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À partir d’avant-hierMiddle East Eye

Israel normalisation: Is Indonesia next?

Israel normalisation: Is Indonesia next?
The trend towards normalisation appeared to lose momentum at the end of Trump presidency but is a foreign policy priority for the Biden administration
Randy Mulyanto Thu, 09/21/2023 - 13:30
Indonesian Muslims attend a rally to support Palestinians in Jakarta on 13 July 2014 (AFP)
Indonesian Muslims attend a rally to support Palestinians in Jakarta on 13 July 2014 (AFP)

Indonesia is unlikely to normalise relations with Israel any time soon given Jakarta's decades-old commitment to supporting the Palestinian cause and the risk of sparking anger in the island nation, even if Saudi Arabia follows through with the controversial plan.

The trend towards normalisation appeared to lose momentum at the end of the Trump presidency after Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan formally established relations with Israel.

But in recent weeks, reports of Saudi Arabia inching ever closer to establishing official relations with Israel have raised the question of who could follow next.

The possibility of an agreement arose in early May when the Biden administration's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, declared that Saudi-Israeli normalisation was in the US national interest.

And last Thursday, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman suggested in an interview that Saudi Arabia and Israel were set to reach a historic deal.

"Every day we get closer," he told Fox News.

Still, experts and analysts told Middle East Eye that while ties would likely expand between the kingdom and Israel in the near future, Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority nation, would buck the trend for now.

Bagus Hendraning Kobarsyih, the director of Middle Eastern affairs at the Indonesian foreign ministry, was emphatic on this issue, telling Middle East Eye that the country had "no intention" of establishing diplomatic ties with Israel. 

"We are not going to do that until Palestine gains its independence," he said. 

'The majority of the Indonesian Muslim community cannot accept the initiation of a diplomatic relationship with Israel'

- Siti Mutiah Setiawati, Gadjah Mada University

While US President Joe Biden has jettisoned most of his predecessor's Middle East policies, which favoured Israel, normalisation with Israel has not been among them.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised the possibility of establishing diplomatic relations between Israel and Indonesia during his December 2021 meeting with Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in Jakarta.

In the same month, Indonesia's foreign ministry spokesperson, Teuku Faizasyah, confirmed to Nikkei Asia that Blinken did so.

When asked to comment on the possibility of establishing diplomatic ties, Israel's deputy foreign ministry spokesperson, Yosef Zilberman, told MEE that "Israel extends a hand of peace and friendship to all the countries of the world, this also includes Indonesia."

A US State Department spokesperson told MEE that "as a general matter, we continue to support Israel's full integration in and beyond the region".

"We would refer you to the Indonesian and Israeli governments," the spokesperson said. "I have nothing to share of our private diplomatic conversations."

Indonesia's support for Palestine

Analysts told MEE that a major issue that could scupper any potential normalisation deal was pro-Palestinian sentiment, which runs deep across the island nation and dates back to when Indonesia's founding father Sukarno - who saw the archipelago ruled by the Dutch and Japanese throughout the first half of the 20th century - did not invite Israel to the first Asian-African Conference held in 1955, which discussed the Palestinian issue.

Indonesia also rejected Israeli participation at the fourth Asian Games held in Jakarta in 1962. 

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Siti Mutiah Setiawati, an international relations lecturer at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta on Indonesia's Java island, said the country supported the Palestinian cause because of its foreign policy principles.

"We - as a colonised country - empathise with the Palestinian nation," Setiawati told MEE.

"The majority of the Indonesian Muslim community cannot accept the initiation of a diplomatic relationship with Israel," she said, bringing up the principle of "ukhuwah islamiyah" - or the "Islamic fraternity" - as a primary reason.

"There is an Islamic solidarity that must be accommodated by the state because the majority [thinks] that way," she said, referring to Indonesia's population of whom almost 90 percent are Muslim. 

Such views have come to represent a large segment of the population, with many Indonesians outright refusing the possibility of normalisation.

"With their right-wing government, constant encroachment of the illegal settlers, continued attack on the West Bank, continued provocations in the Al Aqsa Mosque, ongoing blockade in Gaza, it's just impossible to justify any diplomatic relations between our government and the current Israeli administration," Fitrian Zamzami, who lives in Depok, near Jakarta, told MEE.

"Any fatwa issued by the ulama of the Kingdom of Saudi [Arabia], for example, has no weight at all if we as individuals feel deeply in our hearts that it contradicts the teaching of the Prophet," he added, referring to whether Saudi Arabia's clerics support the formal establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel.

Aknolt Kristian Pakpahan, an international relations lecturer at Parahyangan Catholic University (UNPAR) in Bandung, Indonesia's West Java province, agreed, saying that "as a middle power country, Indonesia's position is very strategic to provide support to Palestine".

"Indonesia itself is currently also starting to position itself as a new influential country in the international world," he said, referring to - among them - the country being last year's host of the G20 summit in Bali.

The public view: what comes next?

Aside from the Indonesian government's long-standing support of the Palestinian people, many Indonesians also hold negative views of Israel.

Mumtaza Tjatradiningrat, who lives in Jakarta, said she was "very much against" the idea of normalisation.

"How can we as Indonesians support a relationship with a country that has clearly committed crimes against humanity at the level of illegal occupation, colonialism and apartheid?" she told MEE.

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According to a May 2022 national survey by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting, 69 percent of Indonesians disliked Israel - with only 20 percent having a favourable impression of the country. 

Anti-Israel sentiment runs so deep that earlier this year the governing body of world football, Fifa, stripped Indonesia from being the host of the 2023 Under-20 World Cup after some politicians and citizens opposed Israel's participation. 

Monique Rijkers, the founder of the Hadassah nonprofit organisation, said it was "time for Indonesia to join the Abraham Accords".

"Indonesia must focus on welfare for Indonesia itself, and to resolve the Palestinian issue, Indonesia must have diplomatic relations," she told MEE. "Indonesia cannot do anything from afar."

"Indonesia needs Israeli technology and innovation in the fields of cyber, defence, health, green energy, water management, agriculture and telecommunications," she added.

While Indonesia publicly denies plans to establish ties with Israel, according to statistics published by the trade ministry, Indonesia exported $185.2m worth of non-oil and gas to Israel in 2022, while it imported $47.8m worth of goods from Israel that year. 

The trade volume between the two countries exceeded $100m yearly from 2018 to 2022.  

Pakpahan, the Unpar lecturer, said: "Indonesia still has non-diplomatic relations with Israel and is not completely closed off from having relations with Israel.

"There are things that could be learned with Israel outside the context of diplomatic relations - for example, the transfer of knowledge.

"In an era of scientific development and increasing international trade activity, it seems Indonesia could maintain non-diplomatic relations with Israel."

Jakarta
Normalisation with Israel: Is the world's largest Muslim country next?

Key takeaways from the Menendez-Egypt corruption case

Par : MEE staff
Key takeaways from the Menendez-Egypt corruption case
Robert Menendez has towered over US foreign policy and events in the Middle East for more than a decade
MEE staff Mon, 09/25/2023 - 21:28
US Senator Robert Menendez speaks during a press conference at Hudson County Community College’s North Hudson Campus on 25 September 2023 (AFP)

On Friday, federal prosecutors in New York announced sweeping corruption charges against Robert Menendez, the Democratic senator from New Jersey who chairs the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

A 39-page indictment previously viewed by Middle East Eye reads like a novel bringing together gritty real estate developers and Middle Eastern spymasters. There are gold bars stashed in a suburban New Jersey home (13 to be exact), fleeting references to "the general" and a start-up Halal meat distributor with links to Egyptian intelligence. 

At the centre of the saga is Menendez and his second wife, Nadine.

Throughout their courtship and marriage, prosecutors allege the couple carried out a years-long scheme to enrich themselves by trading sensitive US government information and facilitating military aid to the government of Egypt. 

Menendez has towered over US foreign policy since he first became chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2013, losing the position only when Republicans controlled the Senate. He has taken a particular interest in the Middle East, positioning himself as a champion of democracy.

He has advocated for countries like Greece and Armenia, along with the US's Kurdish allies in northern Syria. He has been a vocal critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and, at times, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. 

On multiple occasions, he has denounced Egypt over its poor human rights record, but the federal indictment unveiled against him on Friday suggests he was working behind the scenes to carefully guard arms sales to Egypt.

Charges against Robert Menendez

Menendez and his wife have been charged with conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and conspiracy to commit extortion.

Charged along with the couple are Wael Hana, the founder of a halal meat company with alleged links to high-level Egyptian military and intelligence professionals; Fred Daibes, a Palestinian-American real estate developer whose business interests extend all the way to members of the Qatari royal family; and Jose Uribe, a former New Jersey insurance agent with a background in trucking.

The defendants have denied the charges against them. 

At a press conference on Monday, Menendez cast a defiant tone, insisting he had done nothing wrong and there had been a "rush to judgment".

"The allegations leveled against me are just that: allegations," he said. "The court of public opinion is no substitute for our revered justice system."

Prosecutors allege that starting in early 2018, Menendez used his position on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to influence military aid and financing to Egypt, a longtime US ally that has come under fire from some lawmakers for its poor human rights record.

The scheme started when Nadine, Menendez's then-unemployed girlfriend introduced him to her long-time friend Wael Hana, who facilitated meetings between Menendez and Egyptian officials in order ensure that military aid to Cairo continued unhindered. In return, Menendez secured "a low-or-no-show job" for Nadine in Wael's company.

According to prosecutors that was just the start.

Cuban roots

Over the next four years, Menendez and his wife would allegedly reap huge financial benefits from the corrupt scheme according to the indictment.

A search of the Menendez home in 2022 last summer revealed $480,000 in cash, much of it stuffed into envelopes and in clothing, closets and a safe with some of the envelopes baring the fingerprints of Daibes, one of the defendants.

'I have withdrawn thousands of dollars from my personal savings account... because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba'

- Senator Robert Menendez

Gold bars worth around $100,000 were also discovered in the house. After returning from a trip to Egypt in October 2021 Menendez reportedly googled "how much is one kilo of gold worth".

At the press conference on Monday, Menendez chalked up the cash in his home to his Cuban roots. 

"For 30 years, I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, which I have kept for emergencies, and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba," Menendez said on Monday.

“Now this may seem old-fashioned, but these were monies drawn from my personal savings account based on the income that I have lawfully derived over those 30 years." 

A $60,000 Mercedes-Benz convertible gifted to Nadine was also found parked in the Menendez garage. According to prosecutors Menendez also obtained expensive exercise machines and an air purifier as part of the scheme. 

'More powerful than Egypt's president'

In the indictment, Nadine comes across as boasting about Menendez's power to her Egyptian contacts.

In one incident, prosecutors cite a March 2020 text message from Nadine to an Egyptian official where she wrote: "anytime you need anything you have my number and we will make everything happen." She later claimed that she could make Wael Hana "more powerful than the president of Egypt".

Prosecutors say Hana's company IS EG Halal was a vehicle for bribe money to be distributed to Menendez and his wife.

In 2019, the government of Egypt awarded the New Jersey startup exclusive control over the certification of halal food exports from the US to Egypt.

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When the US Department of Agriculture became concerned about the monopoly's impact on rising costs for other US meat suppliers, prosecutors say Menendez attempted to pressure regulators to stop interfering. The prosecutors say the USDA official didn't comply with the demand.

In May 2018, Menendez obtained unclassified but "highly sensitive" information from the State Department on the number and nationality of persons serving at the US embassy in Cairo, among other details.

The US senator then allegedly texted the information to his then-girlfriend, under the title "FYI". Nadine forwarded the information to Hana, who forwarded it to an Egyptian official.

"Although this information was not classified, it was deemed highly sensitive because it could pose significant operational security concerns if disclosed to a foreign government or if made public," the prosecutor said.

In another act, prosecutors say that Menendez ghost-wrote a letter on behalf of the Egyptian government seeking to convince US senators to release a hold on $300m in aid to Egypt.

Rendezvous with a spy chief?

In June 2021, Egypt was looking to push back against critics of its human rights record in Washington.

US President Joe Biden had entered office pledging no more "blank checks for Trump's favorite dictator" in reference to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

A short but bloody Israeli attack on the besieged Gaza Strip in May 2021 gave Cairo a chance to trumpet its traditional role as a mediator between Palestinian fighters and Israel.

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The Biden administration expressed its "sincere gratitude" to Sisi's government for helping broker a truce, but it was still debating whether to withhold a portion of Washington's annual military aid to Egypt that Congress had conditioned on human rights concerns.

Against this background, Cairo dispatched its intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel, to Washington. Kamel has played a key role in dealing with some of Cairo's most sensitive files, meeting with the likes of the rogue general, Khalifa Haftar, in Libya and Ali Mamlouk, Syria's notorious intelligence chief.

Kamel's visit coincided with a meeting that US prosecutors claim Menendez held with a senior Egyptian intelligence official at a hotel in Washington DC just before the official was scheduled to meet with other senators to discuss Egypt's human rights record.

According to text messages viewed by prosecutors, Menendez sent his wife an article that outlined questions the official would be expected to face from fellow senators on Egypt's human rights record.

Nadine forwarded the article to another unnamed Egyptian official, adding: "I just thought it would be better to know ahead of time what is being talked about and this way you can prepare your rebuttals."

After the hotel meeting, Hana allegedly purchased 22 one-ounce bars of gold bullion for Menendez, two of which were found in the 2022 search of the Menendez home.

A key partner

Egypt has been a key Middle Eastern partner for the US going back to the 1970s when President Anwar Sadat decided to establish diplomatic ties with Israel. 

Following the tumultuous years of US-Egyptian relations under President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Sadat's Egypt was also viewed as a bulwark against communist expansion. Military aid was one way to keep it in the Western bloc and since then Egypt has received about $1.3bn in assistance each year.

The defence relationship has outlived the Cold War.

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Egypt is the most populous country in the Arab world and home to the Suez Canal, through which 13 percent of global trade passes. Its strategic location on the Mediterranean means it is not only a partner in counterterrorism, but crucial to stemming migration from Africa and the Middle East to Europe.

In recent years, however, military assistance to Egypt has come in the crosshairs of some lawmakers because of the country's poor human rights record.

Egypt is ruled by Sisi, who came to power after a 2013 military coup ousted the country's first democratically elected government.

Sisi has overseen a sweeping crackdown on dissent that analysts say pales in comparison to anything witnessed under Egypt's former military rulers. His government has jailed nearly 60,000 political prisoners and the US State Department has documented cases of extrajudicial killings, torture and forced disappearances.

In September, the Biden administration announced it would withhold $85m - out of the $1.3bn in annual US military aid provided to Cairo - over human rights concerns.

Yemen: Bahrain says Houthis killed two serviceman amid peace talks

Par : MEE staff
Yemen: Bahrain says Houthis killed two serviceman amid peace talks
Saudi-led coalition says it reserves the right to respond after deadly drone attack 
MEE staff Tue, 09/26/2023 - 08:13
Drones are displayed on the back of a vehicle during an official military parade marking the ninth anniversary of the Houthi takeover of the capital Sanaa on 21 September 2023 (AFP)
Drones are displayed on the back of a vehicle during an official military parade marking the ninth anniversary of the Houthi takeover of the capital Sanaa on 21 September 2023 (AFP)

Bahrain’s army accused the Houthi movement of killing two of its members, a week after ceasefire talks were held between the Yemeni group and Saudi Arabia

According to the Bahraini army, an officer and a soldier were killed in the drone attack while they were stationed inside Saudi Arabia along the border with Yemen, the state Bahrain News Agency (BNA) said. 

Saudi Brigadier General Turki al-Malki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen, said they reserved “the right to respond at the appropriate time and place”. 

He condemned what he called a “treacherous hostile act” by the Houthis which allegedly followed “other hostilities during the past month”. 

On Tuesday, the Houthi movement said violations of a truce between them and the Saudi-led coalition have not stopped despite recent peace talks.

It said 12 Yemeni soldiers have been killed in one month amid ongoing truce violations by forces belonging to the Saudi-led coalition, according to Reuters. 

Commenting on Monday's attack, the group’s spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam told the news agency that truce violations were "regrettable".

The conflict in Yemen began in 2014 after the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa. 

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A Saudi-led military intervention, which included Bahrain, began in 2015, intending to restore the internationally recognised government. 

Fighting has dragged on since, without a decisive military victory for either side, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths and a major humanitarian crisis. 

After the UN brokered a ceasefire in April 2022, hostilities and casualties were drastically reduced. The truce expired in October, but fighting has largely remained on hold since then. 

Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia launched diplomatic efforts to reach a permanent end to the conflict with the Houthis.

The two sides held talks in April which were followed by a major prisoner exchange involving almost 900 detainees. 

Last week, a delegation from the Houthi movement travelled to Saudi Arabia to resume direct talks. After five days of discussions, Saudi Arabia said the results were “positive”. 

According to analysts, the talks come as it appears Riyadh has realised its prolonged military campaign will not bring about the defeat of the Houthis. 

It also follows an agreement earlier this year by Saudi Arabia and Iran, which backs the Houthis, to re-establish diplomatic ties.

Bahrain says Houthis killed two serviceman amid peace talks

Israel normalisation: Saudi Arabia wants 'Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as capital'

Par : MEE staff
Israel normalisation: Saudi Arabia wants 'Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as capital'
In the first official Saudi visit to Palestine since the Oslo Accords in 1993, Ambassador Nayef al-Sudairi seeks to win Palestinian backing for normalisation with Israel
MEE staff Tue, 09/26/2023 - 09:31
Nayef al-Sudairi, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Palestine, makes a joint statement with the Palestinian foreign minister (AP)

Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Jordan, Nayef al-Sudairi, has said that the kingdom is "working towards establishing a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital" during an official visit to the occupied West Bank.

Sudairi was part of a delegation of Saudi officials who arrived in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday to meet with Palestinian officials amid Riyadh's bid for normalisation with Israel.

The diplomat was recently appointed as the kingdom's non-resident ambassador to Palestine.

During his visit, Sudairi met with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, according to the foreign ministry in Ramallah. He will also be meeting with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas.

السفير السعودي لدى #فلسطين نايف السديري يُجدّد موقف المملكة العربية #السعودية من قلب فلسطين :
نعمل على إقامة دولة فلسطينية مستقلة عاصمتها القدس الشرقية .
pic.twitter.com/bkApGDYgbO

— عبدالرحمن الروقي 🇸🇦 (@Alotaibi_2030_) September 26, 2023

"We welcome His Excellency the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the State of Palestine, who will present his official credentials to His Excellency President Mahmoud Abbas within a few days," senior Palestinian official Hussein al-Sheikh posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday.

The visit marks the first by Saudi officials to the occupied West Bank since the Oslo Accords in 1993, and comes against a backdrop of a warming of ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Palestinian demands

PA President Mahmoud Abbas had earlier outlined a set of demands to Saudi Arabia in exchange for his support for the normalisation of relations between Israel and Riyadh.

Earlier this month, Axios reported that the Palestinians want status changes to areas of the occupied West Bank at present considered Area C. These are currently off limits to the vast majority of Palestinian residents of the territory and are fully under Israeli military control.

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Palestinian officials want the territories to be designated Area B, which are areas under Israeli security control but where the civilian administration is handled by the PA.

Other demands listed in the report include the opening of a Saudi consulate in Jerusalem and for the Israelis to resume final-status negotiations with a "clear timetable".

On Wednesday, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave his first wide-ranging English language interview to Fox News where he spoke at length about Saudi negotiations with Israel over a normalisation deal.

But during the discussion there was no mention of Palestinian statehood, civil and human rights, or any other specifics.

"For us, the Palestinian issue is very important. We need to solve that part," Saudi Arabia's de facto leader told the US media outlet. "We hope that it will reach a place, that it will ease the life of the Palestinians and get Israel back as a player of the Middle East," he said.

This article is available in French on Middle East Eye French edition.

Saudi Arabia wants 'East Jerusalem as capital' of future Palestinian state

Egypt presidential elections: Man disappears after saying he no longer supports Sisi

Par : MEE staff
Egypt presidential elections: Man disappears after saying he no longer supports Sisi
Rights group says former Sisi supporter has been 'forcibly disappeared' for almost two weeks as crackdown on dissent shows no let up
MEE staff Tue, 09/26/2023 - 11:08
In a Facebook video dated 13 September, Hussein expressed his grievances about the high cost of living and his inability to meet daily life demands (Facebook/Screengrab)
In a Facebook video dated 13 September, Hussein expressed his grievances about the high cost of living (Facebook/Screengrab)

An Egyptian man has been “forcibly disappeared” after posting a video on Facebook in which he criticised the economic situation under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi just months ahead of the presidential election, a rights group has confirmed.

According to the Egyptian Network for Human Rights, Hussein Muhammad Hussein went missing on 13 September, a day after he posted the video, in which he said he would not give his vote to Sisi again.

Egypt’s elections authority on Monday announced the timeline for the vote, which will take place on 10 December amid a crackdown on government critics and opposition leaders expected to run against Sisi.

“People who know me know that I’ve been a Sisi supporter from the beginning of his rule till now. But we can’t remain silent with what’s happening these days,” Hussein said in the video, referring to the cost-of-living crisis. 

“President Sisi, what is happening these days does not please God. I need to borrow money to buy onions, which now costs 25 pounds ($0.80), and a tiny loaf of bread costs 2 pounds. This is unfair,” he added.

He also denounced the state of education in the country, saying “education is for those who have money. There is no longer free education," and that of healthcare: "If you don’t have money you die." 

Hussein took aim at the mega-construction projects sponsored by the Sisi government, such as new road and bridge projects, saying their benefits do not trickle down to the poor.

"Mr President, I will not vote for you in the next elections," he declared at the end of his video.

The ENHR called on Egyptian authorities to disclose Hussein's whereabouts in accordance with Egyptian laws.

"The Network calls upon the Egyptian security authorities to disclose the whereabouts of Mr Hussein promptly, release him, and cease the pursuit and arrest of citizens for expressing their opinions or complaining about their deteriorating conditions," it said in a statement.

"ENHR calls for adherence to Article 65 of the 2014 Constitution, which guarantees freedom of thought and opinion and affirms that "every person has the right to express their opinion verbally, in writing, through imagery, or through other forms of expression".

Repression and record inflation

The presidential election will take place as Egypt is in the midst of a severe economic crisis that has seen the Egyptian pound lose half its value against the dollar, leading to record inflation and foreign currency shortages. 

In August, annual inflation in Egypt reached a new record of 39.7 percent, according to official figures.

The election comes against the backdrop of continued targeting of the opposition, with an estimated 65,000 political prisoners languishing in jails since Sisi came to power in 2014, a year after leading a coup that toppled Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi.

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Sisi won a second term in the 2018 election in a landslide victory, with 97 percent of the vote, against one candidate, himself a supporter of Sisi, after all serious opposition hopefuls had either been arrested or pulled out, citing intimidation.

Constitutional amendments in 2019 paved the way for the 68-year-old former army general to stand for an additional two terms, in addition to extending the duration of presidential terms from four to six years. 

Most notable among the four candidates who have so far expressed an intention to run in the upcoming election is former lawmaker Ahmed Tantawy.

Earlier this month, a report by The Citizen Lab showed that Tantawy was hacked by European commercial spyware several times after he announced his interest in running for the presidency.

A political adviser on Tantawy's campaign, Ahmed Abdeen, told Middle East Eye that the former lawmaker would push forward with his candidacy despite the hacking.

Tantawy has also reported that security forces have arrested some of his associates and prevented him from holding election-related events.

Egyptian disappears after declaring he regrets voting for Sisi

Sweden: Mosque destroyed in suspected arson attack

Par : MEE staff
Sweden: Mosque destroyed in suspected arson attack
The Eskilstuna Great Mosque was severely damaged by fire after receiving threats, a community member said
MEE staff Tue, 09/26/2023 - 11:20
Eskilstuna Great Mosque, in southeastern Sweden, was destroyed by a fire on 25 September 2023 (Screengrab/Twitter)

A mosque in southeastern Sweden has been destroyed by a fire in what community members suspect was an arson attack. 

Anas Deneche, the communications director of the Great Mosque in the city of Eskilstuna, told public broadcaster Sveriges Radio that he believed Monday's blaze was deliberately caused. 

He said that police records showed the mosque had faced threats for over a year and had previously been subjected to attacks.

Deneche said his mother heard a loud noise before the fire broke out. "She heard an explosion and all of a sudden things start to burn," he said.

Police said on Tuesday that it had no suspects, but were investigating the incident as suspected aggravated arson.

"Yet again terror strikes against a mosque in Sweden," wrote Mikail Yuksel, a Swedish parliamentarian, on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

"This is another brutal attack on human rights, and to democracy and freedom in the country formally known as a humanitarian super power."

In recent years, there have been several arson attacks on Swedish mosques. A spate of such attacks in 2014 targeted several cities, including Eskilstuna. 

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Monday's incident comes months after a man burned pages of the Quran in the Swedish capital, sparking criticism around the world. 

Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi man living in Sweden, tore up several pages of the holy book, stomping on it and setting pages alight outside the largest mosque in the Swedish capital.

Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Egypt were among several Muslim-majority countries to condemn the act.

In Iraq, the country's Swedish embassy was stormed by supporters of Iraqi Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr following the incident, while thousands took to the streets of Baghdad to rally against the Quran-burning. 

It wasn't the first Quran-burning incident in Sweden: riots broke out in August 2020 in the city of Malmo hours after right-wing anti-Islam activist Rasmus Paludan burned a copy of the Quran. 

Swedish mosque destroyed in fire had 'faced threats'

Unicef promoted Saudi partnership as reports emerged of schoolgirl jailed for tweets

Unicef promoted Saudi partnership as reports emerged of schoolgirl jailed for tweets
Activists say they 'fear the worst' for Manal Al-Gafiri - sentenced to 18 years for posts when she was 17 - after UN children's agency said it was 'grateful' to Saudi Arabia on same day details of case revealed
Simon Hooper Tue, 09/26/2023 - 11:42
Unicef's Catherine Russell (L) met KSrelief's Abdullah Al Rabeeah at the UN General Assembly in New York on Friday
Unicef's Catherine Russell (L) met KSrelief's Abdullah Al Rabeeah at the UN General Assembly in New York on Friday (KSrelief)

The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) said it was "grateful" to be working with Saudi Arabia on the same day activists raised concerns about a schoolgirl jailed by a notorious Riyadh court for 18 years for posting tweets in support of political prisoners.

Hailing a "renewed chapter of collaboration", Unicef last week announced the continuation of a partnership with the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), the Saudi government’s aid agency.

