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Have protesters in Gaza achieved their goal?
March 30 marks a year since Palestinians began the ‘Great March of Return’ protests at the fence that separates the Gaza Strip from Israel . Thousands of Palestinians have been gathering at that fence every Friday for afternoon prayers, demanding the right to return to the land from which their families were expelled, during Israel’s founding in 1948. Since the protests began, at least 250 people have been killed and thousands of others wounded by Israeli fire. The United Nations says more than 120 people have had one or both legs amputated, while UN investigators say Israel has committed war crimes against protesters. All this, at a time of heightened tension in the region. So what’s the way forward? Presenter: Divya Gopalan Guests: Mukhaimer Abu Saada – Professor of political science at Al Azhar University in Gaza Mitchell Barak – CEO of Keevoon Global Research, adviser to ex-Israeli President Shimon Peres, and speechwriter for former Isr...
Activists question Central America-US security cooperation deal
Guatemala City – Central American and Mexican activists are questioning their governments’ focus on security to address migration following meetings this week with US Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen. Nielsen met with Mexican officials on Tuesday and attended a summit Wednesday in Honduras with security ministers from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador . The meetings dealt with border security and the ongoing exodus of Central American migrants and asylum seekers. The summit in Honduras ended with the signing of a regional memorandum of cooperation between the three Central American countries and the United States . According to the Department of Homeland Security, the memorandum “aims to better synchronise cooperation between the countries in order to bolster border security, prevent the formation of new migrant caravans, and address the root causes of the migration crisis”. In a series of tweets, Nielsen described the memorandum as a “first-ever regional compac...
Trump threatens to close border with Mexico next week
US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to close the US southern border or large sections of it next week if Mexico does not halt undocumented immigrants from reaching the border “immediately”. “It could mean all trade” with Mexico, Trump said when questioned by reporters in Florida. “We will close it for a long time. I am not kidding around”. Earlier on Friday, Trump had tweeted, “If Mexico doesn’t immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States through our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week. This would be so easy for Mexico to do, but they just take our money and ‘talk.'” Trump has previously threatened to close the border – including at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Thursday night – but this time was different as he gave a timetable. In December, Trump threatened to seal the US-Mexico border “entirely” if Congress did not approve billions of dollars in funding for a wall. I...