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<h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/">Gorilla’s Guides</a></h1> <h2>“The only thing these sand niggers understand is force and I’m about to introduce them to it.”</h2> <div id="search"><form method="get" id="searchform" action="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/"> <div><input type="text" value="" name="s" id="s"/> <input type="submit" id="searchsubmit" value="Search"/> </div> </form> </div> </div> <hr/> <div id="content" class="span-13 append-1"> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-13916"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/11/20/dar-al-hayat-ayoon-wa-azan-regretting-bush-junior-and-his-administration/#respond" title="Comment on Dar Al Hayat – Ayoon wa Azan (Regretting Bush Junior and his Administration)">No Comments</a></span> Posted on November 20th, 2011 by Mohammed Ibn Laith</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/11/20/dar-al-hayat-ayoon-wa-azan-regretting-bush-junior-and-his-administration/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Dar Al Hayat – Ayoon wa Azan (Regretting Bush Junior and his Administration)">Dar Al Hayat – Ayoon wa Azan (Regretting Bush Junior and his Administration)</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/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/20130203205837/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/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-hayat/" rel="tag">al Hayat</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/american-decline/" rel="tag">American decline</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/american-defeat-in-irak/" rel="tag">American defeat in Irak</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/barack-obama/" rel="tag">Barack Obama</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/dar-al-hayat/" rel="tag">Dar Al Hayat</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/guantanamo/" rel="tag">Guantanamo</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/interior-minister/" rel="tag">interior minister</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/israel/" rel="tag">Israel</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/palestine/" rel="tag">Palestine</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/palestinians/" rel="tag">palestinians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/self-castration/" rel="tag">self castration</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/war-on-iraq/" rel="tag">war on iraq</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div style="text-align: left; unicode-bidi: bidi-override; direction: ltr"> <blockquote> <p>I shall choose for condemnation an opinion other than mine, so that I may not in turn become accused myself. I therefore rely on the brave words of Colonel Morris Davis, the former Chief Prosecutor in Guantanamo, who said that “[his manhood] fell off the President after Election Day”. The truth is that the expression he used speaks of self-castration, but I did not find it appropriate to quote him verbatim in an Arab newspaper.</p> </blockquote> <p>War, any war, is supposed to end with a victorious side and a defeated one, yet there are exceptions to such a rule throughout history, the most famous being perhaps one of the earliest recorded. The Greek King Pyrrhus of Epirus defeated the Romans in Heraclea in 280 BC, then in Asculum a year later, but his army suffered tremendous losses. He is claimed to have said “another such victory and I come back to Epirus alone”, and also “if we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined”.</p> <p>We are today one month away from the withdrawal of invasion forces from Iraq, and the war has not ended with the United States being destroyed like Pyrrhus’s kingdom. Yet it has certainly ended with two defeats. Indeed, Iraq as we know it has been destroyed, and from its inhabitants around a million people have been killed, along with five thousand Americans. Moreover, the US economy has collapsed for numerous reasons, the most significant being the war on Iraq where the Bush Administration squandered a trillion dollars, with the Obama Administration still paying its bills. And if there is a victor, then it is the side that did not fight, i.e. Iran, which has come to have the broadest influence in Iraq. That is if Iraq is still Iraq. Indeed, one hears everyday demands of secession or autonomy in the provinces, as if all Iraqis had become like Iraqi Kurdistan. As for the Neoconservatives, today they say that Iran has won, and then they blame Barack Obama, not themselves.</p> </p></div> <p> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/11/20/dar-al-hayat-ayoon-wa-azan-regretting-bush-junior-and-his-administration/#more-13916" class="more-link">» أقرأ التفاصيل .. | Read the rest of this entry »</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/20130203205837/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/20130203205837/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/20130203205837/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/20130203205837/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/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/category/religion/" title="View all posts in Religion" rel="category tag">Religion</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-amin/" rel="tag">al-Amin</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/america/" rel="tag">America</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arabs/" rel="tag">Arabs</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arbil/" rel="tag">Arbil</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/archbishop-paul-faraj-kidnapping-and-murder-of/" rel="tag">Archbishop Paul Faraj - kidnapping and murder of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/beirut/" rel="tag">Beirut</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/cairo/" rel="tag">Cairo</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/catholics/" rel="tag">Catholics</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christian-churches/" rel="tag">christian churches</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christian-faith/" rel="tag">christian faith</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christian-minorities/" rel="tag">christian minorities</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christian-population/" rel="tag">christian population</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christianity/" rel="tag">Christianity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christians/" rel="tag">Christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christians-persecution-of/" rel="tag">Christians - 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Anwar</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saudi-arabia/" rel="tag">Saudi Arabia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/vatican/" rel="tag">Vatican</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/west-bank/" rel="tag">West Bank</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/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/20130203205837/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/20130203205837/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/20130203205837im_/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/20130203205837/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-11544"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/04/interview-with-robert-fisk-we-preach-democracy-yet-befriend-dictators-new-internationalist/#respond" title="Comment on Interview with Robert Fisk: we preach democracy yet befriend dictators — New Internationalist">No Comments</a></span> Posted on October 4th, 2010 by Diya al din</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/04/interview-with-robert-fisk-we-preach-democracy-yet-befriend-dictators-new-internationalist/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Interview with Robert Fisk: we preach democracy yet befriend dictators — New Internationalist">Interview with Robert Fisk: we preach democracy yet befriend dictators — New Internationalist</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/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/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arab-countries/" rel="tag">arab countries</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/canada/" rel="tag">Canada</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/democracy/" rel="tag">Democracy</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/egypt/" rel="tag">Egypt</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/elections/" rel="tag">Elections</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/eu/" rel="tag">EU</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/history/" rel="tag">History</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights/" rel="tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights-watch/" rel="tag">Human Rights Watch</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/lebanon/" rel="tag">Lebanon</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/middle-east/" rel="tag">Middle East</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/palestinians/" rel="tag">palestinians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/robert-fisk/" rel="tag">Robert Fisk</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saddam/" rel="tag">Saddam</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p><strong>How is Western-style democracy seen in the Middle East these days?</strong></p> <p>In Europe there seems to be less and less democracy. There’s more and more presidential government; members of parliament simply don’t have any power any more. People in the Middle East read about the West as we read about the Middle East. They are aware of conversations about the ‘democratic deficit’; they are aware of the degree to which voters in the West seem increasingly distanced from their representatives. So a lot of the people I talk to in the Middle East are asking why we are trying to preach democracy when we don’t have a lot ourselves.</p> <p>There’s a good deal of cynicism about the word.</p> <p>I think many people here would like quite a lot of democracy; they would like some packages of human rights off our supermarket shelf. But what they talk about is injustice ñ and justice is something that I don’t think we’re interested in giving to the Middle East. </p> <p> <a title="fisk_quote by Gorillas Guides, on Flickr" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/5051936724/" class="external" target="_blank"><img style="display: inline; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px" height="483" alt="fisk_quote" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837im_/http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4108/5051936724_9b04a00410_o.jpg" width="300" align="left"/></a> <p><strong>Elections are central to the Western idea of democracy. What effect have they had in the Middle East?