16 Oct 2017

GreenMatter Postgraduate Awards for Postgraduate Study in South Africa 2017/2018

Application Deadline: 5th November 2017.
Eligible Countries: South Africa
To Be Taken At (Country): South Africa
About the Award: The GreenMatter Fellowship brings together a cohort of dynamic, talented and committed biodiversity practitioners, with the objective of developing and unlocking their potential. It affords participants the opportunity to fully engage in tackling biodiversity issues through their study and career paths, alongside peers who share in that commitment.
As part of the 2018 Fellowship call, GreenMatter and partners are inviting applications for the following named awards.
The 2018 Fellowship call is inviting applications for an award from the following:
Nedbank Eyethu Community Trust:
For students wanting to enroll at a South African University to commence Honours studies in 2018. This award is supported by the Nedbank Eyethu Community Trust and GreenMatter. The cash bursary amount is ZAR 50,000 per year. The Honours coursework and proposed research topic must address GreenMatter Priority Skills Areas (As listed in the table above).
Harry Crossley Foundation/Stellenbosch University/University of Cape Town:
For students wanting to enroll at Stellenbosch University or the University of Cape Town to commence Honours and PhD studies in the 2018 (2nd and 3rd year students are not eligible). This award is supported by the Harry Crossley Foundation, Stellenbosch University, University of Cape Town and GreenMatter. The cash bursary amount is:
Honours: ZAR 35,000 per year
PhD: ZAR 150,000 per year for up to 3 years.
The proposed research topic must address GreenMatter Priority Skills Areas (As listed in the table above).
The Mapula Foundation MSc and PhD Award:
For students wanting to enroll at any South African university to commence Master’s and PhD studies in 2018 (2nd year students are not eligible). This award is supported by The Mapula Foundation and GreenMatter.
Mapula PhD Awards:
The PhD candidate cash bursary amount is ZAR 120,000 per year for three years only. Only PhD studies in the following biosphere reserves will be considered for the Mapula awards:
  • Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve
  • Cape West Coast Biosphere Reserve
  • Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve
  • Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Reserve
The topic of the PhD studies in these biosphere reserves must conduct an assessment of how the management practices in the Biosphere Reserve contribute to region’s biodiversity conservation and meeting the Sustainable Development Goals.
Mapula Master’s Awards:
The Master’s cash bursary amount is ZAR 60,000 per year for two years only. The applicant’s proposed research topic must address one of the priority conservation concerns below:
  • Project One: Vhembe Biosphere Reserve
  • Project Two: Waterberg Biosphere Reserve:

Type: Fellowship
Eligibility: Applicants must be:
  • A national of South Africa;
  • In possession of an undergraduate Degree, Honours Degree, or Master’s Degree;
  • Seeking funding for a full-time postgraduate programme;
  • Able to motivate how your field of study aligns to the GreenMatter priority skill areas identified.
Please apply only if you are eligible.
Selection Criteria: Your application will be assessed on the basis of the information given in the application form. We apply the following criteria:
  • Relevance in terms of priority skills
  • Leadership Competencies
  • Academic Record and References
  • Transformation and Access to Opportunity
  • Application form Applicants should:
    • Demonstrate a good command of the English language;
    • Answer all of the questions properly and completely; and
    • Complete the application and upload all supporting documents in a timely manner.
Number of Awards: Not specified
Value of Award: A GreenMatter postgraduate award provides holistic support in the form of:
  • a cash contribution towards costs of living, study fees, and research costs; and
  • the opportunity to access mentoring support, career guidance and platforms to engage in learning networks.
How to Apply: 
1. Download the Guideline Document below.
2. Fill in the Application form below.
3. Return the Application and ALL supporting documentation to janavi@greenmatter.co.za by the 5th of November 2017.
Award Providers: GreenMatter
Important Notes: Please note that funding for subsequent years is not guaranteed and students will be required to submit an application for extension at the end of each year.

Ministry of Education, Science and Technology Scholarships in Morocco for Tanzanian Students 2018

Application Deadline: 25th October, 2017
Eligible Countries: Tanzania
To Be Taken At (Country): Morocco
Type: Bachelors, Masters
Eligibility: Applicants must:
  • have completed and passed Advanced Certificate of Secondary Education and have obtained an average grade of ‘C’ in the relevant subjects;
  • not be admitted in Higher learning institutions;
  • Applicant Admission for Masters must be holder Bachelor degree in the relevant subject with first class or upper second
  • apply any field of their choice;
  • not be older than 23 years of age by September 2017 for applicant to undergraduate studies; and
  • have good health
Selected Candidates will:
  • not be allowed to change and be admitted to local Universities.
Number of Awards: Not specified
How to Apply: All applicants must attach two copies(2) of :
  • certified photocopies of Academic Certificates, Transcripts, and birth certificates
  • A Copy of the passport
  • Medical Certificate showing the physical attitude of the applicant and certifying that he is not suffering from any contagious illness or carrying a pandemic
  • Two recent passport photographs in color(with the name, surname and nationality of the candidate written in the reverse(back)
  • Applicant for Masters and PhD degree must provide must provide, in addition to above documents, certified true copies of their diplomas, grades, transcript and continuing education program as well as a copy of dissertation/thesis of graduation/thesis project
  • Applicants must indicate reliable contact telephone numbers or e–mail.
  • A directory of Training insitutions is available through in the Program Webpage link  Institutions and Courses ,containing a complete list of Moroccan public institutions of higher education, as well as specific information about them, including the condition of access, the subjects and the duration of studies diplomas.
  • Applicants must indicate the Course applied for on top of the envelope.
All applications should be addressed to:
The Executive Secretary,
Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU),
P.O. Box 6562,
DAR ES SALAAM.
Or Email: es@tcu.go.tz
Award Providers: Ministry of Education, Science and Technology Scholarships in Morocco
Important Notes: French is the learning language in most training institutions in Morocco, mainly in scientific, technical and economic study programs. So candidates wishing to enroll in these courseshave to master French Languages ; otherwise they will follow from the beginning of six months upgrade in that languages at the International Language Centre.

