One year on, daily ‘stop genocide’ protests target Israel’s embassy in Korea

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Updated 29 November 2024
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One year on, daily ‘stop genocide’ protests target Israel’s embassy in Korea

A collage of photos show daily one-person rallies held by People in Solidarity with Palestinians in front of Israeli embassy.
  • South Korea observes significant growth in the Palestine solidarity movement— Embassy protests held by members of over 200 Korean civil society organizations

SEOUL: Across from the Israeli embassy in Seoul, Lee Hyun-ah was holding a big red banner, as she stood in a lone daily protest calling for an end to Israel’s onslaught, massacres, and occupation of Palestine.
The banner, with writing in Korean, Arabic, and bold English letters reading “Stop Genocide Against Palestinians,” has appeared in front of the embassy every workday since November last year, when UN experts and international rights groups began warning that Israel’s mass killings in the Gaza Strip were unfolding into a genocidal campaign.
The one-person protests have been organized by Urgent Action by Korean Civil Society in Solidarity with Palestine, a coalition of 226 South Korean civil society organizations whose members have been volunteering to rally on specific days.
Lee, a 20-year-old student in Seoul, was taking part for the first time.
“I finally found the courage and decided to participate,” she told Arab News, recalling how she began to learn about the decades of Israeli occupation of Palestine only last year.
“I was appalled. There are fundamental virtues, ethics, and values in this world. I cannot believe one group can just attack, invade, and commit genocide. I felt compelled to act.”
Lee’s protest on Monday was the 267th lone demonstration held by Urgent Action in front of the Seoul embassy.
The coalition was established in October 2023, soon after Israel launched its war on Gaza, in which its military has since killed over 44,000 people and injured more than 100,000. The real death toll is believed to be much higher, with estimates by medical journal The Lancet indicating that, as of July, it could be more than 186,000.
The Korean civil society coalition, which includes BDS Korea — a group affiliated with the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement — has also been organizing mass protests, film screenings, and boycott campaigns tailored specifically for South Korea.
Their efforts to raise awareness are bearing fruit, as the number of people joining is rapidly increasing. From just a handful of activists, the movement has grown significantly, with over 2,000 people participating in its Palestine solidarity rally last month.
“Our group was very small. It was about five to seven people working together. There were limitations on what we could do because it was so small,” BDS Korea leader Deng Ya-ping told Arab News.
“Before October 2023, there were very few organizations in South Korea that were acting in solidarity with Palestine ... But after forming People in Solidarity with Palestinians, more civic groups joined, and individuals unrelated to any organization have started participating as well.”
The group is advocating for a change in the South Korean government’s stance on Israel’s occupation and demanding that it stop Korean companies from selling weapons to the Israeli military.
“In July, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel must halt its military occupation and that all nations have a responsibility to make Israel comply. So, the Korean government is also responsible ... the most obvious way to do that is to ban arms trade. That is the biggest request we have toward the Korean government,” Deng said.
“Other than that, Korea is a part of the UN Security Council. Korea voted in favor of the resolution that the US vetoed, which called for an end to the genocide and a ceasefire. Therefore, Korea should act accordingly, pressuring Israel to stop.”
The sentiment that the South Korean government is not doing enough is common among those joining Seoul protests — as is their resolve to persist, even when the embassy staff try to stop them.
While the embassy denies the claims, one of the protesters, Lee S., who has been involved in the Palestine solidarity movement since 2016, recalled its attempts to harass them.
“Sometimes embassy workers would come out during our protests to complain or try to provoke physical confrontations. But we never got into the fights. And they would systematically tear down our posters,” Lee said.
“But the South Korean civil society will continue to speak out loudly until the genocide in Gaza ends. We will not stay silent.”


Zelensky slams US lack of response to Putin truce rejection

Zelensky slams US lack of response to Putin truce rejection
Updated 11 sec ago
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Zelensky slams US lack of response to Putin truce rejection

Zelensky slams US lack of response to Putin truce rejection
  • Zelensky said “the number of Russian air attacks is increasing,” which he said proved that “the pressure on Russia is still insufficient”