</strong></p> <p>The effects have been grotesque. Every president claims to have a fair election and every presidential election is rigged, which is why you hear that Mr Mubarak gets 98 per cent of the vote and Saddam used to get 100 per cent. It’s a mockery, but what’s interesting is that people seem to think it adds legitimacy to have an election ñ even if it’s totally rigged. They want to say: ‘We have elections too, we have a parliament, we have a president, we elect him’, even though we all know that in those Arab countries where there are elections ñ with the exception of Lebanon, where there is some fairness in the process ñ it doesn’t really count. </p> <p>Elections here [in the Middle East] are a tool, they are a device; they are not meant to explain the thinking of the people: they are meant to explain the thinking of the man who is going to be elected.</p> <p>So in the Middle East you have mock elections which are supposed to be real ones; in the West we have real ones that often turn out to be mock in the sense that our MPs don’t do what we want them to do. At least in the West we can be sure that the votes are tallied; they are not tipped into the Nile or burned overnight in the Ministry of the Interior. </p> <p>But what we have done is that we have enshrined our own democracies while propping up dictatorships in the Middle East, which are allowed to play democracy. We were best friends of Saddam for many years. We love Mubarak, who is a ‘moderate’, even though when you have presidential elections in places like Egypt you know it’s a lie. </p> <p><strong>So what’s to be done?</strong></p> <p>Are we saying: have some democracy and you will be just like us? Or are we cheating them by saying that? We believe in justice but we do not dispense justice in the Middle East, do we? I mean, just look at the place. We have no intention of letting the Palestinians get their homes back. We preach justice but I don’t think we are interested in it. </p> <p>There is a great understanding in the Middle East of what history has done to it and what we [the West] have done in history. So I’m not really sure that they always want to buy our products, like human rights or democracy ñ because we have not always demonstrated them to them. Very often we’ve bombed them, in fact.</p> <p>Quite a lot of people used to say to me when I gave lectures in the US, Canada, Europe: ‘What can we do?’ I used to say: join Amnesty or Human Rights Watch. Now I say: come and have a look at the Middle East and learn about it. We can write about the injustice in the region so that people understand why the incendiary fury that people feel towards the West, towards each other, exists. We certainly can’t preach our wonderful political lives.</p> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.newint.org/features/2010/10/01/robert-fisk-interview-democracy-dictators/" class="external" target="_blank">Interview with Robert Fisk: we preach democracy yet befriend dictators — New Internationalist</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11270"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/07/06/flotilla-attack-consequences-continue-to-unfold/#comments" title="Comment on Flotilla Attack Consequences Continue to Unfold">1 Comment</a></span> Posted on July 6th, 2010 by markfromireland</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/07/06/flotilla-attack-consequences-continue-to-unfold/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Flotilla Attack Consequences Continue to Unfold">Flotilla Attack Consequences Continue to Unfold</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/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/20130203205837/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/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ankara/" rel="tag">Ankara</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/blue-square-supermarkets/" rel="tag">Blue Square supermarkets</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/boycotts/" rel="tag">boycotts</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/freedom-flotilla/" rel="tag">freedom flotilla</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/gaza-flotilla/" rel="tag">Gaza flotilla</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/gen-ilker-basbug/" rel="tag">Gen. İlker Başbuğ</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/haaretz/" rel="tag">Haaretz</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/international-waters/" rel="tag">international waters</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iran/" rel="tag">Iran</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/israel/" rel="tag">Israel</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/israeli-attack/" rel="tag">israeli attack</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/israelis/" rel="tag">israelis</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdistan/" rel="tag">Kurdistan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/maarachot/" rel="tag">Maarachot</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/manavgat-river-project/" rel="tag">Manavgat River project</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/middle-east/" rel="tag">Middle East</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/nato/" rel="tag">NATO</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/palestinians/" rel="tag">palestinians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/pkk/" rel="tag">PKK</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/regional-security/" rel="tag">Regional Security</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resources/" rel="tag">Resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reuters/" rel="tag">Reuters</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkey/" rel="tag">Turkey</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkish-army/" rel="tag">Turkish Army</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkish-foreign-minister/" rel="tag">Turkish foreign minister</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkish-government/" rel="tag">turkish government</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkish-water-exports/" rel="tag">Turkish Water Exports</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkstat/" rel="tag">TurkStat</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-issue/" rel="tag">water issue</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-shortages/" rel="tag">Water Shortages</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ynet/" rel="tag">Ynet</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/zaman/" rel="tag">Zaman</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>Let me start by quoting a report from The Guardian :</p> <blockquote><p>Turkey has hardened its stance towards Israel over the "freedom flotilla" taking aid to the Gaza Strip, warning today that it will sever diplomatic relations unless the Israelis issue a formal apology or accept an international investigation into the incident. </p> <p><em>[snip]</em> </p> <p>Davutoglu’s warning came as something of a surprise since it followed an apparent thaw between the two countries when he held a meeting in Brussels last week with Israel’s trade minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. The meeting was itself the subject of a political row in Israel after news of the so-called secret session leaked out. </p> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/05/turkey-threatens-cut-ties-gaza" class="external" target="_blank">Turkey threatens to cut ties with Israel over Gaza flotilla | World news | The Guardian</a></p> </blockquote> <p>What is there to be surprised about? The Turkish government has said repeatedly that they are not going to back down over this. They’ve said repeatedly that a continued Israeli failure to apologise and make amends will mean an escalating series of counter measures. If, instead of relying on a British newspaper you read this article from a Turkish one <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkey8217s-last-offer-to-israel-three-options-on-table-2010-07-04" class="external" target="_blank">Turkey’s last offer to Israel: Three options on table</a> you’ll find that as well as listing the three courses of action that Israel could take:</p> <ol> <li>Apologize </li> <li>Accept the international, impartial inquiry and its conclusion </li> <li>Give up ties with Turkey </li> </ol> <p>Davutoğlu listed the "roadmap" of measures that Turkey would take. These run from the blanket ban on military flights implemented shortly after the Israeli attack on the flotilla to completely suspending diplomatic relations with Israel. </p> <p>One measure likely to be implemented very soon is extending the blanket ban on military flights through Turkish airspace to civilian aircraft. Prohibiting Israeli civilian aircraft from using Turkish airspace is likely to cause the Israeli airline El Al quite a lot of inconvenience as well as costing it rather a lot of money. </p> <p>If matters reach the point where the Turkish government suspends all diplomatic relations with Israel that would be a catastrophe for Israeli. (The fact that the Turkish foreign minister is publicly talking about cutting off all diplomatic relations with Israel  is a catastrophe for Israel already).</p> <h3>" "The Kurdish rebels are Israel’s sub-contractors." "</h3> <p>It gets worse, much worse, from the Israeli point of view. That the Israelis have been on again off again sponsors of the Kurdish separatist movement(s) is so well known as to be barely worthy of comment. That Turkey is officially starting to take notice is very noteworthy. This article, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3899714,00.html" class="external" target="_blank">‘Israel may have ordered Kurdish terror attack’</a> from the Israeli news site <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.ynetnews.com/" class="external" target="_blank">Ynet</a> gives a brief outline of the meltdown taking place between Israel and the Turks. The article in Zaman to which the Ynet report refers can be found here, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-212267-suspicion-growing-about-possible-link-between-pkk-and-israel.html" class="external" target="_blank">Suspicion growing about possible link between PKK and Israel</a>. The article details the growing consensus amongst Turkish analysts and politicians that Israel is sponsoring terrorist acts by Kuridsh separatists: </p> <blockquote><p>Turkish intelligence organizations are looking into possible connections between the two incidents that occurred on the same day only hours apart. The terrorist act was carried out by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an outlawed organization that has been listed as terrorist group both in Turkey and in much of the international community. Analysts claim Israeli secret services may have contracted the job to the PKK to send a message to the Turkish government.</p> </blockquote> <p>So far so bad from the Israeli point of view but the consequences of the illegal Israeli attack on the flotilla and the cold blooded massacre by Israeli troops that ensued don’t stop there. Right at the end of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/idf-chief-israel-s-military-ties-with-turkey-still-strong-1.300370" class="external" target="_blank">this report from Haaretz</a> about how military relations are still excellent there’s this:</p> <blockquote><p>"The general’s overview highlights the importance of international cooperation in the struggle against terrorism and reflects the vast experience Turkey has amassed over dozens of years of fighting terrorism, particularly against the [Kurdish] PKK."