Edito 2012
- 29 mai 2012
Syria: humanitarian catastrophe and impotence of diplomacy
According to the report of the United Nations (UN) on the Syrian crackdown, from March 2011 until last May there were nearly 10,000 deaths as a result of the conflict and thousands of cases of violations of human rights. The majority of war crimes were committed by military forces of the Syrian army and, in... Read more - 21 mai 2012
The “new” Algeria and the Arab Spring in failure?
Legislative elections in Algeria of last 10th May, valid for the election of 462 members of the People’s National Assembly, saw the participation of 42.36% of the total population. The National Liberation Front (FLN) won 220 seats and, added to the 68 won by the National Rally for Democracy, formed a wing of the FLN,... Read more - 15 mai 2012
The Jordanian mystery
On 18 April 2012, Jordan’s King Abdullah II was the guest of the European Parliament, after a series of meetings with the European Union, during which he highlighted the progress made by his country for democratization, stressing the reform of the Constitution and the parliamentary elections. Pending elections, the Jordanian people hope that the king... Read more - 4 mai 2012
Early Elections in Israel: a dangerous year? No risk
The decision of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to call early elections in Israel, probably on 4th September is put into perspective a national context which is always more favourable day by day. Indeed, the current Prime Minister always rises, according to Haaretz, 48% of Israelis who believe it is the best candidate at his re-election. - 3 mai 2012
Egypt under tension at one month of primary ballot
Egypt lives a critical moment in its modern history, one year after the Revolution and at few weeks of a presidential election watched by the entire Arab world and the entire international community with one question in mind: will the Egyptian democratic transition succeed and will it return to be the model student of the Middle East? - 6 avril 2012
The state of Gaza’blockade after the first regional geopolitical transformations
Only connected to the rest of the world through two entry points strictly controlled by Israel, Erez, on the israeli side, and Rafah on the Egyptian side, Gaza is an entrenched and impoverished territory since the blockade imposed by Israel in 2007. Two years after the Israeli withdrawal, the decision made in Tel Aviv followed the violent takeover by Hamas of the Gaza Strip. Since then, Israel has tightened the noose reducing the number of truckloads of food from 12,350 per month before the blockade, to 4,000 in 2010. Since then, Gaza continues the records of all kinds: 40% unemployment, 80% of the population lives below the poverty line, less than $ 2 per day. - 4 avril 2012
Tunisia in front of democratic experience (bis)
Tunisia in front of the democratic experience, it is the title of the conference organized by the European Parliament of Brussels on March 20th of this year in association with ambitious associations such as the CCMO, MEDEA and the Assembly of the Citizens of the Mediterranean Sea (ACM). A conference on Tunisia comment revolution. This... Read more - 9 mars 2012
Morocco, a democratic transition in depth the French press cannot see
Within this political disorder across the Maghreb and the Mashreq, there are few examples of slow peaceful democratic transitions. Morocco is one of them. But unlike some sex cases identified in Marrakech or some recent political-economic arrangements between Paris and Rabat, the press made little echo of it. - 2 mars 2012
»Democracy Is the Solution »
The visit in Brussels of Alaa al Aswany in the framework of the book fair (Foire du Livre) and of the literary meetings "Mondes Arabes" at the Halles de Schaerbeek gives us the opportunity to take a look at the state of the democratic transition in Egypt. The Egyptian author, champion of democracy for years already, is very optimistic, although it recognizes that the route change will be long. But he said the main thing is that the barrier of fear has been transcended, there won’t be steps back no more. - 24 février 2012
The Syrian deadlock
While the bombs are still falling in some districts of Homs, repression becomes increasingly violent and opposition becomes increasingly armed and determined. More than sixty countries are represented in Tunis, Friday, Feb. 24, for a meeting " Friends of Syria "who wishes to define a plan of international humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people and intensify pressure on Damascus. The meeting will probably appeal the ruling regime in Damascus to implement a cease-fire and allow access for humanitarian agencies to populations in distress, especially in Homs. It will also urge the opposition, fragmented, to unite and come together. - 17 février 2012
The EU-Israel relations and the inconsistencies of European foreign policy
