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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/category/analysis-briefings-commentary/" title="View all posts in Analysis Briefings Commentary" rel="category tag">Analysis Briefings Commentary</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/2010/" rel="tag">2010</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/academics/" rel="tag">academics</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-ahram/" rel="tag">Al-Ahram</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/alcohol/" rel="tag">alcohol</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad-markets/" 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<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-forces/" rel="tag">security forces</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-problems/" rel="tag">security problems</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/somalia/" rel="tag">Somalia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/suicide-bombings/" rel="tag">suicide bombings</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/transparency-international/" rel="tag">Transparency International</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unemployment/" rel="tag">unemployment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/walls/" rel="tag">walls</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/who/" rel="tag">WHO</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%b3%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85%e2%80%8e/" rel="tag">الإسلام‎</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%ad%d9%8a%d9%8a%d9%86/" rel="tag">بالمسيحيين</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>Even with a new government finally in place in Iraq, the country is still on the brink of disaster, writes <b><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/1029/re6.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Salah Hemeid</a></b></p> <p>Ordinary Iraqis expressed their relief last week at the fact that a new government was finally in place after nine months of gridlock, hoping that this will now be a step towards peace and stability in the beleaguered nation.</p> <p>However, while the breakthrough may have ended the governmental impasse, the crisis has only highlighted the fragility of Iraqi state-building more than seven and a half years after the US-led invasion of the country.</p> <p>The year 2010 did not start off well for Iraq as violence persisted and politicians’ bickering raised concerns about the country’s ability to get back onto its feet after the US withdrawal next year. </p> <p>Thousands were killed, including civilian bystanders, army and security officers and government officials, and thousands others wounded in a string of suicide bombings and attacks in Iraq throughout the year.</p> <p>The violence proved that the Iraqi security forces are not yet able to protect civilians in terms of numbers, equipment and training, while insurgents tied to Al-Qaeda continue to launch attacks, spreading an air of danger in many Iraqi cities.</p> <p>Critics maintain that the newly trained Iraqi armed forces are incompetent and sharply divided along ethnic and sectarian lines and that they cannot be expected to succeed in ending the violence, raising questions about whether the remaining US troops in Iraq will be able to exit the country as many Iraqis desire. </p> <p>The United States has reiterated that it will stick to plans to withdraw all its troops from Iraq by December next year, but Washington might have second thoughts if the new government fails to restore stability and insurgents continue their campaign to bring it down. </p> <p>In addition to the security problems, the newly formed government has to end the chaos in Iraq and deal with multiple political, social and economic setbacks.</p> <p>One of the biggest problems is the deep schism facing the country, which needs to be bridged by national reconciliation. Reconciliation of Iraq’s ethno-religious communities is seen as a necessary precursor to stemming the country’s sectarian violence.</p> <p>There are dangers that the country is descending into a situation in which it is becoming less tolerant in terms of religious freedoms and human rights, as the government fails to deal with increasing fundamentalism.</p> <p>An intensifying campaign is putting more pressure on the government to go after religious fundamentalists, operating in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities, who seek to impose their strict interpretation of Islam.</p> <p>There have been widespread reports that these groups have ordered social clubs, bars and alcohol shops to close down and that they are intimidating people who do not follow their version of Islamic values. </p> <p>The crackdown has included shutting music and drama departments in arts institutes, banning arts festivals and circuses, and imposing strict codes of behaviour.</p> <p>The moves have heightened concerns among academics and intellectuals that Iraq, now emerging from foreign occupation and war, is displaying all the tendencies of a Taliban-like Islamic state.</p> <p>The year 2010 was also among the worst for the country’s Christians, with thousands fleeing their homes and more leaving the country during 2010 than at any time since the US-led invasion. </p> <p>The latest exodus follows a massacre led by Al-Qaeda at a Christian Catholic Church in central Baghdad on 31 October, which left some 60 people dead, almost 100 maimed and an already apprehensive community terrified.</p> <p>Since then, the terrorist group has targeted Christians in their homes, including family members of those who survived the attack.</p> <p>In Baghdad, as well as in the northern cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, Christmas services have been cancelled for fear of further violence. </p> <p>After more than seven years of war, the Iraqi economy is in tatters, with the country depending largely on imports for nearly everything from cars to tomatoes. Unemployment is among the highest in any country worldwide.</p> <p>The country also still lacks basic services. Electricity is in short supply, medicines are available mainly through the black market, and there are long lines for fuel in a country that has the third largest oil reserves in the world.</p> <p>Another serious problem is corruption, which is spectacular even by world standards. Iraq is ranked fifth from the bottom of the pressure group Transparency International’s list of 180 nations.</p> <p>Bribery and outright theft surround virtually every Iraqi government department, with some of the kickbacks being used by rival politicians to cement their power bases in order to perpetuate their hegemony in the country.</p> <p>Some two million Iraqi refugees are either abroad or displaced inside Iraq after being forced to flee their homes to safe havens because of violence and sectarian threats.</p> <p>Today, most of Baghdad’s neighbourhoods are shielded by high concrete walls from the rubble-strewn streets and are cordoned off by the security forces as residents are trapped in fear of a renewal of sectarian conflict. </p> <p>However, the good news in 2010 was that Iraq increased its oil exports. New Petroleum Minister Abdel-Karim Luaibi said on Wednesday that Iraq’s crude oil production had increased by 100,000 barrels a day to 2.5 million barrels. </p> <p>The ministry had announced earlier that sales from Iraqi crude oil exports during the first 11 months of 2010 had reached $46.9 billion. Last year, Iraq’s oil revenues reached $41.3 billion, compared with $60 billion in 2008.</p> <p>Iraq might have made other small advances in 2010, especially in avoiding civil war, but the country still has a long way to go. At the end of a long and exhausting year, it is hard to see a clear end in sight.</p> <p>Strengthening the Iraqi state will be hard, especially after the March elections that produced a government many Iraqis consider to be weak, fragmented and incompetent.</p> <p>According to some scenarios for post-2010 Iraq, next year will be crucial as it will see the withdrawal of the remaining US troops. The pullout will mean that the US will no longer have a large foothold in Iraq, leaving the country to local forces and interests as it absorbs the after- effects of the American-led invasion.</p> <p>One scenario is that the national partnership government will succeed in holding the country together and that a strong central government will emerge. This will be able to prevent violence escalating and erupting into all-out civil war.</p> <p>A second scenario would be that the instability in Iraq continues, with the growing confrontation between the country’s Sunnis and Shias over power and resources leading the country into chaos.</p> <p>Neighbouring countries will be fearful of the risk of contagion and will try to keep the chaos contained within Iraq’s borders. A proxy war could be the result, along the lines of what is happening in Somalia.</p> <p>Another scenario would be the collapse of the government because of sectarian fighting and the country descending into outright civil war. This would most likely lead to Iraq’s disintegration with instability spreading to the entire region.