Some of the 1,117 Palestinian students who
graduated from different colleges at Hebron University in the West Bank.
The late mayor of Hebron, Sheikh Mohammad Ali Al-Ja’bari, wished
to establish an institution of higher learning to offset restrictions and
obstacles created by the occupation by Israel. In 1971 the foundation was laid
and forty-three students joined the 'Sharia' college from different parts of
the Palestinian Territories. In 1983, the campus was attacked by Israeli
settlers resulting in the deaths of 3 students and 50 students were injured.
After the attack the University was closed by the Israeli Civil Administration
for a period of time.
Eventually,
the college became a university and now has an undergraduate enrolment of more
than ten thousand students.
When the British held Mohandas Gandhi prisoner at
Yeravda prison in Pune, India, from 1932 to 1933, the nationalist leader made
his own thread with a charkha, a portable spinning wheel. The practice evolved
from a source of personal comfort during captivity into a touchstone of the
campaign for independence, with Gandhi encouraging his countrymen to make their
own homespun cloth instead of buying British goods.
Gandhi exhorted Indian men and women, rich or
poor, to spend time each day spinning khadi in support of the independence
movement. In addition to boycotting British products, Gandhi urged the people
to boycott British institutions and law courts, to resign from government
employment, and to forsake British titles and honours.
Gandhi thus began his
journey aimed at crippling the British India government economically,
politically and administratively.
….At the camp, the Hoboken, N.J.–born Lange spotted Frances Owens
Thompson and knew she was in the right place. “I saw and approached the hungry
and desperate mother in the sparse lean-to tent, as if drawn by a magnet,”
Lange later wrote. The farm’s crop had frozen, and there was no work for the
homeless pickers, so the 32-year-old Thompson sold the tires from her car to
buy food, which was supplemented with birds killed by the children. Lange, who
believed that one could understand others through close study, tightly framed
the children and the mother, whose eyes, worn from worry and resignation, look
past the camera. Lange took six photos with her 4x5 Graflex camera, later
writing, “I knew I had recorded the essence of my assignment.” Afterward Lange
informed the authorities of the plight of those at the encampment, and they
sent 20,000 pounds of food. Of the 160,000 images taken by Lange and other
photographers for the Resettlement Administration, Migrant Mother has become
the most iconic picture of the Depression. Through an intimate portrait of the
toll being exacted across the land, Lange gave a face to a suffering nation.
The historic city of
Istanbul has fallen into Opposition hands for the first time in 25 years.
Key points:
·The President's
request for the election to be done over backfired spectacularly
·The newly-elected
mayor's inclusive narrative was in contrast to his rival's populist
fearmongering
·The election result
could galvanise opposition parties and splinter Mr Erdogan's AKP
It was a symbolic loss
for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in more ways than one.
Mr Erdogan was elected
mayor of Istanbul in 1994, launching his political career. More recently, he
was widely reported to have said: "Whoever wins Istanbul, wins
Turkey".
The Opposition secular
candidate Ekrem Imamoglu clinched a victory in the mayoral race in March, in a
race so tight that Mr Erdogan's Islamist ruling party, the Justice and
Development Party (AKP), demanded a do-over,
citing "irregularities".
When Turkey's election
body complied and ordered a re-run, it was criticised as "plain
dictatorship".
But the second tilt at
the mayoral race has backfired spectacularly for Mr Erdogan's candidate, with
Mr Imamoglu, from the Republican People's Party (CHP), taking his margin from
13,500 votes to more than 800,000.
With the Istanbul
result, Turkey's top three cities are now held by the Opposition, marking a
shift in the political landscape that has been dominated by authoritarianism
and purges in a post-2016 coup crackdown.
In a country where the
judiciary and election bodies sit squarely under the Government's thumb, how
did Istanbul return such a result, and what does it mean for Mr Erdogan's
Turkey?
On Sunday, tens of
thousands of people flooded the streets of Istanbul in the wake of the result,
waving flags and setting off flares in celebration.