Facing the Arab spring, the EU has repeatedly stressed its willingness to promote the respect of human rights as an essential foundation for future Arab democracies under construction. But what about its relations with Israel? The launch this week of the joint report of Aprodev and the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) on the subject allows us to point at some inconsistencies in EU foreign policy. - 10 février 2012
The Forgotten of the Arab Spring
Belgian media spread this week the info mentioned in a press release of SOS Jeunes – Quartier Libre that warned about the alarming situation of certain foreign unaccompanied minors, left to their fate while Belgium is going through a wave of unusual cold. While refuge measures implemented by the new Secretary of State for Immigration Maggie De Block show here more than a gap, the reason why we insist on it is rather that those young people are mostly from the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia). The fact that young people are left alone without any hosting structures, because they do not want/cannot seek asylum, leads to a necessary reflection on our migration policies in the wake of the Arab spring. - 3 février 2012
The dangerous game of Russia in Syria
While demonstrations were held today to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the uprising of Homa – whose repression was between 10,000 and 30,000 dead according to sources –, members of the UN Security Council were examining today a draft resolution, proposed by the Arab League and presented by Morocco, regarding the situation in Syria. Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council with veto power, still remains opposed to the project. The Security Council has not yet managed to adopt a single resolution on the situation in Syria since the beginning in March of the violent repression of the demonstrations against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. - 27 janvier 2012
Egypt: an ongoing revolution
Already a year ago, January 25, 2011, the Egyptians transcended their fear of repression and came down in the street to topple the historic leader Mubarak from the presidency he was holding for nearly thirty years. A popular effort of 18-day’s finally overcame the tenacity of the old leader who left the capital and took exile in Sharm El Sheikh on February 11. This Wednesday, January 25, 2012, the Egyptians massively took the streets to celebrate but also to demonstrate. Overview on the successes and failures of the Egyptian ongoing revolution. - 23 janvier 2012
Morocco: the step-by-step Revolution?
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make a violent revolution inevitable" said J. F. Kennedy and it is exactly what Mohammed VI is trying to avoid in Morocco. Morocco is one of the few Arab countries that have not been touched, or almost, by the revolutionary wave. Without going through a revolution, the country is launched on the path of democratic progress. As witness the adoption of the new constitution by referendum last July and the parliamentary elections that have followed. The Kingdom has opted for gradual reforms to avoid a major upheaval that could threaten the monarchy in place. But can there be profound change without revolution and without break with the past? How is the democratic transition going on in Morocco and do the promised reforms will actually take place? - 13 janvier 2012
Syria on the way to civil war?
Syrian President now seems ready for the worst horrors in order to stay in charge. Next to the war that he delivers to the protesters, the president is also engaged in a terrible war of images in order to defend its action and clear itself from any involvement in the recent massacres and killings that bloody the country. If the war of image seems lost for President, the war on the ground is unfortunately far from being lost and the violence is increasing, while the international community and the Arab League appear powerless to stop it.
The regime uses his dastardly schemes to justify fierce repression, as suggested by Le Figaro and Libération who suspect the regime of being behind the bombing in Kfar Sousse on 23 December or the murder of French journalist Gilles Jacquier. The opposition, represented by the National Council and accused by the Syrian regime of being the cause of this, agrees with the French press. - 6 janvier 2012
Is Israel becoming a theocracy?
The early Zionism, one that allowed the building of the State of Israel, was originally a secular socialist movement. Theodor Herzl, the father of the nation, never imagined entrust the affairs of the future state of Jews in Palestine to the religious. In fact, some believe that Israel was socialist but the globalization, the accelerating ultra-liberalization of the Israeli economy, the individualization of society and the alignment of Israeli society on all those of the Western world show that the country has naturally dropped some of its ideological foundations. Could it be the same one day with the religious theme? Should we fear a theocratization of the Israeli political and social scenes?
Recent events about the ultra-Orthodox prove that Israel is in constant tension with the various components of its society who sometimes struggle to coexist.