"Unicef is grateful for our partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and KSrelief, which has helped us to reach millions of children in need," said Catherine Russell, Unicef's executive director.

Russell was commenting following a meeting on Friday with Abdullah Al Rabeeah, KSrelief's supervisor general, at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Russell said the meeting had been "productive".

"We have reinforced our commitment to the world's most vulnerable children, renewing the cooperation agreement between Unicef and King Salman Humanitarian Aid & Relief Centre," she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The announcement came as Alqst, a UK-based Saudi human rights campaign group, highlighted the case of Manal al-Gafiri, an 18-year-old schoolgirl it said had been imprisoned for “posting tweets in support of prisoners of conscience”.

According to Alqst, Gafiri was sentenced by the Specialised Criminal Court in Riyadh to 18 years in prison. The court also imposed an 18-year travel ban. Alqst said Gafiri was 17 at the time of her arrest.

Falah Sayed, human rights officer with the Geneva-based MENA Rights Group, said the timing of the renewal was "very interesting".

"Manal Al-Gafiri is such a tragic story and we truly fear the worst," she told Middle East Eye.

The Specialised Criminal Court has been criticised by human rights campaigners for imposing lengthy prison sentences and even death sentences for online activism after what Amnesty International has described has “grossly unfair trials”.

It has also sentenced to death people accused of committing crimes as minors.

'Bad laws'

Amnesty International said last year that the court had upheld death sentences against three men convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18 despite earlier assurances from the Saudi Human Rights Commission that all such sentences had been commuted.   

In an interview last week, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman described a death sentence issued by the court against a man for his social media activity as a consequence of "bad laws" and said: "We are ashamed of that."

Saudi lawyers and rights activists told MEE that many of the laws and punitive measures used against critics of the government had been introduced as a direct consequence of the crown prince’s rise to power.

Sayed said the kingdom has been "disregarding its international obligations regarding the special protection that children are entitled to".

Saudi Arabia acceded to the UN's Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1996. But recently, she said, the Specialised Criminal Court - the same court that sentenced Gafiri - sentenced young men to death over acts related to their right to freedom of expression which they allegedly committed while they were minors.

Sayed said that is "absolutely prohibited" under the convention.

Sevag Kechichian, a senior researcher at the Washington DC-based Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), pointed to the timing of the KSrelief's establishment soon after the Saudi-led coalition launched its military offensive in Yemen in 2015.

"It bombed schools and school buses in Yemen, killing scores of Yemeni children, and continues to execute Saudi juvenile offenders, even though it announced it would stop doing so," Kechichian told MEE.

"It's typical of Saudi Arabia to throw money at every problem it creates and use its billions to launder its image as a gross human rights violator."

Announcing the renewal of its partnership with KSrelief, Unicef said the Saudi aid agency had channelled nearly $310m into joint intitiatives since 2018.

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A report last year by Unicef's Gulf Area office acknowledged that Gulf states had emerged as key humanitarian donors in the region whose funding was critical for Unicef and other UN agencies.

Unicef projects funded by Riyadh include humanitarian interventions in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition waging war since 2015 has been accused of war crimes, including responsibility for the deaths of children killed by air strikes targeting civilians, and air strikes targeting schools and hospitals.

In 2020, the UN was criticised for removing the coalition from a "list of shame" of warring parties accused of killing and maiming children in an annual report produced by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s office on children and armed conflict.

International aid charity Save the Children said the UN had given the coalition "a green light to continue destroying children's lives in Yemen".

In its latest report, the Secretary-General's office said it welcomed the coalition's "continued engagement... to sustainably end and prevent grave violations against children".

Unicef had not responded to MEE's requests for comment at the time of publication.

Wife of prominent Yemeni politician pleads to stop his deportation from Egypt

Par : MEE staff
Wife of prominent Yemeni politician pleads to stop his deportation from Egypt
Adel al-Shuja is at risk of being deported to Yemen, where he faces imprisonment or execution
MEE staff Tue, 09/26/2023 - 11:54
Rahma al-Shuja
Rahma al-Shuja has pleaded for the Egyptian government to protect her husband (Screengrab/X)

The wife of a prominent Yemeni politician and government critic, who was briefly detained last week, has called on the Egyptian government to not deport him back to Yemen, where he risks prison or execution.

Speaking in front of Cairo Airport, Rahma al-Shuja, the wife of Adel al-Shuja, a senior member of the General People's Congress, appealed to the Egyptian army and the government to halt his planned deportation to Aden, the provisional seat of the Yemeni government.

Rahma al-Shuja said in a video published on Tuesday that Egyptian authorities had previously informed them that Adel al-Shuja would be deported to Spain, but “we were shocked to find out in the airport that they will deport him to Aden”.

Shuja, who is also a writer, is known for his criticism of the Yemeni government and regularly calls out corruption on his social media platforms. 

According to local media reports, there has been widespread solidarity for Shuja and pressure campaigns by activists and intellectuals to stop his deportation. 

Rahma al-Shuja called on international organisations and the Yemeni embassy to protect her husband.

“This is a crime to send him to the noose. We came to Egypt thinking we were under Egyptian protection and [President Abdel Fattah] el-Sisi and the people's protection. We left Sanaa because there's an execution order against my husband and we left Aden because he will be imprisoned. Please save us,” she said. 

ترحيل الدكتور عادل الشجاع من القاهرة باتجاه عدن..
وفق السيدة رحمة الشجاع، فان ترحيل زوجها إلى عدن يمثلا خطرا على حياته.!
#اليمن pic.twitter.com/rMDzuuLSgF

— فارس الحميري Fares Alhemyari (@FaresALhemyari) September 26, 2023

Local media said Shuja has recently been critical of the Yemeni government and a controversial deal with  Emirati telecommunications company NX, which may have led to the deportation order.

Last week, Egyptian authorities raided Shuja's house and arrested him. He was released a few days later after outrage online.

Rahma Shuja has accused the Yemeni government of requesting his arrest and deportation.

Arabic press review: Palestinian Authority arrests West Bank journalist

Arabic press review: Palestinian Authority arrests West Bank journalist
Meanwhile, Saudi authorities arrest officials suspected of corruption, revenues of Gulf-based airlines increase by 80 percent, and Syrian dissidents launch political party in France
Mohammad Ayesh Tue, 09/26/2023 - 12:01
Tariq Yousef Al-Sarkji was detained on Monday from Nablus in the northern West Bank, his wife said (Facebook)

Palestinian Authority arrests journalist in West Bank

Palestinian security forces arrested journalist Tariq Yousef Al-Sarkji, 35, from his home in the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank on Monday night, according to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper.

"A force from the Palestinian Preventive Security in civilian clothing raided our house at approximately 10.45 pm local time and informed my husband of his arrest, without presenting an arrest warrant or cards stating that they were security men. Then they confiscated his mobile phone," Somaya Jawabra, the journalist's wife, said.

"My husband suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure, and I asked them to let my husband take his medication, and with difficulty I was able to convince them to do so. We fear that his health will worsen in light of his arrest," she told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

The Committee of Families of Political Prisoners in the West Bank denounced Al-Sarkji's arrest and confiscation of his devices. 

"These arrests are part of a series of violations committed by the security services of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and their ongoing campaign to pursue activists, restrict freedom of opinion and expression, and gag mouths," the NGO said, according Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Al-Sarkji works as a photographer with local media outlets and previously worked as a director on local television stations. 

Saudi authorities arrest officials suspected of corruption

The Saudi Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority, known as Nazaha, announced investigations on Monday into 21 corruption cases implicating high-ranking officials within the interior and defence ministries, as well as employees from various government agencies.

The majority of these cases centre around the acceptance of bribes, with the intent of expediting requests on behalf of businesspersons and investors, according to the Saudi newspaper, Asharq Al-Awsat.

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These requests include obtaining commercial records or assisting in the registration of land titles, among others.

The total sum confiscated in connection with these cases stands at 17.7m riyals ($4.7m USD), as reported by Asharq Al-Awsat.

The most prominent among these new cases involves the arrest of the director of the Support Services Department in a regional municipality. He is alleged to have received 12m riyals from a commercial entity linked to an acquaintance in exchange for unlawfully awarding projects.

Additionally, an employee from a criminal court and a lawyer were caught red-handed while accepting a sum of 1.5m riyals to expedite the legal process in favour of a citizen facing charges in court, the report added.

Revenues of Gulf airlines increased by 80 percent

Official data has revealed a remarkable upswing in the revenues of five Gulf airlines in 2022, marking an 80 percent surge compared to the previous year. Their combined revenues surged to approximately $48.1bn, a substantial leap from the $26.7bn recorded in 2021, as reported by the New Khalij newspaper on Monday.

The report attributed the significant growth to the relaxation of global travel restrictions after the end of lockdown measures associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.

The airlines covered in this data analysis are Air Arabia, Qatar Airways, Jazeera Airways, Emirates Airlines and Flydubai.

Among these carriers, Emirates Airlines secured the lion's share of total revenues, surpassing an impressive $29.2bn, representing an 81 percent increase compared to the previous year. Furthermore, Emirates Airlines accommodated approximately 43.6 million passengers in 2022, marking a remarkable 122 percent growth compared to 2021.

In second place, Qatar Airways recorded revenues of $14.4bn in 2022, reflecting a substantial 79 percent increase. The number of passengers travelling on Qatar Airways during this period surged to 18.6 million, a 218 percent rise.

Syrian dissidents launch political party in France

Syrian opposition figures in Paris have officially announced the establishment of a new political entity known as the Syrian Social Democratic Party, as reported by the Arabi 21 website.

In its founding statement, the new party underscored its commitment to "creating political entities that truly represent Syrians". It further articulated its primary goal, which is to "collaborate with the Syrian people in the pursuit of overthrowing the dictatorial regime and instituting a pluralistic democratic system in alignment with UN Resolution 2254".

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The party has pledged its dedication to providing essential services, participating in the reconstruction of the country, and building the necessary infrastructure and institutions to foster economic, social, cultural and political revitalisation.

In its founding principles, the party emphasised that it explicitly avoids ideological conflicts and sidesteps divisive identity debates, instead focusing on tangible achievements.

Explaining the choice of Paris as the location for announcing the party's formation, party leader Ahmed Al-Bahri stated: "A significant proportion of displaced Syrians reside in European countries, and I believe that Syrians living here bear a significant responsibility, given the ample space for political engagement."

He added that the majority of party members possess the necessary tools for political activism, and they aim to leverage the freedom of expression available in Europe to reshape traditional approaches to political work.

Al-Bahri stressed that Syrians require a genuine political body that represents their interests and rights in the future, emphasising that the party will not wait until the fall of the current regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Instead, "it will commence its work immediately by establishing connections with Syrians within the country, solidifying relationships, and spreading the party's vision and goals within Syria".

*Arabic press review is a digest of news reports not independently verified as accurate by Middle East Eye.

UK: Campaigners denounce Braverman's comments on LGBTQ+ refugee eligibility

UK: Campaigners denounce Braverman's comments on LGBTQ+ refugee eligibility
Home Secretary to argue that discrimination against women and gay people is insufficient grounds for refugee status
Katherine Hearst Tue, 09/26/2023 - 12:23
Home Secretary Suella Braverman at Downing Street on 12 September 2023 (AFP)

UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman is expected to call on world leaders to water down protections granted under the 1951 UN refugee convention for women and sexual minorities in a speech at a right-wing US think tank on Tuesday.

The convention enshrines the internationally recognised definition of the term refugee as “someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion”.

Persecution of women and sexual minorities is usually assessed in terms of their membership of a particular social group, according to UNHCR guidelines. 

The core principle of the convention - that of non-refoulement - asserts that a refugee should not be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom. But Braverman will assert that case law emerging from the convention has seen a lowering of the threshold for asylum claims, so that claimants need only prove “discrimination” instead of “persecution”, arguing that the shift could expand numbers of those eligible for asylum to “unsustainable” levels.

"Let me be clear, there are vast swathes of the world where it is extremely difficult to be gay, or to be a woman," the Home Secretary is expected to say at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

“Where individuals are being persecuted, it is right that we offer sanctuary.” 

“But we will not be able to sustain an asylum system if in effect, simply being gay, or a woman, and fearful of discrimination in your country of origin, is sufficient to qualify for protection.”

Homosexuality is criminalised in 64 countries, and could lead to the death penalty in 11 of them.  

The Home Secretary's comments may be incompatible with the Home Office's own guidelines, which state that discrimination may amount to persecution "if it led to consequences, which were of a substantially prejudicial nature for the person concerned", such as serious legal measures that affect the person's economic, social and cultural rights. 

Braverman is expected to call for reform of the convention and claim that the current rules will extend the right to claim asylum in the UK to up to 780 million people.

She will also challenge UNHCR's opposition to the UK government’s position that refugees should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach.

“Nobody entering the UK by boat from France is fleeing imminent peril. None of them have ‘good cause’ for illegal entry," according to the speech.

Threat to refugee rights 

Braverman’s comments drew fierce criticism from LGBT+ Conservatives and Labour MPs who have accused her of “dog-whistle politics”, with Andrew Boff, a Conservative London Assembly member and patron of the LGBT+ Conservative group stating that her comments “paint us an an uncaring party”.

The comments also come after the UNHCR criticised the UK government's £140m deal with Rwanda as “incompatible with the letter and spirit” of the convention, which has been the primary basis for UK refugee law

The body also opposed the Illegal Migration Bill - a piece of legislation that contravenes the country’s obligations under international and human rights law - condemning it as an “asylum ban” as it would effectively extinguish the right to seek refugee protection in the UK for those who arrive irregularly.

In response to the text of the speech, Charlotte Khan of refugee charity Care4Calais warned that Braverman’s approach will deny refugees the rights enshrined in international law. 

“If world leaders follow Braverman’s path and turn their backs on our collective obligations under international refugee law, there will still be refugees but they will be denied their right to be safe,” Khan told Middle East Eye.

Meanwhile, independent migration policy researcher Zoe Gardiner said that Braverman’s comments are a “transparent bid to draw the Tory party further right under her future leadership of it”.

'Absolute chaos'

"Presiding over absolute chaos in her brief as Home Secretary, with both the immigration system and the police in crisis under her watch, she's run off to find hard-right allies in the states,” Gardiner told MEE. “All of this would be bad enough, but to do it off the backs of persecuted LGBT+ people around the world is as low as it gets."

The limbo faced by LGBTQ+ claimants in the UK has recently been linked to the suicide of a queer Omani woman

Rima al-Badi, a 21-year-old from Oman, took her own life earlier this month after spending more than a year in a hotel waiting for the Home Office to make a decision on her asylum claim.

Braverman’s recent comments indicate that barriers already faced by LGBTQ+ asylum claimants fleeing persecution could harden.

The introduction of the Nationality and Borders bill is expected to lead to an increased burden of proof on asylum claimants and a sharp reduction in the time allowed to produce this evidence.

Syria: Dozens dead in clashes between pro-government and Kurdish-led forces

Par : MEE staff
Syria: Dozens dead in clashes between pro-government and Kurdish-led forces
At least 25 people were killed after forces loyal to Damascus entered SDF-controlled territory in Deir Ezzor
MEE staff Tue, 09/26/2023 - 12:51
A Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) vehicle on the road as fighters impose a curfew in the town of al-Busayrah in Deir Ezzor
A Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) vehicle on the road as fighters impose a curfew in the town of al-Busayrah in Deir Ezzor (AFP)

Fighting between pro-government and Kurdish-led forces in eastern Syria has left dozens dead in recent days, according to the Syrian Observatory on Human Rights (SOHR).

Violence broke out between the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and fighters loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in Deir Ezzor on Monday, leading to at least 25 deaths so far.

The SDF said in a statement that it had "driven out the regime gunmen who had infiltrated the Dheiban area" of Deir Ezzor province.

It added that the pro-government forces had crossed the Euphrates "under cover of an indiscriminate bombardment" of its positions.

The SOHR said 21 of those killed were pro-government and three were SDF fighters, while another woman was also killed.

Conflict between the SDF and local Arab groups in Deir Ezzor has become more frequent in recent months.

Earlier this month 10 days of fighting between the SDF and armed Arab tribesmen saw 90 people killed.

Local tribal groups have accused the SDF of autocratic behaviour in the Arab-majority region, while the SDF has accused the Syrian government of stirring up discontent.

One of the main demands of the tribes has been an end to SDF rule and the creation of an independent military council made up of local Arabs that would coordinate security and economic assistance directly with the US.

'Growing Syrian crisis'

Speaking to news outlet Al-Majalla last week, SDF military commander Mazloum Abdi said it was ready to compromise with Damascus in Deir Ezzor but so far the government had shown no willingness to do so.

"We asked the Russians to help reach a political solution that would end the growing Syrian crisis," he said.

"We ask that Damascus accept a realistic political solution... and Damascus still insists on its policy of stubbornness and rejects any realistic proposals that will end the crisis and contribute to peace and stability."

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Fighting broke out in the oil-rich province on 27 August, when the SDF detained Ahmad al-Khabil, better known as Abu Khawla, the controversial head of the Deir Ezzor military council, amid suspicion he was conspiring to oust the US-backed force from the region, MEE previously reported.

The SDF has wrested back control of the territory from the rebelling tribes.

The US has warned that fighting between the tribes and SDF distracted from the focus of preventing an Islamic State resurgence.

Meanwhile, the Syrian government and its Russian and Iranian backers have seen the fight as an opportunity to oust the US from the region.

While some of the Arab tribes work with the SDF and the US, other factions maintain ties to Damascus.

Dozens dead in clashes between Syrian government and Kurdish-led forces

Israeli tourism minister becomes first to make public visit to Saudi Arabia

Par : MEE staff
Israeli tourism minister becomes first to make public visit to Saudi Arabia
Haim Katz arrives in Riyadh for UN summit amid normalisation efforts between Saudi Arabia and Israel
MEE staff Tue, 09/26/2023 - 14:38
Israel’s tourism minister, Haim Katz, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday
Israel’s tourism minister, Haim Katz, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday (Screengrab/X)

Israel’s tourism minister, Haim Katz, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to attend the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) conference, marking the first time an Israeli minister has formally visited Saudi Arabia.

Katz will be in Riyadh for two days, with his office reporting him as saying that “tourism is a bridge between nations”.

“I will work to advance cooperation, tourism and the foreign relations of Israel,” he said. 

He also issued a statement saying that this marks the beginning of future collaborations. 

"I will work to create collaborations to promote tourism and Israel's foreign relations," the statement read. 

The minister is set to take part in a number of events and discussions at the conference, and meet with other ministers coming from different countries across the Middle East.

Katz has been working to strengthen Israel's position within the WTO after the state was elected to an official position in the UN organisation for the first time. 

Saudi delegation arrives in occupied West Bank

The visit comes as a Saudi delegation arrived in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday in a visit aimed at easing potential Palestinian objections to any normalisation deal between Riyadh and Israel. 

Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Jordan, Nayef al-Sudairi, who also serves Palestine, said the kingdom is "working towards establishing a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital". 

Sudairi met with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, according to the foreign ministry in Ramallah. He will also be meeting with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas.

Last year, Saudi Arabia also announced that it had opened its airspace to all civilian overflights just hours before Joe Biden became the first US president to directly fly from Israel to the kingdom.

At the time, Biden hailed the Saudi move as a “historic decision” and credited his administration with helping to bring the deal about. 

Before the announcement, Saudi Arabia had barred overflights from both Israeli and non-Israeli companies that were travelling to or from Israel.

The move was one amidst a flurry of overtures between the two states. Leaders of both have made public comments expressing their optimism that a deal is within reach.

Egypt elections: Authorities detain dozens of Sisi rival's campaign volunteers

Par : MEE staff
Egypt elections: Authorities detain dozens of Sisi rival's campaign volunteers
Rights group says at least 73 Ahmed Tantawi campaign members, including four lawyers, have been rounded up in recent days
MEE staff Tue, 09/26/2023 - 16:11
Ahmed Tantawi has previously denounced the government's targeting of his campaign members after declaring his intention to run for office (Facebook)
Ahmed Tantawi has previously denounced the government's targeting of his campaign members after declaring his intention to run for office (Facebook)

Egyptian security forces have detained at least 73 members of the election campaign of opposition politician and former MP Ahmed Tantawi, a local rights group said on Tuesday.

According to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), the volunteers include four lawyers who joined Tantawi's presidential campaign in three different governorates. 

The four lawers have been identified as Sayed Mohamed Hussein Khadr, Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed Sayed, Mohamed Ali Abdel Qader Ebada, and Abdel Galil Mahmoud Sherbini Ibrahim.

EIPR pointed out that the detainees are facing charges of "joining a subversive or terrorist group, spreading false news, and misusing social media".

The organisation added that seven of the detainees were still being held in detention as of yesterday despite the fact that the State Security Prosecution issued a decision on 20 September to release them on bail of five thousand pounds each which their families and lawyers paid last week.

EIPR called on the Public Prosecutor to intervene immediately to ensure the implementation of the decisions issued by his office.

"EIPR lawyers who attended the sessions of interrogation and renewal of detention confirmed that most of the detainees were arrested or summoned to National Security offices in their governorates and interrogated simply for filling out volunteer forms in Tantawi’s presidential campaign, while others just liked the campaign's Facebook page," the organisation said in a statement. 

"EIPR once again held the National Election Authority and the Public Prosecutor’s office responsible for this security crackdown that violates the constitution and the law," it said.

Tantawi has previously reported that security forces have arrested some of his associates and relatives and prevented him from holding election-related events. 

Opposition crackdown

Earlier this month, a report by Citizen Lab showed that Tantawi was hacked by European commercial spyware several times after he announced his interest in running for the presidency.

A political adviser on Tantawi's campaign, Ahmed Abdeen, told Middle East Eye that the former lawmaker would push forward with his candidacy despite the hacking.

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Egypt’s elections authority on Monday announced the timeline for the presidential elections, which will take place on 10 December amid a crackdown on government critics and opposition leaders expected to run against Sisi, including liberal political activist Hisham Kassem.

An estimated 65,000 political prisoners have been languishing in jails since Sisi came to power in 2014, a year after leading a coup that toppled Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi.

Sisi won a second term in the 2018 election in a landslide victory, with 97 percent of the vote, against one candidate, himself a supporter of Sisi, after all serious opposition hopefuls had either been arrested or pulled out, citing intimidation.

Constitutional amendments in 2019 paved the way for the 68-year-old former army general to stand for an additional two terms, as well as extending the duration of presidential terms from four years to six. 

Egyptian authorities detain dozens of Sisi rival's campaign volunteers ahead of vote

More than half of Americans oppose a defence pact with Saudi Arabia, poll says

Par : MEE staff
More than half of Americans oppose a defence pact with Saudi Arabia, poll says
Human rights activists warn that defence agreement could embolden Saudi Arabia and lead other Gulf states to seek US security pledges
MEE staff Tue, 09/26/2023 - 17:55
US President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at a summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on 16 July 2022 (AFP)

More than half of American voters oppose a defence pact with Saudi Arabia that would commit the US to send forces to defend the kingdom in the event it is attacked.

In a poll conducted between 29-31 August by Harris Poll and the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, 55 percent of Republicans and Democrats said they were against such an agreement.

“The American people have consistently opposed deepening America’s military presence in the Middle East. They certainly have opposed new wars, and in this specific case, the war would be started not by the US itself, but as a result of a pact with Saudi Arabia,” Trita Parsi, vice president of the Quincy Institute, said during a virtual media briefing on the US-Saudi defence pact.

The poll comes amid reports that US and Saudi officials are discussing the details of a mutual defence pact as part of Washington’s push for the Saudi kingdom to normalise relations with Israel.

The agreement would see the US and Saudi Arabia pledge to provide military support to the other if the country is attacked in the region or within Saudi territory, according to The New York Times.

The US has a broad spectrum of defence commitments. Article 5 of Nato, which states that an attack on any member country is an attack on them all, is considered the strongest. The alliance only invoked Article 5 once in history, after the 9/11 attacks. The US has looser, but still tough defence agreements with Japan and South Korea.

Earlier this month, the US signed a defence agreement with Bahrain - an ally of Saudi Arabia - that committed the two countries to “confront any external aggression”, though it fell short of an official treaty that needs to be ratified by the US Congress.

More US troops to Saudi Arabia? 

Parsi said that a defence agreement with Saudi Arabia “would be the furthest the US has ever committed itself to defending regional states, and it won’t end there”, he added, saying that other US allies in the region like the UAE and Qatar would likely seek similar assurances from Washington.

While an agreement like that offered to Bahrain wouldn’t need congressional approval, a treaty with stronger mutual defence commitments would need support from two-thirds of the US Senate. This would be a tough sell for the Biden administration, with some US lawmakers already voicing wariness of deeper entanglements with Riyadh.

The briefing on Tuesday hosted by civil society and human rights groups cautioned the US about entering into a security agreement with Riyadh as part of normalisation.

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“If and when a US and Saudi Arabian defence pact will be announced, the piece of the agreement that military families in our network will be paying closest attention to will be the nature of the mutual defence obligation,” Sarah Streyder, executive director of the Secure Families Initiative, a non-profit focused on military families, said.

“Does this agreement increase the obligation that US service members would be deployed to Saudi Arabia in the case of an attack? If so, that would give us a lot of concern.”

The US already has around 3,000 troops stationed throughout Saudi Arabia, which is home to the world’s largest crude oil reserves. While defence ties between the US and Saudi Arabia go back to WWII, they have come under pressure in recent years.

Saudi Arabia was jolted when the US ruled out responding to an Iranian attack on its oil facilities in 2019 under former President Trump.

Two years later, the Biden administration pulled Patriot missile batteries out of the kingdom amid an uptick in drone and missile attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia has been embroiled in a deadly war.

Fighting in Yemen has generally halted amid a fragile ceasefire. On Tuesday, Bahrain said that two of its soldiers fighting in the Saudi-led coalition were killed in a Houthi drone strike. Saudi is now negotiating directly with the Houthis as it looks to exit the war.

Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now,  said “any increase in assurance of military backing (from the US) could embolden Saudi Arabia to act more aggressively against its neighbours”.

'If they get one, we get one'

A defence agreement, however, is just one part of Saudi Arabia’s demands. In exchange for normalising ties with Israel, Riyadh is also asking for expedited US arms and help with its civilian nuclear programme.

In a sign that Saudi Arabia may be inching closer to a deal with the US, on Monday the UN atomic watchdog said Riyadh had agreed to greater oversight of its nuclear activities, a step that would likely be necessary if it were to start enriching uranium.

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Saudi Arabia insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, but on Tuesday analysts warned that giving Saudi Arabia enrichment capabilities could spark a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in a recent Fox News interview, ‘If Iran gets nuclear weapons, we get one."

