Prominent women and tribesmen from the North West Frontier Province delivered the same hostile message that she'd heard the two preceding days from students and journalists: Pakistanis aren't ready to endorse American friendship despite an eight-year-old anti-terrorism alliance between the countries and a multi-billion-dollar new U.S. aid package.
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shared by Ed Webb on 30 Oct 09
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Pakistanis to Clinton: War on terror is not our war | McClatchy - 1 views
www.mcclatchydc.com/...78125.html
mcclatchy Pakistan Afghanistan Clinton USA diplomacy publicdiplomacy
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"We are fighting a war that is imposed on us. It's not our war. It is your war," journalist Asma Shirazi told Clinton during the women's meeting. "You had one 9-11. We are having daily 9-11s in Pakistan."
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"The problem is that we want American dollars but we, as a country, hate Americans," Abida Hussain, a former Pakistani ambassador to Washington, told McClatchy. "We're not perfect, but we want the Americans to be perfect."
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Islamabad routinely protests the strikes, even though the Pakistani military secretly co-operates with them. Pakistani officials are unwilling to explain the rationale; the government here rarely defends the American relationship.
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AFP: Yemen joins gas exporters' club - 0 views
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Yemen, one of the world's poorest countries, joined the international club of gas exporters Saturday with pumping starting at a newly built liquefied natural gas plant in the Gulf of Aden.
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Addressing the ceremony, the Yemeni president spoke of the tough situation his government is facing with Shiite rebels in the north and violent protests in the south, as well as attacks by the Al-Qaeda terror network."This is an important strategic project and it is good this project has not been disrupted," Saleh said in reference to inhabitants of the provinces and Shabwa and Maarib where gas is being extracted and processed.
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Arab football politics: the match that said it all | Al Jazeera Blogs - 0 views
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Egypt has recalled its ambassador to Algeria for consultation in protest over alleged attacks by Algerian fans on Egyptian fans in Khartoum.
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Khartoum is furious in response and believes Egyptian authorities have exaggerated a minor incident in which only two people were slightly wounded in order to alleviate the bitterness of their defeat in the game.
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The tension has even spread to the business sphere. Algerian tax authorities have decided to reassess taxes on Egyptian telecommunications company Orascom Algeria, demanding $ 596.6 million.
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I was thinking that if Arabs are divided as leaders they're at least united as people. I hope I'm still right in this assumption though I'm beginning to have doubts. I've never thought that we could see those political circuses between Arab leaders at their annual summits being reproduced on a macro scale among an Arab population that has for thousands of years shared the same fate and the same dreams.
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The Algerian and Egyptian leaderships have played politics through their football teams. They have realized very well that football is one of the shortest cuts to their peoples' hearts and minds.
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their people who are made to think their aspirations are being taken care of are in fact falling victim to political manipulation.
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Iran sends mixed signals on quitting nuclear curb pact | International | Reuters - 0 views
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An influential Iranian leader suggested on Monday Iran should quit the Non-Proliferation Treaty in protest against a U.N. censure over its nuclear activity
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Russia said it was "seriously concerned" by Iran's gambit to massively expand enrichment, criticism that could raise Western hopes for Russian backing for harsher sanctions against Tehran.
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However, Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's atomic energy agency and seen as a relative moderate, told Reuters later Tehran had no wish to leave the NPT.
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Analysts believe Iran would think twice before quitting the NPT since this would betray weapons ambitions and could provoke a pre-emptive attack by Israel and possibly the United States.
