MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 , 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A
BY RUTH EGLASHjerusalem — Israel will head
into a second coronavirus lock-
down, Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu announced in a tele-
vised news conference Sunday
night, following a sharp escala-
tion in the number of new infec-
tions in the country in recent
weeks.
The lockdown, which requires
schools, stores, malls and hotels
to close and reinstates restric-
tions on people’s movements for
at least three weeks starting
Friday, marks an attempt to halt
the trajectory that s aw more t han
4,000 new cases in a single day
last week in a country of some 9
million.
Data published by the Health
Ministry on Sunday showed that
since the start of the crisis,
153, 759 people in Israel have
caught the virus, with 114,6 35
recovering, 38,008 cases active
and 1,108 dead.
“Our economy is still in good
shape,” Netanyahu assured the
public Sunday, pointing out that
Israel’s rising numbers mirrored
what was happening in many
other countries and reflected the
challenge of reopening society
and the economy after the first
lockdown in March and April.
Israel began reopening in ear-
ly May, even sending children
back to school before the sum-
mer vacation to allow parents to
return to work. Now, Netanyahu
said, the worrying t rend of recent
weeks has caused the “health
services to raise a red flag” and
forced the government to adopt
the recommendations of recently
appointed coronavirus czar Ron-
ni Gamzu, who had pushed for a
full lockdown.
Although the number of criti-
cal cases appears low, medical
centers in Israel have said they
are approaching full capacity and
fear that the number of sick will
increase dramatically as Israel
heads into winter and begins a
month of Jewish holy festivals
starting Friday.
“We are preparing in advance,
closing down, so we can get out
ahead of the virus,” said Netanya-
hu, who was due to leave the
country shortly after the news
conference for a peace summit
with Arab leaders and President
Tr ump in Washington. Details
about how the new restrictions
will affect places of worship have
yet to be approved, but hewarned: “It will be a different
kind of holiday this year. We will
not be able to celebrate like weusually do with our families.”
But there are doubts that the
public will be as attentive to thegovernment restrictions and
rules this time around. Some
business owners told Israelinews outlets ahead of the an-
nouncement that they did not
plan to close, even if the govern-
ment ordered them to do so.
Many have already been hit hard
by the economic fallout from the
pandemic, and mass protests
have taken place in Jerusalem
every week for the past 21 / 2
months.
Some members of the ultra-
Orthodox community have also
threatened to ignore the lock-
down if it restricts their ability to
worship over the High Holy Days
— including Rosh Hashanah and
Yom Kippur.
On Sunday, as the government
debated the impending mea-
sures, Housing Minister Yaakov
Litzman, who is ultra-Orthodox,
announced his resignation from
the government because of the
expected restrictions on commu-
nal prayer.
In a letter to Netanyahu, he
decried the fact that the lock-
down would prevent worshipers,
including tens of thousands of
Jews who don’t usually attend
synagogue, from joining prayers
in the most important and well-
attended Jewish services of the
year.
[email protected]Israel heads to s econd lockdown as month of Jewish holy festivals begins
ODED BALILTY/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ultra-Orthodox Jews attend morning prayers in Bnei Brak, Israel, last week. Some Israelis have
threatened to ignore the lockdown if it restricts their ability to worship over the High Holy Days.BY SUSANNAH GEORGEdoha, qatar — The Afghan
government and the Taliban have
begun historic peace talks aimed
at ending decades of war. The
sides met Saturday to launch a
process that’s expected to be
more complex than the negotia-
tions between the Taliban and
the United States, which
stretched on for well over a year.
The first-ever talks between
the sides follow months of delays
and U. S. pressure on both.
They’re a key condition of the
U. S.-Taliban peace deal, which
calls for the full withdrawal of
U. S. troops. President Tr ump,
who campaigned on ending the
war in Afghanistan, is eager to
see progress ahead of elections in
November.
Who is participating in the
talks?
One of the most discussed
concerns going into the negotia-
tions is the relative lack of unity
within the team representing the
government, civil society and re-
ligious institutions outside of Tal-
iban control.
The team, led by former intelli-
gence chief Masoom Stanikzai, is
made up of a diverse group of
people who have only recently
begun working together. Some
are government officials; others
are members of rival political
parties and religious representa-
tives, and most are civil society
members. T he team includes f our
women, among them Fawzia
Koofi, who survived an assassina-
tion attempt last month.
Most of the members of the
Taliban team have worked to-
gether for more than a year
negotiating with the United
States. The team is under the new
leadership of the movement’s
chief justice, Abdul Hakim, but
there’s no apparent political or
religious diversity in its member-
ship. This relative unity and
greater experience is expected to
give the Taliban negotiators an
advantage.How have the initial
meetings gone?
