csmonitor--2020-05-04--Democracy judged: Israel high court hears case against Netanyahu

With the fate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the line , Israel ’ s Supreme Court began discussions Sunday on the question of whether the embattled leader can form a new government while facing criminal indictments .
The court ’ s decision , expected later this week , is shaping up as a watershed moment in Israeli history .
A ruling preventing Mr. Netanyahu from returning for another term would almost certainly trigger an unprecedented fourth consecutive election in just over a year and draw angry , perhaps violent , reactions from Mr. Netanyahu ’ s supporters accusing the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ruling in favor will be seen by critics as further weakening the country ’ s fragile democratic institutions and a victory for a prime minister bent on escaping prosecution .
“ The High Court of Justice is facing its most important verdict ever , ” former Prime Minister Ehud Barak , a staunch critic of Mr. Netanyahu ’ s , wrote in the Haaretz daily .
“ The High Court can make its name for generations in one moment ’ s brave decision , ” he wrote .
“ On the other hand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ niceties , irrespective under what intricate pretexts , it too will be crushed further down the road.
” The court challenge comes in the wake of Mr. Netanyahu ’ s agreement last month to form an “ emergency ” government with his rival , Benny Gantz .
After battling each other in three inconclusive elections over the past year , the two men cited the country ’ s coronavirus outbreak for their power-sharing agreement .
But the deal includes a number of provisions – including the creation of the new office of “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to have little to do with the pandemic .
Critics say they are meant to allow Mr. Netanyahu to remain in office throughout his upcoming trial .
Mr. Netanyahu has been charged with fraud , breach of trust , and accepting bribes in a series of scandals in which he is accused of offering favors to media moguls in exchange for favorable press coverage .
Mr. Netanyahu denies the accusations and says he is the victim of a witch hunt .
His trial was postponed in March due to restrictions his hand-picked interim @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the coronavirus crisis erupted and is scheduled to commence later this month .
In Sunday ’ s proceedings , the court heard arguments on whether an indicted politician like Mr. Netanyahu can be given authority to form a new government .
On Monday , the justices will look at whether the coalition agreement violated the law .
Under the deal , Netanyahu and Gantz would be sworn in together , with Mr. Netanyahu serving first as prime minister and Mr. Gantz as the designated premier .
After 18 months , the two will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enjoy all the trappings of the prime minister , including an official residence and , key for Mr. Netanyahu , an exemption from a law that requires public officials who are not prime minister to resign if charged with a crime .
Mr. Netanyahu is eager to remain in office throughout his trial , using his position to lash out at the judicial system and rally support among his base .
The coalition deal also gives him influence over key judicial appointments , creating a potential conflict of interest during an appeals process @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reflection of the case ’ s importance , a panel of 11 justices are hearing the case – a much larger number than the usual three- or five-judge panels .
In another rarity , the hearings were broadcast live on national television and on the court ’ s website .
Due to the outbreak , the judges , attorneys , and clerks wore face masks , and plastic barriers separated each of the 11 justices on the bench .
The high court has become a lightning rod for criticism by Mr. Netanyahu and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of overreach and political interference .
The long-time leader ’ s opponents consider it a bastion of democracy under dangerous assault .
Michael Rabello , an attorney representing Mr. Netanyahu ’ s Likud party , said that over 1 million Israelis had voted for him with the knowledge he could be prime minister .
“ How can you say that this panel can replace the voters ?
” he asked the court .
Pro-democracy demonstrators have been taking to the streets weekly to protest Mr. Netanyahu ’ s continued rule , keeping their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ social-distancing rules .
On Sunday , several dozen demonstrators gathered outside the Knesset , Israel ’ s parliament , in support of the court and watched a screening of the hearing .
Eliad Shraga , head of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel , one of the groups petitioning the court , said it was “ unconscionable that a man like this will go in the morning to court to sit in the dock and in the evening will manage the Security Cabinet and send us and our children to battle.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need to rule by Thursday , the deadline for parliament to choose a new prime minister .
If that deadline is missed , a new election would be triggered .
Eli Salzberger , a law professor at the University of Haifa , said the panel consisted of the court ’ s 11 most senior justices and it was impossible to predict which way the diverse group would lean .
“ We can not really map the court ideologically , ” he said .
Last week , Israel ’ s attorney general , Avichai @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the court that while Mr. Netanyahu ’ s indictments “ raise significant problems , ” there was no legal basis for barring him from serving while facing criminal charges .
Salzberger said Mr. Mandelblit ’ s recommendation gave a boost to Mr. Netanyahu 's side , but noted the court has disagreed with the attorney general in the past .
“ It ’ s not a final decision , '' he said .
This story was reported by The Associated Press .
AP writer Ilan Ben Zion contributed to this report .
Editor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ service , the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus

With the fate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the line, Israel’s Supreme Court began discussions Sunday on the question of whether the embattled leader can form a new government while facing criminal indictments.
The court’s decision, expected later this week, is shaping up as a watershed moment in Israeli history.
A ruling preventing Mr. Netanyahu from returning for another term would almost certainly trigger an unprecedented fourth consecutive election in just over a year and draw angry, perhaps violent, reactions from Mr. Netanyahu’s supporters accusing the court of inappropriate political meddling. A ruling in favor will be seen by critics as further weakening the country’s fragile democratic institutions and a victory for a prime minister bent on escaping prosecution.
“The High Court of Justice is facing its most important verdict ever,” former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, a staunch critic of Mr. Netanyahu’s, wrote in the Haaretz daily.
“The High Court can make its name for generations in one moment’s brave decision,” he wrote. “On the other hand, should the court opt for legalistic niceties, irrespective under what intricate pretexts, it too will be crushed further down the road.”
The court challenge comes in the wake of Mr. Netanyahu’s agreement last month to form an “emergency” government with his rival, Benny Gantz.
After battling each other in three inconclusive elections over the past year, the two men cited the country’s coronavirus outbreak for their power-sharing agreement. But the deal includes a number of provisions – including the creation of the new office of “designated prime minister” – that appear to have little to do with the pandemic. Critics say they are meant to allow Mr. Netanyahu to remain in office throughout his upcoming trial.
Mr. Netanyahu has been charged with fraud, breach of trust, and accepting bribes in a series of scandals in which he is accused of offering favors to media moguls in exchange for favorable press coverage. Mr. Netanyahu denies the accusations and says he is the victim of a witch hunt. His trial was postponed in March due to restrictions his hand-picked interim justice minister placed on the courts after the coronavirus crisis erupted and is scheduled to commence later this month.
In Sunday’s proceedings, the court heard arguments on whether an indicted politician like Mr. Netanyahu can be given authority to form a new government. On Monday, the justices will look at whether the coalition agreement violated the law.
Under the deal, Netanyahu and Gantz would be sworn in together, with Mr. Netanyahu serving first as prime minister and Mr. Gantz as the designated premier. After 18 months, the two will swap positions. The new position will enjoy all the trappings of the prime minister, including an official residence and, key for Mr. Netanyahu, an exemption from a law that requires public officials who are not prime minister to resign if charged with a crime.
Mr. Netanyahu is eager to remain in office throughout his trial, using his position to lash out at the judicial system and rally support among his base. The coalition deal also gives him influence over key judicial appointments, creating a potential conflict of interest during an appeals process if he is convicted.
In a reflection of the case’s importance, a panel of 11 justices are hearing the case – a much larger number than the usual three- or five-judge panels. In another rarity, the hearings were broadcast live on national television and on the court’s website. Due to the outbreak, the judges, attorneys, and clerks wore face masks, and plastic barriers separated each of the 11 justices on the bench.
The high court has become a lightning rod for criticism by Mr. Netanyahu and his political allies, who accuse it of overreach and political interference. The long-time leader’s opponents consider it a bastion of democracy under dangerous assault.
Michael Rabello, an attorney representing Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party, said that over 1 million Israelis had voted for him with the knowledge he could be prime minister. “How can you say that this panel can replace the voters?” he asked the court.
Pro-democracy demonstrators have been taking to the streets weekly to protest Mr. Netanyahu’s continued rule, keeping their distance from one another in line with social-distancing rules. On Sunday, several dozen demonstrators gathered outside the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in support of the court and watched a screening of the hearing.
Eliad Shraga, head of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, one of the groups petitioning the court, said it was “unconscionable that a man like this will go in the morning to court to sit in the dock and in the evening will manage the Security Cabinet and send us and our children to battle.”
The justices have little time. They need to rule by Thursday, the deadline for parliament to choose a new prime minister. If that deadline is missed, a new election would be triggered.
Eli Salzberger, a law professor at the University of Haifa, said the panel consisted of the court’s 11 most senior justices and it was impossible to predict which way the diverse group would lean. “We cannot really map the court ideologically,” he said.
Last week, Israel’s attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit, said in an opinion to the court that while Mr. Netanyahu’s indictments “raise significant problems,” there was no legal basis for barring him from serving while facing criminal charges.
Salzberger said Mr. Mandelblit’s recommendation gave a boost to Mr. Netanyahu's side, but noted the court has disagreed with the attorney general in the past. “It’s not a final decision," he said.
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This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP writer Ilan Ben Zion contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: As a public service, the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus


csmonitor--2020-05-05--Ebola experts’ tips to fight COVID-19: Listen. Build trust. Show respect.