"This re-run
[election] was one to put an end to the dictatorship," Gulcan Demirkaya, a
48-year-old housewife from an AKP-leaning district, told Reuters.
"The one-man rule
should come to an end."
Closer to home, Hilkat
Ozgun, a scientist and the head of the Australian Turkish Cultural Platform,
said political allegiances were divided in the Australian Turkish community.
But she told the ABC
that for some young migrants looking for opportunities in Australia, now
"they have hope that one day they can go back to Turkey".
"People are
really happy about the result," Ms Ozgun said.
Mr Imamoglu had become
a symbol of hope, she said.
"He'll be good
for Turkey's future."
What made Mr Imamoglu
stand out from his opponent — former prime minister Binali Yildirim — was his
tone.
"He had a very
inclusive narrative, very opposite to this populist, fearmongering, and
divisive or polarising narrative that the AKP Government and their allies … ran
against him," Tezcan Gumus, a lecturer in Turkish politics at the
University of Melbourne, said.
Mr Imamoglu, whose
name means "son of an Imam", went out of his way to appeal to
conservative heartlands and religious voters, at times singing the call to
prayer in mosques himself, Dr Gumus said.
Mr Imamoglu's victory
was all the more remarkable because Turkey's Opposition was routinely denied
airtime and because the Government exercised control over judicial and
electoral bodies, he said.
"It's absolutely
staggering. It's a massive result and it shows the loss of trust they have
towards Erdogan's Government," he said.
The Opposition was
able to garner grassroots support, despite campaigning in an environment where
upwards of 90 per cent of Turkey's television news channels and newspapers are
pro-Government.
"Although there
are elections, the landscape is so heavily manipulated to advantage Erdogan and
his party," Dr Gumus told the ABC.
Cracks within Erdogan's party
Almost exactly three
years ago, Mr Erdogan's face was broadcast internationally, as he video-called
the Turkish people from his smartphone.
A military coup was
ongoing, he said, calling for his supporters to take to the streets, where
gunfire and explosions rocked Istanbul and the capital Ankara.
In the resulting purge, 150,000
state officials, teachers and academics have been sacked, 500,000 people have
been investigated and more than 300 journalists have been arrested.
Less than a year after
the coup attempt, the country voted in a referendum to transform from a
parliamentary democracy into a presidential system, cementing Mr Erdogan's grip
by granting him sweeping new powers.
Winning Istanbul was
not just about prestige — the city's GDP accounts for more than 30 per cent of
the country's economy.
"Erdogan has
fought tooth and nail not to lose Istanbul," Dr Gumus said.
"But going for a
re-run — it's dented his democratic legitimacy. Because Erdogan has always
throughout his career — no matter how authoritarian he is — he's always looked
at the ballot box as the justification for his rule."
He might have lost
this municipal election, but Mr Erdogan still controls the levers of the
Government, Dr Gumus said. The next presidential election is not slated until
2023.
"He's a political
animal. He's a survivor. And four years is a long time in Turkish
politics," he said.
But the Istanbul
result does send a message, and could galvanise opposition parties into
alliances, or also cause splintering within the AKP, where cracks are already
appearing.
There are murmurs that
a number of senior powerbrokers within AKP, including a former president and
former prime minister, could announce the creation of rival parties that could
jeopardise Mr Erdogan's rule, Dr Gumus said.
"It shows that
the veneer of invincibility that the AKP has built up over them since they've
been in power is actually slowly eroding," he said.
By reaching majority
government — 76 seats out of 150 — the
Coalition will not have to rely on independent MPs to pass controversial
legislation.
It was a foregone conclusion, everyone said so.All the polls and the bookies said Labor was
going to win the election and we believed them.
That’s why it was a total shock to learn the following day that they
were all wrong.
Labor was so confident of winning, they partied on the eve of
the election and Chris Bowen - who would have been treasurer if
the ALP won - even posted a photo of key party figures as if they were already
in government.
