Israel's Next Government Could Ban Articles Like This - Israel Election 2022 - Haaretz

The legal groundwork for turning Israel’s regime into one that persecutes its critics has been here for a long time. All that is needed is a government that will aim these laws inward, while embarking on a journey of silencing and oppression. Such a government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, is at the gate.

Israel Election: these surprises could tip the scales on Tuesday

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At the focus of Tuesday’s vote lies a simple question: Will this article still be publishable after the election if it ushers in a right-wing government led by Netanyahu, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir? All signs indicate that this trio is plotting to turn Israel into an authoritarian state in which criticizing the government or replacing it will only be a theoretical dream.

No new legislation is required in order to bring this to pass. The current laws for combating terror and defense (emergency) regulations are sufficient for abolishing the freedom of political and journalistic expression, which is currently undergirded by feeble rulings of the High Court of Justice, rather than by a constitution containing a bill of rights. At most, a few senior officials with reservations about the new policy will be replaced, with the Supreme Court neutralized through an override clause or through its inundation with an expanded panel of yes-men in judicial robes. A right-wing majority in the Knesset is assured for all these steps and more.

The ideological objective of a right-wing government will be to entrench and deepen a regime of Jewish supremacy on both sides of the Green Line. This idea is not new, and one could argue that Zionism espoused it from its inception, applying it by force with the establishment of Israel in 1948 and the occupation of new territory in 1967. But it always enabled internal criticism and freedom of expression, on which Israel’s democracy was based. As the state matured, it made room for the voice of the Palestinian national movement, with talks held with the Palestine Liberation Organization before the signing of the Oslo Accords, and with representatives of Arab society in the Knesset and in public discourse.

Netanyahu and his partners object to this freedom of expression, viewing it as a danger to the existence of Zionism and the state. From the day he returned to power in 2009, Netanyahu has been busy suppressing criticism of the occupation and the discrimination of Arabs living in Israel, laying a legal-juridical foundation which would perpetuate these evils. The expressions of this are legion: the Nakba and boycott laws, the closing of al-Midan theater in Haifa, restrictions on financing civil society organizations, the arrest of poet Dareen Tatour, the ban on teaching Dorit Rabinyan’s book “Gader Haya” (“Borderlife”) in high schools, the attempt to deny mathematician Oded Goldreich the Israel Prize, and of course, the “cherry on the cake,” the nation-state law, which anchored Jewish supremacy in a Basic Law. All of this applies to areas within the Green Line, in the Jewish and democratic state.

The common denominator of all these moves is that most of them were received with indifference, if not with tacit support by the Jewish political and media mainstream. Among their supporters are some of the leaders of the current so-called “government of change.” Yair Lapid voted against the nation-state law, courageously expressing his support for civic equality, but only after enthusiastically supporting the persecution of left-wing organizations.

Avigdor Lieberman coined the slogan “no citizenship without loyalty,” as a threat to Arab society, and Gideon Sa’ar was the political patron of the Im Tirzu movement. Benny Gantz is a signatory to the decree outlawing human rights groups in the West Bank. Others remained quiet at this muzzling. No theater was closed in protest over the denial of budgets to al-Midan, no show was cancelled. On the contrary, the repertoire swung towards placating audiences and refraining from delivering any political messages or statements that could anger the repressive organizations on the right.

Dareen Tatour upon her release from prison.Credit: Rami Shllush

If a Netanyahu-Ben-Gvir coalition is formed, the moves taken by its predecessors will look like a small-scale prelude. In such a world, Arab parties will be officially defined as supporters of terror, as in rightist propaganda. The labeling of people and groups as “enemies of Israel” will pass from private organizations such as Im Tirzu, Ad Kan and activists such as Shamai Glick to government institutions.

Instead of rightist activists documenting the lectures of leftist lecturers, universities will be compelled to report lecturers using the term “occupation,” lest they lose their financing, with such lecturers later forbidden to teach at all.

And why stop with the occupation? Why allow the financing of departments teaching gender studies, or scientists researching the climate crisis? Organizations like B’Tselem and Breaking the Silence, whose operation somewhat restores the dignity of Israel’s democracy, will be put on the list of Israel’s enemies, their activity prohibited. Who exactly will stand up to defend them, risking being boycotted, investigated and possibly incriminated? Sa’ar? Gantz? Merav Michaeli?