UNFCCC–UNU Early Career Climate Fellowship Program for Young Leaders in Developing Countries 2018

Application Deadlines: 
  • Phase 1: 1st February – 28th February 2018
  • Phase 2: 16th July – 16th August 2018
Eligible Countries: Developing Countries
To Be Taken At (Country): Bonn, Germany
About the Award: The UNFCCC-UNU-EHS Early Career Climate Fellowship is offered as a collaborative programme between the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS).
Upon completion of the UNFCCC–UNU Early Career Climate Fellowship Programme, the Early Career Climate Fellows will be able to work in their home countries or internationally, deploying the valuable experience and insights they have gained in Bonn. Academically outstanding young graduates from developing countries who are in early stages of their career, especially women from least developed countries, are encouraged to apply.
Type: Fellowship
Eligibility: 
  • Applicants must be enrolled in their final term or have recently graduated with top marks plus other indicators of academic excellence from an advanced university degree programme (masters or doctorate) in environment, climate change, communications, international relations or a related field.
  • No professional experience is required, but candidates with up to two years of experience can be considered.
  • Applicants should display a strong interest in the interface between international climate policy development and research. Furthermore, applicants should be highly motivated to work and learn in a multicultural and interdisciplinary environment.
  • Qualified women candidates and candidates from least developed countries are especially encouraged to apply.
Selection Criteria: Fellows will be selected based on their skills and backgrounds vis-à-vis the needs of UNU and UNFCCC.
Number of Awards: Not specified
Duration of Program:  Fellowships may last from six months to two years.
How to Apply: Interested Applicants
Award Providers: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS).
Important Notes: Applications will only be accepted during the two aforementioned time-frames. Applications handed in either before, or after, these application phases will not be considered.

EuropeAid Faces2Hearts Blogging Contest for Young Leaders (Fully-funded Multi-Continent Travel) 2018

Application Deadline: 31st October 2017 23:59pm CET.
Eligible Countries: Countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe and Latin America
To Be Taken At (Country): Brussels, Belgium
About the Award: Faces2Hearts is a worldwide blogging experience that will take 4 young people on a 5-month journey across 3 continents. They will discover projects that change peoples’ lives for the better, supported by the EU. And they will reveal the often unreported stories of the fascinating people they meet – stories of positive change and hope.
Faces2Hearts is a journey to the hearts of people. It is about the people that our 4 bloggers encounter along their journey, the environments and communities they discover. The bloggers will go beyond faces or stereotypes to reveal compelling stories to the world, stories of positive change, often unreported, stories inspired by projects funded by the European Union: the largest development donor in the world.
Faces2Hearts is looking for 4 bloggers in total (our faces) with one face to be selected from each of 4 global regions (Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe and Latin America). Each winning face will travel and meet fascinating people within his or her own region, except for the European blogger who will be travelling in Eastern & Southern Africa. The region which you can apply to depends on your nationality and the language requirements vary according to the region: for Asia-Pacific and English-speaking Africa a high level of English is required; applicants to Latin America and French-speaking Africa will additionally need a high level of Spanish and French respectively
Type: Contest
Eligibility: All will be uncovering stories of people whose lives were changed for the better through projects supported by the EU.
Are you:
  • 21 – 31 years old and free to travel for the first half of 2018
  • An engaging storyteller, a creative mind and a good relater of emotions
  • A self-sufficient, responsible and resourceful traveler
  • An adventurer – willing to try and discover new things
  • A lover of social and human interaction
  • A sensitive listener to people’s stories
  • A skilled multimedia user (photography, video, social media, writing)
  • Fluent in spoken and written English and, according to the region you are coming from, fluent in spoken and written Spanish or French
Number of Awards: 4
Value of Award: 
  • The 4 selected winners will be invited to Brussels for training and briefing on the journey in late 2017.
  • They will each receive an equipment package for their journey, which they can keep. During the first half of 2018 they will undertake a 5-month journey of discovery visiting a range of EU-funded development projects.
  • Each winner will travel and discover stories within his or her own region (West & Central Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific), except for the European blogger who will be travelling in Eastern & Southern Africa.
  • All four winners will be supported by international development professionals on the ground during their journeys. Exact travel dates and itineraries will be arranged and communicated in due time to the winners. Travel between countries will be arranged for them, but the individual journeys will be largely planned and undertaken on their own initiative within a predefined and sufficient budget.
  • The project will culminate at the European Development Days 2018 (EDD2018) in Brussels June, where our all 4 winners will share their stories. Travel, accommodation and reasonable expenses for participation at EDD2018 will also be covered.
Duration of Program: 5 months
How to Apply: To apply you must fill in the form on this website, but you will need to do a few things before you start.
  • First think about yourself and a human story that touched your heart. Make a short video in English – no more than 60 seconds long – telling us about the story and why YOU are the right face for this adventure – be original and inspire us! If you can touch our hearts – you could be a winner!
  • When you are good to go with your video, upload it to YouTube, Vimeo or DailyMotion. Copy the link to your uploaded video.
  • You will also need a profile picture to upload with the form plus url links to your social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram Twitter etc).
  • Now fill in the application form – including the link to your video – click ‘submit’ and you are done! Please be aware that you cannot modify your application once it is submitted.
  • Your application will be checked, and if all is OK, then your video will be posted on the Faces2Hearts website.
  • Now show off your social media skills and promote your video with posts on your social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram Twitter etc.). So, tell your followers, friends and family now! Don’t forget to tag your posts with #Faces2Hearts!
The closing date for applications to Faces2Hearts is 31 October 2017! Don’t wait – Apply now!
Award Providers: EuropeAid