“ When people feel they are being treated like children , they treat responders like the enemy , ” says Nonhlanhla Tryphine Ngwabi , a Zimbabwean nurse who worked for the World Health Organization during the Ebola outbreak .
“ We forget over and over this simple lesson we learned in West Africa : Listen to communities .
Listen to their fears .
Listen to why they are skeptical .
And then show them that their concerns matter.
” Those lessons seem especially pertinent in the United States , as thousands of Americans have protested lockdown orders .
“ Building @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the work we do , whether it ’ s in Massachusetts or Sierra Leone , ” says John Welch , of Partners in Health .
“ Sitting with people and asking : Do you understand what this virus is and what you need to do to stay safe ?
Do you have the resources to stay home ?
That kind of knowledge happens through human connection at a person-to-person level.
” Last month , Massachusetts began an aggressive contact-tracing program to stop the spread of COVID-19 , led by the international charity Partners @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one example of lessons experts are applying from past pandemics – particularly the Ebola outbreak that killed more than 11,000 people , mostly in West Africa .
It isn ’ t often that the United States takes public health advice from West Africa .
But as the COVID-19 pandemic has ripped through societies unused to dealing with massive disease outbreaks , experts around the world are beginning to lean on the lessons from past epidemics – in particular , the 2014 to 2016 Ebola outbreak .
For instance , Massachusetts recently began an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every new case of coronavirus in the state , and then help them isolate to stop the disease from spreading .
That project is led by Partners in Health , a medical charity that has honed its skills in contact tracing around the world , including during West Africa ’ s deadly Ebola outbreak that killed more than 11,000 people , largely in Liberia , Guinea , and Sierra Leone .
“ We ’ re working on a method here that is not a theory , ” Gov .
Charlie Baker told the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s been done , and been done well in many other places.
” Editor ’ s note : As a public service , all our coronavirus coverage is free .
No paywall .
Unlike coronavirus contact tracing done in east Asia , however , the Massachusetts program is distinctly low-tech – relying not on digital surveillance but on one-on-one phone conversations between contact tracers and possible carriers .
And that , experts say , marks one of the most important lessons the fight against COVID-19 can learn from the fight against Ebola @ @ @ @ @ @ @ technology that wins the war against disease .
Sometimes , it also takes something much simpler – compassion .
“ Building ties to communities is so important to the work we do , whether it ’ s in Massachusetts or Sierra Leone , ” says John Welch , co-lead for Partners in Health ’ s contact tracing program in Massachusetts .
“ Sitting with people and asking , do you understand what this virus is and what you need to do to stay safe ?
Do you have the resources to stay home @ @ @ @ @ @ @ human connection at a person-to-person level.
” Those lessons seem especially pertinent in the United States in recent weeks , as thousands of Americans around the country have participated in mass protests in defiance of lockdown orders .
“ We saw similar protests in West Africa ” during the Ebola outbreak , and for similar reasons , says Khadija Alia Bah , a Sierra Leonean anthropologist who worked for the Ebola response in her country .
In both the U.S. and West Africa , people received confusing , sometimes contradictory information on how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ orders to stay home came from people they didn ’ t trust to keep their best interests in mind .
“ I ’ m gon na do what I got to do to feed my family , ” one protester in Pennsylvania told the BBC , explaining why he had defied the state ’ s lockdown order .
“ I don ’ t have any food and we ’ re scared , ” a resident of Liberia ’ s capital , Monrovia , told Reuters during anti-lockdown protests there in 2014 .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , of course .
West African protests frequently were fueled by police violence used to enforce lockdowns .
The American protests , meanwhile , have been deeply partisan , spurred on by encouragement from President Donald Trump .
But they share an important common thread , says Nonhlanhla Tryphine Ngwabi , a Zimbabwean nurse who worked as an infection prevention and control officer for the World Health Organization in Sierra Leone during the West African Ebola outbreak .
“ When people feel they are being treated like children , they treat responders like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ We forget over and over this simple lesson we learned in West Africa : Listen to communities .
Listen to their fears .
Listen to why they are skeptical .
And then show them that their concerns matter.
” Like COVID-19 , Ebola didn ’ t only make people ill .
It warped the shape of daily life .
Orders came from far away commanding that children be pulled out of school and businesses closed .
Lockdowns and curfews became commonplace .
The sick and dying , meanwhile , had to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what people understood about how to take care of the people they loved .
Those abrupt changes to daily life scared and confused people , Ms. Bah says , especially when they were delivered by officials who spoke the cold language of infection rates and confirmed cases – rather than discussing the disease ’ s impact in human terms .
“ What experts tend to forget is that diseases live in people , and that it is people who must be at the heart of every disease response , ” she says .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ others say , you must go through leaders they trust .
“ If you involve local communities and their leaders directly , they ’ re more likely to follow the rules , ” says Kou Gbaintor-Johnson , a nurse , researcher , and community organizer in Monrovia , Liberia .
That might mean , for instance , hiring people in hard-hit communities to work as contact tracers or to care for the sick , as health organizations did during the recent Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo .
Or it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ religious leaders , teachers , and other community leaders on how to provide clear , accurate information to those around them .
During Liberia ’ s Ebola outbreak , for instance , Ms. Gbaintor-Johnson was the community chairperson for a neighborhood in Monrovia .
As the disease spread , she met with other community leaders and they made a plan .
They ’ d canvas the area themselves , explaining one-on-one why the disease was dangerous , and that it was important to abide by the rules authorities had put in place to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she says , they listened to people ’ s concerns .
If they were worried they ’ d go hungry because they couldn ’ t work , Ms. Gbaintor-Johnson ’ s team considered how to get them food .
If they were scared for the future , she leveled with them : She was too .
“ If people feel like we ’ re in this fight together , they ’ re going to try to do their best , ” she says .
In many countries , experts on the Ebola outbreak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ given to the public on COVID-19 has been muddled and inconsistent , and the result has been fear and uncertainty .
In the U.S. , for instance , President Trump has publicly questioned the effectiveness of lockdowns and offered his own , scientifically suspect , potential treatments for COVID-19 .
In Britain , Prime Minister Boris Johnson initially flouted social-distancing advice .
Soon after agreeing to impose stricter measures , he himself was diagnosed with COVID-19 .
“ When you see people rebelling [ against restrictions to stop COVID-19 ] , what ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trust , ” says Ms. Ngwabi , the infection control and prevention officer during the Ebola outbreak .
“ People rebel when they feel voiceless.
” Experts see other lessons , too .
For instance , disease outbreaks often become a pretext for racism and xenophobia , says Kevin J.A .
Thomas , a Sierra Leonean sociologist at Pennsylvania State University who wrote a book on African immigrants in Dallas during the Ebola crisis .
In both the Ebola and coronavirus outbreaks , groups seen as close to the disease ’ s origins @ @ @ @ @ @ @ respectively – have been the targets of hate crimes and discrimination .
For Mr. Welch , with Partners in Health , another important lesson from the Ebola outbreak is that infectious diseases never strike members of a society equally .
“ The poor and the marginalized will always suffer in ways that are innumerable and preventable , ” he says .
Almost everywhere in the world , he notes , poverty is a kind of preexisting condition , limiting people ’ s access to accurate information and good health care , and often @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Now is the time to shine a spotlight on why that is , and get to addressing the root causes , ” he says .
But even if COVID-19 is no social equalizer , experts hope it could be a source of global empathy .
In the future , perhaps countries fighting disease outbreaks won ’ t be looked upon with distant pity , Ms. Bah says , or worse , with disdain for resisting the epidemic ’ s strange “ rules.
” “ No one has to imagine these fears @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because we have all lived them.
” Editor ’ s note : An earlier version of this article mischaracterized New Zealand ’ s contact tracing program .

