Middle East

Syrian Women Working for Peace and Political Action

October 21, 2014

GAZIANTEP, Turkey — Syrian women filled the conference room and lobby of a hotel in this border city for one week in late August this year. They were the focus of a “Space for Collaboration” workshop, providing networking and training to women working on political solutions to the Syrian civil war. A majority of …

Middle East, Peace and Security, Women

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Lakhdar Brahimi: When Will the US Learn From Its Mistakes in the Middle East?

September 26, 2014

by Barbara Crossette

More than two decades of American naivety or misunderstanding of Arab and other regional societies, astonishingly poor planning and post-conflict miscalculations that undercut claims of success have left a deep mistrust and lack of confidence in the United States in the Middle East, in the view of the United Nations’ most experienced and savvy …

Asia, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Middle East, US Foreign Relations

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US to Convene a Summit at UN on Stopping Extremists

September 3, 2014

by Dulcie Leimbach

President Barack Obama will hold a summit late this month in the United Nations Security Council to try to counter the surging power and strength of the Islamic terrorists that have seized parts of the Middle East this summer and other violent extremists worldwide. The summit, to convene on Sept. 25, will occur during …

General Assembly, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Middle East, Security Council, Uncategorized, US-UN Relations

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Women’s Voices Must Stay ‘Alive’ in ISIS-Controlled Regions

August 31, 2014

by Yermi Brenner

The extremist Sunni militant group called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which recently declared a caliphate in parts of the Middle East, now controls an area of 13,000 square miles in Iraq and Syria. Testimonies coming out about daily life in the ISIS-controlled region depict an agenda of fear and intimidation being imposed, …

Gender-Based Violence, Human Rights, Middle East

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UN Security Council Sanctions Six Terrorists Operating in Iraq and Syria

August 17, 2014

by Dulcie Leimbach

If there is one anarchic group that every member of the United Nations Security Council currently finds abhorrent it is the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which has seized large regions of Iraq this summer, astonishing most of the world. So, all 15 council members — including Russia and China — passed …

Middle East, Peace and Security, Security Council

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The Syrian Refugee Crisis Poses Ethical Questions for the UN and Others

July 28, 2014

by Alexander Brotman

Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, 2.9 million people have fled the country to refugee camps in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and beyond. This has not only destabilized many Middle Eastern countries, but it has also caused continuous public debates inside nongovernmental organizations and the United Nations over what the …

Middle East, Refugees

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Israeli Settlements: A Timeline From 1967 to Now

July 11, 2014

by Irwin Arieff

Here is a comprehensive, up-to-date timeline charting the nearly 47-year campaign of Israeli settlement development in territories occupied by Israel after the Six-Day War, along with a graph tracking the years and population. This timeline accompanies “The Limits of Diplomacy: Israeli Settlements” by Irwin Arieff. 1967 June 5-10: The settlements have their origins in …

Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Middle East

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The Limits of Diplomacy: Israeli Settlements

July 10, 2014

by Irwin Arieff

Many Israelis reacted with surprise and dismay when United States Secretary of State John Kerry blamed Israel’s seemingly insatiable appetite for settlements for the collapse of the latest round of Middle East peace talks. The negotiations were already on hold when Israel announced it was opening the door to yet another 700 new housing …

Middle East, Peace and Security, Security Council

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How the Chemical Weapons Removed From Syria Will Be Destroyed

July 1, 2014

by Alexander Brotman

Although Syria has turned over all of its declared chemical weapons stockpile to international authorities, defying expectations that it would not meet a June 30 deadline, the next hurdle is securely destroying the material outside the country. Danish and Norwegian vessels have been tasked with removing the majority of the chemicals from the Syrian …

Disarmament, Middle East

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Graphic Photos Reveal Syria’s Deadly Mix of Torture and Starvation

April 22, 2014

by Dulcie Leimbach

Systematic widespread torture and starvation of prisoners held by the Syrian government has been documented by a team of forensic pathologists and confirmed by international legal experts using evidence provided through a former Syrian military official, according to a recent presentation held by France at the United Nations. High-resolution images projected on a screen …

Middle East, Security Council

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Iraqi Women, Insisting on Their Innocence, Dealt Severe Rights Abuses

February 26, 2014

by Barbara Crossette

There can be no other region in the world now as broad as the swath of Middle Eastern and North African nations where so many women are living in violence, extreme vulnerability and a corrosive foreboding about their future. These deprivations are occurring from Tunisia or Egypt — where women struggle to keep the …

Human Rights, Middle East, Women

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UN Security Council Votes a Surprising ‘Yes’ on Syria

February 22, 2014

by Dulcie Leimbach

The United Nations Security Council approved a breakthrough resolution to demand humanitarian-aid access in Syria, after debating the language of the text for at least a week, as Russia lobbied hard for changes to soften wording or delete passages as well as tried to postpone the vote while the Olympics are taking place in …

Humanitarian Aid, Middle East, Security Council

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Parliamentary Group Warns of Political Perils as 2014 Elections Loom

January 23, 2014

by Barbara Crossette

A committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union met in mid-January, as a busy year of elections globally was beginning, to confront the human-rights violations and sometimes lethal abuse suffered by 262 members of national legislatures in countries that often call themselves democracies. From Jan. 13 to 17, the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s committee on the human …

Africa, Asia, Governance, Middle East

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Syrian Women Win Active Role in Geneva Peace Conference

January 22, 2014

by Maurizio Guerrero and Dulcie Leimbach

The United Nations-led peace talks in Switzerland to begin the laborious discussions to end the war in Syria have officially started, but Syrian women activists who have been demanding to sit at the crucial peace-talks table on Jan. 24 in Geneva did not know until the last minute whether any women would be involved. …

Middle East, Peace and Security, Women

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At Geneva II Talks in January, It Is Not Enough to ‘Add Women and Stir’

December 26, 2013

by Dulcie Leimbach

The campaign to ensure women’s equal participation at the peace talks on Syria in January has become more urgent, as certain parties recognize that women are vital in rebuilding and reconciling Syrian society. Yet only a few weeks before the talks are scheduled to start, no commitment has been made as to whether women …