Will statue of 17th century British merchant come down over his trafficking in slaves?
July 25, 2021A museum façade in London’s Hoxton region turned into an unlikely battlefield in the wake of last year’s police murder in the US of George Floyd, a shocking death which triggered Black Lives Matter protests not just nationwide, but around the globe.
The dispute at this otherwise peaceful site centers on whether to remove a statue of Sir Robert Geffrye, a merchant who, in 1685, also served as lord mayor of London, a statue now standing in a niche above the main entrance to the Museum of the Home.
Since last May, when Floyd was murdered, local campaigners have spotlighted the underside of Geffrye’s public face: his involvement in the UK’s Africa slave trade.
His fortune, after all, came largely from trafficking Black people with the East India Company and Royal African Company in the 17th century.
“He was an investor in transatlantic slavery and is listed among the original charter members of the Royal Africa Company, in 1672,” according to the authoritative Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
Geffrye, who also occupied various high offices in London, had a substantial investment in the slave trade, the records show.
Why a statue of Geffrye?
The Museum of the Home until recently was known as the Geffrye Museum, because it is situated in former 18th-century alms-houses – houses built for Britain’s the poor and needy – houses funded by Sir Robert Geffrye (1613 -1703).
The statue of Geffrye – a 20th-century copy of the 1723 original – has stood above the museum entrance since 1912.
There is also a memorial for Geffrye and his wife inside a small chapel situated in the museum, based on his will.
In July 2020, following protesters’ destruction in Bristol, southwestern England of a statue of Edward Colston, an MP and slave merchant, the public was asked its views – called a public consultation – on possible removal of the Geffrye statue.
Though a large majority of 71% of the public favored the statue’s removal, this apparently was not enough for the museum to do so, unlike the Museum of London Docklands, which removed the statue of Robert Milligan, another slave trader, in June 2019.
“In light of new legislation proposed by the government in January 2021 to protect historic monuments at risk of removal or relocation, the Board believes that its original decision is the only practical option for the foreseeable future,” the museum told Anadolu Agency, referring to its decision to “contextualise” Geffrye’s life rather than remove the statue.
“The ongoing debate about the Geffrye statue raises important questions,” it said.
“The Museum is continuing to listen carefully to all the issues raised and is committed to being open about the history of Geffrye on-site and online and to confront, challenge and learn from the uncomfortable truths of the origins of the Museum buildings.”
‘Ripped from their homes’
Geffrye held shares in the Royal African Company and part-owned the slave ship China Merchant, according to Sasha Simic, a member of Hackney Stand Up to Racism – a group campaigning for the statue’s removal.
Simic told Anadolu Agency that the Royal African Company “sent more than 500 slave ships to West Africa between 1672 and 1713, enslaving people from their homes in Benin, Nigeria, Gambia, and the Gold Coast.”
“Those people were ripped from their homes and sold to plantation owners in Barbados, Jamaica, Nevis, Virginia, and Antigua.”
Simic said that, according to research by archaeologist Sean Kingsley, 279 voyages were taken by the Royal African Company between 1672 and 1713.
On these voyages, over 65,400 Africans were trafficked to the Caribbean, and nearly 14,700 died in the cramped, disease-ridden crossing ships, where they were treated as perishable goods rather than human beings.
“The British establishment built their wealth from the North Atlantic slave trade,” explained Simic.
“Their wealth comes from 400 years of slavery which tore 12.8 million people from their homes in West Africa.”
Simic said the statue should be taken down and displayed in the Museum of the Home, which in December 2019 changed its name from the Geffrye Museum after a government-funded £1.8 million ($2.48 million) renovation.
He thinks visitors to the museum should be able to learn about Geoffrye’s slave trade-tainted past.
“We want the whole story to be told – not a myth which tells us Geffrye was a ‘philanthropist’ but not how he made his money,” Simic said.
“We say the trustees of the Museum of the Home should take the statue down and display it in the museum, with his involvement in the slave trade made open and transparent,” he argued.
“The visiting public should be allowed to make up their own minds as to whether the slaver Geffrye deserves to be remembered as a ‘philanthropist’.”
