Middle East

Secretary Rice has been a frequent traveler to Israel/Palestine in the recent past (17 times in the past 2 years), and she is now in the middle of another visit in an attempt to broker an agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians by the end of 2008. Read her remarks with Israeli Foreign Minister (and now Acting Prime Minister) Tzipi Livni here and with Mahmoud Abbas here. Settlements, unsurprisingly, continue to be a thorn in the side of all three parties; PeaceNow, an Israeli pressure group, released a report shortly before Secretary Rice’s visit documenting a rise in settlement activities relative to this time last year. (Almost twice as many new buildings are under construction as there were in the first half of 2008). Rice said, in her press conference with Livni, that the settlement activity was “not helpful” but pointed out that negotiations were proceeding despite it. Abbas and Livni were slightly more pointed in their comments; Livni said 

“… the peace process is not and should not be affected by any kind of settlement activities. I mean, at the end of the day, we are talking about the future borders of the Palestinian state, considering more than 40 years we are talking, plus minus, about the same blocks of settlements, and this is part of the negotiations. And as I suggested also to my co-partners on the Palestinian side, to try — and I understand that sometimes (inaudible) and sometimes how does it affect on different parts of Palestinian society. But at the end of the day, the role of leaders is to try and find a way to live in peace in the future, and to avoid any kind of — not to let any kind of noises that relate to the situation on the ground these days to enter the negotiations room. I mean, it could have been easier also for me to use some excuses, and to say that this affects my ability to negotiate. But I decided not to do so, even in harder days of terror. So I would like to suggest my co-partners not to use it as an excuse. And I know that they are not using it as an excuse, but I understand the frustration sometimes.”

Abbas, later on the same day, made the following comments:

We have focused also on the settlement activities that continue, that are ongoing, and that are undoubtedly an obstacle, a main obstacle in the road of the peace process. And as you all know, we reject all the settlement activities in principle because they contradict with the agreements and the Roadmap plan and the objectives of Annapolis that have started one year ago – almost one year ago.

So, Rice has got her work cut out for her. As Fareed Zakaria said, no one has ever lost money betting against the peace process. There is one interesting new development, though – Rice has appointed Lt. Gen. Will Fraser to oversee the progress of the Roadmap. He’s established a system for quantifying the impact of each of the roadblocks up in the West Bank/Gaza and East Jerusalem, ostensibly so that the most disruptive roadblocks can be removed first. Sean McCormack discusses this in greater depth at DipNote, the State Dept’s blog.

Recently came across this blog, Humble Musings, which touches a lot on women’s issues in the Middle East (and other issues germane to this blog, as well as other interesting pieces).    We don’t seem to get a lot of time to talk about these issues on this page, what with the author’s particular obsessions, so this is a good blog to read to capture more aspects of the Middle East.  It is well-written, concise, and full of interesting links.   It is on the blogroll now, so please check it out. 

Hat-tip: Greg for the link.

And no, the title isn’t some kind of National Review fantasy about the links between public broadcasting and Evildoers, but rather about a segment on NPR this morning regarding the State Department’s annual report on terrorism.  

The guest was Ambassador Dell Dailey, who talked at length about foreign fighters in Iraq returning home.  We’ve discussed this on the blog regarding Yemen (of course) and to some extent Algeria.   Dailey focused mostly on Algeria, and how the GPSC has become Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb.  Returning jihadis from Iraq are proving themselves to be even more dangerous and adaptable than their predecessors. 

One thing that Dailey focused on was the Sinjar Records- al-Qaeda paperwork on foreign fighters that was found in Iraq.  Read through this summary if you have some time.  It is fascinating and bizarre- one thing which is rarely talked about is how clericalal-Qaeda is.    The documents show where the fighters are from, contact numbers, items entrusted (”500 riyal and a watch”), etc.   It is jarring and a wierd mix of comedy and horror.  Bureaucracy and suicide bombings mixing. 

 Anyway- I will try to read at least the Middle East section of the State Department report tonight, and will report back on it ASAP.*

*- With more emphasis on the “as possible” than the “soon”. 

A hideous story from the troubled border of Yemen and Saudi Arabia.  I’ll quote a few passages. 

Saudi policemen burned 18 Yemenis while they were trying to cross into Khamis Bani Mushait, a Saudi village bordering Yemen. Alsahwa opposition newspaper reported on Saturday that the police poured diesel onto the men, who were hiding in a hole in the area to escape the police.
…

The 18 burnt men were transferred to a police station. They said police interrogated them while they shouted in pain. “They questioned us quietly and with indifferent temperament,” Salloum said.

After nine days in the hospital, the 18 burn victims were taken back to the police station and the officer offered them two choices; either to go back to Yemen and write waivers and confessions that the Saudi police weren’t responsible for what happened to them or to stay in Saudi Arabia till they died.

It is difficult to tell what is the greatest horror in the story- the obscene cruelty or the wanton indifference; the lack of any human compassion or the clinical and legalistic way in which punishment and cover-up was inflicted.   This is the kind of story that leaves one with a shudder of terror and a quick desire to forget. 

But this is not a philosophical blog, nor is it a forum to peer into the dark crevasses of man’s soul (for which we can all breathe a sigh of relief).  There are reasons why such a scenario happened, and will continue to happen, if hopefully not to the dark extreme as above.

Why were the men there?  As the Yemen Times said, the “illegal immigrants were trying to get jobs in the Saudi bordering cities”. 

Ah! So simple, so obvious, and yet such a depth of history and desire and humanity and the peculiar idiosyncrasies of the region. 

Today’s Asharq Al-aswat has an interesting and disturbing article about al-Qaeda shifting its base to the Gulf, or, more precisely, Yemen.  It quotes an anonymous official saying he “believes that Yemen may replace Afghanistan as the incubator to breed, rally and train [terrorists]. In practice, Yemen could become the new Al Qaeda base- a label once reserved for Afghanistan.”  Most observers have tended to think the new base for The Base would be Pakistan, but it is good to remember the (possibly fake) hadith: “When disorder threatens, seek refuge in Yemen“.  

On a brighter note, the American University in Cairo has come out with its list of newly published books.   These range from ancient Egyptian history to a look at 19th-Century Egyptian Theatre to modern politics, with the latest in Arabic literature scattered in.  There also seems to be several books about the late Naguib Mafouz, including a series of conversations with him during his last hospital stay.  Worth checking out. 

Finally, the Boston Review has a long article by Abbas Milani about Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.   Milani explains how Ahmadinejad was shaped by the history of Iran in his lifetime- both its political and economic upheavals.  (with what is almost an aside about how the Shah’s modernization led to a massive influx into the cities- one of those little pieces of history that are massively important but often go unnoticed).   In doing so, he places Ahmadinejad squarely in the Iranian experience, and helps explains what he means for the country’s present and future.    On the subject, be sure to check out Ahmadinejad’s blog.   It isn’t as interesting as one would hope, though he does seem to be writing more, explaining “Since my last post on the blog, a few months have passed. But this doesn’t ‎mean that I have not been keeping my promise of spending fifteen minutes per week ‎on it”.    More instructive are the side-comments, with people either praising him or wishing that he would “die slowly”.