Is the 'Arab Spring' losing its spring? - Opinion - Al Jazeera English - 0 views
Syria violence puts Obama in diplomatic, political tough spot - CSMonitor.com - 0 views
The Shia in Saudi Arabia: The sword unsheathed | The Economist - 0 views
www.economist.com/...ntenced-death-sword-unsheathed
KSA Saudi Iran sectarianism sunni shiite wahhabism
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shared by Ed Webb on 28 Feb 16
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The West is playing an old game with the minorities of the Orient | Middle East Eye - 0 views
www.middleeasteye.net/...ame-minorities-orient-12471677
France MENA Russia Austria history minorities Ottoman Ottomans Christians religion politics foreignpolicy analysis empire
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This is the big door through which we may penetrate into the affairs of the East âŠ. In addition to the big door there is a smaller one. Syria, and the Christian population of Lebanon in particular, have the right to obtain from the Sultan, by virtue of a European intervention, guarantees, and in particular an administrative regulation, which may provide them with protection from the abuse they suffered under different rulers and that may secure Syria against sliding once more into chaos ⊠We believe that it is the duty of the Christian powers, even their honour, to support this approach and push forward toward accomplishing a positive practical outcome
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Guizot thought that obtaining the consent of Russia and Austria would neutralise Britain and make it less able to hinder the implementation of his project. Russia had been pursuing an expansionist approach within the Ottoman sphere of influence. It had close links with the Orthodox and Armenians of the Sultanate, who â and not the Catholics â constituted the majority of the Christians of the Orient.
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The new entity would include the Christians of the East, foremost among them the Catholics of Lebanon, and would be placed under the protection of the European powers, particularly France, Russia and Austria
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he was seeking to establish an independent, or semi-independent, administrative status in the district of Jerusalem, which was at the time part of the Damascus governorate
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What is astonishing is that Guizot did not ask if the Christians of the Orient, who were scattered all over the Orient, would agree to emigrate from their historic homelands to live in such a European protectorate. He did not even ask if the Muslims, who were the majority of the inhabitants of the Jerusalem Province and who also sanctified the city, would accept his project.
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Reflecting the French Revolutionâs legacy, and the spirit of state hegemony over its people, Guizot â throughout his long years in the Ministry of Education in the 1830s â endeavoured to spread public education across the country and establish at least one primary school in every community.In the meantime, the French colonial administration had started to secularise management and education in Algeria, which France had been occupying since 1830. If there is a degree of peculiarity in the Christian foreign policy of a secular and liberal minister, it is even more peculiar that Guizot was not a Catholic but a Protestant.
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Guizotâs policy was not in any way religiously motivated. Nor was it Catholic. Guizot policy in essence was the policy of supporting minorities and using them to reinforce the status of the European powers in the confrontation with the majorities.
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shared by Ed Webb on 09 Oct 15
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Barghouti: 'The Third Intifada has already begun' - 2 views
www.middleeasteye.net/...-palestinian-deaths-1662631160
Palestine Israel israelpalestine politics intifada violence
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the Third Intifada "has already begun," following deadly clashes and protests in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem over the past few weeks, including the fatal shooting of two Palestinian teenagers in recent days and the killing of several Israelis by Palestinians
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In light of the current violence, some armed Palestinian factions, such as Islamic Jihad, have made threats to resume attacks and suicide bombings against Israeli targets which would represent a marked escalation in the current crisis.
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In an attempt to de-escalate tensions, the Israeli army released the results of their preliminary investigation into the fatal shooting yesterday of 13-year-old Abdel Rahman Obeidallah. A senior army officer has described the tragic shooting as âunintentionalâ.
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The army investigation confirmed that the teenager was shot with a .22 calibre round by an Israeli sniper who was aiming at an adult standing next to him, without specifying what that adult was doing.
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B'tselem, an Israeli human rights organisation that documents Israeli government abuses in the Occupied Territories, denounced the death of Obeidallah and condemned the use of live rounds against Palestinians, saying that .22 calibre rounds were "a lethal weapon, which the Israeli authorities present as a reasonable tool...in dealing with demonstrations"
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Barghouthi told MEE; "I expect the international community to take punitive action against Israel in the form of international sanctions. They need to make it clear to the Israelis that they must immediately cease their violence."
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shared by Ed Webb on 08 Apr 16
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Egyptian satellite stops broadcasting Hezbollah-controlled TV station | Reuters - 0 views
www.reuters.com/...ebanon-satellite-idUSKCN0X323N
Egypt Lebanon KSA Saudi hezbollah satellite TV television censorship
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Egyptian satellite company NileSat has stopped broadcasting Hezbollah-controlled Lebanese television channel Al Manar, an official said on Wednesday, a move the Iranian-backed group condemned as part of a campaign by Gulf Arab states against it.
