Category World News

The winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize reaffirmed the need for the abolition of nuclear weapons by warning that conflicts raging all over the world, including in Gaza, are raising the possibility of a nuclear war.

Nihon Hidankyo, the grassroots group of Japanese atomic bomb survivors, won the prize on Friday for its “efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons”.

Shigemitsu Tanaka, a survivor of the American bombing of Nagasaki in 1945 and co-leader of the group, stated on Saturday that the “international situation is getting worse, and now wars are being waged as countries threaten the use of nuclear weapons.”

“I fear that we as humankind are on the path to self-destruction. The only way to stop that is to abolish nuclear”, the resident of Nagasaki told reporters.

Nagasaki was the second Japanese city that was hit by a US nuclear bomb on August 9, 1945, killing at least 74, 000 people. Three days earlier, the US bombing of Hiroshima had killed 140, 000 people.

Residents of Hiroshima expressed hope that the world will never forget 1945’s bombings, especially now.

Susumu Ogawa, age 84, was five when Hiroshima was almost completely destroyed by the bomb 79 years ago, and many of his relatives were among the tens of thousands of people killed.

“My mother, my aunt, my grandfather, and my grandmother all died”, Ogawa told the AFP news agency.

“All nuclear weapons in the world have to be abandoned”, Ogawa said. “We know the horror of nuclear weapons, because we know what happened in Hiroshima”.

He is saddened by what is happening right now in the Middle East, including Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon and rising tensions with Iran.

If the US and its allies permit Ukraine to launch long-range Western missiles into Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a signal in September that Moscow would consider using nuclear weapons to counteract.

“Why do people fight each other? … Hurting each other won’t bring anything good”, Ogawa said.

At the well-preserved Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on Saturday, Japanese demonstrators gathered to support Palestinians in Gaza.

The group’s co-chief and a Hiroshima bombing survivor, Toshiyuki Mimaki, stated on Friday that the situation for children in Gaza was comparable to that in Japan at the end of World War II.

“In Gaza, bleeding children are being held]by their parents]. It’s like in Japan 80 years ago”, Mimaki told a news conference in Tokyo.

Nihon Hidankyo was formed in 1956, tasked with telling the stories of hibakusha, as the survivors are known, and pressing for a world without nuclear weapons.

According to residents, it is crucial that young people are still taught about what happened because the average age of the roughly 105, 000 hibakusha is 85.

Kiyoharu Bajo, 69, who was present at the Hiroshima memorial, expressed his hope that the Nobel Prize would “further spread the experiences of atomic bomb survivors around the world” and encourage others to visit.

There were many atom bomb survivors around me because I was born ten years after the atomic bomb was dropped. He claimed that he felt the incident as being “funny.”

At the Jaba checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers kidnapped me on November 28 and stopped my car there. I was imprisoned for 253 days without being charged, and I never learned what was happening.

I couldn’t delay an English language exam that I needed to take as part of my application for an MA program at a British university because my wife and my three-month-old son were battling the flu that morning.

I called my wife to let her know that I was returning home and bringing food as I was making my way back. My son’s crying was playing in the background. For the next eight months, I’ve been thinking about his cries.

I was handcuffed, blindfolded, and forced to kneel for five hours inside a military camp at the checkpoint by Israeli soldiers who had just arrived. I was moved from camp to camp until I was eventually moved to a detention facility in Hebron, a Jew-occupied settlement.

Despite my persistent requests, I was not able to get in touch with a lawyer or my family. Only after two months of detention did I finally have access to a lawyer and learn that I had not been charged. I was in the custody of an administrative detentionist, a law that allows the Israeli occupation forces to hold anyone they want indefinitely.

Since October 7, 2023, this measure has been extensively used as yet another collective punishment for Palestinians. More than 3,300 Palestinians are still imprisoned in Israeli prisons as of this month, without trial or charge.

I spent my time in inhumane prison conditions designed to bring maximum suffering, just like the rest of the 10,000 Palestinian political prisoners.

For over eight months, I was starved, humiliated, insulted and beaten by Israeli forces. In a tiny concrete cell designed for five, 11 other detainees were interrogated. We were suffocated alive, as if we were being kept in a mass grave. It was hell on Earth.

The guards frequently slammed against us with sticks, hands, and feet while carrying heavy protective gear. To terrorize us, they would release large police dogs. Without bringing us a moment of tranquility, they would bang their batons nonstop on the metal bars of the cells or other metal objects. They would insult us constantly, cursing the women in our lives, degrading our mothers, sisters, daughters and wives, and referring to the detainees as subhuman. In an effort to denigrate Palestinians’ very identity, they would insult and denigrate national symbols like Palestinian leaders, slogans, and our flag.

