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Saudi Arabia Re-imagines Urban Life with Cognitive, Carbon-Free Cities

A Weekly Political News Magazine

Three American Jewish Leaders Opine on Gaza Violence

A Weekly Political News Magazine

Issue 1854- May- 28/05/2021

Najla Al-Mangoush The First Female Foreign Minister in Libya

Issue 1854- May- 28/05/2021

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Hezbollah and Gaza: A Dilemma of Self-Preservation www.majal a.com

Editorial

A Weekly Political News Magazine

www.majalla.com/eng This week, a truce took effect between Palestinians and Israelis after an intensive wave of violence that is considered the toughest since the eruption of the 2014 Gaza war. The United Nations Human Rights Council agreed to launch an international investigation into alleged crimes committed during the -11day conflict. Egypt and the United States said they would work together to reinforce a ceasefire between the Palestinian and Israeli sides as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Cairo and Amman on Wednesday on a regional tour. In this week’s cover story, Hanin Ghaddar delves into the weak reaction of Hezbollah to the Gaza war. Ghaddar says that Hezbollah – and Iran behind it – did not want to be involved – for two main reasons: Hezbollah is not ready, financially and militarily, for war, and Hezbollah is Iran’s last resort, one that will only be used in the full-fledged war, not such a conflict. Jiwan Soz also talks to a renowned US researcher on the strained US-Turkish relations following antiUS statements made by Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan on the Israel-Hamas war. From Bonn, Jassem Mohamed explains why Germany is considered as a safe haven and a centre for carrying out terrorist operations inside and outside Europe. Moving from politics to arts, Salma Adham has interviewed Salma Kilany who is an Egyptian oud player aspiring to conquer the music world. Read these articles and more on our website eng. majalla.com. As always, we welcome and value our readers’ feedback and we invite you to take the opportunity to leave your comments on our website.

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A Weekly Political News Magazine

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A Weekly Political News Magazine

46 Angelina Jolie Fights Fire

with Fire

Issue 1854- May- 28/05/2021

Why Germany Is A Jihadist,

26 Money Laundering Safe Haven

Tension Mars US-Turkish relations Despite Truc

M.E. Airports Take Off on Pandemic Safety

36 Call to Protect Pets of Kazakhstan

When Music is the Passion 5

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56 Coping with Relationship Fatigue

napshot

Protest against Syrian presidential elections

A Syrian girl with her face painted with the colors of the opposition flag flashes the victory sign as she participates in a protest against the presidential elections, in Idlib, Syria, 26 May 2021. People gathered to protest on the same day of voting in the presidential elections that is being held in the government-controlled provinces )EPA Photos(

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napshot

France Culture History Napoleon A woman looks at a painting of French painter Jacques-Louis David representing Napoleon Bonaparte crossing the Grand Saint Bernard pass, displayed at the exhibition at the Halle de la Villette in Paris dedicated to late French Emperor Napoleon, on May 25, 2021. Paris, France )AFP Photos(

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A WEEK IN THE MIDDLE EAST SAUDI ARABIA The Saudi-led military coalition engaged in Yemen said on Thursday it had established a presence on a strategic island at the entrance to the Red Sea to counter perceived threats to maritime trade from the Iran-aligned Houthi movement. The statement was issued in response to an Associated Press report citing Yemeni officials saying the United Arab Emirates was behind an air base that has emerged on Perim Island, also known as Mayun, in the vital Bab al-Mandab strait. The AP said it obtained satellite images showing a 1.85 km runway on Perim along with three hangars. “All equipment currently present on Mayun Island is under control of the Coalition Command, and is situated there to... counter the Houthi militia, secure maritime navigation and support West Coast forces,” said a statement on Saudi state news agency SPA, citing an unnamed official in the coalition.

EGYPT An Egyptian court on Sunday rejected a complaint by the Japanese owner of a container ship that blocked traffic in the Suez Canal for six days in March against the vessel's continued detention by canal authorities, a lawyer said. The Ever Given, one of the world's largest container ships, became jammed across the canal in high winds on March 23, halting traffic in both directions and disrupting global trade. The complaint was attached to a case at the economic court in Ismailia in which the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) sought $916 million in compensation from the Ever Given's owner Shoei Kisen. Also on Sunday, the head of the SCA suggested in a TV interview that the canal could accept the reduced sum of $550 million, slightly lower than the $600 million he had mentioned earlier this month for a potential out of court settlement.

YEMEN

LEBANON Lebanon’s Army Chief Joseph Aoun warned France on Wednesday that an economic crisis had put the military on the verge of collapse, Reuters quoted sources as saying. Paris offered emergency food and medical aid for troops in hopes of preserving law and order, sources added. France, which has led aid efforts to Beirut, has sought to pressure Lebanon’s squabbling politicians who have failed to agree on a new government and launch reforms to unlock foreign cash. Discontent is brewing among Lebanon’s security forces over a currency crash wiping out most of the value of their salaries, a report by Reuters noted.

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Lawyer of Yemeni actress and model Entisar Al-Hammadi has visited her this week along with other lawyers, journalists and intellectuals to check on her conditions at prison. After the visit, lawyer Khaled Al-Kamal said that Al-Hammadi is accused of drug abuse and prostitution, but the truth is that she was forced to drink alcohol and stay with a group of men after she was arrested. “She told them this is prostitution and they responded that it can be for the sake of the homeland,” Al-Kamal told Majalla. Houthi authorities have earlier announced that Al-Hammadi, along with her friends in custody, would face a forced virginity test.

SYRIA Syrian President Bashar al-Assad won a fourth term in office with 95.1% of the votes in an election that will extend his rule over a country ruined by war but which opponents and the West say was marked by fraud. Assad’s government says the election on Wednesday shows Syria is functioning normally despite the decade-old conflict, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and driven 11 million people - about half the population - from their homes.

OMAN Groups of Omanis demanding jobs held fresh protests on Tuesday, activists said, in the biggest challenge yet to the Gulf state's new ruler, who ordered the government to accelerate plans to create thousands of jobs. Social media postings showed a group of protesters holding a sit-in under a bridge in the northern city of Sohar, where protests have taken place for three consecutive days. Other protests were reported in several other towns, including Rustaq, Nizwa and Sur. Videos and photos showed security forces serving water to protesters, a change of approach from Monday's demonstrations when police fired tear gas to disperse gatherings and arrested groups of protesters.

IRAQ One person died and several were injured on Tuesday when Iraqi security forces fired live rounds in the air to disperse anti-government protests in central Baghdad, according to security and medical sources. The sources said 14 protesters and seven members of the security forces were hurt in the clashes. Hundreds demonstrated in Tahrir Square, shouting slogans against Iran-backed militias and accusing Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi's government of failing to answer for the deaths of dozens of activists shot dead in different parts of Iraq in recent months. One protester, who gave only his first name Yousif, carried a photograph of an activist he said had been killed recently.

SUDAN Sudan declared a state of emergency and imposed a night curfew in some parts of the coastal Red Sea state on Monday, after tribal violence that killed at least five people, a statement and state media said. The statement by the state governor media office gave no details of the clashes and did not mention casualties. However, state news agency Suna quoted a local medical official as saying the clashes left at least five people killed and 13 wounded.

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A WEEK ACROSS THE WORLD

A California transit employee killed nine co-workers before taking his own life on Wednesday, the latest in a spate of deadly U.S. mass shootings, prompting the state's governor to ask: "What the hell is wrong with us?" Authorities did not immediately offer many details or a possible motive for the shooting, which unfolded at about 6:30 a.m. Pacific Time (1330 GMT) at a light-rail yard for commuter trains of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), in the heart of Silicon Valley in th A bomb squad was searching the yard and adjacent buildings afte was found, Santa Clara County Sheriff's Deputy Russell Davis said

GERMANY The coronavirus infection rate in Germany has fallen below 50 per 100,000 people for the first time since October, data showed on Wednesday, and the health minister said the country can have a summer of peace from the virus if it keeps pushing it down. The incidence rate compiled by the government’s disease prevention agency, the Robert Koch Institute, fell to 46.8 per 100,000, though officials said this was partly due to a bank holiday on Monday that reduced the number of cases recorded. Around a month ago the rate was more than three times higher. The government imposed nationwide lockdown measures to bring it down, which are now gradually being lifted. “The question of how much peace we will have from this virus in the summer depends very much on how low we can get the infection figures down now,” Health Minister Jens Spahn told NTV television.

CONGO Suspected Islamist militants killed at least 22 civilians with knives and machetes in an overnight raid on villages near the town of Beni in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a local official said on Wednesday. Just over three weeks ago the government declared martial law in North Kivu and Ituri, two provinces bordering Uganda, in an attempt to stem worsening bloodshed. A four-month-old baby was found alive on the back of one of the victims, one of seven children from the same family believed to have been orphaned in the latest violence that hit a number of villages around 40 km (25 miles) east of Beni. "They gave the baby to me to feed because she was crying," the woman's sister Kavira Mwisha said, holding the baby to her breast.

AFGHANISTAN The Afghan Taliban on Wednesday warned nearby nations against allowing the United States to use their territory for operations in the country after they withdraw from Afghanistan. As foreign forces withdraw troops by President Joe Biden's announced deadline of Sept. 11, experts and diplomats have speculated that Washington's future role in the region could include bases in nearby countries, especially Pakistan. "If such a step is taken, then the responsibility for all the misfortunes and difficulties lies upon those who commit such mistakes," the insurgent group said in a statement, without specifying a country. U.S. officials have privately said that they are exploring potential basing options in countries near Afghanistan, like Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, but have so far not come to an agreement with any of them.

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INDIA

The second powerful cyclone Wednesday, sending hundreds ahead of the devastating winds Cyclone Yaas grew in the Bay o kept up the search for bodies f May 14. Yaas turned into a "very severe Department predicted gusts o coast near the border between Amid fears that the cyclone co India in recent weeks, heavy ra of the arrival of Yaas.

he San Francisco Bay Area. er at least one explosive device d at a news conference.

