Author: Dilip

I'm a scholar, writer and teacher; and my blog is designed for intellectual exploration. It carries no advertisements and requires no cash subscription

Yair Wallach: The violence that began at Jerusalem’s ancient holy sites is driven by a distinctly modern zeal

Judaism, as it developed in antiquity and the middle ages, is a religion shaped by the absence of the Temple – destroyed by the Romans in 70CE. And while Jewish prayers speak about yearning for its reestablishment, the biblical practices associated with the Temple (such as animal sacrifice) are antithetical to the praxis and spirit… Read More Yair Wallach: The violence that began at Jerusalem’s ancient holy sites is driven by a distinctly modern zeal

Dilip

Meredith Tax: Biden is supporting Turkey’s Bounties on Kurdish Leaders / American silence over Israeli land encroachments and attacks on Palestinians

In April 20, the State Department renewed multimillion-dollar bounties on three senior leaders of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK): Cemil Bayık, Duran Kalkan, and Murat Karayılan. Bayık and Karayılan are founding members of the PKK and Kalkan is a senior commander. The Kurdish freedom movement sees these men as instrumental in the defeat of ISIS, but to some this… Read More Meredith Tax: Biden is supporting Turkey’s Bounties on Kurdish Leaders / American silence over Israeli land encroachments and attacks on Palestinians

Dilip

India’s Covid anguish fuels calls to release rights activists from jail

As the deadly Covid-19 second wave has engulfed India, and ripped like wildfire through its overcrowded, under-resourced prisons, there have been growing calls for those deemed political prisoners – the activists arrested as part of Modi’s vicious crackdown on dissent – to be granted the bail they have been repeatedly denied. The impact of the pandemic on… Read More India’s Covid anguish fuels calls to release rights activists from jail

Dilip

China’s feminists protest against wave of online abuse with ‘internet violence museum’

Late last month, an “unknown hill in the Chinese desert” was blanketed in scores of large red and white banners, flapping vitriol in the breeze. “I hope you die, bitch,” said one. “Little bitch, screw the feminists,” said others. They were all actual messages sent to women, a direct act of harassment anonymised by social media.… Read More China’s feminists protest against wave of online abuse with ‘internet violence museum’

Dilip

Forest the size of France regrown worldwide over 20 years, study finds

An area of forest the size of France has regrown around the world over the past 20 years, showing that regeneration in some places is paying off, a new analysis has found. Nearly 59m hectares of forests have regrown since 2000, the research found, providing the potential to soak up and store 5.9 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide… Read More Forest the size of France regrown worldwide over 20 years, study finds

Dilip

Daniella Isaacs: What my lockdown calls to an old man taught me about laughter, life – and myself

A few days into lockdown, a Facebook notification suggested I join the local Mutual Aid, a community group that helps and provides companionship to the most vulnerable. I thought, fantastic, a focus, and clicked through to the WhatsApp group, desperate for distraction. But the group seemed inactive; there were very few messages. Days and weeks passed… Read More Daniella Isaacs: What my lockdown calls to an old man taught me about laughter, life – and myself

Dilip

Killing Schoolgirls in Afghanistan: Fundamentalist Attackers Target Girls Leaving Kabul High School

Human Rights Watch – Scenes from Sayed ul-Shuhada High School in Kabul, Afghanistan, where as many as 85 people including many schoolgirls were killed in an attack this weekend, should break anyone’s heart. They certainly broke mine. In 2017 a filmmaker and I spent a week at the school, filming a video to accompany a report on barriers to girls’ education. The… Read More Killing Schoolgirls in Afghanistan: Fundamentalist Attackers Target Girls Leaving Kabul High School

Dilip

Anjuman Rahman: Israeli Repression and Land Grabs, and the Palestinian Protests in Jerusalem // Israel-Gaza violence: death toll rises as UN envoy warns over escalation

Middle East Monitor – Violence has become a permanent feature of Ramadan for the people of occupied Palestine. The first day of the fasting month this year began with the Israeli army breaking locks and cutting the wires to the loudspeakers at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem to silence the evening calls to prayer. In yet another… Read More Anjuman Rahman: Israeli Repression and Land Grabs, and the Palestinian Protests in Jerusalem // Israel-Gaza violence: death toll rises as UN envoy warns over escalation

Dilip

Pinjra Tod activist Natasha Narwal's father dies of Covid day before her bail hearing // That Monday will not come, Judge Sahib

NB: The whole world should be made aware that India’s criminal justice system is being reduced to a cruel and sadistic mockery in our time. Vigilantes of the so-called Sangh Parivar get away with violence and incitement under the noses of the police, whilst cases are fabricated against activists fighting for human rights and democratic… Read More Pinjra Tod activist Natasha Narwal's father dies of Covid day before her bail hearing // That Monday will not come, Judge Sahib

Dilip

Immediate global Ivermectin use can end pandemic: Scientists

Washington: A peer-reviewed research has claimed that global ivermectin use can end Covid-19 pandemic, as the medicine significantly reduces the risk of contracting the deadly respiratory disease when used regularly. The common antiparasitic ivermectin is being touted as a miracle cure for Covid-19 by doctors and campaigners the world over. Peer reviewed by medical experts that included three… Read More Immediate global Ivermectin use can end pandemic: Scientists

Dilip