The museum speaks
The Museum of the Home, which explores changing British homes and gardens through the centuries alongside shifting lifestyles, is standing for now by its original decision to keep the statue in its original place, but says it is “committed to a transformative programme.”
The museum explained to Anadolu Agency that it is “proceeding with ideas about what explaining and contextualising the statue in its original position could look like.”
“The first step has been to install a panel near the statue telling a fuller history of Geffrye, including his persistent investment in the forced labour and trading of enslaved Africans, and acknowledging that the statue is the subject of much discussion,” said its media office in a statement.
“Alongside this, the Museum is committed to a transformative programme of structural and cultural change to become truly representative and inclusive, through our new galleries and displays, creative programming, partnerships and workforce.”
Claims of government pressure to keep statue in place
Simic claimed that Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden had “threatened” the museum over its board possibly removing the statue, saying that the museum’s funding would be affected.
Anadolu Agency’s email requests to Dowden – whose portfolio also includes digital, media and sport – to respond to this claim went unanswered.
The museum declined to directly address the claim, but did say keeping the statue in place was the “government’s position.”
“The Board’s original decision was made in line with government’s position that statues should not be removed, but should be interpreted in situ, in order to tell the full story of Britain’s past,” it said.
However, Simic argued that communication between Dowden and the museum made the threat of interference very clear.
“In a barely disguised reference to the possible consequences if the statue was moved, Dowden reminded the trustees of the Museum that they were ‘a government-funded organisation’,” he said.
“The Museum also received a follow-up communication from the DCMS (Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport) which asked them to redraft a statement on the statue so that references to Dowden’s direct intervention were removed in favour of a vague allusion to ‘relevant government agencies’.”
‘Geffrye must fall’
“Those of us who say #GeffryeMustFall have been accused of wanting to ‘cancel culture’ and ‘re-write history’ but it is Dowden and (Housing Secretary Robert) Jenrick and (Prime Minister) Boris Johnson's government who want to distort and obscure history,” Simic added.
“This is a movement that won’t be stopped,” he stressed.
“If the City of London and The British Museum can remove monuments to slavers, then why can’t The Museum of the Home?
He underlined: “Geffrye must fall. Geffrye will fall.”/aa
French demonstrators clashed with police in several cities on Saturday as protests against vaccines and the government's new health pass requirement continued for the second week.
Nearly 168 rallies took place across the country with 160,000 protesters taking to the streets, according to the Interior Ministry.
Multiple rallies were organized in Paris at the Trocadero across from the Eiffel Tower, Place de la Bastille and the Palais Royal. In the heart of the city in Champs-Elysees, demonstrators attempted to block the road and attack police vehicles, jeering and chanting "Liberte" (freedom), to which police responded with tear gas and water cannon to disperse the mob, arresting nine people.
Interior minister Gerald Darmanin on Twitter condemned the alleged violence against police and journalists by the protesters.
Similar tensions were recorded in Lyon as demonstrators threw bottles, stones, and other items at security forces and attempted to block the expressway. Four were arrested for misconduct and carrying out protests despite prohibition by authorities due to the violence during last weekend's rally, authorities said.
Thousands of others also joined demonstrations called by the Yellow Vest movement in Strasbourg, Lille, Marseilles, Aix en Provence, Dunkirk, Nice, Bordeaux, Grenoble, Nantes, Montpellier, and other cities to oppose the government of President Emmanuel Macron, who announced last week that health passes -- giving details of negative PCR/antigen tests and vaccination for anyone 12 and older -- will be mandatory for all events and public places of leisure and culture with occupancy of 50 or more people.
The government has also made vaccines compulsory for healthcare workers and employees of institutions such as elder homes, with penalties including the loss of job and salary.
Protesters have dubbed the move "totalitarian," "dictatorial," and "anti-freedom."
The new measures were introduced in light of rising cases of the Delta variant and the risk of a fourth wave in August. Authorities fear more cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the coming weeks if herd immunity is not achieved, and also plan to introduce mandatory vaccination for all by September if targets are not reached.
Lawmakers too appear divided on the new COVID-19 measures encompassed in a recent bill approved by the upper house of parliament on Saturday with several reservations following its adoption a day before in the national assembly.
