UK £2 Issue 242, Year 5 EU €2.50 February 2, 2020 www.thearabweekly.com Hints Middle East Lebanon’s of Qatari after Brexit many scandal crises

Page 14 Page 18 Pages 3,10 Arabic language learning industry on the rise but apprenticeship is complex

Native speakers often recognise the difficulty of learning Arabic. Khadija “I can only salute their efforts. Hamouchi Myself, an Arabic ‘native’ speaker, I am in continuous language training through my daily read- earning the Arabic ing activity,” said Farah, a young language is no longer Jordanian banker in Dubai. solely the concern of Informal surveys of students parents in the Arab show difficulties of grammar, diaspora regarding their the different script and the vast Looking at elections. US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu foreign-born children logic difference between Arabic take part in the announcement of US Middle East peace plan at the White House, January 28. (AFP) Land a scattering of others around as a Semitic language and English the world. as a Latin language. “The main Hundreds of thousands of challenge is to educate learners language learners worldwide are from the onset about the diglossic attracted to Arabic, making the nature of Arabic, i.e., the split be- In Deal of the Century, language ever more relevant in the tween classical and the dialects,” 21st century. That trend led lead- Abouzahr said. ing language learning app Duolin- Sara said: “Learners need to go to add Arabic to its repertoire understand that there are several Palestinians stranded last June. levels to the language. Not all dia- The Arab World Institute in Paris lects will make them understood announced the first internation- everywhere.” ally recognised certification that Most classes in accredited lan- between two elections assesses proficiency in mod- guage-learning institutions focus ern standard Arabic, a much- rigidly on classical Arabic and its acclaimed development among grammar, which represents only The Arab Weekly staff The deal was expected to help US Jews are divided on Trump. It Arabic teachers and learning part of the picture of the language. Trump court the Evangelical Chris- was not surprising that Palestinian institutions. “I sometimes wished my profes- tian right, an important part of his President Mahmoud Abbas cited “More than 415,000 people sor linked the grammar, vocabu- London political base. criticism of the deal by J street, a have started the course since our lary and syntax of classical Arabic “Trump needs them, their money, liberal Jewish organisation that is launch on June 26, 2019,” said to one local dialect. I would have S President Donald Trump’s their presence at his rallies and their not part of Trump’s constituen- Michaela Kron, Duolingo’s public learnt more efficiently and rel- much-anticipated Middle continued support in the elections,” cies. relations manager. “To give a evantly to daily life,” said Amelia East peace plan was short said Israeli columnist Nahum Barnea. Both US and Israeli leaders also point of comparison, we launched Blunt, a British student in Middle U on surprises but not on Trump’s pro-Israel stances have have legal trouble in common. our Hindi course, a highly re- Eastern studies. US and Israeli claims of “historic” momentum in the US Republican Trump is facing an impeachment quested course, in 2018. In the achievement. establishment. A recent Gallup Poll trial in the US Senate and Netan- first month, the course had about The initiative announced Janu- indicated that Republican respond- yahu is defending himself against 53,000 active learners, compared Beyond the political ary 28 would extend Israel’s control ents had shifted to a more pro-Israel corruption charges. As he with- to the 415,000 active learners (for over Jerusalem and allow it to an- stance in the past ten years. In 1988, drew his request of immunity, the Arabic course).” drive and motives, nex a good part of West Bank settle- Gallup said 47% of Republican and Netanyahu was hoping his asso- In the United States, following interest had to do ments, including the Jordan Valley. 42% of Democratic respondents ciation with Trump could help him the 9/11 attacks, the 2003 US-led more altruism and The Palestinians, who were not in- sided with the Israelis in the conflict change the narrative at home. invasion of Iraq and the Arab volved in putting the plan together, with the Palestinians. In March 2019, Interestingly, Arab-Israelis (pre- uprisings, universities could not cultural enrichment were offered the conditional promise 43% of Democrats stated pro-Israel 1948 Palestinians) could weigh open enough classes to satisfy outlooks. of demilitarised statehood, a 4-year positions while 76% of Republican in against Netanyahu’s fortunes. demands of students. Many of “freeze” on settlements and $50 bil- asked said they sided with Israel. Ayman Odeh, leader of the Joint those pursuing Middle Eastern Key players in the industry are lion in economic incentives. The Democratic Party has increas- List of Arab parties in the Israeli studies, politics and global affairs addressing the problems. The Rather than an opening towards ingly shifted to progressive positions. parliament, said “the path to trial study classical Arabic or modern Duolingo app teaches the alphabet negotiations, the proposal is a pack- Many of the reactions by Democratic is paved and no diplomatic public standard Arabic. methodically, introduces grammar age left at the door of the Palestinians presidential nomination contenders relations stunt in the world” would “All these global events spurred with context and provides phonet- with the option, US diplomats said, to were critical of the Trump plan. prevent Netanyahu from being a policy interest, more media ics exercises. A tour at language accept or offer an alternative to it. brought to justice. coverage and high-paying jobs sections of libraries in Lebanon In recent years, US positions have As they head to the Americans and Israelis seem in the intelligence community in provides learners with introduc- been clearly favourable to Israel, in- wary of the risk that electoral one- particular,” said Hossam Abou- tory books about local dialects. United Nations to protest, cluding the recognition of the Jewish upmanship in Israel could make zahr, a Lebanese American who “We face a new generation of state’s sovereignty over Jerusalem the Palestinians face things worse for the Palestinians, started the Living Arabic Project learners who juggle between mod- and the Golan Heights. repercussions not only with extremists in Israel pushing online initiative to support learn- ern standard Arabic to understand The absence of the Palestinians of the US and Israeli for immediate annexation of set- ing Arabic. the media and fieldwork with local was glaring both in the preparation of elections but also the tlements and the United States re- Beyond the political and job- communities. We are becoming the plan as in regard to the theatrics fallout of changed luctant to get involved. prospect drive, interest centred on aware of this need and act accord- of its announcement. As they head to realities of the region. Washington would like to avoid altruism and cultural enrichment. ingly during our lessons,” said the United Nations to pro- a showdown before Israel’s “Many of our students are Hameed Abdulrahman, a freelance test, the Palestinians find March 2 election. White House humanitarian aid workers travel- teacher in Cairo. themselves stranded be- senior adviser Jared Kushner ling to the Middle East but also The Arabic language learning tween two elections and expressed “the hope” that young corporate professionals industry is getting attention from the changed realities of Israelis “wait until after the based in the Middle East willing all sides and what would serve the region. election and we’ll work with to converse with the locals,” said learners even better is the creation Observers saw the them to try to come up with Aline Sara, CEO of NaTakallam, an of a methodical approach to how White House announce- something.” award-winning start-up offering the language is used daily. ment as less pertinent to Israel’s Channel 12 reported conversational learning pro- Middle East peacemak- that Israeli Finance Minister grammes delivered by refugees. Khadija Hamouchi, an ing than to forthcoming Moshe Kahlon told Palestin- Abouzahr said Arab-American award-winning technology elections in the United ian Authority Civil Affairs communities have become more entrepreneur and researcher, States and Israel. Minister Hussein al-Sheikh established and integrated, creat- is the co-founder of Jawla Inc, Israel has its third election in less the Palestinians should “tem- ing increased interest in learning an online publishing tool for than a year next month. Prime Min- per their response until after the about Arab culture in museums right-to-left languages, including Protesting. Palestinian and through cultural and media Arabic in particular. She conveys ister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud President Mahmoud Abbas March elections in Israel” because events. “Even Netflix and Hulu stories of change and homegrown party has a narrow lead in polls over speaks in the West Bank city “everything could change after the have modern Arabic shows,” he intellectual thinking in the Middle the centrist Blue and White alliance of Ramallah, January 22. (AP) vote.” of Benny Gantz. P2,6-7,11 said. East and North Africa. 2 February 2, 2020 Top news

Britain Reactions to US Mideast peace warns Israel initiative reflect regional divide against annexation Mohammed Alkhereiji The Arab Weekly staff London

egional reactions to US London President Donald Trump’s much-anticipated Deal of ritain warned Israel R the Century varied from against seizing parts of cautious support to complete rejec- the West Bank in line tion, leaving the latest attempt at B with US President Donald resolving the decades-long Israeli- Trump’s peace plan for Israelis Palestinian conflict up in the air. and Palestinians dubbed the Deal Palestinian Authority President of the Century. Mahmoud Abbas made the Palestin- The UK Foreign Office -ex ian viewpoint official by vehement- pressed “concern” about reports ly rejecting the Trump plan. that Israeli forces were preparing “After the nonsense that we heard to annex parts of the West Bank. today, we say a thousand nos to the “Any such unilateral moves Deal of the Century,” Abbas said af- would be damaging to renewed ter the announcement of the peace efforts to restart peace nego- plan. tiations, and contrary to interna- Palestine Liberation Organisation tional law,” a statement from the Executive Committee Secretary- UK Foreign Office said. General Saeb Erekat said Abbas “Any changes to the status quo would take up the matter with the cannot be taken forward without UN Security Council, UN General an agreement negotiated by the Assembly, the UN Human Rights parties themselves,” the state- Council and the International Crimi- ment added. nal Court. The United Kingdom initially The Trump proposal calls for a Fateful juncture. Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit (L) meets with Palestinian appeared broadly supportive of two-state solution in which Pales- President Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo, January 31. (Reuters) the plan, with Trump confirming tinians would be permitted, based that British Prime Minister Boris on Israeli security conditions, to es- reach an agreement that achieves istration to achieve a comprehensive used the Palestinian card to exert Johnson had given his backing for tablish a demilitarised state. Howev- (the) legitimate rights of the Pales- and just settlement of the Palestin- influence in the Arab and Muslim the deal during a telephone call. er, Israel would be allowed to annex tinian people.” ian issue,” adding that Egypt urges world. British Foreign Secretary Domi- settlements in the occupied territo- Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz both sides to open communication With the usual touch of hyper- nic Raab also issued a strong en- ries and Jerusalem would be under Al Saud phoned Abbas and stressed channels to resume negotiations un- bole, the Iranian government de- dorsement. “This is clearly a seri- Israeli control, making the plan a Saudi Arabia’s “steadfast stance on der the auspices of the United States scribed the proposed US Middle East ous proposal, reflecting extensive non-starter as far as the Palestinian the Palestinian issue and the rights to reach an agreement. peace plan as an “act of treachery” time and effort,” he said January Authority is concerned. of the Palestinian people,” the SPA A similar position was expressed and said Trump’s “objective is the 29. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict state news agency reported. by the Moroccan Foreign Ministry, realisation of the goal of the crusad- “A peace agreement between is a thorny issue that has been po- King Salman stands by the Pales- which said it “appreciates the con- ers and Zionists.” Israelis and Palestinians that liticised over the decades to appeal tinian people and supports “their structive efforts of peace deployed Yemen’s Houthis and Lebanon’s leads to peaceful coexistence to public sentiments but with little options and what achieves their by the current American adminis- Hezbollah followed the same line. could unlock the potential of the gains for Palestinians. hopes and aspirations,” SPA said. tration in order to achieve a just, Turkish President Recep Tayyip entire region and provide both Many in the Middle East, while The United Arab Emirates diplo- sustainable and fair solution in the Erdogan called the deal “a project of sides with the opportunity for a stressing the need to protect Pales- matically described the peace plan Middle East.” occupation.” brighter future,” he added, call- tinians’ rights, welcomed the first as a “starting point.” In Algiers, the Foreign Ministry The United States seems to think ing on the leaders of Israel and attempt by a US administration since “The plan announced today offers for the first time identified “East Iran’s aggressive designs in the Palestine to work together to the Clinton era to resolve the issue an important starting point for a re- Jerusalem” as the capital of a future region should usher in new align- reach an agreement. despite the Trump plan’s flaws. turn to negotiations within a US-led state for Palestinians, instead of “Je- ments but signs of the Gulf region’s However, there appeared to be In the Gulf Cooperation Council, international framework,” the UAE rusalem” as in previous statements. overtures to Israel have been timid ambiguity in Britain’s position the consensus was to express “ap- Embassy in Washington said in a The only flat-out rejection of the with a continued insistence on up- following comments January 30 preciation” for the Trump adminis- statement. plan from US allies in the Arab world holding Palestinians’ rights first. to parliament by Foreign Office tration’s efforts but not necessarily Kuwait and Bahrain released was from Jordan and Tunisia. Jorda- In an interview with Saudi-owned Minister Andrew Morrison, who for the plan itself. statements expressing cautious sup- nian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi Al Arabiya television, Jared Kush- said: “Of course, we welcome this Saudi Arabia and the United Arab port. Oman, whose Washington en- issued a statement warning against ner, White House adviser and one plan. This doesn’t mean we en- Emirates called for direct talks be- voy was in attendance for the plan “the dangerous consequences of of the architects of the proposal, dorse its contents.” tween Palestinian and Israeli offi- announcement, has yet to comment unilateral Israeli measures… that pointed to changes in the regional Morrison insisted that “these cials. The two Gulf countries praised publicly. aim at imposing new realities on the landscape. are not our plans” and that they Trump’s push for a two-state solu- Qatar, which hosts the largest US ground.” “The biggest threat right now is were “not perfect,” adding that tion but stopped short of endorsing military base in the region, said it In a televised interview January not Israel,” he said. “Iran is the big the Palestinians should view the the plan. “appreciates the endeavours of the 30, Tunisian President Kais Saied threat. Iran is who’s shooting rock- publication of the US peace initia- Any disagreements with the plan current US administration to find called the proposal “the injustice of ets at your airports and shooting tive as a good opportunity to re- should be resolved through nego- solutions for the Palestinian-Israeli the century.” rockets at your palaces.” turn to the negotiating table. tiations under the auspices of the conflict.” Outside the Arab world, strong Trump’s proposal envisions United States, a statement from The Egyptian Foreign Ministry denunciation came from Iran and its Mohammed Alkhereiji is Israel annexing key parts of the the Saudi Foreign Ministry said, “to said Cairo “appreciates the continu- proxies as well as from Turkey. Both the Gulf section editor of West Bank, including the Jordan move forward the peace process to ous efforts exerted by the US admin- regional powers have traditionally The Arab Weekly. Valley. Trump’s Mideast peace plan sparks surge of anger in Jordan

Roufan Nahhas port from Jordanians and Palestin- Jordan would reject the proposal if still dream of the day we go back flict, which calls for the establish- ians. We have said repeatedly that it impinged on Jordanian national to our homeland. This is the legacy ment of an independent Palestin- we will never abandon Jerusalem interests. “Our position is perfectly that we inherited and that in our ian state in territory captured by Amman and our land. The deal has been fab- well known. We will not agree to turn will leave to our children and Israel in the 1967 Mideast war with ricated to suit Israel and the world proposals that come at our expense grandchildren. Whether it was the East Jerusalem as its capital as “the S President Donald should understand clearly that we and our position on the Palestinian so-called Sykes-Picot Agreement only path to a comprehensive and Trump’s announcement refuse it,” said Ziad Tabazah, 45, a cause is clear,” he said. or the Trump-Netanyahu plan, Pal- lasting peace.” of the so-called Deal of Jordanian of Palestinian origin. Hasan Najjar, 65, a retired Jor- estinians will withstand political “The national interests of Jordan U the Century to resolve “The world should know that we danian serviceman of Palestin- repressions,” Najjar said. and its unwavering position on the the Israeli-Palestinian conflict pro- need peace as well as our rights. ian origin, said it is illogical to call Protesters called for the ouster of Palestinian issue govern the way in voked anger and denunciation in The deal does not mean anything Trump’s plan a “deal.” the Israeli ambassador and cancel- which the government deals with Jordan, home for the largest Pal- to us and we will continue fighting. lation of Jordan’s 1994 peace treaty all proposals and initiatives aimed estinian refugee community with It was clear that Trump cares only with Israel. at resolving the conflict. The Pal- scores holding dual Jordanian-Pal- about Israel’s security, so how can Jordanian King Abdullah Amid the commotion, Moham- estinian issue is the foremost Arab estinian nationality. we trust him?” cautioned that Jordan would med Eid, 71, quietly sipped tea at a issue and Jordan will coordinate Heavy security measures were Protesters in various parts of Jor- reject the proposal if it cafe in Amman and considered the with Palestinians and Arab coun- imposed around the US Embassy dan blasted the deal, which they impinged on Jordanian announced plan. tries in addressing future develop- in Abdoun, an up-scale residential said was an “assassination of the national interests. “After all these years they come ments,” Safadi said. area in Amman where hundreds of peace process and will push the re- up with this?” he asked. “No, thank The Deal of the Century calls for protesters rallied to express con- gion into more extremism.” “When we talk about deals, we you. We prefer to stay as we are and the creation of a State of Palestine demnation of the plan and call on In Baqaa camp, home to 104,000 talk about two parties, in this case fight our own way. I heard the an- with its capital in portions of East Arab countries to reject it. Palestinian refugees north of Am- the Palestinians and Israelis, but nouncement but did not care much Jerusalem and recognises Israeli “Palestine is not for sale” and man, large rallies called on Jorda- if the Palestinians reject the plan about it because it concerns Israel sovereignty over major settlement “America is the head of terrorism,” nian King Abdullah II, custodian then there is no deal! Conspiracies only, it does not involve Palestin- blocks in the West Bank, which the read banners carried by protesters of Muslim and Christian holy sites against the Palestinians have never ians. That is why I think they are United Nations consider illegal and who said the US plan would exacer- in Jerusalem, to reject the scheme stopped and will continue, yet, we talking to themselves.” violations of international Law. bate tensions in the region. because it deprives Palestinians of will spare no effort to abort them,” Jordanian Foreign Minister “This is an outrage. The deal will their basic rights. said Najjar, a native of Jerusalem. Ayman Safadi reaffirmed Jordan’s Roufan Nahhas is a journalist collapse and it will never find sup- King Abdullah cautioned that “We, as Palestinian refugees, long-standing position on the con- based in Jordan. February 2, 2020 3 Top news Macron, Erdogan lock Lebanon’s government takes office amid horns over Turkey’s uncertainty, opposition

Samar Kadi country from its aggravating situa- ‘broken promises’ in Libya tion continue. Washington and its Arab Gulf allies, Beirut which have long channelled funds The Arab Weekly staff into Lebanon’s fragile economy, ex- ebanese Prime Minister Has- pressed alarm at the rising influence san Diab, whose cabinet took of Hezbollah and its partners. Paris office January 23, is yet to The US administration “will not” L submit its policy statement provide any kind of assistance for rench President Emmanuel to parliament amid calls to deny his Lebanon’s new government because Macron accused Turkish Hezbollah-backed administration a it considers it an “extension” of Hez- President Recep Tayyip Er- vote of confidence. bollah’s authority, local daily Nida Al F dogan of breaking promises Stringent security measures were Watan said quoting sources in Wash- made at a conference on Libya after enforced around the parliament ington. Turkish warships and Syrian fighters building, which was sealed off with None of the Gulf Arab countries, es- arrived in the North African country. concrete blocks, barbed wire and pecially Saudi Arabia and the United “I want to express my concerns blast walls to deter anti-government Arab Emirates, appears willing to step with regard to the behaviour of Tur- protesters from reaching the build- in to help heavily indebted Lebanon. key at the moment, which is in com- ing from adjacent Martyrs’ Square, a Mounayar said Lebanon is regard- plete contradiction with what Presi- main protest hub in Beirut. ed as part of the confrontation of the dent Tayyip Erdogan committed to The deteriorating economic and fi- United States and its Arab allies with at the Berlin conference,” Macron nancial situation was expected to top Iran, now that it has officially fallen said January 29 at a news conference the government’s agenda but a cabi- into the grip of the ruling majority led with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos net stamped as a one-sided Hezbol- by Hezbollah. Mitsotakis. lah-led group will be unlikely to get “Only the Europeans, led by Macron’s comments came a week badly needed Arab and international France, might be willing to help con- after the United Arab Emirates, financial assistance. tain the crisis through CEDRE confer- Egypt, Russia — which all back east- “Challenges awaiting Diab’s admin- ence on condition that the govern- ern Libyan military commander istration are extremely difficult. They ment introduces serious reforms, Khalifa Haftar — and Turkey — which are rendered even more challeng- primarily in the electricity sector,” backs the government in Tripoli — ing because the government has no Mounayar said. agreed with Western powers in Ber- wide political cover and it is branded Foreign donors who pledged assis- lin to push for a lasting ceasefire and as pro-Hezbollah, even though it in- tance for Lebanon at the CEDRE con- uphold an arms embargo. cludes non-partisan and moderate ference in Paris in 2018 have said any However, since then there has figures,” said political analyst Johnny support depends on enacting long- been an uptick in fighting with Haf- Mounayar. delayed reforms. tar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) “The future is blurred. Some peo- While Arab countries and the West attempting to open a new front by Flexing muscle. French President Emmanuel Macron (R) shakes ple say the government won’t last do not want Lebanon’s collapse, they moving forces towards the city of hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the long, while others, including Hez- also do not want to support a govern- Misrata in western Libya. conference on Libya at the Chancellery in Berlin, January 19. (AP) bollah, believe it will stay for a long ment closely linked to Hezbollah. Pictures on social media purport- while due to the extreme complexity “No money will be coming for the edly show Turkish warships off the mer EU ambassador to Turkey. ply the parties in the conflict “threat- of forming another administration. time being. The future looks un- coast of Libya on January 29. Macron “Politically, it is easy to do and this en to precipitate a new and much “But, in order to help alleviate the certain and I fear things would get confirmed the presence of Turkish is what is being done in Paris. On the more dangerous conflagration.” acute financial crisis and shore up the worse,” Mounayar added. ships and accused Ankara of violat- ground, it is infinitely more compli- Turkey backs the Tripoli-based economy, painful and unpopular fis- Lebanon’s crisis is rooted in dec- ing Libya’s sovereignty and endan- cated,” he added, “but Ankara only Government of National Accord cal measures will be unavoidable, a ades of official corruption and waste. gering European and West African understands the language of force.” (GNA), which has been fighting an of- move that will further infuriate and A hard currency squeeze has pushed security. fensive launched by the LNA, which alienate the people,” Mounayar said. up prices, hit the Lebanese pound “We have seen during these last controls three-quarters of Libyan While the unprecedented street and driven banks to impose capital days Turkish warships accompanied “We have seen during these territory. protests that have swept Lebanon controls. by Syrian mercenaries arrive on Lib- last days Turkish warships Turkey’s parliament in January since mid-October have tapered, op- yan soil. This is an explicit and seri- accompanied by Syrian approved a bill approving a military position to Diab’s cabinet and public Samar Kadi is The Arab Weekly ous infringement of what was agreed mercenaries arrive on deployment to Libya to shore up the mistrust in its capacity to pull the Travel and Society section editor. in Berlin. It’s a broken promise,” Ma- Libyan soil,” said Macron. GNA but Ankara insists the number cron said. of Turkish troops is small and that Without naming them, the United A French military source told they are there to train Libyan forces. Nations on January 25 said several Agence France Press that France’s In a conflict that has split regional countries backing rival factions in Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier powers, Turkey’s main regional ally Libya had violated the arms embargo spotted a Turkish frigate escorting a Qatar also supports the GNA but the since the Berlin conference. It said cargo ship delivering armoured ve- United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia cargo planes loaded with advanced hicles to Tripoli in defiance of a UN and Egypt, staunch foes of Erdogan’s weaponry, armoured vehicles, ad- embargo. Turkey, back pro-Haftar forces. visers and fighters had arrived at The cargo ship Bana docked in Russia, which has worked closely eastern and western Libyan airports, Tripoli port on January 29, said the with Turkey to end the Syria conflict, something that risked “plunging the source, who asked not to be named. is also seen as backing Haftar but de- country into a renewed and intensi- The Marine Traffic specialist website nies funding Russian mercenaries on fied round of fighting.” said the vessel was recorded the day the ground. Macron’s remarks reflect increas- before off the coast of Sicily. The Turkish Foreign Ministry on ing desperation in Europe over Er- The UN Security Council on Febru- January 29 blamed France for Libya’s dogan’s policies in the Mediterrane- ary 2011 imposed an arms embargo instability, saying it was “no secret” an. “Against a regime that no longer on Libya, relating to the supply of that Paris had given “unconditional sees any limits to its action, there arms and military equipment to and support” to Haftar with an eye on needs to be a moment when it is told from the country. the country’s energy reserves. to stop,” said Marc Pierini, a visiting UN Envoy Ghassan Salame warned On edge. Army soldiers scuffle with anti-government protesters blocking scholar at Carnegie Europe and a for- on January 30 that moves to resup- (With AFP, Reuters) a road leading to the parliament building in Beirut, January 27. (AP) Iraq continues to grapple with political crisis, street protests

The Arab Weekly staff have an early election for the peo- ally name a new prime minister if former Prime Minister Haider al- There had been a nearly 3-week ple to have their say and for the parliament did not nominate a can- Abadi. While Kadhimi was report- pause that saw tensions between next parliament to be formed from didate within three days. edly securing backing after media Washington and Tehran increase London their free will, to take the neces- “I call on you, as parliamentary reports suggested that Salih would following the assassination of Ira- sary steps towards reform,” he said blocs concerned with the nomina- nominate him if parliament missed nian Major-General Qassem Soleim- raq continued to grapple with January 31. tion of the prime minister, to re- his deadline. ani and an Iranian retaliation, which its protracted political crisis Sistani said the next parliament sume constructive and serious po- Following Salih’s announcement, involved missile strikes on Iraqi amid street protests as dem- would be able “to take decisive litical dialogue in order to agree on protesters took to the streets in bases housing US troops. I onstrators sought the removal measures that will determine the a new candidate,” he said. Baghdad to reject Allawi, viewed as Protests in Iraq erupted over the of the ruling elite, which they per- future of the country, especially re- Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul- being too close to Iran, something United States’ killing of Soleimani ceived as corrupt, and an end to for- garding the preservation of its sov- Mahdi resigned in December after that has given many in the coun- on Iraqi soil, with parliament issu- eign interference in Iraqi politics, ereignty and the independence of months of anti-government pro- try concern amid growing tensions ing a non-binding resolution calling especially by Iran. its political decisions.” tests, although he has continued in over Tehran’s role in Iraq. on US troops to withdraw from the At least 500 people have been Populist Iraqi cleric Muqtada al- a caretaker role until a replacement Iraq’s constitution grants the larg- country. Anti-US sentiment appears killed in the unrest that began in Sadr called for a mass protest in is determined. est parliamentary bloc the right to to have since subsided as Iraq grap- October, with both security forces Baghdad and for sit-ins near the Reports stated that two figures name a prime minister but the leg- ples with its political crisis. and unidentified gunmen shooting fortified Green Zone to protest the emerged as prime ministerial candi- islature is divided over whether this US Defence Secretary Mark Esper people. delayed formation of a govern- dates: the Iraqi National Intelligence means the largest parliamentary revealed January 30 that Washing- Leading Shia cleric Ayatollah ment, without specifying when the Service Director Mustafa al-Kadhi- coalition or the winning list in the ton was seeking to gain Baghdad’s Ali al-Sistani condemned the use demonstrations should take place. mi and former Communications 2018 elections. permission to install Patriot mis- of force by security forces in their “I find that it is beneficial to re- Minister Mohammed Allawi. The political manoeuvring in Iraq sile defence systems to protect US crackdown against demonstrators new the peaceful reformist revolu- Allawi reportedly had the back- came against the backdrop of the troops against future missile at- and renewed calls for early elec- tion,” al-Sadr said in a statement. ing of the Sairoon parliamentary resumption of joint military opera- tacks. tions. Iraqi President Barham Salih, on bloc led by al-Sadr, the rival Fatah tions between US troops and Iraqi “It is imperative to hurry and January 30, threatened to unilater- coalition led by Hadi al-Amiri and forces against the Islamic State. (With news agencies) 4 February 2, 2020 Top news

