North Korea Displays Leader’s Portrait Beside Predecessors for First Time https://english.aawsat.com/world/5023215-north-korea-displays-leader%E2%80%99s-portrait-beside-predecessors-first-time%C2%A0
North Korea Displays Leader’s Portrait Beside Predecessors for First Time
This picture taken on May 21, 2024 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on May 22, 2024 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) attending a ribbon cutting ceremony at the newly completed Workers' Party of Korea Central Cadres Training School in Pyongyang. (KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
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North Korea Displays Leader’s Portrait Beside Predecessors for First Time
This picture taken on May 21, 2024 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on May 22, 2024 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) attending a ribbon cutting ceremony at the newly completed Workers' Party of Korea Central Cadres Training School in Pyongyang. (KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
North Korean media have published photographs showing leader Kim Jong Un's portrait hanging prominently next to those of his father and grandfather, in an apparent push to solidify his status as a leader equal to his forebears.
The photographs appeared to be the first time state media was publishing his portrait hanging beside those of state founder Kim Il Sung and his late father Kim Jong Il, who ruled the nation until his sudden death in 2011.
The photographs, taken at the opening of a new school training cadres for the ruling Workers' Party, showed giant portraits of the three generations displayed on the facade of the imposing structure.
In other photographs, Kim was shown speaking to aides, including the cabinet premier, in classrooms with the portraits of the trio hanging above the blackboard at the front.
Kim told the opening ceremony the location of the school was chosen as it was close to the palace where Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il lie in state, "so that the great leaders can hear every word of even whispering students," the KCNA news agency said.
State media did not comment on the intent behind the display of the portraits or say if it had become the standard across the country for all public venues and classrooms.
The Kim family dynasty that has ruled North Korea since its founding after World War Two has sought to strengthen its grip on power by building cults of personality around itself.
Another recent move that appeared aimed at burnishing the image of Kim Jong Un was the release of an upbeat song praising him as a "friendly father" and a "great leader" in a music video of North Koreans from all walks of life belting out the lyrics.
There has also been speculation that state media's discontinuation of the term "Day of the Sun" to describe a holiday for the birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung was to avoid drawing attention away from the current leader.
Tens of Thousands Join Pro-Palestinian Rallies in Europe amid High Alert as Oct. 7 Anniversary Nearshttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5068102-tens-thousands-join-pro-palestinian-rallies-europe-amid-high-alert-oct-7-anniversary
Protesters attend a demonstration in support of the Palestinian and Lebanese people in Strasbourg, eastern France, on October 5, 2024. (AFP)
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Tens of Thousands Join Pro-Palestinian Rallies in Europe amid High Alert as Oct. 7 Anniversary Nears
Protesters attend a demonstration in support of the Palestinian and Lebanese people in Strasbourg, eastern France, on October 5, 2024. (AFP)
Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators took to the streets in London, Paris, Rome and other major cities around the globe Saturday to call for a ceasefire as the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel approached.
Massive rallies were planned in several European cities, with the largest gatherings expected from Saturday to Monday. Events will peak on Monday, the date of the anniversary.
In London, thousands gathered in Russell Square amid a significant police presence. Some of the march’s organizers had said they planned to target companies and institutions they claimed were “complicit in Israel’s crimes,” including Barclays Bank and the British Museum.
The atmosphere was tense as pro-Palestine protesters and counter-demonstrators, some holding Israeli flags, passed each other. Scuffles broke out as police officers pushed back activists trying to get past a cordon. Fifteen people were arrested on suspicion of public order offenses and assault, London's Metropolitan Police said.
In Rome, several thousand demonstrators gathered in spite of a ban by local authorities who refused to authorize protests in the Italian capital, citing security concerns. Protesters chanted “Free Palestine, Free Lebanon,” waving Palestinian flags and holding banners calling for an immediate stop to the conflict.
People wave Palestinian and Lebanese flags as they demonstrate in solidarity with Palestinian and Lebanese people in central Sofia on October 5, 2024. (AFP)
In the northern German city of Hamburg, about 950 people staged a peaceful demonstration with many waving Palestinian and Lebanese flags or chanting “Stop the Genocide,” the dpa news agency reported, citing a count by police. Two smaller pro-Israeli counterdemonstrations took place without incident, it said.
Several thousand protesters gathered peacefully at Paris’ Republique Plaza in a show of solidarity with the Palestinian and Lebanese people. Many were waving Palestinian flags while holding posters reading ”stop the genocide,” “free Palestine,” and “hands off Lebanon.”
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators also planned to join rallies in Washington, New York’s Times Square and several other cities in the United States as well as in other parts of the world, including Denmark, Switzerland, South Africa and India. In the Philippines, dozens of left-wing activists protested near the US Embassy in Manila, where police prevented them from getting closer to the seaside compound.
Pro-Israeli demonstrations are expected to be held Sunday because Jews across the world are still observing Rosh Hashana, or the Jewish new year.
High security alerts
Security forces in several countries warned of heightened levels of alert in major cities, amid concerns that the escalating conflict in the Middle East could inspire new terror attacks in Europe or that the protests could turn violent.
Pro-Palestinian protests calling for an immediate ceasefire have repeatedly taken place across Europe and around the globe in the past year and have often turned violent, with confrontations between demonstrators and law enforcement officers.
A demonstrator holds a Lebanese flag in support of Lebanon amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, during a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza, ahead of the anniversary of the October 7th attack, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Rome, Italy, October 5, 2024. (Reuters)
Italian authorities believed that the timing of Saturday's rally in Rome risked the Oct. 7 attack being “glorified,” local media reported.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi also stressed that, ahead of the key anniversary, Europe is on high alert for potential terror attacks.
“This is not a normal situation. ... We are already in a condition of maximum prevention,” he said.
Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in Britain, said he and others will keep organizing marches until action against Israel is taken.
“We need to be out on the streets in even bigger numbers to stop this carnage and stop Britain being drawn into it,” Jamal said.
In Berlin, a march is scheduled from the Brandenburg Gate to Bebelplatz on Sunday. Local media reported that security forces have warned of potential overload because of the scale of protests. German authorities pointed to increasing antisemitic and violent incidents in recent days.
Earlier this week in France, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau warned the country’s regional prefects, expressing concern about possible tensions and saying that the terrorist threat was high.
A tense and bloody year On Oct. 7 last year, Hamas launched a surprise attack into Israel, killing 1,200 Israelis, taking 250 people hostage and setting off a war with Israel that has shattered much of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
Elizabeth Tower, commonly known as Big Ben, is seen with pro-Palestinian demonstrators marching to Downing Street to mark one year of the Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip and to call for a permanent ceasefire as part of an event organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in London, Britain, 05 October 2024. (EPA)
More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since then in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between fighters and civilians.
Nearly 100 Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, with fewer than 70 believed to be alive. Israelis have experienced attacks — missiles from Iran and Hezbollah, explosive drones from Yemen, fatal shootings and stabbings — as the region braces for further escalation.
In late September, Israel shifted some of its focus to Hezbollah, which holds much of the power in parts of southern Lebanon.