This is the tangible, clear and present danger of a right-wing victory today: the turning of Israel into a regime that persecutes its critics, while perpetuating its rule. The legal underpinnings have long been in place. All that’s needed is a government that will use this framework to repress and silence dissent from within. Such a government is at our gates. If its vision is realized, then anyone in the media reporting on this repression or objecting to it will in turn be persecuted, and publishing an article like this will be impermissible.

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Red Sox Fans Won’t Like This Salute From Patriots’ Bill Belichick - NESN

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It's not often New Yorkers can appreciate a Belichick soundbite

by Adam London

4 hours ago

Bill Belichick appreciates greatness. Praising legends is one of the few things the Patriots head coach likes to talk at length about when he meets with the media.

Belichick did so Monday, one day after New England’s all-important road win over the New York Jets, but his kind words weren’t for an NFL player or coach.

The future Hall of Famer briefly shifted his focus to another sport after he highlighted Jabrill Peppers’ shortstop-like play at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. ESPN’s Mike Reiss used the opportunity to ask Belichick to identify his favorite shortstop growing up, but instead of picking a player from his youth, the Patriots legend went with a more recent superstar who tormented the Boston Red Sox for years.

“There was a lot of good ones. Have to go with (Derek) Jeter here in the long haul,” Belichick told reporters, per a team-provided transcript. “Not that I was growing up then, but it’d be hard to put anybody ahead of Jeter.”

Jeter definitely is the conversation for the greatest shortstop in Major League Baseball history, but we imagine very few members of the Fenway Faithful would give that label to the former New York Yankees captain.

As for the Patriots, they’ll try to lift their record above .500 for the first time this season Sunday when they host the 3-4-1 Indianapolis Colts.

Thumbnail photo via Robert Deutsch/USA TODAY Sports Images

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Roz Wyman, Who Helped Bring the Dodgers to Los Angeles, Dies at 92 - The New York Times

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As a City Council member, she vowed to bring Major League Baseball to the city and persuaded the team’s owner, Walter O’Malley, to move from Brooklyn.

Roz Wyman, who helped lead Los Angeles’s successful campaign to persuade Walter O’Malley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, to move west after the 1957 season, died on Wednesday at her home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. She was 92.

Her son Robert Wyman confirmed the death.

Major League Baseball had 16 teams until 1961, and until 1958 none was farther west than Kansas City, Mo., although California had minor league teams, most prominently in the Pacific Coast League. When Ms. Wyman, at 22, ran for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council in 1953, she vowed to import a major league team. She focused on the Dodgers and, to a lesser extent, the New York Giants.

“The time appears to be ripe,” she said in 1955, as it became apparent that the Dodgers and Giants might be in play. “Certainly if the people of New York must act to keep the clubs there, we can act to bring them here.”

In Mr. O’Malley, Ms. Wyman and her allies, including Norris Poulson, the city’s mayor, and Kenneth Hahn, a county supervisor, had a cagey target. He pledged publicly to stay in Brooklyn and engaged in long-drawn-out talks with New York City officials about building a new ballpark. In 1955, he rebuffed Ms. Wyman’s request for a meeting; she responded that she would talk to the Giants instead.

But when it appeared that Mr. O’Malley would not get what he wanted in Brooklyn, Los Angeles became a more viable option. In October 1957, the City Council prepared to vote on the terms that would bring the Dodgers to Los Angeles and let Mr. O’Malley build a stadium in Chavez Ravine, an area once populated by residents, mostly Latino, who had been evicted to make room for a public-housing project. (That plan was canceled in a referendum in 1952. )

Ms. Wyman and Mayor Poulson worked diligently to secure the votes needed to approve the plan —- some members of the Council thought the deal was a giveaway to the Dodgers — but they wanted Mr. O’Malley’s guarantee, before the Council voted, that he would accept the terms. They called him, and Mayor Poulson placed the phone in Ms. Wyman’s hands.

“I am going to the floor,” she recalled telling Mr. O’Malley in an interview for Michael D’Antonio’s “Forever Blue” (2009), a biography of Mr. O’Malley. “I would like to say you are coming.” But Mr. O’Malley did not give her a straight answer.

