Moroccan King Seeks New Development Model, Points out Inadequacies ► Mohammed VI Spoke on the 20Th Anniversary of His Accession to the Throne

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Pages 4,5 Page 6 Page 20 Moroccan king seeks new development model, points out inadequacies ► Mohammed VI spoke on the 20th anniversary of his accession to the throne.

Saad Guerraoui hoc committee for the new devel- certain officials sometimes isolate opment model, which is to be un- Morocco or lead to damaging inde- veiled in the autumn. The commit- cision.” Casablanca tee is expected to suggest reforms Unlike his father King Hassan II, in several sectors, including educa- whose foreign policy was based major cabinet reshuffle is tion and health care. on ties to Europe and particularly expected following Moroc- Morocco has made major leaps in France, King Mohammed VI, 55, has can King Mohammed VI’s several sectors that have diversified opted for Africa to boost Morocco’s A call for new faces in politi- the country’s economy in the last political and economic interests. cal, economic and administrative two decades. The construction of Morocco reintegrated with the institutions, including the govern- Tanger Med Port, a high-speed rail African Union in 2017 after a 33 ment, as he expressed dissatisfac- line linking Tangier and Casablanca year absence. Rabat was a found- tion with the country’s current de- and energy plants are among Mo- ing member of the Organisation of velopment model. rocco’s achievements under the African Unity but, after the group “I ask the head of government king’s rule. recognised the Sahrawi Arab Demo- to submit to me, after the summer Improvement of infrastructure cratic Republic — known as Western break, proposals to fill executive has been at the forefront of his pri- Sa­hara — and Algeria backed it for a posts in the government and the orities and 1,600km of roadways seat in the African Union, Morocco civil service with high-level nation- have been built. withdrew from the bloc in 1984. al elites chosen on merit and com- “What has been achieved in the Morocco has largely been spared petence,” King Mohammed VI said last 20 years has been great but the unrest that gripped North Af- in a televised speech July 29 mark- a lot of work needs to be done to rica and the Middle East since the ing his 20 years on the throne. boost the economy in both eastern “Arab spring” uprisings of 2011. King Mohammed VI called for a and southern regions by improv- However, the country has seen new plan that would ease social in- ing their infrastructure and linking large-scale protests in the last three equalities in Morocco. them with the western and north- years across the country, especially “In recent years, our develop- ern regions,” said Rachid Aourraz, in the Rif, demanding social and ment model has proven to be inad- an economist at the Moroccan In- economic reforms to improve peo- equate in terms of helping us meet stitute for Policy Analysis. ple’s standard of living. the growing needs of a segment of Morocco seeks to obtain 52% of King Mohammed VI ceded some the population, reduce social in- its electricity from clean energy, power to an elected government af- equalities and tackle regional dis- such as wind and solar, by 2030, up ter the country’s 2011 constitutional parities,” he said. from 28% today. reform, which saw Islamists rise to Moroccan Central Bank Gover- King Mohammed VI said Morocco power in Morocco for the first time. nor Abdellatif Jouahri had pointed needed more openness to lure for- out, before the king’s speech, that eign investment and benefit from Saad Guerraoui is a contributor “the performance of the Moroccan foreign expertise. He noted that to The Arab Weekly on Maghreb economy is not enough to meet the “the constraints imposed by some issues. Looking ahead. Morocco’s King Mohammed VI delivers a speech increasing social aspirations.” national laws and the fear and hesi- marking the anniversary of his accession to the throne in Tetouan, King Mohammed VI set up an ad tation characterising the mindset of P3, 6 July 29. (AFP) Israeli parties submit election lists but no end seen to stalemate

Mamoon Alabbasi One stumbling block in Netan- forced out,” said Hugh Lovatt, a poli- still change over the next month and That does not mean that Israelis yahu’s road to renewed leadership cy fellow at the European Council on one should never discount Netanya- are happy with their prime minister. of the country is the staunch objec- Foreign Relations hu’s political acumen,” Lovatt said. “The Israeli public is frustrated London tion of right-wing politician Avig- “The other possibility is that Ne- “Netanyahu’s answer is to expand with Netanyahu and his never-end- dor Lieberman, a former ally of the tanyahu forms a centrist coalition the pool of right/far-right votes by ing overtures to the extreme right- sraeli political parties submit- prime minister. with Blue and White without Lieber- ensuring that far-right parties such wing of Israel, not to mention his ted electoral lists for parliamen- “Despite new alliances on both man, perhaps under the pretext of as Zehut and Otzma make it above corrupt style of governance,” said tary elections but observers said the left and right, no one is able to responding to the Trump adminis- the electoral threshold but, accord- Bahour. I it was unclear which coalition form a majority coalition due to tration’s peace initiative.” ing to recent polling, even that still “Israel is left with two poles. On might be able to form a government Lieberman’s stated opposition to Netanyahu is not leaving matters has the right-wing bloc falling short one side are multiple degrees of Is- considering the deadlock among Is- join either a centre-left coalition or a to chance but the numbers aren’t on of a majority.” raeli right-wing parties, on the other rael’s top politicians. right-wing coalition with Netanyahu his side yet. Netanyahu’s opponents do not ap- are the united Palestinian citizens of The August 1 deadline for submit- and the ultra-Orthodox. That basi- “At this stage, it is difficult to see pear to be in a better position, either. Israel. In this climate, all the Israeli ting electoral lists passed with the cally means he will support only a how the Israeli political system can “On the centre-left, Ehud Barak’s right-wing will have a two-prong two major alliances remaining more ‘unity’ government made up of Blue avoid repeating the deadlock of the re-entry into politics and the for- strategy: marginalise the Palestinian or less the same, raising questions and White and Likud if Netanyahu is last election but, of course, a lot can mation of a new Democratic Union citizens of Israel while voting Netan- on how another stalemate might be list seem to only be shifting votes yahu out of office.” averted. around within the centre-left bloc The United States has yet to fully The latest poll predicted that the — rather than expanding it,” said Lo- unveil its Mideast peace plan, which Likud party and the Blue and White vatt. was welcomed by Netanyahu and alliance would secure 30 seats each. “The creation of the Joint List is rejected by the Palestinians, who say The winning alliance needs the important from the point of view of the Trump administration is heavily backing of 61 lawmakers in the 120- Palestinian political agency but it is biased in favour of Israel. An Israeli seat Knesset to form a government. not a game-changer for the centre- government without Netanyahu as Israelis go to the polls September left and, in any case, Blue and White prime minister is still likely to sup- 17 after a vote April 9 failed to pro- continue to oppose working with port the US plan. duce a clear winner. As in April, the them.” Bahour said if pressed domestical- two main rivals in the election are Despite polls predicting 11 seats ly, Netanyahu might turn to military the Likud party, led by Prime Min- for the Joint List, Palestinian citizens action outside Israel. ister Binyamin Netanyahu and the of Israel are not expecting a shift in “Netanyahu will not go down Blue and White alliance, led by for- Israeli politics towards their com- without a fight, which means all mer military chief Benny Gantz. munity, which they say will remain eyes should be on an Israeli military New alliances were formed on marginalised. aggression on Gaza, yet again. Sadly, the right and left of Israel’s politi- “It is clear that the Jewish Israeli governance by fear is all that’s left cal spectrum. A new list made up of community has no progressive voic- for Israeli political parties,” he said. far-right right parties could decide to es on the political left to speak of back Netanyahu’s bid for a fifth term More of the same? Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak (L) and the political centre seems to be Mamoon Alabbasi is Deputy in office but it was unknown wheth- attends the launch of the Democratic Union list, which he formed falling out,” Sam Bahour, Palestinian Managing Editor and Online Editor er its support would be enough for with newly elected Meretz head Nitzan Horowitz (R) and Stav businessman and commentator, said of The Arab Weekly. the prime minister. Shaffir (C), Tel Aviv, July 25. (AFP) via e-mail. P2 2 August 4, 2019 Cover Story Palestine Israel

Palestinian Israelis look for elections to fight discrimination

the Arab Movement for Change (Ta’al), led by Ahmad Tibi, regis- tered their political alliance at the Yousef Alhelou Central Elections Committee at the Knesset. In the April election, the four alestinian citizens of Arab parties ran under two lists Israel are often — Hadash-Ta’al and United Arab referred to in the List-Balad — but the turnout was media as “Israeli only 49% and they won ten seats Arabs” or “Arab together. This time the Joint List Israelis.” They are the will include 120 candidates and Pindigenous inhabitants of the aims to get 13 seats in the 120-seat historic land of Palestine who Knesset. remained in what became Israel The alliance is encouraging Pal- in 1948. estinian citizens of Israel to vote They live in “Green Line areas” and raise their turnout to at least or what they refer to as “the 1948 65%. Turnout in the 2015 election lands.” They make up about 21% was 64%. of Israel’s total population of 9 The Central Election Committee million people, the Israeli Central said the number of eligible voters Bureau of Statistics said. in the April election was approxi- They have no faith in the Israeli mately 6 million. More than 4 justice system or the country’s million people voted. Approxi- democracy because of what mately 950,000 Arab Palestin- they describe as the “Is- ians were eligible to vote and raelisation policy” in 460,000 exercised that which they are forced right. to abandon their The alliance is The four united historical roots and encouraging factions pledged to stripped of their Palestinian citizens battle to topple the national identity of Israel to vote and government — the as Palestinians. raise their turnout most right-wing Challenging Israelisation. A 2018 file picture shows Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (L) They largely iden- to at least 65%. in Israeli history speaking with Israeli Knesset member Ayman Odeh (R) during a session in Jerusalem. (AP) tify with the Pal- Turnout in the 2015 — led by Binyamin estinians and have Netanyahu, who is election was 64%. long complained of seeking a fifth term was considered a great success It is worth noting that Israel’s minority in the country. discrimination. as prime minister because of the groups’ varied Avigdor Lieberman, who is often ac- In addition to facing discrimina- Nevertheless, as after he failed to secure ideologies. It will allow the parties cused of racism against Palestinians, tion from the state, the parties face part of their fight for equal enough seats in parliament to unite in dealing with the “great helped enact a law that determines challenges from their own com- rights, some Palestinian to form a government in April. challenge” facing the country’s that a party can only win in the par- munities. There are calls from many citizens of Israel are going to Odeh was tapped to lead the Arab minority. liament elections if it receives 3.25% members of the community to take part in the Israeli elections Arab alliance. He vowed to work It also serves as a lesson to Pales- of the vote. Therefore, the only way boycott the elections because, they September 17. The voting is a rerun with others to replace Netanyahu’s tinians who are not Israeli citizens Arab parties could surpass Lieber- say, they would legitimise the racist of the April elections, after which government and revoke the con- but live under Israeli occupation man’s hurdle is by uniting. policies of the state without being no coalition was able to form a troversial nation-state law, which or siege. It reminds the divided Those parties need a strategy to able to change them. government. is deemed by critics as discrimina- Palestinian leadership in the occu- draw more people to their political The September elections will Four Arab parties have formed tory and undemocratic. pied West Bank under Palestinian project. They need to include all show if the Joint List will boost an alliance called the Joint List. Tibi said the Arab alliance would President Mahmoud Abbas and the components of the Arab-Palestinian voter turnout and if it will deliver on The nationalist Balad party, led by work to bring down the Deal of besieged Gaza Strip under Hamas’s society and increase Arab repre- its promises. Mtanes Shihadeh; Hadash party, the Century, US President Donald rule that unity is possible and sentation in the Knesset to have a led by Ayman Odeh; United Arab Trump’s Middle East peace plan. should be sought to face Israeli stronger influence in parliament and Yousef Alhelou is a Palestinian List, led by Mansour Abbass; and The merger of the four parties persecution. fight for equal rights for the largest journalist living in London. Why the Palestinian leadership cannot get out of the Oslo Accords

Some Palestinian leaders have the provisions dictated by that waved the card of reverting to the agreement? option of a single-state solution. It certainly cannot be for lack Majed Kayali Their intent was more to threaten of reasons or occasions for taking Israel than to advocate for a real such a step. Israel has trampled option. What those leaders meant the results of the second Camp Da- o one is betting on was that they would abandon the vid negotiations (2000), quashed the implementa- project of having a state in the the second intifada, isolated and tion of the decision West Bank and the Gaza Strip in laid siege to Palestinian leader announced by favour of fighting for another pro- Yasser Arafat, reoccupied the West Palestinian ject based on demanding rights on Bank cities, erected a separation Authority Presi- the entire land of Palestine. wall and increased its settlement Ndent Mahmoud Abbas to stop Third, it is clear from the nature activities in the West Bank and observing agreements concluded of the decision that the whole Jerusalem. with Israel, some of which are thing is about searching for mech- The Palestinian leadership is more than 25 years old. anisms to stop the agreements. acting as if it has realised this There are several reasons such a The council decided to form a only now, unfortunately, and not bet is a losing proposition or is, at committee for this purpose, which because of what Israel has been the least, unrealistic. indicates that this decision was doing for years in the occupied First, this is not the first time not really meant to be implement- territories but because of its a decision of this kind has been ed. It was meant just to be finger disillusionment with the United made; this is perhaps the third waving at Israel or as a sort of pre- States, the “honest sponsor” and time. Four years ago, the Palestin- emptively clearing the council and “neutral mediator” of the peace ian Central Council had taken a the PA of their accountability to process. similar decision and reaffirmed it the Palestinian people and cover- This friend of the Palestinians during a meeting last year. ing for their dismal failure and recognised Jerusalem as the uni- During that meeting, it was impotence to respond to Israel’s Impasse. A Palestinian man sits on top of the rubble of his house fied capital of the state of Israel decided to limit the rela- multiple violations of the at the site of buildings demolished by Israel in the West Bank in and transferred its embassy to it, tions of the Palestin- rights of the Palestinian the area of Sur Baher in East Jerusalem, July 24. (AFP) dropped the issue of Palestinian ian Authority (PA) No one is betting people. refugees from its agenda arguing with Israel and the Fourth, there it had become outdated, stopped on the implementation council threat- are two points Israeli occupation have made it dif- the PA given the conditions for its its funding for the UN Relief ened to withdraw of the decision that must be well ficult to imagine how to get rid of creation and its survival. and Works Agency for Palestine its recognition of announced by understood before the dependency ties between the The PA is either unable or Refugees in the Near East, gave the state of Israel, Palestinian President anything else. The Palestinians and the Israelis. politically unwilling to take that Israel the right to build illegally in stop security co- Mahmoud Abbas to first is that the PA This is not just about security chance, especially that there are Jerusalem and elsewhere in the operation with it stop adhering to the is the product of coordination or Israel’s control of no international or Arab condi- West Bank, began promoting a re- and end the PA’s agreements concluded the 1993 Oslo Ac- border crossings and of imports tions to back it up, not counting gional settlement deal that would economic depend- with Israel. cords, a framework and exports to and from Palestin- internal Palestinian divisions and, remove the Palestinian cause from ency on Israel as set up under interna- ian territories. The entire infra- above all, the Palestinian leader- the agenda and simply ignored the specified in the Paris tional and regional structure for electricity, water, ship did not prepare itself or its Palestinian leadership. Agreement (annexed to the patronage. It is, therefore, energy and basic needs in the PA people for such a decisive mo- This leader of the free world is 1993 Oslo Agreement). very unlikely that the PA would areas is connected to Israel. What ment. trying to mislead the rest of the Second, Abbas has repeat- abandon the very cornerstone of the Oslo agreement led to create a These considerations beg the world into thinking that, in light edly stated that the PA has other its existence and its legitimacy or Palestinian Authority under Israeli question: Why hasn’t the PA of the turbulent conditions of the options in its relations with Israel. that it would choose to dissolve it- occupation. acted in the direction of ending Middle East, the Palestinians no He has said the PA could be dis- self, an option ruled out years ago Fifth, it is impossible to imagine all agreement connections with longer have a role to play or can no solved, which would put Israel because it would serve the policy having the Palestinian leadership Israel despite the clear steril- longer influence war or peace in in the position of an occupying pursued by Israel. get out of this situation except by ity, unfairness and humiliation the region. power. On more than one occa- The second point is that 25 years working without the prevailing involved in the Oslo agreement for sion, he threatened to simply “go of applying the measures in the equations. This option is risky — two decades and despite Israel’s Majed Kayali is a Palestinian home,” meaning to resign. Oslo agreement and 50 years of and even perhaps suicidal — for obvious evasion of implementing writer. August 4, 2019 3 Cover Story Maghreb

Viewpoint The Morocco of Mohammed VI

VI called for reviewing the country’s approach to our brothers in Algeria, developmental model so all sections in fulfilment of the ties of brother- Khairallah of society benefit from social justice. hood, religion, language and good- Khairallah A special committee has been estab- neighbourliness, that forever unite lished to review and adjust Morocco’s our two brotherly peoples,” declared development model. The committee King Mohammed VI. ne could use many was empowered to seek and tell the The end of the speech covered the words to qualify truth and propose solutions. kingdom’s current reality and what Moroccan King A special focus was placed on Mo- needs to be achieved in the immedi- Mohammed VI’s rocco’s middle class because it rep- ate future. King Mohammed VI said: speech commemorat- resents the safety valve for Morocco “Morocco belongs to all Moroccans ing the 20th anniver- to embark on new horizons and work and it is our common home. All of Osary of his accession to the throne. on public-sector reform that would us, each of us, must contribute to its One word, however, keeps coming improve public administration. construction and development and to back: continuity. In 20 years, the Throughout King Mohammed VI’s the preservation of its unity, security Moroccan monarch has spared no speech, there was an insistence on and stability. effort to preserve the line of speeding economic reform, especially “(We mean) a Morocco where all conduct that leads to one target: the that strategic bets have been placed Moroccans can find a place and enjoy, Moroccan citizen. on the important sector, including without exception or discrimination, Hearing King Mohammed VI’s opening Morocco’s economy to for- equal rights and equal duties, in total speech, one is assured of the eign investment. freedom and human dignity.” Moroccan exception, which lies in Yes, Morocco is entering a new In short, we have in Morocco an the constant and in-depth review phase based on a new generation Arab country without complexes. and improvement of the country’s of projects that calls for a new elite This is an exception to the rule. Only experience during the era it entered of courageous cadres capable of a handful of other Arab countries can 20 years ago. pumping new blood that can make a compare to Morocco. In Morocco, During the two decades of King fundamental change. This challenge we find a perfect symbiosis between Mohammed VI’s rule, Morocco has requires a collective mobilisation for the regent family and the ordinary looked at reality with a critical eye. achieving a developed and advanced citizen. The new Moroccan model Morocco. King Mohammed VI’s 20-year rule achieved very positive results, both Two statements in the king’s has created a reality that is elegantly internally and externally, in many ar- speech are noteworthy. First, he backed by reliable figures. There is eas but this model has shown short- pointed out that the celebration of progress in all areas of the country’s comings that need to be addressed, Throne Day — July 30 — was “the life and the lives of its citizens. We including obstacles that cause some most momentous occasion to affirm can clearly see the state’s investment companies to refrain from investing our firm attachment to our Moroccan in its citizens before anything else. Anniversary celebration. Morocco’s King Mohammed VI attends a (AP) in Morocco, which results in the loss Sahara, our national and territorial There is a constant return to the ceremony of allegiance in Tetouan, Morocco, July 31. of many potential jobs. King Moham- unity and our full sovereignty over values held high by King Mohammed med VI does not hesitate to point out every inch of our kingdom.” In other VI since he was the crown prince. He factors that can help the emergence stages that Morocco has experienced and focus on shortcomings wherever words, there is no room for compro- believed then, as he believes now, in of extremism and terrorism. recently, a thread that depends on they exist. mise regarding Western Sahara. the war on poverty and the disap- In a world without mercy, Morocco continuity and on investment in Once again, the 55-year-old king’s The second noteworthy statement pearance of shantytowns in Morocco has found its place. It is close to humankind at the same time. speech placed the Moroccan citizen regarded the kingdom’s relations is an eloquent proof of that. This is Europe and a bridge between Europe at the centre of his attention and that with Algeria. “We reaffirm our sincere natural since, in Morocco, waging war and Africa. In 20 years, there is a Khairallah Khairallah is a Lebanese of the government. King Mohammed commitment to our extended-hand on poverty means removing all the strong thread that connects all the writer.

Tunisia’s Islamist chief steps up to legislative Tunisia to have first televised race but presidential vote will go first presidential Lamine Ghanmi selected through an internal voting debates process. Mekki and other top figures re- Tunis moved from the list of candidates Stephen Quillen challenged Ghannouchi’s style of slamist Ennahda Movement managing the party. Tunis President Rached Ghannouchi, “His decision stripped the party of breaking repeated pledges that one of its main democratic internal unisia’s state broadcaster I he would not seek political of- assets: democracy. Of its central de- announced it will air the fice, joined an unprecedented num- mocracy rule, only central is spared country’s first presidential ber of candidates for Tunisia’s Octo- and that is dangerous for the party’s T debates as voters prepare ber 6 parliamentary elections. unity,” said Ennahda Vice-President to go to the polls September 15. Ghannouchi’s candidacy came Abdelhamid Jelassi. “The Road to Carthage,” run- amid controversy fuelled by his There are 15,737 candidates con- ning September 2-7, is to feature reshuffle of party candidacy lists tending for seats in the 217-member all confirmed presidential candi- outside the usual internal selection parliament. That record number in- dates. process. Analysts said Ghannouchi, dicates the free-for-all mood of the State broadcaster Al Wataniya nearing the end of his 4-year term political climate in Tunisia, where said the debates, to be shown as party leader, aimed to accomplish more than 220 political parties have live, are “a public service that all several goals with his shifting of legal standing but have yet to de- Tunisians — voters and candi- names on Ennahda’s lists. velop political or economic agendas dates — are fully entitled to” and If he does well in the elections, or find charismatic leaders in the Election season. Nabil Baffoun, head of Tunisia’s Independent would “contribute to the dissemi- Ghannouchi could use his win as a image of late Tunisian President Beji High Authority for Elections, speaks during a news conference in nation of democratic pluralism springboard for continued power Caid Essebsi. Tunis, July 30. (AFP) and effective civil values.” as speaker of parliament or head of Caid Essebsi died July 25, leaving a The channel said it would government when his term as En- gaping hole in the country’s political broadcast public service mes- nahda’s president ends nearly next landscape as other leaders’ person- a strong core of support that could Polls indicated that Nabil Ka- sages explaining electoral mecha- year. The party succession battle is alities pale in comparison to him. weather such division and confu- roui’s Qalb Tounes party could win nisms and broadcast equal time expected to be a bruising fight, ana- His death created another problem sion like Ennahda,” said political 29.8% of the vote in parliamentary statements from candidates. lysts said. for parliamentary candidates: They analyst Abdellatif Hannachi. elections, with Ennahda second at Tunisia’s presidential elections, will have to run after and not before Political analyst Habib Bouajila 16.8%. Polls also showed Karoui originally scheduled for Novem- the presidential elections as previ- said he did not expect a high voter to be the front-runner in the presi- ber, were advanced to September No fewer than 15,737 ously scheduled. turnout, with 2 million-3 million dential contest with the support of 15 after President Beji Caid Es- candidates will be The first round of the presidential voters expected to cast ballots out of 23% of those asked, more than three sebsi died July 25. A run-off vote, contending for seats in vote is set for September 15. Most an electorate of 7.1 million. times that of Chahed. if needed, must be by November the 217-member Tunisian political experts expect the “Ennahda will lose voters but it Chahed saw his party approval fall 3. Parliamentary elections are set parliament on October 6. choice of the president to create a will have a good ranking probably from 16.5% in May to 8.6% in July. for October 6. ripple effect on the legislative elec- the first winner,” he said. Another surprise in the polls was Presidential contenders must Ghannouchi’s gambit, however, tions. Polls, however, indicate emerg- the strong performance of fierce an- file their candidacies with Tuni- could boomerang if legislative elec- Despite the additional hurdle this ing contenders who might change ti-Islamist lawyer Abir Moussi’s Free sia’s Independent High Authority tions reveal an erosion of popular constitutes for Ennahda, which is the lineup of the country’s political Destourian Party, to which the poll for Elections by August 9. support for Ennahda. By sidelining unlikely to field a credible presiden- forces. gave the support of 11.3% of poten- As of August 2, ten people, several leading party figures from tial candidate, analysts said they be- Polls suggest a possible backlash tial voters. including media mogul Nabil Ka- the parliamentary election, Ghan- lieve Islamists could score relatively against Ennahda and its secularist Legislative candidates will have to roui, head of the Free Destourian nouchi risks provoking disaffection well if the party keeps its voter unity allies in government. It is not clear compete for attention as the public Party Abir Moussi, Democratic from the usually loyal Ennahda vot- despite the anger stirred by Ghan- though who would benefit from that increasingly focuses on the presi- Current leader Mohamed Abbou er base, analysts said. nouchi’s move. political discontent. dential election. The campaign by and head of the leftist Demo- Ghannouchi leads the list of En- “The number of candidates and A declining standard of living, candidates for the highest executive cratic Patriots’ Unified Party nahda’s 11 candidates in the Tunis 1 lists of candidates highlighted the despite government attempts at office will take place September 1-13. Mongi Rahoui, had submitted district. Removed from that list was fractioning and splintering the elec- economic reform, was cited for the The list of presidential candidates is candidacies. Abdellatif Mekki, a key Ennahda toral map and political landscape decrease in favourability ratings for expected to be quite long. figure and former health minister. with consequences for the results. Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Stephen Quillen is an Arab The same fate befell many others on There are no parties with easily Chahed and his Islamist ruling coali- Lamine Ghanmi is an Arab Weekly Weekly correspondent in Tunis. the 32 lists of Ennahda’s candidates identifiable ideological identity and tion partners. correspondent in Tunis. 4 August 4, 2019 News & Analysis Iran Tensions US, Iran drift apart as tough questions remain

