Middle East

Photo: A young boy runs with his tyre past buildings damaged by air strikes in Saada Old Town. Credit: Giles Clarke/OCHA

Memories of Iraq-Iran War Haunt U.S. Involvement in Yemen

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The evidence that has come out from the UN and NGOs makes clear, without any reservation or ambiguity, that on August 9, 2018 dozens of school children on a bus in Yemen were killed by a Saudi Arabian air-strike, and that American supplied weapons had been used, and probably British too. Criticism of Saudi Arabia and its partner in crime, the United Arab Emirates, has been increasing over the last year.

The U.S. is not a partner in the actual fighting but, started by President Barack Obama and continued on a larger scale by President Donald Trump, the U.S. doesn't only provide weapons but also it has provided intelligence, warplane refueling and guidance technology for missiles and bombs.

: Jonathan Power; THE WORLD; Middle East; 28 August 2018

EU-U.S. Tussle Over Iran Sanctions and the Aftermath

By Kelsey Davenport

The author is Director for Non-Proliferation Policy at the Arms Control Association (ACA). This analysis is being reproduced from ACA's Special Newsletter of August 24, 2018. – The Editor.

WASHINGON. D.C. (IDN-INPS) – During an August 19-22 trip to Israel, National Security Advisor John Bolton said U.S. sanctions reimposed on Iran are having economic effects “even stronger than we anticipated” and that the United States expects that Europeans will see that the “choice between doing business with Iran or doing business with the United States is very clear.”

Iran figured prominently in discussions between Bolton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 24 August 2018

Photo: Students in Marrakech planning change for their university community. Credit: The High Atlas Foundation.

Morocco Provides 'Safe Spaces' for Youth

By Julia Payne

MARRAKECH (IDN) – As a society, we have hopes and dreams for the future; for our children, our countries, and the global community. These aspirations rest on the shoulders of the young generation. August 12, 2018 marked the 18th celebration of the UN's annual International Youth Day.

This awareness day was a unique opportunity to reflect on youth's challenges and to celebrate and support the world’s future leaders. This year’s theme, 'Safe Spaces for Youth' highlighted the importance of youth’s engagement, participation, and freedom of thought.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East; 19 August 2018

Image: Moses's army in the land now called Palestine attacked its resident tribes including the Midianites. Following their defeat, Moses told his victorious generals, God was ordering him to kill all the women and their young sons. The watercolor by James Tissot at the Jewish Museum, New York, shows 'The Women of Midian Led Captive by the Hebrews'. Credit; Wikimedia Commons.

Israel Stepping Into An Apartheid State

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Recall Shakespeare's great work of dramatic art, the Merchant of Venice, where Shylock was treated as an unpleasant Jew (with a lovely, self-effacing daughter) who dealt mainly in shady usury.

His speech to the court is one of Shakespeare’s most remembered:

“Hath not a Jew eyes? / Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? /If you prick us, do we not bleed? /If you tickle us do we not laugh? /If you poison us, do we not die? /And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?"

But what if we substitute Palestinian for Jew? Viz: "Hath not a Palestinian eyes?" and so on. …

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 07 August 2018

Photo: A Palestinian girl inside her family’s partially destroyed home, looks at the destruction outside, in the Shejaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City. Credit: UNICEF.

Palestinian Peoples' Fundamental Rights Under Assault, Concern Over Lurking Dangers

By Ramesh Jaura

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – The outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, has expressed "acute concerns" over the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the situation in the occupied Gaza Strip, which in recent months has escalated dramatically, with the potential to generate threats to peace across a far broader region.

His concerns were affirmed when UN News reported on July 24 that intense diplomatic efforts by the United Nations and Egypt had helped avoid another Israeli-Palestinian war in Gaza that appeared just "minutes away" over the previous weekend.

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; Middle East; 26 July 2018

Photo: The Aboghlou women’s cooperative meets outside in Ourika Valley, Morocco.

Education Isn't the Only Key to Female Employment in Morocco

Viewpoint by Katherine O’Neill*

MARRAKECH (IDN) – The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has the lowest female employment rate of anywhere in the world. Though most countries in the MENA region, including Libya and Iran, have seen gradually increasing rates of working women, Morocco’s female labour force participation (FLFP) rate has actually decreased since 1999, now sitting at 26 percent, according to Brookings.

This decline not only contradicts global and regional trends, but also comes despite significant efforts both by the Moroccan government and NGOs to increase women’s education, in hopes of improving their employment opportunities. The World Bank estimates that higher FLFP rates could result in a 25 percent average increase in household income, something which would dramatically improve the lives of men, women, and youth in the region.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East; 23 July 2018

Photo: 2017-18 protests in Tehran. Credit: Fars News Agency | Wikimedia Commons.

Iran Sandwiched Between 'Regime Change' Threat and Menacing Discontent Within

By Mortezagholi Raissi

BERLIN (IDN) – Plagued by domestic turmoil and the Trump Administration threatening regime change, not only the government in Iran but the entire theocratic regime too are faced with a far from envious situation, according to political observers.

What started off as protests spurred on by the deteriorating economic conditions in Iran and the inflation in prices of basic necessities beginning of 2017 partly turned into "riots". These prompted Iran government spokesmen Mohammad-Baqer Nobakht declare that the government recognizes the people's right to protest within the framework of citizens' rights and the Constitution. However "rioters and protestors are not the same".

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East; 09 July 2018

Photo: Snapshot of Hamid Karzai's Interview with NTV Russia. Courtesy: Office of Hamid Karzai.

Karzai Blames U.S., Pakistan For Afghanistan Chaos

By Kalinga Seneviratne

BONN (IDN) – Former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has blamed the United States and Pakistan for the chaos created in his country over the past two decades. He firmly believes that the West, including Germany, should admit to their failures in his war-torn country.

He followed up on this argument, initially advanced in a keynote address to the Global Media Forum on June 12, 2018, in a panel discussion and an interview with Forum host, the German public international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW).

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 13 June 2018

Photo: British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush shake hands after their press conference in the White House on 12 November 2004. From the start of the War on Terror in 2001, Blair strongly supported Bush's foreign policy, participating in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and 2003 invasion of Iraq. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Why Tony Blair Should Be Prosecuted Over Iraq

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – President Barack Obama was not a war criminal despite US involvement in wars in Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan and against ISIS. His predecessor George W. Bush was. Apart from anything else his administration tortured captives. Was the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, the closest ally of Bush also a war criminal? And should he now be prosecuted and tried for war crimes?

Did Blair lie over the reason for going to war with Iraq – the supposed stockpile of weapons of mass destruction that he alleged Iraq possessed? It depends on how you define lie.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 29 May 2018

Photo: Palestine is resolutely pursuing its strategy of seeking statehood through intergovernmental organizations. On May 22, Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki met Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda at the ICC Headquarters in The Hague calling for the court to investigate Israeli settlement policies in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Copyright: ICC-CPI

Palestine Seeking Statehood Through UN System Organizations

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – While the two-state solution envisaging an independent State of Palestine appears to be increasingly consigned to oblivion, the Palestinian Authority is resolutely pursuing its strategy of seeking statehood through intergovernmental organizations that are a part of the UN system.

The latest in a series of such bids is Palestine's membership of the Vienna-based United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) cautiously announced in a press release on May 25, 2018. It pointed out that on May 17 "the State of Palestine deposited its instruments of accession to the Constitution" of the UNIDO "with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who is the depositary of the UNIDO Constitution, at the Treaty Section of the Legal Office of the UN Secretariat in New York."