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Middle East

Andrea Cappellini

By Amnesty International

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is killing human rights The Israeli operation against the Gaza Strip, called Protective Margin, which lasted from 8 July to 26 August, caused the death of almost 2200 Palestinians (mainly civilians), the partial or total destruction of over 50.000 homes and the evacuation of about a third of the population. Sixty-six Israeli soldiers were also killed.

Over the course of the 50 days of fighting, more than 3.500 rockets were launched from Gaza towards Israel causing 6 civilian victims.

At least 25 Palestinians accused of spying on Israel have been executed after summary trials.

Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories have continued to expand and further land expropriations are expected.

Since June 2014 the armed group called Islamic State (previously known as Islamic State of Iraq and Levant) has occupied increasingly larger parts of Iraq, carrying out an ethnic and religious cleansing of historical dimensions of non-Arabs and non-Sunni populations (Sunni Arabs opposing the armed group have also been killed). Paying the price for this are the people belonging to religious minorities such as

UNHCR/E. Dorfman

Christians and Yazidi, as well as Kurds. There have also been many mass killings, in particular in the villages of Qiniveh and Kocho on 3 and 15 August, when hundreds of people were killed: groups of men and boys (some only 12 years old) were rounded up, taken away and killed.

Foreign and local hostages have been slain.

In retaliation, the Iraqi security forces and their allies the Shiite militias carried out actions and attacks against civilians and Sunni detainees considered supporters of the Islamic State solely due to their religious affiliation. The militias kidnapped hundreds of people from homes, work places and road blocks. In some cases the victims were killed despite the ransoms paid by their families. Many were found dead, usually shot in the head and handcuffed.

The Islamic State is said to have captured thousand of Yazide girls and women and taken them to Syria. While international attention has been focused on crimes committed by the Islamic State, the military offensive undertaken

by President Bashar al-Assad in Syria has continued, as well as the detention in isolation of thousands of prisoners. No progress has been made concerning the kidnapping of dozens of civilians from Syria and other countries by opposing armed groups The situation of the Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries has become increasingly precarious.

Although newly-elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has favoured the progressive normalization of relations with the international

community and the reopening of suspended dossiers, he has not fulfilled his commitments regarding reforms and improving human rights.

In fact, the death sentence has been used even more frequently with an average of at least two executions a day (including minors at the time of the offence), there have been cases of torture in the prisons, and human rights activists and university students have been arrested.

The leaders of the Persian Gulf Monarchies have continued to prohibit all forms of dissent, in some cases toughening up repressive laws.

New legal procedures regarding offence to institutions and contempt of religious figures have been introduced in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain,

United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

In Qatar, which will host the World Football Championships in 2022, the exploitation of thousands of immigrant workers employed to build the sports plants and facilities has finally been revealed. Human rights organizations have denounced inhuman working conditions, with exhausting work shifts, non-payment of wages and privatization of personal freedom due to the “sponsor” system.

By Giovanni Scotto

Post-colonial order appears to have ended With the military victories of the ISIS and the collapse of Syria, the entire Middle East seems to be relentlessly heading towards the end of the post-colonial order dating back to after the Second World War when European leaders and the United Nations had laid the foundations for the division of the states of the Region and the birth of Israel. Today, the Middle East picks the poisoned fruit of the United States military adventures in Iraq twelve years ago, and of the new regional rivalry between Iran and the Shiites on one side and Saudi Arabia and Sunnites on the other, with the crisis of the old states and their oligarchies and with the remarkable ascent of radical Islamism. The crisis of the Arab elites from the Region had already been evidenced by the “Arab Springs” three years ago. Those social movements of revolt and democratization were often reabsorbed by new political structures, such as in Egypt, or were wiped out by military escalation and foreign armed interventions.

In this scenario, the conflict between Palestine and Israel remains acute, as demonstrated by the new bloody war in Gaza, but no longer seems to be the heart of the Middle East issue.

Traditional diplomacies seem to have lost their sense of orientation in a deteriorated context.

The United States, for a long time the decisive actor in the Region, no longer has a clear strategical line, especially regarding Syria, Iran and its traditional ally Saudi Arabia. In a Syria torn by the civil war and the ascent of the Islamist “caliphate”, efforts towards an overall mediation of

the conflict were unsuccessful in 2014. Iraq, with its successful caliphate, is a country reduced to shreds.

