Diplomacy & Crisis News

The 67th United Nations Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organization (DPI/NGO) Conference kicked off today at UN Headquarters in New York, with speeches affirming the importance of multilateralism, closer partnerships between the UN and civil society, and the role that young people have to play.

Recurring cycles of violence in the Middle East highlight the need for international efforts to prevent hostilities, provide humanitarian aid and support Palestinian reconciliation, the UN’s political chief told the Security Council on Wednesday.

Unfortunately for him, it probably won’t work.

His triumphs created the organization we know today, and his tragedies are warnings for what's in store.

Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan was remembered on Wednesday as the embodiment of the global Organization that works to improve the lives of men and women worldwide.  

Members of the Me Too Movement who protest against harassment and sexual abuse are not “weak” and are not “looking for attention” but rather are heroines speaking out for justice.    

American actress Lindsey Lohan recently came under fire after she proclaimed that women who speak up about sexual harassment “look weak” and that some women go to the police “for the attention.”  Although she later on apologized for her remarks, it is still a major blow for all women worldwide to have a woman of her status come out and make such remarks.   The lack of compassion she demonstrated in her remarks highlight that she has lived a privileged life and is out of touch with many women across the world, who have fallen victim to harassment and sexual abuse in the hands of men and yet can only dream of having the privilege of reporting them to the police, who will then proceed to have an impartial investigation.

Take the story of Iranian journalist Neda Amin, who is living as a political refugee in Israel.  Twice, she was raped by the Iranian regime due to her activities against the ruling Islamist government.  According to her, she did not even have the privilege of reporting the rapes to the police for the Iranian regime was on the side of the rapists.  If she had proceeded to report the rapes, she could have found herself criminally prosecuted. In 2014, Iran hanged Reyhaneh Jabbari, a victim of an attempted rape who fought back against her rapist and killed him.   The Iranian regime accused her of committing an unwarranted murder.   According to NCRI Women’s Committee, when 41 women and girls were gang raped recently in Iranshahr in Balochistan Province by the Basij militia, it was the whistleblower and a Baloch man who staged a sit-in protesting against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards that were prosecuted.   The gang rapists got off without punishment.

Iran is far from the only regime where the government is not on the side of the victims.  According to the UN, Syrian government forces and militias have raped and sexually abused women and girls in order to punish opposition communities in 20 governmental and intelligence branches, Reuters reported.  Of course, with Assad almost completely winning the Syrian Civil War, the victims of Assad are unlike to obtain justice in Syria.  Although a UN report recommended that Syria be tried for these grave war crimes at the International Criminal Court at The Hague, to date, this has not happened.  Syria is not a signatory of the Rome Statute and thus Assad can only be brought to The Hague if the UN Security Council mandates it.  Since Assad is allied with both China and Russia, this is unlikely to happen.  As a result, some victims of Assad’s regime are seeking justice in German courts but without the support of The Hague, comprehensive justice for the victims is unlikely.   Assad has literally gotten away with perhaps the worst democide of the 21st century so far.

Not having the freedom to publicly speak out against such sexual violence and to obtain justice for such horrific crimes can emotionally kill a woman or girl.  According to Shipan Kumer Basu, the President of the World Hindu Struggle Committee, a Christian woman in Bangladesh who was the victim of sexual harassment recently committed suicide.  Basu claimed that a mob had entered into her home, demanding money.  According to the report, when the woman refused to give them the money, they tortured her and forced her to pose for a nude video.  They told her that they would give her three days to give them the money or else they would post the video online on social media.   Due to the despair that this incident caused her and the fact that she could not expect justice if she proceeded to prosecute the sexual harassers with the police, Basu stated that she committed suicide, emphasizing that this Christian woman was merely one of many such victims in Bangladesh.

Basu blames the ruling government in Bangladesh for such incidents, accusing them of systematic human rights violations against their own people: “They sell arms to the Rohingya rebels, steal votes, engage in bank robbery, coal theft, gold theft, diamond theft, wage a shameful attack on ordinary peaceful students and engage in rampant corruption across the country.  In addition, they rape minorities, gang rape minorities, force a father, son and uncle to gang rape a mother and daughter, torture, take possession of Hindu crematoriums, evict Hindus from their homes, rape female students while taking a video of it, give sponsorship to terror groups like ISIS, harass ordinary people and for such things, ordinary people cannot escape.”