EU-Africa Business Forum Startup Fair for Entrepreneurs (Funded to Attend at Abidjan, Ivory Coast) 2018

Application Deadline: 20th October 2017
Eligible Countries: African and Enropean countries
To Be Taken At (Country): Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Type: Entrepreneurship
Eligibility: 
  • Sector: All start-ups using digital technologies are invited to apply, though we would especially like to see start-ups from the following areas: Finance, Health, Education, Agriculture and Fisheries, Energy, E-Commerce, Government, Climate, and Connectivity.
  • Disruption: Is the start-up clearly solving an important or very big problem ? Is it a “me too” copy of an existing start-up ?
  • Scale and Impact:
    – 
    Are you ready to scale up in EU or Africa ?
    – Is there a large, growing market to play in ?
    – Do you already have a well-tested/functioning solution ?
    – Is the solution a potential “category winner” ?
    – What traction has been achieved to date ?
    – Do you already have investors ?
    –  Had you received a prize?
  • Geographical Balance: The selection committee will ensure that selected start-ups will come from throughout the various countries of Africa and EU The choice is given to start-ups to submit in their preference language (FR/EN).
  • Selection procedure: Your submission will be evaluated by a selection committee formed formed among others by representatives of European Commission, African Union, Startup Europe Africa Network, Orange and Wayra
Selection: Your submission will be evaluated by a selection committee formed formed among others by representatives of European Commission, African Union, Startup Europe Africa Network, Orange and Wayra
Number of Awards: 100 (50 EU and 50 African)
Value of Award: Entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to showcase their services and technology to investors and decision makers during a Startup Fair and attend a number of side events dedicated to entrepreneurship, digital economy, energy and agriculture.
Duration of Program: 25th-28th of November
How to Apply: APPLY
Award Providers: European Commission
Important Notes: The winners will be announced on 27 November.

ISIS is Facing Near Total Defeat, But It Has Been Beaten and Come Back Before

Patrick Cockburn

Isis has fought desperately and skilfully to hold the Syrian city of Raqqa, under siege by Kurdish-led forces for more than four months, but will soon lose it in the latest defeat for the Islamic fundamentalist movement. Little is left today of the Caliphate declared in 2014, which once ruled most of western Iraq and eastern Syria.
Isis battled far longer than anybody expected for Mosul and Raqqa, but had to fight on multiple fronts against its many enemies and, above all, against the immense firepower of the US, Russian and allied air forces as well as conventional artillery. It was only by pounding large parts of both cities into rubble that the Iraqi security forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been able to prevail.
Hard fought though the battles have been, there is no doubt who has won them and come out on top. Significantly, Isis has not put up much of a fight for Tal Afar west of Mosul or Hawija to the south, which were long term Isis strongholds. Only in Deir ez-Zor province on the Euphrates downriver from Raqqa are there signs that Isis has combat units capable of launching successful counter-attacks. One of these ejected Syrian government forces from Mayadin, a small city in eastern Syria in the last few days.

