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locked into the cities and towns

they f

had to compete

Palestinians

Iraqis

Syria was already a refuge

March 15, 2011

small group gathered in the southwestern town of Daraa to protest against government failure to help them

government saw them as subversives.

He ordered a crackdown

And the army,

responded violently.

Riots broke out

attempted to quell them with military

what had begun as a food and water issue gradually turned into a political and religious cause.

interpretation of Islam

the Syrian government is charged with using illegal chemical weapons

All observers agree that the foreign-controlled and foreign-constituted insurgent groups are the most coherent, organized, and effective

astonishing as they share no common language and come from a wide variety of cultures

slam has at least so far failed to provide an effective unifying force

all the rebels regard the conflict in Syria as fundamentally a religious issue

pwards of $150 billion

a whole generation of Syrians have been subjected to either or both the loss of their homes and their trust in fellow human beings.

How the victims and the perpetrators can be returned to a “normal life”

First, the war might continue.

Second, if the Syrian government continues or even prevails, there is no assurance that,

t will be able to suppress the insurgency.

Third,

Syria will remain effectively “balkanized”

Higher education, either a two-year intermediate level course offered by community colleges or four years of university level courses, either in public or private institutions. The student's achievement on the General Secondary Education Certificate Examination is the sole criterion for admission into higher education institutes.

Under this system, students in grades 4 through 10 may repeat a grade twice. After that they are automatically promoted. In the preparatory stage, grade repetition is allowed only once. At the secondary level, students are allowed to repeat once in a government school provided they are younger than 17; otherwise they must transfer to a private school.

Community colleges and universities vary in required attendance from two years in community colleges to six or more in universities based on the type of institution and specialization

he majority of students are enrolled in schools directly controlled by the MOE. Some schools fall under the jurisdiction of the cultural bureau of the Ministry of Defense. The Ministry of Health oversees students studying for medical careers; it established the first nursing school in 1953-54.

Instruction is in Arabic, but English is introduced in public schools in the fifth grade and is widely used. A new policy was recently approved to start teaching English in the first grade beginning in the academic year 2001-02

The school year runs for 210 days from September to June.

All public schools and most private ones use the same textbooks. Under Law 16 of 1964, the School Curricula and Textbooks Division of the MOE is responsible for producing and printing the textbooks. They are distributed free of charge during the compulsory stage, but there is a nominal fee at the secondary stage.

Jordanian public schools are single sex schools.

In 1997, however, only 16 percent of students were attending two shift schools and 11 percent went to rented buildings.

As a whole, education in Jordan is considered an investment in the future. Skilled citizens are necessary. Before the Gulf War, most graduates could find good jobs in the oil-rich countries, and the money they sent home helped the Jordanian economy to grow. It is not uncommon for a family living at subsistence level to be able to send a child to a university (Abu-Zeinh).

The total duration in school remains intact, 12 years. The primary cycle of general education has been increased by one year, and is divided into two modules of three years each, while the intermediary cycle was reduced to three years instead of four. The first year of general education's secondary cycle must be considered common for all four different series of instruction, and the second year is common to only two out of four series. Lebanese students are not allowed to enter formal technical education before age 12, which is the age limit of obligatory education. The scholastic year was changed to 36 weeks, and 4 supplementary hours per week were added at the intermediary and secondary cycles.

The new school curricula was launched in September 1998, and the Educational Center for Research and Development had trained 16,000 teachers in public schools and 6,000 teachers in private schools on the new uses and principles of the new program. The new system took into account economic, social, and national perspectives. The principle characteristics of this new system consist of the following:

The Lebanese educational system has usually relied heavily on private schooling to accommodate the evergrowing demand for learning in the country

As to special education concerning handicapped students, there were about 10,000 handicapped people in 1975 (prior to the Lebanese civil war). During the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, this number reached 13,000; it is more than 15,000 in 2001. About 2,500 handicapped people were being educated and made ready to enter the work market.

There are 1508 public and private intermediary and secondary schools for the general instruction program in Lebanon, while there are only 262 schools for the technical and professional instruction program divided between the public sector (29 schools) and the private sector (233 schools).

Education is compulsory until the end of the intermediate cycle, is available to all Lebanese students, and is attended by nearly 95 percent of school-age children

The school year starts in early October and ends in late June. The school day consists of six hours starting at 8:00 a.m. with two hour lunch break and ends at 4:00 p.m. The length of class periods ranges from 50 to 55 minutes. Both public and private schools are supposed to observe official holidays, which are decided by the government; however, Christian-administered, religious private schools take Saturday and Sunday off every week, while Moslem-run religious private schools take Friday and Sunday, and Jewish-run private schools take off all of Saturday and Sunday afternoon only.