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On Friday, the Saudi-owned television news channel Al Arabiya shut its offices in Lebanon. On the same day, protesters attacked the Beirut office of Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq al-Awsat in response to a cartoon published by the paper criticizing the Lebanese state.
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Saudi Arabia has lavished aid on Egypt since its military overthrew an Islamist government in 2013, and while ties have been strained over the past year, Cairo has broadly followed Riyadh's lead on regional politics. NileSat stopped broadcasting Al Manar to subscribers late on Tuesday, although the channel can be received in Lebanon through other broadcast media.
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"The usual terms (of the company) prohibit the use of satellite media to broadcast programs which call for violence or racism or incite sectarianism."
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shared by Ed Webb on 09 Apr 16
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Israel's war on the Arabic language - AJE News - 1 views
www.aljazeera.com/...-language-160404102325547.html
Israel language Palestinians Arabic minority minorities politics nationalism
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A survey, publicised at a conference at Tel Aviv University in December, found that while 17 percent of Jewish citizens claimed to understand Arabic, that figure fell to just 1 percent when they were asked to read a book
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those with a working knowledge of Arabic were mostly elderly Jewish immigrants born in Arab countries - a generation rapidly dying off
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half of Israeli Jews with a western heritage wanted Arabic scrapped as an official language, while the figure rose even higher - to 60 percent - among Jews whose families originated from Arab countries
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Israel's Jewish schools barely teach Arabic, he observed, and students choosing it do so chiefly as a qualification for entering Israeli military intelligence.
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When the head of Israel Railways was questioned in 2012 on why station stops were announced in Hebrew and English only, he replied that adding Arabic would "make the train ride noisy".
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According to a survey, one in four Palestinian citizens struggle to read Hebrew. Farah, of Mossawa, noted that even when public bodies such as the transport ministry included Arabic, it was often so poorly translated from Hebrew that the information was unintelligible.
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In February it was revealed that Tel Aviv University had barred Palestinian staff in its tuition department from speaking Arabic to students. The policy was reversed after threats of legal action.
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Jewish and Palestinian parents in Jaffa staged a protest, accusing the Tel Aviv municipality of breaking promises to include Arabic signs and respect Muslim and Christian holidays at the city's first public bilingual school
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Sawsan Zaher, a lawyer with Adalah, said the 2002 ruling had been a high point for recognition of Arabic in Israel, with the more liberal court of the time stating that it was vital to the dignity of the Palestinian minority that Arabic be used in public spaces in mixed cities. "In recent years Adalah has been very cautious about bringing more such cases to the courts," she told Al Jazeera. "Given the shift to the right in the intervening years, we are worried that the advances made in language rights then might be reversed by the current court."
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Preserving Stability Amidst Regional Conflagration: US-Jordan 2011-2016 | United States... - 1 views
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protests in Jordanâof which there were more than eight thousand in 2011 to 2013âprompted Jordanâs king to repeatedly replace the prime minister, promise progress on political reforms, and seek international assistance to mitigate Jordaniansâ discontent with economic and fiscal policies
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Authorities amplified border security, security force training, and intelligence to mitigate external and internal threats, and Jordan joined the fight against ISIS launched by the United States after ISIS captured territory in Iraq. Despite a handful of terrorist attacks in 2015 and 2016 and copious external and internal challenges, Jordan has remained largely stable, due in part to US support.
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To help Jordan respond to new challenges required increased US assistance: the number of personnel at US Embassy Amman grew by nearly 75 percent between 2010 and 2016. The United States provided substantial economic and military support to Jordan, and all 3Ds mobilized assistance to refugees and host communities in northern Jordan. The US Department of Defense (DOD) and State Department (State) helped Jordanian forces reinforce border security and manage refugee inflows, and bulked up military training and equipment transfers to Jordanian counterparts. The 3Ds also worked closely together and with the Jordanian government to move assistance across the Syrian border, sparing many Syrians from having to flee to Jordan to meet basic needs.