“When people feel they are being treated like children, they treat responders like the enemy,” says Nonhlanhla Tryphine Ngwabi, a Zimbabwean nurse who worked for the World Health Organization during the Ebola outbreak. “We forget over and over this simple lesson we learned in West Africa: Listen to communities. Listen to their fears. Listen to why they are skeptical. And then show them that their concerns matter.”
Those lessons seem especially pertinent in the United States, as thousands of Americans have protested lockdown orders.
The coronavirus’ toll on communities varies across the world, as do measures to fight it. But public health experts see some constants: the need for trust, transparency, and a human touch.
“Building ties to communities is so important to the work we do, whether it’s in Massachusetts or Sierra Leone,” says John Welch, of Partners in Health. “Sitting with people and asking: Do you understand what this virus is and what you need to do to stay safe? Do you have the resources to stay home? That kind of knowledge happens through human connection at a person-to-person level.”
Last month, Massachusetts began an aggressive contact-tracing program to stop the spread of COVID-19, led by the international charity Partners in Health. It’s just one example of lessons experts are applying from past pandemics – particularly the Ebola outbreak that killed more than 11,000 people, mostly in West Africa.
It isn’t often that the United States takes public health advice from West Africa. But as the COVID-19 pandemic has ripped through societies unused to dealing with massive disease outbreaks, experts around the world are beginning to lean on the lessons from past epidemics – in particular, the 2014 to 2016 Ebola outbreak.
For instance, Massachusetts recently began an aggressive program to trace the contacts of every new case of coronavirus in the state, and then help them isolate to stop the disease from spreading. That project is led by Partners in Health, a medical charity that has honed its skills in contact tracing around the world, including during West Africa’s deadly Ebola outbreak that killed more than 11,000 people, largely in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.
“We’re working on a method here that is not a theory,” Gov. Charlie Baker told the Boston Globe last month. “It’s been done, and been done well in many other places.”
Why We Wrote This The coronavirus’ toll on communities varies across the world, as do measures to fight it. But public health experts see some constants: the need for trust, transparency, and a human touch.
Editor’s note: As a public service, all our coronavirus coverage is free. No paywall.
Unlike coronavirus contact tracing done in east Asia, however, the Massachusetts program is distinctly low-tech – relying not on digital surveillance but on one-on-one phone conversations between contact tracers and possible carriers.
And that, experts say, marks one of the most important lessons the fight against COVID-19 can learn from the fight against Ebola: It isn’t only medical technology that wins the war against disease. Sometimes, it also takes something much simpler – compassion.
“Building ties to communities is so important to the work we do, whether it’s in Massachusetts or Sierra Leone,” says John Welch, co-lead for Partners in Health’s contact tracing program in Massachusetts. “Sitting with people and asking, do you understand what this virus is and what you need to do to stay safe? Do you have the resources to stay home? That kind of knowledge happens through human connection at a person-to-person level.”
Those lessons seem especially pertinent in the United States in recent weeks, as thousands of Americans around the country have participated in mass protests in defiance of lockdown orders.
“We saw similar protests in West Africa” during the Ebola outbreak, and for similar reasons, says Khadija Alia Bah, a Sierra Leonean anthropologist who worked for the Ebola response in her country. In both the U.S. and West Africa, people received confusing, sometimes contradictory information on how to keep themselves safe. And their orders to stay home came from people they didn’t trust to keep their best interests in mind.
“I’m gonna do what I got to do to feed my family,” one protester in Pennsylvania told the BBC, explaining why he had defied the state’s lockdown order. “I don’t have any food and we’re scared,” a resident of Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, told Reuters during anti-lockdown protests there in 2014.
The protests weren’t exactly the same, of course. West African protests frequently were fueled by police violence used to enforce lockdowns. The American protests, meanwhile, have been deeply partisan, spurred on by encouragement from President Donald Trump. But they share an important common thread, says Nonhlanhla Tryphine Ngwabi, a Zimbabwean nurse who worked as an infection prevention and control officer for the World Health Organization in Sierra Leone during the West African Ebola outbreak.
“When people feel they are being treated like children, they treat responders like the enemy,” she says. “We forget over and over this simple lesson we learned in West Africa: Listen to communities. Listen to their fears. Listen to why they are skeptical. And then show them that their concerns matter.”
Familiar faces
Like COVID-19, Ebola didn’t only make people ill. It warped the shape of daily life. Orders came from far away commanding that children be pulled out of school and businesses closed. Lockdowns and curfews became commonplace. The sick and dying, meanwhile, had to be isolated far from their families, scrambling what people understood about how to take care of the people they loved.
Jerome Delay/AP/File View caption Hide caption Health workers dressed in protective gear begin their shift at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, Congo, July 16, 2019.
Those abrupt changes to daily life scared and confused people, Ms. Bah says, especially when they were delivered by officials who spoke the cold language of infection rates and confirmed cases – rather than discussing the disease’s impact in human terms.
“What experts tend to forget is that diseases live in people, and that it is people who must be at the heart of every disease response,” she says.
And to reach people, she and others say, you must go through leaders they trust.
“If you involve local communities and their leaders directly, they’re more likely to follow the rules,” says Kou Gbaintor-Johnson, a nurse, researcher, and community organizer in Monrovia, Liberia.
That might mean, for instance, hiring people in hard-hit communities to work as contact tracers or to care for the sick, as health organizations did during the recent Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Or it might mean devoting more resources to training religious leaders, teachers, and other community leaders on how to provide clear, accurate information to those around them.
During Liberia’s Ebola outbreak, for instance, Ms. Gbaintor-Johnson was the community chairperson for a neighborhood in Monrovia. As the disease spread, she met with other community leaders and they made a plan. They’d canvas the area themselves, explaining one-on-one why the disease was dangerous, and that it was important to abide by the rules authorities had put in place to stop its spread. And then, she says, they listened to people’s concerns. If they were worried they’d go hungry because they couldn’t work, Ms. Gbaintor-Johnson’s team considered how to get them food. If they were scared for the future, she leveled with them: She was too.
“If people feel like we’re in this fight together, they’re going to try to do their best,” she says.
Confusion and inequality
In many countries, experts on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa say, the information given to the public on COVID-19 has been muddled and inconsistent, and the result has been fear and uncertainty. In the U.S., for instance, President Trump has publicly questioned the effectiveness of lockdowns and offered his own, scientifically suspect, potential treatments for COVID-19. In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson initially flouted social-distancing advice. Soon after agreeing to impose stricter measures, he himself was diagnosed with COVID-19.
“When you see people rebelling [against restrictions to stop COVID-19], what’s really happening is a problem of trust,” says Ms. Ngwabi, the infection control and prevention officer during the Ebola outbreak. “People rebel when they feel voiceless.”
Experts see other lessons, too.
For instance, disease outbreaks often become a pretext for racism and xenophobia, says Kevin J.A. Thomas, a Sierra Leonean sociologist at Pennsylvania State University who wrote a book on African immigrants in Dallas during the Ebola crisis. In both the Ebola and coronavirus outbreaks, groups seen as close to the disease’s origins – West Africans and East Asians, respectively – have been the targets of hate crimes and discrimination.
For Mr. Welch, with Partners in Health, another important lesson from the Ebola outbreak is that infectious diseases never strike members of a society equally.
“The poor and the marginalized will always suffer in ways that are innumerable and preventable,” he says. Almost everywhere in the world, he notes, poverty is a kind of preexisting condition, limiting people’s access to accurate information and good health care, and often making them distrustful of those in power. “Now is the time to shine a spotlight on why that is, and get to addressing the root causes,” he says.
But even if COVID-19 is no social equalizer, experts hope it could be a source of global empathy. In the future, perhaps countries fighting disease outbreaks won’t be looked upon with distant pity, Ms. Bah says, or worse, with disdain for resisting the epidemic’s strange “rules.”
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empower and uplift daily. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.
“No one has to imagine these fears anymore,” she says, “because we have all lived them.”
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article mischaracterized New Zealand’s contact tracing program.


csmonitor--2020-04-08--Why Canadians see themselves in ‘Schitt’s Creek’