Daryl Kimball, the executive director of the Arms Control Association, said on Tuesday that pledges from the Biden administration saying that any deal with Saudi Arabia would meet nonproliferation standards was “hardly reassuring, given Saudi Arabia’s stated intentions”.

“It’s important that the US seek a legally binding Saudi commitment not to pursue or acquire uranium enrichment, or spent-fuel reprocessing technology which is not necessary for Saudi Arabia to pursue its peaceful civilian nuclear ambitions,” he said.

'Huge victory for Israeli far right'

“MBS is the last person you would want to hand a nuclear weapon to,” Matt Duss, executive vice president of the Center for International Policy, said. “This deal would be devastating.”

The panel on Tuesday also warned that the Biden administration’s pursuit of a normalisation agreement was ignoring the Palestinians stated aim of an independent state.

Saudi Arabia has said it is seeking concessions for the Palestinians. On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Jordan, Nayef al-Sudairi, said that the kingdom is "working towards establishing a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital" during a rare visit to the occupied West Bank.

However, former senior US officials tell MEE they believe Saudi Arabia would settle for much less on the Palestinian file, if its demands from the US are met.

Meanwhile, experts say that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, which is made up of far-right lawmakers, is unlikely to cede any territory in the occupied West Bank to the Palestinians.

Duss said if Saudi Arabia were to normalise now, it would “hand a huge victory to the Israeli far right”.

Saudi-Israel normalisation means greater Middle East repression, experts say

Saudi-Israel normalisation means greater Middle East repression, experts say
Experts say that push to normalise relations between the two countries runs counter to US goal of promoting democracy across the world
Umar A Farooq Tue, 09/26/2023 - 19:03
A plaque used to reserve the seat of the delegation from Israel is seen during the UNESCO Extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee in Riyadh on 11 September 2023.
The Israeli seat at Unesco's extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee in Riyadh, on 11 September 2023 (AFP)

The potential normalisation of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel would lead to a greater state of autocracy and repression in the Middle East region, several experts said on Tuesday.

During the eighth annual conference of the Arab Center think tank in Washington, DC, experts on Middle East policy discussed the nature of a possible normalisation agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, a central foreign policy goal of the Biden administration. 

The Biden administration has touted any future agreement as a "transformative moment" that would move the region from turmoil to stability.

"It's a colossal distortion of reality for anyone who has spent any time in the region and on the ground," said Nader Hashimi, director of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. 

Hashmi termed a Saudi-Israeli normalisation plan as "wishful thinking at best".

"It's a political disaster in the making at worst that will further destabilise the Middle East." 

For months, the Biden administration has been publicly stating its intention to broker a deal between Israel and the kingdom, following through on the Donald Trump administration's successful brokering of similar agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco.

"These deals that are supported by American foreign policy are really dependent on, predicated on, the persistence of authoritarian repressive regimes in the Middle East, while ignoring the core aspirations of the region's people for political freedom, accountable government, and self-determination."

During an interview with Fox News that aired last week, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stated that they are getting closer to such an agreement "every day".

Experts said that the push to normalise relations between the two countries, which could lead to a number of concessions for the Saudi kingdom, including US assistance in developing a civil nuclear programme, runs counter to the Biden administration's stated goal of promoting democracy across the world.

"Authoritarian regimes are ascendant everywhere, while democratic opposition groups, civil societies and social protest movements are severely repressed, especially in the Arab world," said Hashemi.

'The Abraham Accords have been very damaging to local conditions, both for pro-democracy movements and groups that exist, but also for pro-democracy sentiment'

- Dana el-Kurd, University of Richmond

Dana el-Kurd, an assistant professor at the University of Richmond, said that in the months and years following the normalisation deals brokered by the Trump administration - dubbed by Washington as the Abraham Accords - pro-democracy efforts in the Arab world were further quelled by governments in the region.

"The Abraham Accords have been very damaging to local conditions, both for pro-democracy movements and groups that exist, but also for pro-democracy sentiment because they do not address structural causes of violence, and they rely on state coercion to be implemented," Kurd said during the conference on Tuesday.

At the same time, given that pro-Palestinian sentiment is widespread across the region and in many countries tied to civil society, the crushing of pro-democracy movements and pro-Palestinian voices goes hand-in-hand.

"Arab public opinion is pro-Palestinian. This has been corroborated a number of times with a number of different studies," said Kurd.

"When regimes pursue these normalisation deals with Israel, often with a lot of US fanfare and support, they know that they are doing something unpopular. They know that inevitably, there will be some level of dissent and outright opposition, which from their perspective then requires repression."

Transnational repression

Kurd also shared concerns that cementing diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel could lead to Arab governments becoming increasingly involved in transnational repression.

The US-based advocacy group, the Freedom Initiative, issued a report earlier this year stating that both Egypt and Saudi Arabia have become increasingly sophisticated and emboldened to target critics and dissidents residing on American soil.

The report said that more than two-thirds of 72 people interviewed - with personal or professional ties to Egypt and Saudi Arabia - said that they have been subjected to acts of repression in the US.

"Arab regimes have a new partner now and a more open and broader way in transnational repression," said Kurd.

An open, official relationship between Israel and the Arab world allows governments to more openly partner in the field of technology, military, and surveillance.

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A 2022 report by The New York Times found that the Israeli spyware Pegasus has been a staple tool of Israel's diplomacy in the Gulf region. The report said that the UAE purchased the notorious software in 2013.

Riyadh purchased the Pegasus software in 2017, years before talk of normalisation between the two countries started, according to the report.

"What's happening is an intensification of these efforts, and we've seen a proliferation of aggressive technologies, not just in terms of defence systems and military aid and things like this, but also in terms of surveillance," Kurd said.

On the other hand, the normalisation of Israel among Arab countries also works to embolden Israel's treatment of Palestinians, which has been deemed apartheid by several rights groups and UN experts.

The normalisation agreements during the Trump administration were described by the UAE and the other countries involved as a move that would freeze the construction of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. However, within weeks of the deal, Israel approved the construction of new settlement units.

Saudi Arabia has said that Riyadh is working to establish a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. However, at the UN General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a map to promote Israel, showing the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip as being a part of Israel in 1948.

"All of these things have led to a situation where Israel is not only emboldened, as I said, it is rewarded. And the Arab world is in disarray," Hanan Ashrawi, a former executive committee member of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, said during Tuesday's conference.

"Israel is in the grip of a very facist, bloodthirsty, ethnocentric theocracy that is defying the whole world, and yet there's a mad rush and obsessive approach to normalising with Israel."

Washington

Communities of colour bore brunt of post-9/11 surveillance excesses: Report

Par : MEE staff
Communities of colour bore brunt of post-9/11 surveillance excesses: Report
The surge in mass surveillance in the US after 9/11 was conducted discreetly, often sidestepping constitutional and legal protections
MEE staff Tue, 09/26/2023 - 19:59
People walk through the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in Manhattan, on 8 September 2021 (AFP)

The post-9/11 increase in mass surveillance was carried out covertly, frequently bypassing constitutional and legal safeguards, and has imposed significant burdens on communities of colour, according to a new report from the Costs of War project at Brown University’s Watson Institute.

The report, titled Total Information Awareness: The High Costs of Post-9/11 US Mass Surveillance and released on Tuesday, says that although the term "mass surveillance" is typically associated with government monitoring, it now encompasses a diverse blend of federal organisations, local law enforcement, private enterprises and ordinary citizens. 

The report highlights the overwhelmingly vast and intricate structure established to support post-9/11 surveillance, pointing out its lack of governmental transparency and the challenges in estimating its financial implications.

“Our ever-expanding surveillance systems have acquired an aura of inevitability, which organisers and regulators struggle against,” Jessica Katzenstein, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and the National Science Foundation, said in a press release. 

“Yet this normalisation is not itself inevitable, but has instead been underwritten in large part by the loosened regulations, heightened fear, racism, xenophobia, and flow of funding sanctioned in the post-9/11 era.”

According to the report, in the months after 9/11, the mass trauma of the attacks produced domestic support for expanding US surveillance systems.

Much of the expansion, though, was done in secret, “often in violation of the Constitution and US law”.

Communities of colour

While post-9/11 domestic mass surveillance affected all Americans, certain communities bore the brunt of suspicion, including people of Middle Eastern and South Asian descent.

"The immigration system clamped down on both documented and undocumented migration under the auspices of defending the homeland from malicious incursion,” the report read.

"People (mis)racialised as Muslim and Arab, immigrants and asylum seekers, racial justice and labour organisers, and other intersecting racialised and gendered groups have borne the brunt of these costs.”

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The report further suggests that the post-9/11 state's emphasis on targeting racialised groups might have left it inadequately equipped to tackle the growing threat of white supremacist violence.

Establishing institutions and technologies designed to monitor large-scale activities as well as intricate details of personal lives has expanded the authority of law enforcement and businesses. 

This expansion has often been challenging to roll back or even properly supervise.

“The expansion of post-9/11 mass surveillance has been cloaked in secrecy, with untold harms to communities of colour, civil liberties, and all of our privacy,” Stephanie Savell, the co-director of the Costs of War project, said. 

Costs

According to the report, the impact of post-9/11 mass surveillance is vast and difficult to measure fully, even though the US government has poured billions, if not trillions, into it.

“The government has rarely been able to demonstrate that such funding, and all its attendant opportunity costs, has created public safety at a scale that merits the expense."

The report argues that the costs of mass surveillance must be measured in terms of people being taken from their families and homes, stifled speech, dampened social justice movements, and fear.

“Meanwhile, we are prioritizing funding these programs over addressing true societal needs like education, healthcare, and reducing poverty. It’s time for a reckoning with - not an expansion of - post-9/11 surveillance programs.”

The yearly US intelligence budget saw an increase from roughly $40bn in the late 1990s to $80bn by 2020. According to the report, public funds have also been squandered through opportunistic profiteering, wastage, fraud, and misconduct.

For example, five years after its inception, the Department of Homeland Security was identified as having managed contracts that went over budget, faced delays, or were scrapped, amounting to $15bn in excesses.

Rights group sues US government to block Israel's entry to visa waiver programme

Rights group sues US government to block Israel's entry to visa waiver programme
American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee says US allowing Israel to discriminate against Palestinian Americans entering the country
Umar A Farooq Tue, 09/26/2023 - 22:07
Passengers sit in a waiting room on the Jordanian side of the King Hussein Bridge (also known as Allenby Bridge) crossing between the West Bank and Jordan on 19 July 2022.
Passengers sit in a waiting room on the Jordanian side of the King Hussein Bridge (also known as Allenby Bridge) between the West Bank and Jordan, on 19 July 2022 (AFP)

A leading Arab American rights group is suing the US government and calling on a federal court to halt any further actions admitting Israel into the visa waiver programme (VWP), saying that Israel is not eligible for entry because it is discriminating against Palestinian Americans.

The lawsuit, filed by the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), accuses the US of failing to adhere to the law when it comes to the tenets of the VWP, namely by allowing Israel to discriminate against Americans entering Israel and the occupied West Bank.

The lawsuit, seen by Middle East Eye, states that the actions taken by the US to give Israel a pathway into the programme "have established discriminatory rules and procedures against United States citizens to participate in the program when traveling to Israel and thus violate the VWP rule of reciprocity and constitutional guarantees of equality".

"Defendants’ decision to enter into an agreement that allows the Government of Israel to create different classes of US citizens and treat them disparately in a way that is not reciprocal with how the US treats Israeli citizens."

The ADC has said, that based on credible reports and investigations, Israel is currently on the verge of being accepted into the VWP, despite failing to meet the legal requirements needed for entry.

“This is all so unnecessary, all the US government had to do was maintain the standard it has with every other country in the Visa Waiver Programme. This lawsuit could have been avoided, but the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) and the State Department resurrected the debunked notion that separate is somehow equal. As these plaintiffs show, that notion is a farce,” Huwaida Arraf, a lawyer representing the ADC, told Middle East Eye.

The legal filing seeks an injunction against the US that would prevent the government from making a decision on whether to admit Israel into the VWP until Washington "receives from Israel guarantees of full and equal reciprocal privileges for all US citizens without distinction".

"The requirements of the Visa Waiver Program are clear and unambiguous. The US government is obligated to ensure that all Americans are treated equally," Abed Ayoub, the ADC's executive director, said in a statement.

"It is our intent to hold the US government accountable for any actions that create separate classes of US citizens. Admitting Israel into the Visa Waiver Program would be an endorsement of discrimination against Palestinian and Arab Americans."

Israel has long sought entry into the VWP, which permits overseas visitors to remain in the US for up to 90 days without a visa and reciprocates the same privilege to US citizens in participant countries.

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In July, the US and Israel signed a “reciprocity agreement” to allow American citizens the ability to freely enter Israel.

Washington also announced it would be monitoring Israel over a trial period of six weeks and then would make a decision about whether or not to allow the country into the VWP by 30 September.

However, experts, rights groups, lawmakers, and Palestinian Americans have raised concerns about Israel's trial period, saying that the country was creating a multi-tiered system of entry that treats different groups of US citizens unequally, particularly Palestinians and other Arab Americans.

Earlier this month, more than a dozen senators raised these concerns with the Biden administration, sending a letter that warned against moving forward with Israel's entry into the VWP.

"The contacts we have had from US citizens seeking to travel to Israel since the MOU went into effect, it is clear that Israel is not in compliance with this law as it relates to reciprocal treatment for all US citizens, and is not on track to come into compliance before the September 30, 2023 deadline," the senators said.

The ADC has said that the discrimination by Israel against American citizens even exists within the country's current policies, including restrictions on how Palestinian Americans can cross checkpoints into the occupied West Bank and the "inhumane treatment of Palestinian Americans when they try to return to the US".

‘Vulture capitalists’: Maui’s indigenous community fights land grabs after wildfires

‘Vulture capitalists’: Maui’s indigenous community fights land grabs after wildfires
The aftermath of fires in Hawaii reveals decades of dispossession of native lands with some Palestinian activists seeing echoes of their own struggle
Umar A Farooq Fri, 09/15/2023 - 14:02
The hall of historic Waiola Church in Lahaina and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street, 8 August 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii.
The hall of historic Waiola Church and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street, 8 August 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii (AP)

The fires were still raging when families in Lahaina started receiving messages from developers asking if they were interested in selling their land.

Several residents in the town told news outlets that they began to receive messages on Facebook and other platforms from people inquiring about whether they were open to parting with their land.

While the incidents made major headlines in the coming weeks and even led to a temporary moratorium on property sales, many within Hawaii's indigenous community, Kanaka Maoli, fear that with the fires in Maui faded and soon with it the media coverage, developers will get back on the hunt, targeting the victims of these fires for their land.

"These vulture capitalists, vulture developers are preying upon our people and our connection to the land during a time when none of us have been given time to properly grieve," said Kahala Johnson, a PhD student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and an indigenous activist with ancestral ties to Maui.

Despite all of the outrage around these recent land grabs, the dispossession of Hawaii's land has been a part of the island's history since the arrival of American settlers in the 19th century.

And even though the local indigenous population has been fighting back against the loss of their lands, it has been an uphill and losing battle for much of the Kanaka Maoli's history since coming under the sphere of the United States.

"Today's struggle has been one where native Hawaiians who are cognisant of these titles [to their land] - some have original documents - have been fighting against land developers, tourists, the industrial military complex, and other encroachments on their ancestral lands," Johnson told Middle East Eye.

"It's a very complicated, multi-layered issue, but these fires add another element to this. Capitalists, both local and international, are trying to once again challenge these claims to the land."

Volunteers Kale Kahele (L) and Kanani Adolpho help organise donations as volunteers load pallets of supplies and aid donations flown in from the Hawaiian island of Kauai at the Kahului airport cargo terminal in the aftermath Maui wildfires on 13 August 2023.
Volunteers Kale Kahele (L) and Kanani Adolpho help organise donations flown in from the Hawaiian island of Kauai at the Kahului airport on 13 August 2023 (AFP)

Johnson and other indigenous activists are working hastily to not only combat the real estate companies looking to profit off of the tragedy but also inform their own people about their legal rights to the land.

While the US has certain rights and regulations regarding private property, Hawaii is a complex situation since Washington annexed the island nation in 1898. Indigenous people have for decades been fighting for recognition of their own land rights that were created prior to annexation.

For Johnson, the best way forward is to help the people of Maui understand the full extent of their land rights.

"I hope to hold these people accountable, but I also hope to have our people be given the information they need to fight against these kinds of intrusion."

Severing indigenous connections to the land

Hawaii was a sovereign nation until the 1890s when a group of American missionaries who ran plantations in the country overthrew the island's ruler, Queen Liliuokalani.

In the lead-up to that moment, the leaders of Hawaii were forced to grapple with the issue of how to protect their land. Prior to being introduced to capitalism through the American settlers, the islanders did not have a concept of private property.

"We didn't have structures of property ownership, instead it was more of a stewardship arrangement between chiefs and commoners," Johnson said.

Eventually, through this American encroachment, the island's leaders came up with the Mahele system, which mixed together traditional concepts around private ownership and the people's relationship with the land.

Map of Maui showing burnt areas from 4-11 August, 2023, as well as urban areas.
Map of Maui showing burnt areas from 4-11 August 2023, as well as urban areas (AFP)

In 1848, King Kamehameha III introduced the Great Mahele, which divided up Hawaii's land and gave native Hawaiians the right to own land. The king kept one-third of the lands which were deemed the crownlands, while allowing Hawaiians to apply for land titles.

"Some of the Hawaiian leaders saw this privatisation of land as a means to fend off some of the land grabs," Isaki told MEE.

Indigenous leaders also made a decision in the introduction of the Mahele system, in which land passed down in a family would be equally divided amongst all children in the family, making it difficult for outsiders to obtain land on the islands.

"Our leaders in the Hawaiian kingdom, they did not introduce a patrilineal or matrilineal system [of inheritance]. Instead, the interests in the lands would be divided amongst the next generation - the children and grandchildren," Johnson said.

However, following the American settlers' overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani, Hawaii's native population suffered a multigenerational loss in education and culture and many Hawaiians these days are not familiar with inheritance laws. And Hawaii's crown lands were made a part of the public domain, and began being sold off to raise money.

"I've heard of people getting drafted into the US military in the early 20th century - Hawaiian farmers - to get them off the land," Isaki said.

"There is a colony of people with Hansen's disease. And there are also people who say that none of them had Hansen's disease or leprosy and they were carted off to get them off the land. There were a lot of shady, shady land transfers."

Many developers were also been able to purchase entire swaths of land by only purchasing titles from individual family members, according to Johnson.

"A lot of our people are uninformed about this. Developers will gain one family member's interest and then claim total interest in the land."

To fight against these land grabs, members of the Kanaka Maoli have waged a myriad of legal battles in Hawaiian and US courts. Isaki has worked on a number of these cases, including one that she helped win in 2017, helping a native Hawaiian family retain the rights to their land.

Billions injected into Maui real estate

The community of Lahaina, a town located on the coast of Hawaii's second-largest island Maui, like others on the island, witnessed one of the worst fires in the archipelago's history last month.

The official death toll has been placed at 97, while thousands of others have been displaced. More than 86 percent of the 2,200 structures destroyed in the fires were residential.

In addition to being a doctoral student, Johnson is also a part of the Maui Medic Healers Hui, a grassroots organisation working on the ground to support the ongoing relief efforts for the victims of the fires.

The group, which consists of members of Maui's indigenous community, has been working since the first day of the fires to provide emergency supplies and whatever else victims need.

Within days, word had begun to spread across the community that some people were getting calls inquiring about their land.

"My initial reaction should have been shock, but as a political science student in indigenous politics, I had an idea of similar incidents that have happened in the past across different native populations," Johnson told MEE.

"I knew that these folks would come in and vulture around and prey upon my people and other local families in the area."

Left: A picture of one of Maui's coastlines (AFP) Right: A picture showing the wreckage left by the wildfires in Maui in August 2023 (AP)

Maui is the second-largest of Hawaii's islands and is home to a famed and picturesque coastline that brings in tourists from all over the world. For the same reasons tourists flock to the island, so have a number of billionaires, resorts and agricultural companies, who all own land on the island.

Tourism brings in millions of visitors to Maui each year, and brought in $11 billion in the first half of this year alone.

Many prominent individuals own land on Maui, including Oprah Winfrey, Amazon chairman Jeff Bezos, and Oracle executive Larry Ellison. This has also led to a major backlash of its own, especially after Oprah and Dwayne Johnson - two American billionaires - were rebuked for asking for people to donate money to a relief fund they created.

Some of the biggest purchasers of land, however, are investment and development firms. According to the most recent report on the Hawaii government's website, one of the largest landowners in Maui is a commercial real estate company - Alexander and Baldwin. The company owns about one-seventh of the total island's land, according to the 2017 report.

"There are billions and billions of dollars being injected into real estate through hedge funds, pension funds, large international investments, agencies, finance developments," Bianca Isaki, a lawyer and community activist in Maui, told MEE.

"With all this money, coming in, everything gets very expensive. And that's also driving the housing crisis. So that's also why people might want to grab the land."

Hawaii and Palestine

On 9 September, the Maui Medic Healers Hui hosted an online Zoom call with Palestinian activists and academics. The session was part academic and educational, and part of it was a healing circle meant to unite over a common sense of grief.

Hawaii is not viewed by the general American public as an issue of settler-colonialism, but the academic space to discuss its history of colonialism is growing both in the state and internationally.

Hawaiian academics have also sought to connect more with members of the Palestinian community as a means of solidarity and connecting over a shared experience.

'Palestinians and native Hawaiians have quite different histories. But we do share a great deal as well as including the violence of settler colonialism'

- Rana Barakat, Birzeit University

"My time with Kanaka Maoli in Hawaii is the first time I think I ever really viscerally felt, outside of the Arab world, solidarity from others for Palestine," Nour Joudah, an assistant professor at the University of California Los Angeles, said during the webinar.

In addition to using the space as a healing circle, the webinar also served as a means for the members of the two groups of people to share wisdoms and advice for each other's causes.

"Palestinians and native Hawaiians have quite different histories. But we do share a great deal as well as including the violence of settler colonialism," said Rana Barakat, an assistant professor of history at Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank.

"We can contest the same colonial apparatus, this huge historical apparatus functions differently in different geography, but it is a real and material monster that is driven by the fuel of our elimination."

The fires last month were in part fuelled by the abandoned sugar plantations and expansion of grasslands on Maui. And it was one sugar plantation, Pioneer Mill, that was central in many land cases Kanaka Maoli have been fighting.

"Settler colonialism did not only just devastate the islands, it transformed the ecology, very fabric of life, that it became so vulnerable, to destruction," said Ali Musleh, a fellow at Columbia University's Center for Palestine Studies and professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

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One of the central projects that activists and academics on Maui had been focused on was the Lahaina Heritage Museum, which was home to many of the island's historical artefacts and documents, including title registries.

However, like many of the thousands of buildings on Maui, the museum also went up in flames. It was a devastating blow to the native community, who had worked so long against the erasure of their history and culture.

"One of the things that we're working now is to try to recover the archives as much as possible, and to replace things that were lost with things that can be made or replicated today," Johnson said.

"As much as it is a huge loss, it is also a chance for us to reconnect with who we are as a community, as a nation, as a country and as a people."

Iraq: Fire at wedding leaves at least 120 people dead

Par : MEE staff
Iraq: Fire at wedding leaves at least 120 people dead
Huge crowds of people were celebrating when a blaze, most likely caused by fireworks, ripped through the venue killing at least 120 people
MEE staff Wed, 09/27/2023 - 07:51
A firefighter checks the damage to the event hall in Qaraqosh, on 27 September 2023 (AFP)

At least 120 people died and hundreds more were injured in a fire at a wedding in Iraq's northern province of Nineveh, health officials have said. 

The blaze ripped through a venue hosting a large crowd of people in the Al-Hamdaniya district late on Tuesday. 

The cause of the fire has yet to be confirmed. Early assessments indicate it may have been ignited by fireworks used during the celebrations, state media said. 

"[As the bride and groom] were slow dancing, the fireworks started to climb to the ceiling [and] the whole hall went up in flames," Rania Waad, who sustained a burn to her hand, told AFP news agency. 

"We couldn't see anything," the 17-year-old added. "We were suffocating, we didn't know how to get out."

Another eyewitness, 55-year-old Amer Karoomi Hanna, told Middle East Eye that he was at home when he heard about the fire: "I arrived at 10.30pm and the fire was still raging in the hall. My friends had told me about it and I came quickly. I have no relatives, but everyone is like family in Qaraqosh. There are no strangers in this town."

"The situation is very difficult. The civil defence group, the police and the citizens did not fail in their jobs," he added.

In addition to local emergency services, people from nearby districts joined the efforts to tackle the blaze, even using their own vehicles to bring water, according to Hanna.

"I saw people walking around, tired, trying to extract the wounded. There was a large number of people in the hall. I do not remember how many there were because it was dark and at night."

Amid the mayhem it is still unknown whether the bride and groom are among the victims.

"In every neighbourhood of Qaraqosh, there is solace and sadness," Hanna said.

Toxic fumes

The Iraqi Red Crescent Society said there were at least 450 casualties, but did not provide a detailed breakdown of the number of people who died.

Officials in Nineveh province said that at least 120 people had been confirmed dead and 200 injured, but the numbers are likely to rise.

Saif al-Badr, spokesman for the Iraqi health ministry, told AFP that most of the injured were being treated for burns or oxygen deprivation. He added that there had been crowd crushes at the scene.

Iraq
A man reacts at the site of a fatal fire in the district of Al-Hamdaniya in Nineveh province, Iraq, on 27 September 2023 (AP)

The hall is located in Qaraqosh, also known Bakhdida, an Assyrian city about 32km southeast of Mosul which is home to a predominantly Christian population.

Civil defence workers were searching through charred wreckage and bodies for survivors into the early hours of Wednesday. 

Parts of the venue had collapsed due to the use of highly flammable building materials that break easily from fires, the Nineveh health directorate said.

Nineveh Governor Najm al-Jubouri, speaking at a press conference held in Mosul, said that one of the owners of Al-Haytham Hall fled and his whereabouts were unknown, while nine other people related to the incident were arrested. 

According to the Iraqi civil defence, the blaze ignited inside the wedding hall before spreading rapidly into other parts of the building, which was not adhering to safety measures and lacked proper warning and extinguishing systems.

'Even those who made their way out were broken'

Imad Yohana, eyewitness

The use of highly flammable plastic panels made matters worse, as it released toxic gas after the fire, the civil defence added.