Evidence Syrian government forces of Houthis getting recapture key north-western town weapons similar to Iran’s The Arab Weekly staff nearby provinces Aleppo and Latakia, had been dominated by Agence France-Presse Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an al-Qae- London da offshoot. and the Associated Press Reports said the town had he Syrian Army recap- been bombed by the Syrian Army London tured the strategic north- and its Russian allies for several western Syrian town of months ahead of a recent troop emen’s Houthi rebels T Maaret al-Numan in a surge that approached Maaret al- are in possession of blow to last major bastion of the Numan on three sides. new weapons similar to Syrian opposition. Turkey, which backs some re- Y those produced in Iran, Maaret al-Numan, which had bel groups in Idlib province, at- in violation of a UN arms em- been in control of jihadists and tempted to broker several cease- bargo, a UN report claimed. allied rebels, is in Idlib province fires with Moscow to avert a Some of the weapons, which along the key M5 highway con- Russia-backed Syrian advance. the rebels have had since 2019, necting Damascus to Aleppo. The agreement with Moscow on “have technical characteristics “Our forces managed in the January 12 failed to materialise, similar to arms manufactured past few days to stamp out terror- prompting Turkish President Re- in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” ism in many villages and towns,” cep Tayyip Erdogan to accuse said the report, compiled by including Maaret al-Numan, a Moscow of not honouring the UN experts monitoring the em- Syrian Army spokesman said. agreements. bargo. Government forces have recap- It was a rare criticism from Er- The experts said the main tured about 27 towns and villages dogan, who has largely sought to smuggling route for the com- in southern Idlib since January ensure good relations with Rus- mercially available drone 24 and the army was committed sian President Vladimir Putin parts and weapons “seems to to “hunting down all remaining since a 2016 rapprochement. run overland from Oman and armed terrorist groups until all In comments carried by the the southern coast of Yemen, Syrian soil has been cleansed of Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, Er- through territory controlled terrorism,” the spokesman said. dogan said Turkish officials were by the government of Yemen, discussing the situation in Idlib towards Sana’a,” the country’s with Russian officials but warned capital, which is controlled by Maaret al-Numan is on a key that Turkey’s “patience was run- the Houthis. highway connecting ning thin.” The panel didn’t say whether Damascus and Aleppo and Erdogan said Turkey “would the weapons had been deliv- was one of the early centres do whatever is necessary” if the January 29. Syrian military advance in Idlib ered to the Houthis directly by for protests against Assad’s Russian bombing in Idlib did not Tens of thousands of civilians was compounding the humani- the Iranian government, which rule. stop. Moscow, however, appeared reportedly fled the Syrian Army tarian crisis in the country. The has repeatedly denied sending disinclined to heed Turkey’s advance on southern Idlib. De- United Nations said violence in them arms. The capture of Maaret al-Nu- warning with Russian UN Ambas- spite the army dropping leaf- north-western Syria has displaced “In addition to the previously man January 29 holds symbolic sador Vasily Nebenzya affirming lets telling civilians to avoid air more than 388,000 civilians known weapon systems, they importance, given its role as one the military advance. strikes by moving south to recon- since December. used a new type of Delta-design of the early centres for protest “Russia supports the measures cile with government forces, in- “Unless the current hostilities uncrewed aerial vehicle and a against Syrian President Bashar taken by the Syrian Army to get dications were that most headed stop, we will see an even greater new model of land attack cruise Assad’s rule. In 2011, Maaret al- rid of the sources of these provo- north towards the Turkish bor- humanitarian catastrophe,” UN missile,” the document said. Numan was one of the first towns cations and it is worried about der. Under-Secretary-General for Hu- The UN panel also said it to revolt against the central gov- the movement of terrorists from Turkey, home to approximately manitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock identified a “Houthi network ernment. It was captured one Idlib to other areas in Syria and 3.6 million Syrians, indicated an told the UN Security Council on involved in the repression of year later by rebels fighting gov- to other countries of the world unwillingness to open its borders January 29. women who oppose the Hou- ernment’s forces. such as Afghanistan and Libya,” to more refugees. this, including through the use The Idlib region, along with Nebenzya said at a UN meeting Aid groups have warned that the (With news agencies) of sexual violence.” ISIS calls for ‘new phase’ of attacks targeting Israel

Agence France-Presse Sinai Peninsula, which borders Is- rael. The spokesman said Quraishi, Beirut who took command of ISIS after Baghdadi was killed last October, he Islamic State (ISIS) was “determined and has encour- vowed to shift its focus aged his mujahideen brothers in all from the remnants of its provinces and Muslims across the T caliphate towards Israel, world,” to begin “a new phase.” in its first audio statement since That new focus “is fighting the confirming the death of Abu Bakr Jews and reclaiming what they al-Baghdadi. have stolen from the Muslims and In a message purportedly re- this cannot be reclaimed except leased by ISIS, the jihadist organi- through fighting,” he said. sation called for sabotaging US ISIS released its recording ahead President Donald Trump’s peace of Trump hosting Israeli Prime plan. The message said ISIS leader Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurai- Netanyahu’s electoral rival Benny shi encouraged the group’s fighters Gantz in Washington and the un- Expanding foothold. A Muslim Brotherhood supporter looks on to launch “a new phase” and vowed veiling of his “Deal of the Century” during a rally in Istanbul, last March. (AFP) major operations against Israel. peace plan. “The eyes of the soldiers of the The ISIS spokesman made a di- caliphate, wherever they are, are rect reference to the Trump plan, still on Jerusalem,” the spokesman saying Muslims across the world More wariness about Muslim said in the 37-minute message, should “be the warhead in fighting “and in the coming days, God will- Jews and foil the so-called Deal of Brotherhood in Central Asia ing, you will see what harms you the Century. and what will make you forget the He urged ISIS fighters, especially horrors you have seen.” those in Syria and Sinai, to turn Reuters dominantly Muslim former Soviet ISIS once administered a sprawl- Jewish settlements into “a testing republic banned the Islamic Re- ing self-proclaimed “caliphate” ground” for their weapons. Israel Dushanbe naissance Party of Tajikistan and straddling large parts of Syria and captured the Golan Heights from accused its leadership of plotting Iraq, where it minted currency, lev- Syria in 1967 and annexed the ter- ajikistan arrested 113 peo- a coup. Tajikistan has also blamed ied taxes and ran school curricula. ritory in 1981. ple charged with being Islamists and the Islamic State for Under pressure from combined Some 600,000 Israeli settlers members of the Muslim deadly attacks on foreign tour- military operations by Syrian and live in the West Bank and Israeli- T Brotherhood, an Islam- ists, local prison staff and border Iraqi forces supported by their re- annexed East Jerusalem among ist organisation outlawed in the guards. spective allies, the proto-state col- approximately 2.9 million Palestin- Central Asian country, Prosecutor- The Muslim Brotherhood, found- lapsed last year. ians. General Yusuf Rakhmon said. ed more than 90 years ago in Egypt, ISIS has remained present in its On its southern coast, Israel im- Among those arrested during has a network of affiliated groups Euphrates heartland and surround- poses a crippling blockade on the January were two foreigners, one across the Middle East and beyond. An Israeli On watch. ing desert hideouts, however, and Palestinian territory of Gaza, a strip municipal official and more than It is backed by Qatar and Turkey soldier uses binoculars at a its franchises in Africa and Asia that is controlled by the Islamist 20 university professors, Rakhmon but is considered a terrorist organi- checkpoint near the West have expanded their attacks. The movement Hamas and shares a said January 28. sation by several Arab countries as Bank city of Nablus. (AP) group has a presence in Egypt’s border with Egypt’s Sinai region. The government of the pre- well as Russia. February 2, 2020 5 Top news Moroccan opposition figures trade barbs over political Islam ahead of leadership elections

Saad Guerraoui the highest religious authority in the country. Benchamach said that instru- Casablanca mentalising religion to garner votes was a mark of ignorance of fficials from Morocco’s the foundations of the Moroccan main opposition Authen- constitutional system and a deni- ticity and Modernity Par- gration of the institution of the O ty, which is seen as close commandery of the faithful, which to the palace, traded barbs over “is a constitutional and historical political Islam ahead of leadership foundation of the Moroccan state.” elections. He lashed out at Ouahbi’s “vile” Party member Abdellatif Ouahbi words, which he said do not serve said behaviour of the Authenticity the interests of those whom Ouah- and Modernity Party (PAM) regard- bi takes as allies from political Is- ing events and political actors was lam and harm the PAM. marked by reductionism, which Ouahbi called for the PAM’s focused its efforts as if they existed “disengagement” from the state, only to face political Islam. promising a new approach backed “Between democratic struggle by a new political discourse. and reconsideration of the PAM Former PAM Secretary-General position vis-a-vis the Justice and Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah, who Development Party (PJD), a politi- is also vying for the party’s leader- cian first thinks of diversifying his ship, accused Ouahbi of insulting allies,” Ouahbi said at a news con- the party’s history. ference January 23 announcing his The PAM was founded by Fouad candidacy for the PAM leadership. Ali El Himma, a former minister of “The state reason requires in- interior and adviser to the king, in depth analysis to deal with politi- 2008 to counter the rise of politi- Permanent tension. Hakim Benchamach, Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) secretary-general. cal actors without taboos or intel- cal Islam led by the ruling Islamist (Twitter) lectual inertia,” said Ouahbi. Party of Justice and Development. PAM Secretary-General Hakim “To question the PAM’s inde- Benchamach dismissed Ouahbi’s pendence is to insult our activists period of tension and crisis. Today mittee meeting tasked with pre- the party around a single project. statement as “dangerous and irre- and history,” Biadillah told Moroc- it needs appeasement and gather- paring the extraordinary session A few months later, Benchamach sponsible.” can news site Medias24. “Then, as ing,” said Biadillah. of the National Council to elect a accused Akchichine, one of the “Evoking the commandery of a candidate for the PAM General- Ilyas El Omari resigned as PAM new leader. A few days later, Ben- party’s founders, of failing to ad- the faithful by speaking of political Secretariat, I hope that the PAM secretary-general in August 2017 chamach was elected as the party vance the plan and acting against Islam is a form of questioning one leadership will respond to these but froze his decision during a na- leader, the fourth person to lead the party’s reunification. of the foundations of the monar- very serious allegations.” tional council session, pending an the PAM in less than 12 years. Benchamach’s decision came chy,” Benchamach said. Analysts said PAM’s image has extraordinary meeting and leaving It did not take long before the a few days after Akchichine and “These words cannot come from been badly affected by crises and the party in limbo. party was embroiled in another 11 other members of the political a person supposed to be aware internal conflicts. They said they Activists in the party accused crisis. Last June, Benchamach dis- bureau signed a statement reject- of the minimum required of the doubt that the party will be one of Omari of a “tribalist” management missed Ahmed Akchichine, presi- ing decisions made by the party principles of the constitution and, the main contenders in the legis- of the party by placing his rela- dent of the Marrakech-Safi region, leader, including the dismissal of moreover, a jurist who assumed lative elections in 2021 because of tives and friends at the top of the for sowing division and amplifying Mohamed Hamouti from the presi- parliamentary functions and re- the lack of a united front. electoral list in northern Morocco, tensions in the party. dency of the federal office. sponsibilities on behalf of the The PAM finished second in the which prompted the departure of Akchichine was appointed in PAM.” legislative elections with 102 seats several figures. January 2019 to the PAM politi- Saad Guerraoui is a contributor Moroccan King Mohammed VI after the PJD, which won 125 seats. In May 2018, Omari confirmed cal bureau to implement a plan to The Arab Weekly on Maghreb is the commander of the faithful, “Our party has gone through a he would step down after a com- Benchamach introduced to unite issues. Arab region on alert over UAE nuclear power plant’s first reactor ready for operation coronavirus, first cases reported WAM and Reuters est standards of safety, quality and security. “We take this achievement with Mohammed Alkhereiji gers at international airports. Both The Egyptian government said Dubai great responsibility while we con- Abu Dhabi and Dubai airports im- it was coordinating with Chinese tinue to support Nawah in obtain- plemented “thermal screening” for authorities to facilitate the return he first reactor at the Unit- ing regulatory approval… to safely London passengers arriving from China. of Egyptian nationals who want to ed Arab Emirates’ Barakah and gradually commence produc- UAE officials are taking “all the leave China over fear of virus con- Nuclear Energy Plant ing clean, safe and reliable electric- ith the World Health necessary precautions in accord- tamination. T passed a milestone assess- ity to power the growth of the UAE Organisation declar- ance with the scientific recommen- The Egyptian Health Ministry ment needed to begin operations, for the next 60 years.” ing the outbreak of dations, conditions and standards noted that there had been no re- UAE state news agency WAM said. The WANO assessment was an W coronavirus, which has approved by the WHO,” the UAE ported cases of the coronavirus in Nawah Energy Company con- important step towards Nawah re- spread from China to more than Health and Prevention Ministry Egypt. The country’s flagship airline cluded requirements and was ceiving an operating licence from a dozen countries, a global emer- said. said it would suspend all flights to expected to load the first fuel as- the Federal Authority for Nuclear gency, most of the Arab world is Saudi Minister of Health Dr and from China. semblies into Unit 1 of the Barakah Regulation, the UAE’s nuclear regu- on high alert with health officials Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, in a statement Tunisian President Kais Saied said plant during the first quarter of lator. acting to prevent the spread of the January 26, said no cases of the officials were considering sending a 2020, WAM reported January 28. “Successfully completing virus. coronavirus had been detected in military plane to repatriate Tunisian The Emirates Nuclear Energy WANO’s [assessment] of Unit 1 of The World Health Organisation Saudi Arabia and that the Ministry citizens. Corporation (ENEC) and its sub- the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant (WHO) declared the outbreak in of Health was carrying out precau- sidiary Nawah said an operational is a testament to our commitment China a “public health emergency tionary measures, including screen- readiness assessment, conducted to the highest national and interna- of international concern,” after ing passengers arriving from China. Four cases of by the Atlanta Centre of the World tional regulations and standards,” the virus had sickened more than The Bahraini Ministry of Health coronavirus infection Association of Nuclear Operators said Nawah CEO Mark Reddemann. 10,000 people and killed at least said the country was free of the were confirmed in the (WANO), concluded that Unit 1 was “As we progress towards the se- 213. SARS-like virus. It said preventive United Arab Emirates, ready to start up, WAM said. cure and safety-led start-up of Unit Four cases of coronavirus infec- measures had been increased at the first in the region During the WANO assessment in 1, we will continue to work closely tion were confirmed in the United entry points and health facilities to since the new strand of November, teams examined func- with our partners to ensure that Arab Emirates, the first in the re- avert an outbreak of the disease. the virus was reported. tional areas essential for the safe we demonstrate our readiness to gion since the new strain of the Oman issued a travel warning operation of the unit. The results receive the operating licence from virus was reported in December in through its Health Ministry advis- Temperature sensors were in- were said to confirm that Unit 1 was the Federal Authority for Nuclear Wuhan, China. ing against travel to China because stalled at Tunis Carthage Airport to ready to be started. Regulation, as we work to pursue The cases in the United Arab of the coronavirus. help identify travellers who might “The fact that our first unit and the highest standards of operation- Emirates were found in four mem- The Kuwaiti Ministry of Health have contracted the virus. Health our team of experts successfully al excellence.” bers of a Chinese family who ar- affirmed that Kuwait was clear of officials indicated that “travellers completed this international start- Once fuel assemblies are loaded rived from Wuhan on vacation, the any coronavirus cases “till this mo- suspected of carrying the virus will up assessment by WANO is a ma- into the reactor, Nawah will begin WAM news agency reported. Symp- ment,” ministry spokesman Dr Ab- be subjected to medical tests and jor milestone for the UAE Peaceful the start-up sequence for testing toms began showing a week after dullah al-Sanad said in a statement examinations” and said other air- Nuclear Energy Programme,” ENEC during which operators gradually their arrival, a local doctor told the January 30. Kuwaiti Consul Gen- ports in the country would be fitted CEO Mohamed al-Hammadi told raise power generation levels over Associated Press. eral in Shanghai Meshaal al-Shemali with similar facilities. WAM. several months prior to commer- “Their condition is stable. They called on Kuwaiti nationals to ab- A controversy erupted when mu- “It provides international recog- cial operation. are awake. They are all receiving stain from travelling to Shanghai. nicipality staff of a town south of nition that our plant, people and Barakah will be the United Arab all the measures,” Dr Hussein al- In Iraq, the official Iraqi news Tunis threatened to resign if suspi- processes meet international start- Emirates’ first nuclear plant and Rand said. “I would say to the pub- agency reported in a Health Minis- cious cases were taken to quaran- up standards and that the Barakah the world’s largest when complet- lic: Please, don’t be panicked. The try statement that all border cross- tine in their community. plant fully aligns to the commit- ed, with four reactors and 5,600 health condition within the United ings were being monitored and a In Morocco and Algeria, authori- ments made in 2008 by the nation megawatts of electrical generation Arab Emirates is safe.” ministry team was checking pas- ties ordered governmental agencies of complete operational transpar- capacity. It is being built by Korea Gulf countries have been on alert sengers aboard planes and other to repatriate the two countries’ na- ency and the pursuit of the high- Electric Power Corporation. and have begun screening passen- means of transportation. tionals from Wuhan. 6 February 2, 2020 Opinion

Editorial The US peace plan he US Middle East peace plan, unveiled at a White House cer- emony attended by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, has stirred diverse reactions in the Arab region and the rest of the world. TThere was much criticism of what was per- ceived as the US plan’s bias in favour of Israel because it grants the Jewish state full control of Jerusalem and gives it the green light to annex much of the West Bank, including the strategic Jordan Valley. Washington has been trying to highlight other aspects of the plan, such as the conditional offer of a demilitarised Palestinian state, a 4-year freeze on Israeli settlement activity and a $50 billion investment package in the Palestinian territories. The Palestinians are legitimately unhappy about the proposal, which allows — in violation of UN resolutions — Israel to annex most Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and includes no provisions for the return of Palestin- ian exiles and refugees from the diaspora. Hardliners in Israel are pushing for the annexation of settlements before Israel’s elections March 2. They see the very hyphenated and disjointed type of state proposed by the © Yaser Ahmed for The Arab Weekly peace plan as an existential threat to Israel. “We will not allow the government of Israel to recognise a Palestinian state in any eventuality,” said Israeli far-right Defence Minister Naftali The new realities of the Deal Bennett. The Palestinian leadership will seek condem- nation of the plan and confirmation of their of the Century rights at the United Nations but the United States is likely to exert its veto against any Khairallah Khairallah resolution to which it objects at the UN Security To have a Palestinian voice present in Washington, even Council. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo invited the a low one, would be much better than not to have any. Palestinians to “come up with a counter-offer” that could be discussed with the Israelis. Palestinians have a stake in exploring all S President Donald Gaza Strip within specific Israeli posed to the dangers of another available options and venues through which Trump’s plan for conditions regarding security. expansionist project in the region, they can reclaim their rights, including a peace in the Mid- At the same time, talk of Iranian this time, the focus of the US-sponsored negotiated process. Being painted dle East cannot be pumping up to $50 billion to Arab world is elsewhere and not into a corner as naysayers would not offer them dealt with without help the Palestinian state suc- on Palestine. Iran has destroyed much of an advantage. It is unrealistic, however, placing it in its re- ceed remains just talk in the entire Arab cities, including Bagh- to think there could be an adequate environ- Ugional framework, that of a new absence of any real desire to re- dad, Basra, Mosul, Aleppo, Homs ment for such a process before US and Israeli balance that has begun to take spect international law, includ- and Hama, and controls Damas- elections have taken place. shape since Iraq left the regional ing the stipulation in Resolution cus and Beirut. Officials in Tehran and Ankara and others who equation in 2003. 242 regarding the inadmissibil- On the other hand, Trump pro- decry the US plan as “treason” are being oppor- The plan, the so-called Deal of ity of occupying other people’s vided hope to remove the Iranian tunistic at best. By their aggressive encroach- ment in the region, Iran and Turkey have the Century, refers to a two-state lands by force. nightmare when he imposed sanc- nothing to offer beyond fiery and counterpro- option. There is an existing Is- Still, bad as this Deal of the tions on the Islamic Republic and ductive rhetoric. raeli state that aspires to expand Century may be, the Palestinian rid the region of Qassem Soleima- Despite all obstacles, the Palestinians can its territory at the expense of the side was mistaken to close all ni and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. build on the stock of Arab and international Palestinians. To which Palestin- doors of negotiations over the Palestinians must ask them- support to push their cause forward. ian state does Trump’s plan refer plan. In theory, the Palestinian selves: Do they want to deal with while it ignores the existence of side is right, especially consid- reality, with all its injustice, or live a Palestinian people and their ering the colossal injustice suf- in the illusions of the past that legitimate aspirations? fered by generations of Palestin- made them believe that the whole The responsibility Perhaps the most important ians since May 14, 1948, the day world revolves around their aspect of the Deal of the Century David Ben-Gurion announced cause? Do they want to pursue a of social media is its total disregard of interna- the creation of the state of Israel. policy based on missing all oppor- tional legitimacy resolutions, In practice, however, the Pales- tunities that present themselves? acebook was well advised to inter- including UN Security Council tinians have learnt nothing from Yes, the Deal of the Century is vene and cut short the demagogic Resolution 242, issued after the their bitter experiences. not in the interest of the Palestin- charades of former Italian Interior Six-Day War in 1967. Palestinians today seem to ig- ians and their cause. However, Minister Matteo Salvini. Instead, the US president nore the unfortunate reality that what options are available to the “Facebook has taken the shameful and his team, headed by his they have nothing with which to Palestinian Authority as it suffers video down from Matteo Salvini’s page,” announced the Italian lawyer son-in-law Jared Kushner, want counter the Deal of the Century from a suffocating economic crisis Fof Yassine, a Tunisian-Italian teenager publicly to impose a vision of peace in besides empty rhetoric about and Hamas’s escalations? accused by the far-right leader of drug traffick- which all Israeli demands are Palestinian national unity. Certainly, closing the doors of ing. met, including recognition of the Suddenly, Hamas woke up to communication and of give and “This live video has wreaked havoc on Yass- legitimacy of the Israeli settle- the importance of Palestinian take with Washington is not an ine’s life,” said the lawyer. “Yassine, with no ments in the West Bank, control unity but not before it had done option because it is the shortest criminal record, 17-year-old Italian, football of the Jordan Valley and consid- Israel more favours than any way to making the voice of the player, found himself identified throughout Italy ering a united Jerusalem as the other Palestinian party. It has Israeli right the only voice heard as a drug dealer.” capital of Israel. How much of given Israel all the excuses it in the United States. To have a The leader of the anti-immigrant League party, Jerusalem will remain for the needed to take the victim’s role Palestinian voice present in Wash- Salvini went to Yassine’s home in Bologna on Palestinians to constitute the in its wars against the Palestin- ington, even a low one, would be January 21 as part of a regional election cam- capital of their state? ians, especially after the estab- much better than not to have any. paign. He buzzed the young Italian of Tunisian The US administration has lishment of a Hamas-run quasi- It would be better for the Pal- origin in front of cameras and asked him if he was recognised all Israeli settlements Islamic emirate in the Gaza Strip estinians to consider the regional involved in drug trafficking. as legitimate and went further in 2007. circumstances that compel them “I’m not a drug dealer. I play football,” Yassine to consider the Israeli occupa- Before that, encouraged by to refrain from taking positions told the media while requesting that the widely tion of the Syrian Golan Heights Iran and other parties, Hamas that would lead to a break with circulated video be taken down. legitimate as well in blatant carried out suicide attacks in Je- the US administration. It would be The havoc wreaked by Salvini and other disregard for all international rusalem, Tel Aviv, Nahariya and better if they understand that Ar- intolerant firebrands extends beyond their many other places, to thwart the electoral precincts. With social media spreading legitimacy decisions that the abs will not come to their rescue their provocative message across borders, American administration has peace process that began with because of the Iranian threat to populists’ ploys undermine all bridges of come to consider outdated. the Oslo Accords in 1993. every country in the region. understanding and trust between the Arab world There is a new reality in the Palestinians have made all Only hope remains for a Pales- and the West. They provoke outrage among Arab region that Trump and his team sorts of mistakes diplomatically tinian people who have a deep populations while glorifying racist attitudes that exploited to perpetuate the and militarily to end up where awareness of the situation in the make the lives of immigrants in the West diffi- Israeli occupation that refuses they are. They did not realise region. These people, who pos- cult. to recognise the national rights that the Iran-backed Hamas sess a genuine national identity, As indicated in “Social Media in the Middle of an entire people. Palestinians was working for the rise of the must face up to the Deal of the East: 2019 in review,” more than seven out of ten have found a place for them- Israeli far-right and preventing Century, knowing that much of Arabs use Facebook. The huge platform can be a selves and their cause on the progress towards peace despite their future will depend on the distorting prism amplifying the feelings of political map of the Middle East all that can be said about Israel’s presence of a different leadership frustrations and unfairness across the two shores but failed to translate that into ill intent. capable of formulating a realistic of the Mediterranean. Numbers point to 187 place on the geographical map. There is no need to list the national project and of properly million active monthly users by the end of 2019. It is difficult for any Palestin- mistakes, including Palestinians’ evaluating the regional situation Social media platforms should not be contami- ian to accept this Deal of the not taking the right position as it is, without illusions of any nated with the many faces of extremism and Century, which includes promis- towards Iraq’s occupation of kind. bigotry or be manipulated by self-aggrandising es, such as the establishment of Kuwait in 1990. However, what demagogues. Major social media companies a Palestinian state on land in the is ironic is that the Palestinians Khairallah Khairallah clearly have a role to play. West Bank while linking it to the have ignored that, being ex- is a Lebanese writer. February 2, 2020 7 Opinion The ‘Shu’fat Force’ Published by Al Arab Publishing House Haitham El-Zobaidi Publisher Politicians and media outlets like to toy around with names and and Group Executive Editor labels, making them fashionable at one point or another. Haitham El-Zobaidi, PhD he Arabic language from that land of Islam. It took It goes without saying that Iranian brigade is called “al- Editor-in-Chief is sometimes con- them a long time, however, we are talking about the same Quds Force” when funding is fusing. The same to accomplish the task and, group of people. Generational available and “Shu’fat Force” Oussama Romdhani object can some- in the process, they became gaps may exist between the when it dries up. Wars are times be referred “jihadists.” time of arrival of the first waged sometimes against “in- Managing Editor to by many words. When they returned to their “mujahid” in Afghanistan and fidels” and other times against TSome language scholars say countries of origin, donning of the latest “mercenary” in “rogues.” Iman Zayat this is just an impression different ideas and different Libya. For those who have missed Deputy Managing Editor because there are slight differ- garb, they became known as Politicians and media out- the latest proposal for a ences described by the differ- the “Afghani Arabs.” Next, lets like to toy around with solution to the Palestinian and Online Editor ent words. they tried to apply what they names and labels, making question, “Shu’fat” is a small Mamoon Alabbasi I say this is still not good had learnt in the land of jihad; them fashionable at one point town in the neighbourhood of and that there should be just so they were referred to as or another. However, so that Jerusalem that is being pro- one word to refer to these “extremists.” we do not do politicians and posed as the new capital of the Senior Editor slightly differentiated objects. When they turned violent, the media injustice, the vari- Palestinian state. John Hendel The intended specific refer- they became “terrorists,” sons ous labels do reflect fluctua- It is incredible how people ence could be determined of “al-Qaeda.” After that, they tions in the popular percep- can be “creative” in finding through context. Different were re-exported to Iraq and tion and mood. labels to describe the same Chief Copy Editor words should describe differ- Syria, where they turned into Some of these fluctuations phenomenon or people, such Richard Pretorius ent objects. Islamic State — “ISIS” — war- become so contradictory that that one can’t really be indif- I guess coined labels do riors. the same person would be ferent to the power behind it. Copy Editors change meanings depending Now, Turkish President describing the same group as But, let’s face it, we’re not Stephen Quillen on the literary, social or po- Recep Tayyip Erdogan has “martyrs” when they blow up fooling anybody by changing Kyle Arensdorf litical moods of the times and decided to repack them a vegetable market in Bagh- the description of the same lately we have come across with glossy wrap paper and dad and as “suicide bombers” object for we are also describ- some very confusing political labelled them “soldiers of the when the violence reaches his ing what is going on inside of Gulf Section Editor and social descriptions. caliphate,” perhaps a slightly home. us as well. Mohammed Alkhereiji The Afghanistan war started more palatable appellation Thus, Hezbollah would with the Soviet invasion of than the “New Janissaries.” become “Hezbollat” (in Dr Haitham El-Zobaidi is an Society and Travel that country. So, the brave When they arrived in Libya, reference to the pre-Islamic Iraqi writer based in London. Sections Editor “mujahideen” assembled their latest label, but not the Arab goddess Al-Lat) when He is the Executive Editor of Samar Kadi there to expel the disbelievers last, became “mercenaries.” we don’t like it. The special Al Arab Publishing Group. Senior Correspondents Lamine Ghanmi (Tunis) What in the world is Erdogan Thomas Seibert (Istanbul)

