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MENA Green Building Congress Collaborates on Sustainable Urban Planning

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Home to over 381 million people, the MENA region’s urban population is expected to double between 2010 to 2050 as rural populations migrate to cities in search of education and employment opportunities. As governments prepare to accommodate increased urban populations, attention is growing on how to build “greener” cities. 

From June 22 to 26, leaders from regional governments, international organizations, and business and NGOs, including Google, Multiplex, Siemens, UN Habitat, and WHO, met online for the second MENA Green Building Congress. The stakeholders came together to discuss how the region can use green buildings to create healthier communities and contribute to climate change mitigation. 

Addressing the conference, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, explained how “the building and construction sector is the largest contributor to energy-related greenhouse gas emissions worldwide at 39%, while accounting for 36 percent of global energy use.”

The congress, organized by the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC), was an opportunity to share best practice techniques from around the world and promote the use of new building technologies in the MENA region. The WorldGBC is a global network of 70 in-country GBCs dedicated to eliminating the building and construction sector’s emissions by 2050. The council advocates for the adoption of green buildings and construction practices to make the built environment healthier and more sustainable.

As the world continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic, Ibrahim Al-Zu’bi, chief sustainability officer at Majid Al Futtaim Holding, believes green construction has an important role in ensuring the health of communities: “We need to focus on harmonizing the health and well-being of our communities, and achieving energy efficiency and resilience.”

Urban density and COVID-19

COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted poorer urban communities living in highly populated areas. Across the world these communities have recorded higher rates of infection and death. People in poor urban areas often live in cramped spaces lacking proper ventilation or in buildings with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities. 

In addition, pre-existing health conditions, some of which are derived from the poor sanitary environment, have compounded the impact of COVID-19. 

While the pandemic has encouraged some, including New York Mayor Andrew Cuomo, to argue for reducing population density, policy experts disagree. They suggest that the pandemic should not indicate the end of high-density urban living but rather serve as an opportunity to rethink how space is used. 

Suggestions have included providing more urban green spaces, ensuring the use of sustainable high quality materials in all buildings, and working to stop overcrowding in apartments. 

Ken Greenberg of Toronto’s urban design firm Greenberg Consultants argues that “buildings and neighbourhoods need designs that are easily adaptable during times of crisis such as the pandemic, or climate-based disasters, for alternative uses.” Achieving this will require greater collaboration between public health officials and planners. 

Future-proofing against another pandemic and reducing the climate impact of urbanization includes rethinking city planning to address the dangers of high-density, low quality buildings. Facilitating conversations between experts, as the MENA Green Building Congress did last week, is an important first step in encouraging change. 

US Shale Pioneer ‘Chesapeake’ Files for Bankruptcy

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On Sunday, June 28, Oklahoma-based Chesapeake Energy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it appears to be buckling under the weight of its enormous debts. The company was one the pioneers that led to the boom in US shale gas extraction, or “fracking,” that helped make the US the third largest producer of oil.

Chesapeake Energy has pioneered a concept where expensive gas extraction is fueled by taking on high debts to finance the purchases and maintenance of gas fields. It purchased gas fields in New Mexico, Texas, North and South Dakota, and Pennsylvania.

Founded in 1989, Chesapeake transitioned from traditional oil extraction to the more environmentally controversial and expensive shale gas extraction, which started a national trend.

At its height Chesapeake had a valuation of $37 billion and became one of the giants in the burgeoning US shale gas industry.

But the global financial crisis and its fallout provided a first shock to Chesapeake’s model that has now led to a valuation of only $115 million. Because so many small-scale producers followed Chesapeake’s example, the market had become flooded with expensive but plentiful US petroleum products.

Shale gas

In February, US government statements on the US shale gas industry focused on a major milestone on its horizon: The United States was about to become a net exporter of crude oil after a century of dependence on foreign oil, primarily from the Middle East and Venezuela. But those reports proved to be incorrect. Oil prices collapsed as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe.

Instead of boosting US exports to unparalleled heights, the US started to overflow with its own surplus as international oil demand plummeted. With the key hub for its benchmark WTI crude located far inland, its oil had few places to go when futures expired in May, sending the price of WTI crude below zero for the first time in history.

