The pope, the Shia, and Iran

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The Pope, the Shia, and Iran

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Editorial

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Following Pope Francis’ historic visit to Iraq, significant messages and implications are worthy of addressing. The pontiff’s travel across various Iraqi cities as well as the diverse events and meetings he attended focused on interreligious dialogue and gave spiritual support for Iraqis.

However, most important was his iconic meeting with the Shiite Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani in Najaf. The outcome of their meeting merits more attention, as it gives recognition to the Najaf Shiite authority, against Iran’s Qum. Furthermore, the Pope’s promise to visit Lebanon in his next journey was of utmost importance for the struggling nation whose Christian Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi recently issued an urgent international call to help resolve its crisis.

Given the Patriarch’s call to “internationalize” the Lebanese cause and to maintain “neutral” state institutions, the papal promised visit is seen as supportive to the Lebanese Christians against Iran and Hezbollah’s influence. This week, in the cover file, Hanin Ghaddar and Mahdi Karayem offer deeper perspectives on the visit, with some insights on the repercussions and experts’ reading of the event and the consequences.

The Saudi steps towards more inclusion for women across all sectors has come at the right moment. The biggest GCC country is currently going through a huge transformation, where the potential of women is being unlocked gradually for the wellbeing of all citizens, regardless of their gender.

In his article, Motasem Al Felou writes about the recent Saudi declaration to accept Saudi women’s applications for military positions in specializations that used to be exclusive for men.

Read these articles and more on our website eng.majalla. com. As always, we welcome and value our readers’ feedback and we invite you to take the opportunity to leave your comments on our website.

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Editor-in-Chief

Ghassan Charbel Editorial secretary Mostafa El-Dessouki HH Saudi Research and Marketing (UK) Ltd 10th Floor Building 7 Chiswick Business Park 566 Chiswick High Road London W4 5YG Tel : +44 207 831 8181 Fax: +44 207 831 2310

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Great-Power Competition Is Coming to Africa

Issue 1843- March- 12/03/2021

50 When the Pandemic Becomes a

Chance for Creating Art !

22 The Sting in

COVID -19’s Tail

28 Will America Welcome Refugees

and Asylum-seekers Once Again ?

44 Ankara is Stealing

Syrian Crops

The Way of Salvation…What if 58 the solution is within us ?

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The Egyptian Factory Throw-

60 ing Down the Gauntlet to

Persian Carpet Makers

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napshot

Pope Francis first visit to Iraq

A young woman dressed in traditional Kurdish clothing holds a flag of the Holy See and gestures as she waits for the arrival of Pope Francis at the Franso Hariri Stadium in Arbil, on March 7, 2021, in the capital of the northern Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region. - Pope Francis, on his historic Iraq tour, visits today Christian communities that endured the brutality of the Islamic State group until the jihadists, «caliphate» was defeated three years ago )AFP Photos(

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Tunisian women demonstrate against violence

Tunisian women demonstrate on March 6, 2021 in Tunis against violence against women. - In Tunisia, the Personal Status Code or CSP consists of a series of progressive Tunisian laws, promulgated on August 13, 1956 by a Beylical decree and then entered into force on January 1, 1957, aimed at establishing equality between men and women. woman in many fields. Tunis, , Tunisia )AFP Photos(

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A WEEK IN THE MIDDLE EAST LEBANON Demonstrators kept blocking roadways across Lebanon this week in protest over the country’s financial meltdown and political deadlock, despite a call by President Michel Aoun for security forces to clear the obstructions.

He spoke after a meeting with top security officials on Monday, but on Tuesday a major highway leading southward from Beirut as well as areas in the centre of the capital and around the northern city of Tripoli remained blocked with protesters burning tyres and urging more people to join them.

KUWAIT Kuwait’s finance minister said this week that an increase in oil revenues due to higher crude prices would not cover the Gulf state’s budget obligations and he called for radical economic reforms, Reuters reported.

Kuwait’s budget would need oil prices of $90 per barrel to eliminate its deficit, the minister, Khalifa Hamada, said in a statement.

“We must address the scarcity of financial resources and the depletion of liquidity in the treasury (the General Reserve Fund) as soon as possible, and they must be accompanied by radical economic and financial reforms that contribute to reducing expenditures and increasing non-oil revenues,” Hamada said, adding he had full confidence in parliament’s cooperation.

EGYPT

YEMEN

Oil and gas producer Cairn Energy is shifting its focus to a growth portfolio onshore Egypt from declining offshore fields in the British North Sea in a flurry of deals worth around $1.5 billion which it announced this week, Reuters reported.

Cairn, with Partner Cheiron, agreed to buy onshore fields in Egypt’s Western Desert from Royal Dutch Shell for up to $926 million and sell its stakes in British fields Catcher and Kraken to private firm Waldorf Production for $460 million. “We’re transitioning from that portfolio in decline into one where we see that we can build greater cashflow generation into the future,” Cairn Chief Simon Thomson told a conference call.

Cairn, which produced around 21,000 barrels per day (bpd) last year, can boost its net share from the Shell assets to 50,000 bpd from 35,000 bpd within a couple of years, Thomson added. The deal would triple Cairn’s reserves.

The head of the U.N. food agency warned after a visit to Yemen that his underfunded organization may be forced to seek hundreds of millions of dollars in private donations in a desperate bid to stave off widespread famine in coming months, describing conditions in the war-stricken nation as “hell”, AP reported.

The World Food Program needs at least $815 million in Yemen aid over the next six months, but has only $300 million, the agency’s executive director, David Beasley, told The Associated Press in an interview. He said the agency would need another $1.9 billion to meet targets for the year.

Beasley visited Yemen earlier this week, including the capital of Sanaa which is under the control of Iran-backed Houthi rebels. He said that at a child malnutrition ward in a Sanaa hospital he saw children wasting away from lack of food. Many, he said, were on the brink of death from entirely preventable and treatable causes, and they were the lucky ones who were receiving medical care.

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SAUDI ARABIA White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said this week that the Biden administration remains alarmed by escalating attacks on Saudi Arabia, and that Saudi Arabia faces “genuine security threats” from Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthi movement and elsewhere in the region, according to a Reuters report.

“We of course continue to work in close cooperation with the Saudis, given the threat,” Psaki told a daily news briefing.

QATAR Yemen’s internationally recognized government said this week it had restored diplomatic ties with Qatar after four years of boycott led by Saudi Arabia and joined by other Arab countries, Reuters reported.

Saudi Arabia and its allies had agreed at a summit in January to end the political row which led to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cutting trade, travel and diplomatic ties with Qatar in mid-2017.Yemen’s Saudi-backed government had followed suit.

The foreign minister had met his Qatari counterpart in Doha on Sunday, according to the Yemeni foreign ministry. An agreement was reached to restore ties, it said in a statement, and published an image of the Yemeni flag being raised at the embassy in Doha.

UAE

Dubai’s airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, can already feel surreal, with its cavernous duty-free stores, artificial palm trees, gleaming terminals, water cascades and near-Arctic levels of air conditioning.

Now, the key east-west transit hub is rolling out another addition from the realm of science fiction — an iris-scanner that verifies one’s identity and eliminates the need for any human interaction when

entering or leaving the country. t’s the latest artificial intelligence program the United Arab Emirates has launched amid the surging coronavirus pandemic, contact-less technology the government promotes as helping to stem the spread of the virus. But the efforts also have renewed questions about mass surveillance in the federation of seven sheikhdoms, which experts believe has among the highest per capita concentrations of surveillance cameras in the world.

JORDAN Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh reshuffled his cabinet this week in a move meant to accelerate IMF-guided reforms seen as crucial to Jordan’s economic recovery from the blow of the coronavirus pandemic, officials said, according to a Reuters report.

Six new ministers were named including interior and justice after Khasawneh fired both incumbents last week for attending a restaurant dinner party that violated coronavirus restrictions they were supposed to enforce. n the new 28-member cabinet, Brigadier General Mazen Araya, who headed the COVID-19 crisis centre, was appointed interior minister in a shakeup seen as giving Khasawneh more scope to tackle social and economic problems, government officials said.

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UK

A WEEK ACROSS THE WORLD

In a wide-ranging interview Meghan described painful di their son’s skin, losing royal pressures that led the Duch suicide, AP reported.

The interview with Oprah W since they stepped down fro two-hour special included n Harry told Winfrey that he was surprised that he was c security last year. He also sa support Meghan, who acknowledged her naivete about royal life befo endured media attacks and false stories.

LIBYA Libya’s long-divided parliament this week approved an interim government mandated to bring the fractured country together after a decade of chaos and violence, and to oversee elections in December as part of a U.N.-backed peace plan, Reuters reported.

The parliament’s approval of Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh’s cabinet by 132 votes to two against, at a session in a war-battered frontline city, represents the biggest opportunity in years for a resolution to Libya’s conflict.

“Through this vote, it became clear that the Libyans are one unit,” Dbeibeh told parliament afterwards.

However, huge hurdles remain and the manner of Dbeibeh’s own appointment and the size of his cabinet have drawn criticism in Libya with accusations of corruption and influence peddling that spoilers could leverage to deny his legitimacy.

U.S. The U.S. Supreme Court this week disposed of the last of three cases brought to the justices by former President Donald Trump challenging his election loss, bringing a muted end to his futile quest in the courts to hold onto power, Reuters reported.

The court without comment rejected Trump’s appeal challenging thousands of absentee ballots filed in Wisconsin, an election battleground that the Republican businessman-turned-politician lost to Democrat Joe Biden by more than 20,000 votes. Biden became president on Jan. 20.

It was the last of three petitions filed at the Supreme Court near the end of Trump’s presidency that the justices declined to take up. The court on Feb. 22 turned away Trump’s other two appeals - a second Wisconsin challenge and one relating to voting in Pennsylvania, another pivotal state Trump lost. Lower courts previously had ruled against Trump in those three cases.

AFGHANISTAN A U.S.-drafted peace plan for Afghanistan, reviewed by Reuters this week, called for the current government to be replaced with an interim administration until a new constitution is agreed and elections held, while a joint commission monitors a ceasefire.

The warring parties have long harbored deep objections to key ideas in the proposal, however.

The U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, shared the “Transitional Peace Government” proposal last week with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, opposition and civil society leaders, and Taliban negotiators.

Under the interim government, the national parliament could either be expanded to include Taliban members or suspended until after the election, the plan suggests. It also says that Afghanistan could “not host terrorists or permit terrorist-related activity on its soil” that threatens other countries, and that the Taliban would have to abandon safe havens and military ties “in neighboring countries.”

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EU

European Council President Char nationalism” levelled against the E outright bans on exports of COV according to a Reuters report.

The EU has found itself under fire of former member Britain or the China, Russia or India to supply v Last week it annoyed vaccine buy shipment to Australia.

Britain had a quick retort for the Union member states, saying it ha

aired this week, Harry and iscussions about the color of protection and the intense hess of Sussex to contemplate

Winfrey was the couple’s first om royal duties and the numerous revelations. felt trapped by royal life and cut off financially and lost his aid he felt his family did not ore marrying Harry, as she

RUSSIA Russia said this week it was slowing down the speed of Twitter in retaliation for its alleged failure to remove banned content, and threatened a total block if the U.S. platform did not comply with its deletion demands.

The move, which escalates a growing stand-off between Moscow and U.S. social media firms, comes weeks after Russian authorities accused Twitter and others of failing to delete posts it said illegally urged children to take part in anti-Kremlin protests.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

rles Michel this week rejected charges of “vaccine EU, saying that while Britain and the United States have VID-19 shots, the EU had not stopped exporting,

e at home for a vaccine roll-out much slower than those United States, and abroad for so far doing less than vaccines to poor countries. yers abroad by endorsing an Italian decision to halt a

comments by Michel, who represents the 27 European as not blocked the export of a single COVID-19 vaccine.

CHINA China has launched a digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate for its citizens planning cross-border travels, joining other countries issuing similar documents as they seek ways to reopen their economies, according to a Reuters report.

As vaccines are globally being rolled out, a few countries, including Bahrain, have already introduced certificates identifying vaccinated people and the European Union agreed to develop vaccine passports under pressure from tourism-dependent southern countries.

The certificate issued by China would have details about the holder’s COVID-19 vaccination information and coronavirus test results, the Department of Consular Affairs under China’s foreign ministry said on its website.

MYANMAR Myanmar careened deeper into crisis, as police occupied hospitals and universities and reportedly arrested hundreds of people involved in protesting last month’s military seizure of power, while a coalition of labor unions called a strike for Monday.

Tension was high this week in the country’s biggest city,Yangon, where for a second night running gunshots from heavy weapons rang out randomly in the streets of several neighborhoods after the start of an 8 p.m. curfew. The sounds of what apparently were stun grenades could also be heard on videos posted on social media.

The purpose for security forces using such weapons when protesters had left the streets appeared to be part of a strategy to strike fear in anyone who might think about defying the authorities. In a similar vein, there were many filmed incidents of police and soldiers in plain view savagely beating protesters they had taken into custody.

Greece A Greek police officer was seriously injured this week after clashes broke out during a demonstration in an Athens suburb against police violence, prompted by a video that appeared to show a man being beaten by officers in the area, Reuters reported.

More than 5,000 people marched through the densely populated residential area of Nea Smyrni. Some banners read “Cops out of our neighbourhoods”.