</p> <p>The year 2011 will be pivotal for Iraq’s future, and that future will be more than anything else determined by the fortunes of the new government. </p> <p>It is to be hoped that Iraq’s politicians will not repeat their previous mistakes and that they will stand together to end the people’s misery and start rebuilding the devastated country.</p> <p><strong>Source: </strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/1029/re6.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Al-Ahram Weekly | Region | A pivotal year for Iraqis</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11986"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/12/24/christian-exodus-from-iraq-gathers-pace/#respond" title="Comment on Christian exodus from Iraq gathers pace">No Comments</a></span> Posted on December 24th, 2010 by Nur Hussein Ghazali</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/12/24/christian-exodus-from-iraq-gathers-pace/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Christian exodus from Iraq gathers pace">Christian exodus from Iraq gathers pace</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/category/religion/" title="View all posts in Religion" rel="category tag">Religion</a>, Tags: <a 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are rapidly emptying. Now <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/iraq" class="external" target="_blank">Iraq</a>’s Christians face two further unthinkable realities: that Christmas this year is all but cancelled, and that few among them will stay around to celebrate future holy days.</p> <p>It has been the worst of years for the country’s Christians, with thousands fleeing in the past month and more leaving the country during 2010 than at any time since the invasion nearly eight years ago. Christian leaders say there have been few more defining years in their 2,000-year history in central Arabia.</p> <p> <a title="20102412_captioned_memorial_murdered_christians by Gorillas Guides, on Flickr" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorillasguides/5287899085/" class="external" target="_blank"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto 5px" height="276" alt="20102412_captioned_memorial_murdered_christians" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341im_/http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5245/5287899085_689e1097d8_o.jpg" width="460"/></a> <p>The latest exodus follows a massacre led by al-Qaida at a Chaldean Catholic church in central Baghdad on 31 October, which left about 60 people dead, almost 100 maimed and an already apprehensive community terrified. Since then, the terrorist group has targeted Christians in their homes, including family members of those who survived the attack.</p> <p>In Baghdad, as well as the northern cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, Christmas services have been cancelled for fear of further violence. Church leaders said they would not put up Christmas decorations or celebrate midnight mass. They told families not to decorate their homes, for fear of attack after al-Qaida reiterated its threat to target Christians earlier this week.</p> <p>"Now more than 80% of Christians are not going to the churches," said the head of Iraq’s Christian Endowment group, Abdullah al-Noufali. "There is no more sunday school, no school for teaching Christianity. Yesterday we had a discussion about what we would do for Christmas. We took a decision just to do one mass. In years before we had many masses."</p> <p>Noufali’s church was closed and barricaded in 2005 when violence was consuming Baghdad. Many others had stayed open since then. Until now. In the wake of the attack on the Our Lady of Salvation church, at least 10 churches are believed to have been closed. At others, congregations are down to a handful.</p> <p>Iraq’s Christian population has halved since the ousting of Saddam Hussein. But in the past two months, the rate of departure has soared. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees is reporting high numbers of registrations by Christians in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. And in Iraq’s Kurdish north, the number of refugees is overwhelming.</p> <p>Christians have been arriving since the president of the Kurdish regional government, Massoud Barazani, offered them protection and refuge days after the massacre.</p> <p>Kurdish officials say at least 1,000 families have taken up the offer. Noufali believes the number is far higher. He says the Kurds have been warm and welcoming, but fears that moving there does not offer his community a long-term solution.</p> <p>"We have seen in Kurdistan that they have no ability to accept the Kurdish students in the universities," he said. "There are not enough chairs in the university for them. They must have opportunity to learn and work. The problem is not just security."</p> <p>In Lebanon, the plight of Iraq’s Christians is being carefully scrutinised. Father Yusef Muwaness, of the Council of Catholic Churches in the Middle East, said: "We understand the shock [the Iraqis] are enduring. We want them to know that they won’t be left alone.</p> <p>"There are ancient issues at work. These people [al-Qaida] are killing because of a fatwa. There has not been a mufti who has stood up and said this is wrong."</p> <p>Lebanon’s Christians once held a demographic majority. Emigration and a brutal civil war has whittled numbers away. Amin Gemayel, a former Lebanese president and now patriarch of many of the country’s remaining Christians, believes far more could be done by Muslim leaders to ensure that the exodus is not total.</p> <p>"The Christians were very nationalistic," he said. "They are part of the foundations of this area. We can’t understand such extremity then passivity from the leaders. When the region is completely cleansed of other religions (apart from Islam) it will be a surrender to the fundamentalists."</p> <p>In the Chaldean archdiocese in Baabda, above Beirut, Father Hanna has been receiving Iraqi families fleeing their homeland. "I would go back there to give a service in front of one person, if I had to," he said. "But even that may not be possible now. Since 1 November, we have seen 450 families register here. Many more have gone to the UN."</p> <p>Among those who have stayed in Iraq and tried to build a new life in the north, there are mixed feelings. "Three days after the church attack I left my house (in Baghdad) and came to the KRG," said Georges Qudah, 30, a pharmacy assistant. "At the main checkpoint I said we are a Christian family, and they said we are welcome to stay as long as we want. I feel safe and comfortable here, but the problem is how to live. The council here has given us blankets and beds, but housing is very expensive."</p> <p>In Baghdad, there are few signs of the joy of Christmas.</p> <p>"There is no hope here anymore," says Noufali. "No one can believe they [the Christians] will stay. Christmas came with two messages, peace in the world and hope for the people and we need these two things for our life in Iraq. If there are no more Christians here, I am certain Iraq will become a more dangerous country."</p> <h3>Christianity in the Middle East</h3> <p> Freedom of worship for Christians varies greatly across the Middle East. <p>In Lebanon, where about half the population are Christian, believers are allowed to practise their faith without fear of persecution. The Maronite Church is the largest, most politically active and influential denomination, holding 34 of the 64 Christian seats in the Lebanese parliament.</p> <p>In Jordan, Christians are free to profess their faith, build churches, schools, hospitals and universities. They attend mass and there are public celebrations of religious festivals and ceremonies. They experience less discrimination and more freedom than fellow believers in Egypt and Iraq. There is a similar portrait of stability and freedom in Syria, where Christians comprise up to 10% of the population.</p> <p>Evangelising bvy Protestants in Jordan has prompted a crackdown on churches, visas and summer camps. Attempting to convert Muslims is illegal, but there is no law against proselytising to other Christians and some Catholic and Orthodox groups have complained of energetic wooing from Protestants. It is this evangelising that has offended authorities, keen to avoid religious zealotry of any sort.</p> <p>What Saudi Arabia lacks in violent persecution it makes up for in outright intolerance. There is no religious freedom in Saudi Arabia, which counts a million Catholics in its population. The country allows Christians to enter for work purposes but severely restricts the practise of their faith.