Compared to female victims who live in countries like Iran, Syria and Bangladesh, every American female should consider herself privileged.   However, even in Western countries like the US and Israel, a woman who is a victim of harassment and sexual violence still is in a disadvantaged position.  I know this from personal experience.  When I was 7 years old, I was raped by my brother’s best friend, which robbed me of anything resembling a normal childhood.  When I finally grew up enough to report the rape to the police, the rapist managed to get off with community service and a fine payable to the US government.  I never saw any of the money.  If it was physical damage caused by a traffic accident, I would have received financial compensation but not for the emotional scars of getting raped at age 7.   What was their justification?  He was a minor when he committed the crime, as if it mattered to me as the victim what age the rapist was.   I was no exception.   According to a 2014 Psychology Today report, there is only a 16% chance that a rapist will ever spend a day in jail in America.

Of course, Israel is no better than the US.   In the 1990’s, 7 teenage boys gang raped a 14-year-old girl on Kibbutz Shomrat in Israel.   To make matters worse, instead of supporting the victim, the kibbutz did everything they could in order to cover up the rape.  According to an academic article that was published in the International Journal of Conflict and Violence, the Kibbutz media at the time blamed the victim for the incident instead of the rapist.  Furthermore, she was completely ostracized by her community for harming the name of the kibbutz.  Even worse, the legal system did not support her as the victim in the way that they should have.  The submission of the indictment was delayed by a number of years due to the mental health condition of the victim.   Originally, the 7 boys were acquitted in the District Court but the Israeli Supreme Court intervened in the case and sentenced them to two to three years in prison.  That’s it.  Two to three years for completely destroying the life of the victim.  To date, the victim is not able to function.  She never managed to get her life back together but the perpetrators only got two to three years behind bars.

Although these incidents happened many years ago, I fear that not much has changed since then.  As a Middle East based journalist, I routinely have been harassed online for over a year now.   Although the harassment is not sexual in nature, the manner in which people here in Israel try to shut me up whenever I wish to speak out about it is sort of similar to how the Kibbutz tried to shut up the poor 14-year-old gang rape victim on Kibbutz Shomrat, whom Israeli society attempted to silence since her story destroyed the visionary dream of the Kibbutz movement.  I am told to suffer silently and to give into the dictates of my male harasser and his friends merely due to his prominent position in society.  My life story during this past year apparently destroys the halo effect around this prominent individual.  Therefore, too many people are trying to silence me as the victim.   And this is precisely why the world needs a Me Too Movement in order to empower female victims to stand up for themselves and to demand justice now.  It is not easy for a victim to make such demands.  Any victim of sexual abuse or harassment will tell you that going public is one of the most difficult things to do in a society that always blames the victim.  Therefore, any woman who goes public exposing such abuse is a heroine, not someone who is weak or a drama queen.

In fact, standing up for justice for victims of harassment and sexual abuse is an important virtue.  As American poet Suzy Kassem proclaimed, “Stand up to hypocrisy. If you don’t, the hypocrites will teach. Stand up to ignorance, because if you don’t, the ignorant will run free to spread ignorance like a disease. Stand up for truth. If you don’t, then there is no truth to your existence. If you don’t stand up for all that is right, then understand that you are part of the reason why there is so much wrong in the world.”For this reason, American actress Lindsey Lohan personally insulted countless women across the world with her statement.

The post Op-Ed: Standing up to harassers and sexual predators worldwide appeared first on Foreign Policy Blogs.

« C'est au nom de notre intérêt national le plus vital que nous devrions rechercher au plus vite la voie d'un règlement pacifique nous permettant de rendre les territoires occupés — la Cisjordanie et la bande de Gaza — à leurs populations ou au régime jordanien, suivant le libre choix des hommes qui (...) / Israël, Palestine, Conflit israélo-arabe, Droit international, Extrême droite, Intellectuels, Presse, Colonisation, Guerre israélo-arabe 1967, Guerre israélo-arabe 1948-1949 - 1969/10

Around 1 million Uighurs have disappeared without trial. Worse may come.

The fiery Muslim teacher is wanted back home in India, but Malaysia won’t give him up.

>> Retrouvez l’article dont est extraite cette citation : « L’Union européenne et la lutte contre le terrorisme », écrit par Séverine Wernert, membre du cabinet de Julian King, commissaire européen chargé de l’Union de la sécurité, dans le numéro d’été 2018 de Politique étrangère (n° 2/2018). < <

The president is destroying national security norms. Former officials like me need to speak up.

Recognizing the impact of terrorism on the lives of ordinary people worldwide is the focus of the first observance of an international day that honours victims and survivors.

U.S. cyberstrategy needs updating, but this isn’t the way to do it.

The decision to allow scores of people from the Republic of Korea (ROK) to reunite with their relatives north of the border has been welcomed by the UN Secretary-General.

