Gaza protest voting in Georgia, Washington threatens Biden’s reelection: Activists

Protesters take part in the “March for Gaza” in Washington, DC, on March 2, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 14 March 2024
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Gaza protest voting in Georgia, Washington threatens Biden’s reelection: Activists

  • #AbandonBiden activists say president likely to lose swing states, hampering November presidential bid
  • Joe Biden, Donald Trump have secured their parties’ nominations after this week’s primaries

CHICAGO: A significant number of Arab and Muslim voters turned their backs on President Joe Biden in Georgia’s and Washington State’s Democratic primary elections on Tuesday — part of a trend likely to threaten his reelection in November’s polls, according to activist organizations.

Voters chose to “not vote” or to vote “uncommitted” to protest Biden’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza, where more than 31,000 Palestinians have been killed, said the #AbandonBiden and ListentoGeorgia campaign bodies.

Voters in Washington State cast “uncommitted” ballots. But Arab and Muslim voters in Georgia could not, and were instead urged by activists to turn in blank ballot papers as a message to Biden that they do not support what they view as genocide and are calling for a ceasefire. They could also vote for other minor candidates rather than Biden.

The Georgia and Washington State protest votes, along with similar voting in Minnesota, Michigan and several other states, pose a serious threat to Biden’s reelection in November, Farah Khan, co-founder of the #AbandonBiden movement, told Arab News. 

Preliminary numbers in Georgia, where Biden won by a razor-thin margin of 11,779 votes to defeat Donald Trump in 2020, show Biden’s reelection is far from certain, she said. 

Biden “can’t redeem himself now. Come November, it’s going to be really hard for him,” Khan added. “We know he’s … feeling the pressure because he keeps making promises on Gaza and making trips to Michigan without telling the public where he plans to be, like he’s dodging the protesters.”

The protest vote was more significant in Washington State where 48,619 voters, nearly 8 percent of the total, cast “uncommitted” votes just in the Democratic primary. In 2020, Biden won Washington State over Trump by a significant 785,000 votes. 

While the #AbandonBiden vote there will not jeopardize his hold on the state, the uncommitted totals were significant and will increase in November, activists said.

If the 8 percent “uncommitted” vote holds in the general election, Biden could face a much closer fight with Trump.

https://www.axios.com/local/seattle/2024/03/13/results-washington-presidential-primary-trump-biden-uncommitted

“Clearly, Georgia had a bit more of an uphill battle than in North Carolina, which had a ‘no preference’ option to affirmatively select,” Pooyan Ordoubadi, co-chair of the North Carolina #AbandonBiden coalition, told Arab News.

“Georgia was decided by less than 12,000 votes in 2020, so even a tiny sliver of disillusioned voters would be extremely problematic for Biden.

“Over three-quarters of Democratic voters are demanding a ceasefire. The large numbers of protest votes show how many voters, across all ages and demographics, are opposed to the US-funded genocide in Gaza. Biden can’t win without us.

“We need to ask why, if the Democrats believe that a Trump presidency would mean the end of democracy, they’re willing to risk it all to support a fascist government in Israel engaged in ethnic cleansing and genocide.”

Khan said: “These numbers are telling you a pretty loud story about the challenges he (Biden) faces. The movement is just getting started.

“Once the primaries wrap up, we’re going to be working very hard to have the momentum picking up. Michigan and Georgia are very tough battlegrounds for him.”

Because there were no “uncommitted” votes to count in Georgia, activists had to calculate the differences between total registered voters versus total votes cast.

Georgia election officials estimated that only slightly more than 11-12 percent of the state’s 7.95 million registered voters requested ballots on Tuesday.

https://sos.ga.gov/election-data-hub

https://www.savannahnow.com/story/news/politics/state/2024/03/12/election-day-georgia-march-12-primary-live-updates/72937683007/

With nearly 98 percent of votes counted in Georgia by Wednesday morning, Biden received 95.19 percent, or 274,820 votes, while two minor challengers won 4.81 percent, or 13,896 votes.

Many Arab and Muslim protesters were encouraged to vote “blank ballots,” although the state election board would not confirm the total number. 

https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/GA/120015/web.317647/#/summary

Activists in the ListentoGeorgia coalition of local faith leaders and political organizations and activists said at least 6,455 Georgia voters submitted blank ballots in response to their protest calls.

Additionally, in Georgia two minor candidate rivals received what appears to be more than 14,000 anti-Biden votes. Georgia election officials did not release numbers for the blank ballots.