"We saw the fire pulsating, coming out of the hall," Imad Yohana, 34, who survived the inferno, told Reuters news agency. 

"Those who managed got out, and those who didn't got stuck. Even those who made their way out were broken," Yohana added. 

Week of mourning

Jubouri also announced a week of mourning and the postponement of celebrations planned on Wednesday to mark the birthday of Prophet Muhammad, which are known as the Mawlid.  

He urged "all houses of worship" to hold prayers for the "martyrs of the fire and a speedy recovery for the wounded and injured". 

The United Nations mission in Iraq expressed its shock at the huge loss of life due to the fire.

"We are shocked and hurt by the huge loss of life and injuries in the fire that occurred in Al-Hamdaniya in Nineveh. Huge tragedy. Our sincere condolences to the families who lost loved ones. We wish those injured a speedy recovery," the UN wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Iraqi Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari said that a formal investigation had been opened into the disaster.

In a statement, the Ministry of Interior said that "the initial report on the Al-Hamdaniya Hall accident indicates that it is not criminal" but was instead because of a breakdown in safety and security procedures.

Additional reporting by Ismael Adnan in Iraq

'We were suffocating': More than 100 killed in Iraq wedding fire

Egypt: US includes ally in list of countries using child soldiers

Par : MEE staff
Egypt: US includes ally in list of countries using child soldiers
A new report states that the Egyptian military conducted joint operations with militias in northern Sinai in which some of those recruited to fight were as young as 16
MEE staff Wed, 09/27/2023 - 10:42
Military forces are seen in North Sinai, Egypt, December 1, 2017 (Reuters)
Military forces in North Sinai, Egypt, 1 December 2017 (Reuters)

A report published by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday says that the US has added Egypt to its list of countries believed to be using child soldiers.

According to the report, the designation by the State Department comes after a number of independent investigations, which found that Egypt's military has been conducting joint operations with allied militia groups in northern Sinai that recruit children.

These operations often included combat against groups such as the Islamic State-affiliated Wilayat Sinai.

Some of those recruited to fight were as young as 16, and were used for various tasks, including logistics and combat operations.

Previous reports and investigations have revealed that the child soldiers were wounded or killed in the fighting.

HRW also cited a number of videos shared on social media platforms, such as Facebook and TikTok, which have depicted child soldiers engaging in military operations.

Last month, the UK-based Sinai Foundation for Human Rights (SFHR) said that between 2013 and 2022, children as young as 12 were enlisted, with some under 18 directly participating in hostilities.

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Others were tasked with spying, delivering food to military checkpoints and disassembling explosives, the group found.

HRW's findings, released on Tuesday, come after a months-long investigation by SFHR, partly based on testimonies from the children's relatives, pro-government militia members and a child allegedly enlisted by armed forces.

Under international law, governments are prohibited from recruiting children under the age of 15 for any purpose. Such recruitment by either a government or armed groups is listed as a war crime in the International Criminal Court statutes.

SFHR said it was calling on the Egyptian government to "immediately halt the recruitment, enlistment and use of children under 18 as combatants or in military support roles that expose them to danger".

Summary executions

The IS faction Wilayat Sinai has been directly responsible for the deaths of some of the child soldiers, including through executions.

In one instance, a 17-year-old was beheaded in front of his father with a scalpel, and his head was then left by a railway crossing in his village as a warning to others alleged to have worked with the Egyptian authorities.

Other children were seriously wounded during their work, including several injured while trying to defuse explosives, SFHR said.

Since 2015, local tribes in the area have formed a pro-government militia.

The conflict has caused military and civilian casualties, although it is difficult to gauge the full picture as journalists have often been barred from the area.

US includes ally Egypt in list of countries using child soldiers

Libya floods: A sense of abandonment sets in as aid workers leave Derna

Libya floods: A sense of abandonment sets in as aid workers leave Derna
Though the work of rescue teams is largely over, their exit leaves Derna's survivors wondering what help comes next
Hussein Eddeb Wed, 09/27/2023 - 11:21
A man walks past his damaged house in Derna, Libya (MEE/Taha Jawashi)
A man walks past his damaged house in Derna, Libya (MEE/Taha Jawashi)

Two weeks after the Libyan city of Derna was struck by a devastating flood, aid workers and volunteers have begun to pack up their bags.

Search and rescue teams, as well as ordinary Libyans desperate to help, moved heaven and earth to reach the eastern city when it became clear that up to 20,000 people had been killed by flash flooding caused by a dam collapsing.

Most were there to try to save lives, or at worst recover bodies. But today, there is no chance of finding any more survivors, so responders have begun trickling home.

The Spanish, Hungarian and Tunisian search and rescue teams have all begun to leave. So, too, have western Libyan armed groups, such as Battalion 444 and Battalion 166, whose presence in Derna was striking, as Libya is divided between eastern and western administrations that have at times been at war.

Several volunteers from across the country had also flocked to Derna of their own accord, but are gradually leaving.

Clearly, the nature of the required aid response has changed.

There are an estimated 16,000 people displaced in and around Derna, but the government is yet to provide alternative housing for them, except school classrooms.

Some of the luckier displaced Libyans have been able to stay with relatives in the city and elsewhere, while others have set up tents in front of what remains of their homes, refusing to be forced away.

Outside one collapsed building are camped the Sheikh family, or what’s left of them.

"Twenty-five people died in this building, the youngest of them was six months old. We found only four bodies that we could bury. The rest, we have no trace of," Ali Sheikh, the head of the family, tells Middle East Eye.

Ali recalls how before the flood he would come home to find his three children eagerly awaiting him, hoping he’d brought them some snacks.

A view of a ruined street in Libya's Derna (MEE/Taha Jawashi)
A ruined street in Derna (MEE/Taha Jawashi)

"My mother, my wife and my three children died, as well as two of my brothers and their families. Only my brother here and my niece's son, who is sleeping in this tent, survived."

Ali says a person from western Libya approached him recently, took him to his car and showed him a bag of money in the boot and told him to take whatever he needed, but he refused.

"What will I do with the money? Get married? I have no desire to marry. Will they give me a home? Who will I live with after losing my entire family? I no longer want anything, I just want someone to help me endure this."

Responders exhausted

Some 10,000 people are believed to still be missing. Although it’s thought that most bodies in the city centre have been retrieved, dive teams still scour the sea.

“At least 50 percent of the volunteers have already left Derna,” Hossam Nasr, a volunteer from the Tripoli Red Crescent, told MEE.

Making matters more difficult for the aid response has been a clampdown by authorities that followed protests on 18 September, which included a communications blackout.

Coordination between authorities and the various aid groups and volunteers has also been poor. Meanwhile, Nasr said logistical issues have plagued the aid response, with responders worked to exhaustion and often left without proper food or accommodation.

In central Derna, Atiya, a man in his late 50s, is trying to clear the mounds of mud deposited by the flood in front of his house.

Atiya cleans the mud outside his home in Derna, Libya (MEE/Taha Jawashi)
Atiya cleans the mud outside his home in Derna, Libya (MEE/Taha Jawashi)

Atiya and his family managed to escape the disaster, and only the ground floor of his home was submerged, but he’s now busy trying to sort his own flood defences. This is just the beginning of the rainy season, and now there’s no dam in the valley leading to Derna to hold the waters back.

Atiya wants the government to provide simple equipment to residents like himself, whose homes were not severely damaged but can be restored and protected using tools like spades and hand carts. He adds that the recent restrictions on access to the city have been a great hindrance.

Other residents are starting from scratch. Smoking a cigarette among a group of people on a Derna street, one man in his 60s thanked God his family survived. “We got out of the house, and God saved us."

As for his house, the man points at the remnants of two concrete pillars. “This is what's left of it!”

This article is available in French on Middle East Eye French edition.

Derna, Libya
Derna, Libya
A sense of abandonment sets in as aid workers leave Libya's Derna

Israel normalisation: Saudi envoy 'cancels Al-Aqsa visit' after backlash over possible deal

Par : MEE staff
Israel normalisation: Saudi envoy 'cancels Al-Aqsa visit' after backlash over possible deal
Postponement follows criticism by some Palestinians who view the visit as validating the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem
MEE staff Wed, 09/27/2023 - 11:47
Palestinian woman walks down the stairs next to the Dome of the Rock in al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem on 29 August 2023 (Hans Lucas via Reuters)
Palestinian woman walks down the stairs next to the Dome of the Rock in Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem on 29 August 2023 (Hans Lucas via Reuters)

Saudi Arabia's non-resident ambassador to Palestine postponed a planned visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque on Wednesday, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The cancellation came amid criticism made by some Palestinians on social media, who viewed the visit as validating the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem.

Some called for the Saudi delegation to be prevented from entering the mosque.

Quoting a Palestinian source in Ramallah, Haaretz reported that Nayef al-Sudairi, the Saudi ambassador, postponed the visit after hearing "about the sensitivity of the matter" and understanding the "criticism and implications" surrounding it. 

The Israeli daily newspaper added that the diplomat planned to visit the mosque at a later date. 

The Wednesday visit was not officially announced and was not coordinated with the Islamic Waqf, a joint Jordanian-Palestinian Islamic trust, Haaretz added.

The Waqf administers the affairs of Al-Aqsa Mosque and often handles visits by official delegations. 

Sudairi, who is also Riyadh's ambassador to Jordan, arrived in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday to meet with Palestinian officials.

During his visit, the first by a Saudi official to the West Bank since the Palestinian Authority (PA) was established, Sudairi met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki and top PLO official Hussein Al-Sheikh.

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Sudairi said the kingdom was "working towards establishing a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital".

His trip comes against the backdrop of a warming of ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia. 

Deals to establish formal ties between Arab states and Israel are unpopular among Palestinians and supporters of the Palestinian cause.

They are viewed as rewarding Israel for its treatment of the Palestinians, which UN experts and rights groups say amounts to apartheid. 

Sudairi's entry to the West Bank and the now-cancelled visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque would not be possible without the consent of Israeli authorities.

Getting such approvals is seen by many Palestinians as a tacit acceptance of Israeli control over the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which are both under illegal Israeli occupation.

In 2019, self-styled Saudi Arabian blogger Mohammed Saud was chased down and driven out of Al-Aqsa Mosque by Palestinians who called him "trash", "cheap" and "Zionist", and spat in his face.

Saud, a vocal admirer of Israel, was on a trip to occupied East Jerusalem officially sponsored by Israel's foreign ministry.

'Disturbing' Bin Salman interview 

Sudairi's Palestine trip came days after Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke at length about Saudi negotiations with Israel in a wide-ranging interview with Fox News.

But during the discussion there was no mention of Palestinian statehood, civil and human rights, or any other specifics, raising concern for some Palestinians.

"For us, the Palestinian issue is very important. We need to solve that part," the crown prince said. "We hope that it will reach a place, that it will ease the life of the Palestinians and get Israel back as a player of the Middle East."

Pressed on what kinds of things he wanted to see for Palestinians, he was tight-lipped.

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"That's part of the negotiation," he responded. "I want to see really a good life for the Palestinians," he added vaguely, without elaborating.

For some Palestinian analysts, the comments were notable for what was omitted. 

"Bin Salman's interview with Fox News [was] very disturbing," Hani al-Masri, director general of Masarat, the Palestinian Centre for Policy Research and Strategic Studies, told Middle East Eye.

"He did not say a word of anything about the peace initiative, ending the occupation, the Palestinian state, the right to self-determination, and the right of return for refugees.

"This means that he does not want to commit himself to anything, and this reflects a great willingness for excessive flexibility and illegal bargaining."

Saudi Arabia never recognised Israel and since 2002 has conditioned a normalisation deal on Israel ending its occupation and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Saudi envoy 'cancels Al-Aqsa visit' after backlash over possible Israel deal

Bahrain: Court sentences 13 who protested prison conditions during Covid

Bahrain: Court sentences 13 who protested prison conditions during Covid
Rights group says men were abused and held incommunicado after April 2021 sit-in and that trial shows 'core problem in Bahrain's corrupt judicial system'
Dania Akkad Wed, 09/27/2023 - 12:21
A boy protests conditions inside Jau Prison in April 2021 (Bird)

A Bahrain court has sentenced 13 political prisoners who protested against medical negligence in their prison at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, a rights group reported.

The men were among over 60 prisoners abused and held incommunicado for more than a month after security forces and prison officers broke up the April 2021 sit-in in Jau Prison, according to accounts documented by the UK-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD).

Middle East Eye has seen copies of notes made by Bahrain's Public Prosecution Office after interviews with three prisoners following the protest, detailing abuse including being struck repeatedly in the head with metal objects and held for days in handcuffs.

Prison officials involved in the alleged abuse have not been investigated, while the trial of 65 prisoners was "marred with severe due process violations", according to BIRD.

"This mass trial demonstrates a core problem in Bahrain's corrupt judicial system, where prisoners of state violence and victims of torture are condemned while torturers avoid any accountability," said Sayed Alwadaei, BIRD's advocacy director.

On Tuesday, the court sentenced 12 political prisoners to three years in prison, one to one year and a 50 Bahraini dinar ($132 USD) fine, and acquitted 52 others on charges including causing unrest and resisting prison police orders.

None of the defendants were present for the proceedings, according to court documents seen by MEE.

Niku Jafarnia, Yemen and Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the sentencing made recent praise from American and British officials about the kingdom appear "farcical".

"The US and the UK just signed new deals with the Bahraini Crown Prince, and both countries have touted Bahrain for making 'some important strides and some important reforms'," Jafarnia said, referring to comments from a senior Whitehouse official. 

"Yet Bahrain's continued violations of human rights are blatant... 13 men were just convicted with no due process and without any investigations into their detailed allegations of torture against the authorities."

Ongoing demands

The sentencing comes weeks after prisoners suspended a mass, 36-day hunger strike, the largest such strike in Bahrain's history, over conditions in Jau Prison after Bahraini authorities pledged improvements.

Alwadaei told MEE that there have been "some concessions" since the end of the strike, including the release of some political prisoners from solitary confinement. "It's a mixed message," he said of reports from prisoners inside.

Bahrain: British Airways 'denied boarding' to activist flying home to Manama
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He said there are ongoing meetings between prisoners, prison officers and National Institute for Human Rights' representatives to discuss the prisoners' demands. There is potential, he added, that the hunger strike could resume.

The 10-day sit-in in April 2021 erupted after the death of political prisoner Abbas Mallallah, whom prisoners said had been denied timely access to healthcare, and as rights groups said authorities were failing to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

According to reports and the accounts detailed to the Office of Public Prosecution, the protest was broken up by riot police who threw stun grenades and beat detainees, many of whom were badly injured. The UN High Commission for Human Rights said it was "disturbed by the use of unnecessary and disproportionate force" at what it described as "a peaceful sit-in".

In all three accounts seen by MEE, prisoners said that they had been beaten by the same police officer, Ahmed Farhan. One prisoner said Farhan told him "I will crush them, I will crush all the Shia", and tried to put a shoe inside his mouth.

Bahraini authorities have previously said that the demonstration was violent and that prison officials took proportionate measures to protect staff and inmates. They also said that detainees were moved to new facilities after the crackdown, but did not explain why they were not in contact with their families. 

Bahraini officials did not respond to MEE's request for comment on Wednesday.

Bahrain court sentences 13 who protested Covid prison conditions

New sanctions bill targets US allies normalising Assad government

New sanctions bill targets US allies normalising Assad government
Bill calls for State Department to report all high level meetings between Syria and its neighbours, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan and Turkey
Sean Mathews Wed, 09/27/2023 - 13:47
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman shakes hands with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad ahead of the Arab League Summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 19 May 2023 (Reuters)

A pair of US lawmakers aim to counter normalisation with Bashar al-Assad's government with sweeping new legislation, as Syria continues to be welcomed back to the world stage.

Republican Senators Marco Rubio and James Risch introduced the Assad Regime Anti-Normalization Act of 2023 on Wednesday. The bill's rollout comes less than one week after Assad made his first visit to China since his country erupted into civil war 12 years ago.

The bill, a senate version of one introduced in the House of Representatives earlier this year, would extend the current sanctions on Syria, known as the Caesar sanctions, to 2032 and prohibit the US government from normalising relations with Assad.

Assad was accepted back into the Arab League in May, as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which for years backed groups opposed to his government, pivoted to engaging with Assad. Jordan and Lebanon have reached out to Damascus to address their refugee crisis and the drug trade.

The thaw in ties has put some of Washington's closest Arab partners on opposite sides of bipartisan consensus in Congress, where lawmakers want to keep Assad isolated over his role in a civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people, and for his closeness to Russia and Iran.

"Despite a growing mountain of evidence against Assad for war crimes, there has been a troubling wave of efforts to rehabilitate and whitewash the regime and its crimes," Republican Senator Jim Risch said. "This legislation enforces a policy of diplomatic and economic isolation against the Assad regime."

The bill calls for a "description of steps the US is taking to actively deter recognition" of Assad by other governments including "specific diplomatic engagement and economic sanctions".  Unable so far to prevent the steady drumbeat of normalisation, lawmakers want more visibility into what their regional partners are doing.

It contains a provision that calls for the Secretary of State to provide Congress with a list of all meetings - at the ambassador level and above - between Syria and its neighbors, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan and Turkey.

It also requires a review of all transactions, including donations over $50,000 in areas of Syria held by Assad's government made by anyone in those countries.

Caesar sanctions overcome, Assad says

Despite his outreach, Assad has come out empty-handed from Gulf states and Beijing to begin funding Syria's reconstruction, which the UN estimates will cost around $250bn.

In 2020, the US imposed sanctions on Syria under the Caesar Act, named for a Syrian military photographer who smuggled tens of thousands of gruesome photos out of the country which documented evidence of war crimes.

'We'd be seeing more Gulf state investments [in Syria] now if the sanctions weren't there' 

- Aron Lund, Century International

Aron Lund, a fellow at Century International, told Middle East Eye that "we'd be seeing more Gulf state investments now if the sanctions weren't there".

The updated bill expands the sanctions net to members of Syria's parliament, senior officials of the Baath Party and those accused of diverting humanitarian aid.

Critics have accused US President Joe Biden's administration of not vigorously enforcing sanctions against Damascus that are already on the books. Lund said the administration had been "fairly restrained" implementing Caesar sanctions, despite Gulf states' wariness about investing.

"There's a strand of thought in the administration that says Syria doesn't need any more economic pressure right now. They want leverage over Assad, but they don't want the country breaking down and the humanitarian crisis intensifying," Lund said.

In an interview in August, Assad sought to downplay the  Caesar Act, saying "we managed in numerous ways to bypass this law", adding that, "the biggest obstacle [to reconstruction] is the image of the war in Syria, which prevents any investment in the Syrian market and economy".

Damascus to Athens direct

Expanding flights to and from Damascus has been one of the most tangible signs that Syria is slowly reconnecting with the world.

Syria's top airlines, Cham Wings and Syrian Arab Airlines, have already been sanctioned by the US, but lawmakers are calling on the Biden administration to impose secondary sanctions "on airport service providers outside of Syria".

Cham Wings has direct flights to Oman, the UAE and Kuwait and indirect flights to Saudi Arabia. Last year, the EU lifted sanctions on Cham. Air Mediterranean, a Greek airline with links to Cham, started direct flights between Athens and Damascus earlier this year.

The lawmakers are also zeroing in on Asma al-Assad, Bashar's wife and an ex-JP Morgan banker, who analysts say yields massive influence over Syria's war-ravaged economy. They are asking for a determination over whether Asma's charity, the Syria Trust for Development, meets the criteria for sanctions under the Caesar Act.

Currency manipulation in focus

While Syria is effectively cut off from doing business with the West, aid has continued to pour into the country, including government-controlled regions. Damascus has long been accused of siphoning off UN aid dollars - the bulk of which comes from the West.

Assad controls about two-thirds of Syrian territory with Moscow and Tehran's backing. He has tried to use aid to exert control over parts of Syria still held by opposition forces. Middle East Eye reported that the Assad government obstructed rescue efforts in the country's rebel-held northwest after a devastating earthquake in February.

Syria: What is the US endgame?
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A report last year said that "systemic" corruption plagued UN humanitarian aid to Syria. Between 2019 and 2020, nearly 47 percent of UN procurement funding in Syria went to businesses tied to human rights abuses committed by the Assad government. The authors found that Damascus kept 51 cents of every international aid dollar spent in Syria in 2020.

One of the most lucrative schemes for Damascus has been exploiting Syria's currency exchange rate with international donors, experts say.

Syria's currency has collapsed since the war, with the Lira plunging to about 13,000 pounds to one US dollar. Before the war it traded at around 47 pounds to the dollar.

Lawmakers want the Secretary of State to provide an assessment of Damascus' manipulation of the exchange rate.

Israel's acceptance into US visa waiver programme met with outrage

Par : MEE staff
Israel's acceptance into US visa waiver programme met with outrage
Announcement leads to outrage and scepticism from Palestinian Americans, rights groups and US lawmakers
MEE staff Wed, 09/27/2023 - 15:47
President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York on 20 September 2023.
President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York, on 20 September 2023 (AP)

The Biden administration has announced that the US has accepted Israel into its visa waiver programme (VWP), despite concerns made by rights groups, Palestinian Americans, and lawmakers that Israel is discriminating against different groups of Americans travelling to the country.

The State Department and Department of Homeland Security made the announcement on Wednesday morning, ahead of the 30 September deadline the US gave itself to make a decision on the matter.

Now becoming the 41st country to join the VWP, Israeli citizens will be allowed visa-free travel into the US for up to 90 days, and US citizens will be given the same privilege when travelling to Israel.

Israel's entry into the VWP will go into effect on 30 November, according to the State Department.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Israel's entry into the coveted programme "represents a critical step forward in our strategic partnership with Israel".

Palestinian Americans and other US citizens immediately responded to the announcement with outrage, saying that the country has not stopped its discrimination of Palestinians at points of entry.

"Today, the Biden administration granted Israel’s most right-wing government admission into a visa waiver program that appears to discriminate against US citizens based on their identity and background," Jehad Abusalim, executive director of the Washington-based Jerusalem Fund, said on X.

Beth Miller, the political director for Jewish Voice for Peace Action, said that the decision endorses "the systematic discrimination of US citizens of Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim descent.

It also "handed a massive victory to the most extremist and racist government in Israeli history", Miller added.

The US violating its own rules to admit Israel into the Visa Waiver program is just the latest in a US policy that has for decades centered on guaranteeing Israeli impunity while lavishly rewarding it for thumbing its nose at US policy & intl law.

— Lara Friedman (@LaraFriedmanDC) September 27, 2023

The US and Israel signed a "reciprocity agreement" in July, which kicked off a trial period for the VWP, with the Biden administration saying it would monitor the entry of Americans into Israel over a six-week period.

In making its announcement on Wednesday, the State Department said that Israel had updated its entry policies and maintained compliance with them as it allowed Palestinian Americans into the country without a visa.

"This important achievement will enhance freedom of movement for US citizens, including those living in the Palestinian Territories or travelling to and from them," Blinken said.

Yumna Patel, the Palestine news director at the outlet Mondoweiss, went on social media to convey her outrage over the news, which she received while in a waiting room trying to enter Israel.

"I found out about this news as I, an American citizen, sit in a waiting room at the Israeli border after being interrogated on my pregnancy status, and harassed & threatened after I complained about the prying questions. Happy that my govt is celebrating its 'common priorities'," Patel said on X.

Lawsuit over Israel's acceptance into VWP

The announcement was also met with scepticism from a number of US lawmakers. Senators Chris Van Hollen, Brian Schatz, Jeff Merkley, and Peter Welch issued a statement on Wednesday saying that the Biden administration's decision is in violation of the central tenet of the VWP - the reciprocity between Israel and the US in how they treat each other's citizens.

"Adherence to this important American tenet of reciprocity and equal treatment of all US citizens is critical to the integrity of the Visa Waiver Program, and we are deeply concerned with the Administration’s decision to move forward in violation of that principle," the senators said.

Rights group sues US government to block Israel's entry to visa waiver programme
Read More »

"We will carefully monitor the situation to determine whether Americans continue to face discrimination based on their ethnicity, national origin, or religion."

Van Hollen spearheaded a letter earlier this month signalling that Israel was not in compliance with the VWP and that it should not be allowed into the programme as it currently stands.

On Tuesday, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) filed a lawsuit against the State Department and Department of Homeland Security, seeking an injunction that would block Israel's entry into the VWP.

"This is all so unnecessary, all the US government had to do was maintain the standard it has with every other country in the visa waiver programme," Huwaida Arraf, a lawyer representing the ADC, told Middle East Eye earlier.

"This lawsuit could have been avoided, but the DHS and the State Department resurrected the debunked notion that separate is somehow equal. As these plaintiffs show, that notion is a farce."

US city reaches settlement with Muslim men over police Islamophobia incident

Par : MEE staff
US city reaches settlement with Muslim men over police Islamophobia incident
According to the lawsuit and body camera footage, a Detroit police officer can be heard saying, "Muslim men are paedophiles"
MEE staff Wed, 09/27/2023 - 17:11
A van from the Detroit Police Department during a protest, on 10 July 2020 (AFP)

The city of Detroit has reached a settlement with three Muslim men who filed a lawsuit against two police officers, following an incident three years ago where one officer was recorded on body cameras making statements such as: "Muslims lie a lot" and "Muslim men are paedophiles."

"We hope through this settlement, that the Detroit Police Department would be more willing to not only go through (anti-bias) training but that their officers will internalize that training in dealing with the large Muslim population of Detroit," Dawud Walid, the Council on American–Islamic Relations (Cair) Michigan director, told The Detroit News on Tuesday.

The incident took place on 26 September 2020, following a 911 assault report in which Khalil Muhammad called 911 to report that a woman who lived in his house had attacked him and his two friends with a hammer and destroyed his property. According to the lawsuit, Muhammad told police the woman had needed a place to stay after being released from a mental health facility.

When Detroit Police Department (DPD) officers Donald Owens and Nathaniel Mullen arrived, they first spoke with the woman outside the house and she told the officers at a certain point that the men she was staying with were Muslims. Owens made the Islamophobic comments after hearing this, the lawsuit says.

According to body-worn camera footage reviewed by The Detroit News after the lawsuit was filed, Owens told another officer after speaking to the woman: "Muslim men are paedophiles," "Muslims lie a lot ... they control them ... like, they feel like ... you don't have a say if you're a woman."

An unidentified female officer replied, "Especially woman."

Owens responded: "You don't have the say-so- like, 'you do what we tell you to do'."

