Common ground

Pro-independence protesters in Catalonia, Spain, took a break from their usual demonstrations on Thursday and gathered outside the Chinese Embassy in Barcelona. They sang, “Glory to Hong Kong,” and called for an end to police violence against protesters in the semi-autonomous territory in China.

Simultaneously, attendees at a rally in Hong Kong waved the yellow, red, and blue, one-star flag of Catalonia. “We believe that—no matter in Hong Kong or Catalonia—nobody should be arrested and jailed solely on the grounds of their political views,” organizer Ernie Chow said, according to Hong Kong Free Press.

Calls for police restraint, an end to corruption, better representation in government, and economic reform are echoing in protests around the world. Beyond Catalonia and Hong Kong, mass demonstrations have taken place in Algeria, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Haiti, Iraq, and Lebanon. The protests resemble those of the Arab Spring, which in the early 2010s led to regime changes in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen, and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

“Such regimes, and the elites that prop them up, may be able to remain in power for many years, even decades,” wrote Alain Gabon, a professor at Virginia Wesleyan University. “But sooner or later they will either have to reform and democratize—profoundly and extensively so, at all levels—or collapse like several did in 2011.”

Christian leaders in Lebanon last week threw their support behind persistent anti-government protests. The movement began as an uproar over proposed taxes on WhatsApp and other internet messaging apps and grew into unprecedented calls for an end to corruption and improved public services. Demonstrators expressed frustration with the political elite and demanded a new government, chanting, “All of them means all of them.” The unrest has united the country’s 6 million people, who include Christians, Muslims, and Druze.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun’s government announced a set of reforms that included the reduction of lawmakers’ salaries and new oversight groups. Cardinal Bechara Rai, who leads the Maronite Catholic Church, made a statement with other Christian leaders after an emergency meeting Wednesday. He said the government’s efforts were a “positive first step” but called for more changes to meet the protesters’ demands.

“The painkillers do not suffice anymore,” the leaders said. “These people would not have risen if their pain had not reached their limit.”

Over the weekend, similar unrest reignited in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, leaving at least 40 people dead and some 2,000 others injured. The protests started earlier this month as anger rose over lack of jobs and basic services. Authorities arrested more than 2,000 people at the time.

Tyler Cowen, an economics professor at George Mason university, wrote for Bloomberg that the growing use of the internet to coordinate these protests has shifted the focus from the traditional ideological uprising.

“People of widely varying political views, including people who do not have much of a view at all, can get upset by high prices,” he explained. “The internet may also be encouraging a ‘least common denominator’ appeal to generate the largest protests possible.”

China tears down state-controlled church

Without notice, Chinese authorities destroyed a 3,000-seat megachurch in Anhui and arrested two of its pastors in mid-October, International Christian Concern reported. China Aid reported authorities detained pastors Geng Yimin and Sun Yongyao on suspicion of “gathering a crowd to disturb social order.”

The congregation belonged to the state-sanctioned Three-Self Movement Patriotic Church, but that didn’t prevent the building’s demolition. Members had insufficient notice to rescue any property from the church.

“The total disregard of religious freedom’s protection as enshrined in the Communist Party’s own constitution tells the whole world President Xi [Jinping] is determined to continue his war against the peaceful Christian faithful,” China Aid President Bob Fu said. “This campaign will surely fail in the end.” —Julia A. Seymour

Yazidi temple dedicated in Armenia

Yazidis in Armenia celebrated the opening of their largest-ever temple this month. The fragile and frequently persecuted religious group is attempting a rebirth in the former Soviet republic east of Turkey.

Persecution by Islamic State (ISIS) scattered many Yazidis from their northern Iraqi homelands. But even before that, a diaspora of more than 35,000 of them lived in Armenia.

“We don’t have a homeland, but our traditions are safe here in Armenia,” villager Temur Akmiyan told The Independent.

An estimated 20,000 Yazidis convened from across Eurasia and Iraq on the opening day of the new temple, Quba Mere Diwane, in Aknalich. Quba Mere Diwane is only the third modern Yazidi temple built outside Iraq. —J.A.S.

EU recognizes Uighur activist

The European Parliament on Thursday awarded the Sakharov Prize, its highest human rights award, to Ilham Tohti, an economist who struggled to defend the persecuted Uighur Muslim minority in China and campaigned for regional autonomy laws. In a statement announcing the prize, Parliament said Tohti served as a “voice of moderation and reconciliation.”

In 2014, China sentenced Tohti to life imprisonment on charges of fanning ethnic hatred, advocating violence, and instigating terror. The Chinese government is holding as many as 1 million Uighurs and other Muslims in so-called reeducation camps.

Tohti also received the Council of Europe’s Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize earlier this month. —O.O.