Europe to press for a greater role. The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, in a speech to the UN openly questioned American leadership, describing it as years of failure. Diana Buttu, a former Palestinian negotiator who has since been critical of Abbas’s leadership, said his insistence on going to the security council had delivered a diplomatic victory of sorts. “Is this a coup for Abbas? Yes, absolutely,” she said. “This is the first time since 1974 that Palestine has been able to capture international attention at the United Nations in this way. He’s managed to get people discussing whether Palestine should be recognised as a state, whether it should get its independence immediately, how we get there. It’s been a brilliant move.” A European diplomat said Abbas had changed the diplomatic equation. “The ground has shifted. There’s been no peace process to speak of for years. Obama has tried and failed to push Netanyahu in to taking negotiations seriously. There’s a feeling that this crisis has created a moment to try a different way. “It’s still negotiations. It’s still up to the Israelis and Palestinians who have to do the deal. But we are all aware that the Arab Spring is changing everything and while the Americans are always going to play a major role we may be moving toward a place where they are not the only ones in the game.” Still, Abbas has been reminded of the blunt force of American power that no other country is likely to be able to wield. The Palestinian leader privately retreated from his pledge to seek an immediate security council vote in part because he is no longer sure of winning the necessary majority, which would have given the Palestinians a moral victory even if the US used its veto as threatened. Palestinian sources say they believe Washington has bullied several security council members into withdrawing their support for the Palestinian move, including Portugal by threatening to withhold support in financial institutions for its stricken economy, and Bosnia over its opposition to Kosovo being admitted to the UN. Palestinian officials believe Nigeria is no longer certain to vote in their favour. There are also questions about the position of Gabon and Colombia. One senior Palestinian official said the Americans were “playing a really nasty game”. Abbas was also under pressure from European leaders who are keen to avoid abstaining in a security council vote on the issue. Abstention would be widely interpreted in the Arab world as implicit support for Israel, although the leaders recognise the need for Abbas to submit the statehood request in order to retain his political credibility at home. Britain pressed the Palestinian leader to back away from a showdown. Sarkozy met Abbas and pleaded with him to accept a delay in the vote in return for a promise that the French president would work to revive peace talks. Sarkozy in his UN speech said American leadership on the peace process had failed and pressed for greater involvement of European and Arab states in negotiations. “Let us stop believing that a single country or small group of countries can resolve so complex a problem. Too many crucial players have been sidelined,” he said. “After so many failures, who still believes that the peace process can succeed without Europe? “Who still believes that it can succeed without the involvement of the Arab states that have already chosen peace? Who does not see that a collective approach is now indispensable to create trust and offer real guarantees to each of the parties?” Sarkozy proposed negotiations that would adhere to a strict timetable intended to strike an agreement ending occupation and creating an independent Palestine within a year. The French president’s position is in line with proposals put forward by Tony Blair as envoy of the Middle East Quartet of the UN, EU, US and Russia to allow Abbas to fulfil his pledge to go to the security council but defer a vote. Abbas could then claim a victory for the Palestinians by saying he has achieved his principal goal at the UN of breaking the stalemate around the peace process. Buttu said the challenge now for Abbas was to ensure the momentum created this week continued in the Palestinians’ favour. “I think the old negotiations process has completely run its tired course. You’ve got countries around the world recognising that you can’t just have this process of endless negotiations with the so-called honest broker who’s not so honest at all. This has put the final nail in the coffin of the United States being the honest broker,” she said. “Now it’s being seen for what it actually is, which is Israel’s lawyer. The next step depends on what Abbas does. Is he going to continue to pander to the Americans? Or is he really going to try to build up an international coalition that will deal with this in a very different way to how it’s been dealt with in the past?” Palestinian territories Middle East United Nations Israel US foreign policy Mahmoud Abbas Barack Obama Nicolas Sarkozy Chris McGreal guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Toronto has a message for puppy mills: piss off. In a unanimous vote, the city council has banned pet stores from selling any cat or dog that does not come from a humane society, shelter, or rescue group. They believe the move will achieve two ends: Cut down on the…
Continue reading …Mark Zuckerberg announced more massive changes to Facebook at its f8 event today, starting with a complete reinvention of its profile page into something called “Timeline,” which Zuckerberg described as “the story of your life.” Friends will now be able to see years worth of your posts, or sort them…
Continue reading …Israel and Palestine seem on a collision course for a diplomatic confrontation at the UN, but “things could and should have been different,” writes former PM Ehud Olmert in an op-ed for the New York Times . “The parameters of a peace deal are well known,” he says, outlining the two-state…
Continue reading …It was business as usual at the UN General Assembly today: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave an anti-America speech, and America walked out. Or, at least, its representatives did. As the Iranian president described the “mysterious” 9/11 attacks as a “pretext” for US attacks on Iraq and Afghanistan, US diplomats walked out,…
Continue reading …A California Starbucks worker was sent packing after posting a video rant about his job—in song form. Christopher Cristwell took his guitar to YouTube to air his venti-sized frustrations; the clip was picked up by a Starbucks blog and he lost his job, the Merced Sun-Star reports. Among the…