The officers arrested Muhammad, Clifford Williams, and Roberto Guzman “and handcuffed [them] in front of the Greenlawn residence in broad daylight in front of their neighbours in a manner that was intended to humiliate and embarrass them due to their Muslim faith," the lawsuit says. 

"(The) arrest was based solely on Defendants' animus and bigotry towards Muslims, especially Muslim men, and was without probable cause."

The individuals were subsequently released without any charges being filed.

US Muslims five times more likely to face police harassment due to their religion, study shows
Read More »

In September 2021, when the lawsuit, which sought a minimum of $75,000, was announced, Detroit Police confirmed that an internal investigation into the allegations against Owens and Mullen was underway. 

As a result of the investigation, Owens faced a five-day suspension without pay after being convicted of two departmental violations, which included neglect of duty and "disparaging or demeaning the race, nationality or personal characteristics of any person," DPD officials said on Tuesday.

"The statements made by the involved officer in 2020 were inexcusable and unbecoming of an officer of this Department," the DPD said in a statement.

"The allegations led to a formal investigation that ultimately resulted in the officer being suspended from duty. Under no circumstances will this Department condone the disparagement of any individual, particularly on the basis of their race or ethnicity.”

Last year, a study by Rice University showed that Muslims are five times more likely to experience police harassment because of their religion compared to those of other faiths.

More specifically, Muslim adults who identify as Black, Middle Eastern, Arab, or North African are more likely than Muslims who identify as white to report that they have been harassed by the police because of their religion, according to the study published in the Society for the Study of Social Problems.

Menendez pleads not guilty in Egypt-linked corruption case

Par : MEE staff
Menendez pleads not guilty in Egypt-linked corruption case
Wael Hana, a co-defendant, was arrested at Kennedy International Airport Tuesday after he voluntarily flew from Egypt to the US, lawyer says
MEE staff Wed, 09/27/2023 - 17:52
Senator Bob Menendez and his wife Nadine Menendez arrive at a Manhattan court after they were indicted on bribery charges on 27 September, 2023 in New York City (AFP)

US Senator Robert Menendez pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges of taking bribes as part of a corrupt scheme that benefited the government of Egypt and a New Jersey businessman.

Menendez has maintained his innocence since federal prosecutors unveiled corruption charges against him on Friday. The senior US lawmaker has said he is the victim of an “active smear campaign” and has claimed he is being unjustly targeted because of his Latin American heritage.

US Magistrate Judge Ona Wang in Manhattan said that Menendez could be released on a $100,000 personal recognizance bond, which allows the senator not to pay any upfront bail money. Although he is required to surrender his personal passport, Menendez will be allowed to maintain his official passport and travel abroad on government business.

Co-defendants Nadine Menendez, 56, businessmen Jose Uribe, 56, and Fred Daibes, 66, also pleaded not guilty. Egyptian-American businessman Wael Hana, 40, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday.

Prosecutors allege that in exchange for approving weapons deliveries and aid to Egypt, Menendez and his wife, Nadine, received hundreds of thousands of dollars, gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz, and several exercise machines, which were all facilitated by Hana, Daibes and Uribe. Middle East Eye broke down the key takeways from the case. 

On Tuesday, Hana flew back from Egypt and was arrested at John F Kennedy International Airport, leaving his wife and three children in the North African country in order to voluntarily face corruption charges, his lawyer said.

Prosecutors allege that since at least 2018, Menendez has secretly been meeting Egyptian military and intelligence officials as part of the scheme. They allege that he secretly lobbied on Egypt’s behalf with US senators and the Biden administration, and passed along secret, non-public information to Egyptian officials.

The scheme started when Nadine, Menendez's then-unemployed girlfriend, introduced him to her long-time friend Wael Hana, who facilitated meetings between Menendez and Egyptian military and intelligence officials in order to ensure that US military aid to Cairo continued unhindered, according to the indictment.

Menendez allegedly passed along secret, non-public information to Egyptian officials, lobbied on Cairo’s behalf, and assisted in preparing rebuttals to concerns from fellow senators about human rights issues in the country.

Hana's New Jersey-based company, IS EG Halal, was a vehicle for bribe money to be distributed to Menendez and his wife. In 2019, the company was awarded exclusive rights from the Egyptian government to be the sole provider of halal foods to Egypt, despite having no experience certifying food by Islamic law, prosecutors say.

Last summer investigators discovered $100,000 in gold bars and $480,000 in cash at Menendez’s home, much of it stuffed into envelopes and in clothing, closets and a safe.

More than half of all US Democratic senators have called on Menendez to resign. Menendez stepped down from his powerful position as the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee but has refused to resign from the Senate.

Sudan: Revolutionaries fighting alongside army against Rapid Support Forces

Sudan: Revolutionaries fighting alongside army against Rapid Support Forces
Sudanese Armed Forces now training and arming radical democrats, who are fighting alongside ultraconservatives
Mohammed Amin Wed, 09/27/2023 - 15:01
Sudanese armed forces mark Army Day in Sudan's eastern Gedarif State near the border with Ethiopia on 14 August 2023 (AFP)
Sudanese armed forces mark Army Day in Sudan's eastern Gedaref state, near the border with Ethiopia, on 14 August 2023 (AFP)

Radical democratic activists who faced violent repression at the hands of Sudan's military are now fighting alongside the army in its war against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary, Middle East Eye has learned. 

Young Sudanese belonging to the radical democratic groups that ousted former autocrat Omar al-Bashir are going into battle alongside young fighters connected to the Sudanese Islamic Movement (SIM) that backed him, according to sources from both sides. 

The development marks a significant new turn in the war, which has been raging since 15 April, when fighting broke out between the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the general better known as Hemeti.

Members of resistance committees - the nationwide collection of local groups that have been at the forefront of Sudan’s democratic revolution - and other radical youth organisations, such as Anger Without Borders and Kings of Clashes, joined military training camps opened by Burhan in June, when he called on Sudanese youth to join army ranks for “the battle of dignity”. 

At the same time, a militant group called Al-Bara bin Malik, named after a hero of the early Muslim conquests initiated by the Prophet Muhammad, has declared that it is fighting alongside the army against what it describes as the treasonous rebellion of the RSF.

Analysts believe that the widespread violations committed by the paramilitary in Khartoum - particularly the occupation of houses, looting and the raping of women - are the main reasons driving such disparate groups to fight alongside the army.

The RSF has denied committing such violations and says that the Al-Bara bin Malik brigade is made up of the remnants of Bashir's ousted administration.

Others say that Sudan’s Islamic movement, which was behind the military coup that installed Bashir as president in 1989, is using the army to pave its way back to power. 

With the soldiers, against the officers

Three members of the radical democratic group Anger Without Borders, which has previously clashed violently with Sudan’s police, security forces and other associates of Bashir’s ousted administration, told MEE they had recently joined army training camps and fought against the RSF.

The activists, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said they were fighting alongside the army as a form of self-defence because of violations perpetrated by the RSF.

They said they were supporting lower ranking officers and soldiers but not the generals, who they charged with being involved in the killing of protesters and the undermining of democracy. 

“We believe that this war was caused by a conflict of interests between the generals on both sides, but we have witnessed and experienced widespread humiliations inflicted by RSF soldiers,” one of the activists, who has been injured more than once while protesting since 2018, told MEE.

The activist, who lives in Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city, said his colleagues had spent months inside their homes with very little food.

“I saw the RSF make ordinary citizens carry their own possessions out to RSF trucks, so they could carry the loot away. I will never forget that,” he said.

'Joining the army is very easy. You just need to go to the nearest military camp to be trained, there are no conditions'

- Sudanese pro-democracy activist

“We started to organise to protect ourselves from RSF violations – we did this without any real help from SAF, which wasn’t even in our neighbourhoods. So the story is simply about defending ourselves, our families and properties from RSF attacks, and our priority now is to expel the RSF from Khartoum,” the activist told MEE.

To do this, the activist trained at an army camp for a short period of time and fought with the army back in his neighbourhood, which surrounds the popular market in Omdurman city.

“We got the weapons and stood with SAF soldiers at the checkpoints in the night to stop RSF attacks on the neighbourhood,” he said.

“Joining the army is very easy. You just need to go to the nearest military camp to be trained, there are no conditions. Then you get a weapon, join any military unit and begin your duties,” he said.

Another resistance committee source, who is still fighting with the army in Omdurman’s Althawra neighbourhood, told MEE he spent a month being trained at Karary military camp before going to man SAF checkpoints back in Althawra.

“I saw hundreds of youths joining the camps and others finished their training and are now fighting for the army," he said.

"I have taken part in some battles against the RSF and I’m proud of this experience, because I’m fighting for the dignity of our people, for the women that have been raped and the humiliation we faced.”  

Sudanese revolutionaries
Young Sudanese revolutionaries posting on Facebook

Some resistance committees in Khartoum state and other trade unions have declared their open support for the army. They refer to the RSF as “foreign militias” because they believe the paramilitary is bringing in fighters from Arab populations across countries like Chad and Niger, and they say it is their duty to fight them.

“We are still against the top generals of the army and still against the old regime, but we believe that the army is supposed to be for the entire Sudanese population and it’s the duty of the national army to protect the people,” a collection of Khartoum resistance committees said in a recent statement.

“We are with the institution of SAF, its lower ranking officers and soldiers on the front line… while the generals still only want to stay in power,” the statement continued. 

Counter-revolution

But Sudan’s revolutionary movement is not united in its support of the army.

Participating in protests calling for change, 18-year-old Nuha Abdul Gadir has come face-to-face with the police and security forces on the streets of the country. She believes the army and RSF are both “counter-revolutionary powers” opposed to the revolution and to democracy.

Gadir told MEE that fighting for the army was a personal decision and that revolutionary bodies had not decided to join the war.

'This war is a clear conflict of interests between the generals on both sides'

- Ahmed Albushra, Anger Without Borders

“However, I also believe that some of the youth have witnessed the extreme violations, attacks on their homes and rape of women - they have no way of defending themselves and SAF is the only place you can easily get weapons and training for fighting,” she said.

Ahmed Albushra, the founder of Anger Without Borders, said that no revolutionary institution had declared official support for the army, adding that “this was an individual decision by those revolutionaries”. 

He told MEE it’s not clear how many activists have joined SAF and that it was a “tactical step by some democratic activists to protect themselves”.

“This war is a clear conflict of interests between the generals on both sides,” Albushra told MEE. “This is why we have nothing to do with it. We are principally against the war in Sudan because peace is one of the main slogans of the revolution itself, but we are also against the violations of the RSF.”

Militants and Bashir's deep state

Those democratic activists who have joined the army find themselves fighting alongside young Sudanese with very different political ideologies.

The radical militants of Al-Bara bin Malik and other similar groups have joined the army in large numbers. 

Sources in Sudan’s Islamic Movement told MEE that the militant group’s presence in the army dated back to the 1990s, when it was part of the Popular Defence Forces (PDF) paramilitary, which had close links to the National Islamic Front, itself closely connected to Bashir.

“The army’s officer corps was ‘Islamised’ in the early 1990s after Bashir took power, when suspected opponents were sacked or, in many famous cases, taken out and shot,” Gill Lusk, an analyst on Sudan, told MEE.

The PDF was part of the Sudanese forces that fought the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in the second Sudanese civil war. Dissolved after the removal of Bashir, the PDF has been working underground and has been presented an opportunity by the eruption of war.

Sources inside the movement said that Al-Bara bin Malik and the wider Islamic movement had been preparing its fighters since 2019. They added that the militant groups have ties with some officers in Sudan’s military intelligence and that they joined the war on the army’s side immediately after it broke out in April.

“The group has fought beside the army and has lost many fighters in many different locations since April,” one source, who asked not to be named for security reasons, told MEE.

“One of the main battles that led to the death of many Al-Bara bin Malik fighters was inside and around the military tanks unit in Khartoum,” the source said.

Based on MEE's reading of the group’s social media pages, it expounds a militant Islamist ideology and is led by a young Sudanese man called Almusbah Abuzaid

Sudan war: Bashir-era figures regain influence as battle for control rages
Read More »

A video posted on social media (embedded above) shows Burhan visiting Abuzaid and embracing him at a hospital in the northeastern city of Atbara. The militant leader had been evacuated there after being injured in fighting in Khartoum. 

Other videos circulating on social media show Abuzaid singing militant slogans and calling for a “jihad” against the RSF.

In his virtual address during the UN general assembly meeting on Thursday - a meeting that Burhan addressed in person - Hemeti claimed that the Islamic State (IS) group and other associates of the Bashir administration were fighting alongside the army. 

In May, the RSF arrested a number of figures including prominent IS supporter Mohamed Ali Al-Jazouli, who had promised to fight against the paramilitary.

After he was captured, the RSF released a video of Jazouli talking about a secret plan coordinated by his group to fight alongside the army with the help of senior figures in Bashir’s National Congress Party (NCP), which is still officially banned in Sudan.

Now in its sixth month, the war in Sudan has displaced about 5.3 million people within Sudan and neighbouring countries, according to the UN. 

Sudanese revolutionaries fighting alongside army against RSF

Egypt: Dozens detained 'randomly' in crackdown ahead of presidential elections

Par : MEE staff
Egypt: Dozens detained 'randomly' in crackdown ahead of presidential elections
Rights group says around 30 people have been rounded up in Beheira governorate as part of a nationwide campaign days after authorities declared 10 December as the date for the presidential vote
MEE staff Thu, 09/28/2023 - 10:23
Egyptian police stand outside the entrance to al-Qanatir women's prison in Qalyoubiya province
Egyptian police stand outside the entrance to al-Qanatir women's prison in Qalyoubiya province (AFP)

Egyptian security forces detained dozens of people on Wednesday in an apparent crackdown on dissent ahead of the December presidential elections, a rights groups has said.

Egypt’s elections authority on Monday announced the timeline for the vote, which will take place on 10 December amid a crackdown on government critics and opposition leaders expected to run against President Abdelfattah el-Sisi. 

According to the Egyptian Network of Human Rights (ENHR), security forces dressed in civilian clothes raided several homes in the coastal governorate of Beheira and detained at least 30 people. 

“They were taken to an unknown destination before they were presented on Wednesday afternoon to the Kafr el-Dawwar prosecutor's office,” the ENHR statement said. 

“They were investigated on charges of spreading false news and joining an outlawed group,” it added, referring to charges commonly levelled against members of the Egyptian opposition and critics of Sisi. 

Those arrested will be detained for 15 days pending further investigations, the organisation said.

The ENHR has also documented dozens of arrests by Egyptian security forces in recent days, which it has described as “random” and as a way of using “pretrial detention as a means of punishment, not as a legal measure”.

Earlier this week, the rights group also documented the "enforced disappearance" for two weeks of a former Sisi supporter who declared that he regretted voting for Sisi in the past beause of the deteriorating economic conditions in the country.

Meanwhile, another rights group, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), said on Tuesday that security forces had detained at least 73 members of the election campaign of opposition politician and former MP Ahmed Tantawi.

The detained volunteers include four lawyers who joined Tantawi's presidential campaign in three different governorates. In response, Tantawi announced the suspension of campaign activities for 48 hours.

However, Tantawi and other presidential hopefuls have yet to be officially declared as presidential candidates, and the Egyptian opposition remains divided on which candidate to support against Sisi.

According to article 142 of the Egyptian constitution, to be formally approved as a candidate requires the endorsement of at least 20 members of the House of Representatives or the signatures of at least 25,000 citizens in at least 15 governorates. 

On Wednesday, Tantawi said his campaign has only managed to collect two signatures from the public, because of security restrictions on his supporters. On the other hand, many Sisi supporters have queued in front of registration offices to submit signatures in support of President Sisi, without any harassment reported. 

Economic crisis

The presidential election will take place as Egypt is in the midst of a severe economic crisis that has seen the Egyptian pound lose half its value against the dollar, leading to record inflation and foreign currency shortages. 

In August, annual inflation in Egypt reached close to 40 percent, according to official figures.

The election comes against the backdrop of continued targeting of the opposition, with an estimated 65,000 political prisoners languishing in jails since Sisi came to power in 2014, a year after leading a coup that toppled Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi.

Sisi won a second term in the 2018 election in a landslide victory, with 97 percent of the vote, against one candidate, himself a supporter of Sisi, after all serious opposition hopefuls had either been arrested or pulled out, citing intimidation.

Constitutional amendments in 2019 paved the way for the 68-year-old former army general to stand for an additional two terms, as well as extending the duration of presidential terms from four years to six. 

Egyptian police arrest dozens for 'false news' ahead of presidential elections

Turkey: Belgian couple accused of 'smuggling' historical artefacts

Turkey: Belgian couple accused of 'smuggling' historical artefacts
The pair, who were on holiday in Turkey, are prohibited from leaving the country after three stones determined to be of historical value were found in their suitcase
Pauline Ertel Thu, 09/28/2023 - 11:09
Turkish law defines antiquities broadly and buying, selling and possessing them is illegal (Turkish government)
Turkish law defines antiquities broadly and buying, selling and possessing them is illegal (Turkish government)

A Belgian couple is facing a fine or potential prison sentence on suspicion of smuggling archaeological artefacts from Turkey after three stones were found in their suitcase while returning home from holiday.

Kim and Warre Mergits from Antwerp said they found the stones on the beach and on the street while vacationing in Manavgat, a town in the coastal Antalya province, and wanted to bring them home as  souvenirs.

They were stopped by airport security on 16 September. "A woman came up to us and asked if we had salt or minerals with us,"  Warre told VRT Radio 2 Antwerp. "I said no but said that there were a number of stones in our suitcase. We often take them with us as decoration for my aquarium."

The pair were detained by the airport police, and were released on the condition that they did not leave the country and checked in at a police station every week.

The stones were subsequently sent to Antalya museum for examination and Antalya's Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism determined that the stones had indeed been of historical value.

In a written statement, officials said that one of the stones was "a piece of architectural decoration with two stylised rosettes on it" while the other two were parts of a marble floor.

"A preliminary report was prepared stating that the pieces in question were prohibited from being taken abroad because they fell within the scope of Law No 2863 [on the protection of cultural and natural assets] because of their qualities," the statement continued.

The Belgian foreign affairs ministry explicitly warns on the Turkey section of its website that "It is strictly forbidden to export antiquities, minerals or objects found locally (stones for example), even if they do not show any cultural-historical value. Heavy sanctions are attached to this."

The couple are currently staying in an apartment in Antalya because they are banned from leaving the country. According to BBC Turkey, the court process may take up to two months and the couple face a prison sentence ranging from one to five years and a fine of up to 18,000 Turkish lira ($657).

'Don't touch our stones' 

The story and its framing by international media has caused outrage online among Turkish citizens despite the court not having reached any conclusion about the couple's motivation.

A post by SkyNews on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, stating that the Belgian couple "took" stones from Turkish beaches and streets and was then "accused" by Turkey as having stolen them, has particularly drawn criticism from Turkish users, who say the report paints the Belgian couple as innocent and the Turkish government as unreasonable.

Dear Sky News, can you plase ask Kim Mergits if the "beaches and streets" that she "took" the "stones" from looked like these? Thank you! pic.twitter.com/2VorSO31AN

— Dr. Işıl Acehan (@IsilAcehan) September 27, 2023

Several users have also drawn comparisons between the case and controversy surrounding the British Museum, which faces calls to return artefacts many argue were stolen during Britain's colonial era.

"Just like the 'stones' Britain 'took' from Egypt and Anatolia to decorate the British Museum. Exemplary journalism", one user commented.

In a statement to public broadcaster VRT, Belgian archaeology professor Ralf Vandam underlined that countries in the Mediterranean, not only Turkey, are sensitive about historical artefacts because of the rich heritage of the region.

"The chances of finding something of archaeological value in Turkey are very high. Everything you find there is in principle the property of the Turkish government. It is no different in our country."

It is not the first time that tourists have faced prosecution for allegedly removing artefacts from Turkey and other countries in the Middle East.

Last year, a court case in Iraq left two foreign tourists potentially facing the death penalty for alleged antiquities smuggling after collecting pottery shards as souvenirs. Though avoiding the death penalty, one of the tourists received a 15 year prison sentence.

Belgian couple accused of 'smuggling' historical artefacts in Turkey

Egypt asked Unesco to modify boundaries of historic Cairo in Riyadh meeting

Egypt asked Unesco to modify boundaries of historic Cairo in Riyadh meeting
World Heritage Committee expressed concerns about demolitions at Unesco-listed City of the Dead, and denounced lack of legal framework that protects historic site
MEE correspondent Thu, 09/28/2023 - 11:15
People visit the mausoleum of Imam al-Shafi in the City of the Dead in Cairo, on 16 June 2023 (AFP)

Egypt submitted a request for modification of the boundary of historic Cairo during a Unesco meeting this week in the Saudi capital Riyadh, and denied reports of demolitions of historic tombs or mausolea, a Unesco spokesperson told Middle East Eye on Thursday.

The Egyptian government has been facing outcries from conservationists and activists who voiced their concerns about the potential damage to centuries-old artefacts and structures in Cairo’s historic City of the Dead, as the government has embarked on demolitions in the area since 2020.

The government demolitions were ordered to clear the way for a new highway and flyovers that will connect central Cairo with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s new administrative capital.

The City of the Dead is a Unesco World Heritage site that contains mausolea of historic rulers and figures, as well as centuries-old artefacts.

Bab Misr, an independent Egyptian cultural news website, reported earlier this week that the World Heritage Committee, during its latest meeting in Riyadh on Monday, urged Egypt "not to take any individual decisions in the future regarding the city without the participation of experts and civil society" and that the Committee had rejected a request submitted by the Egyptian government to reduce the area of ​​​​historic Cairo listed by the international organisation.

In response to a request for comment, a Unesco spokesperson clarified that Egypt had submitted a request for a "minor boundary modification" in relation to historic Cairo.

"In accordance with the recommendation of the experts who analysed this request, the World Heritage Committee asked in its decision the State Party to revise its request by further detailing the attributes of the property, the maps and the changes that have affected the property’s integrity since inscription," the spokesperson told MEE. 

The spokesperson added that the committee asked Cairo to invite an advisory mission of experts on-site to examine the new boundaries proposed for the property before submitting a revised minor boundary modification request, which would be based on the mission’s advice.

"When these steps have been completed, the committee may consider the State Party's request to modify the boundaries of the site," the spokesperson said.

Egypt denies demolitions

Following the Riyadh meeting, the World Heritage Committee adopted the state of conservation report and decision 45 COM 7B.38 for historic Cairo.

"In its report, Egypt informed UNESCO that no road was constructed within the boundaries of the property, and there was no demolition of any tombs or mausolea within the property, in relation to the road built at the historic Northern and Southern Cairo cemeteries," the spokesperson said.

"Nevertheless, the World Heritage Committee expressed concern about the recently reported damages by third parties and the media, and requested to submit as a matter of urgency technical information on any major project at the property, or its buffer zone. They also pointed out that the legal framework for the demolition of protected monuments remained unclear and requested clarification."

The World Heritage Committee had already expressed concerns about demolitions that took place in 2021 and requested the Egyptian government submit more information about any new construction work.

In Cairo's City of the Dead, demolitions are halted but 'damage already done'
Read More »

The Egyptian government insists they are removing modern rather than Islamic architecture.

But the demolitions that have been carried out since 2020 have caused a social media backlash, after eyewitnesses claimed old artefacts had been unearthed in the area amid construction work.

Mada Masr, an independent Egyptian news publication, reported earlier this month that the demolitions had stopped.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s former minister of tourism and antiquities, Khaled al-Anani, has been nominated as a candidate for the next director general of Unesco, prompting criticism by experts and historians. 

Giulio Regeni murder: Trial of Egyptian suspects can proceed

Par : MEE staff
Giulio Regeni murder: Trial of Egyptian suspects can proceed
Italian Constitutional Court rules four Egyptian intelligence officers can be tried in absentia over the 2016 killing
MEE staff Thu, 09/28/2023 - 11:19
 Paola and Claudio Regeni stand outside the courthouse with their lawyer Alessandra Ballerini before the pre-trial hearing to decide if four high-ranking Egyptian security officers should go on trial for the 2016 Cairo abduction, torture and killing of their son Giulio Regeni, a student, in Rome, Italy, May 25, 2021. Sign reads,
Paola and Claudio Regeni stand outside the courthouse with their lawyer Alessandra Ballerini before the pre-trial hearing in May (Reuters)

Italy’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday ruled that the trial of four Egyptian intelligence officers suspected of involvement in the 2016 murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni can proceed in absentia.

The court said the trial could proceed even though the officers have not been informed of the proceedings, while Egypt has in the past said it would not hand over the suspects to Italy.

"There is obviously great satisfaction in the possibility of holding a trial according to our constitutional principles, which remain the guiding light of our work," chief Rome prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi said in a statement on Wednesday.

Regeni, a doctoral candidate at Cambridge University who was researching independent trade unions in Egypt, was discovered dead in January 2016, after being left semi-naked on the side of the Cairo-Alexandria highway.

Examination of his body showed that he had been beaten, burned, and stabbed before his neck was broken after being struck from behind with a heavy, blunt object.

Italian prosecutors have laid responsibility for the "aggravated kidnapping" of Regeni at the feet of Major Magdi Sharif, from Egypt's General Intelligence, Major General Tarek Sabir, the former head of state security, police Colonel Hisham Helmy, and Colonel Ather Kamal, a former head of investigations in Cairo city.

Egypt election: Another fait accompli for Sisi?
Read More »

Sharif has also been accused of "conspiracy to commit aggravated murder".

The four accused were referred to a criminal trial in absentia in May 2022.

However, the court decided in October of that year that it could not proceed with the case until there was proof that the defendants had received notice of being on trial in Italy.

As a result, the case was returned to a preliminary hearings judge.

In November 2020, the Egyptian Public Prosecution closed the file on Regeni's murder, saying authorities failed to identify a suspect in the case. 

Since rising to power after a 2013 military coup, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has embarked on a brutal crackdown on any form of political opposition, jailing more than 60,000 dissidents.

Italian court says Egyptian suspects in Regeni murder can be put on trial

Israel: Police to use Pegasus spyware to probe mass shooting of Palestinian citizens

Par : MEE staff
Israel: Police to use Pegasus spyware to probe mass shooting of Palestinian citizens
Attorney general permits police to use the notorious programme to wiretap people but not extract data
MEE staff Thu, 09/28/2023 - 11:34
A girl lights candles during a vigil against violence targeting Palestinian citizens of Israel in the town of Basmat Tab'un on 27 September 2023 (AFP)
A girl lights candles during a vigil against violence targeting Palestinian citizens of Israel in the town of Basmat Tab'un on 27 September 2023 (AFP)

Israeli police will be allowed to use Pegasus spyware to investigate a mass shooting that left five Palestinian citizens of Israel dead on Wednesday, local media has said. 

