Middle East Experience

AKIM is the largest organization in Israel providing representation for and advocating alongside 35,000 people with intellectual disabilities
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: 40% of Israeli media items equate intellectual disability with weakness - AKIM

A World Bank-backed plan for Egypt to export energy supplies to Lebanon is still in limbo as Cairo awaits assurances from the US that it will not face sanctions.The deal would require transit fees to be paid to the Assad regime, which has had crippling Caesar Act sanctions prevent foreign countries and companies from dealing with the Syrian government as a result of its war crimes.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Despite US officials and diplomats publicly stating that sanctions would not be an obstacle, Egypt’s top diplomat in Washington said otherwise on Tuesday.“No one would enter into a regional mechanism to find themselves later on under sanctions,” Motaz Zahran said in response to a question from Al Arabiya English.Speaking at an event with Al-Monitor in Washington, Zahran said Egypt was prepared to move ahead with the deal once it was given what was being asked for in terms of assurances.“So, if there is a will here in Washington to help the Lebanese through regional mechanisms, well, we have a regional mechanism that has been set and been out there waiting… for it to be able to function without repercussions of sanctions,” Zahran said.Al Arabiya English has reached out to the State Department for comment.With the World Bank saying that Lebanon’s financial crisis is one of the worst the world has seen in over 150 years, such a deal would reportedly help ease power shortages across the country.The deal was first reported by Al Arabiya English last summer and later confirmed by US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea.But the fact that the energy would pass through Syria has stirred up opposition in the US, specifically from Republican lawmakers.Earlier this year, Shea relayed a letter from the US Treasury Department reportedly informing the Lebanese government not to worry about potential sanctions.Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, said the deal was “way oversold by certain” Biden administration officials. He added that “nobody” in the US government would be able to “assuage” Egypt’s concerns without undermining sanctions.Read more: US tells Lebanon not to fear sanctions over energy supply plans, PM’s office says
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: US holding up energy deal between Egypt and Lebanon: Ambassador

"Today we send an international message of support to all women who are fighting for their sexual and reproductive rights," Equality Minister said.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Spain aims to introduce paid menstrual leave in first for Europe

Ben & Jerry’s and its parent company Unilever Global decided to end their licensing agreement in Israel in protest of West Bank settlements.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Yair Lapid working on secret plan to save Ben & Jerry's in Israel - exclusive

Saudi Aramco is considering an initial public offering of its trading arm amid a boom in oil prices in what could be one of the world’s biggest listings this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.The state-controlled oil major is working with banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley as it studies a potential listing of Aramco Trading Co., the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The trading unit could fetch a valuation of tens of billions of dollars, the people said, with two of them saying it could be potentially worth more than $30 billion.Aramco, which recently became the world’s most valuable company, could sell a 30 percent stake in the division, two of the people said, which would make it one of the world’s biggest IPOs this year. South Korea’s LG Energy Solution raised about $10.8 billion in January.Other major oil producers have mostly kept their trading units under wraps, wary of revealing the secrets of a major source of profit. Aramco is still debating the merits of the potential listing, and there’s no certainty it will proceed, the people said.Details of the offering, including size and timing, could still change. Representatives for Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley declined to comment, while spokespeople for Aramco and Aramco Trading didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.Energy companies in the Middle East have been taking advantage of a surge in oil prices to list assets as their governments seek to reduce their reliance on oil and draw in foreign investors. Aramco is considering listing its refining company Luberef, Bloomberg News reported last month.Saudi Arabia also started preliminary discussions on a fresh Aramco stock offering that could raise more money than its landmark listing two years ago, people familiar with the matter said in February.Other Aramco subsidiaries that are already listed include chemicals maker Saudi Basic Industries Corp., and Rabigh Refining & Petrochemical Co. The United Arab Emirates’ national oil company has followed a similar pattern, listing its drilling unit and fertilizer maker last year.Aramco established the trading unit in 2011 and now trades everything from crude oil to LNG, according to its website. National oil companies in the world’s biggest crude-producing region have added trading arms in a bid to squeeze more revenue from each barrel and expand from simply exporting the raw commodity.The Middle East has emerged as a bright spot for IPOs as oil prices above $100 a barrel fill energy companies’ coffers, while increased weighting in regional indexes has led to significant equity inflows.Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and hawkish central bank policies have put a lid on listings around the globe, but the Gulf has so far avoided most of the volatility and global investors have flocked to offerings in the region.Aramco on Sunday posted its highest profit since its record stock market listing after oil prices jumped in the wake of the Ukraine war. Global energy demand has also recovered after the coronavirus pandemic put a lid on it due to lockdowns affecting economic activity.Read more: Saudi Arabia trying to provide solutions, not be cause of problem: Energy minister
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Saudi Aramco weighs IPO of trading unit amid oil boom