It is for this reason that, considering the impotence of the diplomacies, it is necessary to look towards that which moves in those strife-torn societies. They are underground/hidden processes, mostly invisible to the mass media, but in the medium-long term may bring unexpected results and profound changes. In the occupied Palestinian territories forms of non-violent protest and resistance have been successfully experimented as an alternative to the actual situation and upsurge of war. From our country, the non-governmental organization Un ponte per … created partnership relations and humanitarian aid with Iraq right from the start of the nineties, and today works with the embryos of civil society which in various areas and religious communities in the country seek alternatives to the sectarian violence. It seems almost paradoxical that even the official diplomacy of the United Nations has chosen, in the Syrian theatre of war, to pursue a “local” approach to negotiations, attempting to reach delimited truces between the numerous actors of the civil war in order to give some respite to the civilian suffering and which might prelude a wider peace process. It will not be an immediate solution for those like the ISIS who count on the escalation and diffusion of terror, but it could be the starting-point for finding a way out of the Middle-east chaos. The alternative seems to be an everyone against everyone

162

Alto Commissariato delle Nazioni Unite per i Rifugiati United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The figures shown in the adjacent table were provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR. They are official figures from the Global Trends Report 2013 published in 2014 showing the flows of refugees entering and leaving each country. For further details, please consult the full report.

REFUGEES ORIGINATING FROM PALESTINA* REFUGEES

96.044

MAIN COUNTRIES HOSTING THESE REFUGEES EGYPT

70.026

IRAQ

9.992

*4.8 million Palestinian refugees and displaced persons fall within the UNRWA mandate and are therefore not considered in this table.

REFUGEES ORIGINATING FROM ISRAELE REFUGEES

1.043

REFUGEES HOSTED BY ISRAEL REFUGEES

48.325

MAIN COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN OF THESE REFUGEES ERITREA

34.988

SUDAN

12.926

Danger of Boycotting

It was in January 2014 when “Yedioth Ahronoth”, the conservative largest selling newspaper in Israel published the headline “100 leaders of the economy warn Israel of the danger of its being boycotted”.

The article was signed by the most important Israeli entrepreneurs, managers and businessmen who launched a public appeal to the Government. “We must reach an agreement with the Palestinians”, they wrote, “because the world is losing its patience”. This refers to the Boycotting, Disinvestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel, launched in 2005 by numerous Palestinian civil society associations and widespread globally. It is believed that many personages will decide to adhere to the campaign, as well as firms, research centres and international pension funds who will cease relations with the Israeli colonies – illegal according to international law – and the sale of goods produced there.

2014 had been proclaimed “Year of solidarity with the Palestinian people” by the General Assembly of the UNO which had encouraged the State to organize awareness initiatives and had assumed responsibility for resolving the IsraelPalestine issue “according to international legitimacy”. However the year mainly witnessed the carrying out of new military operations in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza. The summer months of 2014 were the most intense for the area: on Reuven Rivlin, leader of the “Likud” right-wing nationalist party was elected 10th President of the State of Israel on 9 June. A few hours later, during the night between the 12th and the 13th of June, three Israeli youths – Gilad Shaer, Naftali Frenkel and Eyal Ifrach – disappeared near the Gush Etzion Colony (Bethlehem). Tel Aviv accused Hamas of the kidnapping and launched the “Brother's Keeper” military operation in the occupied territories to find the three young men. Over 3.000 soldiers were involved in the raid: in just a few hours hundreds of Palestinians were arrested and 12 were killed. Among the victims was young Mohammed Abu Khdeir, kidnapped by several Israeli citizens in Jerusalem and burnt alive as a form of retaliation. While protests grew, the two main Palestinian parties, al-Fatah and Hamas, signed a reconciliation agreement for the formation of a united national government, expected since 2007. A few days later Israel launched the “Protective Barrier” military operation on the Gaza Strip which, exceeding the previous ones in size and severity, caused 2200 Palestinian victims and millions of dollars of damage. Seventy-two Israeli soldiers were also killed. Israeli peace and left-wing movements took to the streets again in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv after many years to call for the end of hostilities. On 26 August a cease-fire was declared and in September an agreement was signed by Hamas and al-Fatah in Cairo handing back control of the Strip to the General Information Official Name:

State of Israel

Flag:

Main Languages:

Hebrew and Arabic

Capital:

Tel Aviv

Population:

7.900.000

Area:

22.072 square km

Religions:

Hebrew (75.6%), Muslim (16.6%), Christian (1.6%), Druze (1.6%), other (3.9%)

Currency:

New Shekel

Primary Exports:

High-tech, diamonds, agricultural produce

Gdp Per Capita:

US$ 33.878

ISRAEL PALESTINE

General Information Official Name:

National Authority of Palestine

Flag:

163

Present situation and latest developments

Main Languages:

Arabic

Capital:

Ramallah

Population:

4.150.000 (2007)

Area:

n.d.

Religions:

Muslim, Catholic

Currency:

Egyptian Pound, New Shekel, Jordanian Dinar

Primary Exports:

not available

Gdp Per Capita:

West Bank US$ 1.500, Gaza Strip US$ 670

PNA. Israeli colonization activities continued in 2014, mostly concentrated in the East Jerusalem area. A project has been approved for the construction of a further 2200 residential units in the area, adding to the 12 colonies already surrounding the city and separating it from the rest of the West Bank. On an international level, Sweden was the first European country to recognize the State of Palestine, already already admitted to the UNO as a non-member observer State in 2012, following the initiatives carried out by President Mahmoud Abbas.