Governments around the world are asking about the completeness and permanence of the victory over Isis and whether the movement will try to demonstrate that it is undefeated by stepping up terror attacks abroad. Even if the role of Isis in these atrocities is by way of inspiration rather than organisation, they keep its name in the news and show that it still has followers willing to die for its beliefs.
One of the strengths of Isis at the peak of its success in 2014 was that it could fairly claim to have beaten better equipped and more numerous Iraqi and Syrian government forces through divine assistance. After losing most of its territory, this claim can no longer be made. Signs of falling morale are also evident in Hawija, where hundreds of Isis fighters and militants surrendered to the Kurds. This is not happening everywhere: in Raqqa only 15 Isis fighters have surrendered in three weeks.
Isis is suffering heavy defeats but it would be premature to believe that it is totally out of business. Its commanders will have foreseen that, however hard they fought, they would lose Mosul and Raqqa in the end. To fight on they have prepared bunkers, weapons caches and food stocks in the deserts and semi-deserts between Iraq and Syria where they can hope to ride out the storm and perhaps make a comeback in a few years’ time. Isis succeeded in doing this before, after being defeated by the US and anti-Isis Sunni Arabs in 2006-08 but returning stronger than ever after 2011 when the political situation in the region favoured it once again.
This might happen a second time as the unwieldy combination of different states and movements, which includes everybody from the US and Iran to the Syrian army, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Iraqi Shia paramilitaries, begins to fall apart. Nevertheless a rebirth of Isis looks unlikely because its explosion onto the world stage over the last three years so shocked international and regional powers that they will be wary of allowing Isis to recreate itself.
Isis does still have strengths: the latest recording of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi indicates that he is still alive and, so long as this is true, it will be difficult to declare his Caliphate quite dead.
The ideology of Isis will live on sustained by the deep sectarian divisions between Sunni and Shia in the region, differences deliberately fostered by Isis massacres over the last three years. Some Sunni Arab youth whom Isis took great care to propagandise during its years in power will remain true to its cause. The very fact that so many Sunni majority areas have been occupied by Iraqi and Syrian government troops or militiamen may provoke disaffection among the Sunni population.
Nevertheless, winners and losers are emerging in the conflict in Syria and Iraq, though recognition of this may take time. The Kurds have done well out of the war, enabling them to establish the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq since 1991 and Rojava in Syria since 2011. The level of violence is also declining and this again weakens Isis, which functions best in militarised situations in which everything is decided by the gun. Isis may live on, but as a guerrilla force, always dangerous but not the mortal threat it posed in the past.

Civil War in Venezuela: a US Joint Operation with Colombia?

Alice Donovan

This July, the people of Venezuela elected the National Constituent Assembly that, as expected, would be aimed at preparing amendments to the Constitution. The convocation of this body was initiated by President Maduro. The opposition condemned and failed to recognize the elections stating the National Constituent Assembly convocation should be held by the referendum.
These events urged forward the mass protests proceeding in the country since the beginning of April as the result of the discontent with state leaders policy, essentials’ deficiency and a mass population impoverishment against the background of drop in oil prices – a crucial resource for the economy of this mineral-rich Latin American country.
The opposition tries to seize power in Venezuela with broad political support of the USA. The term of the current head of state Nicolás Maduro ends in 2018, but protests organizers, as well as their American curators, do not want to wait, they demand to hold the elections immediately.
The White House makes all efforts to drive the “Bolivarian” regime from power in Venezuela. Latin America is a traditional sphere of influence of the USA since the end of the 19th century, and Washington extremely painfully reacts to loss of positions in its “backyard”. Taking into account the Venezuela situation, the main stake for Washington are oil fields since the American business lost access to them as a result of reforms of President Hugo Chávez.
It should be noted that the Venezuelan question is under special control of the Secretary Tillerson, one of the most influential figures of an oil lobby. During the management of ExxonMobil “Texas T-Rex” proved to be the real predator able to take any measures for achievement of goals. For example, the similar situation happened in 2011 when the company has begun oil development in the Iraqi Kurdistan counter with opinion of the Barack Obama Administration.
Such animal grasp should be expected from Rex Tillerson also with Venezuela. The Secretary of State commenting the hearings in the House of Representatives on the difficult situation which had developed in recent months in Venezuela declared that “the USA has to continue pressure upon Caracas, and also give support of local opposition in this connection the White House needs to take steps through various organizations”.
The recent tour of the vice-president Mike Pence across Latin America also indicates the high priority Washington gives to “the Venezuelan question”. The trip resulted in the coalition of Latin American countries created for political support of Washington efforts to topple President Maduro. Colombia, Argentina, Panama and Chile act as the US allies.
In turn, CIA director Mike Pompeo affirmed the dialogue the agency leads with Colombian and Mexican authorities within the work against the Venezuelan government. The chief of CIA obviously dissembles, claiming that contacts with the Latin American partners are limited only to political consultations. Groups of the Colombian fighters are thrown in the country to carry out provocations against police officers during protests and organize murders of oppositionists in order to create an occasion to accuse Maduro’s government of use of lethal weapon against own people.
Interior Minister Nestor Riverola announced the arrest of several
Columbians in Tachira state bordering on Colombia. They were dressed as Bolivarian national guards of Venezuela and took part at street clashes between the protesters and police. Moreover, the governor of Tachira state José Gregorio Vielma Mora reported about elimination of the Colombian fighters’ camp and added that the number of detainees reached 120 people
Washington has always comprehensively supported oppositional groups in the countries of Latin America with “inconvenient” regimes without hesitating in the choice of methods. Mercenaries recruited among political refugees and citizens of neighboring countries have always been one of the most widespread tools of the CIA arsenal if the Hawks wanted to change the government in such a country. As we can observe today, the style of the CIA is invariable.
The situation in Venezuela is aggravated to the brink. The American oil business strongly intends to return the positions lost during the presidency of Chávez and Maduro. The USA will do everything to change power in Caracas and disrupt the upcoming presidential elections in Venezuela in 2018. Participation of fighters from Colombia against Maduro serves as the evidence of the White House intention to plunge this Latin American country into chaos of political turbulence and civil war.

Islam and Terrorism: Compatible or Incompatible ?

 Junaid Mushtaq Lone

Whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land – it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one – it is as if he had saved mankind entirely (Al-Quran, Chapter5, Verse 32).