Les accords de Moscou du 27 août, imposés sous la pression des forces d'occupation soviétiques, ouvrent une nouvelle et pénible phase dans la lutte du parti communiste et du peuple tchécoslovaques pour la démocratisation du régime socialiste ; mais il est à prévoir que l'épreuve de force engagée entre (...) / URSS, Armée, Communisme, Idéologie, Impérialisme, Mouvement de contestation, Tchécoslovaquie 1918-1992, Relations Est-Ouest - 1968/09

Different strains of bigotry have come together under Jeremy Corbyn, and he can't fix it.

Le conflit palestinien apparaît comme l'affrontement, parfois latent, souvent aigu, du nationalisme arabe et du nationalisme israélien. Retracer la chronique, très chargée, de cet affrontement, excéderait les limites de ce bref article ; nous nous bornerons donc à noter quelques aspects saillants de (...) / Israël, Monde arabe, Colonialisme, Idéologie, Nationalisme, Guerre israélo-arabe 1967 - 1967/07

According to research conducted by the Center for Near East Policy Research, Palestinian youngsters currently attending Hamas summer camps are learning methods of attacking and killing Jews. This is a blatant violation of children’s rights. Palestinian children living in Gaza should be given the opportunity to reach their full educational potential. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial and religious groups.”

Unfortunately, due to the activities of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Palestinian Authority and their Iranian supporters who fund such terrorist activity, these basic human rights that should be granted to Palestinian children are denied to them. Under the auspices of Hamas, Palestinian children, instead of being educated to love and to reach their potential in life, are systematically being taught to kill and to fight rather than to seek self-improvement, to respect human rights and to support fundamental freedoms.

According to research conducted by Iranian investigative journalist Neda Amin on behalf of the Center for Near East Policy Research and Israel Resource News Agency, Iran is presently funding a new training camp for Palestinian youngsters in Gaza titled, “How do we kill an Israeli?” In this training camp, 180 young Palestinian children are taught to shoot with M-16 rifles at Israelis. Some of the children who are taught to use weapons are of elementary school age. And according to Amin, “Iran is fully aware of all of the indoctrinating activities that go on in the summer camps that they are funding. The Iranian regime supports it.” 

There is a strategic objective behind Iran funding Hamas summer camps. A couple of months ago, the Times of Israel reported that Hamas is seeking an alliance with Hezbollah and Iran in order to foil Trump’s peace plan. Now, Amin’s research implies that Hamas is increasingly warming up to the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to the report, a spokesman for the Resistance Committees of the People of Palestine (a coalition of armed Palestinian terror groups opposed to Fatah and the Palestinian Authority) acknowledged how Iran is funding summer camps for Palestinian children, stressing: “All the world knows that Iran has always been the protector and supporter of the Palestinian people and resistance.” A report by the Palestinian Information Center, an independent Palestinian organization, added that Abu Mujahid said on Facebook: “We should not ignore anyone’s good deeds and support and we are obliged to appreciate and thank the government of Iran for that.”

In an exclusive interview, Amin stressed that although America is viewed as the great Satan and Israel as the little Satan, the Iranian regime still considers Israel to be their most dangerous enemy since they never at any point have accepted any bribes from the Iranian regime, like the Europeans, Arab states and even the US under Obama did. For this reason, she claims that Iran believes that the only chance that they got to undermine Israel is to empower the Palestinians and this is what is motivating Iran to fund anti-Israel pro-terror summer camps in Gaza. This is also why Iran supplies the Palestinians with arms and weapons, intelligence and military training, an annual budget for their living expenses and pays the Palestinians to kill Israelis.

Naturally, there are many parallels between how Iran is funding Hamas’s abuse of Palestinian children in these summer camps and how Iran commits horrific human rights abuses against their own citizens. According to Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, “A country that does not respect the rights of its own people will not respect the rights of its neighbors.” Sadly, Amin indicated in an exclusive interview that she witnessed numerous injustices first hand that were committed by the Iranian regime. When she submitted her first book for publication at age 18, she faced the opposition of the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, an institution who decides for a writer, poet, a musician and whoever else wishes to create an art whether their work is in accordance with Islamic thought as understood in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Even though her work focused on social issues, animal rights and human rights, she noted that the Iranian regime decided to brutally repress her. They told Amin: “By questioning social issues, you are questioning the Islamic Republic and if you continue, this will be considered a political crime.”