</p> <p>Christians worship in private homes and there are bans on religious articles including Bibles, crucifixes, statues, carvings and items bearing religious symbols. The religious police bar the practice of any religion other than Islam. Conversion of a Muslim to another religion is considered apostasy and carries a death sentence if the accused does not recant. Still, Christians in Saudi Arabia are positively blessed compared with those of Iraq. <strong>Riazat Butt</strong></p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/23/iraq-christian-exodus-christmas" class="external" target="_blank">Christian exodus from Iraq gathers pace</a> | by Martin Chulov in Baghdad |  <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://www.guardian.co.uk/" target="_blank" class="external">The Guardian</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11944"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/12/14/analysis-an-exodus-of-christians-from-iraq/#respond" title="Comment on Analysis: An exodus of Christians from Iraq">No Comments</a></span> Posted on December 14th, 2010 by Yusuf Al-Jezani</div> <h3><a 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rel="tag">UNHCR</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%b3%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85%e2%80%8e/" rel="tag">الإسلام‎</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div style="border-right: black 1px solid; padding-right: 5px; border-top: black 1px solid; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 360px; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: black 1px solid"> <p>“What is often unnoticed in the Middle East is the devastating effect of U.S. policy on Christians in the region. U.S. policymakers have never taken the plight of Christians seriously, whether in Iraq or in Lebanon. There may be protests of specific violations, but not in those areas where the U.S. or Israelis have other strategic interests. For all the communication with U.S. government over the past 20 years, I have seen no serious action from any administration to improve protection for Christians. Religious freedom is basically a reporting matter and no more.”<img style="display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto 5px" height="286" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341im_/http://gorillasguides.com/images/UNHCRstartstohelphundredsofIraqiChristia_33C/20081024_christian_refugee_child_syria.jpg" width="359"/></p> <p>"Iraqi Christians represent only 3 percent of the population, they account for 20 percent of the Iraqis who have emigrated abroad."</p> <p>"That’s largely because they have the connections to Western churches and family members who are already abroad in places like Detroit, Toronto, Los Angeles and elsewhere and therefore have a better chance of getting out."</p> </p></div> <p>WASHINGTON — A steady exodus of Christians from the Middle East and — most dramatically — from Iraq since the October slaughter of 57 churchgoers in Baghdad, has a long and layered history.</p> <p>The diminishing Christian presence in the land where the faith began some 2,000 years ago is an issue about which anyone — of any faith, or of no faith — who is concerned about the future of the Middle East, should care deeply.</p> <p>But when it comes out of a simple, emotional response by a Christian West wanting to defend a Christian minority in the East during Christmas time, it leads down a dangerous road in history. It’s a perilous path that sets out from the Crusades, when England and France marched off to save the Holy Land and its Christians from Muslim conquest, and one littered with moral hazards and potential for even greater violence.</p> <p>The whole message of the New Testament would be to care about all who are suffering in war-torn Iraq, not just Christians. And there are lots of people suffering in Iraq.</p> <p>So the starting point to understanding the lessons of the recent Iraqi Christian exodus is to not allow the religious extremists — neither Muslim nor Christian nor any other faith — to exploit the attacks and present them out of context as a “clash of civilizations,” that self-fulfilling prophecy coined by the late Harvard University historian, Samuel Huntington.</p> <p>A glimpse of the writing on the wall can be seen along the back alleys in the Iraqi Christian neighborhoods of Baghdad and Mosul. That’s where a militant fringe has for years been scribbling anti-Christian hatred in the form of graffiti.</p> <p>A particularly ominous anti-Christian bit of graffiti, which I first saw spray-painted on walls at least 12 years ago in Egypt when Islamic fundamentalists were targeting Coptic Christians, has reportedly resurfaced in Iraq in recent months. The translation from the Arabic slogan is this: “First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people.”</p> <p>The phrase is an overt threat intended to say that Muslims, who worship on Friday, have already pushed many Jews, who worship on Saturday, out of the Middle East and that now they will do the same to the Christians.</p> <p>Long before Sept. 11 and the “War on Terror,” it often felt like Selma, Ala. circa 1960 in many Christian minority communities of the Middle East.</p> <p>This climate of threat and intimidation and sometimes violence has been boiling to the surface in places around the world where the Muslim majority collides with a Christian minority, such as Egypt, Pakistan, Sudan, Iran, Nigeria and elsewhere.</p> <p>But nowhere is a palpable sense of fear and a Christian exodus from the Middle East more dramatic right now than Iraq, where analysts estimate that fully half of the country’s Christians have left since 2003.</p> <p>It was Oct. 31, a Sunday, at the Syrian Catholic Church of Our Lady of Salvation in Baghdad that the climate of fear was made horrifyingly real and where it became clear that Al Qaeda-inspired elements were going to go right to the third rail of the Western influence in the Middle East by targeting indigenous Christians — trying to break the 2,000-year continuum of a living Christian presence in Iraq.</p> <p>It was at the very end of an All Saints Day mass, when eight heavily armed men, purportedly inspired by Al Qaeda, invaded the church in the heart of Baghdad just as Wassim Sabih, the priest, was about to conclude the service with the words, “The Mass has ended, go in peace.”</p> <p>According to published reports based on eyewitness accounts, Sabih never got the words out as the militants opened fire. They pointed their weapons at him and silenced him as he began pleading for the release of his parishioners.</p> <p>They took the parishioners hostage and demanded the release of two Muslim women who were supposedly held by Egyptian Coptic Christians. Iraqi Security Forces responded and in the wild gun battle that ensued, grenades were thrown by the militants, and in the end of that Sunday’s mass, 57 people were dead, including two priests.</p> <p>A group calling itself The Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack. Believed to be an offshoot of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the group issued a bulletin, saying, “All Christian centers, organizations and institutions, leaders and followers are legitimate targets.” And that they will kill Christians “wherever they can reach them.”</p> <p>In the historical comparison of Selma, the Ku Klux Klan, which in this context would be Al Qaeda, has always been menacing, but now it is on the rise and openly attacking churches.</p> <p>It is attempting to stoke the emotional fury of a Christian West to defend the indigenous Christians, and draw it deeper into a fight, to draw us into an understanding that this is indeed a “clash of civilizations.”</p> <p>That is precisely how Al Qaeda sees this historical moment. And it is precisely why it’s wise for the United States and the West to avoid seeing it that way. Al Qaeda is a tiny criminal, terrorist organization with a warped, 12th-century ideology.</p> <p>It is not a civilization.</p> <p>Drew Christiansen, editor of "America," a national Catholic weekly magazine published by Jesuits, said that too often there is an overreaction or selective reaction to these attacks, and too little done by U.S. policymakers.</p> <p>“What is often unnoticed in the Middle East is the devastating effect of U.S. policy on Christians in the region,” he said. “U.S. policymakers have never taken the plight of Christians seriously, whether in Iraq or in Lebanon. There may be protests of specific violations, but not in those areas where the U.S. or Israelis have other strategic interests. For all the communication with U.S. government over the past 20 years, I have seen no serious action from any administration to improve protection for Christians. Religious freedom is basically a reporting matter and no more.”</p> <p>Predictably, there are often shrill responses to these kinds of attacks on churches, particularly from the Christian right and at times from right-wing Jewish groups that see peril in the whole message of Islam and are quick to see these attacks as evidence of that.</p> <p>Here’s an example. I recently sat with John Eibner, head of something called Christian Solidarity International, which is a Washington-based advocacy group focusing on the persecution of Christians around the world, said on the Christians in Iraq, "Only the U.S. can save them and if we don’t, the U.S. will be responsible for what amounts to genocide."</p> <p>"The human rights community doesn’t want to touch this because it is not politically correct," he said.</p> <p>There’s a kernal of truth in that and no reason to doubt Eibner is well intentioned, but overreacting to events in the Middle East can often conflate the problems and calling the violence and intimidation a "genocide" is ridiculous.