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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz clashed at Sundays cabinet meeting, with the premier accusing protesters against him of trampling on democracy, while the Blue and White chief responded that people had a right to demonstrate and must be protected.

I condemn any violence. It has no place, on either side, and we have zero tolerance for any manifestation of violence or any threat of violence, Netanyahu said at the meeting.

I see an attempt to trample on democracy. There is a distortion of all the rules. Nobody restricts the demonstrations. On the contrary they are accommodating toward them, he said. But, he added, its a coronavirus incubator, there are rules that are not enforced, no one restricts it and no one has even tried to restrict it.

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No outbreaks have so far been traced back to the protests.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the opening of the cabinet meeting, August 2, 2020 (Screen grab/Channel 13)

These demonstrations are fueled by a media mobilization, the likes of which I dont remember before, the premier declared. They are encouraged, allowed to paralyze neighborhoods and block roads, in stark contrast to everything that was accepted in the past.

The prime minister continued his protest of media coverage of the events, saying: I condemn the one-sidedness of most media outlets. They do not report the demonstrations they participate in them. They add fuel.

There has never been such a distorted mobilization I wanted to say Soviet but it has already reached North Korean terms of the media in favor of the protests, he said.

Netanyahu said the media ignored wild and unfettered incitement, including daily calls including the day before yesterday to murder the prime minister and his family.

Gantz, who also serves as alternate prime minister, responded to Netanyahu at the meeting emphasizing his belief that the right to demonstrate is the lifeblood of democracy and condemning violence against protesters.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz (GPO)

As a government, we have a responsibility to allow the demonstrations to take place and to protect the demonstrators, who were unfortunately attacked yesterday.

Gantz said he discussed the issue with Public Security Minister Amir Ohana, adding that he reiterates his call for everyone to refrain from violence, and for the Israel Police to act with the minimum force necessary to maintain the law.

The latest Jerusalem rally on Saturday night drew some 10,000 participants, according to estimates. It was by and large peaceful. Five people were taken into custody for allegedly accosting those protesting against Netanyahu and 12 people were detained at the end of a protest after police said they refused to vacate the area.

Protesters have for weeks been holding regular rallies outside the Prime Ministers Residence on Balfour Street in Jerusalem, as well as in Tel Aviv and other areas, calling on the premier to resign due to his indictment on corruption charges. They have been joined in recent weeks by people protesting the governments economic policies during the coronavirus pandemic, with crowds in the thousands and rising.

Netanyahu has protested media coverage of the protests, which he claims blows them out of proportion. On Saturday night, he again lashed out at TV news stations, as his Likud party accused the major networks channels 12 and 13 of delivering propaganda for the anarchist left wing demonstrations.

They are desperately trying to brainwash the public, in order to bring down a strong prime minister from the right, Likud wrote in a post retweeted by Netanyahu.

Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the Sde Yaakov bridge in the Jezreel Valley, northern Israel, on August 1, 2020. (Anat Hermony/Flash90)

Netanyahu further accused the media of ignoring the violent nature of the protests and the calls within them to murder the prime minister and his family.

The premier is on trial for a series of cases in which he allegedly received lavish gifts from billionaire friends and traded regulatory favors with media moguls for more favorable coverage of himself and his family. He has denied any wrongdoing, accusing the media and law enforcement of a witch hunt to oust him from office.

Also Sunday, Science and Technology Minister Izhar Shay of Gantzs Blue and White party called on Netanyahu to publicly calm the tensions.

The prime minister must take responsibility and calm things down, Shay told the Ynet news site. I do not know where this is going, but it is clear that the public is showing its heart. Weve insisted on the ability of the Israeli public to demonstrate [despite the coronavirus pandemic], that the basic democratic right should be in every law and regulation. Some are against us, and we respect that.

An estimated 10,000 people packed Jerusalems Paris Square Saturday night to call for Netanyahus resignation, in the largest-yet rally by a burgeoning anti-government movement that has brought activists, many of them young and newly politically active, to the streets.

Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the Prime Ministers Residence in Jerusalem on August 1, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Tensions were especially high after a number of earlier protests saw attacks by suspected assailants against protesters.

Police allowed the protesters to remain in the square until around 1 a.m. but, once most people had left on their own, began calling for the remaining group to leave. Eventually officers were deployed to physically remove the remaining core of demonstrators and 12 people were detained or arrested, police said.