The bill introduces tough penalties including loss of job and salary for health personnel who fail to get vaccinated by Sept. 15, compulsory 10-day isolation for people that tested positive for COVID-19 who will be subjected to monitoring, and an extension of health pass restrictions starting on Aug. 30 to include department stores, shopping centers, trade fairs, seminars, restaurants, cafes and long-distance public transport.
Senators approved amendments exempting minors from the health pass, to enter "closed interior confines," thereby excluding the outdoor terraces of restaurants, cafes and bars, and delaying the start date from Aug. 30 to Sept. 15. Senators contended that these health measures may stay in place for a longer time and therefore need to guarantee the freedom of the public.
The bill is likely to go through the joint committee next, where these new amendments approved by the Senate may get rejected in favor of the bill's original content, as intended by the government, before it becomes the law./aa
Rayan Freschi*
Since the drafting of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen in 1789, France describes itself to be the epitome of justice and desires to share its understanding of human rights with the rest of the world.
However, France has taken one step closer towards tyranny and persecution. After being announced in October 2020 by French President Emmanuel Macron and months of discussions, the Anti-Separatism Bill has finally been adopted by the Parliament.
What changes is it bringing, and how is it going to affect French Muslims?
Here are the most fundamental reforms introduced by the Law. It will expand government powers to dissolve an organization, a framework which is already loose and enabled the dissolutions of two major Muslim NGO in 2020. In addition, cultural associations will be submitted to tighter fiscal and administrative control.
Organizations seeking public funds will have to sign a “Republican Contract” and abide by its conditions, which is nothing short of a philosophical submission to the State’s ideology.
The very French version of secularism (laicité) – which already requires political, philosophical and religious neutrality for any civil servant – is strengthened by extending this legal condition to non-civil servants associated with public or private bodies involved in a public service mission.
To reinforce it even more, the law targets Islamic private education by introducing new executive tools facilitating the suspension or closure of Islamic private schools.
It also severely restricts home-schooling. This new framework de facto forces Muslim parents to send their children through the public secular education system where overt religious signs such as headscarf are forbidden. The government viciously tries to weaken the actual transmission of Islam for the benefit of French secular philosophy.
Obviously, to avoid the accusation of Islamophobia, the bill does not mention by name Islam or Muslims, but Macron stated when he announced the reform, “what we need to tackle is Islamist Separatism”, indicating that the bill specifically aims at the Muslim community.
If referred to the Constitutional Council, some dispositions of the bill, especially the one regarding home-schooling, could be struck down, but the overall backbone of the bill will not be affected.
It would be a major mistake to believe that such a piece of legislation will have no concrete consequences, disconnected from a wider plan to submit France’s Muslim population to a second class status.
Mechanics of persecution
When introducing the bill, the Council of Ministers explained that it “is a structuring element of the government's strategy to combat separatism and attacks on citizenship”, implicitly pointing at an already existing strategy. As no French Muslims ever demanded to live in a separate State within the French national territory, it is necessary to identify the institutional mechanics of this “strategy” and its political objective.
In 2019, former Home Secretary Christophe Castaner, in an address to the Prefects, unveiled that the State had been piloting a policy aimed at stopping “Islamism”, and “communitarian withdrawal” since 2018.
By “Islamism' , “Radical Islam”' or “Islamist Separatism” the government means normative Islamic beliefs in and so far as, according to the French State, wearing hijab, a beard, praying or increasing one's religiosity during the month of Ramadan is a “weak signal” of “radicalization”.
What is then “communitarian withdrawal” ? To understand this expression, it must be mentioned that France does not recognize the political and legal existence of minorities on its soil.
This stance reflects the very French idea, inherited from Jacobinism, that the nation is and must be one under the banner of the Republic. This unity must not be understood as a form of national solidarity but rather as an identitarian idea according to which equal is synonymous with identical.
Hence, “communitarian withdrawal” describes behaviors, be they cultural or religious, of a minority group of individuals, united by a specific identity, that differ from the actual norm of the majority.
The first two years of the policy were implemented in 15 unknown areas in total secrecy. As announced by the former home secretary, it resulted in 1,030 controls of public establishments (mosques, schools, cultural or sporting establishments, or public houses) believed to be run by "Islamists" and followed an explicit modus operandi.
