Worldcrunch Today: Israel Calls For Rafah Evacuation, Russian Nuclear Drills, Baguette Record

💡 SPOTLIGHT

Vietnam to Gaza, U.S. to the World — campus protests, across time and space

Images of recent student-led, pro-Palestinian protests across the world remind French political scientist Dominique Moïsi of the demonstrations of solidarity in support of Vietnam that rocked campuses some 50+ years ago. In French daily Les Echos, Moïsi explores the echoes and dissects the major differences between both the war in Gaza and the war in Vietnam, and the shows of support they triggered.

June 1967: We were on the eve of the Six Day War. On Boulevard Saint Germain, Sciences Po Paris students were demonstrating their solidarity with and concern about the small Jewish state. Was Israel going to survive? The forces of the Arab countries seemed — at least on paper — formidable.

Remembering that moment 57 years later seems almost surreal. Sciences Po Paris — designed on the model of American universities — has become one of the leading centers for solidarity with Palestine and for denouncing Israeli policies, if not for challenging its right to exist.

A break with the past at Sciences Po, change with continuity in the United States? As a Sachs Scholar at Harvard University, I arrived in September 1971, like Fabrice Del Dongo at Waterloo, “after the battle” — Nixon had just signed the end of the draft for the Vietnam War.

But seeing the images from American campuses today makes me feel more than 50 years younger. The photos and sounds from America have an almost Madeleine nostalgic flavor to them. I feel the same indignation at the weight of these images: From the little girl stripped naked by a napalm bomb yesterday, to the lost gaze of the children of Gaza in the ruins of their destroyed cities today.

There’s the same commitment — natural for young people — to the side perceived as the victim. And just as in 1968, the protest movement began at Columbia University in New York. And police repression is without a doubt becoming a weapon once again, used to their advantage by protesting students. 

It would be too simple and schematic to simply say that the main, if not the only, explanation for this process is the return of anti-Semitism: even if anti-Zionism and the denial of Israel’s right to exist are one of the contemporary expressions of anti-Semitism. [...]

— Read the full article by Domìnique Moïsi for Les Echos, translated into English by Worldcrunch.

🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

French daily Le Figaro dedicates its front page to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Europe, the first in five years, which began yesterday in France. Alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen plans to advocate for fair competition with China during talks with Xi Jinping. The discussions come amid EU investigations into Chinese trade practices, including subsidies for various industries and concerns about Chinese espionage and military cooperation with Russia. Xi's visit to Europe is viewed as a test of the EU's approach to balancing relations between China and the United States, with European leaders divided over their response to the U.S.-China rivalry. 

  🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• Israel calls on Gazans to leave parts of eastern Rafah. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it was a “limited scope” operation and that the evacuation would affect 100,000 people. With ceasefire negotiations breaking down, some fear this is preparation for a long-threatened offensive on the city, where more than 1.4 million war-displaced people are sheltering. Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri warned that this was a “dangerous escalation that will have consequences.”

• Russia has announced its plans to hold nuclear weapon drills. The announcement from Moscow’s Defense Ministry comes in response to “provocative statements and threats of certain Western officials regarding the Russian Federation.” This is the first time the Kremlin has publicly announced drills involving tactical nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, at least six people were killed and 35 injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s border city of Belgorod.

• Chad votes for president to move to democratic rule. Chadians go to the polls Monday after three years of military rule and transition triggered by the sudden death of long-time ruler Idriss Déby. This marks the first presidential election in Africa's Sahel region since a wave of coups. From the Worldcrunch vault, here is an article translated from French to English: The Killing Of Chad's President Is A Blow In Battle Against Jihad.

• Panama’s former security minister Jose Raul Mulino wins presidency. The 64-year-old won Sunday’s single-round, first-past-the-post race by a wide margin, the Central American country's electoral tribunal said. Mulino had replaced Ricardo Martinelli as the candidate for the right-wing Realizing Goals (RM) party after the former president was barred from running due to a money laundering conviction.

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