</p> <p>Prince Turki Al Faisal, the longtime head of Saudi intelligence and the former ambassador to Washington, was in the United States in November and participated in an interfaith dialogue with Christian groups. In an interview with GlobalPost, he referred to the attacks in Iraq, saying, “It’s Al Qaeda being Al Qaeda. They are making a concerted strategy knowing it would cause a reaction and an overreaction in the West. They absolutely know what they are doing … We have to be careful not to let them succeed by overreacting.”</p> <p>The truth is just about everyone lives in fear in Iraq, and just about everyone has suffered violence. Many religious and ethnic groups have been targeted in much larger numbers in the violence and chaos that followed the 2003 invasion.</p> <p>Just two days after the church attack, a spate of bombs in Sunni and Shia neighborhoods killed 68 people and wounded hundreds. An article in Monday’s editions of<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/world/middleeast/13iraq.html?_r=1&ref=middleeast" class="external" target="_blank"> The New York Times</a> [2] provides an important piece of context to focus on: While Iraqi Christians represent only 3 percent of the population, they account for 20 percent of the Iraqis who have emigrated abroad.</p> <p>That’s largely because they have the connections to Western churches and family members who are already abroad in places like Detroit, Toronto, Los Angeles and elsewhere and therefore have a better chance of getting out.</p> <p>More than half of the Iraqi Christian community, estimated to be 800,000 prior to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, have left, according to the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute.</p> <p>But the threat to Christians and the violence they are suffering is just as bad as the threat to Shia or Sunni Muslims, who are also trying to be part of a new Iraq — one where violence is beginning to subside and where the governing crisis is finally settling down. Those Iraqis care about their Christian neighbors and friends and know the important role they play in Iraq moving forward. Those are the Iraqis who don’t want the Christians to flee.</p> <p>In 2006, I had a chance to actually ask Samuel Huntington about his 1996 book, "The Clash of Civilizations," and about whether it’s central premise might actually be self-fulfilling, particularly in the wake of Sept. 11. He often felt that his scholarship was taken out of context, he said, and he confided that he wished he had titled it differently, perhaps “Clashes of Civilizations” or something not to allow people to so easily misinterpret his work.</p> <p>Huntington passed away, but we have a chance to not allow people to misinterpret history or the events unfolding around us, and that’s how best to ponder the suffering of Christians — and everyone else — in Iraq.</p> <blockquote></blockquote> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/iraq/101213/iraq-christians-al-qaeda?page=0,0" class="external" target="_blank">Iraq | Christianity | Al Qaeda</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11700"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/26/exodus/#respond" title="Comment on Exodus">No Comments</a></span> Posted on October 26th, 2010 by Ali</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/26/exodus/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Exodus">Exodus</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/category/religion/" title="View all posts in Religion" rel="category tag">Religion</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-amin/" rel="tag">al-Amin</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/america/" rel="tag">America</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arabs/" rel="tag">Arabs</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arbil/" rel="tag">Arbil</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/archbishop-paul-faraj-kidnapping-and-murder-of/" rel="tag">Archbishop Paul Faraj - 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Anwar</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saudi-arabia/" rel="tag">Saudi Arabia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/vatican/" rel="tag">Vatican</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/west-bank/" rel="tag">West Bank</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%b3%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85%e2%80%8e/" rel="tag">الإسلام‎</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%ad%d9%8a%d9%8a%d9%86/" rel="tag">بالمسيحيين</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div style="padding-right: 5px; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; width: 360px; padding-top: 0px"> <div class="container"> <div class="shadow"> <div class="frame"> <strong>From Israel to Iraq, a Christian flight of Biblical proportions has begun.</strong> <p><a title="20100913_cross_with_lights_Arbil by Gorillas Guides, on Flickr" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/5117481728/" class="external" target="_blank"><img height="238" alt="20100913_cross_with_lights_Arbil" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341im_/http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1189/5117481728_113dc0d2e6_o.jpg" width="350"/></a></p> </p></div> </p></div> </p></div> </p></div> <p>In the centre of the rebuilt Beirut, the massive old Maronite Cathedral of St George stands beside the even larger mass of the new Mohammad al-Amin mosque. The mosque’s minarets tower over the cathedral, but the Maronites were built a spanking new archbishop’s house between the two buildings as compensation. Yet every day, the two calls to prayer – the clanging of church bells and the wailing of the muezzin – beat an infernal percussion across the city. Both bells and wails are tape recordings, but they have been turned up to the highest decibel pitch to outdo each other, louder than an aircraft’s roar, almost as crazed as the nightclub music from Gemmayzeh across the square. But the Christians are leaving.</p> <p>Across the Middle East, it is the same story of despairing – sometimes frightened – Christian minorities, and of an exodus that reaches almost Biblical proportions. Almost half of Iraq’s Christians have fled their country since the first Gulf War in 1991, most of them after the 2004 invasion – a weird tribute to the self-proclaimed Christian faith of the two Bush presidents who went to war with Iraq – and stand now at 550,000, scarcely 3 per cent of the population. More than half of Lebanon’s Christians now live outside their country. Once a majority, the nation’s one and a half million Christians, most of them Maronite Catholics, comprise perhaps 35 per cent of the Lebanese. Egypt’s Coptic Christians – there are at most around eight million – now represent less than 10 per cent of the population.</p> <p>This is, however, not so much a flight of fear, more a chronicle of a death foretold. Christians are being outbred by the majority Muslim populations in their countries and they are almost hopelessly divided. In Jerusalem, there are 13 different Christian churches and three patriarchs. A Muslim holds the keys to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to prevent Armenian and Orthodox priests fighting each other at Easter. </p> <p>When more than 200 members of 14 different churches – some of them divided – gathered in Rome last week for a papal synod on the loss of Christian populations in the lands where Christianity began, it was greeted with boredom or ignored altogether by most of the West’s press.</p> <p>Yet nowhere is the Christian fate sadder than in the territories around Jerusalem. As Monsignor Fouad Twal, the ninth Latin patriarch of Jerusalem and the second to be an Arab, put it bleakly, "the Israelis regard us as 100 per cent Palestinian Arabs and we are oppressed in the same way as the Muslims. But Muslim fundamentalists identify us with the Christian West – which is not always true – and want us to pay the price." With Christian Palestinians in Bethlehem cut off from Jerusalem by the same Israeli wall which imprisons their Muslim brothers, there is now, Twal says, "a young generation of Christians who do not know or visit the Holy Sepulchre".</p> <p>The Jordanian royal family have always protected their Christian population – at 350,000, it is around 6 per cent of the population – but this is perhaps the only flame of hope in the region. The divisions within Christianity proved even more dangerous to their community than the great Sunni-Shia divide did to the Muslims of the Middle East. Even the Crusaders were divided in their 100-year occupation of Palestine, or "Outremer", as they called it. The Lebanese journalist Fady Noun, a Christian, wrote a profound article from Rome last week in which he spoke of the Christian loss as "a great wound haemorrhaging blood", and bemoaned both Christian division and "egoism" for what he saw as a spiritual as well as a physical emigration. "There are those Christians who reach a kind of indifference… in Western countries who, swayed by the culture of these countries and the media, persuade eastern Christians to forget their identity," he wrote.