While painful voluntary and involuntary production cuts in the US have relieved some of the pressure on its storage facilities, many experts predict that the shale gas industry is unlikely to recover from the devastating shock to the system anytime soon. It is likely demand will not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2022, when US shale gas extraction could recover.

With shale gas extraction now at its lowest point in a decade, the industry appears to be back where it started, only now it is saddled with billions in debt.

For low-cost oil producers in the Middle East and North Africa, the US decline has led to a significant increase in market share. This is likely to change the global oil market for years to come.

Lebanon’s Bread Crisis Persists as Flour Supply Dwindles

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Lebanese bakeries saw massive crowds on June 27 amid news of a looming bread shortage as Lebanon’s currency collapses against the dollar.

Although Lebanese bakers sell bread for the local currency, they must pay for flour in dollars from millers who import wheat from abroad. After the Lebanese pound took yet another dive in value, many in the country fear a shortage in flour, and by extension, bread.

 

The Head of the Union of Bakeries Syndicates, Ali Ibrahim, said bread will no longer be available until bakeries have a solution for their losses.

Pictures of citizens’ queues at the entrances to the bakeries provoked the activists to condemn the government, the ruling political class, and on Hezbollah and the gangs that smuggle flour from Lebanon into Syria.

Protests have engulfed the streets of Lebanon since October 17 in light of the suffocating economic crisis in Lebanon that has left tens of thousands of Lebanese without a source of income. 

Protestors are accusing the political elite of corruption and the inability to find solutions to the country’s crises.

The repercussions of the economic collapse, which is the worst in decades, left no social group unscathed and triggered an unprecedented wave of high prices amid a severe liquidity crisis and the scarcity of the dollar.

The crisis also appears to have led to the emergence of a new market to meet the needs of some poor families. 

The “Lebanon Swaps” Facebook page shows the need for some basic foodstuffs, with some citizens offering to exchange personal and household items for infant formula, cooking oil, or bread.

 

Lebanon’s economic crisis

The crisis has left nearly half of the population living below the poverty line, according to the World Bank, with economic experts expecting the decline of the middle class in a country that was famous for its facilities, services, and creative initiatives of its people.

Since the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri on February 14, 2005, Lebanon has seen periodic political and economic crises and protests against its sectarian government. 

The first major protest broke out in 2015 when authorities closed the main landfill site near Beirut without arranging an alternative, causing waste to fill the streets and signaling the government’s inability to provide for the basic needs of the Lebanese people.

In 2019, as the economy stagnated and capital inflows slowed, the Lebanese government faced pressure to control an immense budget deficit. Protests erupted again after the government failed to make progress in reforming the economy that would have garnered foreign support and instead taxed the internet. 

Demonstrators accused the government of corruption and economic mismanagement, and Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri resigned as the crisis worsened. A liquidity crunch on hard currency pushed banks to impose tight restrictions on cash withdrawals and transfers abroad.

After years of failed economic policies, Lebanon now shoulders a sovereign debt of more than 170% of its GDP and went into default in March. Talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are ongoing as the local currency continues to drop, losing approximately 70% of its value in a matter of weeks, wreaking havoc on the middle class and plunging the lower class deeper into poverty.

 

Read also: Lebanon Investigating Assassination Attempt on Former PM

Pakistan: Attack on Karachi Stock Exchange Leads to Multiple Casualties

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At least six people, including security men, were killed when four gunmen stormed the Karachi Stock Exchange on Monday in Pakistan’s financial capital. A separatist group from the neighboring province of Balochistan claimed responsibility for the attack.

The militants attacked the stock exchange grounds using grenades and guns.

The building is located in a highly secure area and also houses the main offices of several private banks.

Karachi police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon said, on June 29 that “four guards and a civilian were killed” alongside a policeman “in a terrorist attack with a bomb and a machine gun.”

He added that “Four attackers have been killed, they had come in a silver Corolla car,” which would bring the total confirmed dead to 10 people.

In contrast, the manager of the leading aid organization in Karachi, “Edhi,” announced that seven people were killed and seven wounded.

Details of the attack

 

The sounds of gunfire can be heard in many videos shared online, and local television stations showed footage of the police surrounding the building. 

“A bomb disposal squad had also been called to the building and was trying to clear it of explosives,” Shazia Jehan, a police spokesman, said. 

