While the media often focus on cases like , a Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban in 2012, they often forget the many girls and women whose rights and education have been stripped away by Middle East interventions.

For every Malala, there are hundreds of thousands of girls and women whose freedoms and education have been eradicated. From Iraq and Libya to Syria and Yemen, women’s rights have taken a huge setback. In these war-torn countries, women have been subjected to the worst of violence.

Libyan Women

In , when Colonel Muammar Gaddafi took power in 1969, most women were not university-educated. But by the time of his death, more than half of university students were women. To arrive at this point, he passed laws that ensured equal rights for women in pay, education, divorce and property ownership. His work in raising the status of women was even .

Before Gaddafi’s body was even cold, then-Chairman of the National Transitional Council (NTC) Mustafa Abdul Jalil called for the , alienating many of the women who took part in the Libyan Revolution of 2011. Did Libyans die and have their homes burned down just so a man could have four wives?

From then on, things went in a downward spiral. Women have effectively been silenced, some by the barrel of a gun, including prominent activists who supported the NATO-led campaign that ended Gaddafi’s rule, like , a lawyer and former member of the NTC, who was murdered in her house in Benghazi in June 2014.

Today, many Libyan women have long abandoned the revolution that their sisters gave their lives for. In 2016, five years on, Libya has terrorist groups and tribes running different parts of the country—gangs that have no real roles for women in their versions of a new Libya.

Iraqi Women

was another country where women once enjoyed one of the highest statuses in the Arab world. Many benefitted from great . Women once formed half of the public sector workforce and doctors in the country. However, during Saddam Hussein’s rule, over a decade of United Nations-imposed sanctions—which had a devastating impact on the health and education sectors—weakened their status.

Still, things were not as bad as the turn they took in 2003 following the US-led invasion and occupation. The fall of Saddam gave rise to tribal and extremist groups that interpreted laws according to their own customs and religious rulings.

© Shutterstock

Women have since in employment and , and have seen basic freedoms curtailed due to increased violence from the various groups all competing for power.

In a , Iraqi author and women’s rights activist Zainab Salbi writes: “I grew up in Baghdad with a working mother who drove herself to the office and always told me that I could do anything I wanted with my life. My mother’s friends were factory managers, artists, principals and doctors.

“It has been just over 20 years since I left Iraq. Today, female college students ask me if it is true that the streets of Baghdad were once full of women driving, that women could walk around in public at all times of the day without worry, that university campuses were once filled with women who did not wear headscarves.”

As Iraq struggles with poverty, families are selling their daughters, with reports of . Conditions are even worse in the parts of the country controlled by the (IS), where women are sold in and subjected to unimaginable violence.

Syrian Women

A similar picture is presented in neighboring , where women are faced with . Women and children make up the . Escaping warzones does not mean an end to violence. There are thousands of Syrian refugee women whose husbands either disappeared or were killed in the conflict. And it is these women who are particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment and exploitation in refugee camps and cities in neighboring countries. Refugee women struggling to make ends meet are often exploited by local men who offer services and financial assistance in .

In Lebanon, high costs have prevented many Syrians from renewing residence permits. A recent states: “It was very clear to the women we spoke to that the harassment and exploitation they face is made even worse by the fact they have nowhere to turn to for help and protection because they lack valid residence permits.”

Those who remain in Syria are subjected to violence and brutality, particularly in areas controlled by terrorist organizations like the Islamic State and the Nusra Front. In the areas that these militant groups control,  without a male relative, and as most men are fighting or have died, this effectively leaves women locked up indoors.

The wars in the Middle East have caused much destruction and left millions of victims. While most of us find it difficult to see any positive results from these conflicts, it is perhaps easier to identify the worst effects and consequences—and that’s the impact on women and children. The very people we are often told are being saved.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect 51łÔąĎ’s editorial policy.

Photo Credit:  / Ěý/Ěý

We bring you perspectives from around the world. Help us to inform and educate. Your  is tax-deductible. Join over 400 people to become a donor or you could choose to be a .

