Author Archives: Arab America

Palestine’s membership of the International Criminal Court (ICC) formally goes into effect April 1, 2015. As Palestinians and proponents of international justice worldwide await the Office of the Prosecutor’s next move, it is important to assess what heavy-lifting the ICC could realistically undertake in the Palestine-Israel context as well as what other accountability avenues exist.

Against the backdrop of Palestine’s brief yet turbulent history at the ICC, Al-Shabaka Guest Author Valentina Azarova discusses the current state of play regarding Palestine at the ICC and its potential trajectory given the Court’s practice and policy considerations. She also discusses Israel’s legal offensive against the Palestinian move, including pressure against the ICC itself, the potential for an ICC examination to further other accountability efforts, including those directed towards third party actors, and the danger that the UN Security Council may suspend the investigation. In doing so, Azarova addresses many of the misconceptions that exist about what the ICC can and cannot do – including amongst Palestinian policy makers themselves. She concludes with policy recommendations for a way forward.

Source: al-shabaka.org

Chances are that while visiting Egypt you’ll hear a disconcerting anecdote whereby a shark attacking a Russian tourist in the coastal town of Sharm al Sheikh had been trained by Mossad. But of course, conspiracy theories are not unique to the Middle East; many of us have grown up with stories such as “Man never landed on the moon” or “Elvis is alive.” No one can however deny that such theories are tremendously popular among Arabs and Persians:

* Don’t fool yourselves, the Islamic State is a product made in the West, and Hillary Clinton detailed so in her memoirs.

* The United States allied with the Muslim Brotherhood in order to destroy Egypt. Morsi was planning to give away the whole Sinai Peninsula to Hamas.

* An episode of The Simpsons shows how the United States is to blame for the outbreak of the Arab Spring.

* The peace treaty between Egypt and Israel brought cancer, hepatitis and other diseases to the Arab country.

* Henry Kissinger devised a plan to have all Christians in Lebanon exiled when the Civil War broke out in 1975.

* The Saudi monarchy is actually Jewish. So was Gaddafi, in fact. Just like the Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whose real name is Simon Elliot.

* The US gave the final push to Saddam before invading Kuwait.

* Both Coca Cola and Pepsi beverages contain swine substances and alcohol.

* The “Samson Option”: Israel has at its disposal nuclear weapons ready to be dropped on each and every country in the region.

Source: www.yourmiddleeast.com

Student activists at Pitzer College in southern California are risking administration sanctions this week to bring attention to Israel’s violations of the rights of Palestinians.

Members of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) had constructed a mock wall on campus on Tuesday as part of their actions marking Israeli Apartheid Week — a global series of events intended to spark discussions on campuses about Israel’s occupation in Palestine and the Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.

On 27 March, the Pitzer administration warned SJP that their plans to construct the mock wall would be “in blatant defiance” of college policy. The mock wall is a colorful, sixty-foot-long replica of Israel’s wall in the occupied West Bank, emblazoned with artwork, facts and statistics highlighting Israel’s violations of human rights.

By going forward with their creative direct action, Pitzer SJP could face punishment by the administration.

“Not surprising”

The administration seems to have come under pressure by on-campus Israel-aligned students who reportedly sent a letter of complaint in February to the Pitzer College Aesthetics Committee.

The group “anticipat[ed] SJP’s proposal to display the mock separation wall and claim[ed] that the wall is anti-Semitic and would make Jewish students on campus uncomfortable,” according to a letter to Pitzer’s administration sent by Palestine Solidarity Legal Support this week.

Noah Latkin, a member of SJP at Pitzer, told The Electronic Intifada on Tuesday that “it wasn’t necessarily surprising” that the group has been singled out for scrutiny by the university.

“There was opposition to us even becoming a club,” he said. “People in the student senate labeled us as inherently anti-Semitic. We had to meet with the president of the student senate who asked us ‘how can we make sure you don’t offend people on campus?’”

Source: electronicintifada.net

Lebanese entrepreneurs in 10 economic sectors launched the Lebanon-Cuba Businessmen Council on Wednesday, which will focus on the investment and trade opportunities being offered by the island.

During a meeting at Beirut´s Chamber of Commerce, over 20 entrepreneurs expressed their interest in exploring the Cuban market hoping to open bilateral business relations.

“We believe in Cuba and we are observing its potential; at present there are 30 thousand Lebanese migrants or Lebanese descendants there and this means that we share deep relations, said Council president Ali Kazma in the presence of Cuban ambassador to Beirut Rene Ceballo.

The Lebanese business community expressed interest in investing in various Cuban sectors particularly tourism, the pharmaceutical industry, health, construction and trade.

In May, a Lebanese delegation will travel to the island for exchange with Cuban entrepreneurs, the official said.

The market evaluations come one month after Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil signed a historic diplomatic agreement with the island country.

Bassil’s visit to Cuba marked the first official visit by a Lebanese foreign minister to Havana since 1970.

Source: www.lebaneseexaminer.com

The White House remained silent on Palestine ICC membership that went into effect on 1 April 2015; a move that angered its ally Israel, the Anadolu agency reported.

Not only the White House’s daily briefing did not include any statement on the Palestinian progression, the US State Department whose staff is busy following up with nuclear talks over Iran’s nuclear program currently taking place, that they did not hold a press briefing for two consecutive days.

The US Administration tried and by all means to block Palestine’s accession to the international body claiming that “Palestine is not a state”, and therefore ineligible to join the International Criminal Court.

