Headlines in This News Package:

• Jordanian Truck Driver Opens Fire at Jordan-Israel Border Crossing, Killing Three Israeli Soldiers

• ManiFiesta 2024 Brings New Energy to Activists and Movements Around Europe and the World

• U.S. Activist Shot by Israeli Forces in West Bank

• AMLO’s Last Presidential Battle: The House of Representatives Approves Morena’s Judicial Reform

[NEWS ITEM TEXT]

Jordanian Truck Driver Opens Fire at Jordan-Israel Border Crossing, Killing Three Israeli Soldiers

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On September 8, a Jordanian truck driver opened fire and killed three Israeli border guards at the King Hussein Bridge, also known as the Allenby Bridge. It is one of the two main border crossings between Jordan and Israel. The driver was also killed in the attack.

A few hours after the attack was carried out, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority announced that it had identified the shooter as Maher al-Jazi (39 years old), from the southern Jordanian governorate of Ma’an. Jordan’s Ministry of Interior also confirmed the identity of the attacker and clarified that he was driving a truck that was transporting goods from Jordan to the occupied West Bank when he launched the attack, which the ministry described in a statement as an “individual act.”

The statement also indicated that the ministry was coordinating with the concerned Israeli authorities to retrieve the body of Al-Jazi in order for him to be buried in Jordan.

Israeli and Jordanian authorities announced that they closed the border crossing from both sides until further notice and that a joint investigation is underway to unveil the circumstances behind the attack.

Once the news of Al-Jazi’s operation spread widely through international media outlets, Jordanian people across the country took to the streets to celebrate their countryman’s attack. They performed a massive absentee funeral prayer honoring Al-Jazi, who descended from the Al-Huwaitat tribe, which encompasses over 250,000 Jordanian citizens.

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ManiFiesta 2024 Brings New Energy to Activists and Movements Around Europe and the World

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Over 15,000 people gathered in Ostend, Belgium, for ManiFiesta 2024, a two-day event of activism and solidarity. Inspired by speeches from global activists and union leaders, attendees left with a renewed drive to pursue mobilizations in different parts of Europe.

Speaking at the central event of ManiFiesta, Raoul Hedebouw, president of the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PVDA-PTB), set the tone. He addressed growing inequalities and attacks on workers’ rights in Belgium, announcing a response from the party. A significant part of the event was also devoted to building solidarity with Palestine, with speakers such as Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, and climate justice activist Anuna De Wever Van Der Heyden emphasizing the importance of international support for Palestinian liberation.

Beyond Palestine, ManiFiesta 2024 also highlighted the responsibility European movements bear toward the Global South and the conditions those countries face as a result of historic and current European policies.

“The West has forgotten how to build things,” said Vijay Prashad, executive director of the Tricontinental Institute, reflecting on the future that the growing Palestine solidarity movement might contribute to. “Israel blows up hospitals. The Global South will build them,” he stated.

Another key topic at ManiFiesta was the role of trade unions in addressing growing inequalities and defending workers’ rights. British Member of Parliament Jeremy Corbyn highlighted the vital role unions can play in pushing for peace and disarmament, while United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain shared his union’s success in shifting power to its members.

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U.S. Activist Shot by Israeli Forces in West Bank

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26-year-old U.S. activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi succumbed to her wounds on Friday after being shot by Israeli forces at a protest in Beita, to the south of Nablus. Headlines from Western mainstream media sources have already attempted to obscure who killed the solidarity activist, with CNN stating, “American activist shot dead during protest in West Bank, Palestinian officials say,” CBS News writing, “American woman Aysenur Eygi killed in Israeli-occupied West Bank, U.S. confirms,” and BBC writing, “American activist shot dead in occupied West Bank.”

The shooting occurred while Israeli forces were violently suppressing a weekly protest against an Israeli settlement. Israeli forces employed live ammunition, stun grenades, and tear gas. The Israeli attack also resulted in the injury of an 18-year-old Palestinian man via shrapnel.

Eygi was reportedly part of the Faz3a campaign, which aims to mobilize international solidarity activists on the ground in Palestine to protect Palestinian farmers from Israeli settlers and military forces. Eygi was also an activist with the International Solidarity Movement, a Palestinian-led organization committed to resisting the occupation.

ISM released a statement condemning Eygi’s killing. ISM volunteer Mariam Dag (a pseudonym) witnessed the shooting. She said, “We were peacefully demonstrating alongside Palestinians against the colonization of their land, and the illegal settlement of Evyatar… Our fellow volunteer was standing a bit further back, near an olive tree with some other activists. Despite this, the army intentionally shot her in the head.”

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AMLO’s Last Presidential Battle: The House of Representatives Approves Morena’s Judicial Reform

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On September 4, the Mexican House of Representatives approved the judicial reform plan promoted by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), with 359 votes in favor and 135 against. The ruling Morena party has a majority in the House thanks to its alliance with the Labor Party and the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico. AMLO’s mandate ends on October 1, and he hopes to pass the measure before then.

AMLO’s judicial reform plan proposes a reduction of the number of members of the Supreme Court, the creation of a judicial administration body and a Disciplinary Court, the direct election of all judges of the Mexican judicial system as of 2025, a reduction in salaries for the nation’s judges, and a reduction in the length of the term of office.

The international opposition to the reform provoked a diplomatic impasse between Mexico’s president and the ambassadors of the United States and Canada, in which AMLO gave an ultimatum to the ambassadors from those countries to desist from their “interfering” comments on local politics. Human Rights Watch suggested that the democratic election of judges would endanger judicial independence and asked the president to reconsider.

Thousands of judicial workers have declared an indefinite strike to pressure legislators to vote against the bill. Strikers blocked the Chamber of Deputies on September 4 to prevent the vote on the Judicial Reform from taking place. The legislators held the session in an alternative venue in which they approved the transformation of the judicial system.