The post Devastating Consequences for Women in War appeared first on 51łÔąĎ.

In the United Kingdom, Palestinian rights activists and organizations supporting Palestinian liberation are under attack.

Organizations like  (FOA) have had their bank accounts closed without an explanation, and —a controversial government strategy aimed at countering extremism—is being used to target Palestinian supporters. Those recently targeted by Prevent include a schoolboy who was questioned by anti-terrorism police because he wore a “” badge to school.

Now, in the most serious and direct move, the British government has declared that boycotting Israeli goods and services will be become a criminal offence for public bodies and student unions. The official announcement of the ban will be made by Cabinet Office Minister Matt Hancock when he visits this week.

According to a report by , under this new law: “All publicly funded institutions will lose the freedom to refuse to buy goods and services from companies involved in the arms trade, fossil fuels, tobacco products or Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.” Those who continue to pursue boycott activities will face “severe penalties.”

The government’s reason for the crackdown on the boycott movement is that it “undermined good community relations, poisoned and polarised debate and fuelled anti-Semitism.”

Critics, however, see it as an attack on democratic freedoms. A spokesman for British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn told The Independent: “The Government’s decision to ban councils and other public bodies from divesting from trade or investments they regard as unethical is an attack on local democracy.

“People have the right to elect local representatives able to make decisions free of central government political control. That includes withdrawal of investments or procurement on ethical and human rights grounds.

“This Government’s ban would have outlawed council action against apartheid South Africa. Ministers talk about devolution, but in practice they’re imposing Conservative Party policies on elected local councils across the board.”

Hancock said local authorities who made the decision to boycott Israel were a threat to Britain’s national security.

© Koos Mohammed

The move has been welcomed by pro-Israelis, including the Conservative Friends of Israel chairman, Eric Pickles, who sees the boycott movement as an “.”

The BDS Movement

In recent years, and particularly since the 2014 Gaza War, the (BDS) movement has gained a lot of support. Those who join the growing movement see it as a measure to combat Israel’s aggressive settlement projects and attacks in Gaza, and the ongoing occupation of the Palestinian Territories.

In June 2015, the National Union of Students (NUS) voted to boycott Israeli goods in a show of solidarity with the BDS movement, a move that infuriated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He accused the NUS of being “hostile to the truth.”

Several UK councils also supported the boycott campaign, including one of Britain’s biggest local authorities, Leicester City Council, which last year announced that it would not buy any products produced in settlements until Israel withdrew from the Palestinian Occupied Territories. Those councils wishing to boycott Israel have faced pressure from, mainly, Jewish groups. In December 2015, two Welsh councils were forced to reverse their decision after legal action was taken against them by Jewish Human Rights Watch.

In October 2015, more 300 university academics announced boycott of Israeli educational institutions “until Israel complies with international law.” They included academics from the UK’s leading universities.

It now appears that the British public’s peaceful approach to countering Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and human rights violations is being criminalized. Like Margaret Thatcher’s government of the 1980s, which supported South Africa, David Cameron’s government has firmly placed itself on the wrong side of history.

And like the boycott movement that eventually ended the reign of South Africa’s white rulers, the one facing Israel is unlikely to end any time soon. Its shelf life is dependent on Israel’s actions: the occupation of Palestine.

If Israel chooses to end the illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories today, the BDS movement against it would cease. Until then, human rights supporters everywhere will see it as the least they can do for the people of Palestine.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect 51łÔąĎ’s editorial policy.

Photo Credit:

We bring you perspectives from around the world. Help us to inform and educate. Your  is tax-deductible. Join over 400 people to become a donor or you could choose to be a .

The post Has UK Government Declared War on Palestinian Rights Supporters? appeared first on 51łÔąĎ.