Regular Columnists doing in West Africa? Rashmee Roshan Lall Majed Nehme Claude Salhani Yavuz Baydar Europeans have not shown a clear strategy of how to deal with Ankara’s dangerous game of igniting fires everywhere. Correspondents here is no longer headed to Western Europe. ticularly after the failed coup in such as the Horn of Africa, Saad Guerraoui (Casablanca) any doubt about Macron has repeatedly 2016, towards an authoritarian Turkish encroachment fol- Dunia El-Zobaidi (London) Turkey’s role in confirmed his wariness about presidential regime; its crack- lows a multifaceted strategy dispatching jihad- Ankara’s designs, including in down on the media and public including military bases, the Roua Khlifi (Tunis) ists and mercenaries Berlin during the conference on liberties; its support for Islam- establishment of intelligence to Libya. The latest Libya. ist networks; its complacency networks and the promotion of Chief Designer Tconfirmation came from French Russian Foreign Minister with terrorist groups in Syria Turkish economic interests. Marwen el-Hmedi President Emmanuel Macron Sergei Lavrov admitted at a and Libya; its blackmail-type All of this is couched in the January 29 at a news confer- news conference January 28 in policies about migratory flows instrumentalisation of Islam- Designers ence with Greek Prime Minister Moscow with South Sudanese to Europe; its occupation of ism in the colours of the Mus- Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Foreign Affair Minister Awut part of Cyprus since 1974; and, lim Brotherhood, in alliance Ibrahim Ben Bechir “I want to express my Deng Achuil that he had asked most recently, its signing of a with Qatar. Turkey’s project Hanen Jebali concerns with regard to the Erdogan to stop sending terror- military agreement with the is much more ambitious than behaviour of Turkey at the ists from Syria to Libya. government of Sarraj, coupled mere conquest of markets. moment, which is in complete The question that torments with a memorandum of under- Turkey claims to offer Af- contradiction with what Presi- Western governments is how standing on the delimitation of ricans a deal more equitable Contact editor at: dent [Recep] Tayyip Erdogan far will Erdogan go in this maritime jurisdictions in the than that of Western countries committed to at the Berlin devious confrontation in West Mediterranean Sea, the latter but many of them are not [email protected] conference,” Macron said. Africa after the Middle East in clear violation of interna- convinced. “We have seen during these and the Maghreb? Is this a form tional maritime law and the Turkey’s interventions, old last days Turkish warships ac- of revenge against Europe in UN Charter. and recent, in the continent, companied by Syrian merce- general and France in particu- Erdogan’s possible involve- follow an expansionist and naries arrive on Libyan soil. lar for slamming the gates of ment in the Sahel and West aggressive agenda without Al Arab Publishing House This is an explicit and serious the European Union shut in the Africa could be another step on many scruples. Its recent role Quadrant Building infringement of what was face of Turkey? the road to the global confron- in Libya has hardly reassured 177-179 Hammersmith Road agreed in Berlin. It’s a broken It has been clear, for at least a tation that Turkey is waging Africans who are doubtful of London W6 8BS promise.” decade, that France would not against French and European Turkey’s designs after Ankara’s Macron confirmed the accept the accession of Muslim, interests. French security ex- abrupt abandonment of for- presence of Turkish ships off let alone Islamist, Turkey to perts see this as a step fraught mer Libyan leader Muammar the Libyan coast and accused this “Christian” group, even with consequences insofar as Qaddafi in 2011. Tel: (+44) 20 7602 3999 Ankara of “violating Libya’s if it fulfils all required condi- it endangers the lives of the Some see Turkey’s African Fax: (+44) 20 7602 8778 sovereignty and endangering tions. Former French President French soldiers involved in policy as a way for Erdogan to European and West African Nicolas Sarkozy was the most Operation Barkhane (4,500 find new inroads outside his security.” outspoken on this subject. troops) and the UN-peacekeep- country when Ankara finds it- Erdogan is sending Syrian “To let Turkey think that ing MINUSMA (13,500 sol- self increasingly isolated on the US Publisher: jihadists and mercenaries it can join the EU is a monu- diers), as well as the stability international scene because of to Libya to back the Islamist mental error,” he declared on of all the Sahel countries badly its troubled game in the Syrian The Arab Weekly USA LLC. militias and other forces loyal December 2, 2015, on Europe damaged by militant networks crisis, in the Gulf, Somalia, Su- [email protected] to the Government of National 1 radio. “I stand by my words. and terrorist groups. dan and mounting evidence of [email protected] Accord of Fayez al-Sarraj. Why Turkey is in Asia Minor, not in Erdogan’s latest trip to West its support for jihadist groups is Macron talking of Turk- Europe.” Africa (Senegal and Gambia) in Syria. Tel: 248-679-6624 ish threats to “West African As a reminder, negotiations shows to what extent Africa, Europeans, who are also security”? on Turkey’s hypothetical ac- particularly French-speaking attentive to Turkey’s attempts There are suspicions that cession to the European Union countries with a Muslim ma- to take hold of Islam in Europe some militants and mercenar- were relaunched in 2013, after jority, constitutes for Erdogan itself, have not shown a clear ies have been departing Islam- a sudden interruption in 2010. a venue for a showdown with strategy of how to deal with ist strongholds in Tripoli and In 1963, Turkey, a central the former European colonial Ankara’s dangerous game of ig- Misrata for West Africa, known member of NATO, became an powers. niting fires everywhere but the Subscription & Advertising: as an area of French influence associate member of the Euro- If it were only a race to European Union is not without [email protected] but now infested with terror- pean Common Market. Turkey open new markets for the possible recourse. For start- Tel : (+44) 020 3667 7249 ist groups, cross-border and was officially recognised as a Turkish economy, which is ers, the European Union could transcontinental smuggling candidate for EU membership going through difficult times, re-examine its economic ties organisations (Colombia-Gulf in 1999 at the Helsinki summit Ankara’s encroachment in with Turkey, which remains Mohamed Al Mufti of Guinea-Sahel and Europe) and negotiations began in 2005 West Africa could be less wor- Europe’s first trading partner. Marketing & Advertising and organised crime. There but Turkey has been knocking risome, especially when it is When this re-examination Manager is also talk of Ankara seeking on the door of the union for known that Turkey has had an starts, worry could change to establish a military base in more than 50 years, in vain. economic presence in Africa sides. Direct: (+44) 20 8742 9262 West Africa. The reasons for European for about 20 years. www.alarab.co.uk There have been reports distrust of Ankara are legion: However, as shown before Majed Nehme is a Syrian- that some Syrian fighters were Turkey’s worrisome drift, par- in other parts of the continent, French journalist in Paris. 8 February 2, 2020 Viewpoint Iraq Can opposition leader Muqtada al-Sadr claw back credibility?

Those ultimatums and the deployment of al-Sadr’s expansive populist base in Baghdad helped Nazli Tarzi blur the original character of protest movements — a successful hijacking. wenty-four hours However, the October uprising after supporters of the survived Sadrist-engineered co- Sadrist trend arrived at optation. The nationalist move- Baghdad’s Liberation ment maintained its independ- Square in white air- ence, even in the unrelenting face conditioned buses, of state-sanctioned violence. Tthe movement’s populist leader What might be different this Muqtada al-Sadr ordered their time is the steadily rising death withdrawal. toll — estimated at 650-900. The This marked, as media reporting tempestuous situation makes it framed, the beginning of the end difficult to corroborate figures, of al-Sadr’s support of Iraq’s Oc- as well as insufficient state-led tober uprising. The great betrayal, casualty counting efforts. Al-Sadr’s as some described, cost al-Sadr capitulation to a system guilty for credibility that he may struggle to the loss of hundreds of lives may claw back as a permanent fixture stand in the way of ambitions for of the political system that Iraqis his movement. want abolished. October protests, like the cur- Online backlash to al-Sadr’s call rent Iraqi government, were lead- for anti-American protests by dem- erless. Al-Sadr inserted himself onstrators and diaspora a week into the mix but his constituents, earlier can explain the sudden as residents of Baghdad’s poorest change of the fickle-minded leader pockets, have the choice to leave who sits atop the largest bloc in or stay. Now what? Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr attends prayers at the Kufa Mosque in Najaf, last November. parliament. By cutting ties, al-Sadr removed (Reuters) In a purely political act, al-Sadr’s himself but not necessarily his fol- calls fall into a wider trend seen lowers. His withdrawal of backing before: veering protests off track to creates an opportunity for protest to disguise his political stripes election. In Iraq’s first elections in more than oxygen for the ailing engineer their outcomes. ranks to grow, away from the pri- beneath the claim of “neutrality,” 2005, a 31-year-old fresh-faced al- political order but, with protest This happened in March 2015 and vate interests of politically minded as he has tweeted, may never see Sadr joined the Shia mainstream, momentum building, has al-Sadr’s again in May 2016, loyalists were Sadrists and those seeking to ride him able to claw back the cred- the United Shia Alliance that luck run out? deployed to expedite demands that the tide of popular dissent. ibility his fickleness has cost. Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani refused to The Iraqi street has grown ac- included the “replacement of mu- “Al-Sadr pulls support” should Political self-interest is a fact of endorse. customed to al-Sadr’s artful dodg- hasasa,” a political system in which not be conflated with “al-Sadr daily exploitation that the com- In 2011, al-Sadr stood by Iraqi ing but observers misdiagnosed allotted seats are determined by withdraws protection” as protec- mon masses live under but will no Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s al-Sadr’s “great betrayal” of the patronage, and “to uproot corrup- tion-rackets were nowhere to be longer tolerate. side urging reform while hundreds October uprisings by missing the tion and its enablers.” seen when unarmed youth were As the only standing ideo- of thousands rallied nationwide to fact that an alliance between him gunned down in Nasiriya, Sinak logue of one of two important reject Maliki’s sectarian-inspired and protesters never existed. Bridge, Mohammad-Qasem high- Shia families in Iraq’s post-2003 rule. In March 2016, Sadrists broke Al-Sadr’s trademark to promote way and elsewhere. order, al-Sadr is an unpredictable into the Green Zone but withdrew an oppositionist brand of politics The Iraqi street has The appetite for violence is horse that Iran may regret betting after occupying the fortified area that animates hostility against grown accustomed to likely to grow, owing not so much on. The other, the Hakim clergy and parliament buildings for 48 the United States while cosying to al-Sadr’s withdrawal but rather family, failed to renew its appeal hours. up to Iran has ratcheted distrust al-Sadr’s artful the threat the uprisings pose to a altogether but carved its own path Similarly, al-Sadr intervened towards al-Sadr. There may be dodging but observers political class desperate to main- in lucrative businesses without to discipline the political system no remedy for al-Sadr’s bruised misdiagnosed al-Sadr’s tain its weight in the country. institutions of its own to extort. under Iraqi Prime Minister Haider credibility. Al-Sadr’s frequent visits to Before it splintered, the Hakim- al-Abadi that, at the time, he said “great betrayal” of the Tehran dealt a blow already diffi- led Supreme Council was sup- “must straighten its path.” Nazli Tarzi is an Arab Weekly October uprisings. cult to recover from. His attempt ported by al-Sadr in Iraq’s 2010 These tricks amounted to little correspondent in London. Tehran pursues confrontation with US at the expense of Iraqis

and nationalism that some have blow when US President Donald bigger beast repeatedly to elicit a conspicuously absent from pushed to polish their sullied Trump authorised a drone strike reaction. those protests was a demand Tallha images. against Islamic Revolutionary The Iranian economy is largely for the departure of Iran and its Abdulrazaq Tehran was forced to admit Guard Corps al-Quds Force Major- in tatters because of Trump’s proxies that have carried out responsibility for the shooting General Qassem Soleimani. maximum pressure campaign to rocket attacks not only against down of Ukrainian International The reason behind Iran’s convince Tehran of the merits of US forces but also against sites ran-sponsored militants Airlines Flight 752 in early “bravery” in squaring up to the renegotiating a new agreement in Saudi Arabia, as in the attacks launched a mortar and January, exposing how the United States is obvious — the that not only addresses its on Riyadh’s oil infrastructure last rocket attack against the US mullahs engaged in a wholesale fight is not on its turf. If Iran had obviously transparent nuclear summer. Embassy in Baghdad in its campaign of lies and deceit before to face the prospect of being weapons programme but also its latest escalation against the being called out. struck on its own soil or if it malign activities in the region. United States. However, Iranian officials escalated matters to the degree While Iran attempts to Iran is happy to IIran has instructed its Shia still seek to stir up a conflict that forces the United States downplay its negative effects on jihadist proxies to agitate against with Washington to maintain to begin a military campaign, the Middle East, none can forget escalate against the the United States in Iraq, exposing their country’s relevance in the it is certain Tehran would not that it was Iran that instigated United States within the false narratives of patriotism region after suffering a severe be so keen to keep prodding a the crisis in Yemen; it was Iran Iraq’s borders because that assisted the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad Tehran does not care in slaughtering hundreds of about Iraqi lives. thousands of Syrians and it was Iran that compromised, No one should be surprised by undermined and controlled the the lack of demands for Iran to political systems of Iraq and leave Iraq. After all, the protests Lebanon. were endorsed and supported by In the Iraqi example, Iran also two of Iran’s top flunkies in the controls countless Shia militias country, US-designated terrorist that are integrated within the Qais Khazali and leader of the state’s security apparatus, Badr Organisation and former demonstrating how Iraq’s national cabinet minister Hadi al-Amiri. security is undermined by Iranian What this does do, however, malignancy. Iran further uses is expose the Tehran-sponsored Iraq to, at least partially, sidestep axis in Iraq and allows both US sanctions and drain Iraq of its international actors and grass- wealth. roots activists represented by the Iran is happy to escalate against protest movement that has been the United States within Iraq’s active since October to take action borders because Tehran does not to hold them to account. care about Iraqi lives. To that This is crucial because failure end, it mobilised its Shia jihadist to do so would allow them to politicians and militants, allowing further Iran’s agenda on Iraqi radical clerics such as Muqtada soil, with potentially grave and al-Sadr to drop their act of being tragic consequences for the Iraqi Iraqi nationalists opposed to people who deserve more than foreign influence and lobby to be pawns in Iran’s games and directly on behalf of the Iranian regional ambitions. occupation. Al-Sadr called for a “million- Tallha Abdulrazaq is a researcher man march” for January 24 at the University of Exeter’s Escalating tensions. Supporters of Iran-backed Popular Mobilisation Forces damage property inside to push the departure of US Strategy and Security Institute in the US Embassy compound in Baghdad, last December. (AP) forces from Iraq. What was England. February 2, 2020 9 News & Analysis Syria Turkey’s shifting priorities in Syria

Sami Moubayed viser to Syrian President Bashar Turks an additional layer of secu- Assad, and Hakan Fidan, head of rity and keep the Kurds at bay. Turkey’s National Intelligence Or- In Moscow, the two sides met to Beirut ganisation, wanted to send the hammer out details on how and Kurds a strongly worded message when that ought to be achieved. yrian and Turkish intel- that their two countries — techni- ligence chiefs met behind cally at war since 2012 — are will- Arab reaction to the Syrian-Turk- closed doors January 13 in ing to set aside their differences to ish meeting S Moscow, marking the first march on the Kurds and eradicate The first reaction to the Moscow direct contact between the two their institutions, regardless of meeting came from Saudi Arabia, countries in nearly a decade. how many US troops are stationed albeit indirectly, raising concern The Russia-brokered break- at the oil wells. that a Syrian-Turkish rapproche- through focused on what to do with The Russians would certainly not ment would drag the war-torn the Syrian Kurds and how to revive mind. They are furious with the country further from the Arab the Adana Agreement of 1998. Kurds for backing out of the Rus- world and deeper into the orbit of “Article 1 of the agreement, which sia-brokered agreement of October Turkey and Iran. stipulates that no attack or aggres- 13, 2019. They feel that, because For the past two years, Riyadh sion against Turkey will emanate the United States is in an election has been trying to prevent that from Syrian territory, is the main year, the Trump administration from happening, giving approval to crux of Turkey’s current concern in will become preoccupied with its a warm embrace between the Syr- Syria,” Syrian analyst Danny Makki campaign for re-election and have ian and Bahraini foreign ministers said. “They do not want Syria to be very little appetite to do anything and reopening UAE and Jordanian a staging ground for future Kurdish concrete in the Middle East. embassies in Damascus. attacks against Turkey.” Days after the Moscow meeting, Contrary to what was mentioned Reviving Adana Syrian Ambassador to the United in the opposition media, no under- The Moscow meeting also dealt Nations Bashar Jaafari received an the-table agreement was reached with the Adana Agreement of 1998, invitation to attend a dinner in hon- calling on the Turks to abandon which Russian President Vladimir our of a visiting Saudi government Idlib in exchange for keeping troops Putin has been trying to revive minister in New York. He complied, in the occupied cities of Jarabulus, since February 2019. Both coun- setting a precedent and trigger- Azaz, al-Bab and Afrin. The secu- tries initially welcomed the pro- ing what the semi-official Syrian rity meeting was first announced posal but it was put off because newspaper Al-Watan described as a through the Syrian state-run SANA of Turkish elections in mid-year “positive surprise” from Saudi dip- news agency, meaning that Damas- and Trump’s inconsistent decision lomats, who said: “What happened cus wanted it publicised to send a on whether to withdraw or keep between Syria and Saudi Arabia message to all players in the Syrian troops in Syria. needs to pass.” conflict. That story was surprisingly By meeting publicly in leaked through the Syrian media Joint efforts against the Kurds and has not been denied by Saudi Both countries feel increasingly Moscow, Ali Mamlouk, Arabia. The Saudi initiative came worried by the Kurdish refusal to special security adviser to shortly after a government del- disarm and dismantle the Syrian Assad, and Hakan Fidan, egation from the Syrian Journal- Democratic Forces and the People’s head of Turkey’s National ists Syndicate visited Riyadh in Protection Units, in compliance Intelligence Organisation, December, signalling a snail-paced with a Syrian-Kurdish agreement wanted to send the Kurds a rapprochement between the two signed under Russian auspices last strongly worded message. countries. October. The Saudis also hosted a meeting That should have happened by If revived, the Adana Agree- for the Syrian opposition in Riyadh year’s end but it seems to have ment would lead to normalisation in December, replacing eight mem- Lingering concerns. Head of Turkey’s National Intelligence been put off indefinitely by the between Damascus and Ankara, bers of the High Negotiations Com- Organisation Hakan Fidan arrives to attend a news conference in Kurds, who suddenly feel re-em- along with the creation of joint se- mittee, deemed as being too close Istanbul. (AFP) powered by US President Donald curity and military committees to to Turkey, with members consid- Trump’s decision to keep troops in monitor the borders to make sure ered independent and therefore north-eastern Syria, ostensibly to they remain Kurdish-free. more acceptable to Damascus. sanctions, which have increased to complete what is left on the Syr- “protect the oil” from an Islamic The original agreement gave the Moscow seems satisfied with following the passage of the Cae- ian battlefield but Moscow is bent State comeback. Turks the right to enter Syrian ter- the Saudi initiative, having tried to sar Syrian Civilian Protection Act. on ending Syria’s economic reliance After surrendering strategic ritory in pursuit of Kurdish sepa- broker a rapprochement between However, the Russians seem will- on Iran. Gulf countries are needed, towns such as Raqqa and Manbij ratists up to 5km but only after co- Riyadh and Damascus since last ing to try again, hoping that by however, for the post-war recon- to the Syrian Army, they started to ordinating with Syrian authorities. April. It had hoped for Gulf invest- slowly nudging Syria towards Tur- struction period. The two camps try to wriggle out of the agreement, Putin is suggesting amendments to ment to start reaching Syria, to re- key and Iran, it would elicit enough go hand in hand, despite their very refusing, for example, to take down the original text, saying he wants vive its cash-strapped economy, fear in the Arab community to conflicting agendas in Syria. their flag, disarm their militias and to deploy Russian military police reduce its reliance on Iran and help trigger further engagement with join the Syrian Army. along the border strip, similar to pay for the ongoing war effort. Damascus and, eventually, recon- Sami Moubayed is a Syrian By meeting publicly in Moscow, what he did with the Israeli-Syrian That money did not come, how- struction money as well. historian and author of “Under the Ali Mamlouk, special security ad- border in 2018. That would give the ever, because of Arab fears of US Turkey and Iran are still needed Black Flag” (IB Tauris, 2015). Viewpoint US-Russian troop encounters in Syria are awkward at best

state. With US forces among Media in Syria, including ANHA to other incidents in which US the question. That Russian forces those under attack, the United News and the Rojava Network, and Russian forces had awkward display flags and their official States responded with artillery both linked to the SDF, reported encounters. status, in defence of the Assad and air power. The advancing contentious meetings between The two countries are not regime, is well known. They are James Snell column was effectively destroyed troops from both countries. openly at war but they have not Wagner Group mercenaries and among the dead were many An incident occurred in Tell separate and distinct objectives whose deeds are unofficial and ith all of the — possible hundreds — Russians. Tamr in al-Hasakah province, in in Syria. A patrol that includes whose death fail to cause an foreign forces There are alternative theories north-eastern Syria. Photographs a meeting between Russian and international incident. operating in of the battle’s chronology but show US and Russian vehicles US forces cannot be expected to While the United States and Syria, it is not each plausible version of events stopped, with the American pass without friction. Russia disagree in outlook and surprising that notes and emphasises the death vehicle apparently blocking the Ruwan al-Rejoleh, the founder diplomacy, the two operate in their soldiers of many Russian fighters at the Russians’ passage. of a geopolitical consultancy in the same space with a coordina- Woccasionally meet — in times of hands of US forces. Soldiers from both countries Washington, said: “There has tion many Syrians and activists coordination or by chance on the Much has changed in Syria are seen standing around, as are been a lot of reporting regard- find distasteful. Phone lines on road or battlefield. For countries since then, with the United bystanders. ing skirmishes between Russian “de-confliction” and “de-esca- whose policies have stood, at States contemplating withdrawal The Rojava Network claimed versus US patrols. lation” connect the two. Their least nominally, in opposition to and Russia becoming increasing- the Americans blocked the Rus- “I don’t think that such report- movements are not unknown to each other, those meetings might ly powerful, allying with Turkey sian patrol from driving on to ing is accurate, as there wasn’t each other either. be expected to elicit reactions and participating in a three- the M4 highway, which crosses any official position in that In any case, with US President ranging from frosty to hostile. power negotiation including northern Syria horizontally. In regard coming from the Pen- Donald Trump inconsistently Encounters on the battlefield Turkey and Iran that rivals the this telling, the Russians had to tagon. I think, if there was any speaking about withdrawal, the are, correspondingly, likely to be UN-sponsored peace process. retreat to Tell Tamr. dispute, that it’s just on a level United States’ primary ally in bloody. The presence of so many ANHA’s report contended that of coordinating patrols, probably the SDF reeling from defeat at In February 2018, the United uniformed Russian forces mov- “Russian vehicles headed to individual levels but it’s still high the hands of Turkish forces and States defended a base near Deir ing around openly, as opposed Qamishli district via the inter- unlikely,” she said. Turkey’s Syrian rebel allies, and ez-Zor, which contained Syrian to mercenary units operating national road M4, while the “The reporting sources need Russian pressure beginning to Democratic Forces (SDF) sol- beyond the state system, has American forces headed towards to be checked for such news. bear fruit as the Assad regime diers and Americans who were also changed matters. Cor- the road leading to al-Hasakah Some players might have the slowly conquers territory, there assisting them, from an attack respondingly, US encounters city.” It connected the encounter interest to disseminate such fake is only so much fight the United by forces from members of the with Russian forces have been to Russian helicopters flying over incidents for the benefit of cer- States can put up. coalition defending the regime of on a smaller scale and with less Tell Tamr a few hours later. tain groups and create distrust It has seemingly decided Syria Syrian President Bashar Assad. violent consequences than the There was no violence but against US troops.” is not worth the effort and there Among the attackers was a battle in 2018. Kurdish media and interna- Although Russian and US is no reason to risk a skirmish to large contingent of Russian mer- Nonetheless, occasional tional monitors picked up on forces operate awkwardly in the undermine that position. cenaries from the Wagner Group, encounters between US and the use of “skirmish” to describe same territory, real confronta- which analysts say operate as Russian patrols have evinced this encounter. The story was tion in the mould of the battle James Snell is a British an unofficial arm of the Russian tensions between the countries. further developed by reference of February 2018 appears out of journalist. 10 February 2, 2020 News & Analysis Lebanon Lebanon’s new cabinet still contends with street protests amid economic crisis

