Tag Archives: Middle East & North Africa

Gender

Lebanon Feature | Women

The Enduring Civil Inequality of Lebanese Women

Lebanon’s complex civil status laws have given broad leeway for religious courts to adjudicate civil matters according to theological law, leaving a tangled relationship between church (or mosque) and state in disputes like divorce and child custody. Fatima Ali Hamzeh’s fight to retain custody of her three-year-old son after her husband married another woman while refusing to divorce her has revealed how the intertwined legal systems intersect to create significant disadvantages for women in what is considered to be one of the Middle East’s most progressive states. Global Voices highlights Hamzeh’s story and the women’s rights movement that has rallied around her to combat gender-based legal inequality in Lebanon.

Read:
“A Mother’s Fight for Her Son Exposes Lebanon’s Institutionalized Sexism” (Global Voices)

Additional:
“Hamzeh custody case draws Berri’s attention” (The Daily Star)

(Image Credit: via The Daily Star)

Ideology + Affiliation

Mauritania News | Writers

Mauritanian clerics push for application of death penalty for blogger convicted of apostasy
  • Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir was convicted in 2014 over a blog post discussing Mauritania’s racial stratification and the history of racial discrimination in Islam.
  • The Forum of Imams and Ulemas recently issued a fatwa calling for Mkhaitir’s execution in line with absolutist laws regarding heresy in Islam.
  • If carried out, Mkhaitir’s execution would be the first in the country since 1987, prompting international human rights organizations including Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders to advocate for his pardon.

Read more:
“Mauritanian clerics urge for blogger’s death penalty to be applied” (Reuters)
“Millions of people rallied to the support of Raif Badawi – who will care for a poor young man in Mauritania?” (The Independent, August 2015)
“Death Sentence in Mauritania for Islam ‘Insult’” (Reuters via The New York Times, December 2014)

Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

Iraq Feature | Ethnic & Religious Minorities

The Unweaving of Mosul

As the battle rages between the Islamic State and a coalition of forces led by the Iraqi government for control of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, many of the ethnic and religious minorities who called it home for generations fear the city will never again be the tolerant, culturally rich home it once was. Sunnis, Shiites, Yazidis, Christians, Kurds, Arabs, and others all coexisted in the vibrant cultural landscape of a city with both historical and contemporary significance, but the 2003 American-led invasion of Iraq and the recent occupation of Mosul by the Islamic State have all but decimated the minority communities that called the city home. The New York Times takes a look at the city’s decline, the uncertainty of its future, and the stories of those who once flourished in a cosmopolitan city known for its diversity and tolerance.

Read:
“In Once-Tolerant Mosul, a Social Unraveling That Feels Permanent” (The New York Times)

Additional reading:
“Iraq: Can Mosul survive ISIL?” (Al Jazeera)

(Image Credit: Felipe Dana/Associated Press, via The New York Times)

Nationality + Migration

Kuwait News | Americans

Militant rams truck into car carrying Americans in Kuwait
  • An Egyptian national rammed a truck into a car carrying five Americans, with the Kuwaiti state news agency reporting the assailant had been carrying explosives.
  • While the Americans were unhurt, the attacker was transported to the hospital after sustaining injuries.
  • Authorities have claimed to have thwarted multiple attacks by the Islamic State in the country in the last few months after the deadliest militant attack in decades took place in a Shiite mosque in 2015.

Read more:
“Kuwait arrests suspected Islamist after truck attack on Americans” (Reuters)
“Kuwait arrests Egyptian with links to Islamic State after attack on US nationals” (Egypt Independent)
“Kuwait arrests Egyptian after failed suicide attack on 5 U.S. soldiers” (AP via Global News)

Nationality + Migration

Iran News | Dual Nationals

Iran arrests British-Iranian dual national as crackdown continues
  • An Iranian prosecutor indicated through state media that an Iranian-British dual national had been arrested for links to British intelligence services.
  • The official indicated that the arrest was a part of an ongoing crackdown against Western “infiltration,” which has ramped up in the wake of the Iran nuclear deal.
  • The arrest is at least the seventh of such dual nationals—whose non-Iranian citizenship the Iranian government does not recognize—arrested in the last year.