164

Two peoples and two States: this is the only solution left to the Israel-Palestine conflict pursued by international diplomacy. The Palestinians are calling for the withdrawal of the Israeli troops from the areas occupied in 1967 (including East Jerusalem, denoted as the capital of the future Palestinian State), the right for the refugees to return home and the halting of constructing

Israeli colonies, illegal according to international law, which undermine territorial continuity and control over the natural resources of the future State. The Israelis officially claim the right to their personal “safety”, but, in fact, they are pursuing the 1948 objectives, that is, the realization in Palestine of a Hebrew State extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

The reason for the fighting

The Israeli-Palestine conflict has lasted for over 60 years. The dividing point was the end of British rule at the end of the Second World War. It was then, with the memory of the Nazi Shoah still vivid in international public opinion, that the efforts of the Zionist movement created by Theodor Herzl at the end of the nineteenth century in order to give the Jews a homeland were successful. On 29 November 1947 a UN resolution accepted the claims of the Jewish people, assigning them 73% of the ex-British ruled territory. This decision was rejected by the Palestine people and by the Arab countries. Egypt, Syria, The East Bank, Lebanon and Iraq attacked the nascent country which, however, won the war and extended the territory under its control towards Galilee in the North and the Negev in the South. The State of Israel was officially created on 14 May 1948, with the “Declaration of Independence” signed by the Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. For the Palestinians it signified a Nakba (catastrophe): hundreds of thousands were forced to leave their homes or flee to neighbouring countries.

Following nationalization of the Suez Canal by Cairo in 1956, Israel attacked Egypt, conquering Gaza and the Sinai (which later had to withdraw).

In May 1967 Egyptian President Gamal Abd elNasser agreed to a defence treaty with Jordan which laid the foundations for an attack on the State of Israel. Retaliation by Tel Aviv was immediate: in June 1967 Israel attacked Egypt, then Jordan and Syria. It was the “Six Day War” which marked the harsh defeat of the Arabs, and Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights (still under Israeli control today) and Sinai (returned to Egypt in 1979). Other wars were to follow: in 1973 the Yom Kippur war against Egypt and Syria and in 1983 with Lebanon. And it was with the “Six Day War” that the Israeli-Palestine question entered its present-day impasse. Despite international pressure and numerous UN resolutions, Israel has not, in fact, left the occupied territories yet, and has begun a slow and constant on-going colonization campaign. In 1987 the stalemate in the conflict led to a popular uprising against Israeli occupation known as Intifada (“revolt”), which commenced in the refugee camp in Jabaliyya but quickly spread to Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The revolt lasted six years during which the Palestinians demonstrated and protested with every available means, from non-cooperation to general strikes, and

even throwing stones at the soldiers. The guerrilla was halted thanks to the 1993 Oslo Treaty, with an official handshake between the Israeli Prime Minister Itzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat, historical leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). This latter, in the name of the Palestine people, recognized the State of Israel and, in return, Tel Aviv recognized the PLO as representative of the Palestine people (a role which would be filled by the Palestine National Authority (PNA) from 1995 onwards. The Oslo Treaty, however, was unsuccessful and tensions rose once again on 28 September 2000 when Ariel Sharon, the leader of the Israeli political opposition at the time, took part in a provocative parade, together with one thousand armed men, on Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It was a symbo-

General outline

Foto sotto di Andrea Cappellini

Accusations of racism

Maltreatment, denouncements, episodes of racism: between 2013 and 2014 the protest of the migrants and asylum seekers from Sudan and Eritrea exploded in Israel. On 16 December 2013 a huge group of people marched from the Holot Detention Centre in Negev towards Jerusalem. In September 2014 the Israeli High Court ordered the closure of the Holot Centre because “every human being has a right to dignity. And even infiltrators are human beings”.

TENTATIVES FOR PEACE

The success of non-violent resistance

The photo of the Palestinians in the refugee camp in Yarmouk, Damask, lining up for food amongst the rubble of their homes, has become the symbol of the desperation produced by the war. And yet it is right from there, that corner of Syria besieged by the fighting which also represents the tragedy of the Palestinian people and their diaspora, from which in winter 2014 came a message of life and hope capable of travelling the world. A video which became a virus on the web in a short space of time shows an old piano painted white with the Palestinian flag flying beside it. Sitting before the keyboard is Ahmad Ayham, a Palestinian craftsman of musical instruments born and raised in Yarmouk, who began to play amidst the debris in his camp. His music rises above the sirens of the ambulances and the noise of the guns. “I wanted to do something for the camp I belong to. Something which could travel … send a message from our humanity to yours”, the young man, now known as “the pianist of Yarmouk”, later explained.