The total number of blank ballots returned, combined with the known opposition votes, put the anti-Biden protest at well over the 11,779 votes he received in Georgia in 2020 to defeat Trump.

Biden has not addressed questions or references to the #AbandonBiden campaign over his pro-Israel policies.

But at a rally on Tuesday in Atlanta, a protester in the audience yelled: “What are you going to do, Genocide Joe?  Tens of thousands of Palestinians ...” Supporters drowned out the protester, chanting: “Four more years.”

But Biden responded: “Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait ... Look, I don’t resent … his passion.  There’s a lot of Palestinians who are being unfairly victimized.”

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/03/11/remarks-by-president-biden-at-a-campaign-event-atlanta-ga-march-9-2024/

But Khan said no matter how one analyzes the numbers, Biden’s razor-thin 2020 Georgia victory vanishes and jeopardizes his reelection.

“Even Washington voters are showing their disapproval of Biden. Washington voted 7.6 percent uncommitted, almost 47,000 votes — that’s a pretty clear sign,” she added.

“Based on active engagement we’re witnessing on the ground, we’ll see a lot more Arab and Muslim voters turn out in November’s election.”

 Khan said she expects the trend to continue in upcoming state primaries with large Arab and Muslim voter populations, including in Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio on March 19, Wisconsin on April 2, Maryland and West Virginia on May 14, and New Jersey on June 4.

“Muslim and Arab voters are taking their allies, like the Black and Brown and larger progressive community, with them in uniting behind a message to reject genocide,” she added.

To become president, a candidate in the November presidential election must win at least 270 of the 538 Electoral College votes assigned to the 50 states and territories based on voter population. 

In 2020, Biden won 306 electoral votes while Trump received 232. If Biden loses 36 electoral votes by losing at least three states he won four years ago, he cannot win reelection. Michigan, North Carolina and Minnesota represent 41 total electoral votes.

The #AbandonBiden campaign said their protest against Biden is not an expression of support for Trump, although Trump or a third-party candidate such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could benefit.

If no candidate wins the minimum of 270 electoral votes in the Nov. 5 presidential election, the selection of a president could go to the US House of Representatives, according to the country’s constitution.

https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/faq#no270

Khan said the various #AbandonBiden coalitions are expected to gather after the Democratic and Republican conventions to vet alternative candidates for endorsement, although details have not yet been finalized.

Biden’s deputy campaign manager in Georgia did not respond to an Arab News request for comment.


Italians head to polls in referendum on citizenship and labor, but vote risks sinking on low turnout

Updated 8 sec ago
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Italians head to polls in referendum on citizenship and labor, but vote risks sinking on low turnout

  • Opinion polls published in mid-May showed that only 46 percent of Italians were aware of the issues driving the referendums

ROME: Italians headed to the polls Monday on the second and final day of referendums that would make it easier for children born in Italy to foreigners to obtain citizenship, and on providing more job protections. But partial data showed a low turnout, well below the required 50 percent plus one threshold, risking to invalidate the vote.
Campaigners for the change in the citizenship law say it will help second-generation Italians born in the country to non- European Union parents better integrate into a culture they already see as theirs.
Partial data from Italy’s Interior Ministry published at 2100 GMT on Sunday showed that national turnout stood at 22.7 percent, just over half of the 41 percent registered at the same time of the day in the latest comparable referendum held in 2011. The polling stations close later Monday at 1300 GMT.
The new rules, if passed, could affect about 2.5 million foreign nationals who still struggle to be recognized as citizens.
The measures were proposed by Italy’s main union and left-wing opposition parties. Premier Giorgia Meloni showed up at the polls on Sunday evening but didn’t cast a ballot — an action widely criticized by the left as antidemocratic, since it won’t contribute to reaching the necessary threshold to make the vote valid.
“While some members of her ruling coalition have openly called for abstention, Meloni has opted for a more subtle approach,” said analyst Wolfango Piccoli of the Teneo consultancy based in London. ”It’s yet another example of her trademark fence-sitting.’’
Rights at stake
Supporters say this reform would bring Italy’s citizenship law in line with many other European countries, promoting greater social integration for long-term residents. It would also allow faster access to civil and political rights, such as the right to vote, eligibility for public employment and freedom of movement within the EU.
“The real drama is that neither people who will vote ‘yes’ nor those who intend to vote ‘no’ or abstain have an idea of what (an) ordeal children born from foreigners have to face in this country to obtain a residence permit,” said Selam Tesfaye, an activist and campaigner with the Milan-based human rights group Il Cantiere.
Activists and opposition parties also denounced the lack of public debate on the measures, accusing the governing center-right coalition of trying to dampen interest in sensitive issues that directly impact immigrants and workers.
In May, Italy’s AGCOM communications authority lodged a complaint against RAI state television and other broadcasters over a lack of adequate and balanced coverage.
Opinion polls published in mid-May showed that only 46 percent of Italians were aware of the issues driving the referendums. Turnout projections were even weaker for a vote scheduled for the first weekend of Italy’s school holidays, at around 35 percent of around 50 million electors, well below the required quorum.
“Many believe that the referendum institution should be reviewed in light of the high levels of abstention (that) emerged in recent elections and the turnout threshold should be lowered,” said Lorenzo Pregliasco, political analyst and pollster at YouTrend.
Some analysts note, however, that the center-left opposition could claim a victory even if the referendum fails on condition that the turnout surpasses the 12.3 million voters who backed the winning center-right coalition in the 2022 general election.