Police later fired tear gas to disperse groups of masked protesters who broke away from the march and hurled petrol bombs, rocks and other objects at them, setting garbage containers alight.

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The Pope, the Shia, and Iran

Insights on the Papal Visit to Iraq and its Effect on Lebanon

Hanin Ghaddar Many have reported and commented on the significance of Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq, mainly

when Iran and the region is going through many shifts and conflicts. Although the whole visit was important to everyone in the region, his meeting with Najaf’s Ayatollah’s Ali Sistani seems to

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Now the Pope goes to Najaf and recognizes it the weight of the Arab Shia, and acknowledges Sistani as the representative of moderate Shiism.

Although the Pope didn’t mention Tehran or Qum even once, his message was very clear: Najaf is the only Shia center the moderate world will deal with.

Qum even once, his message was very clear: Najaf is the only Shia center the moderate world will deal with.

IRAN SHOULD BE WORRIED

In this photograph provided by Vatican Media, Pope Francis meets with Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Al-Husayni Al-Sistani on March 2021 ,06 in Najaf, Iraq. (Getty)

have gained more attention than the Pope’s other stops and meetings.

This visit came one month after Pope Francis and Sheikh Ahmad al-Tayyeb, the imam of the Al-Azhar celebrated the one year anniversary of signing the “fraternity” document during an event that took place in Abu Dhabi. With the backing of the United Arab Emirates, the initiative has gone on to create a high-level commission to spread the message and plans are under way to build in Abu Dhabi a center with a synagogue, mosque and church in a tangible display of interfaith coexistence and sharing.

Now the Pope goes to Najaf and recognizes it the weight of the Arab Shia, and acknowledges Sistani as the representative of moderate Shiism.

Although the Pope didn’t mention Tehran or

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The Iranian regime was obviously unhappy but incapable of criticizing the Pope’s choices. At the end of the day, there is no larger Christian figure, especially for the Middle East Christians. On the international public opinion level, questioning the Pope’s choices would be met with serious pushback. Accordingly, the Iranian regime was stuck and paralyzed, despite its frustration.

However, their complicated relation with Najaf and Sistani per se, might get more complicated after the visit and when the political translation of the meting takes shape. The differences between the two Shia references are many, rooted in history but also influences religious and political principles. Recently, political differences started to increase and escalate, mainly when Najaf criticized Iran’s roles in Iraq at the expense of Iraq’s state institutions.

Despite all the attempts made by the Iranian regime to tame or control Najaf and its rhetoric, Najaf remained independent and in fact, because of this independence, its influence grew among the Iraqi Shia. This was very apparent during the protests that broke out in 2019 – which not only received Najaf’s support, but also carried very strong anti-Iran sentiments. Accordingly, the

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statement that followed the Pope-Sistani meeting – highlighting clear political messages about core regional issues that Iran wants to hijack, such as the Palestinian issue – has probably upset the Iranian regime more than the rest of the visit and other statements coming from Iraq during that weekend.

For the past forty years, Iran has spent the majority of its energy and resources to claim the Shia representation in the Arab world and beyond. And when they finally declared the four Arab capitals – Beirut, Damascus, Baghdad, and Sanaa – under Iran’s control, it didn’t take much for these four capitals to collapse under Iran’s weaponry and killing machines. And after all this effort and sacrifice at home, Najaf get the main recognition, and from the Pope himself.

REPERCUSSIONS IN LEBANON It is clear that the Pope’s Iraq visit was not limited to Iraq. On his way back to the Vatican, Pope Francis stated that his next visit will be to Lebanon, another country of interest to Iran.

That would not be the first visit of the Pope to Lebanon, but it will be the first after the collapse of the state institutions and the financial system in Lebanon. It would be the first after Lebanon fell under Iran’s hegemony and Hezbollah’s control.

Therefore, his intention to visit Lebanon at this point gains a political dimension as well. But the context is much more interesting and timely. Not long ago, Lebanon’s Patriarch Bechara al-Rahi – and probably in coordination with the Vatican and the French President Emmanuel Macron – called for a new initiative where the Lebanese crisis is “internationalized,” meaning that it becomes the responsibility of the international community.

During his famous speech earlier this month, the Patriarch called for on Lebanon’s “neutrality” and the independence of the state and local parties from any regional influence or interference.

“Failure to respect neutrality is the sole cause of all the crises and wars that the country has gone through,” he said, pointing to the full disarmament of all non-state factions, including Hezbollah.

This fits perfectly alongside the messages that emerged from the Pope-Sistani meeting in Najaf, and it has angered Hezbollah the same way the Najaf meeting angered Iran. However, the Patriarch’s message has a sharper message to Hezbollah, as many Christians are looking for a way outside the representation of the current president Michel Aoun and his son-in-law Gebran Bassil. For many Lebanese, the alliance between Aoun and Hezbollah, which was established with the Memorandum of understanding - signed in

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Lebanon›s Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi (or Rai) delivers a speech to supporters on February 27, 2021 at the Maronite Patriarchate in the mountain village of Bkerki, northeast of Beirut, Lebanon on February 27, 2021. (Getty)

On his way back to the Vatican, Pope Francis stated that his next visit will be to Lebanon, another country of interest to Iran. That would not be the first visit of the Pope to Lebanon, but it will be the first after the collapse of the state institutions and the financial system in Lebanon.

These developments; however, cannot be translated into pragmatic political strategies to contain Iran in the region unless the international community is actually interested in investing in a new rhetoric in the region, or in accepting the responsibility for Lebanon. But as much as the Shia Street in Iraq is closer to Najaf than it is to Qum, the Christian Street in Lebanon is closer to Bkerki than it is to Baabda – that is, the presidential palace. Hence, the international policies in Lebanon should take this into consideration while considering the future of the region, and the future of Iraq and Lebanon in particular.

February 2006 – has only led to the devastation and collapse of Lebanon and its state institutions.

When the Patriarch launched his initiative, many Christians expressed support. The choice has become very simple: internationalizing Lebanon and moving forward, or stay under Iran’s hegemony and starve to death, literally. Aoun no longer represents the Christian street, according to a number of statistics and polling coming out of Lebanon. And when Aoun loses the Christian Street, Hezbollah loses its Christian cover. And when the Patriarch wins the Christian street, Hezbollah loses the Christian cover. And when the Pope meets Sistani in the heart of Najaf, Iran can no longer claim that they have the support of the Middle Eastern Christians.

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It is very clear, for example, that a presidential resignation in Lebanon is now not only a must to move forward with change, but is also a popular demand. Aoun lost his legitimacy as both the president of the Lebanese people and as the Maronite representative. Accordingly, his son-in-law Bassil can no longer be allowed to seek the presidency as his natural right. Both need to be more isolated and eventually be held accountable.

Between the Pope and the Patriarch, the region told Iran that there will be no surrender without a fight. The world should listen.

Hanin Ghaddar is the Friedmann Fellow at The Washington Institute’s Geduld Program on Arab Politics, where she focuses on Shia politics throughout the Levant.

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Pope’s Visit Offers New Perspective on Iraq

A Humanitarian Mission and Facts on the Ground Madi Karayem The recent historic visit by Pope Francis to Iraq has brought the name of Mesopotamia to top Arab and international headlines, but this time in the context of “fraternity and peace” rather than bombings, conflict and extremism. The visit came under the theme “You are all brothers” as an opportunity to call for an end to violence and bigotry. In his first speech, the Pope said, “The age-old presence of Christians in this land, and

their contributions to the life of the nation, constitute a rich heritage that they wish to continue to place at the service of all.” He added, “Iraq’s Christian community should have a prominent role as citizens with full rights, freedoms and responsibilities.”

During the visit, the Pope went to Najaf where he met with the Iraqi Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani for 55 minutes, in a meeting that emphasized peace and dialogue. Some describe the meeting as an extension to the meeting between Pope Francis and Sheikh Al-

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Azhar Ahmad El-Tayyeb in the United Arab Emirates.

Following the landmark meeting, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi declared March 6 the National Day of Tolerance and Coexistence in Iraq.

The Pope went afterwards to Ur of the Chaldees, which is said to be the birthplace of Abraham, where he held an interreligious prayer of “the Sons and Daughters of Abraham,” joined by representatives of different Iraqi religious groups and sects, emphasizing values of peace, coexistence and tolerance.

The pontiff also went to Erbil to hold an evening mass attended by about 10,000 persons.

In a humanitarian gesture, the Pope met with the father of Alan Kurdi, the three-year old boy who became a symbol of immigrants across the Mediterranean after he drowned along with his brother and mother off a Turkish coast in 2015 in their way to Europe. Moreover, the Pope went to Mosul to see the destruction that took place in the city. He visited the Catholic Church of Immaculate Conception in Qaraqosh, where called upon the local Christians to rebuild their country on the basis of forgiveness and fraternity.

LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL MESSAGES Modhar Alhilou, a Muslim preacher and scholar. (supplied)

In this regard, the Muslim preacher and scholar Modhar Alhilou, who attended the religious gathering in Ur, told Majalla, “The Pope’s visit has sent local messages inside Iraq, to indicate that you should rebuild your country and be proud of it. The visit also restored confidence, delivered people from their frustration, and fostered understanding and closeness.”

He added, “There are also international messages that stress the urgency of dialogue.”

Alhilou went on to say, “The visit broke the stereotype drawn by media through 18 years of reports about Iraq as a country of conflicts, bombings and killings. It has revealed the true image of Iraq as an old-established nation whose ancient people brought writing and law to mankind in early times, and where the world knew the innovations of the bicycle and the sail. The historic journey has proved Iraq is worthy of international attention, not an arena for conflicts over narrow personal interests.”

Was the visit able to help Christians settle in their land?

Alhilou answered, “This cannot be attained without taking practical steps on the ground. When any Iraqi, whatever his religion, is threatened, he is forced to search for another place to lead a dignified life. Thus, the state should provide suitable conditions for people who left

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“The visit broke the stereotype drawn by media throughout 18 years of Iraq as a country of conflicts, bombings and killings. The historic journey has proved Iraq is worthy of international attention, not just as an arena for conflicts over narrow personal interests.”

Iraq to return, especially since Iraqis usually don’t leave their country unless there are very tough circumstances.”

THE VISIT’S OUTCOMES As for the impact on the domestic Iraqi scene, Alhilou said, “We cannot count on the same political forces that missed valuable opportunities to start off towards construction and stability, in which they previously failed.” He added, “We don’t rely on political results of the visit; rather, there would be effective cultural, religious and intellectual outcomes; decreased levels of hatred and an environment for dialogue.”

In connection, Alhilou indicated that “The Pope and alSistani’s meeting highlighted a possibility of dialogue among different religions and faiths, which could reach an understanding.” He explained, “This historic meeting is a very significant turning point in our people’s lives.

No doubt, it will mark a change, and its consequences will be worthy of attention.”

WRONG SIGNALS FOR CHRISTIANS Not far from Alhilou’s view of the visit, Basil Hussein, the head of Kulwatha Center for Studies and Measurement of Iraqi Public Opinion, told Majalla that “It is too early to judge the visit’s ability to reassure Iraqi Christians.”

He said, “Iraq’s cultural diversity is being emptied,” explaining “while the pontiff was traveling across Iraqi cities, the parliament was debating a draft law on the Federal Supreme Court, which states that Sunni and Shiite religious clerics are exclusively entitled to sit at court tribunals and to have the right of veto and that other faiths have no representation. This violates article 92 which states that the tribunal should only include

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judges.”

He added, “This discriminatory move had very negative indications during the visit and gave Christians a wrong message, as tolerance is achieved by actions not words.”

“Since 2008, a systemic campaign has been launched to seize the properties of Christians, by fraud gangs led by militia-affiliated groups, particularly in Baghdad.

Unfortunately, different religious authorities did not do anything to solve the problem, and so far the cause is left without legal action. This has led to displacement of Christians,” explained Hussein.

Hussein summed up the visit saying, “The visit has left a very positive spiritual impact, but will not lead to change in the conduct of Iraqi political circles, who are taking over money and power, and are keen on maintaining the de facto religious order that is far from fostering the sense of citizenship.” He continued, “The visit has brought back international attention to Iraq, and supposedly it was a golden chance for politicians to seize the opportunity, but they missed it as they have previously done.”

Hussein confirmed that the Pope and al-Sistani’s meeting was “of high significance to Najaf Marji’, due to the conflict over Shiite representation between Qum and Najaf. I think this was a triumph for Najaf.” He added, “That’s why we saw comments that ‘If it was not for Iran, we wouldn’t have seen this visit.’ There was, also, a sort of implied reservation by Iran and its Iraqi allies regarding the visit.”

In his return to Rome, the Pope replied to a question about a possible apostolic visit to Lebanon saying, “Lebanon is a message… Lebanon is suffering.” He

remarked that the Patriarch Moran Bechara al-Rahi invited him to stop in Lebanon during his flight back from Iraq, but the pontiff viewed that Lebanon should not be just a stop with regards to its suffering. He clarified that he sent a letter to the Lebanese Patriarch and promised he would visit Lebanon which is facing a “life crisis”. He also praised Lebanon for its generous hosting of refugees.

THE POPE AND THE LEBANESE CRISIS The papal statement came in line with the Lebanese

“What the Patriarch proposed requires long time to come true.

Suggesting Lebanon’s neutrality and an international conference to be sponsored by the UN means two long roads which we must strive to walk.”