ETHIOPIA Ethiopia began the second phase of filling the reservoir behind its giant Grand Renaissance Dam in early May, a senior Sudanese official said on Tuesday, a process expected to accelerate in July and August after seasonal rains. Ethiopian authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Further construction work on the dam had already allowed for the second phase to start, the official at Sudan's irrigation ministry told Reuters. Ethiopia began filling the reservoir behind the dam, which is still under construction on the Blue Nile close to the border with Sudan, last year.

to hit India in two weeks bore down on the east coast of thousands of people scrambling for emergency shelters s and rain. of Bengal as rescuers on the opposite side of the country from Cyclone Tauktae, which claimed at least 155 lives on

e" storm late Tuesday and the Indian Meteorological of up to 185 kilometers (115 miles) an hour when it hits the n West Bengal and Odisha states on Wednesday. ould help spread the deadly coronavirus wave that has hit ainfall lashed coastal villages and towns in the hours ahead

BRAZIL Brazil's Healthy Ministry on Monday registered 790 new COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours and 37,498 new cases of coronavirus. The country has confirmed 449,858 deaths from the virus out of more than 16 million confirmed cases since the pandemic began, according to ministry data.

MYANMAR Nine Southeast Asian countries have urged the United Nations not to endorse a freeze on arms sales to Myanmar, according to a report from Benar News. The report by the affiliate of the U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia, quoted a Liechtenstein diplomat as saying the nine states wrote a letter to nations sponsoring a draft U.N. General Assembly resolution on Myanmar, where a Feb. 1 coup has sparked mass protests and a bloody crackdown by the military-led junta. The news outlet said the letter asked countries sponsoring the draft resolution to remove a sentence calling for "an immediate suspension of the direct and indirect supply, sale or transfer of all weapons and munitions" to Myanmar. The letter was sent on behalf of nine of the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) grouping but did not include bloc member Myanmar, Benar News reported.

GREECE Greece is ready to use a COVID-19 travel certificate before its EU-wide launch on July 1 to attract foreign travellers and save its tourism sector from a second summer lost to the coronavirus. Greece was one of the early advocates of a certificate that would ease European Union travel curbs and help pull the country's economy from recession by lifting tourism revenues. The European Council and parliament last week reached a deal on the digital green certificate following a rapid pick-up of vaccinations allowing widespread lifting of coronavirus curbs. The European Parliament is expected to pass a law in the week from June 7 and more than a dozen EU countries, including France and Spain, have agreed to test the system before a launch on July 1.

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over story

Hezbollah and Gaza: A Dilemma of Self-Preservation

Hassan Nasrallah Chooses To Be Observer in Recent Israel-Hamas Conflict By Hanin Ghaddar In a televised speech on Tuesday, May 25, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah commented on the most recent Gaza war by proposing a new

formula: Jerusalem or regional war. “An attack on Jerusalem or the holy sites will lead to a regional war. When the matter is related to Jerusalem and its Muslim and Christian holy sites, it will not remain limited to the resistance in

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Palestine,” Nasrallah said as he tried to catch his breath between coughs. His obvious physical illness ironically reflected a faded threat, and a weak rhetoric, even as he attempted to threaten Israel and the region with a war. “After this battle, the ‘Deal of the Century’ fell and vanished,” Nasrallah added. Of course, Nasrallah declared victory and praised Hamas’ performance, adding, “all the resistance movements cannot stand by and watch this happening if the holy city is in real, grave danger.” Talk is easy, but actions are more complicated. And Hezbollah’s reaction to the war last week was pathetic to say the least. Hezbollah – and Iran behind it – did not want to be involved – for two main reasons: Hezbollah is not ready – financially and militarily – for war, and Hezbollah is Iran’s last resort, one that will only be used in the full-fledged war, not such a conflict.

Hezbollah’s Dilemma

Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Lebanon’s militant Shiite movement Hezbollah, addresses the crowds through a giant screen at a rally agains US President Trump decision to relocate the US Embassy to Jerusalem, on December 11, 2017 in a Beirut southern suburb. (Getty)

Rather than taking military action to support Hamas and the Palestinians, Nasrallah took the role of the observer. But this idleness was embarrassing, as the support-base of Hezbollah and Iran in the region were expecting some kind of action – not necessarily as strong as Hamas’ reaction to the clashes in Jerusalem – but at least some kind of retaliation that proves Hezbollah’s commitment to “the Palestinian Cause,” as they claim. Instead, as a few missiles were launched from Lebanon by either Palestinian factions or the resistance brigade factions, Hezbollah officials rushed to deny involvement and allow only for calculated demonstrations in Lebanon and at the borders. Following a number of demonstrations along the border emerging from Palestinian camps in the North, South, Bekaa, and Beirut, and after one of their members, Mohamad Tahhan, was shot by the Israeli army, Hezbollah finally decided to take control of the situation. According to media reports, Hezbollah has circulated or-

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Hezbollah’s resistance rhetoric – with all the claimed victory and threats of a regional war – is no longer convincing to a large number of their support base ders to its members, and supporters prohibiting them from demonstrating close to the borders, and party leadership will solely issue that further guidelines. The decision was taken to prevent anyone from approaching the barbed fence along the border and possibly causing tension with the Israeli, which could result in another shootout. In order to avoid further embarrassment and media spotlights, Hezbollah contacted leaders of Palestinian factions and their Lebanese allies and asked them to avoid further calls to go south to the borders. In addition, Hezbollah asked the Lebanese Army to ensure that Palestinians who do not have a permit cannot enter the South. However, as calls for action increased, Hezbollah’s rhetoric sounded too far from reality. Organized and calculated protests of solidarity were OK, but anything beyond that was forbidden. In this context, the missiles – although Hezbollah denied responsibility – acted as a vague confirmation of Hezbollah’s blessing and slight readiness for military action. As soon as the war was over and Israel agreed to a ceasefire, Hezbollah’s officials immediately claimed responsibility and Nasrallah’s deputy Naim Qassem said in an interview with Al-Nour radio station that Hezbollah was behind all the missiles that were launched into Israel, the majority of which ended up falling inside Lebanese territories. According to Janoubia, a news website in Lebanon, quoting a security source, the Resistance Brigades, a Hezbollah affiliate, were behind the launching of missiles. Timing is everything – once the war was over, and the risk of a wider confrontation dimin-

over story

ished, Hezbollah came out of their hiding to beg the resistance rhetoric back to their narrative.

Hezbollah, sanctions relief is more significant than the resistance or the Palestinians.

Damned if they do; damned if they don’t. In addition to their financial and military challenges, Hezbollah had to abide by the Iranian guidelines and strategy. Therefore, as long as the US-Iran nuclear talks are taking place in Vienna, no further confrontation was necessary. On the contrary, a regional war, as Nasrallah defined it and threatened Israel with it, is not going to be endorsed by Iran because it will disrupt the Vienna talks and could jeopardize a much-needed deal. No matter what happened in Jerusalem, all Nasrallah could do is talk, and organize parades. Evidently, for both Iran and

That being said, Hezbollah might still launch its own war against Israel, when the time comes, but not before a deal with the US is made, and after the group regains access to the hard currency that Iran used to send their way. That money is needed if they want to rebuild their military force that was shattered and thinnedout during the Syria war, and it will certainly be needed for post-war reconstruction and the rehabilitation of their own organizational structure.

Talk is easy, but actions are more complicated. And Hezbollah’s reaction to the war last week was pathetic to say the least.

Meanwhile, the threat of the missiles is more powerful than the missiles themselves. And the threat of war is more significant than the war itself. If Hezbollah goes to war now, or even attempts to get involved in any conflict against Israel, they will likely lose, even if they try to claim victory. However, Hezbollah’s resistance rhetoric – with all the claimed victory and threats of a regional war – is no longer convincing to a large

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A Palestinian teenager collects debris at the rubble of a destroyed mosque in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on May 27, 2021. (Getty)

Palestinians celebrate in the streets following a ceasefire brokered by Egypt between Israel and the ruling Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in Gaza City on May 21, 2021. (Getty)

number of their support base. The group has ignored many of the hits it suffered due to Israeli attacks on its military structure and personnel, both in Syria and Lebanon. They have proved time after time that resistance is no longer a priority, and that their focus today is on regional hegemony. Meanwhile, the Lebanese people, including their own support-base, are struggling to put food on the table. For the people, Hezbollah has failed to address their economic woes as well. In an ideal situation, Hezbollah hopes that the US-Iran deal comes to fruition soon, and they regain access to hard currency. Until then, the group will continue using whatever resources are left within state institution, including the central bank reserves to fund their operations in Lebanon and the region. In addition, they will manipulate regional dynamics – such as the recent Gaza conflict – to maintain the remnants of their resistance rhetoric. When Hezbollah claimed victory after its war with Israel in 2006, it was translated in an aggressive regional takeover by Iran, and a vicious control of Hezbollah over Lebanese state institutions.

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The threat of the missiles is more powerful than the missiles themselves. And the threat of war is more significant than the war itself Today, as they claim Hamas’ victory, Hezbollah is preparing a complete takeover of Lebanon and its institutions. Turning Lebanon into a Gaza-like situation is more convenient for the group than saving the country from an imminent social, economic and security implosion. These claimed victories can only signal that the worst is yet to come. Hanin Ghaddar is the Friedmann Fellow at The Washington Institute’s Geduld Program on Arab Politics, where she focuses on Shia politics throughout the Levant.

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Tension Mars US-Turkish relations Despite Truc US researcher to Majalla: Turkey can no longer be allowed to violate human rights 18

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Jiwan Soz Istanbul - Despite the relentless attempts by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to restore his country›s foreign relations after their worsening for years, he recently launched a verbal war against the United States after he criticized US President Joe Biden for supplying Israel with weapons. He considered that his hands were «stained with Palestinian blood» after the Israeli escalation. That heralds a new crisis between Ankara and Washington, especially since Biden condemned Erdogan’s statements describing them as “incitement to violence.» A US researcher specializing in US-Turkish relations said that there is a specific proposal to punish Turkey for its human rights abuses, but there is an emphasis in the Biden administration on human rights. “The feeling is that Turkey should no longer get a free pass for its human rights violations, so it is fair game for the administration to raise the issue in public and in private with Turkush officials. This is a change from the Trump administration, which did not make any effort on this front,” well-known American researcher Aaron Stein, who is the director of research at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), told Majalla. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and United States President Joe Biden (L) seen during a bilateral meeting in New York, USA, when Biden was vice-president on September 25, 2014.