Simon Speakman Cordall Iran-allied group, designated a ter- ror organisation by many countries, which is unlikely to endear it to the Tunis foreign donors the country needs. Excluded from the government ebanon’s new government was former Prime Minister Said produced its first budget Hariri’s Future Movement, which against resistance from the enjoyed strong ties with both the L street and scepticism from West and Gulf countries, the Chris- the international community that tian Lebanese Forces as well as the remains unconvinced of the body’s Druze Progressive Socialist Party. ability to steer the country out of its The task ahead of the new gov- dire circumstances. ernment is hard to overstate. Hopes that the new Lebanese Lebanon’s national debt stands at government might restore stabil- around $90 billion, the equivalent ity to the country, which has been of 155% of GDP. The unemploy- rocked by protests since October, ment rate is 35-40% among young were dimmed by anti-government people, who make up the bulk of demonstrators remaining on the the protest movement. streets and continuing calls for a Exacerbating Lebanon’s difficul- government of experts, rather than ties is the $1.2 billion Eurobond, the mostly political body that pre- due to mature in March, present- sides over them. ing the faltering Lebanese econo- The new budget, passed by par- my with what the finance minister liament January 27, projects a termed “a fireball.” deficit of around 7% of GDP, signif- “The new cabinet’s links to po- icantly more than the 0.6% prom- litical parties and sectarian leaders ised by its predecessor. However, clearly undermines their ability to Lebanon’s Finance Committee undertake serious reforms that be- chairman questioned whether that gin to root out Lebanon’s pervasive was possible while protesters and corruption,” said Mona Yacoubian, diplomats doubted the projection’s a senior adviser at the US Institute credibility. for Peace. Burdensome links. Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab (C) meets with a Delegation from Economic Demonstrators, eager to end en- “To the extent that cabinet mem- Syndicates in Baabda, January 31. (DPA) demic corruption ingrained in Leb- bers are beholden to sectarian anon’s public life and a turnaround leaders and their prerogatives of in the country’s dire economic for- maintaining Lebanon’s clientelist donors for $4 billion-$5 billion in but so far the target of any anti-cor- national community’s reticence tunes, threw stones at police guard- patronage system, it will be very dif- soft loans to help purchase basic ruption measures seems to be the over committing more firmly to the ing parliament. Foreign politicians ficult, if not impossible, for the new supplies, such as wheat, fuel and political opponents of the current new cabinet vests significant power were more circumspect: “The gov- government to implement policies medicine, the Daily Star newspaper cabinet. They’ll find corruption with the people. ernment must put into place in- that begin to dismantle the most reported. there, certainly, but it’s not likely “The US and Europe are looking dispensable measures. It’s almost egregious elements of the system,” In the long term, Lebanon must going to be enough to satisfy either at the street,” Ghaddar said. “They a question of its survival,” said she said, noting there remained be seen to be addressing reforms, the international community or the don’t want to be seen to be reward- French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves room to begin to address corruption including tackling corruption. That street. All of the main sources of ing corruption or supporting a gov- Le Drian. and offer greater transparency into could win release of the $11 billion corruption, such as electricity and ernment without popular support. Much of the concern over the the workings of cabinet. in international pledges made at a gas, are tied to the current cabinet, This gives the protesters a huge new government centres on its ties “Unfortunately, the recent pas- conference in April 2018. so looks like they’re going to go un- amount of influence over events. to Lebanon’s established political sage of the government budget “We don’t have the luxury of addressed.” If they can keep going, as they look class, not least Hezbollah and its al- does not instil much confidence time. We need immediate reform,” However, with Gulf countries to be doing, they can drive through lies, seen by many as being respon- that transparent and accountable Hanin Ghaddar, a visiting fellow at — traditionally large donors to change.” sible for the country’s crisis. Leba- governance is in the offing,” Ya- the Washington Institute for Near Lebanon — unlikely to support a nese Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s coubian said. East Policy, said by telephone. government backed by one of its Simon Speakman Cordall is a nomination was backed by the Lebanon has asked international “Superficial reform is possible arch-rivals, Hezbollah, the inter- freelance writer. Lebanese threaten government with civil disobedience in reaction to poor services

Samar Kadi ernment has no housing policy, car the banks,” Dib said. loans because there is no proper Activists called on the Lebanese public transportation system and to stop paying income tax and mu- Beirut education loans to enroll in private nicipality fees in addition to elec- universities because the level of tricity bills. Power outages of sev- here is no proper public public education has dropped dras- eral hours each day have become transport, no housing pol- tically. These financial burdens are the norm in Lebanon for more than icy, no electricity and no imposed on the Lebanese due to a decade. T decent roads in Lebanon, the government’s poor services,” “The electricity company EDL reasons enough for the Lebanese Dib said. (Electricite du Liban) is the most to stop paying taxes, argue activists Banks have been providing pri- corrupt sector with the highest of the “We Will Not Pay” campaign vate loans with interest rates as waste worth billions of dollars. It begun in reaction to the country’s high as 20%. The campaign aims to would not be the first time that the deteriorating economic situation. have banks offer a 6-month grace electricity company is boycotted. It The campaign, an implicit invita- period for repayment of loans after happened in the 1950s to force the Unyielding. An image reflected in a shop window shows Lebanese tion to civil disobedience, basically which they would reschedule pay- French to hand over the sector to anti-government protesters marching during a demonstration as army calls on the Lebanese to stop pay- ments in addition to eliminating or Lebanon after independence and it soldiers look on from across the street in Beirut, January 25. (AFP) ing electricity bills, income taxes reducing interest on loans. worked,” Dib said. and other government fees, in ad- Dib said boycotting payments of “We believe that we have to put dition to high-interest bank loans loans “is a pressure tool to resched- huge pressure on the electricity ments on our Facebook page from Basically, the people want to that people contracted to finance ule the loans and to assist those company to force it to improve its people who have already stopped give back the government and services that the state has failed to who are unable to pay and there are services.” paying,” Dib said. “There is a sta- its faulting institutions a taste of provide for decades, said Roy Dib, a many of them.” Electricite du Liban accounts for tus quo, a reality that everybody their doing, posting: “You don’t campaign activist. “Banks have made a lot of money about $2 billion of the country’s is acknowledging… Those who are give us our money, we don’t give “It is a show of solidarity with the from high-interest rates over dec- debts while it receives $1.5 billion a earning half salaries or have lost you yours.” “You don’t give us people who are rebelling against ades. It is time they pay back,” he year from the government, mainly their jobs cannot repay their dues. what we paid for, we cease to the political authorities because said, adding that activists have pre- to cover fuel costs. They have to secure their basic p a y.” they lost their jobs, their savings pared draft bills that some MPs are The campaign found wide inter- day-to-day expenses first.” Anti-government protests since are frozen and they can no longer willing to propose in parliament to action among the Lebanese, espe- Supporters of the campaign took October have blasted Lebanon’s afford to pay their dues,” Dib said. force banks to change their poli- cially given the difficult financial to social media to express their en- ruling elite for decades of corrup- “The campaign calls on all Leba- cies to protect people unable to pay circumstances that the country thusiasm. “We won’t pay our taxes tion and mismanagement that left nese (without exception), includ- back loans. is going through and the dete- until they give us back the money the country near economic col- ing those who can pay loans, to The campaign established a rioration in living conditions. It is they took,” a Twitter user said. lapse. The Lebanese pound, long boycott paying until certain de- hotline to volunteer lawyers pro- spreading across Lebanon with ac- “Until there is a government that pegged to the US dollar, has lost as mands are met.” viding legal consultations. “Every tivists mobilising support in many we trust to be capable of managing much as 60% of its value against “We pay double power bills (in- Friday a person can take an ap- regions. the state’s money properly, there is the dollar and banks imposed un- cluding one for private generators), pointment to meet the lawyers “We received a great response nobody to pay these taxes to,” said precedented controls to preserve take house loans because the gov- and get advice on legal issues with in the form of messages and com- another tweet. liquidity. February 2, 2020 11 Spotlight Deal of the Century A peace process plan to score political points

In this way, he diverted news stated: “This is not the way.” from his impeachment trial, Sanders went further with Gregory gained praise from his important his criticism. He stated that a Christian evangelical political genuine peace deal “must end Aftandilian base (which supports the Israeli the Israeli occupation and enable right-wing view of the Palestinian Palestinian self-determination… situation) and solidified support Trump’s so-called ‘peace deal’ eversing his position among conservative elements of doesn’t come close and will only of not wanting to un- the American Jewish community perpetuate the conflict. It is unac- veil his peace process who back Netanyahu and gener- ceptable.” plan until after the ally support his annexation plans Warren, tweeted that Trump’s Israeli elections in for large parts of the West Bank, plan was a “rubber stamp for an- March, US President a concept that Trump personally nexation and offers no chance for RDonald Trump did so January 28 endorsed. Hence, Trump’s claim a real Palestinian state.” She said for what can only be described as that he is not picking sides in the that “releasing a plan without purely political reasons. Israeli elections is a fig leaf. negotiating with the Palestinians First and foremost, Trump That Trump has his eye on isn’t diplomacy. It’s a sham.” wanted to distract attention from keeping his political base as sol- Former South Bend, Indiana, his impeachment trial in the US idly behind him as possible was Mayor Pete Buttigieg, also seeking Senate. Although Trump is likely evident a few days earlier when the Democrats’ presidential nomi- to be acquitted by the Republican he became the first sitting US nation, said peace “requires both majority in that body, Democrats president to speak at the March parties at the table. Not a political have mounted an aggressive and for Life, an annual rally that aims green light to the leader of one for effective case against him, so to overturn legalised abortion, unilateral annexation.” much so that the Republicans January 24 in Washington. His In 2019, Trump accused Demo- reverted to the argument that his unveiling of the peace plan at a crats of being the “anti-Israel” actions vis-a-vis Ukraine did not White House ceremony with Ne- party and he undoubtedly hopes rise to an impeachable offence, tanyahu a few days later was part that, by contrasting his positions rather than saying what he did of this overall strategy. — which are essentially in sync was normal presidential behav- With the presidential election with Netanyahu — with those iour. campaign heating up, Trump of his Democratic presidential By hastily inviting Israeli Prime wanted to contrast his positions opponents, he can make similar Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Israel with those of his Demo- charges this election year. and his political rival, Benny cratic presidential rivals. The problem for Trump is that Gantz, to Washington and stag- As expected, many Democrats, his likely criticism of the can- ing an elaborate ceremony with as well as most Middle East didates’ positions on his peace Netanyahu gushing over him as experts, criticised the plan as deal, which he hopes to exploit the “greatest friend Israel has being one-sided and unlikely to on the campaign trail, is unlikely ever had in the White House,” lead to peace. Twelve Democratic to move the political needle in his Trump wanted to show he is an US senators, including three — direction. There is a deep divide unequivocal protector of Israel Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren in the United States between Re- and a “great” statesman who and Amy Klobuchar — seeking the publicans and Democrats over the seeks peace, all while claiming he party’s nomination for president, Israeli government. A 2019 poll was not interfering in Israeli elec- sent Trump a joint letter shortly indicated that 61% of Republicans tion politics. Never mind that the after the White House ceremony asked said they had favourable Palestinians were not consulted. in which they accused him of views of the Israeli government, violating Palestinians’ right to compared with 26% of Democrat- Map image released by The White House on January 28, 2020, self-determination, scuttling ic respondents. depicting the proposed future borders of Israel and Palestine. (AFP) chances for a two-state solution All the Democratic presiden- The problem for and jeopardising Israel’s long- tial candidates are aware of this term security. divide and so criticising Trump’s Trump is that his Former US Vice-President Joe peace plan is a safe stance to long pro-Israel record when he In the meantime, a genuine likely criticism of the Biden, another leading nomina- take, especially in the Democratic was both a senator and vice- Israeli-Palestinian peace deal tion contender, called Trump’s primaries. In the general election, president as he criticised the remains elusive as ever. candidates’ positions peace plan a “political stunt that they might be more circumspect Netanyahu-Trump positions on his peace deal is could spark unilateral moves in an attempt to woo independent and Sanders is emphasising his Gregory Aftandilian is a lecturer unlikely to move the to annex territory and set back voters but they are positioning Jewish background and recent in the Pardee School of Global peace even more.” Reminding themselves to deflect flak that will statements that he is pro-Israel to Studies at Boston University and political needle in his his audience that he has been a be coming their way from Trump. deflect charges that he is against a former US State Department direction. strong supporter of Israel, Biden For example, Biden touted his Israel’s security. Middle East analyst. Viewpoint Washington’s new game signals surrender to Israel’s fait accompli

required for mutual security. Trump’s plan. not of American but rather Israeli ments. He endorsed the Jew- We do not support expansion- In the first instance, Trump’s origin. One month before his as- ish state’s sovereignty over the ism. We believe [Israeli] troops vision of Palestinian statehood sassination, Israeli Prime Minis- Jordan Valley, blessed Israeli se- Geoffrey Aronson must be withdrawn as the [UN] is merely an aspirational objec- ter Yitzhak Rabin outlined before curity control west of the Jordan Resolution [242] provides. We tive, like the Bush vision almost Israel’s parliament his vision for River, barred Palestinians from support Israel’s security and the two decades ago. Only if Pales- Palestine. entering Israel as refugees and he Trump Middle security of the Arab states as tinians behave according to the “We view the permanent solu- offered extraordinary support to East peace plan — well. We are for a lasting peace US-Israeli diktat outlined, first by tion in the framework of state of right-wing elements in Israel that also known as the that requires security for both.” Bush and seconded by Trump, Israel that will include most of want to transfer parts of Israel Deal of the Century — US President Donald Trump’s will the prospect of a Palestin- the area of the Land of Israel [the (the Triangle region) populated is not the first time an plan marks a significant and ian state even be considered West Bank] as it was under the by Arab citizens. American administra- irreversible American departure and then only according to the rule of the British Mandate, and Trump’s decisions open an Ttion tried to solve the conflict from this central feature at the fatally debilitating territorial and alongside it a Palestinian entity unprecedented window of between the Israelis and the heart of all its predecessors. security constraints outlined by that will be a home to most of opportunity to consolidate a Palestinians. Like his previous announce- Trump. the Palestinian residents living territorial agenda championed by The William Rogers Plan in ments concerning Jerusalem, The map presented in Wash- in the Gaza Strip and the West Netanyahu and long cherished 1969, Jimmy Carter’s “autono- settlements and the Golan ington represents a historic US Bank,” Rabin announced. by Israel’s political and security my” plan (1977), followed by the Heights, Trump is self-con- surrender to Israel’s settlement “We would like this to be an establishment. No wonder they Reagan Plan (1982), Bill Clinton’s sciously establishing new rules objectives and fatally compro- entity that is less than a state and are crowing. short-lived “parameters” issued guiding US policy that subvert mises the prospect of a sovereign that will independently run the Trump decided to forever in January 2000 and George W. US support for Arab sovereignty Palestine anywhere west of the lives of the Palestinians under change the rules governing inter- Bush’s “Vision” speech two years west of the Jordan River — a Jordan River. its authority. The borders of national diplomacy on Palestine. later (June 2002) — among others policy that future presidents will Like its predecessors, Trump’s the state of Israel, during the per- Like his previous decisions on — were all partial to Israeli secu- find difficult to repudiate. peace plan and its billions of manent solution, will be beyond settlements, the UN Relief and rity and territorial concerns. It is no surprise that Israeli dollars in promised aid will soon the lines that existed before the Works Agency for Palestine Refu- However, unlike Trump’s dec- Prime Minister Binyamin Ne- find its way onto the dusty book- Six-Day War. We will not return gees in the Near East, Jerusalem laration, all were based not only tanyahu endorsed the ersatz shelves overflowing with visions to the June 4, 1967, lines. and the Golan, the significance upon the assumption of a consid- Palestinian state outlined in abandoned and maps unheeded. “And these are the main of the new US map is that it es- erable Israeli withdrawal but also “The dangerous part of the changes, not all of them, which tablishes a US umbrella for Israeli on Washington’s supporting the plan, that is the establishment of we envision and want in the actions on the ground. establishment of some sort of a Palestinian state or recognition permanent solution.” “We need to do some work sovereign Arab entity — whether Trump’s decisions of a Palestinian state, won’t hap- Trump has endorsed Rabin’s to define exactly [what we will Jordanian or Palestinian — in ter- open an pen,” explained a former Israeli concept for Palestine but, in annex],” explained Netanyahu ritory captured by Israel in June minister of justice for whom the stark contrast to Trump’s aspira- the day after his meeting with 1967. unprecedented very idea of Palestine in the Land tional, empty promise of Pales- Trump. As then-US Secretary of State window of of Israel is an affront. tinian statehood and economic Thanks to Trump, the issue William Rogers noted in a De- opportunity to Even in the unlikely event that wellbeing, when it comes to facing Israel is no longer whether cember 1969 speech: “We [the Washington’s vision is realised, Israel and its role in the occupied to annex the West Bank but how United States] believe that… any consolidate a Trump has guaranteed that his territories, Trump has proven to big a bite to take. change in the pre-existing lines territorial agenda Palestine will in all respects be be the gift that keeps on giving. should not reflect the weight of “less than a state.” Among other things, Trump Geoffrey Aronson is a non- conquest and should be con- championed by Like almost every aspect of granted US recognition of Israel’s resident scholar at the Middle fined to insubstantial alterations Netanyahu. Trump’s plan, this objective is right to unilaterally annex settle- East Institute in Washington. 12 February 2, 2020 News & Analysis Maghreb Africans try their hand at peacemaking in Libya but belligerents remain far apart

Michel Cousins There was hope the High Level Committee on Libya, at its January 30 meeting, could entice the head Tunis of the UN-recognised Government of National Accord, Fayez al-Sarraj, ith the failure of the and his rival, Libyan National Ar- Berlin Conference on my’s Field-Marshal Khalifa Haftar, Libya to end the fight- to focus on a ceasefire and political W ing in Libya and restart dialogue, as set out in Berlin. The dialogue, the focus of efforts to plan would be endorsed when lead- reach a Libyan settlement swung to ers of the African Union gather Feb- Africa, in particular Algeria. ruary 9-10 in Addis Ababa for their At a meeting January 30 in Brazza- annual summit. ville, Congo, of the African Union’s It was unclear whether the Afri- High Level Committee on Libya, can Union would take up Algeria’s Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz offer, even if Algiers seemed eager Djerad offered to host a “reconcili- to take the lead on Libya to high- ation forum” on Libya on behalf of light its revived diplomacy. the African Union. Djerad offered to host a meeting The offer followed quick, inten- “between the Libyan brothers to sive diplomatic activity by Algiers. help find a solution to the crisis and Two days after the January 19 Ber- lay the foundations for a new stable lin conference, which had been at- state.” He said Algeria would “spare tended by Algerian President Abdel- no effort” to support the African madjid Tebboune, French Foreign Union and the United Nations help Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was in find a solution for Libya. African role. Mali Minister of Foreign Affairs Tiebile Drame attends a meeting with foreign ministers and Algiers discussing Libya as well as While claiming that Algeria had officials from countries neighbouring Libya to discuss the Libyan conflict, Algiers, January 23. (Reuters) bilateral and other regional issues. “maximum neutrality” regarding “We are going to coordinate our Libya, he insisted on the “legiti- efforts to re-establish a political dia- macy of [Libya’s] internationally said it had “taken note of the Alge- other side is equally militant and and eastern parts of Libya. French logue and will act together to ensure recognised institutions” — the Gov- rian offer.” intransigent. President Emmanuel Macron ac- that the efforts we began in Berlin ernment of National Accord. Moroccan and Algerian policies A statement on the Facebook page cused Erdogan of reneging on his will be able to continue,” Le Drian That is not the language Haftar or on Libya are quite similar — that the of the Libyan High Council of State, promise in Berlin to stop interfering said following talks with Algerian his allies in the Tobruk-based House crisis must be resolved by the Liby- which sent a delegation to accom- in Libya and of sending shiploads of Foreign Minister Sabri Boukadoum. of Representatives, nor Haftar’s for- ans themselves and that outside pany Sarraj to the meeting in Braz- Syrian mercenaries there. In addi- Two days after that, Boukadoum eign regional supporters, notably powers should stop intervening. zaville, said there were only two so- tion to Turkish military specialists hosted foreign ministers from Egypt, want to hear and Egyptian At the meeting in Brazzaville, lutions to the crisis. There could be and the Syrian fighters, the Turkish Libya’s other neighbours — Egypt, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi occu- Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser a political solution but Haftar had to Navy established a presence off- Sudan, Chad, Niger, Algeria and pies the rotating AU chairmanship. Bourita hammered out the same be completely excluded or the fight shore, with four frigates and a sup- Tunisia — plus Mali. All have been That, along with the rivalry be- message, lashing out at what he around Tripoli would continue until port vessel. affected by the crisis in Libya, in tween Egypt and Algeria over Libya, called “cynical interventionism” in “the aggressors were expelled.” There were unconfirmed reports most cases having their own secu- could scupper Algeria’s hopes of Libya and in the region by certain The intransigence was fully on of Qatar smuggling weapons to rity and stability threatened by the having its offer endorsed at the AU parties. In a clear, specific reference show in Brazzaville where Sar- Tripoli via Sudan’s Darfur province. flow of militants and weapons from summit. to Turkey and Erdogan’s suspected raj was present but not Haftar, al- The major clash took place south Libya. Algeria’s long-time adversary neo-Ottoman vision, he said that it though he sent representatives. As of Misrata, where the Libyan Na- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Morocco, which it did not invite came from “another age, another in Berlin, discussions with the two tional Army seized the strategically Erdogan was in Algiers January 25 to its foreign ministers meeting on era.” sides again took place in separate important town of Abu Grein but for discussions regarding Libya with Libya, also has plenty of friends in In Libya, the gap between the locations. were forced to retreat towards Sirte. Tebboune and other members of Africa who might oppose the offer. warring sides has become so wide Inside Libya, the conflict contin- The battle was reported to have the Algerian government. The next Algeria’s unchanged support for as to be almost unbridgeable and ues and, despite the promises in been particularly bloody, with sig- day, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh the Polisario Front on the Western the only place the two sides are pre- Berlin, more weapons and fighters nificant losses on both sides, but it Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan trav- Sahara issue, despite its change of sent together is the battlefield. arrived. has not diminished either side’s de- elled to Algeria. Tunisian President civilian and military leaderships, is Libyan National Army spokes- The UN Support Mission in Libya sire to continue to fight. Kais Saied was also due in Algiers maintaining a wide gap between Al- man Major-General Ahmed Mismari on January 25 said that, in the previ- for talks on Libya as well as bilateral geria and Morocco. ruled out any solution other than ous ten days, cargo and other flights Michel Cousins is a contributor to matters. Tellingly, an AU statement simply a military one. Language from the had been seen landing in western The Arab Weekly on Libyan issues. Viewpoint Algeria’s Sonatrach scandal is a test case for new president