Basil Hussein, the head of Kulwatha Center for Studies. (supplied)

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The Interreligious meeting in the Iraq city of Ur. (supplied)

Patriarch’s call for the neutrality of his country and for a UN-sponsored international conference to save Lebanon.

Could the Vatican support this initiative? What approach will the Patriarch’s call take, given the public protests in various Lebanese regions?

The former Lebanese minister Sejaan Azzi said that “His Holiness the Pope’s declaration that he will visit Lebanon soon is an achievement for the Patriarch who invited and convinced him to consider Lebanon a top priority for the Vatican.”

“His visit to Lebanon will be a turning point in resolving the Lebanese crisis. Remarkably, four months ago, the

Former Lebanese minister Sejaan Azzi.

(Supplied)

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Pope urged the Vatican diplomacy to address Lebanon’s case in all friendly countries. It is expected that the Holy See’s bid will move forward, particularly in the presence of US President Joe Biden who shares a mutual respectful relationship with the Pope. Thus, the Vatican is definitely capable of helping Lebanon,” the former Lebanese official said.

As for the Patriarch’s initiative, Azzi said, “What the Patriarch proposed will take a long time to come true.

Suggesting Lebanon’s neutrality and an international conference to be sponsored by the UN means two long roads which we must strive to walk.”

He explained, “Both proposals represent the aim and the means. Neutrality is an aim as it provides sovereignty, independence and stability of Lebanon, while the international conference is the means; the last refuge to save the country after all other attempts had failed.”

“If the Patriarch waited for consensus on his proposals, they would not be justified. He announced them due to the divisions that are fragmenting the country. Of course some will accept his offer and others will reject it. Importantly, these proposals should be negotiated and addressed in a dialogue. The bid has notably gained the support of a majority of Lebanese sects as well as international understanding and backing. The problem is that we live in a country that is aligned to a Syrian-Iranian axis, and does not have freedom of decision. Consequently, it cannot adopt these proposals.”

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The Sting in COVID -19’s Tail Pandemic Tests Economic Survival of the Vulnerable, Pushes Them to Unrest

By Tarek Ghani At the outset of the COVID- 19 pandemic, many feared that the disease would hit the world’s poorest countries the hardest - that cases would overwhelm hospitals, health-care workers would run out of equipment and supplies, and the death toll would be devastating. Those eventualities, thankfully, have not yet come to pass. From

available data, there appear to be fewer deaths per capita in low- and middle-income countries than in their richer counterparts.

But developing countries may have suffered more from the pandemic economically and politically than they have in the realm of public health.

A recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) study has found that social unrest increased

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after the SARS, H1N1, MERS, Ebola, and Zika pandemics, particularly in countries with high levels of inequality. COVID- 19 has more potential than all those past diseases combined to increase poverty, deepen social fractures, and intensify conflicts.

The likely scope and severity of the COVID19 recession are worse than those of any global economic crisis since World War II. In October, the World Bank announced that the global poverty rate will rise for the first time in more than two decades: the pandemic could push as many as 150 million additional people below the extreme poverty line (defined as living on 1.90$ per day) by the end of 2021, erasing years of progress. A Brookings Institution analysis has noted that this growth in poverty could persist until 2030, particularly in the most politically fragile, low-income countries.

Protestors block roads with garbage containers and burning tyres during a demonstration due to the record depreciation of the local currency and the current economic crisis, at Martyrs Square in Beirut, Lebanon on March ,3 2021. (Getty)

Wealthy countries are weathering the economic storm far better than poor ones. The IMF has forecasted that global growth will rebound in 2021 as vaccinations and better COVID- 19 testing help reopen many economies. But those gains will not be evenly shared. The poorest countries are disadvantaged several times over: their pre-pandemic growth rates were below the global average; they have had little fiscal and monetary flexibility during the crisis; their populations bear deep scars from hunger, disease, and missed schooling due to COVID19; and they have limited access to vaccines.

The International Crisis Group’s field research has suggested that these economic forces could fuel future instability.

Ending the pandemic is therefore not only a matter of supplying immunizations and other medical assistance. Wealthy countries must look beyond their borders and international financial institutions must redouble their efforts if they are to prevent COVID- 19’s long tail from causing further disruption.

A RECIPE FOR INSTABILITY Like the pandemic itself, the economic crisis is both broadly global and highly localized. Most of

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Overall, COVID- 19 has pushed many economic levers in poor countries in the wrong direction.

The pandemic-induced recession has enlarged the ranks of the unemployed and increased dependence on weak state institutions.

East Asia, for example, has seen relatively modest economic fallout. Well-organized responses to the pandemic there have boosted hopes for a quick recovery. In Africa, by contrast, COVID19’s economic impact is already serious: the continent is home to 70 percent of the world’s poor—more than 400 million people—who are particularly likely to lose jobs and go hungry during the pandemic. In Latin America, home to roughly one-quarter of the world’s current COVID- 19 fatalities, the pandemic has pulled the rug out from under a rapidly growing middle class. In the Middle East and Central Asia, health systems are stretched thin, and large informal sectors have taken a battering, leading the typically staid IMF to warn of mounting social unrest.

Overall, COVID- 19 has pushed many economic levers in poor countries in the wrong direction.

The pandemic-induced recession has enlarged the ranks of the unemployed and increased dependence on weak state institutions. It has reduced tax revenues in many countries, leading governments to take on new debt or to squeeze public services and social programs. Some developing countries have responded to the crisis by depreciating currencies, with the effect of lowering real wages and raising the costs of living. Individually, each shock strains the system. Together, they are a recipe for instability.

For countries grappling with conflict, climate change, or both, the pandemic has hit at an especially inauspicious time. In February 2020, before analysts had meaningfully registered

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COVID- 19’s impact, the World Bank projected that two-thirds of the extreme poor would live in fragile and conflict-affected situations by 2030.

COVID- 19 has darkened the economic picture in exactly those settings.

In war-torn countries, for instance, the pandemic did not inspire states and armed groups to embrace UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s call for a global cease-fire. Instead, from Afghanistan to northern Syria to Yemen, the health and economic effects of COVID- 19 have added to the human toll of war. In October 2020, the Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Food Program warned that in conflict settings, the pandemic was driving millions into food insecurity, raising the risk of famine in Burkina Faso, northeastern Nigeria, South Sudan, and Yemen. The pandemic has interfered with the transport of goods into war zones, and important funding appeals remain unmet-for example, the WFP had to cut the delivery of food rations in Yemen from monthly to once every other month in April 2020. Yemeni children are dying of hunger.

Oil-dependent economies have taken a beating during the pandemic. Already teetering from a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, the global oil market has collapsed. Oil-exporting

With new resources and clear policy guidance to mitigate the risks of conflict, international financial institutions could boost efforts to protect the lives and livelihoods of the world’s most vulnerable populations.

countries have seen their public debts swell and their budgets shrink. Iraq, the third-largest oil exporter, is now particularly squeezed with a monthly deficit of $ 3.5 billion to $ 4.5 billion and currency reserves of only 53$ billion in October 2020. In November, Prime Minster Mustafa al-Kadhimi warned that he was struggling to pay government salaries. Days later, protesting government workers clashed with security forces in northern Iraq in deadly violence. In late December, Iraq’s central bank devalued its currency by one-fifth, causing further agitation.

More markdowns are expected.

Three of Africa’s top oil producers have also experienced growing unrest since the onset of the pandemic. In November, police in the Angolan capital, Luanda, used live bullets, tear-gas, and dogs to disperse a peaceful demonstration against the rising cost of living

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COVID- 19 isn’t responsible for the precarious economic balance in many countries at risk of conflict, but it almost certainly increases the likelihood of strife.

Just as a health crisis can trigger an economic collapse, economic crises can trigger political instability in the societies least able to weather the storm. brought the country to a standstill. By January 2020, the protests had turned violent, with more than 150 people injured in clashes with the police.

First badge of AstraZeneca/Oxford coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines, are being unloaded from a plane upon arrival at Khartoum International Airport in Khartoum, Sudan on March 03, 2021.

(Getty)

and the postponement of municipal elections due to the pandemic. In Nigeria, which is facing its worst economic recession in four decades, enormous protests have erupted against both police brutality and economic mismanagement and corruption, leading the IMF to warn that surging unemployment and poverty during the pandemic are fueling social instability. Algeria has used COVID- 19 lockdowns to limit public protests as socioeconomic indicators continue to deteriorate.

The pandemic threatens to push already precarious political and economic systems over the edge. Take Lebanon, for example. For more than a decade, the Lebanese state has spent more than it received in revenues while failing to deliver basic services, such as electricity and garbage disposal. A fiscal and monetary crisis came to a head in October 2019, when protests

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Then came COVID- 19 in March 2020, and a three-month lockdown. Lebanon’s economy entered a tailspin. By May, more than half the population had fallen below the poverty line, nearly double the previous year’s rate, and by July, inflation had soared past 100 percent (it had been below 20 percent back in March). The economic crisis compounded political gridlock, as politicians deflected blame onto one another, delaying the reforms that the IMF required for a bailout. Throughout the turmoil, the Lebanese state has receded dangerously: crime has soared, but the real wages of security forces have fallen, and competing armed factions have engaged in a growing number of deadly incidents. As one military officer told Al Arabiya in September, “all of Lebanon is armed, we can’t do much about it.”

Lebanon offers a cautionary tale for other countries struggling to deal with unrest at a time when they lack economic flexibility. In Latin America, COVID- 19’s death toll exceeds 570,000, and its economic consequences threaten to force tens of millions of people into

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poverty. Social unrest has flared in Guatemala, Peru, and elsewhere in response to the failure of governments to protect lives and livelihoods from the pandemic. Where states have fallen short, armed criminal groups seek to fill the gap: such has been the case in Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.

COVID- 19’s economic fallout is also complicating delicate political transitions. In Sudan, inflation reached record highs of 212 percent in September and 230 percent in October, running down the country’s reserves of foreign exchange and forcing the government into a state of economic emergency. Demonstrators have demanded action, closing off streets with burning tires in August, October, and again last week. In Tunisia, ten years after a popular revolt over economic conditions toppled the old regime, a wave of violent protests over growing poverty and unemployment has swept through at least 15 cities this month, prompting authorities to ban further demonstrations.

can trigger political instability in the societies least able to weather the storm. But this looming problem has so far attracted too little attention from international donors.

Because wealthy countries have also suffered shocks from the pandemic, they are understandably focused on their own recovery.

On average, advanced economies have spent nearly 20 percent of annual GDP on fiscal stimulus, ten times the two percent of annual GDP that low-income countries have spent.

But without additional resources and support, the aftershocks of COVID- 19 in low-income countries could become ever more severe.

The pandemic has pushed tens of millions into poverty, and their governments may soon have to grapple with their increasingly urgent demands, even while struggling to fill security vacuums before criminal and armed groups do so instead.

The governments of developing countries need to protect the sick and the poor until vaccines arrive and economies stabilize. Economists and GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY public health experts agree that every country, COVID- 19 isn’t responsible for the precarious regardless of wealth, should stave off the economic balance in many countries at risk of collapse of health-care systems, transfer cash conflict, but it almost certainly increases the to vulnerable citizens, and test enough people likelihood of strife. Just as a health crisis can for COVID- 19 to determine when and where trigger an economic collapse, economic crises reopening is possible. All that is easier said than done in low-income countries short on funds, long on debt, and wary of credit downgrades.

Local leaders may be reluctant to challenge the international and domestic forces that promote economic austerity. But if austerity hurt wealthy economies after the 2008 financial crisis, it is not likely to help poor ones now.

In the years ahead, many Western priorities - such as climate change, migration, terrorism, and infectious diseases - will require cooperation with the countries currently most threatened by COVID - 19’s long tail.

Wealthy countries ought to take the long view and act boldly to forgive the debts of poor countries and expand emergency financial assistance. The Biden administration could start by reversing former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s call for the World Bank “not to burden shareholders with premature calls for new financing.” The White House should make

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Demonstrators gather during a protest in front of the presidential residence Mburuvicha Roga in Asuncion, Paraguay, on Sunday, March 7, 2021. (Getty)

clear that an extraordinary global crisis calls for an extraordinary response. With interest rates at historic lows, such an effort doesn’t require new aid money—the World Bank’s donors could agree to tap financial markets to expand lending capacity and to more swiftly replenish funds for grants and low-interest loans for the world’s poorest countries. Likewise, U.S. President Joe Biden could quickly authorize $ 650 billion in new reserve assets at the IMF, known as special drawing rights, and back proposed legislation to further expand this total. With new resources and clear policy guidance to mitigate the risks of conflict, international financial institutions could boost efforts to protect the lives and livelihoods of the world’s most vulnerable populations.

own economic crises. They may feel it unwise or premature to direct attention beyond their borders. But although vaccine distribution and economic stimulus offer advanced economies a path to recovery, the same cannot be said for poorer countries, where the most at-risk populations live and where the possibility of conflict and war is greatest. In the years ahead, many Western priorities—such as climate change, migration, terrorism, and infectious diseases—will require cooperation with the countries currently most threatened

by COVID- 19’s long tail. The aftershocks that the world doesn’t deal with today may have destabilizing consequences for decades to come.

The United States and Europe are still in the midst of a winter COVID- 19 surge and their

This article was originally published on ForeignAffairs.com.