</p> <p>Pope Benedict, whose mournful visit to the Holy Land last year prompted him to call the special synod which ended in the Vatican at the weekend, has adopted his usual perspective – that, despite their difficulties, Christians of the "Holy Land" must reinvigorate their feelings as "living stones" of the Middle Eastern Church. "To live in dignity in your own nation is before everything a fundamental human right," he said. "That is why you must support conditions of peace and justice, which are indispensable for the harmonious development of all the inhabitants of the region." But the Pope’s words sometimes suggested that real peace and justice lay in salvation rather than historical renewal.</p> <p>Patriarch Twal believes that the Pope understood during his trip to Israel and the West Bank last year "the disastrous consequences of the conflict between Jews and Palestinian Arabs" and has stated openly that one of the principal causes of Christian emigration is "the Israeli occupation, the Christians’ lack of freedom of movement, and the economic circumstances in which they live". But he does not see the total disappearance of the Christian faith in the Middle East. "We must have the courage to accept that we are Arabs and Christians and be faithful to this identity. Our wonderful mission is to be a bridge between East and West."</p> <p>One anonymous prelate at the Rome synod, quoted in one of the synod’s working papers, took a more pragmatic view. "Let’s stop saying there is no problem with Muslims; this isn’t true," he said. "The problem doesn’t only come from fundamentalists, but from constitutions. In all the countries of the region except Lebanon, Christians are second-class citizens." If religious freedom is guaranteed in these countries, "it is limited by specific laws and practices". In Egypt, this has certainly been the case since President Sadat referred to himself as "the Muslim president of a Muslim country".</p> <p>The Lebanese Maronite Church – its priests, by the way, can marry – understands all too well how Christians can become aligned with political groups. The Lebanese writer Sami Khalife wrote last week in the French-language newspaper L’Orient-Le Jour – the francophone voice of Lebanon’s Christians – that a loss of moral authority had turned churches in his country into "political actors" which were beginning to sound like political parties. An open letter to the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, warning him to try to turn Lebanon into a "front line" against Israel, was signed by 250 Lebanese. Most of them were from the minority Christian community.</p> <p>Nor can the church ignore Saudi Arabia, where Christianity is banned as a religion just as much as the building of churches. Christians cannot visit the Islamic holy cities of Mecca or Medina – the doors of the Vatican and Canterbury Cathedral are at least open to Muslims – and 12 Filipinos and a priest were arrested in Saudi Arabia only this month for "proselytism" for holding a secret mass. There is, perhaps, a certain irony in the fact that the only balance to Christian emigration has been the arrival in the Middle East of perhaps a quarter of a million Christian Filipino guest workers – especially in the Gulf region – while Patriarch Twal reckons that around 40,000 of them now work and live in Israel and "Palestine".</p> <p>Needless to say, it is violence against Christians that occupies the West, a phenomenon nowhere better, or more bloodily, illustrated than by al-Qa’ida’s kidnapping of Archbishop Faraj Rahho in Mosul – an incident recorded in the US military archives revealed on Saturday – and his subsequent murder. When the Iraqi authorities later passed death sentences on two men for the killing, the church asked for them to be reprieved. In Egypt, there has been a gloomy increase in Christian-Muslim violence, especially in ancient villages in the far south of the country; in Cairo, Christian churches are now cordoned off by day-and-night police checkpoints.</p> <p>And while Western Christians routinely deplore the falling Christian populations of the Middle East, their visits to the region tend to concentrate on pilgrimages to Biblical sites rather than meetings with their Christian opposite numbers. </p> <p>Americans, so obsessed by the myths of East-West "clashes of civilisation" since 11 September 2001, often seem to regard Christianity as a "Western" rather than an Eastern religion, neatly separating the Middle East roots of their own religion from the lands of Islam. That in itself is a loss of faith.</p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-exodus-the-changing-map-of-the-middle-east-2116463.html" class="external" target="_blank">Robert Fisk: Exodus. The changing map of the Middle East – Robert Fisk, Commentators – The Independent</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-10280"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/02/02-05-2010-selected-english-language-coverage/#respond" title="Comment on 02-05-2010 Selected English Language Coverage">No Comments</a></span> Posted on May 2nd, 2010 by Editors</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/02/02-05-2010-selected-english-language-coverage/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to 02-05-2010 Selected English Language Coverage">02-05-2010 Selected English Language Coverage</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-jazeera-english/" rel="tag">al jazeera english</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-naser-district-kirkuk/" rel="tag">Al Naser district (Kirkuk)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arab-league/" rel="tag">Arab League</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/asharq-al-awsat/" rel="tag">Asharq Al-Awsat</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/asharq-alawsat-newspaper/" rel="tag">asharq alawsat newspaper</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/aswat-al-iraq/" rel="tag">Aswat Al Iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/attacks-on-green-zone-government-police/" rel="tag">Attacks on green zone government police</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/attacks-on-judges-and-lawyers/" rel="tag">Attacks on judges and lawyers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/barzani-massoud/" rel="tag">Barzani - Massoud</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ceyhan-pipeline/" rel="tag">Ceyhan pipeline</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christians-persecution-of/" rel="tag">Christians - persecution of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/death-threats/" rel="tag">Death Threats</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ethnic-cleansing-of-christians/" rel="tag">Ethnic cleansing of Christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/fundamentalists/" rel="tag">fundamentalists</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/haidar-al-mulla/" rel="tag">Haidar al-Mulla</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/haidar-al-mulla-death-threat-allegation/" rel="tag">Haidar al-Mulla - death threat allegation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/hamdania/" rel="tag">Hamdania</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/hamdanya/" rel="tag">Hamdanya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kirkuk/" rel="tag">Kirkuk</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kirkuk-ceyhan-pipeline/" rel="tag">Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/krg/" rel="tag">KRG</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kuna/" rel="tag">KUNA</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdish-attempts-to-get-americans-to-stay/" rel="tag">Kurdish attempts to get Americans to stay</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/maliki-nouri-al/" rel="tag">Maliki - Nouri al-</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/malikirule-of-law-vs-iraqiya-list/" rel="tag">Maliki/Rule of Law vs. Iraqiya list</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/masud-barzani/" rel="tag">Masud Barzani</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/mosul/" rel="tag">Mosul</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/mosul-university/" rel="tag">Mosul University</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ninawa-governorate/" rel="tag">Ninawa (Governorate)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/nouri-al-maliki/" rel="tag">nouri al maliki</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/oil-exports/" rel="tag">oil exports</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/prime-ministers-office/" rel="tag">Prime Minister's Office</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reuters/" rel="tag">Reuters</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reuters-alertnet/" rel="tag">reuters alertnet</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sectarian-violence/" rel="tag">sectarian violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/society-and-economy/" rel="tag">Society And