Page 29 - bon-dia-aruba-20211130

A29
world news Diamars 30 November 2021

Belarusian leader accuses Lithuania of dumping dead migrants

(AP) — Belarusian Presi- an abomination!” shot back at the EU, accusing
dent Alexander Lukash- it of failing to offer safe pas-
enko on Monday accused Lithuania’s State Border sage to migrants. Since Nov.
Lithuanian authorities Guard Service rejected the 8, a large group of migrants,
of dumping the bodies of Belarusian claim, saying that mostly Iraqi Kurds, has been
migrants on the border Belarusian authorities have stranded in Belarus at a bor-
between the two coun- repeatedly tried to stage and der crossing with Poland,
tries — a claim rejected direct beatings, the crippling trapped amid freezing tem-
by Lithuania amid soaring or even deaths of migrants, peratures as forces from the
border tensions between while blaming Lithuania for two countries face off. Most
Belarus and its European such “inhumane treatment.” of the migrants are fleeing
Union neighbors. conflict or hopelessness at
Lukashenko also charged home, and aim to reach Ger-
Lukashenko also warned that Monday that Belarusian bor- many or other Western Euro-
his country will stand square- der guards also found several pean countries.
ly behind its ally Russia if the other freezing migrants who
Ukrainian authorities launch were barely alive at an aban- On Monday, Lukashenko had
an offensive against Mos- doned farmhouse near the a call with Russian President tions. But echoing statements Lt. Gen. Viktor Khrenin said
cow-backed rebels in eastern border with Lithuania. Vladimir Putin in which they from the Kremlin, he warned in the “medium term” Be-
Ukraine. He tried to cast the talked about the situation on Ukrainian authorities that if larus and Russia will conduct
tensions over migrants as part The EU has accused Lukash- Belarus’ border with Poland, they try to use force to re- joint drills to protect Belarus’
of a purported Western plot enko of waging a “hybrid at- according to the Kremlin. claim areas controlled by border with Ukraine.
against Belarus and Russia. tack” against the bloc, using Russia-backed separatists in
desperate migrants as pawns The Belarusian leader also or- Ukraine’s eastern industrial Ukrainian authorities have
Lukashenko said at a meeting and tricking them into trying dered military officials Mon- heartland known as Donbas, voiced concerns that Rus-
with his top military brass to cross into EU members day to raise troop readiness in Belarus would stand squarely sian troops could use Be-
that Belarusian border guards Poland and Lithuania to de- view of NATO maneuvers with Russia. larusian territory to invade
found the bodies of two mi- stabilize the entire bloc. The near Belarusian borders. Ukraine. The Kremlin has
grants left on the border over EU says that is Lukashenko’s “If they try to launch a small denied plans to launch such
the weekend. revenge for EU sanctions Lukashenko dismissed West- war in Donbas or somewhere attack and accused Ukrainian
imposed on Belarus after its ern concerns about alleged on the border with Russia, authorities and their Western
“They put a dead body, or, brutal crackdown on democ- Russian plans to invade Belarus will not stay aside, backers of making the claims
probably, a person who is still racy protesters. Ukraine, which also borders and it’s clear whose side it to cover up their own alleg-
alive, in a sleeping bag and Belarus, saying that Moscow will take,” he said. edly aggressive designs.
toss it on the border,” Lu- Belarusian authorities have would have let him know
kashenko exclaimed. “What denied the accusations and about it if it had such inten- Belarusian Defense Minister

French honor for Josephine Baker stirs conflict over racism

(AP) — On the surface, it’s a powerful mes- “The Pantheon is where you enter not because specific oppression experienced by different com-
sage against racism: a Black woman will, for you’re famous but because of what you bring to munities of color.
the first time, join other luminaries interred the civic mind of the nation.”
in France’s Pantheon. But by choosing a U.S.- The term “communautarist” is also used to de-
born figure -- entertainer Josephine Baker – Her nomination has been lauded as uncontrover- scribe American society, which counts race in of-
critics say France is continuing a long tradi- sial and seen as a way to reconcile French society ficial censuses, academic studies and public dis-
tion of decrying racism abroad while obscur- after the difficulties of the pandemic and last year’s course, which is taboo in France and seen as reduc-
ing it at home. protests against French police violence, as George ing people to a skin color.
Floyd’s killing in the U.S. echoed incidents in
While Baker is widely appreciated in France, the France involving Black men who died in police For Rokhaya Diallo, a French commentator on is-
decision has highlighted the divide between the custody. sues related to race, “universalism is a utopia and
country’s official doctrine of colorblind universal- myth that the republic tells about itself that does
ism and some increasingly vocal opponents, who Baker represented France’s “universalist” approach, not correspond to any past or present reality,” she
argue that it has masked generations of systemic which sees its people as simply citizens and does told The AP. “For Black and non-white people, the
racism. not count or identify them by race or ethnicity. The Republic has always been a space of inequality, of
first article of the constitution says the French Re- othering through the processes triggered by colo-
Baker’s entry into the Pantheon on Tuesday is the public and its values are considered universal, en- nization.”
result of years of efforts from politicians, organiza- suring that all citizens have the same rights, regard-
tions and public figures. Most recently, a petition less of their origin, race or religion. Lawyers, activists and academics have chronicled
by Laurent Kupferman, an essayist on the French discrimination in police violence, in housing and
Republic, gained traction, and in July, French Pres- In 1938, Baker joined what is today called LICRA, in employment in France, notably against people
ident Emmanuel Macron announced Baker would a prominent antiracist league and longtime advo- with African or Arab origins. Universalists say this
be “pantheonized.” cate for her entry in the Pantheon. isn’t a structural part of French society, however,
identifying racism as a moral matter and not in-
“The times are probably more conducive to having “She loved universalism passionately and this scribed within the state.
Josephine Baker’s fights resonate: the fight against France that does not care about skin color,” LICRA
racism, antisemitism, her part in the French Re- President Mario Stasi told The Associated Press. Kévi Donat, a Black French guide who gives tours
sistance,” Kupferman told The Associated Press. “When she arrived from the United States, she of Black Paris, said Baker is the “most controver-
understood she came from a ‘communautaurist’ sial” figure he highlights in his tours, in part be-
country where she was reminded of her origin and cause she initially earned fame in France for danc-
ethnicity, and in France, she felt total acceptance.” ing in a banana belt that “played into stereotypes
around Black and African people.”
Universalists pejoratively call opposing anti-racism
activists “communautarists,” implying that they “Sometimes Josephine Baker is used to say ‘in the
put community identity before universal French U.S. there was racism, (but) all these Black Ameri-
citizenry. Radical anti-racist groups, meanwhile, cans were welcomed in France,’ meaning we’re
say that France first needs a reckoning with system- ahead, that we don’t have that problem here,” Do-
ic racism — a term that is contested here — and the nat said.