Sabahat Khan task force for securing the Gulf’s “bureaucratic procedures” were strategic waterways. completed INSTEX would go online A statement issued earlier by the in full mode. Dubai United Kingdom, France and Ger- It remains to be seen what kind many mentioned the partners were of strategic effect INSTEX will make iplomats from Iran, Ger- “deeply troubled” by events in the and, crucially, how it can develop many, France, Britain, Chi- Gulf and noted it was “time to act ahead. Iran is pushing for INSTEX na, Russia and the Europe- responsibly and seek a path to stop to cater for oil trade, which is not D an Union met in Vienna for the escalation of tensions and re- covered by the structure. This will emergency talks aimed at reducing sume dialogue.” be a key sticking point on the agen- tensions involving Iran and saving The United Kingdom ruled out a da between Iran and the European the Joint Comprehensive Plan of quid pro quo exchange with Iran of Union moving forward. Moscow is Action, the formal name for the nu- the seized oil tankers, insisting on keen to join INSTEX and China is clear deal, from collapse. keeping its principled stance and likely to also want access. Recent months have seen ten- commitment to a rules-based inter- Reports indicated that Chinese sions between Iran and the United national order. Arriving at the emer- companies have continued pur- States soar and a growing number gency talks, Iranian Deputy Foreign chasing Iranian oil and state-run of countries have been pulled into Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that energy company Zhuhai Zhenrong the dangerous standoff. Tehran considered British proposals is facing US sanctions because of US President Donald Trump car- for a European-led naval mission to this. European officials are said ried through his promise of with- escort tankers through the Strait of to be critical of recent US moves drawing from the Joint Compre- Hormuz “provocative.” against Iran and China urged the hensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) United States to abandon its “maxi- in May 2018 and initiated strict Tehran is sustaining its mum pressure” campaign and ad- economic sanctions against Iran defiance of the United vised against creating obstacles as punitive measures for its wider against saving the JCPOA. regional activities, particularly in States and has engaged The United States is signalling Yemen and Syria. in what can only be seen otherwise. Washington announced Tehran is sustaining its defiance as an escalatory strategy it would renew sanctions waivers of the United States and, arguably that has raised alarms against Iran’s nuclear activities, for lack of alternative options, en- across the region. which allow international coopera- gaged in what can only be consid- tion at the Bushehr nuclear plant, ered an escalatory strategy that Tehran has looked towards Eu- the Fordow enrichment facility, the raised alarms across the region, rope, whose decade-long diploma- Arak nuclear complex and the Teh- particularly in the Gulf. cy efforts culminated in the JCPOA, ran Research Reactor but the goal of The emergency talks convened with great expectations as Wash- ending the waivers was reaffirmed. after Iran impounded the British- ington’s economic pressure suffo- Days later, Washington imposed flagged Stena Impero, which Irani- cates Iran’s economy. sanctions against Iranian Foreign an authorities claimed was “violat- Araghchi described the atmos- Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in ing international maritime rules.” phere at the Vienna negotiations as a controversial move. Stena Impero’s seizure was Iran’s “constructive,” the talks as “good” The gauntlet involving Iran is retaliation for British forces partici- and said that, although many is- wide open as international players pating in the impounding of Iranian sues are to be resolved, the parties take positions across a series of core tanker Grace I, which was believed agreed to “lots of commitments” issues. Ultimately Iran and the Unit- to be destined for Syria in contra- on key issues. Another positive ed States will need to reach some vention of EU sanctions against Da- sign was a general agreement for degree of implicit understanding mascus. a higher-level meeting of foreign for any future scenario to be work- Before the emergency talks, Eu- ministers. able however their drift apart con- rope was under scrutiny from vari- The EU payment system meant tinues. The talks in Vienna herald ous sides for its apparent lack of to enable European businesses to much needed albeit small, tentative action and unclear policy positions. conduct non-dollar trade with Iran progress but difficult questions lie It appeared as though Europe had without breaking US sanctions, ahead for negotiators. taken the back seat but the seizure known as the Instrument in Sup- of Stena Impero may have been a port of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), Sabahat Khan, based in Dubai, turning point. Following that inci- completed its first transactions. maintains a cross-disciplinary dent, the United Kingdom initiated Russian Deputy Foreign Minister focus in international security, efforts to secure a Europe-led naval Sergey Ryabkov said once some defence policy and strategic issues.

Viewpoint US extends Iran’s atomic facilities waivers but sanctions Zarif

Comprehensive Plan of Action Iran to expand its nuclear pro- Iran, recently reiterated a sugges- than uranium. (JCPOA). These include the heavy- gramme beyond JCPOA limits. In tion from Iranian President Hassan The proliferation risk is low, water reactor at Arak, the Fordow June, its uranium stockpile passed Rohani that Iran would resume said Peter Jenkins, former British Gareth Smyth uranium enrichment centre, the 300 kilograms and, in July, began work at the Arak reactor, where ambassador to the International Bushehr power plant and the Teh- enriching uranium above 3.67%. potential production of heavy wa- Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA): y extending 90-day ran Research Reactor. Ali Akbar Salehi, president of ter could open a route to a nuclear “The IAEA reported in 2016 that sanctions “waivers” Fifty Republican members of the Atomic Energy Organisation of weapon using plutonium rather the original reactor core had been on Russian, Chinese the US Congress argued in a public rendered unusable [under JCPOA and European com- letter that the waivers undermined terms]. In May 2019, the agency panies working with Trump’s “maximum pressure” reported that Iran hadn’t pursued Iran’s atomic facilities, strategy but US State Department reactor construction at Arak based BUS President Donald Trump has spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus on the original design,” Jenkins focused international attention, justified their extension in terms said. perhaps briefly, away from naval familiar to architects of the JCPOA. “Bearing in mind the slow pace tensions around the Strait of Hor- “The action today,” she said, at which construction occurred muz and back on Tehran’s nuclear “will help preserve oversight of prior to the JCPOA in 2015, I think programme. Iran’s civil nuclear programme, re- it likely that a heavy-water reactor The decision followed Trump duce proliferation risks, constrain is years away from completion.” accepting the advice of US Treas- Iran’s ability to shorten its ‘break- Even with a functioning Arak ury Secretary Steven Mnuchin out time’ to a nuclear weapon and reactor, Iran would need the over that of hawks national secu- prevent the regime from recon- capacity, which it lacks, to extract rity adviser John Bolton and US stituting sites for proliferation- plutonium from spent fuel. Jen- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. sensitive purposes.” kins pointed out that the IAEA The sanctioning of Iranian Foreign That’s for now, anyway. Trump’s unearthed evidence only of small- Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif withdrawal from the JCPOA last scale research into relevant tech- was perhaps a tasty morsel thrown year and imposition of draconian nologies before the JCPOA, and at the hawks. sanctions — Iranian oil exports that its May report said Iran no The nuclear waivers relate to were just 100,000 barrels a day in longer carried out such research. modifications required by the July, said analysts Refinitiv Eikon, Concerns over breakout time. A general view of a heavy water “The probability, it seems, is 2015 nuclear agreement, the Joint down from 2.6 million a day — led plant in Arak, 320km south of Tehran. (AFP) that acquiring a reprocessing August 4, 2019 5 News & Analysis Iran Tensions In showdown against Iran, US sees a front next door

Emily Przyborowski terrorist organisation. US Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, introduced a resolution Washington that, fellow sponsor of the measure, Senator Mark Rubio, a Republican n the pursuit of its multifaceted from Florida, said aims to “recom- war against Iran, the United mit to helping the government of States is cracking down on Hez- Argentina seek justice for the vic- I bollah’s activities as far as in tims and their families” through the Latin America, recently convincing designation of additional funds to Argentina to designate the Lebanese the country. group a terrorist organisation. US Representative Lee Zeldin, a The pressure in Latin America Republican from New York, intro- aims to further isolate Iran and its duced the Countering Hezbollah surrogates after US sanctions left in Lebanon’s Military Act of 2019, the Iranian government strapped for which would withhold 20% of US cash and unable to pay its regional military assistance to the Lebanese proxies. Armed Forces (LAF), unless the president can certify the LAF has taken “steps to end Hezbollah and Argentina designated Iran’s influence over the LAF.” Hezbollah as a terrorist The United States provides the organisation in July on the LAF with more than $100 million in anniversary of the 1994 military assistance. The funding is Argentine Israeli Mutual meant to stem the influence of Iran Association car bomb and Hezbollah in Lebanon but there attack in which Hezbollah is evidence that Hezbollah has influ- and Iran were suspected ence over the military. The reduc- of involvement. tion in funds would threaten the LAF’s ability to protect Lebanon’s In 2018, before US sanctions border with Syria. against Iran went into effect, US The US Department of Justice has Deputy Secretary of the Treasury taken a major role in trying to cur- Sigal Mandelker estimated that Ira- tail Hezbollah’s influence. “In Janu- nian funding to Hezbollah totalled ary 2018, then-Attorney General Jeff $700 million a year. Sessions created the Hezbollah Fi- The reduction in funding from nancing and Narco-terrorism Team, Iran forced Hezbollah to make major or the HFNT, and asked me to lead spending cuts and rely more heavily the team,” said Deputy Assistant At- on fundraising efforts at home and torney General John Cronan during abroad. Some of its efforts focused a Latin American counterterrorism on sources in the Western Hemi- conference in July. sphere. “The decision to stand up the The activities of Hezbollah’s sus- HFNT reflected a recognition of the pected members in Venezuela and ongoing, sophisticated and global the border area of Argentina, Para- threat posed by Hezbollah to the guay and Brazil, known as the Triple United States — and that this threat Frontier, have been a concern for the demands an aggressive and coordi- United States. nated law enforcement response.” US Secretary of State Mike Cronan said the United States was Playing for time. Pompeo said Hezbollah’s Latin working with international allies Abbas Araghchi, American affiliates are “designed to identify, sanction and prosecute political deputy to generate revenues for Hezbollah Hezbollah financiers. at the Ministry of and its activities, which are largely Joseph Humiere, executive direc- Foreign Affairs conducted in the Middle East, to tor of the Centre for a Secure Free of Iran, speaks help them make payroll throughout Society, since US President Donald to the media the Middle East.” The Triple Frontier Trump’s election and the establish- after the meeting is considered the site of the largest ment of the HFNT, there has been “a of the JCPOA illicit economy in the Western Hemi- noticeable difference in Latin Amer- signatories, sphere and hosts a large population ican governments’ attitudes toward Vienna, July 28. of Lebanese Shias. Hezbollah.” (AFP) The US government has increas- The US strategy of targeting Hez- ingly pressed Argentina, Paraguay bollah aims to increase pressure and Brazil to designate Hezbollah a on Iran, which is struggling under terrorist organisation to crack down US-imposed economic sanctions. on its funding. Argentina designated As part of the drive, Washington is Hezbollah as such in July, on the an- likely to continue trying to convince niversary of the 1994 Argentine Is- partners in Latin America to join US raeli Mutual Association (AIMA) car efforts against Iran. bomb attack in which Hezbollah and US senior officials said Latin US extends Iran’s atomic facilities waivers but sanctions Zarif Iran were suspected of involvement. American countries have done little During a trip to Argentina, to combat Hezbollah, allowing it and capability, which there has been enrichment levels and the number having the requisite quantity of Pompeo offered a $7 million reward Iran to widen their encroachment no hint that Iran intends to do, and sophistication of centrifuges, 20% material and Iran starting to on the behalf of the United States to near the United States. would take years, not months,” the devices used for enriching configure its centrifuges to enrich find Hezbollah operatives accused Jenkins concluded. uranium. This, proponents argued, to 90%.” of committing the AIMA attack. Ar- Emily Przyborowski is an International concerns over would give time for an interna- In its justification of extending gentina is the first Latin American Arab Weekly correspondent in Iran’s nuclear programme have tional response. the waivers, the Trump adminis- country to designate Hezbollah a Washington. long centred on “breakout” — Experts agree that by extending tration conceded the underlying the time Tehran would need to its programme beyond JCPOA logic of the JCPOA but sanctioning weaponise its nuclear programme. limits, Iran will reduce “breakout” Zarif raises the question of wheth- This is a function of the volume time but the question of how far er Trump really envisages talks or of enriched uranium stocks, their is technical, even with close IAEA thinks Iran might be interested. level of enrichment and the speed monitoring. How close the United “If you sanction diplomats, with which 90%-enriched uranium States or Israel would allow Iran to you’ll have less diplomacy,” US could be produced. get to “breakout” without military Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky intervention is both technical and Republican whose recent meeting political. with Zarif to discuss possible back- Sanctioning Zarif “If the [US] administration [of- channel communications would ficials are] looking for a pretext now, presumably, be outlawed, raises the question to attack, they could seize on any posted on Twitter. of whether Trump Iranian move to start enriching Robert Hunter, former US am- really envisages talks to 20%, since 20% is more than bassador to NATO, wrote that the three-quarters of the way to 90%, move would “strengthen even fur- or thinks Iran might in terms of the amount of work ther hardliners in Iran… increasing be interested. required (to achieve weapons the chances that Tehran will take grade),” said Jenkins. more provocative steps.” JCPOA signatories, including “If their concern is to stop the Obama administration, calcu- Iran acquiring enough 90% HEU Gareth Smyth is a regular lated that “break out” would be [highly enriched uranium] for one contributor to The Arab Weekly. Ghosts of terror. AIMA President Ariel Eichbaum (L), US Secretary extended to at least a year by the bomb, they could afford to wait He has reported from the Middle of State Mike Pompeo (C) and Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge agreement’s limits on stockpiles, for two conditions to be met: Iran East since 1992. Faurie attend a memorial service to honour the 85 people killed in Argentina’s worst terrorist attack, in Buenos Aires, July 19. (AP) 6 August 4, 2019 Opinion

Editorial Two decades in the life of Morocco n July 30, Morocco celebrated the 20th anniversary of King Moham- med VI’s accession to the throne. For the 35 million people of the kingdom, it was an opportunity to look back at what has been achieved Oover two decades and to soberly examine the challenges lying ahead. Moroccans are appreciative of the stability their country has enjoyed at a time when much of the region remains shaken by upheaval since 2010. If the kingdom has been spared the ill effects of such turbulence, it is in great part because of the prudent foresight of King Mohammed VI. Early on, at the end of the rule of King Hassan II in 1999, King Mohammed VI turned the page of past abuses and established new standards in human rights and political pluralism. In 2004, he established the Equity and Reconciliation Commission to investigate human rights violations during previous years. He implemented the commission’s recommen- dations, including compensation to victims of state human rights violations. In 2011, King Mohammed VI introduced constitutional reforms reducing his own powers and expanding the prerogatives of parliament and regional bodies. He also engaged a wide- © Yaser Ahmed for The Arab Weekly ranging process of economic modernisation and social reform. Today, Morocco is blessed with stability and progress. Anyone visiting the kingdom will find What Tunisians were celebrating a country that is clearly on the move. Its achievements span across an impressive array of fields. The kingdom is a pioneer in solar at their president’s funeral energy, boasting the Noor Power Station in Ouarzazate, considered the world’s largest concentrated solar power complex. From this Oussama Romdhani station’s production, 42% of Morocco’s power needs will be supplied from renewable energy Above all, Tunisians of all hues, old hands and revolutionaries, sources. conservatives and progressives, were celebrating their freedom. Meanwhile, Tanger Med Port, with a tripled capacity in 2019, has become the Mediterrane- an’s largest maritime cargo facility. Morocco’s here have been very progressives, were celebrating emergency, there was suspicion high-speed railway line, which opened in 2018, few moments in Tuni- their freedom. he was muscling up his hold on is the first of its kind on the continent. sia’s modern history They were suddenly realising power. He had tried to explain the On the 20th anniversary of his accession to as significant as the to what extent they were free to need for the emergency decrees the throne, King Mohammed VI acknowledged day the country bur- express themselves. Even those but eventually gave up. Faithful that major achievements cannot conceal ied its fifth president, who doubted whether anything to a post-independence tradition weaknesses in the system and that there are TBeji Caid Essebsi. had really changed since 2011 that prized state authority as a lingering inadequacies in the development People of all classes, ages and could see what the eight years prerequisite in nation-building, model. sexes came out that day. Many had ushered in — an era of tangi- Caid Essebsi considered respect “I realise that, though important, infrastruc- ture development and institutional reforms are cried but somehow the late ble freedom. for state institutions as one of the not enough on their own,” he said. “Let me say president’s funeral looked more In things small and big, they pillars of democracy-building. this clearly and frankly: What undermines this like a national celebration than a were free. They were free to With their newly gained positive result is that the effects of the progress grim occasion for grieving. stand in any spot on the side freedom, many Tunisians were and the achievements made have not, unfortu- What were Tunisians celebrat- of the road. Free to sing the re-enacting in their own way the nately, been felt by all segments of the Moroccan ing? Many things. national anthem if they wanted. botched funeral of Habib Bour- society.” They were celebrating their Free to scream their lungs out or guiba, the first president of Tu- The king is clearly worried about the destabi- coming together after years of just keep quiet. Free to scribble nisia. Free of the top-down stale lising effect of social inadequacies. self-doubt and mutual suspi- “Farewell Bajbouj” on impro- choreography that had marked Much like other countries of the region, cion brought about by political vised signs. Many were giving Bourguiba’s funeral in April 2000, Morocco is troubled with high youth unemploy- divisiveness, unprecedented their children a lesson in civic they were identifying Caid Es- ment and sluggish growth. To generate more security woes and mounting education. The young seemed sebsi with his spiritual mentor. jobs and opportunities for an ambitious, young economic hardship. to understand the lesson as they And there were the women of population that often looks for greener pastures A sense of pride was shared gave the passing coffin their Tunisia, in veils, short skirts and abroad to meet its hopes and aspirations, the by all on July 27. Pride in the crooked version of a military traditional dresses. Some were country must forge higher growth. Achieving salute. higher ratios of growth requires more efficiency, smooth and swift succession even ululating, in a paradoxical greater investment flows and less red tape. ushered in that day according to Thousands lined the streets. expression of joy at funerals usu- In his speech, the king pointed to “the the terms of the constitution. Crowds did not have to worry ally reserved in Tunisian tradition challenge of accelerating economic develop- There was also pride in the about the police, which was for martyrs and the prematurely ment and enhancing institutional efficiency” army, which impeccably con- there grieving with them, (po- deceased. with “the aim of building a strong, competitive ducted the various partitions of litely) enforcing security cordons Women were there in force to economy by continuing to incentivise private the funeral ceremony. The armed and distributing bottles of spring say thank you to Caid Essebsi for entrepreneurship, in addition to launching new forces obviously went back to water in the hot, humid summer standing by their rights all during programmes for productive investment and their barracks after rendering day. his rule. They were there reiterat- creating more jobs.” their services on that exceptional People were celebrating the ing their pledge to be loyal to him There are also socio-economic inequities and day. They were expected to. Still, very freedom that Caid Essebsi the way he was loyal to them. regional imbalances to be tackled. more than ever, people could venerated during his tenure even They were there firmly com- Drawing from the lessons of the 2016 unrest at intuitively see them as able when liberal think-tanks, espe- mitted to standing up for their home and of the social discontent in other parts guarantors of the civil state and cially in the West, accused him inalienable rights as full-fledged of North Africa, King Mohammed VI set a of democracy. of harbouring neo-authoritarian citizens of their country regard- strategic challenge for his country: “The Above all, however, Tunisians reflexes. less of what politicians decide. challenge of social and regional justice” and the aim “to complete the building of a nation of of all hues, old hands and revo- Every time he signed a One could see on their faces the hope and equality for all, a country where there lutionaries, conservatives and decree extending the state of date of forthcoming elections and is no place for blatant inequalities.” their determination to be there Efficient security has been a factor in bolster- and be counted. ing the kingdom’s stability. To its credit, Caid Essebsi was no martyr or Morocco, which has previously suffered from young man whose life was short- terrorist attacks, has spared no effort in dealing ened by fate. He was an elder with extremist violence and addressing its deep statesman with whom people felt roots. The creation of the Mohammed VI a sudden and overwhelming sym- Institute for Training Imams, Morchidines and pathy, which opinion poll ratings Morchidates and the Mohammed VI Foundation could not reflect. for African Ulema in 2015 has imbued hundreds During the last weeks of his of Arab and African imams with values of life, Caid Essebsi was a president moderation and tolerance in Islam. The effort without many prerogatives and will go a long way in curtailing radicalisation in very few allies left in parliament. the region and beyond. He was deeply wounded but International anti-terrorism agencies often laud Morocco’s invaluable collaboration. On his charisma was still shining more than one occasion, Europeans and others through. The day of his funeral, have acknowledged the kingdom’s role in people decided that his aura preventing bloody acts of terrorism. would shine all the way to his Morocco has reason to celebrate. Its prosperity iconic standing in the history and stable growth are an asset for its own people books of Tunisia. and for those of the Maghreb, the Arab world and Africa. So is its ability to correct course Saying thank you. Tunisian women bid farewell to Tunisian Oussama Romdhani when circumstances warrant. President Beji Caid Essebsi at his funeral in Tunis, July 27. is Editor-in-Chief (Reuters) of The Arab Weekly. August 4, 2019 7 Opinion Can the world afford changing the rules on refugees? Published by Al Arab Rashmee Roshan Lall Publishing House If the Western world no longer feels obliged to provide refuge to people from poorer countries, Publisher at the very least it should cease destabilising Arab and African countries for geopolitical gain. and Group Executive Editor Haitham El-Zobaidi, PhD he Trump adminis- fraught in Europe. The Euro- convention has generally been obliged to provide refuge to tration has decided pean Union has promised to accepted. Until now. desperate people from poorer, Editor-in-Chief on the Temporary check into a BBC investigation A more piecemeal ap- conflict-ridden countries at Oussama Romdhani Protected Status into the brutal treatment of proach to refugees has been the very least it should cease given by the United migrants trying to enter the in evidence in recent years. destabilising Arab and African States to approxi- bloc via Croatia. Bangladesh allowed hundreds countries for geopolitical gain Managing Editor Tmately 7,000 Syrians. The The report said that of thousands of Rohingya and the profits of defence Iman Zayat designation, granted by the even a minor — 17-year-old Muslims from neighbouring manufacturers. US Department of Homeland Mustafa from Egypt — was Myanmar to remain on its soil Second, rich countries Deputy Managing Editor Security, is meant to help peo- not spared a beating. He and but initially refused to recog- should stop the continuing and Online Editor ple from countries affected by other migrants were robbed by nise them as refugees. Last impoverishment of the global Mamoon Alabbasi war, environmental disaster or Croatian police, who are ap- year, the United Arab Emir- south. This occurs mainly other extraordinary condi- parently engaging in so-called ates, which is not a signatory through the machinations of Senior Editor tions. The 18-month extension “pushback” operations meant to the Refugee Convention, large Western multinational announced August 1 merely to prevent people from seek- regularised the residency sta- companies, which deprive John Hendel defers the uncertainty. ing asylum in the European tus of Syrians in the country. governments of poor countries Chief Copy Editor It stays in place until condi- Union. However, the Emirates uses of tax revenue by means of tions in the refugees’ home Is the idea of asylum and bespoke terminology for the remarkable accounting contor- Richard Pretorius countries improve but for the refuge all but over? It was al- situation and the remedies it tions. Copy Editors Syrians in Donald Trump’s ways subject to an individual offers. The United States has America, their legal right to state’s willingness to comply As for the United Those who do not long opposed progres- Stephen Quillen stay is uncertain. with the 1951 Geneva Conven- States, since Trump want to provide sive changes to global Kyle Arensdorf In the name of getting tion, which defined the status became president de- succour have the right rules that would force tough on fraudulent claims for of refugees, set out rights of nial rates for asylum- to refuse it. Equally, multinationals to pay East/West Section Editor refuge, the Trump administra- individuals granted asylum seekers and visas for they shouldn’t be tax where economic Mahmud el-Shafey (London) tion has been making it harder and the responsibilities of victims of human stoking the conditions activity is actually for people fleeing violence and nations. trafficking have sky- occurring but the so- that create refugees in Gulf Section Editor trafficking to enter the United The convention is legally rocketed. US Citizen- called Mauritius Leaks, Mohammed Alkhereiji States and lodge asylum binding but compliance is not ship and Immigration the hundreds of a recently released claims. enforceable by the UN High Services spokeswoman thousands. cache of 200,000 files Society and Travel Trump recently met a Commissioner for Refugees. Jessica Collins recently ex- from a law firm in the Sections Editor Yazidi woman from Iraq and That agency cannot make plained it as a response to Indian Ocean tax haven of Samar Kadi a Rohingya Muslim, along Trump accept asylum-seekers a grim “reality.” She said: “Our Mauritius, showed that billions with other victims of religious or grant them refuge. It can- asylum system is being abused of dollars in revenue were persecution from around the not force the United States by those seeking economic being withheld by Western Senior Correspondents world. It was a set-piece event to maintain protections for opportunity, not those fleeing companies from some of the and there is little sign Trump Syrian refugees already in persecution.” world’s poorest governments. Lamine Ghanmi (Tunis) would do anything to provide the country. Were the United The same sort of view is We are at a fork in the road Thomas Seibert (Istanbul) refuge. States to renege on its prom- increasingly taking hold in on the issue of asylum and Reports stated that the ad- ises of resettlement of Iraqi Europe, all of which suggests refuge. Those who do not want Regular Columnists ministration was considering translators, there is nothing waning support for an interna- to provide succour have the Rashmee Roshan Lall a total shutdown of refugee anyone can realistically do tionally accepted obligation to right to refuse it. Equally, they Claude Salhani admissions next year, a about it. provide a safe haven to those shouldn’t be stoking the condi- policy change that could affect The post-World War II inter- fleeing conflict. tions that create refugees in the Yavuz Baydar thousands of Iraqis. The US national consensus on asylum What comes next? What hundreds of thousands. Correspondents Department of Defence has and refuge was always about should come next? What championed their admission goodwill. The rights promul- might conceivably replace the Rashmee Roshan Lall is a Nazli Tarzi (London) because they risked their lives gated by the convention were old order? How to fashion a columnist for The Arab Weekly. Saad Guerraoui (Casablanca) assisting US forces. interpreted in very different new paradigm? Her blog can be found at www. (London) The issue of migrants ways by disparate countries One thing is clear. If the rich rashmee.com and she is on Dunia El-Zobaidi seeking asylum is hardly less but the overall thrust of the Western world no longer feels Twitter: @rashmeerl. Roua Khlifi (Tunis) Chief Designer Marwen el-Hmedi Israelis need no new software Designers to realise Palestinians have a dream Ibrahim Ben Bechir Hanen Jebali Claude Salhani There is a need for Israelis to see the Palestinians as more than digitised faces. There is a need to see them as human beings with histories, dreams and national aspirations. Contact editor at: [email protected] f anyone should have no realities of the occupation, pro- extinction and to throw out the Palestinians to establish a trouble recognising and vide Israel with cheap labour slogans of hate at an enemy a full-fledged independent state. realising the injustice that has helped it become a few thousand miles away but it The Palestinians, like the committed daily against modern state. is a very different thing to have Israelis, also have a dream. A Palestinians living under The Arabs tried defeating to deal with the harsh facts of dream of being in their own Al Arab Publishing House Israeli occupation, it is the Israel militarily and economi- having to live with a military country where they would Quadrant Building IIsraelis. History books are filled cally and have come up short. occupation on a day-to-day not be subjected to constant 177-179 Hammersmith Road with chapter upon chapter of Militarily, they waged five basis. military checkpoints, searches, London W6 8BS injustice committed against major wars against Israel: 1948, Israel prides itself on its detention and arbitrary arrest. the Jewish people, dating from upon the creation of the state technological prowess and has Israel might turn to its tech- biblical times through the of Israel; 1956, the Suez crisis; been referred to as the Silicon nology where perhaps it may modern era. 1967, the Six-Day War; 1973, Valley of the Middle East but find an application or upgraded Tel: (+44) 20 7602 3999 Yet they seem oblivious to the October (Yom Kippur) War; it falls short in recognising the software that tells it that the Fax: (+44) 20 7602 8778 the suffering of an entire na- 1982, the Israeli invasion of needs of its neighbours: the Palestinian people also have tion. Lebanon. There have been lim- Palestinian people. the right to live freely and Jews understand what it ited confrontations between Israel might have with dignity. means to crave for a land they Israel and Hezbollah and two harnessed new tech- Palestinians The Israelis can use US Publisher: can call their own. They strug- intifadas. Still, peace between nologies better than have been abused by Palestinian labour for The Arab Weekly USA LLC. gled against overriding odds, Israel and the Palestinians is other countries in the their occupiers at the economy with mini- suffered terrible discrimina- nowhere on the horizon. region but, as its use same time they were mal security risks. [email protected] On the economic front, the of facial-recognition Hardly the stuff that tion. Over the centuries they exploited by their [email protected] have been victims of pogroms Arab League’s boycott bureau technology to control will guarantee them and bore the brunt of the mad- may think its actions serve the the movement of brothers. peace and tranquillity. Tel: 248-679-6624 ness of Nazi Germany, whose greater good of the Arab cause. Palestinians across its For that, there is a need leaders wanted to impose a “fi- Like most other Arab League borders shows its scien- for seeing the Palestin- nal solution” — the Holocaust initiatives, its effectiveness tific knowhow, it failed to ians as more than digitised — intended to exterminate the could only be measured by the recognise one basic fact: Injus- faces. There is a need to see Jewish people. number of bureaucrats it has tice to a whole people under its them as human beings with The Jews survived. From the created. Nothing else. occupation. No sophisticated histories, dreams and national death camps of Europe, many It would periodically issue technology is needed to see aspirations. Subscription & Advertising: made their way to Palestine. a news release announcing a that. Only the old-fashioned More than just the transac- [email protected] Jews had long dreamed of hav- new target of its boycott but ability to detect human suffer- tional arrangements envisioned Tel : (+44) 020 3667 7249 ing their own state where they that action hardly ever saw the ing. by Jared Kushner and the could live in peace and without light of day. The sad irony for thousands Trump administration, realising fear of being persecuted for Palestinians have been of Palestinian day labourers such basic facts would be a cru- Mohamed Al Mufti their faith. From practically abused by their occupiers lies in the realisation that the cial step for peace, real peace. Marketing & Advertising nothing, they built a modern, at the same time they were only work they are likely to Manager functioning state. exploited by their brothers. It find is in helping build a better Claude Salhani is a regular However, they have done is one thing to shout support world for the very enemy they columnist for The Arab Weekly Direct: (+44) 20 8742 9262 such wonders to the detriment for the Palestinians from the have to contend with on a and a senior fellow at the www.alarab.co.uk of another people, the Palestin- minarets of Tehran and to daily basis, at least until there Institute of World Affairs in ians, who, forced by economic threaten the Jewish state with is a political solution allowing Washington. 8 August 4, 2019 News & Analysis Egypt