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shared by Ed Webb on 11 Mar 19
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Iran Is Committing Suicide by Dehydration - Foreign Policy - 0 views
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Over the past 40 years, the regimeâs entrenched corruption, cronyism, and mismanagement of environmental and natural resources have brought Iran to the edge of disaster. In 2013, the former head of Iranâs environmental protection agency reported that 85 percent of the countryâs groundwater was gone, while the population had doubled in the last 40 years. According to Issa Kalantari, a former agriculture minister and current head of the environmental protection agency, millions of Iranians will be forced to migrate to more developed countries, especially in Europe, if the water crisis is not resolved in 20 to 30 years.
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the story of Iranâs water crisis began before the revolution when Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi nationalized Iranâs water resources. For more than 3,000 years, Iranians avoided overexploiting aquifers by relying on indigenous pieces of infrastructure called qanatsâslightly inclining underground canals for transferring water within arid and semiarid lands without exposing water to the sun. But the shah introduced to Iran the use of deep well-drilling technology and powerful motor pumps that began depleting the countryâs aquifers.
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the Islamic Republic began to build hundreds of dams, most completely unnecessary, and new networks of water transfer pipelines and channels. The revolutionary governmentâs hope was that these measures would allow it to collect and supply enough water for agricultural and industrial projects. The dam building also benefited construction companies connected to the regime, especially those affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. But the new dams blocked major rivers from reaching many parts of the country and prevented the replenishment of aquifers. As a result, farmers started drilling deeper wells to reach the natural water tables that were gradually sinking.
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the regime, striving to gain self-sufficiency in its conflict with the West, encouraged farmers to plant more wheat and other grains without paying attention to the water intensity of cereals and the increasingly dire state of the aquifers. This led to farmers digging tens of thousands of wells, many illegally without any supervision or accountability. In the 40 years since the revolution, the number of wells in Iran has climbed from 60,000 to almost 800,000
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Aquifers that havenât been recharged are starting to collapse and subside permanently (an effect that has been evident in areas of the United States such as Fresno, California)
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Politicians including Khatami and former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani diverted water from the Zayandeh for political purposes. Khatami was particularly instrumental in the riverâs destruction by diverting water to his home province of Yazd. Rouhani has in turn completely neglected Iranâs water crisis and has chosen not to pursue policies that could alleviate water shortages, including aquifer management, construction of water recycling plants, and public campaigns encouraging Iranians to lower their consumption rate. Instead, he has pushed to transfer desalinated water to his home province of Semnan and build more dams. His government has dealt with protesting farmers in Varzaneh and elsewhere through arrests, torture, and beatings.
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Russia Promotes Politically Pacifist Islam - The Atlantic - 0 views
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Moscowâs focus on promoting politically pacifist Islam, which has coincided with an aggressive push by certain Arab countries to combat Islamism
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An early example of the Russian-Arab religious alliance was an international conference of Islamic scholars held in the Chechen capital, Grozny, by Kadyrov in September 2016
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co-organized by religious leaders with close ties to the governments in Egypt and the United Arab Emiratesâtwo countries widely perceived to be particularly hostile to political Islam
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In October 2017, during a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz reportedly discussed Islamic proselytization in Russia. Saudi and Russian officials told Theodore Karasik, a Russia expert in Washington, that the king agreed to pull the plug on mosque funding and proselytization. (Last February, Riyadh made a similar move when it gave up control of Belgiumâs largest mosque, notorious as a breeding ground for extremism.)