Radwan Ahmed, a police official at the scene of the attack, said that gunmen opened fire at the entrance and entered the stock market floors.

Inside the stock exchange, stockbroker Asad Javed said he and others took shelter inside their offices.

“I was on the ground floor when I heard gunfire and an explosion and people scattered for safety,” Javed added.

The heavily armed special forces cordoned off the building in the heart of the city’s financial district, where the State Bank of Pakistan is located, as well as the headquarters of many national and international financial institutions.

“There was an attack on the PSX compound earlier today. The situation is still unfolding and management, with the help of security forces, is managing the security and controlling the situation.” the Pakistani Stock Exchange said on Twitter.

 

UN Rights Chief: ‘Annexation is Illegal. Period.’

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On June 26, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, released a statement denouncing Israeli annexation plans. Bachelet, the former president of Chile, voiced a strongly worded opinion on Israeli plans to use an unsigned peace deal as justification to annex 30% of the West Bank.

“Annexation is illegal. Period,” Bachelet stated. “Any annexation. Whether it is 30 percent of the West Bank, or 5 percent. I urge Israel to listen to its own former senior officials and generals, as well as to the multitude of voices around the world, warning it not to proceed along this dangerous path.” Annexation plans would not impact those living in the occupied territories alone, she emphasized.

Disastrous consequences

Bachelet said that “the precise consequences of annexation cannot be predicted, but they are likely to be disastrous for the Palestinians, for Israel itself, and for the wider region.” She recalled a June 23 statement by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres who called any form of Israeli annexation “devastating.” Bachelet said, “The Secretary-General of the United Nations has called on the Israeli Government to abandon its annexation plans, and I back that call one hundred percent.”

As UN Commissioner on Human Rights, Bachelet has a mandate to prevent human rights violations and promote international cooperation to ensure respect of human rights. She sees opposing Israeli annexation as part of that mandate as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan “is likely to entrench, perpetuate and further heighten serious human rights violations that have characterized the conflict for decades.”

Threat to human rights

Her statement, published by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), highlighted a likelihood that restrictions on Palestinian rights to freedom of movement would further deteriorate “as Palestinian population centers become enclaves.” The statement emphasized how annexation could ban locals from farming their land and reduce access to education and healthcare.

The OHCHR statement called Israel settlements in the occupied territories “a clear violation of international law” that would “almost certainly expand” should annexation proceed. Even a “modest” form of annexation would “grievously harm the prospect of a two-state solution,” undercut future negotiations, “and perpetuate the serious existing human rights and international humanitarian law violations we witness today.”

Bachelet’s office fears the annexation would lack any legal backing and would create an untenable position for Israeli diplomacy in the future. “The shockwaves of annexation will last for decades, and will be extremely damaging to Israel, as well as to the Palestinians,” Bachelet warned in her statement. “However there is still time to reverse this decision.”

Lebanon Investigating Assassination Attempt on Former PM

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Saudi publication Al Hadath published on Sunday a covert investigation into a possible assassination attempt on former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri. The publication’s broadcasting network revealed that Lebanese security forces had decided to not publicize the assassination attempt amid ongoing investigations into the origin and motivation of the attack.

Assassination attempt

On June 17, former Hariri was returning to Beirut from a visit to the mountainous Beqaa Valley. He had visited Lebanon’s lush wine-producing region, 30 kilometers east of Beirut, to meet with Khalil Al Mais, a prominent Lebanese Sunni cleric.

As the 30-car motorcade of the former PM, who resigned at the end of October 2019, made its way back to Beirut, a witness reported seeing a missile crash into the ground, roughly 500 meters away from Hariri’s convoy. The motorcade was equipped with radar jamming equipment, which may have thwarted the attack.

Because the missile failed to hit its likely target, Lebanese security forces decided to keep the event quiet as the attempt on Hariri’s life came only days after the country saw a reawakening of national protests similar to those that ousted the former PM in 2019. Lebanese police considered the event to not constitute a “direct attack” as the missile had landed some distance away from Hariri’s convoy.

Secret investigations

Hariri confirmed the June 28 reporting on the matter, saying on Twitter that he kept quiet because “the convoy was not subjected to any attack, and to prevent any exploitation in light of the prevailing tension.”

