LEBANON SYRIA

ISRAEL/OT/ Palestinian Authority

EGYPT JORDAN

IRAQ

KUWAIT IRAN Middle

SAUDI ARABIA BAHRAIN QATAR

U.A.E . East Kate Washington

OMAN YEMEN

ARABIAN SEA he Middle East is arguably one of the al activities can only further threaten, challenge and years younger than me. It was too bad and they most ethnically, religiously and linguisti- marginalize minorities throughout the Middle East. ‘They put me were too bad with me. I cried for three days. My T cally diverse areas of the world. Ancient father said I didn’t have to go any more. When I languages, ethnic groups and religious sects have No future: the situation of minority IDPs in a class with was a small girl I thought that I would be a doc- survived the creation of modern nation states, and Iraqi refugees tor or maybe an engineer when I was older. My but find themselves under constant threat from Within Iraq an estimated 2–3 million Iraqis are father is a doctor and my mother is an engineer. generalized viole nce and local identity politics. internally displaced (IDPs). Detailed statistics girls five years It looked kind of easy. But that was when I was Throughout the region in 2008, conflicts over both suggest that between 8.6 per cent (International very small … I don’t think I’ll be a doctor any resources and identity have continued. Organization for Migration) and 12 per cent younger than more.’ The US-led invasion of Iraq, in particular, has (Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre) of IDPs had serious effects on neighbouring governments are from Iraq’s smaller minorities – similar propor- me’ Imad, 14, a Mandaean, says: bearing the weight of a large-scale refugee crisis tions to the general population. ‘I like school and I am a good student. Everyone that has put great strain on resources from water IDPs face considerable obstacles to ensuring that Two young Iraqi refugees in Jordan tell in my class is nice and my teacher is a good to health and education provision. Small minority their children receive regular schooling. Not only do Kate Washington their stories teacher. They don’t mind that I am an Iraqi and communities have been forced to flee and are being economic constraints and security concerns affect everyone is quiet about me being Mandaean. dispersed worldwide. Minority communities inside school enrolment, but families also face difficul- Ruwaida, 15, says: Most of the students don’t know what that Iraq continue to suffer targeted attacks because of ties transferring official school documents. Schools ‘When we were still in Iraq a group of men means. One of the boys said I was a Kafir their identities. The conflict has also contributed in areas with large numbers of IDPs are becoming came into my school and shot our teacher. [Unbeliever] but the teacher told him he was a to security concerns in neighbouring countries and overcrowded. Nobody knew why. I liked that teacher very donkey and didn’t know anything. That made borders have become more solid. Members of some minority groups, particularly much, she was always really kind. everyone laugh and he didn’t say it any more. In recent history, the elements of cultural dif- Mandaean-Sabeans, have fled their home areas in large ‘After that I didn’t want to go to school any ‘I think they think we are Kafir. My father ference – language, religion and ethnicity – have numbers, and find their culture and future endan- more. My father said I didn’t need to, he would went and spoke to the head of the school about become dominant issues in the evolution of national- gered by their status as IDPs or refugees. Others, like teach me at home. I think he meant to, but he the religion class. He didn’t tell me why. ism in the region. Being one of the most important Yezidis and Chaldean and Assyrian Christians, are was busy and sad and my mother was crying ‘Some of my friends at school are Iraqi too, vectors for the transmission of cultural identity, divided, and face ongoing violence in their home areas a lot. That was about five years ago, I think. but you can’t see it. Now they speak with education provision, particularly for minorities, has as well as the challenges of displacement. Maybe a year after that we came to Amman. Jordanian accents. It is easier to be here if you suffered as a result. The US Commission on International Religious My parents decided it was too scary in Baghdad have that accent. When I first got here I didn’t Language has played a pivotal role in the crea- Freedom (USCIRF) and others have warned and my brother couldn’t leave the house at that understand everything the teachers said because tion of Arab, Persian and Kurdish national identi- that the number of Iraqi religious minorities that time. One of our neighbours was kidnapped and they have that accent. It is OK now I under- ties, and for much of the region has been the most are fleeing — including Christians, Yezidis and we didn’t see him any more. When we came to stand everything. important marker of ethnicity. The relationship Mandaean-Sabeans – could threaten the existence of Jordan people told my parents that there were ‘The hardest thing about going to school is between language, ethnicity and the concept of the these faiths in Iraq. The Mandaean population has no schools for Iraqis unless you paid lots of the boys on the way to school. The bus doesn’t ‘nation’ has meant that minority language issues decreased from more than 60,000 in the early 1990s money. go all the way to the school and I have to walk have become increasingly politicized and sensitive. to an estimated 4,000–5,000 today. ‘We didn’t have lots of money so my parents for 10 minutes. A lot can happen to you in 10 Increasingly, throughout the region, states have It is difficult to estimate how many Iraqis have sent my two brothers to school. I didn’t mind, minutes. One day one of my friends got beaten put considerable energy into creating uni-lingual fled their country. Currently, the UNHCR has reg- I didn’t want to go to school anyway. It made by a group of boys when he was walking alone. public spaces. The results of this for linguistic and istered approximately 300,000 Iraqis, primarily in me feel sick. Two years ago the King said Iraqis He doesn’t come to school now. ethno-linguistic minorities have been dramatic. As Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. Early estimates suggest- could go to school and my parents were really ‘Now me and my friends wait for each other such, minority groups throughout the region have ed there might be more than 2 million Iraqi refugees pleased. They made me promise that I would try near the bus and walk together. We are four been targeted and in some cases violently repressed in total, but efforts to locate or provide aid to them and go to school. I was really nervous. Actually boys and that feels a bit safer. I can’t tell my for campaigning for the right to mother tongue have yielded little result. Among those known to be it didn’t matter, the school couldn’t take me. father what happened – I don’t want him to education – the lack of which is widely considered displaced, UN and other figures suggest that 20–25 We had the wrong papers from my old school stop me from going to school too.’ p to be detrimental to students’ achievement of their per cent come from Iraq’s smaller ethnic or religious and I was too old for my class. This year they potential. In most cases, of course, it is rural com- minority groups. Christians and Mandaean-Sabeans tried again. They put me in a class with girls five Names have been changed munities and women and girls from minorities who are particularly heavily represented. suffer most from educational exclusion. Many Iraqi refugees lack legal status in their host The continuing trends of forcibly adopting major- countries, have limited access to basic services, and ity-language education, providing fewer resources for face challenges in accessing education – and few although both Syria and Jordan now give Iraqi chil- Lebanon released 200 Iraqis who had previously the education of minority groups, and actively perse- opportunities for employment. Lebanon, Syria and dren access to schools and some public health facili- been detained, as part of a move for the ‘regulariza- cuting those who try to maintain minority education- Jordan have tended to treat Iraqis as illegal migrants, ties. In 2008, Human Rights Watch reported that tion of foreign nationals’.