He told her that “if I could get my deal in New York, I’d rather stay in New York,” but he then quickly reversed himself, saying, “I think everything is right for me there in L.A.”

She decided not to tell the Council about Mr. O’Malley’s indecision. And, she said, when no one asked if Mr. O’Malley had made a commitment to moving, the Council voted 10 to 4 to approve the deal.

Ms. Wyman with Walter O’Malley, the owner of the Dodgers, shortly after the deal was approved.Los Angeles Examiner/USC Libraries/Corbis via Getty Images

To celebrate the moment, she posed for pictures with Mayor Poulson. He held a bat, and she placed a cap on his head that said, “L.A. Bums,” a nod to the Brooklyn Dodgers’ nickname, “Dem Bums.”

Mr. O’Malley quickly accepted the terms — and the deal passed by the Council survived a referendum held in June 1958, two months into the Dodgers’ inaugural season in Los Angeles. At the very least, Mr. O’Malley would have had to renegotiate the deal if voters had rejected the referendum.

Peter O’Malley, Walter’s son, said that his father came to trust Ms. Wyman. He told The Los Angeles Times in 2016 that while other elected officials claimed credit for bringing the Dodgers to Los Angeles, “Roz did it” and “deserves all the credit.”

Before the Dodgers’ first game in Los Angeles — against the Giants, who, following the Dodgers’ lead, had moved to San Francisco — Ms Wyman rode in a ticker-tape parade that ferried players from City Hall through downtown streets and to the team’s temporary home at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Ms. Wyman, who had given birth to her daughter, Betty, a few days before, sat in an open convertible with the Dodger pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale.

“We thought it was the biggest thing that had ever come to Los Angeles, with the ticker tape,” she told the radio station KPCC in 2008. “I mean, with the confetti and all this stuff coming down.”

Rosalind Naomi Wiener was born on Oct. 4, 1930, in Los Angeles. Her parents, Oscar and Sarah (Selten) Wiener, owned a drugstore. Her mother was also a pharmacist.

Baseball and politics were part of her life from an early age. Her mother, who grew up in Chicago, was a Cubs fan; she was also a precinct captain in Los Angeles who worked to re-elect President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936.

Ms. Wyman’s political career began when she was an undergraduate at the University of Southern California, after she confronted Helen Gahagan Douglas, the actress turned congresswoman from California, over her lateness to two events that she had attended. Ms. Wyman became Ms. Douglas’s driver during her unsuccessful Senate campaign against Richard M. Nixon in 1950.

In 1952 she graduated from U.S.C. with a bachelor’s degree in public administration. The next year, she began her campaign for City Council.

“When I decided to run, I was really young and my father was a typical dad,” she told the public television station KCET in 2019. “And he said: ‘You shouldn’t do that. That’s a terrible business.’ He didn’t want me to do it one bit. And my mother said, ‘Go get ’em.’”

She became the youngest person ever elected to the Los Angeles City Council, and only the second woman.

Ms. Wyman served for 12 years. She was defeated in 1965, but by then she had become an increasingly important activist in the state and national Democratic Party.

Ms. Wyman in 1983. She was in charge of the planning committee for the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco.George Tames/The New York Times

As a member of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission, she convinced Robert F. Kennedy that his brother John should give his speech accepting the 1960 presidential nomination outdoors at the coliseum, which ensured a much larger audience than the smaller Los Angeles Sports Arena, where the rest of the Democratic National Convention was held. The commission inducted her into its court of honor at the coliseum last year.

She and her husband, Eugene Wyman, a lawyer who was one of California’s top Democratic Party fund-raisers, hosted political gatherings at their home in Bel Air. A decade after Mr. Wyman’s death in 1973, she was in charge of the planning committee for the 1984 Democratic convention in San Francisco. She began a friendship there with Dianne Feinstein, then the mayor of San Francisco; she would later play a prominent role in Ms. Feinstein’s campaigns for the United States Senate.

Ms. Wyman was also a confidante of another California Democrat: Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House.

She worked outside politics as well, including as an executive at Columbia Pictures for two years in the late 1960s and chief executive of the Producers Guild of America from 1977 to 1981.