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Will America Welcome Refugees and Asylum-seekers Once Again?

Biden Administration Must Repair the System

By Sarah Pierce , Susan Fratzke Former U.S. President Donald Trump presided over the most restrictive immigration and asylum regime in modern American history. In just four years, his

administration all but paralyzed the asylum system and drastically cut back the number of refugees it welcomed from abroad. In 2020, the United States granted asylum to roughly half the percentage of applicants than it did at the end of President Barack

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Obama’s administration. It also resettled fewer than 12,000 refugees in 2020—an 85 percent reduction from Obama’s last year in office.

President Joe Biden has begun to roll back some of Trump’s restrictive policies and promised to reverse many more. Immigrant and refugee advocates, business leaders, and others have high hopes that the Biden administration will not just dismantle Trump’s damaging legacy on immigration but advance sweeping reforms to modernize the southern border.

But undoing the harm of the last four years will not be as easy as signing a flurry of executive orders.

The Trump administration all but dismantled the United States’ asylum and refugee resettlement systems. Building them back will be a herculean undertaking—all the more so in the midst of a pandemic and the attendant economic crisis that have left many Americans feeling much less generous toward new arrivals.

Dareli Matamoros, a girl from Honduras, holds a sign asking President Biden to let her in during a migrant demonstration demanding clearer United States migration policies, at San Ysidro crossing port in Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico on March 2, 2021. (Getty)

The Biden administration will have to balance unwinding Trump’s draconian policies with modernizing the southern border strategy so that it can handle mixed flows of migrants and asylum seekers.

were left in extended limbo while those with lessthan-legitimate claims used the delay as temporary permission to remain in the country. Slow and overburdened, this system provided neither safety for legitimate asylum seekers nor security at the U.S. border.

THE SLOW DEATH OF ASYLUM But rather than reform a flawed system, the Trump administration fixated on what it saw as fraud and Those fleeing violence or persecution can seek ref- misuse by individual asylum seekers, condemning uge in the United States by two broad avenues. They the “catch and release” policies that allowed asylum can make their way to U.S. soil and claim asylum, seekers to stay and work in the United States while or they can register as refugees with the United Na- waiting for their claims to be heard. The numbers of tions and hope to be resettled through a federal pro- arriving families and children rose sharply in 2018, gram that has brought 3.1 million refugees to the prompting the Trump administration to implement United States since 1980. The Trump administra- a series of increasingly punitive policies, including tion did virtually everything within its power to shut intentionally separating families at the border in an down both avenues, making it much more difficult effort to deter people from seeking asylum. to claim asylum and radically reducing the number The Trump administration instituted the Migrant of refugees admitted each year.

Protection Protocols, also known as the “Remain in Trump’s hostility toward asylum is partly an out- Mexico” policy, which required asylum seekers to growth of his obsession with border security. In wait in Mexico while their applications were adjudihis 2016 campaign, Trump promised to seal off the cated in the United States. It also struck agreements southern border. Once in office, however, he strug- with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras that gled to control the influx from Central America and allowed the United States to send asylum seekers Mexico. Many of the new arrivals weren’t economic to those countries to file their applications, denying migrants attempting to evade detection. They were them the opportunity to apply for U.S. protections. asylum seekers—often children traveling alone or The administration supplemented these restricwith their families—who actively sought out U.S. tive measures with legal reforms that narrowed the Border Patrol agents to request sanctuary. As a re- grounds for asylum—by declaring domestic viosult, they could not be deterred by beefed-up secu- lence to be generally insufficient for a valid claim, rity. for instance—and made the application process Once in the United States, these migrants entered more onerous. a deeply flawed asylum system. Often, they had to By 2019, the administration’s interlocking policies wait for years for heavily backlogged immigration had severely hobbled the U.S. asylum system at the courts to hear their cases; those with valid claims border. As a result, the number of asylum claims fell

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by half between May and September 2019—from 10,210 credible fear claims to 4,782. Over that same time period, the number of apprehensions at the border also plummeted, from 130,000 to just 22,000.

The coronavirus pandemic supercharged the administration’s efforts at the southern border. In March 2020, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an order allowing the expulsion of all foreign nationals who had not been granted authorization to enter the United States. Tens of thousands of potential asylum seekers were subsequently deported back to Mexico or to the countries they had initially fled, and asylum claims at the border fell from an average of 4,600 per month to just a few hundred. Whereas Remain in Mexico and other restrictive policies had gradually strangled the asylum system, the CDC’s order effectively choked it off entirely.

NO REFUGE At the same time as it crippled the asylum system at the border, the Trump administration reduced refugee resettlement from abroad to a trickle. The U.S. resettlement program used to be the largest in the world, admitting more than half of all refugees resettled globally each year. But within months of taking office, the Trump administration slashed the cap on refugee admissions from 110,000 to 50,000, temporarily paused resettlement, and implemented new security hurdles that slowed the process of bringing refugees into the country.

Trump lowered the cap on refugee admissions again in 2018 and in every subsequent year of his presidency. Last year, he set the limit for the 2021 fiscal year at 15,000—the lowest ever set by a president under the current system. As a result, the resettlement program withered. At least 51 local resettlement agencies shuttered their offices (and 41 more halted services) in response to declining numbers.

The Trump administration also temporarily reassigned staff at the agencies responsible for vetting refugees for resettlement to work on asylum cases, slowing refugee processing and adding to rapidly mounting backlogs in the system. These procedural roadblocks greatly impeded the agencies’ ability to move refugees through the resettlement process and,

ultimately, into the United States. Refugee admissions from Muslim countries especially suffered, falling by almost 90 percent between 2016 and 2019.

REFORM AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER On the campaign trail, Biden pledged to reverse many of Trump’s asylum policies within his first 100 days as president. And on his first day in office, his administration ceased enrolling new asylum applicants through the Remain in Mexico policy.

But aside from mandating a review of the policy, Biden’s team has been silent on the fate of the up to 25,000 asylum seekers who are currently enrolled in the Remain in Mexico program and waiting at Mexico’s northern border. And the CDC’s order mandating the expulsion of most unauthorized immigrants,

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Members of a caravan of Central Americans who spent weeks traveling across Mexico walk from Mexico to the U.S. side of the border to ask authorities for asylum on April 29, 2018 in Tijuana, Baja California Norte, Mexico. (Getty)

The Trump administration instituted the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which required asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their applications were adjudicated in the United States.

including asylum seekers, remains in place.

The White House appears to be slowing its rollout of planned reforms, fearful that a sudden change in U.S. policy could catalyze a major influx of migrants across the border. Even before the inauguration, members of Biden’s team appeared to be tempering expectations. Susan Rice, the new director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, told the Spanish news service EFE that the administration will resume asylum processing at the border when it has “the capacity to do so safely and to protect public health.” With the pandemic still raging and migrant caravans organizing south of the border, the administration is being careful not to move too quickly.

But Biden must contend with not just what the Trump administration did to the asylum system but also what it did not do. The bureaucratic infrastruc-

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ture, capabilities, and procedures of the U.S. Border Patrol and other agencies involved in border security are outdated and in desperate need of reform. By and large, they were designed for a previous wave of immigration, one dominated by adult individuals coming to the United States in search of work. As asylum seekers, families, and children have come to make up an ever-larger proportion of arrivals, the United States has not updated its southern border strategy. It remains focused on enforcement above all else and has failed to invest in the capacity to humanely and efficiently screen and process vulnerable populations.

The Biden administration will thus have to balance unwinding Trump’s draconian policies with modernizing the southern border strategy so that it can handle mixed flows of migrants and asylum seekers.

It will have to do so slowly, however, so that it does not give the impression that it is suddenly liberalizing asylum policies, which could trigger large new flows from Central America and Mexico.

RESURRECTING RESETTLEMENT Biden has also pledged to restore U.S. leadership on refugee resettlement. As president, he now has the executive authority to take many of the steps required to do so. For instance, he has the discretion, following consultation with Congress, to make good on his promise to raise the ceiling on admissions from 15,000 to 125,000 for the 2022 fiscal year, which begins in October.

But many refugee advocates are pushing Biden to revise this year’s ceiling, which was set by Trump.

That may be difficult to accomplish. The Refugee

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Act of 1980 empowers the president to revise the refugee admissions cap, but only in response to an “unforeseen emergency refugee situation.” Given that many of the crises that have produced the most refugees are long running, any attempt to raise the cap without a strong rationale could invite legal challenges.

Biden must also breathe new life into the federal agencies and partner organizations that process, admit, and receive refugees who are resettled in the United States. Back in 2016, some state officials and nonprofit workers involved in settling refugees expressed private concerns about whether the resettlement system could withstand Obama’s proposed increase of the ceiling from 85,000 to 110,000 for the 2017 fiscal year. Now, the system is under much greater strain—and expected to ramp up resettlement to 125,000 for the 2022 fiscal year.

Resettlement agencies have signaled that they are prepared to quickly revive their operations by rehiring staff and reopening offices. The Biden administration can also hire new officers for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Refugee Corps, although doing so will require additional funding. More difficult will be supporting the local communities that will welcome large numbers the newcomers find work, learn English, and gain of refugees under the administration’s plan, helping access to medical and psychosocial services. Current placement policies tend to concentrate refugees in a relatively small number of locales, magnifying the local impact of resettlement. Many of these communities—and their already-stretched social service providers—are struggling under the weight of the pandemic and the accompanying recession. They may find it doubly difficult to serve vulnerable newcomers.

A final set of barriers to restoring refugee resettlement are the new vetting requirements for refugees of certain nationalities that the Trump administration instituted in October 2017 and that have drastically slowed refugee processing. Refugees from more national and demographic backgrounds are now required to undergo additional layers of screening, including providing social media profiles and physical addresses going back ten years. Collecting and evaluating all this data has created additional backlogs, which in turn have been exacerbated by

These procedural roadblocks greatly impeded the agencies’ ability to move refugees through the resettlement process and, ultimately, into the United States. Refugee admissions from Muslim countries especially suffered, falling by almost 90 percent between 2016 and 2019.

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A group of Central American migrants climb the border fence between Mexico and the United States, near El Chaparral border crossing, in Tijuana, Baja California State, Mexico, on November 25, 2018.

(Getty)

Biden must contend with not just what the Trump administration did to the asylum system but also what it did not do. The bureaucratic infrastructure, capabilities, and procedures of the U.S. Border Patrol and other agencies involved in border security are outdated and in desperate need of reform. bipartisan support, asylum and resettlement have become politicized—gradually after the 9/11 terror attacks and then rapidly under Trump. By treating all asylum seekers as though they were gaming the system and all refugees as security threats, the Trump administration has sought to discredit the asylum and resettlement systems and to cripple their effectiveness. A segment of the public has internalized these narratives and will not be dissuaded all at once.

But support for asylum and refugee resettlement remains robust in other segments of the population staffing shortfalls.

The Biden administration can remove most of these and may even have gotten a boost among Trump’s requirements by issuing new internal procedures opponents. In 2019, Trump issued an order requirand guidelines for federal agencies and their part- ing the federal government to obtain the consent of ners, but it will have to do so in a way that does states where refugees were to be resettled. Adminnot invite charges of weakening security. Refugee istration officials were reportedly taken aback when advocates have thus called for a full audit of current 42 states replied that they wanted to take in newsecurity procedures to determine which of them add comers—the result of extensive advocacy efforts by value and which could be streamlined or eliminated local resettlement supporters. They shouldn’t have altogether. A similar review of local placement poli- been surprised, however; in a recent survey, nearly cies and processes could help ensure that decisions three-quarters of Americans said that taking in refumade at the federal level about how many refugees gees is an “important goal” for the United States. to admit and where to resettle them reflect the needs To preserve—and ideally, expand—this support for and concerns of the communities that will ultimately humanitarian protections, Biden’s team will need to rebuild and reform the United States’ asylum and welcome the new arrivals. resettlement systems so that they are able to meet modern realities, protect those in need, and prevent A WELCOMING NATION ? misuse.

To resurrect the United States’ asylum and refugee resettlement systems, Biden will have to restore pub- This article was originally published on ForeignAflic trust in and support for both. Once areas of broad fairs.com.

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Great-Power Competition Is Coming to Africa US Needs Diverse Regional Strategy to Address Transnational Threats

By Marcus Hicks, Kyle Atwell, Dan Collini Under President Donald Trump, the United States withdrew troops and resources from Africa as part of a broader national security shift from counterterrorism to great-power competition.

The Trump administration used the euphemism “optimization” to describe the pivot away from

Africa that began around 2018, but a more accurate term would be disengagement. It pared back efforts to fight jihadis in Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria, downsizing the U.S. military footprint in some of the continent’s most volatile regions. And in the final months of Trump’s presidency, his administration withdrew nearly all U.S. troops from Somalia.

The shift in U.S. strategy toward Africa reflects an

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Sudanese children gather in front of an armoured vehicle of the United Nations and African Union peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) in Kalma Camp for internally displaced people in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, on December 2020 ,30.

(Getty)

assumption—shared by many in Washington— that counterterrorism and other long-standing U.S. priorities in Africa will diminish in importance as competition between the United States, China, and other significant powers intensifies. But that assumption is wrong. In fact, far from being a distraction from great-power competition, Africa promises to become one of its important theaters.

