I Like / I Dislike Week 20

Every Monday, the Research Trainees of the CERESE assess the news of the previous week. You can read their opinions below:

I like the news that Israel and the Palestinian Authority have agreed to set up a mechanism to contain the violence. They aim to avoid further escalation ahead of the holy month for Muslims. In a statement, the two sides emphasized the need to preserve the sanctity of the Holy Places in Jerusalem during Ramadan, while reiterating the need to de-escalate the clashes in the West Bank. At the same time, the two sides reaffirmed the commitments made at their previous meeting in February, including a commitment by the Israelis to suspend discussions on the construction of new housing in Jewish settlements and to issue permits for settlements built without permits.

I like that the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin. More specifically, he is under suspicion for “the war crime of illegal deportation of the population (children) and illegal transfer of population (children) from occupied territories of Ukraine to Russia”, as mentioned in the statement issued by the International Criminal Court. According to the report, “there are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Putin bears individual responsibility for the aforementioned crimes, for committing the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others, and for his failure to properly exercise control over political and military subordinates who committed the acts or permitted them to be committed and who were under his effective power and control”.

I dislike the dysfunctional situation in France, following the adoption of the pension law with a specific legal provision. The current French government’s frequent use of Article 49:3 to implement a significant number of laws raises questions about its degree of legitimacy as it seeks to bypass the debate process in the National Assembly. Furthermore, the requisitioning of workers and the images of tensions from recent demonstrations showcase that it is necessary for the authorities of any country, especially in the West, to respect the right of assembly of citizens as they protest against the conditions in which they are forced to live in.

I dislike the news that Uganda passed one of the worst laws in the world against the LGBTQ+ community. The Parliament passed the anti-homosexuality bill, which includes prison sentences of up to 10 years and the death penalty for same-sex sexual relations. The Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, claims that this law is the solution to the country’s numerous outbreaks of HIV and that he will not follow the western approach, because the West “usually tries to impose everywhere”. The passage of the anti-homosexuality bill by the country’s parliament violates the rights of the LGBTI+ community. After Uganda ratified the law, the US is considering imposing economic sanctions against the former.