This article has been jotted down in response and not in reaction to an Anti-Terrorism Day (ATD) speech in India.
Main kis ke hath pe apna lahu (blood) talash karun, Tamam sheher ne pehnay hue hain dastanay (gloves).
Banay hain ahl-e-hawas (lustful people) muddaee (complainant) bhi, munsif (judge) bhi, Kisay wakeel (lawyer) karen, kis se munsifee (justice) chaahen.                                                (Faiz Ahmad Faiz)
It was Friday 19th of May 2017, following the routine I hurried early in the morning from my temporary cottage to feed my never-ending hunger in the canteen of my summer training institute before 9:00 a.m. As after 9:00 a.m. you can only quench your thirst with pristine water and nothing solid, because canteen won’t welcome you thereafter! After breakfast, as usual I switched on the HPxw4600 Workstation, amidst of our work affair, a sudden flash of broadcast message from LAN disturbed this routine work affair and then Alas! The charm was lost. The broadcast message from LAN read “Please assemble at the auditorium for pledge taking ceremony on ATD (Anti-Terrorism Day). I stepped towards auditorium and seated myself in the last row, only to come out soon after pledge was over. Longing of meeting back my computer system was a bit prolonged as ATD speech was also supposed to be delivered by the security chief of the institute.
The honorable speaker started by truthfully admitting that terrorism had no single definition and then categorised terrorism into some 5 odd type’s viz., state terrorism, religious terrorism, left and right-wing terrorism etc. My apprehension was proven right when the speaker like many other corporate media followers finally declared Islamic terrorism as the biggest threat facing humanity at this juncture. The term Islamic terrorism is a misnomer and is the brain child of corporate media (mind controlling machine owned by big shots) who are always hell-bent to tarnish the image of Islam.  Corporate and paid Media is like “Joseph Goebbels”, Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany, as Hitler believed that “if a lie is said hundred times repeatedly, masses will accept it as truth”. Islam and terrorism are mutually exclusive and both can’t coexist in any space and time. I think all rationalists will agree with me that terrorism has no religion. In 2008, a leaked report by researchers for MI5, Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, found that “far from being religious zealots, a large number of those involved in terrorism do not practice their faith regularly,” according to the Guardian’s Alan Travis, who obtained, revealed and reported on the classified document, which is based on “hundreds of case studies” by the security service (The Intercept, Mehdi Hassan, 2017). Terrorists are a meager percentage of the human lot who only care for their self motivated and self designed wishes and ideologies. The biggest threat facing humanity in contemporary world is politico-economic terrorism and market extremism unleashed at all levels of social setup by so-called super-powers who claim to be saviours of humanity. Read “Confessions of an Ecocnomic Hitman”, a book by CIA agent, John Perkins.
The terms like Islamism, Radical/Extremist Islam, Fundamentalist Islam, and Jihadism hide the primarily political motivations around much of the religiously named violence. Moreover, it unifies often very different agendas and motivations. While not ignoring the religious dimension, we should not use headline names for these militants and terrorists using any claimed religious motivation. While studying religion and ideology plays an important part in the analysis, the currently used terms give pseudo-legitimacy, hide the complexity of factors (land, identity, oppression, etc.) behind events, and help fuel Islamophobia (Paul Hedges, 2015). On this note let me remind my fellow brethren that more the islamophobes try to defame Islam the more it spreads, that is why Islam is the fastest growing religion with 1.8 billion (24.1% of the global population) followers in 2015 (Pew Research Center), despite being the major threat to humanity as quoted by respected speaker.
Indeed, no clear evidence suggests religion is more likely to incite violence than other ideologies or worldviews; nevertheless, in the current geopolitical environment it often provides a claimed motivation or seeming explanation – both for actors and commentators (Paul Hedges, 2015). “Terrorism is really political violence, first and foremost,” “If you dialogue with these people, if you look at how they actually move into ‘jihad’ … there is very little discussion of religion.” (The Intercept, Mehdi Hassan, 2017). By the way, I used word “jihad” which again is a misnomer for terrorism. Jihad means struggling or striving  and the concept of jihad is in all major religions of the world. I may explain Jihad some other day; here it will take some extra pages to discuss.
Respected speaker blamed Boko haram (which according to him is another Islamic terrorist organisation) for kidnapping of girls and held whole Muslims responsible for not denouncing such heinous acts of terrorism. “Why aren’t Muslims condemning bokoharam?” Well, there are two problems with the questions itself – and both are based on false premises. First is the assumption that Muslims have not, in fact, condemned other violent extremist Muslims. This is simply untrue. Muslim religious scholars, intellectuals, activists, organizations, and countries have all condemned Boko Haram and the kidnappings in unison. All you have to do to know this is type in google search “Muslims condemn Boko Haram” and articles will abound. The second problem with the question of why Muslims, supposedly, don’t condemn evil actions from other Muslims requires a bit more explanation. The problem with it is this inherent assumption that somehow radical violent extremist cults can legitimately speak for Islam – one of the great world religions whose contributions to civilization over the course of fourteen-hundred plus years speaks for itself (Just browse through 1001 Muslim Inventions online if you have your doubts). And, that if Muslims don’t come out and spend all of their remaining days on earth condemning evil at the hand of other so-called Muslims, then somehow this inherent assumption becomes true (Sohaib N. Sultan, 2014). Condemning acts of terrorism won’t suffice as one has to think where do all these terrorist organisations get this modern weaponry; where from these bad guys get these weapons. Ironically, only those who claim to be good guys are the major arms exporters. Yes US is the major arms exporter with 80% of global exports annually and to add an economic tinge to this, weapon industry is a billion dollar industry ($85 billion). Lockheed Martin and Boeing sold more than $ 23.7 billion in arms in 2014 to almost 100 countries (IHS, 2014), and exports had increased by more than 23% under Obama, the most of any administration since World War 2. Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson said in her 27 Jan 2015 interview that the company is looking at “volatility” in both Middle East and Asia-Pacific as a way to increase their sales internationally.