She was also the chairwoman of National Congressional Campaign Dinners in 1973 and 1976 and served on the executive committee of the Jimmy Carter-Walter Mondale campaign committee in 1976.

Ms. Wyman at her home in Los Angeles in 2020.David Walter Banks for The New York Times

She was once asked what her hobby was.

“The party,” she said.

In addition to her son Robert, Ms. Wyman is survived by her daughter, Betty Wyman; another son, Brad; and three grandchildren.

Ms. Wyman’s achievement in helping to bring the Dodgers to Los Angeles still resonates.

“What this lady did for baseball in this city,” Tommy Lasorda, the team’s longtime manager, told The Los Angeles Times in 2000, “they should erect a monument to her.”

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Remote work is here to stay. Here's how to manage your staff from afar - TechCrunch

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Over the last two and a half years, remote and hybrid working has become the norm — a majority of employed Americans have the option of working from home for all or part of the week, and 87% of workers who were offered remote work embraced the opportunity heartily.

While some companies are pushing for a return to the office, today’s strapped labor market is giving employees more power to push back for remote, or at least flexible, jobs. This isn’t just a pandemic response anymore — it’s a way of life, and it has the potential to make some businesses better. People who work from home have been reporting an uptick in their productivity levels without the distractions that come with an office — Oh, it’s Beth’s birthday. Cupcakes in the kitchen! 

But both employers and employees have reported some downsides to remote work. Isolation can make people feel lonely and disconnected, leading to mental health issues. Learning and collaboration have taken a hit without the human element of being in the same room. And it can be difficult to create and maintain a company culture remotely.

Luckily, some seriously smart people have thought hard about how to address these challenges and make it work. We put a few of them onstage last week at TechCrunch Disrupt, and while you can watch the whole video, here are some of their best insights.

Be hyper-intentional when coming together IRL

Two and a half years into the pandemic, people are “actually clamoring to spend more time together,” said Adriana Roche, chief people officer at Mural, during a panel discussion at Disrupt.

Ironically, one of the main solutions to the woes of remote work is finding ways to bring staff together IRL. That might mean a couple of times per week in the office if everyone lives in the same city, but if the team is fully remote, companies have to be more intentional with how they plan monthly or quarterly off-sites.

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Kanye West comments on fallout from his antisemitic remarks - CNN

CNN  — 

After a week of financial fallout following antisemitic remarks on social media and in interviews, Kanye West is commenting on those thoughts, as well as what he’s said about George Floyd and Black Lives Matter.

In a rambling 16-minute video shared by WmgLab Records on YouTube Saturday and seemingly recorded at some point after Adidas ended its business relationship with West on Tuesday, the artist appears to address a crowd of paparazzi and bystanders gathered outside a building as he exits.

“I think Adidas felt like cause everyone was ganging up on me that they had the right to just take my designs,” West told the small crowd.

“I feel like this is God humbling me right now,” he continued. “Because there’s two things that are happening. A lot of times when I would say ‘I am the richest Black man,’ it would be a defense that I would use for the mental health conversation. …What’s happening right now is I’m being humbled.”

West went on to address backlash over his suggestion in a recent podcast interview that George Floyd’s death was caused by fentanyl use.

“When the idea of Black Lives Matter came out, it made us come together as a people,” he said. “So, I said that, and I questioned the death of George Floyd, it hurt my people. It hurt the Black people. So, I want to apologize to hurting them [sic] because right now God has shown me by what Adidas is doing, and by what the media is doing, I know how it feels to have a knee on my neck now. So I thank you, God for humbling me and letting me know how it really felt. Because how could the richest Black man ever be humbled other than to be made to not be a billionaire in front of everyone off of a comment.”

West also discussed his “exhaustion” caused by the reaction to him wearing a MAGA hat that was “misdiagnosed” as a mental health disorder and his refusal to a take medication that he said would make him “one pill” away from Michael Jackson or Prince.

“At a time like this, if I was on medication right now, then one pill could have been swapped out, and it would have been Michael Jackson or Prince all over again,” West said.

He also compared himself to Emmett Till, who was brutally lynched in 1955 at age 14, and said at times he has felt like Malcom X and Martin Luther King, Jr.

“I’m just not worried. Period,” West said in response to someone in the crowd who asked if he was worried that he had ruined his legacy. “God is alive.”