In addition, there are commit- condemned for sharing intelli- sistency with Sonatrach’s refining new refinery. ments that need to be honoured, gence with the enemy (the United policy at the time. It knew that its product import not least immediate expenditure States) and served time in prison. To justify the transaction requirements would decline and Francis Ghilès for compliance with environmen- He was appointed to that job by company officials highlighted the fade away. This fall had started tal standards. The total cost to Chakib Khelil, who was Algeria’s fact that Algeria was importing 3 as a result of rising pump prices, Sonatrach, which is structurally all-powerful energy minister for million tonnes per year of refined which were dampening demand any voices are loss-making, the weekly Pet- the decade following Abdelaziz products and “claimed that the for refined products in Algeria.” being raised in rostrategies newsletter reported, Bouteflika’s election to the presi- Augusta plant would make up for The refurbishment of Algerian Algeria call- is more than $1 billion. dency in 1999. the deficit by refining Algerian refineries increased gasoline out- ing for light to It speaks of an acquisition that During those years tens of bil- crude… put by 50% and diesel production be shed by the “is raising a lot of questions… lions of dollars were siphoned out “The problem is that Augusta by 25%. When the new refinery new Minister of the haphazard management (to of Sonatrach accounts, in what is was designed for crude oil of me- that Sonatrach is building in Hassi MEnergy Kamel Eddine Chikhli on say the least) of Algeria’s oil and the biggest scandal since Algerian dium and heavy grades and not Messaoud enters service in 2024, the Augusta affair. The issue could gas sector over the last few years independence in 1962, for the for the light crude oil of the type Algeria will once again become be a test case for the credibility can be summed up by (this) one benefit of Bouteflika’s family and produced by Algeria. As a result, self-sufficient in road fuels. of Algeria’s new government and shining example,” Petrostrategies business cronies. these crudes had to be bought Why then did Sonatrach and its that of President Abdelmadjid said. Khelil was sacked after the from third parties as the plant true master the Algerian govern- Tebboune. The Augusta affair was in the forceful intervention of the head could not process Algerian oil,” ment “gamble on a losing invest- On December 1, 2018, the CEO news last April when Sonatrach’s of security Mohamed Mediene Petrostrategies reported. ment when they could have made of Algeria’s state oil company, then-CEO Abdelmoumen Ould and fled to Washington where “This was compounded by the up for the shortage by importing Sonatrach, finalised a deal worth Kaddour was sacked but al- he lived for two decades before fact that Sonatrach had made a products and/or by processing an estimated $725 million to buy lowed to leave Algeria. It initially 1999 and had powerful protec- commitment to ExxonMobil that crude oil abroad”? the Augusta refinery near Catania, surfaced during negotiations be- tors. Ould Kaddour splits his the Augusta plant would supply The transaction makes no in Sicily. Its owner ExxonMobil had tween Sonatrach and ExxonMobil time between Doha, the United the latter with a given volume of economic sense. Was the Algerian been trying to sell this loss-making in 2018 and provoked questions Arab Emirates and Paris, where base lubricants for a period of ten government trying to curry fa- 70-year-old oil refinery for years. in private among Algeria’s elite his family resides. Both should years. In short, the new operator vour with ExxonMobil and why? — even in government — as to its be tried for corruption and high is not free to operate the plant’s With the US government? Or was wisdom. treason, said a retired senior colo- facilities according to its own this another exercise in siphoning Many in Algiers thought the nel in security, whose views are needs or those of the market, as money out of the country? The Algerian people decision to buy Augusta and widely shared in Algiers. the refinery has to calibrate its No matter what, the Algerian have been robbed the price paid were at odds with If the new government and installations to fulfil this ten-year people have been robbed blind the needs of Sonatrach. Senior Tebboune fail to come clean, they commitment.” and, if the country’s new lead- blind and, if the company officials considered are unlikely to convince Algerians This brings us to what is argu- ers do not come clean on this country’s new leaders their CEO to be incompetent and they want to give the country a ably the most important consid- shadowy affair, then their po- a crook. He had been sacked a new start and promote a more eration: the transactions’ political litical credibility will be severely do not come clean on decade earlier from his job of competent, less corrupt form of logic. Petrostrategies points out damaged as will their capacity to this shadowy affair, running a joint US-Algeria oil ser- government. that “by the time Sonatrach was usher in bold economic reforms. then their political vices company Brown and Root Petrostrategies had pointed negotiating the acquisition, it had Condor, among whose sharehold- questions about the industrial already completed a renovation Francis Ghilès is an associate credibility will be ers was former US Vice-President logic that presided over the Au- programme for its existing refin- fellow at the Barcelona Centre for severely damaged. Dick Cheney. Ould Kaddour was gusta transaction and of its con- eries and was planning to build a International Affairs. February 2, 2020 13 News & Analysis Tunisia While assessing 100 days in office, Saied brands US peace plan ‘injustice of the century’

Lamine Ghanmi a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry would not go far enough in condemning the plan. The Tuni- Tunis sian Foreign Ministry said: “Tuni- sia follows with great concern the unisian President Kais Saied announcement by the American assailed US President Don- administration of its initiative for a ald Trump’s Middle East resolution of the Palestinian issue.” T peace plan as the “injustice “I loathe this wording, such con- of the century,” saying Palestine “is cepts,” Saied said. “Foreign minis- not an orchard to be a subject of a tries are always expressing concerns deal.” in stick-in-the-mud communiques Saied’s vehement reaction to the that Tunisians and the whole Arab US proposal, which would grant Pal- nation are fed up with. estinians limited statehood but also “The mistake was corrected. I in- give Israel sovereignty over Jerusa- tervened myself to explain that this lem, the Jordan Valley and settle- is not acceptable by any measure.” ment blocks in the West Bank, was Asked whether there would be a departure from Tunisia’s tradi- another statement by the ministry, tionally pragmatic approach to the Saied said: “I’m here to explain the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. state’s stance.” Saied gave no an- The Tunisian parliament also swer when asked what action he lashed out at the US proposal, call- planned to take, including whether ing it “racist.” he would summon the US ambas- The rhetoric used by Saied, a re- sador to Tunisia to express his op- tired university law professor, and position. the tone of the Islamist-led Tuni- Saied hinted at the possibility of sian parliament’s resolution seem to proposing legislation to parliament shift Tunisia’s diplomatic discourse that would deem normalisation away from its traditional stances. with Israel a crime of “high trea- Under President Habib Bourguiba, son.” in office 1957-87, Tunisia was one “I repeat it anew now for every- of the first Arab countries to call for one to hear: Normalisation is high recognition of the UN-sanctioned treason,” he said. 1948 partition plan. “What is normal is to end the vio- Tunis’s moderate diplomatic pos- lations (against) Palestine and the ture helped it develop better securi- usurpation of the land of Palestine Changing the narrative. Tunisia’s President Kais Saied before taking the oath of office at the ty, diplomatic and financial ties with and its people’s forced exile.” parliament in Tunis, last October. (AFP) the West, as well as receive a steady Saied lamented the “defeatist” flow of tourists from Israel, mostly mentality in Arab societies that Jews of Tunisian origin drawn to he said paralysed their ability to dependents. cal communities. the annual Jewish pilgrimage on the achieve victory. “The culture of de- His commitment to the Palestin- The rhetoric used by Asked about how he had imple- Tunisian island of Djerba. feat that dominates Arab society is ian cause after his election is an- Saied and the tone of the mented his agenda in the first 100 Saied, speaking on state television more bearing than the defeat itself. other indication that he plans to Islamist-led Tunisian days, Saied said that he had been to assess his first 100 days in office, This defeatist thinking cannot be stick to his pledges. However, while parliament’s resolution working in silence. He gave the said: “The day of liberation for Pal- the beginning of triumph,” he said. the more diplomatic stance would seem to shift Tunisia’s example of a planned health-care estine will come with al Quds (Jeru- Saied’s embrace of the Palestinian likely satisfy Tunisia’s leftist and complex in the central city of Kair- salem) as its capital.” Arab leaders cause helped him surge in popular- pan-Arab groups, it risks alienating diplomatic discourse ouan, to be built with Saudi finan- have rarely used the word “libera- ity during presidential elections, the country’s traditional allies in the away from its traditional cial support, and similar projects tion” in this context, with most sim- which he won with a record 73% of West. stances. expected to follow. ply insisting on the right of Palestin- the vote. Speaking about his domestic in neglected regions of the country, ians to have a state of their own. Saied’s victory was also attribut- agenda, Saied promised to give peo- as well as usher in a more decentral- Lamine Ghanmi is an Arab Weekly Saied said he weighed in on the ed to support from Islamists, those ple “the legal means” of achieving ised form of government that would correspondent in Tunis. US peace proposal because he felt on the far left and disillusioned in- economic development, especially shift decision-making power to lo- ‘Children of ISIS’ head back to Tunisia, reviving controversy

Nesrine Romdhani “These children had lost both of nisian children born to ISIS mem- children and their parents. government programme pertaining their parents and will be cared for bers who are in custody in camps Ben Rejeb said: “The Tunisian to the care for these children.” by their grandparents or someone abroad at about 200. state does not have a strategy in Others had more praise for Tu- Tunis close of kin (in Tunisia),” said Mo- The biggest challenge faced by place for how to provide and care nisian authorities’ efforts to help hamed Ikbal Ben Rejeb, president Tunisian officials is that Libya is di- for these troubled children aged children who have lost parents to ix children fathered by Tu- of the Rescue Association of Tuni- vided between two major warring between 4 and 6.” conflict. nisian Islamic State fighters sians Trapped Abroad. He added camps. Political and human rights This situation has led to another “Legitimate security concerns killed in 2016 in the Libyan that they “need to be monitored sources stressed the “weakness” of controversy with the publication do not justify the abandonment by S city of Sirte recently arrived for a long period of time and should the judicial system in Libya as well by the website of the Presidency of governments of children and other in Tunisia. Dozens more fatherless be helped and reintegrated into as the turbulent security situation the Republic of photos of Tunisian citizens held in miserable camps Tunisian children and their moth- schools.” there. President Kais Saied receiving the and prisons abroad,” said Lita Ty- ers were expected to arrive soon Tunisian authorities do not have In some cases, the Tunisian au- six orphans deported from Libya ler, a crisis and conflict researcher in their deceased parent’s home official figures indicating the num- thorities had been hesitant to take January 23. at Human Rights Watch. country. ber of ISIS orphans of Tunisian ori- a decision regarding repatriation A statement issued by the Tuni- The complicated repatriation re- gin but NGO Human Rights Watch of minors because of the difficulty sian Presidency stated that Saied quires that Tunisia provide an ap- has estimated the number of Tu- in establishing the identities of the stressed the need for expediting Human Rights Watch said propriate system for the care and measures necessary “to provide there are about 200 Tunisian rehabilitation of children of killed psychological counselling and children born to ISIS Tunisian Islamic State (ISIS) fight- health care for these children be- members and who are in ers, as well as establish close co- fore handing them over to their custody in camps abroad. ordination between the judicial, families.” security and intelligence agencies Saied also pointed to the need She stressed the need to provide involved. to give the issue the right atten- rehabilitation and reintegration Tunisian authorities also need tion “to facilitate the return of the services for these citizens. “These to collaborate closely with Libyan remaining children stranded in children must be treated primarily officials and other concerned coun- Libya.” as victims,” she said. tries. The statement said the return of Human Rights Watch had con- There are more than 50 children the children was discussed by Saied sidered the Tunisian government’s of Tunisian ISIS fighters who died and the head of the Libyan Govern- efforts to repatriate children of ISIS in campaigns against the extremist ment of National Accord Fayez al- fighters as “slow” and accused au- organisation in Libya; 36 of those Sarraj during a meeting December thorities of “inaction” in helping children are accompanied by their 10 in Tunisia. It was agreed then to Tunisian children and their moth- mothers. The children are 3-12 secure the return of the children to ers held in Arab prisons, including years of age. their families in Tunisia. in Syria and Iraq. “Fifty-four children with their Social activists in Tunisia criti- The organisation called on Tu- mothers are still stranded in Libya cised Saied, arguing that he should nisia to “ensure a speedy and safe and arrangements are being made have devoted attention instead to return of children detained abroad for their deportation soon,” said orphans of Tunisian security and just because they are the sons and Taoufik Kacem, the Tunisian con- military forces killed during terror- daughters of alleged or confirmed sul in the Libyan city of Misrata. ist attacks. members of ISIS, unless they fear The other Tunisian children and Experts said Tunisia lacks spe- that they will be subjected to ill- their mothers are expected to be cialised official bodies and agencies treatment upon returning home.” extradited soon after Tunisian fo- A long way to go. A woman sits with children at al-Hol camp for to oversee integration of the chil- rensic and legal specialists submit displaced ISIS families in Hasakah governorate in north-eastern dren of killed ISIS fighters into so- Nesrine Romdhani is a Tunisian reports. Syria, last October. (AFP) ciety. Ben Rejeb said: “There is no journalist. 14 February 2, 2020 News & Analysis Qatar Hints of French scandal swirl around new Qatari PM

Special Correspondent al-Thani personally negotiated sus- picious payments relating to the awarding of the World Athletics Paris Championships” of 2019 to Doha. This appointment could grant nown for its many palace Sheikh Khalid immunity against a coups since independence summons to appear before French in 1971, the Qatari ruling courts. It is premature to specu- K dynasty has experienced late about repercussions this move another unexplained change, this could cause to the reputation of Qa- time at the level of the head of the tar, which has aspired to play in the government. big leagues, whatever the cost. A decree, published by the Qa- The Mediapart-Guardian reports tari News Agency, said Qatari Emir said their investigation uncovered Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani proof that Emir Tamim’s former appointed Sheikh Khalid bin Khali- cabinet director was directly in- volved in the process of “buying” fa bin Abdulaziz al-Thani as prime Under a cloud. New Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz al-Thani being minister. votes during the Doha candidacy sworn in at the royal palace in Doha, January 28. (QNA) Andreas Krieg, assistant profes- for the FIFA World Cup and the 2017 sor at King’s College London, who World Athletics Championships. had worked as a “contractor” in the The scandal was referred to ment of nearly $5 million was al- for the contract, it is probably one Crown Prince Tamim and his sister Qatari armed forces and is familiar French justice and it suddenly leged negotiated eight days earlier concluded between his company Sheikha al-Mayassa bint Hamad al- with the views of the Doha regime, turned into a state affair, which between the two men. Pamodzi and Oryx QSI. Thani to win the right to host the said Sheikh Khalid is “one of the could be embarrassing to the Another e-mail cited by the Eight days later, Oryx QSI made 2020 Olympics. emir’s most reliable advisers and French state and Qatar and its Pa- Guardian shows that, on October a transfer of $3 million to Pamodzi Sheikh Tamim’s chief-of-staff confidants.” risian networks. 4, 2011, Papa Massata Diack went in Senegal; a second transfer of wrote in an e-mail that “His High- This change, he told Agence Another Qatari cited in the inves- to Doha with an IAAF delegation $500,000 would follow November ness” (Sheikh Tamim) personally France-Presse, is “part of a larger tigation is Nasser al-Khelaifi, head responsible for assessing sites like- 7. validated the composition of this trend towards ‘meritocracy’ in Qa- of the Paris Saint-Germain football ly to host World Championships The “Sheikh Khaled” in question committee, in which Khelaifi was tar, which is to put the most quali- club and the BeIN Sports channel. events. was using a regular Hotmail ac- responsible for “media-related fied person in the right job.” He was indicted on charges of “ac- Two days later, he wrote to a count opened under a pseudonym matters.” tive bribery” in May, although he Qatari addressed as “Dear Sheikh but the Guardian and Mediapart Other documents suggest that alleged the owner of the account Khelaifi was, as the boss of BeIN The allegations could be firmly rejected the charges. Khaled”: “Thank you again for your The investigation related to sus- welcome and your diligence dur- was Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Sports (called Al Jazeera Sports at embarrassing to Paris but pected transfer of $3.5 million ing my stay in Doha. You will find Abdulaziz al-Thani. the time), officially mandated to also to Doha and its Parisian through Oryx QSI, a Qatari compa- attached the bank details for the Nasser al-Khelaifi denied before help Qatar win the 2017 World Ath- networks. ny managed by Khelaifi’s brother, transfer of $4.5 million, must be the examining magistrate having letics Championships. for the benefit of the company of carried out as agreed. The balance played a role in Qatar’s sports can- Allegations in the media investi- What the official biography and Papa Massata Diack, son of the for- of $440,000 must remain in Doha didatures in 2011. Khelaifi said: “I gation could mean that the newly officials in Doha fail to report is mer International Association of in cash. I will fetch it the next time absolutely did not take care of the appointed Qatari prime minister that Sheikh Khalid was involved, as Athletics Federations (IAAF) Presi- I come there.” negotiations for the World Athletics could be dragged into investiga- the former chief-of-staff to Sheikh dent Lamine Diack and commercial Papa Massata Diack specified Championships nor for the Olympic tions in Paris. The main investi- Tamim, in one of the most dramatic agent of the federation in charge of that the payment must be made Games… For these events, there is gation, conducted for three years cases of corruption linked to FIFA’s negotiating the rights of the World “urgently today so that I can final- an organising committee in which I under the aegis of the National Fi- awarding the organisation of the Championships. ise things with the president” and am not a stakeholder.” nancial Prosecutor’s Office, was of- 2022 World Cup to Qatar. Another confounding revelation show him “the signed contract and Mediapart claimed, however, ficially entrusted to an investigat- A 2019 report by the French on- pertains to a confidential e-mail the bank confirmation.” that Khelaifi was a member of a ing judge over the charge of “active line publication Mediapart and the exchanged between Papa Massata The “president” in question is secret committee of five person- and passive corruption.” The inves- British newspaper the Guardian, Diack and the former chief-of-staff most likely the former IAAF presi- alities, called “the Brain Trust,” tigation is in the hands of investi- “the chief-of-staff of Emir Tamim Sheikh Tamim that indicates a pay- dent and Diack’s father, Lamine. As responsible for assisting the then- gating judges. Former Qatari prime minister Doha suspected of resigned after clashing with emir smuggling weapons

The Arab Weekly staff Sheikh Khalid’s appointment the fallout. to Tripoli militias defied expectations that Sheikh Sheikh Abdullah’s resignation Abdullah would be replaced with was also said to be related to a rec- London Foreign Minister Mohammed bin onciliation drive he spearheaded Special Correspondent plain a recent Qatari media attack Abdulrahman al-Thani, Roberts to resolve the crisis between Qatar on the RSF. Qatar is backing the mi- eports indicate that the said. and its Gulf Arab neighbours, Qa- litias aligned with the Government recent cabinet reshuffle Despite the appearance of a tar Leaks said. Cairo of National Accord. in Qatar was the result smooth transition, a report by Qa- In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the The shipment allegedly belonged R of severe behind-the- tar Leaks, an activist-run news site United Arab Emirates, Bahrain urkey’s intervention in to Qataris who, reportedly in coor- scenes infighting within the royal that focuses on the inner workings and Egypt cut off diplomatic and Libya and its use of fight- dination with Turkish middlemen, family. of the Qatari government, said commercial ties with Qatar, over ers from Syria to battle smuggle weapons to Libya. The The Qatari government, on Jan- sources claimed that Sheikh Ab- accusations it was funding radical T the Libyan National Army shipment was said to be the largest uary 28, announced the names of dullah was dismissed because of Islamist groups and fostering close put the spotlight on the possibil- seized in five years. ministers in its new cabinet after disagreements with Sheikh Tamim ties with Iran at the expense of the ity of exploitation of the porous Heba al-Bashbishi, a researcher the resignation of Prime Minister related to Qatari foreign policy, countries that make up the Gulf borders between North Darfur in of African affairs, said the Qatari Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin particularly regarding relations Cooperation Council. Sudan and Chad with Libya and presence in Darfur is mainly aimed Khalifa al-Thani and the appoint- with Iran. This was followed up with the using them as a supply and sup- at creating new smuggling routes ment of his successor. four countries issuing demands port path for the militias allied with into Africa after the crackdown on Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad for Qatar to comply with before Libya’s Government of National smuggling of weapons and people al-Thani named Sheikh Khalid bin Sheikh Tamim’s plan to normalisation of relations. The de- Accord. across the Mediterranean. Sudan, Khalifa bin Abdulaziz al-Thani as increase Turkish mands included shutting down Al That scenario became clear Eritrea and Chad have become the prime minister. Like his predeces- military bases in Doha Jazeera TV and scaling back rela- when Sudanese security sources alternate routes for supplying mili- sor, Sheikh Khalid will also hold was a major factor in tions with Tehran. announced that weapons, appar- tant organisations. The new routes the post of interior minister. the fallout. Doha, however, have seemed to ently destined to be smuggled are said to be used extensively in Media reports said Sheikh move closer to Iran and expanded into Libya, had been seized. Along the increased Turkish intervention Khalid, 51, was the head of the “Differences erupted between ties with the Muslim Brotherhood- with taking possession of the ship- in Libya. emir’s court before his promotion. Tamim and Nasser in the Emir’s friendly government in Ankara, ment, the Sudanese Rapid Sup- Bashbishi said the road laid out “As the chief of the Diwan (Emir’s Palace, over Qatar giving $3 billion which the Qatari Foreign Ministry port Forces (RSF) arrested several by the French government to de- Court) and the director of Tamim’s to Iran in a form of compensation said would continue and was non- people of various nationalities, in- liver humanitarian aid to Darfur in office as crown prince, Khalid bin over the killing of [Iranian Major- negotiable. cluding individuals with Turkish 2007, during the war between Omar Khalifa is definitionally one of General] Qassem Soleimani,” the There were hopes that the an- passports. al-Bashir’s regime and the armed Tamim’s key confidants,” David B. sources told Qatar Leaks, adding nual Gulf summit in December Sudanese media said the RSF movements, had become a hotbed Roberts, an assistant professor at that Sheikh Tamim’s plan to in- that Sheikh Abdullah could secure seized an arms shipment in North for smuggling weapons and people King’s College London who stud- crease Turkish military bases in a breakthrough but the stalemate Darfur that was reportedly en route because it is not patrolled by Suda- ies the Gulf told Bloomberg News. Doha was another major factor in persisted. to militias in Tripoli, which may ex- nese government forces. February 2, 2020 15 Spotlight Regional Security Libya’s truce reduced to ‘mere ink on paper’ as Turkey traffics in weapons

The Arab Weekly staff seizing control of Sirte last month, leaving rival militias increasingly dependent on Turkish support Tunis Both sides began observing a ceasefire January 13 that was bro- urkish President Recep kered by Turkey and Russia, which Tayyip Erdogan has been have conflicting military and busi- accused of shipping weap- ness interests in the country. Inter- T ons and fighters to allied national and regional powers en- Islamist militias in Tripoli and UN couraged efforts to make the truce Envoy Ghassan Salame said a truce permanent and for the country to between Libya’s warring sides had move towards a broader solution to turned into mere “ink on paper” the conflict at a conference January and warned of a “new and much 19 in Berlin. more dangerous conflagration.” However, Turkey’s continued traf- Libyan National Army (LNA) fic in arms and fighters drew con- spokesman Major-General Ahmed cerns that the truce was not being Mismari claimed Turkey, which taken seriously by foreign actors supports Libya’s Government of Na- and that the conflict could deepen. tional Accord (GNA), had continued Former EU Ambassador to Tur- to unload weaponry in Tripoli and key Marc Pierini said Europe should transport “terrorists” to back Islam- stand up to Turkey’s aggression in ist militias in Misrata after a cease- Libya. fire had been announced. “Against a regime that no longer “A Turkish ship docked at Tripoli sees any limits to its action, there port January 28 to offload weapons needs to be a moment when it is and ammunitions including anti- told to stop,” Pierini told Agence jetfighter missiles and air defence France-Presse. “Politically, it is systems under the protection of easy to do and this is what is being two Turkish warships,” Mismari done in Paris. On the ground, it is said at a news conference. infinitely more complicated but An- The LNA is fighting militias kara only understands the language aligned with the GNA for control of force.” of Tripoli. Led by Field-Marshal France, Greece and Cyprus back Khalifa Haftar, the LNA says it is the LNA, as do Arab powers Saudi fighting to rid the city of Islamist Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab militants. Emirates. Those countries fear that, Evidence of involvement. Supporters of Libyan National Army celebrate on top of a Turkish military if Erdogan has his way, Libya could armoured vehicle that was seized during Tripoli clashes, in Benghazi, January 28. (Reuters) develop into “another Syria” to fur- Former EU Ambassador ther Turkey’s economic and geopo- to Turkey Marc Pierini litical goals. to work towards a ceasefire.” Egypt, Sudan, Chad and Niger,” “The force on the ground to de- said Europe should stand Salame urged all foreign parties Salame said he was “deeply wor- Mismari added. “The LNA fights for feat the enemy is the only language up to Turkey’s aggression to honour the terms of the ceasefire ried” that military build-ups on preserving peace and security for the world community understands in Libya. and work towards peace-building ef- both sides would raise “the spectre the whole world. The LNA strives to in order to make them change their forts. of a broader conflict engulfing the end the security, political and social stance,” Ghariani said. Mismari said Turkey’s role in ex- “Manoeuvres to resupply the wider region.” chaos in Libya and terminates trai- LNA Air Force Commander Gen- acerbating the conflict was “clear two parties threaten to precipitate Mismari blamed Erdogan for tors and Turkey’s proxies who allied eral Mohamed Mangour said the for the international community to a new and much more dangerous threatening “Europe through ter- with Erdogan and allowed the Turk- LNA was “preparing for the decisive see” and accused Turkey of “trans- conflagration,” Salame told the UN rorism, illegal migration.” He said ish invasion of Libya.” battle with high spirits and huge porting Syrian terrorists through Security Council. “They violate Erdogan “uses terrorism to punish Mufti Sadiq al-Ghariani, a spiritu- military equipment.” the airport and port of Misrata.” the spirit and the letter of the Ber- Europe for rejecting his country’s al leader for the main GNA-aligned “The next few days will decide Misrata, 210km east of Tripoli, is lin conference. I urge the parties membership in the European Un- Islamist fighters, called for the mo- the ultimate end of the war,” he the base of the main Islamist militia and their foreign sponsors to desist ion.” bilisation of more fighters so the said. “We won the war politically fighting against the LNA. The LNA from reckless actions and instead “He plots to split Libya and men- GNA could make gains and build and we are ready to finish it with fi- advanced towards Misrata after renew their expressed commitment aces neighbouring countries like international support. nal and decisive victory.” Viewpoint Changing threat dynamics irk Egypt amid new wave of regional competition