Egypt, Jordan coordinate stands on Deal of the Century

Ahmed Megahid positive from Arab capitals so long as these capitals do not get ap- proval from the Palestinians,” said Cairo Hazem Abu Shanab, a member of the Revolutionary Council of Fa- gyptian and Jordanian lead- tah, the movement of Palestinian ers discussed Middle East Authority President Mahmoud Ab- peace, the future of Jeru- bas. “We have a clear position on E salem and the situation this deal.” in volatile regional spots during a The Palestinians boycotted the visit by Jordanian King Abdullah II Manama workshop and have re- to Cairo. jected the Deal of the Century out “They also discussed maintain- of hand, considering it a recipe for ing support to the Palestinians,” the total loss of Palestinian rights. the Egyptian presidency said in a On July 31, the Palestinian For- statement, following the July 29 eign Ministry said the failure of the meeting between King Abdullah Trump administration to announce and Egyptian President Abdel Fat- full details of the deal reflected its tah al-Sisi. confusion and the depth of the cri- King Abdullah’s visit to Cairo was sis caused by the Palestinian rejec- his second in less than five months. tion of the proposal. He visited in March for a summit “All American and Israeli efforts with Sisi and Iraqi Prime Minister to bypass Palestinian legitimacy Adel Abdul-Mahdi. The July visit through side roads are doomed to was less than a month after the fail,” it said in a statement. Egyptian-Jordanian committee It said media leaks about the meeting and just before the king’s deal aim to prove that peace can be meeting with US President Don- achieved without the Palestinians. ald Trump’s son-in-law and senior “The Americans view the Pal- White House adviser Jared Kush- estinians as mere partners and ner in Amman. are ready to offer only illusory Kushner started a regional tour improvements in the living condi- July 31 in Amman and Tel Aviv, tions and standards of the Palestin- with stops planned for Cairo, Casa- ian people as was demonstrated blanca and Riyadh. He was in the during the Manama workshop,” the region to promote a blueprint for Palestinian Foreign Ministry said. resolving the Palestinian-Israeli In their talks in Cairo, King Ab- conflict, widely known as the Deal dullah and Sisi said their countries of the Century. would maintain support to the Pal- Egypt and Jordan were repre- estinian people until they regain sented at a relatively modest level their legitimate right to establish at a workshop in Bahrain on the an independent state along the bor- economic part of the plan in June. ders of June 1967, with East Jerusa- The two countries expressed reser- lem as its capital and as detailed in Not any solution. Jordanian King Abdullah II (L) walks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at vations about the plan, especially the two-state solution posited in Cairo International Airport, July 29. (AFP) following leaks on its political part. the Arab Peace Initiative. Egyptian and Jordanian stances “This will contribute to bringing Sisi was five days after he met with advocating the transfer of some not give the Palestinians their full are crucial regarding Middle East stability back and giving new hope Abbas in Amman. The meeting was Palestinians to neighbouring rights,” said Akram Badreddine, a peacemaking. They are the only to the region and its peoples,” the two days after he met with Abu states. political science professor at Cairo Arab countries to have signed two leaders said in statement is- Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mo- Egypt rejected the notion alto- University. “The Palestinian-Israeli peace treaties with Israel (Egypt in sued by the Egyptian Presidency. hammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan in gether and Jordan is also against it conflict cannot be resolved at the 1979 and Jordan in 1994). They rejected Israeli actions in Abu Dhabi. but the idea is being floated, espe- expense of neighbouring coun- The two countries share borders the Palestinian territories, includ- Apart from facing similar secu- cially in the absence of clarity on the tries.” with Israel and maintain close rela- ing the demolition of dozens of rity problems, Egypt and Jordan political aspects of the proposal. tions with Tel Aviv and Ramallah. buildings. share concerns over the US peace “The two countries will surely Ahmed Megahid is an Egyptian “Kushner cannot get anything King Abdullah’s meeting with blueprint, especially in relation to reject any settlement that will reporter based in Cairo. Cairo wary of Hamas reviving ties with Tehran

Amr Emam cally and militarily. groups in Gaza, including the Sa- the time. article in the Egyptian newspaper Khamenei praised what he de- bireen Movement, which is also “The return of Hamas’s relations al-Dustour. scribed as “resistance” by Hamas aligned with the Lebanese Hezbol- with Syria would be on the table This is very worrying to Egypt, Cairo and other Palestinian factions to lah movement. Hamas accuses the during the visit of the Hamas del- which looks with suspicion at Ira- Israel’s occupation of Palestin- Sabireen Movement of spreading egation to Tehran,” Haniyeh told nian attempts to expand its influ- gyptian political analysts ian territories. “Victory can only be the Shia faith in predominantly Turkish journalists via video con- ence in the region, especially in warned of an increase of Ira- achieved by resistance and strug- Sunni Gaza. ference Egypt’s immediate vicinity. nian influence in the Gaza gle,” he said. In December 2016, Hamas police Hamas, analysts said, is reach- Egypt is the most populous Sunni E Strip, referring to potential The visit of the delegation fol- raided the homes of Hezbollah and ing out to Iran now that the United state in the region. Although Cairo instability in the region and deteri- lowed a freeze in relations with arrested one of them. In February States had tightened control on fi- does not view the region through a oration of relations between Hamas Tehran, one that was induced by this year, Hamas police arrested nancing to it and monetary support sectarian prism, it does considerer and Egypt. Hamas’s failure to stand by the re- Hezbollah official Hisham Salem from regional states slowing down. itself a counterpole to Tehran, both “The return of Iranian influence gime of Syrian President Bashar As- and other leaders. The visit of the Hamas delega- at the cultural and political levels. to the Gaza Strip will adversely af- sad when the Syrian war erupted in Before the Hamas delegation left tion to Iran came at a time of high Hamas, an ideological offshoot fect the region,” political analyst 2011. for Tehran, Haniyeh said Hamas’s tension in the region. of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Ammar Ali Hassan said. “Apart Hamas further angered Tehran decision not to get involved in in- The United States has been in- most hated Islamist organisation to from potentially ending the calm when it cracked down on pro-Iran ternal Syrian politics was correct at creasing sanctions on Iran, which the government of Egyptian Presi- between Hamas and Israel, this in- responded by reducing its commit- dent Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, used to fluence will harm Egypt’s relations ment to the uranium-enrichment harbour hostility to Sisi. with Hamas.” levels stipulated in the 2015 nu- Relations between the two sides Egypt watched closely as a del- clear deal with major powers and improved in the last four years, egation from Hamas visited Tehran threatening navigation in the Strait with the Palestinian faction prom- on July 20, the first such trip since of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. ising tighter control of Gaza’s bor- December 2017. The delegation was Iran wants to use Hamas so it der with Egypt’s Sinai and Egypt led by Hamas Politburo Deputy can influence any settlement of taking measures to loosen the siege Chairman Saleh al-Arouri. the Middle East conflict, especially on Gaza, including by sending fuel Egypt reportedly prevented Ha- when it comes to the so-called Deal to power Gaza’s electricity plants. mas political chief Ismail Haniyeh of the Century, a blueprint for set- However, the involvement of from leaving Gaza, which shares tling the Palestinian-Israeli conflict Gaza militants in attacks by an Is- borders with Egypt and depends propagated by US President Donald lamic State branch against Egyp- heavily on its airports for the travel Trump and his son-in-law Jared tian troops in Sinai also leads Egypt of its residents, to lead the Hamas Kushner, analysts said. to distrust Hamas. delegation to Tehran. This was why “This will give Iran the chance “Egypt has to use the cards in its Arouri, who lives in Beirut, led the to start dialogue with the United hands to pressure Hamas to stop delegation. States, using the influence it has reaching out to Iran,” said Samir In Tehran, the Hamas delegation over Palestinian decision-making, Ghattas, a member of the Egyptian met with several senior officials, especially in an important Pales- parliament. “Iran’s influence in including Iranian Supreme Leader tinian territory, namely the Gaza Gaza is a real threat to Egypt’s na- Ali Khamenei on July 22. They gave Rising concerns. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (R) Strip,” wrote Khaled Okasha, a tional security.” Khamenei a letter from Haniyeh, in meets with Hamas Politburo Deputy Chairman Saleh Arouri (2nd R) member of the Supreme Anti-Ter- which he thanked Iran’s supreme and other members of a Hamas delegation in Tehran, July 22. rorism Council, an advisory body Amr Emam is an Arab Weekly leader for supporting Hamas politi- (Reuters) of the Egyptian presidency, in an contributor in Cairo. August 4, 2019 9 News & Analysis Libya

Egypt seeks opportunities in Libya’s reconstruction

Hassan Abdel Zaher in March and met officials at the Federation of Egyptian Industries. Mohamed Raied, who led the del- Cairo egation, referred to strong demand in Libya for Egyptian construction gypt is working to ease the companies and workers entry of tens of thousands A delegation of Egyptian busi- of Egyptian workers to east- nessmen visited eastern Libya in E ern Libya as that part of Lib- May to assess business opportuni- ya becomes more politically stable. ties and needs. Egyptian and Libyan authorities “Our companies are ready for have established two coordination Libya’s reconstruction at all levels,” offices along the countries’ borders said Walid Gamal Eddine, chairman to coordinate the entry of Egyptian of the Construction Materials Ex- workers into Libya for reconstruc- port Council. “We are still waiting tion purposes. to be part of this reconstruction, “The parliament and the Labour even through partnerships with Ministry work to ease the participa- Libyan companies.” tion of Egyptian workers in Libya’s Apart from being an opportunity reconstruction in coordination for Egyptian labour, Libya’s recon- with Libyan authorities,” said Ab- struction opens business oppor- del Fattah Mohamed, a member tunities for Egyptian construction of the Labour Committee in the material producers, especially in Egyptian parliament. “Improving the presence of huge surpluses. security conditions in Libya will in- In 2018, for example, there was crease the flow of local workers to a cement production surplus of this country.” about 33 million tonnes. Egypt’s Millions of Egyptians worked in overall cement production was ex- Libya before the country descend- pected to reach 100 million tonnes ed into chaos in 2011. Egyptians by next year. worked in all sectors of the Libyan Libya’s infrastructure, tourism, economy, especially in construc- electricity and communications tion. sectors are especially of interest After 2011, Egyptian nationals for Egyptian companies. Projects were targeted by Islamist militias, a in the first phase of Libya’s recon- drive that manifested itself brutally struction are expected to cost ap- In a tight spot. A file picture shows UN Special Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame speaking during a news in February 2015 when the Libyan proximately $20 billion to imple- conference in Tripoli. (Reuters) branch of the Islamic State killed 21 ment, the Libyan Trade Chambers Christian workers. Association said. Major Egyptian construction companies are reportedly contact- Egyptian and Libyan ing financing agencies, including Sarraj government rattled authorities recently the African Development Bank, the established coordination World Bank and the European In- offices to coordinate the vestment Bank, to bankroll projects entry of workers into Libya in Libya. by UN envoy’s criticism for reconstruction purposes. However, shaky security condi- tions could scare companies away Soon after that incident, a huge from Libya. Michel Cousins ists had been allowed to join the Many families have had to ac- number of workers returned home, Competition from Chinese and fight. It is highly sensitive to the cept that there will be no sacrifi- swelling the ranks of the unem- Turkish companies is another chal- allegation, which is constantly re- cial sheep this year, which boosted ployed in Egypt. lenge for Egyptian firms, especially Tunis peated by the LNA, and has tried favourable comparisons with the Their return was viewed by se- with most companies from those to refute it; the decision to extra- Qaddafi era. “Under [Muammar] curity analysts as a conspiracy by counties not having the same fi- N Special Envoy to Libya dite the brother of the Manchester Qaddafi, when it was Eid, we always Egypt’s regional rivals, especially nancing problems Egyptian compa- Ghassan Salame briefed bomber to the United Kingdom was got our salaries well in advance so Turkey and Qatar, which sponsor nies face. the UN Security Council on seen very much in that light. we could spend what was needed,” Islamist militias in Libya, given Egypt, economists said, is in a U the situation in Libya, as he Following the Security Council one Tripoli resident said. the size of remittances sent home good position to win a share of Lib- does every couple of months. This briefing, the GNA demanded that Now into its fifth month, there by the workers as well as the bur- ya’s reconstruction because of its time his presentation, with criti- the United Nations provide details is — as Salame noted in his Security den their return constituted to the proximity to Libya and the strong cism meted out in equal amounts of any such individuals in its forces. Council briefing — no sign of one Egyptian economy. relations between Cairo and east- to both sides of the divide in the That should not be difficult because side or the other winning the fight To avoid the possible unrest ern Libya authorities. conflict, caused a serious political details of a number of those fight- for Tripoli. The death toll at the end stemming from the inability of “State authorities have to offer rumpus. ing with the GNA but sanctioned by of July was put at nearly 1,100, in- those returning from Libya to find backing to national companies The UN-backed Government of the United Nations have been pub- cluding 106 civilians. The overall work, Cairo initiated tens of billions as they try to be part of Libya’s National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, lished in Libyan media. figure is widely considered an un- of dollars in construction projects, reconstruction,” said Yumn al- headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, took of- Salame’s appeal to the GNA to derestimate. including new cities, roads and Hamaqi, an economics professor fence at Salame’s criticism, accus- stop using the city’s only function- bridges. Those efforts were also at Cairo University. “Egypt has to ing him of bias and misrepresenta- ing airport, Mitiga, for military pur- Libyan figures who part of Egypt’s overall development poses also resulted in a point-blank take Libya’s reconstruction very tion. oppose Haftar, such as plans. seriously before it is left out of this denial by the Transport Ministry, Libyan trade union officials visit process, especially in the presence despite photos of destroyed Turkish Grand Mufti Sheikh Egypt to hammer out deals and of fierce competition from other The GNA was combat drones at the airport widely Sadiq al-Ghariani, draw attention of the needs of post- countries.” particularly rattled by circulated on social media. demanded Salame be war Libya to Egyptian construction Salame’s statement that Since the denial, the LNA pub- removed and the Tripoli companies. Hassan Abdel Zaher is a Cairo- extremists had been lished additional photos of a Turk- militia was reported to A Libyan Trade Chambers As- based contributor to The Arab allowed to join the fight. ish-made drone destroyed at Miti- have issued threats sociation delegation visited Egypt Weekly. ga, supposedly on July 29, when the against the UN envoy. Sarraj formally protested to airport was closed twice after com- Salame about the July 29 briefing. ing under missile attack. As Salame also noted, neither side Supporters of Field-Marshal Khal- For ordinary people in Tripoli and shows signs of wanting a ceasefire. ifa Haftar and his Libyan National other areas controlled by the GNA, Once again reassured of full Turk- Army (LNA), which regularly ac- Salame’s intervention is of little sig- ish support at the end of July, Sarraj cused Salame of pro-GNA bias, were nificance. and the GNA believe their forces can jubilant, claiming he had shifted his “They don’t give a [expletive] repulse the LNA. Conversely, LNA position. about him,” a senior Tripoli official sources enthusiastically predicted Libyan figures who oppose Haf- said in very down-to-earth English, yet another offensive that would re- tar, such as Grand Mufti Sheikh Sad- adding that most people felt the sult in Tripoli being captured before iq al-Ghariani, demanded Salame same way about Sarraj as well. Far Eid, which seemed unlikely. be removed and the Tripoli militia more important, he insisted, are the While causing the LNA advance was reported to have issued threats daily power cuts, the cost of living in Tripoli to stall, the GNA is equally against the UN envoy. and lack of money, particularly with unable to move it out. Its plans to There was, however, no swing Eid al-Adha days away. take Tarhouna, the LNA’s main for- to the LNA in Salame’s briefing al- By the beginning of August, state ward base in the Tripoli offensive, though that he was strongly critical salaries for June and July still had or force it into neutrality appear to of the GNA — but also of the LNA — not been paid and the cost of a small have been put on hold. at all drove LNA supporters to imag- sheep to sacrifice was as much as As for the attack on Jufra and sub- ine that he thinks of Haftar in better $1,275 with little expectation that sequent GNA claims that it would light and the GNA to fear that he has prices would go down. soon fall into its hands, that is just turned against it. That the briefing There were long queues out- wishful thinking, the Tripoli official was one day after Salame met with side banks. Making matters worse, noted, adding: “The GNA does not Haftar added to the belief there had banks refused to provide credit have any local support there.” been a change in position. against unpaid salaries and limited Looking ahead. A hotel under construction in downtown Tripoli, The GNA was particularly rattled cash withdrawals to 1,000 dinars Michel Cousins is a contributor to Libya. (AFP) by Salame’s statement that extrem- ($715). The Arab Weekly on Libyan issues. 10 August 4, 2019 News & Analysis Gulf Simultaneous attacks in Aden reveal coordination between Iran-backed Houthis and jihadist groups

