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Slaying Saints and Torching Texts
![[In this Oct. 19, 2012 photo, men pray beside the tombs of locally venerated Islamic saints, whose mausoleums were destroyed by Islamist group Ansar Dine, in Timbuktu, Mali. (AP Photo)]](/content_images/3/sm_AP232689183131.jpg "[In this Oct. 19, 2012 photo, men pray beside the tombs of locally venerated Islamic saints, whose mausoleums were destroyed by Islamist group Ansar Dine, in Timbuktu, Mali. (AP Photo)]")
When I first journeyed to Bamako to research Sufism in Mali in 2006, my American students generally asked two questions: Where is Mali and what is Sufism? Today, the answer to both of these questions is found daily in the headline news. Cultural heritage in Mali is under attack. But just as the armed conflict there is not simply a battle between Islamic extremists and a weak Malian army supported by the French, the destruction of Sufi shrines and Islamic manuscripts not merely the result of an iconoclastic and intolerant religious fanaticism. While these violent attacks on Mali’s Islamic heritage are indeed tragic, they are sadly not isolated or unique. Sufi shrines ...
Keep Reading »Setting New Precedents: Israel Boycotts Human Rights Session
![[Damaged and destroyed buildings in Gaza, January 2009. Image by Al-Jazeera Creative Commons Repository. From Wikimedia Commons.]](/content_images/3/sm_800px-War_in_Gaza_021_-_Flickr_-_Al_Jazeera_English.jpg "[Damaged and destroyed buildings in Gaza, January 2009. Image by Al-Jazeera Creative Commons Repository. From Wikimedia Commons.]")
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique mechanism that intends to review the behavior of states without distinction. The UN General Assembly established it in 2006 as part of the functions of the Human Rights Council. It is a state-driven process to comprehensively assess a state's compliance with human rights law. The Human Rights Council is to hold three two-week sessions each year during which time they review the files of sixteen member states. Accordingly each state will undergo the review every three years. As of 2011, all 193 UN member states had undergone a review. The Human Rights Council conducted Israel's UPR in 2009. In response to the ...
Keep Reading »Syria's Kurds: A Struggle Within a Struggle
![[ICG logo. Image from crisisgroup.org]](/content_images/3/sm_ICGlogoweb.jpg "[ICG logo. Image from crisisgroup.org]")
[The following report was issued by International Crisis Group on 22 January 2013.] Syria's Kurds: A Struggle Within a Struggle Executive Summary As Syria’s conflict has expanded, the population in majority-Kurd areas has remained relatively insulated. Keeping a lower profile, it has been spared the brunt of regime attacks; over time, security forces withdrew to concentrate elsewhere. Kurdish groups stepped in to replace them; to stake out zones of influence, protect their respective areas, provide essential services and ensure an improved status for the community in a post-Assad Syria. Big gains could be reaped, yet cannot be taken for granted. Kurdish ...
Keep Reading »Mali in Focus, Part Three: A Dangerous Show of Force from a Former Colonial Power
![[French defense minister Jean Yves Le Drian addresses reporters during a press conference held at the defense ministry in Paris, Tuesday 15 January 2013. Map at left shows the operations zone in Mali. France carried out new airstrikes overnight against Islamist fighters in central Mali. Image by Remy de la Mauviniere/AP Photo.]](/content_images/3/sm_ScreenShot2013-01-24at3.11.07PM.png "[French defense minister Jean Yves Le Drian addresses reporters during a press conference held at the defense ministry in Paris, Tuesday 15 January 2013. Map at left shows the operations zone in Mali. France carried out new airstrikes overnight against Islamist fighters in central Mali. Image by Remy de la Mauviniere/AP Photo.]")
[This article is the final of a three-part series featuring different perspectives on the recent developments in Mali. Previously published: "Mali in Focus, Part One: The Jihadist Offensive Revisited" and "Mali in Focus, Part Two: A War That Threatens the Entire Region"] Broad political consensus in the domestic political sphere, support from the international community, and the urgency of the situation due to the rapid advance of Islamist militias—together, at first glance, these factors seem to justify French military intervention in Mali. Behind the alleged legitimacy of "Operation Serval,” however, France’s role is ridden with gray areas and ...