Except for the brief moment when we were given access to the restroom and for the first six months, we were denied shave. The amount of food provided was lower than what was required for an adult’s survival. I lost more than 20 kilogrammes while in detention.

Without even knowing why we were there, we were observing how our bodies changed and kept ourselves afloat. The only source of information was from the arrival of new detainees. This psychological torture included this isolation.

If I could hardly recognise myself, how would I recognise my son when I get out, I wondered. Without my presence and holding him, I kept seeing him grow and accomplish milestones. I was concerned about my elderly father, who I had spent the last few years caring for but was ill. When he had seizures, I kept wondering who was taking him care and whether he was getting appointments in the hospital.

When Israelis release us, if they ever do so, we are a shell of who we were, humiliated, and broken, as it became clear to me as they spent time in Israeli prison. The release of detainees who hardly look like themselves any more, starved and unshaven, suffering from physical illnesses and psychological disorders, is meant to serve as a message to the rest of the Palestinian population, to break their will, resilience, and hopes for liberation, a dignified life and a bright future.

But this sinister strategy is meeting resistance. Even if our concrete cells had been crowded, we would still have a smile to show. Our weapon against the Israeli guards’ brutality was a smile. Hope was our shield.

I had hope when I thought of my baby boy. I imagined staring into his eyes while reuniting with him.

I couldn’t control myself and the tears started to pour as I was called my wife and the camera was pointed at my son. I kept repeating, “I am your baba, I am your baba”.

One of my life’s most beautiful moments was when I saw my son when I was home. I embraced him and looked at him, examining his eyes, his mouth, his hair, his feet. In order to correct the image I had of him in my mind over the previous 253 days, I was trying to memorize every detail quickly. He surpasses the most exquisite picture I had in mind.

Israel tried to derail my spirit, but I emerged from this challenging situation stronger and tougher. Although I will still be in prison, my mission will continue to be with me.

Prior to my arrest, I had worked for the Aida Youth Center as its executive director. For years, this organization has provided essential assistance to the Bethlehem residents of the Aida refugee camp. Our educational program, music and sports classes, and our youth programs have all had positive effects, while the general public has received medical and humanitarian aid in times of crisis.

As a parent and community leader, I am more determined than ever to work with Palestinian children and youth to ensure that they realize their potential and prepare for a brighter future now that I am back at the center.

I am aware that the Palestinian people face radicalization, racial oppression, and a lack of opportunity for a dignified, prosperous life under the control of our youth.

I think working with young people, offering them guidance, encouraging them to develop as individuals, and promoting social inclusion can counteract this brutal Israeli strategy and contribute to the construction of the Palestine I long for.

Being the father of a one-year-old who is taking his first steps and saying his first words, I am more determined than ever to ensure his better future after having gone through the horrors of the occupation. To ensure that he never experiences the fate of Israeli political prisoners held by Palestinians because of their Palestinian identity. To ensure that he is able to develop confidence, resilience, and pride. For that will I continue to fight.

At least 18 people were killed, more than 100 buildings destroyed, and there were widespread power blackouts in Florida as a result of Hurricane Milton’s devastating effects on the state.

Experts and local authorities are relieved that the storm wasn’t as bad as it was, with Governor Ron DeSantis claiming the state had avoided the “worst-case scenario” despite the storm’s severity.

What can we learn from the storm in particular:

‘ Explosive ‘ intensification

In four short days, Milton descended into one of the region’s fiercest hurricanes after emerging in the Gulf of Mexico. From Sunday to Monday, the storm’s wind speed surged from 97km/h (60mph) to 290km/h (180mph), among the strongest in decades.

“The storms you now get grow into monster extreme weather events rather quickly”, Susan Glickman with the CLEO Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to climate education and advocacy, told Al Jazeera. In contrast to hurricanes that have been occurring for decades, they are unnatural disasters.

Additionally, these modern hurricanes with supercharged power are more difficult to prepare for. “Some people don’t have time to prepare, and then they just cause more damage”, she said.

Glickman, who had her home flooded by Hurricane Helene two weeks prior, evacuated from Belleair Beach, Florida’s west coast, to avoid Milton. After relocating 16km (10 miles) inland, a falling tree crushed her car.

While meteorologists expected Milton to weaken before hitting Florida’s shores, they were ready for an “epic catastrophe”, spurring calls for more than seven million people to evacuate.