Saleh al-Baidhani of his lieutenants. The Houthis claimed responsibil- ity for that attack, issuing a state- Aden ment saying a military parade was targeted with a Qasef 2 drone and a bservers said there was medium-range ballistic missile. UN strong coordination be- reports have pointed out that the tween the Iran-backed Houthis developed and manufac- O Houthis and the jihadist tured Qasef 2 with the help of Iran. groups of al-Qaeda and the Islamic Some observers cast doubt on the State in carrying out simultaneous Houthis’ claim, saying the attack attacks in Aden in which at least 49 exceeded the size and range of the people were killed. Houthis’ usual military planning, The attacks August 1 also high- especially considering that it coin- lighted Iran’s role in enabling the cided with the Sheikh Othman oper- massacre by providing the Houthis ation believed to have been carried with advanced weapons, observers out by al-Qaeda or ISIS. However, said. the timing of the attacks could sug- gest coordination between the Hou- this and jihadist groups. Yemeni Prime Minister While observers focused on the Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed coordination between the Houthis said the attacks by the and other extremist groups, sources Houthis and jihadist groups raised the issue of the role played by confirm “coordination and Iran in the drone attack because of complementary under clear its supposed supplying the Houthis Iranian management.” with advanced weapons. The internationally recognised The militants attacked a military Yemeni government said the camp in southern Abyan province “source and purpose (of the attacks) with rocket-propelled grenades and were the same.” automatic rifles around midnight, “The two attacks prove the Terror tactics. Soldiers at the scene of a blast after a deadly missile attack on a military parade during setting off clashes that lasted un- Houthi militia rebels and other ter- a graduation ceremony for newly recruited troopers in Aden, August 1. (Reuters) til early morning of August 2. The rorist groups are sharing roles and troops targeted were members of complementing each other in a war a force trained by the United Arab against the Yemeni people,” the gov- attack “is an indication of their open ries, especially when they indicate station with a car bomb confirms Emirates, part of the Saudi-led coali- ernment said in a statement. rejection of peace efforts.” an ability to strike at Aden. the high degree of coordination be- tion fighting the Houthi rebels since Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mo- Mansour Saleh, deputy director of Experts warned of additional at- tween the Houthis and al-Qaeda. 2015. hammed bin Saeed al-Jaber posted the Media Department of the South- tacks in Aden following reports of Mustafa said the Houthis and oth- The Yemeni Interior Ministry said on Twitter that “the simultaneous ern Transitional Council, said the significant activities by al-Qaeda er extremist organisations faced a 13 people were killed in a “criminal targeting” by Houthi militias… “is attacks targeted one of the top mili- and the Islamic State and threats debilitating crackdown in Aden and attack” on a police station in Sheikh a strong indicator” of working with tary commanders in the war against by Mohammad al-Bekhiti, a Houthi liberated provinces. They must have Othman in Aden district. The Is- “sister terrorist organisations” the the Houthis. leader, who said commanders of the realised they could no longer face lamic State (ISIS) affiliate in Yemen Islamic State and al-Qaeda. Saleh pointed out that an investi- Security Belt Forces paramilitary in the security forces and the military claimed responsibility for the sui- Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Ab- gation was under way to determine Yemen were prime targets. except through joining forces to pre- cide bombing. dulmalik Saeed said the attacks by who was responsible for the attack, Ezzat Mustafa, chairman of the pare and execute the operations, he The ministry said an attack on the Houthis and jihadist groups con- saying the Houthis’ declaration of Fanar Centre for Policy Research, said. al-Jala Camp west of Brega, also in firm “coordination and complemen- responsibility should not be taken at said the simultaneous targeting of Aden district, left 36 people dead, tary under clear Iranian manage- face value. He pointed out that the the al-Jala Camp with a ballistic mis- Saleh al-Baidhani is an Arab Weekly including the commander and some ment.” He insisted that the Houthi Houthis were eager to claim victo- sile and of the Sheikh Othman police contributor in Yemen. China backs Russian proposal for Gulf security

Sabahat Khan at the emergency talks in Vienna, are of great strategic importance security realm. It had focused on US sanctions against Zhuhai said the parties at the meeting to energy-hungry China. Trade trade development and building Zhenrong add a new dimension to “expressed their strong opposition and investment flows have grown ties through bilateral frameworks. US President Donald Trump’s trade Dubai against the US unilateral imposi- substantially over the past dec- Beijing has been deepening polit- war against the world’s second- tion of sanctions.” ade between China and its key re- ical and trade ties with Arab Gulf oil largest economy. The US-China re- hina is backing a Russian European officials have told US gional partners in the Gulf but the producers, in particular, the United lationship is increasingly strained, proposal for stability and counterparts that its “maximum emergence of the Belt and Road Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, particularly in the Far East over security in the Gulf region, pressure” approach was unhelp- Initiative offers a potentially game- in recent years but it also attaches disagreements on territorial dis- C which has been roiled by ful but Washington feels that ap- changing paradigm. strategic importance to its broader putes. The Chinese Foreign Min- the simmering standoff between proach is moving Iran into a nego- Beijing has traditionally not as- relationship with Iran. istry labelled the recent unrest in the United States and Iran. tiating mode. serted itself in the Gulf regional Beijing supports Tehran’s bid Hong Kong to be “the work of the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokes- The Gulf and the wider region context or in its US-dominated to join the Shanghai Cooperation United States” and warned “those woman Hua Chunying said Beijing, Organisation, whose members who play with fire only get them- while welcoming the Russian pro- include Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyr- selves burned.” posal, “would also like to boost gyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, In- cooperation, coordination and dia and Pakistan. In June, a flotilla communication with all the corre- of ­Chinese destroyers and a logis- Beijing has traditionally not sponding parties.” tics ship conducted joint naval ex- asserted itself in the Gulf Russia’s proposal envisages an ercises with the Iranian Navy near regional context or in its international conference on securi- the Strait of Hormuz. US-dominated security ty and cooperation in the Gulf, with Iran has been a major supplier of realm. It had focused on a view to establishing a regional se- crude oil to China for many years. trade development and curity organisation. Beijing is not only Iran’s largest oil building ties through Moscow has called for “energetic customer but also its biggest non- bilateral frameworks. and effective action” for “improv- oil trading partner. However, fol- ing and further stabilising the situ- lowing US sanctions against Iran, Officials from China and the ation” and suggested a new process overall Iran-China trade declined United States resumed trade talks of bilateral and multilateral consul- by more than one-third so far this after tit-for-tat measures that tations between key stakeholders, year. raised tariffs on bilateral trade and including the UN Security Council, Reports suggest Iran may be global markets. More than half of the Arab League and the Organisa- exporting significant volumes of the $600 billion in trade between tion of Islamic Cooperation. crude oil to Asia, including to US the United States and China every Hua said Beijing views “peace allies, and that a large oil storage year has become the subject of new and stability” in the Gulf to be “of facility for Iranian crude was be- tariffs as a dangerous trade war utmost importance to ensure safe- ing set up in China. The US State heats up. ty and development of the region Department imposed sanctions Yet with increasing mistrust and the world as a whole,” stressing against the Chinese state-run en- between the world’s two largest the need to “establish good neigh- ergy company Zhuhai Zhenrong for economies, expectations for major bourly relations based on mutual the sale and delivery of Iranian oil breakthroughs in US-China trade respect.” after sanction waivers expired in talks appear to be low. Following talks July 29 in Vienna May. The US-China rivalry is unlikely between Iran and the other sig- China has criticised Washing- to play out in the Gulf although natories of the Joint Comprehen- ton’s “long-arm jurisdiction” and Beijing continues to call for a revi- sive Plan of Action (JCPOA), China its approach to link other countries’ sion in the US approach to the crisis called on the United States to drop business to US domestic laws but, involving Iran. its “maximum pressure” policy like many other countries, there is China’s position on the JCPOA against Iran and to avoid creating little China can do against unilat- and tensions with Iran appear in- “new obstacles” that jeopardise Maritime concerns. The guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul’s eral US economic sanctions against creasingly aligned not just with its the nuclear accord. visit alongside a Bahraini dhow during routine maritime security Iran without incurring a dispropor- traditional partner, Russia, but also Fu Cong, China’s delegation head operations in the Arabian Gulf. (AFP) tionately higher cost. Europe. August 4, 2019 11 News & Analysis Gulf Saudi tourists shun Turkish destinations as government relations deteriorate

Mohammed Alkhereiji destination. Some social media us- ers referenced the killing of seven Saudi nationals in Istanbul on New London Year’s Eve 2017. Before the latest travel warn- ith the summer season ing, the Saudi Embassy in Turkey in full swing, Gulf tour- had urged citizens to exercise cau- ists, particularly Saudi tion after incidents of passport and W nationals, are shunning money theft were reported in vari- traditional holiday destinations in ous parts of the country. Turkey because of the deteriorat- Headlines such as “Don’t go to ing relations between Riyadh and Turkey” and “Turkey is not safe” Ankara. have appeared in Saudi publica- The Saudi Foreign Ministry, in tions in recent months. Social me- a statement July 17, warned Sau- dia users called on Saudis to boy- dis travelling to Turkey to take ex- cott Turkish tourism and Turkish tra precautions, particularly from products. scam artists targeting tourists. “As the Turkish leadership and The Foreign Ministry warning [President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan was the latest official statement continue their hostility and target Changing mood. A Saudi man walks out a Turkish Airlines office in Riyadh . (AFP) urging Saudi nationals to remain the kingdom’s leadership, we call vigilant while in Turkey. Sky News more than ever before to boycott Arabia reported that this was the them… in all areas — imports, la- turned Saudi travel ban for a num- handling of the killing of Jamal which the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, fifth travel warning regarding Tur- bour and dealings with Turkish ber of years that adversely affected Khashoggi last October in the Saudi Bahrain and Egypt severed ties key issued by the Saudi govern- companies,” Riyadh Chamber of its tourism industry. Consulate in Istanbul, which Saudi with in June 2017 over what they ment in the last year. Commerce and Industry Chairman Agence France-Presse, citing a officials say was exploited by the described as Doha’s interference in Ajlan al-Ajlan posted on Twitter in 2018 study by Riyadh’s King Faisal Erdogan government. their countries’ internal affairs and June. Centre for Research and Islamic However, issues between the two support for radical groups, such as Issues between the two The Saudi travel warning came Studies, reported that Saudi nation- countries are also ideological, with Hamas, the Taliban and the Muslim countries are also while Turkey is dealing with signifi- als, who are among the top proper- a post 9/11 Saudi Arabia shunning Brotherhood. ideological, with a post 9/11 cant economic woes. “The already ty owners and investors in Turkey, political Islamic movements while Turkish soap operas, once a sig- Saudi Arabia shunning suffering Turkish real estate market spend an average of $500 a day as Turkey has become a safe haven, nificant weapon in Ankara’s soft political Islamic movements could be further damaged by a mass tourists in the country, significantly particularly for the Muslim Broth- power arsenal, have also suffered while Turkey has become a exodus of Saudi property holdings,” higher than European visitors. erhood movement. because of the country’s frosty safe haven, particularly for said Hussein Ibish of the Arab Gulf The Saudi strategy seems to be Saudi Arabia and its allies, in- relations with Gulf nations. Ma- the Muslim Brotherhood States Institute in Washington. working. The Economist said Saudi cluding the United Arab Emirates jor regional networks, including movement. Saudis are highly sought tourists, tourist arrivals were down 31% in and Egypt, do not agree with Tur- Saudi-owned MBC, have pulled with the ability to make any holiday the first five months of 2019, com- key’s support for the Muslim Broth- Turkish-produced melodramas off Both the kingdom’s traditional destination’s summer season a suc- pared with 2018. erhood, which is outlawed in all the air. and new media have been dis- cess, as has been seen in countries A major contributing factor to three countries. couraging tourism to Turkey, with such as Lebanon, which was on the current relations between Saudi They also oppose the Turkish Mohammed Alkhereiji is the Gulf reports claiming it is a dangerous receiving end of a recently over- Arabia and Turkey is Ankara’s government’s backing of Qatar, section editor of The Arab Weekly.

Viewpoint Muslim Brotherhood’s strategy in the Gulf is failing t is as if the Arab region — clashing with those capitals was extremely harsh positions towards When the iron grip of the security the Gulf in particular — was inevitable. the government of Kuwait. Backed apparatus looms, it lies low and Omar Ali sitting on a powder keg In the targeted countries, the by foreign powers, they quickly adopts a flattering discourse. al-Badawi waiting for it to explode in Brotherhood invested in civil crossed red lines because they However, as soon as the grip the face of the people of the society institutions, associations, thought that the time was ripe to loosens and regional conditions region, its governments and parties and government pounce on power. look ripe, it quickly sharpens its Iits stability. departments, especially in However, they quickly toned tongues and knives. We’ve learnt that Kuwait handed ministries such as education, down their rhetoric about the The Muslim Brotherhood over to Egypt wanted members information and endowments. Kuwaiti people and leadership has always considered the Gulf of the Muslim Brotherhood. The It built a wide network of star when Saudi Arabia, the United region a suitable backyard for its Kuwaiti move was like lifting the speakers and sermonisers, who Arab Emirates and Bahrain, along projects. It has planted its roots cover off the hushed part of the were helped in their endeavour with Egypt, cut ties with Qatar deep in some Gulf countries and Muslim Brotherhood’s efforts to by the religious conservatism of and the Brotherhood. relocated operations headquarters gain power everywhere and by the local societies and their innate We see them today change there after it was kicked out of any means. enthusiasm for everything related skin once more and return to Egypt. Unfortunately for the The Brotherhood has for many to the outer formal manifestations insulting Kuwait because of Brotherhood, international and years been putting in place of religiosity. the incident mentioned above. economic pressures on Turkey are plans for penetrating social and Most of the cell members Some of the voices raised from likely to make Ankara impatient political structures and state arrested by the Kuwaiti authorities inside Kuwait were sceptical with the Brotherhood and take an and social institutions. It quietly were working for charitable but the traditional Brotherhood opposite path. and patiently invested time and societies and had links to Turkey propaganda platforms in Turkey The Muslim Brotherhood pawns energy to bring them to fruition. and Qatar. described Kuwaiti authorities as in the Gulf have always adopted Unfortunately for the The Muslim Brotherhood treacherous. a policy of covert confrontation Brotherhood, those plans did not cells in the Gulf were known for In the Gulf, the Brotherhood has with their traditional adversary, succeed and have been shrinking their touchiness. For example, always had a double discourse. the government. They hide and as the organisation has gone following the 2011 uprisings in It seemed harmless but does manoeuvre and their reactions through one of the most crucial other Arab countries, they took not hesitate to spring its claws. vary with events and conditions stages in its history, especially in but they are always ready to regions that were safe havens for pounce on any public displeasure the Brotherhood and constituted anywhere and exploit it for their strategic reserves for rainy and rebellion. dark days. There is no doubt the pre- Today, the Brotherhood is emptive security coup in Kuwait facing a tougher resistance and was a huge blow for the Muslim its arsenal is falling apart. Its war Brotherhood. It seems that on the region is about to reach its nobody swallowed its poisoned final battle and gloomy endings bait this time and that its flip- are looming. flopping caused it to fall in the The Brotherhood invested trap of its own evil machinations. The Muslim Brothers heavily in the Gulf, saving the It appears the near future is fruits of its labour for occasions going to be full of unpleasant can certainly look for that may impede its path to surprises for the Brothers. They a tighter grip as more empowerment. Its strongholds can certainly look for a tighter cells are dismantled in the Gulf have been sources of grip as more cells are dismantled funding and logistical support and their rosy dreams of and their rosy dreams and provided highly credible empowerment slowly evaporate in of empowerment propaganda platforms engaged the Gulf. in provocative campaigns against slowly evaporate in the central Gulf capitals. In the A matter of security. A Kuwaiti man is searched by security Omar Ali al-Badawi is a Saudi the Gulf. Brotherhood’s long-term plans, members outside a mosque in Kuwait City. (AFP) journalist. 12 August 4, 2019 News & Analysis Iraq

Baghdad-Erbil disputes set to continue amid divisions in Kurdistan

Azhar Al-Rubaie good ties with Kurdish officials. Good relations between Nechir- van Barzani and Abdul-Mahdi, how- Baghdad ever, may not be enough to iron out disputes between the central gov- espite years of negotiations ernment and the KRG. Among the between the Iraqi central topics of contention are the KRG’s government and the Kurd- exporting of oil, the annual budget D istan Regional Govern- for Kurdistan and who should con- ment over a series of thorny issues, trol the province of Kirkuk. a positive outcome for the talks has Iraq’s 2019 budget allows the KRG remained elusive. to export 250,000 barrels per day Complicating the divide between (bpd) via Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Baghdad and Erbil are increasing Company (SOMO) but Kurdish offi- divisions among Kurdish parties in cials directly export up to 500,000 Kurdistan and the Baghdad govern- bpd to Turkey. ment’s preoccupation with broader Baghdad allocated Kurdistan 12% problems that the country as a ($8.2 billion) of the country’s 2019 whole faces. budget, promising to honour the Tensions between federal author- budget even if the KRG does not ities and the Kurdistan Regional abide by exporting its oil via SOMO. Government (KRG) peaked when The Baghdad government had re- Masoud Barzani, then KRG presi- frained from paying the KRG when dent, called an independence ref- Kurdish officials chose to sell oil in- erendum on September 2017 that dependently of Baghdad. The KRG Baghdad branded unconstitutional. share of the 2019 national budget was decreased. Iraq’s 2019 budget allows “In 2014, the KRG budget was 17% and it was 13% before 2014,” the KRG to export 250,000 Baghdad-based political analyst barrels per day (bpd) via Raad Hashim said. The reason for Iraq’s State Oil Marketing the jump, Hashim said, was a re- Family feud. Kurdistan Regional Government President Nechirvan Barzani delivers a speech during his Company but Kurdish ward from Prime Minister Nuri al- inauguration in Erbil, June 19. (Office of Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government) officials have continued to Maliki to Kurdish politicians who directly export up to voted for him to have a second term 500,000 bpd to Turkey. in office. “We (in the Future bloc) will try We as Kurds should always build The opposition to the KRG, how- “The two sides [Baghdad and to hold KRG officials accountable alliances (with Baghdad) based on ever, is itself divided. The Future The Iraqi government, under the Erbil] might reach partial solutions for unconstitutional oil exporta- principles and values.” bloc includes politicians who re- leadership of Prime Minister Haider once they have a political will but tion. We will pressure the federal Shamsulddin accused the Bar- cently broke from the New Genera- al-Abadi, imposed punitive meas- Kirkuk will remain the most serious government to avoid punishing zanis of having a hostile view to- tion, another opposition bloc in the ures against the KRG, forcing Bar- issue to be solved,” Hashim added. the people of Kurdistan when wards Baghdad. Kurdistan parliament. zani to back down and eventually Members of opposition parties in KRG doesn’t abide by the laws. We “They see Baghdad as a threat Sarwa Abdul Wahid, a former resign as president. the KRG are calling for better coop- should never ever allow political or this is how they portray it,” he member of parliament for the New Abadi also reclaimed most of eration between Baghdad and Erbil, disagreements over oil and rev- said. “They export oil to Turkey for Generation, accused the Future the territory taken by the Islamic including the halt of unauthorised enues lead to ethnic and sectarian a much cheaper price than Bagh- bloc lawmakers of being “oppor- State (ISIS) in 2014 and later lost by oil sales from Kurdistan region. divisions. We fight for unity and dad’s oil. They invited foreign oil tunistic parliamentarians” who de- ISIS to Kurdish peshmerga forces, Sarkawt Shamsulddin, a member peace at all costs,” Shamsulddin companies and gave them huge serted their original party. with military help from the United of the opposition Future bloc in the said. benefits so they can fight Baghdad “I hope they work to change the States. Kurdistan parliament, said the al- “The Future bloc’s approach is by involving many interest groups. political reality in Iraq and not be The KRG has since selected a new liance in parliament, led by Rabun to bring Erbil to Baghdad’s circle “Baghdad knows that KRG’s oil part of the lame political process,” president — Barzani’s nephew Ne- Maroof, is giving the KRG and Bagh- peacefully. It is our core strategy exportation cannot be stopped un- Abdul Wahid said. chirvan Barzani — and the country dad six months to resolve their dis- to build strong relations between less Baghdad is ready to pay a huge has a new prime minister in Adel putes before asking the Federal Su- both governments based on the price and face another internal cri- Azhar Al-Rubaie is a freelance Abdul-Mahdi, who is known to have preme Court of Iraq to intervene. constitution and mutual respect. sis with Erbil.” journalist in Iraq.

Viewpoint US needs to force Iraq to act against Iran’s militias

t has been more than a anyone who has noticed that Iraq IRGC proxies running amok across problem of Iranian influence, the month-and-a-half since US is supposed to be a US ally but Iraq, the very arms of government militias have ignored previous Tallha officials concluded that an allows its territory to be used to and the security forces are filled to calls to disarm. Abdulrazaq attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil attack Washington’s other friends. the brim with Iranian agents. Abdul-Mahdi was a high-ranking pipeline was orchestrated The Iraqi government owes its very Take Iraqi Prime Minister member of the Supreme Council by pro-Iran Shia militants existence to the US-led invasion of Adel Abdul-Mahdi, for example. for the Islamic Revolution in Ioperating out of southern Iraq Iraq in 2003 that toppled Saddam Following Saudi and US pressure, Iraq, itself an Iran-incubated Shia and about the same amount of Hussein, only to replace him he recently ordered all militias to Islamist political project that time since US Secretary of State with a tyrannical Frankenstein’s either disarm and join the political sought to implement Iran’s brand Mike Pompeo raised the issue monster of a democracy. process or merge into the Iraqi of Khomeinism in Iraq. with the Iraqi government. The laughable thing is that, even armed forces. Not only is Abdul- Is it therefore any surprise at all Despite US “pressure” on the if a handful of people in the Iraqi Mahdi’s suggestion unworkable, that the Iraqi government, when Iraqis to act, Baghdad denied the government wanted to end the because it does not remove the led by the likes of Abdul-Mahdi involvement of Tehran’s proxies and countless other elites who or that an attack was launched owe their loyalty to Iran, will act from Iraqi soil and opted to ignore in Tehran’s best interests at the Washington, demonstrating who expense of Washington’s or indeed holds most of the cards in the tug- the Iraqi people’s? of-war for influence between Iran Iraqi IRGC agents such as Abu and the United States. Mahdi al-Muhandis hold official The US Department of Defence government positions and have and the US State Department said access to a portion of the defence one of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary and security budget as well as Guard Corps’ (IRGC) militias, copious amounts of government- Kata’ib Hezbollah, was responsible supplied US armaments. for the attack on Saudi oil The United States must no infrastructure and not fellow longer mollycoddle the Iraqi IRGC proxies, the Yemeni Houthi administration and must use rebels who initially claimed firmer measures to ensure responsibility for the attack. compliance and to create an Because of the IRGC’s influence effective pushback against malign in Iraq, it uses the country as a Iranian influence. launchpad to strike at or simply Washington could halt sanctions threaten not only US interests waivers for Iraq and force it The United States but also American allies and to comply with international must no longer cause instability in global energy sanctions against Iran or risk markets. Other attacks in Iraq catastrophic economic damage. mollycoddle the Iraqi included military facilities This may serve as a sobering administration and housing US troops and operations reminder for Baghdad to stop of oil companies working Iraq’s risking the Iraqi people’s stability must use firmer southern oil fields. and future by putting them in measures to ensure The IRGC has outmanoeuvred the middle of a fight for influence compliance and to the United States at every turn in between the United States and Iraq and embarrass the Americans Iran. create an effective by arming their proxies with pushback against weaponised drones with which Tallha Abdulrazaq is a researcher they have attacked against US at the University of Exeter’s malign Iranian allies, such as Saudi Arabia. Iranian clout. Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces march in Baghdad, Strategy and Security Institute in influence. The irony should not be lost on May 31. (AP) England. August 4, 2019 13 News & Analysis Syria Astana talks achieve mixed results although crucial issues broached

Simon Speakman Cordall recognition to the Assad regime. The most significant gain ap- peared to have been secured dur- Tunis ing the first day of talks, with the announcement that Russia and esults from the 13th round the regime’s bombardment of Idlib of Astana talks on Syria would be halted, allowing Turkey were limited, as expected, an opportunity to marshal its forc- R but there was reported es in the area. progress on establishing a cease- With large parts of Syria reduced fire, forming a constitutional com- to rubble and living conditions mittee and mulling reconstruction. of many Syrians, residing either The talks August 1-2 in Kazakh- within the country or the sprawl- stan were sponsored by Russia, ing refugee camps of its neigh- Turkey and Iran. Representatives bours, desperate, the argument for from Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and reconstruction is growing increas- the United Nations attended as ob- ingly urgent. servers. As that debate draws on, plan- Expectations for the Kazakhstan ners in Moscow are growing con- talks, which began when the coun- cerned that the Kremlin will be left try’s capital, now Nur-Sultan, was bearing the burden. called Astana, were limited. Be- “Russia finds itself in a quag- ginning in January 2017, the nego- mire,” former US Ambassador tiations were intended to comple- William Courtney, of the RAND ment the United Nations’ Geneva Corporation think-tank, said. “It process on Syria, which stated in continues to support the brutal As- 2014. sad regime but worries that Syrians For many Western observers, the will come to blame Russia for de- Astana process was considered a stroying much of their country and bid by Russian President Vladimir for not helping to rebuild it.” Putin to stake his claim to a central For Moscow, the chances of Eu- seat at the diplomatic table as the ropean powers contributing to the conflict in Syria drew down. While country’s reconstruction without progress across both processes has first achieving tangible progress been faltering, they have main- in the Geneva process are slim. To Modest objectives. Officials attend a session of the peace talks on Syria in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, tained a dialogue between many of this end, the Astana process has August 2. (Reuters) the conflict’s principal actors. rarely been more vital to Russian On completing the latest round interests. those ends is unclear. While the ritorial gains, while dividing the towards its borders. Being a mem- of talks, all parties expressed satis- “This is the quagmire for Mos- UN talks have maintained a broad opposition, with some groups, par- ber of the tripartite mechanism faction towards establishing a con- cow. For the Geneva process to suc- remit, hoping to bring a stable ticularly in Idlib, refusing to coop- also provided Turkey’s military stitutional committee. ceed, the Kremlin must pressure peace to Syria, the Astana process erate outright. presence in northern Syria with However, there was no indica- the Assad regime to cooperate, has been more limited. some form of political legitimacy.” tion as to who might sit on that thus, to some extent, jeopardising “Astana’s stated objectives were While the Idlib ceasefire may body, only that it would convene in its relationship with Damascus, in- always more modest,” IHS Markit As the debate draws on, have bought Turkey time, it was Geneva at the earliest opportunity. cluding its hopes for a ‘great pow- Principal Analyst Ege Seckin said, planners in Moscow are unclear whether Ankara will be Delegates committed to reducing er’ role in Syria and permanent na- “focusing on tactical military deals growing concerned that willing to engage with the prov- civilian casualties within the con- val and air bases there,” Courtney rather than political ‘grandstand- the Kremlin will be left ince’s principal jihadist group, flict while protecting Syria’s terri- said. ing’.” bearing the burden. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Un- torial integrity. Without European involvement, “Each party in the Astana, (pro- til HTS can be disbanded or con- There was a call for the United “much of Syria could remain a cess) has its own reasons for be- “For Turkey, Astana served to re- tained, it will remain a threat to Nations to deliver aid as soon as wasteland, an enduring reminder ing there,” Seckin said. “For Rus- strain Syrian government advanc- Damascus and Russia. possible and without precondi- of Russia’s destructive role there,” sia and the Syrian government, es into opposition-controlled ter- tion, a key test for Western diplo- he concluded. the ceasefires provided them with ritories, such as Idlib, which would Simon Speakman Cordall is a mats wary of offering any form of Whether Astana can achieve time and space to consolidate ter- risk triggering new refugee influx freelance writer.