Viewers have taken that spirit and formed their own communities .
“ It ’ s such a highlight for us to be able to watch this every Tuesday night , and we ’ re in the middle of a pandemic , and it ’ s over , ” says superfan Louise Downs .
“ It feels so silly , but it really does feel like I ’ m losing a best friend .
I can ’ t even imagine life without Moira Rose.
” Americans embrace rugged individualism , says Laura Grindstaff , a sociologist at the University of California @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , she says , doesn ’ t arrive “ in this sort of new space geographically , or more importantly emotionally , without being part of a community in a collective.
” The show , named for the fictional town where the cosmopolitan Rose family ends up after losing its money , resembles the rural communities that Canadians know well .
But instead of over-the-top tropes , it features nods to what some say are identifiably Canadian characteristics , like collectivity .
With its departure this week after six seasons – leaving devastated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – the cheekily named sitcom “ Schitt ’ s Creek ” closes a curtain on a TV community that reflects the very values of openness , whether over class or identity , that are so often associated with Canada today .
As the bighearted , surprise hit comedy “ Schitt ’ s Creek ” ended its run this week , viewers could be forgiven for never fully realizing it ’ s set in small-town Ontario .
Schitt ’ s Creek , where the cosmopolitan Rose family ends up after losing its money , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well .
The cast is Canadian , led by national icons Eugene Levy and Catherine O ’ Hara .
But there are no Canadian flags , no hammed-up accents , or over-the-top tropes .
Yet as the sitcom bows after its sixth season – leaving devastated fans across North America in its wake – it closes a curtain on a community that reflects the very values of openness , whether over class or identity , that are so often associated with Canada today .
Daniel Levy , who co-created the show with his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to its Canadian ethos in an article published Tuesday – the day of the show ’ s finale – in Toronto ’ s NOW magazine .
“ We shot the show in Canada , it was a Canadian cast and crew .
And I feel like the show embodies the Canadian identity and the philosophy of acceptance , love , compassion , and empathy , ” he said in the interview .
The sitcom first aired on the CBC , becoming a hit in its home country and eventually across the border in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ four Emmy nominations .
It begins when the gaudy Rose parents lose everything and are forced to move with their adult children to Schitt ’ s Creek , a town they once bought as a joke .
The humor in the first few episodes is more caustic – many of today ’ s fans actively disliked the Roses and some even the show itself .
Throughout the seasons , storylines and jokes rely on the Rose family ’ s hard go at adapting to life with no luxuries , but beyond the comedic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ d kill for a good coma right now , ” says family matriarch Moira Rose – the family stays in and becomes an integral part of the town .
As the characters develop and transform , the sitcom softens and becomes sweeter , at the exact moment many viewers just wanted a half-hour of relief .
“ Schitt ’ s Creek ” came of age through the rise of the Islamic State and its spate of terrorist attacks , the Brexit vote , the unexpected election of U.S. President Donald Trump , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comedy is built around the clash of cultures , from the beginning the townspeople accept the artifice and eccentricities of siblings David and Alexis Rose , and the overdone lexicon of Moira .
( Ms. O ’ Hara said in a live Instagram session recently that “ Foyle ’ s Philavery : A Treasury of Unusual Words ” and “ Mrs .
Byrne ’ s Dictionary ” inspired her script . )
It exemplifies tolerance that reflects Canadian culture generally , says Greg David , a Canadian television critic and owner of “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ site that covers Canadian TV .
“ There ’ s values in there , and maybe some things that we as Canadians like to think are more Canadian than in other countries around the world , when it comes to acceptance , ” says Mr. David .
“ I think we ’ re more laid-back , have a ‘ live and let live ’ type of attitude.
” That openness is best illustrated in Daniel Levy ’ s portrayal of David Rose , who is pansexual and develops one of the most cherished @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , played by Noah Reid .
But their sexuality is not central to the storyline .
It ’ s simply a loving relationship like any other – and there is an utter lack of homophobia to be found anywhere around them .
That ’ s aspirational , but it ’ s been a watershed for LGBTQ communities .
Mr. Levy has said he created a world in which he would want to live .
Laura Grindstaff , a sociologist at the University of California , Davis , who is from Canada and looks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that she sees a show intentionally transcending particularism – whether that ’ s in nation or gender .
“ It ’ s working against categorization , and against labels , ” she says .
Yet she does see hints of Canada , beyond its cast and production , in its central theme of collectivity .
“ This is about getting to where you are by forming community and working together collectively .
That is not quintessentially American , ” she says , “ where you ’ ve got the rugged individualism , ‘ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stuff .
For the Rose family , she says , “ they don ’ t arrive in this sort of new space geographically , or more importantly emotionally , without being part of a community in a collective.
” That ’ s a message that has inspired fans across North America , and helped them form their own communities .
Louise Downs , a superfan in Nova Scotia who runs the fan club “ Schitt ’ s Creek Fans Shoot the Schitt , ” says her Facebook group grew from a few hundred @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2017 to more than 23,000 members today .
The majority are Americans .
She says she , and legions of others , are “ devastated , ” especially while much of North America is in lockdown over the coronavirus .
“ It ’ s like , jeez , couldn ’ t we have a few more episodes ?
Because it ’ s such a highlight for us to be able to watch this every Tuesday night , and we ’ re in the middle of a pandemic , and it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It feels so silly , but it really does feel like I ’ m losing a best friend .
I can ’ t even imagine life without Moira Rose .
”

Viewers have taken that spirit and formed their own communities. “It’s such a highlight for us to be able to watch this every Tuesday night, and we’re in the middle of a pandemic, and it’s over,” says superfan Louise Downs. “It feels so silly, but it really does feel like I’m losing a best friend. I can’t even imagine life without Moira Rose.”
Americans embrace rugged individualism, says Laura Grindstaff, a sociologist at the University of California, Davis. Whereas the Rose family, she says, doesn’t arrive “in this sort of new space geographically, or more importantly emotionally, without being part of a community in a collective.”
Beneath the double-entendre title of the popular Canadian sitcom “Schitt’s Creek” lies a show that Canadians say embraces their core values of tolerance and community.
The show, named for the fictional town where the cosmopolitan Rose family ends up after losing its money, resembles the rural communities that Canadians know well. But instead of over-the-top tropes, it features nods to what some say are identifiably Canadian characteristics, like collectivity.
With its departure this week after six seasons – leaving devastated fans across North America in its wake – the cheekily named sitcom “Schitt’s Creek” closes a curtain on a TV community that reflects the very values of openness, whether over class or identity, that are so often associated with Canada today.
As the bighearted, surprise hit comedy “Schitt’s Creek” ended its run this week, viewers could be forgiven for never fully realizing it’s set in small-town Ontario.
Schitt’s Creek, where the cosmopolitan Rose family ends up after losing its money, resembles the rural communities that Canadians know well. The cast is Canadian, led by national icons Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara. But there are no Canadian flags, no hammed-up accents, or over-the-top tropes.
Yet as the sitcom bows after its sixth season – leaving devastated fans across North America in its wake – it closes a curtain on a community that reflects the very values of openness, whether over class or identity, that are so often associated with Canada today.
Why We Wrote This Beneath the double-entendre title of the popular Canadian sitcom “Schitt’s Creek” lies a show that Canadians say embraces their core values of tolerance and community.
Daniel Levy, who co-created the show with his father, Eugene, gave a nod to its Canadian ethos in an article published Tuesday – the day of the show’s finale – in Toronto’s NOW magazine. “We shot the show in Canada, it was a Canadian cast and crew. And I feel like the show embodies the Canadian identity and the philosophy of acceptance, love, compassion, and empathy,” he said in the interview.
The sitcom first aired on the CBC, becoming a hit in its home country and eventually across the border in the United States, where it earned four Emmy nominations. It begins when the gaudy Rose parents lose everything and are forced to move with their adult children to Schitt’s Creek, a town they once bought as a joke.
Pop TV/AP View caption Hide caption (From left) Annie Murphy, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, and Daniel Levy from the series "Schitt's Creek." After six seasons, the sitcom is coming to a close.
The humor in the first few episodes is more caustic – many of today’s fans actively disliked the Roses and some even the show itself.
Throughout the seasons, storylines and jokes rely on the Rose family’s hard go at adapting to life with no luxuries, but beyond the comedic punches – “Oh, I’d kill for a good coma right now,” says family matriarch Moira Rose – the family stays in and becomes an integral part of the town.
As the characters develop and transform, the sitcom softens and becomes sweeter, at the exact moment many viewers just wanted a half-hour of relief. “Schitt’s Creek” came of age through the rise of the Islamic State and its spate of terrorist attacks, the Brexit vote, the unexpected election of U.S. President Donald Trump, and now a global pandemic.
Canadian values
While the comedy is built around the clash of cultures, from the beginning the townspeople accept the artifice and eccentricities of siblings David and Alexis Rose, and the overdone lexicon of Moira. (Ms. O’Hara said in a live Instagram session recently that “Foyle’s Philavery: A Treasury of Unusual Words” and “Mrs. Byrne’s Dictionary” inspired her script.) It exemplifies tolerance that reflects Canadian culture generally, says Greg David, a Canadian television critic and owner of “TV, eh?,” a site that covers Canadian TV.
“There’s values in there, and maybe some things that we as Canadians like to think are more Canadian than in other countries around the world, when it comes to acceptance,” says Mr. David. “I think we’re more laid-back, have a ‘live and let live’ type of attitude.”
That openness is best illustrated in Daniel Levy’s portrayal of David Rose, who is pansexual and develops one of the most cherished relationships on the show with Patrick Brewer, played by Noah Reid. But their sexuality is not central to the storyline. It’s simply a loving relationship like any other – and there is an utter lack of homophobia to be found anywhere around them. That’s aspirational, but it’s been a watershed for LGBTQ communities. Mr. Levy has said he created a world in which he would want to live.
A sense of community
Laura Grindstaff, a sociologist at the University of California, Davis, who is from Canada and looks at cultural issues through media, says that she sees a show intentionally transcending particularism – whether that’s in nation or gender. “It’s working against categorization, and against labels,” she says.
Yet she does see hints of Canada, beyond its cast and production, in its central theme of collectivity. “This is about getting to where you are by forming community and working together collectively. That is not quintessentially American,” she says, “where you’ve got the rugged individualism, ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’ stuff. For the Rose family, she says, “they don’t arrive in this sort of new space geographically, or more importantly emotionally, without being part of a community in a collective.”
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That’s a message that has inspired fans across North America, and helped them form their own communities. Louise Downs, a superfan in Nova Scotia who runs the fan club “Schitt’s Creek Fans Shoot the Schitt,” says her Facebook group grew from a few hundred in the first weeks she started it in 2017 to more than 23,000 members today. The majority are Americans.
She says she, and legions of others, are “devastated,” especially while much of North America is in lockdown over the coronavirus. “It’s like, jeez, couldn’t we have a few more episodes? Because it’s such a highlight for us to be able to watch this every Tuesday night, and we’re in the middle of a pandemic, and it’s over,” she says. “It feels so silly, but it really does feel like I’m losing a best friend. I can’t even imagine life without Moira Rose.”