Read more:
“Iran says it has detained a dual national linked to British intelligence” (Reuters)
“Iran accuses dual national of spying for British intelligence” (BBC)
“Iran arrests suspected British spy” (Bloomberg via The Toronto Star)

Age, Sexual + Gender Minorities

Iran News | Gay Youth

Iran executes gay teen for alleged rape
  • In the Arak prison, the Iranian government executed Hassan Afshar, who was accused of rape by the parents of Afshar’s sexual partner.
  • Afshar maintained that the sex, which took place when he was 17, was consensual, but Iran’s sodomy laws make it difficult to ascertain consent in same-sex sexual relations.
  • International human rights organizations have expressed outrage at Iran’s practice of capital punishment for juveniles and for rape in opposition to international law.

Read more:
“Iran: Hanging of teenager shows authorities’ brazen disregard for international law” (Amnesty International)
“Iran’s First Juvenile Execution of 2016 Was a Gay Teenager” (VICE News)
“Iran executes teenage boy for being gay” (PinkNews)

Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

Iraq & Syria News | Yazidis

Thousands of Yazidis remain in captivity on anniversary of massacre
  • The U.N. reported that around 3,200 Yazidi women and girls are being held in sexual slavery and thousands of Yazidi men and boys are missing, many presumed dead.
  • August 3 marks the second anniversary of the Islamic State’s attack on Sinjar, Iraq, which left 10,000 Yazidis dead or enslaved in what observers have increasingly called a genocide.
  • Prior to the attack, Sinjar had been home to the largest Yazidi community in the world.

Read more:
“Thousands of Yazidis missing, captive, two years after start of ‘genocide’: U.N.” (Reuters)
“Yazidis Mark Second Anniversary of Islamic State Massacre” (Voice of America)
“Yazidi Activist Nadia Murad Speaks Out on the ‘Holocaust’ of Her People in Iraq” (TIME)

(Image Credit: Z. Yasar/Voice of America)

Ideology + Affiliation

Egypt News | Political Critics

Egyptian government limiting movement rights of critics
  • Nearly 500 journalists, activists, and advocates have been deported from Egypt since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s inauguration in 2013 for having criticized the government, according to one civil rights group.
  • Critics of Sisi, the judiciary, and other government powers have been subjected to travel restrictions, limiting their movement in and out of the country.
  • Those subject to travel bans often don’t find out about their status until at airports, with the requirement of a judicial order only infrequently being met.

Read more:
“Egypt’s Latest Tactic Against Critics: Block Their Movements, or Deport Them” (The New York Times)
“Human rights lawyer Amin barred from traveling to Beirut” (Daily News Egypt)
“Egypt: Travel Ban on Women’s Rights Leader” (Human Rights Watch, June 2016)

Religion + Belief

Iraq News | Shiite Muslims

Islamic State attack on Shiite mausoleum leaves dozens dead
  • At least 35 people were killed and 60 wounded after a triple suicide attack near the Mausoleum of Sayid Mohammed bin Ali al-Hadi near Balad north of Baghdad.
  • Worshipers were marking Eid al-Fitr when a suicide bomber detonated himself at the shrine, allowing IS militants to storm in and shoot visitors and a second suicide bomber to detonate in the middle of the crowd.
  • The attack comes at the end of a global Ramadan that has been particularly bloody with attacks in Turkey, Bangladesh, and Iraq.

Read more:
“At least 35 killed in attack on Shi’ite mausoleum north of Baghdad” (Reuters)
“Iraq says Balad suicide blast is Isis attempt to stir up sectarian war” (The Guardian)
“Iraqi PM fires head of security after shrine attack” (AP via Al-Arabiya)

(Image Credit: Stringer/Reuters)

Nationality + Migration

Africa News | Africans

African Union prepares to launch common African passport
  • The A.U. is preparing to launch the e-Passport, a transnational passport opening up migration between the 54 constituent countries, at its upcoming summit in Kigali, Rwanda.
  • The e-Passport is expected to function similar to European Union citizenship, promoting mobility and increased economic integration across the African continent.
  • The passport will initially be available to heads of state and other diplomatic and foreign affairs representatives, with rollout to citizens expected to take place in 2018.

Read more:
“African Union set to launch e-Passport at July Summit in Rwanda” (African Union press release)
“The opposite of Brexit: African Union launches an all-Africa passport” (The Washington Post)
“As EU fights over migrants, African Union takes steps to free movement of people” (CNBC)

Religion + Belief

Iraq News | Shiite Muslims

IS bombing of predominantly Shia neighborhood in Baghdad leaves nearly 300 dead
  • A truck bombing ripped through the Karrada shopping district of central Baghdad, many of the victims children out with their families to celebrate the end of the school year .
  • The attack was claimed by the Islamic State, the fourth such global attack coordinated or inspired by the group within the last month (following Orlando, Istanbul, and Dhaka).
  • IS, a Sunni extremist group, claimed to have attacked Shiite Muslims, also taking credit for a second bombing in the predominantly Shia neighborhood of al-Shaab that left at least two dead.