A US researcher specializing in USTurkish relations said that there is a specific proposal to punish Turkey for its human rights abuses, but there is an emphasis in the Biden administration on human rights. The head of the Turkish Presidency›s Communication Department, Fakhruddin Aalton, confirmed in a tweet on his official account before Tel Aviv announced a truce with the Palestinians under Egyptian auspices, that «the US statement about President Erdogan›s statements regarding Israeli violence against Palestinian civilians is totally unacceptable.” At the time, Alton added that «the accusation of anti-Semitism against Erdogan is horrific,» describing Washington›s response to his statements as «cowardly», and that he aims to «divert international attention from Tel Aviv›s crimes against humanity.»

Stein added that there may be a push in the congress to use global magnitsky sanctions on Turkish officials, but it is unclear if this is coordinated with the White House.

The statements of the head of the Turkish Presidency›s Communication Department came a day after the US State Department condemned the Turkish President’s statements, which it considered «anti-Semitic,» calling on him to avoid «incitement that might lead to further violence» in the Middle East.

“The relationship is already bad, so it is hard to see how they could get any worse. But, sure, if there were any more sanctions on Turkish officials, the relationship would deteriorate further,” he added.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said last week that «Washington strongly condemns President Erdogan›s recent anti-Semitic statements.»

Aaron, who was previously a resident researcher at the Atlantic Council Foundation, revealed that «there is pressure in Congress to use severe and decisive sanctions on Turkish officials,» noting that «such sanctions may be in coordination between Congress and the White House.»

After the US statement, Omer Celik, the official spokesman for the ruling «Justice and Development» party led by Erdogan, wrote in a tweet on his account, in which he said, «The accusation of our president of anti-Semitism stems from an illogical and wrong approach and it is a lie against him.»

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The spokesman for the Turkish presidency, İbrahim Kalın, also considered the US accusations of anti-Semitism to Erdogan as «unacceptable and unrelated to reality,» according to what was quoted by the state-run Anadolu Agency. According to the agency, Kalın added that the United States linking anti-Semitism with Erdogan›s standing «on the side of the oppressed Palestinian people and exposing Israel›s stances against the law and human values is a tragic and comic approach.» Cautious calm prevails throughout the Gaza Strip

days after Tel Aviv and the Palestinian armed factions reached a truce under the auspices of Cairo and after the Israeli air and artillery bombardment of the Strip continued for 11 days. Various international parties have expressed their welcome to the truce between Tel Aviv and Hamas, with Egyptian mediation, as United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres affirmed that «Israeli and Palestinian leaders have a responsibility that goes beyond restoring calm, which is to start a serious dialogue to address the root causes of the conflict.» US President Biden considered that «Palestinians and Israelis alike deserve to live in security and safety, and to enjoy equal degrees of freedom, prosperity and democracy.» The European Union and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi also welcomed the truce concluded between the two parties to the conflict. The Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip killed more than 230 Palestinians, and injured about 2,000 others, in the most violent wave of escalation between the Gaza Strip and Tel Aviv since 2014.

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Aaron Stein, director of research at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI)

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Three American Jewish Leaders Opine on Gaza Violence US Jews Lose Confidence in Israeli government after Jerusalem Violence Mohammad Ali Salih, Washington Last week, the ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip appeared to be holding. In the US, the conflict has exposed two major negative developments for Israel among the American public. First, a decline in pro-Israel public support, particularly among the Democrats, who, since President Harry Truman’s crucial help in the establishment of the State of Israel, have been more supportive of Israel than the Republicans. Two month ago, a Gallup Poll showed that only 43 percent of the Democrats sympathized more with the Israelis, and 38 percent were with the Palestinians. Last week, a headline in “USA Today” newspaper declared: “Americans largely support Israel -- but sympathy for Palestinians is on the rise.” Second, a decline among US Jews’ support of the Israeli government. Many are moving away from the conservative – and racist – 12-year-old government of Benjamin Netanyahu. According to last week’s report from the Washingtonbased Pew Research Center, only 33% of Jewish Americans thought Israel leadership was making a sincere effort toward a peace settlement. Notwithstanding the overwhelming emotional

attachment to Israel, about 40 percent said the US is too supportive of Israel’s conservative government. These are excerpts from opinions by three leading US Jews, from their tweets, websites and media interviews: 1. Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, who, having caucused with Democrats in the Congress, sought the Democratic Party nomination for president in 2016 and 2020. 2. Jeremy Ben-Am, President of J Street, a liberal organization dedicated to end the Arab-Israeli and Israel-Palestinian conflicts peacefully and diplomatically. 3. Raphael Mimoun, who was was born in France, studied and lived in Israel, then migrated to the US. Based in Los Angeles, he works in technology and in the defense of human rights.

Senator Sanders: “Palestinian Lives Matter” “‘Israel has the right to defend itself.’ These are the words we hear from both Democratic and Republican administrations whenever the government of Israel, with its enormous military power, responds to rocket attacks from Gaza.

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Senator Bernie Sanders

Let’s be clear. No one is arguing that Israel, or any government, does not have the right to self-defense or to protect its people. So why are these words repeated year after year, war after war? And why is the question almost never asked: “What are the rights of the Palestinian people?” And why do we seem to take notice of the violence in Israel and Palestine only when rockets are falling on Israel? First, we should understand that while Hamas’s firing rockets into Israeli communities is absolutely unacceptable, today’s conflict did not begin with those rockets. In the Middle East, where we provide nearly $4 billion a year in aid to Israel, we can no longer be apologists for the right-wing Netanyahu government and its undemocratic and racist behavior … We must change course and adopt an even-handed approach, one that upholds and strengthens international law regarding the protection of ci-

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According to last week’s report from the Washington-based Pew Research Center, only %33 of Jewish Americans thought Israel leadership was making a sincere effort toward a peace settlement. vilians, as well as existing U.S. law holding that the provision of U.S. military aid must not enable human rights abuses. This approach must recognize that Israel has the absolute right to live in peace and security, but so do the Palestinians. I strongly believe that the United States has a major role to play in helping Israelis and Palestinians to build that future. But if the United

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States is going to be a credible voice on human rights on the global stage, we must uphold international standards of human rights consistently, even when it’s politically difficult. We must recognize that Palestinian rights matter. Palestinian lives matter.”

Ben-Ami: “No Military Solution” “The underlying conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has no military solution. It also won’t be resolved through normalization agreements with Arab states. The only way out of this decades-long conflict is a political solution that ends the occupation and guarantees the civil and political rights, safety and self-determination of both Israelis and Palestinians. For over a decade, the right-wing, pro-settle-

ment policies of Netanyahu-led governments have pushed such an agreement further out of reach. Their actions have entrenched the occupation, pursued de facto annexation in the West Bank and dispossessed Palestinian families in East Jerusalem. The time has come for bold, public American opposition to destructive Israeli and Palestinian policies, and for intensive leadership to stop the unchecked slide toward one state and permanent occupation. We cannot continue to provide the Israeli government with a “blank check” when it comes to our financial assistance, and to offer it diplomatic immunity in the international arena. While remaining committed to Israel’s security and to the full amount of assistance currently promised to Israel, America must impose

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Jeremy Ben-Ami

We must change course and adopt an even-handed approach, one that upholds and strengthens international law regarding the protection of civilians, as well as existing U.S. law holding that the provision of U.S. military aid must not enable human rights abuses. I grew up in France, in a Jewish community where unconditional love and support for Israel were the norm. The term Zionism, the movement for the establishment and support of a Jewish state in present-day Palestine, wasn’t even used because that’s all we knew. Jews had been nearly wiped out by pogroms and repeated holocausts, and a Jewish state was the only way to keep us safe.

Raphael Mimoun

clear transparency requirements and restrictions on the use of our assistance to ensure that USsourced military equipment — including equipment bought with our aid — cannot be used by Israel in connection with any acts of creeping annexation or violations of Palestinian rights. If we do not chart a new course, the daily injustice facing Palestinians and the security threats facing Israelis will continue. There is little doubt that soon enough we will face yet another explosion of senseless violence with the same excuses, the same talking points and the same futility …”

Raphael Mimoun: “My Zionist Background” “I grew up in a Zionist household, spent 12 years in a Zionist youth movement, lived for years in Israel, and have friends and family who served in the Israeli Defense Forces. When that is your world, it’s hard to see apartheid as it’s happening in front of you.

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Anti-semitism wasn’t just a fact of history; we all experienced it in our daily lives. Zionism is rooted in trauma and fear. It’s about survival and love for the Jewish people. But like any other ethnic nationalism, Zionism establishes a hierarchy: It’s about prioritizing our safety and well-being, even at the expense of others. It relies on an alternative historical narrative that justifies the occupation and rationalizes the status quo. And it cannot produce a just peace on its own. The only thing that can bring about Palestinian liberation is if the cost of the occupation begins to outweigh its benefits to Israel. That would require, as it did for other apartheids and occupations, massive external pressure. In South Africa, international sanctions, an arms embargo and a global boycott forced the collapse of the racist regime. In the American South, it was legislation and Supreme Court decisions that imposed equal rights and ended the racial segregation of Jim Crow …”

olitics

Why Germany Is A Jihadist, Money Laundering Safe Haven Jihadists Logistical Support for ISIS from Inside Germany By Jassim Mohamad - Bonn

The country’s image as a hub of extremist activity is complicated by the fact that it seems to attract all types There is much curiosity to know why Germany is con- of networks: the Muslim Brotherhood which regards sidered as a safe haven and a centre for carrying out southern Germany’s Munich city as a potential centre of its activities in Europe since the 1940s as well as terrorist operations inside and outside Europe.

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A police officer walks out of Al-Irschad Mosque during a raid on April 30, 2020 in Berlin, as dozens of police and special forces stormed mosques and associations linked to Hezbollah in Bremen, Berlin, Dortmund and Muenster in the early hours of the morning. (Getty)

other extremist Islamist groups such as Salafi jihadist, Al Qaeda, ISIS and Hezbollah. This comes in addition to right-wing and left-wing radical groups. The infamous September 11, 2001 terrorist event was planned and launched by the Hamburg Cell, based out of the German city of Hamburg. The Abu Al-Walla Al-Iraqi network was also known for providing logistical support to ISIS from within Germany, by sending individuals and groups to fight alongside ISIS since 2014. This also includes Hezbollah which has taken Germany as a safe haven since the 1980s as well as a basic source of funding to operate terrorist attacks. After the defeat of ISIS by the international coalition, around 500 fighters of the Islamic ISIS fled through Turkey, Syria and Iraq to Europe, according to the investigative program “The French TV channel M6 Enquête”. These terrorist groups have settled in some European countries mostly in Germany. Despite a crackdown by the German intelligence services which resulted in many arrests, some of the Jihadists are still living relatively free in Germany. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz) monitors with deep concern the growing influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Eastern state of Saxony. Gordian Meyer-Platt, head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency in Saxony, said that the Muslim Brotherhood exploited– through organizations such as the Cultural Association of Saxony Forum – lack of places of worship for Muslims who came to Saxony as refugees, to expand their structures and spread their perception of political Islam.