Keep Reading »مالي الحرب الماحقة
![[جنود للقوات الفرنسية. المصدر الشروق تصوير ح.م]](/content_images/3/sm_malifrance.jpg "[جنود للقوات الفرنسية. المصدر الشروق تصوير ح.م]")
بدأت فرنسا حملتها في مالي ودس أنفها في شؤون مستعمرتها السابقة متعذرة بمحاربة "القوى الإسلامية المتطرفة" وضرورة وضع حد لسطوتها في مالي. خططت وأرست القواعد والجنود وقررت القصف ومطاردة هذه الجماعات، قتلت إلى حد الآن العشرات من عناصر" أنصار الدين" وقصفت بعض خزانات وقودها، وقال الجيش المالي إنه استعاد السيطرة على بعض المدن. أعلنت فرنسا أنها لن تتعدى الجنوب المالي، وإنه ليس من ضمن مخططاتها التوجه إلى الشمال، إنما ستمهد للقوات الأفريقية للقيام بتلك المهمة وتحرير الشمال من قبضة "الجماعات الإسلامية" المتطرفة. وفعلاً بدأت بعض الدول الإفريقية بإرسال قوات إلى مالي، لكن يبقى إعلان فرنسا مجرد وعد وتظل هناك حقيقة أنها دخلت من دون غطاء دولي شرعي. من ...
Keep Reading »Focus sur le Mali, deuxième partie: Une guerre qui menace toute la région
![[Des combattants islamistes armés traversent à vive allure la frontière entre la Mauritanie et le Mali le 21 mai. Image de Jemal Oumar/Flickr.]](/content_images/3/sm_ScreenShot2013-01-18at11.35.19AM.png "[Des combattants islamistes armés traversent à vive allure la frontière entre la Mauritanie et le Mali le 21 mai. Image de Jemal Oumar/Flickr.]")
[Cet article est le deuxième d'une série de trois, avec des perspectives différentes sur les développements au Mali. Le premier article - « Mali in Focus, Part One: The Jihadist Offensive Revisited » ] « …Ce conflit est légitime et vital pour la sécurité des Français. Nous ne pouvons pas espérer conserver nos modes de vie et notre prospérité si nous n'allons pas à l'extérieur du territoire national participer à la stabilisation et au règlement des crises, à l'éradication des menaces qui finiraient immanquablement par venir nous menacer à l'intérieur du territoire national. » Ces mots ont été prononcés par le général de division ...
Keep Reading »Mali in Focus, Part One: The Jihadist Offensive Revisited
![[A public transport minibus is stopped by Malian soldiers at a checkpoint at the entrance to Markala, approximately forty km outside Segou on the road to Diabaly, in central Mali, Monday, 14 January 2013. Despite intensive aerial bombardments by French warplanes, Islamist insurgents grabbed more territory in Mali on Monday and got much closer to the capital, French and Malian authorities said. In the latest setback, the al-Qaida-linked extremists overran the garrison village of Diabaly in central Mali, France's defense minister said in Paris. Image from AP Photo/Harouna Traore.]](/content_images/3/sm_ScreenShot2013-01-16at7.07.21PM.png "[A public transport minibus is stopped by Malian soldiers at a checkpoint at the entrance to Markala, approximately forty km outside Segou on the road to Diabaly, in central Mali, Monday, 14 January 2013. Despite intensive aerial bombardments by French warplanes, Islamist insurgents grabbed more territory in Mali on Monday and got much closer to the capital, French and Malian authorities said. In the latest setback, the al-Qaida-linked extremists overran the garrison village of Diabaly in central Mali, France's defense minister said in Paris. Image from AP Photo/Harouna Traore.]")
[This article is the first of a three-part series featuring different perspectives on the recent developments in Mali.] Although the jihadists in northern Mali share the same radical Islamist substrate, we were expecting to see Iyad Ag Ghaly’s Ansar Eddine (AD) movement cloak itself in a more moderate attitude in return for having obtained a respectable status in the Azawad conflict. This was the wish expressed by several international mediators—namely Algeria and Burkina Faso—given the different meetings held in Algiers and Ouagadougou. But some visible signs demonstrate an accord among the different jihadist groups that is too broad to avoid a collision with the ...
Keep Reading »Tamerlane in Damascus
![[An illustration by Rembrandt Harmensz depicting renowned historian and philosopher Ibn Khaldun pleading with Tamerlane to hault any attacks targeting the city and people of Damascus.]](/content_images/3/sm_Ibn-Khaldun-and-Tamerlane.jpg "[An illustration by Rembrandt Harmensz depicting renowned historian and philosopher Ibn Khaldun pleading with Tamerlane to hault any attacks targeting the city and people of Damascus.]")