And if anything, great-power competition will increase the need for the United States to battle terrorists and safeguard democracy, trade, and free enterprise in Africa—but to do so with particular attention to limiting the malign influence of Russia and China.

President Joe Biden’s administration needs a new strategy that pursues these ends together, sustainably, and at an acceptable cost. For as long as the United States has had an Africa policy, it has run day-to-day operations through its ambassadors, tailoring its approach to each of the continent’s 54 countries individually. But today’s most pressing issues—terrorism, climate change, pandemics, and irregular migration, for instance—would be better served by regional coordinators whose authority transcends national borders. To safeguard its interests on the continent and to limit the influence of its rivals, the United States must start thinking regionally instead of nationally.

Devising such a policy is a matter of some urgency.

As current and former military officers, one of whom led the U.S. Special Operations Command for Africa from 2017 to 2019, we believe that the United States must position itself as the partner of choice for African countries in the era of greatpower competition. Failure to do so will imperil U.S. interests on the continent—and possibly U.S. security at home.

PARTNER OF CHOICE Like it or not, a twenty-first century “scramble for Africa” is underway. Russia and China in particular are ramping up economic and military activity on the continent at the same time as the United States is scaling back. Both countries see opportunities to build economic relationships, secure access to natural resources and rapidly growing markets, forge political alliances, and promote their own illiberal models of government.

Russia has dramatically expanded its footprint in Africa in recent years, signing military deals with at least 19 countries since 2014 and becoming the top arms supplier to the continent. Just days after the United States announced its plans to withdraw

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Today’s most pressing issues— terrorism, climate change, pandemics, and irregular migration, for instance—would be better served by regional coordinators whose authority transcends national borders. from Somalia in December 2020, Russia said it had reached an agreement to establish a new naval base in Port Sudan. Its mercenary companies, including the Wagner Group, which fought a deadly firefight against U.S. Special Operations Forces in Syria in 2018, now operate across the continent, from Libya to the Central African Republic to Mozambique.

China, too, is angling for influence in Africa. It established its first overseas military base in Djibouti in 2017 and spends vast sums on infrastructure projects to secure access to resources and to buy goodwill and votes in international organizations such as the United Nations. China’s leaders have promoted their country’s authoritarian bureaucratic system as a model for African leaders seeking to expand their economies without allowing democratic reforms. Their attractive lending practices and noninterference policy regarding human rights, market liberalization, and corruption give them additional influence over poor African governments.

Increased Russian and Chinese activity is already transforming Africa into a theater of competition with the United States—just as Soviet and U.S. jockeying made the continent a venue for Cold War rivalry. In the second half of the twentieth century, the United States, the Soviet Union, China, Iran, and North Korea provided military assistance to governments and rebels across Africa. These countries became embroiled in proxy wars, sometimes even sending their own troops into combat. Russia and Cuba, for instance, sent tens of thousands of soldiers to fight in the Ogaden War between Ethiopia and Somalia and in the Angolan civil war.

The United States might prefer to avoid becoming embroiled in African proxy wars during this new era of great-power competition, but it must be prepared for such conflicts nonetheless. Already, Libya has become a theater for proxy warfare between Russia,

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Turkey, and other countries backing opposite sides in an increasingly bloody civil-turned-proxy war.

The United States has played a peripheral role in that conflict, but that did not stop Russia from allegedly shooting down a U.S. drone over Libya in 2019.

The United States cannot simply withdraw from Africa without leaving its interests exposed. Salafi jihadi insurgencies, political instability, and authoritarianism still threaten U.S. businesses and commercial interests as well as the security of U.S. partners. Like the Afghan Taliban in the 1990s, insurgent groups in Africa are mostly motivated by local and regional concerns. These groups draw recruits from the continent’s large and rapidly growing population, which is particularly vulnerable to radicalization due to persistent poverty, environmental degradation, and all too often, poor governance. But many of the groups’ leaders have links to al Qaeda and the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, and are increasingly aligned with transnational Salafi jihadi causes. At the direction of al Qaeda’s senior leadership, al Qaeda franchises in the Sahel have conducted attacks against high-profile Western targets in Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger in recent years. And the Somali insurgent group al Shabab has attacked Western targets in Kenya and Somalia and even plotted to hijack a commercial airplane and fly it into a building in the United States, as the U.S. Justice Department revealed in a recent indictment. Moreover, Salafi jihadi groups create political instability that in turn degrades governance, depresses economic activity, allows transnational

The United States should articulate similar regional strategies for the Sahel, the Lake Chad region, the Horn of Africa, and southeastern Africa—each with clearly defined goals, however generational the timelines for achieving them might be.

crime to flourish, unleashes refugee flows, and invites health crises such as the 16–2014 Ebola pandemic in West Africa. In an interconnected world, what happens in Africa does not stay in Africa.

Fortunately, the United States and African countries share a common interest in countering Salafi jihadi groups. By offering sustained and effective counterterrorism assistance, the United States can become the partner of choice for African countries, encouraging them to develop their economies and political systems in accordance with Western norms.

Successful great-power competition in Africa hinges on the United States’ ability to win over African governments with a holistic counterinsurgency strategy, one that addresses the root causes of terrorism and lays the political, economic, and developmental groundwork for future stability and prosperity.

FOCUS ON THE STATE The standard U.S. approach to Africa relies on ambassadors to be the primary decision-makers.

The Department of State’s regional bureaus give ambassadors varying degrees of support and direction, but the individual chiefs of mission

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Rescued migrants sit aboard a Libyan coastguard vessel arriving at the capital Tripoli›s naval base on February 2021 ,28. (Getty)

Salafi jihadi groups create political instability that in turn degrades governance, depresses economic activity, allows transnational crime to flourish, unleashes refugee flows, and invites health crises such as the 16–2014 Ebola pandemic in West Africa.

coordinate most closely with their host governments.

This approach has the advantage of putting career diplomatic professionals in the driver’s seat—a clear benefit when dealing with country-specific issues and crises. Unfortunately, ambassadors have neither the staff nor the incentive to look beyond the borders of their host countries to engage with regional organizations or address transnational problems, such as Salafi jihadi insurgencies.

The al Qaeda­– and ISIS-affiliated groups in Africa are not confined to any one state. Jamaat Nusrat alIslam wal-Muslimin and ISIS-Greater Sahara, two of the most potent jihadi groups in the Sahel, move freely across the region to carry out attacks. Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa do the same across four countries in the Lake Chad region, while al Shabab ranges far outside Somalia’s borders into Kenya and Uganda. Population growth, environmental degradation, and tensions between nomadic and settled populations fuel conflicts that these groups can exploit. As a result, any U.S. strategy to degrade jihadi insurgent groups and address the root causes of the instability that drives them must be transnational in nature.

The United States must also address the interstate coordination issues that allow insurgents to escape

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military pressure simply by crossing international boundaries. Rather than seeking sanctuary in rough or difficult-to-access geographical terrain, insurgent groups simply exploit interstate coordination problems to roam freely in border regions. Often, they do so along borders between states that have tense diplomatic or military relations. For instance, Boko Haram operates on the border between Cameroon and Nigeria, which have a history of conflict.

The country-by-country approach to Africa not only fails to address coordination issues but can also serve to entrench them. For instance, Congress approves funds for military activities based on its assessment of individual partner countries—not based on the regional dynamics of the threat. As a result, lawmakers may approve a program to train and equip a partner force in one country to address a regional threat but restrict the use of U.S. equipment and the activities of U.S. advisers to within that country’s borders. Such inconsistency not only hampers counterinsurgency efforts but fuels the perception that the U.S. military is an unreliable partner.

THINKING REGIONALLY Critics of the current country-by-country approach have called for an overarching continental strategy. And indeed, both the Obama and Trump administrations published strategies for continentlevel engagement, but neither spelled out specific ends or means. As a result, various levels of government were free to interpret the strategies as they saw fit, and the country-by-country approach endured in practice. The Obama and Trump documents were useful insofar as they offered broad frameworks for engagement, but the truth is that Africa’s needs

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are too diverse and too complex to be addressed by a single strategy, except at a very superficial level.

What the United States needs is not an overarching continental strategy but one tailored to specific regions. African countries have begun to take such an approach themselves. For instance, in response to al Qaeda– and ISIS-affiliated jihadi activities across the Sahel, five African countries established the G5 Sahel group to coordinate military activities, enable cross-border joint operations, and solicit aid from international backers. Similarly, the Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad basin coordinates military activities between Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria to counter Boko Haram. The African Union Mission in Somalia likewise coordinates the efforts of Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and other nations to battle al Shabab.

France has taken a similar approach to insecurity in West Africa and the Sahel. In 2014, it established Task Force Barkhane, a roughly -5,000soldier operation centralizing security policy and administrative functions across Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger.

Governance failures in these countries and abuses by their security forces have undercut Barkhane’s effectiveness, as has France’s overreliance on counterterrorism tactics at the expense of population-centric counterinsurgency efforts.

But the regional approach has clearly eliminated cumbersome bureaucratic hurdles and helped maintain pressure on the militants.

The United States should articulate similar regional strategies for the Sahel, the Lake Chad region, the

Successful great-power competition in Africa hinges on the United States’ ability to win over African governments with a holistic counterinsurgency strategy, one that addresses the root causes of terrorism and lays the political, economic, and developmental groundwork for future stability and prosperity.

Horn of Africa, and southeastern Africa—each with clearly defined goals, however generational the timelines for achieving them might be. The strategies should draw on mostly nonmilitary means and aim to improve governance and security, thereby addressing the root causes of radicalization.

For example, the United States should reinvigorate USAID, along with other developmental and governance initiatives, so as to better position itself as the partner of choice to African nations. But it must also make the necessary military investments, in particular in synchronizing its advising, training, and equipping activities as well as its tactical and operational support for partner militaries. Military and nonmilitary support alike must be coordinated regionally and aligned against regional threats.

Each regional strategy must also be developed with input from Congress and clearly explained to the American people, so as to ensure popular as well as bipartisan support.

To implement its regional strategies, the United States will need empowered regional officials who are authorized to coordinate activities within their areas of responsibility. Regional coordinators, or envoys, have been used to coordinate responses

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Supporters of President of the political party PASTEF-Les Patriotes «Patriots of Senegal for Ethics, Work and Fraternity, Ousmane Sonko block the road following his release under judicial supervision pending his trial after his arrest sparked deadly protests in Dakar, Senegal on March 2021 ,08. (Getty)

to transnational issues in the past, but they have typically answered to the secretary of state rather than to the president. As a result, they have lacked the authority to compel cooperation from the U.S. military or from individual U.S. embassies or to adjudicate their divergent priorities. Regardless of their exact title, or whether they are civilian or military, the officials in charge of regional strategies for Africa must have the president’s support in order to effectively coordinate the various instruments of American power at their disposal.

The return of great-power competition does not mean that the United States can turn its attention away from Africa. On the contrary, increased Russian and Chinese activity on the continent will necessitate deeper U.S. engagement. To promote stability, good governance, and economic openness in Africa while countering the illiberal influence of competing powers, the United States will need a regional strategy that is capable of addressing transnational threats. Anything short of that will cede the advantage to the United States’ adversaries on a continent where opportunities and risks are set to grow in the coming decades.

This article was originally published on ForeignAffairs.com.

Somalis hold placards as they demonstrate against the Al Shebab Somali rebel group›s announcement that they will offically join the Al Qaeda Islamic militant network, in Mogadishu, on February 15, 2012.

(Getty)

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Saudi Women March to A Military Tune

New Moves for a More Inclusive Army in the GCC’s Largest Country Jeddah: Motasem Al Felou “I’d like to be an armed forces pilot in the future”, answered, Sarah, a twelve-year-old Saudi girl when asked about her ambitions. The dream is revolutionary. However, there is no law that prohibits dreaming in the Kingdom.

There is a misbelief that Saudi women have never existed in government sectors and agencies related to homeland security or military. This is not true. Since its foundation in 1932, the Ministry of Interior used to have limited recruits to run female prison wards, conduct screenings for women, and deal with specific women-related

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security issues or crimes. Female security screening rooms have continued to exist at all Saudi airports, seaports and border points for decades.

Evolution is inevitable when time is ripe.

The latest recruitment announcement by the Saudi Ministry of Defense (MoD) called upon Saudi women to apply for military positions in specializations that used to be monopolized by men in the Saudi Arabian Army, Royal Saudi Air Defense, Royal Saudi Navy, Royal Saudi Strategic Missile Force, and Armed Forces Medical Services. It is a bright moment in the Kingdom’s modern history, where women empowerment is gaining momentum.

SPARKING INSPIRATIONS

A female member of the Saudi Royal Guard (SRG) standing beside her colleague. (Twitter)

In July 2020, Saudi Prince Sattam bin Khalid Al Saud posted an image on his Twitter account, showing a female member of the Saudi Royal Guard (SRG). She was on duty at a royal palace.

It was the first time Saudis have seen a local woman dresses in full military uniform.

The picture was hailed by rising young generations, which constitute over two-thirds of the population. This was reflected in the social media engagement. Older generations’ reactions were divided between those who support the move, those who questioned the physical ability of women to undertake military jobs, and those who are indifferent.

UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL The Saudi steps towards more inclusion for women across all sectors comes in the right moment. The biggest GCC country is currently going through a huge transformation, where the potential of women is being unlocked gradually for the wellbeing of all citizens, regardless of their gender.

