Middle East Experience

Khairi Hanoun, a Palestinian activist who was the victim of an incident earlier this month where an Israeli soldier placed a knee on his neck, was detained on Monday..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Palestinian activist in ‘knee-on-neck’ incident arrested by Israeli forces

Do they want the UN to be a body that promotes peace and security in the world, or one that is blackmailed by countries that violate human rights and support terrorism?
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Erdan to UN: Choose between supporting Iran and terror or Israel and peace

Eight Syrian mercenaries captured by the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, are currently languishing in a Benghazi jail as they wait for their trial, French weekly news magazine Paris Match recently reported..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: French magazine puts spotlight on Turkey’s mercenaries in Libya

A female politician in Turkey has been sentenced to 11 months in prison for calling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan an enemy of women, according to media reports.Sebahat Tuncel was sentenced Saturday for saying Erdogan was a “complete misogynist” – a remark she mad four years ago.Tuncel’s attorney argued that the politician’s statement that “the president was an enemy of women and Kurds,” made during a 2016 speech, is “within the freedom of expression,” according to Turkish news outlet Duvar English. The court disagreed.Tuncel is just one of thousands of Turkish citizens who have received prison time for insulting the Turkish president.Incarceration for insultTurkey’s penal code criminalizes insulting the president, with an offender typically facing a prison term of up to four years. The sentence can be increased if the insult is expressed in the public sphere, like in the case of Tuncel.Over 3,800 people in Turkey received prison sentences in 2019 for insulting Erdogan, Turkish media reported last week.As arrests have continued to increase over the past four years, human rights organizations have called on Turkey to end prosecutions for acts of “insulting the president,” and accused the government of using the law to silence dissenting voices.Erdogan and women’s rightsTuncel, a Turkish politician of Kurdish origin, has been described in Turkish media as a women’s rights activist.Her characterization of the Turkish president as a “misogynist” followed two controversial speeches made by Erdogan in 2014 and 2016.Erdogan said publicly women are not equal to men in 2014, and two years later said that women who reject motherhood are “deficient” and “incomplete.”The president has also urged Turkish women to have at least three children and has proposed limiting access to the morning-after pill and Caesarian sections.Read more: Femicide in Turkey on the rise amid debate over law protecting womenThis summer Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party, known as the AKP, came under fire for debating whether Turkey should pull out of a European domestic violence treaty known as the Istanbul Convention, which aims at stopping violence against women.Dissidents or terrorists?While Tuncel previously served as a member in Turkish parliament, she was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2019 on charges of belonging to a terrorist organization.Turkey’s anti-terrorism legislation has been widely utilized by the judicial system to crackdown on dissidents following the 2016 failed coup against Erdogan’s government.Human rights organizations have warned that the legislation is vague and is wrongly used to silence political opponents.Read more: Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?“Criminal investigations and prosecutions under anti-terrorism laws…continued to be used, in the absence of evidence of any criminal wrongdoing, to silence real or perceived dissent,” according to Amnesty International.Read more:Taken & Tortured: Turkey increasingly abducts political opponents, says reportIranian protester Nader Mokhtari dies after months in coma: Opposition websiteFirst of its kind: UAE, Bahrain channels share live broadcast with Israeli channel
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Turkey sentences female politician to prison for calling Erdogan ‘enemy of women’

The number of recorded novel coronavirus cases in the six Gulf Arab states has doubled in three months to over 800,000, according to a Reuters tally.All countries have lifted internal curfews and lockdowns, but restrictions on gatherings and foreign travel remain, and social distancing measures are being enforced.Visit our dedicated coronavirus site here for all the latest updates.Since reaching 100,000 cases in mid-May, the time it takes for infections to double has widened from half a month, to one month to three months. A longer doubling rate indicates slower growth in the infection rate.As of Tuesday, the tally in the region stood at 800,651 infections, with 6,805 deaths.The United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain have seen daily case numbers rise again in September.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Ten days ago, the UAE recorded its highest daily number of infections since the start of the pandemic, at 1,007. Authorities said people were not adhering to social distancing measures.The business hub Dubai reopened to foreign visitors in July while airports in the rest of the UAE remain closed to visitors.Saudi Arabia has seen a downward trend in daily case numbers since early July. On Monday 492 new cases were reported, compared to mid-June peak of 4,919.A week ago the Kingdom partially lifted a suspension of international flights to allow “exceptional categories” of citizens and residents to travel. It will scrap all air, land and sea travel restrictions for citizens on Jan. 1, 2021.Kuwait’s daily case numbers have fluctuated between 900 and 400 a day since early May. Kuwait began a partial resumption of commercial flights on Aug. 1 while banning flights from several countries.On Tuesday its tally surpassed 100,000 cases, with 588 deaths.Read more:Turkey sentences female politician to prison for calling Erdogan ‘enemy of women’Coronavirus: Dubai Police arrest Arab actress for hosting public birthday partiesIranian protester Nader Mokhtari dies after months in coma: Opposition website
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: Infections in Gulf countries surpass 800,000, says Reuters tally

