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world news Diaranson 21 Juli 2021
Freed Guantánamo inmate with Moroccan family after 19 years

(AP) — A Moroccan he was questioned by the Na- Cuba throughout the presi-
held for 19 years without tional Division of the Judicial Nasser had been a member dency of Donald Trump,
charges at the U.S. deten- Police in Casablanca “on sus- of a nonviolent but illegal who opposed closing the
tion facility for terror sus- picion of committing terror- Moroccan Sufi Islam group site. In announcing Nasser’s
pects at Guantánamo Bay ist acts” before being set free. in the 1980s, according to his transfer home, the Pentagon
has rejoined his family Pentagon file. He had been cited the board’s determina-
after questioning by po- “He is now with his family recruited to fight in Chech- tion that his detention was no
lice in this North African whom he hadn’t seen in al- nya but ended up in Afghani- longer necessary to protect
kingdom, his lawyer said most two decades,” Nasser’s stan, training at an al-Qaida U.S. national security.
Tuesday. Moroccan attorney, Khalil camp. He was captured after
Idrissi, said. Nasser, who was fighting U.S. forces and sent Almost 800 detainees have
Abdullatif Nasser, now 56, not available for comment, to Guantánamo in May 2002. passed through Guantánamo
is the first detainee at the wants only to catch up with . Of the 39 remaining, 10
Guantánamo Bay center to be his old life, his attorney said A review board had recom- are eligible for transfers out.
transferred into the custody by telephone. mended repatriation for They are from Yemen, Paki-
of his home country under Nasser in July 2016, but he stan, Tunisia, Algeria and the
the administration of Presi- No further action against his remained in the detention United Arab Emirates.
dent Joe Biden. Upon his arrival on Monday, client is expected, he added. center at a U.S. naval base in

Israel vows to ‘act aggressively’ against Ben & Jerry’s

(AP) — Israel’s prime international support, claim home-rental company Airb-
minister vowed Tues- both areas as parts of a future nb announced in 2018 that it
day to “act aggressively” independent state. Israeli set- would no longer list proper-
against the decision by tlements, now home to some ties in West Bank settlements,
Ben & Jerry’s to stop sell- 700,000 Israelis, are widely Israel harshly condemned the
ing its ice cream in Israe- seen as illegal and obstacles move as part of a broader Pal-
li-occupied territories, as to peace. estinian-led boycott move-
the country’s ambassador ment against Israel.
to the U.S. urged dozens Israel annexed east Jerusalem
of state governors to pun- after the 1967 war and con- Israel’s strategic affairs minis-
ish the company under siders the entire city its undi- ter at the time, Gilad Erdan,
anti-boycott laws. vided capital, though the an- encouraged Israelis harmed
nexation is not international- by the decision to sue Airb- Israeli ice cream market into self from the ice cream maker.
The strong reaction reflected ly recognized. It says the West nb. Several months later, af- the latest front in Israel’s In a statement, Unilever not-
concerns in Israel that the ice Bank is disputed territory and ter continued Israeli criticism long-running battle against ed that under the purchase
cream maker’s decision could says its final status should be and a U.S. federal lawsuit the BDS movement, a Pal- agreement, it recognized Ben
lead other companies to fol- resolved in negotiations. The filed by Israeli Americans, the estinian-led grassroots cam- & Jerry’s independence and
low suit. It also appeared to international community, company reversed course. paign that promotes boycotts, right “to take decisions about
set the stage for a protracted however, widely considers divestment and sanctions its social mission.”
public relations and legal both areas to be occupied ter- Erdan, now Israel’s ambassa- against Israeli businesses,
battle. ritory. dor to the U.S., said Tuesday cultural institutions and uni- “We remain fully commit-
that he had sent a letter to the versities. ted to our presence in Israel,
Prime Minister Naftali Ben- In its statement, Ben & Jer- governors of 35 states that where we have invested in
nett’s office said he spoke ry’s said it had informed its have passed laws against anti- BDS organizers say they are our people, brands and busi-
with Alan Jope, chief execu- longtime Israeli partner that Israel boycott activity. protesting what they call Is- ness for several decades,” it
tive of Ben & Jerry’s parent it will not renew its license raeli oppression of Palestin- said.
company Unilever, and raised agreement when it expires at “Rapid and determined ac- ians in a campaign modeled
concern about what he called the end of 2022. tion must be taken to counter on the anti-apartheid move- Eugene Kontorovich, a pro-
a “clearly anti-Israel step.” such discriminatory and an- ment in South Africa. Its fessor at George Mason Uni-
He said the move would have While noting it would not tisemitic actions,” he wrote. nonviolent message has reso- versity’s Scalia Law School,
“serious consequences, legal serve Israeli-occupied areas, “We must stand united and nated with audiences around said that despite such assur-
and otherwise,” and Israel it said it would continue to send an unequivocal message the world, including on many ances, the global company
“will act aggressively against provide ice cream in Israel that this will not be toler- U.S. college campuses. could be vulnerable to U.S.
all boycott actions directed “through a different arrange- ated.” state laws banning anti-Israel
against its citizens.” ment.” A number of compa- But Israel says the movement boycott activity.
nies, most notably beverage But even some of Israel’s has a deeper agenda aimed at
In Monday’s announcement, company SodaStream, have supporters said the company delegitimizing and destroy- Kontorovich, who consult-
Ben & Jerry’s said it would closed factories in the occu- was on solid ground. ing the country. ed with lawmakers in some
stop selling ice cream in the pied West Bank but few have states that adopted the laws,
occupied West Bank and con- targeted Israeli consumers Jeremy Ben-Ami, president Omar Barghouti, a BDS co- said they treat anti-Israel
tested east Jerusalem. The living there. of the liberal pro-Israel group founder, said the movement boycotts as a form of discrim-
company, known for its so- J-Street, said it was not anti- had been urging Ben & Jer- ination. Violating these laws,
cial activism, said such sales It remains unclear how Ben semitism to differentiate be- ry’s to pull out of Israel for he said, could make both Ben
were “inconsistent with our & Jerry’s plans to do that. Is- tween Israel and settlements years. He called its decision & Jerry’s and Unilever in-
values.” raeli supermarket chains, a built on occupied territory. “quite significant.” eligible for state contracts or
primary distribution channel prompt states to drop Unile-
The statement was one of the for the cleverly named flavors “Instead of demonizing and “It shows you cannot have ver shares from large pension
strongest rebukes by a high- of ice cream, operate in the attacking companies and in- business with an apartheid funds.
profile company of Israel’s settlements, and under Israeli dividuals for making prin- state without being complic-
settlement policies in the law, people or companies that cipled decisions,” he said, it,” he said. “We expect more “Our enemies know they
West Bank and east Jerusa- boycott the settlements can “these leaders would make socially responsible compa- cannot destroy us with all
lem, which it has controlled be sued. a greater contribution to the nies to follow suit, perhaps those missiles,” he told re-
for more than a half-century fight against antisemitism by less publicly. porters. “They can destroy us
after capturing them in the On the global stage, Israel helping to bring the unjust economically through sanc-
1967 Mideast war. does not differentiate be- and harmful occupation to a Unilever, which acquired tions and boycotts. And that’s
tween settlements and the peaceful end.” Ben & Jerry’s in 2000, ap- where BDS poses a long-
The Palestinians, with broad rest of the country. When The dispute has turned the peared Tuesday to distance it- term threat.”