csmonitor--2020-05-05--Daily for May 5, 2020

Daily for May 5, 2020

When the COVID-19 shutdown started , Kristen Simpson ’ s thoughts turned to the father she barely knows .
He ’ d separated from her mother when she was a baby , and was never around much after that , even after her mother died .
Battling a drug addiction , he ’ d ended up in jail .
Ms. Simpson admits that her response was “ really ugly ” the one time he tried to initiate contact when she was a young adult .
Editor ’ s note : As a public service , all our coronavirus coverage is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on , the arrival of the pandemic made her reevaluate their relationship .
“ I don ’ t want another one of my parents to not be here , ” says Ms. Simpson , now an illustrator and mother in Fayetteville , Georgia .
“ We don ’ t know how much time we have to make things right in this coronavirus , knowing that he works for a job where he has to leave his house and safety.
” She was aware that her father , long clean of drugs , works @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
A few weeks ago , she cold-called him to apologize for how she ’ d spurned him .
“ I was scared he was going to reject me , ” she says .
“ When we got on FaceTime together , his smile was just so bright .
We were mirrors of each other smiling at one another .
And it was a really good conversation.
” By stripping away the customs , comforts , and circumstances once taken for granted , the COVID-19 crisis has led people to reconsider what ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Many of them have concluded that the security and affection of family – even if only at the other end of a phone line or video chat – is paramount .
Consequently , some individuals who have long been estranged from family members have made efforts toward reconciliation and forgiveness , or are considering it .
“ When people do cut off contact with a family member or a parent , in their own heart and mind , it may not be with the idea that it ’ s going to be permanent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ psychologist and author of the upcoming book “ Rules of Estrangement.
” “ But the virus really shortens that timeline and provides a frame of ‘ Well , how would I feel if I never reconcile with this person ?
’ ” The variety of reasons for estrangement underscore Leo Tolstoy ’ s maxim that “ each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
” Some adults cut ties with parents or siblings who have been critical of their choice of spouse , their style of parenting , their sexuality , or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to declare independence from parents who have either coddled or abused them .
Then , too , say observers , a rise of individualism – particularly among millennials – has eroded traditional attachment to family .
“ There ’ s much more of an emphasis on ‘ What relationships make me feel happy or good and which ones don ’ t ?
’ ” says Dr. Coleman .
“ The idea that it ’ s an act of existential courage to cut off people from your life that don ’ t promote personal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new cultural concept.
” Until recently , there wasn ’ t a lot of self-help literature or academic study about estrangements between family members .
It ’ s been a largely closeted issue because of the stigma of admitting familial schisms to others .
However , a yet-to-be-published survey of 1,300 people conducted by Karl Pillemer , a professor of human development at Cornell University in Ithaca , New York , found that about a quarter of adult Americans have an active estrangement with a relative .
A series of follow-up interviews with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ respondents revealed that roughly 100 of them had mended the relationships , while the other 200 or so remained unreconciled with the other party .
“ As time goes on , it becomes more and more difficult to take that first step , ” says Professor Pillemer , sociologist and author of the upcoming book “ Fault Lines : Fractured Families and How to Mend Them.
” “ What the current pandemic does is it offers that kind of an opportunity .
Now it ’ s a logical time for a low-risk outreach @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ” Since the onset of the coronavirus crisis , Professor Pillemer says several people in his personal network have reached out to him to share stories of how they have reconciled .
They include a father and daughter who hadn ’ t talked for two years because of political differences and sisters who ’ d been distant for decades .
Dr. Pillemer has also heard stories from strangers .
Daniela Dawson was in her 20s when she cut herself off from her family in 2007 .
Growing up sandwiched between two brothers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was enmeshed with each other .
Too much so .
She began to feel judged by the others .
“ It ’ s not unusual for my family to talk about feelings – that ’ s probably why it ’ s so easy for us to get them hurt , ” says Ms. Dawson , a data scientist who lives in Lake Forest , Illinois .
Ms. Dawson credits her persistent mother and youngest brother for reestablishing their relationships some years ago .
But she ’ d been unwilling to reconcile with her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ four imagined funeral scenarios in which she ’ d died without ever talking to him again .
Until the COVID-19 crisis , she thought she was OK with that .
When Ms. Dawson ’ s mother mentioned that her oldest son had asked how his sister was holding up , something in her shifted .
She called her brother .
“ The first thing we did was just talk about what we ’ ve missed out on , ” she says , laughing .
“ Both of us , just immediately , kind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ silly.
’ ” Now they ’ re video calling each other almost every day .
Those who ’ ve either reconciled with or forgiven others often talk about feeling as if a burdensome weight had been lifted off them .
Their experience was one of learning something about themselves .
That ’ s often led to improvements in other relationships , including romantic ones .
Dr. Pillemer ’ s interviews also revealed that those who ’ d made efforts toward reconciliation said it was a powerful engine for personal growth .
Overcoming that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ limitations .
For Ms. Simpson , the reconciliation with her father has given her a new perspective on other areas of life , including the strength to set aside a lifelong debilitating fear of spiders that has affected her ability to spend time outdoors .
She ’ s also now eager to take her family to visit her father once travel becomes possible again .
“ Our whole household is at a balance that we haven ’ t had before , ” she says .
Still , people who reconcile need to think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pillemer and others note .
Therapists and those who have reconciled also say extraordinary grace is required .
“ The first thing is , are you making this decision from a strong place or a place of fear ?
” says Becca Bland , whose series of online workshops for adult children , “ COVID-19 and Family Estrangement , ” have quickly filled up in the past month .
“ The second thing is also understanding that if it ’ s going to be reconciliation , it ’ s not just going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ‘ we ’ and everybody in that situation is going to have to change and move for it to work.
” Some counselors encourage patients to look for the kernel of truth in the other person ’ s complaint .
That doesn ’ t mean relinquishing the integrity of one ’ s own experience , but it does help build one side of the bridge .
Following her own reconciliation experience , Ms. Dawson says that she now realizes that her family members weren ’ t malicious or trying to hurt her .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ began to develop a pattern of cutting people out of her life rather than reveal vulnerability and address the situation directly .
It was the sincerity of her family ’ s outreach that spoke to her .
“ Nothing is more compelling to another person than when we say , ‘ I failed you , or I hurt you , or I damaged you , ’ ” says Dr. Coleman , whose practice centers on parents whose children have cut ties with them .
“ Sometimes parents will protest , ‘ Well , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ myself with my own child.
’ My perspective is it ’ s not humiliation , it ’ s humility.
” What people often grapple with , too , is how to forgive – which can look different and happen at a different pace for everyone , counselors say .
“ Forgiveness does not mean that reconciliation is necessary , ” says Dr .
Bland , founder of Stand Alone , a U.K. nonprofit that supports adults who aren ’ t in contact with their parents .
“ Forgiveness is about leaving something behind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go out of view .
It ’ s not saying it was right , what happened .
... And it ’ s not saying that you could ever stomach risking anything like that ever happening again.
” In Ms. Dawson ’ s experience , letting go of her grudging feelings toward her older sibling required her to be honest with herself .
“ I was like , ‘ I don ’ t wish harm upon my brother .
I don ’ t go out of my way to be mean to him.
’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she says .
“ That ’ s not forgiving .
You ’ re still holding on to that resentment.
” Similarly , Jez Carleton told himself that he ’ d forgiven the adoptive father he was estranged from .
But his therapist disagreed .
When Mr. Carleton , who is employed as a nanny in Melbourne , Australia , heard that his father had been hospitalized with COVID-19 , he had to decide whether or not to reach out .
He says his father has long expressed disappointment in his adopted son ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The two men hadn ’ t spoken in six years .
Since 1999 , they ’ ve only had three conversations .
“ I have always felt that he wanted to return me to the adoption agency because I was ‘ faulty , ’ ” says Mr. Carleton , who is gay .
“ I could never meet his high expectations.
” But the coronavirus crisis hastened introspection .
“ Everyone has faults and I have many faults , ” he says .
“ Especially at this time of the world , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And then you have to forgive them.
” Once Mr. Carleton plucked up the courage to call his father in a hospital in Sydney , he felt a calmness he hadn ’ t experienced during previous interactions .
“ When the nurse told him that I was on the phone , I heard Dad say ‘ Jeremy !
’ But it was a nice , surprised exclamation , ” says Mr. Carleton , who says the conversation went so well that he intends to travel to Sydney to see his father now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the hospital .
“ I told him I loved him at the end of the conversation , ” says Mr. Carleton , who says he cried with relief afterward .
“ I meant it.
” Editor ’ s note : As a public service , all our coronavirus coverage is free .
No paywall .