Viewpoint Idlib’s precarious position in the periphery of conflict and ceasefire

he northern Syria gov- of casualties in opposition-held In part, this was due to internal the clear intention to destroy the ernate of Idlib exists territory. displacement caused by the war’s civilian support base that Syria’s on many peripheries. Befitting an unconventional shifting front lines. Others went rebels live among and rely upon to James Snell It — along with parts war, civilians have faced the most north in the hope of leaving Syria, continue their fight,” O’Farrell said. of Aleppo and Hama violence. Civilians have been something Turkey restricted Late last year and sporadically — is dominated by purposefully targeted by regime by closing its border with Idlib. since, ceasefires have been agreed Trebel and Islamist groups. It and Russian aircraft. Notably, Others were deported from rebel- between the regime, Russia and borders territory held by the civilian targets in districts such as held areas where fighters had Idlib’s defenders. These cessations regime of Syrian President Ma’arrat al-Numan, including the signed surrender deals with the do not hold long and have only Bashar Assad but does not fall oppositionist town of Kafr Nabel, regime after they fell. marked brief interludes between under the government’s sway. have been bombed consistently. These deals included the new outbreaks of fighting. At midnight August 1, a new Ryan O’Farrell, an independent deportation of fighters and Amid the violence and sporadic ceasefire was declared in Idlib. analyst, said: “As ground civilians, including their families, ceasefires that have marked Idlib’s Pro-Assad media called it a operations in northern Hama in green buses that became situation for much of the year, its conditional arrangement. It slowed in July, the regime and emblematic of the Syrian civil fate has appeared on the margin cannot be expected to hold long [its] Russian allies significantly war’s latter stages. of global interest. Brief flares and does not resolve the situation escalated air strikes and artillery All this has swollen the of interest in the situation have of opposition-held territory in barrages on population centres in population, civilian and armed to arisen the West where regime and northern Syria. rebel-held Idlib province.” an estimated 3 million civilians Russian bombing is reported but Internationally, Idlib presents The toll of the bombings in Idlib and the Aleppo and Hama rarely analysed. a Syrian border to Turkey. It has been intense. Regime and countryside. Opposition media recently is a springboard for Turkish Russian pilots are accused of Idlib’s fighting population has released footage of a 5-year-old involvement in opposition-held deliberately attacking residential also increased substantially. girl, Riham, rescuing her infant Syria and a destination for Syrian and commercial areas to increase Though rebel and jihadist groups sister, Tuqa, after an attack on refugees, formerly resident in the destruction of their aerial have spent some of their strength their home in Ariha. Riham Turkey, who have been “returned” campaign. jockeying for control of the reached for and held her sister, to their homeland by Turkish Hospitals and other medical territory they inhabit, there are preventing her from falling amid Idlib is on the border decision. facilities in Idlib have been thousands of fighters present the rubble, as their father looked More significantly, Idlib occupies repeatedly bombed. When new whose numbers alone make the on. Riham later died of her of regime-controlled a periphery between conflict and clinics open, they are attacked, conquest of Idlib by the regime a injuries. Her death and heroism Syria, on the edge of ceasefire, a condition that allows even when clinics are constructed remote prospect. were noted by some across the global attention and for intense fighting and mounting underground. This explains the resorting, by world. casualties but for most of the last “Thousands of strikes have the regime and Russia, to aerial Idlib remains in peripheral on the periphery of year, its would-be invaders have killed more than 800 civilians, warfare and the targeting of states. It is on the border of conventional conflict deferred conclusive battles. purposefully targeted more than civilian areas. regime-controlled Syria, on the Although recent weeks have 20 hospitals and displaced more “As has long been standard edge of global attention and on but the violence seen direct fighting between than half a million civilians, many operating procedure for the the periphery of conventional facing its inhabitants groups allied with the government of whom have been displaced regime, mass bombardments of conflict but the violence facing its is real and and others opposing it, more before,” O’Farrell said. civilian areas and the targeting inhabitants is real and inescapable, often the violence has come from The population of Idlib rose of critical civilian infrastructure entirely central to their lives. inescapable, entirely the air. Aerial bombardments substantially in the course of have preceded, accompanied and central to their lives. have accounted for hundreds Syria’s war. replaced ground operations, with James Snell is a British journalist. 14 August 4, 2019 Debate Lebanon Walid Jumblatt, last man standing

While Bassil is central to the problem, he could simply be using the government standoff to Makram Rabah distract the public as he braces for further economic sanctions against Hezbollah that could include ruze elders often the group’s allies. With growing refer to a thorny, economic and military pressure complicated matter against it, Hezbollah cannot afford as “a case of several to come up against any voices of folds.” The term dissent within Lebanon’s cabinet, aptly describes a especially those with Jumblatt’s Ddispute between Druze chieftain regional influence, including with Walid Jumblatt and Hezbollah Syria’s Druze and potentially Israel. and its allies, which are fixated The second fold in the dispute on overpowering Jumblatt and involves Iran’s and Russia’s tug turning him into a willing of war over Syria. While Russia accomplice in their plan to is hoping to exit the inferno after extend influence beyond Leba- forging a resolution that ensures non’s borders. an Iranian withdrawal and a Syrian The dispute between the two Army that is strong enough to sides flared up in Mount Lebanon, protect its borders with Israel, where supporters of pro-Syrian Tehran is unwilling to relinquish Druze MP Talal Arslan, an ally any of its political or military of Lebanese Foreign Minister spoils. Gebran Bassil and Hezbollah, were Since the start of the Syrian killed in clashes with supporters revolution, Jumblatt has played of Jumblatt, who heads the rival a central role in the evolving Druze Progressive Socialist Party. dynamics. He has gone to great Bassil, Hezbollah’s main lengths to keep Syria’s Druze out Christian ally, cynically used the of the conflict, encouraging them incident to consolidate power to desert from Syrian President and systematically disenfranchise Bashar Assad’s military. many of his foes and allies, While Jumblatt and his old Back in the spotlight. Lebanon’s Druze leader Walid Jumblatt (R) attends talks at the parliament starting with Lebanese Prime Russian allies diverged over building in downtown Beirut. (Reuters) Minister Saad Hariri, who Moscow’s support for Assad, has become ancillary Jumblatt established to both Bassil and his What is more back channels between cooperated in security coordination more importantly, as a champion to reclaim his share of Lebanon’s Iranian allies. important is the anti-Assad Druze to avoid violent altercations, and protector of Syrian refugees, archaic political system. However, After the Hezbollah’s effort to in Syria and the particularly in mixed Druze-Shia which both Nasrallah and Bassil are what is more important is shooting, Bassil’s hijack the Lebanese Russian military. areas. That era, however, appears eager to deport. Hezbollah’s effort to hijack the bloc demanded government and the One of those to be over. Today, Jumblatt, seen as In a recent television interview, Lebanese government and the the issue be future of the struggling channels, ironically, a threat to the expansionist project Nasrallah took off the gloves future of the struggling nation referred to the nation that is left with helped the Russians of Hezbollah Secretary-General and accused Jumblatt and other that is left with only two options: Judicial Council, only two options: convince the Druze Hassan Nasrallah and his pro-Iran critics of Hezbollah of conspiring economic or political collapse. an extrajudicial economic or political to consider rejoining militia, is to be attacked at any cost. against their so-called axis In this dangerous confrontation, body that handles collapse. and helping rebuild It is true that Jumblatt does not of resistance. That statement standing by Jumblatt and opposing matters of national a planned Russian have the strength he did a decade revealed Nasrallah’s true colours Hezbollah’s total takeover of security. Jumblatt, trained-Syrian Army. ago. In May 2008, he and his Druze and reminded everyone that the the Lebanese state are moral along with Hariri and Lebanese Nevertheless, Jumblatt has supporters repelled a Hezbollah current government standoff is obligations that no one should shy Forces Chairman Samir drawn the ire of both Iran and invasion into areas under their about far more than Lebanon’s away from. Geagea, stood in the way, causing Assad for pushing the Druze away control and helped foil a coup Druze community. It is a fight for Bassil to boycott a scheduled from their axis. against the government of Prime what remains of Lebanon and its Makram Rabah is a lecturer at cabinet meeting. As a result, Jumblatt and Hezbollah used to Minister Fouad Siniora. However, sovereignty. the American University of Beirut Lebanon’s cabinet has effectively abide by a few simple rules to keep while Jumblatt is weakened, he still Many look at the mercurial and and author of “A Campus at War: been stagnant for more than a the peace. Neither side publicly stands as a symbol of resistance fickle Jumblatt as a diminishing Student Politics at the American month. attacked the other and each against Hezbollah and, perhaps political figure who simply wants University of Beirut, 1967-1975.” Lebanon’s Christians are missing the point

Khairallah Khairallah the impression that the Nasserite Lebanon’s higher interests above Lebanon’s Christians have had a instincts or the time for objecting project of pan-Arab nationalism anything else. historic role in the region at every to a Mashrou’ Leila concert. here is a farcical side had been defeated in the region. At that time, Lebanon had to level. They played a major role in Rather, this is a time for serious and a tragic side to the At that time, a tripartite Christian deal with new realities created preserving the Arabic language reflection on the economic crisis opposition shown by alliance was formed to counter the by the Arab defeat in the 1967 by introducing the first printing facing the country, a crisis that some Christians in Shehabist current in Lebanon. The war with Israel, a defeat that had presses into the region and in the threatens to bring down all of Lebanon to the all-important Lebanese Phalanges affected Lebanon negatively. Later, monasteries of Lebanon. Lebanon and its banks. scheduled concert in Party made the monumental Edde, who represented the district However, the stirring of We need to hear rational TByblos by Lebanon’s best-known mistake of leaving the Shehabist of Byblos, redeemed himself and religious instincts has never Christian voices point out rock band Mashrou’ Leila. ranks and joining the tripartite his reputation by being the only served the Lebanese the danger inherent in The farcical side resides in alliance that included President Christian leader to oppose the Christians well. Each objecting to a cultural the fact that none of those who Camille Chamoun, Sheikh Pierre Cairo agreement, abandoning time they resorted to performance such opposed the concert really knew Gemayel and General Raymond the presidency complex that them, they suffered It is ironic to find as Mashrou’ Leila’s the band or its importance in Edde. other Maronite leaders could not a setback. What people with an concert at Byblos. Lebanon. Mashrou’ Leila had Edde was a man of great insight overcome. has worked was extremist ISIS- The base and vile previously performed in Byblos, into Lebanese affairs and regional What is even more tragic these their openness on like mentality language used to an ancient city that gave us the and international conditions but days is when Lebanon’s Christians Lebanon’s other among the object to the band writing alphabet. So, obviously, he had old scores to settle with the divert their attention from the communities Lebanese reveals the rot that these censors do not know — or legacy of Fuad Shehab. So, he fell country’s major problems and and on their Arab Christians. has infected the could not care less about — why into the Christian trap into which focus on Mashrou’ Leila. Will the surroundings. Christian situation Byblos deserves every honour, he wouldn’t have fallen were it band perform in Byblos? That Instead of getting in Lebanon. Above all, including having Mashrou’ Leila not for his personal sensitivities was the major existential question caught up in Mashrou’ it reveals the Christian perform at its festival. because he was a man who placed confronting them. Leila’s concert, they should inability to rise to the level The reasons advanced by the have remembered that the of the challenges facing all of “rejectionists” had nothing to do minority alliance that Iran Lebanon with its Christians and with the truth of the matter. Not wants to drag them into is the Muslims. only did they represent an insult shortest way to disaster. At the top of the list of those to Byblos, they were an insult The Lebanese Christians must challenges we find the illegal to all Christians in Lebanon and realise they cannot regain any weapons that are at Iran’s everything related to the Maronite supposed rights by relying on service. We find also the extreme Church and to the value of Hezbollah’s weapons. Only the deterioration of living conditions openness on all that is civilised. Taif Agreement, which secured among Muslims and Christians. It is ironic to find people with their equal power quota, can save The major ambition of young an extremist Islamic State-like them from the illusions they fell Christians in Lebanon is to mentality among the Lebanese victim to when Suleiman Frangieh emigrate. Christians. Those who objected to became president of the republic Then again, what can be Mashrou’ Leila’s concert in Byblos, in 1970. Frangieh was a strong expected of a country where for the reasons they advanced, president and no one can doubt his there is no longer a Christian could only be said to belong to integrity and his patriotism. voice that can call for a pause the Islamic State in thought and Every time Lebanon had to and wonder: Where were we and conduct. think about how to protect itself, where did we get to when we Sadly, the objection to the band someone or some party came along started demanding our rights by and its songs could very well fit and stirred sectarian instincts, relying on Hezbollah’s weapons? within the context of the Lebanese especially among Christians How was it possible for Lebanon Christians’ downfall spiral that hoping to drag them into a to let go of the opportunity to elect began in the post-1967 war period, Standing up to the church. A demonstrator holds a placard during dangerous game that brought someone such as Nassib Lahoud as when Christian base instincts a gathering in support of Lebanese indie band Mashrou’ Leila in nothing but disaster to them. president? Could Lebanon’s luck came to the fore encouraged by Beirut, July 29. (AFP) This is not the time for stirring be this bad? August 4, 2019 15 News & Analysis Turkey Turkey hints at new Syria operation as domestic pressure over refugees grows

Thomas Seibert to their war-torn country to cel- ebrate Eid al-Adha, only to return to Turkey once festivities are over. Istanbul Video from the border purportedly showed families with bags and suit- mid growing domestic cases heading for Syria. pressure on the Turkish “Some of our Syrians go on holi- government over the pres- day and come back,” journalist Is- A ence of 3.6 million Syrians mail Saymaz told broadcaster Haber in the country, Ankara is warning Global. “Nobody from Germany the United States that it might send goes to Syria,” Saymaz said in refer- troops into north-eastern Syria to ence to several hundred thousand eject Kurdish fighters from a “safe Syrians who found refuge in that zone” that could be used for a mass country, “and those who do go are return of refugees. not allowed to come back.” In a phone call with US Defence Others said Syrians in Turkey Secretary Mark Esper, Turkish De- should fight against the government fence Minister Hulusi Akar repeated of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Ankara’s determination to drive the Melih Gokcek, a former mayor of Kurdish People’s Protection Units Ankara, and a member of the rul- (YPG) militia, a partner of the Unit- ing Justice and Development Party ed States, out of an area on the Syr- of Turkish President Recep Tayyip ian side of the Turkish border. Erdogan took to Twitter to propose The Turkish Defence Ministry that all Syrian refugees under the reported that Akar said: “If we fail age of 35 should receive military to reach a common understanding training in Turkey and then “sent with the United States, we will have to the front.” Those who refused to establish the safe zone unilater- “should be deported immediately,” ally. Turkey is the only appropriate, Gokcek wrote. ready and capable force in the re- Erdogan’s government says it gion to control and provide security does not plan to deport Syrians but Rising tensions. Members of Turkish human rights NGOs take part in a demonstration to support in that zone.” to distribute them more evenly over refugees in Istanbul, July 27. (AFP) The statement came after Turk- Turkey. Syrians without a residence ish-US talks about the “safe zone” permit for Istanbul, a city with a project failed. It also coincided with Syrian refugee community of more to live with so many people from Syria and to build camps so that Ankara says the aim of the ex- a rising tide of anti-Syrian senti- than 500,000, are to be transferred a different culture for such a long refugees from Turkey can be sent pected incursion would be to push ment in Turkey that is pressuring to other cities. time,” Guven said by telephone. there,” Guven said. “The govern- the YPG about 40km from the Turk- the government in Ankara. Istanbul’s newly elected mayor, “There is a grand coalition against ment will try to send as many Syr- ish border. The Kurdish militia, a An economic downturn has opposition politician Ekrem Ima- Syrians in Turkey that ranges from ians to this ‘safe zone’ as possible.” key partner of the United States in soured the mood of many Turks moglu, welcomed the move but the right to the left and includes all Sazak agreed. He said there was a the fight against the Islamic State, concerning Syrian refugees. “Syri- said the government’s “open door” layers of society.” high likelihood that Erdogan, acute- has created an autonomous region ans go home” has become a rallying policy that allowed millions of Syr- ly aware of the public mood in his on the Syrian side of the border but cry for many who are certain that ians to enter Turkey should be chal- An economic downturn has country, would send troops to Syr- is regarded as a terrorist organisa- Syrians take jobs from Turks. lenged. soured the mood of many ia with the argument that Turkey tion by Turkey. Selim Sazak, a US-based Tur- “It is necessary to send those needed to make it possible for Syr- Turkey and the United States key expert, said “economic angst, without papers to [other] provinc- Turks concerning Syrian ians to return to their country. have been unable to agree on a plan misdirected anger, cultural disso- es,” Imamoglu told the Turkish ser- refugees. “Syrians go home” “Erdogan lives and breathes polls. for the “safe zone” that would be nance and political fear” were the vice of Germany’s state broadcaster, has become a rallying cry for He devours them,” Sazak wrote. acceptable for both Turkey and the main factors behind the anti-Syrian Deutsche Welle. “One has to ask many who are certain that Erdogan has been talking about YPG. Unilateral Turkish action, as mood. “When you see foreign- how we arrived at this point, why Syrians take jobs from a possible third Turkish incursion threatened by Akar, could be slow ers dining in the fancy restaurants precautions weren’t taken.” Turks. into Syria east of the Euphrates and difficult because Turkish forces while you yourself can barely pay Banu Guven, a prominent Turkish River — after military action west might have to operate without air your grocery bill, that creates re- journalist, said the government had The government’s musings about of the river in 2016 and 2018 — since cover in the absence of an agree- sentment,” Sazak said via What- assumed that the refugees would the Syrian “safe zone” are at least last December. Turkey feels that its ment with US forces, who control sApp. return to Syria soon and had done partly a response to that develop- position has been strengthened by the skies over northern Syria. The anti-Syrian mood was boost- little to integrate the refugees into ment. US President Donald Trump’s deci- ed on news that thousands of refu- society. “I think the government plans to sion to withdraw 2,000 US troops Thomas Seibert is an Arab Weekly gees were temporarily returning “For the first time, Turks have had establish a ‘safe zone’ in northern deployed in Syria. correspondent.

Viewpoint Turkey’s irresolute opposition gives Erdogan time to recover

t’s over,” I hear many could have joined forces and called Erdogan’s ears. He knows that “backward” elements should be observers of Turkish for early elections after seeing that the main opposition has chosen sent back where they belong. If “ politics say. “He is the ruling AKP’s votes went down to be a voluntary hostage to his coming from the president, the Yavuz Baydar playing the extra time to an all-time low of 35%. None of adventurist foreign policy and change of policy diverted the now,” they note in a that happened. he knows that the CHP has no anger from his palace to an outcast reference to Recep Erdogan chose to lay low, alternative economic policy, giving social group, distracting the once- TayyipI Erdogan, Turkey’s waiting for the dust to settle, to him four precious years to recover, accumulated energy to push him invincible supreme leader. return to business as usual. Well regroup the AKP and consolidate from power. Is it truly over? Is he really aware that he has to keep close to his iron rule. In short, Erdogan has This leaves a true counter- playing the extra time? A week, his ally, the Nationalist Movement all the necessary codes to help him dynamic that challenges the power even a day, is a long time in Party, Erdogan stuck to his rhetoric survive at a very critical time of his structure: the looming economic Turkish politics. and continued on the same path. political journey. crisis. This is the only part where What is over is the euphoria Erdogan’s loyal cadres in the Why isn’t the opposition Erdogan plays for time, busy of the opposition, following the Istanbul Municipal Council left stronger after the Istanbul calculating how to create a feasible sweeping victory in the “repeat Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the elections? While the CHP is in equation on which he would still elections” for Istanbul. More big winner of the elections, in a “wait and see till AKP cracks” be on top. than a month has passed, there convulsions over how to manage mood, all it has to say about the This is the point that may is not much left of the clouds of a nearly bankrupt municipality, bleeding Kurdish issue is that, be causing illusions for his hope and the magnetic motto, where the financial resources in the words of its leader, “we antagonists and observers. They “everything will be just fine.” had been siphoned off by murky are updating our report on the should not forget that Erdogan The opposition seems to have means. problem.” is constantly busy keeping returned to its default setting as More important, Erdogan’s major Leader of its minor Iyi ally, Meral bureaucracy and institutions a dispersed, confused entity. It is adversary, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Aksener, keeps repeating the same on edge to keep them under his made up of the main opposition the leader of the secular CHP, sentence that Erdogan will not be control. His grip on the media Republican People’s Party (CHP), backed the Turkish president’s toppled via elections. is intact, as his loyal cadres in Not much of the which is in an alliance with the moves to challenge the United As for the HDP, having done parliament and, despite minor equation is likely to nationalist Iyi party. There is also States on the purchase of a Russian much of the crucial tactical voting deviations, the judiciary is in his the outsider pro-Kurdish the S-400 missile defence system as a to defeat Erdogan out of the big orbit. change unless the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). “national security necessity.” cities, it is now on hold, to see Not much of this equation opposition gets its act Erdogan seems to be At a CHP party meeting, whether the centrist opposition is likely to change unless the together and congratulating himself that he Kilicdaroglu said: “We, as the CHP, means serious business to pull opposition gets its act together, didn’t act impulsively to the result. shall not call for early elections back Turkey onto the rails of rises to the golden occasion and accumulates energy He would have feared that the loss because we all know that the democratisation. accumulates energy through the through the growing of six largest municipalities to the country undergoes a very intense Meanwhile, the deportation of growing dismay of a public starting opposition bloc would have led to economic crisis. We don’t think it Syrian refugees from large cities to feel the pain of economic dismay of a public a massive cop-out from his ruling is right to go to polls under such seems to “soften” Erdogan’s hardship. starting to feel the Justice and Development Party conditions. Let us give them (AKP) opponents, particularly in pain of economic (AKP). time. Will they be able to deliver or Istanbul, because he seems to Yavuz Baydar is a Turkish He would blink before his not? The citizens should see this.” follow their demand that Syrians journalist and regular columnist hardship. adversaries — CHP, Iyi and HDP — Those statements are music to and Afghans and all the other for The Arab Weekly. 16 August 4, 2019 Debate East West