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Over the summer, Kadyrov was welcomed like royalty in Saudi Arabia. Saudi authorities let him inside Prophet Mohammedâs room, which is closed to all but special guests
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while theological schisms remain vast between the views of Kadyrov and his Saudi hosts, the Russian-Saudi relationship is strong
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Russia may also be attempting to counter the widespread perception that Moscow is hostile to Islam (because of the lingering legacy of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan) or to Sunni Islam in particular (because the country is associated with Iran and its proxies)
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Russiaâs Islamic outreach became more visible, at least in the Middle East, in 2016, precisely when anti-Muslim sentiments in Western countries appeared on the rise, and Russian trolls and bots were spewing anti-Muslim rhetoric on American political forums
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âRamzan Kadyrov has made it one of his top priorities in recent years to build friendships throughout the Middle East, in particular the Gulf. Kadyrov portrays Chechnya as essentially an independent Islamic state,â says Neil Hauer, a Georgia-based political analyst on Syria, Russia, and the Caucasus. âKadyrov also offers Arab and Gulf leaders ⊠his experience in crushing a domestic Islamist insurgency.â
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Several countries in the Middle East and North Africa are working together more closely than ever to suppress extremism and steer local populations to a new understanding of street protests as a tool of jihadists and an obstacle to social peace
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The U.S. and other Western countries may not accept the principle that Islamists and Salafis are as dangerous as militant jihadis. Russia, by promoting a particular brand of Islamic moderation in unison with Arab powers, could cement its position in the region more deeply than through economic and military means alone
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shared by Ed Webb on 28 Feb 19
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Turkey conducts largest ever navy drill as tensions rise in Mediterranean | Middle East... - 0 views
www.middleeasteye.net/...ll-tensions-rise-mediterranean
Turkey Cyprus gas energy resources military navy mediterranean Israel Lebanon Greece Egypt pipelines
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Turkish armed forces began the largest naval exercise in the country's history on Wednesday, with 103 military vessels and thousands of soldiers conducting operations in three seas surrounding the country. The drill, dubbed âBlue Homelandâ, will be held until Saturday, covering over 462,000 square metres in the Black Sea, Aegean Sea and eastern Mediterranean.
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tensions have been building in the waters to Turkey's west with its neighbours Greece and Cyprus, as the countries vie over subterranean energy resources, particularly natural gas
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Blue Homeland has already caused disturbance in neighbouring countries, as Greek media reports suggest Athens has perceived it as a source of ârenewed concern given the recent tension in bilateral relationsâ.
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Retired Turkish rear admiral Deniz Kutluk told MEE that Blue Motherlandâs main aim was to show the real capabilities of Turkey's navy for deterrence, rather than sending messages to any neighbouring country. âThere was this outside perception that the Turkish navy has been undermined by domestic shocks," he said. "Senior commanders seem to understand this misperception. Thatâs why they wanted to reveal to the world that the Turkish navy is capable of simultaneously fighting in three seas surrounding Turkey.â
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the drills come a week after Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu declared that Turkey would in coming days send two ships to the waters near Cyprus to begin exploring for oil and gas
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Last November, Greece, Italy and Cyprus signed a $7bn deal with Israel to lay a pipeline and purchase Israeli natural gas, which will eventually reach wider European markets.
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Necdet Ozcelik, an independent security analyst who served as an operations sergeant in the Turkish special forces, told MEE that Blue Motherland was being used to demonstrate that Turkey could provide energy security and act as a transit hub for resources in the region. âThe competition in eastern Mediterranean for energy resources will be increasingly under the spotlight as the Syrian crisis comes to an end," he said.
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Jeremy Greenstock, UK Diplomat, Says US Was 'Hell Bent' On Iraq Invasion - 1 views
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He said, in his opinion, the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was legal â a view rejected by critics who say it violated international law â but was of "questionable legitimacy." "It did not have the democratically observable backing of the great majority of member states, or even perhaps of the majority of people inside the U.K.," he said. In London, an anti-war rally in 2003 drew an estimated 2 million demonstrators â the largest street protest in a generation.
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Egypt Continues Sinai Security Effort Amid Reports of Israeli Help - 0 views
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The military campaign is part of what the Egyptian government calls "Comprehensive Operation Sinai 2018.â The mission, announced Friday, is intended to target âterrorist and criminal elements and organizationsâ across Egypt.
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Israeli airstrikes in the Sinai are targeted individuals or small groups of militants as opposed to infrastructure, according to media reports.
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âthe level of trust between the nations has reached the point where Israel is providing various military, technological and operational intelligence to Egypt and is operating attack UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] in Sinai with Cairoâs approval.â
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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi reinstated an ambassador in Tel Aviv in 2016, reversing Morsi's withdrawal of the envoy to protest a 2012 Israeli assault on Gaza. The same year Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry visited Israel, making a trip to the home of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It was the first time an Egyptian foreign minister had visited Israel in two decades.