</p> <p><strong>Source:</strong>   <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/idf-chief-israel-s-military-ties-with-turkey-still-strong-1.300370" class="external" target="_blank">IDF chief: Israel’s military ties with Turkey still strong – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News</a> </p> </blockquote> <p>But if you read about the same topic in Zaman you get this (emphasis added):</p> <blockquote><h3>Başbuğ on IDF journal</h3> <p>Meanwhile, the latest edition of the official magazine of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has published a speech by Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ, as reported by Israeli daily Haaretz. The journal, “Maarachot,” opens with the speech, delivered by Başbuğ during a NATO conference in March. </p> <p>The text also includes a prologue penned by his Israeli counterpart, Gabi Ashkenazi, who also attended the Ankara conference. "As a member of NATO and a large, important Muslim country that shares a border with Syria, Iraq and Iran, Turkey is a strategically pivotal country for regional security, <strong>as well as on the issue of water</strong>," Ashkenazi wrote. "The IDF and the Turkish army maintain military and security ties managed by military attaches stationed in both countries, hold mutual visits, stage joint war games and have conducted a long-running dialogue in many fields. I participated in the Ankara conference at which the general delivered his remarks. I am certain his statements will enrich our knowledge and strengthen awareness of the importance of joining forces to combat terrorism in all its forms.” </p> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-215190-israel-refuses-to-apologize-despite-turkish-ultimatum.html" class="external" target="_blank">Israel refuses to apologize despite Turkish ultimatum</a></p> </blockquote> <p>Not only is Israel refusing to apologise they’re upping the ante by threatening boycotts. Alas for the Zionist state it’s not a very credible threat: </p> <blockquote><p>According to data from the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat), Israel’s share in Turkey’s overall exports amounts to around 2 percent. The relations between the two countries deteriorated seriously after a deadly Israeli raid on a Turkish humanitarian aid vessel en route to Gaza two weeks ago, claiming the lives of nine peace activists and wounding many more. The Israeli Haaretz daily reported on Monday that two supermarket chains, Blue Square and Rami Levy, will stop working with Turkish suppliers. </p> <p>Stressing that the boycott of Turkish goods is not a credible threat, Öztürk stated that Turkey has nothing to lose from this situation. But instead, he noted, Israel should fear a similar decisions by Turkey as “with a population of 70 million Turkey is one of the biggest consumers of Israeli products.” Öztürk underlined that Israel with its small population is indeed a small market for Turkey and that the volume of Turkey’s exports to Israel is not large. “And after all I don’t think people will be complying with this boycott. Even if we assume they do 100 percent, again it will not pose any threat to Turkey. Instead of causing any economic damage to the Turkish economy, it might have a positive impact by promoting Turkish goods in other countries. The drop in exports due to the Israeli boycott will easily be compensated by the counter effect it will create in the Arab world and Muslim countries,” remarked Öztürk.</p> <p>Source: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-213258-israeli-boycott-of-turkish-goods-is-the-best-ad-we-can-buy-experts-say.html" class="external" target="_blank">Israeli boycott of Turkish goods is the best ad we can buy, experts say</a></p> </blockquote> <p>But let’s get back to water. Water, in the Middle East it always comes down to water. <em>Turkey is a strategically pivotal country for regional security, <strong>as well as on the issue of water</strong>," Ashkenazi wrote.</em> The water issue is key the water weapon is devastating.</p> <blockquote><p>Due to the desert climate that makes up a large percentage of Israel’s landscape, the country has always had problems with water shortages. Archaeologists have found that inhabitants of the region thousands of years ago were concerned with water conservation and had constructed various systems to collect, store, and transport rainwater.</p> <p><em>[snip]</em></p> <p>On August 6, 2005, Israel and Turkey signed a groundbreaking agreement in which Turkey exports 1.75 billion cubic feet of water from its Manavgat River to Israel each year for the next 20 years. While the Turkish water is expected to fulfill only about three percent of Israel’s needs during the 20-year period, it is Israel’s first water import agreement and a further expansion of burgeoning economic ties between the two countries. The deal, which will be worth $800 million to $1 billion, “will create a new reality in the region,” former Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said. “I hope that Turkey will be the major supplier of water to the region.”</p> <p>Source: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/brief/Water.html" class="external" target="_blank">Jewish Virtual Library | Water in Israel</a></p> </blockquote> <h3>Turks cancel project to sell Israel water</h3> <blockquote><p>The Islamist government in Ankara has shelved plans to sell the Jewish state 1.75 billion cubic feet of water a year for 20 years from the Mavganat River in Anatolia, part of its wider strategy of restoring the regional dominance it had a century ago. </p> <p>The Turkish decision to suspend the project was in retaliation for the May 31 killing by the Israeli navy of nine Turks aboard a Turkish-flagged ship carrying humanitarian to the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip. </p> <p>Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz says Ankara will not develop any joint projects with Israel until it "apologizes and expresses its regret" for the attack in international waters in the eastern Mediterranean.</p> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Resource-Wars/2010/06/18/Turks-cancel-project-to-sell-Israel-water/UPI-50501276883374/" class="external" target="_blank">Turks cancel project to sell Israel water – UPI.com</a></p> </blockquote> <p>Whom the Gods would destroy they first appoint to the Israeli cabinet … The Israelis seem to think that they can treat the Turks the same way they treat the Palestinians. That is a mistake which could very well prove to be the undoing of the Zionist settler state. </p> <p>markfromireland</p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-9656"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/04/08/jerusalem-patriarch-hamas-protecting-christians/#respond" title="Comment on Jerusalem patriarch: Hamas protecting Christians">No Comments</a></span> Posted on April 8th, 2010 by Suheila Jamil</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/04/08/jerusalem-patriarch-hamas-protecting-christians/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Jerusalem patriarch: Hamas protecting Christians">Jerusalem patriarch: Hamas protecting Christians</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/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/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/catholic-church/" rel="tag">Catholic Church</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christian-persecution/" rel="tag">christian persecution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christians/" rel="tag">Christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/clash-of-civilizations/" rel="tag">clash of civilizations</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/colonialism/" rel="tag">colonialism</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/gaza/" rel="tag">Gaza</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/hamas/" rel="tag">Hamas</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/history/" rel="tag">History</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/islam/" rel="tag">Islam</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/israel/" rel="tag">Israel</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/michel-sabbah/" rel="tag">Michel Sabbah</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/middle-east/" rel="tag">Middle East</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/middle-east-online/" rel="tag">Middle East Online</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/palestine/" rel="tag">Palestine</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/palestinians/" rel="tag">palestinians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/situation-in-iraq/" rel="tag">situation in iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/solidarity/" rel="tag">Solidarity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/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/20130203205837/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>Even in Gaza, Christians are protected by Hamas, so often presented as a terrorist organization. </p> </blockquote> <p><i>What is the situation for Christians in Palestine? </i></p> <p>It is the same as for all Arabs in Palestine. Christians or Muslims, we are the same people, with the same culture and the same history. A nation that is in conflict with another nation. A nation that is living under military occupation has no need of compassion but of justice. In a very tense political context we are trying to cope with the same challenge. What does it mean to be a Christian? It is to be in a society, in a world that we have not chosen but has been given to us. Our vocation therefore is to be Christian in an Arab society which has a Muslim majority. This is a familiar experience to us, we have several centuries of history behind us. </p> <p><i><a title="Michel_Sabbah_quote" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/4502822541/" class="external" target="_blank"><img style="display: inline; margin: 5px 15px 25px 0px" alt="Michel_Sabbah_quote" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837im_/http://static.flickr.com/4037/4502822541_9efb170ee2.jpg" align="left" border="0"/></a>However, today one speaks of anti-Christian persecution</i></p> <p>Individual incidents between Muslims and Christians can take on a community dimension. In these cases there are mediators, families known for their wisdom and their authority, capable of resolving conflicts. I can bear witness to the fact that in Palestine, it never goes further than this. There have never been massacres or terrorist attacks against churches, never have I known an openly antichristian persecution. Even in Gaza, Christians are protected by Hamas, so often presented as a terrorist organization. </p> <p><i>Is it the same situation in Iraq? </i></p> <p>No, over there Christians are victims of violence and are killed because they are Christians. But it is a question of political not religious movements. Extremists hope to destabilize the country. Many Sunnis and Shiites have been killed for the same reasons. It does not help to accuse Muslims of all the evils. Working for peace and for justice in Iraq as elsewhere is the best way to avoid a mass exodus of Christians from the East. A political problem needs to find a political solution. </p> <p><i>What