Continue reading …In his only print interview during a visit to the UN, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appeared “complex, even bizarre,” writes Nicolas Kristof in the New York Times . The “firebrand” in public was “subdued and very soft-spoken” in person, offering repeated “olive branches” to his interviewer: “We truly like and love the people…
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Forces that no longer record ethnicity are those most likely to stop disproportionate numbers of black people Police forces with some of the worst records of targeting black people have decided to stop recording the ethnicity of the people their officers stop and ask to account for their movements, the Guardian has learned. Five out of the 10 forces most likely to use stop-and-account powers disproportionately against black people – West Midlands, Avon and Somerset, Thames Valley, Sussex and Hertfordshire – have halted recording the race of people they have stopped. They have used a government change in the rules introduced in March, which was aimed at cutting bureaucracy. In total, 21 out of 43 forces in England and Wales will stop recording details, according to responses to requests under the Freedom of Information Act. A high court challenge is being brought over the decision. The collection of data about the race of people stopped is one of the key legacies of the 1999 Stephen Lawrence inquiry into police racism. The figures have shown that black people are more likely to be subject to the powers, and those figures have been used to pressure the police into cleaning up discrimination in the ranks. New totals show that the worst offender is the West Midlands force, which is seven times more likely to stop an African-Caribbean person than a white person. The force, Britain’s second biggest, is one of those that has decided to stop recording the ethnicity of people subjected to stop and account by its officers. According to analysis by Dr Michael Shiner of the London School of Economics, there are wide variations in how much more likely different forces are to use stop-and-account powers against black people. . Some do not appear to be discriminating.Among those ceasing the recording of ethnicity, But Gwent has the second highest disproportionality rate of five times, while African-Caribbean people in West Mercia, Avon and Somerset and Warwickshire are all roughly three times more likely than their white fellow citizens to face stop and account. Shiner, who prepared his data for Stopwatch , which campaigns for fairness in police stop powers, said: “Figures such as these may be a source of embarrassment to the police. Getting rid of recording may relieve the embarrassment but prevents us from dealing with the problem.” A UN committee this month warned that the changes could “encourage racial and ethnic stereotyping” among officers. Stop and account is the most commonly used power by officers to question people in the street. In 2008-09, the last year for which official figures are available , there were 1,126,258 stop and searches compared with 2,211,598 stop and accounts. One experienced officer said colleagues could use the power, which does not require reasonable suspicion of criminality, to justify searching someone, which does: “It could lead to a suspicion to arise. Why are you not talking to me? Why aren’t you answering questions?” Forces will continue recording the race of people stopped and searched, with officers arguing that in a time of limited resources, it is better if the money is spent on that rather than on collecting data from stop and account. Three forces who have ended recording the data – Hampshire, Thames Valley and Hertfordshire – will feature in a test case brought by Hugh Diedrick, an electrical engineer, who says he has been subjected to various stops as he travels around the country for work. In one incident he claims to have been strip-searched and in the latest, in July 2011, he alleges that Hertfordshire officers picked on him because of the colour of his skin in order to subject him to a stop and account. The legal case will assert that the decision by police forces to stop recording the ethnicity data was taken without proper consultation and will break their legal obligations to ensure equality. Sarah McSherry, the solicitor bringing the high court claim, said: “These statistics can help chief constables tackle potential racism. But scrapping these figures smacks of a complete lack of will to tackle discrimination, which has affected many people, such as my client, Mr Diedrick.” The decision to record the ethnicity of people subjected to stop powers was a key recommendation of the inquiry into police failings that allowed the killers of Stephen Lawrence to escape justice. The Macpherson report said anyone stopped by the police should be given a record stating the reason for the stop, and their ethnicity should be recorded. That came into force in 2005, but police claimed it was too time-consuming. Dr Rebekah Delsol of the Open Society Justice Initiative said: “Cutting one of the few mechanisms for accountability at this time – of all times – is reckless and irresponsible as it risks fuelling the tensions that have scarred police-community relations for 30 years.” Craig Mackey, who leads for the Association of Chief Police Officers on stop-and-search issues, told the Guardian: “The premise that somehow forces chose to discontinue the recording of ethnicity as part of stop and account on the basis of hiding some sort of practice, there is absolutely no evidence of that whatsoever.” Mackey added that stop and account was not really a police power and that people could ignore requests for information from an officer. The assistant chief constable of Thames Valley police, Richard Bennett, said: “In common with most other forces, we no longer record stop-and-account activity following the removal of the mandatory national requirement.” The Home Office said: “From 7 March 2011 we have removed the national requirement to record stop and account, in order to reduce police bureaucracy. “These changes will save hundreds of thousands of hours of police time.” A report from the United Nations committee on the elimination of racial discrimination condemned the changes, warning: “The committee is concerned that these measures may not only encourage racial and ethnic stereotyping by police officers but may also encourage impunity and fail to promote accountability in the police service for possible abuses.” Police Race issues Stop and search UK criminal justice Vikram Dodd guardian.co.uk
