Red carpet for President Sisi’s convoy criticised in Egypt

The military’s moral affairs department said the carpet was more than three years old

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 BBC | FEBRUARY 8 2016

The use of a red carpet for the motorcade of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has provoked criticism in Egypt.

Cars carrying Mr Sisi and other officials drove down the red carpet on Saturday as they were visiting projects in 6 October City, a suburb of Cairo.

Several commentators questioned the apparent extravagance, just as the president was making a speech about the need to cut government subsidies.

The military said the carpet was meant to give joy to the Egyptian people.

‘Hypocrisy’

Criticism of Mr Sisi, a former military chief who led the overthrow of President…CONTINUE READING

Mali hotel hostage situation over as UN troops report seeing 27 bodies

People flee from the Radisson Blu hotel / Picture from THE GUARDIAN

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THE GUARDIAN | Mamadou Tapily in Bamako,Peter Walker and Matthew Weaver in London | NOVEMBER 20 2015

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The attack began when a group of gunmen reportedly used a car with diplomatic numberplates to drive into the compound of the hotel before firing at guards, with witnesses saying they also used grenades. About 170 people – including diplomats, businesspeople and airline crew from France and Turkey – were taken hostage. A military official said the gunmen shouted “Allahu Akbar” as they began the attack. Hotel staff said grenades were used.

Malian special forces, assisted by counterparts from the US and France based in the country, stormed the hotel, and were seen on TV footage in the lobby. A security source told Reuters the troops cleared the building floor by floor.

The US Africa Command said forces stationed in Mali helped to secure the scene, while France’s national gendarme service said about 40 French special police

Nigeria has a new government, but Boko Haram is deadlier than ever

THE GUARDIAN | CHIKA UNIGWE | NOVEMBER 20 2015

President Buhari presents Lance Corporal Kenneth Kulugh with the Purple Heart medal / Picture from The Guardian

Goodluck Jonathan’s massive loss at the March 2015 elections was due in part to Nigerians’ perception of his government as weak against Boko Haram, and the voters’ conviction that ex-military dictator General Buhari had the requisite know-how to put a definite end to the scourge of Boko Haram. Buhari’s rhetoric of change, and his vow to decimate Boko Haram won him victory. In the days following his election, there was some hope, even among those who did not vote for him, that if he did nothing else, he would tackle Boko Haram. Apart from having the reputation of being “a hard man”, “a no-nonsense man”, he was also a northerner. And a Muslim. Perhaps, with a northern Muslim in power, Bokocontinue reading

Hostages Seized in Attack on Radisson Hotel in Mali; at Least 3 Die

Soldiers deployed near the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali, on Friday, as gunmen took at least 170 people as hostages. Credit Habibou Kouyate/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images / Picture from NEW YORK TIMES

NEW YORK TIMES |  DIONNE SEARCEY and ADAM NOSSITER | NOVEMBER 20 2015

Northern Mali fell under the control of Islamist militants in 2012. A French-led offensive ousted them in 2013, but remnants of the group have staged a number of attacks on United Nations peacekeepers and Malian forces.

The hotel is a popular place for foreigners to stay in Bamako, a city with a population approaching two million, and French and American citizens were among those taken hostage.

A diplomat at the Chinese embassy in Bamako said that eight Chinese business people had been trapped in the hotel as well. Embassy officials at…continue reading

Obama and Netanyahu: A Story of Slights and Crossed Signals

NEW YORK TIMES |  PETER BAKER and JODI RUDOREN | NOVEMBER 8 2015

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Obama at the White House in October, 2014. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times / Picture from NEW YORK TIMES

WASHINGTON — For President Obama, it was a day of celebration. He had just signed the most important domestic measure of his presidency, his health care program. So when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel arrived at the White House for a hastily arranged visit, it was likely not the main thing on his mind.

To White House officials, it was a show of respect to make time for Mr. Netanyahu on that day back in March 2010. But Mr. Netanyahu did not see it that way. He felt squeezed in, not accorded the rituals of such a visit. No photographers were invited to record the moment. “That wasn’t a good way to treat me,” he complained to an American afterward.