do you say to those who defend the idea of a clash of civilizations? </i></p> <p>There is a clash but it is not religious or cultural. It is political. The West treats the East and those who live there, whether they are Christians or Muslims, as lesser beings. As long as there is this relationship between the dominant and the dominated, we will never escape the spiral of violence. The roots of global terrorism are rooted here. The East is not free to choose its destiny; it is subjected to Western dominance. The problem is not Islam, but the confrontation between East and West. The history of colonialisation has given way to another kind of colonialisation, more latent, but no less real. </p> <p><i>Are you not afraid of the expansion of Islam? </i></p> <p>It is a fantasy fed by those who do not understand the East, in general, and Islam in particular. As long as the Palestinians feel oppressed, all Muslims globally will feel solidarity with them and are capable of creating disruption from within the societies in which they live. We need to put an end to the relationship of strength against weakness between the West and the Muslim world and instead focus on affirmative education in citizenship and respect for one’s neighbour. We need to develop a culture of engaged coexistence, learn to know one another and live and act together in unity. </p> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=38316" class="external" target="_blank">Middle East Online</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-9346"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/25/impossible-choices-for-iraqi-refugees-in-lebanon-human-rights-watch/#respond" title="Comment on Impossible Choices for Iraqi Refugees in Lebanon | Human Rights Watch">No Comments</a></span> Posted on March 25th, 2010 by Haleema Al-Azzawi</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/25/impossible-choices-for-iraqi-refugees-in-lebanon-human-rights-watch/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Impossible Choices for Iraqi Refugees in Lebanon | Human Rights Watch">Impossible Choices for Iraqi Refugees in Lebanon | Human Rights Watch</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/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/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/hrw/" rel="tag">HRW</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights/" rel="tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights-watch/" rel="tag">Human Rights Watch</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/hunger-strikes/" rel="tag">hunger strikes</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/illegal-entry/" rel="tag">illegal entry</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-refugees/" rel="tag">iraqi refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/jordan/" rel="tag">Jordan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/lebanon/" rel="tag">Lebanon</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/migrants/" rel="tag">migrants</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/palestinians/" rel="tag">palestinians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugee-law/" rel="tag">refugee law</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees/" rel="tag">Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>(<a title="Beirut" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/03/25/impossible-choices-iraqi-refugees-lebanon" class="external" target="_blank">Beirut</a>) –Iraqis are awaiting the outcome of this month’s hotly contested parliamentary election with the hope that it will signal the start of a new phase for their country. The stakes are particularly high for the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who sought refuge over the last few years in neighboring countries, like Syria, Jordan, or Lebanon. </p> <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: 300px; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: lightgrey 1px solid"> <p><strong>Related Materials:</strong> </p> <ul> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2007/12/03/rot-here-or-die-there" class="external" target="_blank">Rot Here or Die There</a> </li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2007/12/03/lebanon-refugees-coerced-return-iraq" class="external" target="_blank">Lebanon: Refugees Coerced to Return to Iraq</a> </li> </ul> <p><strong>Other Material: </strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.hrw.org/en/middle-eastn-africa/lebanon" class="external" target="_blank">More Human Rights Watch work on Lebanon</a> </li> </ul></div> <p>Time is running out for them, as their savings have dwindled, host countries have grown tired of hosting them, and the world’s attention has shifted to other conflicts and new displaced populations. No group is perhaps as anxious for the situation to improve as the Iraqis detained in Lebanon for illegal entry. Many of them have finished serving their sentences but remain in jail because the authorities here won’t release them in Lebanon and it remains too dangerous for them to return to Iraq. </p> <p>When one mentions refugees in Lebanon, one usually thinks about the estimated 300,000 Palestinians who live here in appalling social and economic conditions. But an estimated 50,000 Iraqis have sought refuge in Lebanon in the last few years, most of them without legal status and in constant fear of arrest. Like Jordan and Syria, Lebanon does not have a refugee law and accordingly treats most Iraqis as illegal immigrants, regardless of their need to be protected as refugees. </p> <p>The Lebanese authorities have shown a certain tolerance toward these Iraqi refugees. The security forces do not systematically arrest those without valid residence permits, but they arrest sufficiently large numbers of Iraqis to ensure that the risk of arrest is constantly on their minds. One mid-level security official summarized the policy to me by saying, "We don’t want them to get too comfortable."</p> <p>The number of Iraqis in Lebanese jails for illegal entry or stay has fluctuated. In November 2007, when Human Rights Watch issued a report on their predicament, about 580 Iraqi refugees were in detention.  That number has since gone down and currently hovers at around 100. </p> <p>The real difficulty for these Iraqis starts when their jail sentences end, though. General Security, the agency in charge of border control and foreigners in Lebanon, gives them a choice that does not deserve the name: either they "voluntarily" agree to return to Iraq or they remain in jail. Many of them choose to stay in jail-a clear testament to their assessment of the security situation in their country. </p> <p>As of last week, there were over 40 Iraqi refugees who had finished serving sentences for illegal entry but who remained in detention. Some of their sentences ended more than a year ago.  Frustrated with their situation and their bad detention conditions, many have started hunger strikes or have tried to harm themselves. A local nongovernmental organization reported that two Iraqis beat their heads against a wall last week to protest their continued detention. </p> <p>Their ongoing detention is not only unfair, it is also illegal. Since December, Lebanese courts have issued rulings in four separate cases that the continued detention of Iraqis who had finished serving their sentences was illegal under Lebanese law and Lebanon’s international obligations. However, only three have been released as General Security argues that they cannot be released without proper legal status. </p> <p>The immediate solution to the problem is clear. Lebanese authorities should release these refugees and grant them temporary residence. Local human rights groups are actively campaigning for the release of these refugees, but they need international support. </p> <p>Governments outside the region should shoulder their responsibility by continuing to finance humanitarian assistance for refugee-hosting countries in the Middle East and increase the number of Iraqi refugees resettled to their countries. Only an international commitment to find a durable solution for Iraqi refugees will persuade Middle Eastern countries to continue providing temporary protection for Iraqi refugees on their territories. </p> <p>An Iraqi refugee recently told me that, "Iraq is getting better, but it will be too late for me."  Time will tell if his prediction is right. In the meantime, the international community should remember that for many of the Iraqis waiting for things to improve, each day is a new struggle and that for those being held in Lebanese prisons, the option of continued detention or return to Iraq is no choice at all. </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/03/25/impossible-choices-iraqi-refugees-lebanon" class="external" target="_blank">Impossible Choices for Iraqi Refugees in Lebanon | Human Rights Watch</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-9212"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/18/%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%83%d8%b4%d9%81-%d8%b9%d9%86-%d8%a3%d8%b2%d9%85%d8%a9-%d8%a5%d9%86%d8%b3%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%ae%d8%b7%d9%8a%d8%b1%d8%a9-%d8%aa%d9%88%d8%a7%d8%ac%d9%87-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%86%d8%a7/#respond" title="Comment on الكشف عن أزمة إنسانية خطيرة تواجه النازحين العراقيين">No Comments</a></span> Posted on March 18th, 2010 by markfromireland</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/18/%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%83%d8%b4%d9%81-%d8%b9%d9%86-%d8%a3%d8%b2%d9%85%d8%a9-%d8%a5%d9%86%d8%b3%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%ae%d8%b7%d9%8a%d8%b1%d8%a9-%d8%aa%d9%88%d8%a7%d8%ac%d9%87-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%86%d8%a7/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to الكشف عن أزمة إنسانية خطيرة تواجه النازحين العراقيين">الكشف عن أزمة إنسانية خطيرة تواجه النازحين العراقيين</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/category/children/" title="View all posts in Children" rel="category tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/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/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/category/iraq/" title="View all posts in News" rel="category tag">News</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/category/women/" title="View all posts in Women and Children" rel="category tag">Women and Children</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/abu-ghraib/" rel="tag">Abu Ghraib</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad-hospitals/" rel="tag">Baghdad Hospitals</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/children/" rel="tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/damascus/" rel="tag">Damascus</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/discrimination/" rel="tag">discrimination</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/displacement/" rel="tag">displacement</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/diyala/" rel="tag">Diyala</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/elizabeth-campbell/" rel="tag">elizabeth campbell</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/health/" rel="tag">Health</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/idps-internal-refugees/" rel="tag">IDPs (Internal Refugees)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/infrastructure/" rel="tag">infrastructure</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iom/" rel="tag">IOM</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-children/" rel="tag">iraqi children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-refugees/" rel="tag">iraqi refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/jordan/" rel="tag">Jordan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/khan-bani-saad/" rel="tag">Khan Bani Saad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/market/" rel="tag">Market</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/markets/" rel="tag">markets</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/migration/" rel="tag">migration</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/occupation/" rel="tag">occupation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/palestinian-refugee/" rel="tag">palestinian refugee</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/palestinian-refugees-in-irak/" rel="tag">Palestinian refugees in Irak</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/palestinians/" rel="tag">palestinians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/prostitution/" rel="tag">Prostitution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ration-system/" rel="tag">Ration System</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reconstruction/" rel="tag">Reconstruction</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugee-agency/" rel="tag">refugee agency</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees/" rel="tag">Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees-international/" rel="tag">Refugees International</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reintegration/" rel="tag">reintegration</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resettlement/" rel="tag">resettlement</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resources/" rel="tag">Resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/restitution/" rel="tag">restitution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/returnees/" rel="tag">returnees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/salah-ad-din-governorate/" rel="tag">Salah ad Din (Governorate)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sanitation/" rel="tag">sanitation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-concerns/" rel="tag">security concerns</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/squatters/" rel="tag">Squatters</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/squatters-evictions-halted/" rel="tag">Squatters -evictions halted</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unami/" rel="tag">UNAMI</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr/" rel="tag">UNHCR</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr-funding-shortfalls/" rel="tag">UNHCR Funding shortfalls</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/vulnerable-communities/" rel="tag">vulnerable communities</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>افادت منظمة لاجئون دوليون " ريفوجيز انترناشيونال(<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.refugeesinternational.org/" target="_blank" class="external">Refugees International</a>) " غير الحكومية ان مئات الاف العراقيين الذين نزحوا من ديارهم بسبب الحرب الى مخيمات يعمها البؤس, يعانون من ازمة انسانية خطيرة. وكشفت المنظمة ان بين المليون ونصف المليون عراقي الذين اضطروا الى مغادرة منازلهم في العام الفين وستة والفين وسبعة زهاء خمسمئة الف, يعيشون في الاكواخ". وافاد تقرير للمنظمة ان الحكومة لا تبذل الكثير وربما لا تفعل شيئا لمساعدة النازحين داعية الولايات المتحدة "التي تتحمل مسؤولية خاصة" في هذه الازمة الانسانية الى الاهتمام بهم وفق التقرير . من جانبه، دعا سفير العراق في الولايات المتحدة سمير شاكر الصميدعي الحكومة الى بذل المزيد من اجل العراقيين النازحين داخل وخارج البلاد وقال ان "بلدا يقوم على بحر من النفط لا يجب ان يعيش سكانه في مثل هذه الظروف". </p> <p dir="rtl" align="right">( <strong>روابط ذات علاقة </strong>- <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/18/iraq-humanitarian-needs-persist-refugees-international/">Iraq: Humanitarian Needs Persist | Refugees International | Gorilla’s Guides</a>  )</p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-9198"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/18/iraq-humanitarian-needs-persist-refugees-international/#respond" title="Comment on Iraq: Humanitarian Needs Persist | Refugees International">No Comments</a></span> Posted on March 18th, 2010 by markfromireland</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/18/iraq-humanitarian-needs-persist-refugees-international/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Iraq: Humanitarian Needs Persist | Refugees International">Iraq: Humanitarian Needs Persist | Refugees International</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/category/children/" title="View all posts in Children" rel="category tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/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/20130203205837/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/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/category/women/" title="View all posts in Women and Children" rel="category tag">Women and Children</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/abu-ghraib/" rel="tag">Abu Ghraib</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad-hospitals/" rel="tag">Baghdad Hospitals</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/children/" rel="tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/damascus/" rel="tag">Damascus</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/discrimination/" rel="tag">discrimination</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/displacement/" rel="tag">displacement</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/diyala/" rel="tag">Diyala</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/elizabeth-campbell/" rel="tag">elizabeth campbell</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/health/" rel="tag">Health</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/idps-internal-refugees/" rel="tag">IDPs (Internal Refugees)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/infrastructure/" rel="tag">infrastructure</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iom/" rel="tag">IOM</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-children/" rel="tag">iraqi children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-refugees/" rel="tag">iraqi refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/jordan/" rel="tag">Jordan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/khan-bani-saad/" rel="tag">Khan Bani Saad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/market/" rel="tag">Market</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/markets/" rel="tag">markets</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/migration/" rel="tag">migration</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/occupation/" rel="tag">occupation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/palestinian-refugee/" rel="tag">palestinian refugee</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/palestinian-refugees-in-irak/" rel="tag">Palestinian refugees in Irak</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/palestinians/" rel="tag">palestinians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/prostitution/" rel="tag">Prostitution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ration-system/" rel="tag">Ration System</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reconstruction/" rel="tag">Reconstruction</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugee-agency/" rel="tag">refugee agency</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees/" rel="tag">Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees-international/" rel="tag">Refugees International</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reintegration/" rel="tag">reintegration</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resettlement/" rel="tag">resettlement</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resources/" rel="tag">Resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/restitution/" rel="tag">restitution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/returnees/" rel="tag">returnees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/salah-ad-din-governorate/" rel="tag">Salah ad Din (Governorate)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sanitation/" rel="tag">sanitation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-concerns/" rel="tag">security concerns</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/squatters/" rel="tag">Squatters</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/squatters-evictions-halted/" rel="tag">Squatters -evictions halted</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unami/" rel="tag">UNAMI</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr/" rel="tag">UNHCR</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr-funding-shortfalls/" rel="tag">UNHCR Funding shortfalls</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/vulnerable-communities/" rel="tag">vulnerable communities</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <ul> <li> <blockquote style="border-bottom: 1px solid black; padding-bottom: 1em;">As the U.S. continues to draw down its military forces and eventually end its occupation in Iraq, the U.S. and other donors must increase their humanitarian and development assistance and commitment to finding long-term solutions for displaced Iraqis. Millions of people are still displaced without access to shelter, food, health care or other basics. It is too soon for the U.S. government and other donors to abandon the needs of the Iraqi people. Likewise, the UN must seek to increase its presence and resources inside the country and throughout the region, ensuring that Iraq’s most vulnerable are protected and assisted until durable solutions are available.</p></blockquote> </li> <li> <blockquote>On the one hand the U.S., the UN, and the entire international community often champion the considerable security progress inside Iraq. On the other hand, these same entities continue to be extremely constrained by highly restrictive security protocols. These protocols no longer reflect the realities in the country, and the lack of access continues to severely hamper the humanitarian response of the UN and the U.S. The zero-risk mentality of the burgeoning security industry has hijacked more rational and creative thinking that might help guarantee staff safety while allowing for greater mobility in a more low-profile manner. </p></blockquote> </li> </ul> <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: 300px; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: black 1px solid"> <p><strong>Policy recommendations</strong></p> <ul> <li> <p>The U.S. should continue to fund current and future UN appeals at no less than 50% and seek to dramatically increase its support for community development programs.</p> </li> <li> <p>The UN and the U.S. should review and adapt their security measures in Iraq to allow staff greater freedom of movement and access to vulnerable communities.</p> </li> <li> <p>The Government of Iraq should develop a detailed plan to implement the solutions included in its 2008 National Policy on Displacement.