Libyan Militia Attacks Prime Minister’s Office
A week before the scheduled constituent assembly elections, interim prime minister Abdel Rahil el-Keeb’s headquarters was attacked on Tuesday by militiamen believed to be from the Nafusah mountains area, southwest of the capital. The attackers reportedly orchestrated the attack ...
May 8, 2012
Category: Civil Society, Featured, Freedom, Human Rights, Libya, Military, Political transition
Number of Monitoring Egyptian NGOs Declines
According to Egypt Independent, there are a small amount of Egyptian NGOs which have applied to monitor the presidential election, scheduled for May 23 and 24. The article references Egypt’s largest newspaper, Al-Ahram, as reporting that only 60 local ...
POMED Notes: “The Arab Awakening: Progress or Peril?”
On Thursday, the Woodrow Wilson Center hosted an event titled “The Arab Awakening: Progress or Peril?” The discussion featured former congresswoman and Woodrow Wilson Center President Jane Harman and Member of Parliament and former senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Amr Hamzawy. The event focused on developments in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt since their respective presidents were overthrown, with an emphasis on Egypt. The event was moderated ...
May 3, 2012
Category: Civil Society, DC Event Notes, Egypt, Elections, Foreign Aid, Government, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Libya, Muslim Brotherhood, NGOs, Political Islam, Political Parties, Political transition, Tunisia, Women's Rights
“Tunisians should not worry for new ideas”
In an editorial for Tunisia Live, Tam Hussein discussed the challenge to freedom of speech in a time of transitional democracy for Tunisia that represents Yusuf al-Qaradawi and the Persepolis cases. Hussein called on Tunisian to "not worry for new ideas" and reminded them that "Tunisians were at the forefront of wrestling with the position of women in the Arab world" which led to the adoption of the Personal Status Code adopted in 1956 which guarantees equal rights between men and women. Hussein questioned the critics ...
Freedom House: “Breakthroughs and Pushback in the Middle East”
On Tuesday, Freedom House released their annual freedom of the press report entitled “Press Freedom in 2011: Breakthroughs and Pushback in the Middle East.” Dramatic improvements in media freedoms occurred in the region—specifically in Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt—as citizens overthrew their autocratic leaders, ending an era of tightly censored media information. Tunisia and Libya made record-breaking improvements in 2011, transitioning from among the world’s most oppressive countries to partly free. Despite ...
May 1, 2012
Category: Bahrain, Civil Society, Egypt, Freedom, Iran, Journalism, Libya, Media, Middle Eastern Media, Syria
Reports of 8 NGOs Banned in Egypt Disputed
In a press briefing, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland denied that eight American NGOs had been banned from conducting business in Egypt by the Ministry of Insurance and Social Affairs. The organizations reportedly (Arabic) included the Carter Center, Seeds of Peace, and Coptic Orphans. The news was originally announced on Monday according to Egyptian state media organization MENA. The news could not be confirmed by the eight organizations, and spokesmen from the ...
The Consequences of Unconditioned U.S. Military Aid to Egypt
Thomas Friedman writes in the New York Times that Nancy Okail, the Egyptian woman who led the Cairo office of Freedom House, is worried that the U.S. will forget about her and the dozens of Egyptian still facing ...
April 25, 2012
Category: Civil Society, Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Featured, Foreign Aid, US foreign policy
Jordanian Editor Jailed on the Charge of Incitement Against the Regime
Last Wednesday, Al Akhbar reported that nearly 1,500 Jordanians held a demonstrated demanding the release of 19 imprisoned activist charged with insulting the king, with the larger agenda of calling for political reforms. "The country is being detoryed becauses reformists are jailed while the corrupt are protected," former MP Ahmad Kafawin of the Muslim Brotherhood said speaking to a crowd chanting "The people demand the reform of the regime." On Sunday, 13 additional activists were accused of insulting the king and ...
POMED Notes: “The Arab Spring, a Year On: How is America Faring?”
On Monday, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars hosted a panel of regional experts to discuss the impact of the wave of changes in the Middle East. The panel featured Nathan Brown, professor of political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University, Ellen Laipson, president and chief executive officer of the Stimson Center, and Michael Singh, managing director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Wilson Center ...
April 23, 2012
Category: Civil Society, Countries, DC Event Notes, Political transition, US foreign policy
Eight American NGOs Refused Licenses in Egypt
Egypt’s Ministry of Insurance and Social Affairs rejected the applications of eight American nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), which means the groups can no longer operate in Egypt legally, according to state –run MENA. The eight organizations include the Carter Center, Coptic Orphans, and Seeds of Peace. Sanne van den Bergh, the field office director for the Carter Center, said the group had not yet been contacted by the government and said ...
