THE MIDWEEK MULL
The minimum read for the maximum knowledge.
It seems that I have some apologising to do... In case you don't know me or conduct life away from The Social Medias, then you might not know that I was in Southern Africa for five weeks. Oh and WHAT a blessed five weeks it was! As for not sending anything out the last couple of weeks? I have no excuse. Soz 'bout that. Actually, truthfully - being away from the interwebs (ergo social media, 24/7 news cycle, latest Peter Duttondickheadedry, latest Trump gaffe) was bliss! And I have been slow to throw myself back into that world. But! 2018 news slows down for no-one! So let's get back to it and OH MY GOSH IS THERE A LOT TO CATCH UP ON OR WHAT?! Warning: this edition is a little more wordy than usual. Turns out that there are no fun cartoons/gifs for the topics this week (surprise). If you can think of a friend that may enjoy the Midweek Mull, by all means, have them sign up here. I promise it will be a more regular occurrence.
On to it!
Jess xo
Ps. This is a #royalwedding free zone. BUT how awesome was her mum?! VERY AWESOME is the correct answer.
1. Israel, Palestine and the US
You may have noticed an increase in the Israel/Palestine stories in the news. Primarily, that's because the US opened their embassy in Jerusalem last week. This was controversial for several reasons:
Most countries (Australia included - for the time being), refuse to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel until a peaceful solution between Israel and Palestine is agreed upon. Palestinians recognise East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. Israel was granted West Jerusalem when they were formed in 1948, but then captured the entirety of Jerusalem after the Six Day War in 1967. Since then, it has laid sole claim to the land. (Without going into the entire history of the Israel/Palestinian conflict - because lord knows that a short email can't cover that, the recognition of Jerusalem is but one issue. Others include: borders in general, security, water rights, Israeli settlements, Palestinian freedom of movement, mutual recognition and the Palestinian right of return)
The embassy was officially opened on the 14th May, which is the day before Nabka. Nabka is a day of mourning in Palestine as it is the anniversary of Israeli settlement, and this year marked the 70th year. Although there are always protests and fighting at the Israel/Palestine border, this has increased since Trump announced the move in December with 51 being killed in the six weeks prior to May 14. In the 24 hours during the 'celebrations' the Israeli army (backed by the US and the EU) shot 60 protesters and injured another 2800. The UNHRC called for an investigation into these deaths. 29 countries voted in favour, 14 abstained and 2 voted against. Those two? The US and, yep, you guessed it, Australia.The US is meant to lead peace talks between Israel and Palestine in a two-state solution, but after this, it is hard to believe that they play an impartial role. Thoughts on the Israel/Jerusalem situation aside - you must say, the US pulled one dick of a move by adding fuel to the fire of an already precarious situation in the Middle East.
Read more:
Australia votes against Gaza enquiry - The Guardian
Everything You Need to Know About Israel-Palestine - Vox
Why is the US Moving their Embassy to Jerusalem - Reuters
Why Trump's Move Was Not About Peace - BBC (this one mentions what I was trying to avoid, but is the elephant in the room - Trump's inner circle is dominated by white right-wing Jewish men)
2. Cardinal Pell to face trial
At long last, Cardinal George Pell will stand trial for historical sexual offences. Although the most serious charges were dismissed (that Pell had himself sexually abused juveniles), some charges have been upheld and he is now to stand trial for them. Due to the nature of the hearings, these charges are not able to be reported but it is thought that he knew about the sexual abuse but never reported it to the authorities. To date, Pell is the most senior member of the Catholic Church to face court. As Treasurer of the Vatican, he is the third most powerful man (because they are all men) in the Catholic world and was short odds to replace Pope Francis when he died. Conditions of his bail mean that he must remain in Australia, but that didn't stop him having a meeting with US Environmental Protection Agency Chief to discuss setting up a two-sided debate on climate change at the Vatican. Worth noting that Pope Francis believes in climate change (because it's real), but Pell is a loud skeptic.
Read more:
George Pell met US environment chief Scott Pruitt to discuss climate-change debate - The Guardian
Catholics Asked in Newspaper to chip-in for Cardinal's Legal Costs - ABC
Who is George Pell and What is he Accused Of - The Guardian
Sorry that these are all 'left wing' articles (not true, the ABC are unbiased (unlike this email), but the Murdoch media/government would have you believe otherwise).Pell makes my skin crawl and I will not share any articles about him from The Australian.
And I know it's a little old, but please, watch Tim Minchin's serenade to Cardinal Pell. (Context: this was written when he said that he was not well enough to travel to appear in court, despite him being seen out and about looking fine. But hey, travelling is much harder than getting up in front of a full court to explain how you were sexually abused by the Catholic brothers that you trusted... right?)
3. Old is New Again - Malaysian PM
A potentially good news story from last week. The previous PM of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, who retired in 2003, came out of retirement to run for - and win - the recent national election. At 92 years old, he will be the world's oldest leader. BUT he has promised to step aside (and ran on that promise) for the jailed opposition leader, former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, after he offers him a royal pardon.
Ibrahim was first jailed when Mohamad was PM in the 1990s on sodomy and corruption charges. He was then jailed again in 2015 on sodomy charges. He has stated that both were politically motivated. Mohamad, and then hopefully Ibrahim, will replace Najib Razak, who has faced a corruption scandal for misappropriating over $4B from money intended for the social and economic development of Malaysia.
Another twist in the plot, Mohamad served as PM for 22 years in the same party as Razak. And in fact, Razak was his protege. While in power, Mohamad was known to crush the opposition - which he recently led to victory. Ibrahim has been released from prison after a pardon, but there is no date set for the handover, although it is anticipated to take at least a year.
Amusing Things
I know that I normally provide Amusing Things here, as the title would imply, but I'm still catching up on my reading, so instead I have a list of recommendations for you.
To read:
This is an older article (from January this year), but something that I have been trying to articulate in conversations with many people since I read it. The female price for male pleasure looks at how comfortable we are as a society with female pain during/because of sex. Harvey Weinstein and his horrific actions should not be our yardstick for the #metoo movement, but rather, men (and yes, #allmen) should take a moment to listen to their female friends and family talking about The Female Experience. They could learn a thing or two.
To listen:
30 for 30 has just released a new podcast series on Bikram Choudhury, the 'inventor' of Bikram Yoga. The series of 5 episodes accounts Choudhury's incredible rise - and fall - to fame, with a focus on the numerous rape allegations against him. As a fan of bikram yoga, I admit that rumours if his behaviour did make me stop attending classes when I first heard of them several years ago. It is a fascinating listen.
To watch:
Russell Crowe/Australia Zoo name koala chlamydia ward after John Oliver
To do:
I know that I said that this email would be a #royalwedding free zone, but I couldn't resist. You simply MUST do this quiz: Can you tell the difference between a Royal wedding hat and a chicken? Well, can you?
Also to read:
I went to the Okavango Delta and chucked some words in with some photos and you should have a look at the result here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------As of May 20th 2018, 26 women in Australia have been killed due to domestic violence.That is one death every five and a half days.