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara gave the green light on Thursday for police to use the notorious programme often linked to illegal spying on activists and journalists worldwide. 

According to Channel 12, Baharav-Miara allowed police to use the spyware for wiretapping but not extracting data. 

A senior police official told Haaretz newspaper the use of the technology was important to “immediately save lives”.

On Wednesday, five Palestinian citizens of Israel from the same family, including two children, were shot dead by unknown gunmen in the Basmat Tab'un town in the Galilee. 

It was the latest homicide affecting Palestinian citizens amid spiralling crime-related deaths in the community in recent months. 

Since the beginning of the year, at least 190 Palestinians have been killed by organised crime gangs, setting a record-high rate. In contrast, 116 fatalities were recorded in 2022. 

The vast majority of the killers have not been caught, while only 15 percent of organised crime cases have resulted in indictments. 

Israeli police have been heavily criticised for their inaction in fighting organised crime. 

Israel's arms and spyware: Used on Palestinians, sold to the world
Read More »

Many Palestinians accuse Israeli authorities of neglect and complicity with criminals in a bid to weaken the social fabric of their community and make them feel unsafe. 

Since early 2022, Israeli police have been banned from using Pegasus after it was revealed the force had used the spyware to hack the phones of political activists, mayors, senior officials and criminals, without a court order. 

The Pegasus software was developed by the Israel-based NSO Group and has been used by governments to illegally access people's phone data. 

Earlier this year, the White House said Pegasus had been used by governments "to facilitate repression and enable human rights abuses".

The US Department of Commerce placed NSO Group on its blacklist in 2021.

Israel: Police to use Pegasus spyware to probe mass shooting of Palestinian citizens

EU-Tunisia migrant deal 'terrible for human rights', says HRW

Par : MEE staff
EU-Tunisia migrant deal 'terrible for human rights', says HRW
Rights group condemns migration deal under which bloc paid Tunis more than $135m last week
MEE staff Thu, 09/28/2023 - 12:08
Tunisia's President Kais Saied and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agree a deal on migration in Tunis in July 2023 (Reuters)
Tunisia's President Kais Saied and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agree a deal on migration in Tunis in July 2023 (Reuters)

The European Union’s decision to release $135m in migrant control assistance to Tunisia was branded “terrible for human rights” by rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday.

Last week, the European Commission announced the payment, which came after a controversial deal signed with the North African country in July.

The decision by the EU was made “despite an absence of any specific human rights guarantees for migrants and asylum seekers”, said HRW.

Moreover the deal risked making the EU “complicit in abuses” carried out by Tunisian authorities.

The deal came at a time when Sub-Saharan Africans in Tunisia are the target of anti-immigrant rhetoric by government officials.

Tunisia's President Kais Saied has previously said there is conspiracy to change the demographic make-up of the country using migrants from elsewhere on the continent.

The “rush to send money” to Tunisia after a significant rise in migrants to the bloc demonstrated the “EU’s obsession with sealing its borders over saving lives”, added HRW.

In giving money to Tunisia, HRW warned that the country’s human rights abuses will not only go “unchallenged” but the migrant issue risked being used to pressure the EU for additional funds.

Increased migrant arrivals

The financial assistance is meant to prop up Tunisia's crisis-hit economy and help the country stop migrants from heading to the EU. More than 10,000 migrants have arrived at the Italian island of Lampedusa in recent weeks.

Italy's right-wing prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has been pushing the EU to fulfil the agreement that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen brokered in July.

The EU agreed to pay the first instalment despite Tunisia banning an EU delegation from visiting the country last week.

Tunisia preventing sub-Saharan Africans access to food and water, campaigners warn
Read More »

Mounir Satouri, a French member of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, called the decision a "slap in the face to parliamentary diplomacy".

Speaking to Middle East Eye, Satouri said "this is the first time since 2011 that it has not been possible to simply exchange views, to meet the players in the country's political and associative life".

This year between 1 January and 23 July, more than 84,300 individuals arrived in Italy by sea, a 144 percent increase from the preceding year. Some 66 percent of these arrivals made landfall on Lampedusa, up from the 48 percent recorded during the same period in the previous year.

This surge can be attributed, in part, to the escalating numbers of arrivals from Sfax in Tunisia, which has now surpassed Libya as the principal departure point for refugees embarking on the perilous journey across the central Mediterranean to reach Europe.

Based on data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 58 percent of refugee sea crossings in the first three months of 2023 originated from Tunisia.

Migrant abuses

MEE reported earlier this month that Sub-Saharan Africans in Tunisia are increasingly being denied emergency food and water supplies in the government's latest move to crack down on migration at the behest of Saied.

The plight of migrants, mainly from Sub-Saharan countries, is the "worst" in modern Tunisian history, Nicholas Noe, a senior visiting fellow at Refugees International, told MEE.

Earlier this year, HRW reported that the Tunisian police, military, national guard and coastguard have been involved in grave violations against Black African migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.

Beatings, use of excessive force, some cases of torture, arbitrary arrests and detention, collective expulsions, dangerous actions at sea, forced evictions and theft of money and belongings are all examples of abuses documented by HRW.

EU migrant deal with Tunisia 'terrible for human rights'

Israel's religious far right has a new settler target: Tel Aviv

Israel's religious far right has a new settler target: Tel Aviv
Violent confrontations over gender-segregated prayers have exposed an uncomfortable truth for liberal Israelis - the religious Zionist community is here to stay
Lily Galili Thu, 09/28/2023 - 14:41
A man and a woman stand along the Mediterranean sea shore as religious Jews gather to perform the Tashlich ritual in Tel Aviv on 17 September ahead of Yom Kippur (AFP)
A man and woman on the shore of the Mediterranean as religious Jews gather to perform the Tashlich ritual in Tel Aviv on 17 September ahead of Yom Kippur (AFP)

First we take Hebron, then we take Tel Aviv.

Though this line may echo Leonard Cohen’s famous words “First we take Manhatten, then we take Berlin”, it is not a take on a popular song.

Instead it is a master plan meticulously designed by the religious Zionist community over the years – a plan now implemented using the political power of two parties within Israel's government: Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s Jewish Power.

Do not make the mistake of thinking “take Tel Aviv” is a metaphor. It is an elaborate programme to seize the one city in Israel that has become a symbol of liberalism and openness, and change it to its core.

The best way to describe the nature of this far-reaching plan is to compare it to the ongoing process of Judaisation – where Jewish citizens are sent to the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem to settle and chase out Palestinian residents, a process that later targeted mixed Palestinian-Jewish cities in Israel in a bid to change the demographics there too.

The case of Tel Aviv is of course different, since most of the residents are Jewish, but, crucially, mainly secular or religious liberals. That, Smotrich and Ben Gvir’s cadre believe, needs to change, spreading instead a creed of religious Zionism that is nationalistic, homophobic, xenophobic and racist.

Religion here is just a tool to achieve a greater, political cause. Young religious Zionist families collaborate to move en masse to locations chosen by political leaders behind the scenes. Just like Jewish settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories and mixed cities, they settle in the heart of Tel Aviv’s secular population.

The process is spreading rapidly. Today there are more than 80 groups pursuing religious Zionist settlement in majority-secular communities across Israel. Some representatives of these groups have made their way into several municipal councils, with the intention of changing the very nature of their carefully picked place of residence.

Religious men read from a book on Tel Aviv's shore (AFP)
Religious men read from a book on Tel Aviv's shore (AFP)

They are on a mission. In fact, they are missionaries, a local version of Jewish Crusaders, now openly empowered by their representation in the government. Many of them come from the illegal settlements in the West Bank, having accomplished their demographic mission there. It’s time to move on.

The same people who expropriate Palestinian land now expropriate Israel’s liberal public sphere. Like in the West Bank, these settlers have state backing. Minister of Settlements and National Missions Orit Strook secured 600m shekels from the budget just for this cause. Her office also has 1.6bn shekels allocated to spread and impose Judaism by other means.

There are other ministers in the government dedicated to the same mission, holding portfolios with names like “Jewish tradition” and “Jewish identity”. In essence it all boils down to Jewish supremacy. And Jewish supremacy needs more nationalist religious Jews.

Settlers turn inwards

It’s an intricate religious-political operation. “Judaising” secular Jews is part of their messianic vision, one necessary step towards salvation.

And while it happened in the periphery, Tel Aviv’s indifferent residents were able to largely ignore it. Then it erupted out of the blue in the heart of their city at the most unexpected time: the eve of Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement and the holiest day in all Judaism.

This is also the one day when religious customs are obeyed in Israel with no coercion - no cars, no commerce, no entertainment. Everyday life is put on hold. Most secular Jews respect the tradition and do not even eat or drink in public, showing respect to the high percentage of those who do fast on this day.

For several years now, parallel to prayers in all synagogues there have been organised public prayers. These laid-back affairs draw many non-observant Jews and have become a much-loved ritual.

All that changed dramatically this year when an organisation called Rosh Yehudi (Jewish Head) organised a public prayer promising gender segregation, in accordance with strict Orthodox Judaism.

Gender segregation has become a sensitive issue under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nationalist-orthodox government, which is almost women-free itself. Women are now finding themselves sent to the back of buses, publicly reprimanded to “dress properly” and literally removed from the public sphere, where images of women are torn down and ripped to shreds.

Cyclists ride on a car-free highway during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv, 25 September (AP)
Cyclists ride on a car-free highway during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv, 25 September (AP)

Some liberal groups filed a petition against the gender segregation at the prayer Rosh Yehudi organised in the heart of Tel Aviv, and the high court ruled in their favour. The organisers went ahead and segregated men and women anyway, then all hell broke loose.

In a second, on the holiest of all days, a physical confrontation erupted between religious Zionists gathered by the organisers and secular protesters. There were no casualties, but everyone was soaked in hate.

Neither side had really come to pray. It was a carefully preconceived provocation, answered by rage fuelled by months of Israelis watching their country changing in front of their eyes. Tel Aviv is secular Israel’s Bastille. It cannot fall.

Netanyahu responded by saying “left-wing demonstrators rioted against Jews during their prayer” - which to many was taken as insinuating that liberal Israelis are not actually Jewish.

For many religious Zionists, this is indeed the case. And they want to fix it.

Jewish Crusaders

Israel Zeira is the owner and CEO of Be Emuna, a real estate company. He’s also head of Rosh Yehudi, the NGO that organised the Tel Aviv prayer and describes itself as dedicated to spreading and deepening of Jewish values and identity.

The organisation was established in the Jewish settlement in the West Bank city of Hebron, post-Oslo Accords. Its main aim was then to prevent the Jewish settlement, which is in the heart of the city, from being evacuated.

Yet Zeira and other Rosh Yehudi leaders decided their mission would be better served from Tel Aviv rather than Hebron, defining its base of operations as a “centre for self-consciousness” that “provides an answer to the growing demand for Jewish identity”.

Sounds quite harmless. It is not. Just a month ago, Zeira was recorded giving a lecture. In it, he addressed his audience asking: “What does a national religious Zionist think when he sees a secular Jew?”

'We want all Jews to become religious. Every secular "fixed" Jew who becomes religious brings us closer to salvation'

- Israel Zeira, Rosh Yehudi

“To befriend him?” Zeira continued. “That stage belongs to the past… now we have reached the point when we want to befriend him in order to change him, to fix him. We want all Jews to become religious. Every secular ‘fixed’ Jew who becomes religious brings us closer to salvation.”

In recent years, Zeira has been offering a series of courses for graduates of the religious Zionist education system to prepare them for their mission: to move to Tel Aviv and plant roots in its society.

Smotrich himself came to bless recent graduates. He referred to those young missionaries as “our emissaries” and urged them not to fear, not to be embarrassed - just go and get as many souls as possible and make them “born again Jews”.

If that was not enough, as CEO of a construction company Zeira oversaw a building project for the religious Zionist community in the southern city of Kiryat-Gat. As part of an advertising campaign for the project, a short video was released showing a religious family cheerfully dining and celebrating. There’s a knock on the door, announcing an uninvited neighbour: loud, vulgar and - crucially - clearly Sephadric.

What a disaster for the quiet, well-behaved Ashkenazi family. A voiceover promoting Zeira’s new housing project appeals: “If you want to live surrounded by people like you.” Ashkenazi, of course.

This campaign was deemed too openly racist, and was forced to desist, but it is an excellent example of the discriminatory nature of the religious Zionist sector.

Existential questions

Thirty-eight weeks into the demonstrations against the government’s highly controversial judicial overhaul, Israel finds itself in an all-out clash of civilisations. Yet it’s not just a war for the future of Judaism, but for the future of Israel.

The state established on the principle that all Jews are bound by their shared fate now faces a major conflict defining its covenant of destiny and mission. What is Israel to be? Who are Israelis? Even, who is a Jew?

Before Israelis’ eyes, the equation they tried to adopt defining their country as a Jewish democratic state is crumbling before their eyes. There are some who believe Israel can be redeemed by redefining the state as one that gives Jews the right to self-determination. But that, too, cannot be realised amid domestic chaos where hate and violence prevail.

The incident in Tel Aviv on the eve of Yom Kippur is an integral part of the story of the anti-judicial reform protest movement. Holding gender-segregated prayers right where anti-government protests are held weekly was a knowing provocation, and provided a trigger.

The seeds of the next calamity are planted in the reaction of both sides of the political spectrum. Rosh Yehudi launched a campaign titled “Now more than ever Tel Aviv needs a Jewish head”.

Analysis: Why Israel's judicial crisis is part of a battle over its founding symbols
Read More »

“Rosh Yehudi is at the frontline now. Help us grow, and thanks to you we will be able to spread the light of Torah and repentance in Tel Aviv,” the campaign’s website reads. It’s already raised over 1.5m shekels, and aims to double that.

This is exactly what worries the liberal camp, which is up in arms and ready to fight back. Many now regret the submissiveness they have long displayed when confronted with ardent believers.

However, there are others who look back at the Yom Kippur confrontation and fear their camp might have chosen the wrong cause and the wrong timing. Leading figures in the protest movement expressed concern that this aggressive approach might mark the first cracks in the unity of their cause.

There are worries in the other camp too. Itamar Ben Gvir cancelled the retaliatory Tel Aviv “prayer rally” he planned to hold on Thursday, under pressure from his coalition partners.

There is a lesson to learn for the liberal camp in Israel. Picking on the ultra-orthodox, focusing anger and frustration on this community, has always been a big mistake.

Liberals are offended by the amounts of money the ultra-orthodox demand and receive from the state. They are exasperated by the community’s refusal to serve in the army. But the ultra-orthodox do not want to change others, they just don’t want to change themselves. In truth, their cause is no real threat to the liberal and secular Israelis.

The true enemy of liberal Israelis are instead the settler movement and the religious Zionist sector behind it.

It is not a matter of strategy, it’s a matter of survival. Tel Aviv cannot become a Maginot Line and fall at the first test. Not because it is more important than other locations, just because it’s symbolic. Symbols do matter in this fight for the future.  

Tel Aviv, Israel

Saudi-Israel normalisation impossible if Palestinian state is on the table, says Pompeo

Par : MEE staff
Saudi-Israel normalisation impossible if Palestinian state is on the table, says Pompeo
Former US secretary of state says normalisation between the two countries easier to attain under a Republican president
MEE staff Thu, 09/28/2023 - 17:05
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland on 3 March 2023.
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland, on 3 March 2023 (AFP)

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that normalisation between Saudi Arabia and Israel is impossible if such a deal included the creation of a Palestinian state.

Speaking in an interview with the Jerusalem Post, published on Wednesday, Pompeo, who served under the previous US President Donald Trump, said “it is impossible to imagine a two-state solution with the current Palestinian leadership", accusing the Palestinian Authority (PA) of "underwriting terrorism, taking money from Iran, paying citizens to kill Israelis".

“It is very difficult to imagine how one would strike a deal with the very leaders that have rejected every reasonable offer with which they have been presented," Pompeo said.

The remarks from the former US chief diplomat come after Saudi Arabia's newly appointed ambassador to Palestine visited Ramallah and said that a core element of any normalisation with Israel would include a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Pompeo, who served under the administration that brokered the initial peace deals between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco, added that Saudi-Israel normalisation would “be more easily attainable with a Republican president".

The former secretary of state's interview did not make mention of one of Saudi Arabia's demands for normalisation, which is US assistance in establishing a civil nuclear programme. 

Under the Trump administration, the US approved secret authorisations for companies to sell nuclear technology and assistance to the kingdom, which received major backlash from members of Congress.

'Must not give Palestinians veto power'

The Biden administration has for months been pushing both Israel and Saudi Arabia to normalise relations, in a potential deal being touted by the US administration as a "transformative moment" that would move the region from turmoil to stability.

Middle East policy experts, however, have said that a potential deal would lead to a greater state of autocracy and repression in the region.

Saudi-Israel normalisation means greater Middle East repression, experts say
Read More »

Last week, in a wide-ranging interview with Fox News, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke at length about Saudi negotiations with Israel over a normalisation deal. 

But during the discussion, there was no mention of Palestinian statehood, civil and human rights, or any other specifics.

"For us, the Palestinian issue is very important. We need to solve that part," Saudi Arabia's de facto leader told the US media outlet. "We hope that it will reach a place, that it will ease the life of the Palestinians and get Israel back as a player of the Middle East," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also stressed that "we must not give the Palestinians a veto over new peace treaties with Arab states".

'I didn't read it': The campaign to ban a pro-Palestine book at Princeton

Par : Azad Essa
'I didn't read it': The campaign to ban a pro-Palestine book at Princeton
The founder of the Jewish Leadership Project, who organised billboards outside the university and rallied politicians behind his cause, admitted to not reading book
Azad Essa Sun, 09/24/2023 - 23:17
A course offered by Princeton's department of Near Eastern studies has come under sustained criticism for featuring a book by Jasbir Puar (MEE/Azad Essa)

The leader of a Jewish group who spearheaded a campaign attacking Princeton University's president and its students for refusing to censor a pro-Palestine book, has not read the text in question, Middle East Eye can reveal.

The book, The Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disabilityhas come under sustained criticism since early August, when right-wing Zionist groups discovered it was on the syllabus of a course at Princeton's department of Near East studies (NES).

The book, written by Jasbir Puar, was one of six texts on the curriculum for a course called: "The Healing Humanities: Decolonizing Trauma Studies from the Global South", taught by professor Satyel Larson.

After several letters from Israeli institutions and a US congressman failed to have the book removed from the syllabus, an organisation called the Jewish Leadership Project (JLP) hired trucks with billboards to patrol around Princeton University last week where it targeted the university's president, Christopher Eisgruber, and students who pushed back against the effort.

"Shame on Princeton University and President Eisgruber. The university that provided refuge to Jewish scientists fleeing Nazi Germany is now promoting blood libel against Jews and hiring apologists of a nuclear-armed genocidal regime in Iran," another billboard read.

"There is nothing progressive about endorsing Jew-hatred by pretending to be for social justice: Moral narcissists," one message on the electronic billboards read.

'If you have a problem with the book, you would really have to argue with the footnotes'

Siraj Ahmed, Cuny

But in an interview with MEE, Ralph Avi Goldwasser, the founder of JLP who organised the truck and billboards that also featured at the Palestine Writes Festival in Philadelphia, admitted that he neither read the book nor had any intention of doing so.  

"I did not read the book," Goldwasser said, before attempting to describe Puar's work.

"I have read about the book. The author has a long history of lying," he added.

"The book is another example of blood libel which accuses Jews of abusing children. This has been used in the past to instigate violence against Jews. That Princeton would allow this book to be taught - is disgusting," Goldwasser said.

'The Right To Maim'

Puar's book, The Right To Maim, argues that Israel has deliberately engaged in maiming Palestinians as a matter of policy.

In 2019, doctors in Gaza told MEE that Israeli snipers had intentionally harmed Palestinians who were demonstrating during the Great March of Return protests that began in March 2018.

United Nations inquiry report later found that at least 80 percent of the 6,106 protesters wounded in the first nine months of the Great March of Return protests were shot in their lower limbs.

In a review of The Right to Maim, Emily R Douglas wrote that Puar demonstrated that "rather than a by-product of war or a means to another end, [maiming] is the goal of Israeli tactics and technologies in Gaza, including for instance, "shoot to cripple plastic and fragmenting bullets". 

Likewise, Ian Hosbach from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte said that Puar's analysis extended beyond the question of Palestine and "reveals the ways in which sub-US populations may be targets of a domestic right to maim and how the US government is implicated in its exercise in Palestine".

"In any case, Puar has produced an invaluable insight into contemporary state violence, and its legitimation functions," Hosbach added.

Siraj Ahmed, professor at CUNY, says Jasbir Puar's book is meticulously researched (MEE/Azad Essa)
Siraj Ahmed, professor at Cuny, says Jasbir Puar's book is meticulously researched (MEE/Azad Essa)

Siraj Ahmed, a professor at City University of New York (Cuny), who taught the book in one of his classes, said it was clear that those who were alleging the book engages in blood libel had not bothered to engage with the material.

"The book is not a critique of Jews. It is critique of Zionism and a critique of colonialism," Ahmed told MEE.

He also said the book was meticulously written, adding that there wasn't a single claim that Puar put forward that wasn't sourced. 

"If you have a problem with the book, you would really have to argue with the footnotes," Ahmed argued.

How it started

The controversy at Princeton first began making waves when organisations such as Stand with Us, as well as Amichai Chikli, Israel’s diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism minister, began attacking the book.

"This delusional and false accusation is nothing but a modern-day antisemitic blood libel," Chikli said.

Ronald Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress, then called on the university "to cancel the course in question immediately, fire its professor, Satyel Larson, and issue a public apology to its students, the global Israeli community, and Jews all over the world".

In response to the attacks, more than 400 students, faculty and alumni signed a petition initiated by a Jewish student supporting Larson's right to teach the book. 

But the pushback did not end the attacks, instead, it intensified them.

Princeton University’s progressive Jews oppose banning book that says Israel maims Palestinians
Read More »

On 10 September, pro-Israel Congressman Josh Gottheimer joined the fray by writing two letters, one of which expressed outrage for hosting outspoken critics of Israel such as the journalist and academic Marc Lamont Hill, as well as musician Roger Waters, at the Palestine Writes Festival.

Gottheimer described them as "well known antisemetic and anti-Israel speakers".

In his second letter addressed to Eisgruber, Gottheimer described Puar's book as "containing antisemitic tropes and anti-Israel sentiment" [that] "clearly contradict the University’s mission of inclusivity, which includes protecting Jewish students".

"This is political activism masquerading as scholarship," Gottheimer wrote.

Incidentally, Goldwasser, from JLP, similarly told MEE that criticism of Israel was a cover for antisemitism.

On 13 September, Eisgruber wrote back to Congressman Gottheimer and he dismissed the suggestion that Puar's book should be pulled from a university syllabus, asserting that the lawmaker may have misunderstood the role of a university.

"Those who disagree with a book, or a syllabus, are free to criticize it but not to censor it.  Such arguments are the lifeblood of a great university, where controversies must be addressed through deliberation and debate, not administrative fiat," the Princeton president wrote.

"As I said earlier, Princeton will work vigorously to ensure that all students can thrive here, but not by censoring our curriculum."

With the university refusing to relent, Goldwasser deployed his mobile billboards to Princeton and Philadelphia.

Undermining Palestinians

Emmanuel Sippy, the head of the Alliance of Jewish Progressives (AJP) at Princeton, told MEE that attempts to regulate Larson's course were unsurprising, given that Palestinian perspectives are routinely undermined and conflated with antisemitism or blood libel by mainstream pro-Israel Jewish student groups without any consequence or accountability from the university.

Sippy said that the Zionist Hillel student organisation, Center for Jewish Life (CJL), routinely organises trips to Israel, encouraging students to "connect with Israeli entrepreneurs and startup culture" or through the form of annual birthright tours.

Palestinian students file federal complaint alleging discrimination at University of Illinois
Read More »

When the Princeton Committee on Palestine (PCP), made up of several Jewish students, protested against a planned student "Tiger Trek to Israel" in November 2022, in which students were going to engage with entities associated with the Israeli army, they were accused of antisemitism. 

Sippy also pointed to the treatment of Mohammed El-Kurd, who delivered the Edward Said Memorial Lecture at the university in February 2023.

After his presentation, Chabad Rabbi Eitan Webb stood up and shouted:

“I would like to thank you very much for giving a masterclass on how to be an antisemite,” Webb told El-Kurd.

Then, in May 2023, as thousands of Israelis began protesting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's controversial judicial overhaul, Princeton hired an outspoken supporter of the said overhaul as a lecturer at the university.

Sippy said that in an environment in which right-wing Zionist ideologues are normalised, it was only natural that Palestinian students were hesitant to express themselves fully at the university. 

Emmanuel Sippy says there is a prevailing hostility towards Palestinian perspectives at Princeton (MEE/Azad Essa)
Emmanuel Sippy says there is a prevailing hostility towards Palestinian perspectives at Princeton (MEE/Azad Essa)

Harshini Abbaraju, a Princeton alumni, told MEE that opposition to the book spoke to a fundamental contradiction and hypocrisy among the right wing on the question of academic freedom.

Abbaraju said that given Princeton's position as an assembly line to politically influential roles in government, it was a deliberate ploy to block students from learning, discussing and potentially taking this education to their future jobs as policymakers.

"They don’t want us talking about Palestine at Princeton. That's why they [are] fighting tooth and nail against it." 

"So this is not just a case of censorship. This book reveals some very harsh truths of the incremental genocide which Palestinians have been subjected to," Abbaraju said.

The other digital billboard accused the university of betraying its history as a safe haven for Jews  (MEE/Azad Essa)
A digital billboard accused the university of betraying its history as a safe haven for Jews (Supplied)

Several Jewish students who signed the petition declined to speak to MEE about their reasons for doing so.

One Jewish student told MEE on condition of anonymity that he had signed it because it "was a cut and dry case of censorship that was coming in part from the Israeli government and from leadership from campus".

The student inferred that he still wanted to be part of mainstream Jewish life at the university but it was "incidents like these" that made him and others feel alienated from these organisations.

Another Jewish student described the attempt by the Israeli minister to dictate what could be taught at Princeton as extraordinary.

"For me, that was shocking. I didn't believe it at first, and then I looked into it," the student said.

The Princeton Committee on Palestine, the local student group advocating for Palestine at the university, did not reply to MEE's request for comment.