202 Middle East State of the World’s Minorities State of the World’s Minorities Middle East 203 and Indigenous Peoples 2009 and Indigenous Peoples 2009 Minorities are disproportionately represented in Muslims to say they cannot or will not go back to the forcible closure of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate ing the Ahwazi flag and giving their children Sunni the poorest segments of the refugee population, and Iraq, even if the security situation improves. Dr Shirin Ebadi’s Centre for Human Rights names. In April 2008, dozens, possibly hundreds, of some are significantly less likely to have their chil- Defenders (CHRD) in December. According to Ahwazi were detained in advance of the anniversary dren enrolled in school than other Iraqis: in early Migrant workers Amnesty International, its closure ‘threatens the of riots in Al Ahwaz, which had erupted after a dis- 2007, only 15 per cent of Mandaean-Sabean fami- Migrant or ‘guest workers’ are present in many entire country’s human rights movement’. puted letter was leaked from the government detail- lies said their children were enrolled. This may have Middle Eastern countries in their millions. They ing plans to reduce the province’s Arab population. changed, since in 2007–8 the Jordanian government face a variety of problems because of legal and Education Azeris make up nearly 25 per cent of the coun- opened public education to all children, regardless administrative rules, and lack of protection by their A policy of assimilation seems to be embedded in try’s population. While a number of key estab- of nationality or legal status. host governments. In many countries in the Middle Iran’s approach to education. The Unrepresented lishment figures are Azeri and they may be more Given access to education, many Iraqis appear to East, ‘sponsorship’ laws typically tie workers to Nations and People’s Organization (UNPO), an generally accepted than other minorities, Azeris are have taken advantage of it (24,650 Iraqi children their employers and restrict their freedom of move- international group that advocates for stateless nevertheless denied rights to be educated in their were in school in Jordan in 2007–8) but most ment, making them vulnerable to workplace abuse. minorities around the world, claims that Iran has an own language. On 21 February 2008, hundreds have no formal opportunities for higher education. However, many foreign workers in the region face official policy of ‘Persianization’ which puts at risk were arrested in connection with a peaceful dem- They can receive some health care at moderately aggravated vulnerability because they are also reli- rights to cultural and linguistic heritage. onstration on International Mother Language Day, discounted rates, and aid from the UN and NGOs. gious and linguistic minorities. The Iranian Constitution states that all school demanding the right to use their own language in Many work illegally; most are under-employed and Foreign workers are often from countries with textbooks must be in Persian, and while literacy schools. vulnerable to exploitation. Buddhist, Hindu or animist religions, which are rates in Iran are generally good, children from UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of Child labour remains an issue for families strug- not recognized by Middle Eastern governments or minority communities forced to learn in Persian/ judges and lawyers Leandro Despouy issued appeals gling to survive, and there are many anecdotal by many members of the population. This makes Farsi have high rates of illiteracy and often drop out early in 2008 on behalf of an activist arrested for reports of survival sex among Iraqi women, par- the workers more vulnerable to formal and informal of school early. campaigning for greater rights to use the Azeri ticularly minorities who may have been victims of abuse. Since a large number of foreign workers are The government requires all heads of schools or mother tongue, and on behalf of a journalist who gender-based violence in Iraq. There continue to women who travel to work in the domestic sector, institutes to identify students and staff affiliated and wrote in and taught Azeri. Arrests of minority jour- be reports of Iraqi women (from majority as well these issues particularly affect minority women. belonging to ‘subversive and non-subversive sects’ nalists, activists and intellectuals continued through- as minority communities) being forced to wear the Throughout the region, there are numerous and to report on them. out the year and into early 2009. Islamic hijab in Iraq, Syria and Jordan. reports of overwork and physical, psychological