Al-Mashreq English March 14

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Three Arab films competed for Oscars Omar and the Checkpoint: Everyday a Nightmare Arizona gov. vetoes wcontroversial ‘religious freedom’ bill Libya: State of Insecurity, background reading

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Associated Press

English Section

16 Pages

Issue No. 56

America’s first openly gay Imam speaks to the Media

He serves as the imam and educational director at the Light of Reform Mosque in Washington D.C, where women and men kneel side-by-side and women are allowed to lead prayers

Almashreq editorial staff/ news analyst finder: He’s been condemned by other Muslim leaders, and some local imams have even refused to greet him. But Imam Daayiee Abdullah – believed to be the only openly gay imam in the Americas – told his story to the media.

March 2014

Federal Judge: (NYPD) surveillance of Muslim Americans in New Jersey was lawful Almashreq editorial staff/ news analyst finder A federal judge ruled that the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) surveillance of Muslim Americans in New Jersey was a lawful effort to prevent terrorism, not a civil-rights violation.

In a decision filed in federal court in Newark, N.J., U.S. District Judge William Martini dismissed a lawsuit brought in 2012 by eight Muslims who alleged the NYPD’s surveillance programs were unconstitutional because they focused on religion, national origin and race.

Continue on Page 5

NYC Schools Will Get Islamic Holidays

Continue on Page 6

The Phoenix Police Department Arab Citizens Advisory Board Condolences Statement

The Arab community in Phoenix metropolitan area is deeply saddened by the shocking death incident of Police detective John Hobbs on Tuesday, March 4, 2014.

Officer Hobbs is a 21-year veteran with the department. Hobbs, 43, left behind a wife and three children, the youngest of them 6 years old.

As a community we send our sincere

‫املنزلية و�أنظمة التدفئة‬

heartfelt condolences to the family of officer Hobbs and to the Phoenix police department.

Hobbs and another detective from the Police Department’s fugitiveapprehension unit were chasing a felony suspect in northwest Phoenix when his car collided with another vehicle and he began shooting at the officers as he tried to escape on foot.

The officers were taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in critical condition after the 3:10 p.m. shooting. Hobbs died about two hours later. The second officer was recovering in the intensive-care unit Monday The incident marked the sixth instance of officer-involved shootings in the Valley this year.

Almashreq editorial staff/ news analyst finder New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced plans to implement a policy that would close schools for Muslim holidays and the Chinese New Year. The two Muslim holidays are Eid al-Fitr that takes place following the fasting month of holy Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha that lies during the annual pilgrimage.

Continue on Page 5

Appeals court orders Google’s YouTube to remove Anti-Muslim Video Almashreq editorial staff/ news analyst finder A U.S. appeals court ordered YouTube on Wednesday to take down an anti-Muslim film that sparked violent riots in parts of the Middle East and death threats to the actors.

The decision by a divided panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reinstated a lawsuit filed against YouTube by an actress who appeared briefly in the 2012 video that led torioting and deaths because of its negative portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad.

Continue on Page 5

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Entertainment

March 2014

Jokes Q: Why do cows have bells? A: Because their horns don›t work.

‘Omar’ a rare Palestinian feature film at the Oscars

Q: I travel all over the world, but always stay in my corner. What am I? A: A stamp.

Q: Why are football stadiums so cool? A: Because every seat has a fan in it!

Q: Which is faster, heat or cold? A: Heat, because you can catch cold!

Three Arab films competed for Oscars Almashreq editorial staff/News analyst: The film “Omar,” a thriller and love story by director Hany Abu-Assad, is only the third Palestinian film to be nominated for an Academy Award — the second for best picture in a foreign language — but what’s just as notable is that its nomination listed “Palestine” as the country of origin, a detail that attests to the struggles of a maturing film industry under military occupation.

“Omar” looks at the layers of betrayal among best friends, lovers and a Palestinian prisoner with an Israeli agent hoping to turn him into an informant.

Abu-Assad’s earlier film “Paradise Now” was the first Palestinian feature film nominated for an Oscar, in 2006.

Both films directly address occupation as a theme — a reflection of not only the struggles of everyday life for Palestinians but also the struggle to make art in such handicapped circumstances.

Almashreq editorial staff/News analyst:

Arab cinephiles had three regional films to cheer for the 86th Academy Awards, the film industry’s highest honors, opens ceremony in Hollywood.

“Omar” Palestinian film “Omar,” directed by Hany Abu Assad, competed against “The Hunt,” Italy’s “The Great Beauty,” Belgium’s “The Broken Circle Breakdown,” and Cambodia’s “The Missing Picture” for the best foreign-language Oscar on March 2 in Los Angeles.

The film tells the story of a Palestinian man named Omar who was arrested and beaten after an Israeli soldier was shot dead. Omar is told that he would be released only if he helps capturing the person who killed the soldier.

It was previously screened at Cannes Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival and won the best Director and Best Film as part of the best Arabic Feature category at the 2013 Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) last December.

“The Square” Egyptian film “The Square” –directed by Jehane Noujaim and produced

by Karim Amer – competed in the Documentary Feature category.

Many Egyptians have not seen yet the hard-hitting film that chronicles the country’s 2011 revolution. It has faced problems with the country’s censorship authorities and has not been shown in festivals or theaters there.

“It’s a kind of politics disguised in bureaucracy,” said Karim Amer, the film’s producer, told the Associated Press.

Ahmed Awad, undersecretary to the Minister of Culture and head of censorship, told The Associated Press that the film has not been banned in Egypt for any political reasons. He said it was not shown because the film’s producers did not file the proper paperwork. He called the filmmakers’ accusations of repression “propaganda” designed to attract more attention.

“I am very happy about the Oscars, because it’s a very high level of art,” Awad said. “We are not against the film, but there are laws. I can’t make exceptions.”

Noujaim said that the team submitted the film to censorship authorities in September and received verbal permission to show it at a festival. But, she explained, the film never received an official letter to that effect.

“Karama Has No Walls” The third Arab film nominated for the Academy Awards this year chronicles a similar issue, but in a different Arab Spring country, Yemen.

“Karama Has No Walls” by YemeniScottish documentary film-maker Sara Ishaq competed for the Oscar Documentary Shorts. The short film recounts the story of protest in Yemeni capital Sanaa on Friday, March 18, 2011 (later dubbed ‘Friday of Dignity’ or ‘Juma’at El – Karama’).

The protest turned deadly when proregime snipers gunned down dozens of protesters in the Change Square.

“When you are under occupation, it is dominating your life whether you like it or not,” Abu-Assad told Al Jazeera. “It’s part of your life. If you want to make a film in Palestine, you can’t avoid the occupation.”

“Paradise Now” focused on the internal struggle of two Palestinian men from the West Bank wanting to carry out suicide attacks on Israel. And “Omar” focuses on the fear among close friends and lovers of collaborators spying for Israel.

“If you just make entertainment and have no connection to the subject you are making, it’s not an artwork

— it’s more of an entertainment business work,” Abu-Assad said. “I consider myself an artist, and I have to think about the connection between myself and the subject and what’s happening. And one of the main subjects in my life is how to become independent and free and equal.”

“Omar” starts with the main character putting his life on the line by climbing over the separation wall between Nablus in the West Bank and Palestinian neighborhoods in Israel to see the love of his life, Nadia. The same challenges of getting in and around the West Bank and Gaza Strip also limit production of films.

“The issue is getting permits and moving freely across the country. If you want to go and film in Jaffa, maybe you can’t because (Israeli authorities) do not allow you because you’re not from there,” Emile Andre, an actor at the Ashtar Theatre in Ramallah, told Al Jazeera. “Or even if you wanted to film in Jerusalem, you can’t because of a checkpoint or some kind of security threat they say you might raise.”