Top Lebanese officials like Hariri commonly travel with tight security measures in place, including the closure of roads and junctions on which his motorcade traveled. The Lebanese investigation into the matter is now focusing on the origin of the projectile.

“Security agencies are seeking to determine whether the rocket was fired by a drone or from a land base, in addition to the rocket’s type and caliber,” Al Hadath reported on Sunday. Lebanese radio station Voice of Lebanon reported that the Internal Security Forces had reported the projectile was likely a rocket fired from a nearby launchpad.

Echoes from history

The event is likely to have shaken the former prime minister. Hariri lost his father, Rafik Hariri, on February 14, 2005, after he died during an assassination attempt. Similar to the attempt on Saad Hariri’s life, the attack came after Rafik Hariri resigned from the office of prime minister.

A Mitsubishi van filled with 1,800 kilograms of explosives detonated as Rafik Hariri’s motorcade drove past the Saint George Hotel in Beirut. DNA evidence the following year concluded that a young male suicide bomber had detonated the explosives that Lebanon’s first PM following its civil war.

The investigation and prosecution of Rafik Hariri’s death are still underway in Leidschendam, the Netherlands. The tribunal applies Lebanese criminal law and has accused four Hezbollah members in absentia. Hezbollah has claimed innocence and has instead blamed Israel for the death of Rafik Hariri.

Whether the June 17, 2020 attempt on Saad Hariri was intended to mirror his father’s death is unclear as investigations remain secret. While Saad Hariri has confirmed that Al Hadath’s reporting was mostly accurate, further details are sealed as investigations proceed.

Turkey’s Foreign Policy: How to Lose Friends and Alienate People

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Before the Arab Spring uprisings shook the Middle East and North Africa region in 2011, Turkey seemed, or so it tried to present itself, to have found a way to navigate the various and never-ending regional disputes and crises in this part of the world.

However, subsequent events proved that Ankara is ready to forgo its policy based on having peaceful relations with other countries. Not only did it pick sides in regional conflicts, but it aggressively intervened, even militarily, to further its agenda.

Davutoglu’s ‘zero problems’ policy 

As the Justice and Development Party (AKP) ascended to power in 2002, the focus of its foreign policy was on ending Turkey’s decades-long isolation in the Middle East and North Africa, and build better relations with countries of the region. The policy was summarized in these quite lofty terms: “Zero problems with neighbors.”

From a political standpoint, those terms seemed either naive or ingenuine, especially in a region that has long been plagued by all forms of political instability: Wars, border disputes, bilateral tensions, sectarian violence, foreign interventions, etc.

In a way, such a policy was not necessarily altogether impossible, providing that Ankara had no expansionist interests in the region. A country like Oman seems to get along with its immediate neighbors and far beyond, mainly because Muscat is keen on minding its business vis-a-vis internal affairs of other countries as well as regional spats.

Turkey at first seemed to follow the same formula. In 2010, the architect of such a policy, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoglu, painted a picture of his country that is in stark contrast with it today.

“At this point, the world expects great things from Turkey, and we are fully aware of our responsibility,” he wrote in an article for Foreign Policy.

Davutoglu, who served as prime minister from 2014 to 2016, defined five goals Turkish diplomacy would follow, which included integrating into the EU by 2023, supporting regional cooperation and security, and playing an “influential” role in conflict resolution.

Turning on former allies

Turkish promises of keeping relations friendly with its neighbors proved short-lived when Arab Spring uprisings started in several countries in 2011. 

Turkey not only abandoned its “zero problems” policy but also turned its back on regional leaders, such as Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi and Syria’s Bashar Assad, with whom Turkish officials were on very good terms.

Ankara threw all its political weight behind the protests and Islamist opposition, in particular. Recip Tayyip Erdogan, then prime minister, backed demonstrators and called on the likes of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak to step down. Such endorsement, along with Turkey’s cultivation of its image as an economic success story under AKP’s leadership, boosted Erdogan’s popularity in the region.

The rise to power of Islamist parties with ideological ties to AKP — such as Morocco’s Justice and Development Party (PJD), Tunisia’s Ennahda, and Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood — presented Ankara with an opportunity to increase its influence.