'We're ready,' Mr.
Bowen captioned an image of himself with Mr Shorten and key advisers Tanya
Plibersek, Penny Wong, and Jim Chalmers.
So what happened? Some say it was Bowen’s franking credits
that did them in, others think Labor’s push for renewable energy turned people
off but there are many other theories and of course nobody really has a clue.
But for me, it was seeing the same old faces of
the Rudd/Gillard government, reminding me of the incompetent mess they made when
last in power.
A new face is needed and Jim Chalmers could be just the man to give the opposition a new look. He's served as Shadow Finance Minister since 2016 and unlike Mr Albanese, he's from the party's right faction.
Both men agree that Labor needs to reconsider its policy platform to restore trust with voters, including the contentious franking credits policy.
In February last year,
Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele was photographed alongside Warren
Meyer, the "humanitarian ambassador" for a group called Applied
Scholastics.
Key points:
·An investigation
revealed that Scientology material is being taught in six Samoan schools
·Experts warn
Scientology is covertly pushing its ideology in schools across the world
·It uses affiliate
groups like Applied Scholastics and ABLE to obscure its involvement
·There are two schools
here in Australia that use the works of Applied Scholastics
The two were holding a
textbook titled Learning How To Learn — one of 10,000 copies gifted to the
small Pacific island nation.
But the friendly
photograph belies a more bizarre and complex reality.
The much-needed
educational resources for the children of Samoa were in fact books containing
the teachings of L Ron Hubbard, the founder of the controversial Church of
Scientology.
Applied Scholastics
has also told the ABC that more than a dozen Samoan educators have travelled to
the group's headquarters in Missouri for training.
The deeply Christian
island nation of Samoa may seem an unlikely destination for Scientology to
promote its teachings, but it's just one of many far-off corners of the globe
Applied Scholastics is seeking to expand to.
But according to
critics, Applied Scholastics is somewhat of a Trojan horse for religious
indoctrination, and is being covertly rolled out across the globe.
David Touretzky is an
academic and researcher at Carnegie Mellon University who has spent years
uncovering and criticising the workings of the Church of Scientology and its
partner organisations.
"One of the
reasons it's objectionable is that it's covert religious instruction, it's
teaching people Scientology," he told the ABC.
But the organisation
is also believed to be exaggerating its reach and the success of its
operations, a marketing ploy experts say is aimed at shoring up donations back
in the United States.
Study Tech a form of 'covert religious
instruction'
Applied Scholastics
was established in 1972 by Church of Scientology members, and is one of many
umbrella organisations that obscure or outright deny their links to the Church
of Scientology.
The company claims to
be a non-aligned and secular group "dedicated to the broad implementation
of learning tools researched and developed by American author and educator L
Ron Hubbard".
"What they don't
say is that [Hubbard] was a sociopath and a cult leader," Dr Touretzky
said.
Applied Scholastics
uses a teaching method known as Study Tech — an idea formed by Hubbard — which
he described as "[Scientology's] primary bridge to society".
On its websites,
Applied Scholastics provides several "research reports" published by
the organisation itself while highlighting a number of anonymous testimonials.
"Study Tech is
not a gimmicky 'quick-study method' but an exact technology that anyone can use
to learn a subject or to acquire a new skill," reads an explanation on
Scientology's website.
"Your ability to
learn depends on a willingness to learn. The biggest single block to learning
is your decision that you already know all about it," a sample of Study Tech's work reads.
According to Dr
Touretzky, Study Tech is not supported by any legitimate scientists or
educators.
"You can't find
any school of education or psychology department in the world that supports
these ideas — the only place where these concepts are taught are in the
religious scripture of the Church of Scientology," he said.
"It's harmful,
it's bad educational theory and it's covert religious instruction."
'Not part of the Church of Scientology':
Applied Scholastics
Applied Scholastics
has consistently rejected allegations that it takes directions from the Church
of Scientology, and a spokesperson told the ABC it was an independent
organisation that is "not part of the Church of Scientology or any other
religious organisation".