In short, the new formal educational system of Lebanon, like in many other countries, divides the years of instruction as follows: 6-3-3 (six years for the primary cycle, three years for the intermediate cycle, and three years for the secondary cycle), followed by the higher education cycle. Primary school education is followed either by a six-year intermediary and secondary program, leading to the official Lebanese baccalaureate certificate, which was originally based on the equivalent French school diploma, or by a three- to six-year technical or vocational training program.

In addition, females appeared to have a slightly higher percentage than males with regard to attending schools and universities. After age 25 male attendance becomes almost double that of female attendance.

the literacy rate was 88.4 percent in 1997

ue to the Lebanese people's negative attitude toward manual work, especially in industry and agriculture, students of lower socioeconomic status enroll mostly in vocational and technical schools. Therefore, there is a big difference between the two major types of instruction, as well as the relative numbers of schools and students enrolled in each of these types

The brevet certificate is only required by public schools, vocational schools, and teacher training institutes. The baccalaureate part I exam has two main tracks: literary and scientific. The baccalaureate part II has four main tracks: literature and humanities, which includes language, literature, history, philosophy, education, arts, and religion; sociology and economy, which includes economic sciences, politics, business and management, law, and sociology; general sciences, which includes mathematics, physics, chemistry, and their applications at the level of engineering; and life sciences, which includes biology and life sciences, chemistry and their applications in the area of medicine, health, agriculture, and other related subjects.

Most institutions of higher education require entrance examinations besides the baccalaureate part II, which is required by law.

The grading system is generally based on scales of 0 to 20 or 0 to 100, with 10 or 60, respectively, as passing grades

he curriculum in Lebanese schools is somewhat rigid, for all students must pursue the same programs in all three cycles

rivate schools can choose textbooks that meet their syllabi, except in the civics area where the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport requires them to use the center's textbooks.

rabic and either French or English are the languages of instruction in the Lebanese schools.

The United Nations Reliefs and Works Agency (UNRWA) provides funds supporting a private nonsectarian school system for Palestinian Refugees in the Middle East. This type of private schooling has been very effective in offering education and social services for children of Palestinian Refugees residing in Lebanon

hero and a national treasure in the eyes of Egyptians.

Women saw her as an inspiration in their struggle for equal rights

women followed her exam

Egyptian women made advances in equality throughout the period of the monarchy

Gamal Abdel Nasser, women continued to advance, achieving positions in universities, Parliament and the senior judiciary.

22 Arab countries for discrimination in law, sexual harassment and the paucity of female political representation

women

Egypt’s tradition of moderate Islam recognized women’s rights and encouraged women to study and work.

woman’s job is to please her husband and provide offspring.

promote female genital mutilation

cover her body completely and may not study,

women started to wear the

cannot even leave the house without her husband’s permission.

control women’s sexuality.

Wahhabism has influenced all Islamic societies and movements, including Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood.

until 2005 that sexual harassment became an organized form of retribution against Egyptian women

hijab

83 percent of women interviewed had been subjected to sexual harassment at least once, and that 50 percent experienced it on a daily basis.

When ultraconservative doctrine dehumanizes women, reducing them to objects, it legitimizes acts of sexual aggression against them.

many Egyptian women still went without head scarves, wearing modern Western-style dress, yet incidents of sexual harassment were rare. Now, with the spread of the hijab, harassm

The security apparatus paid thugs, known as “beltagiya,” to gang up on a woman attending a demonstration, tear off her clothes and molest her.

Dec. 17, 201

Tahrir Square in Cairo, soldiers pulled a female protester’s clothes off and dragged her along the ground, stomping on her with their boots

victim of the attack became an icon for Egyptian women

mocked the victim, blaming her for not staying

in the home

During the revolution, millions of Egyptian women went out and bravely faced snipers’ bullets

rity.

President Mohamed Morsi’s later attempt to rewrite the Egyptian Constitution would also have removed the only female judge on the Supreme Constitutional Court.

They tried to overturn the law punishing doctors who carried out female genital mutilation, and refused to consider the marriage of minors as a form of human trafficking by claiming that Islam permitted a girl as young as 10 years old to be married.

The revolutionaries are fighting for equality

trying to strip women of their political and social rights and make them subject to men’s autho

10 female members of Parliament out of a total of 508

epresents a future that no one can prevent.

women should wear "appropriate" clothing when they go out.

There have been multiple mass sexual assaults on women during protests the past three years.

security forces dragged a female protester to the ground, pulled up her top to reveal her blue bra and stomped on her chest.

female protesters at the time were forced to undergo humiliating "virginity tests" when detained by the military.