Moreover, the US media did not address the issue with the exception of two brief reports by the CNN network and the New York Times newspaper report while the Huffington Post included an opinion article by human rights lawyer, Catherine Gallagher.

The US State Department announced in January that it ‘will continue its opposition to any move against Israel in the International Criminal Court being incompatible with peace efforts’. ‘We do not recognize Palestine as a state, so we do not believe they are eligible to join the International Criminal Court’ it said.

Washington vetoed on December, 31 an Arab draft resolution to end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories by 2017 submitted to the UN Security Council.

Less than three days following its failure to pass the resolution, Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas signed 18 international treaties including the Rome Statute angering both the United States and Israel.

Source: www.middleeastmonitor.com

The Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee this week approved what will be the largest construction project of housing for Palestinian families in Jerusalem since 1967. The plan to build 2,500 housing units in Jabal Mukkaber in the southern part of East Jerusalem, was approved despite fierce opposition from right-wing politicians and organizations.

According to the plan’s architect, Senan Abdelkader, the opposition stalled the project for at least four years.

The plan to build 2,500 housing units as well as numerous playgrounds, parks and other public spaces near schools in Arab as-Sawahra, a neighborhood of Jabal Mukkaber, was approved years ago, and has won support from many officials within the Jerusalem Municipality. Mayor Nir Barkat, who tried to get the plan approved during his previous term as mayor, sees the step as an important means of improving the lives of East Jerusalem residents. Jabal Mukkaber borders the Jewish neighborhood of East Talpiot.

Source: www.haaretz.com

Maps can be a powerful tool for understanding the world, particularly the Middle East, a place in many ways shaped by changing political borders and demographics. Here are 40 maps crucial for understanding the Middle East — its history, its present, and some of the most important stories in the region today.

Source: www.vox.com

A conference at the University of Southampton discussing the right of Israel to exist has been cancelled, say the organisers, who have accused the institution of bowing to pressure at the expense of free speech.

The conference, due to take place next month, described itself as “unique because it concerns the legitimacy in international law of the Jewish state of Israel”, but critics denounced it as one-sided.

Among those who condemned the conference were the Jewish Board of Deputies, and MPs including Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, and Caroline Noakes, MP for Romsey and Southampton.

The Zionist Federation UK arranged a petition opposing its staging that attracted more than 6,400 signatures. A counter-petition signed by more than 800 academics, including from Oxbridge, Russell Group and US Ivy League universities, urged Southampton to resist the pressure.

Oren Ben-Dor, professor of law and philosophy at the University of Southampton, and one of the event organisers, said he was told by the institution’s operating officer on Monday that it would not be allowed to take place. The university conceded that it was considering cancelling the event because of health and safety concerns but said no final decision had been taken.

Ben-Dor said: “It is very clear that the health and safety issue was not serious, it’s a way of creating bogus reasoning. The real reason was political pressure. The controversial nature of the conference is precisely where [the principle of] freedom of speech leads – that’s where the commitment to freedom of speech is tested.

Source: www.theguardian.com

One need only scan the list of participating artists in any of the large-scale exhibitions taking place in the Middle East to comprehend the formidable presence of female artists within a regional art scene that has been drawing international acclaim for years.

From Bahrain to Morocco, women are experimenting with a diversity of artistic mediums and themes, from photography to performance art to politics to urbanism. Many are leaving the confines of the private studio to cultivate spaces that can support the public consumption and collective production of art in the Middle East.

Source: www.al-monitor.com

The Palestinians knew with certainty that a few days after the Israeli general elections on March 17, the tax funds that Israel froze in January would be released.

How did they know? For the past two decades, the tax revenues collected by Israel under the 1994 Paris Agreement have been used as a political tool to placate the Israeli public. This questionable economic weapon has always proven to be not only ineffective but even detrimental to Israel’s security interests. Yet, as far as the decision-makers are concerned, this is a readily available and harmless practice if used in moderation.

This time, too, the Israeli punishment meted out following the request of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) in December 2014 was limited to the duration of the electoral race. At the end of the three months of sanctions, and just short of the PA’s economic collapse or a violent outburst in its territories, the prime minister “acquiesced” to the entreating of Israeli security officials and ordered the unfreezing of the funds, despite the Palestinians not having withdrawn their appeal to the ICC.

Source: www.al-monitor.com

The long-time home of Sunnis, Alawites, and Christians living in relative harmony, the city suffered some of the worst fighting of Syria’s now five year-old civil war that has left the major industrial center in ruins.

Source: www.catholicnewsagency.com

Lebanon’s parliament made a shocking decision on Wednesday to elect nationwide icon Haifa Wehbe as the country’s new president.

“This is a historic day in Lebanon,” said Prime Minister Tammam Salam during a press conference outside of the Parliament building in Beirut. “We are confident that Haifa will restore trust in Lebanon’s presidential position.”

Lebanon has been without a president since Michel Sleiman’s term expired on May 25, 2014. Parliament members failed to reach quorum in all 20 rounds of voting since May.

But today’s decision comes at a surprise for many Lebanese citizens who were already acclimated to life without a president.

“It really doesn’t matter to us,” said Jacques Shaheen, owner of a Beirut-based flower shop. “If we cared, we would’ve protested and launched a revolution, but we’re simply fed up with the system.”

But political leaders say Lebanon’s new president will introduce policy reforms that will restore patriotism in the Mediterranean country.

Source: www.lebaneseexaminer.com