[ad_1]
Right here’s a round-up of Al Jazeera’s Center East protection this week.
Twenty years on from the Iraq Battle, water shortage within the Center East, and the beginning of Ramadan. Right here’s your spherical up of our protection, written by Abubakr Al-Shamahi, Al Jazeera Digital’s Center East and North Africa editor.
“I feel issues have gotten so dangerous inside Iraq … [that] my perception is we’ll, the truth is, be greeted as liberators.” These phrases have been uttered by the previous US vice chairman, Dick Cheney, on March 16, 2003. Three days later, President George W. Bush introduced that a navy operation had begun, with air assaults pummelling Baghdad. The subsequent day, troops from the US-led coalition started crossing the border into Iraq, and the bottom invasion had begun.
Over the previous week we’ve been trying on the occasions of the Iraq warfare, and its aftermath. What have been the justifications for the warfare, and the way do they arise in the present day? One of many intelligence dossiers used to construct the case for a warfare turned out to have been plagiarised from a dissertation written by an Iraqi-American scholar. Now, an affiliate professor in California, Ibrahim al-Marashi recounts the expertise, and the way he was propelled “on a trajectory of fame and infamy”.
The occupation of Iraq that adopted the invasion led to torture at prisons, together with the notorious Abu Ghraib — one former detainee recounted his story, and the horror that gained’t go away. The occupation additionally launched a sectarian-based political system designed to share energy amongst Iraq’s numerous ethnicities and non secular sects, however many Iraqis blame it for the political issues which have plagued Iraq within the years since.
And what of Iraq in the present day? It’s a rustic the place younger folks complain of a corrupt elite, the place the societal ruptures brought on by the emergence of ISIL (ISIS) nonetheless run deep, and the place the bulk Kurdish north has a powerful want to secede.
[READ: The US-led war in Iraq and Saddam’s Arab legacy]
Nevertheless it’s additionally a rustic that has undergone some constructive change, the place streets broken by warfare (and civil warfare) have been rebuilt and are bustling as soon as once more. In the end, the legacy of the Iraq warfare will rumble on. However Bush has retired to his portray, and Saddam Hussein is lengthy lifeless. What’s left are the folks of Iraq, who now reside with the results of an invasion that many in the present day see as having been unjustifiable and downright unlawful.
A Area Thirsting for Water
It’s frequent information that many elements of the Center East and North Africa are arid. And but I used to be nonetheless greatly surprised studying that seven out of the ten most water-stressed nations on the earth are within the area. In nations like Bahrain and Egypt, the utilization of water far outstrips the availability from renewable sources. Richer nations within the area are capable of survive on desalinated water, drawn from the ocean and handled. However in poorer nations the quantity of water stress signifies that aquifers are being drained, and can ultimately run dry.
Ramadan and Nowruz
In Iran, in addition to Kurdish-speaking areas of Iraq, Turkey and Syria, tens of millions of individuals celebrated Nowruz this week. It marks the Persian New 12 months, and the start of spring. Though a time for celebration and good meals, lots of these celebrating Nowruz are additionally now fasting for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which this yr begins in the present day, Thursday. The iftar meal, which breaks the quick, is historically a chance to collect and share meals, and but, with inflation rising around the globe, will Muslims have to chop again on among the conventional staples?
And Now for One thing Totally different
The Amazigh folks of North Africa have historically used collective granaries, constructed of what’s referred to as rammed earth. Often known as an agadir, they’re used to retailer meals and even essential paperwork. However in Algeria, Tunisia and Libya they’re arduous to search out, having largely disappeared. Excessive up in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, although, many villagers are attempting to maintain the apply alive, and proceed their “establishment of solidarity”.
The ICC Costs Putin, however What About Israel?
Is it hypocritical for the Worldwide Legal Court docket to problem an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine, whereas ignoring the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory? That’s what Al Jazeera columnist Andrew Mitrovica solutions on this opinion piece. This week, Israeli forces killed at the least six Palestinians within the occupied West Financial institution, as their raids present few indicators of letting up. Individually, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich adopted up a press release earlier this yr — calling for a Palestinian village to be worn out – by denying the very existence of the Palestinian folks, all whereas standing in entrance of a podium bearing a map of ‘Better Israel’ that included Jordan. The Jordanian authorities was not completely happy.
Briefly
Yemeni YouTubers sentenced to jail after criticising Houthis | Israel launches missile assault on Syria’s Aleppo Airport | US ‘extraordinarily troubled’ by new Israeli settlement legislation | Saudi Arabia releases US nationwide from jail, however journey ban stays, says son | As Sudan’s rival forces vie for energy, who pays the worth? | Historical pearl city found within the UAE | Iran and Iraq signal deal to tighten border safety | Floods destroy properties of quake survivors in Syria | Syria’s al-Assad in UAE for second post-quake Gulf go to | Kuwait nullifies 2022 vote and reinstates earlier parliament | Qatar costs ex-finance minister with bribery and embezzlement | Egyptian and Turkish international ministers maintain first Cairo talks in a decade | Turkey’s Erdogan backs Finland’s NATO bid | Uranium reported lacking by IAEA ‘recovered’ in Libya | Lebanon’s central financial institution chief seems earlier than corruption listening to | Constructing collapse in Qatar kills one | Algerian president says Morocco ties have reached level of no return |
Quote of the Week
“They [Saudi Arabia and Iran] have set Yemen on hearth for seven years in pursuit of their conflicting agenda. As we speak, they start a brand new chapter of cooperation and partnership. So, what have been they preventing for in Yemen?” | Ali Mohammed, the daddy of two sons who died preventing within the civil warfare in Yemen, one for the Saudi-backed Yemeni authorities, the opposite for the Iran-allied Houthi rebels. There have been blended emotions in Yemen on the prospect of a full restoration of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, notably on the anti-Houthi aspect. Ten Yemeni troopers have been reported to have been killed after a Houthi assault this week, in one of many worst flare-ups of violence because the begin of final yr.
[ad_2]
No Comment! Be the first one.