Weaker storm but stronger tornadoes

In its final approach to Florida, Milton was slowed down by competing winds over the Gulf of Mexico as a result of what forecasters refer to as vertical wind shearing. As a result, by the time it made landfall, it had dropped from a Category 5 storm – the highest classification – to a Category 3 with maximum wind gusts of 195km/h (121mph).

That caused the storm surge – the rise in coastal water levels that can flood homes – to cap off at a lower-than-dreaded 4.5 metres (15ft) in Tampa Bay, the most vulnerable low-lying urban area in Milton’s path.

“The storm surge, which was so feared, didn’t happen because it]the storm] went a little south”, Glickman said.

]1/2] 5pm EDT: Preliminary post-landfall analysis of storm surge from Hurricane #Milton indicates peak water levels reached 5 to 10 feet above ground level between Siesta Key, FL and Ft. Myers Beach, FL, including Charlotte Harbor.

However, Milton did cause an unusual barrage of tornadoes, dozens of which were unleashed throughout the state. Some of the state’s worst carnage was caused by these vicious twisters, with one tornado in Fort Pierce, which left at least five people dead in a retirement home.

According to Michael Brennan, director of the National Hurricane Center in the United States, “the tornadoes were really kind of supercharged compared to the typical tornadoes you see in a hurricane environment.” “They were longer living. They were more powerful. There were more of them”.

#Hurricane #Milton produced 35+ preliminary #tornado reports and 126 #tornado warnings. Here are your Top 5 most-prolific tornado-producing tropical cyclones. The Top 5 were already already reached by #Beryl earlier this year.

Hurricane Ivan 2004 (118 tornadoes)
Hurricane Beulah 1967 (115… pic. twitter.com/knI29bvm5q

Billions in damage

According to the credit rating agency Fitch, Milton also caused more than three million people’s lives to lose, shut down major international airports and ports, and caused property damage that could cost insurers as much as $ 50 billion.

At a news conference on Friday, US President Joe Biden stated that Milton and Helene highlight the need to strengthen the country’s energy system.

Officials in Florida cautioned that the recovery process will take time and effort. In St Pete Beach, a barrier-island city, most houses are uninhabitable with no sewer or water service, according to Mayor Adrian Petrila.

More than 6,500 national guard soldiers are stationed to assist in the search for those who were lost or stranded during the storm.

A role was made by climate change.

According to experts, Milton was likely wetter and windier than previous hurricanes because of weather patterns that had been influenced by global warming.

A major factor, they said, is the ocean’s warming temperatures, which serve as turbo fuel for brewing storms in the Atlantic Ocean.

“All across the North Atlantic and especially the Gulf of Mexico, the temperatures are record-breaking right now”, Jennifer Francis, a senior scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, told Al Jazeera. And we are aware of the ocean’s heat as the fuel for these storms. This extra energy makes]these storms] stronger. It makes them intensify more rapidly”.

Francis added that the warming water likely spurred heavier rainfall as Milton crashed into Florida, which recorded 457mm (18 inches) of precipitation in some inland areas, submerging vehicles.

Milton’s rainfall increased by 20 to 30%, and its winds increased by about 10%, according to a flash study released by World Weather Attribution.

These storms exhibit “very obvious signs of climate change and the climate crisis,” Francis said.

Storm of disinformation

Front-line workers battled a flurry of conspiracy theories about the hurricane and the federal response as they raced to clear debris-ridden roads, restore power, and find missing people.

As US voters prepare for the November 5 elections, some false claims included that Milton had been geo-engineered using “frequency waves” or that it had been targeted in some areas.

On social media, users shared AI-generated photos showing fake imagery of hurricane damage, including to Orlando’s Disney World.

Former US president Donald Trump’s discredited claim that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) used undocumented immigrants to receive hurricane relief funds has been refuted.

One year after October 7, 2023, the images of Israel and Gaza were unimaginably different. More Palestinians were being forced to leave their homes as Israel mourned the victims and captured in a Hamas attack that Israel had been completely unprepared for.

In Israel’s mainstream media, a narrative of mourning sits alongside one of revenge. Many Israeli news outlets ignore, or at times even encourage, atrocities in Gaza.

Contributors: 

Jehad Abusalim – Executive director, Institute for Palestine Studies

Nomi Bar-Yaacov – Associate fellow, Chatham House

Diana Buttu – Human rights lawyer &amp, analyst

Haggai Matar – Executive editor, + 972 Magazine

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