Teachers in Iran have been particularly vulner- Baha’is, Iran’s largest religious minority, have In Syria, the problems of Iraqi refugees are and sexual abuse against foreign domestic workers. able to arrest, torture and even execution, because of about 300,000 members. Their situation may be similar. There are about 200,000 Iraqis registered In accounts from Saudi Arabia, foreign domestic state intolerance of minority-language education. In worsening as they face state-sponsored persecution, with the UNHCR, and only 46,642 Iraqi children women workers report being regarded as less than February 2008, Kurdish teacher Farzad Kamangar, personal threats, restrictions on employment, expul- enrolled in school. human by their employers. superintendent of high schools in Kamayaran, was sion from university and high school, and continued Living off dwindling savings, it is easy for Iraqi Foreign workers face harsh treatment from police sentenced to death for ‘endangering national secu- defamation in the media. In 2008 the government refugees to develop a sense of hopelessness about and in detention, can be made to stand trial or sign rity’. According the US State Department Human arrested more than a dozen leading Baha’is. their future. The shortfalls in education for children confessions in languages they don’t understand, and Rights Report on Iran, the Supreme Court upheld Ethnic Baluchis constitute about 2 per cent of and employment for young people risk creating a can even face the death penalty. Foreign workers who the sentence in July. the population and practise Sunni Islam. They live generation of Iraqis that feels it has no future at all. run into legal problems and do not have financial or This policy of discrimination in education in the county’s poorest region. MRG has reported Displaced minorities suffer particular problems from legal support can languish in detention indefinitely. extends into severe restrictions on freedom of that since 2005 a Sunni organization based in losing their community links. Mandaean-Sabeans in speech, opinion and the press, summarized by Baluchistan, Jondallah, claimed responsibility for Jordan have no religious authority and are unable Iran Human Rights Watch in its 2008 World Report: attacks against Iranian government targets. In to practise their religious rituals, which demand Iran’s minority communities – both ethnic and reli- ‘Most journalists arrested in 2008 were targeted August 2008, a Tehran-based Baluchi newspaper the presence of bodies of water. With their com- gious – make up nearly 50 per cent of the popula- for covering ethnic minority issues and civil society journalist, Yaghoub Mehrnehad, was arrested and munity scattered, and becoming more so through tion. But they are subject to human rights violations activities.’ According to Iranian Minorities Human executed for associating with Jondallah. resettlement, they risk the loss of their way of life by the state, such as intimidation, arbitrary deten- Rights Organization (IMHRO), ‘Any type of free Around 7 per cent of Iran’s population is altogether. tion, confiscation of property, denial of education media in ethnic minority languages is banned and Kurdish. Clashes between the Partî Bo Jîyanî Azadî Other minority groups have been actively trying to and inequality in legal matters. Large numbers of the use of ethnic languages in any arts form is also la Kurdistan (PJAK), the militant Kurdish group, promote and save their distinct languages and social both Iranian Kurd and Azeri activists have been prohibited.’ and the Iranian government continued in 2008. and religious practice. In Amman, Jordan, Iraqi detained for reasons of ‘national security’. In 2008 The state has also engaged in numerous arrests, Assyrians have established their own informal school the use of security, educational, press and anti- Minorities by group detentions and executions of Kurds this year, which teaches Assyrian language classes, religion dissident laws increased dramatically, according to Ahwazi Arabs make up about 3 per cent of Iran’s including at least one Kurdish juvenile. Kurdish classes and computer classes. The school is funded by Human Rights Watch. population. In January 2008, the government newspapers have been closed, and journalists have charitable donations from the community. A dramatic rise in repression of political and executed four Ahwazi political activists. The charges been detained or executed. Displaced minorities are also more likely than minority activists throughout 2008 culminated with against them included ‘identity crimes’, such as rais- Minority women have also been targeted: Hana