From the beginning of time, people have perverted religions to justify the worst possible behaviors imaginable. Murder of innocent women and children, is forbidden in Islam. The likes of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) who claim to fight in the name of Islam not only violate the letter of Qur’an, but violate the spirit of it as well. Their acts are fundamentally un-Islamic. Least to mention bomb blasts by Hindu named terrorists and recent lynchings and mob violence by saffron brigades are also fundamentally anti-hinduism acts, with no evidence from religious scriptures. Religion is what lies in Holy Scriptures, not what few mad people propagate by quoting out of context verses from holy book(s).
This bastardization of Islam is not unique. One of the early ships in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade was actually known as the “Good Ship Jesus.” The very people who were capturing, chaining, and then selling human beings for a life of slavery saw absolutely no conflict of interest between such actions with their Christianity. For that matter Gujarat Pogrom was also politically motivated and religiously meticulated, but being an educated person I won’t blame Hinduism for such dastardly act. However, it’s an easy temptation to oversimplify our emotions into dangerous generalizations, but we must resist such urges.
To sum up the case of Islamic terrorism, let us check facts. On the FBI’s official website, there exists a chronological list of all terrorist attacks committed on U.S. soil from the year 1980 all the way to 2005. According to this data, the group wise contribution is; Latino (42%), Extreme Left Wing groups (24%), Jewish Extremists (7%), Islamic Extremists (6%), Communists (5%) and others (16%). While in India most violent activities are carried out by Maoists as admitted by the speaker. In Europe the data gathered by Europol strengthens my argument even further. Europol publishes an annual report entitled EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report.  On their official website, you can access the reports from 2007, 2008, and 2009. The results are stark, and prove decisively that not all terrorists are Muslims! As opposite to the myth “All Muslims are not terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims”. A Muslim cannot be a terrorist; if he is then he seizes to be a Muslim anymore. In fact, a whopping 99.6% of terrorist attacks in Europe were by non-Muslim groups; a good 84.8% of attacks were from separatist groups completely unrelated to Islam. Leftist groups accounted for over sixteen times as much terrorism as radical Islamic groups.  Only a measly 0.4% of terrorist attacks from 2006 to 2008 could be attributed to extremist Muslims.
According to the Counter Terrorism Center at the United States Military Academy at West Point, Al-Qaeda kills over seven times more Muslims than non-Muslims. According to the UN, Muslims are the largest victims of ISIS. According to the State Department, Muslims are the largest victims of terrorism in general (huffpost, Omar Alnatour). ISIS is responsible for more Muslim deaths than western victims (Independent, 2015). Yet Islam and Muslims are doubted for terrorism and this is where my Agony lies. Now why an Islamic terrorist would kill his fellow religious companions? Einstein once joked? “If the facts don’t fit the theory, change the facts.” Or deploy “alternative” ones, maybe. Such an approach makes sense if your aim is to demonize Islam and Muslims, no matter the cost. And one thing is common between islamophobes and ISIS that is they both agree Islam is violent religion, which it is not, not even in any slightest way. And what a bad generalization it is to call Islamic terrorism a biggest threat when 99.99% Muslims round the world aren’t involved in any terror activities.
Middle East was called as the most affected part of the world by quoting examples of Libya, Syria and Yemen without uttering a word on role of  NATO allies in this undeclared third world war, where western world has united to kill innocent people in these Muslim majority nations. Ironically, Syrian Kids were blamed for taking guns and resorting to violence instead of taking pen to go to schools, when every literate person on this planet knows there aren’t any schools left in Syria. To talk on Middle East crisis one should go through the history of Western intervention in this part of world. US declared war on Iraq in 2003 on the pretext of “Weapons of mass destruction (WMD)” which Saddam was hiding, and ironically no WMD were found till date. This prompts one to delve deeper in the issue, and once you dive in you will find it was all oil and economic supremacy which US wanted to maintain after cold war. From 2003 to 2007 1 million people (Muslims) were killed in Iraq on the pretext of finding WMD. Since 1991 Gulf war 4-8 million people have been massacred by western powers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. There is an Islamic meltdown currently going on as Muslim world is being depopulated at an alarming rate. In Syrian War, under the garb of killing dreaded ISIS (which according to US officials are not more than 10,000 and still exist despite all advanced weaponry NATO and Russia has)  more than 2,50,000 non combatants have been eliminated and out of 22 million Syrian residents 11 million are displaced (Statistics are from year 2015). Then there is another side of the story, imagine that your whole family, I mean all your cousins and uncles and aunts are killed by a single drone attack, won’t you join any orgainsation (be that ISIS or anything), that will provide you a way to vent your anger against those flying devils. 1 million dead in Iraq from 2003-2007 by US hegemony will have affected 1 million families that is how these kids get frustrated and join cults like ISIS. Thus religion is nowhere in the scene. We the people living in our cosy and luxurious apartments in peaceful environment cannot empathise with the situation these oppressed people go on daily basis. And who knows such radical groups may be remotely controlled by some masterminds sitting as good guys and delivering lectures of peace to the world as late Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro hinted about ISIS. The world is full of secret history and shadow boxing of intelligence agencies and no government has remained away from it, rest is all facade. I would like to conclude by quoting Edward Snowden, a dissident whose disclosures have fueled debates over mass surveillance, government secrecy, and the balance between national security and information privacy. In his TED Talk of Mar, 2014 Ed rightly said and I quote “Terrorism has always been what we in intelligence proverbial call, ‘a cover for action’. Terrorism is something that provokes an emotional response that allows people to rationalize authorizing powers of programs that they wouldn’t give otherwise”.
I believe most of the audience seated in the auditorium on that fateful day would have got a negative impression of Islam. I consider this as my obligation to put forth this piece of write up and let the readers decide.
P.S: Terrorism is too complex a topic to be discussed about and needs a lot of research with authentic sources. To speak on terrorism is not everybody cup of tea, but yes you can conclude it intellectually by putting all blame on Islam as it is the soft target. I beg you to read and believe in Islam of Quran not that of ISIS. Islam and terrorism have severe incompatibility with one another.

