The World Today for April 04, 2023

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Israeli Spring

ISRAEL

Civil unrest in Israel has prompted many observers to wonder if the same pro-democracy impulses that motivated Arab Spring activists more than a decade ago are now emerging in the Jewish state on the Mediterranean. The protests recently forced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pause his controversial plan to reform the country’s judicial system, a loss that could signal a major shift in the politician’s standing.

Most recently, hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets after Netanyahu fired his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, after Gallant voiced his opposition to Netanyahu’s proposed judicial reform, explained Atlantic magazine.

Those protests have not abated, despite the pause, the Washington Post noted.

What ignited protests, as CNN wrote, was Netanyahu’s proposal to limit the power of Israel’s Supreme Court. Under the plan, the government would have more leeway in appointing judges and the legislature would have more power to overturn court decisions. But the new rules would also potentially give Netanyahu loopholes that would allow him to remain in office if he is found guilty of the corruption charges that he is now facing in a trial.

To say the prime minister is a controversial figure in Israel would be an understatement.

Netanyahu has held the premiership three times – from 1996 to 1999, from 2009 to 2021, and again today. The corruption allegations, his conservative cultural stance, and his hard-right policies toward the Palestinians, as Guardian columnist Sara Husseini argued, have alienated many lawmakers and voters, however. His failure to assemble a strong coalition as well as the weakness of his rivals have resulted in five elections in Israel since 2019 as governments have fallen apart in the highly polarized climate.

His decision to abandon the judicial reforms could be the beginning of the end of his power, contended the Nation. “Never before have Israelis risen in such numbers with such commitment against their own government – to the point that they have effectively brought it to its knees,” the magazine wrote.

Still, members of the coalition say they intend to pass the reform plan in May when parliament returns. On Monday, negotiation teams met at the presidential residence to talk about the reforms and find ways to reach a broad consensus, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Meanwhile, the cost of the turmoil is already apparent, noted the Times of Israel: On Monday, the Bank of Israel raised its key lending rate by 25 basis points to 4.5 percent, the highest level since before the 2008 global financial crash, in its battle to combat inflation but also as “tremendous” uncertainty over the government’s judicial overhaul plan weighs on the economy. “The uncertainty and the events we witnessed in recent weeks have naturally also had an impact on the Israeli economy,” said Bank of Israel governor Amir Yaron.

Now, a few scenarios are possible, say analysts. The protests could morph into more sweeping expressions of discontent, or provide a launching pad for leftist movements seeking to deconstruct the right-wing vision of Israel that Netanyahu has upheld, and swung even further to the right because of his coalition partners. Alternatively, as Vox noted, the anti-Netanyahu sentiment could backfire, causing right-wing elements in Israeli to become more active so they can protect that vision. Some of Netanyahu’s allies, for example, don’t think Israel should be a democracy, the New Yorker added.

One result that few predict is a return to business as usual.

THE WORLD, BRIEFLY

Rethinking Death

MALAYSIA

Malaysia’s lower house of parliament on Monday voted to abolish the mandatory death penalty for certain offenses, including drug-related crimes, a move that bucks regional trends as the country’s neighbors see a rise in public executions, Al Jazeera reported.

The new amendments would apply to 34 offenses currently punishable by death, including murder and drug trafficking as well as kidnapping and arms trafficking.

Instead, courts could sentence the convicted person to whipping, or imprisonment for up to 40 years under certain conditions.

The bill will now go to the parliament’s upper house where it is widely expected to be passed, before going to the king for his signature.

Malaysia has had a moratorium on executions since 2018. Even so, courts have continued to send inmates to death row.

Government officials said their decision to abolish the death penalty for certain crimes was because they saw it as an irreversible punishment that had not been an effective deterrent.

Human Rights Watch hailed the vote as an “important step forward for Malaysia,” adding that the southeast Asian country could encourage its neighbors to “to re-think their continued use of the death penalty.”

In 2022, Singapore executed 11 people for drug offenses, according to government data. Meanwhile, Myanmar executed four pro-democracy campaigners, using the death penalty for the first time in decades.