204 Middle East State of the World’s Minorities State of the World’s Minorities Middle East 205 and Indigenous Peoples 2009 and Indigenous Peoples 2009 Abdi and Ronak Safarzadeh were arrested in 2007. areas singled out by hard-line Islamist movements been particularly opposed to the inclusion of Kirkuk unsafe and their future is bleak. Thousands of They were members of Azarmehr Association of the for murder or forced conversion. Their religious under Kurdish authority. Palestinians now inhabit three harsh desert camps Women of Kurdistan, organizing literacy courses buildings, shops and homes were also targeted. The political participation of minorities in on the Iraq-Syria border. In March 2008, UNHCR and other capacity-building workshops in the Mandaean-Sabeans, members of an ancient Gnostic government has been a major issue in 2008, and appealed for the immediate relocation and resettle- Iranian Kurdish areas, as well as participants in the sect whose prophet is John the Baptist, were tar- is intimately connected with this kind of identity ment of Palestinians suffering from acute medical wider Campaign for Equality for an end to legal geted in Baghdad. The Mandaean Human Rights politics. Early drafts of the crucial provincial elec- conditions. As of September 2008, 306 had been discrimination against women in Iran. Abdi was Group Report of 2008 states that forcible conver- tions law included quotas for minorities, including resettled: 116 were accepted by Chile, 174 by released in February 2009 after 16 months in jail; at sions and confiscation of property and businesses are Assyrian Christians and Shabak, but these were Sweden and 16 by Switzerland. the time of writing Safarzadeh is awaiting trial and taking place, and the Mandaean Associations Union removed in September 2008, when a last-minute could face the death penalty. reported the killing of nine Mandaeans in Al-Kut revision of the bill allowed a resolution of the Israel and the Occupied City in Iraq on 26 March 2008. status of Kirkuk to be postponed until early 2009. Palestinian Territories Iraq Regarding both Iraq’s many internally displaced The decision sparked protests in some Iraqi cities, Palestinian citizens of Israel, or ‘Israeli Arabs’, who Iraq has been home to a wide cross-section of the people (IDPs) and the general population, UN and international condemnation. In November, constitute 20 per cent of the Israeli population, Middle East’s ethnic and religious communities, agencies and NGOs continue to express con- following an advocacy campaign by minority continue to be marginalized socially and politically, some for more than two millennia. The majority cern over access to schooling and the quality of organizations and MRG, the parliament restored and divided into sub-groups that receive different of its population, about 60 per cent, are ethnically education. UN Office for the Coordination of minority representation, but offered minorities far treatment from the state. In October 2008 extremist Arab Ithna’ashari (‘Twelver’) Shia. This group Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated in February fewer quota seats than recommended by the UN: Jewish rioters attacked Arab homes and property in was kept out of positions of power under Saddam 2008 that access to regular schooling has been ham- only six out of 440. Akka; in November outgoing Israeli Prime Minister, Hussein, but today has the greatest share of political pered due to continued security fears, school clo- Shabak are ethnically and linguistically distinct Ehud Olmert, admitted that Palestinians in Israel power. Perhaps 20 per cent of the population are sures and the exodus of teaching staff. School enrol- from Kurds, but Kurdish militias in some areas suffer from ‘deep-seated discrimination’. Most of Arab Sunnis (though this figure is widely disputed) ment rates are thought to be as low as 46 per cent, of the north have harassed them, insisting that the Israeli Palestinians are Sunni Arabs, but they and15–20 per cent are ethnic Kurds, a majority with the highest drop-out rates noted in Nineveh they are in fact Kurds in order to consolidate land also include Christian Arabs, Circassians, Druze, of whom are Sunni Muslim. There are numer- Governorate – an area where many minorities live. claims. According to a July 2008 report from Samaritans and Bedouin. Other minority communi- ous smaller ethnic and religious groups, including As the country has become more ethnically seg- the Iraq Ministry of Human Rights, the Shabak ties, such as Jews from the Arab region and migrant Christians (Chaldeans, Assyrians and Armenians), regated, struggles have been exacerbated by resource minority had suffered the worst internal displace- workers from the Horn of Africa, have also faced Baha’is, Dom (a people related to the Roma), Jews, conflicts. Iraq’s oil resources are concentrated in ment, reporting 3,708 families (about 16,000 peo- systematic social and political discrimination. Faili (Shia Kurds), Mandaean-Sabeans, Palestinians, north, including the Kurdish-governed areas, and ple) displaced. Repressive treatment of the Israeli Arab minority Sarliya-Kakaiya, Shabak, Turkmen and Yezidis. in the Shia-majority south. This has led to disagree- Yezidis, members of an ancient pre-Islamic faith, is typically justified by the government referenc- Under Saddam, many of these communities were ments over the level of federalism Iraq will have, are particular targets. Though they did not occur at ing Israel’s identity as a Jewish state or by invoking ethnically cleansed under a policy of Arabization. and how resources will be shared, controlled and the disastrous levels of 2007, attacks against Yezidis security concerns. To this day, the country contin- Some were given favourable treatment, however. distributed by the government. Final agreement on continued in 2008, including the killing of seven ues to be torn between its Jewish identity and its In December 2008, the USCIRF called for Iraq issues such as Iraq’s oil law continued to be delayed members of one family by armed militants and a claim to full democracy, and political parties that to be designated ‘a country of particular concern’ in 2008. car bombing in the predominantly Yazidi town of deny that Israel is a Jewish state are banned. under America’s International Religious Freedom One result of these disputes has been ethno- Sinjar, near Mosul, that killed several people and Arab students in Israel are taught in their own Act. The reason for this, according to the State political groups using identity politics and forced wounded more than 40 others. language, but it was only in 2007 that parliament Department report, was particularly because of migration to assert their dominance over strategic The situation of Iraq’s Christian communities approved a textbook that included Arab views on the situation for Iraq’s smallest religious minori- resources or population areas. Kurds have fought for continued to be a concern during 2008. In March the expulsion of Palestinians at the founding of ties, including Chaldo-Assyrian Christians, other increased territory for their semi-autonomous region 2008, one of Iraq’s most senior Chaldean Catholic Israel as a ‘Nakba’, or catastrophe. In 2008 the Arab Christians, Mandaean-Sabeans, Shabaks and Yezidis. in the north, and minorities have been the targets of clerics was abducted in the same city. In April, Pedagogical Council was founded to research and Commission chair Felice D. Gaer said: ‘The lack of violence and intimidation as a result, particularly in an Assyrian Orthodox priest was murdered in offer policy recommendations connected to the effective government action to protect these com- and around the oil-rich cities of Kirkuk and Mosul, Baghdad. In October 2008, the UNHCR reported Arab education curriculum. However, the Ministry munities from abuses has established Iraq among which Iraqi Turkmen, Christians and Yazidi com- that targeted attacks against Christians in Mosul of Education has been reluctant to cooperate with one the most dangerous places on earth for religious munities consider their homeland. In those cities, caused 13,000 people to flee. According to the the council. minorities.’ some groups, including Arabs and Kurds, have tried UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, many have now In July 2008, Israel’s Citizenship and Entry Law, In the sectarian violence following the US-led to co-opt others, force them to leave, or consolidate returned. which prevents Palestinian spouses of Israeli citizens invasion of 2003, minority groups were dispro- power through violence; 2008 saw an increase of The situation of Palestinian refugees in Iraq from receiving status and living together in Israel, portionately the victims. Palestinian refugees, who such inter-ethnic conflict. Kirkuk is currently under remains grave. After the fall of Saddam Hussein’s was extended for another year. Land confiscations, received favoured status under Saddam, became the political control of Kurdish authorities; decades regime, many were threatened, kidnapped, tortured the withholding of building permits and the dispro- targets of attacks. Christians, who under Saddam of ethnic cleansing have shaped the mutual distrust or killed. Many tried to flee to neighbouring coun- portionate destruction of Israeli Arab homes and vil- were permitted to trade alcohol, were in several among different ethnic groups and Turkmen have tries, but Syria will not admit them, Iraq remains lages have also long been problems for Israeli Arabs,