Egypt After the Revolution: What’s next?
On Thursday, the Bipartisan Policy Center hosted a discussion entitled “Egypt After the Revolution: What’s next?” The panelists discussed the political situation in Egypt more than a year after mass protests forced Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak to step down. Currently, the potential of Egypt's revolution has yet to be realized and both the direction of the country and its relations with the U.S. are uncertain. The discussion featured Ambassador of ...
April 20, 2012
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Category: Civil Society, Egypt, Elections 2012, Event Notes, Government, Islamist movements, Military
POMED Notes: “Empowering Civil Society After the Arab Spring”
On Friday, Freedom House hosted their Director in Egypt and Tunisia at their office in order to share updates on socio-political situations in the respective countries, and NGO operations in the current challenging environment. Dr. Nancy Okail, director of Freedom House in Egypt and Fathi Zabaar, director of Freed House in Tunisia shared thoughts on the developing situation. Charles Dunne, director of the Middle East and North Africa programs at ...
April 20, 2012
Category: Civil Society, DC Event Notes, Egypt, Political transition, Reform, Rule of Law, Tunisia, US foreign policy
POMED Notes: The Islamists Are Coming: Who They Really Are
On Wednesday, the Woodrow Wilson Center hosted an event discussing the first book to analyze the rise of Islamist groups in the wake of the Arab Spring. The speakers were Robin Wright, a USIP-Wilson Center distinguished scholar, Nathan Brown, a professor of political science and international affairs at Georgetown University, Samer Shehata, an assistant professor of Arab politics at Georgetown University, and David Ottaway, a scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center. ...
April 20, 2012
Category: Civil Society, Constitutional Issues, Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Event Notes, Morocco, Tunisia
POMED Notes: Information, Communications, and Media in Iran
On Thursday, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, and the Middle East Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars co-hosted a conference titled Democracy and Human Rights in Iran, in honor of Siamak Pourzand. The second panel, Information, Communications, and Media in Iran, featured Mehdi Yahyanejad, founder of Balatarin and co-founder of the Iranian Studies Group, Nikahang ...
April 19, 2012
Category: Civil Society, Freedom, Government, Iran, Journalism, Media, US foreign policy, US media
POMED Notes: Culture and Human Rights in Iran
On Thursday, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, and the Middle East Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars co-hosted a conference titled Democracy and Human Rights in Iran, in honor of Siamak Pourzand. The first panel, Culture and Human Rights in Iran, featured Mehrangiz Kar, Iranian attorney and human rights activist, Omid Memarian, an activist representing ...
April 19, 2012
Category: Civil Society, DC Event Notes, Event Notes, Featured, Freedom, Government, Human Rights, Iran, POMED
POMED Notes: The Evolving Role of Women in Iran and the Middle East
On Friday, the American University Washington School of Law hosted a conference entitled “The Evolving Role of Women in Iran and the Middle East” that consisted of a first panel on economic and political empowerment of women, a second panel on the role of social media in women’s activism, and a keynote address highlighting some of the challenges facing women’s rights activists in the region today. For full event notes, continue ...
Can Muslims Celebrate Sham al-Nasim?
An article in Al Ahram online talks about the controversy over Sham El-Nasim, an Egyptian holiday that is being celebrated today by both Copts and Muslims. Some groups have questioned whether the day can be celebrated by Muslims, since it is not a strictly Islamic holiday. The celebration is linked to ancient Egyptian feasts that go as far back as 2700 BC. Egyptians celebrate the day usually with family and friends ...
Tunisian’s Government Lift Ban on Demonstrations on Tunis Main Boulevard
On Wednesday, the Tunisian government reversed the law banning demonstrations on Habib Bourguiba avenue in Tunis. Bourghiba avenue was the focal point where Tunisians demonstrated until the step down of former President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. The decision to ban demonstrations ...
Six Activists Detained in the U.A.E.
On Monday six activists were detained in the U.A.E. after having their citizenship removed for criticizing the countries’ rulers, told they were “illegally residing in the oil-rich union.” Lawyer Mohammed al-Roken told the Associated Press that the six ...
UAE Detains Foreign NGO Workers
Josh Rogin reported in his blog in Foreign Policy that U.A.E. authorities have “detained foreign employees of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and is preventing at least one of them from leaving the country.” Two of NDI’s Dubai office employees, director Patricia Davis , an American, and her deputy director Slobodon Milic, a Serbian National were stopped at the U.A.E. airport in Dubai as they tattempted to vacate the country. Although Davis was eventually let on the ...