Read more:
“Bombing Kills More Than 120 in Baghdad” (The New York Times)
“Nearly 120 killed in overnight Baghdad bombings claimed by Islamic State” (Reuters)
“Iraq: Baghdad bombings kill dozens” (Al Jazeera)

(Image Credit: Reuters, via Al Jazeera)

Class + Socioeconomics

Iran News | Class

Executive pay leaks stir outrage in Iran
  • Leaks of executive compensation at state-owned firms led to controversy when local media revealed some business leaders were receiving dozens of times the amount of pay the average Iranian household received.
  • Iranian law dictates that the top government salary should not exceed seven times the amount of the lowest paid, but bonuses and additional incentives have at times been used to skirt that requirement.
  • Four public bank chiefs have been fired in the wake of the revelations as Iranians continue to wait for the economic benefits of the lifting of international sanctions in 2015.

Read more:
“Executive pay stirs outrage, becomes political issue in Iran” (Reuters)
“Iran sacks bank chiefs amid uproar over high salaries” (BBC)
“Four Iranian Bank Chiefs Fired Over Salaries Scandal” (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

Ideology + Affiliation, Religion + Belief

Bahrain News | Shiite Dissidents

Bahrain strips Shiite leader of citizenship as anti-dissident campaign continues
  • The Interior Ministry stripped Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, a prominent Shiite cleric, of Bahraini citizenship, stirring protest among the Gulf country’s Shiite majority.
  • The denaturalization took place soon after a court ordered the suspension of Bahrain’s main opposition group, Al-Wefaq, which has led pro-democracy protests in the country since 2011.
  • The Sunni-led government has accused Shiite leaders of promoting foreign interests (namely Iran’s) and fomenting sectarian division and extremism in the country, leading to their denaturalization and expulsion.

Read more:
“Bahrain strips Sheikh Isa Qassim of nationality” (Al Jazeera)
“Bahrain’s Sunni Rulers Revoke Citizenship of Top Shiite Cleric” (The New York Times)
“Bahrain strips top Shi’ite Muslim cleric of citizenship” (Reuters)

(Image Credit: AP via Al Jazeera)

Gender, Ideology + Affiliation

Indonesia & Middle East News | Indonesian Women

Indonesian women continue migrating to Middle East for work despite government ban
  • A new report from Migrant Care has found that more than 1,000 women have traveled to the Middle East for domestic work despite government moratorium.
  • The Indonesian government announced a ban on any new labor-based migration to the Middle East in May 2015 after several high-profile reports of abuse.
  • The revelation comes amidst ongoing efforts by the government to formalize labor practices in the domestic services industry both at home and abroad, with an estimated 2.3 million Indonesian domestic workers abroad and an additional undocumented population.

Read more:
“Indonesian women defy ban to work as maids in Middle East: survey” (The Thomson Reuters Foundation)
“Indonesia plans to stop sending new live-in maids abroad” (The Straits Times)
“Six Gulf countries informed of Indonesia domestic workers ban” (Gulf News)

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Israel & Palestine News | Israelis & Palestinians

Israel revokes travel permits for tens of thousands of Palestinians following Tel Aviv killings
  • Four Israelis were killed and six wounded after two Palestinian gunmen opened fire in a Tel Aviv market.
  • In response, the government cancelled entry permits for some 83,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza for three days, revoked work permits for more than 200 of the attackers’ relatives, and increased its security presence in the occupied West Bank.
  • Following a condemnation of the homicides, the U.N. warned Israel that their response could be classified as collective punishment, illegal under the Geneva Conventions.

Read more:
“Tel Aviv Terror: What We Know So Far About the Sarona Shooting” (Haaretz)
“Palestinian Gunmen Open Fire in Tel Aviv, Leaving Four Dead” (The New York Times)
“Palestinians barred from entering Israel after Tel Aviv killings” (The Guardian)
“U.N. says Israeli move on Palestinian permits may be collective punishment” (Reuters)

(Image Credit: Tomer Appelbaum/Haaretz)