Antisemitic demonstrators referenced West in signs raised in Los Angeles last weekend and Jacksonville, Florida this weekend. In the video, West did not apologize for his antisemitic remarks but seemed to try to distance himself from any “hate group.”

“I have no association to any hate group,” West said as he closed his remarks in prayer. “If any hate happens upon any Jewish person, it is not associated (gestures to himself) because I am demanding that everyone walk in love.”

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Accommodation Is Not a Shield From Criticism - The New York Times

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Send questions about the office, money, careers and work-life balance to workfriend@nytimes.com. Include your name and location, or a request to remain anonymous. Letters may be edited.

The Delicate Management of Chronic Illness

I manage a unit of a medium-size company. A direct report is, in turn, also responsible for managing several others. This person has a chronic health condition which, when it flares up, leads to unpredictability in their availability and ability to do their job well. H.R. supports and works with them on emergency leave needs. However, it is a constant source of angst.

When this person is healthy, I have no concerns and I am pleased with their contributions. When suddenly they are not healthy, it adds chaos and stress since we must quickly pick up the slack. To minimize disruption, I reduce this person’s responsibilities, shifting them to others and adjusting those individuals’ pay. While I provide feedback, I also know I hold back. I fear putting additional pressure on someone who is already struggling and for crossing the line between addressing a performance issue and penalizing them for their health.

When I’ve discussed reducing their workload, or have gone ahead and scaled back responsibilities, this person gets upset and says I am unfairly punishing them for a health condition. They don’t always seem to understand the reality of their situation and the accommodations we’ve already given.

I’ve spoken with my leadership and H.R. many times and they concur that this is a very difficult situation, but apart from saying I need to address only this person’s “performance issues,” I don’t feel I have enough support. Is there something you’d advise, even an article or book to read to help me guide me on this?

— Anonymous

There is a lot to unpack. I appreciate your mindfulness as this is a challenging workplace issue. You aren’t being well supported by your employer and that’s a shame — this is an issue that affects the company as a whole and they shouldn’t shirk that responsibility. But I do sense bias in some of your framing.

Your employee understands the reality of their situation. Chronic illness is an all-consuming thing. When you reduce their workload peremptorily you are penalizing them for their health condition. And you aren’t doing them a favor when you provide accommodation. You are following the law and doing what is right.

Accommodation can mean many things, and here it means that you need a permanent solution in place to cover your employee’s responsibilities when they have a flare-up. If there is a permanent solution in place, there shouldn’t be a great deal of chaos. If you need to critique their performance, do so. Accommodation is not a shield from criticism. Just be sure you’re critiquing their performance apart from their medical condition and how it affects their work.

Try to develop an understanding of how to talk about these issues with your employee, openly but fairly. And are there creative solutions to this situation you haven’t considered? You note that when they’re healthy you have no concerns, so I will gently suggest that what you might do here is reconcile some of the biases you have about chronic illness.

It’s OK to be frustrated. That’s human. But it is not OK to let your frustrations dictate how you treat this employee. And if readers have any articles or books you recommend for working with chronically ill employees, please do share them.

The Back to Interning Blues

I recently quit a well-paid, full-time position to take an internship with the United Nations in a developing country. I have four years of postgraduate experience and a master’s degree. The projects and the work are close to my ‘dream job.’

However, being at the bottom again is really challenging. The work I produce is of a far higher grade than intern level, yet the respect I receive is limited, as is the pay. But my main issue is my manager, whom I find to have a very poor work ethic and slapdash approach.

In my first six weeks, she took three weeks of unannounced vacation; she’s always late and complaining about having to work; and she appears to delegate almost all her workload to the two interns who are required to be in the office 8 to 5 every day. I have made it clear that I won’t, for example, fetch a keyboard for her from next door when she doesn’t want to go get it.

I am telling myself I have to let my ego go and focus on what I want from the experience, but she also has all the power in recommending me for roles. Do I need to just suck it up and try and move on ASAP? I am aware that intern exploitation is a tale as old as time, but I’ve never actually experienced it before.

