Women's News August 25, 2011

More problems with women being forced to work in the Middle East.  See previous posts.  This time the woman was from Madagascar.  She spent 15 years as basically a slave in Lebanon, before a welfare agency tracked her down.  And for anybody out there who thinks this is a Middle Eastern problem, or a problem for "dark-skinned" people, it even happens in the United States of America (see report).

A Muslim woman is suing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch.  She claims she was fired because she wouldn't take off her hijab at work.  Another Muslim woman filed a lawsuit against them in 2009, for a similar reason.

In July, several women reporters had to remove their bras for a security check, so they could meet with the Israeli prime minister.  The Foreign Press Association (FPA) denounced the incident.  The same thing happened to a pregnant Al-Jazeera reporter in January.  The FPA is concerned about sending correspondents to events where this could happen to them.  Unfortunately, that may be precisely why it is happening.  It's degrading and humiliating but if you give in to it, then they've won.  Maybe at the next press event, the reporters should ALL be women.

Lebanon Crisis: January 24, 2011

Hizbollah said they wanted a national unity government.  And Druze leader Walid Jumblatt decided to support Hizbollah and their allies.  He also referred to Hizbollah as the "resistance."

So the new Prime Minister, courtesy of Hizbollah, will probably be Najib Mikati, a billionaire, and former PM.  And the Sunnis are really upset.  Mikati has said he'll try to be a unity figure, but the Sunni's aren't buying it.  They're calling this "Hezbollah's coup" (as quoted in the article).

Mikati's web site.

Lebanon Crisis: January 20, 2011

Yes, I feel things are in flux enough to start up a LebanonWatch series.  Maybe I'll do a TunisiaWatch too.


First of all, Yahoo! has a good article about the anti-settlement resolution that Lebanon submitted to the UN Security Council on behalf of Palestine.

Turkey and Qatar were trying to mediate the government situation, but that's over now, and their emissaries have left Lebanon.

Saad Hariri is currently the caretaker prime minster and has said he intends to lead a new cabinet.  This appears to be a major sticking point for Hizbollah, who is not happy.  Hizbollah has been discrediting the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).  See the BBC's Q&A on the STL.

Both sides of parliament are blaming the other for corruption and misspent funds.

Some countries are getting worried and have issued travel alerts for people visiting Lebanon.  Apparently the Lebanese are also worried, because they're converting their money to dollars.  And the Lebanese Army has started deploying around government buildings.

I read an article last week about how the Lebanese situation was being blown out of proportion, and that everything was fine (will try to find the link).  I completely disagree.  I still think there's a chance that everything will calm down, but it's slowly ramping up to a bad place.

edit: Changed name to "Lebanon Crisis."  ["Watch" implies a long-term situation.]

Russia Recognizes Palestine

President Medvedev said that Russia would continue to support a Palestinian state, the same as the Soviet Union did in 1988.  Israeli is downplaying the matter.  Medvedev met with the king of Jordan after trying to visit Israel.  Also, apparently Lebanon put a resolution condemning Israeli settlements before the UN Security Council.  And since the US is trying to support Hariri, they may have a hard time vetoing it.  Will Spain be the next country to recognize Palestine?

Lebanon on the Brink?: Update III

Things continue to deteriorate.  Saudi Arabia is pulling out after the Saudi-Syrian initiative failed.  Turkey and Qatar are now trying to help.  They may be starting to make progress.  The STL did hand down indictments, but apparently they are sealed for now.

Lebanon on the Brink?: Update II

A possibly damaging tape has come to light.  It's from 2005 or 2006, and it's Saad Hariri talking with a man who was later discredited as a false witness, Muhammad Zuhair Siddiq.  As the post I've linked to points out, Hariri is not doing anything wrong on the tape.  He is listening to the witness, whom he appears to believe, and this is before the witness was discredited.  But considering the timing, it could be damaging.  Hizbollah timed their parliament resignation for Hariri's US visit, and now this tape comes out just before a new prime minister is in the works.  We'll have to see how Hariri resonds.

Lebanon on the Brink?: Update I

The President of Lebanon will start talking with the different factions on Monday, to try and find a new prime minister.  Hizbollah, of course, wants the new guy to be one of their allies.  They're claiming that their faction (called March 8) has a majority in parliament.  And since Israel is on the southern border of Lebanon, the Israelis are on alert (or not) in case things turn violent, although Hizbollah leader Nasrallah says it won't.  Everyone is concerned about what's going to happen next.  Even the Lebanese stock market fell.  Let's hope that Nasrallah is sincere, and that this fight stays strictly political.

