Monday Briefing | April 2
Crowds of Palestinians gathered along the Gaza Strip’s eastern border to protest for their “right to return.” | Photo courtesy Hosam Salem/Al Jazeera
Stories to Follow
Palestinian Protests: As of March 30, at least 17 people have been killed and 1000 others wounded after Israeli troops opened fire on Palestinians protesting along the Gaza Strip’s border. Protesters of the “March of Return” are demanding that refugees be allowed to return to their families’ homes in what is now Israel. The protests are expected to continue until May 15, the anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Re-elected: The incumbent won a reported 92 percent of the vote after three days of voting. After most political challengers dropped out or were jailed prior to the election, al-Sisi had only one obscure opponent, causing critics to call the election a farce.
Coordinated Expulsion of Russian Diplomats: Twenty Western countries have joined Britain in expelling Russian diplomats following its nerve agent attack on Russian agent Sergei Skripal in England. Russia’s Foreign Ministry retaliated by expelling the diplomats of several European countries in return. Tension between Russia and the West have risen to levels that are compared to periods of the Cold War.
Happening This Week
Aetherial Worlds: Tatayana Tolstaya in Conversation with Maya Vinokour | Tuesday, April 3, 6-7:30 PM, 19 University Place, 2nd Floor
This spellbinding collection marks Tolstaya’s return to the Knopf list and is her first to be translated into English in more than twenty years. Widely considered one of modern Russia’s finest writers, Tolstaya is at her best in AETHERIAL WORLDS. These tales about politics, identity, love, and loss lay bare universal human truths and transform ordinary realities into miraculous other worlds. This conversation is presented by the NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia. RSVP here.
The Rohingya Crisis: Mass Violence, Mass Exodus, and Humanitarian Action | Wednesday, April 4, 6:20-8:20 PM, NYU Silver Center for Arts and Sciences, 31 Washington Place
Mayesha Alam is the author of Women and Transitional Justice (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014) and co-editor of the forthcoming Women and Gender Perspectives in the Military (Georgetown University Press, 2018). She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in political science at Yale University and she is a Global Health Justice Fellow at Yale Law School. Mayesha studies the causes, character, and consequences of mass violence. For the past several months, she has been researching the ongoing Rohingya crisis and recently returned from doing fieldwork in refugee camps in Bangladesh. RSVP here.
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