Forgive me? More families say yes during coronavirus crisis. Collapse
Courtesy of Daniela Dawson View caption Hide caption Daniela Dawson, age 12, and her brother Kenly Sommers, age 14, in an old family photo. The siblings recently reconciled.
When the COVID-19 shutdown started, Kristen Simpson’s thoughts turned to the father she barely knows.
He’d separated from her mother when she was a baby, and was never around much after that, even after her mother died. Battling a drug addiction, he’d ended up in jail. Ms. Simpson admits that her response was “really ugly” the one time he tried to initiate contact when she was a young adult.
Editor’s note: As a public service, all our coronavirus coverage is free. No paywall.
Thirteen years on, the arrival of the pandemic made her reevaluate their relationship. “I don’t want another one of my parents to not be here,” says Ms. Simpson, now an illustrator and mother in Fayetteville, Georgia. “We don’t know how much time we have to make things right in this coronavirus, knowing that he works for a job where he has to leave his house and safety.”
She was aware that her father, long clean of drugs, works as a pizza delivery man in Florida. A few weeks ago, she cold-called him to apologize for how she’d spurned him.
“I was scared he was going to reject me,” she says. “When we got on FaceTime together, his smile was just so bright. We were mirrors of each other smiling at one another. And it was a really good conversation.”
By stripping away the customs, comforts, and circumstances once taken for granted, the COVID-19 crisis has led people to reconsider what’s most important in their lives. Many of them have concluded that the security and affection of family – even if only at the other end of a phone line or video chat – is paramount. Consequently, some individuals who have long been estranged from family members have made efforts toward reconciliation and forgiveness, or are considering it.
“When people do cut off contact with a family member or a parent, in their own heart and mind, it may not be with the idea that it’s going to be permanent,” says Joshua Coleman, a psychologist and author of the upcoming book “Rules of Estrangement.” “But the virus really shortens that timeline and provides a frame of ‘Well, how would I feel if I never reconcile with this person?’”
Shift in emphasis
The variety of reasons for estrangement underscore Leo Tolstoy’s maxim that “each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Some adults cut ties with parents or siblings who have been critical of their choice of spouse, their style of parenting, their sexuality, or their values. Sometimes adult children need to declare independence from parents who have either coddled or abused them. Then, too, say observers, a rise of individualism – particularly among millennials – has eroded traditional attachment to family.
“There’s much more of an emphasis on ‘What relationships make me feel happy or good and which ones don’t?’” says Dr. Coleman. “The idea that it’s an act of existential courage to cut off people from your life that don’t promote personal happiness, that’s a relatively new cultural concept.”
Dede Hatch/Courtesy of Dr. Karl Pillemer View caption Hide caption Karl Pillemer, a professor of human development at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, has estimated that about a quarter of adult Americans have an active estrangement with a relative.
Until recently, there wasn’t a lot of self-help literature or academic study about estrangements between family members. It’s been a largely closeted issue because of the stigma of admitting familial schisms to others. However, a yet-to-be-published survey of 1,300 people conducted by Karl Pillemer, a professor of human development at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, found that about a quarter of adult Americans have an active estrangement with a relative. A series of follow-up interviews with around 300 of the random sample of respondents revealed that roughly 100 of them had mended the relationships, while the other 200 or so remained unreconciled with the other party.
“As time goes on, it becomes more and more difficult to take that first step,” says Professor Pillemer, sociologist and author of the upcoming book “Fault Lines: Fractured Families and How to Mend Them.” “What the current pandemic does is it offers that kind of an opportunity. Now it’s a logical time for a low-risk outreach of ‘How are you doing?’”
A time for reaching out
Since the onset of the coronavirus crisis, Professor Pillemer says several people in his personal network have reached out to him to share stories of how they have reconciled. They include a father and daughter who hadn’t talked for two years because of political differences and sisters who’d been distant for decades.
Dr. Pillemer has also heard stories from strangers. Daniela Dawson was in her 20s when she cut herself off from her family in 2007. Growing up sandwiched between two brothers, Ms. Dawson says the close family was enmeshed with each other. Too much so. She began to feel judged by the others.
“It’s not unusual for my family to talk about feelings – that’s probably why it’s so easy for us to get them hurt,” says Ms. Dawson, a data scientist who lives in Lake Forest, Illinois.
Courtesy of Daniela Dawson View caption Hide caption Daniela Dawson with her husband, Edward Dawson, and son, Evan.
Ms. Dawson credits her persistent mother and youngest brother for reestablishing their relationships some years ago. But she’d been unwilling to reconcile with her older brother. The married mother of four imagined funeral scenarios in which she’d died without ever talking to him again. Until the COVID-19 crisis, she thought she was OK with that. When Ms. Dawson’s mother mentioned that her oldest son had asked how his sister was holding up, something in her shifted. She called her brother.
“The first thing we did was just talk about what we’ve missed out on,” she says, laughing. “Both of us, just immediately, kind of were like, ‘This was silly.’” Now they’re video calling each other almost every day.
Those who’ve either reconciled with or forgiven others often talk about feeling as if a burdensome weight had been lifted off them. Their experience was one of learning something about themselves. That’s often led to improvements in other relationships, including romantic ones. Dr. Pillemer’s interviews also revealed that those who’d made efforts toward reconciliation said it was a powerful engine for personal growth. Overcoming that big challenge equipped them to tackle other limitations.
For Ms. Simpson, the reconciliation with her father has given her a new perspective on other areas of life, including the strength to set aside a lifelong debilitating fear of spiders that has affected her ability to spend time outdoors. She’s also now eager to take her family to visit her father once travel becomes possible again. “Our whole household is at a balance that we haven’t had before,” she says.
Careful consideration and humility
Still, people who reconcile need to think through all the ramifications first, Dr. Pillemer and others note. Therapists and those who have reconciled also say extraordinary grace is required.
“The first thing is, are you making this decision from a strong place or a place of fear?” says Becca Bland, whose series of online workshops for adult children, “COVID-19 and Family Estrangement,” have quickly filled up in the past month. “The second thing is also understanding that if it’s going to be reconciliation, it’s not just going to be you reconciling. It’s ‘we’ and everybody in that situation is going to have to change and move for it to work.”
Some counselors encourage patients to look for the kernel of truth in the other person’s complaint. That doesn’t mean relinquishing the integrity of one’s own experience, but it does help build one side of the bridge.
Courtesy of Daniela Dawson View caption Hide caption Daniela Dawson with her oldest brother Kenly Sommers (left), from whom she had been estranged, and her youngest brother, Josue Sommers. At the time of the photo, Kenly was 23, Daniela was 20, and Josue was 18.
Following her own reconciliation experience, Ms. Dawson says that she now realizes that her family members weren’t malicious or trying to hurt her. But her youthful insecurities meant that she began to develop a pattern of cutting people out of her life rather than reveal vulnerability and address the situation directly. It was the sincerity of her family’s outreach that spoke to her.
“Nothing is more compelling to another person than when we say, ‘I failed you, or I hurt you, or I damaged you,’” says Dr. Coleman, whose practice centers on parents whose children have cut ties with them. “Sometimes parents will protest, ‘Well, I’m not going to humiliate myself with my own child.’ My perspective is it’s not humiliation, it’s humility.”
Weighing forgiveness
What people often grapple with, too, is how to forgive – which can look different and happen at a different pace for everyone, counselors say.
“Forgiveness does not mean that reconciliation is necessary,” says Dr. Bland, founder of Stand Alone, a U.K. nonprofit that supports adults who aren’t in contact with their parents. “Forgiveness is about leaving something behind. It’s about letting it go out of view. It’s not saying it was right, what happened. ... And it’s not saying that you could ever stomach risking anything like that ever happening again.”
In Ms. Dawson’s experience, letting go of her grudging feelings toward her older sibling required her to be honest with herself.
“I was like, ‘I don’t wish harm upon my brother. I don’t go out of my way to be mean to him.’ So that must be forgiveness,” she says. “That’s not forgiving. You’re still holding on to that resentment.”
Similarly, Jez Carleton told himself that he’d forgiven the adoptive father he was estranged from. But his therapist disagreed. When Mr. Carleton, who is employed as a nanny in Melbourne, Australia, heard that his father had been hospitalized with COVID-19, he had to decide whether or not to reach out. He says his father has long expressed disappointment in his adopted son’s supposed lack of achievement and success. The two men hadn’t spoken in six years. Since 1999, they’ve only had three conversations.
“I have always felt that he wanted to return me to the adoption agency because I was ‘faulty,’” says Mr. Carleton, who is gay. “I could never meet his high expectations.”
But the coronavirus crisis hastened introspection. “Everyone has faults and I have many faults,” he says. “Especially at this time of the world, I am trying to stop judging people. And then you have to forgive them.”
Once Mr. Carleton plucked up the courage to call his father in a hospital in Sydney, he felt a calmness he hadn’t experienced during previous interactions.
“When the nurse told him that I was on the phone, I heard Dad say ‘Jeremy!’ But it was a nice, surprised exclamation,” says Mr. Carleton, who says the conversation went so well that he intends to travel to Sydney to see his father now that he’s been released from the hospital.
“I told him I loved him at the end of the conversation,” says Mr. Carleton, who says he cried with relief afterward. “I meant it.”
Editor’s note: As a public service, all our coronavirus coverage is free. No paywall.