206 Middle East State of the World’s Minorities State of the World’s Minorities Middle East 207 and Indigenous Peoples 2009 and Indigenous Peoples 2009 Left: A Bedouin child shepherds his sheep, close Lebanon to the desert mosque of al Nabi Musa, West Bank. The long-standing ethnic tensions in Lebanon that Ahikam Seri/Panos. were stirred by the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and the 2006 Israel tlements, roads, military zones and nature reserves as –Hizbullah conflict, came to a head in 2008 with all presenting obstacles to the livelihood of Bedouins a series of violent confrontations between formal and herders. and ad hoc militias and the Lebanese military. A A 2009 report form the Health Ministry in the core issue was how different ethnic groups would Negev region found infant mortality rates among be represented in Lebanon’s confessional system of the Bedouin to be three times above the national government, which attempts to strike a balance in average – although since 2004 there has been a 5.5 a country that is essentially populated entirely by per cent decline in the infant mortality rate among minorities. Lebanon is 60 per cent Muslim (Sunnis, Bedouin. Shia, and Druze and Allawi, who only sometimes The military attacks on the Gaza Strip that com- identify as Muslim) and 40 per cent Christian menced in December 2008, and Hamas rocket (divided again into a huge number of sects). fire into Israel, further increased existing tensions Approximately 400,000 Palestinians, mostly between Arab and Jewish Members of the Knesset Sunni, live in Lebanon, many without identity (MKs). During the conflict, Israel’s Central Election papers. About half live in 12 UNRWA camps. They Committee banned two Arab parties from field- continue to face severe discrimination, are barred ing candidates in elections for the Knesset. The from 70 professional vocations and cannot own Supreme Court declared the ban illegal and Arab property or travel freely. UNRWA usually allows parties gained one seat in the 2009 elections, but non-ID holding children to attend school, but they two Arab Labor MKs lost their seats. cannot register for examinations and so many drop The 2008 report by the Association for Civil out. In March 2008, UN news agency IRIN quoted Rights in Israel report found that Ethiopian immi- UNRWA representative Hoda al-Turk as saying grants to Israel were still experiencing discrimination that new identification papers were ‘imminent’. It and marginalization. It also highlighted that only is hoped that this will prevent arbitrary arrests and 39.1 per cent of Ethiopian students graduated from ensure access to school and medical facilities. high school. In July 2008 an investigative commit- Latent conflict between different Lebanese fac- tee was set up in the Knesset to examine the situa- tions has lasted for years. In the first half of 2008, a tion of Ethiopians in the areas of education, hous- socio-economic alliance composed mostly of south- ing, employment and welfare. ern Shia with loyalties to Hizbullah, and Maronite Throughout 2008 Israel appeared to continue its Christians, shut down the government because they efforts to annex parts of the West Bank and East felt under-represented. A shaky political compro- particularly for the Bedouin of the Negev. or sewerage services to these settlements, and often Jerusalem. There was a significant increase in settle- mise was eventually reached but there were reports The Israeli government and media maintain an destroys them completely. There has been some ment construction: 1,257 new constructions in 2008 in the aftermath of seriously increased tensions explicit concern that land must remain under Jewish progress on this issue: at the end of 2007, a gov- as opposed to 800 during 2007. Concerns have been along Sunni–Shia lines. The fear of large-scale con- ownership. In 2007 and 2008, for example, there ernment commission recommended that as many raised over the implications of continued illegal set- flict between Sunni and Shia (as was recently seen in was a continuing effort by the Jewish National Bedouin villages as possible should be recognized tlement for the future of any peace initiative. Iraq) did not materialize, but the situation remains Fund (JNF) and the Israeli Lands Administration by the state. However, the report did not call for Settler violence against Palestinians continues to tense. to ensure that the JNF does not have to sell land to an end to all demolitions, which continued in 2008 increase. In 2008 the OCHA reported an increase In February 2008 the Ministry of Interior Arabs. and early 2009. of settler violence against Palestinians from 243 announced that Lebanese citizens would be able The land issue is of particular significance to the In July 2008, the International Committee of incidences in 2007 to 290 in 2008; approximately to remove their religion from Civil Registry Bedouin, a cultural minority of nomadic herders the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that the estimated half of those injured since 2006 were women and Records. The international community commended who have traditionally inhabited Israel’s southern 50,000 Bedouins and herders of the West Bank children. the move as a small step towards ameliorating desert, the Negev. For more than 40 years, they were ‘on the brink of an emergency’ after three Although house demolitions were halted after Lebanon’s sectarian divisions. have faced a policy of forced urbanization, under years of drought and cold winters. The ICRC stated an agreement between the Israeli government Violence and conflict have disproportionately which their settlements in the desert have been con- that Israeli policies had aggravated the problem by and the Quartet (the USA, Russia, the EU and affected the most marginalized groups. In 2007 sidered illegal and ‘unrecognized’. The government preventing herds from being moved to water sources the UN) in May 2008, in late 2008 demolitions conflict between Fatah al-Islam and the Lebanese has routinely refused to provide water, electricity and fresh grazing land. The ICRC cited Israeli set- resumed. army led to the destruction of Nahr al-Bared camp

