Best articles: International NEWS 1917 July 2021 THE WEEKWesterners areno longerwelcomeGazeta Wyborcza (Warsaw)China is onceagaindrawing up barriersagain st theworld,says Dominika Maciejasz.Expatriates
returning toShanghai afterspendinglockdown in Europe are experiencinganew “contempt”.To
get back in they’re forcedto ta ke as many as sixCovid-19tests,but still can’t findataxi willing to
drive them from the airport. Once-friendly neighboursnow spout Orwellian“PartyNewspeak”,
claimingthatthe viruswas imported to Wuhan from the US,and taunting them for their countries’
failures in controlling it;only Chinais“safe”,they’re told.The hostility is remarkableinacitythat
was onceopen andtolerant.Binationalfamilies areseparated, andBeijin ghad initiallyannounced
that only foreignerswho have hadthe Chinesevaccinewouldbeallowed to enter.Forsometime
now, China’sleadershave been reversingthe greatopening up that began four decades ago under
Deng Xiaoping.Government propagandaisstirringup grie vances aboutthe“hum iliations”ofthe
colonial era,andhostility to Western peopleandideas. Chinawas once consideredan“El Dorado”
for fore igners,withgoodpay andperks,butatthis rate, many willsoonreturn home.Adespot going
out in a“blaze
of dishonour”
Le Monde
(Paris)
Palestinianshavebeenwretchedly servedby their autocratic leader,says Le Monde. Now86,
MahmoudAbbashasbeen head of the Palestinian Authority since 2005, rulingpart of theWest
Bank. Hadhe stepped down this year, he’d have beenwrittenoff merelyas “dull”and “lacking
stature”. Instead, he’schosento end his careerinablaze of “dishonour”, cancelling elections,the
first to bescheduled for 15years, an dlaunchingaviolent waveof repression.Now“thestain on his
legacyhasaname”: Nizar Banat,acritic andfatherof five, whowas beaten to deathon24Juneby
Pale stinian policeofficers.The angrydemonstrationsthat followed were “brutally”suppressedby
plainclothes securitymenreminiscentofthe Assadregime’s “henchmen”in Syria. Historywilljudge
Abbasharshly. True, he couldnever have made peacewith Isra el under Benjamin Netanyahu, who
rejectedany serious overtures. Buthealso didabsolutelynothingtobringPalestinians together. He
has neveronce set foot in the GazaStrip to trytohealthe riftbetween hisFatahpartyand Hamas,
the Islamistswhoconquered theenclavein2007; hebehavedasifi twas nolonger part ofPalestine.
Lockedupinhis Ramallahpalace, he is the “caricature” ofa“despotclin ging toan illus ory power”.CHINAPALESTINEHaiti’sPresidentJovenelMoïsewas
assassinatedat1amlastWednesday
athishomeinPétion-Ville,a
suburbofthecapitalPort-au-
Prince,saidLarisaKarrinThe
HaitianTimes(Brooklyn).Hewas
shot 12 timesinhisbedroom;his
wife,MartineMoïse,wasalsoshot,
butsurvivedandwasevacuatedto
Floridafortreatment.TheHaitian
authoritiessaidthatagroupof
“professionalkillers”–foreign
mercenaries–weretoblame.“In
theblinkofaneye,themercenaries
enteredmyhouseandriddledmy
husbandwithbullets,”declared
MartineMoïseinarecording
postedonTwitter.Sevenmenwerekillednearbyinafirefight
withpoliceonThursday,saidLeNouvelliste(Port-au-Prince).
Around 2 0heavilyarmedsuspectswerealsoarrested–1 8
Colombians, 13 ofwhomwereconfirmedasformermembers
oftheColombianmilitary–alongwithtwoHaitian-Americans.
Althoughthelineofsuccessioniscontested,PrimeMinister
ClaudeJosephassumedleadership.Hedeclareda“stateof
siege”, imposingmartial law and closing the country’sborders.“Haitiwas alreadyin turmoil –muchofit duetoMoïse’s
rule,”saidTheEconomist.“Hismurderhasaddedfueltothe
flames.” Thefacts surroundingtheassassinationarefar from
clear, and rumoursare swirling.Thisweekthepolicesaid they
had arrestedoneofthe“masterminds”,ChristianEmmanuel
Sanon –a63-year-oldHaitiandoctor resident inFlorida,who
had recentlyflownbacktohis homelandbyprivatejet.But
Moïse,aformerplantation manager whocalledhimself
“Banana Man”, hadno shortageofenemies.Critics accused
himof election fraud, andofpilferingmillions fromforeign
aidfunds.SinceJanuary2020,whenhedismissedall but ten
senatorsinthetwo-chamber parliament,Moïse hadbeenruling
bydecree;hehadwidened thedefinitionofterrorismtoinclude
actsofpoliticalprotest.He wasaccusedofusingcriminalgangs
toenforce hispower;certainly,manywho protestedagainst his
rule wereattackedbygangsters.“ThereisacurseonHaiti,”said
IsaacRiscoonDeutscheWelle
(Bonn).“That’swhatsome
despairingobservershavewritten
inrecentyears.”It’sclearlynota
rationalexplanationforthetravails
oftheimpoverishedCaribbean
state–thepoorestintheWestern
hemisphere–butitexpressesthe
helplessnessandpessimismthat
manyfeelaboutthe“unending
spiralofviolence,povertyand
catastrophethatplaguestheformer
Frenchcolony”.Theinternational
communityhastriedtointervene
before:in 2 004,theUNsent
peacekeepersaftertheoustingof
Jean-BertrandAristide,Haiti’sfirstdemocraticallyelected
president.ButNepaleseUNtroopsbroughtcholeratothe
countryasitwastryingtorebuildaftertheearthquakeof2010,
andsomeforeignsoldierswereaccusedofsexuallyabusing
Haitianwomen.BythetimeUNtroopsleftthecountry,they
were“hatedbypartsofthepopulation”.Itis“anunderstatementto saythatHaitiisafailedstate”, said
LeMonde(Paris).“Dictatorships,coupsd’état, corruption,
earthquakes,cyclonesandepidemicshave fuelledthe misery
of the populationfordecades.” Nowit hasendured a“major
political trauma” while its governmenthaslargelyceasedto
exist. Itisunrealisticto envisageho ldingfreeandfairelections
underthesecircumstances.HelpingHaititoformatransitional
government with alimitedtermshould beapriority for theUS,
itsmajorforeigndonor, andthe internationalcommunity. The
problemisthat “thereisno one withanyrealauthority in
positiontorun thecountry”, said TheWashington Post.Four
separateclaimantshaveemergedto succeedMoïse. Theviolent
gangsthatplague the capital are threateningtofillthepower
vacuum.ThelastpeacekeepingmissiontoHaiti certainlyhad
achequeredrecord. But the UNforcedidbring“amodicum
of stability”.Andatthis perilous moment,“amodicumof
stability would bepreferabletomostotherplausiblescenar ios.
Theinternationalcommunitymustactnow.”Haiti: the assassination of President MoïseJovenel and Martine Moïse during his 2017 swearing in