Ukraine says Russia launched 479 drones in the war’s biggest overnight drone bombardment

Updated 18 min ago
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Ukraine says Russia launched 479 drones in the war’s biggest overnight drone bombardment

  • Ukraine’s air defenses destroyed 277 drones and 19 missiles in mid-flight

KYIV, Ukraine: Russia launched 479 drones at Ukraine in the war ‘s biggest overnight drone bombardment, the Ukrainian air force said Monday.

Apart from drones, 20 missiles of various types were fired at different parts of Ukraine, according to the air force, which said the barrage targeted mainly central and western areas of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s air defenses destroyed 277 drones and 19 missiles in mid-flight, an air force statement said, claiming that only 10 drones or missiles hit their target.

It was not possible to independently verify the claim.

Russia’s aerial attacks usually start late in the evening and end in the morning, because drones are harder to spot in the dark.

Russia has relentlessly battered civilian areas of Ukraine with Shahed drones during the more than 3-year war. The attacks have killed more that 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations.

Russia says it targets only military targets.


‘Better if he was dead’: Kenyan mother’s search for son year after protests

Updated 09 June 2025
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‘Better if he was dead’: Kenyan mother’s search for son year after protests

  • Susan Wangari has lost count of the morgues, hospitals and police stations she has visited in search of her son, who went missing at the height of Kenya’s mass protests last June

NAIROBI: Susan Wangari has lost count of the morgues, hospitals and police stations she has visited in search of her son, who went missing at the height of Kenya’s mass protests last June.
She last saw Emmanuel Mukuria, 24, on the morning of June 25, 2024, the day that thousands of Kenyan youths thronged the streets of Nairobi and stormed parliament in protest at planned tax rises and corruption.
“It would be better if my son were dead; at least I could visit his grave,” she told AFP.
Rights groups say at least 60 people were killed during the protests in June and July, and more than 80 abducted by the security forces since then, with dozens still missing.
Mukuria’s friends say he was arrested during the protests in the city center, where he worked as a minibus tout.
“We do not have peace in this house,” his mother, 50, told AFP during a visit to her single-room home in the Kasarani slum area.
“I sleep lightly at night in case he comes knocking at my window like he always did,” she said.
“Every time we hear that bodies have been found somewhere, we are anxious to know whose they are.”
Two men told her they shared a cell with Mukuria, but they are too afraid to speak publicly about their ordeal.
One was only released in February, giving her hope that her son is still alive in captivity.
“They told me they were beaten and questioned about the protests. They were being asked who paid them to participate,” Wangari said.
Last month, President William Ruto, in a clear admission that security forces had engaged in kidnappings, said all those abducted during the protests had been “returned to their families.”
Rights groups say dozens are still missing and police have shown little progress in investigating the disappearances despite Ruto claiming an “accountability mechanism” was put in place.
Questioned by AFP, the president’s office said the police were “handling the brief,” while a police spokesman referred AFP back to the president’s office.
The police spokesman said they had no information on Mukuria’s case. An officer-in-charge at the station where Wangari reported him missing said the matter was still under investigation.
Many other families are still dealing with the aftermath of the violence.
Rex Masai, 29, was the first to die during the protests, shot and killed in the city center on June 20.
The inquest into his death is still dragging on.
“We are hoping for the best but we are not near the truth,” Masai’s mother Gillian Munyao told AFP at her home, where a photo of her dreadlocked son hangs on the wall.
She found her son lying lifeless in a pool of blood at a clinic where he was taken that day.
The state prosecutor has said a lack of witnesses has delayed progress in the case.
One potential witness was scared off for fear he might be “forcibly disappeared” by the police, Munyao said.
Hussein Khalid, head of rights group Vocal Africa, blamed a “lack of cooperation by the authorities.”
“When you get evidence, the unfortunate bit is you have to take it to the police themselves,” he said.
He lost count of the number of funerals he attended after the protests, estimating between 20 and 30.
“Was it necessary to unleash this kind of brute force against young, innocent Kenyans?” he said.
Politicians have shown little interest in accountability or learning from the unrest.
“People were killed, we sympathized, we moved on,” Bashir Abdullahi, a member of the ruling coalition, told parliament during a debate on the protests last month.
But for victim’s families, the search for justice “means a lot,” said Masai’s father, Chrispin Odawa.
“The wound will never heal,” he said.