Andre added that the struggling arts industry goes beyond film as aspiring actors look for opportunities in other countries. Because checkpoints and separation walls make traveling difficult even within the West Bank, theaters and cinemas lack access to populations outside major cities.

“Omar” overcame those challenges, and the Academy Awards took notice. Waleed Zuaiter, who plays the Israeli agent in “Omar,” said he believes “the

‘The Bold and the Beautiful’ picks UAE as filming location Almashreq editorial staff/News analyst: American TV drama The Bold and The Beautiful will be filming a location shoot in the United Arab Emirates in March, the American online magazine TV Guide Magazine website reported

The episodes filmed between March 17-19 in the Middle East will hit the air in late May or early June, according to the website.

“This is a great opportunity for us,” Bradley Bell, the show’s producer said.

“B&B (sic) is really popular on the Dubai One network and that’s opened up a lot of doors.

We don’t quite know what to expect but that’s always the most fun part of this job - going off and trying things we’ve never done before. It’s very exciting,” he added.

The show, which will be shot in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, will include leading actors Thorsten Kaye, Don Diamont and Katherine Kelly Lang.

The Bold and The Beautiful will become the first American daytime drama to be shot in the UAE.

Cooking & Recipes Lavash Cracker Bread ingredients • • • •

1 cup lukewarm water 1/4 cup whole wheat flour 1 (.25 ounce) envelope active dry yeast 1 teaspoon salt 3 cups all-purpose flour

Preparation : 1. In a large bowl, stir together the water, whole wheat flour, and yeast until moistened. Mix in the salt and 1 cup of allpurpose flour. Gradually mix in the rest of the flour using a mixer with a dough hook attachment or wooden spoon.

2. When the dough comes together, knead in your mixer or on a floured surface for 8 to 10 minutes to make an elastic ball.

Add more flour or water if needed to keep dough from getting sticky or too stiff. Pour a little bit of oil in the bowl and turn the dough to coat. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

3. Punch down the dough and divide into 30 pieces about the size of small walnuts. Rolling the dough into a long log helps to divide it evenly. Roll each piece into a ball and cover with a damp kitchen towel for 30 minutes to rest.

4. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Place a baking sheet on the center rack of the oven so it can preheat at the same time. Do not grease.

5. Roll each ball into a circle about 8 inches across. The dough should be paper thin, almost translucent. If they are too thick, they will bubble up like pita breads.

6. Pull out the oven shelf and place as many crackers on your baking sheet as you can fit, 2 or 3. Close the oven and bake for about 3 minutes. The crackers should be lightly browned on the top with small bubbles. You may have to adjust your thickness for the next batch.

Lamb Shawarma ingredients • • • • • • • •

1/2 cup plain yogurt 1/4 cup water 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/2 cup chopped onion 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

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• • • •

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves 3/4 teaspoon ground mace 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper 5 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 1/4-inch-thick strips

Preparation : 1. Place the yogurt, water, lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, onion, and garlic into a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the salt, black pepper, cumin, nutmeg, clove, mace, and cayenne pepper until evenly blended. Mix in the lamb strips to coat.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and marinate in the refrigerator 12 to 24 hours (the longer the better).

2. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Cook the lamb strips in a single layer in batches until the fat melts and the meat has browned and is no longer pink on the inside, about 5 minutes, turning occasionally.

4

Articles

March 2014

Egypt’s presidential elections: From the outside looking in It is likely that the sweeping public enthusiasm behind Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi will not last long, here in Egypt and in the Gulf, where support for the army chief’s presidential bid has already begun to wane

Hampering progress has become an easy and repetitive game in Egypt. El-Sisi’s opponents will not find it difficult to use this against him, attempting to humiliate him from day one, as others did to Morsi in the early days of his presidency.

Despite personal convictions about holding presidential elections first, the nomination of two military candidates, defence minister AbdelFattah El-Sisi and former Chief of Staff Sami Anan, has become a foregone conclusion. (At least at the time of writing.)

While some candidates may already have garnered sweeping public support, emotional and passionate slogans are no longer believable since the obstacles awaiting the next president are complex. It would seem that this has become more apparent to Egypt’s neighboring Gulf countries than it has within Egypt itself.

The clearest international signs of support for the possible presidential nomination of El-Sisi, recently promoted to the highest military rank of field marshal, have come from Gulf states, led by Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia’s stance is significant as one of the first and biggest supporters of Egypt’s current interim government. It would appear, however, that Saudi Arabia has started to harbour concerns related to ElSisi’s ability to succeed when faced with unreasonable expectations from his supporters in Egypt. The sweeping enthusiasm supporting the new president will not last long. It is very likely that from the very first obstacle that El-Sisi faces, the Brotherhood will lead a new wave of protests, attempting to disrupt any political stability. Additionally, revolutionary movements will also likely join these protests, if a candidate with a military background does in fact win the elections.

Perhaps this is what has driven the Gulf states to reexamine their support for El-Sisi’s candidacy. The Gulf has remained heavily invested in Egypt’s future and is thus fully aware that if El-Sisi’s presidency is unsuccessful, the image of the military will be shaken, which will negatively impact the Gulf regimes.

Certain voices in influential circles in the Gulf prefer that ElSisi remains in charge of security issues, both domestic and foreign, and all that comes with that mandate, rather than taking on other complicated issues such as the economy, institutional reform and more.

The majority of Egyptian media outlets which laud El-Sisi’s possible candidacy do so entirely within a security framework. The truth is that this specific requirement, a secure and stable Egypt, represents the desire of the overwhelming majority of Egyptians – but the question that begs asking is what can El-Sisi add to this issue as president? Practically speaking, he is already the most powerful man in Egypt and all security issues are his responsibility – as they were prior to the 3 July ouster of Morsi.

UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Mohamed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum clearly expressed this sentiment when he indicated his hope that El-Sisi would maintain his role as head of the Egyptian military and steer clear of the presidency. Prominent Saudi writer Abdul-Rahman Al-Rashed, who is close to the kingdom’s decision-making circles, elaborated further, saying that El-Sisi is the guardian of the constitution and patron of the regime, but that in deciding

to run as a candidate, his attention will shift from protecting the presidency to the presidency itself. This will place him at the heart of all the problems that are expected to unfold in the coming four years. The Brotherhood is not the only group that will stand against the next president. Other opposition groups, with different economic and social demands that result from Egypt’s precarious situation, are bound to join in. They will take to the streets, seeking the fulfillment of their demands.

El-Sisi has allowed people to raise his picture alongside Gamal Abdel-Nasser’s and has stood by as Nasserist writers painted flattering yet exaggerated depictions of him and his abilities, comparing him to Nasser in all facets, even in a recent shift in Egypt’s relations with Russia, in response to the Obama administration’s policies. El-Sisi – the intelligence man – has benefited from this, all the more so by not taking a clear public stance either in approval or disapproval of the behaviour. As a result, El-Sisi’s rise is warily viewed in western circles as a return of a Nasserist or socialist era in Egypt. To me, this assessment does not ring true.

Despite my reservations on leaked conversations – whether they come from phone calls or private meetings, I’m opposed to them for religious and ethical reasons – in order to understand the full picture I am compelled to rely on leaks from El-Sisi’s meeting with Al-Masry Al-Youm journalist Yasser Rizk and prior clips from a meeting with army leaders last December. These leaks reveal certain features of El-Sisi the politician, in contrast with the ambiguity and uncertainty surrounding his public persona.

None of these revelations point in the direction of a new Nasserist project, as much as they hint more at a project closer to Sadat’s economic and international policies implemented in Egypt.

Omar and the Checkpoint: Everyday a Nightmare Omar is a 7-year-old boy from Gaza. His family managed to obtain the necessary permits that allowed him to cross the Erez checkpoint to Jerusalem, through the West Bank, in order to undergo surgery. He was accompanied by his father. On the way back, the boy and his father were stopped at the Qalanidya checkpoint, separating occupied East Jerusalem from the West Bank. The father needed another permit from the Israeli military to take his son, whose wounds were still fresh hours after the surgery, back to the strip. But the soldiers were in no obliging mood.