The Palestinian Territories have been under military occupation since 1967 when the newly formed state of Israel took control. Since then, has done well out of its rule as the occupier, but Israelis are not the only ones profiting from the . There are many international companies that see the Palestinian situation as a profitable opportunity. Here are three ways offenders profit.

Those who profit from settlements

International businesses contribute to the abusive treatment of Palestinians, which include displacement in order to make land available for businesses. They also pay taxes to the state of Israel and benefit from the Palestinian condition, which offers them cheap labor. Due to limited movement and opportunities available in the West Bank, Palestinians often find themselves in the unfortunate situation of having to work in illegal Israeli settlements. Furthermore, Israel often readily gives international companies permits while refusing Palestinian companies permits to operate in their own land.

According to a recent report by (HRW), aside from commercial centers inside settlements, “there are approximately 20 Israeli-administered industrial zones in the West Bank covering about 1,365 hectares, and Israeli settlers oversee the cultivation of 9,300 hectares of agricultural land.”

Another HRW  states: “While 11 Israeli and foreign-run quarries and crushers operate in the 60 percent of the West Bank that Israel administers directly (“Area C”), a Palestinian has not been granted a permit to open a new quarry in Area C for more than two decades, and some current permit-holders face difficulty renewing.”

One such company benefiting from these special privileges offered by Israel is , a German company that currently operates in an illegal settlement in the West Bank. The company’s quarry sits on land that once formed part of the Palestinian village of al-Zawiya before it was annexed by the Israeli military in 1982, with additional land being seized in later years. Currently, a wall separates this land from the rest of the village, cutting families off from privately-owned land.

HRW reports that Heidelberg paid $585,000 in taxes in 2014 to the Israeli regional council that sustains illegal settlements in the area.

© Shutterstock

In December 2015, PFA Pension, a Danish company, announced its decision to divest from Heidelberg Cement over its illegal activities in Palestinian Territories, stating it did “not wish to contribute to any illegal activities in relation to the occupation of the West Bank.” In June 2015, Norwegian insurance firm KLP also divested from Heidelberg Cement and Cemex, a Mexican firm that held shares in a quarry it has since sold, but still owns shares in another firm, : “KLP is excluding Heidelberg Cement and Cemex on the grounds of their exploitation of natural resources in occupied territory on the West Bank.”

Other companies operating in illegal land include giants like Coca Cola. Central Bottling Company (CBC), the Israeli franchise of Coca Cola, holds its regional distribution center in an illegal settlement in Atarot. This center markets the company’s products to the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem. Coca Cola has a Palestinian franchise, too, NBC (National Beverage Company), which is , leaving the Israeli franchise to profit there.

CBC subsidiaries also operate from other illegal settlements. Its Israeli winery Tabor Winery owns vineyards near mount Shifon in the Occupied Golan Heights. Another company it owns, Tara, has a dairy farm in Shadmot Mehola in the Jordan Valley.

Following the 2014 shelling of the Gaza Strip, the company became the target of an increased (BDS) campaign. The Twitter hashtag #NotInMyFridge trended at number eight in the United Kingdom according Friends of Al Aqsa, who launched the campaign in December 2014. A couple of days after the launch of this campaign, Coca Cola announced its plans to open its first Gaza plant.

While Palestinian owners of an estimated 18,000 completely or partially destroyed homes had nothing to rebuild with, as no material could be brought in due to the Gaza blockade, Coca Cola had no such problems as the materials needed for its factory were provided by Israel. And although Palestinians struggle with a fresh water shortage, this again appears not to be an issue for Coca Cola, as it announced that its first factories were due to operate back in June 2015. The first destroyed home in Gaza was only .

Those who profit from the daily humiliation of Palestinians

Then there are those companies that profit from the daily humiliation of Palestinians. They include firms that provide security at checkpoints that limit Palestinian movements and in prisons. Two companies that have been targeted by BDS campaigners for their role are G4S, a British-Danish private security company, and the American information technology giant Hewlett-Packard (HP).

