Jacob Risberg

Svaret på USA:s nya Sverigekritik USA:s vicepresident JD Vance riktar hård kritik mot EU i sitt tal i München. Han anser att unionen agerar mot yttrandefriheten – och tar upp Sverige som ett exempel. – Sveriges lagar att skydda yttran...

Politicians should not interfere with, nor criticise independent courts judicial work. No matter if you're a Swedish or foreign politician. www.expressen.se/nyheter/sver...

Thank you for excellent insights and also a nice chat at the lunch. Hope to talk more when you're back in Sweden the next time.

Spädbarn fryser ihjäl i tälten i Gaza – minst sju döda - Nyheter (Ekot) I Gaza har minst sju spädbarn frusit ihjäl i vinterkylan.Föräldrar har inte lyckats skydda sina nyfödda mot vädrets makter i de fuktiga och ibland översvämmade ...

2. When will the world put serious pressure on Israel to end this senseless war? The Swedish gov. must do more, NOW, so that no more lives are lost. The Green Party is calling for a permanent ceasefire, the war in Gaza is an unprecedented humanitarian disaster. sverigesradio.se/artikel/spad...

Spädbarn fryser ihjäl i tälten i Gaza – minst sju döda - Nyheter (Ekot) I Gaza har minst sju spädbarn frusit ihjäl i vinterkylan.Föräldrar har inte lyckats skydda sina nyfödda mot vädrets makter i de fuktiga och ibland översvämmade ...

1. While drinking my morning coffee, Swedish Radio is reporting about how babies are freezing to death in the tents in Gaza, at least seven are dead. Read that sentence again - babies are freezing to death. It is a sentence that is wrong in every way imaginable. When is enough?

Hela idén med R2P, Responsibility to Protect, försvinner dessutom om det först krävs en juridisk process för att avgöra om krigsbrott, brott mot mänskligheten och folkmord begås.

23. But that is not the case, and it shows that we have a weak and right-wing populist government in Sweden that so easily falls for the propaganda of the extreme right-wing Israeli government.
Shame on you, Benjamin Dousa!

22. If the Swedish government had simply raised the rights of these Palestinians and put pressure on Israel's responsibility for them when choosing to end support for UNRWA, there would have been at least an ounce of credibility in the government's policy.

21. both for all Palestinians living in the occupied territories but also to contribute to the right of return or financially compensate the 6 million Palestinian refugees who are currently in Gaza, the West Bank including Jerusalem, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

20. UNRWA continues to exist and is needed because the outside world and Israeli and Palestinian leaders have not managed to find a sustainable solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, and because Israel does not take the responsibility it has,

19. who are dependent on UNRWA's healthcare, education and other assistance. And when the damned genocide in Gaza has been stopped, and Gaza's schoolchildren are to return to school, who does the Swedish government intend to run these schools?

18. And although it will of course have consequences for both the 1.5 million refugees who are there, as well as the other 700,000 to whom UNRWA has contributed to distributing food and supplies over the past 14 months, the decision will also affect an additional 4.5 million Palestinian refugees

17. So, back to today's idiotic decision by the government. A week ago, Sweden voted to renew UNRWA's mandate until 30 June 2026, but is now choosing to stop all financial contributions to that mandate. The statements made so far basically refer only to Gaza and UNRWA's work there.

16. who choose not to do so should be financially compensated for loss or destruction of property.

15. Having said that, the UN has already stated from the beginning, in Resolution 194, and as reiterated over the years, that the Palestinian refugees have the right to return to their homes and live in peace with their neighbours as soon as possible and that those

14. UNRWA does not have a mandate to try to find a permanent solution for the Palestinians, but was formed to provide services while waiting for a permanent solution or the possibility of return.

13. And UNHCR has a responsibility to try to find permanent solutions for refugees through either repatriation, i.e. returning to their homes, or permanent resettlement in a new homeland (but with the refugee's own consent).

12. with a slightly different mandate, and with a fatal difference for the Palestinians. UNHCR is responsible for refugees all over the world, except for the Palestinian refugees who fall under UNRWA's mandate in the five regions where UNRWA operates.

11. UNRWA does not run these camps themselves since it is not part of their mandate, but is responsible for healthcare, education and other social services.
The problem is that at the same time as UNRWA is being formed, the UN is also working on another refugee agency, UNHCR,

10. There are 58 Palestinian refugee camps, eight of which are in Gaza, and in total about a quarter of the Palestinian refugees live in these camps, often in difficult social and economic conditions.

9. Today, UNRWA is responsible for approximately 6 million Palestinian refugees, of whom a quarter, 1.5 million, are in Gaza. The rest are in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. And it is only Palestinians living in these areas who are covered by UNRWA's assistance.

8. After the Six-Day War in 1967, the mandate was expanded to also include Palestinians who were forced to flee during these conflicts, and agreements were signed with the State of Israel on access to the refugee camps that were now under military occupation in Gaza and the West Bank.

7. The mandate of UNRWA, which has changed somewhat over time, has primarily been to provide Palestinian refugees with healthcare, education and various social services, although initially there was a greater focus on the distribution of food and other humanitarian efforts.

6. UNRWA was formed by a young UN in 1949 in the wake of the persecutions of the spring of 1948 and the war of 1948-49 when more than ¾ of all Palestinians, a total of over 700,000, were forced to flee. Called by Palestinians the Nakba or the catastrophe.

5. as they do not want the money to be "stuck in an account and unable to reach the field".
But the government does not seem to have understood UNRWA's role and mandate at all. Or they understand but choose to throw millions of Palestinians under the bus.

4. And Minister of Development Cooperation Dousa also says that Israel's upcoming legislation, which in practice prohibits UNRWA from operating in Gaza and the West Bank and which violates international law and Israel's commitments to the UN, has influenced the decision

3. It is simply UNRWA that most organisations have been forced to rely on, as they have about 13,000 local employees in Gaza with extensive experience in reaching out to those in need even during conflict.

2. The government refers to doubling humanitarian support for Gaza by providing funds to the WFP and ICRC, despite being aware that none of these organizations currently have nearly the resources and infrastructure required for aid to reach those who need it in Gaza.

1. Today, the Swedish government has chosen to end all financial support for UNRWA. An idiotic and completely ill-considered decision that comes at a time when the government in the recent days finally has begun to express political support for UNRWA, including by voting for resolution A/ES-10/L.32.

Syrian rebels say they have captured capital as Bashar al-Assad reported to have fled Damascus – live updates Anti-regime forces declare Damascus ‘free’ of Assad as government forces withdraw presence

50 years of Assad dictatorship is over. Impossible to predict what happens next. The rebels have backgrounds in ISIS and have previously supported al qaida. Very important now for intl community to support democratic institutions and civil society in Syria. www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

South Korean political activities banned, protests prohibited and media censored under martial law – live Members of the national assembly banned from entering building after president announces ‘emergency martial law’

Very worried of the ongoing situation in South Korea. Hoping for a prompt democratic and peaceful solution of the ongoing turmoil. www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...