The Muslim Brotherhood The Muslim Brotherhood was established in Germany since the 1960s by Saeed Ramadan who was able to assume the presidency of the Islamic Center in Munich, which is still the headquarters of the Brotherhood. The group controls several Islamic centres in Frankfurt (Main), Marburg, Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Cologne, Munster, Braunschweig and other major cities. The close ties between the Egyptian and Syrian branches of the MB were formalized in 1994 when their supporters established the Central Council of Muslims in Germany (Zentralrat der Muslime in Deutschland (ZMD), the umbrella organization of the Muslim Brotherhood in Germany.

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The Hamburg cell played a decisive role in the attacks on the United States in 2001. Some members of the cell met while studying at a German college. Among the most prominent members of the cell are the Egyptian Muhammad Atta, who arrived in Hamburg in 1992. The number of leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood organization in Germany is about 1,350. German internal intelligence classifies the Muslim Brotherhood as a source of threat to democracy in Germany and more dangerous than ISIS. The Muslim Brotherhood in Germany also seeks to constantly attract new supporters by targeting Muslims and organizing social activities for Muslim communities.

The ISIS member Abdul-Aziz Abdullah The story of the most potent member of ISIS, AbdulAziz Abdullah, known as Abu Alwalla Al Iraqi, is a good example of how Jihadists are providing logistic support to ISIS from inside Germany. Providing logistical support to ISIS from inside Germany, Ahmed Abdulaziz Abdullah moved from Iraq in 2000. He settled with his family in the town of Tönisvorst in North Rhine-Westphalia. He established himself as the most influential Salafi jihadist in Germany. He was called Abu Walla Al-Iraqi as well as Sheikh Hildesheim and the preacher who has no face. He preached at the Deutschsprachiger Islamkreis mosque in the city of Hildesheim in Lower Saxony. What is interesting to know is that the mosque turned into a meeting point for the extremist Salafist, not only from Lower Saxony, but also from outside it, and the mosque became one of the centres of the Salafi jihadist scene. It is believed that about 20 men who left Germany to join ISIS in Iraq and Syria have turned to extremism through the mosque.

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Abu Walla pledged allegiance to ISIS and created a network to recruit young German ISIS fighters. He provided financial and logistical assistance to recruits to travel to conflict areas in Syria and Iraq. He was in contact with Anis Omri, the perpetrator of the Berlin Christmas Market attack. Abu Wala Al-Iraqi owned accounts on social networks such as Telegram and Facebook, and the number of fans of his page reached about 25, 000 people. He was broadcasting his thoughts and sermons on his official YouTube channel, and most of the preacher’s videos did not show his face. He owned a special application called ‘Abu Walaa’ in the Apple Store, where smartphone users of his supporters could track his activities. On February 10th 2021, the Public Prosecutor announced that last year 381 investigations related to Islamist extremism had been opened. According to Federal Prosecutor Peter Frank, about 60 percent of the total new investigations in the Terrorism Department were related to Islamists. The response stated that in 2021 it could also be expected that the country would be subjected to violence by jihadists.

Hamburg cell In details that emerged about the Hamburg cell’s activities, after the Hamburg connection was discovered two days after the U.S. attacks, prosecutor Kay Nehm described how the hijackers and their alleged accomplices became acquainted at a mosque frequented by vehemently anti-Western Muslims. The Hamburg cell played a decisive role in the attacks

It was too late when German security services realized that since 2019 Arab and foreign gangs and the Mafia were laundering money especially from Berlin, Frankfurt and other major cities.

on the United States in 2001. Some members of the cell met while studying at a German college. Among the most prominent members of the cell are the Egyptian Muhammad Atta, who arrived in Hamburg in 1992. The Lebanese Ziyad Jarrah, and the Moroccan, Said Bahaji and Munir al-Motassadeq were also members of the cell and visited Al-Quds Mosque in Hamburg repeatedly and met with many extremists, including the radical preacher Muhammad Al-Fazazi, before the events of September 11, 2001. The discovery of the Hamburg cell was a shock to the German authorities, as they had been clearly sleeper cells for a long time. Although German intelligence was aware of the extremism of the Hamburg cell members, they were unaware of the true threat level of the danger they represented.

Safe Haven There was much criticism against Germany, when intelligence reports said that there are a great number of Arab clans, Russians and Eastern Europeans operating money laundering gigs from inside Germany. It was too late when German security services realized that since 2019 Arab and foreign gangs and the Mafia were laundering money especially from Berlin, Frankfurt and other major cities. There are many facts that let gangs be operative, mostly, the German law, that allow people to buy some expensive things cash without using the banking system. It is good to know that German laws do not require an upper limit for cash payments unless the amount exceeds 10,000 euros. Only then the buyer must show his personal identification documents, unlike the situation in Italy, which does not allow cash purchases when the amount exceeds 1000 Euros. This is what makes Germany a destination for the mafia, according to Italian Senator and antiMafia fighter Laura Garavini. Transfer and credit card purchases “allow the authorities to trace their source,” Garavini said. Members of government and parliament have been asking for stricter rules to curb this practice since it has led to uncontrolled rising rents and purchase prices. BaFin´s role in preventing money laundering The German BaFin department’s job is mostly to prevent the misuse of the financial system for the purpose

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Parts of this image have been pixellated to obscure the identity of the defendant) Defendant Abdullah A. arrives before hearing the verdict of his trial for murder on May 2021 ,21 in Dresden, Germany. Abdullah A. is a refugee from Syria whom authorities accuse of being a member of the Islamic State and of having attacked a gay couple with a knife in Dresden last October, killing one of them men and seriously injuring the other. (Getty)

of money laundering, terrorist financing and other criminal offences, which can lead to a threat to assets of an institute. Bodies in the financial sector subject to the money laundering supervision of BaFin include not just credit and financial services payment institutions, but also life insurance undertakings and asset management. The project manages investigations to prevent money laundering and crime, terrorism, multinational money laundering and corporate management. It is believed that organized crime has become a problem in Germany,. But fighting money launderers has proven to be difficult. Transactions from Italy, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus caught the investigators’ attention. In addition to real estate agents, restaurant and amusement arcade owners, it appears to have also become common among individuals, to allow criminals to use their bank accounts for money laundering purposes. Politicians and media outlets had long avoided the topic for fear of accusations of xenophobia. German crime clans have long earned infamy with violence and brazen robberies but now, police warn, they have targeted a new generation of refugees for recruitment.

Counter Terror Policies Germany is working seriously to form an operations room to exchange information through a regular meet-

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These terrorist groups have settled in some European countries mostly in Germany. Despite a crackdown by the German intelligence services which resulted in many arrests, some of the Jihadists are still living relatively free in Germany. ing held at the Berlin Counter-Terrorism Center, to present, discuss and exchange data and information directly. This means that the establishment of operating rooms for the security and intelligence services and the departments concerned with national security avoids a lot of the bureaucracy of dealing. Germany is working seriously now to re-equip the security services and put them in a good position to meet the challenges. German officials believe that overcoming the challenges of terrorism will require enforcing improved cooperation between intelligence services and police agencies.

olitics

Cryptographic Anarchism: Bitcoin Not Allowed in China

Bitcoin Restores Privacy of Individuals Amid Era of Computing

Hala Nasrallah The Cryptographic Anarchism Pact, written by computing brand Timothy May in 1988, says that computing is about providing the ability for individuals and groups to communicate and interact with each other in a completely anonymous way.

Two people or parties can exchange messages, conduct business and negotiate electronic contracts without knowing each other’s real name or identity. A few days ago, the Chinese authorities issued a decision to prevent the mining of Bitcoin, and a few days earlier, they had also issued

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another decision in which they banned the use of anything related to digital money. If we compare the basic provisions stipulated in May›s document with the ban on China, we discover that the latter stands on the threshold of real concerns related to the decentralization of coding for individualism among the members of its communist societies. May›s document marked the first seed from which Bitcoin sprang thirty years later. Apart from the issue of Bitcoin price and its economic importance, it is an event that restores the privacy and status of man in the era of rapid computing. Bitcoin is based on a type of encryption that humanity has not previously known, and it is one of the most difficult encryption methods that it is impossible to this day to break or breach. Bitcoin in its broad slogan is unbreakable anonymity.

In this photo illustration a Bitcoin (BTC) cryptocurrency logo is seen on a smartphone and a pc screen. (Getty)

This kind of identity screen allowed individuals to create financial anonymity that the authorities could not track. On the other hand, Bitcoin, which is mainly based on distributing data in decentralized places, resulted in technologies and programs that adopt the same protocol. It is built on blockchain technology, which later resulted in new types of operating systems and smart programs that are based mainly on the idea of converting smartphones into «nodes». Nodes keep individuals› data on phones, that is, not in the central storage centers of large companies. It was the pivotal moment during which many individuals around the world discovered the value of their lives in various forms. On a personal level, Bitcoin was the first reason that pushed me towards learning programming, computing and security protection.

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Bitcoin is based on a type of encryption that humanity has not previously known, and it is one of the most difficult encryption methods that it is impossible to this day to break or breach. Bitcoin in its broad slogan is unbreakable anonymity. Bitcoin, which is viewed by the overwhelming majority as a place to make a quick profit, is for another group the safe place, and it is a fortress within which a person is protected from the repression of the authorities of all kinds. With Bitcoin, many people discovered their economic entity far from the sight of governments. Also, Bitcoin allowed individuals to go through the experience of being anonymous individuals on the Internet.