Officials from both sides de-
scribed the first meeting Satur-
day as cordial. But they were
dealing with logistics, not the
substance of what it will take to
bring peace to Afghanistan. The
same went for a follow-up meet-
ing on Sunday.
The sides have agreed on the
makeup of smaller teams, which
are expected to meet more fre-
quently, and how they will com-
municate with one another.
“I’ve heard positive thingsabout the [first] meeting be-
tween the two sides,” Zalmay
Khalilzad, the U. S. special envoy
for Afghanistan, told reporters
Saturday. He pointed to a num-
ber of views the two sides a lready
share: The importance of sover-
eignty, independence and the de-
sire to live in an Islamic country.
Both sides have requested to
meet without the presence of
officials from the United States
or any other country. Khalilzad
said that he supported that deci-
sion but that the United States
would remain “ready to help and
prepared to help if help is need-
ed.”Which issues will be most
difficult to resolve?
Women’s rights, civil liberties,
democracy and the makeup of
the country’s security forces are
expected to be significant stick-
ing points.
The sides have dramaticallydifferent visions of a postwar
Afghanistan. The Taliban oppos-
es elections; it seeks a country
governed by a strict interpreta-
tion of Islamic law. The govern-
ment and civil society groups
want to preserve the country’s
democracy, human rights and
civil liberties.
Taliban leaders have said they
support interpretations of hu-
man rights and women’s rights
that don’t conflict with Islamic
law, but what that might mean is
unclear. Days before talks began,
the Taliban appointed Hakim,
known for his deep knowledge of
Islamic law and jurisprudence.Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Tali-
ban’s top political figure, nodded
to equal rights during his open-
ing remarks Saturday, saying the
group wants an Afghanistan
“where everyone lives in peace
and harmony and no one feels
discrimination.”Both Afghan President Ashraf
Ghani and his rival Abdullah
Abdullah, chairman of Afghani-
stan’s High Council for National
Reconciliation, have cautioned
that Afghans living under gov-
ernment control will probably
have to make sacrifices as peace
talks progress.
But Abdullah told The Wash-
ington Post: “For me, one person,
one vote — I don’t call anything a
red line — but that’s critical...
and compromises on these things
will not get us to peace.”What’s the state of the armed
conflict?
Initially, Afghan officials de-
manded a c ease-fire before they
would begin talks with the
Taliban. But the U.S.-Taliban
peace deal did not require a
reduction in violence. In heavi-
ly contested areas, attacks have
increased in recent months and
continued even as the sides met
in Doha.
Dozens of Taliban fighters
were killed by Afghan security
forces in Kandahar, Nangahar,
Zabul a nd Baghlan provinces Fri-
day night just hours before the
talks began, according to the
Defense Ministry, and the vio-
lence continued after peace talks
launched. Five police officers
were killed and four woundedSaturday night in Kunduz city,
according to officials. Five police
officers were killed and seven
pro-government forces wounded
in Kapisa province.What happens next?
The negotiations are expected
to become more complex. The
teams need to agree on the issues
they will discuss and in what
order. And judging from Taliban
and government statements, the
sides already have dramatically
different expectations.
The Afghan government has
prioritized a cease-fire, but the
Taliban says it will agree to one
only after a political settlement
has been reached — meaning at
the end of the negotiations. One
compromise could be a period of
reduced violence. Another could
be a humanitarian cease-fire to
allow the safe delivery of essen-
tial goods and services.
The work ahead is consider-
able. U. S.-Taliban talks collapsed
several times before they even-
tually succeeded. And these talks,
between longtime e nemies trying
to agree on how they will live
together, are more complicated.
[email protected]Sharif Hassan in Kabul and Haq
Nawaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan,
contributed to this report.Complex negotiations ahead: A fghan government and Taliban talk peace
Taliban leaders have said they support
interpretations of human rights and women's
rights that don’t conflict with Islamic law,
but what that might mean is unclear.
BY REGINE CABATOmanila — A U.S. Marine who was
convicted of killing a transgender
woman in the Philippines was
released and deported from the
country Sunday after being par-
doned by President Rodrigo Du-
terte.
Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pem-
berton, who served little more
than half a 10-year sentence in the
20 14 killing of Jennifer Laude,
departed the country on a mili-
tary aircraft. The deportation was
arranged by the U. S. Embassy,
according to the Philippine Bu-
reau of Immigration.
Pemberton’s lawyer said the
Marine had “spent much time
contemplating the many errors in
his ways” and extended his sym-
pathies to the Laude family. “He
wishes he had the words to ex-
press the depth of his sorrow and
regret,” lawyer Rowena Flores
said. She said the U. S. govern-
ment paid for his flight.