— Anonymous

I am curious how you’re defining exploitation here. You chose to take an internship even though you are not at the intern stage of your career. Clearly, you weren’t emotionally prepared for taking a significant professional step back even though you hope it will move you ahead in the long term. I get that. It’s a challenging bind. The organization hired an intern because that’s what they needed.

You acknowledge you’re doing the work you want. Not getting a keyboard for your boss when you’re asked to do so is not setting a boundary. It’s a keyboard! This is a professional request and one that falls within the purview of an intern’s work alongside the dream projects you’re working on. It could fall within the purview of many jobs. If someone asked me to grab them something, I would generally do it, just to be collegial.

As for your manager’s work ethic, why are you so focused on what she does and how? Who cares if she takes vacations? Vacations are a good thing. Delegation is part of a manager’s job. That said, being late and complaining are not ideal behaviors, but you’re engaging in a lot of policing here and I’m not sure why. It doesn’t help you grow. It isn’t going to make you happier.

You will need to either learn to live with the professional decision you made and the change in status or consider another job that offers the working conditions you prefer.

---

To Snitch or Not to Snitch

Some co-workers of mine are puzzled about how (if at all) to handle a colleague who doesn’t seem to think the rules apply to her. We are a small department in a large office. We have a very specific, skilled task we perform and we really try to work as a team. One of our colleagues was hired during the pandemic when we only had to be at work if absolutely necessary. Our supervisor recently told us those days are behind us and it’s back to the office, 8:30 to 5:00. This colleague continues to come in an hour or more late, takes one- to two-hour lunches and leaves at 3:30-4:00 if she wants.

It’s not just annoying. We’re worried if an emergency happens and she’s not here, it will cause all of us to have to start punching a clock. We’re hesitant to tattle to our supervisor, but since we’re equals, we’re also not comfortable confronting her. Advice, please?

— Anonymous

This isn’t a situation you and your colleagues need to “handle.” Your co-worker’s hours and habits are none of your business. Do you hear yourself? You’re reluctant to “tattle?” You are adults! Adults do not tattle. If her conduct is affecting your own work, which it seems it is, be mature professionals and tell her, with specifics, how her behaviors are affecting the team’s performance! But stop policing her coming and going or monitoring how long she takes for lunch. That is not part of your job description. You’re only doing it because you don’t want to be overly policed yourselves. I encourage you to consider that.

Roxane Gay is the author, most recently, of “Hunger” and a contributing opinion writer. Write to her at workfriend@nytimes.com.

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ECB's Villeroy: next ECB hikes will not necessarily be like this week's 'jumbo' increase - Reuters.com

PARIS, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Future interest rate increases by the European Central Bank will not necessarily be 'jumbo' increases as the one done yesterday, ECB member and Bank of France head Francois Villeroy de Galhau told a webcast hosted by financial site Boursorama.

On Thursday, the ECB raised interest rates again and put the reduction of its bloated balance sheet on the agenda, but said "substantial" progress had already been made in its bid to fight off a historic surge in inflation.

The central bank for the 19 countries that use the euro raised its deposit rate by a further 75 basis points to 1.5% - the highest rate since 2009. ECB rates had been negative - below 0% - for eight years until it hiked in July.

Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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What Happened to Hu Jintao? - The New York Times

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It was the lone disruption in one of the most closely choreographed events in China: The country’s former top leader, Hu Jintao, was suddenly led out of the closing ceremony of the Chinese Communist Party’s twice-a-decade congress.

The congress, where China’s next leaders are anointed, is the single most important political event for a ruling party fixated on control. Every detail, whether it is the outcome of its elections or how servers pour tea, is planned. Nothing unscripted happens. Nothing unscripted is allowed to happen.

Except this year, it did.

The roughly 2,000 delegates to the congress had just cast ballots for the party’s prestigious Central Committee. Then, two men led Mr. Hu — who appeared reluctant to go — out of Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.

The moment, captured on video by journalists who had been allowed into the hall minutes earlier, prompted questions and wild speculation. Was Mr. Hu, 79, suffering from poor health, as Chinese state media would later report? Or was he being purged in a dramatic show by China’s current leader, Xi Jinping, for the world to see?

“This was an astonishing episode — even during the Mao period, you didn’t see a dramatic disruption of the congress like this,” said Victor Shih, a specialist in Chinese politics at the University of California at San Diego.