China hates anonymity If we want to define China, we can say that it is a country based on connecting its citizens within a unified computing network headed by the app WeChat. China imposes certain types of smart applications on its citizens. These applications contribute to shaping the opinions of its citizens. These apps provide all basic information about citizens, such as the name and national number, the social networks associated with them, accurate information about their economic activity and the violations they carries out, in addition to the evaluation of citizenship. This is China in its depth. It is a country that has a deep entity that always wants to delve into the details of the citizens› lives, down to the trivial details about them.

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This is the function of the surveillance cameras deployed by China wherever they are, which work to track citizens and know their movements. In a country built on tracking, tracing, prosecution and authoritarian control, Bitcoin will surely be one of its greatest enemies. Digital anonymity is what states hate that use the digital world as a central tool for policing citizens. Bitcoin and Anarchist Capitalism Internationally, individuals are reproached if they support capitalism, but with a composition that reconfigures the concept of anarchism extracted from the womb of communism and restrains it on the grounds of capitalism. The anarchist capitalist entity represents a state of refusing to interfere with the bank or any third authority with its funds armed with a digital encryption model that is difficult to breach, to block the path of this on the authorities and prevent them from interfering much with their private life and personal decisions. But at the same time, whoever acquires bitcoin realizes that the latter will bring them huge financial gains.

China does not prevent its citizens from making wealth, but one of the conditions for this wealth is that it passes clearly within its institutions and obeys its conditions.

I entered the world of Bitcoin in early 2019, and since that date it has occupied the largest part of my daily and intellectual interests. At that time and place, studies and research dealing with its political side and its role in changing societies were quite rare. Wherever it is present, either it poses a threat to the state as a deep entity like the Chinese case, or the deep entity is being transformed to integrate in its economic process with a composition, which is what the United States of America represents despite its constant objection to technology. China hates capitalism We always have to ask ourselves what money is. Why Bitcoin is an exchange medium similar to gold and not paper money like the dollar. So we also have to agree that everything in the world can be transformed into a reciprocal medium. Hence, the reciprocal medium must have some basic criteria in order to continue and survive to the maximum possible degree, and it must also have the four characteristics: time, place, impenetrability, and scarcity. If we compare the flow of Bitcoin and its stock with the flow and stock of gold, we discover that Bitcoin is many times rarer than gold. The prospect of finding more gold in the future is strongly available in nature, but we cannot find more than 21 million bitcoins in nature. Therefore, Bitcoin is better than gold with the three characteristics, surpassing it by the factor of scarcity, and by looking at its annual growth, it has achieved very huge growth. Bitcoin carries winds of change at the level of individual wealth making.

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A customer uses a bitcoin automated teller machine (ATM) in a kiosk Barcelona, Spain, on Tuesday, Feb. 2021 ,23. Bitcoin climbed, aided by supportive comments from Ark Investment Managements Cathie Wood and news that Square Inc. boosted its stake in the cryptocurrency. (Getty)

China does not prevent its citizens from making wealth, but one of the conditions for this wealth is that it passes clearly within its institutions and obeys its conditions. But in the structure of Bitcoin we find a categorical rejection of authority, which we read in the first line of the white paper belonging to its inventor, Satoshi Nakamoto. «Here, pure electronic cash goes from peer to peer over the Internet,» Satoshi says. «Payments are sent directly from one end to the other without going through the financial

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institution.» In Satoshi›s documented online conversations, the latter expects each bitcoin to reach 10$ million due to several factors, including the collapse of currencies and high inflation. There is no worse occurrence than for Bitcoin to be hit by the Chinese approach in the long run, but it is also known that there is no authority in the universe capable of preventing Bitcoin because it is a decentralized network. Bitcoin is a technology that enhances individual nonparticipatory tendency in creating wealth.

olitics

Capitalism and the People Insights into the Inner Contradiction of Capitalism By: Saif Al Abri Inequality is on the rise, and wages are nearly stagnant. This all came about after the fall in corporate rate of profits in 1970. After the golden age of capitalism, often referred to as embedded liberalism or controlled

capitalism. Whereby capitalist engineered a new age of free market capitalism by manufacturing consent. This writing will not be talking about neoliberalism nor how consent was engineered (David Harvey did a comprehensive survey on that) but will talk about an inner contradiction of capitalism.

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This goal of economists of having a %3 economic growth is unsustainable and never will be, especially with capitalist persistence of increasing rates of profits to the point of reducing household wealths. bank regulation is at an all-time low. This is unsustainable and defies any intuitive understanding of economics. This goal of economists of having a 3% economic growth is unsustainable and never will be, especially with capitalist persistence of increasing rates of profits to the point of reducing household wealths (taking into account debt) and artificially stimulating demand through financial innovation. Furthermore, their persistence of reducing labour cost by increasing automation, not paying taxes and holding minimum wage through lobbying is in itself the most short term thinking ever heard of. Production requires demand if people are out of work. There is no demand except if the welfare system funded by “corporation paying taxes” increases payouts or the other unsustainable road they chose to deregulate banks. Productivity and real GDP per capita have been on the rise. At the same time, wealth concentration is reaching heights last seen during the roaring twenties, and wages are almost stagnant. The source of productivity in an economy is producing products. For productivity to be profitable, it requires demand. People constitute a significant amount of demand in an economy. However, how could economic growth be possible if incomes have been nearly stagnant? On top of that, the standard of living has remained the same. The answer is debt, as financial times calls it, capitalism›s dirty little secret. The only way that allows people to keep their standard of living in some places even increase and allow capitalists to keep the growth of rates of profits is debt. The credit market of households lies at 16.64 trillion dollars (2020), and

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Furthermore, minimum wages are vital to the survival of an economy as it constitutes a significant sum of demand yet their efforts to keep it low is naïve. This is the problem of free market capitalism: short term profits are prioritised over long term growth. Another example is global warming. I will discuss the relationship between capitalism and the environment at a later date. In conclusion, capitalism un-controlled is a threat to social prosperity and, frankly, the existence of humans (global warming). As Marx stated, “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles,” and now is no exception. We live in an age whereby short-term profits are prioritised over sustainable existence and people; it’s a class struggle between capitalist and the many.

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Call to Protect Pets of Kazakhstan No Laws on Animal Rights in Kazakhstan Lubov Podgornaya So, there is a lady. She is a musician - nothing famous. Nothing like Sir Anthony Hopkins, so I can’t place her picture playing a piano and a happy cat is enjoying the music which goes viral. The story takes place far away in the lands of Kazakhstan - this lady is teaching music at some universities. Her vision is 5%, she has a serious condition of retinal detachment which is probably incurable and due to her condition she cannot lift anything more than 3 kilos. This lady lives in a village 20 km from the city centre. Every day she travels to work by bus. But there is something special about this lady – she cannot pass by an abandoned kitten or a dog. How did I meet her? I have a friend who came to the vet with her cat and told me that there was a lady there with a dying puppy who was covered in blood. The check was

about 20 USD and the lady said she could not afford to pay it. My friend said she lost her sleep. I suggested that we find the lady and cover the expense. We managed to find her. But the story was she was living not in a city but a village 20 km away and there were 9 puppies not one. Anyway we found her. By this time 3 puppies were taken into the local village vet clinic for 8 days. That clinic has no lab or diagnostic toolkit whatsoever. Anyway they were keeping the pups and charging the lady for a single day treating them from worms or ticks or whoever knows what. By the time we found the lady all those pups were gone over the rainbow… so we asked her to bring the surviving ones to the best vet I knew and the diagnosis was confirmed – parvovirus. The vet was sceptical that most of the puppies would have survived without thorough care. But she treated them with all the shots and all intravenous injections. I felt relieved – now the local vet could have followed the

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A woman taking care of puppies at a veterinary centre.

prescriptions and it›s all done! “Oh no,” said my vet, “They will never follow my prescriptions and will try to invent their own methods” “How is that possible – they don’t even have a lab??” “Everything is possible”, said my vet, “I am so sorry”. So I found a local guy who would travel with me to do exactly as prescribed by the city vet. “Why are u taking this hassle?”- he said to me – “Just give them vodka and raw egg – either they survive or die”. I said, “Thanks they are capable of dying even without your assistance and even with no vodka, all I want is just to follow instructions strictly”. I must say none of them die, city vets were shaking my hand, they said it was a miracle. Parvovirus is very common in nature. It is highly contagious but only between species – it can be transmitted between two or more dogs or two or more cats but never between species and never to the human. The nature of this virus is that an animal develops ulcers inside the body and on his tongue. Due to this fact it can sit in front of a bowl of water or food but not drink or eat as touching it causes tremendous suffering. As a result the animal dies of dehydration. When we were working in our “field hospital” the puppies were dehydrated critically. What happens then – the blood becomes so thick the heart has difficulty pumping it, the veins become shallow and once you try to inject the “vital” solution to thin the blood the body cannot take it anymore and the veins just burst because the blood there resembles glue and not blood. But we survived. No fatalities. All puppies are alive. Now. Did we win in spite of all this? I am afraid not… What will happen with those 6 cuties? The musician lady picked up a pregnant dog from a street who gave birth to ….9 puppies…. How many abandoned dogs and cats are on the street

A vet treating a dog in Kazakhstan.

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About the laws in Kazakhstan on pets› protection: there simply none. Massive funds are being spent on the killing of animals. now? This is just one lucky story. There are so many Muslims in Kazakhstan. At the same time so many abandoned cats and kittens. As far as I remember Prophet Muhammed paid respect to cats and his favourite cat Muezza has been always on his knees when he was lecturing. There is even a legend that once Prophet Muhammed discovered his cat sleeping on the sleeve of his dress he preferred to cut off the sleeve rather than wake up the animal. What has happened now? Why are so many people calling themselves Muslim, who do not respect the wishes of Prophet Muhammed and are ready to kill and sell cats and dogs like a second hand furniture? About the laws in Kazakhstan on pets protection: there simply none. Massive funds are being spent on murdering animals. I will send a link from the official site- abandoned pets are being burned in front of each other. One should have heart to finish reading this article. There is nothing to protect “our little brothers” by law. Last year there was a big case when one lady adopted a dog who survived an attempt to murder it - that’s about all. And this local musician is still in her village which has hardly any water supply and electricity supply. Everyone calls her “mad”. Of course, spending all your income of 150 USD on dogs and cats is madness. Would you not agree?

conomy

Saudi Arabia Re-imagines Urban Life with Cognitive, Carbon-Free Cities

Green Hydrogen, Wind, Sunlight Set to Replace Oil as Source of Energy in NEOM, The Line Motasem Al- Felou Despite the abundance of oil in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the new leadership in Riyadh is

totally convinced that selling oil and using the revenues to run the country will not continue forever. Increasing non-oil revenues, replacing fuel cars

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Yes, in NEOM & The Line, water will be an extremely important source. Hydrogen will be extracted from water using electrolysis, which is the process of using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Line are being created to challenge the impossible and pave the way for building the world’s most innovative cities in the middle of the deserts and mountains. The Line is a -170km-long mega-city in the form of a narrow stripe, stretching from the coast of the Red Sea to the mountains and the upper valleys of the north-west of Saudi Arabia. The mega city will consist of connected communities, called city modules. It will a part of NEOM, the Kingdom’s most ambitious USD 500 billion mega project. A blueprint of NEOM city in Saudi Arabia.

with electric ones and generating electricity from nuclear reactors or wind turbines are good tools for transformation. However, the Kingdom needs to create something futuristic and sustainable for generations to come, i.e., a new model for urban life that does not exist anywhere else. What is the secret word that would challenge the status quo? It is “imagination”, the unbeatable power that is taking the Kingdom to the next level of development and evolution. NEOM & its first outpost, The Line, are the brainchildren of Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi Crown Prince.