This story was reported in its painful details by an Israeli rights activist Tamar Fleishman, of Machsomwatch (checkpoint watch). Her name is synonymous with the Qalanidya checkpoint, because she has been hovering there for countless hours, reporting on the Israeli military’s infuriating torment of Palestinian travelers. Her report, although painful to read, shed a light on a side of the Israeli occupation that oftentimes goes unnoticed. Many speak of Israel’s checkpoints dotting the occupied territories, but few truly appreciate the real experience of living life imprisoned between checkpoints, by being held hostage to the temperament of unruly soldiers.

Omar’s “body was still full of anesthetics (as he) collapsed on the metal bench at the shed in front of the DCL offices at Qalandiya checkpoint,” Fleishman wrote in the Palestine Chronicle. “It was very cold as the day turned into evening.

Omar’s father took his leather coat off and wrapped it over his son. Omar didn’t open his

eyes. Neither the healthy eye nor the one that was swollen from the surgery. He kept sleeping. He seemed to be in a state between sleep and loss of consciousness.”

The story goes on, and seems to never end. Omar is a representation of every Palestinian child and his dad embodies every Palestinian parent living under occupation.

Omar’s heartrending photo, also taken by Fleishman, is of him lying awkwardly at the metal bench, covered by a black leather coat. The boy was likely unaware of much of the reality that encircled him. He might have heard his father pleading his case to the soldiers; or felt the gentle caressing of his hair by a Palestinian mother, also held at the checkpoint; he might’ve even sensed the cold air penetrating his skin to his frail bones.

Or he might’ve felt nothing at all. But still, Omar, is every sick Palestinian and his story symbolizes the very depravity at the heart of the Israeli occupation.

Omar is not a poster child for victimhood. His pain and that of his dad should not merely invoke sights of petty, or philosophical diatribes of how the occupation is killing Israel’s soul, or reignite yet more arguments of what ‘solution’ to the ‘conflict’ we like most. Neither the action of the soldiers, that of their military and political superiors, or of those who have armed and financed them (mainly the United States and European countries) are in the least influenced by fervently debated political and academic discourses. They simply have the means and power to maintain such a colossal matrix of control that turns the lives of ordinary Palestinians into a never-ending nightmare, and they have no reason to stop.

And why should they? Israel’s military occupation is a hugely successful business venture. Jewish settlers are rarely aware of how their presence

By, Nader Bakkar

in occupied land constitutes a violation of international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.

It’s a war crime. But do they know that? And if they do, should they care? They live in government subsidized housing, connected through a very costly road system - preserved for ‘Jews only’ back to Israel - enjoy numerous perks, ones that even those living in Israel cannot access. Settlers siphon Palestinian water from West Bank aquifers, while Palestinians barely get by with a small share of their own water resources. Settler children receive excellent healthcare, the best schooling, and their parents cruise around with nice cars as they enjoy the finer things in life.

Most Palestinians subsist at a low-income and live life negotiating access through checkpoints, from the day they are born, until the day they die, and every day in between.

Israeli leaders thrive at the political support they receive from settlers, and cringe at the very thought of losing favor with the most messianic and ultra-nationalist and rightwing among them.

The Israeli army is deployed throughout the West Bank - aside from ensuring that the Palestinian population is thoroughly subdued – to safeguard settlers and settlements. The checkpoints, like those of Qalandiya, are there to serve that purpose. As in many checkpoints in and around the West Bank, the fast lane is reserved for Jewish settlers, who are ushered in with ease. While Palestinians have to squeeze between concrete walls, giant cement blocks or fences as they wait to plead their case to the soldiers.

Some of the checkpoint’s waiting areas look like massive cages. Ma’an news agency reported on January 6 that a man was crushed to death at the Ephraim/Taybeh checkpoint near the West Bank city of Tulkarem. 59-year-old Adel Muhammad Yakoub from the village of Balaa “died as a result of extreme overcrowding,” it reported.

By Ramzy Baroud “Some 10,000 Palestinian workers cross through the checkpoint every day and that inspection procedures at the checkpoint go very slowly causing dangerous levels of overcrowding inside the checkpoint.”

Yakoub left behind a wife and seven children.

Now, 9,999 workers continue to cross through the Taybeh checkpoint. Even if the Israeli army increased the number of soldiers that process the permits for Palestinian workers, or enlarged the cage-like fences a few feet to the right or left, the fundamental question remains: what will compel Israel to end its occupation, tear down its walls, fences, and bring this horrific and protracted episode to an end?

How long will it be before Palestinian workers push back the fences and soldiers who take part in the collective and daily torment of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians?

As for the rest of us, will we continue to espouse this banal debate: one side that justifies Israel’s action, at times in the name of God and his ‘Chosen People’ and at others in the name of ‘security; and another side that is stuck promoting Palestinian victimization as if an end in itself, without much understanding of the true political underpinnings, or the sheer desire to carry out tangible acts of solidarity for the likes of Omar and his dad?

Omar was finally woken up by his distressed father, who managed to produce the boy’s original birth certificate (a copy, said, Fleishman, is unacceptable); and both, after a long wait, were allowed to go home to Gaza before Erez was scheduled to close. But still, another Omar must be waiting at some checkpoint, somewhere, with his original birth certificate in hand, accompanied by a distressed relative, beseeching the sense of morality of an unfeeling soldier, who has none.

Encroaching on freedom and creativity destroys the future The progress of humanity is based on freedom and creativity. Any society or regime that encroaches on one of them is doomed to backwardness and recession. What about those who infringe on both?

This article is neither in solidarity with nor against satirical star Bassem Youssef or his famous show “El-Bernameg.” It is rather about the suspending of the show as part and parcel of the efforts of the interim government to restrict freedoms during the current interim phase.

To clarify, when I say the ‘government’, I mean the interim presidency and the team it appointed, headed by Hazem ElBeblawi, as well as the committees it has formed to draft the constitution. I am directing my criticism at all of these agencies, who are responsible for executing the road map for the future following the second big wave of our people’s great revolution.

I was dismayed when Ahmed Al-Meslemani, media advisor to the interim president, was evasive regarding the suspension of El-Bernameg, claiming that the decision was made by the satellite channel and the government had nothing to do with it. I blame this prominent media personality for his disregard of governmental responsibility, and his own responsibility as a media official in the presidential team. It is his responsibility to protect the freedoms of mass media, instead of defending the government with a sick, bureaucratic logic.

My standpoint is reinforced with the firm principle established in social and political sciences that humanity’s progress is based upon the inseparability of freedom and creativity as its main engine, as the wings of progress. Hence, any society or regime that cuts one of these wings is

doomed to backwardness and recession.

What about those who cut away both wings? Creativity doesn’t flourish except in a climate of total freedom. Thus, freedom is the mother of progress as well as its ultimate objective.

The danger of suspending the show is that it damages the freedom of expression and the value of creativity altogether, not to mention the infringement on a renowned Egyptian characteristic, namely sense of humour.

Self-censorship is more indicative of tyranny than formal censorship, because it results in a fiercer level of oppression.

It demonstrates the pervasion of authority within one’s psyche when a creator or head of mass media feels he has to impose restraints on himself. He who practises self-censorship in order to flatter those in power, is in fact harming freedom most, because he states flagrantly that there is no need for formal censorship, as terror has permeated the psyche.

In principle, I am against banning freedom of expression, which should be the last resort of freedom supporters and sound democratic rule. Unless a writer, announcer or photographer commits an illegal crime or the infringement of a code of ethics, he should be countered by another opinion and nothing more; that is, if we are keen on preserving freedom and sound democratic rule. May those who are most creative triumph, not the censor, whoever he is.