Another protest was held outside Netanyahus private home in the coastal town of Caesarea, while thousands waved flags and chanted against the premier on bridges and highway overpasses across the country.

Hundreds also gathered at Charles Clore park in Tel Aviv to protest the governments economic policies during the coronavirus pandemic.

The demonstrators dispersed from each of those rallies without major police intervention.

Agencies contributed to this report.

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Netanyahu: Protesters are trampling on democracy; Gantz: They must be protected - The Times of Israel

ROME Human lives and jobs are not the only things threatened by the coronavirus pandemic: In many countries, democracy and efforts to build a more just world also are under attack, said Father Arturo Sosa, superior general of the Jesuits.

Democracy can be one of the victims of the pandemic if we do not take care with our political condition, Sosa told Vatican News. At this time, for example, many governments including so-called democratic governments are taking the path of authoritarianism.

The interview was published on the eve of the July 31 feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits. Pope Francis, also a Jesuit, joined Sosa and his confreres for a feast-day lunch at the orders headquarters near the Vatican.

In the interview, Sosa said many governments are using the pandemic as an excuse to restrict or end their assistance to migrants and refugees, which is a great mistake if we want to make the world more fraternal and just.

To discriminate against migrants would be and is a great danger and would be a sign of a world that we do not want, he said.

The Jesuit superior said he also is concerned about how some businesses are using the pandemic as an excuse to fire workers or reduce salaries and benefits, including for health care.

In other words, the pandemic is an occasion to take steps forward or to take steps backward, he said. And we must be very aware of this as the Catholic Church and as people committed to justice and peace so that we can build a more welcoming, more democratic society.

Inspired by St. Ignatius, he said, Jesuits and other Catholics know that being close to the poor is always important, but especially during this pandemic.

If we are not capable of looking at the world up close, sharing the point of view of the poor, which is the point of view of the crucified Jesus, then we will make mistakes in our decisions, he said.

The heart of the Ignatian experience and, therefore, of Ignatian spirituality, is a personal and profound encounter with Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, which leads to such a familiarity with God that one can find him in every thing and every moment, Soso said. That intimate relationship becomes a source of true freedom because it helps a person be fully available to do only that which God desires, without attachments to any person, place or institution.

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Jesuit superior warns of pandemics threat to democracy - Crux: Covering all things Catholic

Dear Editor,

In a dramatic development which saw the restoration of constitutional order five months to the day after the March 2 elections, Dr Irfaan Ali, presidential candidate of the PPP/C, was declared as President by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and sworn in by the Chancellor of the Judiciary as the ninth President of Guyana. I extend to him sincere congratulations.

The five months have been a period that tested our people, our society, our institutions, including our courts at home, and the patience and tolerance of the international community abroad. During that time, feelings have hardened and the language which pervaded the national and social media has at times been vulgar, irresponsible, racist and misogynistic. But we have to take comfort that, in the end, good sense prevailed and we have survived as a society relatively intact.

The divisions wrought by the delay, and the activities during the past five months, will be hard to heal, but heal them we must. More than for any individual or party, this is a victory for democracy, for the people and for the rule of law. I believe that this message is as relevant to the PPP/C as it is to the APNU+AFC Coalition. In an earlier letter, I wrote that our country has changed governments twice in five years, compared with twice in fifty-one years before that. That is an achievement of which all Guyanese ought to be proud, despite the events in the courts which need no recounting, at least not at this time. Let us build on that achievement by continuing to hold Ali and his government accountable and responsible. No longer must state assets and property be used in the crude manner in which the Chronicle and the NCN have been misused, particularly since the No Confidence Motion. That must be brought to an immediate end.

The challenges facing the new administration are formidable and require each of us to make our contributions to a Guyana that is proud, free, democratic and fair to all its citizens. On Saturday I accompanied the Hare Krishna movement as it engaged in food distribution on West Demerara. I felt personally ashamed that I live in a society in which adults and children, without COVID19 masks and some with runny noses, join lines to get a box of food. For a country with all the resources with which we are blessed, this is a national disgrace, even allowing for the pandemic which continues to wreak havoc across our country, and particularly in the hinterland communities.