Sabahat Khan Stepping away from the wider lion cubic feet and it sources about by Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea and land-locked country of nearly 108 regional lens, however, Egypt’s one-third of that from Russia. Yemen, yet another strategic thea- million people, over its construc- immediate neighbourhood is a mi- Turkey recently concluded a tre of instability. tion of the region’s largest dam crocosm of what has been happen- maritime border delimitation Geopolitically speaking, Djibouti project on the Nile’s main tribu- gypt, the Arab world’s ing beyond. Egypt shares its major agreement with Libya and author- is a peculiarity because it is host to tary, the Blue Nile. The Grand Ethi- most populous coun- land and maritime borders with ised troop deployment to the coun- a major US military base, France’s opian Renaissance Dam eventually try and largest non-oil Sudan, which saw the breakaway try, with both moves going down largest overseas base, an Italian hopes to help nearly half a dozen economy, is confront- of South Sudan in 2011 after a rav- controversially in the region and military base and the only over- neighbouring countries meet their ing changing threat aging conflict that claimed nearly beyond. It is a move that comes seas military bases of Japan and electricity needs. dynamics as its neigh- 2 million lives, and oil-rich Libya, two years after Ankara signed a China — the latter building its base Egypt has taken a multidimen- Ebourhood undergoes important whose instability continues with lease agreement with Sudan for its at a cost of nearly $600 million. sional approach to deal with these developments and becomes an its civil war in the post-Qaddafi second main port in Suakin. South of Djibouti lies Somalia, new threat dynamics, combining arena for international competi- era, as well as the Palestinian en- For Cairo, the emerging Turk- whose civil war lingers on three considerable policy investment tion. clave of Gaza and Israel. ish strategy in its neighbourhood decades later but which is engaged into major political initiatives such Expectations of Cairo from the Egypt shares maritime borders could characterise a direct chal- in a slow-moving and fragile tran- as the Council of Red Sea and Gulf Arab world and Africa to perform with Saudi Arabia and Jordan in lenge. Leaving aside Egypt’s recent sitional political process. Across of Aden States with Saudi Arabia, a multilateral leadership role have the Red Sea and with Cyprus and history with Turkey and its sup- the Red Sea from Djibouti and the East Mediterranean Gas Forum meant Egypt has traditionally car- Greece, parts of which Turkey is port under President Recep Tayyip Somalia is Yemen. Its civil war and and US-brokered political negotia- ried a sense of great responsibili- effectively laying claim to, in the Erdogan for the Muslim Brother- problematic future considering the tions with Ethiopia in addition to ties as a transregional power. Eastern Mediterranean. hood in the post-Mubarak period, role and activities of Houthi rebels, deepening bilateral engagements The Arab League has its head- The Eastern Mediterranean has Cairo’s strategic goal to develop which last year swore allegiance to with neighbouring countries. quarters in Cairo and Egypt has seen major discoveries of natural into a major energy hub could be Iran’s supreme leader, provide yet Cairo has also enhanced its mili- held the rotating chairmanship gas deposits that have generated compromised by Ankara’s quest another complex challenge to the tary modernisation effort with the since last February. Yet, reconcil- a drive for cooperation in some for the same. management of regional security purchase of new combat aircraft ing Arab or African affairs has cases but disputes in others, most Egypt occupies a strategic loca- and affairs. and vessels to project air and naval become progressively challenging notably regarding Turkey’s drilling tion, which it is aiming to utilise Recent geological assessments power, developing new military as internal conflicts and politi- activities in and around Cypriot to export gas shipments to Europe concluded that levels of ethane bases including in Berenice in the cal instability raged across both waters and increasingly its widen- as well as the Middle East and and propane in the air above the Red Sea — inaugurated in January regions, which have become an ing activities in Libya. possibly Asia. Egypt operates gas northern Red Sea may be a result of — and in Gargoub, near its border arena for intense international Last year, Egypt convened the liquefaction stations in Idku and gases rising from subterranean res- with Libya, for example. With a competition. East Mediterranean Gas Forum Damietta and has agreements with ervoirs under the seabed. The Red redeployment of military assets with the participation of Jordan, Israel and Cyprus for the supply of Sea basin and its approaches could, to deliver a strategic re-posturing Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Israel and natural gas by ship and via pipe- therefore, hold a significance be- of forces, Egypt has also initiated the Palestinian territories in a lines from their offshore fields, yond freedom of navigation at sea a programme of war games and For Cairo, the bid to build regional cooperation which it can process and then for growing maritime traffic into military exercises to bolster opera- and develop a common approach export. the energy realm here, too. tional readiness against potential emerging Turkish to the region’s gas resources. Access to the Suez Canal, which Water insecurity is another security threats. strategy in its The Eastern Mediterranean’s gas saw its capacity doubled with a evolving threat for Egypt that is neighbourhood deposits have been estimated at major expansion project com- increasingly geostrategic in nature. Sabahat Khan, based in Dubai, 122 trillion cubic feet. To put that pleted in 2016, is controlled at the Dependent on 90% of its waters maintains a cross-disciplinary could characterise into perspective, Europe’s annual foot of the Red Sea by the Bab el from the Nile, Egypt has a long- focus in international security, de- a direct challenge. demand is approximately 200 bil- Mandeb Strait. It is overlooked standing dispute with Ethiopia, a fence policy and strategic issues. 16 February 2, 2020 News & Analysis Turkey Turkey seeks to expand its reach throughout Africa

Thomas Seibert news agency. Turkish Trade Minister Ruh- san Pekcan has said “2020 will be Istanbul our Africa year.” She said Turkey planned a Turkey-Africa partner- urkey is trying to expand ship summit in April and would its political, economic and be “knocking on Africa’s doors military footprint in Af- even more.” The Turkish flag car- T rica in a move that could rier Turkish Airlines flies to doz- sharpen tensions between Ankara ens of African destinations. and countries in the region. Turkey’s Africa policies include Turkish President Recep Tayyip a “soft power” component. Erdog- Erdogan visited Algeria, Gambia an’s wife, Emine, opened Turk- and Senegal during the last week ish-built schools and a mosque of January, bringing the number in Gambia during her husband’s of African countries he has visited state visit there. in recent years to 28, a govern- Howard Eissenstat, a Turkey ment tally stated. expert at Saint Lawrence Univer- The number of Turkish embas- sity in New York, said the latest sies in Africa has almost quadru- Erdogan visit combined short- pled since Erdogan’s Justice and and long-term aims. Development Party (AKP) rose to “There are clearly short-term power in 2002, from 12 then to 42 political benefits to Erdogan’s today, the Turkish Foreign Minis- trips abroad. They highlight his try said. Trade volume between leadership in giving Turkey a Turkey and Africa rose from ap- larger role on the world stage and proximately $4 billion to more in building Turkey’s overseas eco- than $23 billion during the same nomic relations,” Eissenstat said time. via e-mail “But, in fairness, political con- Turkey’s efforts to acquire siderations at home notwith- a bigger role in Africa standing, Turkey, under the AKP, started in 2005 and have really has engaged in a serious long-term strategy to build ties been supported by with Africa. At its core, I think Er- military deployments. dogan’s trip is aimed at maintain- ing and building on that success.” Increasing exports to Africa Turkey’s efforts to acquire a could help the Turkish economy bigger role in Africa started in emerge from a crisis, a priority for 2005 and have been supported Raising eyebrows. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Senegalese President Macky Sall Erdogan, who has seen the AKP’s by military deployments. Long during an official ceremony in Dakar, January 28. (AFP) approval ratings decline. During before Erdogan decided to send his visit to Algeria, Erdogan said military personnel in support of Turkey wanted trade with Africa the internationally recognised ine nine years ago as Ankara seeks these operations with Libya but rica have come as part of a grand to grow to $50 billion. government in Libya in recent to increase its influence in the you can also do them here.’ This strategy. Since 2017, Turkey has replaced weeks, Ankara sent soldiers to a Horn of Africa to counter Saudi is very important for us,” Erdogan “While officials in Ankara report former colonial power France base in Mogadishu in 2017 to train Arabia and the United Arab Emir- was quoted as saying by news that they have come to appreci- as the top foreign investor in Al- Somali forces. A deal between ates. In 2011, Erdogan became the broadcaster NTV. “Therefore, ate the soft-power value of their geria, with nearly 1,000 Turkish Turkey and Sudan for the recon- first non-African leader to visit there will be steps that we will investments in Somalia, Turkey’s businesses in the North African struction of historical buildings Mogadishu in two decades. Turk- take in our operations there.” presence was not envisioned as a country, state media said. In the on the island of Suakin in the Red ish engineers are helping build However, not every govern- long-term strategic project at the first 11 months of 2019, Algerian- Sea sparked speculation, denied roads in Somalia and Turkish ment in Africa is happy about outset,” Vertin wrote in an analy- Turkish trade exceeded $4 billion, by Ankara, that Turkey wanted to companies run Mogadishu’s air- Turkey’s advances. Algeria, as sis last year. making Turkey the fifth-largest build a naval base there. ports and seaports Tunisia before it, refused to sup- “Its gradual assumption of a trade partner with Algeria after Following a controversial mari- Ankara’s efforts may pay off port Turkey’s stance in the Libyan prominent role has been more China, France, Italy and Spain, of- time agreement with Libya last now. Speaking on his return flight conflict, while Egypt, whose re- learning experience than calcu- ficial Algerian figures stated. November, which triggered pro- from a Libya summit in Berlin on lations with Ankara have soured lated power play, one accompa- Turkey is also the second-big- tests by Egypt, Greece and Cy- January 19, Erdogan said Turkey since the overthrow of the Mus- nied by domestic debate about gest investor in Ethiopia with prus, Erdogan said in January would take steps in line with the lim Brotherhood-backed Presi- how its posture is perceived — not an investment of $2.5 billion, that Somalia had invited Turkey Somali invitation for oil explora- dent Muhammad Morsi in 2013, is only in Somalia but across the Mekonen Hailu, director of pub- to explore for oil in its offshore tion. wary of Turkish initiatives. continent.” lic relations of the Ethiopian territory. “There is an offer from Soma- Zach Vertin, a visiting fellow Investment Commission, told Turkey has been a major source lia. They are saying: ‘There is oil of the Brookings Doha Centre, Thomas Seibert is an Arab the Turkish state-run Anadolu of aid to Somalia following a fam- in our seas. You are carrying out said not all Turkey’s steps in Af- Weekly correspondent.

Viewpoint It’s time for Europe to address Turkey’s dire human rights record

nkara’s administra- was hit with a barrage of criticism Gulenist prisoners. dom of expression under Article tion, a coalition of in the United Nations’ grand hall Most of the bitter facts are on the 10 of the European Convention on hard-core Islamists in Geneva, the Turkish delega- record. As pointed out by the In- Human Rights, 35 were filed by Yavuz Baydar and relentless nation- tion responded with full defiance ternational Observatory of Human Turkish citizens. alists led by Turk- and arrogant hostility. It refused Rights, Turkey has not come close The EHCR report reminded ish President Recep to acknowledge any concerns and to upholding its UPR promises. us that Turkey’s intolerance for TayyipA Erdogan, is the elephant in reverted to its tired pretext of It stated: “In the period un- dissent was becoming a chronic the room whose presence is felt by “fighting terrorism.” der review, the government has feature of the state: “The country EU members and some countries The fact that Turkey tops the weaponised the legal system and single-handedly committed more in the MENA region. Those coun- league of oppressive regimes, terror legislation to restrict free violations regarding this issue tries, once encouraged by Turkey’s keeping more than 55,000 dissi- expression. By means of freedom than the rest of the member states growing economy and democrati- dents — which it labels “domestic of expression and freedom of combined throughout 1959-2019, sation prospects, are in shock and enemies” — as political prisoners press Turkey now stands far below committing 356 of the total 845 unsure of how to address Ankara’s was not seriously discussed nor where it was back in 2010, when violations,” ECHR stated. bold violation of international were the myriad other ways Tur- the first UPR cycle was compiled.” It added: “In 2019, the ECHR de- norms. key disregards the rule of law. I could not help but notice the livered 113 judgments on Turkey, Looking through the UN Human The fact that more than 130 sense of helplessness in diplomats finding at least one violation in 97 Rights Council Universal Periodic journalists and many more intel- and Western NGO representatives of these cases. During the period Review (UPR) of Turkey, I noticed lectuals have been unjustly held in my talks with them. Most did of 1959-2019, the court delivered that many countries had adopted in detention seemed not to worry not hide the fact that all forms of 3,645 judgments for cases coming low-key stances in their assess- the Turkish delegation, whose “friendly ammunition” to per- from Turkey, finding the country ments and in their recommenda- chairman, Deputy Foreign Minis- suade Ankara to return to respect at fault in 3,225 of these cases.” tions about Ankara’s policies. ter Faruk Kaymakci, argued, in a for rule of law had nearly run out. This harsh indictment, com- Countries that took a bolder line, nutshell, that such imprisonments Erdogan’s administration is in- bined with Turkey’s expansionist such as those in North America or were all about fighting terrorism. creasingly defiant towards outside ambitions and militarised foreign Western Europe, are merely shout- No one, especially journalists, he criticism as his regime grows into policy, shows a need to urgently ing into an echo chamber. argued, are above the law. one of the most oppressive in the revise the appeasement policies Altogether, Turkey received 450 Another issue not brought up world. being pursued in the European The fact that Turkey recommendations as part of the in the UPR session but was ad- The day after the UPR session, Union’s top circles. review, highlighting its dire human dressed at side events in which I further confirmation of Turkey’s One thing is clear: Ostrich pat- tops the league of rights record. took part was Turkey’s widespread misconduct landed on their desks. terns from Turkey’s concerned oppressive regimes The UPR review is a 5-year pro- use of torture which, of course, The European Court of Human allies, if continued, will not only was not seriously cess in which a country’s human it categorically denies. However, Rights (ECHR), in its annual create a monster but inflict deeper rights record and respect for rule as documented by Sebnem Korur activity report issued January 29, damage on large parts of Turkish discussed nor were of law are “X-rayed” and subjected Fincanci, the president of the Hu- ranked Turkey first in terms of society. the myriad other ways to critiques that it is expected to man Rights Foundation in Turkey, violations of freedom of expres- respond to promptly. torture is being systematically sion in 2019. Yavuz Baydar is a Turkish Turkey disregards the In Turkey’s case, none of the used throughout the country, Of the 68 judgments in which journalist and regular columnist rule of law. expectations was met. When it often against Kurdish and alleged the court found violations of free- for The Arab Weekly. February 2, 2020 17 News & Analysis Iran Cracks appear in Tehran’s leadership as Iran runs out of options in nuclear row

Thomas Seibert

Istanbul

racks have appeared in Iran’s leadership as the country runs out of options in its nu- C clear dispute with the West, vacillating between threats to walk away from a major international ac- cord designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and promises never to seek an atomic bomb, even without a treaty with world powers. Iranian lawmakers on January 28 asked parliament to debate a motion for Iran to quit the nuclear Non-Pro- liferation Treaty (NPT), a pact gov- erning global nuclear arms control, in a move apparently aimed at pres- suring European powers to salvage Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal. Joe Macaron, a resident fellow at the Arab Centre in Washington, said by e-mail that differences among Iran’s leaders about the way forward in the nuclear dispute became ap- parent following the death of Irani- an Major-General Qassem Soleimani in a US drone strike “Nuclear weapons have always been for Tehran leverage to gain rec- ognition for its regional role and for regime survival, rather than the end- game itself of acquiring these weap- ons,” Macaron said. “There seems, however, to be two views inside the Worrisome developments. Iranian President Hassan Rohani (C) leads a cabinet meeting in the presence of his Chief-of-Staff Mahmoud (AFP) Iranian regime on the approach and Vaezi (R) and Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri in Tehran, January 15. preconditions to conduct these nu- clear negotiations, most notably af- Iran has always insisted its nucle- mitments but, if the Europeans con- hani, said one of Tehran’s possible lamic. Rohani said Iran wanted “to ter the killing of Soleimani.” ar programme was only for peaceful tinue as they have been… we have responses to the crisis would be to have good relations with” the West. purposes, pointing to monitoring of different options,” Zarif said. withdraw from the 2015 deal. An Iran also sent mixed messages its work by the United Nations’ In- In response to Zarif’s statement, about its willingness for interna- Mahmoud Vaezi, chief-of- Iranian lawmaker offered a $3 mil- ternational Atomic Energy Agency US disarmament Ambassador Rob- lion reward to anyone who killed US tional cooperation in the investiga- staff to Iranian President (IAEA) but Tehran accuses Europe ert Wood said: “Iran needs to end President Donald Trump and said tion into the downing of the Ukrain- Hassan Rohani, said one of of failing to provide economic in- its malign behaviour and sit down Iran could avoid threats if it had nu- ian passenger jet near Tehran on Tehran’s possible responses centives promised to Iran under the with the United States and negotiate clear arms. January 8 that killed all 176 people to the crisis would be to JCPOA. an agreement “that would cover the Rohani, however, soon struck a on board. After days of denials, Iran withdraw from the 2015 The European move of activating nuclear issue as well as Iran’s ballis- much more conciliatory note. admitted that the plane was shot nuclear deal. a dispute-resolving mechanism un- tic missile programme and its “ma- “We are in the JCPOA, we have down by the Islamic Revolutionary der the JCPOA “has no legal basis” lign activities around the world.” not left it and we do not want to de- Guard Corps (IRGC), an elite force Iran has tried to prod Europe into and, if they take further measures, Macaron said Tehran’s threaten- stroy it. We are committed to it and under Khamenei’s direct control. action to save the 2015 nuclear deal, “Iran’s withdrawal from the NPT ing to leave the NPT was an “Iranian we have reduced our commitments Zarif said the Iranian public was formally known as the Joint Com- will be considered,” Iranian Foreign pressure tool” to make the Euro- in accordance with the JCPOA,” Ro- “lied to” for days. His comments prehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif peans do more for the survival of hani said during a cabinet meeting and statements by Rohani sug- from collapsing after the US with- was quoted as saying by the Iranian the JCPOA. “The NPT is the legal January 22, a speech posted on the gested Iran’s elected leaders ini- drawal from the agreement in 2018. parliament’s website. framework governing the JCPOA,” president’s official website indi- tially knew nothing about the IRGC However, Iranian violations of the The NPT is a milestone interna- he said, “hence, while Iran’s with- cated. shooting down the aircraft. deal, designed to increase pressure tional agreement from 1968 that drawal from NPT is symbolic, it “Even if the JCPOA and the safe- “It’s highly likely that most, if not on Europe, backfired and Britain, includes a pledge by non-nuclear sends a message to the West that guards are gone, whether our coun- all of the Rohani government, was France and Germany initiated the member countries to never devel- Iran’s nuclear deal could potentially try’s relations with the IAEA are not aware of the same facts that process charging Iran with failing op a nuclear bomb. Iran has been a be void.” good or bad, we will not seek nucle- were available to senior members” to observe terms of the accord, a member of the NPT since 1970. Zarif was not the only Iranian of- ar weapons,” Rohani said, mention- in the IRGC, Ellie Geranmayeh, a move that could see the UN Secu- “If the Europeans return to the ficial who issued threats. ing a ruling from Iranian Supreme senior fellow focusing on Iran at the rity Council reimpose international commitments [under the JCPOA], Mahmoud Vaezi, chief-of-staff Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that European Council on Foreign Rela- sanctions on Tehran. Iran will also stop reducing its com- to Iranian President Hassan Ro- said a nuclear bomb would be un-Is- tions, told the Associated Press. Viewpoint Beyond shadow of war, next US-Iran moves to foster illusions of a deal

he United States and of its intentions prior to the attack of the IRGC provide hope that in Tehran lacks at least $20 billion Iran got to the brink of to minimise loss of human life, direct military confrontation be- to balance next year’s budget. war after the killing of which could trigger an over- tween Iran and the United States The circumstances appear so dire Ali Alfoneh Iranian Major-General whelming American response. has been averted. While neither that Rohani, in a speech January Qassem Soleimani Public statements of the IRGC party actively seeks war, the situ- 1, proudly boasted of the govern- but three weeks and and Iranian Supreme Leader ation could escalate because of ment’s achievement that Iran is Thundreds of presidential tweets Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after the miscalculations and accidental not experiencing “famine” yet! later, Iran is almost forgotten in attack were just as careful. The mistakes. However, rising prices, social Washington, which is entangled IRGC issued a public statement Preparing for the November unrest, bread riots and protests in impeachment trial of President warning: “Any new mischief, 2020 presidential election, Trump against the government’s lies Donald Trump. measure or violation will be coun- needs a diplomatic victory or at about the Ukrainian airliner are The current state of neither tered by harder and more painful least the appearance of one to con- bad enough and Tehran is seeking war nor peace between Iran and responses.” In his first comments vince the public of his self-claimed two complementary paths to get the United States could change: about the attack, Khamenei said: abilities as a master dealmaker. rid of the US sanctions, in particu- The risk of a catastrophic military “They [the Americans] were Once the dust of the Soleimani lar those against Iran’s oil and gas confrontation casts long shadows slapped in the face last night” and assassination settles and depend- exports. While secretly pursuing over the United States and Iran demanded: “The corrupting pres- ing on how the latest protests in the diplomatic track, Iran is using but officials are just as likely to ence of the US in the region must Tehran against the downing of the its proxies to impose moderate contain and manage, if not solve, end. They brought war, division Ukrainian airliner develop, one pain on the United States and US Washington and the crisis. and ruin to this region… This must can expect Trump agreeing to a allies to gain a better bargaining Tehran are likely to In response to assassination Jan- end!” cosmetically changed version of position vis-a-vis Washington. uary 3 of Soleimani, the Islamic Iranian Brigadier-General Abou the Joint Comprehensive Plan of In this sense, Washington face old problems in Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) al-Fazl Shekarchi, Joint Force Action, as the Iran nuclear deal is and Tehran are likely to face old 2020, in which there is launched missile attacks against spokesman, used Khamenei’s formally called, in exchange for problems in 2020, in which there two military bases in Iraq hous- vocabulary about a slap in the face a theatrical summit with Iranian is equal likelihood of military equal likelihood of ing the US military. There were no but reiterated the IRGC’s carefully President Hassan Rohani. confrontation and negotiations military confrontation deaths, for which Trump credited worded message conditioning Iran, too, has a strong incentive between the two adversaries. and negotiations the US military’s early warning IRGC’s future response on contin- to be a prop in Trump’s stage illu- system but there were persistent ued United States “mischief.” sion. Under the weight of the US Ali Alfoneh is a senior fellow at between the two rumours about the Islamic Repub- The remarkably bloodless mis- sanctions regime, Iran’s economy the Arab Gulf States Institute in adversaries. lic warning the Iraqi government sile attack and public statements is fast shrinking and the regime Washington. 18 February 2, 2020 News & Analysis East West Will the UK’s beefed up terrorism laws prove effective?

The Arab Weekly staff lice, government and public bodies to help them carry out their roles,” said Khan, lead commissioner of London Britain’s Commission for Counter- ing Extremism. fter the British govern- Prevent mandates that teachers, ment confirmed it intend- council officers and other public ed to beef up its terrorism sector workers monitor for signs of A laws, questions remain radicalisation or extremism and re- whether this was a political ploy or port such cases to authorities. Crit- a genuine attempt to overhaul the ics say that training is lacking and country’s counterterrorism and de- that public-sector workers should radicalisation policies. not be tasked with informing The move came after convicted against those under their care. In terror offender Usman Khan fatally 2018, the National Union of Teach- stabbed Saskia Jones and Jack Mer- ers announced its official rejection ritt at Fishmongers’ Hall near Lon- of the Prevent strategy following a don Bridge on November 29. vote, saying it caused “suspicion in Khan had been released from jail the classroom and confusion in the on licence in 2018, halfway through staff room.” a 16-year prison sentence for terror- The new bill looks to force con- ism offences. His victims were at- victed terrorists to take a lie detec- tending a conference organised by tor test to prove they have reformed the University of Cambridge pro- and are not planning another attack gramme Learning Together, which before they can be released from helps criminal offenders, such as prison. Khan, access higher education. The attack raised questions about Britain’s counterterrorism Legislation could be policy and became an issue dur- introduced in parliament ing the recent election campaign, ensuring that terrorist with British Prime Minister Boris offenders face a minimum of Johnson pledging to end automatic 14 years in prison, more early release of terrorists. New phase. Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street in central London, than four times the present “If you are convicted of a serious 3-year average. January 29. (AFP) terrorist offence, there should be a mandatory minimum sentence of 14 years — and some should never “We get a lot of people who are be released,” Johnson wrote in an superficially very compliant with opinion piece for the Daily Mail the regime [in prison] and some- newspaper one day after the attack. times the assessment of risk is a Post-Brexit UK eyes “Further, for all terrorism and ex- very difficult thing to do,” UK Jus- tremist offences, the sentence an- tice Secretary Robert Buckland told nounced by the judge must be the Britain’s Sky News. “You can get time actually served — these crimi- people who are, in fact, ‘sleepers’ nals must serve every day of their for many years and then suddenly Middle East trade but sentence, with no exceptions.” back come the hatreds and the prej- After Johnson’s landslide elec- udices and we see atrocities like the tion victory December 12, it ap- one we did at Fishmongers’ Hall.” pears the prime minister aims to Buckland defended the use of move forward with his reform pro- polygraph testing, saying the de- gramme. vices were used in cases involving complications remain The UK Home Office said leg- some sex offenders. “The introduc- islation could be introduced in tion of polygraphs… improves the Mahmud el-Shafey Saeed al-Mansouri noted last year The United Kingdom will be parliament ensuring that terror- tools that we have in terms of try- at the World Government Summit looking to the Gulf’s defence sec- ist offenders face a minimum of ing to assess that risk, to minimise in Dubai. tor where it already enjoys a strong 14 years in prison, more than four that risk,” he said. London Even without a free trade agree- presence. A 2017 report by Strat- times the present 3-year average. Buckland acknowledged that risk ment, the Arab Gulf region rep- egy&, a global strategy consulting The current rule allowing release of could not be “eliminated” but said ith the United King- resents an attractive forum for firm, titled “The Emerging GCC De- serious offenders two-thirds of the British authorities must do every- dom finally exiting the increased investment. The United fence Market: The $30 Billion Op- way through their sentence would thing in their power to reduce it as European Union, many Kingdom reportedly identified $38 portunity” outlined huge invest- be permanently abolished. The much as possible. W in Britain are looking billion worth of new opportunities ment opportunities available in the number of probation officers spe- Polygraph tests are used in cases to the Middle East and North Africa annually for British businesses in Arab Gulf. cialising in counterterrorism would involving serious sex offenders on as a potential arena for much-need- the GCC by 2021, with focus on the “The prospect of a free trade double and counterterrorism police parole in England and Wales and, ed trade but how viable would such health-care and defence sectors. agreement with the GCC, a rise in would receive a 10% funding in- since 2014, mandatory tests have trade deals be and how could this defence spending in the Gulf and crease. been attached to some offenders’ affect Britain’s wider foreign policy the reaffirming of bilateral ties with Although head of UK counterter- release conditions. However, they in the region? British government figures a number of GCC countries all un- rorism policing Neil Basu welcomed are not admissible in court but “The UK will want and need to indicate that the Gulf region derscore the UK’s renewed devo- the proposed extra measures and failed tests result in further inves- deepen its commercial relation- accounts for $50.8 billion of tion to its regional presence,” a re- increased funding, he noted that tigation or supervision. ships in the Gulf and the wider re- the United Kingdom’s $57.2 port from France’s Foundation for the demand for counterterror work Harsher prison sentences can’t gion, especially in those countries billion trade with the Middle Strategic Research said. had increased by an even greater and won’t serve as a deterrent to where it has strong cultural and However, hopes for increased amount. terrorist wannabes, however. The historic ties,” said Paul McGrade, East. trade will likely be accompanied “We have seen our demand in- answer lies in de-radicalisation, a a former EU policy adviser to for- by expectations of a shift in British crease by around one-third since difficult process that requires a sig- mer British Prime Minister Theresa “After Brexit, the [Arab Gulf] re- foreign policy, something that Brit- 2017 and the only way we are going nificant expenditure of time and at- May. gion will be a key market for UK ish politicians acknowledged. to turn the tide is by throwing our tention. Writing for the Arabian Busi- companies seeking to maintain A 2017 parliamentary report by support behind the only strategy “We’re asking people to kind of ness website, McGrade singled their position as world-class lead- the Select Committee on Interna- which attempts to divert people reconsider or re-examine the iden- out Saudi Arabia and the United ers in health care, medical devices tional Relations titled “The Middle away from violent extremism in tity commitments in their life… Arab Emirates as Gulf Cooperation and digital technologies,” McGrade East: Time for New Realism” ac- the first place — Prevent,” he said, why they may have bought into Council (GCC) countries that would said. knowledged that Britain must fol- describing the controversial pro- a particular cause and support in see quick trade overtures from the The Healthcare Investment Fo- low a more flexible foreign policy gramme as “our best hope in reduc- violence on behalf of that cause,” United Kingdom. rum, at the Arab Health 2020 ex- in a post-Brexit world, especially ing the threat in the long term.” Christopher Dean, the psychologist British government figures stat- hibition January 30 in Dubai, saw if it wants to reap economic divi- Prevent has a shaky history and behind Britain’s main de-radicali- ed that the Gulf region accounts strong interest from UK companies. dends from new markets. is facing an independent review sation programme, told the BBC. for $50.8 billion of the United King- Speaking at the conference, Jad “There is a shared desire and following lack of clarity of what “This is something you can’t dom’s $57.2 billion trade with the Bitar, a managing director at the scope for significant growth in constitutes extremism and how force people to do. It isn’t about Middle East. Those figures could Boston Consulting Group, a man- services between the UK and Gulf suspected extremists are referred telling someone you have to be this rise sharply after Brexit, with the agement consulting firm, said the states,” the report said, “which to authorities. way… Human behaviour doesn’t United Kingdom intent on pursu- GCC was only spending around have been developing their non-oil Even the United Kingdom’s coun- work like that,” he added, warning ing independent trade deals. half what mature markets spend economies and building capacity in ter-extremism official, Sara Khan, that no expert could guarantee that Attempts to draw up a GCC-EU on health care. health care, education and finan- complained about the Prevent a terrorist offender would not re- free trade deal have faltered since “As such, there are several fac- cial services.” strategy after it was revealed that offend. negotiations began more than 20 tors creating investible opportu- “The accelerated diversification the global environmental move- “I think we have to be very care- years ago. The British government nities in health care in the region of economies across the Gulf rep- ment Extinction Rebellion had ful about ever saying that some- must hope that its own attempts, including underperforming sys- resents a significant opportunity been included on a list of extremist body no longer presents a risk of freed from EU bureaucratic log- tems and players, shifts in strate- for British companies,” the report groups. committing an offence. I don’t jams, will prove more fruitful. gic focus such as disease burden added. “I believe it is in our country’s think you can ever be sure. We Even so, free trade agreements and geographic footprint [and] the interest that we have a clearer de- have to be very careful about say- take years to negotiate, which Emi- outsourcing of manufacturing and Mahmud el-Shafey is an Arab scription and consensus of extrem- ing someone has totally changed or rati Minister of Economy Sultan bin supply chain,” he said. Weekly correspondent in London. ism which can be used by the po- has been cured,” he added. February 2, 2020 19 Viewpoint East West Living with the ISIS terror threat