Au Revoir, Trottinette

FRANCE

Parisians voted overwhelmingly to ban self-service e-scooters from the French capital, a popular transportation mode that has drawn the ire of officials and residents over a rising number of accidents and e-litter, France 24 reported.

Results of the referendum Sunday showed that nearly 90 percent of voters supported the ban on e-scooters, also known as the “trottinette.”

Since their introduction in 2018, the trottinette has become ubiquitous in Paris. Officials billed it as a green alternative to cars and the adoption of e-scooters prompted the creation of new bike lanes in the capital.

Their usage increased in the wake of the pandemic, jumping 90 percent from September 2021 to August 2022. In Paris, each scooter is used an average of 3.5 times each day, the highest rate in Europe.

Still, some noted that their introduction was initially bumpy and public opinion on the electric vehicle shifted amid a rise in accidents.

Last year, nearly 500 people were injured in Paris by e-scooters. Deaths among e-scooter drivers and pedestrians hit by them also increased: Across France, there were 27 trottinette-related deaths in 2022, compared with 22 in 2021 and seven in 2020.

The city’s Mayor Anne Hidalgo also lamented that the vehicles were “not very ecological,” noting that they sometimes get damaged and are “left lying wherever.”

Before the referendum, Paris officials and e-scooter rental companies tried to regulate the issue by putting caps on the number of vehicles, introducing speed limits and designated parking areas, and also trying to prevent the practice of two riders on one vehicle.

Still, despite the increasing dislike of e-scooters, citywide bans are uncommon. Barcelona is one of the few European cities that banned self-service e-scooters entirely.

The Threads of Defiance

IRAN

Iranian authorities arrested two women and one man this week following an incident where the man threw yogurt on the pair for failing to don the country’s mandatory headscarf, as Iranian authorities, under pressure from protesters, continue to take a hard line, CNN reported.

The incident took place last week at a store in the northeastern city of Shandiz. Video footage showed a man approaching one of the women – who was not wearing a hijab – and speaking to her. Seconds later he threw a tub of yogurt at the two women which struck them both.

Local media said that the two women were arrested after warrants were issued for failing to wear the hijab in public. Authorities also detained the man for disturbing public order.

The incident comes as Iran continues to see mass protests against the obligatory headscarf.

The demonstrations began last year following the death of Mahsa Amini, who was detained by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating the hijab law. She later died in custody.

Iranian women risk arrest for failing to cover their hair, but many women have been defying the mandatory dress code since the protests broke out last year. Authorities have responded with a violent crackdown on protesters, arresting thousands and executing at least four people, according to the BBC.

Following the yogurt incident, Iranian officials reiterated their stance that the hijab was compulsory and “an unquestionable religious necessity.”

DISCOVERIES

A Daisy Deception

The South African daisy is schooled in the art of deception: Known as the Gorteria diffusa, it is able to create “fake lady flies” on its petals to attract male insects for pollination so it can reproduce in harsh desert environments.

Other members of the daisy family similarly seek to lure in pollinating insects, but their efforts pale compared with this trickster’s ability to create a very believable fake fly, complete with hairy bumps and white highlights.

Recently, scientists figured out how the G. diffusa does it by studying its genes, the Independent reported.

In their paper, researchers discovered three sets of genes that have other functions in the daisy: One set moves iron around the plant, the second makes root hairs grow, and the last controls the timetable for creating flowers.

But this trio also contribute to the deception, the team noted. The iron-moving genes give the petals their reddish-purple pigment and make them more fly-like.

The root hair genes provide fly-like texture by making the hairs expand, while the last set makes fake flies appear in random positions on the petals.

The researchers explained that the bloom did not evolve new genes but rather “brought together existing genes … to make a complicated spot on the petals that deceives male flies.”

This is impressive because the G. diffusa is young in evolutionary terms – about 1.5 to two million years old – and such a complex feature would require “lots of genes and lots of mutations,” said lead author Roman Kellenberger.

“It’s almost like evolving a whole new organ in a very short time frame,” he added.

 

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