Serene Assir

More than seven years after the US- and UK-led invasion of their country, Iraqis continue to endure an occupation that has systematically violated their basic rights. In particular, the role and situation of women and girls has declined precipitously.

More than seven years after the United States and United Kingdom-led invasion of Iraq, millions of displaced Iraqis have nowhere to go. For the overwhelming majority of refugees and internally displaced persons, displacement is not a one-off trauma. Rather, it is a continuous state of flight for most uprooted Iraqis.

The threats of death, maiming and incarceration are perhaps the worst and most direct obstacles to the objective coverage of situations in which human rights violations are committed daily. But by no means do they alone account for problems relating to global coverage of war, politics and human rights in the Middle East today.

Egyptian security covertly organized for the cancellation of a week-long series of cultural events to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Nakba, or the forced expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland by Zionist forces in 1947-48. The events were planned by the Habitat International Coalition-affiliated Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN), alongside a number of Egyptian organizations. EI contributor Serene Assir reports from Cairo.

The immensity of the overwhelmingly peaceful movement of Palestinians in and out of north Sinai indicated that another reality is possible and indeed necessary in the Arab world. Occupation in Palestine cannot be successfully challenged if the Arab world does not wake up to the fact that anything but more actions of a similarly massive, popular nature are not encouraged. Acceptance of a continued oppression of Arab popular movements is tantamount to acceptance of Israel’s siege of Gaza. Serene Assir comments from Egypt.

Seven weeks into their displacement from Gaza, up to 700 of 6,000 stranded Palestinians returned home this week via the border crossing at al-Oja, north Sinai, controlled by Egypt and Israel. Their return via this terminal, traditionally used for the transportation of goods into Israel, is described as a one-time-only solution designed to solve the immediate crisis. The plan was forged by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, with the approval of the Egyptian government. Serene Assir investigates from Egypt.

Estimates for the number of Iraqis who have fled to Lebanon ever since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 vary. While the Beirut office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that approximately 40,000 Iraqis are currently in Lebanon, security officials the Lebanese Ministry of Internal Affairs say they believe the number is actually closer to 100,000. Lebanon not being a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, many Iraqis do not register with UNHCR and live in fear of detention and deportation back to Iraq.