The tortured relationship between Barack and Bibi, as they call each other, has been a story of crossed signals, misunderstandings, slights perceived and real. Burdened by mistrust, divided by ideology, the leaders of the United States…continue reading

Palestinians and Israelis must speak with one voice: this is no way for us to live

“If, one day, a people desire to live, then fate will answer their call. / And their night will then begin to fade, and their chains break and fall.”

GUARDIAN, UK | Izzeldin Abuelaish | OCTOBER 2015

An English translation of the beautiful and inspiring lines of the late Tunisian poet Abu al-Qasim al-Shabi – for me, as a Palestinian, they speak of the crisis between Palestine and Israel. Over two decades has passed since the Oslo accords. At the time, there was a sense of hope. Many people, and certainly the Palestinians, thought this was a turning point – the chance to create a free Palestinian state, a prosperous new nation on the edge of the Mediterranean, a kind of Singapore of the Middle East. The accords failed – and we are still struggling to find a way forward that will work…continue reading

Israeli Soldier Is Killed in Attack by Palestinian

Israeli police officers stood near the body of a Palestinian assailant whom they shot during an attack that wounded at least nine Sunday in Beersheba. Credit Tsafrir Abayov/Associated Press / PIcture from NEW YORK TIMES

NEW YORK TIMES |  ISABEL KERSHNER | OCTOBER 18 2015

JERUSALEM — The wave of deadly attacks that has roiled Israel this month hit the southern desert city of Beersheba on Sunday, where aPalestinian armed with a pistol and a knife grabbed another weapon from a soldier, fatally shot him and wounded at least nine other people, including several police officers, according to the police.

In the confusion as the attack unfolded, a migrant who was apparently mistaken for a second assailant was shot and seriously wounded by an Israeli security guard, then beaten by a mob. He later died of his wounds, according to Israeli news reports. Witnesses who said they knew the man identified him as an Eritrean asylum seeker. The Palestinian assailant was killed at the scene by police officers. After more than two weeks of almost daily attacks, mostly by young Palestinians armed with knives, there had been hope in Israel that Sunday…continue reading

What Happened to South African Democracy

NEW YORK TIMES | KENAN MALIK | SEPTEMBER 21 2015

Driving from the international airport, I was struck by the sheer wretchedness of Cape Flats: the series of black townships, comprising mostly shacks with corrugated steel roofs, that stretch from the highway almost to the horizon. Few people — tourists or locals — want to talk about the Cape Flats. But there is no better starting point for a discussion of the state of contemporary South Africa. I was shocked by the degree to which the predominant emotions, 21 years…continue reading

Fears of Lasting Rift as Obama Battles Pro-Israel Group on Iran

In a speech at American University on Wednesday, President Obama denounced opponents of the Iran deal as “lobbyists.” Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times / PICTURE FROM INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES

NEW YORK TIMES | JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS | AUGUST 7 2015

Ronald Reagan opposed Aipac when he defied Israeli objections over thesale of Awacs reconnaissance planes to Saudi Arabia in 1981. A decade later, George H. W. Bush took on the group during a fight over housing loan guarantees for Israel, saying he was just “one lonely little guy” going up against a thousand lobbyists on Capitol Hill.

But the tone of the current dispute is raising concerns among some of Mr. Obama’s allies who say it is a new low in relations between Aipac and the White House. They say they are worried that, in working to counter Aipac’s tactics and discredit its claims about the nuclear accord with Iran, the president has gone overboard in criticizing the group and like-minded opponents of the deal.

“It’s somewhat dangerous, because there’s a kind of a dog whistle here that some people are going to hear as ‘it’s time to go after people,’ and not just rhetorically,” said David Makovsky, a former Middle East adviser for the…continue reading

Amnesty report says Hamas committed war crimes against Palestinians

MAY 27 2015 : :

CNN

DON MELVIN

Members of Hamas’ military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, parade in southern Gaza in May 2014. / Picture from CNN

During last year’s Gaza conflict, which took place in July and August, Hamas used the chaos to settle scores and carry out “horrific abuses . . . some of which amount to war crimes” against fellow Palestinians, said Philip Luther, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Amnesty International.

‘Brutal campaign’

The report alleges that Hamas forces waged “a brutal campaign…continue reading