The world may never know the answer, given the utter secrecy around Chinese high politics. But a deconstruction of video footage provides additional details and context about the much-scrutinized moment.

---

In the minutes before Mr. Hu is led away, he appears to be reaching for a document on the table, where the top leaders and retired elders of the party preside.

The New York Times; video by CNA via Reuters

The man to his left, Li Zhanshu, the party’s now outgoing No. 3 official, quickly intervenes, covering it with a red folder. He later slides the document away, speaking into Mr. Hu’s ear.

It’s unclear what the document was, but all the officials appeared to have papers. A photo of one of the pages, taken later, seems to show that it was a list of names, with the words “Central Committee.”

Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

The congress was about to announce the new Central Committee, which would make clear that Mr. Xi had pushed out perceived moderates in favor of loyalists. The party’s top leaders and retired elders historically have a great deal of influence over the selection.

The delegates had not yet voted on amendments to the party constitution, approving Mr. Xi’s report on the progress of the previous five years, or a report on internal party discipline. The amendments, revealed later, reaffirmed Mr. Xi’s importance as the “core” of the party.

---

Previous party meetings have been stages for political maneuvering and the humiliation of former leaders. In 1959, the party formally adopted a resolution denouncing Peng Dehuai, a high-ranking military official, after he criticized Mao Zedong’s economic policies. During the Cultural Revolution, many leaders, including Mr. Xi’s father, Xi Zhongxun, were purged or publicly shamed. But those moments predated the internet age, and were clearly intentional.

Xi Zhongxun (above), the father of Xi Jinping, and Peng Dehuai (below) were two high-ranking Communist Party officials publicly shamed during the Mao era.

It’s far from evident that Mr. Hu’s exit was planned, and many analysts have warned against drawing assumptions. The apparent chaos of the following moments led many to read the scene as unscripted.

Mr. Xi glances toward one side of the hall. An aide then comes over to Mr. Xi, who addresses him and taps a piece of paper. The aide bends over to say something to Mr. Hu — who had been watching the previous exchange out of the corner of his eye, seemingly listening.

CNA via Reuters

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As Mr. Xi looks on, the aide grasps Mr. Hu’s right arm, as if trying to get him out of his seat. Mr. Hu pulls his arm back. The man tries to lift the former top leader from behind, under both arms, but again fails.

Agence France-Presse

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Mr. Hu then reaches for the paper in front of Mr. Xi, which the top leader holds down.

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When the aide finally succeeds in coaxing Mr. Hu from his chair, Mr. Li, the No. 3 official, half-rises from his seat and appears to be moving to engage in the situation. Another official — Wang Huning, the party’s then-No. 5 leader — tugs Mr. Li back down.

The New York Times; video by CNA via Reuters

Mr. Li and Mr. Wang represent a changing of the guard at the apex of power in China — the Politburo Standing Committee that was unveiled the next day.

2022 standing committee

Mr. Xi appointed allies who are too old or inexperienced to take over for him.

Seen as confidant

Ties since the ’80s

Ties since the ’00s

Close aide

Cai Qi,

66

Zhao

Leji,

65

Xi

Jinping,

69

Wang

Huning,

67

Ding

Xuexiang,

60

Li

Qiang,

63

2017 STANDING COMMITTEE

Some members who were seen as less close to Mr. Xi retired early.

Retired at 68

Retired at 72

Retired early

Retired early

Han

Zheng,

68

Wang

Huning,

67

Li

Zhanshu,

72

Xi

Jinping,

69

Li

Keqiang,

67

Wang

Yang,

67

Zhao

Leji,

65

2022 standing committee

Mr. Xi appointed allies who are too old or inexperienced to take over for him.

Ties since the ’00s

Close

aide

Seen as confidant

Ties since the ’80s

Cai Qi, 66

Zhao Leji, 65

Xi Jinping, 69

Wang

Huning, 67

Ding

Xuexiang, 60

Li Qiang, 63

2017 STANDING COMMITTEE

Some members who were seen as less close to Mr. Xi retired early.

Retired at 68

Retired at 72

Retired early

Retired early

Wang

Huning, 67

Li

Zhanshu, 72

Xi

Jinping, 69

Wang

Yang, 67

Zhao

Leji, 65

Han

Zheng, 68

Li

Keqiang, 67

2022 standing committee

Mr. Xi appointed allies who are too old or inexperienced to take over for him.

