Will More Iranian Protestors Face the Death Penalty?

November 15, 2022

Plus: The Shireen Abu Akleh investigation begins ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

November 15, 2022

Ba’ax ka wa’alik, Meteor readers,

Why am I greeting you in Yucatec Maya, you ask? Well if you watched Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, you know the answer. I’m not going to give anything away, but I will tip my hat to all involved in bringing Namor and the people of Talokan to life with such artistry and reverence for Mesoamerican culture. Some superhero movies are just superhero movies, but this one truly felt like a celebration of cultures.

Today, The Meteor crew is still recovering from our live summit Meet the Moment—which, thanks to our speakers, performers, and all of you who were there, was a wonderful day of conversation and healing. (More on that in Thursday’s newsletter, so be sure to stick around.) And by recovering, I mean my boss Samhita is gone and my coworkers and I are plotting rebellion:

So while Bailey and I whittle our pages down to a tight 45, we hope you enjoy a tour through this week’s news, including strange happenings at Amazon and an update on the important investigation into the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh.

Ka ka’at,

Shannon Melero

WHAT’S GOING ON

Hunt for the truth: The United States has launched an official investigation into the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot in the head while wearing bulletproof press gear in the West Bank in May. Despite the Israeli Defense Forces initially denying involvement, the IDF admitted later that there was a “high possibility” that it had shot at Abu Akleh—yet the government failed to file any charges and instead offered lip service on “internal investigations.” But on Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would be launching an investigation into the killing. Israel vehemently refuses to cooperate, but this move from the DOJ is a long overdue reminder that journalists, including Palestinian ones, cannot be killed with abandon.

Lives on the line: The Iranian government has sentenced a man to death after he was arrested for participating in anti-government protests in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, the young woman killed while in police custody in September. The protestor was found guilty of “enmity against God” after allegedly setting a government building on fire, the BBC reports. Meanwhile, hundreds of other protestors currently under arrest await their fate, and Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) has found that at least 20 of them are facing charges punishable by death. Exactly how many protestors are at risk in Iran right now? Because of the Iranian government’s withheld or misleading information, it’s been hard for independent sources like IHRNGO to confirm exact numbers—but what we do know is that the average age of protestors being arrested is 15. And the Iranian government has already carried out two juvenile executions this year.

AND:

Yesterday, Jeff Bezos said he plans to give away a considerable amount of his over $100 billion fortune. Normally I’d make a joke and ask to hold a couple thousand for him, but the suspiciously timed announcement comes on the heels of a more serious one: Just one month before the largest shopping season of the year, Amazon plans to lay off about 10,000 employees. Charity starts at home, Jeffrey.
Apparently, all of the cool kids are ditching Twitter and moving over to Mastodon in response to Elon Musk ruining everything. (So we’re not going back to Tumblr, then?)
A CBS analysis of a Department of Education report found that more than 700 elementary school children were arrested in school during the 2017-2018 school year. Many of the arrests were carried out violently—with one child being pinned to the floor for over half an hour—and disproportionately affected children of color and children with autism. “[Black children] made up nearly half of all arrests” during the 2017-2018 school year, CBS reports, despite comprising only 15% of the student population.
U.S. Women’s National Team goalkeeper and queer icon Ashlyn Harris has announced her retirement from professional soccer. I’m not crying; you’re crying.
Speaking of soccer, the men’s World Cup continues to be a hotbed of political turmoil. The TL;DR is that the tournament will be hosted in Qatar this year, a move many in the soccer world were strongly opposed to, due to the country’s human rights abuses and demonstrated disdain for LGBTQ+ people. But money talks, so the tournament will go on as scheduled. In a small show of solidarity with its fan base, the U.S. Men’s National Team changed the team crest in its training center to include the colors of the Pride flag. They also plan to display the Pride flag during pre-match games—which may sound like a small thing but could have big consequences in Qatar.
We could all use a laugh, right? So let’s collectively point and giggle at Fox anchor Sean Hannity, who was so befuddled by election denier Kari Lake’s loss in the Arizona gubernatorial election that he could hardly bring himself to announce the results on his own show. And a hearty, wholly sincere congratulations to governor-elect Katie Hobbs!
Hearty congratulations to Beyoncé, who racked up four Grammy nominations this year and is now tied with her own husband for most nominations of all time.
Michelle Obama has a new memoir out, The Light We Carry, and I’m pleased to report that it has a whole chapter on knitting! Really can’t ask for more. (It’s got plenty on Barack, speaking with authenticity, and that famous “we go high” line too.) The Meteor’s own Rebecca Carroll reviewed it for the LA Times. Get out and grab your copy.