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Forces that no longer record ethnicity are those most likely to stop disproportionate numbers of black people Police forces with some of the worst records of targeting black people have decided to stop recording the ethnicity of the people their officers stop and ask to account for their movements, the Guardian has learned. Five out of the 10 forces most likely to use stop-and-account powers disproportionately against black people – West Midlands, Avon and Somerset, Thames Valley, Sussex and Hertfordshire – have halted recording the race of people they have stopped. They have used a government change in the rules introduced in March, which was aimed at cutting bureaucracy. In total, 21 out of 43 forces in England and Wales will stop recording details, according to responses to requests under the Freedom of Information Act. A high court challenge is being brought over the decision. The collection of data about the race of people stopped is one of the key legacies of the 1999 Stephen Lawrence inquiry into police racism. The figures have shown that black people are more likely to be subject to the powers, and those figures have been used to pressure the police into cleaning up discrimination in the ranks. New totals show that the worst offender is the West Midlands force, which is seven times more likely to stop an African-Caribbean person than a white person. The force, Britain’s second biggest, is one of those that has decided to stop recording the ethnicity of people subjected to stop and account by its officers. According to analysis by Dr Michael Shiner of the London School of Economics, there are wide variations in how much more likely different forces are to use stop-and-account powers against black people. . Some do not appear to be discriminating.Among those ceasing the recording of ethnicity, But Gwent has the second highest disproportionality rate of five times, while African-Caribbean people in West Mercia, Avon and Somerset and Warwickshire are all roughly three times more likely than their white fellow citizens to face stop and account. Shiner, who prepared his data for Stopwatch , which campaigns for fairness in police stop powers, said: “Figures such as these may be a source of embarrassment to the police. Getting rid of recording may relieve the embarrassment but prevents us from dealing with the problem.” A UN committee this month warned that the changes could “encourage racial and ethnic stereotyping” among officers. Stop and account is the most commonly used power by officers to question people in the street. In 2008-09, the last year for which official figures are available , there were 1,126,258 stop and searches compared with 2,211,598 stop and accounts. One experienced officer said colleagues could use the power, which does not require reasonable suspicion of criminality, to justify searching someone, which does: “It could lead to a suspicion to arise. Why are you not talking to me? Why aren’t you answering questions?” Forces will continue recording the race of people stopped and searched, with officers arguing that in a time of limited resources, it is better if the money is spent on that rather than on collecting data from stop and account. Three forces who have ended recording the data – Hampshire, Thames Valley and Hertfordshire – will feature in a test case brought by Hugh Diedrick, an electrical engineer, who says he has been subjected to various stops as he travels around the country for work. In one incident he claims to have been strip-searched and in the latest, in July 2011, he alleges that Hertfordshire officers picked on him because of the colour of his skin in order to subject him to a stop and account. The legal case will assert that the decision by police forces to stop recording the ethnicity data was taken without proper consultation and will break their legal obligations to ensure equality. Sarah McSherry, the solicitor bringing the high court claim, said: “These statistics can help chief constables tackle potential racism. But scrapping these figures smacks of a complete lack of will to tackle discrimination, which has affected many people, such as my client, Mr Diedrick.” The decision to record the ethnicity of people subjected to stop powers was a key recommendation of the inquiry into police failings that allowed the killers of Stephen Lawrence to escape justice. The Macpherson report said anyone stopped by the police should be given a record stating the reason for the stop, and their ethnicity should be recorded. That came into force in 2005, but police claimed it was too time-consuming. Dr Rebekah Delsol of the Open Society Justice Initiative said: “Cutting one of the few mechanisms for accountability at this time – of all times – is reckless and irresponsible as it risks fuelling the tensions that have scarred police-community relations for 30 years.” Craig Mackey, who leads for the Association of Chief Police Officers on stop-and-search issues, told the Guardian: “The premise that somehow forces chose to discontinue the recording of ethnicity as part of stop and account on the basis of hiding some sort of practice, there is absolutely no evidence of that whatsoever.” Mackey added that stop and account was not really a police power and that people could ignore requests for information from an officer. The assistant chief constable of Thames Valley police, Richard Bennett, said: “In common with most other forces, we no longer record stop-and-account activity following the removal of the mandatory national requirement.” The Home Office said: “From 7 March 2011 we have removed the national requirement to record stop and account, in order to reduce police bureaucracy. “These changes will save hundreds of thousands of hours of police time.” A report from the United Nations committee on the elimination of racial discrimination condemned the changes, warning: “The committee is concerned that these measures may not only encourage racial and ethnic stereotyping by police officers but may also encourage impunity and fail to promote accountability in the police service for possible abuses.” Police Race issues Stop and search UK criminal justice Vikram Dodd guardian.co.uk
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