Colin Randall

srael is back in the Islamic State firing line. Following the “declaration of war,” analysts have been assessing whether the terrorist group has the ability to mount seri- Iously damaging assaults on the state it might be expected to hate more than any other, including the United States. Four years have passed since Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, then the Islamic State (ISIS) leader, boasted “we are getting closer by the day” to attacking Israel. Little hap- pened to suggest ISIS was able, however willing, to organise operations of major significance on Israeli soil. As New Year’s Day ushered in 2016, six days after the message was distributed, an Arab from the northern Israeli region of Wadi Ara killed three civilians. Later killed by police, Nashat Wilhem New threat? An Israeli security officer inspects the area outside the entrance of Ben Gurion Airport, near Tel Aviv. (AFP) apparently felt allegiance to ISIS and his crimes were listed as acts of terrorism. However, he also Israel its number one enemy by whole world, and the vast major- Israel is more experienced than he is by his own legal issues and had known mental problems and pledging to concentrate resources, ity of those who observe Islam most countries in handling inter- US President Donald Trump’s a despicable triple murder hardly much depleted by the US-led coa- without thought of violence, may nal as well as external menaces. Middle East peace plan — a “win- served as belligerent ISIS words lition’s military successes, to the be no more than what ISIS does by Terrorist cells have been disman- win” solution, the US president put into action. Palestinian cause. default. tled and, although reports suggest said; a worthless conspiracy for Baghdadi is now part of terror- Despite Baghdadi’s sabre-rat- Yet serious analysts do not ISIS has recruited “several dozen” Palestinian leaders. ism’s history. During a US attack tling in 2015, Israel has not always dismiss the renewed threat to militant Israeli Arabs, the Tel Confident as Netanyahu may in Syria last October, designed to occupied a prominent place in ISIS Israel as meaningless posturing Aviv-based Meir Amit Intelligence be in the efficiency of his security capture or kill a man described by strategy. Given its deep reserves of by a defeated private army. Ter- and Terrorism Information Centre forces, he may heed the words of Washington as “responsible for hatred, this is not completely sur- rorist attacks occur internation- said the group was inactive in the Ely Karmon, an Israeli counter- the death of thousands of civilians prising. With so much contempt ally at sporadic intervals and will West Bank throughout last year, terrorism expert who detects an in the Middle East,” he set off for humanity to go around, it has a continue; ISIS or those it inspires with like-minded jihadist net- ISIS drive to “galvanise Muslims explosives, killing himself and two multitude of targets. will strike wherever and whenever works restricted to a low profile worldwide and especially in the of his children. In 2016, four months after ISIS they can. in Gaza. Middle East.” Under the new leadership of attackers killed 130 people across While its capacity to direct Despite signs of renewed ter- ISIS’s declaration, Karmon Baghdadi’s fellow Iraqi, Abu Ibra- Paris, with further atrocities operations is diminished by the rorist activity in January, ISIS wrote ominously in the Jerusalem him al-Hashimi, ISIS now makes happening or about to happen in loss of key members and the Iraqi warmongering may therefore owe Post in terms that stirred memo- the Middle East, Europe and the and Syrian territory once under its more to the need to massage dam- ries of attacks dating to the Black United States, the group chose to control, ISIS can still rely on “lone aged pride, after crushing military September massacre at the 1972 explain why it was not attacking wolves,” individuals energised by defeats in Syria and Iraq, than to Munich Olympics, “should be the Jewish state. exhortations to attack “infidels” a true reflection of its strength. taken seriously, not only by Israel Despite signs of The thrust of the argument, around the world. That translates Other security sources argue and its security establishment but renewed terrorist advanced in the ISIS newspaper as anyone, Muslims included, who that the greatest threat to Israel also by Jewish institutions and al-Naba, was that fighting Israel does not subscribe to its warped remains Hezbollah’s huge arsenal potential targets (synagogues, activity in January, carried no more importance than outlook and agenda and the hu- of rockets and missiles. schools, representative personali- ISIS warmongering waging jihad in Pakistan and else- man loss is sometimes heavy. The loneliest of lone wolves ties, etc.) around the world.” may owe more to the where. If any countries merited By and large, countries learn to can cause carnage. Any attack in special attention, wrote the author live with the constant threat of Israel causing multiple deaths or Colin Randall, a journalist based need to massage of the article with what must have terrorist outrages and do their ut- severe disruption would represent in London and France, worked damaged pride than been leadership approval, these most to minimise the effects with a coup for ISIS and humiliation for in various roles for the Daily Tel- were hostile Arab countries, “first a raft of security measures and the the authorities. This is not lost on egraph from 1977-2006 and was to a true reflection of and foremost” Saudi Arabia. admittedly patchy monitoring of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin executive editor of the National at its strength. Setting itself against almost the suspects. Netanyahu, however preoccupied its launch in 2008. Iowa caucuses show Middle East issues matter

the results of all 99 counties are Vice-President Joe Biden, Sena- is going to mess with us any- founder and president of the tabulated, the Iowa caucuses are tors Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth more” and that the United States Arab American Institute, spoke Rashmee supposed to offer a clarifying Warren and Amy Klobuchar and did not, in any case, need to be in Iowa City about the impor- Roshan Lall moment for the United States former South Bend, Indiana, engaged in “reckless, interven- tance of the caucuses to Arab and the wider world. Mayor Pete Buttigieg. tionist globalism.” Americans and, by extension, to In theory, Iowa is meant to “People have been asking the Dubuque County had not the wider Arab world. Zogby sug- n February 3, Iowa, provide a good early indicator candidates questions about the voted Republican since 1956. gested that with Arab Americans a predominantly of a presidential candidate’s nuclear agreement with Iran be- In November 2016, it voted for continually battling bigotry, rural state in the strength, as well as issues that cause people are worried about it Trump. He also broke through the Iowa caucuses should hold American Midwest, really matter, as the race for the and people are concerned about the Democrats’ so-called “blue candidates accountable on issues kicks off the US White House grinds on to Elec- peace between the Palestinians wall” of solid support in Michi- important to the community. presidential primary tion Day November 3. However, and Israelis, though that seems a gan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania He added that such a strategy Oseason. Across the state, Iowans 2020 seems different. A recent very long shot,” Punteney said. by a small 77,000-vote margin. should influence the election will caucus, which is to say ap- poll indicated an unusually high He doesn’t say so but the A study by Douglas Kriner of process across all states, par- proximately 1,700 meetings will degree of uncertainty among Middle East — or at least, fear Cornell University and Francis ticularly because the outcome take place in church basements, Iowans, with approximately 40% of another war in the Middle Shen of the University of Minne- of the November 3 national vote fire stations, school gymnasiums of respondents saying they were East — may loom rather larger sota Law School stated that was will shape domestic and foreign and even around kitchen tables. still unsure of their candidate. in Iowans’ subconscious than largely because Trump received policy concerns critical to Arab Each meeting will break into In casual conversation, Iowans generally acknowledged. Four support from counties that had Americans. This seems to make disparate groups for their pre- admit to varying levels of doubt years ago, just before the Iowa sent more sons and daughters sense. ferred presidential candidate and and confusion about the crowded caucuses, Trump arrived in to war in the years since 9/11 For all the criticism of Iowa the supporters counted. After Democratic field’s “electability,” a Dubuque, a city in the east of the than other sections of the United being too white and too homog- code word for the ability to defeat state, which borders two other States. enous to be properly representa- US President Donald Trump. electorally key states, Illinois and “The parts of the country that tive of 21st-century America, the Do Iowans — with their unique, Wisconsin. have seen this war most intensely state does sit geographically and first-in-the-nation contest — care Promising to pull the United — they were looking for someone politically in the middle of the After the results of all about US foreign policy, its many States out of its endless wars, who would end the damn wars,” country. Anything that works in wars and its footprint in the Mid- Trump said: “I’m the guy that Shen said, “and in Trump they Iowa could potentially be rolled 99 counties are dle East? Does that factor into a didn’t want to go to war.” It found someone who at least told out in either direction. Iowa tabulated, the Iowa candidate’s electability? was an inaccurate reference to them that’s what he would do.” shows that foreign policy matters “Yes,” said Scott Punteney, Trump’s stance on the 2003 Iraq It’s not certain that Trump profoundly at home. caucuses are chairman of the Pottawattamie invasion but he insisted he had is seen as a peacenik anymore, supposed to offer a County Democratic Party, one of always thought “it’s just unjust, with tensions escalating over Rashmee Roshan Lall is a clarifying moment for Iowa’s larger counties by geo- it’s a mess.” Iran and his having unveiled a columnist for The Arab Weekly. graphical area and heavily target- He went on to promise that the “peace plan” that unfairly privi- Her blog can be found at www. the United States and ed by all the leading Democratic US military would always be “so leges the Israelis. rashmee.com and she is on the wider world. candidates, including former US strong, so powerful that nobody A few weeks ago, James Zogby, Twitter: @rashmeerl. 20 February 2, 2020 Economy

Viewpoint Briefs Iran paying steep price for US economic sanctions Vodafone sells were not involved in an economic war.” Egypt stake to The US Treasury and State de- Jareer Elass partments announced on January Saudi group 23 sanctions against six petroleum and petrochemical companies British telecoms group Vodafone he Trump administra- and two individuals for allegedly said it agreed to sell its majority tion is ratcheting up helping Iran conceal the origin of stake in its Egyptian unit to Saudi economic pressure Iranian crude, petroleum products Telecom Company for $2.4 billion. on Tehran, slapping and petrochemicals sold in defi- “This transaction is consistent additional sanctions ance of US sanctions and ordering with our efforts to simplify the on businesses and key millions of dollars’ worth of Ira- group to two differentiated, scaled Tofficials suspected of facilitating nian products on behalf of Iranian geographic regions — Europe and illicit Iranian oil and petrochemi- state oil firm National Iranian Oil sub-Saharan Africa,” Vodafone cal sales. Company (NIOC). CEO Nick Read said in a statement. Despite Iran’s seeming resil- The Treasury Department stated He said the cash sale for the 55% ience, Iranian President Hassan it was sanctioning Hong Kong- holding in Vodafone Egypt would Rohani revealed that a renewal of based broker Triliance Petrochem- reduce group debt and unlock US sanctions had deprived Tehran ical Company, Hong Kong-based value for Vodafone shareholders. of as much as $200 billion in Sage Energy HK, Shanghai-based income and investment opportu- Peakview Industry Company and (Agence France-Presse) nities. Dubai-based Beneathco DMCC. Washington and Tehran may “Iran’s petroleum and petro- have de-escalated military ten- chemical industries are major sions following last month’s assas- sources of revenue for the Ira- sination of Iranian Major-General nian regime and fund its malign IMF urges Kuwait Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in a activities throughout the Middle Shandong Qiwangda Chairman Foreign Minister Mohammad US missile strike and subsequent East. The entities targeted today Zhiqing Wang. Javad Zarif. to accelerate Iranian missile attacks on bases facilitate Iran’s petrochemical and China remains a favoured des- Since the Trump administration in Iraq where US troops were petroleum exports in contraven- tination for Iran’s crude exports pulled out of the 2015 interna- reforms, impose stationed but the Trump adminis- tion of US economic sanctions,” and Washington is hoping to stem tional treaty designed to limit tration is determined to continue the department said. those Chinese-dedicated sales. Iran’s nuclear programme in 2018, taxes hollowing out Iran’s economy. The Treasury Department ac- In a January 12 interview on Fox the United States has attempted The latest US efforts focused on cused Triliance of ordering the News, US Treasury Secretary Steve to force Tehran to the negotiating The International Monetary Asian and Gulf companies serving transfer of millions of dollars in Mnuchin said: “I sat down with table for a new deal by inflicting Fund urged Kuwait to introduce as middlemen allegedly aiding payments to NIOC for Iranian the Chinese officials… They’ve cut as much financial pain as possi- reforms that include imposing Tehran’s efforts in circumventing crude, petroleum products and off all of the state companies from ble through successive rounds of taxes and phasing out subsidies to sanctions to get Iranian crude and petrochemicals shipped to the buying oil and we’re working with sanctions. plug a chronic budget deficit. petrochemicals to buyers, primar- United Arab Emirates and China them to make sure that they cease Iran insists that it will only Kuwait has been hit hard since ily in China. in 2019. The department claimed all additional oil activities.” negotiate if Washington returns to crude prices crashed in mid-2014 Since the Trump administration Sage Energy, Peakview and Be- Following the January 8 Ira- the 2015 pact and lifts its sanctions and in January approved a budget reintroduced sanctions on Iranian neathco ordered the equivalent nian strikes on military bases in on Tehran. with a huge shortfall for the sixth crude and oil product exports in of millions of dollars for exports Iraq, the Trump administration In a January 24 interview with consecutive year. November 2018 and followed that from Iran after US sanctions waiv- unveiled sanctions on multiple German magazine Der Spiegel, Nevertheless spending, mostly in May 2019 by removing waiv- ers expired last May. sectors of the Iranian economy, Zarif emphasised that Iran was on hard-to-reverse categories such ers for Tehran’s top crude buyers, The sanctions include freezing including construction, manufac- willing to negotiate with Washing- as salaries and social aid, ex- Iran’s main source of revenue has all assets held by the companies turing, textiles and mining, as well ton, saying: “The Trump adminis- panded 25% in the past two fiscal dramatically dwindled. that come under US jurisdiction as on eight top Iranian officials. tration can correct its past, lift the years while the public wage bill From pre-sanctions crude and generally bar American com- Since June, the administra- sanctions and come back to the has grown about 6% annually, the export levels of 2.5 million-2.7 panies and individuals from doing tion has sanctioned Iran’s largest negotiating table. We’re still at the International Monetary Fund said. million barrels per day (bpd), Iran business with them. petrochemical holding company negotiating table.” In response, is reportedly currently averaging The State Department said it and its subsidiaries, the country’s US President Donald Trump (Agence France-Presse) crude exports of 250,000-400,000 was sanctioning Triliance as well largest shipping company, its tweeted on January 25: “Iranian bpd. as Chinese firm Shandong Qiwan- national bank as well as individu- Foreign Minister says Iran wants In a speech December 31, Rohani gda Petrochemical Company and als and entities associated with to negotiate with the United States claimed the renewed US sanctions Hong Kong-based Jiaxing Industry the Islamic Revolutionary Guard but wants sanctions removed. No cost Iran $100 billion in oil income Hong Kong for a “significant trans- Corps’ al-Quds Force. Thanks!” Libya says oil and another $100 billion in foreign action” of petrochemical products The United States also levelled investment credit. He said: “Iran sold by Iran. The department said sanctions on Iranian Supreme Jareer Elass reports from shutdown losses would have earned $200 billion it was sanctioning Triliance Man- Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Washington on energy issues for surplus income… if the country aging Director Ali Bayandarian and members of his inner circle and The Arab Weekly. reach more than $500 million Suspicious oil deals dissipate Iraq’s resources Losses from the closure of Libya’s major oil fields and pro- duction facilities have accelerated, The Arab Weekly staff those licences bind Iraq to unfair ports about 28 million cubic metres len from punctured pipelines or the country’s national oil company contracts for more than 25 years of Iranian gas to run factories and warehouses. Also, oil derivatives said. and constitute a painful blow to the power plants. intended for government depart- The National Oil Corporation, London country’s economic interests. The United States has given ments or companies were illegally which dominates Libya’s critical He said history would never Baghdad an exemption from sanc- taken and sold. oil industry, said the “total value nalysts said they deplored pardon those who contributed tions imposed on Iran but there is Another illegal practice is resell- of losses since the beginning of the the decision by the resign- to squandering Iraq’s oil wealth talk about the possibility of not re- ing subsidised imported oil deriva- blockades reached $502,289,339” ing Iraqi government to through contracts that offer oil newing the exemption. tives abroad because that makes as of January 27. It put the average A adopt suspicious deals companies unfair privileges against The scandal of the oil licences is them cheaper than local products daily loss at $50.2 million. that waste the country’s oil wealth. the country’s interests. He stressed linked to Shahristani because he in neighbouring countries. Thieves The move, an apparent violation of that the contracts had been evalu- had promoted them in coordina- also exploit apparent laxity in sur- (The Associated Press) the government’s interim powers, ated by Iraqi oil experts who con- tion with senior party leaders and veillance at Iraqi ports and export was made despite Iraq’s political firmed violations of Iraq’s national tried to replace national oil ex- more than is being declared in car- crisis and the mass protests pres- interests. ploitation expertise and manage- go manifests by rigging measuring suring the government. Chalabi said the recommenda- ment with foreign companies. The devices. Yamma buys The interim government ap- tions regarding the contracts forced contracts made no provision for In a report on Basra, the major proved a new round of licences, the government of former Prime ensuring transfer of technology or oil producing governorate in Iraq, minority stake which had first been granted nine Minister Haider al-Abadi to refuse training and developing local pro- the International Crisis Group said: years ago by Hussain al-Shah- to ratify them, despite efforts by fessionals. “The militias in this city have pen- in Turkish drug ristani, oil minister in the govern- former Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luai- etrated the security services and ment of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri bi. However, Luaibi ratified the pre- are engaged in armed battles over maker Sanovel al-Maliki. Subsequent investiga- vious round of contracts just before Former Iraqi Oil Minister oil and that oil smuggling in the tions claimed the deals were cor- the 2018 elections, maintaining Issam al-Chalabi told city had led to the creation of ex- Luxembourg-based Yamma rupt and unfair to Iraq. “legitimate” banditry, Chalabi said. The Arab Weekly the tremely complex and powerful oil Investments agreed to buy a 30% Oil experts said the deals were He added that official data con- licences bind Iraq to mafia networks.” stake in Turkish generic drug harmful to Iraqi expertise, mort- firmed that policies adopted since unfair contracts for more In April 2014, Abadi called on the maker Sanovel for $200 million, gaged the country’s economy to the 2003 US-led invasion intention- than 25 years. Integrity Committee to investigate the target company’s parent Tok- foreign interests and incurred ally impedes development of the allegations published by the Aus- soz Group said in a statement. tremendous losses to the state Iraqi oil industry. He said the burn- Iraqis remember Shahristani’s tralian Fairfax Media website and The sale of the minority stake treasury. They added to rampant ing of 58.3% of the gas associated promises on October 12, 2009, to the Huffington Post, a US website, would allow spending on research corruption at that time, inflated with oil production in the Basra, boost oil production to 12 million under the headline “This is How and development of new prod- government spending and killed Maysan and Dhi Qar oil fields was barrels per day within six years and the West Bought Iraq” and take ap- ucts and investments for exports, investment and development pro- an indication of waste. make Iraq one of the largest oil- propriate legal action. Toksoz said. grammes, the experts said. Experts have expressed concern exporting countries in the world. The story was one of the largest In November, Reuters reported Former Iraqi Oil Minister Issam about having the associated gas Observers interpreted those state- bribery scandal allegations in the that foreign firms, including Met- al-Chalabi said resigning Prime burned. They said not forcing for- ments as propaganda to win ap- world and it involved Shahristani, ric Capital Partners and Morgan Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi’s or- eign contracting companies to in- proval for the licensing deal. Ten Luaibi and other Iraqi officials, Stanley, the Wall Street bank, were dering of the Oil Ministry to sign vest in exploitation of associated years later, Iraq’s oil production is who allegedly facilitated the sale of in talks to buy a minority stake in the eighth round of the oil licences gas exacerbates the problem. 4.6 million barrels per day. billions of dollars of oil to Western Sanovel. was not within the powers of the It appears the aim behind the Oil theft is another aspect of how countries through Unaoil, a compa- caretaker government. neglect was to maintain Iraq’s de- Iraq’s wealth is wasted. Reports ny owned by Iranian businessman (Reuters) Chalabi told The Arab Weekly pendence on Iranian gas. Iraq im- indicate that smuggled oil is sto- Ata Ahsani. February 2, 2020 21 Economy Tunisia’s slow economic growth fails to generate employment opportunities

grammes for the labour market by Riadh Bouazza successive governments, many Tu- nisians said their conditions have Tunis worsened because of the rising un- employment rate, which has reached ata from Tunisia’s National 15.3%. The unemployment rate was Institute of Statistics indi- 11% in 2010. cate that tackling the unem- Official statistics confirm that the D ployment crisis in Tunisia unemployment gap widened in rural has eluded authorities for nine years areas compared to cities and that the because of the slow implementa- segment hit the hardest by unem- tion of mechanisms to revitalise the ployment is university graduates. labour market and lack of action in Popular and economic circles alike that regard. are trying to learn the causes that That the unemployment rate re- have prevented authorities from mained at the same level over the achieving even the slightest break- past nine years proves that labour through in this sensitive file. market reforms have not mitigated Specialists said there are structural the effects of austerity measures and factors keeping unemployment fig- cuts in public spending, subsidies, ures at their current levels. Such con- wages, fees and taxes imposed to ad- ditions will be difficult to address in dress financial imbalances. the absence of a clear and structured vision guiding economic recovery. The 2020 World Economic Successive governments since Forum ranked Tunisia 2011 have established campaigns to promote formal mechanisms for 78th out of 180 countries Idle. Tunisian youths play on their mobile phones in the central Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid. creating job opportunities, such as fi- (AFP) on the unemployment nancing government projects in mar- index. ginalised areas or encouraging young people to start their own businesses Current growth figures, however, Some previous measures can be wages of such a large number of em- Tunisian authorities tried to break but those steps are progressing very indicate that the Tunisian economy cited for exacerbating the problem, ployees? away from the weight of the old la- slowly and have produced little. is finding it difficult to reach the 2% such as the wave of indiscriminate Statistics show that 52% of Tu- bour system, which was based on The World Bank said the unem- growth figure, which explains au- recruitments in the public sector dur- nisians work in the services sector, unqualified work forces. This factor, ployment problem in Tunisia cannot thorities’ confusion in addressing the ing the era of the Troika government about 18% in the manufacturing, 15% along with continuous political ten- be limited to figuring out the number country’s chronic economic crises in the three years following the Janu- in non-manufacturing industries and sions, led to increased unemploy- of job opportunities that are sup- and especially unemployment. ary 2011 revolution. Those measures 14% in the agriculture and fishing ment rates. posed to be created each year. This Tunisian authorities have, in re- inflated public budgets tremendous- sector That is why international finan- is so because employment is closely cent years, adopted various meas- ly and the government adopted a The 2020 World Economic Forum cial institutions, including the World linked to economic growth. World ures and initiatives to incentivise plan to lay off employees and provide ranked Tunisia 78th out of 180 coun- Bank, stepped up pressure on Tunisia Bank Country Manager for Tunisia the private sector to employ more them with financial incentives to cre- tries on the unemployment index. to accelerate control of unemploy- Tony Verheijen said Tunisia was re- university graduates, given that the ate their own business projects. That means it is very far from achiev- ment rates and increasing growth in quired to achieve an annual growth public sector was saturated. The There are approximately 700,000 ing its ambitions. Tunisia’s weakened economy. rate of 5-6% to provide employment measures, however, failed to achieve public sector employees. How long Despite various support pro- opportunities. their goals. is the state capable of bearing the Riadh Bouazza is a Tunisian writer. Sudan looks to Saudi fund in talks to buy tackle fuel subsidies Newcastle