Economy</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/summaries/" rel="tag">Summaries</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/waitresses/" rel="tag">waitresses</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-social-position-of/" rel="tag">Women -social position of</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p><font color="#800000">The Day In Quotes:</font> </p> <ul> <li><strong>Iraqiya list spokesman Haidar al-Mulla repeating the death threat he says he received for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s office:</strong> </p> <p>"This is Nouri al Maliki’s message to you; we will cut off your head and your feet if you come to Iraq." </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20802" class="external" target="_blank"><strong>Source: Iraqiya Spokesman: I Have Received A Death Threat from the Prime Minister’s Office Asharq Alawsat Newspaper (English)</strong></a><strong>:</strong> </li> <li><strong>Nissan Karoumi, mayor of Hamdaniya on the bombing of the Mosul University student bus convoy:</strong>  <p>"All of them were Christian students. They go in buses like that to Mosul’s university after the troubled times when Christians were targeted in the past". </p> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE64104F.htm" class="external" target="_blank"><strong>Reuters AlertNet – Bombs kill 1, injure 100 in north Iraq</strong></a><strong>: <br/></strong></li> <li><strong>Hind al-Bidairi on opening a female owned cafe with all-female waiting staff:</strong> <p>"I stand behind every woman trying to change the pattern of our society, to show that women are strong and have the right to get involved in all kinds of business," Bidairi said. </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE6410T220100502?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20Reuters/UKWorldNews%20%28News%20/%20UK%20/%20World%20News%29" class="external" target="_blank"><strong>Source. Baghdad cafe waitresses break down barriers</strong></a><strong>: </strong></li> </ul> <h3><font color="#800000">Politics & Security: </font></h3> <p><strong>Iraqiya Spokesman: I Have Received A Death Threat from the Prime Minister’s Office Asharq Alawsat Newspaper (English)</strong><strong>:</strong></p> <blockquote><p>The political conflict in Baghdad over the formation of Iraq’s next government has reached a stage of "open" death threats, according to Iraqiya spokesman Haidar al-Mulla who claims to have received a personal death threat from the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki.</p> <p><em>[snip]</em></p> <p>Al-Mulla went on to say that approximately one hour after this telephone call, an official from al Maliki’s office who is known to him and who he has spoken to him on the phone a number of times before telephoned him, swore at him and insulted him. Al-Mulla said that this official told him, "This is Nouri al Maliki’s message to you; we will cut off your head and your feet if you come to Iraq." Al-Mulla was outside of Iraq at the time of the phone call. Al-Mulla told Asharq Al-Awsat that he informed the official that he will be returning to Iraq next week, and that the official can do what he wants. <br/>Al-Mulla confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that he recorded this telephone call, which he received during an Iraqiya bloc meeting, and that a number of senior Iraqiya bloc members were in attendance. He said that he intends to submit the recording to the Iraqi judiciary and take al-Maliki to court. Asharq Al-Awsat attempted to obtain a comment from the office of the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, but did not receive a response by the time this article went to press.</p> <p><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20802" class="external" target="_blank">Read in full</a></strong><strong>:</strong></p> </blockquote> <p><strong>كونا : Arab League delegation participates in Baghdad’’s manual recount – الشؤون السياسية – 02/05/2010</strong><strong>: </strong></p> <blockquote><p>Arab League sent on Sunday a team to participate in the manual recount of ballots in Baghdad that kicks off on Monday.</p> <p>The team is led by Assistant Secretary General of Media and communications affairs Ambassador Mohammad Al-Khamleeshi.</p> <p><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2080192&Language=en" class="external" target="_blank">Read in full</a></strong><strong>: </strong></p> </blockquote> <p><strong>Kurdistan President calls on US to solve Iraq’s problems before departure : Aswat Al Iraq</strong><strong>: </strong></p> <blockquote><p>President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Massoud Barazani called on the United States of America to solve Iraq’s problems before ordering troops to depart the country.</p> <p>“Problems between Kurdistan’s regional cabinet and Iraq’s federal government have to be solved prior to U.S. withdrawal from Iraq,” Barazani said on Saturday according to the Kurdistan regional cabinet’s Web site.</p> <p><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=131051" class="external" target="_blank">Read in full</a></strong><strong>: </strong></p> </blockquote> <p><strong>KUNA : Violence in Kirkuk leads to death of lawyer, injury of policeman – Military and Security – 02/05/2010</strong><strong>: </strong></p> <blockquote><p>A lawyer was killed while a policeman was injured in two separate incidents in northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, said a security source Sunday.</p> <p>The source told KUNA that masked gunnmen opened fire on a car carrying two lawyers on the main road between Kirkuk city and Dagogma town, a incident which resulted in the death of one lawyer and the injury of another.</p> <p>The source added that masked gunmen opened fire on a policeman in Al-Naser neighborhood in Kirkuk, leading to the injury of the policeman.</p> <p><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2080198&Language=en" class="external" target="_blank">Source</a></strong><strong>: </strong></p> </blockquote> <blockquote> </blockquote> <p><strong>Al Jazeera English – Middle East – Christians targeted in Mosul blasts</strong><strong>: </strong></p> <blockquote><p>A shopkeeper has been killed in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, as two bombs went off near buses carrying Christian students.</p> <p>More than 100 people, including students and other civilians, were injured in the blasts on Sunday morning.</p> <p><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2010/05/201052113858638936.html" class="external" target="_blank">Read in full</a></strong><strong>:  (</strong><strong>Editor note:</strong> Our own posting on this bombing is here: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/02/buses-bringing-christian-students-to-mosul-university-bombed/"><strong>Buses Bringing Christian Students To Mosul University Bombed | Gorilla’s Guides</strong></a><strong>)</strong></p> </blockquote> <h3><font color="#800000">Society and Economy:</font></h3> <p><strong>Baghdad cafe waitresses break down barriers | Reuters</strong><strong>: </strong></p> <blockquote><p>Hind al-Bidairi’s dream of owning a cafe with an all-female waiting staff haunted her for years while Iraq was gripped by sectarian violence.</p> <p>Islamic fundamentalists would most likely have slaughtered her and her employees had she dared.</p> <p>But now, as Iraq struggles free from widespread bloodshed and the Islamist militia and insurgents who once sowed terror by killing women they considered inappropriately dressed have retreated to the shadows, her dream has come true.</p> <p>"I stand behind every woman trying to change the pattern of our society, to show that women are strong and have the right to get involved in all kinds of business," Bidairi said.</p> <p><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE6410T220100502?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20Reuters/UKWorldNews%20%28News%20/%20UK%20/%20World%20News%29" class="external" target="_blank">Read in full</a></strong><strong>: </strong></p> </blockquote> <blockquote> </blockquote> <p><strong>Trade Arabia – Middle East & GCC Business Information | Trade News Portal</strong><strong>: </strong></p> <blockquote><p>Iraq’s oil exports fell slightly in April to 1.767 million barrels per day (bpd) from 1.79 million bpd the month before, an official at the Iraqi Oil Ministry said on Saturday.</p> <p>Iraq exported an average of 1.42 million bpd from the southern oil hub of Basra and 341,965 bpd from the northern oilfields around Kirkuk, including about 9,983 bpd by trucks to Jordan, the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.</p> <p>The official said the reason behind the fall in exports was due to bad weather in Basra and a brief halt of exports through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline after a bomb attack last month.</p> <p><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://www.tradearabia.com/news/newsdetails.asp?Sn=OGN&artid=179022" class="external" target="_blank">Source</a></strong><strong>: </strong></p> </blockquote> <p>Thank you for reading!