Violence is a "very intimidating weapon" against women participating in public life

"If there is no democratic climate, how would you benefit from these beautiful laws?" said Abdel-Hameed. "It will be the same as under Mubarak: you have a beautiful law but it's not implemented."

The document explicitly enshrines equality between the sexes and women's rights to education, work and high political office.

"It's not just more progressive than the 2012 constitution, it's more progressive than the 1971 constitution . from the gender perspective,

Women have only been allowed to be judges since 2007

guarantees their right to hold high positions in the judiciary

2010 court decision barred women judges from the State Council, a powerful judicial body that regulates disputes between individuals and the state and reviews legislation.

January she wrote to the State Council demanding it take on women judges in light of the constitution.

The Council replied b

two percent of the seats in the last parliament,

sought criminal action against the National Council for Women.

"the mentality of the decision-makers

is the main obstacle to the carrying out the promises of the constitution.

low representation of women in government.

lowest in the Arab world

violated appropriateness and manners"

We're tired of the government and officials .

creation of a Commission on Discrimination with real judicial power

more women judges; a

he presence of women in parliament and local council

and the nullification of the draconian protest law,

gender issues should be mainstreamed across all government bodies.

activate a unit specialized in fighting violence against women and "the health sector should take into account reproductive rights.

h clinics should provide contraception and treatment for STDs

women's issues are never a priority for anyone

parts of the constitution may make enforcing the women's rights provisions harder.

More than 140 young Austrians are thought to have gone to Syria and Iraq to join ISIL, according to the Ministry of Interior, a number expected to rise as long as the conflict there continues. While this presents a small share of the 12,000 foreign fighters estimated to have been recruited by ISIL so far, Austria with its population of only 8.4 million tops European countries on a per-capita basis, including France and Germany with 700 and 500 fighters, respectively.

ncreased border controls for minors, laws forbidding the use of symbols associated with ISIL, as well as the withdrawal of Austrian citizenship for dual nationals.

Critics of drone strikes often fail to take into account the fact that the alternatives are either too risky or unrealistic.

Even the most unfavorable estimates of drone casualties reveal that the ratio of civilian to militant deaths is lower than it would be for other forms of strikes.

signature strikes,” which target not specific individuals but instead groups engaged in suspicious activities.

After a strike in Pakistan, militants often cordon off the area, remove their dead, and admit only local reporters sympathetic to their cause or decide on a body count themselves. The U.S. media often then draw on such faulty reporting to give the illusion of having used multiple sources. As a result, statistics on civilians killed by drones are often inflated.

data show that drones are more discriminate than other types of force.

Yemen’s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, also at times allowed drone strikes in his country and even covered for them by telling the public that they were conducted by the Yemeni air force.

As officials in both Pakistan and Yemen realize, U.S. drone strikes help their governments by targeting common enemies.

A 2012 poll found that 74 percent of Pakistanis viewed the United States as their enemy, likely in part because of the ongoing drone campaign. Similarly, in Yemen, as the scholar Gregory Johnsen has pointed out, drone strikes can win the enmity of entire tribes.

Many surveys of public opinion related to drones are conducted by anti-drone organizations, which results in biased samples.

And for most Pakistanis and Yemenis, the most important problems they struggle with are corruption, weak representative institutions, and poor economic growth; the drone program is only a small part of their overall anger, most of which is directed toward their own governments.

"Today, we have restored about 80 percent of services,"

gasoline prices have quadrupled

five kilometres from the city, the military airport

supplies of antibiotics, gauze and children's medicine have been depleted

only a doctor and three staff

"The Syrian National Council does not help us. They only make promises."

"All we want is for Bashar to go,"

ight in the crucial battle for Aleppo, leaving no one to protect the city of 70,000 inhabitants.

Almost all of the rebel fighters

not want to cross the border into Turkey and become a refugee like many other Syrians

In February, government forces stormed Aazaz but the rebel Free Syrian Army seized control of the city at the end of July

after five months of fierce fighting

Libya's Prime Minister Ali Zeidan

The country's prime minister recently called on western powers to help him stop the spread of what he calls 'militancy' in his country.

There are more than 225,000 Libyans registered in militias. They receive state salaries but often act outisde of government control, taking orders from local or political commanders.

Groups in Libya's eastern Cyrenaica region and in the southern Fezzan region have called for independence

In Cyrenaica, former rebel leader Ibrahim al-Jathran and his 20,000 men strong militia say they now run local affairs, with Jathran and his men controlling facilities that account for 60 percent of Libya's oil wealth.