165

Ahmad Ayham

The people's non violent resistance in the Palestinian Occupied Territories is already a well-established reality. Created as a focused experience in the mid-2000s, in particular in the villages of Bil'in and Na'alin, it has multiplied and is now promoted by a Co-ordination Committee for the people's struggle. These are local groups which must challenge not only the politics of the Israeli military occupation, but also the internal politics of the Palestinian world, characterized by divisions, corruption and, on one hand, by a radicalism lacking future, and on the other, by corruption and dependence on international donors. As well as the weekly demonstrations against the dividing wall, some of the types of action carried out by the resistance committees include the symbolic foundation of settlements (such as Bab Al Shams in East Jerusalem), the planting of olive trees on land risking confiscation, and use of creative resistance such as protests against the occupation dressed as extraterrestrials from Avatar. A network of international solidarity has been created around the non-violent resistance, and the constant presence of Israeli activists and persons from other countries has been one of the elements for the success of many protests.

In December 2014, Ziad Abu Ein, Minister of the ANP appointed as co-ordinator of the protest committees, was killed during one of the protest repressed by the Israeli military forces.

Andrea Cappellini

lic gesture, carried out in one of the most sacred places for Muslims, which claimed Jerusalem as the “undivided” capital of Israel.

Thus began the “Second Intifada”. The following year qassam rockets began to be launched from the Gaza Strip against Israel. Over the years this action would lead to Israel intervening more than once in the Strip in order to “weaken Palestinian resistance”. In 2002, with the excuse of defending itself from Palestinian suicide attacks, Israel decided to build a “security barrier” in the West Bank which, in actual fact, subtracted ulterior land from the Palestinians, thanks to a borderline which did not follow the 1967 Green Line but cut deeply into the West Bank and surrounded some of the most densely populated colonies which had, in the meantime, become small cities. The structure, known as the “apartheid wall” was

THE PROTAGONISTS

condemned even by the International Law Court.

In the meanwhile tensions also increased on the Palestinian front, fuelled by the victory of Hamas in the political elections in January 2006. The armed warfare between the two main Palestinian factions reached a peak in June 2007 when a true and proper civil war nearly broke out in Gaza. Hamas prevailed, thereby creating a de facto separation of the Palestinian territories, with the Gaza Strip controlled by the Islamic Movement and the West Bank governed by Fatah, which controls the PNA. Also in June 2007, with the declared aim of opposing Hamas, Egypt and Israel enforced an economic embargo on Gaza, which is still currently in act, although slightly less strictly. Tel Aviv began a military campaign against the Gaza Strip at the end of 2008 which lasted 17 days and was known as “Operation melted lead”.

The final casualty list of the Israeli raids was 1305 Palestinian deaths and 5450 injured.

166

Alto Commissariato delle Nazioni Unite per i Rifugiati United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The figures shown in the adjacent table were provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR. They are official figures from the Global Trends Report 2013 published in 2014 showing the flows of refugees entering and leaving each country. For further details, please consult the full report.

REFUGEES ORIGINATING FROM LEBANON REFUGEES

3.824

REGUCEES HOSTED BY LEBANON REFUGEES

856.546

MAIN COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN OF THESE REFUGEES SYRIA

851.284

The Abdullah Azzam Brigades

The Abdullah Azzam Brigades are a Sunni Islamic group affiliated with al-Qaeda and the global Jihad movement. After the death of their leader, Saudi Majid al-Majid in a Lebanese jail on 4 January, the movement intensified its attacks against Iranian and Hezbollah objectives in Lebanon. The Brigades consider the Party of God responsible for the death of al-Majid and have promised that “the project to strike Iran and its party will continue”.

The Brigades take their name from the Palestinian Salafist sheikh Abdullah Azzam who died in 1990.

The first attack the group claimed responsibility for was in Taba, Northern Egypt in 2004. In 2005 they attacked a US military ship in the port of Aqaba in Jordan and a Japanese petrol tanker M. Star in the Strait of Hormuz in 2010. In February 2014 the group attacked the Institute of Iranian Culture and the Kuwait Embassy in the southern part of Beirut. Three months earlier it had been the turn of the Iranian Embassy in Beirut.