KYIV, Ukraine: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday lamented the lack of a US response to Russia’s refusal to agree “a full, unconditional ceasefire” as two people were killed in Moscow’s latest aerial bombardment.
Russia mounted a “massive” missile and drone attack on Ukraine that also wounded seven people, Zelensky said, warning that Moscow was stepping up its aerial attacks.
Ukraine has agreed to an unconditional truce in the more than three-year-long war proposed by the United States but Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to do so.
“We are waiting for the United States to respond — so far there has been no response,” said Zelensky.
Russia claimed the capture of a village in Ukraine’s Sumy region in a rare cross-border advance, but Ukraine branded that as “disinformation.”
Earlier, Russia “launched a massive nationwide attack on Ukraine using ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones,” said Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko.
Zelensky said “the number of Russian air attacks is increasing,” which he said proved that “the pressure on Russia is still insufficient.”
In Kyiv, explosions were heard in the night and a smoke rose up from the city on Sunday morning.
One person was killed and three people were wounded, the head of the city’s military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, wrote on social media.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said that “the body of a man killed in an enemy attack was discovered in Darnytsia district.”
A missile strike partially destroyed a building housing state foreign-language broadcasters, the Russian-language Freedom television channel reported, saying that its newsroom had been destroyed.
Emergency services said that fires broke out in non-residential buildings in Kyiv. In a nearby region, a man was burned when an attack sparked a house fire, the head of the military administration said.
Russia attacked Ukraine with 23 cruise and ballistic missiles and 109 drones during the night, the Ukrainian air force said.
The air force said it shot down 13 of the missiles and 40 drones while 54 others caused no damage.
In the southern Kherson region, a drone killed a 59-year-old man, while in the northeastern Kharkiv region, near the border with Russia, two people were wounded in an aerial bomb attack, regional officials said.
In the western region of Khmelnytsky, authorities said air defenses destroyed a missile but falling fragments damaged a house and wounded a woman.
Over the past week, Russia has launched more than 1,460 guided aerial bombs, nearly 670 attack drones, and over 30 missiles of various types on Ukraine, Zelensky said.
Russia’s defense ministry said troops “liberated” the village of Basivka, close to the border with Russia’s Kursk region. Ukraine quickly rejected the report.
“The enemy continues its disinformation campaign regarding the seizure of settlements in Sumy region or the breakthrough of the border,” Andriy Demchenko, spokesman for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, told AFP.
French President Emmanuel Macron echoed Zelensky’s calls for a stronger response to Russia.
“A ceasefire is needed as soon as possible. And strong action if Russia continues to try to buy time and refuse peace,” Macron said on X on Sunday.
Russia continues “to murder children and civilians,” he added.
The latest attacks came two days after a missile attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rig killed 18 people including nine children.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, denounced Russia’s “reckless disregard” for human life in using “an explosive weapon with wide area effects.”
Russia on Sunday said it had struck a central artillery base and enterprises involved in producing drones.
It accused Ukraine of striking its energy infrastructure including a gas distribution facility in the Voronezh region.
US President Donald Trump is pushing the two sides to agree a partial ceasefire, but has so far failed to broker an accord acceptable to both sides.
The United States is also seeking better ties with Russia and Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev in an interview with state television said that the next US-Russian contacts could be “next week,” Russian news agencies reported.
Dmitriev last week became the most senior Russian official to visit Washington since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.


Westfield London’s Eid Festival celebrates British Muslims’ impact on communities

Westfield London’s Eid Festival celebrates British Muslims’ impact on communities
Updated 06 April 2025
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Westfield London’s Eid Festival celebrates British Muslims’ impact on communities

Westfield London’s Eid Festival celebrates British Muslims’ impact on communities
  • Event features nearly 100 vendors selling jewelry, fragrances, books, clothes, sweets
  • Shopping mall hosts event for sixth successive year

LONDON: Eid Al-Fitr celebrations began in London this weekend and featured numerous events, the most notable happening at Westfield London, Europe’s largest shopping mall.

Although Eid was celebrated at the end of March in most Muslim countries to signify the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, some planning is required in Europe and the UK to mark the occasion at weekends.

Eid fell this time on the first weekend of beautiful spring days, warm and sunny, although there was a chilly breeze in the shade. It coincided with the Easter school holiday, the clocks have already moved forward, and the cherry blossoms are blooming.

The London Eid Festival at Westfield London has been celebrated for six successive years, and next weekend, from April 11 to 13, it takes place for a second year at Westfield Stratford City in East London.

Skin and healing products are sold by an independent vendor at Westfield London's Eid Festival. (AN Photo/Mustafa Abu Sneineh)

Westfield London is an enormous upmarket shopping destination featuring more than 460 stores. For those accustomed to shopping at local delis and occasionally making trips to Sainsbury’s, the interactive touch-screen map at Westfield is essential for navigating the seven levels of the mall.

The London Eid Festival features independent vendors selling jewelry, fragrances, books, clothes, and sweets near the front of the mall. Just outside Wood Lane Station, two rows of food stalls featuring halal cuisine from China to Mexico are ready for celebrators to enjoy meals under the sun. Families with children in prams, teenagers on Easter break, and those curious about Eid sit on colorful yellow and blue benches to listen to singing performances and watch children’s ballet in the yard.