CITIES IN THE DESERT Can you imagine a city without streets, cars, or trains and in direct connection with nature? This seems to be impossible. However, imagination goes beyond limits. NEOM and The

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“We are talking about unconventional cities. They will be different from anything we know. Cognitive cities will be powered with renewable energy. All services, workplaces, shopping & entertainment facilities will be accessible within just 5 minutes on foot. We are building a dream... something unprecedented in the whole world.”, said Abdulla Ayman, a Saudi young communication specialist, who is very enthusiastic about the project, when speaking to Majalla. He added:” I will be the first to relocate to NEOM. I’d love to experience a futuristic lifestyle. NEOM and The Line are a different ball game, where high-tech & constant innovation have the upper hand”.

COGNITIVE CITIES Let us imagine a fully automated city that supports the support the daily urban processes without

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human interference. This is called a “cognitive city”. What is it? Cognitive cities represent the evolution of smart cities with a more advanced use of artificial intelligence (AI) and robots. Smart cities are programmed to carry out specific missions and generate reports for human users to take the right

It is “imagination”, the unbeatable power that is taking the Kingdom to the next level of development and evolution.

decision. Cognitive cities give a bigger role to machine learning in the sense that those machines can learn from their past experiences, build on older data collected with the passage of time & eventually take decisions on behalf of humans, i.e., complete automation of life. Both NEOM and its outpost The Line will be a complex of cognitive cities that are connected with each other and human beings digitally. “Cognitive cities are designed to make people’s lives much easier than ever. They sense the exact needs of people & provide personalized solutions & options. For example, you have a meeting somewhere, your clock will wake you up based on the amount of traffic, a driverless, electric car will come to pick you up, and you get to your

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A blueprint of The Line which is part of the NEOM project.

destination or multiple destinations based on your previous experiences”, said Mustafa Mohammed, a computer engineer, who has interests in state-ofthe-art- technologies.

RENEWABLE ENERGY Can water be a source of energy? Yes, in NEOM & The Line, water will be an extremely important source. Hydrogen will be extracted from water using electrolysis, which is the process of using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen, the outcome of the splitting process, can be used separately. Hydrogen cell combines oxygen & hydrogen to generate electricity and water. Last year, NEOM launched a USD 5 bn joint

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venture with an American company, Air Products, & a Saudi company, ACFWA Power, to produce green hydrogen in a bid to develop carbon-positive society that will be a beacon for sustainable living. The plant will be powered by wind & sunlight. Water will be desalinated using a solar dome. This will ensure sustainable supplies of pure water without burning a single barrel of oil. Construction works are underway & the solar dome will be operative in a few years from now. “We have to admit that the power of imagination is behind the innovative megaprojects in the Kingdom. The good thing is that we do not have to wait long until the whole Kingdom reaps the fruits of its futuristic investments”, Concluded Mustafa Mohammed.

A Weekly Political News Magazine

Issue 1854- May- 28/05/2021

Najla Al-Mangoush The First Female Foreign Minister in Libya www.majalla.com

On the Trail of Enayat Al Zayat Iman Mersal’s Award-winning Book Shares Details of Journey Seldom Told Amira Noshokaty In her latest book, “In the Trail of Enayat Al Zayat,” writer Iman Mersal shares the details of a journey seldom told. The book follows the trail of a woman writer in the 1960s and eloquently shares the joys and sorrows of a searching journey. In the book that was awarded the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, Iman Mersal feels at home with the reader and engages him/her in an open conversation about women, creativity and the Arab world. Being a poet, translator and college professor at Alberta University, Canada, the author dips her magnifying glasses into the heart of the sixties era and re-visits the time of radical socio-economic and cultural changes in Egypt. The story begins when the writer came across an old novel and bought Al Hob W Al Samt (Love and Silence) from Cairo’s famous old and rare books market Sour Al-Azbakia (Azbakia wall). The forward of the book was signed by renowned writer Mostapha Mahmoud and explained that the young writer died before witnessing the publication of her first and last

novel. The book haunted Iman Mersal for years, since the nineties to be specific, and it took her almost a decade to put all the pieces together, or rather ‘most of the revealing facts’ as she explained, adding that her aim was much more than to tell the tale of a dead writer. The investigatory journey is more of a puzzle that requires patience and precision. But the writer here infused her own passion which made the journey an enticing tale in its own right. Beginning with the family cemetery of Enayat El-Zayat, ending with the photo of her broken tombstone, together with Mersal’s comment that perhaps El-Zayat wanted to be free of all limitations, is the essence of this book. Slowly Mersal walks us into El-Zayat’s footsteps, from school to motherhood, and describes how she was part of the post1952 revolution women’s movement. A kaleidoscope of the cultural scene at that time reveals a lot about women of the era. Being amidst a great cultural shift has its downsides. El-Zayat was part of the scene but not on the shimmering side. Being the bestie of famous movie star Nadia Lotfy

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Being a poet, translator and college professor at Alberta University, Canada, the author dips her magnifying glasses into the heart of the sixties era and re-visits the time of radical socio-economic and cultural changes in Egypt.

Poster of Iman Mersal’s book, “In the Trail of Enayat Al Zayat”.

novel that her family destroyed, and the few notes that survived along with her book, Mersal started to sew the details of Enayat and lay out a route that maps the life of a talented woman who was crushed amidst a social change. Reflecting so many women at the time who were surviving society’s double standards which allowed women limited freedom and dictated the form of creativity, El-Zayat is more of a solitary summer breath that reminds us of all of the possibilities and creativity that she could have charted in this world, if only society would just let her be. The book is gripping for the way the journey was told in a mixture of documentation and poshowed the contrast in both their lives. They etic reality. Sometimes the author actually reboth attended school together and remained veals her own fictional tale of El-Zayat before friends since then. Nadia Lotfy got married she researched her. The details she conveys in and lived in Alexandria, while El-Zayat got her encounter with movie star Nadia Lotfy is married and lived in Cairo. While Nadia more of cinema scene described and narrated Lotfy sought an acting career, El Zayat had shot by shot. It is not difficult to hear Nadia trouble in her marriage. After giving birth Lotfy’s voice while reading. to a boy, she asked for a divorce. During The way Mersal frowns upon upper-middlethe painful journey of divorce, she found class morality is also very obvious in the way a job thanks to her excellent German lan- she narrates her encounter with El-Zayat’s sister guage and started working on her first novel who was very protective about her late sister’s history. The panorama of this era in Egypt and in Arabic. Suffering from chronic depression burdened the Arab world is a subtle cross-cutting theme the young woman even more. The fact that her in the book that reveals so many shades of the husband got custody of her son drove her liter- colors of this social segment of Egypt that were ally to the edge. After the publishing house re- shown in the cinema in black and white. fused to publish her first novel, El-Zayat com- The book is a journey full of discoveries, but the most important one of all is how much our mitted suicide in her twenties. Between El-Zayat’s memoirs, the draft of the world lacks empathy and kindness.

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Angelina Jolie Fights Fire with Fire ‘Those Who Wish Me Dead’ Is A Different Kind of Disaster Movie By: Michael Phillips The Angelina Jolie raging-inferno/raging-assassins mashup “Those Who Wish Me Dead” is stuck with a title (from Michael Koryta’s 2014 novel) daring you to recall it correctly the next day, and much of director Taylor Sheridan’s follow-up to the 2013 “Wind River” is like that: in one eye, out the other. But it’s a diverting enough one-eyed watch, even as it strains to get its story established and moving. And there’s one surefire “YEAH!!! GET HIM!!!!” bit of violence, which happens not to belong to Jolie, but to the film’s essential supporting ringer, Medina Senghore. That bit won’t play the same way at home as in a reasonably well-attended theater. But it’s your choice, which is exactly how the studios want it and the theat-

er owners don’t: The film opened simultaneously on Friday in theaters and streaming on HBO Max. Remember Meryl Streep in “The River Wild”? This is “The Fire Wild.” Somewhere in Montana’s high country (portrayed by New Mexico), two relentless killers and brothers played by Aiden Gillen and Nicholas Hoult are on the trail of 12-year-old murder witness, a Florida boy played extremely well by Finn Little. (He’s terrific at crying a little, not a lot, strategically.) The boy eludes an assassination attempt, but the other passenger in the car fleeing Florida for Montana isn’t as lucky. The boy’s forensic accountant father (Jake Weber) has uncovered incriminating evidence against some important politicians and their underworld associates. This evidence winds up on a Florida district attorney’s desk, we’re told. The killers retaliate by blowing up