UNHCR/L. Addario

One would presume that the offensive of the Islamic State in the North of Lebanon would create situations unfortunately already witnessed in Iraq where the sectarianism of the ISIS militias have targeted various ethnic and religious groups. At the same time, the Christians scattered in the villages of the Bekaa (North-East of Lebanon) would be subjected to the destiny of their Iraqi brothers in Mosul, while the Shiites, which are the majority in the valley, would not expect any clemency because they are “unfaithful” and, most of all, Hezbollah supporters. The ISIS Sunnites, in fact, are against the Party of God, first of all because it is Shiite and then due to its participation in the war in Syria alongside Assad's regime. In actual fact, the conflict between ISIS and Hezbollah began with a long series of attacks carried out by the Jihadists between October 2013 and March 2014 in the banlieue Southern suburbs of Beirut. Hezbollah seems to be fully aware of the risk that the country of cedars risks. Therefore, it is not just by chance that it was the leaders of the Party of God who permitted the Lebanese army to return and preside the Northern border with Syria in order to put a stop to the flow of Jihad militias and arms, (also considering the seizing of the Syrian bordering region of Qalamoun). But the most interesting fact in this dramatic situation is how the danger from the ISIS has become an occasion for bringing closer together once again the many faces of Lebanon which have been in conflict with one another. The demonstration, or rather, the window of possibility, stems from by the Party of God itself. The Hezbollah are, in fact, recruiting young Christians, Druze and Sunnites in the East of the country in order to fight against the Islamic State Jihads. The Party of God encourages the young men from the North and the West of the Bekaa Valley to enrol in the “Resistance Brigades”, offering weapons and training. “We share a destiny and must fight together” is the slogan that the Shiites are using to convince the followers of other faiths to fight with them. An occasion, even if remote, for that national unity which has been absent in Lebanon

LEBANON

General Information Official Name:

Republic of Lebanon

Flag:

167

Present situation and latest developments

Main Languages:

Arabic, French

Capital:

Beirut

Population:

4.400.000

Area:

10.452 square km

Religions:

Muslim (Sunni, Shiite), Christian

Currency:

Lebanese Lira

Primary Exports:

Jewelry, electrical equipment, metallurgic, chemical and food products

Gdp Per Capita:

US$ 15.587

for too long. A division which is well represented by the country's politics. Since the end of President Michel Suleiman's mandate on 25 March 2014, the Parliament in Beirut has not managed to reach an agreement regarding the nomination of his successor. Just a few days after Suleiman's resignation, the Parliament decided to extend the legislature by 17 months, which should have expired last 20th of November. This did not happen and, given the “exceptional circumstances”, it is expected that the legislature will be extended for a further two years and seven months.

med dead during the fighting last November).

The fragile country which, according to the most pessimistic hypothesis circulating amongst the analysts in Beirut, more than representing a “soft target” due to the well-known sectarian divisions, would offer the Caliphate an outlet on the Mediterranean which it still does not possess. The Jihad groups have triggered the offensive in the North of Lebanon with two very defined objectives: break the encircling siege of the Province of Arsal, the hardest hit by the the spillover of the Syrian conflict in Lebanon and sow discord amongst the ranks of the Lebanese Army composed of Shiites and Sunnites. For the moment the army seems to be holding up.

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The presence of Palestinian resistance operative bases has always made Lebanon one of Israel's objectives.

Tensions between the two countries have grown constantly due to the counter-position between Israel and the Hezbollah Shiite movement which has established its operative bases in the south of the country. According to Israel, Iran financially supports the Hezbollah movement, flanked also by the Syrian government, in conflict with Israel for control of the Golan Heights. But a new, even more turbulent front has emerged in Lebanon. In fact, after Syria and Iraq, the Country of the Cedars appears to have become the third front of the new Islamic conquest, guided by Caliphate Al Baghdadi (presu-

The reason for the fighting

Depressed Refugees

A report by the United Nations Fund for Population Activities entitled “Analysis of the situation of young people in Lebanon affected by the Syrian crisis” describes the difficult living conditions of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon. According to the report, 41% of the young Syrians, just like the Lebanese who live in the areas accommodating the refugees, has suicidal thoughts and 53% does not feel safe. The situation is even worse for the young female refugees, for whom sexual harassment or violence is a regular occurrence. Those who are not assertive or subjected to harassing requests for “favours” are not allowed to rest or do not receive drinking water while they work, sometimes for 15 consecutive hours. In the areas of Lebanon where there is a high presence of Syrian refugees, the humanitarian crisis has produced collateral phenomena such as abandoning school or arranged marriages in exchange for money or even just food. The situation is worsened by the fact that the 66% of the refugee women aged between 15 and 18 has no knowledge of contraception methods and therefore there is an extremely high birth rate.

There are one million, 185 thousand Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

UNHCR/L. Addario

With the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the League of Nations entrusted France with the control of Greater Syria, including the five Provinces which today make up Lebanon. The San Remo Conference in April 1920 defined its obligations and boundaries and France declared the State of Greater Lebanon independent that year. It was a composite State with an enclave of a Maronite Christian majority in Syria and one with a Muslim and Druze majority having Beirut as its capital. Only 6 years later would Lebanon become a Republic, definitively separated from Syria, even though it remained under French rule. In 1943 the Lebanese Government abolished French rule and declared its independence. It was not until the end of the Second World War that the French troops finally withdrew from the new independent State.

In 1948, with UN Resolution 181 in which the Palestinian territory was “divided up” after the

birth of the Hebrew State, Lebanon adhered to the Arab League war against Israel without, however, ever invading the newly-created State.