In December of 1400, Timur left the rubble of Aleppo and Hama behind, making his way to the outskirts of the first city of Syria: Damascus. By this time, an Egyptian army under the command of the Mamluk Sultan himself had arrived in Syria, engaging in several skirmishes with Timur’s forces. Then, abruptly, it headed back to Cairo at the start of the new year, ostensibly to prevent a rival from taking control in the Sultan’s absence. Newly vulnerable, the Damascene population sent a delegation of scholars and notables, including a famous visitor to the city, historian Ibn Khaldun, to negotiate with Timur. The Mongol leader ordered the Damascene representatives to write ...
Keep Reading »All Armies - the Syrian Regime, the FSA and Islamist - Are Thieves
![[Kids leading the protest of Bustan Al-Qasr. Photo by Rita from Syria.]](/content_images/3/sm_kids.jpg "[Kids leading the protest of Bustan Al-Qasr. Photo by Rita from Syria.]")
During the 1990s, my small village which felt like it was cut off from half the known world experienced a strange new phenomenon. A big mosque was built by donors from the city of Hama, the cost of which at the time outstripped the earnings of the residents of the whole village combined. The thing I remember most about the mosque was the huge quantities of rice and olive oil deposited in front of the mosque to distribute among the regular visitors. We began to see a few of the men from the village let their beards grow while some women started wearing the hijab. For those residents of the village it was worth changing certain life-long habits and modes of dress ...
Keep Reading »Syrian Refugees: Reliance on Camps Creates Few Good Options
![[Syrian refugees at Reyhanli refugee camp in Antakya, Turkey. Image by Syria Freedom via Flickr]](/content_images/3/sm_syriarefugees121812web.jpg "[Syrian refugees at Reyhanli refugee camp in Antakya, Turkey. Image by Syria Freedom via Flickr]")
[The following report was issued by Refugees International on 5 December 2012.] Syrian Refugees: Reliance on Camps Creates Few Good Options Summary The civil war in Syria has forced large numbers of Syrians from their homes, and in many cases from the country entirely. Refugees continue to flee in record numbers, and there are currently almost 400,000 registered or waiting for registration in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey combined. The United Nations has said it expects this number could reach 700,000 by December 31, 2012. About half of all the registered Syrians are living in camps, but the other half remain in ...
Keep Reading »O.I.L. Media Roundup (17 December)
[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Occupation, Intervention, and Law and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the O.I.L. Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each biweekly roundup to OIL@jadaliyya.com by Monday night of every other week] News "European Court Backs CIA Rendition Victim," Al Jazeera English The European Court of Human Rights has ordered Macedonia to pay German citizen Khaled el-Masri $78,000 for arresting and handing him over to the US, finding that he was an innocent victim of the CIA's extraordinary rendition. "UK Pays ...
Keep Reading »Atatürk and My Grandfather
![[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk with King Edward VIII.]](/content_images/3/sm_King_Edward_VIII_and_Mustafa_Kemal.jpg "[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk with King Edward VIII.]")
Where the young Palestinian Ismail Hroub was killed and buried after being recruited by the Ottoman army in the early twentieth century remains unknown. His brother, my paternal grandfather Khalil Hroub, would for the rest of his days remain saddened by the early loss of his brother. He had refused any money from the Ottoman administration, then based in Hebron, as compensation for this loss. Like many Palestinian families who lost young men in the Great War, and despite sheer poverty and need, my grandfather considered it undignified to accept compensation. Their position was not affected by the fact that Ismail had, along with dozens of the “fittest” young men from ...
Keep Reading »UN Counter-Terrorism Expert Launches Inquiry into the Civilian Impact of Drones and Other Forms of Targeted Killing
LONDON (24 January 2012) - UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism Ben Emmerson QC will be formally launching an Inquiry into the civilian impact of the use of drones and other forms of targeted killing, focusing on the applicable legal framework, a critical examination of the factual evidence concerning civilian casualties, with a view to making recommendations to the UN General Assembly concerning the duty of States to conduct effective independent and ...
Keep Reading »O.I.L. Media Roundup (30 January)
[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Occupation, Intervention, and Law and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the O.I.L. Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each biweekly roundup to OIL@jadaliyya.com by Monday night of every other week] News "UN Expert Investigates US Drone Attacks, Targeted Killings that Involve Civilian Casualties," Associated Press The AP reports on the ...