Female military applicants must be between the age of 21 and 40. This means more generations will be included in the military services. Women can be recruited as soldiers, lance corporals, corporals, sergeants, and staff sergeants. The “officer” position is not included. This is because the military colleges have not opened admission yet. Those colleges are the ones whose graduates get the rank of officer.

“Saudi women’s ambitions are unlimited. This announcement is good to start off with. Nobody

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Since its foundation in 1932, the Ministry of Interior used to have limited recruits to run female prison wards, conduct screenings for women, and deal with specific women-related security issues or crimes. knows what surprises the future may hold”, said a Saudi lady in her twenties during a friendly discussion.

FUTURE PROSPECTS The status of females in the Arab military has progressed in recent decades. Some Arab countries have military colleges for women.

Graduates of those colleges are officers. In countries like Algeria and Syria, female officers have reached the rank of “General” in the armed forces. Sometimes, when needed, they took up guns and fought in the battlefield.

UAE’s Mariam Al Mansouri is a pilot officer in the UAE Air Force. However, it has been always easier for Arab female officers to reach higher ranks in the interior ministries’ agencies.

Opening the doors of admission to the military colleges and scholarships for females in the international military schools could be one of many empowering steps in the future. Saudi women have shown remarkable success in the fields of diplomacy, public and private management, and leadership in different positions.

Saudi Arabia is investing in manufacturing arms locally to develop the national military manufacturing capabilities. The General Authority of Military Industries (GAMI) which has been in existence since 2017 to boost the Saudi military infrastructure, employ more women than ever in its investment sector.

“Sarah’s dream might come true sooner than expected. I believe in the magic of dreams”, concluded Sarah’s mother, who was born and raised in a military family.

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Birth Control Sparks Controversy in Egypt Officials Urge Small Families, But Some Are Unconvinced

By Hatem Khedr In a bid to curb population growth in order to guarantee the government’s goals for the provision of services to the public, Egypt’s President Abdelfatah Al-Sisi has called for a limitation of 400,000 newborn children

a year. He called for two children for each family, warning that increased population negatively affects all sectors, but mainly education and health. He argued that having more than two children for each family is a big challenge to the country.

After the president’s remarks on this matter, lawmaker

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A group of girls.

(Getty)

Rania Al-Gazayrli said that within days she would submit a draft law to the parliament on controlling offspring. She proposed that a family - two parents and two children - could get free education, health insurance and a full subsidy of all services. She argued that the third child of the family would be restricted to 50 percent of the subsidy and services, elaborating that a family with more than three children would not receive any free services or subsidy.

Commenting on the move, Minister of Religious Endowments (Awqaf) Mohamad Mokhtar Gomaa and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, the most prestigious Sunni institution in Egypt, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, said that birth control is legal in Islamic Sharia. Gomaa, along with several officials and media people, urged citizens to adopt birth control especially in light of economic conditions facing the country.

The move pleases some people who receive good government support services as a result of abiding by this concept.

“I think the step is good. Two children are enough if we want to bring them up well. Having many children becomes a burden as they have neither good education nor healthcare,” Hajar Said, a mother of two children, told Majalla.

“People should know that raising children requires a great deal of energy, care and concern. There are many working moms who do not have enough time to look after their children,” she added.

If parents concentrate well on two or even three children, they will help them be more talented, healthy and creative, she argued.

Some people share Said’s view as they work almost all week long. They have to leave their kids at nurseries to look after them.

“I have to leave my son at a kindergarten as I spend about six hours at work every day. So birth control is actually implemented by some families due to their conditions,” another mother told Majalla.

“Our mothers had enough time and a simple life, even though laborsaving machines were not available to them such as we have nowadays. So our mothers used to give birth nearly every year. Nowadays, life is not easy as it was. Birth control is not bad for us today,” she added.

However, some people rejected the idea in general, saying it is not the root of the issues in society. They called for investing in humans.

“Population is a national wealth. If the government makes use of this fortune, it will bear fruit. We have a wide land that needs reclamation and manpower,” Mohamed Abu Baker, a journalist, told Majalla.

“The government should invest in individuals instead of calling for birth control. It should leave this matter for people themselves to decide what is suitable for

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“I think the step is good. Two children are enough if we want to bring them up well. Having many children becomes a burden as they have neither good education nor healthcare.” them in line with their conditions. Working moms choose not to have more children because they don’t have time for child care,” he articulated.

Labor can be invested in building more factories, reclaiming more farms and producing commodities… and so on, he stated, stressing that growing rates of population have positive impacts on the economy, not negative.

When population increases, there will be a chance to get more scientists and specialists in several sectors, Abu Baker noted.

Hanan Helal, a mother, said families either with two or more children are barely eligible for free services, noting that former officials had called for implementing population control but they failed.

Afaf Mohamd said the country has many varied resources, which are not properly invested owing to corruption and mismanagement, but at the same time she does not oppose the birth control in general.

Some writers demanded societal dialogue to get a balanced vision about this matter in order to avoid any possible negative impacts when implementing the move.

In her article on Egypt’s Al-Masry Al-Youm paper, Dr. Amani Fouad suggested enacting a law allowing a maximum of three children to each family instead of two, elaborating that the three-child family can get full free services. Under the proposed law, the fourth child would be denied access to free government services such as education and healthcare, she said.

A family which has more than four children should be fined, but with no arbitrary measures, she pointed out.

Fouad holds both the country and citizens responsible for finding suitable solutions to this matter.

Some people say that Egypt gains its economic importance due to its population exceeding more than 100 million. They noted that there are 100 million consumers and therefore Egypt has been attracting several regional and international firms because it is a big market.

According to government’s statistics, the remittances of Egyptians working abroad are more than USD 26 billion, bigger that the country’s exports in a year.

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Ankara is Stealing Syrian Crops Turkey’s Expanding Control Over Northern Syria’s Economy

By Jiwan Soz As the current economic crisis mounts in Turkey, Syrian lands in the northern east and west territories controlled by Ankara are making

up for the Turkish fiscal deficit. Additionally, these areas have become new markets for Turkish products as well as a source of food and agricultural imports.

In 2019 Syrian exports to Turkey amounted to

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Syrian Kurdish farmers harvest olives in a field in the Baadinli area, in the rebel-held northern sector of Syria›s Aleppo province, near the border with Turkey, on November 2020 ,10. (Getty)

more than $ 117 million, an amount less than previous years according to the International Trade Center, which has not yet released its 2020 annual report. Some economists doubt the number because Ankara does not disclose data for its Syrian exports.

“Syrian exports to Turkey are not classified as imports by Ankara as a result of Turkish control of Syrian territory. This is especially so as no official data is released in this regard,” said Chalang Omar, an academic scholar and economist.

He pointed out that “Afrin’s olive oil exports alone to Turkey amounted to $ 100 million in 2019. How then could the total worth of Turkish imports from Syria be only $ 117 million in the same year?”

Omar told Majalla, “Syrian products exported to Turkey are not categorized as exports, rather they are confiscated and bought for low prices.

This is on top of Ankara’s annexation of the Turkish-controlled region’s economy. Products transported from these Syrian lands to Turkey are not subject to customs, but are directly shipped

by Turkish traders and are not labelled as imports from Syria.”

Omar revealed that “the data of Syria’s Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade does not mention the size of the trade between Damascus and Ankara,” adding that “Ankara officially incorporated the economy of Syrian territories such as Idlib, al-Bab, Jarabulus, Afrin, Ras alAyn, and Tell Abyad.”

The economist went on, “These occupied Syrian cities became economically absorbed by Turkey.

Obviously, since we can see the Turkish lira exclusively circulating there. Moreover, all economic and service-related decisions are made by Ankara via its provinces. For example, both cities of Ras al-Ayan and Tell Abyad are associated with Turkish Şanlıurfa Province, while Afrin is linked Hatay, and Azaz to Kilis. Ankara doesn’t deny this fact. Moreover, all projects in these areas have been taken over by Turkish companies.”

MARKETS FOR TURKISH PRODUCTS Apparently, Turkey has found a new outlet for its products in its controlled Syrian cities. In 2019,

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In 2019 Syrian exports to Turkey amounted to more than $ 117 million, an amount less than previous years, according to the International Trade Center, which has not yet released its 2020 annual report. Some economists doubt the number because Ankara does not disclose data of its Syrian exports.

Turkish exports to these regions amounted to $ 1.8 billion despite severed diplomatic ties between Damascus and Ankara. Between January and October 2020, Turkish exports were worth $ 670,895,000.

In this regard, Omar explained, “Statistics compiled by the International Trade Center confirm that Turkish exports to Syria in 2019 were worth $ 1.8 billion. Turkish products enter the markets of northern Syria via seven border crossings, and then to other regions in the country.

Most of the products are food, automotive parts and construction materials.”

He added that “Ankara is the only economic beneficiary of its controlled Syrian lands, as the additional circulation of Turkish currency contributed to the rise of its exchange rate.

More importantly, most of these territories are agricultural lands, and their produce is transported to Turkish markets and bought for low prices.

Meantime, these Syrian cities have become markets for Turkish products and businesses, as a result of the total absence of Syrian businessmen and companies.”

A LONG-TERM PLAN “Imposing trade in Turkish lira in Ankaracontrolled Syrian territories and using these towns as markets for Turkish products hide long-term political aims,” said Musa Özuğurlu, a Turkish political analyst specialized in international relations. Özuğurlu told Majalla, “Foisting a Turkish

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economy on these areas is a step towards forming a quasi-state to be under Ankara’s control in the future. I believe that the Turkish master plan in these regions exceeds the economic aspect.

The Turkish occupation in Syria has its police, schools, universities and service agencies already in place, apparently to convince the residents to accept everything that is Turkish.”

In addition, he reiterated that “the Turkish project is huge and the economy would allow for more expansion in the region. Both the Syrian lira’s deterioration and Turkish lira’s decline are providing easy access for Turkish businesses, especially since it doesn’t require much money compared to other markets.”

Although the war in Syria has contributed to a foreign trade slowdown, the Turkish economy has a strong presence in Syrian markets. Turkish exports to Syria worth $ 1.8 billion in 2019 are equal to Turkish exports to Jordan and Lebanon combined. However, Ankara does not announce the volume of its imports from Syria, despite importing wheat and olive oil.

Last January, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights revealed that Ankara was stealing agricultural crops from Syrian territories under its control. The Observatory’s report indicated that “pro-Turkey armed groups moved 20,000 tons of wheat to Şanlıurfa Province from Tell Abyad,” after they had previously seized large quantities of wheat.

According to the Syrian Observatory, the Öz-Duy company transported the wheat to Turkey, where it was stored by the Turkish Grain Board (TMO).

During the past five years, Ankara has been controlling large swaths of Syrian lands following three Turkish military operations. Two of these operations targeted areas controlled by Syrian Democratic Forces which are backed by the USled alliance against ISIS. As Turkey controls the geographical strip extending from Idlib to Jarabulus, in addition to Ras al-Ayn and Tell Abyad, these districts have apparently become under Ankara’s official control in view of the facts that Turkish currency is circulating, the Turkish flag is raised,

Apparently, Turkey has found a new outlet for its products in its controlled Syrian cities. In 2019, Turkish exports to these regions amounted to 1.8$ billion despite severed diplomatic ties between Damascus and Ankara.

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A Syrian Kurdish woman holds a branch of an olive tree as Syrian Kurds demonstrate in the northeastern city of Qamishli on January 20, 2021 to protest the Turkish occupation of the Kurdish Syrian city of Afrin, marking three years since Turkey and its Syrian proxies took control of the region in the northern Aleppo province. (Getty)

“Militias are stealing people’s crops, and if they do not steal it, they buy the olive oil for very low prices.

Thus, they seize the region’s harvest of olives and its oil for very low prices and send them to Turkey.”

and the Turkish language is used in schools and universities. Moreover, Turkish state-run institutions have been opened such as the post office.

Last February, the International Human Rights Watch described Turkish presence in Ankaracontrolled Syrian regions as an “occupation” which was a precedent for an international organization.

DISPLACED RESIDENTS’ HARVEST Jiyan Hajji, from Maydanki in the Syrian city of Afrin which is famous for its olive trees, told Majalla, “Turkish forces and pro-Turkish militias have seized 850 olive trees on our lands.”

He said, “Ankara-affiliated armed groups

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prevented us from returning back to our homes after they took over Afrin and most of its villages in March 2018. Since then, we have not been able to harvest our own olives.”

“Our yearly produce was at least 300 oil tanks, not sure what kind of measurement this is in addition to the fruit trees which Turkey and its militias also seized, along with our house in the town and another house in Afrin,” he added.

Pro-Turkey armed militias prevented Hajji and his family from returning home and confiscated their properties, allegedly for cooperating with the de facto “autonomous administration” established

by Kurds and their local allies in Northern east and west of Syria after the war erupted.

Hajji explained, “It was not just us. There are hundreds and maybe thousands of families from Afrin and its towns who have lost their homes and lands to Ankara and its militias.” He confirmed that, “Since Turkey seized the properties, Kurdish residents have been unable to get to their crops.”

He pointed out that “militias are stealing people’s crops, and if they do not steal it, they buy the olive oil for very low prices. Thus, they seize the region’s harvest of olives and its oil for very low prices and send them to Turkey.”

Hajji, who has been jobless since he left Afrin, called on the international community to mediate the return of displaced residents of Afrin and expel Turkey and its armed forces from the region.

