Category: Human Rights
Euro-Med Monitor’s anniversary: A decade-old young leadership
There is nothing greater than belonging to an idea that gives you the opportunity to live with hope, and nothing is more difficult than writing about an idea that I have seen growing since its first days with all its aspirations, successes, and challenges. This month, we commemorate the tenth anniversary of the launch of ...
Israeli persecution in occupied Jerusalem Physical and structural violence employed to changes Jerusalemites’ identity
Israeli persecution in occupied Jerusalem Physical and structural violence employed to changes Jerusalemites’ identity Despite being annexed by the Israeli government following the six-day war of 1967, Palestinians who manage to continue living in East Jerusalem (despite policies that pressure them to leave) are treated as second-class, “less-than” citizens. Among the many indignities are a ...
COVID-19 pandemic exposes cost of MENA governments’ lack of human rights standards for businesses
The Middle East and North Africa continues to stand out as a region with repeated and serious abuses of human rights. We are on the cusp of the 10th anniversary of the so-called Arab Spring, which erupted with such blazing hope for change among the next generation. In the years since, Egypt has sunk back ...
Middle East Banks Neglect Human Rights Implications of their Business Practices
French bank BNP Paribas faces as ongoing lawsuit for its alleged role in financing Omar al-Bashir’s regime in Sudan. Source: BNP Paribas Money makes the world go ‘round, as the saying goes. It greases the wheels of global business as well as eases the pain in the gap between the haves and the have nots ...
When it comes to human rights, the US is guilty of blatant hypocrisy
The US has punished Chinese companies for Uighur oppression, but ignores an Israeli surveillance state that routinely intimidates Palestinians The United States has traditionally positioned itself as a champion of human rights around the world, speaking out for dissidents and minorities in Syria, China, Russia and Iran. The US government has frequently employed restrictions or ...
Arms sales are about profit and politics, not ethics
We must expose where public dollars are really being spent and boycott or divest from the enterprises that profit from selling munitions that kill. Western governments were quick to express their outrage at Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria to clear it of Kurds, resulting in the displacement of more than 275,000. Ten countries—including the United States, ...
MENA Businesses & Human Rights: How should we move forward?
Nine years after the so-called “Arab Spring” protests swept the Middle East and North Africa, with mostly young people calling for the end of autocracy and respect for their human rights, civil and human rights are more at risk than ever. Governments across the region engage in vicious, factional wars for control (Syria, Yemen, Libya); ...
Towards an effective UN role in combating impunity for crimes against journalists
Journalists do face grim challenges in their reporting whilst, there is a sharp rise noticed in the attacks against them worldwide. These attacks became a phenomenon due to the impunity for those aggressors. There is clear lack of accountability and there is failure from organisations concerned with journalists in their pursuit to offer proper advocacy ...
Stopping migration by making Gaza livable
The only long-term way to stem the flow of Gazans taking deadly risks to try to leave the Strip (such as digging cross-border tunnels or migrating illegally across the Mediterranean), and to attract home the former residents with the specialized skills the economy needs to thrive, is to end the Israeli/Egyptian blockade. This would once ...
The Gaza Strip: Reversing the Desire to Flee- II
Flight under conditions of duress or desperation is nothing new for Palestinians. Since 1948, when more than half a million Palestinians were forced to leave their homeland to make way for a new country in their midst, there have been several large waves of Palestinian outmigration or forced displacement. Yet this flight has in many ...