</p> </li> <li> <p>UNHCR should dramatically and rapidly increase its number of staff working in the field inside Iraq.</p> </li> <li> <p>The U.S. and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) should urge the Government of Iraq to create a process for IDPs to voluntarily integrate into the local communities in which they have been displaced.</p> </li> <li> <p>UNHCR should conduct a thorough needs assessment of the Palestinian refugee community in Iraq and seek durable solutions for those living in Iraq and Syria, including third country resettlement.</p> </li> </ul> <h3>Download File:</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.refugeesinternational.org/sites/default/files/031710_iraq.pdf" class="external" target="_blank">Iraq: Humanitarian Needs Persist</a> File Size 136.03 KB (PDF)</li> </ul> <h4>About:</h4> <ul> <li><em>Refugees International Senior Advocate Elizabeth Campbell and consultant Nir Rosen assessed the situation for displaced Iraqis in Iraq and Syria in February 2010.</em></li> </ul></div> <p>The humanitarian situation facing Iraqi refugees and internally displaced people is quickly becoming a protracted one for which the U.S. bears special responsibility. Though the country is well positioned to generate vast sums of revenue from its oil, it will take many years before the government is able to rebuild the country’s infrastructure and provide basic services to its people. Ongoing political and security concerns continue to challenge development efforts. It is thus critical that the U.S. and other donors continue to support a strong and expanded humanitarian program, working hand-in-hand with a variety of community development initiatives. </p> </p> <h3>Iraqis Living as Squatters in Slums </h3> <p>UNHCR estimates that of the 1.5 million internally displaced people (IDPs) forced from their homes in 2006 and 2007, 33% or 500,000 live as squatters in slum areas. Refugees International visited about 20 different squatter settlements in various parts of Baghdad, Diyala, and Salah al-Din. These people have no legal title to the land. Many fear returning to their original homes. Most are too poor to relocate. The settlements all lack basic services, including water, sanitation, and electricity and are built in precarious places—under bridges, alongside railroad tracks, and amongst garbage dumps. In 2009 the Iraqi Government issued a directive calling upon all squatters to vacate public buildings. This directive has since been postponed, but they all remain at risk of eviction. UNHCR will have to liaise closely with other UN agencies and international and national NGOs to provide assistance to these communities and to urge the Government of Iraq to create programs of land grants and housing for these people. </p> <p>Refugees International met several Iraqis who left Syria, because they could no longer afford to live there, and are now living as internally displaced squatters in these slum areas. As one squatter told the RI team, “We used to own a home in Abu Ghraib. Now we have lost everything. It is too dangerous for us to return there, so we are living here, hoping that the government will give us a small piece of land.” </p> <p>These families are among the most vulnerable in Iraq. Most have not received assistance from the government, UN agencies, or NGOs. Since they live illegally, the government is reluctant to improve their living conditions and address their basic needs. UNHCR is aware of many of these squatter settlements and is in the process of conducting a more comprehensive survey of them. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) also has a list of the settlements in which the internally displaced live. IOM and UNHCR should work together to develop a single, comprehensive list so that humanitarian interventions can be targeted and coordinated. </p> <p>If UNHCR is going to have any impact addressing the needs of these especially vulnerable displaced people and the larger communities, they will have to dramatically increase the number of UNHCR staff people with the responsibility of reaching out to them. For those at risk of eviction in the near future, the UN should work closely with the Government of Iraq to begin to devise a contingency plan. As outlined in Iraq’s July 2008 National Policy on Displacement, displaced people and host communities should be involved in planning, designing and implementing appropriate strategies and programs concerning their return, integration or relocation. </p> <h3>Increasing Humanitarian Access in Iraq </h3> <p>On the one hand the U.S., the UN, and the entire international community often champion the considerable security progress inside Iraq. On the other hand, these same entities continue to be extremely constrained by highly restrictive security protocols. These protocols no longer reflect the realities in the country, and the lack of access continues to severely hamper the humanitarian response of the UN and the U.S. The zero-risk mentality of the burgeoning security industry has hijacked more rational and creative thinking that might help guarantee staff safety while allowing for greater mobility in a more low-profile manner. </p> <p>The UN Department for Safety and Security and the Resident Security Officers for the U.S. must adapt their security protocols to the new and changing realities and allow greater access for humanitarian workers. The northern and southern governorates of Iraq are widely recognized as being safe. Many parts of the central governorates can also be accessed daily for field visits. Refugees International staff was able to travel alone without security escorts throughout most of Baghdad and multiple locations within Diyala, Salah al-Din and Babel. Iraqis of all types and backgrounds interviewed by Refugees International expressed a strong desire to see the UN and international actors return and fully function in the country. </p> <p>Currently the U.S. government and the UN are completely dependent upon the U.S. military to provide access outside of the international zone. Access to Iraqi communities occurs irregularly and in a very limited fashion. Plans have to be made months in advance to coordinate trips. This already limited access will be further reduced with the impending U.S. military withdrawal. </p> <p>Furthermore, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), led by the Department of Political Affairs (DPA), often does not prioritize humanitarian issues. They tend to take a back seat to UNAMI’s political agenda. Political affairs officials are often given priority over humanitarian actors when it comes to dividing the limited number of slots available for staff to travel outside of the international zone. </p> <p>While international UN staff and diplomatic missions have limited access to Iraqi communities, an increasing number of international NGOs are accessing vulnerable Iraqis in Baghdad and other parts of the country. There is also a plethora of Iraqi NGOs who are making significant humanitarian contributions, without which much of the work could not take place. UNHCR’s efforts to enhance the capacity of over 100 national NGOs should be supported. </p> <h3>Returns and the Prospects for Local Integration </h3> <p>Though the Government of Iraq, the U.S., and other governments continue to push for displaced people to return home, much of the current displacement is likely to be permanent. UNHCR estimates that only 426,000 people have returned, the overwhelming majority of whom were internally displaced people. People will continue to return home, but only at a trickle. Lack of security and jobs continues to be a strong deterrent. Others are simply too traumatized to return to their places of origin. Long-term solutions must be found for these people. </p> <p>If given the option, IOM estimates that 25% of IDPs would be interested in local integration. This would be an important step forward in the protection of some IDPs, as they would then presumably be granted residency cards reflecting their new place of habitual residence. Such cards would allow them full and fair access to all services at the local and governorate level. They would be able to vote like other Iraqis in future elections, attend schools without facing discrimination, and seek employment without impediments. The U.S. and international community should urge the Government of Iraq to create a process for IDPs to voluntarily integrate locally if they so choose. </p> <p>Those wishing to return to their original homes and lands, but who are unwilling or unable to do so at this time, should continue to be afforded this opportunity when the conditions warrant safe and voluntary returns. Efforts to ensure that such people are able to retrieve their properties should continue to be made. This includes urging the Government of Iraq to expand its property restitution mechanism to all of the governorates and to ensure that those displaced between 2003 and 2005 are also provided a mechanism to reclaim or be compensated for their lost properties. The Iraqi government should at least quadruple the $850 return compensation grant currently available.</p> <p>Although few people have returned home, the Government of Iraq, the UN, and several donors have supported a successful return and reintegration program in the Governorate of Diyala, a place that suffered some of the most severe violence and the displacement of some 300,000 individuals. The objective is to support the voluntary return and reintegration of at least 27,500 families while rebuilding their communities. Assistance has been provided to both returnees and local residents in the understanding that communities as a whole must be engaged if resentments are to be avoided and returns sustained. Targeting some 400 largely destroyed villages, the project aims to provide urgent life-saving services and rebuild homes, infrastructure, and livelihoods. </p> <p>The Government of Iraq has pledged some $78 million dollars for reconstruction of destroyed homes, but the disbursement of these funds is lagging. Despite this, 3,000 starter homes have been constructed with 6,000 more planned for 2010 if funding is made available. </p> <p>The success of this initiative stems in part from the strong political commitment and financial pledge from the central government, the coordination and participation of most of the UN agencies and many international and national NGOs, and the strong support of the local authorities and communities. It is also successful because humanitarian actors are able to work closely with development actors, ensuring that the returns and the rebuilding of communities are long-term and sustainable. When Refugees International visited the project in villages near Khan Bani Saad, it was a rare but positive example of long-term development efforts working hand-in-hand with humanitarian intervention, benefitting a much larger number of people than those directly targeted for assistance. This model is successful and could be replicated in other parts of Iraq, but it is very costly. Donors should be willing to support these efforts. </p> <h3>Protecting Refugees in Syria </h3> <p>Most Iraqi refugees in Syria have benefited from generous government policies and hospitable neighbors. The government’s