He said, “what happened in Afrin is similar to what happened in Palestine. We might not return back to our homes, but we will never stop our demands for reclaiming them and driving Turkey out.”

A Weekly Political News Magazine

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Issue 1843- March- 12/03/2021

Oprah Winfrey: The US Media Mogul www.majalla.com

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When the Pandemic Becomes a Chance for Creating Art!

“Those days” is Randa Ismail’s New Exhibition Simulating Nostalgia and Nature

By Salma Adham In Cairo Opera House in the heart of Cairo, the artist Randa Ismail held an exhibition that ran from 23 February to 6 march 2021. She said that all of the paint-

ings were done during the pandemic which was a great chance to experience new things in her art.

When entering “El Bab-Selim Gallery” in the museum of Egyptian modern art where her seventh exhibition was on display, you will find 64 artworks that charac-

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terize different warm meanings in our life.

Randa Ismail is originally an architect who loved drawing as a hobby at first. Then she started taking courses to enhance her talent in 2004. In 2008 and 2009, she participated in group exhibitions. These engagements allowed her to see other artists’ works and learn more until she decided to make her first solo exhibition in 2011.

Randa said to Majalla that every exhibition she makes is stronger than the last one because she gains experience and improves her techniques. “By persevering in making an exhibition every one or two years, people know that you are working hard and are serious in your work,” she added.

What distinguishes Randa’s artworks is that she represents personal experiences and feelings. The difference in the exhibition this time is that she used big figures and animals to be the main characters of her paintings after a long time of depending on landscapes.

THE DIFFERENCE IN THE “THOSE DAYS” EXHIBITION

The artist Randa Ismail at her exhibition “Those Days” in El Bab-Selim Gallery, Museum of Egyptian Modern Art, Opera House, Cairo, Egypt. 6 March 2021.

In her current exhibition “Those Days,” Randa simulates the beautiful days in our lives and our memories.

It is a visual nostalgia that catches the eye and highlights different stories from real life.

“When God gives us the luxury of time, it turns to be a blessing to reflect, to get inspired, to heal our wounds, and to feel grateful. The blessing in disguise teaches us to be optimistic about what the future holds for us. We relive these times in contemplation, hoping to grasp the truth and gain the wisdom because of “those days.”

These words were written at the entrance of Randa’s exhibition to express her purpose. When we asked her about the hidden message, she said “This exhibition is a call for thinking and contemplation” about the beautiful moments in our lives.

What distinguishes Randa’s artworks is that she represents personal experiences and feelings. The difference in the exhibition this time is that she used big figures and animals to be the main characters of her paintings after a long time of depending on landscapes.

Randa said “I was interested to present all God’s creatures. People spent a long time with each other and even with animals in the time of this coronavirus and they have become more sensitive to each other. So I wanted to highlight this beautiful feeling,” “The truth is I also was trying to convey some hope in the paintings. You will see green plants that express this with intense lighting in some parts, two birds talking to each other, and hugs between a person and a person or a person and an animal,” she added.

Besides the figures and animals, Randa used a new style in lighting in order to express intimacy. She worked on a technique with colors for animals that is not a realistic color scheme, but gives the feeling that it came from a dream because of using dilute oil colors.

“A successful painting is one in front of which a person may stand and, after contemplating it for a while,

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An artwork from Randa Ismail’s exhibition “Those Days” in El BabSelim Gallery, Museum of Egyptian Modern Art, Opera House, Cairo, Egypt. 6 March 2021

will see what other people cannot see,” Randa said.

“Those Days” is considered a specific color experience type of exhibition as the artworks were influenced by the psychological state of the artist during the time of the pandemic and we can see that in the colors and the composition. In some paintings there is a brightness in the colors while in others there is a dark color scheme.

In addition to that, highlighting some parts and diminishing other parts helps Randa in her works to define the near and far parts of the painting in order to touch a specific feeling.

THE PAINTING IS NOT A PLAN

Ismail said: “The artist starts painting and lets his imagination complete it ... There is no clear plan to follow when I start painting. Of course, I begin with a topic in my head, but I let my imagination and my

feelings continue the work. The painting leads me to a story with all of its details while I am working on it.”

“So if I have a story with all of its particulars, instead of drawing I can just write a story. But I am an artist. I work on the painting for a very long time and we become friends. I live with it and see that every detail can provide a facet of the story,” she added.

For this reason, Randa determined not to give any titles to the paintings in her exhibition because, as she said, writing specific names leads spectators to a certain direction and this is not the goal of art.

MANY MEANINGS AND SYMBOLS

The animals in Randa’s artworks express many sym-

“People who came to the exhibition, whether critics or artists, felt that it is a shift in my career and style…The painting is successful when there is balance, honesty, and difference, and these are the criteria of success which I am always seeking to achieve.”

bols. The fish is a symbol of livelihood. The horse is a symbol of strength and equestrian skill. The cat has been a symbol of happiness and protection of the home since the ancient Egyptian days. Not only that, but she also signified mixed feelings in some of the artworks. As we see in the painting of a horse leaning on a girl’s head, the artist revealed the feeling of strength and tenderness.

“The painting of the children who live with their animals contains love and intimacy. Each work has different connotations and meanings,” Randa said.

To document this viral phase of our lives, Randa took kites as a topic in more than one painting. The kite is a symbol of release and freedom. “While I was taking this large painting from the house to put in my car, a man in the street said to me ‘could I take a photograph of it as I feel that I want to fly with it.’ This made me so happy,” Randa indicated.

All groups of people are addressed in the exhibition such as children and adults.

EGYPT IN RANDA’S ARTWORKS

Egypt’s identity is clearly shown in Randa’s exhibition, progressing from small details to the big picture.

We see the girls’ hair, their clothes and features, the houses, and other details.

Randa said to Majalla, “In all my exhibitions I paint Egypt. This show and the previous two exhibitions were about Nubia. You will feel this, for example, in the clothing, in the features of girls, in the Nile, and in rural houses. I love Egypt and always want to express my identity in my work.”

Additionally, Randa loves Aswan a great deal and sees the Nubian woman in specific and the Egyptian wom-

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A collection of paintings titled “Departure Group” from Randa Ismail’s exhibition “Those Days” in El Bab-Selim Gallery, Museum of Egyptian Modern Art, Opera House, Cairo, Egypt.

6 March 2021

Some paintings from Randa Ismail’s exhibition “Those Days” in El BabSelim Gallery, Museum of Egyptian Modern Art, Opera House, Cairo, 2021 March 6 .Egypt

Two paintings include kites in Randa Ismail’s exhibition “Those Days” in El Bab-Selim Gallery, Museum of Egyptian Modern Art, Opera House, Cairo, Egypt.

6 March 2021

an in general as symbols of strength and hard work which is the reason that most of the characters in her painting are women.

FEATURED ARTWORKS

“The group of departure.”

In this painting, people walk in one direction looking for a change. The woman is the leader and holds a cage of fish that is a symbol of livelihood. Randa used hot colors, in which there are hope and life, to represent this group of paintings.

Monoprint paintings In this experience, Randa depended on abstraction more than expression. You can feel the rhythm of music or the waves of the sea while standing in front of the paintings. “Everyone said something different, and

The animals in Randa’s artworks express many symbols. The fish is a symbol of livelihood. The horse is a symbol of strength and equestrian skill. The cat has been a symbol of happiness and protection of the home since the ancient Egyptian days.

I was happy with this new experience,” Randa said.

THE REACTION ON THE EXHIBITION

Randa Ismail said to Majalla that during the last days of the exhibition “People who came to the exhibition, whether critics or artists, felt that it is a shift in my career and style…The painting is successful when there is balance, honesty, and difference, and these are the criteria of success which I am always seeking to achieve.”

She also indicated that her new style based upon abstraction will be in the next exhibition as she always pursues renewal and diversity in her work. So this experiment is the first step which she intends to continue in her next artworks.

Finally, she clarified that she is so happy that young people also like her paintings, inasmuch as they have a propensity towards abstract works.

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Oprah Winfrey: The US Media Mogul

By Majalla Painted by Migdad Eldikhery Oprah Winfrey made headlines this week after her explosive interview with Prince Harry and Meghan that reverberated across the world and raised claims of racism and callousness toward a woman struggling with suicidal thoughts.

Of course, this is not the first groundbreaking interview that Oprah has presented to the world – her previous subjects have included the former US president Donald Trump long before he took office, Michael Jackson, The Obamas and Whitney Houston among others.

Winfrey was born in 1954 in a poor rural Mississippi household where she was subjected to many sexual abuses by her relatives and by her mother’s friends. After several years she moved to live with her father in Nashville, where he worked as a barber and a freelance businessman.

She joined Tennessee State University and started working as a radio and television broadcaster in Nashville at a young age.

In 1976, 19-year-old Oprah moved to Baltimore, Maryland, and presented the talk show, The People are Talking. It was a great hit and remained so for eight years in a row. In a matter of months, thanks to her quiet, close-hearted style, Winfrey garnered an additional 100,000 followers, pushing her show from the last place to the top in the overall ranking.

This success carried her to greater national fame and for participation in Steven Speiberg’s 1985 film The Color Purple, for which she was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Winfrey launched her own talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, to be a nationwide program with its broadcast on 125 channels and followed by 10 million viewers.

Shortly after, Winfrey acquired ownership of the show from ABC, re-planning and equipping it under the direction of its new production company, Harpo (the name of the company represents the reverse order of the letters of the word Oprah) and thus began to make more money by selling the program to TV channels.

In 1994, talk shows began to turn towards ludicrousness and standards slipped dramatically and rapidly, but Winfrey stuck to her style, ensuring that her program would not become a mere magazine to display photo reports.

Although she expected failure at first, she did gain the respect of her followers and increased in popularity rapidly, as the series produced by her company Harpo won advanced ranks in the classification of short series such as The Women of Brewster Palace, in which she played the title role, and she also signed several film contracts with Disney such as Beloved (1998) based on Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

Winfrey has made a significant contribution to the publishing world by launching the Oprah’s Book

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project, which has propelled many obscure writers to high places on the best-selling writers’ list.

In 2015, Winfrey announced that her Harpo’s Chicago studios would be closed in order to complete the merger with her new company and move to OWN’s headquarters in Los Angeles.

Winfrey was then acting in Greenleaf, her first scripted television work, as it premiered on The OWN TV network in June 2016.

In the same year, Forbes announced that Oprah Winfrey was the richest African-American woman in the twentieth century and the only black American billionaire for three consecutive years.

Winfrey is also a child rights activist, and in 1994 US President Clinton signed a bill that Winfrey had proposed to Congress, aiming to create a national database that includes all those convicted of assault or child abuse.

She also created The Family For Better Lives Foundation and donated to her alumnus, Tennessee State University. In September 2002, she was named the first recipient of the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Life magazine, meanwhile, considered her the most influential woman among the girls of her generation and in 2005 Business Week magazine named her the greatest philanthropist in American history. Her company, Angel Network, has committed nearly $ 51 million to charitable work, including education for girls in South Africa and first aid for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

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The Way of Salvation…What if the solution is within us ?

Interview with Prana Therapy Specialist Ananda Izabella

By Emna Darwazi ‘’Miracles are fantastic events which utilize hidden laws of Nature that most people are not aware of. Miracles do not break the laws of Nature, they are actually based on them.’’

Master Choa Kok Sui Humans have always been in search of happiness. Some accept their reality while others reject it and question everything: their teaching; their relationships; their comfort zone; and even their existence. Diseases can arise, both organic and psychological. Where is the answer to all these existential questions? Is it in science? In sacred texts? Or in art?

In an interview with Majalla, Ananda Izabella, a specialist in Prana Therapy, takes us on a journey beyond the dimensions we know. Ananda is a spiritual teacher, psychological counselor, and energy healer.

With her, we will discover the world of spirituality and alternative medicine. She will also tell us about the real and false selves as well as the path to enlightenment and the post-Covid world.

Let the magic begin!

Who is Ananda Izabella?

I can merge energy healing methods with psychology for treating clients.

I lived in Sweden from 2015 until now, where I studied for a Diploma in Social Sciences. I am from Syria originally, but lived in the UAE about 20 years where I finished a Bachelor›s degree in psychology. It was in the UAE where I studied the art of Pranic (energy) healing and where I had my own center for psychological counseling.

After moving to Sweden, I became more oriented towards

spiritual teachings in order to direct the “true self” towards the spiritual reality and learn how to perceive it. I saw that this is the supreme and essential direction to raise humanity’s consciousness to live more in harmony, peace and enlightenment.

Is your power as a healer innate or acquired?

Every human being has an innate ability for healing one’s self and others, but this has not been widely recognized yet. I think that my ability is innate but I felt that my study of Pranic Healing, which was acquired knowledge, could introduce me to the inner healing potentiality which I believed in and felt ... So often when I enter into the energy field of a person, I receive an inspiration on how to treat him and on what he needs exactly. As we know, everyone needs a special way of healing depending on his own perspective.

Accordingly, I combine the Pranic Therapy methods with the Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy because without changing perception, the Pranic healing is still temporary.

Pranic healing does not require any medication or physical contact with the subject. According to your experience, do you think that Arab people are rather open to alternative or energetic medicine or are they distrustful of these methodologies?