Responding to the news that the Ukrainian soldiers who were besieged in Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant for months have surrendered themselves to Russia’s armed forces, Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said: “Ukraine’s Azov Battalion soldiers have been dehumanized by Russian media and portrayed in Putin’s propaganda as ‘neo-Nazis’ ..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Ukraine/Russia: The rights of Ukrainian prisoners of war from Azovstal must be respected

A group of extremist hassidic sect members was arrested for attempting to sabotage infrastructure on Mount Meron.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Hassidic sect members arrested for attempt to sabotage Meron celebrations

There could be clouds on the horizon, but there is now hope in Beirut, if the reformers can win the peace.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Hezbollah's election loss brings hope of stability in Lebanon - editorial

As Israel and the Palestinians wrangle over the investigation into the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, several independent groups have launched their own probes. One open-source research team said its initial findings lent support to Palestinian witnesses who said she was killed by Israeli fire.The outcome of these investigations could help shape international opinion over who is responsible for Abu Akleh's death, particularly if an official Israeli military probe drags on. Israel and the Palestinians are locked in a war of narratives that already has put Israel on the defensive.Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American and a 25-year veteran of the satellite channel, was killed last Wednesday while covering an Israeli military raid in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. She was a household name across the Arab world, known for documenting the hardship of Palestinian life under Israeli rule, now in its sixth decade.Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday said he had spoken to Abu Akleh's family to express condolences and respect for her work “as well as the need to have an immediate and credible investigation” into her death.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Palestinian officials and witnesses, including journalists who were with her, say she was killed by army fire. The military, after initially saying Palestinian gunmen might have been responsible, later backtracked and now says she may also have been hit by errant Israeli fire.Israel has called for a joint investigation with the Palestinians, saying the bullet must be analyzed by ballistics experts to reach firm conclusions. Palestinian officials have refused, saying they don't trust Israel, and have invited other countries to join the investigation. Human rights groups says Israel has a poor record of investigating wrongdoing by its security forces.With the two sides at loggerheads over the Abu Akleh probe, several research and human rights groups have launched their own investigations.Over the weekend, Bellingcat, a Dutch-based international consortium of researchers, published an analysis of video and audio evidence gathered on social media. The material came from both Palestinian and Israeli military sources, and the analysis looked at such factors as time stamps, the locations of the videos, shadows and a forensic audio analysis of gunshots. The group found that while gunmen and Israeli soldiers were both in the area, the evidence supported witness accounts that Israeli fire killed Abu Akleh.“Based on what we were able to review, the IDF (Israeli soldiers) were in the closest position and had the clearest line of sight to Abu Akleh,” said Giancarlo Fiorella, the lead researcher of the analysis.Bellingcat is among a growing number of firms that use “open source” information, such as social media videos, security camera recordings and satellite imagery, to reconstruct events. Fiorella acknowledged that the analysis cannot be 100 percent certain without such evidence as the bullet, weapons used by the army and GPS locations of Israeli forces. But he said the emergence of additional evidence typically bolsters preliminary conclusions and almost never overturns them.“This is what we do when we don’t have access to those things,” he said.The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem said it too is conducting its own analysis. The group last week played a key role in the military’s backtracking from its initial claims that Palestinian gunmen appeared to be responsible for her death.The Israeli claim was based on a social media video in which a Palestinian gunman fires into a Jenin alleyway, and then other militants come running to claim they have shot a soldier. The army said that because no soldiers were hurt that day, the gunmen might have been referring to Abu Akleh, who was wearing a protective helmet and flak jacket.A B’Tselem researcher went to the area and took a video showing that the Palestinian gunmen were some 300 meters (yards) away from where Abu Akleh was shot, separated by a series of walls and alleyways.Dror Sadot, a spokeswoman for the group, said B’Tselem has begun gathering testimonies from witnesses and may attempt to reconstruct the shooting with videos from the scene. But she said at this point, it has not been able to come to a conclusion about who was behind the shooting.Sadot said any bullet would need to be matched to the barrel of the gun. The Palestinians have refused to release the bullet, and it is unclear whether the military has confiscated the weapons used that day. “The bullet on its own can’t say a lot” because it could have been fired by either side, she said. “What can be done is to match a bullet to the barrel,” she said. The Israeli military did not respond to interview requests to discuss the status of its probe.Jonathan Conricus, a former Israeli military spokesman and expert on military affairs, said reconstructing a gunfight in densely populated urban terrain is “very complex” and said forensic evidence, such as the bullet, is crucial to reach firm conclusions. He accused the Palestinian Authority of refusing to cooperate for propaganda purposes.“Without the bullet, any investigation will only be able to reach partial and questionable conclusions,” Conricus said. “One might assume that the strategy of the Palestinian Authority is exactly that: to deny Israel the ability to clear its name, while leveraging global sympathy for the Palestinian cause.” Meanwhile, Israeli police over the weekend launched an investigation into the conduct of the officers who attacked the mourners at Abu Akleh's funeral, causing the pallbearers to nearly drop her coffin. Newspapers on Sunday were filled with criticism of the police and what was portrayed as a public relations debacle.“The footage from Friday is the very opposite of good judgment and patience,” commentator Oded Shalom wrote in the Yediot Ahronot daily. “It documented a shocking display of unbridled brutality and violence.”Nir Hasson, who covers Jerusalem affairs for the Haaretz daily, said the problems run much deeper than Israel's image.“This was one of the most extreme visual expressions of the occupation and the humiliation the Palestinian people experience,” he wrote.Read more: US, EU demand investigation into reporter Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing in IsraelIsrael defense minister pledges full probe into killing of reporter Shireen Abu AklehViolence erupts as Shireen Abu Akleh’s coffin emerges from Jerusalem hospital
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Independent probe points to Israeli fire in journalist Shireen Abu Akleh’s death