As the UN Ocean Conference opens in France, a push to turn promises into protection

Updated 09 June 2025
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As the UN Ocean Conference opens in France, a push to turn promises into protection

  • A major focus of the summit is the push to ratify the High Seas Treaty, which would enable conservation in international waters
  • France claims progress but has been criticized for weak enforcement in many protected areas. The conference will also address climate funding

NICE:The third UN Ocean Conference opens Monday as pressure mounts for nations to turn decades of promises into real protection for the sea.
The summit comes as just 2.7 percent of the ocean is effectively protected from destructive extractive activities, according to the nonprofit Marine Conservation Institute. That’s far below the target agreed under the “30x30” pledge to conserve 30 percent of land and sea by 2030.
Atop this year’s agenda is ratification of the High Seas Treaty. Adopted in 2023, the treaty would for the first time allow nations to establish marine protected areas in international waters, which cover nearly two-thirds of the ocean and are largely ungoverned.
“It’s the Wild West out there with countries just fishing anywhere without any sort of regulation, and that needs to change,” said Mauro Randone, regional projects manager at the World Wildlife Fund’s Mediterranean Marine Initiative. “The high seas belong to everyone and no one practically at the same time, and countries are finally committing to establish some rules.”
The ocean is critical in stabilizing Earth’s climate and sustaining life. It generates 50 percent of the oxygen we breathe, absorbs around 30 percent of carbon dioxide emissions and captures more than 90 percent of the excess heat caused by those emissions. Without a healthy ocean, experts warn, climate goals will remain out of reach.
The treaty will only come into force once 60 countries ratify it. As of Monday, just 32 countries had. Advocates hope UNOC can build enough momentum to cross the threshold, which would allow for the first official Oceans Conference of Parties.
“Two-thirds of the ocean is areas beyond national jurisdiction — that’s half our planet,” said Minna Epps, director of global ocean policy the International Union for Conservation of Nature. “We cannot possibly protect 30 percent of the ocean if it doesn’t include the high seas.”
South Korea, France and the European Union have championed the treaty, but most large ocean nations have yet to ratify it, including the rest of the G20. Thousands of attendees are expected in Nice — from delegates and heads of state to scientists and industry leaders. The United States has yet to confirm a formal delegation.
Moving from protections on paper to something real

Beyond new commitments, the conference highlights the growing gap between marine protection declarations and real-world conservation.
France, the conference co-host, claims to have surpassed the 30 percent target for marine protection. But environmental groups say only 3 percent of French waters are fully protected from harmful activities like bottom trawling and industrial fishing.
In 2024 alone, more than 100 bottom-trawling vessels were recorded spending over 17,000 hours fishing within France’s six marine nature parks, according to ocean advocacy group Oceana.
“The government declares these as protected areas, but this is a lie,” said Enric Sala, founder of National Geographic Pristine Seas marine reserve project. “Most of it is political box-ticking. It’s all paper parks.”
That criticism is echoed across the continent. A new World Wildlife Fund report found that although more than 11 percent of Europe’s marine area is designated for protection, just 2 percent of EU waters have management plans in place.
Fabien Boileau, director of marine protected areas at France’s Office for Biodiversity, acknowledged the presence of bottom trawling in French protected areas, but said it was part of a phased strategy.
“In France, we made the choice to designate large marine protected areas with relatively low levels of regulation at first, betting that stronger protections would be developed over time through local governance,” he said. “Today, we’re gradually increasing the number of zones with stricter protections within those areas.”
France’s Port-Cros: A model for conservation