Keep Reading »First Jordanian Elections post Arab Uprisings; Challenges of Reporting from Syria
This week, Amman-based activist and writer Hisham Bustani updates VOMENA on the first Jordanian parliamentary elections since the Arab uprisings, and what they mean for the country. More than thirty journalists were killed in Syria in 2012 alone. Istanbul-based freelance journalist Justin Vela talks about the challenges and pitfalls of reporting from a Syrian warzone. [Correction from Hisham Bustani: To correct a mistake I made in the interview regarding the number of the Jordanian ...
Keep Reading »Early Perspectives from Algeria on Northern Mali and French Intervention
Thus far, Algerian press coverage and reactions are divided on France’s military intervention in northern Mali, Operation SERVAL, as well as the additional thrusts in the south by Mali’s jihadist coalition. Skepticism that has been prevalent in Algerian media coverage of calls for the internationalization of the Malian crisis remains a strong thread in opinion and editorial writing nonetheless. While significant strands of elite opinion—especially at the political level—appear to have somewhat rallied to ...
Keep Reading »Focus sur le Mali, troisième partie: Une périlleuse démonstration de force de l'ancienne puissance coloniale
[Cet article est le troisième d'une série de trois, avec des perspectives différentes sur les développements au Mali. Les articles précédents - « Mali in Focus, Part One: The Jihadist Offensive Revisited » et « Focus sur le Mali, deuxième partie: Une guerre qui menace toute la région » ] Large consensus politique sur la scène politique intérieure, soutien de la communauté internationale, urgence de la situation face à l'avancée rapide des milices ...
Keep Reading »O.I.L. Media Roundup (18 January)
[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Occupation, Intervention, and Law and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the O.I.L. Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each biweekly roundup to OIL@jadaliyya.com by Monday night of every other week] News "Clearing Palestinian Protestors from West Bank Site, Netanyahu Pledges to Build Settlement," Joel Greenberg The Washington Post ...
Keep Reading »Good Taliban, Bad Taliban: Pakistan’s Double Game and the US War on Terror
The start of 2013 brought a fresh upsurge of US drone strikes in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan, killing between twenty-three and forty-four people. Since 2008, when President George W. Bush ordered increased strikes on “militants” and associated “infrastructure targets” in these areas, killings have been a constant occurrence. President Barack Obama not only continued this policy, but escalated it dramatically. Of the 360 total strikes documented by The Bureau of ...
Keep Reading »O.I.L. Media Roundup (6 January)
[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Occupation, Intervention, and Law and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the O.I.L. Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each biweekly roundup to OIL@jadaliyya.com by Monday night of every other week] News "Israel Approves Another 1,200 Settlements Around Jerusalem", Peter Beaumont In what constitutes the latest in a larger wave of nearly ...
Keep Reading »United Nations Periodic Update on Syria
[The following report was issued by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic of the United Nations on 20 December 2012.] Introduction The unrelenting violence in Syria has resulted in thousands of deaths; untold thousands of wounded, detained, and disappeared; and physical destruction on a massive scale. Hundreds of thousands have fled their homes, and those that remain struggle to secure basic necessities. World heritage sites have ...
Keep Reading »A Faraway Neighbor
For those of us who have grown up Arab, Palestine is a constant presence. From childhood to adulthood, we hear about the Palestinian cause, from the news, from friends and family, from parents and grandparents, from school, from songs. Palestine is close to our hearts, while its reality is so far away. The land itself feels distant; despite its proximity, one can only dream of seeing it. If there is a small glimmer of light emerging from the Egyptian revolution, it is that the reality of ...
Keep Reading »Malala, Abandoned to the Hawks of War
On 10 December 2012, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari announced that his government and UNESCO were establishing the “Malala Fund for Girls’ Education,” and that Pakistan would contribute ten million dollars. This fund’s namesake, Malala Yousufzai, is a young activist for girls’ education. She was shot and severely wounded on 9 October 2012 by Taliban-led armed thugs on her way to school in the Swat Valley in Northwest Pakistan. Given the marathon international media coverage of her story, Zardari’s ...
Keep Reading »Documenting Yemen's Injured South
I shot the film presented here, "Third Day in the Heart of the Revolution,’’ over a single day. Divided in two parts, it tells stories from the south of Yemen two years after the revolution started. The first segment focuses on the Yemeni governorate of Abyan and those who fled its capital Zinjibar during the war with Ansar al-Sharia. The second presents the youth of al-Mansura in Aden who have been expelled from Sahat Al-Shuhada' (Martyrs' Square) through the use of deadly force by security forces. ...
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Not all successful mediators are neutral, yet America’s seemingly limitless devotion to the colonizer against the colonized cries out for a counterweight.click | email | tweet
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