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Angelina Jolie as Hannah in New Line Cinema’s thriller “Those Who Wish Me Dead.” (TNS)

the DA’s house and then tracking father and son out West, where the accountant’s small-town Montana sheriff brother (Jon Bernthal) and sister-in-law (Senghore) live, surrounded by forest. On cryptic orders from Mr. Big (Tyler Perry in a one-scene puzzler of a cameo), these deadly, gabby hit men eventually arrive for lethal questioning. The novel, quite different in plot outline, has been reworked rather awkwardly by director Sheridan and co-writers Koryta and Charles Leavitt. “Those Who Wish Me Dead” remains vague about the corruption at the root of the bloodletting. In the early going, the film cross-cuts from that plotline to the introduction of Jolie’s character, U.S. Forest Service firefighter Hannah Faber. She’s haunted by memories of a tragic fire that took the lives of three boys she couldn’t save. “I read the wind wrong,” she says, in a way indicating she may never forgive herself. Potential forgiveness arrives in the form of that imperiled 12-year-old on the run. In her first action showcase since “Salt” 11 years ago, Jolie does it all with panache: breaking out the mother-bear feral intensity, palling around with her fellow smokejumpers, even at one odd, self-conscious point deflecting speculation about the actress’ weight (I’m not “skinny,” Hannah corrects the boy at one point — “I’m lean”). The banter often collides abruptly with the brutality in “Those Who Wish Me Dead.” At one point Sheridan has the highly pregnant character played by Senghore thrown and kicked around her

Those Who Wish Me Dead” remains vague about the corruption at the root of the bloodletting. In the early going, the film cross-cuts from that plotline to the introduction of Jolie’s character, U.S. Forest Service firefighter Hannah Faber. home, then threatened with a red-hot poker, and by that point the audience’s bloodlust demands retribution and a GET HIM!!! moment. An actor turned filmmaker, Sheridan’s writing career got going big-time with his Oscar-nominated “Hell or High Water” screenplay, and many” as well. I enjoyed “Wind River loved the first and liked about half of the second, and 50% is my enjoyment setting with “Those Who Wish Me Dead,” too. The editing rhythms are seriously jumpy, terrified of slowing down for even a second, and while the digital effects aren’t bad, they have a way of taking you out rather than further into the suspense. I’m not suggesting Jolie and company risk their lives running into actual wildfires, but there it is. Most action movies depend on some whopping example of hypocrisy to deliver the goods ordered by the public. Here, Hannah’s emotional trauma and PTSD is taken seriously when the plot calls for it. On the other hand, the horrors witnessed firsthand by the boy, which begin early and end late in “Those Who Wish Me Dead,” are more like character-builders, turning him into the young man he was meant to be: co-star of a Taylor Sheridan wilderness thriller. The movie spreads its suffering and heroics around more successfully than it entwines its narratives. But Jolie and Senghore save the day.

THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD’ 2.5 stars (out of 4) Rating: R (for strong violence, and language throughout) Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes Playing: Now in theaters and streaming on HBO Max.

Aidan Gillen as Jack in New Line Cinema’s thriller “Those Who Wish Me Dead.” (TNS)

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eature

When Music is the Passion Salma Kilany: Egyptian Oud Player Who Aspires to Conquer the Music World By: Salma Adham The unique sounds of Arabian music and the talent of its artists like Om Khulthum, Abd Al-Wahab, Abd Al-Halim, and composers like Mohamed al Qasabgi

and Riad Al Sunbati have blazed a train of amazing melody that the world enjoys to this day. Indeed, many of us have met non-Arabs who have shared their love of the songs of Om Khulthum and praised her music and outstanding voice. Thus Arab music

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transcends the borders of geography, language and culture. Talking about the new generation of artists in Egypt, we meet Salma Kilany, 29, an Oud player who is working now as a music instructor. Kilany is a big fan of Egyptian classical music, and she hopes one day she can leave a mark that people remember her for. She studied Arabic at Cairo University and taught Arabic after graduation. But at a specific moment in her life, she decided that she will leave teaching and pursue her passion for music and become an Oud soloist. Let›s know together Salma›s story and the shift that happened in her life. Kilany finished her study at Dar Al-Ulum - Cairo University in 2014 and then started teaching Arabic, but during her study she recognized something. «While studying Arabic, I realized that there are sciences in the Arabic language related considerably to music. From here, I felt that I want to know more about the music world, especially playing on the Oud,» Kilany said to Majalla. Of Arabic origin, the Oud is «the king of instruments» and one of the oldest stringed instruments, as it dates back to the Akkadian period (2350 BC). It is the closest musical instrument to the human soul, and since then it has been closely associated with Arab culture and traditions. It is assumed that the name aloud is derived from the Arabic for «the wood». Salma Kilany playing on her Oud. (Supplied)

STEPS TOWARDS THE DREAM After she finished studying, her mother brought her an Oud, but she did not start to learn immediately because she did not know where exactly she should go to learn. «I started searching online and tried to find courses and read about this musical instrument. One day, I was at the club where it has a small choir, and I used to sing in it because I have a nice voice too. An Oud player and singer there advised me to go to the Arab Oud House, and he taught me the basics of the instrument. “But by chance, when searching I found a famous Egyptian oud player, the first oud player to graduate from the Arab Oud House who is the artist Sherine Tohamy,» Kilany told Majalla. «This encouraged me to continue in my track in learning music because I saw that someone can study another thing different from his or her major at

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We saw that clearly in the Egyptian Golden Parade when the orchestra used instruments such as the Rebab, the Nay and the flute - the usage of these Arabic musical instruments besides the percussion instruments gave the whole scene a different taste. university,» Kilany added. Sherine Tohamy is also a music instructor at the Arab Oud House in Abu Dhabi. What caught Salma›s attention is that the artist Sherine Tohamy is so professional in playing Oud without any accompanying musical instruments, and also that her study was not music. Learning a musical instrument like the oud is not easy, especially when you start at a late age, plus there are not many who excel in this instrument, but anything can be achieved with persistence. «When I was young, I used to listen to the famous Egyptian composer Mohamed El Qasabgi. He always caught my attention by playing on the Oud behind the artist Umm Kulthum, and how the Oud accompanies her voice with many beautiful voices coming out of it as it is the king of all musical instruments,» Kilany explained. Kilany started to take a real step by the end of 2014. She went to the Arabic Oud House in Cairo to learn more about this stringed musical instrument. «My mother was a great supporter for me through learning journey, and she helped me a lot both financially or psychologically to develop and grow. She believed in me,» Kilany stated. Salma elaborated, “Oriental music differs from Western music in many things, for example, we have some instruments like the oriental Takht which includes instruments such as Qanun, Riqq, Arabic Violon, Flute, oud and others. Each instrument has a very important role in the orchestra. We cannot find these instruments in western music.

eature Salma kilany standing and holding her Oud. (Supplied)

Arabic maqam is the system of melodic modes used in traditional Arabic music, which is mainly melodic. These maqamat differ from the ones used in the West. For example, in oriental music, there is the maqam of Bayati which is similar to a natural minor scale, with the primary exception of a half-flat second degree, and it does not exist in western music. But we share some of the maqamat with the west like the Maqam of Nahawand and Ajam. We saw that clearly in the Egyptian Golden Parade when the orchestra used instruments such as the Rebab, the Nay and the flute - the usage of these Arabic musical instruments besides the percussion instruments gave the whole scene a different taste. «Our Arabic music and our musical instruments are very close to our culture and history, and this what makes it unique,» she added.

THE MORE YOU LISTEN AND PRACTICE THE MORE YOU CREATE AND EXPRESS YOURSELF «I used to listen to artists such as Farid al-Atrash and Riad Al Sunbati. When I watch a movie for Farid, for example, I wanted to pause at the part he was playing on the Oud and just listen to it,» Salma explained. Listening to different musicians enhances Salma›s skill in playing on Oud. Kilany also studied at the Arab

«When I was young, I used to listen to the famous Egyptian composer Mohamed El Qasabgi. He always caught my attention by playing on the Oud behind the artist Umm Kulthum, and how the Oud accompanies her voice with many beautiful voices coming out of it as it is the king of all musical instruments,» Kilany explained. 50

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Salma Kilany playing on her Oud. (Supplied)

Music Institute at the Egyptian Opera House with the musician Hazem Shaheen, and she participated with him in a concert in the Cairo Opera House. She also learned from artists inside and outside Egypt such as Naseer Shamma, Hazem Shaheen, Simon Shaheen, George Michel, and others. «I participated in the first forum for the Oud in the United Arab Emirates which was a very significant experience for me because it was the first concert I did on a real stage and, it strengthened my will to continue and learn and, it also increased my confidence,» Kilany said. «Now I am working on a project with an institution whose name is Tafatifi. The project I work on with them provides an opportunity to teach the Oud instrument to all people, especially in the regions where people cannot reach a place to learn in Egypt. We started recording video tutorials for teaching playing on Oud, and I am proud of this experience,» she added. Tafatifi is an integrated music project. It is a music social network on the Internet that provides the opportunity for all who want to learn music through the lessons offered by the most famous and most important artists in the music scene in Egypt.

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«While studying Arabic, I realized that there are sciences in the Arabic language related considerably to music. From here, I felt that I want to know more about the music world, especially playing on the Oud,» Kilany said to Majalla. Music can change your mood totally, and this is what happened with Salma and also what inspired her. Most of us when we›re in a state of depression, and listen to a piece of music, whether western or eastern music, our mood can change completely! «I hope that I will create that effect in the hearts of others through the music because this is what happened when I heard great musicians.” Kilany said.

echnology

M.E. Airports Take Off on Pandemic Safety

How Regional Airports Used Innovative Tech Solutions to Keep Passengers Safe Menna A. Farouk Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, passengers started to have concerns about safety on board.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that “because of how air circulates and is filtered on airplanes, most viruses and other germs do not spread easily on flights”.

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In its guidance on air travel, the CDC also said, however, that “there may be a risk of getting COVID19- on crowded flights if there are other travelers on board with COVID19-”. That has prompted airports worldwide to apply strict precautionary measures to avoid spreading the virus. But what are airports in the Middle East in particular doing to make the travel experience safer? The International Air Transport Association (IATA) data showed that January 2020 air passenger traffic in the Middle East was down %82.3 compared to January 2019. “This is a unique situation. But we have good practices to rely on. Safety is the top priority for anything associated with aviation,” Kamil Al Awadhi, IATA Regional Vice President for Africa and the Middle East, said in a statement on the body’s website.

Saudi passengers arrive to King Khaled International airport in the capital Riyadh on May 2021 ,17, as Saudi authorities lift travel restrictions for citizens immunised against COVID19-. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine / AFP)

Saudi Arabia launched an app to reduce the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the country and obliged passengers to download it to keep themselves safe inside airports and on board. The devices can detect infection within 5 minutes and confirm the absence of infection in 13 minutes through a medical technique that uses DNA similar to the coronavirus, which is SARS COVID2-. Examination of passengers through the new devices comes in parallel to obliging passengers to carry a PCR test with a negative result before arriving at the airport.

