Discovering MENA and other thoughts

Francia se ha erigido durante décadas como referente e ideal de una república laica en estado puro, una nación orgullosa de su historia y raíces, pero también (o precisamente por ello) una nación inclusiva deseosa de mostrar sus virtudes a todo aquel que desee residir en su seno. Una república que crea ciudadanos que llevan marcados a fuego en sus conciencias las palabras  “libertad, igualdad y fraternidad” .

¿Cuál es la primera imagen que aparece en la mente de cualquiera cuando piensa en Hamas? ¿Hombres barbudos vestidos de oscuro gritando a voces y despotricando sobre Israel? ¿Jóvenes encapuchados que izan banderas y marchan en las calles del pequeño territorio de Gaza? La realidad es que eso puede estar cambiando, ya que el grupo militante islámico ha nombrado como portavoz a una persona completamente diferente de a lo que la gente en las calles está acostumbrada. Se trata de una persona  educada en Gran Bretaña , culta, que ocupó un puesto en la versión inglesa del canal de noticias estatal iraní, que usa ropa de colores y a menudo sonríe a los cuatro vientos. Esta persona tiene 23 años, tiene un hijo y ya se ha divorciado una vez. Esta persona es, sorprendentemente,  una mujer . Su nombre es  Al-Israa Moudallal , y se enorgullece enormemente de ser la primera mujer en ocupar el cargo de portavoz en materia de relaciones con los medios internacionales, una tarea extrema...

Should Jews be allowed free access to pray at  Haram Al-Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary , one of Islam's holiest sites? The Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third most sacred site in Islam, adjoins the Western Wall and stands on what Jews insist are the first and second temples. Haram Al-Sharif has been an exclusively Islamic shrine since the Arab conquest of Palestine in the 7th century AD, but the mosque was built upon the Temple Mount, itself one of Judaism's most sacred sites. The Western Wall, the only remnant of the Jewish temple destroyed by Herod in 70 AD, is under direct Israeli control, and Jewish prayer has always been allowed there. Even Christians revere the site they consider the place where Jesus walked and reasoned with the rabbis — as well as chastised the Pharisees and money changers. The compound has been under factual if not legal Israeli sovereignty since Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1980, and is the holiest site in Judaism. That´s not the case of Haram Al-Shari...

What's the first image that pops up in your mind when you think about Hamas? Dark-suited bearded men shouting and ranting? Hooded youths hoisting flags and marching on the street? Well, that may be changing, because the Islamist militant group has appointed a spokesperson different than what people in the streets are used to. It's an British-educated cultivated former presenter of Iranian state-run English news channel who wears colored clothes and often smiles into the wind. This person is 23 years old, has a child and has already divorced once. And it's a lady. Her name is Israa Al-Moudallal, and she takes pride in being the first woman to hold the position of spokesperson concerning relations with international media, a hard task taking into account Hamas' disadvantageous situation .

Last July I wrote about the several Tamarrod-style copycat movements that had been created throughout the Arab world inspired by their Egyptian brethren with the aim of protesting against the governments in power and in favour of the granting of further rights. One of the most active ones has surprisingly proven to be the Tamarrod Gaza movement, silently formed in the street against what some consider a status quo controlled by Hamas that is growing authoritarian by the day. Several small scale protests have been taken place in the tiny territory throughout recent weeks, but the demonstration most organisers hoped to represent a real breakthrough was scheduled for November 11, a key date for all inhabitants of the Strip. Indeed, las Monday was the anniversary of the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, founder of Hamas rival Fatah, a date revered by all Palestinians that in the past has also been an occasion for protests.

A spectre is haunting Europe, the spectre of neo-fascism. The stir caused by a recent meeting between Geert de Wilders and Marine Le Pen , who are planning to form a far-right political coalition which will intend to participate in the 2014 European elections (if they are not banned from running, that is) is just the latest sign. According to a polemical survey carried out in France weeks ago, it seems both highly controversial figures will have a say. Record-high unemployment, falling living standards, a struggling economy and mounting concern over crime, confronted by seemingly powerless traditional parties, have fuelled a rise in support for the far-right which isn’t solely confined to France and the Netherlands. At the end of September, Austria’s far-right Freedom Party gained over one-fifth of the votes in the country’s general election, while over the course of the year the visibility of Britain’s anti-EU United Kingdom Independence Party has also been climbing after making...

Francia se ha erigido durante décadas como referente e ideal de una república laica en estado puro, una nación orgullosa de su historia y raíces, pero también (o precisamente por ello) una nación inclusiva deseosa de mostrar sus virtudes a todo aquel que desee residir en su seno. Una República que crea ciudadanos que llevan marcados a fuego en sus conciencias las palabras "libertad, igualdad y fraternidad". Parece sin embargo que el país que para muchos representaba un faro entre tanta oscuridad extremista en Europa está inmerso en un pulso contra el mismo: un pulso entre la République y un país multicolor, un pulso entre sus ideales y su día a día. Un pulso entre un estado que inauguró la larga travesía de la protección de los derechos humanos con su mítica Declaración de los Derechos del Hombre y del Ciudadano, una república nacida de una revolución que puso Europa patas arriba al pretender luchar contra los privilegios arbitrarios y garantizar los mismos derechos a todos...

