Global Perception Scores 2026 .... ( Most people say the main purpose of democracy is to improve living standards & Most people agree that countries should follow international law)

 Most people say the main purpose of democracy is to improve living standards & Most people agree that countries should follow international law

https://146165116.fs1.hubspotusercontent-eu1.net/hubfs/146165116/DPI%202026.pdf 

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For more than 80 years, UNESCO has worked to build peace through education, culture, freedom of expression and dialogue. Peace is never secured once and for all. It is built through institutions, relationships and daily choices.

UNESCO

 

 Peace is not simply the absence of war. It depends on the ability of societies to confront disagreement without violence, protect human rights and dignity, and keep dialogue open when tensions rise.

 

Today, conflict, displacement, discrimination, hate speech, backsliding on rights and polarization are fracturing communities and eroding trust.

 

On this #InternationalDayOfPeace, UNESCO calls for greater investment in the institutions, skills and relationships that allow societies to address tensions before they turn into violence.

 

For more than 80 years, UNESCO has worked to build peace through education, culture, freedom of expression and dialogue.

 

Peace is never secured once and for all. It is built through institutions, relationships and daily choices.

 

https://www.unesco.org/en/days/peace?hub=180536  

 

#ForThePeople

 

The International Day of Peace celebrates the power of global solidarity for building a peaceful and sustainable world.

This has never been so important at a time of unprecedented challenges. New forces of division have emerged, spreading hatred and intolerance. Terrorism is fuelling violence, while violent extremism seek to poison the minds of the vulnerable and young. In the poorest and least-developed parts of the world, climate-related natural disasters are compounding existing fragility, increasing forced migration and heightening the risk of violence.

The barriers to peace are complex and steep - no one country can solve them alone. Doing so requires new forms of solidarity and joint action, starting as early as possible. 

https://www.unesco.org/en/sustainable-development?hub=66719

What is sustainable development?

• a resolution to meet the needs of the present without compromising the future
• a vision that encompasses populations, animal and plant species, ecosystems, natural resources – water, air, energy
• an endeavour to integrate concerns such as the fight against poverty, gender equality, human rights, education for all, health, human security, intercultural dialogue etc.   

 

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Palestinian American activist arrested and ‘charged for trespassing at a public hearing’. Noura Erakat says a Florida mayor shortened speaking time and banned discussion of investment in Israeli bonds

Noura Erakat poses for the photographer at a ceremony to award honorary degrees at the University of Antwerp on 2 April 2026. Photograph: Jonas Roosens/BELGA MAG/AFP/Getty Images

 Alice Speri

Wed 16 Sep 2026 15.17 EDT

The human rights lawyer Noura Erakat was arrested on Tuesday at a Palm Beach county, Florida, budget hearing about the county’s more than $1bn investments in Israeli bonds.

Erakat, a prominent Palestinian-American activist, legal scholar and Guardian contributor, was one of several people in attendance at the public commission hearing who were forcibly removed by local law enforcement. The removal happened when the group attempted to speak out against the county’s investment in the bonds – the largest by a municipal government.

Representatives for Palm Beach county did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a video of Erakat’s arrest posted by Al Jazeera, two law enforcement officers are seen taking her away as she speaks about wanting to exercise “basic free speech”.

Erakat said that she and other critics of the county’s investment in Israeli bonds had planned to make statements at the hearing but that when they arrived there, the county’s mayor, Sara Baxter, told those present they could only speak for one minute as opposed to the slotted three.

She later said only residents would be allowed to speak and that people who applauded would be removed. Erakat also recalled that Baxter said that speakers could not address the Israeli bonds issue because they were a policy matter and not a budget one.

When people spoke about the matter anyway, they were removed from the room. During a recess, police officers entered the room and “handpicked” people to remove, she added.

“I insisted that I had a right to stay, they didn’t know what I was going to talk about, they were racially profiling me,” said Erakat.

Investments in the Israeli bonds have become a controversial issue as US public opinion of Israel has plunged. In Florida, a group of residents sued Palm Beach county last year over the investment, which the group says was carried out in violation of local laws, including requirements that foreign investments meet certain ratings and prohibitions around investing for political reasons. The case was dismissed in August for lack of standing, but the plaintiffs are appealing the decision.

“These millions of dollars should be going to local needs,” Lydia Ghuman, executive director of the Internationalist Law Center, which is representing the plaintiffs in that case, told the Guardian earlier this year. “The fact that they are being invested in bonds that are not beating the rate of inflation and propping up the economy of a foreign government is a sign of the special interests gripping local politics.”

Nationwide, a coalition of groups has launched a “Break the Bonds”campaign encouraging advocacy for divestment at the local level, as well as targeting state and union pension funds and universities’ investments in Israel. Several candidates in recent primaries races have pledged to... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/16/noura-erakat-palestinian-arrested-florida

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The space for freedom of expression is shrinking dramatically as governments use new technologies to suppress dissent and digital giants manipulate information online to enrich themselves, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khan, warned today. In her final report to the Human Rights Council, Khan highlighted the conflation of State and corporate interests to exploit vulnerabilities of the right to freedom of expression.

UN Special Procedures

@UN_SPExperts

 

Space for freedom of expression shrinking as govts use tech to suppress dissent & digital giants manipulate info for enrichment, warns @Irenekhan   @UN_HRC. 

 

“Freedom of expression has been privatised, monetised, manipulated & unlawfully restricted.  

