Volume 1, Issue 10

January-February, 2004

In this Newsletter:

• About The Prism Group

• Freedom of the Press

• Women’s Issues

• International Aid Money

• The Prism Group Website

About The Prism Group

The Prism Group continues to focus on several key issues and is pleased to see that its efforts are causing “spectrums of awareness” in many places. Our reports have been shared with a number of important government and political leaders around the world and we continue to receive inquiries and comments.

Freedom of the Press

Press freedom and the integrity of reporting, especially relating to the Middle East, has been a recent worldwide focus. The UK is still absorbing the findings of the Hutton report, where BBC journalists were found to have failed to maintain standards of accuracy and had even introduced their own biases.

Ironically, the BBC had already been publicly srutinised only a few weeks previously. Robert Kilroy-Silk was fired immediately for slamming the governments of some Arab states for their support of homicide bombings, using amputation as a punishment, for repression of women and for a generally celebratory attitude towards September 11.  Not only did this seem to strike against the idea of freedom of expression, it also sharply contrasted with recent comments by Tom Paulin. Using the BBC, he had strongly rebuked Jewish settlers in the West Bank – and called for the murder of Jews. Paulin’s actual words were: “Brooklyn-born” Jewish settlers on the West Bank “should be shot dead” because “they are Nazis” and “I feel nothing but hatred for them”. Paulin’s comments barely raised an eyebrow amongst his editors.

It is interesting that Kilroy-Silk is not alone in making his observations. According to Ibrahim Nawar of Arab Press Freedom Watch, in the last two years seven Saudi editors have been fired for criticising government policies. “To fire a British talk-show host for criticising Saudi policies is surely over-reaching even for the notoriously super-sensitive Muslim lobby.” The columnist Mark Steyn was so concerned about events at the BBC, that he wrote in The Daily Telegraph: “One reason why the Arab world is in the state it's in is because one cannot raise certain subjects without it impacting severely on one's wellbeing. And if you can't discuss issues, they don't exist.”

Everyone’s a martyr says PA. Also on the matter of freedom of the press, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has recently come under fire for imposing pressure on journalists.  Apparently, the PA is demanding that all journalists who work for Arab satellite TV stations refer to Palestinians who are killed by the IDF as 'shaheeds' (martyrs) and refrain from voicing any criticism of the PA in their reporting. Yussef al-Qazzaz, a senior official with the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, lashed out at Palestinian journalists for not placing the interests of their people above everything else, and dubbed some of them "primitive."

Qazzaz said he cannot understand how some Palestinian journalists make harmful remarks to their people at a time when even foreign journalists are careful not to alienate the PA. He was referring most specifically to Saudi-based newpaper, Al-Arabiya. In early January, Al-Arabiya's correspondent in the Gaza Strip, Seif al-Din Shahin, was attacked and wounded as he was driving his car in the center of Gaza City. He said the attackers identified themselves as members of Fatah.

Shahin said five gunmen fired warning shots into the air, intercepted his car, dragged him out, and beat him with the butts of their rifles. The attackers told him they were unhappy with his coverage of the paramilitary celebrations in the Gaza Strip marking the 39th anniversary of the founding of Fatah. He said that it was not the first time he had been targeted for his reporting.

Reporters Without Borders condemned the Gaza attack, reinforcing comments from its annual Press Freedom survey, which states that “the press freedom situation in the region in not encouraging.” Most unusually, this event sparked a demonstration in support of freedom of the press within the PA controlled areas. Let’s hope that this marks a new awakening of the freedom of reporting in the Middle East.

As a timely postscript, we note a complaint from Walid Al-Saggaf, Editor-in-chief of the Yemen Times. He has claimed that restrictive new laws are currently scheduled for discussion and a subsequent vote in Parliament. 