Lebanon on the Brink?

Hizbollah has left the Lebanese government.  Eleven members left the 30-minister government, just enough to bring it down and force a new one to be created.  The UN's Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) has been looking into the 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri for a while now, and is expected to hand down indictments soon - specifically, indictments involving Hizbollah.  Saudi Arabia and Syria have been trying to keep the government together ahead of these indictments, but it looks like that's over now.  Hizbollah is blaming that on the US, while they also try to thwart the STL.

At the moment, things do not look good in Lebanon.  Once the expected indictments come out, Hizbollah and its allies are not going to be happy.  The current situation arose when a power-sharing agreement was reached in November of 2009.  But as Hizbollah was implicated in the Hariri assassination, things began to go downhill.  Let's hope the situation doesn't disintegrate into violence.


More from the BBC.

Hariri

In 2005, the former prime minister of Lebanon, Rafik Hariri, was assassinated. The Syrians were originally blamed for it, but now Hizbollah is saying it was the Israelis. Hizbollah claims to have evidence and will turn it over to the Lebanese authorities.

Who is really to blame? At this point, it's anyone's guess. Syria is still a strong contender, and last year a German paper suggested Hizbollah was involved (see the last link above). We may never know for certain.

Maids in Trouble

Scary article on maids in Lebanon. A large number have died during the past year, either of suicide or from falling off buildings. It sounds like they're being held captive by their employers. This isn't a Lebanese problem - it happens in the Gulf States too. And it's been known to happen in Western nations as well, before anyone starts thinking this is an "Arab" problem. This is a money and societal problem. People with money hire poor women from third-world countries and treat them like crap. In the US it mainly happens with women from Latin America, but in the Middle East, it's generally south Asians and Africans (edit: forgot to add Africans).

Lebanon is Breaking

The factions went to Qatar to talk things over. Qatar proposed a unity cabinet, but it doesn't seem to be going over well. Let's hope this doesn't descend into another civil war.

Islam and Freedom

A few stories of interest:

Iran has been targeting activist women's groups.

A new study says that Muslims do want freedom and democracy, but they don't want it forced upon them. Wow, what a concept. We want freedom, but we don't want someone else telling us what it means or forcing us to accept what they want (because that's not really freedom is it?). I am taking this study with a little grain of salt. It's part of a book, and one of the authors sometimes comes across as a bit of an apologist.

The US is sending a warship to Lebanon! This is "a show of support for regional stability." Nothing says stability like a warship off your coast! (Yes, the Gator is a bit snarky today.) It's a little disturbing that the ship is the USS Cole (the one that was bombed in Yemen years ago).

Kuwaitis Shouldn't Go To Lebanon

Kuwait is following in Saudi Arabia's footsteps by advising it's citizens not to travel to Lebanon. There was a threat to the Kuwaiti embassy and they've had some trouble in parliament. I may discuss the situation in Lebanon in a different post.

Saudis in BAE, but not in Lebanon

There's an update on the whole BAE-Saudi Arabia scandal. See Post 1 (Jan 2007), Post 2 (June 2007), and Post 3 (June 2007).

Also, Saudi Arabia is telling its citizens not to visit Lebanon right now. Who knows what's going to happen next in Lebanon. It's getting crazy.

The Stupidity is Painful

Let me state right up front that this is a rant. The stupidity of the Bush regime is really driving me nuts. First of all, there's the whole "Al-Qa'eda - Iraq link." Yes, al-Qaeda is in Iraq. . . now. They were not affiliated with Saddam Hussein though. Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein were enemies. I am sick and tired of hearing "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" from Republicans trying to link Bin Laden and Saddam. Saddam Hussein was SECULAR, Bin Laden is RELIGIOUS. Bin Laden wanted to destroy Saddam. And if you still think bin Laden would join up with his enemy, would he really join up with one in his own backyard? If he wanted help he would not turn to Saddam, he'd turn to people in Saudi Arabia [hmmm: weren't most of the 9-11 hijackers from there?].
Number Two: What is up with building a new US Embassy in south Beirut in Hizballah territory? Even the US ambassador there thinks it's stupid. So why do it? Well, the paranoid crazy side of my brain says it's a good excuse to start some shit. You know - a sort of "if you build it, they will bomb." [I like that - I should trademark it.] If the US builds this embassy, it's in the perfect place to get hit, and that would be a good excuse to bomb the shit out of the area or even invite the Israelis to help out. Color me cynical and paranoid, but I live in Bush's America.