Editors »
14 August 2008 »
In Human Rights, Iraq, Society And Economy »
تقوم الحكومة العراقية حالياً بتشجيع اللاجئين العراقيين في دول الشرق الأوسط على العودة إلى العراق من خلال تنظيمها رحلات جوية مجانية لهم. غير أن مجموعة مؤلفة من أكثر من 100 منظمة غير حكومية محلية ودولية أصدرت بياناً تحذر فيه من مغبة ذلك.
وجاء في بيان المجموعة الصادر في 8 أغسطس /آب أنه “سيكون للعودة المستعجلة وقبل الأوان تبعات كارثية على المشردين أنفسهم وعلى استقرار العراق”.
وأضاف البيان أن “العنف ما يزال منتشراً [في العراق] وما تزال الخدمات الأساسية مثل الرعاية الصحية والمياه النظيفة والمأوى المناسب غير متوفرة في أجزاء كثيرة من البلاد”، مشيراً إلى أن الوضع في العراق لا يساعد بعد على عودة اللاجئين والنازحين.
وكان عشرات اللاجئين العراقيين في مصر قد عادوا مؤخراً إلى العراق بعد أن تكفلت الحكومة العراقية بدفع تكاليف سفرهم. وجاءت هذه الخطوة لتشجيع العراقيين على العودة، وفقاً لتصريح اللواء قاسم الموسوي، الناطق باسم الجيش العراقي يوم 11 أغسطس/آب بعد أن استقبل حوالي 250 لاجئاً عراقياً في مطار بغداد الدولي.
وعن تحسن الأوضاع في العراق قال الموسوي: “لقد تمكنا منذ العام الماضي من تحقيق مكاسب أمنية استثنائية، مما سيساعد العائلات العراقية النازحة واللاجئة على العودة إلى ديارها وممارسة حياتها الطبيعية”.
وأضاف الموسوي أن الحكومة تسعى لتنظيم رحلتين جويتين أسبوعياً للاجئين العائدين من دول الجوار.
“لم أعد أملك المال”
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Tags: Egypt, Health, Iraq, IRIN, Poverty, Refugees
Editors »
14 August 2008 »
In Iraq, Society And Economy »
BAGHDAD, 12 August 2008 (IRIN) - The Iraqi government is encouraging the return of refugees from Middle Eastern countries by laying on free flights, but a group of over 100 Iraqi and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) has issued a statement warning of the dangers.
“A rushed and premature return process would have disastrous consequences both for the displaced and for the stability of Iraq,” said the 8 August statement.
“Violence is still widespread, and basic services such as access to healthcare, clean water or adequate shelter are unavailable in many parts of the country,” it said, adding that the situation in Iraq was still not conducive to the return of refugees and internally displaced families.
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Tags: Egypt, Health, Iraq, IRIN, Poverty, Refugees
Editors »
31 July 2008 »
In Analysis Briefings Commentary, Middle East, Politics and Security »
Neither Bush nor McCain so much as mention — let alone criticise — Israel’s inhumane treatment of Palestinian populations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. This treatment includes frequent military assaults often targeting civilians, the use of ‘targeted assassinations’, the ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip (which has brought that territory to the brink of starvation), continued construction of Jewish-only settlements on occupied Palestinian land, and the forced removal of non-Jewish, Arab inhabitants from the city of Jerusalem.
More disturbing to Arab critics of U.S. policy is the fact that Democratic presidential contenders have shown just as much zeal for Israeli supremacy as their Republican rivals.
In his own speech to AIPAC in early June, Obama stressed the need for a “more nuanced” approach to U.S. Middle East peacemaking. He stunned many, however, when he went on to state that Jerusalem would “remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.”
Although Israel has occupied East Jerusalem since 1967, its claim to the city has never been recognised by the international community. Officially, the status of Jerusalem — which Palestinians also want as capital of their future state — is supposed to be determined in long-awaited “final status” negotiations.
CAIRO, Jul 31 (IPS) - For decades, the U.S. has jealously guarded its role of sole arbiter of the Arab-Israeli dispute. In light of recent shows of support for Israel by U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama, however, many Arabs fear that Zionist influence on the U.S. body politic — across the political spectrum — has made the notion of ‘U.S. even-handedness’ a contradiction in terms.