In Syria, the Turkish role would take even more serious forms with the backing of the militarized uprising and subsequent military intervention, thus contributing to the extension of a destructive civil war with no end in sight.

Erdogan certainly has a base in the Arab world. And while his base continues to defend him no matter what, their conception of a benign Turkish foreign policy overlooks the fact that Ankara is as opportunistic as any other international or regional power.

“Turkey only became a champion of human rights and democracy in the Middle East world after Arabs took matters into their own hands and began bringing down Ankara’s friends,” wrote Steven A. Cook in a blog post for the Council on Foreign Relations.

Biting off more than it can chew

Some observers believe Turkey saw in the Arab Spring an opportunity to establish itself as the leader of the Arab region. This nurtured ambition resulted in Turkey forgoing its long-pursued pro-Western alignment in exchange for more pro-Islamist, anti-Western, and anti-Israeli rhetoric.

According to historian and political researcher Samim Akgonul, there was a major problem with Ankara’s goals: They were too big to handle.

“The dream turned out to be unattainable, partly because Turkish diplomats knew so little of the region but most of all because of the huge gap between Turkey’s social, cultural, political and financial capital and its ambitions,” Akgonul wrote for Orient XXI.

Akgonul noted, like other observers did, the blatant contradictions in Turkish foreign policy, with its fluctuating alliances with countries such as Russia, the US, France, Iran, and Germany, with several ups and downs in bilateral relations.

These contradictions reveal, according to Akgonul, a lack of what he termed “theoretical depth” of Neo-Ottomanism, Turkey’s substitute ideology for the “zero problems” policy.

At the heart of this ideology is a mythified Ottoman imperial past coupled with a nationalistic discourse that champions Turkish interests beyond its immediate borders.

A 2016 speech by Erdogan, delivered during a ceremony marking the death of the founder of modern Turkey Mustafa Kemal Attaturk, perfectly highlights this embraced ideology.

“Turkey is bigger than Turkey. In other words, we cannot be confined to 780 thousand square kilometers because our physical boundaries are different from the boundaries of our heart,” Erdogan said. 

“Our brothers in Mosul, Kirkuk, Hasakah, Aleppo, Homs, Misrata, Skopje, Crimea, and the Caucasus might be outside our physical boundaries, but they are all inside the boundaries of our heart. They are in the middle of our heart.”

Alienating the EU

Many political commentators noted how Turkey went from an ambitious proclaimed foreign policy, based on having peaceful relations with other countries in the Mediterranean and Arab region, to practically alienating almost everybody.

The long-held Turkish objective of becoming a member of the EU ceded to a situation characterized by tense relations with the continental bloc. Ankara’s heavy-handed response to the Gezi Park protests in 2013 prompted criticism from the European Parliament. Meanwhile, the EU froze talks with Turkey over its potential accession to the organization. 

Ankara responded by declaring it would give up its EU membership plans providing its request to become a full member of the  Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was accepted.

The purge and crackdown on domestic opposition in Turkey following the failed coup in 2016 only made matters worse between Ankara and the EU.

While the Gezi Park protests were reminiscent of the Arab Spring demonstrations Erdogan strongly supported, the Turkish leader adopted a discourse similar to those Arab dictators he scolded during the uprisings.

In a speech before his party’s MPs in February, Erdogan described the protests as “a heinous attack targeting the people and state,” comparing them to “military coups.”

In recent months Europeans have felt Turkey twisting their arms with threats from Erdogan and Turkish officials to open the gates for an influx of refugees and migrants to Europe amid opposition to his military intervention in Syria.

In March, the German Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas commented on Ankara’s decision to bus thousands of migrants from refugee camps to Turkey’s border with Greece, saying, “We must not allow refugees to be made the plaything of geopolitical interests.”

Embattled, isolated and with ‘no friends’

Turkey’s aggressive foreign policy has reached its pinnacle with its military intervention in northern Syria to quell any Kurdish attempts to establish an autonomous zone, in Libya through Syrian mercenaries to back the militias affiliated with the Government of National Accord (GNA), and in Iraq under the pretext of fighting ISIS and the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK)—all fueling anger against Ankara in those countries and in the region.

Earlier in June, the Iraqi Parliament condemned the continuous violation of the country’s airspace by Turkish drones and the bombing of a refugee camp in northern Iraq. 