Authorities in Saudi Arabia have reduced the number of attendees expected to attend the 90th National Day concerts as a precautionary measure against the spread of the coronavirus, Rotana Music said on Tuesday.“After reviewing the health precautions and out of our concern for the safety of our audience, it was decided to reduce the number of attendees for the celebrations of the 90th National Day. Wishing everyone is safe,” an announcement published on Rotana Music’s official Twitter page read.For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Rotana Music is an audio and visual record label that also manages events and has many of its artists, including Amr Diab, participating in this year’s celebrations.Refunds will be issued for those who have purchased tickets, according to the announcement.It was announced last week that a string of concerts will take place in Saudi Arabia during the month of September in celebration of the Kingdom’s 90th National Day, Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (GEA) Chairman Turki al-Sheikh announced.Read more:Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia records 492 COVID-19 cases in 24 hoursBTS, EXO, Super Junior: Why is K-pop so popular on Twitter in Saudi Arabia?Saudi Arabian designer to showcase traditional clothing ahead of Saudi National Day
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Saudi Arabia reduces number of National Day concert attendees: Rotana

An arms cache belonging to Iranian proxy group Hezbollah blew up in Lebanon on Tuesday because of a technical error, a security source said, according to Reuters.An explosion shook a Lebanese Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon, sending thick gray smoke billowing over the village.The blast occurred in the southern village of Ain Qana, above the port city of Sidon. There were no immediate reports of casualties.An official with Lebanese Hezbollah confirmed there was an explosion but declined to give further details.Another local Hezbollah official could not confirm or deny any casualties from the explosion and said the nature of the blast was not yet clear. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give official statements.Members of the group imposed a security cordon, barring journalists from reaching the area.Footage broadcast by the local Al Jadeed station showed damage to buildings.The mysterious explosion comes seven weeks after the massive explosion at Beirut port, the result of nearly 3,000 tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrate detonating.The explosion killed nearly 200 people, injured 6,500 and damaged tens of thousands of buildings in the capital, Beirut.It is still not clear what caused the initial fire that ignited the chemicals, and so far no one has been held accountable.Read more:Coronavirus: Infections in Gulf countries surpass 800,000, says Reuters tallyTurkey sentences female politician to prison for calling Erdogan ‘enemy of women’Iranian protester Nader Mokhtari dies after months in coma: Opposition website
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Explosion in Lebanon at Hezbollah arms depot: Report

Israel’s leadership is against the United States selling the Emirates F-35 jets, but if the deal comes through, Israeli defense industries could also benefit.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: F-35 deal with UAE could benefit Israeli defense industries

Egypt is making diplomatic moves to counter Turkey’s growing involvement in the Eastern Mediterranean region amid escalating tension.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Egypt reaches out to Greece amid tension with Turkey

President Donald Trump says the United Nations must hold China “accountable” for failing to contain the coronavirus, which has killed about 200,000 Americans and nearly 1 million around the world.Trump is accusing China of not sharing timely information with the world on the new disease in a taped address to the virtually gathered United Nations General Assembly.Trump says: “The United Nations must hold China accountable for their actions.”For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Trump is also using his address to tout a pair of recent international accords he helped to broker— one between Kosovo and Serbia and the other between the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Israel — as the United States “fulfilling our destiny as peacemaker.”Trump has repeatedly used his appearances at the international gathering to oppose “globalization” and promote his “America First” foreign policy.His 2020 address is not different, as he admonished other nations that “only when you take care of your own citizens, will you find a true basis for cooperation.”Read more:Americans should not only think of upcoming elections, but of Mideast region: LavrovUS will not embrace Iran regardless of November election outcome: Official‘We could cut off the whole relationship’ Trump warns China over coronavirus handling
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Trump takes aim at China in UN virtual address