Index on Censorship weekly round-up
[link removed]
Home ([link removed]) Latest ([link removed]) Subscribe ([link removed]) About Index ([link removed]) Donate ([link removed])
Friday, 16 February 2024
[link removed]
Photo: Noah Buscher/Unsplash
As we were preparing this week's newsletter, news began to filter in about the death of Vladimir Putin's fiercest critic, Alexei Navalny, in a penal colony in the Arctic Circle. Putin has long shown his disregard for human rights and has shown no qualms in silencing his critics in whichever heinous way he chooses. One of our regular contributors, John Sweeney, who has met both Navalny and Putin, shares his thoughts on his "fond and foolish friend" below. But first our regular newsletter, written before this latest revelation.
---
My friend - who shall remain anonymous - works at one of the big management consultancies - which shall also remain anonymous. Back in November the global head called an all-company meeting in which they effectively told everyone they were no longer allowed to discuss Israel-Palestine. It had become so toxic, so polarising, and they needed their staff to get along in order to get work done. This was more of a request than an order; there would be no punishments for going against it. Censorship it was not.
But elsewhere we have seen punishments for expressing one's views publicly. Artists ([link removed]) , academics ([link removed]) , writers ([link removed]) , even footballers ([link removed]) have lost their jobs for voicing an opinion that is seen to be on the wrong side of the conflict. People protesting around the world have been arrested ([link removed]) . So too have journalists simply for covering these protests, as was the case last weekend in New York when Reed Dunlea
([link removed].) was thrown to the ground, had his equipment damaged and was charged, somewhat ironically, with resisting arrest.
At the same time we've seen people being attacked for not expressing a view. Since 7 October social media feeds have filled with posts calling on people to speak up - first against Hamas atrocities, then against Israeli atrocities. The impulse for solidarity is understandable. It's just at times these posts have felt less like an ask and more like a demand.
In the analog world such behaviour reached an extreme last Saturday at London's Soho Theatre. There the comedian Paul Currie wrapped up his show calling on everyone to stand in support of the Ukraine and Palestinian flags. When one audeince member didn’t (Liahav Eitan, an Israeli) they were hounded out of the room by both comedian and audience, who allegedly chanted "get the fuck out". Thoughtful reflection on the incident came from fellow comedian Simon Evans (here ([link removed]) ) in which he said free speech grants comedians a lot of licence but Currie clearly crossed a line.
All of the above are serious attacks to free expression. But they are nothing on the violations that are happening every day in Israel and Palestine itself, for which the implications of not being able to speak freely are far more profound. In Israel, we've heard reports ([link removed]) this past week of both the police and Benjamin Netanyahu's "thugs" attacking people on the streets who've protested the current conduct of the war, including those simply calling for consideration of the remaining hostages.
Across the border in Gaza two Al Jazeera journalists have been badly injured while doing their jobs. It's unclear whether they were injured because of where they were or what they were doing. Still, it is yet another attack on media freedom, a cornerstone of free expression.
That's quite a tally of violations in the past week alone and yet it's far from unusual within the context of this awful war, which is precisely the problem. Today we run the risk of normalising censorship, of becoming inured to its corrosive nature. We need to find a way out of this mess before it’s too late.
Jemimah Steinfeld, editor-in-chief
** Alexei Navalny dead
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]
Alexei Navalny makes a heart sign to his wife in Moscow City Court on 2 February 2021. Handout image/EPA/EFE
When Alexei Navalny returned to Russia after the Kremlin had him poisoned with novichok, he took a bet that Vladimir Putin would not dare to kill the man who was on the blackest of black lists. Today Navalny lost that bet.
In this touching tribute ([link removed]) , regular Index on Censorship contributor John Sweeney shares his thoughts from meeting the man who has been the sharpest thorn in Putin's side.
Help support Index on Censorship ([link removed])
** The deadly challenges of reporting on Sudan’s “forgotten war”
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]
The aftermath of the military coup in Sudan in October 2021. Photo: Osama Eid
The simple act of asking questions, or holding a camera, places a target on your back and hundreds have been attacked and even murdered, says Sudanese–Australian media presenter and writer Yassmin Abdel-Magied ([link removed]) .
** China's feminists walk a tightrope
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]
China's Peng Shuai, who went from being the nation's darling to persona non grata following her accusations of sexual assault by a top Chinese official. Credit: AEGON
Within China's extremely censored environment, some conversations on feminism are seemingly untouched while others are shut down straight away. There's a cruel logic behind this, says Natalie Xu ([link removed]) .
** Love in the time of dissent
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]
Police officer at the Houses of Parliament. Photo: Daniele Zanni/CC BY 3.0 DEED
A week in which many are celebrating their love has turned the focus on those dissidents who are forced to be separate from their partners and families, writes our CEO Ruth Anderson ([link removed]) .
** From the Index archives
------------------------------------------------------------
** Feeding the machine
by Mark Frary
Summer 2021
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]
Just after being imprisoned on his return to Russia, Putin critic Alexei Navalny began a hunger strike to draw attention to his conditions on the inside. Associate editor Mark Frary followed his shocking but often humorous updates ([link removed]) on social media at the time.
Help support Index on Censorship ([link removed])
Index on Censorship defends people's freedom to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution. We publish censored writers and artists, monitor and campaign against censorship, and encourage debate.
We rely on donations from readers and supporters. By donating ([link removed]) to Index you help us to protect freedom of expression and to support those who are denied that right.
[link removed] ([link removed])
============================================================
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
INDEX ON CENSORSHIP © COPYRIGHT 2023
** Privacy and Cookie Policy ([link removed])