Turkey’s intervention in Libya risks setting the country ablaze now that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi threatened his country would intervene in case GNA forces seized the city of Sirte.

Cairo understandably sees Turkey-backed forces’ advancement towards its borders as a threat to its national security, especially in light of the tense relations with Ankara that have persisted since the ousting of former president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

While even some Egyptian officials reportedly believe Ankara is not too foolish to provoke a confrontation with Egypt close to home soil, the Turkish role in Libya and elsewhere is a reminder of where Turkey was ten years ago and where it stands now: An isolated country, as Bloomberg noted, with “no friends.”

 

Read also: Turkey’s Long Awaited Ataturk Cultural Center to Open in 2020

Saudi Arabia Uses Warning Shots to Rebuff Iranian Boats

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Three Iranian boats sailing in arch-rival Saudi Arabia’s waters ignored warnings and refused to respond to Border Guards instructions on June 25, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday night.  

“On Thursday, Maritime Border Guard patrols detected three Iranian boats that entered Saudi waters. They were immediately followed, and repeated warnings were issued for them to stop, but they refused to respond,” said an official spokesman for Saudi Arabia’s border Guards. 

Saudi coast guard vessels eventually chased away the Iranian boats, reporting that they “fired warning shots, forcing the Iranian boats to retreat,” in line with official protocol.

 Iranian state media has responded, claiming the boasts contained innocent fishermen on a 10-day trip, who were not hurt in the confrontation with the Saudi coast guard.  

Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia have been locked in a bitter struggle for regional religious and military supremacy for decades. Both countries have taken advantage of civil conflicts in Yemen and Syria, for example, and turned them into proxy wars in an attempt to expand their influence.

Maritime tensions have been running high in the Arabian Gulf for months, fuelled primarily by incidents between the US Navy and Iranian vessels. The US and Saudi Arabia have previously discussed maritime security cooperation and the importance of maintaining freedom of navigation in the strategic Strait of Hormuz. 

On April 22, US President Donald Trump shared a tweet saying, “I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea.” He published the message hours after Iranian media reported the IRGC had successfully launched a defense satellite into orbit. 

A day later, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) chief responded by instructing his forces to follow suit. 

“I have ordered our naval forces to destroy any American terrorist force in the Persian Gulf that threatens [the] security of Iran’s military or non-military ships,” IRGC Major General Hossein Salami said on April 23. 

Tensions have run high between the US and Iran ever since President Trump unilaterally pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 and re-imposed economic sanctions on the rogue nuclear state. The relationship has grown more fractious in recent months after a US drone strike killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in January, and retaliatory Iranian airstrikes on an Iraqi base injured US troops. 

Read also: Maryam Shojaei Awarded for Efforts Supporting Iran’s Female Soccer Fans

Egyptian Belly Dancer Sama el-Masry Jailed for ‘Debaucherous’ TikToks

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A Cairo court handed controversial Egyptian dancer and TV star Sama el-Masry a three-year jail sentence on Saturday after finding her guilty of “inciting debauchery and immorality.”

El-Masry is one of a slew of female Egyptian Instagram and TikTok stars caught up in a recent government crackdown and detained on charges of “inciting debauchery and immorality” and “promoting prostitution.” 

The 40-year-old belly dancer was first arrested on April 23 after her fellow citizens, including rival TV presenter Reham Saheed, reported a number of “sexually suggestive” videos to police. El-Masry’s initial four-day detention was renewed a number of times in the lead up to her trial, which took place in Cairo’s  Economic Misdemeanors Court on June 27. 

The judge convicted el-Masry of violating Egyptian society’s morals by posting immoral pictures and videos and sentenced her to three years prison, fined her EGP 300,000 ($18,560), and ordered surveillance against her for three years. 

Egypt’s highly conservative society is struggling to cope with the freedom of expression new social media platforms like TikTok permit women, and the government has not shied away from using far-reaching internet censorship laws to lock controversial women up.

“[These laws] condemn people for their behavior that may not conform to imagined social standards for how to be a ‘good citizen’ and a respectful woman,” Egyptian feminist Ghadeer Ahmed said in defense of el-Masry in April. 

Conservative lawmaker John Talaat disagrees, saying “there is a huge difference between freedom and debauchery,” in response to el-Masry’s conviction. 