Seen as

confidant

Ties since

the ’80s

Ties since

the ’00s

Close

aide

Cai Qi, 66

Zhao Leji, 65

Xi Jinping, 69

Wang

Huning, 67

Ding

Xuexiang, 60

Li Qiang, 63

2017 STANDING COMMITTEE

Some members who were seen as less close to Mr. Xi retired early.

Retired at 68

Retired at 72

Retired early

Retired early

Wang Huning, 67

Li Zhanshu, 72

Xi Jinping, 69

Wang Yang, 67

Zhao Leji, 65

Han Zheng, 68

Li Keqiang, 67

The New York Times; photographs by Tingshu Wang/Reuters, Jason Lee/Reuters

Mr. Li had reached retirement age, and was leaving. Mr. Wang is the party’s chief theoretician and has served as an ideological adviser to both the current and former leader; he was promoted at this congress to the No. 4 spot, and is seen as close to Mr. Xi.

With the Politburo Standing Committee now filled with his allies, Mr. Xi will face little resistance to his agenda, which includes bolstering national security and reshaping the global order to better suit Beijing’s interests. None of the new leaders have the experience or are young enough to be considered potential successors to Mr. Xi.

---

As the two aides begin guiding Mr. Hu away from his seat, the older leader stops to say something to Mr. Xi. Mr. Xi nods briefly, without fully turning to look at him.

The New York Times; video by Reuters

Mr. Hu then pats Li Keqiang, China’s premier, on the shoulder. Mr. Li nods, too, but also does not fully turn around.

The premier has long been seen as an ally and protégé of Mr. Hu. He climbed the party’s ranks in part through his leadership roles in the Communist Youth League, a party organization that Mr. Hu once headed.

At least two other people seated at the front table have longstanding associations with Mr. Hu. Wang Yang and Hu Chunhua — the outgoing No. 4 party member and a Chinese vice premier, respectively — were also affiliated with the Communist Youth League.

The New York Times; video by Reuters

The new lineup of top officials unveiled the next day excluded those three perceived protégés of Mr. Hu, breaking with a tradition of balancing different party factions in the leadership.

---

As Mr. Hu is escorted out of the hall, he passes behind 19 other high-ranking party officials seated at the same long table.

Almost none of them give any indication that anything out of the ordinary is occuring. A few are engaged in conversation. Most stare straight ahead.

EXPRESSIONS DID NOT CHANGE

EXPRESSIONS DID NOT CHANGE

EXPRESSIONS DID NOT CHANGE

The New York Times; photograph by Tingshu Wang/Reuters

Wu Guoguang, a professor at the University of Victoria in Canada who served as an adviser to a former premier of China, said he did not want to speculate about what had unfolded. But he said he was astounded by the officials’ chilly reaction.

“Here was Hu Jintao, the former highest leader of your party and a man who had given so many of you political opportunities. And how do you treat him now?” Professor Wu said in a podcast interview with the Times columnist Li Yuan. “This incident demonstrated the tragic reality of Chinese politics and the fundamental lack of human decency in the Communist Party.”

---

After Mr. Hu’s departure, the closing ceremony proceeded, with his empty front-row seat the only reminder of the disruption. To most people in China, the whole episode might never have happened. Chinese censors limited search results for Mr. Hu’s name on social media to posts from official accounts, none of which mentioned his exit. The state broadcaster’s news program that night showed footage of Mr. Hu voting, and then his empty seat later in the ceremony, without explanation.

Late Saturday evening, Xinhua, the state news agency, offered the first official acknowledgment of his exit, writing on Twitter that Mr. Hu was “not feeling well” and had been taken to rest. “Now, he is much better,” the post read. But Twitter is blocked in China, and neither Xinhua nor any other official news outlet posted a similar explanation within China’s internet firewall, further fueling speculation about the incident.

Regardless of what happened, the symbolism was unmistakable. A former paramount leader, historically the only person with the stature to challenge a current one, was led offstage.

That left only one man in the spotlight: Mr. Xi, about to glide to his third term, the most powerful Chinese leader in decades.

The New York Times; photograph by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

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