Maggie Hyde Elbadawi was appointed to the country’s interim government last United year. Khartoum Sudan’s new leadership is navigat- Reuters ing a treacherous transition to civil- udan hopes to cut fuel sub- ian rule. Two-thirds of the country’s sidies over the course of 18 more than 40 million people live in London months and replace them poverty and reducing fuel subsidies S with direct cash payments to could lead to destabilising protests audi Arabia’s sovereign wealth the poor, Sudanese Finance Minister reminiscent of the large-scale dem- fund is in talks to buy Eng- Ibrahim Elbadawi said, laying out a onstrations that ended al-Bashir’s lish football club Newcastle timetable for sweeping economic re- 30-year rule last April. However, S United for about $447 million, forms sought by international lend- sweeping economic reforms are re- a source familiar with the situation ers. quired to integrate Sudan into the told Reuters, confirming a report in The plan comes as Sudan’s fragile world economy and win support the Wall Street Journal. democracy is slowly taking shape from international lenders. Ambitious plan. Sudanese Finance Minister Ibrahim Elbadawi British billionaire Mike Ashley, after the ouster last year of the Since al-Bashir’s ouster, an in- speaks in Khartoum, January 28. (AP) who made his fortune from sports- country’s long-time autocrat, Omar terim government made of civilian wear retailer Sports Direct, which al-Bashir. Elbadawi, interviewed and military representatives has was renamed Frasers Group in De- January 29 by the Associated Press, been leading the country and the make the country’s most vulnerable with the United States to remove it cember, has owned Newcastle Unit- said the decision was a “no-brainer.” economy, already in a severe down- even poorer. from the list of terrorism sponsors, ed since 2007. The government previously said it turn and battered by a weakening Elbadawi said a direct cash pay- something Elbadawi hopes will hap- Saudi’s Public Investment Fund would not change bread and flour currency, shortages and inflation, ment to poor families, through pen in the next few months. In the and a group led by British financier subsidies. has become the linchpin of the tran- banks or mobile phone transfers, meantime, he said the government Amanda Staveley are in discussions sition period. could ease the shock of the reforms. is in negotiations with the IMF and to buy the Premier League club but Sudan became an international pa- Such a programme could begin in six is working on a reform programme talks were at a delicate stage and Because of the riah after it was placed on the United months, he said, although the gov- that could lead to future debt relief. could fall apart, a source familiar long-standing subsidy States’ list of states that sponsor ter- ernment needs better data to reach The government is introducing a with the situation told Reuters. programme, Sudan has ror more than two decades ago. This all those in need. As part of a pilot national dialogue to explain the ne- Newcastle United has been up for been one of the cheapest largely excluded it from the global group, Elbadawi said that some 4.5 cessity of the subsidy reforms but sale for several years. Three years countries in the world for economy and prevented it from re- million people would soon start re- will tread carefully, aware of likely ago, Staveley’s firm PCP Capital Part- petrol. ceiving loans from international in- ceiving money. popular opposition, Elbadawi said. ners made an offer for it for a report- stitutions, such as the International “We think that, if we manage to do The Sudanese Professionals Asso- ed $327 million but talks broke down. Elbadawi’s comments came after Monetary Fund (IMF). this, it will be a very viable and cred- ciation, the main organiser of last In 2019, Newcastle United was the Sudanese government skirted Sudan’s interim government also ible alternative,” Elbadawi said. “It year’s demonstrations, threatened rumoured to be on the brink of be- the issue of slashing subsidies last inherited a debt of $60 billion and will target the poor; it will promote to mobilise protesters if the transi- ing bought by Abu Dhabi billionaire year after the country’s pro-democ- a rapid inflation rate. It badly needs the cause of peace and it will actu- tion goes astray. Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed al-Nahyan racy movement rejected the move an injection of funds from foreign ally change the social contract.” That means Sudan’s civilian stake- but that deal did not go ahead either. and included them in the 2020 donors. The country’s currency, the Because of the long-standing sub- holders would have to be on board Ashley, who owns a controlling budget. Sudanese pound, is trading on the sidy programme, Sudan has been with the programme. stake in the club, has not always Elbadawi said the plan is to gradu- black market for double its official one of the cheapest countries in the “If, for whatever reason, we are been popular among fans and thou- ally lift fuel subsidies, which take up rate of 45.3 pounds to the dollar. world for petrol. Cheap fuel prices unable to reach a consensus, then I sands have boycotted matches this 36% of the country’s budget, as early The uprising against al-Bashir be- encouraged fuel smuggling out of think it will be incumbent upon the season in protest of his ownership. as March and following an economic gan as protests over rising prices of the country. Without changes to the government to explain the conse- Approximately one-third of Eng- conference with civil society groups key staples such as bread and frus- 2020 budget, the government would quences and to allow the Sudanese lish football clubs are under foreign and continue into next year. He said tration among young people about spend more on subsidies than on people to take whatever decision ownership. Premier League clubs petrol subsidies would be removed unemployment and the brutality of health, education and internal secu- and course they want to take,” El- Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester before tackling those related to die- the country’s security forces. Many rity combined, Elbadawi said. badawi said. United are in American hands while sel in mid-year. in the country’s civil society move- To pave the way for internation- Manchester City is owned by the Abu A former World Bank economist, ment fear that lifting subsidies could al loans, Sudan has been in talks (The Associated Press) Dhabi United Group. 22 February 2, 2020 Society Islam Dispute at al-Azhar conference reflects deep divisions over Islamic renewal

Amr Emam conference room for Khosht, whom Tayeb denounced and ac- cused of negligence. Tayeb said Cairo Muslims should pursue renewal in line with Islamic heritage. verbal duel between “The heritage some people take al-Azhar Grand Imam lightly today built a nation and Ahmed al-Tayeb and Cai- taught people co-existence,” he A ro University President said. Mohamed al-Khosht overshad- He criticised those who blame owed discussions at an interna- Islamic heritage for making Mus- tional conference on religious re- lims weak. newal. “We advocate a renewal that Al-Azhar, the highest seat of benefits from the treasures of this Sunni Islamic learning, organised religion and uses them as a guid- the late-January conference in ing force for the future,” Tayeb Cairo to discuss urgent issues on added. “We should leave out the religious stage and religious things in this heritage that do not renewal. Delegates and scholars suit the present.” from 46 countries were invited to Central to the debate was the Al-Azhar International Con- whether Muslims should build on ference on Renovation of Islamic principles inherited from prede- Thought. cessors or start from the ground up to face modern challenges. The Cairo University President question has vexed many Mus- lim-majority countries, including Mohamed al-Khosht said Egypt, especially with the rise of Muslims are held hostage by religious extremism. the thoughts of people who The surge of extremism, often lived a long time ago. fuelled by severe interpretation of religious texts, has made the issue However, a dispute on the sec- of religious renewal more urgent. ond day of the conference be- Egyptian President Abdel Fat- tween Tayeb, who has led al-Azhar tah al-Sisi has frequently urged since 2010, and Khosht revealed religious scholars to press for re- the depth of contention surround- ligious renewal, tasking al-Azhar ing modern Islamic thought. with taking on the mission. Sisi Khosht, one of the few non-al- said in a speech sent to the con- Azhar scholars invited to the con- ference that neglecting renewal ference, called for scrapping Is- would provide extremists an op- lamic heritage and forming a new portunity to radicalise young peo- kind of religious thought. He said ple. it was impossible to renew cur- Al-Azhar has stood up for reli- rent religious discourse because it gious moderation since its found- “was made to suit a different age.” ing almost a millennium ago. As “Creating a new discourse can- a mosque, a university and a reli- not happen without creating a gious institution, it has defended new religious thought,” Khosht the Islamic faith against extremist said. ideologies, teaching tens of thou- Khosht said Muslims are held sands of scholars who have car- hostage by the thoughts of people ried its message across the world. On the defensive. Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb speaks in Cairo. (Reuters) who lived a long time ago and that Tayeb received a thunderous “renewal makes it necessary for ovation for lashing out at Khosht, us to change our way of thinking reflecting the following his view philosophy or concerned about not be entrusted with renewing Gaber Asfour. “Keeping things and the way we see the world.” has inside al-Azhar and in other religious discourse in general. Islamic thought. unchanged serves the interests of “This can happen only if we religious institutions represented After watching Tayeb chide a “The current leadership of al- this leadership, which will not al- change the way the holy Quran at the conference. scholar for his position on reli- Azhar does not believe in the low any renewal to happen.” is seen in Western societies,” he Khosht’s view, however, repre- gious renewal, alienating a sig- need for renewal and is comfort- added. sents that of a significant number nificant strand of Islamic thought, able with things as they are,” said Amr Emam is an Arab Weekly There was no applause in the of those studying Islamic religion, some said al-Azhar’s leadership former Egyptian Culture Minister contributor in Cairo. The fight of Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta against extremism, Islamophobia

Nader Aboul Foutouh firi discourse in print, audio-visual Allam said he is keen on address- offers a comprehensive system to public issuance of fatwas to schol- and digital media. The observatory ing all kinds of issues concerning confront extremism and its en- ars with the specialised competen- Cairo quickly responds to inaccuracies fatwas, even those related to the deavours to spread sectarian strife. cies to do so. and misleading claims. It publish- most basic details of daily life, to It continuously monitors the Allam pointed out that Dar al- o make it difficult for reli- es correct content and interpreta- prevent the average citizen from hard-line fatwas issued by extrem- Ifta works globally to prevent gious extremists to attract tions of the faith by communicat- being manipulated by extremists. ist groups, analyses them based on distortion of the image of Islam young people, Dar al-Ifta, ing in 18 foreign languages. In 2019, it issued about 1.1 million a solid scientific approach and re- through its Observatory of Islamo- T Egypt’s institution for re- Dar al-Ifta uses the same strate- fatwas that have had great effect sponds to them in comprehensive phobia. The observatory was es- ligious edicts — fatwas — estab- gies and means used by extremist on Muslims everywhere. detailed reports. Since its creation, tablished to monitor Islamophobia lished two observatories to com- groups to establish a presence in the observatory has issued more and counter errant perceptions bat “takfiri” fatwas and extremist social media. It has 8.6 million Fa- than 500 reports. about Islam and Muslims in non- opinions and to monitor Islamo- cebook followers after upgrading Dar al-Ifta’s observatory of The observatory has monitored Muslim countries. phobia, which can adversely affect the page through publication of takfiri fatwas offers a more than 5,500 fatwas world- Its efforts include sending Dar communities abroad. clear and concise fatwas, instead comprehensive system to wide, most of which were deemed al-Ifta scholars on lecture tours In an interview with The Arab of the previous long-winded ex- confront extremism and its to give incorrect or misleading around the world, keeping close Weekly, Egyptian Grand Mufti planations. endeavours to spread opinions about the relationship communication links with Muslim Shawky Allam, head of the Gen- The Egyptian official institution between Muslims and Christians communities, training imams of eral Secretariat of Fatwa Authori- has begun a publication in English sectarian strife. in Islam; 70% of the fatwas pro- Islamic centres and establishing ties Worldwide, said the challenge called Insight to counter Dabiq and hibited Muslims from dealing with training programmes in jurispru- of confronting extremism must Roumieh magazines published He added that political Islam non-Muslims and 20% of them dence to prepare a new generation consider the diversity of extremist by the Islamic State (ISIS). Dar al- groups, led by the Muslim Broth- strongly advised against it. of enlightened preachers able to forms of exploitation of Islam and Ifta also created an animation and erhood, sowed seeds of religious Allam stressed the need to reno- address and interact with younger politics. video graphic unit to publish digi- extremism and provided ISIS vate religious discourse to keep generations. Allam said the Dar al-Ifta seeks tal art and content in cyberspace with the ideological background pace with the times and achieve Cairo has hosted the General to have better control over and because those art forms can cross and cover for dividing the Mus- the purposes of Islamic law with- Secretariat of Fatwa Authorities correct terminology used in the language barriers. lim Ummah and branding Muslim out violating its constants or dis- Worldwide since its establishment media by extremist groups. It has Allam said he considers that giv- societies as godless, especially regarding known solid part of re- in 2015. The body aims to be an asked the term “political Islam” be en the chaos prevailing in the field following the failure of the Mus- ligion. The new discourse must be umbrella organisation for fatwa replaced with “political Islamist of fatwas and given the existence lim Brotherhood political project, built on avoidance of conflict and and religious advisory bodies and groups” following the transforma- of contradictory fatwas around which was based on false Islamic promoting moderation, away from institutions to coordinate efforts in tion of Islam by those groups into the world, coordination among precepts, wrong moral values and fanaticism and hatred. a disciplined and organised fash- a political tool based on extremist fatwa-issuing bodies worldwide false and hollow slogans. The Committee of Religious Af- ion and contribute to correcting perceptions aimed at destroying has become imperative. The goal Dar al-Ifta’s observatory of tak- fairs and Endowments of the distorted images and concepts of the foundations of the state. is to consolidate moderate views, firi fatwas was founded five years Egyptian parliament is prepar- Islam. He said Dar al-Ifta’s observa- correct misconceptions and pro- ago to restrict religious extremism ing draft bills seeking to turn Dar tory of takfiri fatwas continually mote global stability and peaceful and explain its causes and con- al-Ifta into a full-fledged interna- Nader Aboul Foutouh is an monitors and following up on tak- co-existence. texts. Allam said the observatory tional religious body and to restrict Egyptian writer. February 2, 2020 23 Culture

Viewpoint Translating Syria’s death trade from Arabic fiction

groups. There is invariably no cell network coverage to inquire ahead and the van’s lights are switched Gareth Smyth off so as not to attract sniper fire. Choices over which road to take become matters of life and ust a decade after she death. The three characters vent graduated from Edinburgh their frustrations on one another, University with a degree while in quieter moments their in Arabic, Leri Price is to thoughts drift to past tragedies be presented February 12 and thwarted loves. All the time, with the 2019 Saif Ghobash their father’s corpse is decompos- JBanipal Prize for Arabic Literary ing and Fatima tries to mask the Translation. The judges unani- growing stench with perfume. mously chose Price for her rendi- Events teeter at times on the tion of “Death is Hard Work” by edge of comedy. At a government Syrian novelist Khaled Khalifa. checkpoint, it transpires Abdel Price said she was humbled to Latif is wanted for anti-regime be on the Banipal shortlist along- misdemeanours and his corpse is side two leaders in literary transla- arrested. Encountering non-Syrian tion, Marilyn Booth, under whom black-flagged Islamist extremists, she studied at Edinburgh, and Fatima covers herself entirely Matchless opportunity. Visitors at the Cairo International Book Fair. (Egyptian Book Authority) Humphrey Davies, whom she also while the brothers converse in met when a student. Booth was formal Arabic to answer questions listed for Jokha Alharthi’s “Celes- — on which their lives may rest — tial Bodies” and Davies for Elias over how many rakat should be Khoury’s “My Name is Adam.” performed each prayer time. “I know all the translators on There are constant demands for the shortlist and I was proud just papers and identification cards. Cairo book fair offers to be there,” Price said. “I wasn’t Destruction is everywhere. Ten- expecting to win.” sion keeps the characters from col- “Death is Hard Work” (Faber & lapse and the reader turning Faber) is Khalifa’s fifth novel and the pages. his third that Price has The loneliness is cor- opportunity for new translated. “The rosive. “Fear had become more you work on the only true opposition; a writer, the more it was now each indi- your ear attunes to vidual versus their own their rhythms,” she fear,” writes Khalifa. generation of writers said. “The words “Since he was incapa- Khaled uses are often ble of close observa- visceral; there is a tion of anyone else, Ahmed Megahid This did not discourage visitors from 40 Arab and foreign coun- lot of stagnation, of Bobol kept an eye from braving traffic-clogged streets tries, turning the event into a ma- disgust.” on himself, only to to get to the new fairground. Tens jor venue for cultural exchange In their discussions, discover he was the Cairo of thousands of people visited eve- and dialogue. It comprised 808 always in Arabic, Price most craven of all.” ry day, organisers said. booths on a 45,000-sq.-metre area said she found Khalifa The book has he Cairo International Arab and international publish- that included space for discus- “patient and trusting, moments of hope, Book Fair attracted thou- ers showcased thousands of titles. sions, meetings and workshops. with confidence in the art even tranquillity sands of visitors and book A special section of the fair called Some 925 cultural events were of translation in general.” and compassion, but T lovers seeking to make Ezbakieya Fence featured original scheduled, including seminars, The pair tease out mean- there is a faster pace, said Price, purchases, including rare volumes copies of old books that sold at bar- workshops and art shows. There ings. “Often,” said Price, “I want to than in Khalifa’s other work. and limited editions at bargain gain prices. The section derived its were encounters between authors be sure I understand the charac- “There is a different style, dif- prices. name from an old book market in and readers, book-signing events ters’ motivations.” If all goes to ferent sentence structures,” she The fair, one of the most impor- downtown Cairo. and discussion forums on pressing plan, Price and Khalifa, who lives said. “This is far more urgent. In tant cultural events in Egypt, cel- issues on the Egyptian, Arab and in Damascus, are to meet face-to- the earlier books, you sense the ebrated its 51st edition this year at international cultural stages. face for the first time on February characters are stuck, trapped in its new headquarters on the out- A sizeable portion of the Fair organisers introduced an ap- 13 in London. buildings or in situations. In this skirts of Cairo. books showcased this year plication visitors utilised as soon Khalifa sets his novels squarely one, the van is claustrophobic but Senegal was the guest of honour were written by first-time as they entered. It contained loca- in his homeland. “In Praise of the narrative tears along. Khaled of the fair. The event also celebrat- authors or by rising writers. tion of the booth of each publish- Hatred” (2006), the first Price wrote it in around a year, whereas ed Egyptian geographer Gamal ing company, as well as all titles translated, has a female narrator his other books took up to 13 Hamdan, who wrote “The Descrip- The large turnout compensates offered. experiencing the 1980s struggles years. It’s heartbreaking to see the tion of Egypt,” an important series for losses publishers often sustain The fair comes this year as Egypt between violent Islamists and the effect that being in the middle of of books about Egypt’s place in during the rest of the year because tries to reassert a cultural leader- Ba’athist regime. “Hatred pos- the war has had on his writing.” modern history. of declining book sales. ship role in the Arab and African sessed me,” the narrator says. Where might Khalifa go next? “I “Fair organisers have done eve- “This is why the fair is a very regions. Egypt was regarded as a I was excited by it, I felt it was try to write in the best way about rything possible to avoid the mis- important event for us,” said Islam cultural powerhouse in both re- saving me; it gave me a sense of experiences I have acquired,” he takes of the past years and make Abdel Mo’ety, owner of Rwafead gions for decades in the past but superiority I had been seeking for said. “I will continue to look at the the experience of visitors fun,” Publishing Company. “Publishers economic, political and security a long time.” decomposition of the dictatorship said Haitham al-Haj, chairman of like me wait for this cultural event turmoil that followed the 2011 up- “Death is Hard Work” is the first and at the times in which we live.” the General Egyptian Book Organi- year after year.” rising affected Egypt’s cultural in- Khalifa novel set in post-2012 Syria sation, the main government body Abdel Mo’ety’s was among 900 stitutions to maintain support for and the war he has lived through. Gareth Smyth is a regular overseeing the fair. publishing companies taking part young and established talents. While he accepted a short writers’ contributor to The Arab Weekly. The event took place in New in the event, including 594 from This year, support was manifest residency in Brussels, Khalifa end- He has reported from the Middle Cairo, a sprawling new urban com- Egypt. in the large number of young and ed a Harvard fellowship, despite East since 1992. munity 40km from the city centre. The fair attracted publishers up-and-coming writers featured at the university’s offer to double the fair. A sizeable portion of the his stipend, because he suffered books showcased this year were nightmares and missed home. written by first-time authors or by Khalifa explained that the idea rising writers. for the book came after he suf- Budding novelist Noha Mah- fered a stroke in 2013. “I had to mud, 30, said she has toured vari- stay in the hospital emergency ous booths at the fair to get an idea room for some days,” he said. about available books and meet “The war was everywhere. The other writers. Her latest novel, sound of bombs didn’t stop. I “Tawfiq’s Tale,” which tells the asked myself: ‘What if I die now? story of a lonely man who watches How will my family take my body the world from a distance, was dis- to my village, Maryameyn, in played for the first time. northern Syria?›” She said the fair is a good oppor- Hence in the novel, Abdel Latif tunity for rising authors to meet al-Salim, on his death bed in and hear from readers. Damascus, makes his son Bobol “It is a great occasion for pre- promise to bury him in his home senting cultural productions to village near Aleppo. Bobol and readers,” said Mahmud. “Book two siblings, Hussein and Fatima, fairs bring writers to the centre of set off with Abdel Latif’s shrouded attention, which makes them of body in Hussein’s minibus on a matchless value.” journey that should take a few hours but involves negotiating Large turnout. Visitors browse through books at the Cairo Ahmed Megahid is an Egyptian checkpoints of the regime, pro- A sense of pride. Translator International Book Fair. (Egyptian Book Authority) reporter in Cairo. regime militia and assorted rebel Leri Price. (Steve Rawlins) 24 February 2, 2020 Mosaic www.thearabweekly.com

Agenda

Muscat: Through February 15

The annual Muscat Festival in Oman features nightly fire- works, traditional Omani music performances, local cuisine, craft displays, exhibitions from regional countries and traditional dancing.

Beirut: February 18- March 22

Al Bustan International Festival of Music and the Performing Arts is a musical celebration that takes place at various venues in Beirut and promotes music from all over the world. The festival includes orchestral concerts, choral music, opera and dance performances.

Dubai: February 21- March 9

The Dubai Food Festival is a gastronomic celebration and a Suez Canal House. (Marc Espanol) chance for visitors to explore the city through food from street fare to fine-dining experiences. The festival celebrates cuisine from around the world.

Hurghada, Egypt: March 2-9

Egypt Sensual Festival 2020 offers dancing, workshops and performances from artists who will teach and dance with visi- tors. The event features pool par- ties, beach parties, boat parties, workshops, shows and music performances.

Marrakech: March 19-22

The second Beat Hotel Marrakech will take place in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. The festival (Marc Espanol) (Marc Espanol) A view of the Port Fouad Villa. Port Fouad seen from Port Said. features international artists and DJs in addition to global cuisine and well-being activities. The event will take place at Fellah Hotel. Egyptian city of Port Said, Zammour, Tunisia: March 19-22

The fourth Zammour Trekking will take place in a Berber village in the Tunisian Sahara over four where East meets West days and three nights. Visitors can camp in Bedouin tents, trek or bike in the village, visit moun- noted that Port Said’s exceptional In Port Said, Huber said, the idea One of the areas most worth ex- Marc Espanol tains, attend folklore parties and architecture was unique in the of cosmopolitanism hid a sense of ploring to grasp the historical heart enjoy traditional food. world. Many European overseas disappointment with the artificial of Port Said is the waterfront quar- Port Said territories had galleries reminiscent nature of the town, which would ter that runs on Palestine Street Cairo: of the Port Said verandas but hardly earn a reputation as Egypt’s city of along the edge of the canal on one March 20-April 10 he Egyptian city of Port ever to the scale of those that deco- vice and sin. The role of Port Said side and a line of late 19th-century Said, where the Mediterra- rate a few buildings in Port Said. as an important global place of and early 20th-century buildings Downtown Contemporary Arts nean meets the Suez Canal, Some buildings in the historic transit is well captured in the ini- on the other. Festival is an international T had been a key stopover in quarter hold another architectural tial sequence of “The Adventures In one end of the raised board- multidisciplinary contemporary journeys connecting Europe and its treasure in the form of arcaded fa- of Tintin” comic album “Cigars of walk stands the base of what used arts festival that includes local, colonies. cades inspired by those in the Rue the Pharaoh,” which depicts the to be a statue of the French dip- regional and international music, Today, the city is surrounded by de Rivoli in Paris. This alternative singular architecture of the city. lomat and Suez Canal developer theatre, dance, visual arts and a sense of oblivion despite traces to the wooden verandas started to Ferdinand de Lesseps welcoming films by artists from Egypt, the of the legacy of the town that the appear after 1889 following limits ships entering the waterway be- Arab world and beyond. The English writer Rudyard Kipling imposed on the latter, which would fore it was removed in 1956 follow- festival takes place in various once considered containing the be banned in 1921, Piaton said. ing the canal’s nationalisation. The venues in Downtown Cairo. certain dreadful and exact division A short walk from the old quar- corniche features other buildings between East and West. ter, the garden of martyrs com- of historical value, such as the Si- Tunis: memorates with a large pharaonic mon Arzt department store build- April 2-12 obelisk the fall of Port Said, which ing, which was the first of its kind One of the areas most is also known as the “Valiant City.” in the city. The 15th Jazz a Carthage, an worth exploring to grasp The monument is near the Military At the southern tip of the wa- annual music festival, brings the historical heart of Port Museum, a gallery that displays terfront, it is possible to take together renowned international Said is the waterfront depictions on the history of the the Maadeya free ferry that con- and local musicians for concerts, quarter. Suez Canal and documentation on nects with Port Fouad in a quick gatherings and street perfor- the 1956, 1967 and 1973 wars. journey with unique panoramic mances. Concerts will take place Built as the construction of the The strategic position of Port Said views over the Suez Canal as well in Gammarth, Tunis and Sidi Bou Suez Canal was under way, Port near the Suez Canal turned the place as the imposing administrative Said. Said was named after the Egyptian into a hub of foreign workers and Suez Canal House and its dis- khedive at the time, Muhammad travellers who imprinted a cos- tinctive green domes, erected in Dubai: Said. He decided to establish the mopolitan character to the city. 1869 for the inauguration of the April 15-18 city, regardless of the difficulties, Approximately three-quarters of waterway. on land that artificially expanded the 15,000 people estimated to Port Fouad, founded in 1925, The Dubai Tango Festival will the thin strip of sand between the live in Port Said in the 1880s preserves many French-inspired include tango workshops and Mediterranean and Lake Manzala. were reportedly Europe- houses in tree-lined streets that milongas with famous tango The shortage of suitable land on ans. Yet, as noted by the stretch between the slender- dancers and singers. which to build derived from its odd historian Valeska Hu- shaped Juma Mosque in location and set conditions for the ber, that international- front of the ferry port We welcome submissions of type of buildings that would fill ity never crystallised and the Souk El Kebir calendar items related to the historic quarter of Port Said, into the melting pot Mosque, all reminiscent cultural events of interest to including three- and four-storey that surrounds other of its colonial era. travellers in the Middle East structures with splendid facades port cities, such as and North Africa. singular for their wooden veran- Alexandria. Marc Espanol is a das, some of which can still be seen Catalan Please send tips to: in the old town. journalist [email protected] French architect Claudine Piaton in Egypt.