The parliamentary elections were an indicator of people’s fears and feelings; some interpreted them as a referendum on those in power and others as an opportunity to build a dream

Lebanon’s parliamentary elections were held on the 5th of May 2018, after an interval of 9 years. For a variety of domestic, regional and international factors, the Lebanese people were denied the possibility of voting and thus an opportunity for seeing viable political change for nearly a decade. The percentage of eligible voters who voted in 2018 was 49%, compared to 50% in 2009.
There was a general expectation that after 9 years, Lebanese voters would enthusiastically rush to the ballot box in order to form a new parliament with a new vision for saving the country from legislative stagnation, a lack of basic services, an absence of viable solutions to increasingly untenable living costs, an increase in youth migration and the proliferation of governmental corruption in all sectors of the state. But, the results were surprising. Read more

Palestine-Israel

The shocking contrast between Jerusalem and Gaza, represented in our television split screens on the day of the embassy opening, may have been designed largely for Evangelical consumption

On the 14th of May 2018, the United States controversially broke with decades of US policy by officially moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, followed soon after by Guatemala, Paraguay, and Honduras. Meanwhile, thousands of Gazans continued to engage in ongoing demonstrations at the separation barrier while Israeli military snipers responded with lethal force, leading on that day to the death of 64 persons. Since the beginning of the demonstrations, 121 Palestinians of all ages have been killed and over 12,000 injured. The split screen coverage contrasting the elegance of the embassy opening in Jerusalem with that of the carnage in Gaza set forth a dramatic scene, one commentator comparing it to Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. Political cartoonists have been particularly caustic in their representations.
For some, the events in Jerusalem and Gaza have become a watershed moment, a time for collective introspection and soul searching. Read more

Iraq

The rise of the Sadrists in Iraq may reflect a new type of nationalistic Middle East politics, offering a viable alternative to traditional choices that Christians have

In Iraq’s first parliamentary elections since its devastation by ISIS from Summer 2014, the coalition of Moqtada al-Sadr has surprised everyone with its ability to collect the highest number of votes on the 12th of May of 2018. In an interesting article in An-Nahar Daily on 18 May, Monalisa Freiha compares the May parliamentary elections of Iraq and Lebanon. Though the two phenomena were marked by a vast success by both Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Sadrists in Iraq, there are interesting contrasts between the two. The Hezbollah achievement represents a further victory for Iranian interests in the region, whereas the Sadrist achievement reflects a challenge to that hegemony. Read more

Egypt

Egypt chooses to turn the “good deeds” button on for Gaza during the month of Ramadan. Should virtue not be a constant?

Just after dawn, Hamed Gaith came down the narrow staircase of his family’s home in southern Gaza dragging a small bag and said to his mother, “See you soon Inshallah.” They hugged at the gate and he kissed her hand and headed to Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Hamed is fictional, but I imagine this has been the story of many Gazan young men after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced on Twitter that his country’s gateway to the Gaza Strip would be opened throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in what would be the longest uninterrupted opening since 2013.
The move is intended as a humanitarian gesture during the holy month. As al-Sisi mentioned on Twitter, the opening of the crossing would “alleviate the burdens of brothers in Gaza.” Read more

Sudan

Noura Hussein is sentenced to death, reflecting the general suffering and plight of Sudanese women; our eyes are set on religious leaders to take on a far more robust role in the advance of human rights and compassion

On May 10th of this year, Noura Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging. Her crime is the murder of her husband in an act of self-defense. At the age of 16, Noura’s father, who is her legal guardian, forced her to sign a marriage contract to Abdulrahman Mohamed Hammad. As a result, Noura fled from Khartoum to her aunt’s place in Sennar. There, she continued her high school education.
Three years later, she received word that the wedding plans were cancelled. She returned home, only to find out that her parents had tricked her. Six days after the wedding ceremony, her husband raped her with the help of three male relatives. When he tried to rape her again the following day, she stabbed him with a kitchen knife in her frenzied attempt to break free, causing his death. Read more

Mauritania

Mauritania’s hardening of its already draconian “Law of Apostasy” is in breach of the most basic understanding of God’s mercy – let alone of basic human rights

Mauritania recently toughened its blasphemy law. In accordance with the previous law, anyone convicted of “denigrating the name of the Prophet” or “speaking ill of Islamic values” is subject to the death penalty, but are offered the opportunity to soften the sentence if they repent.
On the 27th of April 2018, the National Assembly of Mauritania passed a new law replacing article 306 of the Criminal Code. The revised law cancels the possibility of substituting the death penalty for prison time by recanting on the “blasphemous speech” or “sacrilegious acts.”
More than twenty non-governmental human rights organizations have decried the new law, calling on the government of Mauritania to reverse the adoption of the law and repeal the death penalty for cases of blasphemy. Read more