Women’s rights

A new generation of suppression in Saudi Arabia. There was an interesting survey out of Saudi Arabia this past month, which was reported in the Gulf News, January 15, 2004. The survey, which was based on classes from 10, male-only high schools demonstrate clearly that Saudi society is suffering from a fear of the outside world and its effects. Teen attitudes do not mirror the sweeping reforms sought by the Kingdom.

Based on the findings of the survey, there does not appear to have been any social progress in the past 20 years. For example, the answers reflect an obsession with women and their roles in society. One student stated that he thought there should be a prison for women who do not follow society’s customs, such as covering their faces. Another student suggested that women’s morals should be carefully checked.

The results of the survey suggest that there has been no progress in Saudi Arabia. Women are seen as objects to be controlled at all times.

Then, just this past week, the Saudi Arab News reported that Sheik Ayed Al-Qarni, a well-known Islamic scholar, publicly stated that it was not permissible for women to drive cars in Saudi Arabia. In fact, he said, he would not let his own daughters or sisters to drive, and then he gave a number of reasons for his point of view, including the following: “I do not see women driving cars in our country because of the consequences that would spring from it such as the spread of corruption, women uncovering their hair and faces, mingling between the sexes, men being alone with women and the destruction of the family and society in whole.”

Female Suicide Bombers. On January 19, Associated Press reported that Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin had announced a “new beginning” for Palestinian women. He was referring to a change in tactics being used by Islamic terrorist groups, who will increasingly dispatch female suicide bombers. Yassin’s announcement came just days after Hamas sent out its first female bomber, Reem Raiyshi, who left behind her two young children and blew herself up at the Erez checkpoint between Gaza and Israel. She killed three Israeli soldiers and a private security guard.

Later the same week, Reuters, UK reported that “a suicide bombing by a Palestinian mother of two in Gaza last week has brought to the surface criticism within Palestinian society of what one commentator describes as a culture of death. This suggests that the decision to send a mother to die seems to have crossed a new line. However, surveys have shown that most Palestinians support suicide attacks -- 61.8 percent according to a poll last October by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre.

However the theory that is now being put forward is that poverty and despair alone do not create terrorists. Nationally syndicated columnist Mona Charen recently commented that there is a new breed of female terrorists being created. In her article, Lady Killers (Jan. 23) she reports that Westerners cannot underestimate the power of ideas. In fact, more and more, the Arab and Muslim worlds encourage and even cater to the new female "martyrs": “In Pakistan, mothers of 'martyrs' are popular speakers. In Chechnya, a women's group called Black Widows is responsible for more than 165 murders by suicide. In March, an Arabic newspaper in London reported that Al Qaeda is setting up training camps just for women jihadis.”

This trend toward female suicide bombers is also reaching outside the Middle East. On December 10, 2003, a female bomber in Moscow killed six and the New York Times has recently reported that a terror attacked perpetrated by a female terrorist in highly likely.

On October 4, 2003, a female Islamic Jihad bomber killed herself and 22 others at Maxim’s restaurant in Haifa. This attack is considered by many to be the most successful bombing carried out by a woman.

It seems that the various Palestinian factions are becoming increasingly adept at forcing women into service for the cause. They seek out women who have already damaged their reputations either by choice or by force. With their family honour now compromised, they are either subject to family honour killings or redemption-by-martyrdom. For more on this subject you can refer to the Prism Group website, www.theprismgroup.org.

International Funds

Without too much fanfare, OLAF, the self-regulatory body of the European Union is about to visit the Middle East. It is no secret that only about 10% of EU expenditure can be fully and openly accounted for. This unsatisfactory situation is revealed further when overseas aid is considered.

Since its inauguration, The Prism Group has argued consistently that foreign aid directed towards Palestinians has ended up in the pockets of men of violence rather than the man in the street. http://www.theprismgroup.org/euinquiry.htm.