Westfield is a mainstream location for all communities, and this gives us an opportunity to showcase the Muslim community to the rest of the world

Waleed Jahangir, Algebra Consulting

Organizers are expecting more than 300,000 visitors at both weekends of the Eid celebrations at Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City.

Waleed Jahangir, the managing director at Algebra Consulting, told Arab News that the celebration taking place in one of the world’s leading public venues is what makes the London Eid Festival unique.

“Westfield is a mainstream location for all communities and this gives us an opportunity to showcase the Muslim community to the rest of the world,” Jahangir said.

“When you hire a venue, the doors are closed with a majority of Muslims there; but here I want to showcase the power, the impact, and the festivities to the mainstream audience and in front of all the major brands … which benefit from the footfall and the sales.”

An employee applies henna dye on a customer's hand during the London Eid Festival. (AN Photo/Mustafa Abu Sneineh)

Most vendors at the London Eid Festival are independent businesses with a once-a-year opportunity to sell and showcase their products alongside Westfield’s major chains and big brands such as Apple, Nike, H&M, and Zara.

However, some of their products are pretty niche, such as Ghanaian African black soap made from cocoa pods. It appeared too adventurous for someone who grew up in Jerusalem using olive oil soap before discovering Mitchell’s wool fat soap on a drizzly day at Chatsworth House.

But the most popular item to buy at the festival was Dubai chocolate, according to the young food enthusiasts

Lubna, the vendor, acknowledges that Ghanaian black soap is not their best seller but the pain relief oil, which has been sold for the past nine years, is popular among customers for treating arthritis and joint pain.

Hanzalla, one of nearly 100 vendors at the London Eid Festival, sees the event as an excellent opportunity to showcase his halal food supplements, which are produced and packaged without alcohol or pig products.

A Korean food stall prepares Halal German sausages. (AN Photo/Mustafa Abu Sneineh)

Some vendors do not have physical stores but operate online, such as Learning Roots, a publisher that offers children’s books about the prophets and illustrated translations of the Qur’an.

Thobes for women, Palestine T-shirts, and oud essential oil are available for Eid celebrators.

However, I saved my cash for a halal Chinese meal of chicken, green beans, and noodles with chilli flakes. According to Ali and Mohammed, who are from Indonesia, this is the most popular meal.

There were three Korean food stalls, one of them selling German halal sausages. I asked Wahy, as he was preparing to open for customers at noon, about the popularity of Korean cuisine in the market, but he could not find a convincing reason other than “English people like it.”

Learning Roots publishes interactive books to teach children about Islam. (AN Photo/Mustafa Abu Sneineh)

But the most popular item to buy at the festival was Dubai chocolate, according to the young food enthusiasts who spoke to Arab News. Shayaan was visiting with his father Taleb and explained that it became famous after going viral on TikTok. It is his favorite thing.

Dubai chocolate is made with shredded phyllo dough and pistachio cream, the vendor explained as she served customers. She noticed it had become a bestseller over the last year or so.

Shayaan was clearly enjoying his Eid and the Dubai chocolate. Those who grew up in the 1990s in the Middle East remember how we eagerly waited for Eid to spend our money on Kinder Surprise to get our hands on the tiny toys; nowadays it is Dubai chocolate, and for good reason.


Torrential rains claim 30 lives in Congolese capital Kinshasa

Residents wade through murky floodwaters following heavy rains in the Ndjili district of Kinshasa on April 6, 2025. (AFP)
Residents wade through murky floodwaters following heavy rains in the Ndjili district of Kinshasa on April 6, 2025. (AFP)
Updated 06 April 2025
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Torrential rains claim 30 lives in Congolese capital Kinshasa

Residents wade through murky floodwaters following heavy rains in the Ndjili district of Kinshasa on April 6, 2025. (AFP)
  • In November 2019, around 40 people died in the capital after torrential rains caused flooding and landslides

KINSHASA: Heavy downpours in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital Kinshasa have left around 30 people dead while wrecking havoc in the central African megacity, an official said on Sunday.
After the rain poured down overnight from Friday to Saturday, the rising water levels devastated several outlying and impoverished suburbs of the metropolis of some 17 million people.
“There are many wounded who have been evacuated and for the moment we are in the 30s for the number of dead,” Patricien Gongo Abakazi, Kinshasa’s provincial minister of public health told AFP.
The victims either drowned or were killed when the walls of their homes collapsed, the doctor added.
The rising waters likewise cut off traffic on the National Road 1, Kinshasa’s main thoroughfare which takes drivers from the center to the airport, as well as in many neighboring districts.
“We suddenly noticed that the water was rising in the plot, and it just kept getting higher. As a precaution, we took the children to flee, as it was difficult to get through in some places,” said Orline, a resident of the Masina commune.
In the Debonhomme district to the east of the city, dozens of cars were swallowed up by the waters, while some residents had to make their way through the streets paddling in dug-out canoes or by swimming, journalists saw.
The floods have caused huge traffic jams in a city where chronic congestion is the norm.
Neighbouring Kongo-Central province was also hit by the deluge.