G4S provides equipment and services to the Israeli police, checkpoints, the illegal wall—which often cuts off Palestinians from private land—and Israeli prisons. Human rights organizations have reported abuse and ill treatment of Palestinian prisoners, including children, at G4S-secured Israeli prisons and detention centers. Many are held without trial. Families of prisoners find it difficult to obtain the permits they need to enter Israel, leaving prisoners locked up without access to visitors. This happens despite the fact that the transfer of prisoners from an occupied territory into that of the occupier is illegal under Article 49, 66 and 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

© Shutterstock

Hewlett-Packard, which provides IT security and computer products, is another profiteer of Palestinian humiliation. The company is also one of the top defense contractors with the Pentagon.

As mentioned, Palestinian movement is severely restricted by endless checkpoints and barriers. Israelis use a BASEL system to collect biometric data about the Palestinians who pass through these checkpoints. The data collected enables Israeli security services to profile innocent Palestinian civilians and track and control their movement.

By assisting Israel in its violation of Palestinian rights, HP violates international law, namely Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.”

HP also profits from the Gaza siege by providing the Israeli navy with IT infrastructure. The navy imposes a brutal siege on the Gaza Strip and often kills Palestinian fishermen. are a regular occurrence and contribute to the crippling of Gaza’s economy. In September 2015, the United Nations stated that if the current siege continues.

Those who profit from war

There are also those companies who profit from the bombing of Palestinians, as witnessed by the three conflicts between 2008 and 2014. These include commercial and military companies that collaborate with the Israeli military.

Airbus Defense & Space, a division of Airbus Group, which enjoys a close working relation with the Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI), announced in January 2016 that it would be (UAV) to Germany’s armed forces. The Heron TP, a drone, has been in service with the Israeli air force under the name Eitan and is first to have been used in Gaza during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in 2008-09. The drone was also used in the two subsequent Gaza attacks. Leading human rights campaigners have often accused the Israeli military of testing its products on Palestinians before making it available to international buyers. A recent  states that the lease of three to five Heron TPs will cost Germany $650 million.

Motorola, an electronics manufacturer, is another company that does well out of its cooperation with the Israeli military. The company supplies surveillance equipment used in settlements and in Israel’s separation wall. For years, Motorola also provided the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) with an encrypted communication system. In 2014, it was announced that the Israeli Ministry of Defense signed a $100 million contract with Motorola Solutions for “the purchase of the first military smartphones.” The 15-year contract is and is intended to “bring the smartphone revolution to the battlefield of the future, and lend a significant advantage to the IDF and the entire defense system.”

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect 51łÔąĎ’s editorial policy.

Photo Credit: Ěý/ Ěý/ /

We bring you perspectives from around the world. Help us to inform and educate. Your  is tax-deductible. Join over 400 people to become a donor or you could choose to be a .

The post How International Companies Profit From Palestinian Oppression appeared first on 51łÔąĎ.

In 2015, I spent a few months living in refugee camps. Before my camp life, I thought I was quite informed about some things but less so about many others. Here are five lessons I learned.

1) Jerusalem may as well be in another country

I wanted to visit , so I asked my host to join me. With a surprised look on her face, she told me she couldn’t. She would have to apply for a permit, wait months for the Israelis to get back to her, and she was certain the response would be a no.

“Ninety-six percent of permits are rejected,” she said, and she had no intention of entertaining them with a request.

I felt silly. I should have known this one. I never went to Jerusalem on that day. I felt guilty holding a passport that clocked thousands of miles around the world while my hosts and neighbors couldn’t drive ten minutes into Jerusalem—, a place still considered by the international community as Palestinian land.

2) Children face the darkest hours awake

The children in the camp sometimes played outside until 5:30am. They would often spend the time sweeping the streets, while other times they would decorated them for festivities. One day I asked my host why they stayed awake so late. “Camp raids usually happen at night,” she said, “and when raids happen, somebody usually dies.”