Some estimates have calculated that in the past decade alone around $10 billion has been transferred to the PA by overseas donors, which have included the governments of Canada, the United States, Norway and Ireland, as well members of the Arab League. The largest single donor is probably the European Union, which by its own accounting has contributed over 4 billion EUR, either directly to the PA or through UNRWA or NGOs. Both of the latter groupings are known to be closely aligned to the PA.

In December 2003, the EU agreed at a meeting in Rome to transfer a further 40 million EUR in special aid. This can be added to the extra recent donations from the World Bank. And the British Parliament is also considering transferring funds along the model established by their European counterparts during 2004.

The Prism Group continues to ask, “where has the money gone?”  We have been in correspondence with leading MEPs on the issue. One leading backbench MEP, who is involved with the ongoing reviews of transfers to the PA, wrote to us that certain large tranches of funds paid to the PA were not authorized by the European Parliament, and that “the system has a black hole in my opinion.” The sums involved are huge on any scale. They have been delivered to a comparatively small and dense populace. The PA is building neither hospitals nor schools. So what is happening to all this public taxpayers money in the hands of the Palestinian leadership? 

We hope that the work of the OLAF delegation to the Middle East will finally begin to provide some transparent answers to these questions.

Christmas festivities, the New Year and the Jewish festival of Chanukah – the theme of freedom figures prominently in all these events. With this backdrop, The Prism Group has decided to dedicate the current edition of our newsletter to the issue of “Prisoners of War in the Middle East”.

We wish all our readers and volunteer researchers and writers Happy Holidays.  May 2004 be a year blessed with peace and tolerance for all, and a year when all prisoners of war are returned to the warmth of their families, to peaceful times.

Prisoners of War

Background

The manner in which Saddam Hussein was apprehended, and his subsequent detention expose clearly the vastly different ways POWs are treated in the Middle East. He was not shot on sight, but arrested. The former Iraqi dictator was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, many who died as the result of weapons of mass destruction. It is now expected that he will be given a trial, which will be open to global scrutiny.  Will he receive those rights he denied his own countrymen?

It would seem that the coalition is pushing, for political reasons, that Hussein be tried by the Iraqi people, rather than facing an international war crimes tribunal. It must be remembered that the Iraqi courts are still manned by the corrupt judges appointed by Hussein himself, during his three decades of misrule.  Britain’s position is particularly interesting, as Hussein may have to face a death penalty if tried in Iraq, which is outlawed under certain European legal considerations.

The questions remain. How do you treat captured fighters? Do terrorists and those captured while volunteering to help other terrorists have the same rights as ordinary soldiers or even former political thugs? Where should POWs be tried and by what kind of a court?

Who Wants A Geneva Convention?

The Geneva Convention of 1950 is very clear, when stipulating the rights of captured combatants. Conversely, history shows how numerous states and leaders in the Middle East have paid only lip service to these internationally accepted ethics.

The examples are many. The horrendous treatment of POWs by both sides in the Iran – Iraq war of the 1980s has been well documented. The Turkish response to Kurdish rebels drew long and continuous criticism from the European Union and human rights groups. Going further back, in the October 1973 war, the Egyptians shot on site those Israelis soldiers who admitted to having fought in the previous war in 1967. And so the list goes on.

POWs in 2003

The issue of POWs has been raised again in recent months from three very different perspectives. Each story illustrates the specter of the potential abuse of human rights. Most recently, the American, British and Australian forces in Iraq went out of their way not to capture many of Saddam Hussein’s supporters. The preferred approach was “disarmament and speedy release” unless there were special circumstances. It is possible that this policy was developed after analyzing the consequences of the Afghanistan campaign against al-Qaeda and the Taleban. The prisoners were transferred to the Guantanamo base in Cuba, where they are allowed Red Cross visits. However, trial is a long way off for most and they have yet to be recognized as POWs as outlined by the Geneva Convention. The British Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, called from the House of Commons for the Americans to address this issue urgently (Telegraph, Jan. 17, 2002), and it is known that President Bush is finally considering possible solutions to the issue.