Trump’s Iran Deal

Binoy Kampmark 

Bad deals. Very bad – unless, of course, they are minted in the United States, with Make America Great Again credentials.  Hardly the stuff of presidential clout and oratorical flair, but the US president is making good his word to rain on the Iran nuclear deal, otherwise known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with an overbearing enthusiasm.
In doing so, the JCPOA joins a growing cupboard of potentially obsolete and endangered agreements of varying benefit and quality, be it the Paris climate accord, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, or the North American Free Trade Agreement.  Nationalists, populists, and activists of all creeds are floundering to find meaning in such gestures.
The Friday speech was filled with customary Trumpist goodies, including the ultimate point that certification of Iranian compliance and general all round good behaviour would not be forthcoming.  Instead, President Donald Trump gave a speech shot through with rhetorical punches, ignoring such positions as that taken by Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic agency.  Iran, claimed Amano, actually had one of the world’s “most robust nuclear verification regime.”
Central to the Trump barrage were various claims.  Among them was the padding of the al-Qaeda link, suggesting that Iran had its share of blame for the September 11, 2001 attacks, irrespective of what ideological underpinnings and differences might have existed.
“The regime remains the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism and provides assistance to al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Hezbollah, Hamas and other terrorist networks.”  All of these show neat compression, with political interests and differences avoided before the all driving monolithic force of Teheran, the designated supreme bogeyman in regional Middle Eastern politics.
The Trump speech was also insistent that softening the moves on Iran had been a mistake.  The regime, he insisted, was starving of oxygen when President Barack Obama went soft.  (It was not, but that hardly ruffles feathers in Trumpland.)  “The previous administration lifted these sanctions, just before what would have been the total collapse of the Iranian regime, through the deeply controversial 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.”
Figures receive their fictive gloss; amounts are given a curious dressing.  The deal, argues Trump, saw a “massive cash settlement of $1.7 billion from the United States, a large portion of which was physically loaded onto an airplane and flown into Iran.”  Other monies also supposedly fell into Iranian coffers: the “immediate financial boost and over $100 billion its government could use to fund terrorism.”
Considering that much of this involved simply thawing and ultimately releasing Iranian assets frozen by the US to begin with, the point is a moot one.  The fact-checking wizards have also made the point that the $1.7 billion cash claim involved a decades old claim between Washington and Teheran that was ultimately settled.
The tables are being turned from the Iranian capital.  Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif argued that the speech itself violated the agreement, in spirit if not the letter. If there was a breaker of rules and engagements, it was the US, lauding over what had been agonising negotiations.
“I have,” claimed Zarif, “already written nine letters (to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini) listing the cases where the United States has failed to act on or delayed in its commitments under the JCPOA.”
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani retorted that Trump’s views were formed on “baseless accusations and swear words.”  New sanctions directed at Teheran’s missile programme were also deemed unconscionable.  “Our achievements in the field of ballistics,” claimed a disapproving Zarif, “are in no way negotiable.”
Other powers are left in a bind.  With decertification happening from Washington, what are allies and other negotiating partners to do?  The UK’s foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, was bound to be unpredictable, but insisted that his country needed “to keep that deal going – it’s been a great success for UK diplomacy.”  Whatever Trump’s ramblings, the deal lived “to fight another day, and that’s a good thing.”
In the final analysis, it may well turn out that Trump is simply firing the first blows against an arrangement that ultimately conceals legitimate Iranian ambitions to acquire a nuclear option. In the current climate, where North Korea is rubbing US noses in the dirt of desperation with each ballistic missile test and defiant nuclear run, officials might be biding their time.
Trump, interestingly enough, seems to want it, to push the incentive rather than drive any disincentive.  “We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror and the very real threat of Iran’s nuclear breakout.”
No surprise, then, on Trump’s reference in the speech about an alleged, if unsubstantiated claim of collusion between the DPRK and Iran.  “There are also many people who believe that Iran is dealing with North Korea.”  Belief, for some, is truly all that matters.