I wouldn’t mind if the show was banned by a court verdict or by a decision taken by an independent council that regulates the performance of media through a code of ethics. Unfortunately, however, the government and the media community

have been lax in agreeing on such a code and implementing it.

the conducting of fair inquiries into the long list of recent disasters.

The interim government didn’t stop at restricting freedom of expression, its violations of rights and freedoms continue. This shouldn’t be the case, as it is an unelected government. The main mission of this government is to execute the road map, which culminated this revolutionary wave, in order to reach sound democratic rule.

Finally, it is unavoidable to mention the excesses of the police across all eras, which reveals a dire need for radical reform in the security sector with its civil and military facets. This sector’s creed and behaviour should only include securing the safety of citizens and respecting their rights. This pivotal mission has been discarded by all governments after the revolution, as authorities have used the security sector to serve their own interests and tried to flatter them through avoiding reforms.

I can’t mention all the violations here due to space, so I’ll restrict myself to highlighting the law regulating demonstrations, the law criminalising graffiti, and the banning of the right to sit-ins and peaceful strikes in the draft of the new constitution.

The current government’s failure in its main mission or in any mission supporting the objectives of the people’s revolution has become obvious to everyone. It seems it has chosen to use legislation to restrict rights and freedoms to cover up its failures and evade criticism, in an effort to abort the next wave of popular revolution, which it will inevitably face as long as the current circumstances continue.

We tell them they’ll fail in this cunning pursuit, as their predecessors did before.

Suppressing freedoms won’t breed anything except more resistance and it may fuel violence. It seems that they understand this quite well, so they began to draft a law granting immunity to high officials.

The interim government committed a double error, when it imitated the Islamist right in promulgating laws restricting freedoms in the absence of a parliament, and neglected issuing long-awaited laws and decisions that would have contributed to improving the standard of living of the people, ignoring demands for justice and

With all due respect to the sacrifices made by policemen confronting the despicable terrorism of the remnants of the Islamist right, it should be stated that the police have encroached on and violated citizens’ rights during the rules of Mubarak, the SCAF (Supreme Council of the Armed Forces), Mohammed Morsi and now the interim government.

It seems that the police compensate for their shortcomings by tightening the noose on terrorism, through the chaos in Egyptian streets and their failure to arrest those accused of masterminding terrorist acts.

Leaders like Assem Abdel Maged and Tarek El-Zomor are still at large, while some policemen confront peaceful demonstrators by slapping and kicking them.

Despite all this, the security sector hasn’t succeeded in protecting citizens’ safety, evidenced in the grave breaches committed by the Islamist right before and after reaching power, and the utter silence of those in power over Israel’s theft of Egyptian natural gas from within its maritime boundaries. At the same time, the government begs petroleum products from benevolent countries.

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Police arrest man for threatening to stab two Muslim teens Almashreq editorial staff/ news analyst finder A man was arrested by Albuquerque police accused of threatening to stab two Muslims teenagers playing basketball, because they were Muslims.

The incident took place at the Islamic Center of New Mexico basketball court. the Muslim teen and his friend

were playing basketball when they heard the man screaming but didn’t think anything of it until he came to the court and ended up face-to-face with him.

A 15 years old Muslim teen said that the man pulled out a knife and told them he hates Muslims and he wanted to kill them. Police said the man was intoxicated at the time.

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(NYPD) surveillance of Muslim Americans in New Jersey was a lawful effort to prevent terrorism, Muslim Judge dismisses lawsuit against NYPD for surveillance of Muslim Americans

The suit accused the department of spying on ordinary people at mosques, restaurants and schools in New Jersey since 2002.

Martini said he was not convinced the plaintiffs were targeted solely because of their religion. “The more likely explanation for the surveillance was to locate budding terrorist conspiracies,” he wrote.

similar lawsuit against NYPD and New York officials together with the New York American Civil Liberties Union on the behalf of five plaintiffs – including community members, mosques and charities.

Thursday’s “decision legalizes discrimination,” Sarsour told Al Jazeera, calling the decision “absurd” and “outrageous.”

The judge added: “The police could not have monitored New Jersey for Muslim terrorist activities without monitoring the Muslim community itself.”

“It’s almost like reading The Onion,” she added.

Farhaj Hassan, a plaintiff in the case and a U.S. soldier who served in Iraq, said he was disappointed by the ruling.

“We’re still fighting. The fight has just begun,” she said.

“I have dedicated my career to serving my country, and this just feels like a slap in the face — all because of the way I pray,” he said.

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York and the California-based civil rights organization Muslim Advocates, which represented the plaintiffs, also called the decision troubling.

“In addition to willfully ignoring the harm that our innocent clients suffered from the NYPD’s illegal spying program, by upholding the NYPD’s blunderbuss Muslim surveillance practices, the court’s decision gives legal sanction to the targeted discrimination of Muslims anywhere and everywhere in this country, without limitation, for no other reason than their religion,” CCR Legal Director Baher Azmy said.

Linda Sarsour, the executive director of the Arab American Association of New York, helped mount a

However, Sarsour said her lawsuit is ongoing and will continue unhindered.

The lawsuits followed a series of stories by The Associated Press based on confidential NYPD documents that revealed how the department sought to infiltrate dozens of mosques and Muslim student groups in New York and elsewhere.

Martini faulted the AP for its use of the documents.

“The Associated Press covertly obtained the materials and published them without authorization,” he wrote. “Thus the injury, if any existed, is not fairly traceable to the city.”

The AP declined to comment on the ruling.

The city’s legal department also declined comment. Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly had been staunch supporters of the surveillance programs, saying they were needed to protect the city from terrorist attacks.

A similar lawsuit filed in federal court in Brooklyn is still pending.

Consumer spending drops for second consecutive month Almashreq editorial staff/ news analyst finder Consumer spending in the United States dropped sharply in January by the most since June 2012, signaling a slowdown in the economic growth.

The US Commerce Department said retail sales declined 0.4 percent in January. That marked the second straight monthly decline after a 0.1 percent drop in December. Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of US economic output and is closely monitored by economists. ‘‘Horrible all round,’’ said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. “It’s not looking good for consumer spending,” said Guy Berger, a US economist and a top sales forecaster at RBS Securities in Stamford, Connecticut. Slower employment and wage growth in last two months, along with an extremely cold and snowy winter in parts of the US may have contributed to the drop in retail sales. In a separate report, the Commerce Department said US workers applying for first-time unemployment benefits increased by 8,000 last week to 339,000, indicating more worker layoffs. The US www.almashreqonline.com

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March 2014

CAIR-FL Seeks Halal Meals for Muslim Inmates After Kosher Ruling Almashreq editorial staff/ news analyst finder The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-FL) today welcomed a recent court ruling that kosher meals must be served to Jewish prison inmates and called on the state’s Department of Corrections to extend this decision by serving halal (Islamically permissible) food to Muslim inmates.

CAIR-FL has received numerous complaints from Muslim inmates seeking access to halal food.]

Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Florida for violating a 2000 law intended

to protect inmates’ religious rights. The judge in the case issued an injunction, forcing Florida to begin serving kosher meals by July. Only 15 states do not offer inmates a kosher diet.

CAIR-FL sees this as a step in the right direction to ensuring that all inmates are guaranteed their constitutional right to freely practice their religious

beliefs.

“We welcome the decision as an important step in protecting religious rights of incarcerated individuals. It is only fair and equitable that if Jewish inmates receive kosher food, as they should, that Muslim inmates have access to halal meals,” said CAIR-FL Executive Director Hassan Shibly.

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NYC Schools Will Get Islamic Holidays Almashreq editorial staff/ news analyst finder The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) applauded NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio for plans to move forward in closing schools for the Muslim holidays, reported the Arap American News. “The NYC Muslim community looks forward to finally having the Eid holidays recognized in our public schools.