csmonitor--2020-04-30--How COVID-19 may change rules of engagement with China

A longer-term concern involves China ’ s position as the main source of urgently needed items .
Germany is looking at tightening safeguards against China taking controlling stakes in German companies .
In Britain , Conservative members of Parliament are pressing to rethink Huawei ’ s role in the 5G network .
In Africa , there ’ s been a rare public show of anger over reports of pandemic-related discrimination against African nationals in southern China .
In many countries , concern over Beijing ’ s lack of transparency about the virus has been aggravated by its effort to reframe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states with important trade ties – Germany , France , Australia , New Zealand – have supported calls for an independent inquiry .
In the United States , bipartisan resentment over Chinese trade practices has been building for several years .
Washington is worried about China ’ s military buildup in the South China Sea , and a tariff war and human rights concerns have brought a new chill .
China looks likely to figure prominently in the presidential campaign .
With COVID-19 dramatizing many countries ’ political differences and economic interdependencies with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ engagement seems on the table .
How in the world are we to deal with China ?
It ’ s not meant as a rhetorical question , nor a provocative tabloid headline .
It is a literal description of a reassessment of relations with Beijing among a number of China ’ s trade and economic partners – a process building for several years , but accelerated and intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic .
Where it will end is impossible to say .
Anything like a complete break seems very unlikely .
That would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ globalization , and a rupture with the world ’ s second-largest economy .
Yet with COVID-19 dramatizing political differences and economic interdependencies with China , a far more skeptical redrawing of future rules of engagement seems on the table .
That ’ s especially true in the United States , China ’ s main rival and the world ’ s largest economy .
Even before the Trump administration , there was growing bipartisan resentment over Chinese trade practices : pressure on American firms in China , technology theft or industrial espionage , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adjustments to disadvantage overseas competitors .
On the geopolitical stage , Washington was increasingly concerned about China ’ s military buildup in the South China Sea .
President Donald Trump ’ s tariff war with China , and human rights concerns over its policies in Hong Kong and the forced “ reeducation ” of hundreds of thousands of Uyghur Muslims , have since brought a new chill .
But COVID-19 – initially hidden , in China – has raised political antagonism to a level not seen in years .
A recent Pew Research @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had an unfavorable view toward China , the highest since it began asking the question in 2005 .
A recent Gallup Poll found only 33 % had a positive opinion on China , lower than in the aftermath of its 1989 crackdown on protesters in Tiananmen Square .
With COVID-19 dominating U.S. politics ahead of November ’ s election , both President Trump and his presumptive Democratic challenger , Joe Biden , are making China an important issue .
President Trump , under pressure over his handling of the virus ’ spread , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s belated response to the initial outbreak .
Mr. Biden ’ s campaign is highlighting President Trump ’ s effusive personal praise of Chinese leader Xi Jinping , implying that he has , in fact , been soft on China .
There are also signs of growing discomfort with China outside the U.S .
This is not just because of what a number of governments have called Beijing ’ s lack of transparency over the virus .
It has been aggravated by China ’ s political strategy since COVID-19 was brought under control @ @ @ @ @ @ @ China ’ s campaign to reframe the narrative , favorably comparing its response to that of democratic governments abroad and making high-profile gestures of assistance to hard-hit countries .
Even Western states with important trade ties to China – like Germany , France , Australia , and New Zealand – have supported calls , rejected by Beijing , for an independent inquiry into how and where the virus began , how it was dealt with , and how it spread .
In Sweden , which has had close ties with China , COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in relations .
It began several years ago with the detention of writer and publisher Gui Minhai , a Swedish national who had been critical of China ’ s government .
He was sentenced in February to a 10-year prison sentence on an allegation of “ illegally providing intelligence overseas.
” Earlier this month , amid criticism in China ’ s state news media of Sweden ’ s pandemic response , the Swedes closed the last of their so-called Confucius Institutes , part of a Chinese cultural and language program with facilities around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meanwhile , has been bristling over China ’ s much-trumpeted provision of assistance to several EU member states , especially those like Italy where resentment of the union ’ s initial delay in providing help has fed anti-EU sentiment .
A longer-term EU concern involves an economic truth COVID has brought into focus : China ’ s position as the world ’ s main source of urgently needed items like ventilators and protective equipment .
Germany , with the EU ’ s largest economy , has begun looking at tightening safeguards against China @ @ @ @ @ @ @ companies during the economic downturn caused by the pandemic – an issue also recently highlighted by the EU ’ s commissioner for competition .
In Britain , now formally out of the EU , COVID also appears to be prompting a reassessment .
This month , Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said it could not be “ business as usual ” with Beijing after the pandemic , adding : “ We will have to ask the hard questions about how it came about and how it couldn ’ t have been stopped earlier.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ruling Conservative Party are also pressing for a rethink of the government ’ s decision to allow a role in the country ’ s 5G telecommunications network for the Chinese company Huawei – a decision made over objections from the Trump administration .
Even in Africa , where China ’ s mammoth investment , loan , and infrastructure project , Belt and Road , has widened its influence , COVID-19 has caused friction , with a rare public show of anger over reports of discrimination against African nationals in the campaign to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ city of Guangzhou .
For now , China seems confident that economic self-interest , whether among African states or more advanced Asian and European trade partners , will blunt long-term damage to its commercial or geopolitical position .
China ’ s ambassador to Australia this week , for instance , warned of possible economic retaliation over that nation ’ s support for an international review of the COVID-19 spread .
That led Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to emphasize that this “ reasonable and sensible ” proposal was not aimed at any specific @ @ @ @ @ @ @ world power , China under Mr. Xi views its true competitor as the U.S. On that score , China seems determined to pair a pursuit of its national interests with a readiness to take advantage of areas where the U.S. seems malleable or vulnerable .
Thus , with the pandemic spreading overseas , China shrugged off criticism in mid-April and arrested prominent pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong .
Last week , with Washington withdrawing financial support from the World Health Organization , China announced an additional contribution of $ 30 million to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ statement from Beijing maintained that Chinese aircraft and naval vessels had turned back an American Navy ship in the South China Sea .
The U.S. said no such confrontation occurred .
But it has for some time been mounting naval patrols in the area to underscore its opposition , and that of neighboring states , to Chinese claims of sovereignty over the sea 's reefs and islands .
Amid the contradictory accounts , a Chinese military spokesman pointedly declared : `` We urge the U.S. side to focus on the epidemic prevention and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the international fight against the pandemic and immediately stop military actions that harm regional security , peace and stability . ''