recent efforts to extend residency permits for six months, their commitment to issue some work permits, and their engagement in drafting legislation that will address the presence of Iraqis in Syria are all positive steps that help to advance the protection of refugees. </p> <p>Still, the overall situation for Iraqi refugees continues to deteriorate. It is therefore essential that the U.S. and other donors maintain their humanitarian commitment to this increasingly protracted refugee caseload. There are approximately 3,000 new individuals registering for refugee status each month. Most are unable to work. Families continue to be torn apart as men seek employment opportunities outside of Syria. Rents continue to increase. Families are forced to move in together and share small apartments. This year there are 30% fewer Iraqi children enrolled in school. In some cases the costs of books and school uniforms are prohibitive for families. There has been an increase in detention and deportation, due in part to petty crime and prostitution. Opportunities for local integration have not materialized, and the majority of refugees have no plans to return. While most refugees dream of third country resettlement, this solution will not be afforded to most of the 218,000 refugees currently registered with UNHCR. </p> <p>Almost 13,000 vulnerable Iraqi families now receive cash assistance in the amount of approximately $150 every month (plus $15 per dependent) through the use of ATM cards. This creative program is efficient, effective and dignified—and a preferred form of assistance for most refugees. The ATM card system has an overhead of approximately 2.3%, whereas the overhead cost for assistance distributed through partner agencies can be as high as 23%. In urban contexts like Damascus, cash assistance cuts down on otherwise costly outreach and distribution efforts. Without more funding, UNHCR will be forced to scale back this life-saving program. </p> <p>Similarly, refugees with chronic but treatable illnesses like diabetes and cancer are at risk of losing UNHCR’s support due to funding shortfalls. Thousands of refugees’ lives will be at stake if UNHCR and its partners are no longer able to help subsidize tertiary health care. </p> <p>The World Food Program has also responded to the particular needs of delivering assistance in an urban environment through a recently introduced pilot program. Each family receives a SMS text message on his or her mobile phone with the voucher number and the amount of the entitlement. Families are then able to redeem the voucher for food from a list of nine items in any one of the selected stores participating in the program. Such a program directly benefits the local and national economy and supports Syrian-run markets. Refugees feel empowered to make their own food selections. Overhead costs are drastically reduced. This innovative model should be expanded in Syria and replicated in other parts of the world. </p> <p>While these two innovative programs should be strengthened, more emphasis needs to be placed on skills training so that refugees are able to become self-sufficient. Information technology programs are particularly useful, as they have utility in resettlement countries, the country of asylum, and the country of origin. </p> <p>Today, UNHCR has one of the most sophisticated and accurate registration systems in the world operating in Syria. The numbers of refugees registered with UNHCR as well as the needs of many of the most vulnerable are well known. Donors have not been able to even meet the needs of registered refugees let alone those who choose not to register. The U.S. especially has a special responsibility to help host governments ensure that the basic assistance and protection needs of this population continue to be met until durable solutions are readily available. </p> <h3><b>Refugees in Iraq Need Durable Solutions</b> </h3> <p>There are some 35,000 refugees in Iraq. One of the largest and most vulnerable populations is the stateless Palestinians. Though successful efforts have been made to resettle Palestinians from three border camps, the needs of those in Damascus, Al Hol Refugee Camp in Syria and Baghdad must be urgently addressed. Unlike Iraqis, Palestinian refugees from Iraq have been denied access to asylum in neighboring countries and subjected to forced encampment. In Baghdad they continue to be subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention, raids by the police and army, and armed violence. Their recently issued identification documents are noticeably different from Iraqi documents, making them easy targets at checkpoints. Most Palestinians attempt to acquire Iraqi documentation, and the men regularly travel with women to help protect them against arbitrary arrest and detention. Hiding their Palestinian identity is a matter of survival for these refugees. </p> <p>At the start of the war in 2003 there were an estimated 35,000 Palestinian refugees in Baghdad. Today there are only 11,000. Left behind are the elderly, the disabled, and some of the most destitute families. Even if they attempted to flee, there is nowhere for them to run—the Jordanian and Syrian borders are closed to them and UNHCR actively turns away Palestinians attempting to flee to Al Waleed Camp on the border. </p> <p>Many of the families are in need of urgent assistance. UNHCR needs to conduct a full assessment of this population and develop criteria for resettlement. In Syria UNHCR needs to immediately refer Palestinian cases in Damascus for resettlement and continue resettlement out of Al Hol Camp. </p> <h3><b>Conclusion</b> </h3> <p>As the U.S. continues to draw down its military forces and eventually end its occupation in Iraq, the U.S. and other donors must increase their humanitarian and development assistance and commitment to finding long-term solutions for displaced Iraqis. Millions of people are still displaced without access to shelter, food, health care or other basics. It is too soon for the U.S. government and other donors to abandon the needs of the Iraqi people. Likewise, the UN must seek to increase its presence and resources inside the country and throughout the region, ensuring that Iraq’s most vulnerable are protected and assisted until durable solutions are available. </p> </p> <p><em>Refugees International Senior Advocate Elizabeth Campbell and consultant Nir Rosen assessed the situation for displaced Iraqis in Iraq and Syria in February 2010.</em> </p> </p> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.refugeesinternational.org/policy/field-report/iraq-humanitarian-needs-persist" class="external" target="_blank">Iraq: Humanitarian Needs Persist</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.refugeesinternational.org/" target="_blank" class="external">Refugees International</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-9110"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/14/the-undoing-of-obamas-cairo-speech/#comments" title="Comment on The undoing of Obama’s Cairo speech">2 Comments</a></span> Posted on March 14th, 2010 by markfromireland</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/14/the-undoing-of-obamas-cairo-speech/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to The undoing of Obama’s Cairo speech">The undoing of Obama’s Cairo speech</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/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/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a 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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/palestinians/" rel="tag">palestinians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saddam-hussein/" rel="tag">Saddam Hussein</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tel-aviv/" rel="tag">Tel Aviv</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/us/" rel="tag">US</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/west-bank/" rel="tag">West Bank</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/zionism/" rel="tag">Zionism</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/zionist/" rel="tag">Zionist</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/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: lightgrey 1px solid; padding-right: 5px; border-top: lightgrey 1px solid; padding-left: 5px; padding-bottom: 15px; margin: 15px auto 5px; border-left: lightgrey 1px solid; width: 90%; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: lightgrey 1px solid"> <p>I don’t know even one Arab who believed that President Obama’s speech "<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-Cairo-University-6-04-09/http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-Cairo-University-6-04-09/" class="external" target="_blank">Remarks By The President On A New Beginning</a>" at al-Azhar on June 4, 2009 actually represented a new beginning.  My experience of reactions amongst Muslims in general and Muslim Arabs in particular was neither Obama’s election or his speech had much effect. That Muslims in general were going to wait and see if the eleoquence and fine words were matched by actions.</p> <blockquote><p>Although a new team is now in the White House, much of the distrust persists. For example, the 2009 poll finds that in predominantly Muslim nations, there is generally little support for U.S.-led anti-terrorism efforts. Large numbers continue to consider the U.S. an enemy, including big majorities in Pakistan (64%) and the Palestinian territories (77%). And majorities in six of the seven Muslim nations surveyed say they are worried that the U.S. may become a military threat to their country some day.</p></blockquote> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1300/many-muslim-nations-less-favorable-to-obama" class="external" target="_blank">Obamamania Misses Most Muslim Countries – Pew Research Center</a></p> <p>Most of my American friends, in particular those who are on what, in America passes for the left wing, told me vehemently that I was wrong. That America had turned a new leaf, that when I said that from what I could see that when it came to Irak, Iran, Palestine, and Afghanistan that not only was the Obama administration exactly the same as the Bush adminsitration but that all the signs were that it intended massively ramping up the war in Affghanistan and massively ramping up the sabre rattling against Iran. That any administration which had the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://washingtonscene.thehill.com/in-the-know/36-news/2715-hillary-clinton-will-speak-at-aipac-conference" class="external" target="_blank">Zionist supporting Hilary Clinton as Secretary of State</a> and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAZmO80dLfE" class="external" target="_blank">avowed Zionist Joe Biden</a> as Vice President would take anything that the Zionists would dish out. That they would work tirelessly to make sure that while their President could say as many pretty things as he liked that the ugliness and viciousness of American actions in the Middle East and South Asia would continue, would indeed be escalated.</p> <p>So what do what have?