Tag Archives: Middle East & North Africa

Nationality + Migration

UAE News | Iranians

Nine Iranian teachers detained in UAE over work permits
  • The teachers were accused of having invalid visas, although they claimed that there had never been an issue with the way they had gone about securing their work permits previously.
  • With 450 Iranian nationals sent to teach in the UAE this year, the detention prompted a summons of the UAE charge d’affaires in Tehran to demand the teachers’ immediate release.
  • The diplomatic disturbance added to ongoing issues between the sect-divided countries, including tensions from their opposing proxy support in Yemen’s civil war.

Read more:
“Iran summons UAE diplomat over teachers’ arrest” (AFP, via Yahoo! News)
“UAE detention of Iranian teachers prompts diplomatic row” (Reuters)

(Image Credit: Marwan Naamani/AFP, via Yahoo! News)

Ideology + Affiliation, Nationality + Migration

Iran News | American Journalist

Washington Post reporter convicted of espionage in Iran
  • Iranian-American reporter Jason Rezaian faces up to 20 years in prison after the ruling, though the Post and Rezaian’s legal counsel are now working to appeal the verdict.
  • Iranian state media alleged that Rezaian had come to Iran to expose Iranian businesses and individuals who were circumventing U.S. sanctions.
  • Rezain was detained by Iranian authorities in July 2014, held without charge for months, and subjected to a legal process criticized by supporters and human rights groups as opaque and inhumane.

Read more:
“Iran says Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian convicted” (AP)
“Washington Post’s Jason Rezaian Convicted In Iran” (BuzzFeed News)
“What you need to know about the Jason Rezaian trial” (Washington Post)

(Image Credit: Twitter photo, via BuzzFeed News)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Israel & Palestinian Territories | Palestinians

Numerous Palestinians killed and wounded following clash with army at Gaza border and knife attack by Jewish Israeli man
  • Six Palestinians were killed after Israeli troops opened fire during a confrontation at the Gaza Strip border, with estimates of the wounded ranging from 19 to 50.
  • Four Arab individuals were stabbed by a Jewish Israeli in the town of Dimona because of reportedly “nationalistic” motivations.
  • Violence throughout Israel and the Palestinian territories has been increasing since Israeli authorities limited access to Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem following the murder of Jewish Israelis in the holy city.

Read more:
“Six killed in Gaza as Israeli-Palestinian violence widens” (Reuters)
“Israeli troops kill several Palestinians in Gaza” (Al Jazeera America)
“Four Arabs stabbed in southern Israel, Jewish suspect held” (Reuters)
“At least 6 Palestinians die in clash with IDF along Gaza border” (The Times of Israel)

(Image Credit: Mohamad Torokman/Reuters)

Ideology + Affiliation

Lebanon News | Activists & Critics

Protesters clash violently with police during Beirut demonstration
  • Police turned water cannons and tear gas on protesters after a security barrier was removed in downtown Beirut, and were in turn met with stones and other hurled objects from protesters.
  • At least seven protesters were wounded and 35 treated for tear gas inhalation, while 27 were arrested, according to protest organizers.
  • Protests have been ongoing in the country over the last three months after Lebanon’s main landfill was closed, causing a trash crisis in the country noted in the name of the protest organizers, You Stink.

Read more:
“Police attack on protesters triggers fresh clashes in Downtown Beirut” (The Daily Star)
“Tear gas and water cannons fired at Lebanese protesters” (Al Jazeera)
“Beirut protest turns violent, politicians postpone talks” (Reuters)

(Image Credit: Mohammad Akazir/The Daily Star)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Israel & Palestinian Territories News | Israelis & Palestinians

Palestinian teen dead, Israeli teen wounded as violence grows in Jerusalem and the West Bank
  • A Palestinian teenager was killed as Palestinians clashed with Israeli forces during a police operation in the West Bank town of Tulkarm.
  • Following the murder of two Israeli men in Jerusalem, a follow-up stabbing by another Palestinian wounded an Israeli teenager.
  • As Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the knife attack, PM Benjamin Netanyahu announced the homes of attackers would be destroyed and access to the Old City in Jerusalem limited.

Read more:
“Violence intensifies in Jerusalem, West Bank, raising security concerns” (Reuters)
“Jewish Teen Moderately Wounded in Latest Jerusalem Stabbing Attack” (Haaretz)
“Israel bans Palestinians from Jerusalem’s Old City after knife attacks” (The Guardian)

(Image Credit: Atef Safadi/EPA, via The Guardian)

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Israel & Palestine News | Israelis

Four Israelis dead following dual attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem
  • An Israeli couple was killed in the West Bank near the Israeli settlement of Itamar while their three children remained unharmed in the backseat.
  • The murder was followed by another attack on an Israeli family in East Jerusalem, leaving two men dead and a woman and child injured in violence claimed by the Islamic Jihad organization.
  • Riots by Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank followed, with outraged Israeli officials condemning Palestinian authorities for lack of response.

Read more:
“2 Israeli men killed in Jerusalem attack were Nehemia Lavi, Aharon Benet” (The Times of Israel)
“Palestinian Gunmen Kill Israeli Parents of 4 in West Bank” (The New York Times)
“Thousands attend funeral of murdered Israelis as tensions flare in W. Bank” (i24 News)
“Israéliens tués: des colons réclament vengeance” (Radio France Internationale, in French)

(Image Credit: via The Times of Israel)

Nationality + Migration

Lebanon Feature | Yemenis

Video

From Head to Foot of the Class

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGOxKG5xRMo

Yemeni students who traveled to Lebanon on scholarship for advanced study confronted conditions far less hospitable to their intellectual growth than they had imagined. A Middle East Eye short film features interviews with the students, who describe persecution at the hands of Lebanese authorities as well as mental distress and financial difficulty stemming from the war back home, which has cut many off from their families.