A longer-term concern involves China’s position as the main source of urgently needed items. Germany is looking at tightening safeguards against China taking controlling stakes in German companies. In Britain, Conservative members of Parliament are pressing to rethink Huawei’s role in the 5G network. In Africa, there’s been a rare public show of anger over reports of pandemic-related discrimination against African nationals in southern China.
In many countries, concern over Beijing’s lack of transparency about the virus has been aggravated by its effort to reframe the narrative in its favor. Western states with important trade ties – Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand – have supported calls for an independent inquiry.
A lack of transparency about COVID-19 has deepened the concerns many countries already had about their relations with China. But that growing discomfort must compete with economic self-interest.
In the United States, bipartisan resentment over Chinese trade practices has been building for several years. Washington is worried about China’s military buildup in the South China Sea, and a tariff war and human rights concerns have brought a new chill. China looks likely to figure prominently in the presidential campaign.
With COVID-19 dramatizing many countries’ political differences and economic interdependencies with China, a redrawing of rules of engagement seems on the table.
How in the world are we to deal with China?
It’s not meant as a rhetorical question, nor a provocative tabloid headline. It is a literal description of a reassessment of relations with Beijing among a number of China’s trade and economic partners – a process building for several years, but accelerated and intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Where it will end is impossible to say. Anything like a complete break seems very unlikely. That would suppose a root-and-branch reversal of decades of globalization, and a rupture with the world’s second-largest economy.
Why We Wrote This A lack of transparency about COVID-19 has deepened the concerns many countries already had about their relations with China. But that growing discomfort must compete with economic self-interest.
Yet with COVID-19 dramatizing political differences and economic interdependencies with China, a far more skeptical redrawing of future rules of engagement seems on the table.
That’s especially true in the United States, China’s main rival and the world’s largest economy.
Even before the Trump administration, there was growing bipartisan resentment over Chinese trade practices: pressure on American firms in China, technology theft or industrial espionage, and the use of state subsidies and currency-rate adjustments to disadvantage overseas competitors. On the geopolitical stage, Washington was increasingly concerned about China’s military buildup in the South China Sea.
President Donald Trump’s tariff war with China, and human rights concerns over its policies in Hong Kong and the forced “reeducation” of hundreds of thousands of Uyghur Muslims, have since brought a new chill.
But COVID-19 – initially hidden, in China – has raised political antagonism to a level not seen in years. A recent Pew Research Center poll found nearly two-thirds of respondents had an unfavorable view toward China, the highest since it began asking the question in 2005. A recent Gallup Poll found only 33% had a positive opinion on China, lower than in the aftermath of its 1989 crackdown on protesters in Tiananmen Square.
With COVID-19 dominating U.S. politics ahead of November’s election, both President Trump and his presumptive Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, are making China an important issue. President Trump, under pressure over his handling of the virus’ spread, has turned his fire on China’s belated response to the initial outbreak. Mr. Biden’s campaign is highlighting President Trump’s effusive personal praise of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, implying that he has, in fact, been soft on China.
There are also signs of growing discomfort with China outside the U.S. This is not just because of what a number of governments have called Beijing’s lack of transparency over the virus. It has been aggravated by China’s political strategy since COVID-19 was brought under control there.
There is particular resentment over China’s campaign to reframe the narrative, favorably comparing its response to that of democratic governments abroad and making high-profile gestures of assistance to hard-hit countries.
Even Western states with important trade ties to China – like Germany, France, Australia, and New Zealand – have supported calls, rejected by Beijing, for an independent inquiry into how and where the virus began, how it was dealt with, and how it spread.
In Sweden, which has had close ties with China, COVID-19 also seems to have accelerated a downturn in relations. It began several years ago with the detention of writer and publisher Gui Minhai, a Swedish national who had been critical of China’s government. He was sentenced in February to a 10-year prison sentence on an allegation of “illegally providing intelligence overseas.”
Earlier this month, amid criticism in China’s state news media of Sweden’s pandemic response, the Swedes closed the last of their so-called Confucius Institutes, part of a Chinese cultural and language program with facilities around the world.
The European Union, meanwhile, has been bristling over China’s much-trumpeted provision of assistance to several EU member states, especially those like Italy where resentment of the union’s initial delay in providing help has fed anti-EU sentiment.
A longer-term EU concern involves an economic truth COVID has brought into focus: China’s position as the world’s main source of urgently needed items like ventilators and protective equipment. Germany, with the EU’s largest economy, has begun looking at tightening safeguards against China’s taking controlling stakes in German companies during the economic downturn caused by the pandemic – an issue also recently highlighted by the EU’s commissioner for competition.
In Britain, now formally out of the EU, COVID also appears to be prompting a reassessment. This month, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said it could not be “business as usual” with Beijing after the pandemic, adding: “We will have to ask the hard questions about how it came about and how it couldn’t have been stopped earlier.”
A number of members of Parliament in the ruling Conservative Party are also pressing for a rethink of the government’s decision to allow a role in the country’s 5G telecommunications network for the Chinese company Huawei – a decision made over objections from the Trump administration.
Even in Africa, where China’s mammoth investment, loan, and infrastructure project, Belt and Road, has widened its influence, COVID-19 has caused friction, with a rare public show of anger over reports of discrimination against African nationals in the campaign to control the virus in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.
For now, China seems confident that economic self-interest, whether among African states or more advanced Asian and European trade partners, will blunt long-term damage to its commercial or geopolitical position.
China’s ambassador to Australia this week, for instance, warned of possible economic retaliation over that nation’s support for an international review of the COVID-19 spread. That led Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to emphasize that this “reasonable and sensible” proposal was not aimed at any specific country.
Yet as an increasingly assertive world power, China under Mr. Xi views its true competitor as the U.S. On that score, China seems determined to pair a pursuit of its national interests with a readiness to take advantage of areas where the U.S. seems malleable or vulnerable. Thus, with the pandemic spreading overseas, China shrugged off criticism in mid-April and arrested prominent pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong. Last week, with Washington withdrawing financial support from the World Health Organization, China announced an additional contribution of $30 million to the WHO.
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And this week, a statement from Beijing maintained that Chinese aircraft and naval vessels had turned back an American Navy ship in the South China Sea.
The U.S. said no such confrontation occurred. But it has for some time been mounting naval patrols in the area to underscore its opposition, and that of neighboring states, to Chinese claims of sovereignty over the sea's reefs and islands.
Amid the contradictory accounts, a Chinese military spokesman pointedly declared: "We urge the U.S. side to focus on the epidemic prevention and control on its homeland, contribute more to the international fight against the pandemic and immediately stop military actions that harm regional security, peace and stability."