I learned that the children screaming and playing outside my window late at night were facing the darkness—and whatever surprises it may bring—with their eyes wide open. I felt less mad about my lack of sleep, knowing the brave children outside were seeing darkness to the door.

3) Wearing a bandana can get you in trouble

The first time my host saw me wearing a bandana, she told me, “Take that thing off! You look like a settler.” Surprised, I told her it was just a headpiece worn by many. “Look around you,” she said. “You’re in a refugee camp.”

In this concrete jungle—where death and despair both reside, sometimes eating from the same plate—I learned that something as insignificant as a bandana could pose a risk to both the wearer and to the residents of the camp who’ve never had a positive encounter with an Israeli settler. From then on, whenever I wore it, I folded it up so it was only a headband.

4) You can play water games

Not the fun kind with water balloons and water guns, but the deadly kind. Water is severely restricted. Every house in the refugee camps and Palestinian Territories has a water tank on the roof, or sometimes in the garden if there is one, to collect and store water. The Israelis who control the water release it once or twice a week, but there have been occasions where it’s been less frequent, with reports of weeks of dry taps.

We frequently checked the taps on the days that water was released, and we filled the tank, watered the plants and did most of our washing. Water was never available for the whole day, only a few hours. If you were outside and/or somehow missed the opportunity to fill your tank, you would wait until the next time it was released, and instead ask the neighbors for some in the meantime. Households with more people often ran out.

The nearby settlements all had free access to water. One way to tell if you’re in a Palestinian area or an Israeli settlement is to look at the rooftops: If there are no tanks on the roofs, it’s a settlement.

In a game of control and oppression, water is another source that Israelis use to exert their control over Palestinians.

5) Ghosts hang on the walls

Don’t ask about the pictures hanging on the walls in the homes of refugee camps—they’re often dead people—unless you are prepared to hear their stories.

Conversations will suddenly take on a sad tone as Palestinians tell you about their loved ones and explain how they’ve died—martyred they will often say. And almost every home has a martyr, sometimes many.

In the living room of one elderly lady, smiling pictures of her dead daughter and dead son hang on the walls. In her daughter-in-law’s house, more photos of other dead family members look at you from the walls. They were all killed during the Second Intifada.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect 51łÔąĎ’s editorial policy.

Photo Credit: Ěý/Ěý

We bring you perspectives from around the world. Help us to inform and educate. Your  is tax-deductible. Join over 400 people to become a donor or you could choose to be a .

The post 5 Lessons I Learned in Palestinian Refugee Camps appeared first on 51łÔąĎ.

In the wake of on November 13, fear is more widespread in Britain than ever before. The number of attacks on Muslims is currently at an all-time high. , assaults against Muslims in London have tripled. A few days before the attacks in France, 24 hate crimes were reported to British police; on the week ending November 24, the recorded numbers jumped to 76.

These attacks—often violent—generally target women and are often perpetrated by men. Such attacks recorded by , an organization that tracks Islamophobic crimes in the United Kingdom, included a (face veil) who was punched twice in the back by a white male in his 50s or 60s as he got off a bus. On November 23, a in the face while on her way to a train station by a man who then “casually walked away.”

In a report published a few days after the Paris attacks, Assistant Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Wales Sahar Al Faifi she “lost count” of the incidents of physical abuse she has received. She added that “Welsh Muslims are living in immense fear of backlashes.”

is spreading in schools, too. Tell MAMA says it has received reports of 22 attacks (both verbal and physical) on school children from January to November. One such incident . The parents of Aman Ghani filed a complaint in a case that is currently under police investigation after their son came home “tearful and distraught.” The 14-year-old was sent out of a school classroom as his teacher said, “Stop talking, you terrorist.”

Although the Paris attacks have led to a sudden spike, police records show Islamophobia has been on the rise for some time, increasing by almost 42% between October 2014 and 2015. These attacks and many others have left the Muslim community in Britain very fearful.