Pemberton’s pardon and re-
lease drew outrage from Laude’s
family, human rights advocates
and the LGBTQ community.
Julita Laude, Jennifer’s moth-
er, said she felt betrayed by Du-
terte. She said the president had
promised the family Pemberton
would not be freed during his
term.
“Ten years in prison is all we
are asking.... Ten years!” Julita
Laude said in a statement. “It’s a
short time to pay in jail for the life
of my d aughter.”
The immigration bureau said
Pemberton is barred from return-
ing to the country.
The killing of Laude drew new
scrutiny to the long-standing alli-
ance between the Philippines and
its former colonizer, the United
States.
Laude’s supporters have point-
ed out that Pemberton enjoyed
special treatment during his con-
finement before his early release.
While other convicts are confined
to the country’s notoriously over-
crowded prisons, Pemberton
served his sentence in a cell in the
Philippine military headquarters.
The arrangement was made pos-
sible by the bilateral Visiting
Forces Agreement, which governs
procedures involving U. S. mili-
tary personnel in the country.Pemberton met Laude at a bar
in Olongapo City, n orth of Manila,
in October 20 14 a fter the Marines
arrived for joint military exercis-
es. She was later found dead in a
motel room, her head over the
toilet. Local media reported that
Pemberton, then 19, admitted to
choking Laude, 26, after discover-
ing she was transgender. He
claimed he acted in self-defense,
but police determined his actions
were a hate crime. He was
charged with murder and con-
victed of homicide in 20 15.
In t he past month, Pemberton’slawyers sought his early release
for good conduct in detention.
The Laude family and the Philip-
pine Department of Justice were
set to contest the request. But in a
surprise decision, Duterte grant-
ed Pemberton absolute pardon on
Monday, superseding any court
decision.
Protesters gathered in Quezon
City on Friday to condemn the
pardon. They c hanted “Justice for
Jennifer!” and “Pardon for Pem-
berton, a betrayal to the nation!”
and displayed posters showing
Pemberton and Laude with herhead dunked in a toilet.
“I’ve had a good cry... but
today is for fighting,” said Naomi
Fontanos, executive director of
Gender and Development Advo-
cates Filipinas. The nonprofit, led
by trans women, is abbreviated to
“Ganda,” a Filipino word that
means “beauty” and was a nick-
name of Laude’s.
Duterte’s c ritics see the pardon
as bending to U. S. interests, even
as the president has harshly criti-
cized the United States and its
leaders. Duterte, who has shifted
his foreign policy away from theWest and toward China, said he
would terminate the Visiting
Forces Agreement, but that plan
was suspended in June.
Fontanos said Duterte’s anti-
American rhetoric was “all for
show” and “a ruse.”
“We’ ll continue our fight. The
road will be long, we know it,” she
said. “I hope this will be a wake-up
call for how treacherous this pres-
ident is.”
Duterte’s own cabinet officials
were surprised by the pardon.
Foreign Secretary Teddy Locsin
Jr. told reporters the United
States did not request it.
Presidential spokesman Harry
Roque, a former lawyer for t he
Laude family, said Thursday the
decision was made for a “higher
national interest.”
But political analyst Aries Aru-
gay said it might have been a
“knee-jerk reaction.” If it was
meant to be strategic, he said, it
was “crude and unsophisticated.”
Arugay pointed out that some
U. S. politicians, particularly those
critical of Duterte’s bloody drug
war, would want to distance
themselves from cases involving
human rights abuses — including
the Laude killing and Pember-
ton’s r elease.
“From the point of view of a
supposed foreign policy of a small
sovereign nation, it’s a t otal mess,”
Arugay said. “If Democrats get the
White House in November, then
our human rights record will be
this government’s r eckoning.”
Laude family lawyer Virginia
Suarez backed calls to end the
Visiting Forces Agreement and
other military deals between the
Philippines and United States. At
the Friday rally, she said there was
another struggle at stake — “not
just for human rights, but for our
democracy.”
“As long as there are ‘security’
agreements — which ironically
make us insecure... there will be
more Pembertons and more Jen-
nifers,” Suarez said.
[email protected]Philippines deports Marine who killed trans woman
ASSOCIATED PRESS
U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton leaves Camp Aguinaldo on his way to the airport in Quezon City, Philippines, on Sunday.
Pemberton’s presidential pardon and deportation renewed outrage over a pact governing the U.S. military presence in the Philippines.Family, LGBTQ activists
protest Duterte’s pardon
after man served 5 years