208 Middle East State of the World’s Minorities State of the World’s Minorities Middle East 209 and Indigenous Peoples 2009 and Indigenous Peoples 2009 Left: Tamara Chaya and her family are Iraqi Christians. Her uncle was kidnapped and ‘We have to murdered in 2006, and after threats against her immediate family they have fled to Lebanon. Tamara teach them dropped out of school to work in a supermarket. J.B. Russell/Panos. to lie’

piloted in 40 schools. A Shia man from Saudi Arabia The year 2008 also appears to have brought lit- speaks of the difficult impact that tle progress towards the screening out of extremist discrimination, especially in the teachers, which the Saudi government promised in school system, has on young and 2007. The USCIRF report said some screenings old in Saudi Arabia. By Preti Taneja had taken place, but also mentioned ‘multiple inci- dents’ in which teachers ‘promoted intolerant views in the classroom without being disciplined’. This ‘Religious textbooks are one main problem. general intolerance intersects with issues specifically From elementary schools they teach kids facing minorities. In 2008, there were incidents of how to classify people: that Muslims go to Shia students being called unbelievers, infidels or heaven and kafirs go to hell. It’s very dan- polytheists. Ismailis also continued to be defamed in gerous. Children believe they are kafir and textbooks as polytheists or infidels. will go to hell. USCIRF highlights widespread government dis- ‘The teachers tell all children, “You are crimination against Shia working in education. Shia not Muslim, you are Shi’ite. You don’t academics comprised only 2 per cent of professors believe in God.” When exams come they and the pace of reconstruction continues to be slow. against the organization, according to USCIRF. at one university in Al Ahsa, and only 1 per cent of ask Shias what they know about Shias. More than a year after the fighting and the displace- However, the report stated, ‘the government primary and secondary school teachers in an area [They] have to write: “They are kafir”, and ment of 30,000 residents, only a small number of allowed unprecedented media coverage of the trials that is nearly 50 per cent Shia. Shia teachers were if [they] don’t [they] will fail the exam. families have been able to return. of mutawwa’in involved in these incidents, and pub- also barred from teaching certain subjects, including ‘We have to correct their thinking at lic protests were not met with further harassment.’ religious studies. home, and say if they get the question in the Saudi Arabia USCIRF also maintains that non-Muslims, or While most Shia ‘co-exist with their Sunni neigh- exam they should answer. It creates confu- In 2008, state and societal intolerance of minorities Muslims who do not adhere to Sunni Wahhabism, bors in relative peace’, they still face discrimination in sion and double feelings for them – we have in general has continued to be the norm, with few continue to face significant legal, political, economic many areas, according to USCIRF. In 2008, the gov- to teach them to lie! signs of progress being made in the limited reforms and social discrimination while at the same time ernment arrested at least one prominent Shia religious ‘We are afraid for the future of our chil- that were instituted in previous years. Saudi Arabia being unable to conduct religious practice publicly – leader, detained others, and closed Shia mosques. dren. Our hopes are very low.’ p has a population of about 28 million people; 5.5 or in some cases, privately. In May 2008, 15 Indian There is limited evidence of official attempts to million are non-nationals, while 2–2.5 million are Christians were arrested for private worship. The improve relationships with the Shia communities in Shia Muslims and 700,000 are Ismailis, with small UN Human Rights Council advanced similar con- the Eastern Province, where the newly established numbers of resident Christians and other faith cerns in its 2008 report. Human Rights Council conducted public outreach. larly in the field of aviation. Students have instead groups, according to the USCIRF. All Saudi public school students receive manda- Ismailis have faced similar issues. Early in 2008, gone to study in Jordan, but have few prospects of Issues of concern in the kingdom include state tory religious instruction, and the textbooks used there were also reports that Saudi authorities were employment upon their return. and social intolerance of minorities in general, the promote the killing of apostates and polytheists, attempting to settle Sunni Yemeni tribesmen in the Saudi Arabia’s recently established Human Rights lack of guarantees of religious freedom, and the situ- according to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, Ismaili-majority Najran Province, in an attempt Council has made limited progress. The Council’s ation of Shia (see Box: p. 211). Women in Saudi a non-profit organization. Following international to dilute and further marginalize the Ismaili com- vice-president, Zeid Al-Hussein, attributed all Arabia do not enjoy full human rights and are sub- protests that the textbooks were in contravention of munity. When Ismaili leader Shaikh Ahmad bin acknowledged human rights violations to ‘individual ject to strict Sunni interpretations of Sharia law, a the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ‘the Turki Al Sa’b complained to King Abdullah in April practices’, rejecting any indictment of government situation that is exacerbated for minority women. Saudi Government claimed it had revised the texts 2008 about the official treatment of Ismailis, he policies or social norms. On the other hand, Saudi Muslims who do not share in the official, highly and released new versions, but the USCIRF found was arrested. However, King Abdullah removed the dissident Ibrahim al-Mugaiteeb said that the Council conservative Wahhabi interpretation of Islam still evidence that large sections of the sample “revised” governor of the province, Prince Mishaal, after local has begun to have some effect by making people face problems with the mutawwa’in (religious textbooks were not edited, but simply torn out residents petitioned him to stop the resettlement. aware of human rights as a concept. The Council has police), and there continued to be numerous accu- or covered by correction fluid’. According to the Routine discrimination is experienced by Ismaili also launched a website, which will allow it to take sations of ‘harassment, abuse and killings’ levelled USCIRF report, a more moderate curriculum was students, who complain of unfair rejection, particu- complaints online and raise awareness.