Trump takes on congress to protect US-Saudi ties

war in Yemen, which created a severe humanitarian crisis in that Gregory country and led members to Aftandilian criticise the United States’ role in assisting the Saudi-led campaign against the Houthi rebels. Indeed, the latter issue became S President Donald so controversial that Congress Trump has used his invoked the War Powers Resolu- constitutional tion, legislation that was enacted powers to veto in the last years of the Vietnam several congres- War, aiming to halt US military sional measures assistance to the Saudi-led Udesigned to block arms sales to campaign in Yemen. Saudi Arabia. Trump vetoed that bill in April This presidential action will and there was not enough have the effect of keeping US ties support in Congress to override to Riyadh intact but will contrib- it. Under the US Constitution, ute to more tensions between the there needs to be a two-thirds White House and Congress, even majority vote in Congress to among some Republicans. override a presidential veto. Trump’s Middle East policy, as This use of veto power came up many analysts have noted, has again in recent days. This past been largely Saudi-centric. From spring, the Trump administra- the beginning of his presidency, tion attempted to short circuit Trump sought to cultivate the the normal congressional review Saudi leadership, including process for foreign arms sales by making Riyadh the first foreign declaring an “emergency” in the capital that he visited as presi- Gulf region, which would have dent. the effect of bypassing Congress Part of this policy was transac- under a seldom-used provision in tional: large arms sales to the the Arms Export Control Act. kingdom, in Trump’s view, Many members of Congress, Transactional partnership. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz (R) shakes helped to create good-paying even Republicans, objected to hands with US President Donald Trump during their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in manufacturing jobs in the United the administration running Japan, June 29. (AFP) States, which was one of his key roughshod over “congressional campaign pledges in 2016. prerogatives,” while others Another part of the policy was emphasised that the “emer- causes” of the Yemen conflict. on the committee, Robert withdrew his bill and the com- to enhance Saudi Arabia’s gency” was concocted by the When members of the US Menendez, in writing a bill that mittee voted in favour of the military posture to counter Iran White House for political Senate attempted to override the would suspend all non-defen- Menendez measure but Risch and its activities in the wider purposes. vetoes, the vote fell far short of sive weapons sales to Saudi said he and Senate Republican region, such as the war in Yemen. US Secretary of State Mike the two-thirds majority. Only Arabia, which would encom- leader Mitch McConnell would In addition, the Trump team Pompeo justified invoking the six Republicans joined pass much of the afore- not allow the bill to go to the saw close relations with Saudi emergency provision because of the Democrats in mentioned arms sale floor for a full Senate vote. Arabia as helping to build Arab what he described as Iran’s voting for the items. On July 31, Senator Chris support for its Israeli-Palestinian “malign” influence “throughout override legisla- Trump’s Middle The Washington Coons, a Democrat from Dela- Post reported that peace plan, which has yet to be the Middle East region.” The tion to move East policy, as many ware, and Graham introduced revealed in full. This was demon- arms sales in question, mostly to forward. the Republican legislation called the “Saudi strated by the friendship that Saudi Arabia and the United Arad Even though analysts have chairman of that Arabia Human Rights and developed between Trump’s Emirates, amounted to approxi- this was a victory noted, has committee, Jim Accountability Act.” son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is mately $8 billion. for Trump, some been largely Risch of Idaho, The introduction of such in charge of the peace plan, and Congress, with the support of prominent Repub- Saudi-centric. said that such a legislation indicates that Trump’s Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed some Republican members, lican voices were resolution would uncritical support of Riyadh bin Salman bin Abdulaziz. passed three resolutions of not happy with the “get vetoed” by remains highly contentious in The US Congress, however, disapproval on the large arms state of US-Saudi Trump and said he Congress. took a much different view of the sale package but they were all relations. A few Republi- would prefer his own bill relationship. The killing of Saudi vetoed by Trump on July 24. In can members of the Senate that would have a better Gregory Aftandilian is a lecturer journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the his message justifying his action, Foreign Relations Committee, chance of being signed by the in the Pardee School of Global Saudi Consulate in Istanbul led to he said the resolutions were including Trump ally Lindsey president. Studies at Boston University and loud condemnations by many “ill-conceived” because they Graham of South Carolina, joined After a bruising fight in the a former US State Department members of Congress. Also, the failed to address “the root the ranking Democratic member committee in late July, Risch Middle East analyst. Can Boris Johnson part ways with the US on Iran?

restive ally. Rohani’s rhetoric represents a Baeidinejad, although indirectly, the peace in the Gulf. “This is about the international stride towards de-escalation at a signalled a readiness to build Remarks by Raab suggest that law and the rules of the interna- time when Iran’s options are few bridges with the new govern- Iran cannot provoke Britain into Nazli Tarzi tional legal system being upheld and far between. ment. military action, at least not yet. and that is what we will insist Similarly, Zarif, deemed “soft” Iran is aware of Britain’s What displeases Iran most is on,” Raab said during an inter- by the hardliners in his approach vulnerabilities and is trying to watching Britain align itself more s winner of the view with the BBC. to the West, signalled early on demonstrate by the seizure of closely to the United States, with Conservative Party Iran’s leadership under that Iran does not seek confronta- Stena Impero that further cosying which a standoff is brewing. leadership contest President Hassan Rohani has tion. Days before Johnson up to the United States will cost The bigger predicament for in Britain, Boris displayed unwavering criticism secured his leadership title, Iran’s Britain. Johnson, known for his anti-EU Johnson is already with the former administration ambassador to the United Before threats to the freedom proclivities, is whether he can partitioning public led by Theresa May for engaging Kingdom, Hamid Baeidinejad, of navigation blew up, Secretary hatch a plan, independent from opinionA over matters, including in what Iran likened to “privacy,” defended his county’s actions of Iran’s Expediency Council the United States that European Brexit and the Iranian tanker referring to the seizure of Grace I, regarding the nuclear accord. “We Mohsen Rezaee, a former IRGC partners can endorse as a united seizure conflict that some say suspected of carrying oil to Syria. have not stepped up confronta- commander, wrote on Twitter front. Johnson can lay to rest. Iran insinuated that the move tion,” Baeidinejad told that “If Britain does not release In a recent interview on BBC’s The fallout between Britain and was green-lit “at the behest” journalist Christiane Aman- the Iranian oil tanker, it is the “HARDtalk,” Zarif scolded Britain Iran blew up in early July after of the United States, pour last month. authorities’ duty to seize a British for siding with the United States. the Iranian tanker Grace I was Iranian Foreign Like Zarif, Baeidine- oil tanker.” “The United Kingdom, by impounded by British Royal Minister Mohammad Iran is aware of jad welcomed the Rezaee’s words de-emphasise confiscating our ship, is helping Marines, prompting Iran’s Islamic Javad Zarif wrote Britain’s Conservative the prospect of war, while the United States to impose its Revolutionary Guard Corps on Twitter. vulnerabilities and is Party’s choice for promoting the notion of “self- illegal oil sanctions against Iran… (IRGC) to detain the British- Following trying to demonstrate prime minister. defence.” Only a thin line That is why [US national security flagged Stena Impero two weeks Johnson’s by the seizure of Throughout his separates the two but Iran knows adviser] John Bolton thanked later. The vessel and its 23 sailors installation as Stena Impero that television how to re-engineer the true Great Britain for giving them the remain in Iranian custody. prime minister, further cosying up to appearances, the timeline of events and the best fourth of July present Initial predictions of a “tanker- Iran’s remarks the United States will ambassador toed accompanying narrative into a possible,” Zarif said. for-tanker” exchange uttered by unveil a relatively the regime line of neat “good guys” versus “bad As all parties wrestle to cost Britain. former British politician Stanley relaxed approach — “illegal seizure,” guys.” preserve their interests, Iran Johnson — Boris Johnson’s father contrary to predictions arguing that Iran acted Despite its malign activities in signalled an important reminder — were discounted by members of that Iran would openly “lawfully” and that “no the Middle East, raising and to European partners and Britain the freshly formed British exploit the political transitory international regulation has exporting militias and divisive — that protection of the Arabian cabinet. phase shaking up domestic been violated by” Iranian tanker ideologies antithetical to central Gulf is a task that rests squarely The potential swap fell from British politics. Grace I seized July 4 near Gibral- rule, Iran has increasingly with Zarif’s government. Britain’s options after newly Rohani addressed Johnson tar. labelled the United States as a As the health of its economy appointed Minister of Defence warmly, citing his “familiarity” A revealing distinction made by sponsor of terrorism. deteriorates, Iran has been Dominic Raab delivered a stern and previous and “only one visit Baeidinejad in a tweet offers a The United States has pro- showing growing frustration with warning informing Tehran that to Tehran” in 2017 as good signs glimmer of hope for Johnson and scribed various IRGC elements as Britain’s embrace of the United there would be “no quid pro quo.” of what the future could hold. the Iranians. In calling on the terrorists and regards the Iranian States and the adoption of a As Britain pivots away from a Rohani expressed optimism that government to “contain those regime to be rogue. European policy line that endorses instead foreign policy that placates Iran, Johnson’s tenure may help domestic political forces who countries, increasingly aware of of undermines the US position. it turns its sights towards remove “existing obstacles on the want to escalate existing tension heightened tensions, will not international law to inform its path of development of relations [sic] between Iran and the UK… back an exclusively US-led Nazli Tarzi is an Arab Weekly interactions with an increasingly between the two countries.” beyond the issue of ships,” monitoring mission to maintain correspondent in London. August 4, 2019 17 Spotlight Languages in the Maghreb Algeria seeks to replace French with English at university, sparks ‘language war’

Lamine Ghanmi They expressed worries that “hastiness and populism” fuelled by political pressures in imple- Tunis menting programmes to develop use of English at universities could lgerian Higher Education doom plans to elevate cultural and Minister Tayeb Bouzid scientific standards through the declared that “the French spread of English. A language does not get us They blamed “populism” on fail- anywhere” and ordered the coun- ing to make Arabic the dominant try’s 77 universities and higher national language since 1960s and education institutes to use English roll back French as the main tool of rather than French. business and culture. The move, designed as a step Thousands of Algerians take towards having English replace French language exams each year French as the dominant foreign to be eligible to apply for admission language in Algeria, sparked fierce to universities in France. About debate about the country’s strong 23,000 Algerians are enrolled in linguistic and cultural ties to France French universities, making up 8% 57 years after the end of French co- of France’s foreign students. lonial rule that lasted 130 years. By Algerian law, official docu- For secularist intellectuals, the ments are written in Arabic and decision to encourage the use of education at all levels and all learn- English at the detriment of French ing specialities are in Arabic. Gov- was a gambit by army-backed au- ernment officials must address the thorities to reach out to Islamists public in Arabic. who see French as the secularists’ “Within the framework of the bridge to the West contrary to Eng- policy to encourage and strength- lish, which they perceive as their en the use of English to give better connecting link to Islamist constit- visibility of education and scien- uencies in much of the world. tific activities in the higher educa- tion system, I urge you to use both Algerian High Education Arabic and English in official docu- ments,” Bouzid wrote to university Language politics. Algerian students receive lecture at the Research Centre for Economics Applied to Minister Tayeb Bouzid said rectors. Development Rachid Sidi Boumedienne in Algiers. (AFP) “the French language does Backers of the move said devel- not get us anywhere.” oping English needed more than severing Algeria’s ties from its en- Abdelhamid Charif said the move ened by another linguistic war. It a ministerial order because a lan- vironment and isolating it.” to expand the use of English was is a new version of linguistic wars Anti-Islamists in Algeria argue guage required building blocks to Some cultural and political fig- overdue. that had consumed the school, the that Arabisation of the country’s spread. ures argue, however, that Algeria “English is an unavoidable lan- political class, the intellectuals and education system after independ- Muslim Arabs and later the as a mature country must look the guage because it controls more even the mosques,” he said in ref- ence turned schools into “factories French were among Algeria’s only situation in a new light. than 75% of the world flow of sci- erences to disputes over languages of Islamisation,” establishing Islam- conquerors who had greatest lin- “The problem Algeria faces is not entific knowledge and 90.7% of in 1970s and 1990s. ists as a strong political force. They guistic and cultural effect on the the one over the role of Arabic and fundamental science,” he said. “This new war in the middle of warned that French is a “window to country. Their educational and ad- various Tamazight Berber tongues “The international visibility of the protests is between French and modernity” for Algeria that would ministrative systems helped them but the problem is the one related our universities, their ranking and English. It targets the top ladder be shut and cut the country off impose their respective languages. to the French language whatever their attractiveness and the job of the education system: universi- from benefits of the “accumulation “The French language is not the qualities given to it and its role opportunities of university gradu- ties.” of human capital” generated by the limited to cultural space, as the in maintaining a window open to ates will gain from the English lan- Before the decision to encourage use of French in Algeria. minister implied. Algeria is part of Algeria towards modernity,” said guage. English use at universities, it had Supporters of making English a French-speaking environment. former minister and French-speak- “As a second language and lan- been making progress in Algeria the main foreign language said the France is our main partner in sev- ing writer Mourad Benachnou. guage for education, English will following economic and social dy- change is necessary for “Algeria’s eral fields and our neighbours Tu- “Algeria is not condemned to crush every competing language.” namics. Some ministries, such as cultural independence” because nisia and Morocco use French,” push the ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ to However, writer Amine Zaoui defence and energy, encouraged domination of French in business, said political writer Makhlouf Me- its extreme that links to France. It said the move to spread English employees to learn English to in- higher education and culture sti- henni. would be a linguistic and cultural was “a ruse” to split protesters. teract with foreign counterparts. fled the national Arab and Amazigh “Replacing French with the Eng- suicide for Algeria.” “More than half a century after Wide access to the internet has languages. lish language is taking the risk of Algiers University instructor its independence Algeria is awak- helped spread English. Foreign language teaching issue plunges Morocco’s ruling Islamists into crisis

Saad Guerraoui law because it contains several though it is available on the inter- positive points but we definitely net and accessible to all,” Othmani do not agree with replacing the said during a speech at the party’s Casablanca Arabic language in the teaching of youth forum. science subjects in French,” said “Many rumours have circulated he vote on an education bill Benkirane. around this law that must reform in Morocco’s parliament “In my conviction, if you’re go- the education system. We fixed plunged the ruling Islamist ing to pass this law, there will be it and corrected some things,” he Exploiting the rift. A 2017 file picture of former Moroccan Prime T Justice and Development nothing left for you to carry on in said, stressing the need to put in- Minister Abdelilah Benkirane at a session of the Islamist Justice Party into an unprecedented crisis. this government. The legitimacy terests of the country before those and Development Party in Sale near Rabat. (AP) A total of 241 representatives with which you came to the gov- of the party. voted July 22 in favour of the ernment has ended.” Moroccan Minister of National bill, four voted against it and 21 He lashed out at Moroccan Prime Education, Vocational Training, for all children, compulsory pri- against a growing leftist current. abstained in a session that was Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani, Higher Education and Scientific mary education for the state and However, that policy helped spark marked by the absence of about saying it was the first serious er- Research Said Amzazi said the text families, positive discrimination a crisis in public education. As the 20 Justice and Development Party ror made by the PJD since it was constituted the first enacted law in for children in rural and peri-urban quality of public education dete- (PJD) members. placed in power in 2011. education and scientific research. areas as well as in vulnerable ones. riorated, expensive private schools Article 2 of the bill, which per- “How can a party with Islamic “The framework law will allow It includes the right of access to sprouted up around the country. tained to the teaching of scientific standards abandon Arabic and re- our country to have a binding refer- education and training for children University students had to study subjects in French, saw the absten- place it with the language of colo- ence text for all, will guarantee the with disabilities or special needs scientific subjects in Arabic up to tion of 97 PJD deputies. nisation?” he asked. sustainability of the reform of the in addition to the fight against the high school, while confronted with Two days before the vote, for- It was Benkirane’s third attempt education-training system as well school drop-out issue and eradica- the same subjects in French at uni- mer Prime Minister Abdelilah to block the bill, which he de- as the conditions for a new devel- tion of illiteracy. versities, which created problems Benkirane, a PJD member, posted scribed as a “catastrophe” for edu- opment of the Moroccan school,” Moroccan media slammed op- for many of them. a video on Facebook in which he cation in Morocco. Amzazi said during the plenary ses- ponents of the bill for their dou- Arabic and Amazigh are Mo- slammed PJD deputies for abstain- Fez Mayor Driss Azami resigned sion. ble standard, noting that most rocco’s two official languages ​​but ing during the committee vote on as head of the PJD’s parliamentary He said he considered the frame- PJD politicians send their children French is widely used, including the reform of education bill and on group in the upper House of Coun- work law as a map for implement- to private and French mission in finance and health care. More articles relating to the use of for- cillors after Benkirane’s video was ing reforms with clear objectives, schools. than one-third of Moroccans are eign languages ​​for teaching scien- posted. precise mechanisms and deadlines. Arabisation of education took French speakers, a 2018 survey by tific and technical subjects. “Most of those who criticise the The measure stipulates the gen- place in Morocco in the 1980s to the International Organisation of “We agree with the framework text have simply not read it, al- eralisation of integrated education boost conservatives and Islamists the Francophonie stated. 18 August 4, 2019 Economy

Saudi Arabia, South Korea expanding trade ties Briefs

Caline Malek consulting company. “This comes because of the high-calibre econom- Saudi Arabia deposits ic and educational environment $250 million into Abu Dhabi that South Korea enjoys, especially in ideas’ development, design, engi- central bank of Sudan audi-Korean relations have neering, manufacturing and mainte- become increasingly impor- nance.” Saudi Arabia deposited $250 mil- tant as indicated by the Saudi To meet the goals of Vision 2030, lion into the central bank of Sudan S Ministry of Commerce and Saudi Arabia plans revolutionary to support its financial position, the Investment’s announcement that changes in its economic structure, Saudi Finance Ministry said. the countries’ trade volume had requiring expertise Seoul possesses. The financial grant is part of a reached $30 billion in 2018, an in- “South Korean companies can package with the United Arab Emir- crease of 21% over the previous year. work with Saudi companies in areas ates worth $500 million announced The ministry said the increase such as idea development, design, in April. Both countries pledged an was supported by 60% growth of engineering, manufacturing and overall $3 billion in aid, with the non-oil exports, a positive indicator even maintenance,” Hashad said. rest going towards fuel, wheat and that meets the objectives of Saudi “In this process, strengths that both medicine. Vision 2030. countries possess, [such as] technol- The grant is aimed at alleviating South Korea is fifth among coun- ogy and expertise from South Korea Pivot to Asia. South Korean President Moon Jae-in (R) shakes hands pressure on the Sudanese pound tries in trade volume with Saudi and finance and plentiful young la- with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz during and achieve stability in its exchange Arabia. Saudi exports totalled $26 bour from Saudi Arabia, will create a meeting in Seoul, South Korea, June 26. (AP) rate, the ministry said. billion last year, compared with $4.3 synergies for greater achievements.” billion in Saudi imports from South The World Bank said South Ko- (Reuters) Korea. rean world exports followed an “The positive spillovers will reach country in South Korea as it is one of Metal products topped the list of upward trend in the past ten years, their maximum efficiency as the the leading Asian markets. Saudi goods exported to South Ko- with an average annual growth rate Saudisation process proceeds effec- “For Riyadh, South Korea is also rea, in addition to organic and inor- of about 5%. FDI flows to South Ko- tively across these targeted sectors, possible leverage between China ganic chemicals, copper and plastics rea increased from $1 billion in 1990 in which Saudi labour will become and Japan, because it is partly neu- and their derivatives. Vehicles and to $14.5 billion in 2018. more skilled, possessing extensive tral but has access to all markets,” he Dubai hits private- their parts emerged as the main “These increases reflect the pres- knowledge and innovative skills.” said. “The future relationship will equity firm Abraaj goods imported from South Korea, ence of highly comparative and The Saudi Ministry of Communi- be built on a mutual need for open followed by electrical appliances, competitive advantages in the cations and Information Technol- markets in energy, petrochemicals with record fine machinery, iron and steel. South Korean economy,” said Nir- ogy earlier signed two agreements and minerals, and South Korea’s “The South Korean economy is meen El Sayyad, senior economist in South Korea to speed up digital technology, construction and min- Dubai’s financial regulator said it a highly diverse export economy at the American University of Cai- transformation. ing expertise and capabilities to be had imposed a record fine of nearly and the fifth largest exporter in the ro’s School of Business. “As per the “I see very fruitful bilateral rela- transferred to the kingdom. A pos- $315 million on two affiliates of the world,” said Iyad Abu Hweij, man- external trade balance structure, tions expected in the future, where sible other option is a deepening collapsed Abraaj equity group for aging partner at Allied Investment around one-third of the South Ko- the political leaders in both coun- military-technology and aerospace unauthorised activities and misus- Partners. “South Korea has a com- rean exports were capital goods in tries believe in the mutual benefits cooperation, as Riyadh has these ing investors’ funds. parative advantage in technology. 2017, followed in importance by ma- that could be created through the sectors high on its bucket list.” The Dubai Financial Services [Its] primary exports include inte- chinery and electric products, ac- potential exchange of capabilities,” Widdershoven said an underly- Authority said in a statement that grated chips (microchips), LCDs, counting for 20%.” Hashad said. “I am optimistic.” ing reason for Saudi Arabia included it fined Abraaj Investment Manage- [liquid-crystal display panels] cars, She said increasing FDI flows from Saudi Arabia has allocated a large becoming less dependent on US- ment $299.3 million and Abraaj machinery and equipment.” South Korea to Saudi Arabia reflect- amount of resources to transform EU technology and development Capital Limited $15.3 million. The ministry said foreign direct ed a growing interest in investing in the country into an industrial pow- because Riyadh still encounters The two companies are affiliates investment (FDI) from South Korea the Saudi economy, which, the UN erhouse and reduce oil dependency. “struggles” with Western political of the Abraaj Group that once was in Saudi Arabia included 117 invest- Conference on Trade and Develop- “This strategy will provide a change and sanction threats. the leading private equity firm in the ments in construction, manufac- ment said, went up from $1 million unique environment for South Ko- “Asian clients and partners do not Middle East with nearly $14 billion turing, electricity, gas, steam, air in 2001 to $524 million in 2012. rean companies to work with their face the same issues in general with of assets under management. conditioning, information and com- “Increased attraction of FDI flows Saudi counterparts,” Hashad added. the kingdom,” he said. “Also, any munication, among other sectors. to the Saudi economy will not only “The Saudi government seeks pro- further and deepening cooperation (Agence France-Presse) Mining is one of the most important foster non-fuel based sectors, which fessional partners to help in this will put more pressure on a future sectors of investment between the is considered to be one of Saudi Ara- transformation through accumu- positive relationship between Seoul countries. bia’s priorities, but also more ad- lated experience in the industrial and Tehran. This includes a trade- “South Korea specialises in pro- vanced FDI will definitely include sector and South Korea is a leading off on substituting Iranian oil vol- ducing and exporting so-called positive spillovers, such as training country in this field.” umes by Saudi volumes the coming Yemen urges oil ‘Made in Korea’ products, such as of labour, transfer of knowledge Cyril Widdershoven, director at years.” cars, electronics and machinery,” and know-how and increased value- Verocy, said the main driver for Sau- companies to said Basem Hashad, an economist added in the Saudi economy,” Sayy- di Arabia is to lock in a very attrac- Caline Malek is an Arab Weekly restart production – at BlueBlox, a trade compliance and ad said. tive energy and chemical consumer contributor in Abu Dhabi. document Viewpoint Yemen’s internationally recog- nised government called on oil companies to restart production and exploration in the country, the Saudi petrochemical giant faces challenges Ministry of Oil and Minerals said in a document seen by Reuters. needed in making petrochemicals our operational performance petrochemical businesses would The ministry said companies have affected the bottom line for remains robust.” strengthen its downstream involved in production and explo- many petrochemical firms, which The Saudi state firm’s poor operations, making it a truly ration should resume production Jareer Elass are also feeling the pinch of lower financial results coincided with integrated company that would be as per the partnership agreements selling prices. news that talks on a $3.9 billion more attractive to potential with the government, said the doc- SABIC had been bracing for a joint venture between SABIC and investors. ument, which was a memorandum etrochemical giant tough year financially. Company Swiss speciality chemicals firm However, the petrochemical signed by Yemeni Oil and Minerals Saudi Basic Industries CEO Yousef al-Benyan said in Clariant had been suspended, a industry is facing some speed- Minister Aws Abdullah al-Awd. Corporation is feeling April after SABIC’s first-quarter victim of the “current unfavour- bumps, including muted eco- the financial pain from results were released: “Our able market conditions,” SABIC nomic growth — if not the poten- (Reuters) slowing global eco- expectations are that 2019 will be said. tial for a global recession — and a nomic demand, record- better than what the market gives SABIC purchased a 24.99% stake cyclical industry downturn Ping its lowest quarterly profit in a but it will not be as it was in in Clariant last September, making exacerbated by increasing public decade while putting the brakes 2018.” it Clariant’s largest strategic calls for bans on single-use plastic on a joint venture deal with a SABIC’s first-quarter results anchor shareholder. The two firms products and extra petrochemical European speciality chemicals were a sign of a potentially rocky signed a memorandum of under- plant capacity being available at a firm. year. The company posted a net standing to create a joint venture time of tepid demand. The developments come amid profit for those three months of that would be a leading supplier of Declining petrochemical Shell not taking state oil and gas firm Saudi $909 million, a 38% drop from the high-performance plastics by earnings might be a drag on Saudi British-flagged Aramco’s purchase of a majority same period a year earlier. combining Clariant’s additives Aramco’s financial statements as stake in Saudi Basic Industries The company’s second-quarter and masterbatch businesses with the Saudi energy conglomerate tankers through Corporation (SABIC) — the earnings have proven even more parts of SABIC’s speciality readies for its limited shares sale, Hormuz world’s fourth-biggest petro- disappointing, with SABIC’s chemicals operation. which government officials chemical firm. SABIC and Saudi quarterly profit drop the worst it The joint venture partners were recently insisted would take place Royal Dutch Shell is not taking Aramco may be facing a down- has experienced since late 2009. reportedly at odds regarding the next year or early 2021. any British-flagged tankers through turn in worldwide petrochemical In its end of June accounting, the values of their respective busi- SABIC, which is the kingdom’s the Strait of Hormuz amid height- demand and subsequent declin- Saudi firm reported net income nesses. Clariant said the Swiss largest publicly listed company, ened tensions with Iran in the vital ing earnings could colour for the second quarter of $565 firm will sell its entire master- experienced price volatility in choke point for oil shipments. investor enthusiasm for the million, a 68% fall from the same batch business instead of includ- trading on the domestic stock “There are Shell-managed ves- expected initial public offering of period in 2018. SABIC’s net profit ing it in the joint venture with exchange July 28, the day the sels in the Strait of Hormuz and Saudi Aramco. for the first six months of this year SABIC. Saudi petrochemical firm released that will probably continue to be A weakening global economy was $1.46 billion, a 55% decline News of the suspension of joint its second-quarter earnings. the case. Currently, though, there affected by trade disputes has from the same period in 2018. venture discussions came a day Opening at 109 riyals ($29.06) are no UK-flagged vessels,” Royal caused a drop in production and “The slowdown in global GDP after the sudden resignation of on the Tadawul, the SABIC share Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden demand for plastics and chemi- growth coincides with a decline in Clariant CEO Ernesto Occhiello, a price dipped to 106.80 riyals said. cals. petrochemical prices due to a former SABIC specialities execu- before closing at 110.20 riyals. If the Anglo-Dutch oil and gas Declining vehicle sales in significant increase in new supply tive vice-president who had only SABIC shares closed out the company does use a British-flagged Europe and China are particu- capacity resulting in lower been leading Clariant for ten month of July at 107.40 riyals a vessel in the future, it will be ac- larly hitting the petrochemical product prices and margins in key months. share, down 7.20 riyals from companied by the Royal Navy as a industry hard because automo- product lines,” Benyan said in a In announcing its decision in July 1’s settled price. precaution, van Beurden added. bile manufacturers are depend- statement. March to purchase a 70% stake in ent on plastics and chemicals in “Though lower petrochemical SABIC for $69.1 billion, Saudi Jareer Elass reports from (Reuters) the production process. Rising prices have negatively impacted Aramco highlighted the fact that Washington on energy issues for prices for primary products SABIC’s second-quarter results, merging the two state firms’ The Arab Weekly. August 4, 2019 19 Economy Banking system aims to make sure young Jordanians are included