"As soon as there are doubts about a place or an association, I ask you not to hesitate to carry out inspections and controls. And if breaches are established, I ask you to order administrative closures without hesitation," Castaner said.
These “inspections and controls” are conducted by administrative controllers who scrutinize every piece of legislation applicable to the public establishments which means the authorities can use doubts about hygiene, the control of regulations concerning sports activities, rules concerning the reception of minors or the fight against fraud to inspect places open to the public.
Castaner described this method as "systematic obstruction." It represents a strategy of maximum pressure on Muslim civil society to make day to day work intolerably difficult, asphyxiating a community already weakened by decades of systemic bigotry.
In the same address, the former home secretary announced that the policy was now to be implemented across the country.
In order to facilitate such an implementation, the French State created 101 “departmental cells fighting against Islamism and communitarian withdrawal”. According to the State, these cells are “a multidisciplinary team, placed under the authority of the departmental prefect, that aims to coordinate the action of all actors likely to contribute to the fight against Islamism and community withdrawal.”
Their task ? To function as a specific anti-Muslim intelligence, gather relevant information and submit it to the Prefect who will process it and demand an inspection to be carried out in case of “doubt”.
As of May 2021, it led to the closure of at least 37 mosques, 4 schools and 210 public houses run by French Muslims. In addition, some 559 Muslim-owned businesses or organizations have been closed down, and 22,222 were investigated. It also allowed the state to seize more than €43 million ($50.6 million) from an already impoverished Muslim community.
It means that, on average, 27 controls take place each business day, 569 a month, four closures are announced each month and €10 million ($11.8 million) seized each year.
The French Prime Minister Jean Castex issued a public circular on the 24th of June, explicitly identifying the higher aim of the Anti-Separatism Bill: “This obstruction policy will soon be strengthened by the dispositions of the bill to Reinforce Respect for Republican Principles (Anti-Separatism Bill).”
Through this legislation, the French government only expands its already large legal and executive powers to amplify and facilitate its anti-Islam policy.
The newly introduced framework is very clear: the French State is at war with its Muslim community, which will now have to submit to extraordinary and extreme demands of allegiance.
As the infamous Imam’s charter states, French Muslims are “bound by a pact” to France which demands a full submission to its ideology. Faith-inspired dissent is not to be tolerated. The results of this “systematic obstruction”, shocking, only point at the reality of a systematic attack on Muslims.
A very real State-led Islamophobic persecution is taking place in front of our eyes./aa
* The writer is a France based legal jurist.
**Opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of the Al-Mujtama.
2 - See Christophe Castaner hearing at the Law Commission, 8th october 2019.
http://videos.assemblee-nationale.fr/vod.php?media=8204226_5d9ca9d57c415&name=%22Commission+des+lois+%3A+M.+Christophe+Castaner%2C+ministre+de+l’Intérieur%22+du+8+octobre+2019
3 - For more details, see the works of Aissam Ait Yahya, De l’idéologie islamique française, or Alain de Benoist’s “Jacobinisme ou Fédéralisme”.
5 - Ibid.
6 - https://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/dyn/15/comptes-rendus/cion_lois/l15cion_lois1920045_compte-rendu
7 - https://www.cipdr.gouv.fr/islamisme-et-separatisme-clir/
8 - See the monthly press releases by the Home Secretary regarding its struggle against “radical Islam”, available here : https://www.interieur.gouv.fr
9 - Official wording of the Anti-Separatism Bill. See https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/download/file/pdf/cir_45206/CIRC
208 migrants rescued off Tunisian coast
July 25, 2021Tunisia said Saturday that it had rescued 208 irregular migrants off its coast in the Mediterranean Sea in two separate operations.
"The National Guard managed on Friday and Saturday to thwart 16 illegal crossings of the maritime borders towards Italy and rescued 155 [migrants] aboard leaking boats," Houssam Eddine al-Jabali, a spokesperson for the Tunisian National Guard, said on his Facebook page.
He added that ten of the migrants were wanted for justice, without giving further details.