</p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-8932"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/04/iraqi-women-pursuing-more-political-say/#respond" title="Comment on Iraqi women pursuing more political say">No Comments</a></span> Posted on March 4th, 2010 by Yusuf Al-Jezani</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/04/iraqi-women-pursuing-more-political-say/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Iraqi women pursuing more political say">Iraqi women pursuing more political say</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad-university/" rel="tag">Baghdad University</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/children/" rel="tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/childrens-rights/" rel="tag">Children's Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/constitution/" rel="tag">Constitution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/corruption/" rel="tag">Corruption</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/diwaniya/" rel="tag">Diwaniya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/election-campaign/" rel="tag">election campaign</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/fundamentalists/" rel="tag">fundamentalists</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-trafficking/" rel="tag">Human Trafficking</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-women/" rel="tag">iraqi women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/mahmoud-al-mashhadani/" rel="tag">Mahmoud al-Mashhadani</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/maysun-al-damaluji/" rel="tag">Maysun al-Damaluji</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/orphans/" rel="tag">Orphans</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/poverty/" rel="tag">Poverty</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/poverty-alleviation/" rel="tag">poverty alleviation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/widows/" rel="tag">Widows</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-social-position-of/" rel="tag">Women -social position of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-and-children/" rel="tag">Women and Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-in-politics/" rel="tag">Women in politics</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-in-politics-25-quota/" rel="tag">Women in politics - 25% quota</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens-rights/" rel="tag">Women's Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d9%8a%d8%aa%d8%a7%d9%85/" rel="tag">الأيتام</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%8a%d8%aa%d8%a7%d9%85/" rel="tag">الايتام</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>BAGHDAD, March 3 (<a title="Xinhua" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-03/03/c_13195695.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Xinhua</a>) — Iraqi women will hopefully expand their political influence in the future as the next parliament is to include more female representatives, compared with the current term.</p> <p>The to-be-elected 325-seat Iraq’s Council of Representatives, or the national legislature, will have one quarter of its members women, as does the current 275-seat one, according to its Constitution. Women should account for at least the same percentage of the total of candidates for each political bloc contesting the election.</p> <p>According to electoral organizers, 6,200 candidates, including 1,800 women, will stand in the election to be held on Sunday. Around 19 million Iraqis are eligible to vote, with women accounting for more than a half.</p> <p>But despite all these good prospects, women still have a long and tough way to go to achieve their goals as they face much more obstacles and difficulties than men in this country.</p> <h3>TOUGH CAMPAIGN</h3> <p>"My election campaign is modest, because I don’t have enough money to make a large campaign via satellite channels or other media," said Hiyam Hammad Ghazi, a candidate with the Iraqi Unity Coalition — a political bloc headed by Interior Minister Jawad al- Bolani.</p> <p>It is the second time for Ghazi to stand in the election. She failed in the 2005 parliamentary poll.</p> <p>"This time I feel like I want to do it again, not for money or anything else, only because I have been working as a political, cultural and social activist since 2003," said the Shiite Arab candidate, who has been busy meeting voters in several places in Baghdad and try to reach more people in recent days</p> <p>Owning an advertisement company in Baghdad, 42-year-old Ghazi comes from Diwaniya, capital of southern Qadisiya province. Her husband is a university teacher and media worker. She is a member of the country’s National Society for Protecting Consumers and of the Hunting Club in Mansur District in the capital. The club is most popular among educated and middle class people in the country.</p> <p>"All of my family members and friends are helping me with the campaign. If my political bloc wins seats in the parliament, then certainly I will win a seat for the women quota of my bloc," said Ghazi, with full confidence that good luck will accompany her this time.</p> <p>She admits that it is hard for a woman to win a seat alone without the quota, because Iraqi society is strongly dominated by men and people are still skeptical about whether a woman is able to do what a man does. "We should notice some biased social norms and restrictions against women although Iraqi law entitles women to take part in all aspects of life," said Ghazi. "So the problem is with the society, which should accept the participation of women in politics and other aspects of life."</p> <p>In addition to obstacles of social norms, security situation featuring a recent surge of violence ahead of the election is not favorable for their campaign. In early February, a female Sunni candidate was shot dead after leaving her relatives’ house in Mosul, capital of northern ethnically mixed, volatile Neineva Province.</p> <h3>GOOD BEGINNING</h3> <p>In the current parliament, women lawmakers have struggled to express their opinions and worked hard to push forward legislation regarding the protection of women and children’s rights and interests.</p> <p>"I think in the past four years women have shown an outstanding performance in the parliamentarian activities," said Maysoun al- Damaloji, a current female lawmaker seeking reelection. "We have been active in monitoring the government, visiting prisons and in the relations with non-governmental organizations (NGO) and media. "</p> <p>"I don’t think their (women lawmakers’) role was less than that of men," stressed Damaloji, also editor-in-chief of Noon, a most popular magazine focusing on women’s rights in the country. She worked as deputy chairman of a committee in charge of NGO affairs in the parliament.</p> <p>Damaloji, from Mosul, joins the cross-sectarian Iraqiya List alliance, headed by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. The alliance is widely regarded as a strong rival against the State of Law bloc headed by Primer Minister Nuri Al-Maliki.</p> <p>Citing an example of the successes of women lawmakers, Damaloji said women were the first to sign the resignation of former parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani because of his inappropriate behaviors with women. Mashhadani resigned in December 2008. His feisty character invited criticism among lawmakers.</p> <p>"If you look at the list of those who signed, you will find the first 50 signatures were those of female lawmakers," said Damaloji. </p> <p>Another victory in which women feel great pride is the suspension of a planned legislation on religious leaders’ authority over some domestic matters. A controversial article of Iraq’s Constitution requires the drafting of such a law. But with strong opposition from women lawmakers, social groups and some other politicians, the legislation has been suspended.</p> <p>Women lawmakers have also pushed to pass some important laws for the benefit of Iraqi women and children, in addition to the signing of protocols on prohibition of using children in armed conflicts and of human trafficking.</p> <p>"In order not to be marginalized, women have been doing their best. The most important achievement of women in the current parliament is that they have opened the doors wide for the successors," said Damaloji.</p> <h3>LONG WAY AHEAD</h3> <p>Another good sign for women is that among the dozens of Iraqi ministries, there have been a few headed by women, such as the environment and human rights ministries. Despite all the progress, women still have a long way to go to become more influential in the country’s political arena.</p> <p>"We have seen a lot of obstacles in our work in the parliament, because we felt that there was discrimination against women," said Damaloji.</p> <p>"For example, when we wanted to express our opinions, they sometimes didn’t give us the chance, and in some arguments some politicians used unacceptable and immoral ways to prevent us from talking," she said.</p> <p>In addition, not all the women in the parliament are working for women issues, some just became lawmakers because of the quota requirement, said Damaloji.</p> <p>Mohammed Naji, professor of politics at Baghdad University, said all lawmakers were more or less affected by sectarian divides which prevail in the current parliament.