Category: Unami

Muslim Brotherhood’s true colors on display as Arab Islamist party joins Jewish nationalists in Israeli coalition

DUBAI: To govern is to choose, they say. Mansour Abbas, leader of Israel’s United Arab List, is likely to face a few difficult decisions over the coming weeks and months if, as seems likely, he and his party form part of a new governing coalition in Israel.

Late on Wednesday, it was announced that Abbas had agreed to join a coalition jointly led by Yair Lapid, of the centrist Yesh Atid party, and Naftali Bennett of the right-wing Yemina. The irony of an Islamist political party eagerly closing ranks with Yemina, an alliance of Jewish nationalist parties, has not been lost on Palestinians or the wider Arab world.

Analysts see the development as yet another example of a Muslim Brotherhood-inspired party putting power and self-interest above principles when it comes to the crunch.

The head of the Arab Israeli Islamic conservative party Raam Mansour Abbas (R) signing a coalition agreement with Israel’s opposition leader Yair Lapid (L) and right-wing nationalist tech millionaire Naftali Bennett in Ramat Gan near the coastal city of Tel Aviv. (AFP/File Photo)

“The news was not surprising. Brotherhood affiliates have always used all means to achieve their political goals,” Dr. Hamdan Al-Shehri, a political analyst and international relations scholar, told Arab News.

“This cooperation is just another episode in a long-running drama that will continue to demonstrate the extent and willingness of the Muslim Brotherhood to cooperate with anyone except the governments of their own countries.”

Whether the marriage of convenience will last long enough is another matter. If approved in the Knesset, the coalition will bring an end to the 12-year premiership of Benjamin Netanyahu….

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ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) has published a report on violations against Iraqi activists at the hands of “unidentified groups” over the past two years throughout the country that include assassinations, kidnappings, and torture.

The report, entitled “Accountability for Human Rights Violations and Abuses by Unidentified Armed Elements,” includes testimonies of victims’ families, a wide range of information surrounding large numbers of violent acts against those organizing and participating in a popular protest movement decrying institutional corruption, poor services, and a low standard of living.

Between Oct. 2019 and May 15, 2021, read the report, “UNAMI documented 48 incidents of attempted or completed targeted killings of protestors and critics” as part of incidents largely blamed on Iranian-backed militias of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) that wield considerable military and political power in Iraq. 

The report, in its own words, “focuses on the steps taken by the Iraqi authorities to ensure accountability for human rights violations and abuses linked to these demonstrations, in particular those attributed to ‘unidentified armed elements’ frequently referred to by victims and witnesses as ‘militia.'”

UNAMI “defines ‘unidentified armed elements’ as armed actors not clearly identifiable as regular state security forces,” though “may have various links to the state and/or political parties. The term ‘militia,’ it says, is “terminology commonly used in Iraq to describe armed groups operating outside state control.”

Taken together, these are clear and unambiguous references to PMF militias.

“Allow me to be frank with you,” said the father of one of the fallen victims to UN researchers. “We all know who the killers are, but do you think the authorities dare to mention their names? The Government knows exactly who the killers are, and they are affiliated to the political parties and the ‘militia.’…

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A little over a fortnight ago, Karim Khan, the lawyer heading the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability against ISIS (Unitad), gave his final briefing in that capacity to the UN Security Council. He said there was “clear and compelling evidence” that between 2014 and 2017 ISIS committed genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Iraq.

No one knows exactly how many ISIS members are currently housed in Iraq’s overcrowded prison system, but a low estimate is somewhere in the thousands. No one knows how many have been tortured or sentenced to death, but the figures are thought to be high. And no one knows how many have actually been executed, either – Iraq does not publish records.

The ambiguity might be slightly easier to accept if it were certain that every convict were guilty, and that those slated for death row were killers themselves. It’s true that ISIS was hardly ambiguous in its intention to torture, enslave and wipe out whole sections of Iraq’s population. Due legal process didn’t come into it for them. That Iraq and other countries are disinclined to apply due process in return now that their terrorisers are themselves in the dock is, perhaps, understandable.

But the way in which Iraq and the dozens of countries from which foreign ISIS fighters hail have pursued the course of justice over the past few years has created a mess. Moreover, it risks damaging prospects for a real resolution to the years of suffering ISIS caused, and extending the terrorist group’s longevity.

The burden of dealing with ISIS should never have fallen so heavily on Iraq in the first place. Although thousands of Iraqi citizens joined ISIS, as many as 40,000 fighters were foreign, including several thousand from Europe.

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A Week In Providence, RI, On A $54,300 Salary

Welcome to Money Diaries where we are tackling the ever-present taboo that is money. We’re asking real people how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we’re tracking every last dollar.Today: a social media coordinator who makes $54,300 per year and spends some of her money this week on margaritas. Occupation: Social Media Coordinator & Consultant Industry: Construction and HospitalityAge: 22Location: Providence, RI Salary: $54,300Net Worth: $6,000 ($20,000 in savings, $4,500 in 401(k), $4,000 in Roth IRA minus debt.)Debt: $22,500 in student loans Paycheck Amount (biweekly): $1,426Pronouns: She/her Monthly ExpensesRent: $350, I recognize that this is wildly inexpensive. I am very fortunate to have a relative as my landlord and she gives my roommate/sister and I a very generous family discount! Student Loans: $211401(k): $286 (company matches 75% of what I put in, giving me an additional $214 to this account monthly)Spotify & Netflix: $0 (suffer through ads and mooch off the family Netflix account) Health Insurance: on my parents until I am 26 Car Insurance: $120 Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?Yes, growing up there was always an expectation that I would go to college. There was never pressure applied to the situation though, it was sort of just implied that after high school comes college. I was very lazy about the whole admissions process so it wasn’t until November of my senior year that I began really considering how college was going to be paid for. My mom very generously covered the federal loans I was granted, while my dad helped me cover things like housing and meal plans. I was left to cover…

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