Flooding frequently proves deadly in Kinshasa, which sits on the bank of the banks of River Congo, Africa’s second-largest after the Nile.

In November 2019, around 40 people died in the capital after torrential rains caused flooding and landslides.

 


Federal cuts disrupt repairs of America’s iconic trails

Federal cuts disrupt repairs of America’s iconic trails
Updated 06 April 2025
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Federal cuts disrupt repairs of America’s iconic trails

Federal cuts disrupt repairs of America’s iconic trails
  • Wildfires and more intense storms due in part to climate change have been taking a toll on the legendary trails

CAMPO: Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail is a challenge, especially for adventurers making the entire run from Southern California to Canada, and Eric Kipperman’s job is to greet them at the start and lay bare the difficulties ahead.
He has lately begun warning that the journey may be even tougher. Following cuts by the Trump administration, plans to clear downed trees and rebuild storm-battered stretches in 2025 have been scrapped.
“This year, we’re going to have less trail work done on the trails, so just know that going into your hike, safety is the most important thing,” Kipperman told a group of backpackers from Europe and the United States at the trailhead near Campo, California, an hour’s drive east of San Diego.
He cautioned there is “no trail” at all in parts of the 2,650-mile path through California, Oregon and Washington state.
The cutbacks are not just on the West Coast. Ahead of the busy summer hiking season, funding freezes and mass layoffs also are disrupting repairs on the East Coast’s Appalachian Trail after nearly 800 kilometers were damaged by Hurricane Helene, underscoring how President Donald Trump’s dramatic downsizing of the US government is touching even the nation’s remote backcountry where vacationers, wanderers and escapists alike retreat to leave modern life behind.
Wildfires and more intense storms due in part to climate change have been taking a toll on the legendary trails. The federal cuts threaten their very existence, according to the Pacific Crest Trail Association and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, which oversee their preservation in partnership with the government and receive millions in federal dollars.
The US Forest Service called the situation “dynamic and evolving” in an email to The Associated Press, but said they are committed to ensuring public safety and access to recreation areas that are vital to local economies.
The Trump administration has let go some 3,400 workers at the US Forest Service, and nearly 1,500 at the National Park Service, including trail repair specialists. The associations said the cuts also led to the rescinding of job offers for seasonal crews with technical skills to rebuild boardwalks, bridges and campsites and train thousands of volunteers.
Courts have ordered federal agencies to rehire thousands of workers, but some say they are not coming back.

 


US tariffs will make sneakers, jeans and T-shirts cost more, trade groups warn

US tariffs will make sneakers, jeans and T-shirts cost more, trade groups warn
Updated 06 April 2025
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US tariffs will make sneakers, jeans and T-shirts cost more, trade groups warn

US tariffs will make sneakers, jeans and T-shirts cost more, trade groups warn
  • Neither US companies in the fashion trade, nor their overseas suppliers are likely to absorb new costs that high
  • India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka also got slapped with high tariffs so aren’t immediate sourcing alternatives