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A Year of Change in Ethiopia | United States Institute of Peace - 0 views
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there are also many inconvenient facts in Ethiopiaâs political transition. First, Prime Minister Abiy has been able to rapidly introduce reforms because he can still rule by fiat. In some ways, his management practices resemble those of a freewheeling CEO, rather than those of a consultative, deliberative politician. Such reforms, though far reaching, may not be irreversible nor sustainable. Second, progress has not been linear. There have been serious setbacks because of intercommunal conflicts: 620,000 Ethiopians are now displaced due to fighting in Gedeo, in the Southern region, and West Guji, in neighboring Oromia region. Nationally, more than two-million Ethiopians are internally displaced.
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The Horn of Africa is at an inflection point that will define the regionâs future for a generation. The political transition in Ethiopia is a pivotal part of this, as is the developing situation in Sudan, the increasingly assertive engagement of the Gulf states in the Horn, and other developments. One thing is certain: Ethiopia is too big for its political transition to fail, and how its transition proceeds will be one of the main factors determining the stability and security of the Horn of Africa in both the near and long term.
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worrying reports of an increase in illicit arms flows to ethnic militias in various parts of the country
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Economic inequality and the frustration of youth, particularly in the Oromia and Amhara regions, was one of the main drivers of the protests that began in 2016 and ultimately precipitated Abiyâs ascension to power. Ethiopia must add two-million jobs per year to keep pace with population growth, a tremendous challenge under the best of circumstances.
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Ethnic identities matter to many Ethiopians, even if the idea of ethnic fluidityâthrough intermarriage, for exampleâis well established for many people. At the same time, Abiy is tremendously popular as an individual, which offers him an historic opportunity to address these inter-regional grievances.
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shared by Ed Webb on 27 Sep 19
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Climate crisis: 13 ways the Middle East is under threat | Middle East Eye - 0 views
www.middleeasteye.net/...cy-middle-east-extreme-weather
MENA climate environment desertification water Egypt KSA Saudi UAE Yemen Jordan
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The Middle East and North Africa have always been used to more than their fair share of extreme weather and conditions. But it has been made much worse by the twin threats of climate change and man-made intervention, which are hitting the region with increased frequency and ferocity.
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"In the Middle East there has been a significant increase in the frequency and the intensity of sand and dust storms in the past 15 years or so."
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The lavishly titled Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), under construction on the Blue Nile since 2011, will be the largest in Africa when it is completed. But in Cairo it is being watched anxiously: a rapid increase in demand due to population growth, severe mismanagement of resources and a lack of investment in water infrastructure have made Egypt one of the most water-stressed countries in the world, relying on the Nile for 90 percent of its fresh water.
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Once a water-rich country, southern Iraq has faced successive droughts and significant drops in annual rainfall, following the construction of major dams in Turkey and Iran since the 1970s.
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Arab states are facing a water supply emergency for which they need a coordinated response, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, predicting that per capita resources will be halved by 2050.
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The Middle East and North Africa have suffered more than any other region from water scarcity and desertification, problems being complicated by climate change
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In the UAE, reclamation schemes, such as Dubai's Palm Islands and World Islands, have altered the geography of the coast and wave patterns have destroyed marine ecosystems.
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Campaigners in western Turkey have protested against a Canadian-owned gold mine project amid fears the deforestation will reduce a hilltop to an arid desert.
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Dubai has one of the hottest climates on the planet. At the height of summer, temperatures can reach a high of 41ÂșC in the shade. But the emirate's urban growth - between 10 percent and 13 percent, year on year, for the past four decades - has boosted those figures.
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Pilgrims attending Hajj in Saudi Arabia may be at risk of extreme heat and humidity that is driven by climate change
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It has been calculated that golf courses in the US use, on average, 130,000 gallons of water each day. Those in the kingdom and elsewhere will likely use many times that amount, as well as fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides to keep them alive. All these chemicals eventually feed into precious groundwater supplies, potentially causing pollution problems.
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In 2017, scientists warned that climate change means that the Middle East and North African region (MENA) is susceptible to some of the more severe consequences of warming, including lethal heat waves, extensive drought and rising sea levels.
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Morocco was ranked second of 57 countries in this year's Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), which examines four performance categories: emissions, renewable energy, energy use and climate policy. But while Egypt was mid-table at 21st, Turkey came in at 47th, Iran was 55th and Saudi Arabia was last at 57th, a position it has held for the past few years.