However, the
spokesperson did say the Church of Scientology's "parishioners are some of
the biggest supporters of Applied Scholastics activities" and that
donations funded its headquarters in St Louis, Missouri.
According to its
website which the spokesperson referred the ABC to for more information,
Applied Scholastics is run by the Association for Better Living and Education
(ABLE), another group created and managed by the Church.
ABLE oversees and
manages a handful of programs — Applied Scholastics, Narconon, Criminon and The
Way To Happiness — and says that its "mission is to rid the world of its
most devastating social ills — illiteracy, drugs, crime and immorality —
through the social betterment methods and principles of author and humanitarian
L Ron Hubbard."
Tony Ortega, a
prominent Scientology critic and author, said ABLE's organisations act as
surrogates for Scientology's ideology, and are also staffed by members of Sea
Org, the religious arm of the Church of Scientology.
"ABLE is the key
— Applied Scholastics cannot do anything without ABLE's approval," Mr
Ortega said, adding that the Church has used umbrella groups for decades in a
bid to obfuscate its activities.
"These groups are
not affiliated with Scientology, they are Scientology."
In Australia, there
are at least two schools using the work of Applied Scholastics: Yarralinda
Primary School, an early learning centre in Melbourne, and the Athena School in
Sydney.
Both have only a handful of students, and do not present
themselves as being associated with the Church of Scientology while maintaining
that they are non-aligned, secular institutions.
A former Yarralinda
Primary School board member alleged in 2011 that the school had taken out a
mortgage of $1 million dollars to help fund a new Church of Scientology
headquarters, and was using government funding to service the debt.
In a statement,
Yarralinda Primary School principal Christel Duffy told the ABC "Yarralinda
was not owned, operated or run by any religious body or entity".
'Scientology never tells the truth about
itself'
Applied Scholastics
claims on its website to have "760 affiliates" as well as
"100,000 educators and 28 million students" worldwide.
Those numbers would
indicate the group has substantial reach and influence, but not everyone agrees
that the figures stack up.
"Scientology
never tells the truth about itself, including its facts and figures about its
reach around the world," Mr Ortega said.
"I've spoken to
people who used to create those numbers, they say they just pull them out of
thin air."
Asked for evidence of
its claims, Applied Scholastics reiterated the figures on its website, but did
not provide the ABC with any proof of their veracity or details of the
material's educational successes and instead referred the ABC to a page that
could not be found on its website.
"Applied Scholastics
has been delivering services for more than four decades with the end result of
millions of students and tens of thousands of teachers helped with our
educational tools," it maintained.
The fact that
organisations like Applied Scholastics claim generalised but huge success in
far-off lands makes it difficult to establish exactly if or how they might be
genuinely expanding the reach of Scientology's influence and ideas.
"They always pick
these remote locations where it's hard to fact check — they haven't managed to
train every teacher in Missouri, but they've got every teacher in Gambia,"
Dr Touretzky said.
He said organisations
with apparent links to the Church had plenty of reasons to exaggerate their
success.
"It's all just a
show for wealthy donors … they give incredible amounts of money, it's just
insane," he said.
"It's all being
photographed and recorded so at the next big event [they can] show these donors
their success … whether or not they gain new members, that's less important
than having something to show."
But according to Mr
Ortega, years of abuse revelations and some high profile defections have
dwindled the Church's membership significantly.
"Scientology is
dying … in 1990 they had about 100,000 active members, they've never had the
million that they claimed," he said.
"The two most
recent defectors who had access to the numbers say it's probably around 20,000
active members."
As for Samoa, Scientology may have gained a foothold and
the PR it needs to maintain a sense of ubiquity, but in an overwhelmingly
Christian country, observers say it's unlikely to get much more than that.
The Church of
Scientology has been contacted for comment but did not reply at the time of
writing.