Following the Arab defeat, Israel and Lebanon stipulated an armistice but never a peace treaty, not even today. The consequence of this war was 100.000 Palestinian refugees, joined by even more following the 1967 Arab-Israeli conflict. Refugees who, ten years later, would, according to the Israeli Government, be the cause of the invasion of Lebanon. The “Peace in Galilee” military operation began on 6 June 1982 aimed at eradicating the Palestinian armed presence from the South of Lebanon. In actual fact, what could be called the first IsraelLebanon war reached as far as Beirut where the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) headquarters were located. In order to impede the continuation of the bloodshed, international diplomacy intervened by evicting the PLO lea-

General outline

TENTATIVES FOR PEACE

Operation Dove: Lebanon-Syria mediation

The volunteers from Operation Dove maintain a presence of peace in Lebanon and their headquarters is in a garage in the town of Tel Abbas. Approximately 5000 people live in this village between Orthodox Christians and Sunnite Muslims. Operation Dove works on mediation between the Lebanese community and the Syrian refugees present in the area, and its main tasks are listening to people, visiting the refugees as well as the Lebanese who are frightened by the presence of the ISIS in the area. Listening is never banal or taken for granted because people are often ignored - therefore Operation Dove volunteers try to make their voices heard, for example, by denouncing the most serious cases of crime to the UNHCR. The organization suggests that the United Nations create demilitarized security areas where the Syrian refugees can return to live.

Sirajuddin Zureiqat

UNHCR/L. Addario

ders (who sought refuge in Tunisia) and sent numerous Palestinian armed units to the neighbouring countries.

A situation which left the civilian population in the refugee camps devoid of any protection whatsoever. This would lead to the dramatic massacre in the refugee camps of Sabr and Shatila, carried out by Christian units led by Elie Hobeika, left to operate by the Israeli troops commanded by Ariel Sharon who was assigned to this area. In the following years Lebanon would have to deal with the fundamental internal equilibrium with the Hezbollah, Shiite Muslims near Damask and Teheran.

On 12 July 2006 Hezbollah militants attacked an Israeli army patrol in southern Lebanon, killing three soldiers and kidnapping another two. Israel responded forcefully by starting an offensive against Lebanon in order to “neutralize Hezbollah's military system. The heavy air raids did not, however, result in success on land and after one month the Israeli army had advanced only a few kilometres. The Hezbol-

THE PROTAGONISTS

lah resistance would, in fact, demonstrate its efficiency in counter-attacking Israeli territory by launching of thousands of missiles. On 11 August, the United National Security Council intervened with Resolution 1701, which would be unanimously voted by the member countries, calling for the immediate cessation of the hostilities on both sides, the withdraw of Israel from southern Lebanon and the interposition of the Lebanese regular troops and the UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) in a cushion zone “free – it states - of any armed personnel except those from the United Nations and the Lebanese regular armed forces”.

In the meanwhile, the religious conflicts flared up once again on an internal front. For fifteen years, until 1990, Beirut had assisted the conflict between Muslims and Christians. Since May 2008 the conflict has been between Sunnites and Shiites. Naturally the upsurge of the revolts in Syria has increased concern and tensions in the Country of the Cedars, which must now protect itself from dangers coming from over the borders: on one side Israel which has never renounced the extremely precious water from the Litani River; on the other, the advancement of the ISIS (the Islamic State) fighters.

169

Twenty-year-old Sirajuddin Zureiqut is the new Emir of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, the main Jihad organization active in Lebanon and the first to be commissioned by al-Qaeda to conduct attacks in the Country of Cedars.

Hopes for relaunching group, which over the past months has undergone several setbacks, have been placed on him. As well as the killing of the previous Emir, Saudi Majid al-Majid, wanted by the United States, Saudi Arabia and Iran on many charges, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades have also been weakened by the arrest of their ideologist Jamal Daftardar and of their explosives expert Bilal Kayed.

First known as spokesperson for the Hussein Bin Ali cell of the Brigades, Zureiqut divides the Jihads between those who consider him a wise expert, and those who believe that he committed many errors during his mandate. Barely older than 20 and originating from Beirut, today Zureiqut lives in Zabadani and Qalamoun.

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Alto Commissariato delle Nazioni Unite per i Rifugiati United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The figures shown in the adjacent table were provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR. They are official figures from the Global Trends Report 2013 published in 2014 showing the flows of refugees entering and leaving each country. For further details, please consult the full report.