It will be gratifying

to know that Muslim children will soon no longer have to choose between honoring and celebrating their faith or missing class. We applaud Mayor de Blasio on his plans to soon make this a reality,” said CAIR-NY Executive Board Member Zead Ramadan.

During his election campaign in October, the mayor announced his promise to recognize Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. “The

origins of this nation (are) people of many different faiths coming together … That’s why we have to respect

Muslim faiths by providing the Eid school holidays for children in our school system,” said de Blasio.

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Court orders anti-Muslim film offline Appeals court orders Google’s YouTube to remove a video that sparked Middle East riots, death threats to actors YouTube resisted calls by President Barack Obama and other world leaders to take down the video, arguing that to do so amounted to unwarranted government censorship and would violate the Google-owned company’s free speech protections.

Besides, the company argued that the makers of “Innocence of Muslims” owned the copyright and only they could remove it from YouTube.

Typically, that is the case with the vast majority of clips posted on YouTube — and Hollywood films in general — that don’t violate decency laws and policies. But the 9th Circuit said Wednesday that this case was far from typical and that the actress, Cindy Lee Garcia, retained a copyright claim that YouTube must respect, since she believed she was acting in a different production than the one that ultimately appeared online.

Garcia was paid $500 to appear for five seconds in a film she was told was called “Desert Warrior.” She thought it had nothing to do with religion or radical Islam. When the clip was released, her lines were dubbed to have her character asking Muhammad if he was a child molester.

“Had Ms. Garcia known the true nature of the propaganda film

the producers were planning, she would never have agreed to appear in the movie,” said Cris Armenta, Garcia’s attorney.

Google argues that the actress had no claim to the film because filmmaker Mark Basseley Youssef wrote the dialogue, managed the entire production and dubbed over Garcia’s dialogue during postproduction editing.

Chief Judge Alex Kozinski said the ruling was not a blanket order giving copyright protection to every actor, but that in this case, Garcia’s performance was worthy of copyright protection.

“This is a troubling case,” Kozinski wrote. “Garcia was duped into providing an artistic performance that was used in a way she never could have foreseen.

Her unwitting and unwill-

ing inclusion in Innocence of Muslims led to serious threats against her life. It’s disappointing, though perhaps not surprising, that Garcia needed to sue in order to protect herself and her rights.”

Youssef, the filmmaker, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for check fraud in 2010 and barred from accessing the Internet without court approval. He was returned to prison in 2012 for violating terms of his probation and was released on probation in September 2013.

For Google, the ruling represents a nettlesome issue if allowed to stand. The company fears that bit players and extras appearing in popular clips will now be emboldened to send takedown notices to YouTube unless settlements can be reached with the filmmakers

High court strikes down two anti-immigrant laws Almashreq editorial staff/ news analyst finder The U.S. Supreme Court rejected attempts by towns in Texas and Pennsylvania to revive local laws that cracked down on illegal immigration.

economy only added 113,000 jobs in January, well below expectations and the second month in a row the jobs report provided disappointing figures. According to a Gallup poll released last week, Americans are increasingly pessimistic about the future of their country’s economy, with confidence in the economy reaching the lowest level since December.

Nearly half of Americans are living in a state of “persistent economic insecurity,” the Washington-based nonprofit Corporation for Enterprise Development said in January.

The high court has held since 2012 that immigration issues are largely a matter for federal agencies, not local governments, to regulate.

In doing so, the court left intact the appeals court rulings challenged by the towns of Farmers Branch, Texas, and Hazleton, Pennsylvania and avoided wading into the divisive issue of immigration at a time in which reform efforts have stalled in the U.S. Congress.

Prompted by concerns that the federal government was not adequately enforcing immigration laws, officials in both towns enacted ordinances that, among

other things, required tenants to provide identification that could later be verified with immigration authorities and penalized landlords from renting to undocumented immigrants.

much more that cities and states are looking at ways to integrate immigrants into their communities ... and not ways to exclude people, or criminalize them,” he said.

The Hazleton ordinance also penalized employers for knowingly employing unlawful immigrants. Groups of tenants, landlords, employers and workers challenged the laws in court. They won in both cases, prompting the towns to seek Supreme Court review.

Immigrant advocates say that five out of six federal courts of appeals that have dealt with similar housing-related ordinances have held that they conflict with the federal government’s role as the primary enforcer of immigration law.

Omar Jadwat, lawyer of the ACLU’s Immigration Rights Project, who successfully argued the case in the U.S. appeals court, said, “things look really different now than it did when we initiated this case.”

“Cities are not looking to go down the road that Hazleton went down,” he added. “What we’re seeing on the ground is

Hazleton passed the first local laws in 2006 to address concerns over an influx of immigrants. The laws sought to fine landlords who rented to people living in the country illegally, deny business permits to companies that gave them jobs, and required prospective tenants to register with City Hall and pay for a rental permit. However, the laws were never enacted amid the court challenges.

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Nebraska city OKs immigrant renter rule Almashreq editorial staff/ news analyst finder Fremont votes to retain 2010 regulations requiring immigrants to prove they are legal residents when renting property. Residents of a small Nebraska city voted Tuesday to keep regulations that require all renters to swear they have legal permission to live in the United States, a move the is likely to put the city back into the forefront of the immigration debate. Fremont voters originally adopted the ordinance in 2010, which thrust the conservative agricultural hub near Omaha into the national spotlight. Critics had said the rules were less effective and more costly than anyone expect-

ed as well as damaging the city’s image. But close to 60 percent of local voters — more than the 57 percent in favor four years ago — sided with supporters, who said Fremont needed to take a stand against illegal immigration.

The housing rules require anyone who rents a home or apartment to apply for a $5 permit and attest to their legal status, but there is no mandate to show proof. The ordinance would also require landlords to make sure their tenants have permits or face a $100 fine.

Fremont, a town of about 26,000 people, is one of a handful of cities that have acted on their own over the last decade to curb illegal immigration.

California gets two more years to ease prison overcrowding Almashreq editorial staff/ news analyst finder Federal judges on Monday gave California two more years to meet a court-ordered prison population cap, the latest step in a long-running lawsuit aimed at improving inmate medical care. In doing so, the judges said they would appoint a compliance officer who will release inmates early if the state fails to meet interim benchmarks or the final goal. The judges said

the delays have cost taxpayers money while causing inmates to needlessly suffer. Judges had previously extended the deadline in December. The order from the three-judge panel delayed an April deadline to reduce the prison population to about 112,000 inmates. California remains more than 5,000 inmates over a limit set by the courts, even though the state has built more prison space and used some private cells.

Jobs report shows market faces more tough sledding Almashreq editorial staff/ news analyst finder The Labor Department reported that just 113,000 nonfarm payroll jobs were created in January. That’s well below the 185,000 that economists had estimated in a Thomson Reuters survey. The latest figures follow a weak December, when just 75,000 jobs were added.

“This is two months in a row when we’ve had really tepid jobs growth,” said former Deputy Secretary of Labor Seth Harris. “It’s an indication the economy is not recovering fast enough, and, sadly, the economy may actually be

slowing down.” The unemployment rate dropped to 6.6 percent.

And the number of Americans working or actively looking for work — the labor participation rate — rose to 63 percent from the previous month’s 62.8 percent. Labor Secretary Tom Perez told the media: the situation would have been much better if hundreds of thousands of government workers had not been laid off over the past few years.

“If we had just kept government jobs flat during that period, zero growth, our unemployment rate would be something like 6.2 percent,” he said.

Arizona gov. vetoes controversial ‘religious freedom’ bill

Brewer shoots down law that she says ‘could result in unintended and negative consequences’

Almashreq editorial staff/ news analyst finder Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Wednesday vetoed a Republican bill that set off a national debate over gay rights, religion and discrimination and subjected her state to blistering criticism from major corporations and political leaders from both parties.