Al-Jabali said 53 other migrants were rescued earlier on Saturday after two boats sunk off the coasts of El Ghadabna and Chebba in the country’s eastern Mahdia province.
According to the spokesperson, 38 people were arrested in a preemptive operation in Sfax, Kerkennah, and Hammamet as they were preparing for an irregular migration operation towards Italy.
For years, Maghreb countries -- Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia -- have witnessed attempts by migrants from mainly sub-Saharan Africa to reach Europe./aa
368 migrants rescued off Moroccan coast
July 25, 2021Moroccan coast guards have rescued 368 irregular migrants, including three children and seven women, off the kingdom’s coast in the Mediterranean Sea, according to the Moroccan news agency MAP.
The bulk majority of those rescued hailed from sub-Saharan Africa in a four-day operation that took place between July 20 and 23.
"The migrants were facing difficulties aboard 22 inflatable boats, 30 kayaks, and five rubber wheels," MAP said.
In November last year, the Moroccan Interior Ministry said it had foiled 26,800 illegal immigration attempts in 2020 and dismantled more than 196 migrant trafficking networks.
For years, Maghreb countries -- Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia -- have witnessed attempts by migrants from mainly sub-Saharan Africa to reach Europe.
In the first half of 2021, nearly 15,000 people illegally crossed into Spain, an increase of 63% from the same period in 2020, according to the Interior Ministry.
This year, migrant routes to Spain have also become more fatal.
Nearly 2,100 people died or went missing trying to cross Africa into Spain, five times higher than last year, according to the human rights organization Caminando Fronteras, or Front Line Defenders./aa
UN concerned over escalating violence in northwest Syria
July 25, 2021The United Nations has voiced deep concern over the escalating violence in northwestern Syria, which poses an increasing risk to civilians.
Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the ongoing fighting caused the death and injury to dozens of civilians in the past weeks, including women and children.
"The latest reports indicate that shelling in Beiyloun village in southern rural Idlib on Thursday killed seven civilians, including three children. Seven other civilians were injured, including a girl," Haq said.
"Such attacks raise further concerns about compliance with international humanitarian law, which requires the parties to take all feasible precautions to avoid and minimize civilian harm," he added.
According to Anadolu Agency correspondent, 13 people were killed on Sunday in attacks by Syrian regime forces and allied terror groups on residential areas in the northwestern Idlib province.
Idlib falls within a de-escalation zone forged under an agreement between Turkey and Russia in March 2020. The Syrian regime, however, has consistently violated the terms of the cease-fire, launching frequent attacks inside the de-escalation zone.
Syria has been mired in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.
Over the past decade, around half a million people have been killed and more than 12 million had to flee their homes./aa
Over 30,000 travel as 282 flights take off, land at Kuwait International Airport over 3 days
July 25, 2021KUWAIT CITY: Director of the Air Transport Department at the Directorate- General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Abdullah Al-Rajhi said during the three days of the Eid Al-Adha holidays the Kuwait International Airport (KIA) handled about 30.6 thousand incoming and outgoing passengers aboard 282 flights, reports Al-Anba daily. Al-Rajhi stated on the first day of Eid the KIA witnessed the operation of about 90 flights, distributed among 44 incoming flights and 46 departures, while the second day of Eid witnessed the operation of about 95 flights between incoming and outgoing flights, and the third day of about 97 flights.
Al-Rajhi praised the success of the plan developed by the DGCA and the various authorities operating at the airport to prevent overcrowding keeping in line with the instructions issued by the health authorities. Moreover, over the two days the KIA is expected to witness a remarkable movement of return flights to the country, after the end of the Eid al-Adha holidays./KT
Blinken’s visit to Kuwait ‘affirmation of enduring ties’
July 25, 2021WASHINGTON: US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Arabian Peninsula Affairs Daniel Benaim said Friday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Kuwait is “an affirmation of the enduring ties between the United States and long-standing partner Kuwait”. In a teleconference briefing with reporters, Benaim said that during the visit on Wednesday, Blinken will meet the senior Kuwaiti leadership and “consult on a wide range of issues befitting two close partners”.