The Iranian regime seeks to have both Palestinian children in Gaza and its own citizens serve as pawns in order to create the Shia Crescent from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea. And just as Hamas murders Palestinians who are opposed to their tyrannical rule, the Iranian regime also does the same to its citizens. According to Amin, “My guilt was increasing by the day after every book I wrote. I was arrested, had to pay fines, was raped and beaten in prison and after I was sentenced to 2 to 3 years in prison, I had to flee the country. I sought refuge in Turkey but the Turkish government did the same thing that the Iranian government did plus a new charge of supporting Israel and writing for an Israeli news agency. After several interrogations and being threatened by Turkish intelligence agencies, I had to flee Turkey. They wanted to deport me to Iran, where they were already calling me a filthy Zionist Jew.” Fortunately for Amin, Israel accepted Amin as a refugee and her life was saved. Unfortunately, countless Palestinian children to date are still being utilized as Hamas’s cannon fodder under the patronage of Iran and most of them have not been fortunate enough to escape that fate

The post Iranian regime funds the horrific abuse of Palestinian children’s rights appeared first on Foreign Policy Blogs.

Ankara blames Washington for its financial troubles, but it is fighting the wrong enemy.

Cette recension a été publiée dans le numéro d’été de Politique étrangère (n° 2/2018). Katja Borck, chargée de projet au Comité d’études des relations franco-allemandes (Cerfa), propose une analyse de l’ouvrage de Georg Blume, Der frankreich-Blues. Wie Deutschland eine europäische Freundschaft riskiert (Körber Stiftung, 2017, 184 pages).

Georg Blume, chef du bureau parisien de l’hebdomadaire allemand Die Zeit, lance ici un fervent appel aux Allemands pour repenser leur politique et leur attitude vis-à-vis de la France. Dans un style engagé, il met en garde contre l’arrogance allemande envers un partenaire français certes fragilisé sur le plan économique, mais qui demeure d’une importance cruciale. L’ouvrage se veut un plaidoyer passionné pour retrouver une amitié sincère, d’égal à égal, qui permettrait de relancer un projet européen soutenu par ses citoyens, et susceptible de les protéger dans un monde globalisé.

En dix chapitres enrichis de ses rencontres et de ses expériences personnelles, l’auteur, non sans une certaine subjectivité, manie thèses philosophiques – en passant de Voltaire à Finkielkraut et de Goethe à Habermas – et citations de presse pour réveiller et convaincre le lecteur. Sous le titre « Pourquoi l’Allemagne donne une mauvaise impression de la France », le journaliste ouvre un état des lieux des relations franco-allemandes qui s’étend sur trois chapitres. Angela Merkel et d’autres responsables politiques d’outre-Rhin n’en sortent pas sans dommages. Puis sont passés en revue les personnages clés des relations franco-allemandes, les difficultés surmontées et les efforts entrepris pour en arriver d’abord à la réconciliation, puis au couple moteur du projet européen.

Georg Blume déplore les occasions manquées et l’absence de volonté politique du gouvernement allemand, qui lui semble se complaire dans un rôle de « dirigeant de l’Europe » et de « bon élève ». Un gouvernement qui aurait, notamment, manqué à la fois de respect et de compréhension dans une gestion presque unilatérale de la crise grecque et dans celle des réfugiés. L’auteur se montre fortement déçu que public et médias allemands aient cru possible l’accès au pouvoir de l’extrême droite en France. Deux chapitres sont consacrés à son regret que les élites allemandes ne prêtent pas suffisamment d’attention aux discours des intellectuels français – notamment d’origine juive.

Quant aux divergences des cultures économiques nationales, sous le titre « Le plus fort n’a pas toujours raison », le journaliste exige plus de compréhension de la part des Allemands, et termine en soulignant que l’amitié ne persiste jamais sans effort : médias et dirigeants politiques d’outre-Rhin feraient bien de s’en aviser…

Si les festivités du 55e anniversaire du traité de l’Élysée, tout comme le contrat de coalition du gouvernement Merkel IV, semblent témoigner d’une certaine amélioration des relations franco-allemandes, ce livre – écrit avant les élections fédérales de septembre 2017 – incite toutefois à la réflexion sur l’importance de signaux politiques, notamment à l’heure du numérique, ainsi que sur la difficulté et la fragilité d’une « amitié entre
peuples ».

En dépit de la rhétorique d’un auteur quelque peu biaisée par sa francophilie – et sans doute « de gauche » –, c’est un wake-up call que Georg Blume lance aux Allemands, qui auraient tout intérêt à ne pas l’ignorer. Car, in fine, il n’y a pas d’alternative à l’amitié franco-allemande si le projet européen veut perdurer.

Katja Borck

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