Israel's shift to the far right tests American Jewish support
Read More »

One Palestinian student at Princeton told MEE on condition of anonymity, that as someone who grew up worried about how people might react when they found out she was Palestinian, the developments on campus in recent weeks have been troubling and confusing.

"My initial reaction is to want to go into a shell even further. I would be a little scared to express who I am because I would be afraid of retribution from different groups," the student said.

At the same time, it makes me want to be more outspoken as to who I am because there is this consistent erasure of Palestinians in every form and in every sphere, and it's important that we don't get erased just because people don't agree on who we are as a people," the student added.

Goldwasser, from JLP, told MEE that he was not aware if Puar's book was being taught at other universities, and if so, he would tackle them, too.

In 2023, there were several attempts to censor students and academics critical of Israel on campuses across the US.

In January, Kenneth Roth, the former Human Rights Watch executive director, was denied a fellowship position at Harvard University.

Roth told MEE at the time that the reason for his denial likely had to do with his criticism of Israel.

Princeton University's communications team declined to comment and directed MEE's queries to previous statements issued by the university over the past month.

Princeton, New Jersey

Pakistan's rupee surges amid crackdown on illegal dollar trade

Par : MEE staff
Pakistan's rupee surges amid crackdown on illegal dollar trade
According to Bloomberg, the rupee saw a nearly six percent increase in September
MEE staff Thu, 09/28/2023 - 17:52
A Pakistani man counts rupees at his shop in Karachi, on 16 May 2019 (AFP)

Pakistan's rupee is on track to be the best-performing currency worldwide this month, following the government's measures against unauthorised dollar transactions.

The rupee saw a nearly six percent increase in September. On Thursday, it climbed 0.1 percent to Rs287.95 against the dollar, rebounding from its all-time low of approximately Rs307 earlier this month, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

The government of Pakistan had amplified its measures to curtail the illegal trading of dollars that has been supporting the currency. 

The Federal Investigation Agency conducted raids on offices nationwide, and incognito security officials were stationed at currency exchange centres to oversee dollar transactions.

“When the dollar rate reverses everybody, the hoarders, the exporters who are holding their export proceeds, start selling their dollars,” Khurram Schehzad, chief executive officer of Alpha Beta Core Solutions, told Bloomberg.

The central bank has increased the capital requirements for smaller currency exchange firms and directed major banks to establish their own exchange services. This move aims to enhance transparency and facilitate closer monitoring of the retail foreign exchange market.

Pakistan has been suffering from an acute economic crisis and a severe depletion of its foreign reserves, leading it to secure a bailout from the International Monetary Fund to the tune of $3bn. The IMF loan approval came shortly after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates deposited a combined total of $3bn with the State Bank of Pakistan. 

In the course of a year, Pakistan's GDP growth rate had gone down from 6.1 percent to somewhere around 0.3 percent, while large-scale manufacturing has seen a recession, with growth falling from 10.6 percent last year to -8.11 percent. 

Middle East Eye reported last month that political unrest worsened an already dire economic situation that is pushing young people to look for work abroad. In over a year, nearly one million Pakistanis left for the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar in search of better lives.

Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that billions in humanitarian aid and increased trade with neighbouring Asian countries propelled Afghanistan's currency to become the best performer this quarter overall, with a nine percent ascent.

“The ruling Taliban, which seized power two years ago, has also unleashed a series of measures to keep the Afghani in a stronghold, including banning the use of dollars and Pakistani rupees in local transactions and tightening restrictions on bringing greenbacks outside the country,” Bloomberg wrote.

Former President Donald Trump wanted to leverage Israel aid, upcoming book reveals

Par : MEE staff
Former President Donald Trump wanted to leverage Israel aid, upcoming book reveals
According to the book, Trump asked whether US aid could be leveraged for a peace deal, and displayed frustration when told it couldn't be done
MEE staff Thu, 09/28/2023 - 20:55
Donald Trump speaks at Drake Enterprises, an automotive parts manufacturer and supplier in Clinton, Michigan, on 27 September 2023 (AFP)

Former President Donald Trump floated the idea of conditioning aid to Israel for a peace deal, a book by the former executive editor of The Washington Post reveals.

Marty Baron’s book, Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and The Washington Post, says that in 2017, after Trump's visit to Israel where he met both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Trump questioned whether the annual $3.8bn US aid to Israel could be leveraged to facilitate a peace agreement with the Palestinians, and upon learning that US military assistance to Israel could not be used in that way, he displayed frustration.

“I was told ‘there’s no connection’,” Trump told a group of journalists during a dinner at the White House, according to the book, which is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, The Forward reported on Thursday.

“No connection?” Trump said in disbelief.

A recent book by Israeli journalist Barak Ravid claims that Trump had a favourable impression of Abbas. In an interview with Ravid, Trump said: "I thought he was terrific." He further expressed his belief that Abbas was more inclined towards making a deal compared to Netanyahu.

In May 2018, Trump made the highly controversial decision to unilaterally recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to the historic city. 

In March 2019, Trump enacted an executive order acknowledging Israel's authority over the Syrian Golan Heights, which were annexed by Israel in 1981. Experts criticised Trump's order as a breach of international law, which forbids countries from seizing territory through military force.

The Trump administration was the architect of the Abraham Accords, a 2020 agreement normalising relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco (with Sudan joining later). The Biden administration has since attempted to expand the agreement to bring forth a normalisation of ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel. 

Trump, who is running for president again and is the Republican Party frontrunner, has been charged with state and federal crimes and is currently facing four indictments. He is accused of having broken New York State law by purportedly consenting to conceal a series of reimbursement payments made to his previous attorney, Michael Cohen.

He is also accused of keeping classified documents after leaving the White House and storing them "in various locations at The Mar-a-Lago Club including in a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, an office space, his bedroom, and a storage room", according to the indictment. He is also accused of a "scheme to conceal" that he had kept those documents, CBS reported.

Trump is accused of being involved in a plot to disrupt the smooth transition of power following his 2020 election defeat to President Joe Biden.

And lastly, Trump, along with 18 individuals, faces accusations under Georgia's Rico law for allegedly orchestrating a plan to obstruct the certification of the state's 2020 presidential election results. 

Tunisia: Opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi begins hunger strike

Par : MEE staff
Tunisia: Opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi begins hunger strike
Ghannouchi, who has been jailed since April, says he will not eat until restrictions on him and other prisoners are lifted
MEE staff Fri, 09/29/2023 - 08:14
Ennahdha Rached Ghannouchi, the head of Tunisia's Islamist movement, greets supporters upon arriving at a police station in Tunis on 21 February 2023 (AFP)
Ennahdha Rached Ghannouchi, the head of Tunisia's Islamist movement, greets supporters upon arriving at a police station in Tunis on 21 February 2023 (AFP)

Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of Tunisia’s main opposition party, announced that he will begin a hunger strike on Friday. 

The Ennahda party leader, the most prominent critic of Tunisian President Kais Saied, made the announcement through adviser Riad al-Shuaibi on Thursday, according to local media.

In a Facebook post, Ennahda adviser al-Shuaibi stated that the hunger strike would be “ongoing” until “all grievances and restrictions imposed on him and other political detainees are lifted”.

Ennahda, a self-defined Muslim-democratic movement and one of the most prominent parties in Tunisia, confirmed the hunger strike in an official statement on Friday.

Ghannouchi joins Jawher Ben Mbarek, another prominent opposition figure and fierce critic of Saied, on the hunger strike.

The Ennahda leader was arrested on 17 April on the orders of a Tunisian judge and was under investigation by authorities for money laundering and incitement to violence, charges he denies and that his supporters claim are politically motivated. 

On 15 May, Ghannouchi, who refused to appear before the judiciary because he believed the charges were fabricated for political reasons, was sentenced in absentia to a year in prison. The sentence marked the most high-profile escalation of an authoritarian crackdown that has been ongoing since Saied took office.

“Kais Saied is making a mockery of the judiciary, using it as a tool for political revenge and persecution,” Ghannouchi's daughter tweeted at the time.

Calls for release

Last month, hundreds of influential figures from across the Arab and Muslim world demanded the release of Ghannouchi and other political detainees in Tunisia, 100 days on from his arrest.

According to the signatories of the open letter to Tunisian authorities, Ghannouchi’s arrest is part of a “widespread crackdown” on dissent that has intensified since February 2023, as more than a dozen opposition figures have been arrested, including judges, politicians, activists and businessmen. 

Tunisia sentences opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi to year in prison
Read More »

Ghannouchi served as the speaker of parliament but Saied dissolved parliament. He led a centrist party of what he called "Muslim democrats", who aimed to find common ground with Tunisia's secular factions in the administration.

The 82-year-old political leader was handed a prison sentence and a fine in connection with public remarks he made at a funeral last year when he praised the deceased, an Ennahda member, as a “courageous man” who did not fear “a ruler or tyrant”.

Kais Saied, a former constitutional law professor, was elected president in 2019, vowing to clean up corruption and cut through political chaos.

In 2021, he closed down parliament and began consolidating power. He has arrested journalists, activists and political opponents, in what Amnesty International has decried as “a politically motivated witch hunt”.

This article is available in French on the Middle East Eye French edition.

Tunisian opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi begins hunger strike

Iranian press review: Curly hair banned for male medical students

Iranian press review: Curly hair banned for male medical students
Meanwhile, unrestricted internet for foreigners causes anger, and pro-establishment mothers march in support of 'childbearing jihad'
MEE correspondent Fri, 09/29/2023 - 11:23
A young Iranian man walks along a street in downtown Tehran at sunset on 8 June 2023 (Reuters)
A young Iranian man walks along a street in downtown Tehran at sunset on 8 June 2023 (Reuters)

List of new restrictions announced for students

At the beginning of the new academic year, Iran's health ministry published a list of new instructions for medical students, in which male students and physician assistants were banned from having curly hair.

These new restrictions were announced after a law passed by parliament on 20 September to impose harsher punishments on women defying the compulsory Islamic hijab and dress code.

On Monday, the Etemad Daily published the details of the health ministry's instructions, which oblige medical schools to grade students based on their compliance with the Islamic hijab law.

Most of the restrictions announced targeted women. However, two bans were explicitly for men: a "ban on having curly hair" and a "ban on wearing bracelets".

The daily reported that apart from covering the hair, other obligations were directed towards women, including a ban on putting on false eyelashes, having nail extensions, tucking trousers into boots, and wearing lace socks.

"Wearing clothes with printed images of women, love sentences, swearing, comic and meaningless pictures, anti-religious symbols, logos of rap, and heavy metal bands" were also prohibited in this directive.

The new order also forbade "having tattoos on the face (especially lips, eyebrows, and eye tattoos), on visible parts of the body (such as hands, face, and...), and piercing on body parts such as nose rings".

Indignation over better internet for foreigners

A decision by Iran's officials to offer "special SIM cards" to foreign tourists, enabling them to have unrestricted internet while visiting the country, has provoked anger among Iranians who encounter difficulties in accessing reliable internet.

On Sunday, Ali Asghar Shalbafan, a deputy at the tourism ministry, told ISNA news agency that "unrestricted tourism SIM cards" would be provided to foreign tourists.

Iran bets on brutal new hijab law after a year of failing to suppress women
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The decision was made amid ongoing internet cutoffs since the anti-establishment protests that swept the country last September following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. At the same time, social media platforms and messaging applications such as Instagram and WhatsApp have been blocked.

The move received adverse reactions from the public and politicians, with many labelling it a "capitulation law".

On Monday, the Aftab daily criticised the decision under the headline, "Tourism SIM card or capitulation in simple words?"

"It's not right to offer extra convenience to others while Iranians lack basic internet access. Offering special deals to tourists is fine, but not at the expense of Iranian citizens' rights," wrote the daily.

Iranian lawmaker Moein-odin Saeedi also lambasted the government's decision, calling it "internet capitulation".

"How can they provide unrestricted access to social media for outsiders while millions of Iranians, who rely on these platforms for income, can't access the internet?" the ILNA news agency quoted him as saying.

Mothers hold 'childbearing jihad' march

Photos published by local media showing a large group of women in black chadors pushing children's strollers during an official military march in the central city of Yazd have sparked criticism and mockery among Iranians.

The photos were first published by the country's official news agency, IRNA, and the semi-governmental ISNA news agency. In the images, a small white flag with Farsi writing that read "childbearing jihad" was seen attached to each stroller.

Pro-establishment outlets, such as the Hamshahri daily, republished the photos, hailing the move as a landmark example of obedience to the country's supreme leader's demand to increase the birth rate. 

In recent years, authorities in Iran have widely campaigned for increasing the country's population as a strategic policy to maintain dominance in the region. At the same time, officials have banned the free distribution of contraceptive products and prohibited voluntary sterilisations.

However, in response to the official outlets, ordinary Iranians took to Farsi social media to denounce the mothers' march as a form of child abuse.

"This country has over one million ready-to-fight soldiers to protect women and children from the battleground. This march with the strollers was a disrespect to a military march, a disrespect to mothers, and a disrespect to children's rights," one Iranian social media user wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Meanwhile, some other Iranians used the occasion to ridicule Iranian officials' demographic policies and military shows.

"Apparently, the masters who cannot win any combat against the Taliban, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and any other country decided to showcase the only successful combat they have had: the nocturnal hand-to-hand combat," wrote another X user.

* Iranian press review is a digest of news reports not independently verified as accurate by Middle East Eye.

Tehran
Curly hair banned for male medical students: Iranian press review

Bahrain: Activist held on return to UK after addressing UN on human rights

Bahrain: Activist held on return to UK after addressing UN on human rights
Sayed Alwadaei says Border Force officers detained him for over two hours at Gatwick Airport without explaining why
Dania Akkad Fri, 09/29/2023 - 13:47
Sayed Alwadaei (right) and other Bahraini human rights defenders visit US Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council, Michele Taylor, in Geneva on Thursday (X/@USAmbHRC)

A prominent Bahraini activist says he was held at Gatwick Airport on Friday as he returned to the UK from addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva about Bahrain’s human rights abuses.

Sayed Alwadaei, director of advocacy at the UK-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, told Middle East Eye that UK Border Force officials stopped him after he landed, but did not tell him why he was being held.

Instead, they gave him a document, seen by MEE, which said he is “an individual who may be liable to arrest by a constable or subject to a warrant for arrest”. Alwadaei said he was released after two-and-a-half hours.

MEE asked the Home Office why Alwadaei was held. A Home Office spokesperson said: “Border Force’s number one priority is to maintain a secure border, which includes verifying that those wishing to enter the UK have the right to do so.”

Alwadaei said he was also held last month at a UK airport when he arrived from South Africa, but was unclear what triggered that, or whether Friday's incident is connected. 

"The fact that you have no explanation, nothing, it just keeps your mind floating around," he said on Friday. "You're not sure - is it an Interpol red notice? What is it?"

Speaking after he was released, Alwadaei told MEE he is more concerned about a group of female Bahraini human rights defenders who were on their way back to Bahrain from Geneva on Friday after participating in the council's session.

Their visit included a meeting on Thursday with Michele Taylor, US Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council.

"I’m more worried, to be honest, about the safety of those who came to Geneva to tell their story and also to deliver their message on behalf of hundreds of political prisoners in Bahrain," he said. "What if they are stopped and questioned?"

One of the women in Geneva was Ebtisam al-Saegh, who was detained in March 2017 for seven hours at Bahrain International Airport and interrogated on her return from the UN Human Rights Council, where she spoke about violations.

'Urgent questions'

Maya Foa, joint executive director of Reprieve, called Alwadaei a "courageous human rights defender and torture survivor" who has been granted asylum by the UK because of violence and persecution by Bahraini authorities.

"Sayed’s family have suffered reprisals in Bahrain for his work exposing torture and forced confessions leading to death sentences - and the role played by institutions funded by the UK in whitewashing this abuse," Foa said.

'Sayed’s family have suffered reprisals in Bahrain for his work exposing torture and forced confessions leading to death sentences'

Maya Foa, Reprieve

"Under these circumstances, Sayed’s detention today is clearly extremely alarming for Sayed and his family."

She said the incident raises "urgent questions" for the UK government, particularly given the removal of Bahrain from the list of human rights priority countries this year, for the first time since 2015.

MPs and rights groups have criticised the decision to drop the kingdom from the list, days after Bahrain pledged to invest £1bn in Britain. 

"Ministers must urgently confirm what representations [the UK government] has received from the government of Bahrain around Sayed’s citizenship and immigration status, and assure the public that its actions are in no way influenced by pressure from the Bahraini authorities," Foa said.

Prominent Bahraini activist detained at UK airport after addressing UN
Sayed Alwadaei is the director of advocacy for the UK-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (YouTube)

UN: More than 2,500 people died or went missing crossing Mediterranean in 2023

Par : MEE staff
UN: More than 2,500 people died or went missing crossing Mediterranean in 2023
At least 186,000 people crossed the Mediterranean between January and August this year, according to UN refugee agency

MEE staff Fri, 09/29/2023 - 14:01
People in a makeshift boat heading for Italy are intercepted by Tunisian authorities off the coast of Sfax, on 4 October 2022 (AFP)

From January to August this year, more than 2,500 people died or went missing trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, the UN's refugee agency said on Thursday.

Ruven Menikdiwela, director of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), also told the UN Security Council that 186,000 people have crossed the Mediterranean so far this year. 

Tunisia and Libya were the main departure hotspots for those seeking to make the journey.

More than 102,000 people departing from Tunisia have attempted to cross the sea towards Europe in 2023 to date, a 260 percent increase on last year.

At least 45,000 people have sought to make the dangerous crossing from Libya.

Of the 186,000 people who crossed the Mediterranean, more than 80 percent landed in Italy. The rest landed in Greece, Spain, Cyprus and Malta. 

Menikdiwela told a council meeting called by Russia on migration to Europe that the high departure rates from Tunisia “result from the perception of insecurity among refugee communities, following incidents of racially motivated attacks and hate speech, as well as collective expulsions from Libya and Algeria."

Earlier this year Tunisian President Kais Saied linked people from sub-Saharan Africa in the country to criminality, in comments that were widely denounced as racist. 

“There has been a criminal plan since the beginning of the century to change the demographic structure of Tunisia and there are parties that received large sums of money after 2011 for the settlement of illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa,” Saied said. 

In Libya, where there are nearly 50,000 refugees and asylum seekers registered with the UNHCR, “the conditions of thousands of refugees and migrants in both official and unofficial detention facilities… remains of grave concern,” said Menikdiwela. 

Earlier this week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called the European Union’s decision to release $135m in migrant control assistance to Tunisia “terrible for human rights”.

Last week, the European Commission announced the payment, which came after a controversial deal it signed with the North African country in July.

The decision by the EU was made “despite an absence of any specific human rights guarantees for migrants and asylum seekers”, said HRW.

Moreover, the deal risked making the EU “complicit in abuses” carried out by Tunisian authorities.

Migrant abuse 

The financial assistance is meant to prop up Tunisia's crisis-hit economy and help the country stop refugees from heading to Europe. More than 10,000 refugees have arrived at the Italian island of Lampedusa in recent weeks.

Italy's right-wing prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has been pushing the EU to fulfil the agreement brokered by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in July.

No rescue from above: Europe's surveillance in the Mediterranean leaves migrants to their fate
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Middle East Eye reported earlier this month that Sub-Saharan Africans in Tunisia are increasingly being denied emergency food and water supplies in the government's latest move to crack down on migration at the behest of Saied.

The plight of migrants, mainly from Sub-Saharan countries, is the "worst" in modern Tunisian history, Nicholas Noe, a senior visiting fellow at Refugees International, told MEE.

In July, HRW reported that the Tunisian police, military, national guard and coastguard have been involved in grave violations against Black Africans.

Beatings, use of excessive force, some cases of torture, arbitrary arrests and detention, collective expulsions, dangerous actions at sea, forced evictions and theft of money and belongings are all examples of abuses documented by HRW.

Egyptian woman murdered on campus in third femicide case this week

Egyptian woman murdered on campus in third femicide case this week
The spate of killings is part of an 'epidemic' of gender-based violence in Egypt, says activist
Katherine Hearst Fri, 09/29/2023 - 17:04
Nourhan (pictured) was gunned down by a colleague on campus (social media)

An employee of Cairo University was killed on campus on Thursday, in the third incident of femicide in Egypt in two days.

State-run Al-Ahram newspaper reported that the woman, identified only by her first name, Nourhan, was gunned down by a colleague whose marriage proposal she had rejected, following months of harassment.

The assailant reportedly later killed himself with the same gun.

A day earlier, 32-year-old Shaimaa Abdel Karim was fatally shot by her 36-year-old ex-fiancee while leaving work in Heliopolis, a suburb of Cairo.

The ex-fiance had reportedly repeatedly stalked and harassed Karim since she ended the engagement 12 years ago.

On Wednesday, a third woman, identified as 33-year-old Sumayya by local media, was stabbed to death by her ex-husband in Omraniya as she was leaving her work at a factory.

According to the reports, the perpetrator had harassed Sumayya for two years after their divorce and threatened her when she became engaged in a new relationship.

Human rights lawyer Mai-El Sadany has described the string of killings as "a crisis".

An epidemic of violence

The murders are not isolated incidents in Egypt, but part of a pattern in a country where women have long suffered from violence and sexual harassment.

In September 2022, Amany Abdel Karim, a 19-year-old student, was allegedly killed by a man whose offer of marriage was rejected by her family.

Her murder was part of a spate of killings earlier that year, including 20-year-old student Salma Baghat, who was killed by a fellow student in the city of Zagazig; and Nayera Ashraf, a 21-year-old student who was stabbed 19 times outside the university in Mansoura, north of Cairo. 

'No means no': Egyptian campaign sparks debate about rape and consent
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“One of the most problematic things about dealing with violence against women…(is that) people talk about it as if it is the first time (it has happened), without understanding there is an epidemic of violence against women,” Mozn Hassan, women's rights advocate and founder of the feminist organisation Nazra, told Middle East Eye.

“I think this is the problem with viewing gender issues as something that is parallel to society. It's not, it’s part of what is happening [in society].

“People are shocked..but this has been reported systematically since 2011, and it’s increasing.” 

Nearly eight million Egyptian women were victims of violence committed by their partners or relatives, or by strangers in public spaces, according to a United Nations survey conducted in 2015.

In 2021, Egypt’s Edraak Foundation for Development and Equality recorded over 813 cases of violence against women and girls, up from 415 the previous year.

'Just a blip?': Questions swirl over Egypt's role in Menendez case as US ties jolted

'Just a blip?': Questions swirl over Egypt's role in Menendez case as US ties jolted
Menendez charges bring the bare-knuckled world of Egypt's intelligence services to Washington, as FBI reportedly launches counter-intelligence investigation
Sean Mathews Wed, 09/27/2023 - 21:06
US Attorney for Southern District of New York Damian Williams speaks on indictment of Senator Robert Menendez at press conference in New York City, on 22 September (Reuters)

Egypt’s notorious mukhabarat, or intelligence services, crashed awkwardly onto America’s domestic doorstep on 22 September.

Prosecutors charged Democratic Senator Robert Menendez with corruption for taking hundreds of thousands of dollars and gold in exchange for his influence over military aid and "highly sensitive" government information to Egypt.

The 39-page indictment is replete with secret hotel room meetings, encrypted messages and references to an unknown military "general".

Notably, the indictment documents two secret meetings between Menendez and Egyptian intelligence officials in Washington, one of which coincided with a visit by Abbas Kamel, chief of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate, to Washington.

Former US intelligence and defence officials tell MEE that the report reads like a classic case of spy games. 

“I would say it looks like an intelligence operation, one that quite frankly did not use good tradecraft to cover its actions,” a former US senior intelligence officer told Middle East Eye on condition of anonymity.

“Raw cash, gold bars, no plausible deniability as to why they would be giving these things to a sitting senator, just says they are very bad at this, desperate, or viewed him [Menendez] as disposable,” he added.

'Egypt's crown jewel'

After one of his earliest interactions with Wael Hana, an Egyptian-American businessman who prosecutors say has ties to Egyptian intelligence, Menendez obtained un-classified but “highly sensitive” information from the State Department on the number and nationality of persons serving at the US embassy in Cairo, Egypt. The information was transmitted back to an Egyptian official.

But experts tell Middle East Eye that Menendez's greatest value as an asset to the Egyptians would be due to his position as the top-ranking Democratic on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

'Going after a sitting US senator is hitting the red zone' 

- Abbas Dahouk, former senior military advisor to US State Department

As a matter of longstanding practice, the State Department notifies the chairs and ranking members of the Senate and House foreign relations committees before proceeding with arms transfers. Menendez was one of only four US lawmakers who could, at will, block arms. 

It's a trump card the New Jersey senator has never been shy to play. Last year, he threatened to put a hold on arms sales to Saudi Arabia after it cut oil production, and he has repeatedly stated he won’t sign off on the sale of F-16s to Turkey.

“Menendez is the crown jewel for Egypt,” Abbas Dahouk, a former senior military advisor to the State Department who previously served as Washington’s defence attache to Saudi Arabia, told MEE. “When it comes to lawmakers approving foreign aid, you can’t get any higher.”

Menendez and all four codefendants, including Wael Hana, have pleaded not guilty to the corruption charges.

No Egyptian officials have been charged, but on Wednesday, NBC reported that the FBI was conducting a counter-intelligence investigation into the role of Egyptian intelligence. 

'Red zone'

Spy games are a way of life in the Middle East, Dahouk told MEE. 

“Intelligence operations are always there below the surface in our bilateral ties. We (the US) do the same thing. We try to collect information and influence policies, it's tolerated, but going after a sitting US senator on US soil, that is hitting the red zone," he said. 

The amateur manner in which Egypt’s intelligence is portrayed in the indictment is bound to be noticed by rich Gulf powers, whose suave ambassadors and sunglass-wearing security chiefs are masters at working rooms in Washington. 

'The Americans will try to get some leverage out of this, but Biden doesn’t have any interest in exploiting it publicly' 

- Robert Springborg, Egypt expert

“If you are a Gulf Arab leader watching this, you have to be thinking: ‘What a bunch of idiots these guys are',” Robert Springborg, an Egyptian expert at the Italian Institute of International Affairs, told MEE.

“The incompetence is glaring. It’s going to be hard for Egypt’s professional military and intelligence officers to live this down. They see all of this." 

Egypt's embassy in Washington did not respond to MEE's request for comment. 

The indictment against Menendez comes at a particularly sensitive time for President Abdel Fattah-el Sisi, the former general who has ruled Egypt with an iron grip since coming to power after his 2013 military coup toppled the first democratically elected government. 

Sisi, a former defence minister and US-trained general, has portrayed himself as a steady hand, adept at managing national security matters and avoiding drama. 