The bill, backed by Republicans in the Arizona Legislature, was designed to give added protection from lawsuits to people who assert their religious beliefs in refusing service to gays.

But opponents called it an open attack on Arizona’s LGBT community.

The bill thrust Arizona into the national spotlight last week after both chambers of the state Legislature approved it. As the days passed, more and more groups, politicians and average citizens weighed in against Senate Bill 1062. Many took to social media to criticize the bill.

Prominent Phoenix business groups said it would be another black eye for the state and warned that businesses looking to expand into Arizona might not do so if the bill became law.

Companies such as Apple and American Airlines and politicians including Arizona’s senior GOP senator, John McCain,

were among those who urged Brewer to veto the legislation.

The governor was under intense pressure to veto the bill, including from three Republicans who had voted for it last week. They said in a letter to Brewer that while the intent of their vote “was to create a shield for all citizens’ religious liberties, the bill has been mischaracterized by its opponents as a sword for religious intolerance.”

SB 1062 would allow people to use their religious beliefs as a defense against claims of discrimination. Backers cite a New Mexico Supreme Court decision that allowed a gay couple to sue a photographer who refused to document their wedding, even though the law that allowed that suit doesn’t exist in Arizona.

Republican state Sen. Steve Yarbrough called his proposal a First Amendment issue during a Senate debate.

“This bill is not about allowing discrimination,” Yarbrough said. “This bill is about preventing discrimination against people who are clearly living out their faith.”

Democrats said it was a veiled attempt to legally discriminate against gay people and cite religious freedom as a defense.

March 2014

US relaxes strict rules on potential immigrants with limited terrorist links Almashreq editorial staff/ news analyst finder According to the Guardian and other news agencies: The Obama administration has eased the rules for would-be asylum-seekers, refugees and others who hope to come to or stay in the US and who gave “limited” support to terrorists or terrorist groups. The change is one of President Barack Obama’s first actions on immigration since he pledged during his State of the Union address last month to use more executive directives.

The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department now say that people considered to have provided “limited material support” to terrorists or

terrorist groups are no longer automatically barred from the US. A post-September 11 provision in immigrant law, known as “terrorism related inadmis-

those trying to enter the US and those already here but wanting to change their immigration status.

The Homeland Security Department said

• First action by Obama on immigration since State of Union • Automatic bar lifted for giving ‘limited material support’ sibility grounds”, had affected anyone considered to have given support. With little exception, the provision has been applied rigidly to

in a statement that the rule change, which was announced last week and not made in concert with Congress, gives the government

more discretion, but will not open the country to terrorists or their sympathisers. People seeking refugee status, asylum and visas, including those already in the United States, will still be checked to make sure they do not pose a threat to national security or public safety, the department said.

In the past, the provision has been criticised for allowing few exemptions beyond providing medical care or acting under duress.

The change now allows officials to consider whether the support was not only limited but potentially part of “routine commercial transactions or routine social transactions”.

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America’s first openly gay Imam speaks to the Media He serves as the imam and educational director at the Light of Reform Mosque in Washington D.C, where women and men kneel side-by-side and women are allowed to lead prayers

He told the media that he was born and raised in Detroit, where his parents were Southern Baptists. At age 15, he came out to them. At 33, while studying in China, Abdullah converted to Islam, and went on to study the religion in Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

But as a gay man in America, he saw that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Muslims had unmet spiritual needs and he became an imam to provide community support.

“Sometimes necessity is the mother of invention. And because of the necessity in our community, that’s why I came into this particular role,” he told America Tonight about his journey.

His first act as an imam? Performing funeral rites for a gay Muslim who died of AIDS. “They had contacted a number of

imams, and no one would go and provide him his janazahservices,” he said, referring to the Muslim body cleaning ritual. That pained him.

“I believe every person, no matter if I disagree with you or not, you have the right as a Muslim to have the proper spiritual [rites] and rituals provided for you. And whoever judges you, that will be Allah’s decision, not me.”

It’s one of the mantras he lives by in his work, even as others condemn him.

A place for everyone “The beautiful thing about God is that when you change your attitude, and say, ‘God, I need some help,’ and mean it sincerely, God is always there for you,” Abdullah told congregants one night during a regular sermon, known as a khutbah, at the

Light of Reform Mosque in Washington, D.C. He serves as the imam and educational director of the mosque, which he helped form more than two years ago to be a safe space for values and practices that other mosques may eschew.

During his service, women and men kneel side-by-side and women are allowed to lead prayers – actions that have sparked controversy even among American Muslims.

“We do not limit people by their gender or their sexual orientation, or their particular aspect of being Muslim or non-Muslim,” he told America Tonight. “They’re there to worship.”

The mosque’s congregants are diverse and represent a wide range of cultures, religious upbringings and sexual orientations.

The continent oldest mosque Almashreq editorial staff/ news analyst finder The Mother Mosque of America, once known as The Rose of Fraternity Lodge, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is the first permanent structure to be built specifically to serve as a mosque in the United States. Construction was completed on February 15, 1934. This small structure served as a place of worship for Muslims for nearly forty years. When a larger local mosque, the Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids, was built in 1971, the building was sold. Successive owners over the next twenty years allowed the building to fall in to disrepair.

In 1990 the Islamic Council of Iowa purchased the building, refurbished it, and restored its status as a Muslim cultural center. The effort was mainly organized by the local Muslim community led by Imam Taha Tawil and Dr. Thomas B. Irving, Dr. Mohammad Islami, Dr. M. Eyad Dughly, Don Singer, Albert Aossey and many others.

Imagine being in an unfamiliar land, speaking an unfamiliar language, with different customs and diet, what would you do? Dream of having a mosque and institution where hearts can feel close together, united in their love of God, with similar surroundings and among friends of the same religion. Growing from the ranks of “The League of Bountiful Flowers” then later to become “The Rose of Fraternity Lodge” were religious and social organizations formed by the early Muslims in Cedar Rapids, when a dozen or so young men began planning in the 1920’s and 1930’s to construct what was to become the first building to be specifically designed as a mosque on the North American continent.

Other congregations of faithful Muslims had met in homes and existing buildings for years, but Cedar Rapids saw the completion on February 15th, 1934 of the first specifically designed home constructed for Muslim worship on this continent. On one side of the main entrance, a sign read “Moslem Temple” and on the other side a sign with the Arabic message “Al-Nadi Al-Islami” meaning the

“Islamic Club.”

Was This Dream Accomplished by Other Muslims Outside Iowa?

Yes, it is worthwhile to mention that the earliest recorded Muslim group who organized to offer prayer in private homes took place in Ross, North Dakota in 1900; by 1929 they had built a mosque not in any classic architectural style but as a place of worship, without any classic decoration. Al Rashid Mosque in Edmonton in Canada was done in 1938.

With the expanding and aging population of Muslims, the question of a final resting place for the faithful became a pressing problem. In 1948, a Cedar Rapids Muslim businessman William Yahya Aossey Sr. donated six and one half acres of land for the establishment of the first Muslim Nation cemetery on the outskirts of the city.

Iowa, a place to go...and grow!

Dreaming of a better life in the New World, many of the first Muslim immigrants looked beyond the major population centers of the eastern United States and Canada. They wanted the freedom offered by a frontier area with productive agriculture and newer, expanding settlement. They wanted room to grow.

IOWA...was an ideal place for this Muslim community seeking a good life for the future.

The immigration of Arabs from the Middle East to the United States was caused by many of the same reasons that sent European and Asian men

and women to this country. Poverty and the lack of opportunity in their homeland, plus the longing to fulfill their dreams of adventure. Beginning in the late 1800’s these hardy, dusky-skinned people form the oldest part of the civilized world, journeyed by ship to the gigantic, sprawling, youthful nation that had beckoned them; “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free...”