UAE

Saudi Arabia

In the UAE, Abu Dhabi Airport has launched a new immediate PCR examination laboratory, the first of its kind inside airports in the region, to quickly test passengers for Covid19-.

Saudi Arabia launched an app to reduce the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the country and obliged passengers to download it to keep themselves safe inside airports and on board.

The new service comes in order to resume operating flights, facilitate quarantine procedures and trace those infected with the virus. Dubai airport also uses thermal surveillance cameras to identify people who may have coronavirus. Thermal cameras are believed to help identify the coronavirus carriers by detecting people with high temperature as they walk through the airport.

The app’s services covers health, education, hajj and umrah, permits, previews of driving licenses, insurance, passports, among other services. Through the app, citizens can get warnings about isolated or affected areas due to the outbreak of the coronavirus and the necessary medical assistance can be obtained for any suspected case.

Saudi Arabia said that the app is a prerequisite for travelers to enter domestic and international In Egypt, Cairo airport has also installed new airports. devices called “IDnow ‹› to prevent the spread The General Authority of Civil Aviation in of coronavirus among passengers.

Egypt

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echnology

Saudi Arabia said, entry to airports will only be permitted through using the app via three screening areas upon entry to the airport, including workers, travelers, employees and all airport visitors, as well as at the check-in area and issuance of boarding passes, and at the aircraft entry area. Saudi officials announced that passenger travel data will be linked to the health status of the traveler through the app.

Qatar In Qatar, Hamad International Airport is offering a unique no-touch travel experience. At the airport, passengers can get protective gear, including face masks, gloves, hand sanitizers and disinfectant wipes through selfvending machines. Travelers experience a technology that supports facial recognition which guarantees a safe and contactless journey. The technology relies on combining traveler flight information, passport and biometric facial information into a «single travel code» prepared by a self-registration kiosk.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) data showed that January 2020 air passenger traffic in the Middle East was down %82.3 compared to January 2019

Passengers can use check-in kiosks to take their photos and scan passports and boarding passes, as this digital ID record is the passenger›s face and the key to their transit through major airport contact points, such as self-service bag delivery, pre-passport and self-boarding gates.

Bahrain Bahraini also began testing the IATA health passport on its flights to London, Athens and Singapore, starting May 7.

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A tourist takes a selfie before he gets a medical screening upon arrival at Teminal 3 at Dubai airport, in the United Arab Emirates, on July 2020 ,8. (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP)

Travelers with a biometric passport, bound for London, Athens and Singapore, were able to try the app that helps them manage their travel in line with any government requirements for COVID19- testing or any information about the vaccine. Gulf Air passengers are now able to create a «digital passport» that allows them to match their travel routes with the coronavirus health requirements at their destinations, and verify their compliance with them. Bahrain is one of the first governments to

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: In Qatar, Hamad International Airport is offering a unique notouch travel experience. participate in the IATA health passport experiment with its national carrier, «to help pave the way for re-establishing global communication with coronavirus risk management.»

ealth

Coping with Relationship Fatigue Too Much Time Together Makes for Tense Moments By: Harvard Health Letter Cutting each other some slack and setting ground rules will help. There’s such a thing as too much togetherness at home, no matter if you’re with a romantic partner, an adult child, a grandchild, or a friend. “Because of the pandemic, we’re frozen in place with people, but we aren’t meant to be in the same space all day long,” says Dr. Robert Waldinger, a psychiatrist with Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. Keeping the peace starts with understanding why you

may be getting on each other’s nerves. Then you can try following a few rules to get along better.

TENSION BUILDERS Many factors may be contributing to the tension you’re experiencing. Stress. “We’re all under an enormous amount of stress, the result of the pandemic as well as the political and social climate in the United States. It’s scary, and the anxiety is affecting relationships. We’re all sadder or more anxious and on edge than usual,” Dr.

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Waldinger explains. Close quarters. The limits of your home’s footprint -- even a large one -- can be frustrating. “It may not feel like enough space. And some people are living together in just a few rooms. You need space to get a break from each other,” Dr. Waldinger says. Isolation. We’re wired to be social animals; it is very upsetting not to see friends and family you’re used to seeing. Generational differences. If you’re living with adult children and their kids, you may find it hard to understand their behavior. “Adult children may be bossing you around. And I hear a lot of people saying they’re annoyed with teenagers whining about not seeing friends even though people are dying in the pandemic,” Dr. Waldinger says.

Portrait of a happy young couple in their home. (Getty)

Balance closeness with distance. Find a place where you can take time away, whether it’s your own little corner, another room, or a safe location outside the home.

solving it,” Dr. Waldinger says. “For example, if it bugs you that dirty dishes are there long after someone promised to wash them, say ‘I’m in a bind. I don’t know whether you’re going to do them or if I should go ahead and clean up.’ That leads to better results STEPS TO GET ALONG than saying ‘You’re lazy’ or ‘You’re doing this to me.’” You can use a number of approaches to ease the ten- Talk about what’s bothering you. When one person sions at home. gets annoyed because the other did something trivial, Cut each other some slack. “When someone snaps at like leaving the toothpaste cap off the tube, it’s really you, take a breath and remember that they, like you, just the tip of the iceberg. “The iceberg may be an are under more stress than usual,” Dr. Waldinger ad- unspoken feeling that you’re not heard when you ask vises. someone to do things or that the other person doesn’t Balance closeness with distance. Find a place where care,” Dr. Waldinger explains. “When you can talk you can take time away, whether it’s your own little about the bigger concerns, you have the chance to talk corner, another room, or a safe location outside the about what’s really important.” home. Get some perspective. You have the wisdom to know Set up boundaries. Agree to the times you can be life can be short. “That can put things into perspectogether and times when you can be apart. “Maybe tive. Do you really want to argue about who’s doing come together for lunch and dinner, but go your sepa- the dishes? Is it worth getting angry?” Dr. Waldinger rate ways in between,” Dr. Waldinger suggests. asks. Be sensitive to generational differences. “Adult children may be telling you what to do because they’re IMPORTANT PAYOFFS worried about your safety,” Dr. Waldinger explains. “And remember the developmental task of teens is Good relationships are worth the effort. For starters, finding out who they are through friendships and ro- they’re good for your health. “They ease the stress mances. For many teens, being able to be with friends that gets translated into body processes like chronic can seem more important than the dangers of an infec- inflammation, which can affect the cardiovascular tion.” system, joints, and brain,” says Dr. Waldinger. Let go of expectations. “If we get annoyed with each And in the big picture, relationships will get us other, it doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with through these trying times, something Dr. Waldinger the relationship. That’s when cutting each other some has learned as the director of the Harvard Study of slack is really important,” Dr. Waldinger says. “And Adult Development (an ongoing study that’s followed remember, nobody is happy all the time, and that’s not hundreds of men and their families since 1938). a problem. Sometimes you’ll be gloomy. It’s okay.” “When we look back at how people got through the Improve communication. Use “I” phrases. “Find ways crisis of World War II, people uniformly said the key to communicate that don’t accuse or find fault with was their relationships. That’s something we should others. Simply lay out a problem and ask for help think about today.”

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Najla Al-Mangoush - The First Female Foreign Minister in Libya Majalla Najla Muhammad Al-Mangoush is a Libyan politician and lawyer who held the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in the Libyan national unity government headed by Abdel Hamid Dabaiba’s on March 15, 2021. Al-Mangoush is the first woman in Libya, since its independence in 1951, to hold this position and to manage important files related to Libya’s relations with other countries and international and regional organizations. She is also the fourth woman in the Arab region to join the list of Arab foreign ministers, who are: Al-Naha Bint Hamdi (2009), the first Mauritanian foreign minister, and the first female foreign minister in the Arab countries; Fatima Bint Aswaina (2015), also from Mauritania; and the Sudanese Asma Muhammad Abdullah (2019). Born and brought up in the city of Benghazi, East Libya, her roots go back to the Libyan city of Misrata, in Western Libya. Al-Manguosh is the daughter of Dr. Muhammad Abdullah Al-Mangoush, a well-known cardiologist and hematologist in Benghazi. Her uncle is Yousef Al-Mangoush, one of the most prominent Libyan army officers of the previous era. She graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Garyounis in Benghazi,

and devoted herself to work as a lawyer in the criminal courts, and with the beginning of the February events in 2011, she worked as an employee of the Transitional Council headed by Mustafa Abdel Jalil, before moving towards specializing in the field of human rights and social activities within the framework of civil society. She obtained her MA also in Criminal Law from the University of Garyounis, then her MA in Conflict and Peace Management from the American Mennonite University and finally then her Ph.D. in Conflict and Peace Management from George Mason University in the United States. Becoming a law professor and a lawyer in criminal law, her research and work focuses on the transition from war to peace and peace-building, according to her biography published in the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution (CRDC) website. She published some articles and gave lectures in this field that were promoted on social media. She was also a recipient of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to study for a Master’s degree in Conflict Transformation from the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP) in the United States of America. Al-Manguosh worked as a local representative for the United States Institute of Peace in Libya, as well as for the National Transitional Council. Her CV indicates that she has worked in sev-

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eral Arab and foreign countries in the field of training cadres, studying and evaluating legal projects, in addition to obtaining several certificates of appreciation and competence, one of which is provided by the US government for academic excellence. As a civil society activist, Mangoush held media posts to discuss the Libyan scene. In a clip dating back to 2011, Al-Mangoush stated that she worked as a media activist to cover the events of the February 17 revolution in Benghazi, and tried to communicate with foreign media to report what was happening in the city. News websites and activists circulated videos of the Libyan minister wearing the Palestinian scarf while she was receiving US Assistant Secretary of State for Middle East Affairs, Joey Hood, who is on a working visit to Libya on May 18, 2021. During a meeting with her Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Al-Mangoush called for the withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya as it approaches the holding of elections this year. The Libyan Foreign Minister affirmed her country’s position rejecting the aggression launched by the Israeli forces against the Palestinian people, calling for effective steps to be taken and urgent measures to stop the aggression and to issue a clear warning that the continuation of the aggression will have regional and international repercussions threatening international peace.