Roufan Nahhas LINC self-service, mobile, web and ATM channels. Third-party servic- es will offer educational content, Amman seminars, workshops, local news covering events and cultural ac- n initiative has been in- tivities, in addition to offering ca- troduced in Jordan to reer and entrepreneurial support serve young people with- services,” he said. A out an account in the fi- Jordan’s Telecommunication nancial system to help it become Regulatory Commission, an in- more inclusive. dependent body that regulates Learn, Inspire, Network and Cre- telecommunications and informa- ate (LINC) is a subsidiary of Cairo tion technology sectors, said there Amman Bank designed to encour- were approximately 9.1 million age young people and women to internet subscribers in Jordan in be part of the banking sector. Its 2018 compared to 8.7 million in main target segment is people 2017 and up from 127,300 users in aged 18-40, including students, 2000. Jordan’s population totals young adults and the tech-savvy. 10.5 million people and is one of Jordan’s Financial Inclusion the youngest in the world, with Strategy 2018-20 stated that ap- 63% of Jordanians under the age proximately 67% of Jordanians of 30. older than 15 do not own an ac- Approximately 90% of Jordani- count giving them access to the an households had a smartphone, formal financial system; 38% of 89% had an internet subscription adults are excluded from formal and 33% had computers in 2018, financial services and 24.8% of the Ministry of Digital Economy Exploring digital solutions. A general view of the Central Bank of Jordan in Amman, July 2. (Reuters) adults are excluded from formal and Entrepreneurship said. and informal financial services. “Jordan is one of the highest Kamal al-Bakri, CEO of Cairo countries in the region regarding A survey by the Jordanian Min- lifestyle for youth and digital fi- must be fully skilful to tackle the Amman Bank, said LINC aims to internet penetration,” Bakri said. istry of Digital Economy and En- nancial solutions and value-added ever-growing challenges of today’s involve young people more by Most of the target segment was trepreneurship stated that 98.5% services.” market needs,” he said. creating tools that cater to their born with internet connectivity of individuals aged 5 and older Of course, as any programme “This is where LINC will come needs. and smart devices being available access the internet through smart- that involves young people, there in. This is why we created the four “LINC is a digital lifestyle bank but this segment is the most un- phones or tablets while 48.7% of are issues. main pillars of LINC to help com- designed to serve youth and tech- derserved with financial products individuals use the internet at bat this challenge through Learn, Inspire, Network and Create.” savvy individuals by providing and services. their homes. Jordan’s Financial digital banking solutions in addi- “The need for an adaptive and The bank signed agreements Developed to be Jordan’s first tion to non-financial, value-added embedded banking has become a with major universities in Jordan Inclusion Strategy 2018-20 youth bank, LINC will soon be services,” he said. daily necessity for the youth of to- before inaugurating LINC and states that approximately unveiling additional offers. LINC “The value proposition of LINC day. With digital financial wallets about 250,000 students have en- 67% of Jordanians older is working with local and interna- is to create efficiency and con- being available in Jordan, a light- rolled in the programme. than 15 do not own an tional third-party suppliers. venience among customers during weight digital bank is the most “There are a few other pro- account that provides “Our Value Partners are here to their everyday life and empower- logical choice to tackle this rising grammes that serve youth in Jor- them access to the formal fill in the gaps with their value- ing them in every step of the way challenge.” dan, most of the banks that have financial system. added offerings, ranging from dis- whether they are just starting out He said focus group studies in- such programmes targeted stu- counted course offering, cultural in life or looking for their next ca- dicated young people in Jordan dents or youth with an age range “As the population of university- and events ticket purchases and reer move.” prefer using technology as a social 18-25,” Bakri said. “While their of- enrolled youth transition to the coverage to job applications and “The non-financial solutions hub and networking but also for- fering is part of the bank’s initial workforce, the demographic pre- start-up funding,” Bakri said. we have come up with include mal requirements. “This was the products and services, LINC is a sents a unique opportunity for Jor- partnerships, integration and em- reason behind the look and feel we stand-alone concept offering not dan but this does not come with- Roufan Nahhas is a journalist bedding of third-party services in have today for LINC,” Bakri added. just products but a whole new out its challenges. The population based in Jordan. Moroccans shun local tourism for Spain, Turkey and Asia

Saad Guerraoui properties are very pricey in the Tamuda Bay (M’diq-Fnideq) and stormed social networks promot- ture, such as hotels and restau- peak summer season in Morocco,” Saidia while those of Agadir and ing summer holiday packages to rants besides its animated nightlife he added. Taghazout are also very solicited,” Europe and Asia, hoping to lure and festivals,” said Ouaddahou, Casablanca Fouzi Zemrani, vice-president of Zemrani said. upper- and middle-class custom- adding that its clothing outlets are the National Tourism Confedera- Prices at hotels and holiday prop- ers. very interesting. undreds of thousands of tion, said Moroccans’ shunning of erties dramatically soar in Tamuda Yassine Ouaddahou, a 43-year- Spain is considering opening a Moroccans are heading to local tourism was because of grow- Bay, which has some of the finest old engineer, said he goes to Spain Spanish National Tourist Office to Europe to spend billions ing competition from destinations beaches in Morocco. The rental quite often with his family by car boost the Moroccan market that it H of dollars on their sum- such as Spain, Turkey and Asia. price of a chalet near the beach in because of its proximity to Mo- says is underexploited. mer vacation, dealing a blow to lo- “During the summer, the ma- the private resort of Restinga Smir rocco. More Moroccans are headed to cal tourism. jority of Moroccans go to north- can be $300 a day in August. “Spain is a great shopping desti- Turkey because of its competi- Spain is one of Moroccans’ fa- ern seaside resorts like Martil, Local travel agencies have nation that offers good infrastruc- tive packages and visa-free travel vourite destinations. Approxi- and promotion of its tourist sites mately 900,000 Moroccan tourists through dubbed soap operas on went to Spain in 2018 while nearly Moroccan TV channels. 815,000 Spaniards visited Moroc- “Between the absence of a visa co, creating a travel balance deficit and only 4 hours by plane, this of more than $100 million. country (Turkey) that has had a In the same year, Spanish consu- hard time has an incredible rating lates in Morocco granted 220,929 all year round, especially since it visas to Moroccans, exceeding offers all-inclusive packages, for numbers of the last decade, which Moroccans to discover a country averaged 140,000-180,000 visas they often see in Turkish soaps,” per year. said Zemrani. Youssouf Aboulfaraj, a 36-year- Anas Essamlali, a 30-year-old old Moroccan IT consultant, said Going photographer, recently returned he is a regular visitor to Spain. abroad. home from Turkey after a 2-week “Every year I go with my wife to A security holiday Altea in Alicante region because it guard “Tourism is much cheaper in has a lot more to offer than in the checks the Turkey than Morocco, especially best tourist destinations in Mo- trunk of a when you want to fly between rocco,” he said. “We book a year car before Turkish cities,” said Essamlali. “I in advance as soon as we leave the embarking don’t need to look left and right hotel because Altea is our favour- on a ferry when I’m talking on the phone in ite city in the world thanks to its bound for the streets even in the middle of wide choice of restaurants that of- Tangier the night.” fer great value for money unlike in at the Moroccans spent $1.9 billion on Morocco.” Algeciras tourism in 2018 and $1.8 billion the “Quality hotels and holiday Port. (AFP) year before. 20 August 4, 2019 News & Analysis Society Saudi women gain new freedoms, including right to travel, access to work opportunities

The Arab Weekly staff lated that all citizens have the right to work without discrimina- tion based on gender, disability or Beirut age. The move is believed to have audi authorities have grant- been led by Saudi Crown Prince ed women more control Mohammed bin Salman bin Ab- over their lives and family dulaziz, who has eased social re- S matters, including the right strictions, such as lifting a driving to travel without the permission of ban for women last year, to open a male guardian and equal access the conservative Muslim kingdom to work opportunities. and transform the country’s econ- Royal decrees published August omy. 2 in the official gazette stipulated The changes eroding the heavily that a Saudi passport would be is- criticised male guardianship sys- sued to any citizen who applies for tem came at a time of heightened it and that any person older than 21 scrutiny over Saudi Arabia’s hu- years does not need permission to man rights record. travel. They were widely celebrated by The amendments to regula- Saudis on social media, includ- tions also grant women the right ing with memes showing people to register childbirth, marriage or dashing to the airport with luggage divorce, to be issued official fam- and others hailing the 33-year-old ily documents and be eligible as a crown prince. guardian to minor children. Muna AbuSulayman, a former talk show host, took to Twitter The way in which the along with thousands of other Sau- di women to celebrate what many decrees were announced said was a new era. “A generation and the language used in growing up completely free and the decrees signal how equal to their brothers,” AbuSulay- sensitive the moves are man said, referring to the freedom among conservatives in to travel. the country. The changes drew backlash from Moving ahead. Saudi women arrive at Abha Airport in the popular Saudi mountain resort of the same conservatives, who posted clips of name. (AFP) Riyadh has long endured inter- senior Saudi clerics in past years national censure over the status of arguing in favour of guardianship women. Rights groups said Saudi laws. that require male consent for a 18-year-old Rahaf al-Qunun did told the Saudi public that women women were often treated like sec- “We are a Muslim community, woman to leave prison, exit a do- before Canada granted her asylum. should not travel longer than a ond-class citizens under rules re- not a Western one, may God keep mestic abuse shelter or marry. The stories of runaway women night alone and that this was root- quiring them to get the consent of our daughters safe from all evils,” Women, unlike men, cannot pass created negative headlines for the ed in Islamic practice. a male guardian — father, husband, Sarah, a Saudi woman in her late on citizenship to their children and kingdom. While transforming the lives of brother or son — for important de- 40s who declined to give her sur- cannot provide consent for their The way in which the decrees many women, critics said the re- cisions throughout their lives. name, told Reuters. “Imagine if children to marry. were announced and the language forms will be cosmetic for others The decrees expanded work your girls grow up and leave you Saudi women fleeing domestic used in the decrees signal how until the kingdom abolishes the opportunities for women, who and don’t return, would you be abuse and the guardianship sys- sensitive the moves are among guardianship system that gives represent a large segment of un- happy?” tem occasionally drew interna- conservatives in the country. For men arbitrary authority over their employed Saudis. They stipu- Still in place, however, are rules tional attention to their plight, as years, state-backed preachers female relatives. Homophobia, sectarianism and church pressure stifle Mashrou’ Leila appearance

Samar Kadi cret plans to destroy Christianity,” how criminal defamation, incite- said Azzi, who described the hate ment and insult laws in Lebanon speech against Mashrou’ Leila as a are exploited by powerful groups Beirut “Daesh-style” campaign. “Daesh” and how they fail to protect mar- is the Arabic acronym for the Is- ginalised voices and those who hile it appeased the lamic State. have divergent opinions,” Fakih Maronite Church, the “There were death threats said. “Lebanon is joining the ranks cancellation of a con- (against the band and concertgo- of abusive governments in the re- W cert by Lebanese band ers) and the church appeared to gion that trample on free speech Mashrou’ Leila, which was to per- have no problem with that. I be- rights, pushing out the talent and form August 9 at the Byblos Inter- lieve the ‘Daesh’ thought or way is debate that have made this country national Festival, raised concerns not linked to a particular religion what it is.” Will not perform this time. Musicians Haig Papazian (L), Carl about the state of freedoms in Leb- but it is a way of thinking that one Since it was formed in 2008, Gerges (C) and Hamed Sinno of Mashrou’ Leila pose for a picture anon, once considered the most can find in all religions,” Azzi add- Mashrou’ Leila has been known for in New York. (AFP) liberal country in the region. ed. its criticism of various social, reli- Human rights activists de- gious and political issues in Leba- nounced the decision by the festi- non, as well as its support for the to abuse by authorities who may and the Son.” val’s committee, which they said While it appeased the right to freedom of expression and use them to silence dissent. Critics relate the outburst to a was forced to cancel the event church, the cancellation of a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgen- The controversy over Mashrou’ photo shared online by the band’s following a defamation campaign concert by Mashrou’ Leila at der and intersex rights. It gained Leila’s concert started July 22 when openly gay lead singer Hamed incited by the church. It mobilised the Byblos International worldwide acclaim for tackling a lawyer filed a complaint with the Sinno that depicts a painting of the scores of its members, triggering Festival raised concerns oppression, corruption and homo- public prosecution calling on the Virgin Mary with her head replaced a social media war between the about the state of freedoms phobia in the Arab world. government to prosecute the band with that of pop star Madonna. Sin- band’s supporters and critics. in Lebanon. The band has played in Lebanon for insulting religious rituals and no is a Muslim, giving certain Chris- The festival committee issued a multiple times, including at the inciting sectarian tensions. tian political figures and groups an statement citing security consid- Human Rights Watch (HRW) de- Byblos Festival in 2010 and 2016. The same day, the Maronite opportunity to appeal to a sense of erations for cancelling the concert, nounced the cancellation, accusing It sparked controversy in Egypt Catholic Eparchy of Byblos said the communal victimhood. saying it wanted to avoid “vio- Lebanese authorities of resorting and was banned from performing band’s songs “offend religious and While the Mashrou’ Leila affair lence” and “bloodshed.” to “abusive laws to stifle and cen- in Jordan. Its songs are deemed human values and insult Christian brings to the forefront the issue “What happened sets a very dan- sor activists, journalists and art- by some individuals and religious beliefs” and demanded that the of public freedoms in Lebanon, it gerous precedent,” said Georges ists.” groups in Lebanon as offensive to Byblos Festival cancel the perfor- demonstrates the possibility of a Azzi, executive director at the “The government’s decision to Christianity. mance. cultural conversation and negotia- Arab Foundation for Freedoms and take action against Mashrou’ Lei- The Lebanese Constitution Mashrou’ Leila issued a state- tion. The strong reaction by many Equality. “It is also part of a series la while ignoring serious threats guarantees freedom of expression ment saying it “respected all reli- Lebanese against censorship and of attacks on freedom of expres- against the band shows that it is “within the limits established by gions and their symbols” and was in defence of the band has shown sion in Lebanon that has been go- using insult and incitement laws law” but the Lebanese penal code saddened by “the distortion of the that, even if it could be shrinking, ing on for several years now.” selectively to censor divergent also criminalises insulting religious lyrics of some of our songs.” a space for free expression exists in “It is really disastrous the way opinions,” Lama Fakih, HRW’s act- rituals and denigrating or distort- One of the band’s albums in the country. used by the church to mobilise this ing Middle East director, said in a ing religious and sacred symbols. question is called “Djin.” The lyrics amount of people around silly ru- release. However, provisions of the laws include the line: “I baptised my liv- Samar Kadi is The Arab Weekly mours such as the existence of se- “This incident demonstrates are so vague they could be subject er in gin, in the name of the Father Travel and Society section editor. August 4, 2019 21 Society Football La Liga Zaatari using football to help young refugees

Roufan Nahhas Project (AFDP Global), in a state- ment said: “Football is more than just a game and we have seen in Amman Zaatari how playing football can truly help children overcome bar- sing football to improve riers. We look forward to working the quality of life of the with La Liga as they help young inhabitants of Zaatari refugees not only build their foot- U Refugee Camp in Jordan, balling skills but also rebuild their with special emphasis on the chil- confidence.” dren living there, activists devel- AFDP Global was inaugurated oped La Liga Zaatari Social Project. last year and has transformed Built in July 2012, Zaatari Camp, thousands of lives using football 90km north-east of Amman, is the as a catalyst for change. It reached world’s largest camp for Syrian ref- more than 80,000 young people ugees, hosting more than 77,000 through comprehensive projects. people, half of them minors, the “Football has the power to shape UN High Commissioner for Refu- characters and teaches children gees said. Approximately 18,500 about the values of teamwork and children are enrolled in 32 schools, the importance of taking on re- with 58 community centres offer- sponsibility,” Prince Ali said. ing various activities. More than 750 children have La Liga, the men’s top football participated in the Zaatari pro- division in the Spanish football gramme, which included a tourna- league system, is the force behind ment divided into a 20-team U-15 the project. boys league and a 16-team U-13 fe- “It is a great and genuine idea male league. Thirty-three Spanish where sport, especially football, is football clubs collaborated on the being used to improve the lives of project and donated sports equip- young refugees living in one of the ment. largest refugee camps in the world. Fernando Sanz, who played for It is a great way to let children en- Real Madrid and Malaga CF, said: joy their life although they are liv- “The children will really profit Football with a heart. Children at Zaatari Refugee Camp wear jerseys of their favourite Spanish teams ing in a refugee camp,” sports jour- from the competition. They want to celebrate being part of La Liga Zaatari Social Project. (La Liga) nalist Ayman Khateeb said. to be the next star of La Liga and I “War has stolen the innocence think we can maybe find the next of so many children who ended Lionel Messi here.” have always placed children at the not only focused around sports but refugee wearing a Granada foot- up in the refugee camp away from Local football enthusiasts said it top and this programme will make on educating children about the ball club jersey, said: “Football has the environment and daily rou- was a move towards helping chil- children see beyond the walls of values of sportsmanship, fair play, become part of life and made me tine they used to have in their dren share the struggle they faced the camp and prepare them for a teamwork, respect and tolerance. develop my skills and fill my free home country and this is very sad. when escaping from the Syrian war better future.” We will continue to work to ex- time at the camp. Now we are able Sport has always been in the life and settling in the camp. During the ceremony July 14, La pand this project further,” he said. to put our time in something use- of children and adults and this “We really salute the effort of Liga President Javier Tebas said: ful and constructive.” those who worked on making this “The organisation worked for two Spanish Ambassador to Jordan programme will help them build The programme included their life again away from wars and possible for the children of the years on such a programme due to Aranzazu Banon said: “We are atrocities.” camp. These children and future our belief that it is very important a tournament divided proud that La Liga Zaatari Social La Liga Zaatari Social Project was footballers have suffered a lot and for these children. Sustainability into a 20-team U-15 boys Project is already a reality for the celebrated in a ceremony and cap- some are still suffering the chal- for such a programme is crucial… league and a 16-team more than 750 children that enjoy tured the attention of people who lenges every day with their fami- Today is a very special day for La U-13 female league. this initiative.” say sport should be part of the life lies, so football, as I see it, is the Liga. After all this hard work, we The programme is working with of every refugee. light at the end of the tunnel for have been able to transmit the phi- Children at Zaatari were excited children 13 years and younger for Jordanian Prince Ali bin Hus- them,” said Gaby Daw, a worker at losophy of our competition and by the programme because it is de- girls and 15 years and younger sein, president of the Jordan Foot- Caritas Jordan relief agency. the clubs to the neighbourhoods, signed to teach them everything for boys in addition to training 35 ball Association and founder of “We have been dealing with home and streets of Zaatari.” about football and about La Liga. trainers, 12 male referees and ten the Asian Football Development refugees for so many years and we “La Liga Zaatari Social Project is Mohammed Masri, a 15-year-old female referees. Looking at post-Qaddafi Libya through the eyes of female footballers