REFUGEES ORIGINATING FROM SYRIA REFUGEES

2.468.369

MAIN COUNTRIES HOSTING THESE REFUGEES LEBANON

851.284

TURKEY

585.601

JORDAN

585.304

DISPLACED PERSONS IN SYRIA 6.520.800 REGUCEES HOSTED BY SYRIA REFUGEES

149.292

MAIN COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN OF THESE REFUGEES IRAQ

146.200

390 Journalists Killed

Three hundred and ninety reporters and other operators have been killed since the beginning of the revolution in Syria in March 2011. These figures were reported by activists from the Syrian Human Rights Network, according to whom in the month of January alone six journalists have been killed in the country, a further 12 have been arrested or kidnapped and two have been wounded. Last month's casualty figures include two reporters killed by the regime – Japanese reporter Kenji Goto Jogo, killed by the Islamic State (IS) Jihads, and another reporter killed by the Jabhat al-Nusra Front (group linked with al-Qaeda) and two other armed groups.

© Manu Brabo / MEMO

Over three million refugees, 6.5 million displaced persons, 76.000 people killed just in 2014. These are the dramatic and still temporary figures for four long years of war in Syria. A war which seems destined to never finding a political solution in the short term. The situation on the battle field is, to the contrary, increasingly complicated. The groups opposing Bashar al-Asad's regime have become ever-increasingly hostages of integralist groups which have nothing to do with the principles of liberty and justice that initially inspired the Syrian revolution. One such group is the Islamic State (IS) whose declared objective is to create an Islamic caliphate in the North of Syria and in Iraq. Today the Syrian civil population finds itself squashed between the heavy bombardments of Asad's regime, those of the US-led anti-IS “coalition”, attacks by the numerous rebel groups active in the territory and the armed fighting and terrorism of the Islamic State. In August the United Nations estimated that the total number of persons killed since the beginning of the conflict has reached 191.000, but human rights activists believe that the real number is probably a lot higher. Today, more than half the Syrian population is a refugee or displaced person. A drama which has never been at the top of the international community's list of priorities. Today the main concern is the advancement of the IS. The Islamic State now controls 250 square km of land between Syria and Iraq. The “coalition” has carried out hundreds of raids since August 2014, killing at least 6.000 Jihads (according to CIA data there are approximately 30-40.000) and an unspecified number of civilians. However, the offensive has not forced the militants from the Islamic State to withdraw – they have only renounced 1% of the land they control. They can, instead, count on the constant arrival of new combatants. It is estimated that more than one thousand volunteers cross the border with Turkey every month to join up with the Islamic State militants. Furthermore, the “coalition” has not not managed to eliminate even one of the leaders of the Islamic State, while the Jihads have occupied ample space in inter-

SIRIA

General Information Official Name:

Syrian Arabic Republic

Flag:

171

Present situation and latest developments

Main Languages:

Arabic, Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic and French

Capital:

Damascus

Population:

20.410.000

Area:

185.180 square km

Religions:

Islam (90% comprising 74% Sunni and 16% other denominations), Christian (10%)

Currency:

Syrian Lira

Primary Exports:

Oil, petroleum products, minerals, fruit and vegetables, cotton, textiles, meat and wheat

Gdp Per Capita:

US$ 5.000

national media, by using the press to exploit the brutality of the crimes carried out against civilians and prisoners. The killing of one of the hostages in particular, a Jordanian pilot burnt alive in a cage, provoked a harsh reaction from Amman, a US ally, which intensified the air raids and is apparently planning a land invasion against the IS. Today, only the Iranian Pasdaran are fighting the Jihadists in the area.

172

The war which today bloodies Syria is one of “all against all” The scenario of the battle field has changed several times over the past year.: the Syrian Free Army has by now disintegrated into many different groups and over time has generated two of the strongest and most dangerous opposition groups: Jabhat al-Nusra, linked to al-Qaeda, and ISIS which today fights with the sole aim of creating an Islamic Caliphate in the region.

The Kurds continue to fight for the territory

in the North of Syria that they have begun to semi-autonomously manage over the course of the last three years, while President Bashar al-Asad does not seem willing to take any steps backwards. In the background remain the strong interference of the great powers: the USA, Saudi Arabia and Turkey – anti-Assad and, even though very ambiguously, anti-ISIS; Iran, Russia and China who support the regime.

Caught in the middle, as always, are the exhausted Syrian civilians.

The reason for the fighting

Currently known as Syria, it was once also Soria - a vanished word, traces of which remain in the Sorian cat.

For centuries a land of empires, the last being the Turkish one until 1918, and then a French protectorate, the country has been independent since May 1945. For ten days that year the Syrian population demonstrated in Damask calling for autonomy.

The French retaliated by bombing. Then, upon pressure by the English, the international community recognized its independence which was made official on 1 January 1946.

This was the beginning of period of political instability. In 1948 defeat in the first Arab-Israeli war led to the first of 13 coups. In the middle of these was Egypt's failed attempt to join United Arab Republic in 1958. In 1963 yet another coup brought to power the Ba'th lay party. The party took control of everything right from the start.

