Russia rules out nuclear talks with US given its stance on NATO expansion

NEW DELHI: As Umar Mehraj arranged fruits at his shop in Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir, he displayed at least a dozen varieties of dates, carefully sourcing them from various places in the Middle East — making sure none came from Israel.

Dates are a staple food for breaking the fast during Ramadan in the Indian-controlled Himalayan region, where the majority of the population is Muslim.

In previous years, Israeli-labeled fruits have entered the local market, but traders are now trying to prevent that — a gesture of solidarity with Palestine in response to Israel’s ongoing genocidal assault on the people of Gaza and the West Bank.

“We have taken the initiative to boycott Israeli products as much as possible. Thank God, we are successful 100 percent,” Mehraj told Arab News.

“How do we know whether it is from Israel or not? You can see that all the boxes have labels, you can know where they are packaged and what the origin is. This is the time of the internet ... we know (Israeli brands) through WhatsApp groups, Facebook, or Instagram. We avoid dates from those companies in our shops.”

Attacks by Israeli forces have killed at least 61,700 people in Gaza since October 2023, according to the latest estimates by the enclave government’s media office. Most of the civilian infrastructure in Gaza has been either damaged or destroyed, including hospitals, with none remaining fully functional.

“You can see what the global situation is right now. You can see the unprecedented torture being inflicted on our Palestinian brothers and sisters,” said Mohammad Ibrahim Beigh, another dry fruit seller in Srinagar.

“As a trader community, we don’t have any political influence, but we can play our role at the level of commerce. We can boycott.”

Despite Israeli dates entering the Indian market at lower prices than other fruits, Kashmiri traders opt for the more expensive Saudi Arabia or North African varieties.

“Israeli dates are procured at cheaper rates. If we wanted, we could double our profit. Still, we are bringing only Saudi or Moroccan dates, or dates from other Middle Eastern countries,” Beigh said, adding that traders were also involved in raising awareness about how for decades Israel has occupied Palestinian lands, harvested them and labeled the produce as its own.

Amir Salam, who also sells other food products besides dates at his shop, has gone a step further by removing goods from major Western companies featured on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement’s lists.

“I used to have the dealership of Coke and Pepsi, but ever since Israel started attacking Gaza and killing innocent people, I have given up the dealership of these drinks,” he said.

The efforts resonate well with the people of Kashmir, who like Nasir Khuehami, national convenor of the Jammu and Kashmir Students’ Association, have for decades “seen echoes of their own struggle in Palestine’s fight for dignity and justice.”

The boycott was for him a “peaceful yet powerful assertion” that systematic oppression cannot be normalized.

And it was also one of the means through which Kashmiris could show their support.

“People in Jammu and Kashmir feel strongly about the atrocities happening in Gaza and the suffering the Palestinian people are going through,” said Aijaz Ahamad, a business professional.

“We don’t have power, but we have this weapon of boycott, and we are boycotting Israeli products as a mark of resistance, and in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”

LONDON: A British court on Friday cut some of the heaviest jail terms imposed on climate activists for their high-profile protests, but threw out appeals from 10 others to have their prison sentences overturned.
The groups Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion have in recent years carried out spectacular, often disruptive protests, including stopping London’s busy traffic and targeting famous places and paintings, as part of their campaign to highlight climate change.
But last July, five activists were stunned after being sentenced to between four and five years in prison for planning in an online call to block the M25 motorway around London, a key transport link for the capital.
They were among 16 activists who appealed their jail terms before the Court of Appeal in London in January.
In her ruling on Friday, Lady Chief Justice Sue Carr cut the heaviest jail term of five years imposed on Roger Hallam, 58, a co-founder of Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion, for the conspiracy case to four years.
Two other co-accused in that case had their sentences shortened from four years to three, with two others seeing their four-year terms reduced to 30 months.
One of the oldest activists, Gaie Delap, 78, also saw her sentence shortened from 20 to 18 months, for scaling one of the gantries on the M25.
In the January appeal, defense lawyers had called the sentences imposed against all 16 activists involved in four separate protests “manifestly excessive.”
The group also included two women who threw tomato soup on Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” painting at London’s National Gallery. Their sentences of 20 months and two years were upheld in Friday’s ruling.
Lawyer Danny Friedman said in January that the collective prison terms of between 15 months to five years were “the highest of their kind in modern British history.”
The activists “did what they did out of sacrifice” and were acting in the “best interests of the public, the planet and future generations,” he said, asking for the jail terms to be reduced or quashed.
But prosecutors argued the sentences had been merited as “all of these applicants went so far beyond what was reasonable.”
Their actions also presented an “extreme danger” to the public and to themselves, they said.
The hearing has been closely watched amid fears that peaceful protest risks being stifled in Britain.
And NGOs and activists have warned the case could have far-reaching implications for future protests.
“Despite some modest reductions, these sentences are still unprecedented and they still have no place in a democracy that upholds the right to protest,” said Greenpeace co-executive director Areeba Hamid.
Friends of the Earth lawyer Katie de Kauwe said in a statement the group was “pleased” that some of the sentences had been reduced.
But she added “ultimately however, we believe that locking up those motivated by their genuine concern for the climate crisis is neither right or makes any sense.”
Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion launched their protests to fight the use of fossil fuels, which scientists say are causing global warming and climate change.
But the groups, which are urging the government to ban fossil fuel use by 2030, have attracted criticism over their eye-catching methods.
Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth had backed what they called “a critically important legal appeal over the right to protest.”
Other cases are still before the courts, including charges brought against two Just Stop Oil members accused of throwing orange paint powder over the stone megaliths of Stonehenge, as well as two activists charged with spray-painting the tomb of naturalist Charles Darwin in Westminster Abbey.
The country’s previous Conservative government took a hostile stance toward disruptive direct action, and passed laws toughening punishments for such offenses.