It is as much a failure of governmental policy as it is of our society that we subject so many of our own people our long-suffering women, able-bodied men and intelligent children to live in such inhumane conditions. Immediately, President Ali and his team, which I hope will be inclusive rather than exclusive, must pursue social and economic programmes under which no one goes to bed without a shelter, wake up without hope, pass a meal time without food, and spend the day without the opportunity of education and work.

We have not had a parliament for over a year and a budget presentation for more than 18 months. Let us take whatever lessons that period and those experiences have taught us. The main one of course is that the ballot box is a crucial, but only one element of democratic governance. There must be a place in our society for the likes of Lincoln Lewis, David Hinds and Stanley Ming who will have discovered when they woke up this morning that the sky had not fallen down, that the country has not been taken over by alien monsters. They will soon realise that if there is one lesson that the PPP has learnt over the past five months, and hopefully the five years it was in opposition, is that Guyanese no longer have the tolerance for governmental excesses and abuses, for patronage and privileges for friends and supporters.

We all deserve to be treated equally and we must remind President Ali of the sacred oath he took yesterday before the whole world, that he would bear true faith and allegiance to the people of Guyana .. without fear or favour, affection or ill will and . [that he would] honour, uphold and preserve the Constitution of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. That holds as well for his Prime Minister and all his ministers.

To former President David Granger, he did the right thing eventually and I extend to him my best wishes in whatever he does for the remainder of his time. And to Dr. Jagdeo, congratulations on leading your party back into Government. But note that the work expected of you by the nation, now begins.

Yours faithfully,

Christopher Ram

See the rest here:
A victory for democracy, the people and the rule of law - Stabroek News

A rescued migrant is checked by UN High Commissioner for Refugees workers upon his arrival in Valletta, Malta, during the pandemic. CNS photo/Darrin Zammit Lupi, Reuters

Democracy and efforts to build a more just world are under attack in many countries, according to Father Arturo Sosa SJ, superior general of the Jesuits. He said human lives and jobs are not the only things threatened by the coronavirus pandemic.

Democracy can be one of the victims of the pandemic if we do not take care with our political condition, Father Sosa told Vatican News. At this time, for example, many governments, including so-called democratic governments, are taking the path of authoritarianism.

The interview was published on the eve of the feast of St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, on July 31.

Pope Francis, also a Jesuit, joined Father Sosa and his confreres for a feast-day lunch at the order's headquarters near the Vatican.

In the interview, Father Sosa said many governments are using the pandemic as an excuse to restrict or end their assistance to migrants and refugees, which is a great mistake if we want to make the world more fraternal and just.

He said: To discriminate against migrants would be and is a great danger and would be a sign of a world that we do not want.

The Jesuit superior said he also is concerned about how some businesses are using the pandemic as an excuse to fire workers or reduce salaries and benefits, including for health care.

In other words, the pandemic is an occasion to take steps forward or to take steps backward, he said. And we must be very aware of this as the Catholic Church and as people committed to justice and peace so that we can build a more welcoming, more democratic society.

Inspired by St Ignatius, Jesuits and other Catholics know that being close to the poor is always important, but especially during this pandemic.

If we are not capable of looking at the world up close, sharing the point of view of the poor, which is the point of view of the crucified Jesus, then we will make mistakes in our decisions, he said.

The heart of the Ignatian experience and, therefore, of Ignatian spirituality, is a personal and profound encounter with Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, which leads to such a familiarity with God that one can find him in every thing and every moment.

That intimate relationship becomes a source of true freedom because it helps a person be fully available to do only that which God desires, without attachments to any person, place or institution.

Read more here:
Jesuit superior warns of pandemic threat to democracy - The Tablet

I overheard them as they left the store: Requiring a mask is an attack on my freedom. It was fairly early in the pandemic, and it was my first curbside pick-up at the lumberyard. They walked by my car as I negotiated this new way of shopping. I was wearing a mask.

Immediately, I thought of my partner. For nearly 20 years, she was the faculty adviser for a campus Amnesty International student group. Amnesty International (AI) is the human rights organization supporting prisoners of conscience: people imprisoned for exercising their fundamental human rights.

There are many ways to think about freedom, but an international human rights perspective grounds your thoughts in the realities of freedoms denied. Members of Amnesty engage in the rituals of human rights work with the humblest of weapons: pen, paper, and emails.

Over many decades, with many friends, we have written thousands of letters and emails to different governments requesting respect for basic human rights. So many people in so many nations are denied fundamental freedoms and access to justice.