“This visit comes in a year where we mark two important milestones in the bilateral relationship, the 30th anniversary of Operation Desert Shield and the liberation of Kuwait. as well as the 60th anniversary of our diplomatic ties, ties that we hope to build on with this trip,” he added. “Our partnership has only grown stronger and deeper over the last 30 years. Kuwaiti mediation and statesmanship were vital to the healing the Gulf rift that helped pull US partners in this region back together, so we’re grateful for that and look forward to discussing a variety of different regional issues,” he affirmed.
“On a variety of different issues – Kuwait works to end conflicts, bridge gaps, de-escalate tensions and provide humanitarian aid and we welcome the chance to consult closely – on other regional issues of concern,” Benaim noted. “Today, we are finding new and important areas to cooperate, particularly when cooperation is needed on the world stage. Our partnership on Covax and work to increase COVID-19 vaccine distribution worldwide is adding to the response to stem the growth of this international health crisis,” he added.
Asked by KUNA on the next US-Kuwait Strategic Dialogue, Benaim said “our governments are in constant cooperation and contact about the next dialogue, which we hope will be soon”. The governments of the US and Kuwait held the fourth US-Kuwait Strategic Dialogue in Nov 2020. – KUNA
The Kuwaiti market is still suffering from a severe shortage of domestic workers, for several reasons; On top of this is the reluctance of these workers to come, preferring other neighboring countries.
The head of the voluntary committee to study the file of domestic workers in the country, Bassam Al-Shammari, told that “the Kuwaiti market has become expelling domestic workers, who are still suffering and do not feel safe inside, due to the regression of the relevant government agencies from their role in providing protection and the proper settlement of its disputes with its employers.
Al-Shammari stressed that the continuation of the phenomenon of these workers resorting to the embassies of their countries is a serious offense to the sovereignty of the state, and shows the government’s inability to find radical solutions to it, adding that “there is a big problem looming on the horizon, which is the refusal of employers to book tickets for their workers wishing to return to their countries.” After the end of the work contract, due to the high ticket costs, or the failure to provide an alternative worker, which may double the reluctance of domestic workers to come to Kuwait./agencies
The World Health Organization said Friday countries have the responsibility to work together, in partnership with WHO, so scientists can try to find the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, after China rejected a plan for a second phase of investigations.
China, the day before, rejected the WHO’s second stage to investigate the coronavirus pandemic’s origins that could also include the supposition the virus may have escaped from a Chinese laboratory, and countries, including the United States, had called for a new probe.
WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic was asked at a UN press briefing for comment and quoted WHO's Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus and its head of emergencies Mike Ryan as "consistent in saying that this is all about science."
Tedros had agreed last week to a call for further studies after the release of an inconclusive report on an international team's field visit to Wuhan, China to research the origins of COVID-19, citing difficulties accessing raw data.
"Countries have the responsibility to work together and to work with WHO in the spirit of partnership, so scientists can have their space to try to find the origins of this pandemic," said Jasarevic.
"Now countries are looking into the proposal that the director-general outlined last week. They need some time. We look forward to input and constructive dialogue."
Zeng Yixin, deputy head of China's National Health Commission, had said, "The work plan on the second phase origins study proposed by the WHO contains language that does not respect science."
Second phase of studies proposed
The decision came after the new WHO proposal Friday for the second phase of studies, including inspection of laboratories and markets in Wuhan, from where the first cases of the virus were reported in December 2019.
On July 16, Tedros said he expects China to support the next phase of the scientific process to identify the origins of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the coronavirus after the first part was criticized.
The WHO had addressed representatives of the health organization's member states on the origins of the virus that has wreaked havoc worldwide since early in 2020, killing millions and shutting down economies.
"Finding where this virus came from is essential not just for understanding how the pandemic started and preventing future outbreaks, but it's also important as an obligation to the families of the 4 million people who have lost someone they love, and the millions who have suffered," said Tedros.
"We expect China to support this next phase of the scientific process by sharing all relevant data in a spirit of transparency."
He said the WHO expects all member states to support the scientific process "by refraining from politicizing it."
At the end of March, a WHO-led international scientific team delivered its report following a mission to China in January, in line with the World Health Assembly for a probe into the virus, said Tedros./aa
