Jewish pilgrimage organisers in #Tunisia scrap celebrations over #Gaza war (“how do we celebrate when people are dying every day?”) @tunisia@palestine@israel
#Israel / Global Index: Israel falls out of the liberal democracy category for the first
time in over 50 years; substantive decline also include freedom from #torture
With the question of whether a “Jewish State” can even be a real democracy put aside, Israel is no longer even that. Strangely, Israel seems to to have finally assimilated in the Middle East, but in the worst possible way.
[…] The Middle East and North Africa (#MENA) remains the most autocratic region in the world, with 98% of its population residing in autocracies. A large share (45%) lives in closed autocracies such as #Iran, #Libya, and Saudi Arabia, but 53% live in electoral autocracies, such as #Türkiye and Iraq. 2% of the region's population reside in #Tunisia, which is in the “grey zone” electoral autocracy category. The remaining 2% live in Israel. Notably, Israel lost its long-time status as liberal democracy in 2023. It is now classified as an electoral democracy – for the first time in over 50 years. This is primarily due to substantial declines in the indicators measuring the transparency and predictability of the law, and government attacks on the judiciary.
[…] Among other things, Israel’s Knesset passed a bill in 2023 stripping the Supreme Court of the power to declare government decisions unreasonable. Indicators that are in substantive decline also include freedom from torture.
#Water restrictions, increased prices and imprisonment: How is #Tunisia battling 5 years of drought?
"Prices will remain unchanged for small household consumers,"
Price increase for
Over 40 cubic metres: 12 %
Over 70 cubic metres: 13.7 %
Over 150 cubic metres and all tourist facilities: 16 %.
"16 [#desalination] plants provide 6 per cent of its freshwater supplies. By 2030, the country is pushing for 30 % of its water needs to be met by desalination."