Muslims to settle in Iowa...

These newly arrived Muslims received much encouragement and help for their move from earlier Arab Christian immigrants who had come from the same native lands. Also the traditional acceptance and hospitality of the Iowan, especially the people of Cedar Rapids who are known for their compassion to others, was a major reason for the Muslims to start their settling down and to make their home here.

The true statistics on Arab immigrations to the United States prior to the 1920’s are not available, because all immigrations figures for the Middle East and part of North Africa in the late 1890’s and early 1900’s were classified as immigration from the “Ottoman Turkish Empire.” However, according to the most authentic accounts by the local community, and relying on their testimony Hajj Abbas Habhab and his brothers, held the satisfaction of being the first Muslims to settle in the State of Iowa, an event that occurred between 1880 and 1888, over a hundred years ago at the end of the last century.

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March 2014

UN: Clashes in Iraq’s Anbar displaced 300,000

Afghanistan releases ‘dangerous’ inmates despite US objections Almashreq/editorial staff/ agencies

Almashreq/editorial staff/ agencies

Violence in Iraq’s Sunni-dominated Anbar province, where armed groups fully control one city and parts of another, has displaced up to 300,000 people in six weeks, the United Nations has said. The province has been hit by a surge in fighting between proand anti-government forces that began at the end of last year, as Iraq suffers its worst violence since 2008. “Over the last six weeks up to 300,000 Iraqis - some 50,000 families - have been displaced due to insecurity around Fallujah and Ramadi” in Anbar, a UN refugee agency statement released on Tuesday said. “Most of the displaced have fled to outlying communities in Anbar province to escape the fighting, while 60,000 persons have fled to more distant provinces,” according to the statement summarising remarks by spokeswoman Melissa Fleming in Geneva. The displaced Iraqis join more than 1.1 million compatriots who fled violence in past years and have still not returned to their homes.

Sectarian strife: The UN said last month the number of people displaced by the fighting in Anbar was already the highest since the brutal sectarian violence of 2006-2008.

The crisis in the western desert province erupted in late December with clashes in the Ramadi area when security forces dismantled Iraq’s main

Sunni-Arab anti-government protest camp, which was near the city. With Iraq’s once-Sunni minority accusing the Shia-led government of Nouri alMaliki of discrimination, Sunni armed groups exploited the political rift and subsequently seized parts of Ramadi, the provincial capital, and all of Fallujah to its west, just a short drive from Baghdad. It is the first time antigovernment forces have exercised such open control since the peak of the deadly violence that followed the 2003 US-led invasion.

Anbar Governor Ahmed al-Dulaimi at the weekend gave fighters in Fallujah a week to surrender, but said authorities would not negotiate with those involved in the violence.

While government forces have made steady progress in retaking areas of Ramadi, they have largely stayed out of Fallujah for fear that an incursion would lead to a drawn-out urban conflict with high numbers of casualties.

Fallujah was a bastion of the Sunni insurgency following the invasion, and American forces there saw some of their heaviest fighting since the Vietnam War. There have been calls for the Shia-led government to address Sunni grievances in order to undermine support for fighters, but with April elections looming, Prime Minister al-Maliki has taken a hard line.

French court overturns ban on comic Almashreq/editorial staff/ agencies

There have been dramatic political upheavals in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, and the Carter Center — the nonprofit foundation I head that seeks to promote human rights, democracy and alleviation of suffering worldwide — has been invited to witness the transition process from authoritarianism to democracy in all of them.

We still see citizens struggling to improve their lives and shape their own destiny, with sharply different prospects. Egypt has been least adaptable to change, and is undergoing a reversion to de facto military rule — perhaps even more restrictive than under former President Hosni Mubarak and previous regimes. The Carter Center witnessed reasonably good elections for parliament and president in 2012, when the Muslim Brotherhood–affiliated Freedom and Justice Party and its presidential candidate, Mohamed Morsi, emerged victorious. But Egypt’s high court nullified the parliamentary choices, and instead of requiring a new election when Morsi proved unable to govern under these circumstances, there was a military takeover with the apparent approval of a public whose first priority was stability. Dissent was severely restricted for citizens and journalists during last month’s approval of the new constitution, which limits the scope of Islamic law and provides for more gender equality and personal freedom, but gives the military ultimate authority. Seemingly immune from constitutional restrictions, the generals of Egypt’s armed forces control their own budget, select the defense minister and retain the right to conduct trials of civilians in military tribunals. The Interior Ministry and judiciary are also granted extraordinary privileges.

Our role in Libya has been to observe the post-Kaddafi election in July 2012 and prospectively to witness the election this month of delegates who will draft a new constitution. The interim government, expected to function until the end of this year, is weak and unable to administer all regions of the country, especially areas in the east and the southern desert that are controlled by militia factions.

This threatens national stability and the oil revenues that fund the state. The delegates will be divided among the country’s three regions, giving exceptional weight to the underpopulated and historically alienated regions — equivalent to advantages that America’s founders gave smaller states in the U.S. Senate and Electoral College, which we have learned to accommodate. The sovereignty of each must be respected as the people struggle to find an appropriate balance between order and justice, www.almashreqonline.com

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secular and religious influences, freedom and fairness, inclusiveness and restraint. We also observed the orderly post-revolution 2011 election in Tunisia, and our team has monitored closely the constitution-making process, providing input when requested into the anticipated language of the constitution and the new electoral law. We are optimistic about the future of Tunisia, where foreign interference has been minimal and where there is a sharp contrast with Egypt and Libya. The military has remained aloof from the political process, and there has been broad participation of political and religious groups and good progress in engineering a fragile but promising transition.

Despite two prominent assassinations last year that triggered political crises — the death of opposition figures Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi — peace has been maintained, and the Tunisian people seem determined to secure stability and prosperity. Success here could provide a strong model for constitutional reform across the region, most immediately in neighboring Libya. The situation in Egypt seems to be resistant to change, with a large portion of the electorate excluded from the political process. The United Nations and regional organizations can assist all three nations, but the sovereignty of each must be respected as the people struggle to find an appropriate balance between order and justice, secular and religious influences, freedom and fairness, inclusiveness and restraint. Financial and technical assistance for proper elections in Libya and Tunisia can also help ensure that the democratic principles enshrined in the new constitutions are respected. We know from repeated experience in these and many other countries that the role of impartial observers can be essential, and their welcome is a good indication of a commitment to freedom and democracy. For citizens who are committed to the same principles, these outsiders, if invited and nonintrusive, are always appreciated. The immediate goal in these three countries is to prevent further bloodshed, with a long-range objective of achieving legitimate national consensus that provides for sustainable democratic development and respect for core international human rights. All citizens who are willing to abide by the rule of law — including women, youth and minority religious sects — should be treated equally. The need is for strong institutions, not strong men, as demonstrated in other countries where democracy prevails. Egypt seems incapable of meeting these minimal democratic standards at the moment, while Tunisia is on track and the jury is still out in Libya.