“When it comes to the Middle East conflict, the Arabs no longer see any difference between Republicans and Democrats,” Ahmed Thabet, political science professor at Cairo University told IPS. “Both parties vie with one another in expressing total support for Israel.”
In a speech before Israeli parliament in May, U.S. President George W. Bush went further than any of his predecessors in voicing praise for the self-proclaimed Jewish state. Referring to Israelis as a “chosen people”, Bush pledged Washington’s unwavering support against Israel’s traditional nemeses, including Iran and resistance parties Hamas and Hezbollah.
In statements heavy on “Judeo-Christian” religious references, Bush went on to describe Washington’s alliance with Israel as “unbreakable”.
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Tags: Analysis, Barack Obama, Egypt, Gaza, IPS, IPS Reports, Iran, Israel, John McCain, Lebanon, Palestine
Fatima Jameel »
12 July 2008 »
In Religion »
من المقرر ان يقام يوم غد الاحد في محافظة البصرة المؤتمر الاسلامي العالمي السنوي الاول بمشاركة 200 شخصية دينية من 15 دولة عربية واسلامية .
وقال ممثل المرجع الديني الاعلى السيد علي السيستاني في البصرة الشيخ محمد فلك المشرف على المؤتمر ان المؤتمر يهدف الى ترسيخ الثقافة الاسلامية الوسطية عموما، لتعميم ثقافة التعايش والحوار مع الاخرين من المسلمين وغير المسلمين من الديانات الاخرى والانفتاح على المدارس الاسلامية في العالم وايجاد لغة مشتركة لتوحيد صفوف المسلمين.
واضاف فلك ان المؤتمر يهدف ايضا الى ترسيخ ثقافة استبدال لغة العنف والتهميش بلغة الحوار وقبول الرأي الاخر، موضحا ان مثل هذه المؤتمرات تجعل عودة العراق عموما والبصرة على وجه التحديد مدرسة للفكر وحاضرة للعلم والعلماء امرا مؤكدا في القريب العاجل وتحبط مؤامرات اعداء العراق.
واشار الى ان المؤتمر سيناقش على مدى ثلاثة ايام عدة محاور ابرزها التعايش السلمي عند الامام علي عليه السلام مع الديانات الاخرى والتعايش السلمي مع المخالفين له والمنهج السلمي عند الامام علي مع الديانات الاخرى والاخلاق في منهجه الشريف.
ويشارك في المؤتمر اكثر من 200 شخصية دينية من 15 دولة عربية واسلامية، من بينها سوريا ومصر ولبنان والجزائر والبحرين والامارات وايران وكينيا والنيجر والسعودية.
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Tags: Algeria, Bahrain, Basrah, Egypt, Emirates, Iran, Islam, Islamic unity, Kenya, Lebanon, Niger, Saudi Arabia, Syria, World Islamic Unity Conference
Editors »
14 June 2008 »
In Features, Iraq »
Tens of thousands of detained Iraqis have never been found on any U.S. military records. Their families still do not know whether they are dead or alive.
“All Iraqi poetry under occupation is now about death and separation.”
IRAQ: The Love Stories Are Gone By Ali al-Fadhily. by Ali al-Fadhily and Dahr Jamail. Ahmed Ali, is IPS‘ correspondent in Baghdad, he works in close collaboration with Dahr Jamail, their U.S.-based specialist writer on Iraq who travels extensively in the region.
BAGHDAD, Jun 14 (IPS) - As statistics go, at least 655,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the occupation, now in its fifth year. Every one of them has left behind once loved ones to mourn the loss and to think of what might have been.
This is the land of the Arabian Nights, and of love stories that became fables far and wide. In these stories, in the traditions of which they were born, the lover thought nothing of giving up his life for a beloved. But no one thought death would come to this land under the present circumstances.
All who have died had their own love stories, if not all romantic ones. And that must be a million of them. The figure of 655,000 – of Iraqis who died as a result of the U.S.-led invasion and occupation — came from the British medical journal Lancet based on a study in July last year. The number would have risen significantly after one of the bloodiest years of the occupation.
The deaths are not the only tragedies to have fallen upon Iraq’s love stories.
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Tags: Baghdad, Children, Civilian casualties, Death Squads, Egypt, Fallujah, IPS, IPS Reports, Jordan, Samarra, Widows