 

#UNHRC62 

 https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/06/freedom-expression-must-not-be-treated-fodder-geopolitics-or-commodity-trade

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https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session62/advance-versions/a-hrc-62-67-aev.pdf 

Stanford students walk out of Sundar Pichai’s commencement speech... "According to Al Jazeera, the $1.2 billion Project Nimbus was signed between Google, Amazon and Israel in 2021. It aims to provide cloud computing infrastructure, A.I. and other technological services to the Israeli government and military.​"

MSN story by Owen Scott

6/15/2026 

Around 200 students walked out of the CEO of Google’s commencement speech at Stanford University, according to reports. ​

Other attendees could be seen blowing whistles and waving Palestinian flags, amid Project Nimbus, a scheme under which Google and Amazon provide the Israeli government with technological services. 

In footage obtained by an SFGATE reporter, students can be heard chanting “free, free Palestine,” as they left CEO Sundar Pichai’s speech.

“I must warn you all, this is only the second commencement speech I have ever given,” Pichai says in the video. “The first was literally in my backyard.”

​According to that same reporter, Pichai did not mention artificial intelligence in his speech. The topic had been mentioned in several commencement speeches by speakers throughout the year, leading to viral moments in which they were booed by the crowd... READ MORE  

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/general/stanford-students-walk-out-of-sundar-pichai-s-commencement-speech/ar-AA25G2aN

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Students who walked out of Pichai’s speech held their own “People’s Commencement,” featuring activist Mahmoud Khalil as the keynote speaker, according to SFGATE. 

Khalil had been detained for more than 100 days by Immigration and Customs Enforcement over his pro-Palestinian activism on Columbia University’s campus in 2024. ​

According to Al Jazeera, the $1.2 billion Project Nimbus was signed between Google, Amazon and Israel in 2021. It aims to provide cloud computing infrastructure, A.I. and other technological services to the Israeli government and military.​

Those who championed free speech in the UK and US now wage war on it. And here’s why: Palestine ...."How can any of this be justified in a democracy? No foreign government should be granted immunity from criticism. Not China. Not Saudi Arabia. Not Israel. And yet the self-proclaimed Jewish state occupies a uniquely and weirdly protected place in our political discourse. Criticism that would be considered routine in any other context – don’t bomb hospitals! Don’t kill kids! – is cynically rebranded as anti-Jewish bigotry."

Supporters of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil chain themselves to a fence at Columbia University, New York, 2 April 2025. Photograph: Kyle Mazza/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock

It was once an article of faith that even those who speak words we disagree with deserve protection. As regards Palestine, that’s now not true

 Mehdi Hasan

Mon 8 Jun 2026

Remember the Satanic Verses controversy? Remember “Je suis Charlie”? Remember the constant invocations of Voltaire and Orwell? The great irony of our age is that many of the cadre of politicians who spent years anointing themselves as champions of free speech have become its most enthusiastic enemies when the subject turns to one issue: Palestine.

For decades, western governments lectured the world about liberal values. They declared freedom of expression the hallmark of a liberal democratic society. Protest was deemed patriotic while the right to offend was considered sacred. Then came Gaza. Suddenly, the principles that we were once told were non-negotiable became highly negotiable indeed...

.... The actions are opaque, the message unmistakable: there are political causes the British establishment welcomes but also political causes it very much fears.

This isn’t even about Uygur or Piker’s views. Whether one agrees with everything either man has ever said is irrelevant. Piker, for example, referred to some Orthodox Jews as “inbred” and once said the US “deserved” 9/11, both offensive comments for which he has since expressed regret. Defending free speech is most crucial when that speech is controversial. You cannot show your support for free expression only by defending opinions you already share.

In the US, where I now live and vote, the situation is even more alarming.

The Trump administration’s targeting of pro-Palestinian voices and, in particular, foreign students should be seen as one of the most severe assaults on free expression in modern American history... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/08/uk-us-champion-free-speech-war-palestine

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"Given the way things are going in the US, corporations seem to have more freedom of speech than university students. And it might not be long before datacenters have more rights than women."

 The Week in Patriarchy  AI (artificial intelligence)

Pity the poor AI datacenters facing ‘discrimination’

The centers are diverting much-needed resources from regular people. Local resistance has the industry playing defense 

 

by Arwa Mahdawi 

 

 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/16/pity-the-poor-ai-datacenters-facing-discrimination

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‘The people getting filthy rich from AI will never have to live next door to their moneymaking creations.’ Photograph: Mark Hertzberg/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

" “I think [Palestine] is the moral issue of our time and I believe it’s been used to undermine democratic institutions in the US,” Elghandour said. He referred to the cancelled invitation as a sign or “erosion of free speech and the first amendment”. “We’ve seen a livestreamed genocide,” he added. “And we’re supposed to worry about the feelings of the people who support that.” " Rami Elghandour

Rami Elghandour. Photograph: Courtesy Rami Elghandour

Rutgers graduation speaker canceled for pro-Palestinian posts says decision sends ‘dangerous’ message

Rami Elghandour tells Guardian in exclusive interview his speech was cancelled due to students’ complaints

Rutgers University abruptly rescinded its invitation to a prominent alum who was slated to deliver a graduation speech next week after some students complained about social media posts he had published about Palestine.

Rami Elghandour – a tech entrepreneur, graduate of Rutgers’ School of Engineering, and executive producer of the Oscar-nominated film The Voice of Hind Rajab – was set to deliver a graduation address at the school’s campus in New Brunswick, New Jersey on 15 May.

But the school’s dean, Alberto Cuitiño, called Elghandour last week and told him he was cancelling the speech because of students’ complaints, though he declined to say how many students and what posts they had complained about. The dean, Elghandour said, broadly described the posts as “opposed to their beliefs”.

“What is most puzzling to me is that they champion me for my humanitarian views and now they’re canceling me for them,” Elghandour told the Guardian in an exclusive interview... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/06/rutgers-cancel-graduation-speech-pro-palestine-post

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