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The Pledge of Allegiance has had its controversies in recent years, but freedom and justice for all is an important phrase to repeat to yourself. It should be the worlds mantra. But it is challenging to mix freedom and justice in a way that works for all citizens. That is a dilemma for democracy too much freedom eats away at justice, and too much justice eats away at freedom.

When Europe was divided by a wall, we saw incredible levels of freedom on one side of the wall and an eerie sense of justice on the other. It has not been easy for Europe since that wall came down, and there are now worrisome trends from England to Poland.

Democratic processes that endure are hard to create and maintain. Making them work requires constant work and involvement. Democracies do not tolerate idleness or short attention spans. The hard work of successfully blending freedom and justice greets a democracy every morning. That is why history provides so few examples. Historically, some of the cultures that developed and celebrated democratic principles were slave-based economies. Think Thomas Jefferson.

It appears this century provides a new context for exploring these problematic issues. What does it mean to be free? How do we pursue just resolutions in a messy world? What is democracy in the 21st century?

Democratic processes are dependent upon this elusive blend of freedom and justice. When democratic processes emerge, they fumble and swing from one extreme to another freedom impinging on justice, justice impinging on freedom. In a sense, every democracy carries the seeds of an ongoing civil war.

Separating a democracy into two camps is a formula for disaster. Imagine, for a moment, that you are making a quick, simple salad dressing. You pour a good measure of vinegar into a jar. Then you add a slightly larger amount of oil. Left alone, they separate into two distinct layers. To become a successful dressing for your salad, you must put a lid on the jar and shake vigorously to blend the two.

Democracy is the vigorous shaking that prevents these two principles from separating and following their separate paths. Democracy is the daily process of blending freedom and justice within our lives and the lives of those we encounter.

Put differently: Democracy is the constant work of keeping freedom and justice on the same path.

That is why my partner and I brought together interested students to discuss human rights issues for nearly 20 years. We were shaking the jar.

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For many young people, the simple fact that democratic processes are dependent upon such an elusive blend and balance of values and responsibilities is a revelation. Consumer societies tend to create people who sit and watch rather than people who stand and do. Consumerism creates a world of simple, well-defined transactions rather than a world of listening and then formulating well-reasoned responses and ongoing interactions.

Democracy is hard work.

But there is a necessary third ingredient. Everyone who makes salad dressing from scratch knows our vinegar and oil mix needs one more component. After pouring together the vinegar and oil, add a small amount of water. Then vigorously shake the jar. That little bit of water helps the vinegar and oil blend while slightly muting the vinegar.

Keith Luebke

Compassion is at the heart of Eastern religions and philosophies. As the rift between East and West widens, a conversation about the role compassion plays in creating the sort of democracies we envision might be useful: consider the Easts thoughts about compassion and the Wests focus on balancing freedom and justice. Then consider how often we fail to live up to our aspirations East and West.

The world is in desperate need of conversations that rise above those that came before. Every past conversation matters, but we need new ones.

Rather than getting angry with the people who wont wear masks, maybe we should talk to them. Try to engage with them, not necessarily about not wearing a mask. Ask them if they are stressed or angry. Find the source of their unwillingness to wear a mask. Put yourself in their shoes. Demonstrate compassion. Then ask them to please wear a mask.

Scolding will get us nowhere.

Their souls are simply leaning too far into a perception of freedom inconsistent with our perceptions of justice and community. Be gentle. At some point, they may need to remind some of us that we are leaning too far towards justice. Remember this delicate balancing act and remember the frailty inherent to democratic processes.

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If we start a conversation, there might be an opportunity to remind our mask-less friends of those who need and deserve fundamental freedoms. Those unjustly imprisoned, confined, and tortured should never be left to fend for themselves. Carry them into your thoughts, actions, and discussions. Their lives remind us that people can be picked up, thrown into a dark van, and tossed into a cell for no reason. Could that ever happen in your community?

The basis of our efforts should always start from this point: the never-ending struggle of communities to blend freedom and justice with a dash of compassion.

Keep shaking things up. Mix these vital conversations and thoughts into your daily life.

But in the short term: Please wear a mask, and converse with your fellow citizens while 6 feet apart.

KeithLuebkerecently retired from teaching nonprofit leadership courses and has several decades of experience directing nonprofit organizations.

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The never-ending struggle: blending freedom and justice, with a dash of compassion - MinnPost