However, the coups continued, accompanied by military defeats: in the third Arab-Israeli war the 1967 Six Day War - Syrian lost control of the Golan Heights which have since been occupied

by Israel. The “Syrian Corrective Revolution” in 1970 put Hafiz al-Assad on the Chief of State's chair. He would govern strictly for thirty years, repressing all forms of opposition and – according to the secret services of many countries – encourage international terrorism.

In 1982, at the peak of an Islamic insurrection, Assad bombed the city of Hama in order to repress the revolt by the Sunnite Muslim community.

The New York Times quoted at least 10.000 Syrian civilians killed, while the Syrian Committee for Human Rights estimates the number to be 40.000, including 1000 soldiers.

In those same years Damask eventually made Lebanon a protectorate, thereby fuelling the civil war. Assad had control over everything and governed repressively. His family is part of the

General outline

A mark of ownership The Islamic State has allegedly put its own logo on the food rations sent to Syria by the United Nations.

This has been demonstrated by several photographs posted on social networks and the World Food Programme (WFP) has stated that they are “extremely worried” about the situation. “The WFP condemns the manipulation of food aid which is desperately necessary in Syria. We ask that all the parties in the conflict respect the humanitarian principles and consent the humanitarian workers, including our partners, to provide food to the most vulnerable families”, stated Muhannad Hadi, UN co-ordinator for the emergency in Syria. While attempts are being made to verify the authenticity of the photos, according to the Syrian Human Rights Observer, ISIS has taken control of the building which houses the Arab Red Cross Headquarters in the town of alMayadin in the Province of Dier al Zour in the East of Syria.

© Manu Brabo / MEMO

© Manu Brabo / MEMO

TENTATIVES FOR PEACE

Only agreements on a local level

There are more than 40 countries participating in the US-led “coalition” against the Islamic State. London joined the White House almost immediately after the decapitation of the Scottish cooperation worker David Haines.

David Cameron is supporting the USA with Tornado planes and surveillance vehicles.

France is also on the frontline.

Many countries have, instead, chosen not to intervene directly, mainly because the coalition lacks international legitimacy and has not been cleared by the Security Council.

But everyone has contributed with weapons or humanitarian aid. Those carrying out the bombing: The United States, The United Kingdom, France, Australia, Jordan, Bahrein, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (who, however, withdrew their planes at the end of 2014).

Those supplying military equipment: Italy, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, Canada.

Those sending humanitarian aid: Spain, Sweden, Japan and Kuwait.

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The anti-IS coalition

Space for peace initiatives seems to be minimal in the catastrophic war in Syria.

In order to reduce the sufferance of the civilians a cease-fire has been repeatedly negotiated on a local level, in order to aid the exhausted civilian population. At the end of 2013 people began to die of hunger in the Palestinian refugee camps in Yarmouk, south of Damask, due to a siege that lasted for months. Abdullah Al Khatib, a young Palestinian from Yarmouk who works for the local organization Basma, contributed to the mediation of the cease-fire which permitted the UNRWA to enter the camp and take supplies in February 2014. Not long before that, the Security Council had unanimously approved Resolution 2139, requesting the conflicting parties to allow the creation of humanitarian corridors. During 2014 there were about 50 local truces. Staffan de Mistura, special representative for the UNO since July 2014, also played his cards in this phase of the realization of the local level agreements. In particular at the end of 2014 when he was involved in the mediation of a “freezing of the hostilities” in the city of Aleppo, divided in two by the civil war.

© Manu Brabo / MEMO

Alawite minority, a branch of the Shiite religion in a country with a majority of Sunnite Muslims (three quarters of the population) and also some Kurds. This generated continuous conflict, suffocated by the state machine: Assad controlled the secret service, the army and the police force.

There were no opposition parties and the press was not free.

Even more serious was the “hereditary” transferral of leadership: Hazif died in 2000 and was succeeded by his son Bashar. Hopes for a democratic opening in Syria rapidly faded: the newlyelected President nominated members of his family to the most important roles. His younger brother, Maher al-Assad, took command of the IV Division of the Army, while his brother-in-law Assef Shawkat became Chief of State.

Key roles that would become essential to the President at the start of the 2011 revolution

THE PROTAGONISTS

which was destined to turn into a civil war.

Spurred on by the many protests in the Muslim countries, timid protests also began in Syria in February. They called for increased freedom and a more equal distribution of wealth. Repression was immediate, causing hundreds of deaths and thousands of arrests. The opposition got organized and created a temporary government which grouped all the factions together.

In June 2011 Damask deployed artillery and aviation and the revolution became a civil war.

The protesters could count on the support of the Arab League, the European Union and also the United States. Russia and China, instead, sent weapons to Assad's government, defying the veto of all United National Security Council resolutions. An international conflict which, in actual fact, increased the civil war and caused thousands of refugees to flee towards Turkey, Jordan, Iraqi Kurdistan and Lebanon plus more than one and a half million displaced persons in the country.

Consequently, the war is still raging in 2014.