Racism makes a comeback

On December 16, a conference titled, “Unite Against Islamophobia and Racism – Defend Muslim Community” was hosted in Tower Hamlets, a London district that is home to the largest Muslim population in the United Kingdom. Local councilors and leading campaigners addressed a concerned audience of mainly local Muslims.

Those speaking at the event included the director of East London Mosque, Dilowar Khan, who expressed concern about the rise in attacks on Muslim women. He told the audience how disappointed he was that life had reverted to the 1970s and 1980s for the Muslim community, when Tower Hamlets’ Asian population lived in constant fear of far-right and other National Front members, who often targeted them with racial abuse. Back then, he said, “We were Pakis. Now, we’re terrorists.”

John Rees of also mentioned how hatred toward “Niggers and Pakis” in the 1970s and 1980s is now being directed at British Muslims. But unlike the racism of yesteryears, today’s hate—Islamophobia—is encouraged in the wider British society. The police, the media and the government all play their role in demonizing the Muslim community, thus justifying the bombing campaigns of Muslim-majority countries across the globe, he told the audience. Islamophobia, Rees said, “is essential to foreign policy” in Britain.

While highlighting the fear gripping the nation, rights campaigners shared their concerns that academics are now being silenced on the Syria subject for fear of being labeled “terrorist sympathizers,” after British Prime Minister David Cameron described those who oppose the bombing campaign as such.

On December 4, at a vigil held outside Finsbury Park Mosque in London—the scene of an attempted arson attack—Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn wanted those responsible for the incident to know that they “will not divide” the local community. “This attack is designed to divide our community between one faith and another, one ethnic group and another, or one people and another,” he said. “It has failed, it will fail, it will always fail because we are very proud of our multicultural community.”

Fear mongers are winning

Sadly, those spreading the fear and distrust are winning the hearts and minds of many Brits who appear to be genuinely concerned for their safety when around Muslims. Recently, a from Bristol to London after a female passenger complained she would feel “uncomfortable” traveling with him. The Muslim passenger, Ibrahim Ismail, said: “I believe I was asked to leave because of the way I was dressed, and the fact I’ve got beard. They asked me to leave because I was Muslim. Is that not discrimination?”

Earlier in April, news reports of ten children who were pulled out of a school trip to a mosque after parents expressed “grave concerns” made headlines. One parent : “We have grave concerns about the children’s safety during the trip due to the horrific events that occur every day.”

A of 6,000 school children aged between 10 and 16 highlighted fears of Muslims and immigrants. Of those surveyed, 47% believed Muslims and non-Muslims had poor relations in England. And 35% agreed with the statement, “Muslims are taking over England.”

With Britain taking part in the bombing campaign over Syria and Iraq, fear and hate crimes against Muslims are likely to rise. Today’s global environment differs from 2001 and 2003 when the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began. Those wars were sold in different packages—al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, and Weapons of Mass Destruction and Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

Over a decade later, with the flames of those wars still burning in many Muslim countries, the media and the politicians who justify these conflicts are quite happy to say the world now has a “Muslim problem.” In fact, the United States has presidential candidates spewing hatred against Muslims to win votes, going as far to say that Muslims should be banned from entering America, while European far-right leaders gain power in countries they had little support in a decade ago.

Although Donald Trump’s comments about banning Muslims from entering the US have caused mass outrage at home and abroad, the ban appears to already be in place for some. According to a recent , at least 20 British Muslim families have been barred from entry since the Republican presidential candidate’s calls.

As people fleeing the unlivable conditions in their homelands enter Europe—with Britain now making promises to change its closed-door policy by taking in 20,000 refugees by the next election—those who are selling Islamophobia are not having a difficult time finding buyers.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect 51łÔąĎ’s editorial policy.

Photo Credit: Ěý/Ěý

We bring you perspectives from around the world. Help us to inform and educate. Your  is tax-deductible. Join over 400 people to become a donor or you could choose to be a .

The post Fear Spreads in Britain After Paris Attacks appeared first on 51łÔąĎ.