• During this spring’s massive “Great Return” march protests along the Gaza-Israeli border, local Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who spent 22 years in an Israeli prison, fully supported the grassroots resistance to Israel’s Gaza blockade. The 56-year-old Hamas leader, calls the protests, which faced intense Israeli repression resulting in 120 dead and 2,7000 injured, “a new phase” in the Palestinian national struggle on the road to liberation.”
(“The Riddle of Hamas’ New Gaza Leader: Extremist or Pragmatist,” Christian Science Monitor, June 7, 2018)
• The European Union is rewriting its laws governing digital data privacy. The EU is now enforcing its new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR,) which allows Internet users to opt out of having their web activity collected by website companies. The act imposes stiff penalties for non-compliance.
(“EU Leads the Way to Internet Privacy Over Profits,” American Prospect, May 25, 2018)
• In the shadow of prosperous cities in the Pacific Northwest, scores of highly organized homeless villages have been established to provide a safe, secure environment for homeless people. Contrary to the perception that homelessness generates street crime, organized villages help to reduce crime in surrounding neighborhoods.
(“No Link between Homeless Villages and Crime Rates,” The Guardian, May 23, 2018)