</p> <p>He said "I can say that we have two kinds of women lawmakers, some are female fundamentalists, that is, Islamists, while others are forced to stick to the decisions of their political blocs, because they are members of these."</p> <p>"I believe they mainly spent the first two years learning. During the second two, they have been doing better, but not enough, " Naji added.</p> <p>The political analyst said more capable women will be elected thanks to the open list system in which voters can vote for a specific candidate according to their own criteria and the quality of the candidates.</p> <p>Naji said "We are looking forward to a bigger role of Iraqi women in the coming years, because the more rights women can get from educational, administrative and economic activities, the more chances they will have to make a change in their future."</p> <p>If reelected, Damaloji said she will call for bolstering NGOs as a link between the government and society for poverty alleviation, economic growth, law reforms and anti-corruption."</p> <p>"We will work to form laws in social insurance and medical care for the vulnerable and marginalized groups in Iraqi society, including widows, orphans, the disabled, displaced and retired people," she said.</p> <p>Years of war, sanctions and violence since the early 1980s have made Iraqi women suffer the most. It is estimated the country has at least 1 million widows and 5 million children without fathers.</p> <p>Many women in the county have lower levels of education, and higher rates of poverty and unemployment than men.</p> <p>"There is no enough awareness among Iraqis about the menace of the issues like proliferation of widows, orphans and poverty to the future of Iraq," said lawmaker Damaloji.</p> <p>"We need to enhance the role of Iraqi women in creating peace and national integrity and developing our society. Iraqi women must take part in building a new Iraq," she said.</p> <p>Ghazi said if she wins, her priorities are to take care of education and the vital economic sector in dire need of investment.</p> <p>"The most important thing is the economy, as improvement in this sector will help resolve the problems of Iraqi women, by helping widows and vulnerable people," she said.</p> <p>Naji said they (women lawmakers) are working hard, but there will be a long way ahead. "As we know, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," he added. </p> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-03/03/c_13195695.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Iraqi women pursuing more political say</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-8390"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/01/19/mosul-targeted-execution-of-christians-continues-in-media-and-government-silence/#comments" title="Comment on Mosul: targeted execution of Christians continues in media and government silence">2 Comments</a></span> Posted on January 19th, 2010 by Mohammed Ibn Laith</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/01/19/mosul-targeted-execution-of-christians-continues-in-media-and-government-silence/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Mosul: targeted execution of Christians continues in media and government silence">Mosul: targeted execution of Christians continues in media and government silence</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/category/iraq/" title="View all posts in News" rel="category tag">News</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/category/war-crimes/" title="View all posts in War Crimes" rel="category tag">War Crimes</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/asia-news/" rel="tag">Asia News</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christian-accusations-against-peshmerga/" rel="tag">Christian accusations against Peshmerga</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christians/" rel="tag">Christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christians-right-to-protection/" rel="tag">christians - right to protection</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ethnic-cleansing/" rel="tag">Ethnic Cleansing</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ethnic-cleansing-of-christians/" rel="tag">Ethnic cleansing of Christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/fundamentalists/" rel="tag">fundamentalists</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/gzg-failure-to-protect-christians/" rel="tag">GZG failure to protect Christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/mosul/" rel="tag">Mosul</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ninawa-plain-project/" rel="tag">Ninawa Plain Project</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/nineveh/" rel="tag">Nineveh</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/northern-iraq/" rel="tag">northern iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/northern-mosul/" rel="tag">northern Mosul</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syriac-catholic/" rel="tag">syriac catholic</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%ad%d9%8a%d9%8a%d9%86/" rel="tag">بالمسيحيين</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <blockquote><p>"It is easier to attribute responsibility to Al Qaeda and the fundamentalist fringe. In reality, Christians are victims of a power struggle between Arabs and Kurds" </p></blockquote> <div style="border-right: lightgrey 1px solid; padding-right: 5px; border-top: lightgrey 1px solid; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: lightgrey 1px solid; width: 360px; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: lightgrey 1px solid"> <p>Yesterday an armed group killed a 45 year-old businessman. It is the second murder in less than 24 hours. Witnesses said security forces were at the scene but did not intervene. AsiaNews sources: they blame al Qaeda, but Christians are victims "of the power struggle" between Arabs and Kurds. </p> </p></div> <p>Mosul (<a title="AsiaNews" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Mosul:-targeted-execution-of-Christians-continues-in-media-and-government-silence-17384.html" class="external" target="_blank">AsiaNews</a>) – The second targeted attack against the Christian community in less than 24 hours, the indifference of the security forces who did not intervene. Yesterday in Mosul, northern Iraq, an unidentified group shot dead 45 year-old businessman Amjad Hamid Abdullahad. Sunday, January 17th, the same day of the inauguration of new local archbishop, a Christian aged 52, married and father of two daughters, was killed. <i>AsiaNews</i> sources in the city explain that "the government blames the attacks on al-Qaeda fundamentalists ", in reality the community is victim of the power struggle between "Arab and Kurd” groups. </p> <p>At noon yesterday, an armed commando executed Abdullahad Amjad Hamid, a married Syriac Catholic, who owned a small grocery store in the neighbourhood of Alsiddiq, in northern Mosul. The man was killed outside his home in the suburb of Balladiyat, not far from his workplace.   </p> <p>Local witnesses reported that "the murder took place in front of the security forces, who saw all the phases of the attack, but did not intervene." A Catholic in Mosul says that "the tactic is to murder Christians, because the media does not talk about it." A strategy that aims to push Christians towards the plain of Nineveh, "in the silence and indifference of the government and the international community." </p> <p>A source for <i>AsiaNews</i> in Mosul, adds that "Christians are living in panic and have begun fleeing from the city". He explains that "these are not normal criminals," but behind them are "specific political plans" that the government is not countering. There is no information from Baghdad "about who is behind attacks on churches and Christians," but the source is confident that the central executive, the governorship of Mosul and the Kurdish leadership "are aware" of the plan against the Christian community.   </p> <p>"It is easier to attribute responsibility to Al Qaeda – concludes the source – and the fundamentalist fringe. In reality, Christians are victims of a power struggle between Arabs and Kurds". (DS)</p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Mosul:-targeted-execution-of-Christians-continues-in-media-and-government-silence-17384.html" class="external" target="_blank">IRAQ Mosul: targeted execution of Christians continues in media and government silence – Asia News</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="navigation"> <div class="alignleft"></div> <div class="alignright"></div> </div> </div> <div id="sidebar" class="span-10 last"> <div class="span-10" id="tabs"> <ul> <li class="ui-tabs-nav-item"><a href="#featured-articles">Featured Articles</a></li> <li class="ui-tabs-nav-item"><a href="#latest-articles">Latest Articles</a></li> </ul> <div id="featured-articles" class="widget"> <ul> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127023341/http://gorillasguides.com/2012/04/19/hezbollah-says-latest-bombings-in-iraq-thwart-mission-to-build-state/">Hezbollah says latest bombings in Iraq “thwart mission to build state”</a></li> <li><a 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