Recently, I have seen that Arabs have become more accepting and open, and indeed they are the ones who seek this method of treatment. What is really striking is the rapid change in awareness and openness to alternative medicine and Prana methods of healing as people became more trustful of it.

How would you value alternative medicine in the modern

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The general problem for people is that they forget their spiritual truth (the true self) and maintain a belief in a false self (Ego)

Specialist Ananda Izabella )Supplied(

world, according to your experience in this field? Are the healers consulted more or less than before?

I see that there is more demand for alternative medicine and that the next stage will be more interactive with increased demand. The public awareness has begun to clearly see the importance of natural remedies, which have no side effects.

There is also a demand and propensity to study alternative medicine. But it is necessary here to draw attention to the fact that this science requires spiritual purity plus psychological and physical good health. This requires a need to take care of oneself first, especially on the spiritual level, so that he becomes a true healer and will not be affected negatively when treating others.

We have all noticed, recently, a huge rise in violence and crime rates. Identity crisis, jealousy, and mental illness… seem to characterize the new era. According to you, what is the reason for such forms of violence?

Indeed, we have begun to witness strange events occurring at the social level and the reason is the fluctuations that

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happen during a transitional period of change in the public consciousness. On the one hand, the collective Ego began to feel vibrations threatening its existence, so it started trying to hold on until his last breath. On the other hand I see these events as an acceleration of a karmic movement. They may seem very negative, painful and strange, because what happens, from my point of view, is the exit or liberation of all the hidden and pent-up energies within the human soul.

We see these energies manifested as anger, fear, trauma and attachments which have begun to appear abroad in preparation for their eventual release. This is one of the requirements of the current period in order to move to the fifth dimension. It is very important to be aware of this so that we know how to deal with it in a balanced way and allow these hidden feelings to be liberated due to the need for the purity of the human soul. Therefore I stress to everyone the necessity of identifying all these negative feelings and then confronting and liberating them. Here, I must point out the importance of true tolerance with ourselves and with others.

Whatever is the person’s level of education, he must pay attention to the spiritual side and strive to purify himself. In addition, I see that the social separations that occur between husbands and families are for the same reason. As each individual begins to confront himself with his own self, as if he were in his own individual court with himself, to face his individual feelings, thoughts, beliefs, deeds and karma, he is the one who must deal with them in order to develop his consciousness. There are those who develop faster than others and thus will reflect a reality which is different from the people around them, and here we will realize the reason for the disconnections that people witness which are seemingly without any logical explanation.

Relational problems are the most common among people today. Can you confirm this observation?

The general problem for people is that they forget their spiritual truth (the true self) and maintain a belief in a false self (Ego), which is the basis for all psychological problems, from fear up to all crimes and wars at the highest level.

The Ego or the fake self is the major and general human problem.

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Is there a common remedy or solution to all human problems?

The common remedy is the real awakening for the humanity, which we call awareness or enlightenment.

We see many personal development specialists talking about astrology or certain astrological aspects. How do you explain this fact?

Everything in life is interconnected and no aspect of life can be separated from the other. The science of astrology is of course real, though, like many sciences, it has been distorted.

What is happening in the development of consciousness and the changes taking place represent a reflection of this development and can be read astrologically.

Where would you place religion in the process of personal development?

Religious teachings came at one point in history to deal with awareness on a different level. Although the essence of it was to guide man towards divine truth, what actually happened was the exploitation of the Ego (a low level of consciousness) from these teachings for a lower worldly interest, so that the effect was completely reversed on humanity. With regard to the current stage of history, the necessity to transcend these beliefs has become urgent. But what I mean here is not rejecting religion and at the same time clinging to its rigid stereotypes that carried with it fear and hatred as a weapon used by the collective Ego under the pretext of religion. This contains negative feelings and distorts the image of God making him a sadistic being who torments humanity and promises them everlasting fire for disobedience. All this does not help at all to realize the sublime truth and to seek the essence of love, which is the truth of every human being and all creatures.

You believe in the theory of reincarnation. Is there a scientific aspect that could prove the existence of past lives?

There are many scientific aspects that confirm the

After Covid, the world will be completely different, and it will continue with rapid changes and accelerating events as well.

reincarnation of the soul, including the results of hypnosis carried out by some psychiatrists for the purpose of treating severe causes of trauma. Indeed, when the patient returned to another life, he had died in a way that caused him severe panic before his death and the trauma continued with him into his next life.

From its original psychiatric use, hypnosis became used for everyone who wants to know what he/ she was in his previous life. Additionally, when some children begin to speak, they speak with a strong memory of the details of their previous lives, which in turn triggered the parents› curiosity. Therefore, after searching and investigating they found that there was actually a person who had died and lived in the same conditions that the child described.

Scientifically, we know that energy cannot be destroyed and that it is not created out of nothing. This also goes for the human soul -- it does not die, only the body dies, but the soul continues incarnate to complete its journey in development towards enlightenment, and this may require many lives. Accordingly, it is not logically possible that one life cycle can move a person from a lower awareness of enlightenment.

Don›t you see that the world into which you invite people is too perfect to be true? Some people have followed this path of breaking with the Ego, but they have ended up succumbing to the Ego or abandoning the path.

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Connection with )nature. (Getty

There is absolutely no bad or positive thing in the absolute, and Everyone’s vision of the same event differs in terms of the angle from which it is viewed. homes as if the universe tells them to go back to their true selves and discover it.

As for the possibility of the mind, it may be difficult to believe because it is not understood through the mind which is so limited according to the infinite awareness. It is only the heart which perceives it. Yes, it is an absolute of bliss, one might even use the word “ideal.” I can see it so far because it still carries something of comparison.

Consciousness is not ideal, but it surpasses and transcends any concept. It goes beyond concepts, adjectives, and even idealism. Consciousness is not comparable to anything.

The impact of the global pandemic on all vital sectors and especially on the lives of each of us is an undeniable fact.

Some have lost their jobs, others have faced separation, bankruptcy or depression. How do people experience this change at different degrees and levels?

I always point out that there is absolutely no bad or positive thing in the absolute, and everyone›s vision of the same event differs in terms of the angle from which it is viewed.

Yes, it was not easy what happened, but if we look at the other side of the coin of this event, we will discover that it pushes strongly towards a non-dependence on entirely external data, and that thus it raises the questions in the human being “who am I!”… and “why I came to this life!... and “where is the truth!”... On the outside it appears to be a negative and difficult situation, but its real purpose is to move from illusion towards the truth. People are isolated in

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How do you see the post-Covid world?

After Covid, the world will be completely different, and it will continue with rapid changes and accelerating events as well. However, I always invite people to look at the positive side of the coin, because on it we will see the facts about how things will turn out for the better. The individual will gradually feel more of himself and his individuality, and he will seek to understand himself more, transcending the system of social laws and other laws that guided him for a long time. On the other hand, there will be a group that still clings to its old way of life.

The need for other jobs will arise. Most of them will be via the Internet, and we will see a great development of technology. On the other hand, we will see a return to normal life and the tendency to a nature far from technology will increase more.

Do you think that disciplines or fields of study, such as cognitive psychotherapy, personal development, coaching or yoga, can one day be integrated into the curricula of students in Arab schools in the form of orientation or other activities?

Yes, it is very possible in the future with the rise in awareness, although I see that even the old approach to schools will change significantly. There will be more attention to the child›s capabilities and talents, and the severe system will turn into a more flexible and enjoyable state in education.

What about your future projects?

It would not be effective to develop a plan for any projects, especially in view of what is coming. The future will carry with it surprises that may disappoint many expectations and transport people as on a river towards a reality completely different from what is expected. So I do not set up projects but have a general vision, which is to help more broadly those who seek awareness. I actually see that this approach is very strong among people to develop and teach energy healing.

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The Egyptian Factory Throwing Down the Gauntlet to Persian Carpet Makers

Its Handmade Products Attract Influential and International Clients

CAIRO: Amr Emam The walls of this factory in the northeastern part of the Egyptian capital bespeak history as well as art.

Sitting inside the rooms encompassed by these walls are people who spend their lives stitching together designs that become art. When the handiworks are finished, the public will call these artworks “carpets.”

Groups of five or six weavers sit in each room, use their hands and fingers and work knot by knot to complete the patterns printed on paper in front of them.

These workers spend months, sometimes years, to complete the patterns and produce knotted pieces that go into local and international markets and rivet everyone’s attention. However, these carpets can be possessed only by those who are sufficiently affluent to afford them.

Kattan Factory is probably the only remaining center for the production of handmade carpets in the Egyptian capital. The factory takes upon itself

the mission of preserving the handmade carpet industry which is close to extinction. As it protects the industry, the factory produces carpets that are proving to be a strong rival to market competitors, including the famed Persian carpets and rugs.

“Our products are a strong competitor to Persian carpets, even though producers like us do not receive state support as Iranian manufacturers do,” Mohamed al-Kattan, the current owner of the factory and a grandson of its founder, told Majalla.

RICH HISTORY Behind the unique products of Kattan Factory are an extensive history and a rich background.

The factory was founded in 1930 by Ahmed alKattan, a retired schoolteacher who wanted to make the best of his time after retirement.

Ahmed bought an old palace in Kobri al-Qoba, a district full of palaces and villas in the northeastern part of the Egyptian capital. He restored the palace and then turned it into his desired carpet factory.

However, he did not have enough trained workers

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A weaver sitting at a loom, working knot-byknot to duplicate the pattern printed on the paper in front of him, in al-Kattan Factory in Cairo, Egypt )Getty(

to run the factory and produce the first carpet.

Only a few people he knew were familiar with the hand-knotting of carpets as a profession.

Ahmed decided to turn part of the palace into a school where he taught his prospective workers the art of carpet making.

Until this day, the school continues teaching this art to one generation after another and keeps the factory operating.

Those receiving training in the school use their fingers in knotting the finest carpets that draw to the factory all types of clients, from the most influential to the richest.

King Farouk of Egypt (1936 – 1952) was a client of the factory. Almost all Egyptian state agencies are also in the list of customers. In the same list are also Egypt’s embassies abroad and foreign embassies in Cairo.

King Farouk once made a special order from the factory. He wanted Mohamed’s grandfather to make a 5-Egyptian-pound-shaped carpet for

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“Handmade carpets are expensive, but now few people are ready to put that much money into the purchase of carpets with the pandemic threatening everyone’s life,” Mohamed said. him, and the factory manufactured this especially for the monarch.

“We succeeded in attracting all these clients to us by the unique nature of our products,” Mohamed said.

DYING INDUSTRY Mohamed and co-workers brave the waves of extinction.

Their factory went through a series of tough

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times in the past, but never as tough as the present. The factory bore witness to World War II, the 1952 revolution against King Farouk, and Egypt’s war against Israel for the liberation of Sinai in 1973.

Nonetheless, Covid-19 seems to be insurmountable. The pandemic is reordering the priorities of people and consequently influencing the sales of the factory.

“Handmade carpets are expensive, but now few people are ready to put that much money into the purchase of carpets with the pandemic threatening everyone’s life,” Mohamed said.

The lack of trained labor is another problem facing Kattan Factory. Carpet making by hand is a profession that has to be learned by practice.

“You cannot learn this profession by reading about it in the books,” Mohamed said. “You have to practice in order to master it.”

SERIOUS BID The Egyptian government is trying to prevent artisanal handicrafts from dying by giving craftsman access to financing.

The curtains have just come down on a major fair for handicrafts in Cairo. The fair brought

The factory is probably the only remaining center for the production of handmade carpets in the Egyptian capital. The factory takes upon itself the mission of preserving the handmade carpet industry which is close to extinction.

together hundreds of craftsmen who paraded thousands of products that took a lot of sweat and time to make.

It was one of a series of events organized by the government to promote handicrafts and turn them into a tool for job creation.

The government revealed recently that it has a plan for increasing handicraft exports by helping local craftsmen improve their production and reach foreign markets.

Egyptian handicraft exports amounted to $208 million in 2020 according to the Egyptian government.

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Finished hand-made carpets in al-Kattan factory in Cairo, Egypt )Supplied(

Industrial centers like Kattan Factory stand to benefit from the government’s plan to support the handicrafts. The products of the factory have already made their presence felt in the international market. the handicrafts.

The products of the factory have already made their presence felt in the international market.

Mohamed and co-weavers at the factory participate in international exhibitions, especially in Europe and the United States where they display their unique products.

The same products are outmatching similar products from other countries, including Iran whose handmade carpets and rugs enjoy an international reputation.

=The government says it wants to – at least – double this export value in 2021.

Economists say this goal is very easy, thanks to the quality of handmade products in this country.

“Egypt has an extensive history of traditional crafts,” said Yumn al-Hamaki, an economics professor at Cairo University. “This qualifies our national crafts for competition around the world,” she told Majalla.

COMPETING WITH GIANTS Industrial centers like Kattan Factory stand to benefit from the government’s plan to support

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Mohamed remembers when he participated in a fair in the Saudi port city of Jeddah a few years ago.

After looking at and examining the carpets, some of the fair’s visitors could not believe that they were made in Egypt.

“They were surprised to know this, not knowing that handmade carpet making is a very advanced industry in Egypt,” Mohamed said.

Despite difficulties, Mohamed and co-weavers say they will keep working to preserve the handmade carpet industry and prevent it from dying.

“This industry must be protected at any price,” Mohamed said. “It is an art that should never die.”