Talaat has led the charge against “immoral” influencers like el-Masry and fellow TikTok star  

Haneen Hossam, who found herself in hot water for posting videos offering women a way to make money in exchange for creating social media content. 

Talaat told the Reuters Thomson Foundation that they are a threat to Egypt’s family values and traditions while engaging in conduct illegal in the North African country. 

El-Masry strongly denies the charges and argues the viral content came from a stolen phone and was posted as part of a campaign against her for her political views. In 2015, the outspoken dancer and influential television presenter was convicted for criticizing the Muslim Brotherhood during its short one-year reign. 

Read also: Egypt Cracks Down on Female TikTok Stars for Alleged ‘Debauchery’

Musica Sawa: Lebanon’s Digital Music Festival in the COVID-19 Era

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The coronavirus pandemic and Lebanon’s economic crisis are hitting all at once.

In recent weeks, the currency has lost nearly 70% of its value to the dollar in a tumble that has since sparked raging protests.

This is presenting an unprecedented challenge to the already struggling education sector, which is planning a series of dramatic layoffs and salary cuts.

Refugee students and students from unprivileged backgrounds have been particularly exposed in the downturn.

According to a Save the children report: 66% of surveyed students said they needed financial support as family members faced job losses. In addition, 90 per cent said any financial support would primarily go towards buying food and medicine.

The organization forecasts a surge in school dropout rates as families lose their jobs and can no longer afford to buy books or pay for transportation.

The report calls upon the Lebanese authorities and international community to “roll out social assistance packages for struggling families struggling, and to direct support to the education sector to ensure all children can remain enrolled and access improved remote learning methods”.

To help it mitigate the effects of COVID-19, the Lebanese parliament recently adopted a proposal to allocate LBP300 billion to the education sector.

Along with the government, local NGOS are a safety net for families hard-hit by the financial crisis.

Musica Sawa, a month-long digital fest to the rescue

Alia Atieh lives in France and Jana Saleh in Lebanon… Both women are Lebanese and both are passionate about music and arts and want to help their country, Lebanon, get through the financial crisis it’s currently facing…

That is how the Musica Sawa festival came to be. A music event bringing together local artists to support food and education relief in Lebanon.

In an interview with local Magazine “Agenda Culturel”, Alia Atieh talks about her motivations:  “I was driven by the desire to support the country, even more than before, and that’s how I came up with Musica Sawa. With a team in Paris and Beirut but whose heart is rooted in Lebanon, we have built together an initiative that would highlight artists from the Lebanese music scene and support local Ngos”

Every day and until July 20, exclusive musical performances are streamed online. From rock and pop to classical music… There’s a show for every musical taste.

The festival was originally supposed to host live concerts but those plans were scrapped due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Instead of rolling it over to next year, the organizers of the festival opted for an all-new virtual format.

This makes it accessible to music fans from around the world who can tune in to performances from household names such as renowned group “Mashrou’ Leila”, trio “Calamita”, or performances by Joy Fayad and Oliver Maalouf.

Insert Mashrou’ Leila performance: https://www.facebook.com/musicasawa2020/posts/148969993487116

 

Adding to the surprise element, the artists line up is only revealed the morning of the performance. All shows are broadcasted and archived on the Musica Sawa Festival Facebook, Instagram and YouTube pages (@musicasawafestival), free of charge.

But keep in mind that this music festival is first and foremost a fundraising event, which encourages people to donate while watching the performances.

The collected funds will be given in full to:

Beit El Baraka, a local NGO whose mission is to provide food aid to struggling elderly. They also engage in “housing restoration and leverage three agricultural lands to guarantee autonomous food supply for many families”.

The proceeds will also benefit the School of Saint-Vincent de Paul, which “supports underprivileged children, of all backgrounds, and provides them with access to education from kindergarten to middle school”. The funds raised by Musica Sawa will partly cover tuition fees and will enable other investments, mainly in computer science hardware needs.

When asked why she chose to support these two charities in particular; Alia Atieh said: “this event should draw attention to magnificent projects carried out by local NGOs, which have completely replaced the State. We have chosen to support 2 associations this time, in education and in food aid, which are, in my opinion, the two pillars that we have to support in these times of major crisis”.