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson will seek broad support for an application to join NATO on Monday, she announced on Sunday after her party dropped its long-standing opposition to membership in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.Joining NATO was a distant prospect just months ago, but Russia's attack on its neighbor has prompted both Sweden and Finland to rethink their security needs and seek safety in the military alliance they stood apart from during the Cold War.The war in Ukraine, which Moscow calls a special military operation but which has already killed thousands and displaced millions, shattered long-standing security policies and fueled a wave of public support for NATO membership in both countries.Following internal debates over the past week among the leadership of the Social Democrats, the biggest party in every election for the past century, Andersson said NATO entry was “the best thing for the security of Sweden and the Swedish people”.“Non-alignment has served us well, but our conclusion is that it will not serve us as well in the future,” she said.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Supporters of joining the alliance will now command a broad majority in Sweden's Riksdag with much of the opposition already in favor, and a formal application by Andersson's minority government will follow.In Finland, President Sauli Niinisto confirmed the country's intentions to apply on Sunday, saying the region would benefit.“We get security and we also extend it through the Baltic sea region and the entire alliance,” he told reporters gathered in the presidential palace in Helsinki.At peace since the days of the Napoleonic wars, Sweden has been more reluctant to cast aside its non-alignment than Finland, which fought the Soviet Union in the 20th century.Popular support for entry jumped to more than 60 percent in Sweden from about 40 percent before the war.“I didn't think it was necessary before but now it feels better to have countries that would come to our defense,” said pastry shop worker Cecilia Wikstrom, 32. Tense wait A membership application will herald a tense wait during the months it takes to be ratified by all NATO members - Turkey has already voiced its objections, though the alliance and the White House have said they were confident any security concerns could be addressed in the interim.Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Sunday urged NATO allies to move fast to integrate new members.Finland's Niinisto expressed his readiness on Sunday to hold talks with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan over his concerns. As a NATO member, Turkey can veto new members.Both countries are already NATO partners, having taken part in allied exercises for years, and cast off strict neutrality on joining the European Union together in 1995. But they have until now reasoned peace was best kept by not publicly choosing sides.Andersson cautioned on Sunday that the country would be “vulnerable” during the application process, before it is covered by the alliance's collective defense clause. She did not specify what sort of threats were a cause of concern.Russia has warned Sweden and Finland of “serious consequences” and that it could deploy nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles in the European exclave of Kaliningrad if Sweden and Finland become NATO members.The decision to slot in under the NATO umbrella would represent a setback for Moscow, with the war in Ukraine triggering the very kind of enlargement of the alliance on Russia's borders that Moscow says it took up arms to prevent.In the wake of Finland's leaders announcing their determination to join, the Kremlin said it represented a hostile move that threatened Russia, warning vaguely of “retaliatory steps, both of a military-technical and other nature”.Sweden has been rebuilding its military over the last decade, particularly since Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, buying U.S.-made Patriot air defense missile systems and basing troops on the Baltic island of Gotland.A cross-party parliamentary review on Friday said joining NATO would boost Sweden's national security and help stabilize the Nordic and Baltic regions.Read more:Putin was ‘calm, cool’ when Finland informed him of application for NATO membershipExplainer: ‘Neutral’ Europe recedes as NATO set to expandUS Secretary of State Blinken voices confidence on Sweden, Finland NATO bids
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Sweden to seek NATO membership as ruling party drops 73-year opposition