Dissidents Arrested, Media Shut Down - Hong Kong a Police State now?

The last edition of the Apple Daily newspaper

Hong Kong - The most popular journalists and dissidents in jail, the commemoration of the largest Tiananmen vigil canceled for two consecutive years, and the largest pro-democracy media forced to shut down - these are the achievements of the National Security Law in Hong Kong within a single year.

Apple Daily has been one of the biggest supporters of democracy in Hong Kong throughout the 26 years of its operation. The Hong Kong government cracked down on the media company little by little bringing it finally to closure now. The founder and owner of Apple Daily, Jimmy Lai, has been in prison since December for participating in a pro-democracy rally; the chief executive and editor-in-chief were arrested last week along with several other staff members; the lead editorial writer was arrested this week; millions of dollars in assets were frozen; hundreds of police officers raided the offices twice and seized computers and materials - all under the claim that Apple Daily and people involved were engaged in influencing foreign governments to sanction China and Hong Kong.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement that “it is crystal clear that the powers under the National Security Law are being used as a tool to curtail freedoms and punish dissent — rather than keep public order.”

The final edition of the newspaper went into the market on Thursday. The newspaper that sells about 80,000 copies each day sold over 1 million copies of its last edition.

In addition, Beijing approved the promotion of Security Secretary John Lee as chief secretary today, and Police Chief Chris Tang, known for his hawkish stance, as the security secretary. "The promotion of John Lee and Chris Tang completes the swift and total transformation of Hong Kong into a police state," said Samuel Chu of the Hong Kong Democracy Council.

'Cockroach' by Ai Weiwei portrays the 2019 protests in Hong Kong.

'Hong Kong Moments' by Zhou Bing portrays the 2019 protests in Hong Kong.

'The Post' by Steven Spielberg about freedom of press.

Israel Approves New Settlements in West Bank

'5 Broken Cameras' tells the story of Palestinian Emad Burnet as he records his village's resistance to settlements.

Tel Aviv - After four elections in two years, and the inability of Israel's long-term Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in forming a coalition, a very surprising coalition arose including the far-right, left, and an Arab party.

Under the new government, the Israeli military’s Civil Administration in the West Bank approved construction plans for settlements in the West Bank for the first time in over six months. 31 zoning plans, each containing a small number of housing units or facilities, have been approved in settlements including Alfei Menashe, Elkana, Havat Sde Bar, and Yitzhar.

Ayman Odeh, chairman of the Joint List alliance of Arab-majority parties from which the Arab Ra'am party left before joining the current coalition, said: "The left is surrendering to the right and setting the diplomatic issue aside, but the right continues to sabotage the chances of peace and to deepen the occupation, repression, and dispossession of millions of Palestinians."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the new Israeli government to "halt and reverse" the new settlements, describing it as “a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-state solution, and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace”.

'Tel Aviv on Fire' is a satire in which a Palestinian soap opera writer gets ideas for his show from an Israeli officer he meets at the checkpoint each day.