But Egypt is in the midst of a deep economic crisis. Sisi's government, which once prided itself on being a bastion of stability, oversees the highest influx of illegal migrants to Europe. Meanwhile, Gulf powers that once provided him with financial backing have tightened the purse strings. 

On Monday, Egypt moved up the presidential elections to 10-12 December, originally due to take place in 2024. Sisi is widely expected to win a third term.

Thumbs up

Of course, Egypt had good reason to want to influence Menendez.

For more than 40 years, the US has sent the Arab world's most populous country about $1.3bn in US military aid annually, the second highest of any state after Israel.

While countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE pay for their US military hardware, Egypt relies on aid as part of a programme called Foreign Military Financing (FMF). 

Biden Sisi
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and US President Joe Biden at a meeting on sidelines of Cop27 summit, in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh, on 11 November 2022 (AFP)

The assistance dates back to 1978, when President Anwar Sadat signed a peace treaty with Israel, making Egypt a linchpin in the US security umbrella. Bringing Egypt to their side was a major coup for Washington during the Cold War and after the tumultuous years of bilateral relations under President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

That aid started to come under scrutiny after 2013 when Sisi came to power in a military coup that ousted the country's first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi. The following year, Congress made a portion of the aid subject to human rights concerns. 

While Menendez publicly denounced Egypt on multiple occasions for its poor human rights record, the indictment paints a picture of a US lawmaker working under the radar to guarantee the steady flow of weapons to Cairo.

According to the indictment, Menedez would often communicate his decisions on aid to Nadine, his girlfriend at the time and now his wife. After Menendez approved a multimillion-dollar weapons transfer to Egypt, he informed Nadine, who passed the message along to Hana. An Egyptian official replied to the news with a thumbs-up emoji.

Tanks and F-16s

Despite some calls from lawmakers to curtail aid over Egypt's poor human rights record, US administrations on both sides of the political aisle have kept ushering it through.

While the "war on terror" has ebbed, Washington continues to see Egypt as a strategic partner, perched on the Mediterranean and home to the Suez Canal, through which at least 12 percent of global trade passes. 

Egypt has a web of interests in several regional hotspots along its borders, including Libya, an oil-rich country divided between two rival governments, the besieged Gaza Strip, and Sudan, where two warring generals are engaged in a bloody power struggle. 

Abbas Kamel photograph
Libyan General Khalifa Haftar (R) meeting with Egypt's intelligence chief Abbas Kamel (L) at Haftar's office in the Rajma military base 25 kilometres east of Benghazi, on 29 May 2019 (AFP)

Keeping Egypt dependent on US arms is also a way to limit the influence of Washington's foes, China and Russia, who have pursued their own arms deals with Cairo, experts tell MEE.

“Ideally, all those interoperable M-1 Abrams tanks, F-16s and attack helicopters sitting in Egypt can be used by the US in the region or even in the Far East on short order if we need to,” Dahouk told MEE. “If Egypt buys Russian stuff, we are frozen out.”

The war in Ukraine has stretched that reasoning. Egypt reportedly rebuffed US requests to send spare ammunition to Ukraine, even as Sisi secretly planned to supply Russia with 40,000 rockets, leaked US intelligence revealed.  

But the US has doubled down on the military partnership, betting that a suspension of aid could damage ties with a country Washington still views as a strategic partner.

In September, the Biden administration announced it would withhold just $85m in aid - out of $1.3bn - to Cairo.

The same month, US and Egyptian militaries held one of their largest exercises in recent years, with 1,500 US troops participating in the Bright Star military exercises.  

Now, critics of Egypt have latched on to the indictment to press their case for curtailing the defence relationship.

Is Egypt bulletproof?

Democratic Congressman Don Beyer, who heads the Egypt Human Rights Caucus, said Cairo had been caught “conducting an espionage operation within the US Senate” in an interview with CNN, as he urged the administration to withhold aid.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy told reporters on Tuesday that aid to Cairo should be paused.

But experts tell MEE that Cairo may be able to withstand the crisis, because while congressional critics of Egypt are vocal, they are few.

“Egypt has strong bipartisan congressional support because it was the first Israeli peace partner,” said Douglass Silliman, president of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, DC, and a former US ambassador to Iraq and Kuwait.

“That doesn’t make Egypt bulletproof, but it helps them weather storms.”

Meanwhile, the Biden administration, Sisi’s government and even Democratic lawmakers may be aligned in keeping a lid on the allegations as the US approaches an election year, experts tell MEE.

A telling example is that no lawmakers - even critics of Egypt - have called for the Department of Justice to release the names of the Egyptian officials involved in the corruption case.

'Biden doesn’t have any interest in exploiting this publicly' 

- Robert Springborg, Egypt expert

Human rights activists and lawmakers called for the release of the intelligence report on the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. President Biden’s decision to make the report public sent ties with Riyadh plummeting. 

In a separate incident, Italian prosecutors named the Egyptian officials and tried them in absentia after an Italian national was killed on Egyptian soil.

Pressed on the indictment last week, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said he had no comment, saying it was an “active and ongoing legal matter”.

“Both governments have decided to be very careful about what they say,” Springborg told MEE. “The Americans will try to get some leverage out of this privately with Egypt, but Biden doesn’t have any interest in exploiting it publicly.”

If military aid comes out of this unscathed, Cairo might even be able to take solace in the fact that their defence ties endured the Menendez indictment and a reported counter-intelligence investigation. 

“This is a blip as opposed to a major detriment to bilateral US-Egyptian relations,” Jonathan Lord, head of the Middle East security programme at the Center for a New American Security, told MEE.

“The stakes are too high for both countries. Egypt and the US will continue to work together.”

Congresswoman Tlaib rebukes US decision to grant Israel entry to visa waiver programme

Congresswoman Tlaib rebukes US decision to grant Israel entry to visa waiver programme
Rashida Tlaib says Israeli government has not and will not uphold principle of reciprocity
Shaheryar Mirza Fri, 09/29/2023 - 18:09
US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib is the first woman of Palestinian descent to serve in Congress (AFP)

Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib slammed the Biden administration's decision to accept Israel into the US visa waiver programme (VWP), saying it enables Israel's "discriminatory practices".

“The Biden Administration’s decision to admit Israel into the Visa Waiver Program explicitly condones and enables the Israeli government’s discriminatory practices towards Americans requesting entry, including hours of detainment and interrogation," Tlaib said in a statement posted to her website on Thursday.

The State Department and Department of Homeland Security made the announcement on Wednesday morning, ahead of the 30 September deadline the US gave itself to make a decision on the matter.

Now becoming the 41st country to join the VWP, Israeli citizens will be allowed visa-free travel into the US for up to 90 days, and US citizens will be given the same privilege when travelling to Israel.

Israel's entry into the VWP will go into effect on 30 November, according to the State Department.

Tlaib added that the decision to allow Israel into the programme means "the US government is allowing a foreign government to discriminate against its own citizens based on protected class".

Entry into the VWP for any country requires that both countries abide by the principle of reciprocity, which means that any US citizen be allowed freedom of movement - as Israel's citizens enjoy in the US - and no discrimination during entry and exit protocols.

Reciprocity has been the main sticking point for critics of Israel's acceptance. A US-based rights group filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction on Tuesday, arguing that Israel is not eligible for the programme because it discriminates against Palestinian Americans.

Israel's acceptance into US visa waiver programme met with outrage
Read More »

Tlaib used her own and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's travel experience as an example of what she described as Israel's "racist" practices towards Palestinian Americans. 

“The far-right Israeli government routinely discriminates against Americans seeking to enter the country, even denying myself and Congresswoman Omar entry in 2019. This decision enables further racist practices and violence towards Americans including the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh. The United States has yet to hold the Israeli government accountable.

“The Visa Waiver Program requires that all US citizens are treated equally. I have received consistent reports of discrimination of Americans attempting to enter Israel. No one should be discriminated against due to their national origin, ethnicity, or faith."

Israel has long sought entry into the VWP, and in July, the US and Israel signed a “reciprocity agreement” to allow American citizens the ability to freely enter Israel.

Washington had announced it would be monitoring Israel over a trial period of six weeks and then would make a decision about whether or not to allow the country into the VWP by 30 September - a process many have said has been rushed to give Israel "unique treatment".

Reciprocity

Palestinian Americans from Gaza, as well as rights groups, feel little will change for them after the VWP goes into effect. 

According to the US embassy in Israel, those registered on the Palestinian population registry for Gaza have new procedures for short-term entry, exit and transit through Israel, effective the afternoon of 11 September. However, the embassy website shows a number of stipulations regarding entry procedures.

For example, a US citizen and Gaza resident who has spent more than 50 percent of the last five years in Gaza (as confirmed by the Israeli government) can apply for a permit to enter Israel through the Erez Crossing. If they are outside of Gaza at the time of applying, they can apply for entrance through any international port of entry.

'The VWP 'condones and enables the Israeli government’s discriminatory practices...'

- Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib

But US citizens cannot use their US passports for transiting from Israel to Gaza.

Chris Habiby, national government affairs and advocacy director at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, told MEE for a previous article that the process is starting to cater to Gaza residents to some degree, "But from what I can tell, it just looks like a continuation of the separate and unequal system that they're setting up."

Habiby added that the process for Americans from Gaza is overly complicated, and has created additional tiers of access in what was already a multi-tiered system for Palestinian Americans.

Earlier this month, more than a dozen senators raised these concerns with the Biden administration, sending a letter that warned against moving forward with Israel’s entry into the VWP.

“The contacts we have had from US citizens seeking to travel to Israel since the MOU went into effect, it is clear that Israel is not in compliance with this law as it relates to reciprocal treatment for all US citizens, and is not on track to come into compliance before the September 30, 2023 deadline,” the senators said in their letter.

This sentiment was echoed by Tlaib on Thursday. 

"The Israeli government has not and will not uphold reciprocity.”

Pro-Israel groups call on US law firms to boycott event honouring UN's Navi Pillay

Par : Azad Essa
Pro-Israel groups call on US law firms to boycott event honouring UN's Navi Pillay
Human rights campaigner continues to face barrage of attacks for documenting Israeli crimes against Palestinians
Azad Essa Fri, 09/29/2023 - 16:29
Navi Pillay presents a report at the UN Human Rights Council, in Geneva, on 13 June 2022 (AFP)

Several pro-Israel Jewish groups have urged law firms to rescind their sponsorship of a conference next month over the presence of a former UN high commissioner for human rights at the event.

In a letter sent to law firms Debevoise & Plimpton; Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; and White & Case, the organisations urged the law firms to rescind their sponsorship of the conference scheduled between 19-21 October in New York City, on account of Navi Pillay, the noted South African judge, accusing her "of holding [a] discriminatory agenda against the Jewish people".

Pillay, who was the UN high commissioner for human rights between 2008 and 2014, as well as a former judge of the International Criminal Court between 2003-2008, is scheduled to receive an "Outstanding Achievement Award" at the event organised by the American Branch of the International Law Association on 21 October.

In the letter signed by more than 30 organisations both in the US and South Africa, the pro-Israel groups said continued participation in the conference amounted to legitimising bigotry, adding that participants were effectively endorsing what they call Pillay's "antisemitism".

"Pillay has repeatedly demonstrated a bias that fundamentally undermines the fight against antisemitism, Israeli-Palestinian peace prospects, and the integrity of international law," the letter said.

Signatories included pro-Israel groups like the American Jewish Congress; World Jewish Congress - North America; B’nai B’rith International; StandWithUs; the Simon Wiesenthal Center; Hadassah; Human Rights Voices; NGO Monitor; Camera; and the Women’s Zionist Organization of America. They also included South Africa-based Zionist groups as well as several US-based legal organisations.

The American Branch of the International Law Association did not reply to MEE's request for comment.

A concerted effort

Francesca P Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said the allegations against Pillay were "baseless".

"They appear to be designed to disseminate disinformation and tarnish the reputation of anyone engaged in the question of Israel’s occupation of Palestine and violations associated with it," Albanese told Middle East Eye.

"Such tactics have long been employed to shield the Israeli apartheid policies towards Palestinians from scrutiny, and to deflect attention from the harsh realities on the ground," Albanese added.

Likewise, Ronnie Kasrils, a former South African government minister, said it was outrageous that the pro-Israel lobby would try to intimidate the law firms from honoring Pillay.

"My fellow South African, Navi Pillay, is an outstanding opponent of racial discrimination in all its forms; and is a champion of human rights and justice for all people," Kasrils told MEE.

Pillay, who is currently the president of the Advisory Council of the International Nuremberg Principles Academy, has been at the receiving end of attacks from Zionist groups, following several years of meticulous documentation of Israeli crimes against Palestinians.

The Israeli government has routinely described the UN's Human Rights Council as biased and has refused to cooperate with UN-led investigations.

In 2010, Pillay defended the Goldstone report that investigated the 2008-2009 Israeli military assault on Gaza.

The Goldstone report concluded that both the Israeli military and Hamas had engaged in war crimes and urged both sides to carry out credible investigations of their own. The report said that should these investigations fail to be carried out properly, they ought to be referred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Around 1,300 Palestinians were killed during the three-week Israeli invasion of the besieged enclave. Thirteen Israelis were also killed by rockets fired from Gaza.

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At the time, Pillay said that Israeli slurs and attacks on efforts to bring attention to the findings were clearly attempts to distract from the pursuit of clarity and truth.

“These vehement arguments tried to shift the focus away from the soundness of the methodology and findings of the mission to plunge the debate into the quicksands of the highly partisan politics of the Middle East conflict,” Pillay said.

As part of a commission of inquiry set up in 2021 to investigate alleged violations of international law in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, Pillay's team concluded that there was "credible evidence that Israel has no intention of ending the occupation, has clear policies for ensuring complete control over the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and is acting to alter the demography through the maintenance of a repressive environment for Palestinians and a favourable environment for Israeli settlers".

In 2022, following a spate of personal attacks from the Israeli government on the three-member commission, Pillay felt compelled to inform the president of the UN General Assembly about the extent of the intimidatory tactics. 

“During the interactive dialogue following the presentation of the report, the permanent representative of the State of Israel to the United Nations launched personal attacks directed at each of the commissioners, including by using offensive language and insults which questioned their objectivity and impartiality, accusing them of ‘Jew hatred’, labelling them ‘blatant antisemites’, and referring to them as part of a ‘terror-supporting’ commission," Pillay wrote. 

She also reportedly told a journalist that she would be asking UN secretary general Antonio Guterres for a statement addressing accusations she was antisemitic. 

When Guterres' spokesperson was asked if he would issue a statement, he replied:

“We don’t have a statement on this, but obviously, you’re aware of the many different roles Navi Pillay has played in the UN system in terms of the international criminal tribunals, in terms of the work of the Human Rights Office. And so, her professionalism and her integrity are well known to all of you, and we would reaffirm that," the spokesperson said.

To scholars in the field of human rights, however, Pillay is an unambiguous trailblazer and a dogged campaigner.

Sarah Farbstein, director of the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard University, said that Pillay, as the UN high commissioner for human rights between 2008-14 "built a legacy of addressing all forms of discrimination including against previously overlooked groups".

"She is an icon. She is a role model," Farbstein said during a panel discussion with Pillay at Harvard in November 2022.

Likewise, Albanese, the UN special rapporteur, added that Pillay's track record in upholding justice and human rights bears testament to the baselessness of these allegations.

"Her lifelong efforts in fighting against discrimination and fighting for justice, equality and human rights, have been applauded by numerous members of the global community, including Jewish scholars," Albanese added.

Kasrils, the former minister of parliament from South Africa, described Pillay as "richly deserved of this award".

"I call on the law firms concerned to reject with contempt this despicable demand which reeks of the stench of intolerance and bigotry all too prevalent in today's world -  a world community that needs to honour the contribution of those like Navi Pillay," Kasrils added.

Pillay did not reply to MEE's request by the time of publication.

Pro-Israel groups call on law firms to divest from conference honoring UN's Navi Pillay

White House to use Civil Rights Act to deter antimsemitism, Islamophobia in federal programmes

Par : MEE staff
White House to use Civil Rights Act to deter antimsemitism, Islamophobia in federal programmes
White House says the move provides safeguards and resources for mitigating and preventing discrimination
MEE staff Fri, 09/29/2023 - 20:51
US President Joe Biden at Tempe Center for the Arts in Tempe, Arizona, on 28 September (AFP)

The White House announced on Thursday it would employ the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia in programmes funded by the federal government. 

Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act bans discrimination stemming from common ancestry or ethnic traits and is applicable to any programme or activity that receives federal financial aid. 

While Title VI does not directly offer protection against religious discrimination, eight federal agencies will for the first time ever clarify, in writing, that it prohibits certain forms of antisemitic, Islamophobic, and related forms of discrimination in federally funded programmes and activities.

The clarification emphasises protections specifically related to actual or perceived ancestry and ethnic characteristics; being a citizen or resident of a country where a specific religion is predominant or where distinct religious identities are recognised, whether this is actual or perceived; safeguards in instances of discrimination that include racial, ethnic, or ancestral slurs; discrimination based on skin colour or other physical attributes; style of dress; or foreign language, accent, or name, Axios reported

The White House's fact sheet on the updated plan references antisemitism 27 times and Islamophobia six times. 

"We believe that Americans deserve the agency to receive the care they need regardless of what they look like or believe in," Melanie Fontes Rainer, the health and human services civil rights director said in a statement.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations documented a 28 percent rise in incidents of hate and prejudice directed at Muslims in 2022, compared to the previous year.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Jewish Americans are the victims of 63 pecent of all reported religiously motivated hate crimes. 

According to the White House, the move provides extensive safeguards and instrumental resources for mitigating and preventing various types of discrimination, including specific instances of antisemitic, Islamophobic, and other related prejudices and biases.

This initiative is a part of the first National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, which the White House describes as the most thorough campaign against antisemitism in US history. It was launched earlier this year amid reports of an uptick in antisemitic rhetoric. 

The White House released the National Strategy plan earlier this year, which it said reaffirmed “the United States’ unshakable commitment to the State of Israel’s right to exist”.

The plan had a four-point approach consisting of improving education around antisemitism, strengthening safety and security for Jewish communities, reversing the "normalisation" of antisemitic discrimination, and building "cross-community solidarity" to counter bigotry.

“Every person in this country should have access to the resources that the federal government provides. Today, the Biden-Harris administration is leading by example and making it crystal clear that antisemitism, Islamophobia and related forms of discrimination have no place in America,” Secretary Deb Haaland said. 

“Interior is committed to living up to our values as a country and enforcing these important civil rights protections.”

Syria's Assad won symbolic victories in China. Will material benefits follow?

Syria's Assad won symbolic victories in China. Will material benefits follow?
Praise from Xi Jinping and a silk gown worn by Asma provided a PR boost for Damascus. But what it really needs is cold, hard cash
Danny Makki Fri, 09/29/2023 - 13:47
Bashar al-Assad and Asma al-Assad being welcomed upon their arrival at the airport in Beijing, on 21 September (AFP)
Bashar and Asma al-Assad are welcomed on their arrival in Beijing on 21 September 2023 (AFP)

Shrouded in heavy fog, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad landed in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, exiting an Air China plane on 21 September in his first official visit to the country since 2004.

For Syrian officials, the visit carried their government's hopes of breaking further out of international isolation, following Syria’s recent readmission to the Arab League.

Syria’s half-frozen conflict, its cratering economy and the role of outside players were priority issues to discuss. So, too, was the elephant in the room: China’s growing role in Syria and the wider Middle East.

Though China has kept channels of dialogue and cooperation open with Damascus throughout Syria’s 12-year conflict, Beijing’s muscle has begun to be felt more forcefully in the region, with the recent Chinese-brokered Saudi-Iran rapprochement a landmark development.

It’s also believed the Chinese helped encourage Arab countries to bring Syria back into the fold.

It remains to be seen whether Syria can achieve similar breakthroughs with Chinese support following Assad’s trip. But nonetheless, it provided at the very least symbolic victories.

President Xi Jinping appeared to go out of his way to portray Assad as a trusted and welcomed ally during his week-long trip, and the surprise announcement of a “strategic partnership” has raised expectations of closer ties.

China to bring Assad in from the cold?

Syria played the polite guest in Hangzhou - home of the Asian Games, which Assad and his wife Asma attended - as Xi heaped praise on his Syrian counterpart.

“I salute your steadfastness. You defended your country with courage. We in China are closely following everything that is happening in Syria, and we are with you,” Xi said.

"China supports Syria's opposition to foreign interference, unilateral bullying... and will support Syria's reconstruction."

In a direct message to the United States, Xi exclaimed: “China urges all relevant countries to lift illegal unilateral sanctions on Syria immediately”, before a joint summit marked the formation of the “strategic partnership”.

Washington clearly was taking notice, with Senator Michael McCaul responding: “I strongly condemn Assad’s visit to China. China’s willingness to welcome such a brutal war criminal… underscores the threat posed by China and its friends in Russia, Iran and Syria.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, shakes hands with Syrian President Bashar Assad before their bilateral meeting in Hangzhou, China, 22 September (AP)
President Bashar al-Assad and President Xi Jinping in Hangzhou, China, on 22 September 2023 (AP)

The symbolism didn’t stop there. Asma al-Assad was seen stepping out in a silk Damascene brocade robe, signalling that Syria and China have a shared history as two countries on the Silk Road.

Images of members of the Chinese public rushing to greet the Assads in the temple of Khanjo will also have been deemed a PR victory by Syrian officials.

The timing of the visit made much political sense for several reasons, analyst Camille Otrakji told Middle East Eye.

“Assad's supporters and opponents keenly monitored the developments of the visit and ultimately both sides could assert that it met their expectations and preferences,” Otrakji said.

“On one hand, numerous pacts were inked, including a 'strategic agreement', yet on the other hand, there was a lack of concrete measures that could translate into a tangible shift in the Syrian situation.”

While China has been touted as a major potential economic backer for Syria, any actual assistance will have its difficulties and complexities.

Otrakji added: “At this stage, it is unlikely that the Chinese government is prepared to go further and to confront the Americans and their intricate framework of sanctions on Syria. Only time will reveal whether this visit will catalyse a far deeper bond in Sino-Syrian relations in the future.”

Hope for Syria’s struggling economy

Assad’s priority in China was most likely economic. Over a decade of war, crippling western sanctions and an economic crisis in next-door Lebanon have left Syria’s economy in tatters.

Damascus has long hoped that China could drive reconstruction and deliver outside investment, though there has been wariness on the Chinese side, for whom security and sanctions remain an issue.

Nonetheless, Middle East analyst Alexander Langlois told MEE he believed Assad’s trip could prove significant.

'The trip to China… presents a major moment for Damascus to garner economic support'

Alexander Langlois, Middle East analyst

“Although Damascus has witnessed major regional diplomatic advancements it has not received significant economic assistance following its return to the Arab League in May,” he said.

“Assad had likely hoped for Gulf reconstruction funds that never materialised - probably due to his disinterest in any publicly identifiable and/or serious concessions thus far.”

Langlois added: “The trip to China falls within this context and presents a major moment for Damascus to garner economic support. China-Syria trade is not substantial, but we have seen smaller Chinese businesses and investors willing to take on the risk of sanctions and conflict make business moves in Syria in recent years.”

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Syria joined China's Belt and Road Initiative in 2022, and during Assad’s trip his aide, Luna al-Shibl, talked up the prospect of partnership.

“Syria constitutes an essential part of the Chinese vision for stability in the world, considering that China has established a new form in global politics,” she said.

Yet Syria’s economic plight necessitates a greater outreach than ever before, as over 90 percent of the population now live under the global poverty line and the government is being forced to make a series of unpopular and difficult cutbacks.

Meanwhile, Damascus is yet to see any significant Chinese investments or construction since joining the Belt and Road Initiative.

Syria’s currency exchange rate has worsened to the degree where even basic necessities are becoming scarce. According to the head of the Syrian pharmacies syndicate in Damascus, Hassan Derwan, the government decided to increase the prices of pharmaceuticals by 50 percent.

In essence, a state visit to China has been long overdue, and the messaging and optics go some way to showing an interest in cultivating solid ties, away from Russia and Iran, who can be unreliable at times and lack the economic initiative to help Syria.

Syria’s main priority, however, is cold, hard cash. And if eyes in Damascus are eagerly locked onto Beijing in the hope that assistance will come, China will no doubt require a tangible and substantial return. Perhaps the “strategic partnership” will be the beginning.

Yemen: Fourth Bahraini officer dies following Houthi attack

Par : MEE staff
Yemen: Fourth Bahraini officer dies following Houthi attack
A drone attack on Monday blamed on Houthi rebels killed and wounded a number of Bahraini soldiers near the Yemeni border in Saudi Arabia
MEE staff Sat, 09/30/2023 - 11:31
Bodies of two Bahrain Defence Force officers, killed in a Houthi drone attack against forces of the Saudi-led coalition on the Saudi-Yemeni border, arrive at Bahrain Royal Air Force Base in Jaw (Reuters)

A fourth Bahraini man has died following an attack by Houthi rebels in Saudi Arabia, on the border with Yemen, a spokesperson for the Bahraini army said.

The suspected drone attack on Monday came a week after ceasefire talks were held between the Yemeni group and Saudi Arabia

According to the Bahraini army, three officers were initially killed in the drone attack while they were stationed inside Saudi Arabia along the border with Yemen.

On Friday, a fourth officer, First Lieutenant Hamad Khalifa al-Kubaisi, "succumbed to serious injuries as a result of the treacherous Houthi attack", the Bahraini army said.

The Houthi movement said on Tuesday that violations of a truce between them and the Saudi-led coalition have not stopped despite recent peace talks.

The conflict in Yemen began in 2014 after the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa.

A Saudi-led military intervention, which included Bahrain, began in 2015, intending to restore the internationally recognised government. 

Fighting has dragged on since, without a decisive military victory for either side, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths and a major humanitarian crisis. 

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After the UN brokered a ceasefire in April 2022, hostilities and casualties were drastically reduced. The truce expired in October, but fighting has largely remained on hold since then. 

Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia launched diplomatic efforts to reach a permanent end to the conflict with the Houthis.

The two sides held talks in April which were followed by a major prisoner exchange involving almost 900 detainees. 

Last week, a delegation from the Houthi movement travelled to Saudi Arabia to resume direct talks. After five days of discussions, Saudi Arabia said the results were "positive". 

According to analysts, the talks come as it appears Riyadh has realised its prolonged military campaign will not bring about the defeat of the Houthis. 

It also follows an agreement earlier this year by Saudi Arabia and Iran, which backs the Houthis, to re-establish diplomatic ties.

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