A year ago this week, George Floyd was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis. His murder sparked a global movement revulsed by a history of violence against Black people and united against the legacy of empire and its enduring racist symbols.
In the months that followed, mass protests were held and slavery-era statues pulled down amid attempts to reframe history. At a moment of reflection, our cover story this week considers the future of the global debate on race and of the Black Lives Matter movement.
After the fury of hostilities between Israelis and Palestinians, last Thursday’s ceasefire came as something of a surprise to many. Is international opinion turning against Israel in its campaign against Hamas? In Spotlight, we report from Gaza, where 11 days of bombing has devastated the Palestinian territory, and also from the US, where a generational and political divide seems to be opening up over Israel’s long-held policy of Palestinian suppression.
Then, on page 34, don’t miss Peter Beinart’s thought-provoking essay making a Jewish case for the return of Palestinian refugees.
The forcible diversion of a Ryanair flight by Belarus last weekend so it could detain a political opponent sent diplomatic shock waves around the region. Luke Harding considers how the world might best respond to a brazen violation of international norms.
In Culture, as Britain emerges from lockdown, we visit the London Symphony Orchestra, which recently began playing to live audiences again, to find out how the musicians survived a year bereft of live music.
And we also meet Marcus Rashford, the remarkable young England footballer who successfully lobbied the UK government for free holiday school meals for children during lockdown, and who is now on a mission to get Britain’s kids reading more.