The Syrian National Coalition (SNC), the one and only body considered as representative of the Syrian opposition by the international community (despite its lacklustre state and its problems with the rebels on the ground, many of them having refused to recognise its authority and rejecting the idea of negotiations) has agreed to participate in peace talks with the regime that will take place in Geneva, what pundits like to call "Geneva 2 talks". The helter-skelter body has however outlined certain conditions for its attendance that will need to prove the Syrian regime's goodwill and predisposition, particularly a guarantee that relief agencies would be given access to deliver humanitarian assistance and that political prisoners would be released. In this sense, many considered as a very good omen a deal whereby a blockade on the rebel-held town of Qudsaya, near Damascus, will be eased.

This week's Economist publishes an enlightening article drawing, amongst other things, parallels between the Lebanese and the Syrian civil wars. I would stress a sentence that I believe sums it all up perfectly: "Lebanon could not be conquered by one side, nor divided among all. Its people are too mixed".

Cuando todo apuntaba a que la muerte de  Yasser Arafat  se mantendría durante décadas como uno de los grandes misterios de la Historia,  Al- Jazeera  podría arrojar algo de luz sobre el fallecimiento del entrañable héroe palestino. Fueron precisamente las investigaciones del canal catarí lo que forzó la exhumación del líder palestino en 2012. De acuerdo con un informe que la cadena ha publicado recientemente, científicos del Centro Universitario de Medicina Legal de Lausana han concluido que los restos de Arafat contenían al menos una proporción de  polonio radiactivo 18 veces mayor a los niveles normales , llegando a la conclusión de que es muy probable que Arafat fuera envenenado. Los antecedentes Ya en octubre de 2012, la Fiscalía francesa accedió a abrir una investigación en torno al presunto asesinato de Yasser Arafat en 2004, ante alegaciones de su familia (en particular, de su viuda Suha) según las cuales el veterano líder palestino murió por enve...

Just a sentence: " the Palestinian people and the Palestinian state are a modern invention inspired by Israel. It has no precedent, it has no history. There were never such a people and such a state. Now, thanks to the Israeli occupation, there are ". Read the whole article here .

Last year, I wrote about how French prosecutors had ordered the reopening of the case on Yasser Arafat's 2004 death. Today, and according to Al-Jazeera  (the channel whose investigations triggered the Palestinian leader's exhumation), scientists at the University Centre of Legal Medicine in Lausanne have found at least 18 times the normal levels of radioactive polonium in his remains, thus concluding that it was very likely the figure was poisoned.  The report has only examined the question of what killed Arafat, without addressing the question of whether he was deliberately poisoned or how. Moreover,  Suha Arafat has said that "we can’t point a finger at anyone". Rumours have already been unleashed, though. The bulk stress the main suspects are either the Israelis (even though they have always denied they had anything to do with his sickness or death and to date no evidence has emerged that implicates them) or Arafat’s Palestinian rivals, aware of the man...

Lieberman is back ... start trembling!!

The Ahrar Movement: anti Morsi, anti MB, anti Army, anti Mubarak. The Ahrar Movement and the likes = hope for Egypt.

Every time people cite Egypt's economic distress in front of an Egyptian, he most probably will bump retorting that this economic problems are surely due to political mismanagement, as Egypt is an incredibly resource-rich country which could one day reach the level of brethren Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia or wealthy countries in the region such as Israel? I have to say I, undoubtedly influenced by History courses about the incomparable Egyptian Empire, have always believed that fact. Until now. This week-end I found what I consider an enlightening article on the issue.

Months ago, I wrote about how the Lebanese school curricula were designed not to influence the pupil's own identity, with the very particular aim of leaving the interpretation of the country's recent History into the hands of each community. Now I bump into this article on the NYT  about how Hamas has decided to change the curriculum in the Gaza Strip having the exact opposite objective in mind, that is, looking forward to infusing the next generations with its militant ideology (maybe as a consequence of it's being shunned both at home and abroad). Coming from a country in which political ideology, more than class, culture or genetics, remains the main root of polarization between what people call "the two Spains", I am appalled by this kind of gestures, which only teach children to be as narrow-minded as their parents often are. Israel is often criticized for adopting the same stance towards education. If Palestinians want to show they are more qualified than...

On 28 September, Guinea held its first democratic parliamentary vote since the country's independence from France in 1958. The election was held two years overdue and was due to complete the long-delayed transition back to civilian rule following a 2008 military coup. Indeed, the vote was meant to have been held within six months of the inauguration of President Alpha Conde in 2010, but was delayed many times. The main reason behind those delays were disagreements amongst the main stakeholders hinging on how the poll should be organized (one of the fundamental points of disagreement between the two camps was the electoral register, the opposition suspected of being "inflated" in favor of power in areas considered to be pro-establishment and reduced in areas considered strongholds of the opposition). During these two years, the role of parliament was left to be played by an unelected National Transitional Council. What were in principle political skirmishes turned into ...