</p> <ul> <li>The American withdrawal from Irak is going precisely according to the Bush timetable and spare me please that oxymoronic garbage about "non-combat troops". </li> <li>America is indeed ramping up its war in Afghanistan and ramping up the "black" prisons and slaughter of civilians to boot. </li> <li>Then today we have learn that America is once again stockpiling "bunker buster" bombs on Diego Garcia: <br/>   <br/><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/14/another-step-on-americas-road-to-war-with-iran/">Another Step On America’s Road To War With Iran | Gorilla’s Guides</a>:<br/> <blockquote>Hundreds of powerful US “bunker-buster” bombs are being shipped from California to the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in preparation for a possible attack on Iran</p></blockquote> </li> <li>To put it bluntly it seems that yet another American "war of choice" with a Muslim county, in this case Iran, is in the offing. </li> </ul> <p>The article below is from al-Jazeera as is the title of this posting. Read it and weep.</p> <p>markfromireland</p> </p></div> <p>The visit to Israel by Joe Biden, the US vice-president, may usher in a new stage in US foreign policy towards the Middle East peace process, a phase that is clearly different from what many Arabs hoped for after listening to Barack Obama, the US president, in Cairo last June.</p> <p>At that time, the young and charismatic president, who enjoyed wide Arab sympathy and support during his presidential election campaign, called for "a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world", a new start that is based on mutual respect and honest politics.</p> <p>"America will align our policies with those who pursue peace and will say in public what we say in private," Obama said about the Arab-Israeli peace process, calling on Israel to "stop" the building of settlements.</p> <p>But just a few months later, Obama gave up on asking Israel to freeze the construction of settlements.</p> <p>He told <em>Time</em> magazine in January: "If we had anticipated some of these political problems on both sides [Israel and the Palestinians] earlier, we might not have raised expectations as high."</p> <p>He meant the expectations of the Palestinians, who refused to participate in peace talks unless the Israeli government of Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, declares a total freeze of settlement activities in the occupied territories. </p> <h3>Old politics</h3> <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: 250px; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: lightgrey 1px solid"> <p><strong>Editor’s Note:</strong> More in depth coverage from Al-Jazeera can be found at the following links.</p> <h4>Videos:</h4> <ul> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/03/201031154037497783.html" class="external" target="_blank">Biden peace push frustrated</a> </li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/03/20103113455591684.html" class="external" target="_blank">Biden explains Israel rebuke</a> </li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/03/201031242923606941.html" class="external" target="_blank">Biden still believes in two-state solution</a> </li> </ul> <h4>Q&A:</h4> <ul> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/08/2009824145130254273.html" class="external" target="_blank">Settlements</a> </li> </ul> <h4>Focus</h4> <ul> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/03/2010397570700354.html" class="external" target="_blank">Biden: America’s Middle East fixer?</a> </li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://blogs.aljazeera.net/imperium/2010/03/12/israeli-shoe-aimed-biden" class="external" target="_blank">Israeli shoe aimed at Biden</a> </li> </ul></div> <p>Moreover, the US administration turned the heat up on the Palestinians, urging them to engage in peace negotiations after Netanyahu announced a partial freeze of settlement activities in the West Bank for nine months.</p> <p>When the Palestinians, with Arab backing, agreed to start indirect negotiations, Israeli authorities shocked everyone, including Biden, by announcing new massive settlement construction plans during his visit.</p> <p>Biden responded by a strong condemnation and Netanyahu apologised for the "timing" of the announcement.</p> <p>At the end of his visit to Israel Biden told an audience in Tel Aviv that he "appreciated" the response of the Israeli prime minister, who "clarified that the beginning of actual construction on this particular project would likely take several years".</p> <p>Clearly, Biden failed to stop the illegal settlement plans. A very weak response to what many, including Israelis, considered an "insult" to the visiting vice-president.</p> <p>Moreover, his speech at Tel Aviv University was in many aspects the opposite of Obama’s Cairo speech.</p> <p>At Cairo University, Obama looked young, idealistic, charismatic and an advocate of change. At Tel Aviv University, Biden looked old, realistic, boring, and pragmatic.</p> <p>Listening to Biden’s speech reminds you of Senator Biden speaking to the annual dinner of the Washington-based pro-Israel lobby, Aipac, rather than the US vice-president going on an international tour to push forward the daunting Middle East peace process.</p> <p>In his speech, Biden used many of his old clichés that he used in the past to appeal to pro-Israel audiences.</p> <p>Those included statements from his first visit to Israel, his meeting with Golda Meir, the late Israel president, and his belief that "change will come to the Middle East when there is absolutely no space between America and Israel" and that "you don’t need to be a Jew to be a Zionist".</p> <p>It was a sad reminder of the old American political rhetoric that fails to find new common ground between Arabs and Israelis.</p> <p>Moreover, Biden downgraded the US role in the Middle East peace process from one of a guarantor and a sponsor, which Arabs expect, to one of a "facilitator", a "trust-builder" and a "bridging mechanism".</p> <h3>Facilitator</h3> <p>Biden emphasised his understanding of US role as "a facilitator" to a concerning level stressing that "the US cannot want peace more than the Israelis and the Palestinians want it".</p> <p>Biden forgot that Arabs joined the current peace process in 1991 at a crucial historical moment. It was only a couple of years after the end of the Cold War and a few months after the US successfully led an international coalition to expel Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi leader, from Kuwait.</p> <p>At that time, Arabs thought that only America, the sole superpower, could help to deliver peace to the Middle East.</p> <p>Biden also forgot that most of the progress achieved on the Arab Israel peace process – such as the establishment of the Palestinian Authority and the signing of a peace agreement between Israel and Jordan – took place during the years of Bill Clinton’s US presidency, when the US enjoyed unparallelled political and economic world power.</p> <p>It was the administration of George Bush, Obama’s predecessor, that squandered US prestige and financial advantage on many fronts, and which brought the US peace process to a semi-halt.</p> <p>The Bush-era was known for its neo-conservative bias towards Israel, disdain for diplomacy and distrust of Arabs and their interest in peace altogether.</p> <p>Since Obama came to office, many Arabs have been wondering if the US, under the Bush administration, lost the strategic and political capital necessary to push and guarantee the daunting "peace process".</p> <p>They saw a new administration busy with a domestic financial crisis, a divided and partisan political system, two unwinnable wars and competition with China.</p> <p>Some were afraid that Israel was quicker than Arabs in realising America’s weakness by fending off Obama’s calls for a freeze of settlements.</p> <p>Unfortunately, Biden speech could only deepen such fears.</p> <h3>‘Politically costly’</h3> <p>Since it came to the White House, the Obama administration has failed to achieve clear progress on many Middle East fronts.</p> <p>It could not persuade or pressure Iran away from its nuclear programmes, Syria away from Iran, Iraqi politicians away from sectarianism, Arab regimes towards democracy or Israel away from its expansionist and confrontational policies.</p> <p>During his speech, Biden told his audience repeatedly that Dennis Ross, a veteran peace negotiator from the Clinton administration and a known pro-Israel advocate, is with him. He said it about three times.</p> <p>Ross serves now as a special adviser to the US president at the US National Security Council.</p> <p>In his latest book, <em>Myth, Illusions, & Peace: Finding A New Direction for America</em> in the Middle East, Ross advocates many of the ideas and policies repeated by Biden and other senior Obama administration officials recently.</p> <p>Ross believes that successful peace negotiation should start with "gaining a sense of what Israel could live with and then trying to move the Arabs or Palestinian position accordingly".</p> <p>He ultimately believes that "it is politically costly for [Arab] regimes that lacked basic legitimacy to look as if they were conceding before getting anything from Israel".</p> <p>Therefore, he argues against "pressuring" or even "surprising" Israel.</p> <p>"American has many roles to play in helping peace – from clarifying, to mobilising financial and political support, to protecting and insulating, to assuring and guaranteeing, providing such guarantees can relate to the agreement itself – meaning the readiness to guarantee the implementation of the terms of the agreement."</p> <h3>"Common interests"</h3> <p>Unfortunately, such perspective sees peace between Israel and Palestinians as a long term goal that could wait while Arab regimes and Israel could co-operate urgently on more serious threats such as Iran and the Islamists.</p> <p>"Most Arab governments want Israel to be strong when it comes to Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and Syria," says Ross.</p> <p>He believes that the "Palestinian issue" is a public consumption issue for many Arab regimes, an emotional cause that is often used to drain the West and to divert public attention from urgent domestic Arab needs.</p> <p>He argues that recent Israeli wars in Lebanon (2006) and Gaza (2009) did lead to some Arab street protests. But, they did not lead to the overthrow of any Arab regime or to a new oil curfew.</p> <p>Instead, he believes that "common interests" between Israel and the Arab countries, on issues such Iran and confronting the Islamists, are larger than expected.</p> <p>He believes that pushing the peace process forward will help strengthen Arab co-operation with Israel on such threats and push up to the surface. However, he obviously does not think it is a priority or an urgent need.</p> <p>Such views are clearly different from what many Arabs hoped for when they heard Obama speak at Cairo last June.</p> <p>They seem on the rise, which deals a serious blow to Arabs’ hope for a real change in US foreign policy towards the Middle East under the current administration</p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130203205837/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/03/20103138156966488.html" class="external" target="_blank">Al Jazeera English – Focus – The undoing of Obama’s Cairo speech</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" 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