View the Middle East Eye feature on YouTube.

Age, Nationality + Migration

Lebanon News | Syrian Refugee Youth

Lebanon looks to provide schooling for upwards of 200,000 Syrian children in its schools
  • The education ministry indicated the numbers are an increase of tens of thousands over last year, straining Lebanon’s schooling capabilities.
  • $94 million in international financing has arrived to support the free education of up to 367,000 students–including the 200,000 Syrians–up through middle school.
  • Lebanon has hosted the largest proportion of Syrian refugees relative to its population, with 1.1 million living in a country of 4 million.

Read the full story at Reuters.

Age, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Israel & Palestine News | Palestinian Children

Israeli army arrests five Palestinian children in latest controversial detention of minors
  • The children were detained for allegedly throwing stones at soldiers, punishable by up to 20 years, before being released.
  • Rights groups estimate around 700 Palestinian minors are prosecuted each year in military courts.
  • Video of a small Palestinian boy with a broken arm being violently handled by Israeli officers went viral last month as the army’s aggressive police tactics drew international condemnation.

View the Al Jazeera America video on YouTube.

Ideology + Affiliation, Nationality + Migration

Egypt News | Mexicans & Journalists

Egypt muzzles journalists during investigation of killing of Mexican tourists
  • Eight Mexican tourists and their Egyptian guides were killed by Egyptian security forces after allegedly being mistaken for insurgents.
  • International and domestic journalists have been banned from covering the investigation into the incident, leading to criticisms of a lack of transparency.
  • Human rights organizations have condemned Egypt’s military operations in the Western Sahara and Sinai Peninsula, arguing that civilian deaths have been endemic.

“Usually when there is such a ban on publication it has do with very tough cases where one could find evidence or embarrassing information about the involvement of some government high officials or military strongmen.”

Read the full story at the New York Times.

(Image Credit: Mohamed El-Shahed/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images, via The New York Times)

Age, Gender

Egypt News | Women

Egyptian student pursues legal action after alleging her exam results were falsified
  • Mariam Malak, a high-achieving student, took action and demanded an independent inquiry after seeing that the handwriting on the test did not match her own.
  • Malak, who scored 97% on the test in the previous two years, has aspirations of becoming a doctor.
  • With suspicions that Malak’s results may have been switched with another student’s, the case has become a symbol of corruption in the Egyptian education system.

Read the full story at the Guardian.

(Image Credit: Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images, via The Guardian)

Nationality + Migration

Europe News | Migrants

More than 4,000 migrants rescued off Libya’s coast in coordinated European naval effort
  • The Italian-led effort was responding to distress calls, which led to the rescue of around 4,400 migrants in one of Europe’s biggest operations in the Mediterranean.
  • The migrants had been stranded aboard nearly two dozen overcrowded dinghies and boats.
  • More than 2,300 have died trying to cross the Mediterranean from Africa and West Asia to get to Europe, leading to more proactive rescue efforts by European navies.

Read the full story at Reuters.

Other, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Israel News | Incarcerated Palestinians

Israel looks to release Palestinian hunger-striker after months of charge-less detention
  • Israeli authorities have offered release to prisoner Mohammad Allan on the condition that he be exiled for four years.
  • Allan lost consciousness last week after having been on hunger strike for two months, but vowed to refuse basic nutrients after being revived.
  • One of a number undertaken in protest of Israel’s “administrative detention” of prisoners (overwhelmingly Palestinian) without charge, the hunger strike has continued even as the government recently passed a law allowing for the force-feeding of prisoners.

“I think that, under the circumstances, this is a realistic proposal that would be good if he accepts it.”

Read the full story at The New York Times.

(Image Credit: Amir Cohen/Reuters, via The New York Times)

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Israel News | Migrants & Refugees

Protests erupt in Tel Aviv following Supreme Court decision limiting migrant detentions to 12 months
  • After the court ruling that calls for the immediate release of around 1,200 migrants detained without charge, some Tel Aviv residents took to the streets in outrage.
  • Demonstrators claimed asylum seekers bring down their quality of life with crime and open-air living.
  • Protesters confronted some migrants around Lewinsky Park, yelling insults and condemning the Supreme Court.

“What’s going to happen in reality is that thousands of infiltrators are going to come here and make our lives hell, even more than they are now. … We are going to fight this with all our strength.”

Read the full story at Ynet News.

Nationality + Migration

Israel News | Refugees & Migrants

Israel Supreme Court limits detention of migrants without charge to a year
  • The ruling struck down a portion of the Infiltration Prevention Act that allowed for migrants to be detained for up to 20 months.
  • Among the more than 2,500 migrants detained at the Holot detention facility in the Negev, those who have been detained without charge for 12 months or more are to be released in the next 15 days.
  • Israel refers to illegal migrants as “infiltrators” and since 2009 has granted asylum requests–mostly from Eritreans, Sudanese, and Congolese–to fewer than 0.15% of those who applied.

“The court made it clear that a policy whose purpose is to break asylum-seekers’ spirit to coerce them to leave Israel is unconstitutional. The judges also criticized the slow pace of examining asylum claims and the abysmally low recognition rate of refugees in Israel.”

Read the full story at the Times of Israel.

(Image Credit: Flash90, via The Times of Israel)