Afghanistan released 65 accused militants from a former U.S.-controlled prison on Thursday despite protests from the American military, which says the men are Taliban fighters who will likely return to the battlefield to kill coalition and Afghan forces. The prisoners’ release risks further complicating relations between the U.S. and Afghan governments, already at odds over Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s delay in signing a security agreement that would allow U.S. troops to remain in the country beyond 2014. The prisoners were freed just after 9 a.m. from the Parwan Detention Facility near the U.S. Bagram Air Field, about 28 miles north of the capital, Kabul, according to prison spokesman Maj. Nimatullah Khaki. They were laughing and smiling as they boarded a bus to leave the facility, he said. Karzai ordered the detainees released several weeks ago, less than a year after his government took over the prison from U.S. troops. The decision prompted angry denunciations from Washington. U.S. military officials in Afghanistan say some of the men released are responsible for killing or wounding dozens of international and Afghan soldiers, as well as making bombs that have killed civilians. Calling them “dangerous individuals,” a statement from U.S. forces in Afghanistan said, “They have killed Afghan men, women and children,” and added that the coalition believes other alleged insurgents released from Parwan earlier “have already returned to the fight.” The U.S. Embassy in

Kabul called the prisoners’ release a “deeply regrettable” event that ran counter to a 2012 agreement on detainees. “The Afghan government bears responsibility for the results of its decision,” the embassy said in a statement. Abdul Shakor Dadras, head of the Afghan board charged with reviewing the prisoners’ cases, said their detention had been unjustified from the outset, despite information put forward by the United States. “We could not find any evidence to prove that these 65 people are criminals, according to Afghan law,” Dadras told Reuters Television. The prisoners were transferred to Afghan authority last year as part of the U.S. and NATO transition out of Afghanistan. A coalition of foreign forces has been battling the Taliban since the group was ousted from power in 2001. Security concerns: Karzai has referred to the Parwan prison as a “Taliban-producing factory” where innocent Afghans have been tortured into hating their country. The president had long demanded that the U.S. turn over the prison to Afghan authorities, a process completed last March after lengthy negotiations — largely over American concerns that some of the most dangerous detainees would go free. Among those believed to have walked free Thursday morning was Mohammad Wali, who the U.S. military says is a suspected Taliban explosives expert who allegedly placed roadside bombs targeting Afghan and international forces. The military said Wali had been biometrically linked to two roadside explosions and had a latent fingerprint match

on another improvised explosive device. He had also tested positive for explosives residue. Others in the group include Nek Mohammad, who the U.S. says was captured with extensive weapons, and a man identified as Ehsanullah, who is claimed to have been biometrically matched to a roadside bomb and tested positive for explosives residue. The release has further strained the already tense relationship between the U.S. and Afghanistan, as Karzai stalls on signing a bilateral security agreement that would allow a few thousand U.S. troops to remain in the country past 2014.

It is unclear whether Karzai will sign the agreement. A report from Reuters on Thursday said he had given assurances to Germany’s foreign minister that he would sign the deal. Other agencies reported that he has yet to sign it.

The agreement is largely meant to help train Afghan security forces to take over the fight against the Taliban nearly 13 years after the military intervention in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the U.S. Karzai had tentatively endorsed the bilateral security deal, but after it was approved in November by a council of tribal elders known as a loya jirga, he refused to sign it — saying he wants his successor to decide after the April 5 presidential election. Karzai cannot run because he is ineligible to serve a third term.

The U.S. wants the deal signed as soon as possible because it needs time to prepare to keep thousands of U.S. troops in the country for up to a decade.

Libya: State of Insecurity, background reading

Almashreq/editorial staff/ agencies

Fault Lines returns to Libya and investigates what NATO’s so-called humanitarian intervention has achieved in the two-and-a-half years after Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown. We will have more from the episode in the coming week as it repeats on Al Jazeera America on February 15, 2014, 5:30p ET, and premieres on Al Jazeera English later in February 18, 2014. Join us as we livetweet this episode Friday from our main Twitter account, ajfaultlinesWithout further ado, the background reading: “Bomb explodes near foreign ministry in Benghazi,” Al Jazeera America, September 11, 2013 “A powerful blast has caused severe damage to a foreign ministry building in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, witnesses said. It was not immediately known if Wednesday’s blast resulted in casualties.

The explosion came on the first anniversary of an attack by armed men on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, which killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.

The U.S. government initially said the assault grew out of anti-Western protests. Later, however, it turned out that an armed group launched the attack on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Benghazi, the cradle of the 2011 revolt that toppled and killed dictator Muammar Gaddafi, has been hit by a wave of deadly attacks in recent months targeting security force officers and members of the judiciary, many of whom served in the previous regime. Attacks have also targeted diplomats and Western interests.

Much of the violence, including the killing of the U.S. ambassador last year, has been attributed to Islamists. Documents obtained exclusively by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit revealed that the U.S. State Department knew of the security problems in Benghazi, but failed to fix them.” “Libya demands answers after US seizes Al-Qaeda leader in Tripoli” “The Libyan government demanded Sunday that Washington explain the “kidnapping” of an alleged Al-Qaeda suspect in Tripoli, a day after U.S. forces conducted two raids on targets in African countries.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry

indicated that the White House was pleased with the missions’ outcome adding that the Navy SEAL operation in Libya and Somalia made clear that America “will never stop the effort to hold those accountable who conduct acts of terror.” But anger in Libya, coupled with an apparent failure to capture or kill the intended Al-Shabab target in Somalia, has seemingly dented U.S. claims of a success, and led to questions over Washington’s decision to carry out the raids without the host nation’s knowledge. Al-Liby’s capture in Tripoli ends a 15-year manhunt for the 49-year-old, who was listed on the FBI’s most wanted list. It also opens the way for criminal proceedings against him to take place in the U.S.” “Libya’s state news agency said Prime Minister Ali Zeidan had been freed after being captured Thursday and briefly detained, reportedly by government-aligned rebel groups. It is not clear if he was released willingly by his captors or if security forces intervened.

The government earlier said the prime minister had been kidnapped from a Tripoli hotel by armed men and taken to an unknown location.

But hours later an Interior Ministry spokesman said Zeidan was being held at the ministry’s anti-crime department. Zeidan returned to his office after he had been seized and held by former rebel militiamen for about six hours. “The elected government cannot be toppled, unless by the vote of the people,” Nuri Ali Abu Sahmain, president of Libya’s General National Congress, the country’s legislative body, said at a news conference Thursday.

“We will continue to address such incidents in a legal, lawful manner.” The chaotic situation appears to reflect the weakness of Libya’s government, which is virtually held hostage by rival militias. Some of the groups were angered when the United States snatched an alleged Al-Qaeda member from Tripoli on Saturday, and have accused the government of allowing the raid.”

“Anti-militia protest turns deadly in Libya,” “At least 27 people have been killed and 235 wounded after gunmen opened fire Friday on protesters who had called on armed

groups to leave Tripoli. The latest violence further challenges Libya’s weak central government. “The demonstration was peaceful and had been permitted by the Interior Ministry, and then the protesters were fired on when they entered the Gharghur district,” where the militia’s headquarters are located, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said in a TV interview Friday. “The existence of weapons outside the army and police is dangerous,” Zeidan added. “All armed militias need to leave Tripoli, without exception.”

The third outbreak of street fighting within 10 days underscored Libya’s struggle to contain regional militias that helped overthrow leader Muammar Gaddafi two years ago but kept their guns. Armed disorder has blocked most oil exports for months. Friday’s bloodshed, the worst in Tripoli for several months, began when militiamen opened fire, first into the air and then into hundreds of protesters who were demanding their eviction from the capital after the militias had repeatedly battled with other armed factions for control of certain neighborhoods.” “Displaced Libyans still dream of home,” Karlos Zurutuza for Al Jazeera English, November 26, 2013 “Tripoli, Libya - Nostalgia for the past is painfully evident for 11-year-old Abdul Aziz Omar - one of 400 students at a school holding classes in the rubble of a former naval academy in western Tripoli. “The labs, the fountain, the swings in the playground … I miss everything from my old school, everything,” Omar said. The ugly cluster of buildings that once hosted dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s future admirals at the Janzur Naval Academy are today the closest thing to a home for 300 displaced families from the city of Tawargha. During the 2011 civil war, Gaddafi’s forces used Tawargha as a base for a brutal two-month siege of neighbouring Misrata. The twin cities are about 200 kilometres east of Tripoli. Libyan rebels eventually broke the siege and sought revenge on the people of Tawargha, whom they saw as responsible for Misrata’s suffering.

Tawargha became a ghost town, its inhabitants scattered across the country.”

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