While many marine protected areas struggle with enforcement, others show what real protection can achieve. Off the southern coast of France, Port-Cros National Park is one of the oldest marine reserves in the Mediterranean. There, strict anchoring bans have allowed vast seagrass meadows to grow undisturbed. Massive groupers patrol rocky outcrops, brightly colored nudibranchs munch on algae, and schools of large corbs glide through the shallows, undisturbed by fishing lines.
“Thanks to the protections that have been in place since 1963, we can observe species that are much larger than elsewhere in the Mediterranean and at a much higher density than in other areas,” said Hubert Flavigny, manager of Mio Palmo dive center in Hyeres, France.
Still, such examples remain exceptions.
Advocates say industrial fishing lobbies continue to resist stricter protections, despite evidence that well-managed reserves boost long-term fisheries through the “spillover effect,” whereby marine life flourishes in nearby waters.
“Protection is not the problem — overfishing is the problem,” said Sala. “The worst enemy of the fishing industry is themselves.”
Frustrated by government inaction, environmental groups have taken enforcement into their own hands. In May, Greenpeace dropped 15 limestone boulders into France’s Golfe du Lion, aiming to physically block bottom trawling in a marine area that has long been designated for protection. The protected zone was established in 2008 to preserve deep-sea ecosystems, yet 12 trawlers continue to operate there, despite scientific warnings of ecological collapse, according to activist group MedReAct. The Golfe is now one of the most overfished areas in the Mediterranean.
What will UNOC deliver?
The conference will feature 10 panels on topics such as blue finance, sustainable fisheries and plastic pollution. Deep sea mining is expected to feature in broader discussions, while small island states are likely to use the platform to advocate for increased climate adaptation funding. The outcome of these discussions will form the basis of the Nice Ocean Action Plan — a declaration of voluntary commitments to be adopted by consensus and presented at the United Nations in New York this July.
“There cannot be a healthy planet without a healthy ocean,” said Peter Thomson, UN special envoy for the ocean. “It’s urgent business for us all.”


Malaysia bus crash kills at least 15, mostly students

Updated 09 June 2025
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Malaysia bus crash kills at least 15, mostly students

KUALA LUMPUR: A bus carrying university students back to their campus smashed into a minivan in northern Malaysia on Monday, killing at least 15 people, police and rescue services said.
Thirteen victims died at the scene near the town of Gerik, on the busy East-West Highway near the Thai border, while two died in hospital.
The accident is the deadliest in more than a decade on Malaysia’s hazardous roads.
“It looked like the bus had lost control and hit the (minivan) from behind,” Perak State Police Chief Hisam Nordin said.
Images from the scene taken by the fire and rescue department showed a green bus overturned on its right side with a smashed rear end cover, while the red minivan had slid into a ditch, with its windows blown out.
“Some victims managed to get out on their own, some victims were thrown out while others were still (trapped) in the bus,” the Perak state disaster management authority said in a statement.
Rescuers had to use a hydraulic cutter to free people from the bus.
The death toll included 14 students from the Sultan Idris Education University, while the last victim was a bus attendant, the emergency services said.
Thirty-three others were injured, with seven in critical condition taken to hospital, it added.
Most of the victims were aged between 21 and 23. They were traveling from the town of Jerteh in northeastern Malaysia when the accident happened shortly after 1:00 am (1700 GMT on Sunday).
Police Chief Hisam said officers were investigating whether the crash “involved human negligence or if it was a technical issue.”
A witness told the New Straits Times it “was a chaotic scene with students screaming and crying for help.”
“They were pinned between the wreckage,” the witness, identified as Razali, told the paper.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim ordered the Higher Education Ministry to help the victim’s families and said he and his wife Azizah were “deeply saddened” by the tragedy.
“Heartbreaking disasters like these that are repeated often should be a lesson to all to be careful and not to rush,” Anwar wrote on Facebook.
“Your lives are too precious and can’t be replaced,” he added.
Malaysia has a high rate of traffic accidents, with an average of 18 people killed on the roads each day, according to government figures.
The East-West Highway, which connects the two seaboards of the Malaysian peninsula, is plagued by accidents, with frequent collisions between animals and vehicles.
Malaysia worst bus disaster happened in 2013 when an express bus plunged down a ravine northeast of Kuala Lumpur, killing 37.