NEW YORK: Sending children back to school in new sneakers, jeans and T-shirts is likely to cost US families significantly more this fall if the bespoke tariffs President Donald Trump put on leading exporters take effect as planned, American industry groups warn.
About 97 percent of the clothes and shoes purchased in the US are imported, predominantly from Asia, the American Apparel & Footwear Association said, citing its most recent data. Walmart, Gap Inc., Lululemon and Nike are a few of the companies that have a majority of their clothing made in Asian countries.
Those same garment-making hubs took a big hit under the president’s plan to punish individual countries for trade imbalances. For all Chinese goods, that meant tariffs of at least 54 percent. He set the import tax rates for Vietnam and neighboring Cambodia at 46 percent and 49 percent, and products from Bangladesh and Indonesia at 37 percent and 32 percent.
Working with foreign factories has kept labor costs down for US companies in the fashion trade, but neither they nor their overseas suppliers are likely to absorb new costs that high. India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka also got slapped with high tariffs so aren’t immediate sourcing alternatives.
“If these tariffs are allowed to persist, ultimately it’s going to make its way to the consumer,” said Steve Lamar, president and CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association.
Another trade group, Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, provided estimates of the price increases that could be in store for shoes, noting 99 percent of the pairs sold in the US are imports. Work boots made in China that now retail for $77 would go up to $115, while customers would pay $220 for running shoes made in Vietnam currently priced at $155, the group said.
FDRA President Matt Priest predicted lower-income families and the places they shop would feel the impact most. He said a pair of Chinese-made children’s shoes that cost $26 today will likely carry a $41 price tag by the back-to-school shopping season, according to his group’s calculations.
Preparing for a moving target
The tariffs on the top producers of not only finished fashion but many of the materials used to make footwear and apparel shocked US retailers and brands. Before Trump’s first term, US companies had started to diversify away from China in response to trade tensions as well as human rights and environmental concerns.
They accelerated the pace when he ordered tariffs on Chinese goods in 2018, shifting more production to other countries in Asia. Lululemon said in its latest annual filing that 40 percent of its sportswear last year was manufactured in Vietnam, 17 percent in Cambodia, 11 percent in Sri Lanka, 11 percent in Indonesia and 7 percent in Bangladesh.
Nike, Levi-Strauss, Ralph Lauren, Gap. Inc., Abercrombie & Fitch and VF Corporation, which owns Vans, The North Face and Timberland, also reported a greatly reduced reliance on garment-makers and suppliers in China.
Shoe brand Steve Madden said in November it would reduce imports from China by as much as 45 percent this year due to Trump’s campaign pledge to impose a 60 percent tariff on all Chinese products. The brand said it already had spent several years developing a factory network in Cambodia, Vietnam, Mexico and Brazil.
Industry experts say reviving the American garment industry would be hugely expensive and take years if it were feasible. The number of people working in apparel manufacturing in January 2015 stood at 139,000 and had dwindled to 85,000 by January of this year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sri Lanka employs four times as many despite having a population less than one-seventh the size of the US
Along with lacking a skilled and willing workforce, the US does not have domestic sources for the more than 70 materials that go into making a typical shoe, the Footwear Distributors & Retailers of America said in written comments to Trump’s trade representative.
Shoe companies would need to find or set up factories to make cotton laces, eyelets, textile uppers and other components to make finished footwear in the US on a large scale, the group wrote.
“These materials simply do not exist here, and many of these materials have never existed in the U.S,” the organization said.
Price increases may come as a shock
The expected barrage of apparel price increases would follow three decades of stability. Clothes cost US consumers essentially the same in 2024 as they did in 1994, according to US Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Economists and industry analysts have attributed the trend to free trade agreements, offshoring to foreign countries where workers are paid much less and heated competition for shoppers among discount retailers and fast-fashion brands like H&M, Zara and Forever 21.
But customers unaccustomed to inflation in the apparel sector and coming off several years of steep rise in the costs of groceries and housing may be extra sensitive to any big jumps in clothing prices. Priest, of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, said he has observed shoppers pulling back on buying shoes since Trump’s return to the White House.
“They’re nervous,” he said. “They’ve obviously been playing the long game as it relates to inflation for a number of years now. And they just don’t have the endurance to absorb higher prices, particularly as they’re inflicted by the US government.”
Winners and losers in a garment trade war
According to a report by British bank Barclays published Friday, the winners in the tariff wars are retailers that have at least one of these attributes: big negotiating power with their suppliers, a strong brand name and limited sourcing in Asia.
In clothing and footwear, that includes off-price retailers Burlington, Ross Stores Inc. and TJX Companies, which operates T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, as well as Ralph Lauren and Dick’s Sporting Goods, according to the report.
The companies in for a tougher time are those with limited negotiating power, limited pricing power and high product exposure in Asia, a list including Gap Inc., Urban Outfitters and American Eagle Outfitters, according to the report.
Secondhand clothing resale site ThredUp cheered a related action Trump took with his latest round of tariffs: eliminating a widely used tax exemption that has allowed millions of low-cost goods — most of them originating in China — to enter the US every day duty-free.
“This policy change will increase the cost of cheaply produced, disposable clothing imported from China, directly impacting the business model that fuels overproduction and environmental degradation,” ThredUp said.
Several industry analysts and economists said they think tariffs will end up being a consumer sales tax that widens the yawning gap between America’s wealthiest residents and those in the middle and lower end of the income spectrum.
“So where will the US be buying its apparel now that the tariff rates on Bangladesh, Vietnam and China are astronomical?” Mary E. Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said of the schedule set to take effect Wednesday. “Will the new ‘Golden Age’ involve knitting our own knickers as well as snapping together our cellphones?”