Second, it is well-known fact that Israel is holding hundreds of Palestinians. Some of the largest camps are at Ofer, south of Ramallah, Megido, south of Haifa and at Ketziot near Gaza. Each detainee is accorded visiting rights, and the Red Cross has access to all the facilities on a continual basis. All those held are brought to trial. The proceedings are usually open, conducted within a reasonable period of time and take place accordingly to international standards.

In recent years, the High Court in Israel has been used repeatedly to protect the rights of prisoners. New rulings have restricted the possibility of abuse and torture, even when the person arrested may have information that could lead to the prevention of a terror incident. What’s more, the last several months have seen several petitions to the courts to release details of a secret prison, used at the beginning of the current Intifada. Certain details of the story were censured in Israel. While newspapers such as the Guardian did file specific reports including the location of the facility, no proof was offered to sustain claims of torture and mistreatment.

The third area concerns the fate of several Israelis captured or kidnapped by Palestinians and Arab militia over the past two decades. Media reports in the region and in Germany have revealed that there have been high-level contacts between Israel and the Hizbollah in order to secure their release in exchange for hundreds of Lebanese.

Three Israeli soldiers have been missing since the 1982 Lebanon War. Inconclusive evidence suggests that they died or were killed in captivity, that the Hizbollah is holding their bodies in Lebanon, and that the Hizbollah refuses to release any authentic information. A similar story can be told about three additional Israeli soldiers who were captured by the Hizbollah in 2000, as UN troops recorded the incident on camera. Then, several weeks later, the Hizbollah lured an Israeli businessman from Europe to Lebanon, from where he was kidnapped. He only received his visit from the Red Cross in August 2003, when he was reported to be unwell but stable. 

The Role of the Public Servant

We noted above how the British Prime Minister has tackled the subject of the Guantanamo Bay detainees. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, is using his Christmas address to highlight the issues of prisoners’ rights in Cuba and in a South London jail. And in America, the “Padilla (Al-Muhajir) v Rumsfeld” decision stipulates that “the September 2001 declaration of war does not constitute authorization” to detain American citizens on American soil without giving them the same rights open to all citizens.

The Prism Group applauds all these attempts to ensure that justice is provided and in a correct manner. Yet, when all is considered, it often seems that it is only the famous or those who are citizens of a powerful country that can benefit from these protestations.

Consider Ron Arad, an Israeli air-force navigator, who was captured in Lebanon in October 1986. After being transferred amongst several Palestinian factions, an act illegal under the Geneva Convention, he was eventually removed to Iran. He is believed to be held in solitary confinement in Tehran. No visitation rights. No trial. Forgotten by Blair, the Archbishop, Bush and other proponents of prisoner rights.

Christianity in the Middle East

The Prism Group continues to highlight the issues of religious minorities in the Middle East. On the positive side, we welcome the opening of the new Mar Elias University in the Galilee aimed primarily at the Christian community in the region. One of the University’s missions notes that “…acknowledgement and respect for difference builds upon the resources and richness of diversity.”

Unfortunately, Jordan continues to impinge on the religious rights of its Christian population. The Hizbollah continue to impose its hegemony of Christian villages in Southern Lebanon. And the London Daily Telegraph has reported how the diminishing Christian minority in Bethlehem is now the subject of another tax imposed by the Palestinian Authority. These and other worrying trends need to be brought to the attention of democratically elected leaders.

Women’s Issues

The Prism Group is shocked to read about the treatment of Afsaneh Nowrouzi of Iran, who has been sentenced to death for killing her attempted rapist.  The story, highlighted in Women’s e-news December 22, 2003, illustrates that women who face rape have almost no legal recourse under Iranian law.

The Prism Group Website

Please visit our site and help direct others to the existing fact sheets. If you have ideas for fact sheets that you believe we should investigate and compile, please write to us at: info@theprismgroup.org.

Our web site is www.theprismgroup.org.