210 Middle East State of the World’s Minorities State of the World’s Minorities Middle East 211 and Indigenous Peoples 2009 and Indigenous Peoples 2009 Left: Children play a game at the Beir Dukhan after an agreement was reached in July. However, Mobile School for nomadic Bedouin children, news sources reported bloody clashes in 2008, and about 25 km north of the city of Raqqa in the USCIRF itself speculates that in 2008 the Yemeni north-eastern Raqqa Governorate, Syria. Shehzad government kidnapped Zaydi leader Mohammad Noorani/UNICEF. Ahmad Miftah. USCIRF also expressed concern over the arrest two Kurds who decided to teach Kurdish to some of in 2008 of nine Christian converts and a number their friends, were arrested by Syrian security serv- of Bahai’s, who were arrested for proselytizing ices. Their case is still pending. Muslims. Converting from Islam to another religion Kurdish cultural activities are also firmly restrict- is a crime in Yemen, as is encouraging conversion, ed, and there are reports of Kurds being arrested and both are potentially punishable by death. for wearing the colours of the Kurdish flag. Decree Also of concern is the situation of the No. 49 also requires government approval for those Mohamashin, or ‘Akhdam’, a quasi-racial and wishing to sell, rent or lease land near the Turkish ethnic minority said to be a remnant of the caste border, which Kurdish groups say is discriminatory. system that existed under the Yemeni Imamate. The In October 2008, seven Kurdish parties demonstrat- Akhdam are thought to make up around 2–5 per ed against the decree and 187 people were arrested. cent of the Yemeni population. A 2008 article in the New York Times describes a group facing severe Yemen social, economic and political discrimination. Access Religious and ethnic minorities in Yemen have gen- to education remains limited for the Mohamashin, erally enjoyed reasonable levels of protection by the but the story also highlights how, after years of eco- state. The population is predominantly Arab; but nomic discrimination, many among the group no Afro-Arabs, South Asians and Europeans are also longer seek education, seeing no opportunities to Syria Tensions between the government and Kurdish present. The majority are Muslim, including Shafi better themselves in Yemeni society. Syria is home to ethnic minorities including Kurds groups, heightened by the US invasion of Iraq, (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shia), though there are small A little-known linguistic minority of about and Palestinians. The state, while exercising some continued in 2008. In 2007, Syrian security services numbers of Christians, Hindus and Jews. 45,000 people exists on the Yemeni island of tolerance, has been repressive of groups such as responded with force to major protests by Kurdish Yemen’s most noted minority is a few tiny com- Socotra. Arabic is the official language on Socotra Kurds forming what could be political alliances. groups in the town of Qamlishi, near the Turkish munities of Jews, who remained after the majority and is taught in schools. The indigenous popula- Human Rights Watch has reported that in 2008 border. In March 2008, security services again of the population emigrated to Israel. These com- tion, however, speaks Socotri, an unwritten language Syria’s multiple security services ‘continue to detain opened fire, this time apparently on civilians during munities, comprising little more than 300 members, of pre-Islamic origins. Reports suggest that many people without arrest warrants … in effect forcibly a celebration of the Kurdish New Year, leaving three have generally been well integrated with the popula- teaching staff at Socotri schools are Saudi Arabian disappearing them’. dead. tion, have enjoyed government protection and been Wahhabi teachers, who have no understanding of Syria also has a large number of minority religious There have also been a number of arrests of Kurds viewed positively by the public and in the media. the local language or customs. Local families are groups, including Allawi, Christians (including in 2008. One well-known Kurdish leader, Osman However, they have also been a target for extremists. concerned that children attending school are losing Assyrians and Armenians), Druze, Ismaili Shias Mihemed Sileman Heci, died on 18 February after In 2008, the Jews in Amran Governorate, in the their distinct identity and language. and Yezidis. The state has a history of reasonable several months in prison, according to the NGO the north, endured a series of threats from a group of Similarly, children who often have to stay away religious tolerance; all these groups appear able to Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), and their Muslim neighbours, culminating in the mur- from home during the school term are not involved practise their religions. Kurdish rights groups. ders of two community members. in the local communities and are losing local The official language in Syria is Arabic, however Syria bans political parties other than the rul- The government has offered to relocate the Jews environmental knowledge. One project to try to a number of religious minorities in Syria, such as ing Baath party, and Kurdish parties are outlawed. to Sana’a, ostensibly for their protection. However, combat this loss of local knowledge and culture Aramaic, Armenian and Assyrian speakers, have The Syrian government has linked a number of the in 2007 a group of Jews from Saada was targeted by is funded by the Darwin Initiative, which is sup- their own schools offering instruction in their arrests or detentions of Kurds to individuals par- an extremist imam associated with the Al Houthi ported by the UK government’s Department for mother tongues. ticipating in banned political parties, or seeking a rebels. They were moved to Sana’a and as a result Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The project The most marginalized group appears to be separate state. However, there is also a clear element they lost their property in Saada. The Jews of aims to ensure that future generations of Socotrans Syria’s Kurds. Of Syria’s estimated 1.7 million of identity-based discrimination against Kurds. Amran fear the same will happen to them. are able to sustainably manage the island’s unique Kurds the UK government’s human rights report Kurdish is an officially prohibited language and The Al Houthi rebels themselves are members flora, fauna and heritage. However, the project has states that 300,000 continue to be denied citizen- there are no Kurdish schools in Syria. Kurdish stu- of the Zaidi Shia minority. They wish to return to be taught in Arabic, and has to be developed ship. These Kurds have been denied Syrian pass- dents are forbidden to learn in their native tongue, to Zaidi clerical rule, and have been involved in a in line with the Yemeni Ministry of Education’s ports and nationality, and their identity papers are and even studying it is illegal. In summer of 2008, four-year conflict with the government. USCIRF national curriculum. p stamped ‘alien’. Darwish Ghalib Darwish and Zaki Ismail Khalil, suggests that that conflict has died down in 2008,

212 Middle East State of the World’s Minorities State of the World’s Minorities Middle East 213 and Indigenous Peoples 2009 and Indigenous Peoples 2009