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NL Protests in Iran continue despite heavy-handed repression and half-hearted promises
Protest in Melbourne in September 2022 in solidarity with protests in Iran Over the past 12 weeks, Iranians took to the streets en masse to demonstrate. The immediate cause was the death of 22-year-old Masha Amini, who was arrested by the so-called vice police for not wearing "modest clothing" prior to her death. [...]
'A missed opportunity': MEP Lara Wolters on Qatar World Cup
View of Lusail stadium, one of the stages of the 2022 World Cup On the eve of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, tempers are running high. The choice of Qatar as the host country is the target of mounting criticism, partly because of the degrading working conditions in which migrant workers built the World Cup stadiums. The FMS spoke to Labour Party MEP [...]
Climate summit COP27 in Egypt: dubious endorsement of al-Sisi's democratic facade
Al-Sisi in 2015 at COP21 in Paris (source: Flickr) Next Sunday, politicians, policymakers, activists and journalists from around the world will travel to the Egyptian coastal town of Sharm el-Sheikh for COP27. This year, for the first time since 2016, the international climate summit will take place in a (North) African city. The location is hopeful that climate priorities for the [...]
Palestinian human rights secondary to Dutch trade interests during Rutte visit
Mark Rutte visited Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories last week, on Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 October. During his visit, the focus was on strengthening ties with Israel, Israeli business and the (relatively impotent) Palestinian Authority, while Palestinian human rights activists were skipped. A questionable programme in a [...]
Sanctions in the name of women's rights?
Protest in Lausanne on 28 September following the death of Masha Amini (Flickr) For the past two weeks, Iran has been rocked by massive protests. The immediate cause of these protests was the death of 22-year-old Masha Amini, who was arrested by the so-called morality police for not wearing "modest clothing" prior to her death. [...]
A look back at the MENA Academy in Sulaymaniyah
During 2-5 June, the fourth edition of the MENA (Middle East & North Africa) Academy and first edition of the MENA Women Academy took place in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Autonomous Region (KRG), Iraq. For four days, 45 participants from Tunisia, Jordan, the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon and the KRG, Iraq were trained on a variety of topical political issues and skills.
Opposition wins in Lebanese elections, but status quo threatens to persist
Last Sunday, 15 May, Lebanon held parliamentary elections. They were long awaited in the crisis-ridden country. An economic depression caused by political mismanagement, the coronavirus pandemic and the port explosion in Beirut in August 2020 have brought the country to the precipice. More than 70 per cent of Lebanese residents now live below poverty line.
Socio-political impacts of climate change visible in MENA
Although MENA is responsible for 3% of total global emissions since 1850, it is one of the regions where climate change will be felt most in the coming decades. Temperatures are expected to rise by 2 to 2.7 degrees between 2040 and 2059 - and up to 3.3 degrees in some regions. For the dry desert regions of MENA, this temperature rise could be dramatic if there are no major policy changes - both in MENA and among major polluters worldwide.
Successful MENA Academy in Tunisia
Last month, after almost two years of inactivity, we were able to organise another physical MENA Academy. For four days, we trained young people from different countries in the Middle East and North Africa. These are young people chosen by their own parties as promising candidates and perhaps the future leaders of their parties or countries!
The war in Yemen
The war in Yemen goes on and on, after seven years of unrest. It all started during the Yemeni Revolution in 2011 and 2012, when the government of Ali Abdullah Saleh was overthrown. However, the historical roots of the conflict go much further, back to the eight-year civil war between republican and royalist forces that began in the September Revolution of 1962.