Karen Dabrowska a secret practice location during have accepted marriage, others con- “Even though there were a lot of en has not improved and religion a power cut. The football pitch is centrate on their studies but one last people who wanted to stop me mak- has imposed greater limitations. like Libya with shadowy characters opportunity presents itself and they ing the film and prevent the women The fly-on-the-wall style is very ef- London lurking in semi-darkness and noth- pay their own way to travel to Egypt from playing soccer there were al- fective but some of the scenes lack ing is as it seems. to compete as a private team. ways people who wanted to help context. In the case of Naama, the t times like this, it is re- When an Islamist group sends the and that is something I wanted to viewer cannot fail to be impressed by her determination and courage ally important to show team a communique ordering them The documentary can be show,” she said. “ alternative narratives to stop playing, a male supporter One of the most moving scenes but there is no background to the from places like Libya,” burns it. summed up as a shows a father, who has secured a tensions that led to the destruction A character-driven director Naziha Arebi said before The struggles with the Libyan safe training ground for the team, of Tawergha and forced her to flee. the screening of her documentary Football Federation, which prevents production that puts the telling his daughter: “A girl can be Arebi, describing how she came to “Freedom Fields.” the women from travelling to in- lives of three women different. She does not have to keep make the film, said: “I am half Liby- The 95-minute film, a release stat- ternational competition because of under the microscope. to the norm. When the family gives an, half British. I grew up in the UK ed, takes an intimate look at post- security concerns, are eloquently their daughter hope they give her and felt quite robbed of my Libyan revolution Libya through the eyes of portrayed and the women speak of After the London screening, Arebi everything.” ties. I wanted to find out about Lib- an aspiring all-female football team their desire to represent their coun- pointed out that in Libya for eve- The women speak emotionally ya and went there for the first time whose struggle to gain mainstream try. ryone who wants to stop you there about their plight. In one outburst a in 2010. acceptance mirrors the broader At first, the players seem to have will be someone who wants to help player explains how the revolution “I heard of the Libyan women’s challenges facing women in Libyan given up on their dreams; some you. promised freedom but life for wom- football team and I wanted to ex- society. plore their stories. I thought this film The lives of three friends — Fad- would be finished in 2013. [It took wa, the amicable player; Halima, the seven years to make.] As a result of ice cream-loving goalkeeper; and sticking around in Libya, it became the lean and determined Naama, something more nuanced and inter- an internally displaced person from esting, more reflective of Libya and Tawergha — are portrayed on and off these women’s lives rather than just the field. a neat kind of sports film.” Their stories are told in three The documentary can be summed parts. The first in 2012, a year after up as a character-driven production the revolution, a period marked by that puts the lives of three women great hope for change, democracy under the microscope. It allows and gender equality. The second them to speak for themselves and in 2014 when the spirit of hope has ends with a song of the powerful been replaced with a sense of confu- comments they made during the sion and loss after the Islamic State years of filming. established a presence in Libya. The “They love that song and when last part, in 2016, describes the sad- they saw the film they were amazed ness of the Libyan people as they at some of the things they had said,” realise they are worst off. Arebi said. The three women refuse to be Arebi said she looks forward to a defeated. They set up an NGO that time when “Freedom Fields” can be works in schools, refugee camps publicly screened in Libya. This is and orphanages to promote sport impossible at present because there and reconciliation. Fadwa said are no functioning cinemas but it she hoped to go to France during will be shown at NGO and commu- the FIFA Women’s World Cup and nity screenings. Naama qualified for the Olympics. The film begins with an eerie Karen Dabrowska is an Arab nighttime scene as headlights light An alternative narrative. A scene from the “Freedom Fields” documentary. (Courtesy of Naziha Arebi) Weekly contributor in London. 22 August 4, 2019 News & Analysis Culture Saudi artist Zahrah Al Ghamdi explores history through traditional architecture

N.P. Krishna Kumar works leather into these organic shapes — each one is a unique work of craft and expression and, Dubai together, they create a fascinating body that appears to have a life of escribed as land art, Saudi its own.” artist Zahrah Al Ghamdi’s Carver said that, since discus- work explores memory sions began about “Mycelium Run- D and history through tradi- ning,” Ghamdi has taken on the role tional architecture as a medium in of representing Saudi Arabia at the itself or through the actual assem- Venice Biennale and gained inter- blage or building. national attention “but her work Critics link her work to the tradi- remains rooted in her home, refer- tional Asiri architecture in Al-Baha, encing the traditional Asiri archi- the village she grew up in south- tecture in Al-Baha.” western Saudi Arabia. That back- Ghamdi’s “After Illusion” repre- ground plays an integral role in her senting Saudi Arabia at its second practice. She assembles earth, clay, national pavilion at the Venice Bi- rocks, leather and water in a labori- ennale, which runs through No- ous and meticulous process in her vember 24, is inspired by an ancient site-specific work. Arabic poem on homecoming. Ghamdi earned an undergradu- Unlike other land artists, Ghamdi ate degree in Islamic Arts at King tends to approach a subject by in- Abdulaziz University and a master’s fusing it with the poetics of emo- degree specialising in Contempo- tion and memory. She admits that rary Craft at Coventry University in her work “is saturated with feeling England, where she also obtained a and emotion.” doctorate in Design and Visual Art. Despite the different production processes that her artworks re- Zahrah Al Ghamdi infuses quire, they all attempt “to embody the concept of memory.” art with the poetics of “My work explores the emotions emotion and memory. of identity, history, loss and story- telling. I have been lucky enough In Dubai, her work “Mycelium to observe some people’s reactions Running,” a site-specific work in to my work throughout my career Concept of memory. “Mycelium Running” by Zahrah Al Ghamdi at the Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai. which leather forms spill out across and, generally speaking, the work (Mohamed Somji. Courtesy: Jameel Arts Centre) the gallery and into an adjacent tends to evoke those emotions, courtyard, is being exhibited as part which is exactly what I’m looking of a group show “Second Hand” at for,” she said. lage” — Ghamdi pointed out the work has been exhibited in many “I have learnt a lot from both Sau- the Jameel Arts Centre. The exhibi- Anyone looking at her work connections between them. galleries in the Gulf region and the di- and UAE-based artists and their tion runs through November 23. characterised by a kind of detail- “The connection between my United Kingdom. various experiences,” she said. “Second Hand” is drawn from the oriented materiality will say very works comes from the inspiration Speaking about her impressions “Academically, I’ve been focus- Art Jameel Collection and includes feminine aesthetics are on display. behind them and my general ar- of the young artistic talent in Saudi ing on my research. I try to find a works collected in the past 15 years, Ghamdi admits that it is the case tistic process,” she said. “You can Arabia and the Gulf, Ghamdi said: balance between my focus on my said Jameel Arts Centre Director and that it is a conscious approach trace how I engage with the notion “Saudi Arabia is currently going art and my academic research and Antonia Carver. on her part. of embodied memory in all of my through massive changes and a try to improve both. I would like “Zahrah’s work is the most recent “I try to unleash my emotions, so work. revolution in the art scene is quite to start writing my own scientific and most site-specific — indeed, she to speak, during the conception and “Additionally, my work is in- evident. art-based research papers and help created it for and in the Jameel — production process, allowing them spired by history and my explora- “This has helped propel a num- push the educational standards at and its organic nature really reflects to guide me as I create,” she said. tion of urban architecture and tra- ber of artists to the surface of our the university level even higher. and embodies the Dubai Creek and “Because of the extent to which my ditions, especially in Saudi Arabia, cultural scene. Many of these art- “I am also very focused on my the desert gardens outside the gal- work is connected to my emotions, and, throughout my career, I have ists are talented, passionate about students and trying to help them lery windows,” Carver said. once the work is produced, it will tried to translate the concepts of their art, hard-working and truly improve their creative process, de- “The exhibition explores the forever remain an essential part of identity and culture through my doing their best to improve at what velop their skills and become the diverse, original, highly intuitive me.” work. they are doing. This, without a best artists they can be.” ways in which artists use material Elaborating on her most recent Ghamdi is an assistant professor doubt, will positively contribute to and Zahrah is a master of textural works — “Mycelium Running,” “Af- at the Faculty of Art and Design at the overall development of the ar- N.P. Krishna Kumar is an Arab transformation. She works and re- ter Illusion” and “Inanimate Vil- King Abdulaziz University and her tistic talent in the country.” Weekly contributor in Dubai. Viewpoint Neglecting translation stunts Arab intercultural outreach

ata released by the translation was begun by the tion projects in the Arab world, reach the foreign reader. French Publishers Egyptian Supreme Council of private publishers shoulder a Similarly, inviting a few Arab Association Culture. And so on and so forth major share of the responsibility celebrities to this festival or Hassan Ouazzani indicate that the of similar projects whose media because they are key actors in another is not sufficient to give number of Arabic effect was greater than its real the book industry. a clear picture of the dynamics books translated cultural outcome. To be convinced of that, note of intellectual creativity in the Dand distributed in France in What is striking is that nobody the limited presence of Arab Arab world, especially when the 2018 did not exceed 90, while really paid attention to major publishers at major venues for foreign audience has no obliga- the number of French books projects of translating Arabic selling translation rights, such tion to look for Arabs amid the whose translation rights were literary and cultural production as the Frankfurt Book Fair, intense competition between sold to Arab publishing houses into other languages. undoubtedly the largest space traditional and new cultural was 220. In other words, Arab Many translation projects, for trading translation rights. geographies. countries take the lead in despite their importance, were The result is that the situation Through my conversations acquiring translation rights, riddled with shortcomings. Four in the Arab world is a far cry with more than 30 foreign poets surpassing many other parts of years ago, former Egyptian from that of the gilded age of from around the world, I the world. Minister of Culture Emad Abu translation centuries ago. What fathomed the depth of the There is no denying that Ghazi, presenting a paper about is being translated in the Arab ignorance of many of them translating foreign texts into government publishing in world does not exceed 1% of the about Arab intellectuals. On Arabic is a good thing because it Egypt, stated that there had total volume of translated more than one occasion, it was opens a window on the world been a needless inflation in material. This statistic is not just the book of “One Thousand and its cultures but the process publications by the many compatible with the importance and One Nights” that came up will be fair only if there is the sectors of the Egyptian Ministry of Arabic considering the in their answers to my inquiries same concern and effort to of Culture. hundreds of millions of Arabic about their supposed knowl- translate Arab thought and The General Book Authority speakers. edge of Arab culture. literature to other languages. was no longer the sole publisher If many in the Arab world They seem to still imagine the It seems most of the major of the Ministry of Culture, he believe and promote the fallacy Orient, a metaphor for the Arab Arab translation projects, said. Abu Ghazi counted 13 by which Arab literature has world, as if it were part of a despite their importance, are other bodies belonging to the conquered the world through a legend that is not yet over. What limited to translation of ministry that were involved in couple of translations published is surprising is that the number international thought and publishing. The lack of coordi- here or there or because of inter- of translations of “One Thou- What is being creativity into Arabic. During nation between those agencies national festivals and a few sand and One Nights” into the translated in the the 1950s, the Cultural Depart- often resulted in having the cultural weeks where half of the languages ​​of the world far ment of the Egyptian Ministry same book being translated by attendees belong to intelligence exceeds the translations of the Arab world does of Education introduced the more than one body. services of the hosting country, works of Egyptian Nobel not exceed 1% of “One Thousand Books” project. Official groups are not the the truth is otherwise. Literature Laureate Naguib the total volume of A new version of the project only culprits in the affair and Dozens of translations of Mahfouz. came about in the 1980 by the one should not always use them Arabic works are published in translated material Egyptian General Book Author- as scapegoats for the world’s small national publishing Hassan Ouazzani is a Moroccan on Earth. ity. A national project of problems. In the case of transla- markets and, therefore, do not writer. August 4, 2019 23 News & Analysis Culture

Former Syrian prisoners put experience in Adra Prison on stage

Karen Dabrowska

London

n a heart-wrenching drama ti- tled “X-Adra,” Hend, Ayat, Ali, Mariam, Rowaida and Kenda — I Syrian activists who had been held in the notorious Adra Prison near Damascus, speak eloquent so- liloquies about their experiences. The actors surprised the audience in London’s Battersea Arts Centre by rising from seats among the pa- trons and beginning their stories. “X-Adra” was featured in Shubbak, London’s festival of contemporary Arab culture in July. Their imprisonment ranged from the 1980s until after the 2011 pro- tests. Each person, with simple gestures and quiet intensity, cre- ated a penetrating flash of insight into prison life and their hopes and dreams on being released. Ayat Ahmad left her husband and became involved in civil mobilisa- tion through various associations, which led to imprisonments in 2012 and 2013. Hend Alkahwaji was im- prisoned in 1982 for distributing leaflets asking for the withdrawal of the Syrian Army from Lebanon. After her release, she resumed mili- tant activities for the Communist Labour Party and was arrested in 1984. Ali Hamidi, a transgender person, returned from Jordan to take part in peaceful demonstrations in Damas- cus in 2011. He was transporting deserters fleeing to Jordan when he was arrested in 2012. Mariam Hayed also participated in the demonstra- tions and was accused of belong- (Ahmed Naji) ing to a terrorist group. Rowaida Bitter testimonies. A scene from the play “X-Adra.” Kanaan was arrested three times: for taking part in protests, for trans- porting medication to rebels and thing I remember is that they have signal. With the blink of an eye, we were in detention for two months.” your stories in a play, then please for working as a journalist. beaten me a lot. I don’t know what took off our black abayas to reveal Director Ramzi Choukair was know that no one is better to tell Kenda Zaour was arrested in 2012 to do. The investigator asked a lot of the wedding dresses we had under- working in Mersin, Turkey, in May them than you because they belong in Damascus for wearing a wedding questions. Whatever answer I had, I neath. 2015 when he met Mariam, who to you,” he said. dress in the Medhat Basha market got beaten,” the prisoner says. had just been released from prison. The women’s testimonies were to ask for the release of civil prison- Describing her detention, Mari- The stories of courage, “I was overwhelmed by the story of taken during a 4-week workshop in ers. am said: “They forced me to have resilience, pain and triumph her detention,” Choukair stated. France and the play evolved. The The soliloquies were brief but full a TV interview in which I (wrongly) demonstrate the women’s “It was during my stay in Tur- premiere was in January 2018 at the of facts and details told in sombre, confessed how we fabricated the unshakable faith in the key that I conceived the project of Filature, Scene Nationale — Mul- moving tones. The former prison- fake demonstration. I was ready creating a play with the stories of house in Alsace, France, and was ers spoke in Arabic and an Eng- to do whatever they wanted just to cause they are fighting for former Syrian female prisoners to followed by a tour of France and lish translation was projected on a put an end to my pain in the (deten- − a free Syria. emphasise their prominent role in Europe. screen above the stage. tion) centre and get transferred to “We lifted up our demonstration the revolution. I started contacting The stories of courage, resilience, The play started with the words Adra Prison.” banners and signs. People started them in Berlin, Paris, Madrid and pain and triumph demonstrate the of an unknown prisoner: “Anyone “Yes, I agreed to the film because reading our banners, which read: Istanbul through different NGOs,” women’s unshakable faith in the here? Can anyone hear me? Can an- I was exhausted from their torture ‘Syria is for all of us. The civil so- Choukair said. cause they are fighting for — a free yone help me? I don’t know where and I wanted to let my family know ciety demands the cessation of all “At that time, I didn’t have any Syria. Choukair said the play allows I am?” I was alive,” Mariam said. military operations in Syria.’ idea about the shape of the play but the women to present their lives “The police forces held me hos- Kenda spoke about the “wedding “The security services imme- I told them that I was sure about and touch the audience with their tage somewhere unfamiliar. Every- dress” protest: “We received the diately came and arrested us. We one thing: If we are going to present humanity and dignity. The artistic resistance of Ahwazi Arabs in Iran

Shima Silavi the Pahlavi regime issued in quick Iran reversed — on paper — some the price with his life was Sattar a uniting force. Hassan Sobhipour, succession bans on the use of Azeri of its anti-minorities laws after the Sayahi, also known as “Abu Suroor also known as “Hassan Nasr,” the on the premises of schools, in the- fall of the Pahlavi regime but the al-Ahwazi.” He was arrested in 2012 Ahwazi director and music produc- atrical performances, religious cer- culture of discrimination persisted. and, only hours after his release, he er, brought “Nasheed Alwahdeh” hen Iran came under emonies and, finally, in the publica- The language policy has had died. He was in his early 30s. His (“Anthem of Unity”) for Ahwazis. the rule of Shah Mo- tion of books.” various negative consequences on poetry can still be heard in Ahwazi The song became so famous across hammad Reza Pahlavi Consequently, the culture, iden- the development of literature, art, Arab homes, gatherings and cer- the Arab world that an Islamic Revo- W in the mid-20th centu- tity and language of non-Persian poetry and cinema of national mi- emonies. lutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) com- ry, the central government under- communities, which lived on the norities. If members of the minori- mander, during a TV programme, took aggressive policies to create a borders for centuries, were sup- ties desired to create art, they were Some artists, such as quoted the famous line “They want- “Persian nation-state.” pressed violently. The fascist Ital- forced to self-censor to avoid being ed to make us cry and we made the Pahlavi’s attempt at “Persiani- ian dictator Benito Mussolini in the banned and prosecuted by the cen- Yarrahi, use both Arabic river cry.” The IRGC commander sation” of non-Persian people same years established a similar tral government. and Farsi in their work probably did not know that at the started with banning education in academy and took drastic measure There were some who chose to and tackled not only the time he was reciting this line Sob- languages other than Persian. An- against foreign loan words in Ital- resist. Some members of Iran’s mi- resistance of the Ahwazi hipour was in prison for this anthem. other measure was the establish- ian. Mussolini fined business own- norities strengthened their sense Arabs in the face of Sobhipour was kept in detention ment of “Farhangestan” (language ers who used foreign words in their of community by producing art in forced assimilation but for up to a month although he had academy) in 1935 with the mission logos or product names. their own language. The art pro- the demands of all the the necessary authorisations to re- to purify the Persian language from duced by Ahwazi Arabs, for exam- people in Iran. lease the video. After the music went Arabic loan words and other foreign ple, ends up having very strong viral and calls for his release became vocabularies. The creation of new Ahwazi Arab artists broke political undertones and, since it In January, the Economist maga- louder, the Iranian government had Persian words was another step by the barriers with their is not in Farsi, it takes the govern- zine reported on the story of Me- no choice but to let him go. the central government to com- language and music and ment weeks to figure out the effect hdi Yarrahi, the Iranian pop singer The central government has been bat the multi-ethnic nature of Iran sent the clear message to the of a particular song or book. whose song “Pare Sang” (“Broken trying to break the mosaic that at the expense of a uniform and Iranian central government: In the time between the release Stone)” became emblematic for is Iran for decades but the music monolingual “Persia.” “We shall not waltz with of a music video or the publica- the history, environment and many speaks louder than words and, in In this regard, Polish philoso- your tunes.” tion of a book and government’s other issues that preoccupy Ahwazi this scenario, Ahwazi Arab artists pher Aleksander Swietochowski crackdown and ban, the work of people. broke the barriers with their lan- described the process of forced as- Iran, however, was and is one of art would have already moved the Some artists, such as Yarrahi, use guage and music and sent the clear similation or “Persianisation” of the most diverse countries in the hearts and minds of millions of both Arabic and Farsi in their work message to the Iranian central gov- Azeri Turks community in Iran as MENA region, including ethnic, people and created a spirit of resist- and tackled not only the resistance ernment: “We shall not waltz with follows: “In the quest of impos- religious and linguistic minorities. ance among the community. of the Ahwazi Arabs in the face of your tunes.” ing national homogeneity on the The United Nations said even now One of the best-known exam- forced assimilation but the demands country where half of the popula- around 70 languages are spoken in ples of artists who had such com- of all the people in Iran. Shima Silavi is an Ahwazi Arab tion consisted of ethnic minorities, Iran. mitment and courage and paid Like other forms of art, music was activist based in Brussels. 24 August 4, 2019 Travel www.thearabweekly.com

Agenda

El Jem: Through August 9

El Jem Roman Amphitheatre, 160km south of Tunis, hosts clas- sical musicians from all over the world for the International Fes- tival of Symphonic Music of El Jem. In its 34th year, the festival programme includes symphonic and orchestral music from Spain, Italy, Austria, Egypt and Tunisia.

Beiteddine: Through August 10

The annual Beiteddine Art Fes- tival, in the Chouf Mountains, includes a variety of perfor- mances from opera and concerts to theatre and art exhibitions. The festival welcomes more than 50,000 visitors as well as numer- A breathtaking landscape in Asrir oasis. (Saad Guerraoui) ous star performers.

Sousse: Through August 15 The unspoiled landscape of The International Festival of Sousse celebrates the diversity of Tunisian culture and history. The festival includes performances of Morocco’s Guelmim-Oued Noun local and international artists. Byblos: Through August 24 Saad Guerraoui Tighmart and to the Plage Blanche (White Beach), which is 60km from Byblos International Festival Guelmim, said hotel manager Has- in the ancient Phoenician port Guelmim san Bourayda. city of Byblos, north of Beirut, “Our prices are very competitive features international rock bands nown as the gateway to the because we seek to promote tour- and pop singers. This year’s desert, the Guelmim-Oued ism in the Guelmim region,” said schedule includes French singer Noun region in western Bourayda. Mark Lavoine and Britain’s trib- K Morocco is a quiet tourist Between Guelmim and Tan-Tan ute ensemble Queen Symphonic. destination with unspoiled land- on the Atlantic coast, Plage Blanche scape and inexhaustible cultural offers a captivating scenery of Dubai: riches because of the oases and his- beaches, cliffs, estuaries, gorges, August 15-30 toric trade road that linked Moroc- desert areas and oases. can merchants with Timbuktu in Tighmart is 8km farther from Dubai Opera will host its first the 19th century. Guelmim and has better tourist Disney Festival with 48 Disney Some of its most famous oases infrastructure than Asrir. The oa- films — from original animation are Asrir and Tighmart, which are, sis rosary of Tighmart, which was to live-action titles — scheduled. respectively, 7km and 15km from once the capital city of No Lamta, The list includes favourites such Guelmim. Their luscious fields or- a major medieval capital of the as “The Little Mermaid,” “Moa- namented by palm trees make them north-western shores of the Saha- A pathway in the heart of Asrir oasis. (Saad Guerraoui) na,” “Hocus Pocus” and “Honey, little heavens on Earth. ra until the sixteenth century, has I Shrunk the Kids.” As soon as visitors reach Asrir, been proposed by Morocco for its there is a sense the surrounding inscription on the UNESCO World doing business with cooperatives and heritage. Marrakech: houses have been abandoned and Heritage List. while preserving the environment. Guelmim also presents a local September 13-15 life in the village is almost non-ex- In 2017, the kingdom warned “Tourists have also the opportu- craft industry through its leather istent but not for long because chil- about the definite disappearance nity to explore our Sahrawi heritage goods, which mainly uses goat skins The Oasis Festival is an event dren wearing FC Barcelona and Real of the heritage unless rehabilitation through Guedra dance shows and to make pouffes, bags and snuff that celebrates electronic music. Madrid jerseys soon appear to play measures were undertaken. storytelling,” he said. boxes. Traditional Berber jewellery It takes place in the Moroccan football. Former tourist guide Brahim Ta- Guedra is a traditional Sahrawi and carpet weaving are not left out. desert for three days of perfor- Decades-old palm trees, cac- haro set up a sustainable tourism dance that has been preserved since These are characterised by the sim- mances and gathers artists from tus plants and fertile green farms project in Tighmart in 2009 by con- ancient times in the Noun region. It plicity of the patterns and the few all over the world. await visitors at the entrance of verting his grandfather’s crumbling is performed in festivities such as colours used. the oasis where serenity fills the air house into a 10-room guest house weddings and moussems. One of the Sahrawis’ distinc- Tangier: apart from the shallow water flow- he called Maison Nomades. A kasbah in the heart of Tighmart tive customs is warm hospitality, September 15-22 ing down traditional falaj irrigation “My project is based on ecologi- has been turned into a museum with tea as the main drink served channels, which have been well- cal tourism. We offer bio food to where the traditional artefacts, ob- to guests, along with dried fruit. The 20th Tangier’s Jazz Festival preserved through several genera- our customers and organise outings jects, paintings and photos tell the Watching tea being prepared could will feature international and lo- tions. in the desert as part of our several story of nomadism and Sahrawi cul- last several minutes before service cal jazz artists. Visitors can enjoy However, the village lacks the activities to help them discover the ture. because it is slowly brewed on coal free street performances, free proper infrastructure to accommo- beautiful surroundings of the re- Guelmim is famed for its camel to give a stronger flavour. dance courses and jazz concerts date tourists apart from very few gion,” said Taharo. market — the biggest in Morocco — Guelmim is served by a state-of- during the 8-day event. This cottages. The traditionally decorated rooms every Saturday. Animal lovers can the-art airport, which opened in year’s festival lineup includes There are few hotels in Guelmim cost $15-$30 per night and pick-ups explore the trade of a fine selection January. Flights between Guelmim Buika, Anne Sila and Nico Mo- where tourists can stay, including and drop-offs can be arranged from of camels from all desert regions and the Canary Islands are to begin relli. the four-star Oasis Palm Hotel a few Guelmim and Agadir. and learn about the traditions and soon to enhance the city as an inter- kilometres outside the city. Built Taharo said his aim was to help tales of Sahrawis — also called “Blue national destination and boost tour- El Gouna: as a kasbah about three years ago, the area benefit from sustainable Men of the Desert” — and the im- ism in the Guelmim-Oued Noun re- September 19-27 gion. the hotel organises excursions to tourism by employing residents and portance of camels in their culture El Gouna, on the Egyptian Red Sea coast, will host the third El Gouna Film Festival. A diverse selection of films is scheduled. The programme includes docu- mentary, narrative and short film competitions in addition to the Audience Award.

Nefta: September 21-22

Les Dunes Electroniques 2019 is a Tunisian event that celebrates electronic music. The event takes place in the Ong Jemel area of the Tunisian Desert near Nefta. More than 30 international art- ists will perform.

We welcome submissions of calendar items related to cultural events of interest to travellers in the Middle East and North Africa. Please send tips to: Traditional falaj irrigation system used for crops in [email protected] Asrir inhabitant opening the door leading to a luscious field. (Saad Guerraoui) Asrir oasis. (Saad Guerraoui)