France elects new President Sunday

The Second round of French Presidential election will be held next Sunday, May 7th. Emanuel Macron, candidate of the “En Marchais” (Forward) Movement and Marie Le Pen, candidate of the National Front, who won the first two places in the First round which took place on April 23rd will face a straight fight in the Second round.

A significant feature of the current French election is the elimination of candidates of traditional parties, both Left and Right. Macron who topped the polls with 23.9 percent votes was a complete outsider. Though not a complete new comer to the Presidential race Le Pen who promoted policies opposed to both established Republican and Socialist parties received 21.4 percent. Republican and Socialist candidates could respectively get only 19.9 and 6.4 percent. Jean- Luc-Melanchon of the Far Left received 19.6 percent with the assistance of the French Communist Party.

European leaders had a sigh of relief as Nationalist Le Pen who openly opposed European integration, adhered to an Islam-phobic policy, called for a ban on Muslim religious symbols and customs including the wearing of the hijab is likely to be defeated at the Second round. In fact European Union President broke protocol to wish Macron success at the Second round. Leaders of Germany, Greece, Spain and several other member countries of the EU also joined in greeting Macron.

Muslim Leader and Rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, Pour Dalil Baubakeer has openly called upon Muslims to support Macron. Most important is the endorsement he received from both established parties. Already polls forecasts predict an easy victory for Macron. A poll on April 30th predicted 59.9 percent votes as against40.1 percent for Le Pen.

A Macron victory would strengthen the European Union and assert more independence from the influence of the United States. The foreign policy of US President Donald Trump which is aimed at consolidating US dominance throughout the globe is likely to meet with strong resistance from the EU members including Germany.

Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike

The struggle of the Palestinian people who are denied freedom, dignity and right to life in their own motherland continues to draw public attention and solidarity across the world, despite the virtual black-out of it in the international media under the control of the imperialist monopolies.

A people denied their right to the land of their birth and thrown to neighbouring countries in hundreds of thousands as refugees are fighting for the last 100 years for a state of their own. The borders of the state of Israel established by partitioning Palestine territory in 1947 have expanded as a result of wars and other means which has relegated the Palestinians into progressively shrinking enclaves in the West Bank, (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza strip.

Since 1967 an estimated 800,000 Palestinians have been detained in Israeli prisons. It amounts to 20 percent of the population in occupied Palestine and 40 percent of the male population. Even at this moment over 6,500 are in prison and are undergoing torture, ill-treatment, punitive measure, medical neglect, family visits and other human rights.

Since 2002 more than half the Palestinian Legislative Council has been imprisoned and 13 are still in prison. There are 300 children under the age of 18 among the prisoners besides hundreds of sick persons.

Palestinian prisoners have launched a hunger strike since April 17th for freedom and dignity, a fact hardly mentioned in our local media. It is a reflection of the worsening situation in prisons. Even the International Committee of the Red Cross is not allowed to visit Israel even for a fact-finding mission.

Election of President Trump has emboldened the Israel government which immediately passed a law to legitimize, consolidate and expand building Jewish settlements in Palestinian territory.

The not so well-thought comments of President Trump of moving the US Embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and a possible dropping of the US stance on a two-state solution to the Palestinian problem caused much anxiety among the world public.

He has, however, retraced his steps and is currently engaged in an attempt to find a solution through negotiations. President Abbas of Palestine is to meet him shortly, Meanwhile, in a dramatic development Hamas, which controls the Gaza strip, has proclaimed a new policy which accepts the frontiers of the Palestinian state with 1967 borders though not recognizing Israel directly.

This is a more pragmatic move and it would facilitate unity among different Palestinian factions, which alone would strengthen their position at any negotiations.

It has also shown its independence from the Muslim Brotherhood by not referring to it in the new policy document, a step acknowledged as a conciliatory move to enlist the support of Egypt.

Tensions rise in the Korean peninsula

Tension is increasing in the Korean peninsula as North Korea continues to test nuclear weapons and South Korean armed forces are engaged in military drills with the United States Armed Forces. A US aircraft carrier has reached the Korean waters, a move treated as menacing and dangerous by North Korea and China.

North Korea faces the wrath of the United Nations and Western powers over its nuclear weapon programme. The irony of it is that those challenging the right of North Korea to have a nuclear deterrent capacity have themselves amassed hundreds and thousands of nuclear weapons and are still improving them.

Japan, showing its defence prowess also took the unprecedented step of escorting the US aircraft carrier to Seoul from Tokyo. China is naturally disturbed over these developments. While showing its displeasure at the North Korean moves it has called for restraint in finding a solution to the Korean issue. China has also objected to the positioning of the US missile defence system THAAD in South Korea. It is considering it also as a measure likely to sour Sino-US relations.

It should also be kept in mind that almost 30,000 US troops are in South Korea and that the United States has decided to consider the Pacific Ocean region as their priority number One, which replaced its previous priority given to the Atlantic Ocean.

An armed confrontation in the Korean peninsula is likely to spread far beyond the Korean peninsula and that is why a diffusion of the current tension is a priority. Much depends on the international community, especially the United States, China, Russia and Japan in seeking a solution to the problem through the revival of the Six-nation talks that includes the above countries together with the two Koreas.