China’s billionaires rapidly expand their fortunes

Mike Head

The Western mass media often ludicrously depicts the Chinese state as a “communist regime.” But this year’s list of the country’s billionaires and multi-millionaires underscores its true class character.
Published in the lead-up to this week’s Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 19th National Congress, the 2017 Hurun list points to a further staggering growth of wealth controlled by the oligarchs who sit atop ever-more glaring social inequality.
Some 2,130 individuals now have fortunes estimated to exceed $US300 million, roughly double the number from five years ago. At least 74 individuals joined the 2017 Hurun rich list, bringing the list’s combined assets to $2.6 trillion.
According to Hurun, China now accounts for 36 percent of the world’s billionaires. It has 647 billionaires in American dollar terms, up from 594 the year before. In 2003, there were none.
The CCP gathering, held once every five years, is widely predicted to reinforce the grip of President Xi Jinping and his backers. But the CCP presides over an extremely unstable capitalist state, with a parasitic super-rich layer that is closely integrated into the ruling apparatus, ruthlessly exploiting hundreds of millions of workers.
While continuing to provide a cheap labour platform for global capitalism, as they have done since the early 1990s, the Chinese elites and their associates in the ruling party have amassed fortunes that now outstrip those of every other country, except for the US.
This alone inevitably places the Chinese regime on a collision course with the capitalist ruling elites in the US and other major powers that seek to dominate the global economy. At the same time, immense social and class tensions are rising domestically, adding to the volatility of the mounting geo-strategic tensions.
Despite Xi’s administration launching a phoney war on poverty to try to head off social unrest, his five-year reign has accelerated a vast accumulation of corporate wealth. Among the list’s top 100, average wealth rose 60 percent this year.
“Overall, the Hurun Rich List has grown faster than any year since 2007, with the possible exception of 2015,” Hurun Report chairman Rupert Hoogewerf said in a statement. “China’s entrepreneurs have come a long way. Back in 1999, when I put out the first list, I managed to rank 50 people.”
Hurun acknowledged there were many more multimillionaires whose wealth was hidden. “For every one we have found, we estimate there to be two that we have missed,” Hoogewerf said.
As an indication of the increasingly parasitic nature of Chinese and global capitalism, property speculators and developers head the list, buoyed by soaring share prices. Xu Jiayin, head of property group Evergrande, now tops the rankings with a fortune of $43 billion—up by $30 billion in just one year on the back of a debt-fuelled property boom.
Xu, also known as Hui Ka-yan, has focused on the internal property market and funded domestic football teams. For that reason, he has benefited from measures taken by the CCP leadership to favour internal investment and clamp down on the movement of funds overseas.
As a result, Evergrande has become one of China’s largest property group by sales. Since the start of this year, the price of its shares in Hong Kong has risen by 465 percent.
Xu epitomises the integration of the billionaires into the ruling stratum. He is a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the top advisory body. The State Council, China’s cabinet, bestowed on him the title “National Model Worker”—one of the country’s highest civilian honours.
Earlier this year, Xu, in his advisory capacity, cynically proposed measures to alleviate poverty and hailed China’s president. “We believe that under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with General Secretary Xi Jinping as the core, we would certainly win the battle against poverty,” Xu said.
In reality, despite the regime’s claims to have lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, by some estimates poverty afflicts up to half a billion Chinese workers and peasants. Moreover, China now has one of the most unequal wealth distributions of any large economy in the world.
A study released in June by French economist Thomas Piketty sharply revised upward China’s official inequality estimates. Piketty reported: “The top 10 percent income share rose from 27 percent to 41 percent of national income between 1978 and 2015, while the bottom 50 percent share dropped from 27 percent to 15 percent.”
In 2002, the CCP’s national congress formally opened its doors to private business owners, underlining its role as the political vehicle of the country’s budding capitalist class. At next week’s CCP congress, at least three of the entrepreneurs on the Hurun list—Li Denghai, a corn tycoon; Wu Shaoxun, an alcohol magnate; and Pan Gang, who made his fortune in milk—will be delegates.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. In March, Hurun said the combined fortunes of the wealthiest members of the country’s parliament, the National People’s Congress, and its advisory body amounted to $500 billion.
Many of the oligarchs are sitting on a sea of debt, however, adding to the fragility of the CCP’s rule. Xu’s Evergrande has a market value of $47 billion, but its total debt stands at more than $100 billion.
Evergrande has been forced to pledge to the financial markets to cut its net debt ratio from 240 percent to around 70 percent by June 2020. In a report earlier this year, international ratings agency Fitch warned that Evergrande’s high interest expenses and payouts to shareholders would prevent it from reducing its debt significantly.
Pony Ma Huateng, founder and chief executive of Tencent, took the No 2 spot on the 2017 Hurun list with a net worth of $37 billion, overtaking Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma at $30 billion, who ranked third. Fourth was Yang Huiyan, the largest shareholder of real estate developer Country Garden. Her wealth tripled to $24 billion.
Aside from real estate, technology names led the wealth rankings, with Baidu’s Robin Li and NetEase’s Ding Lei both making the top 10. Of the 2,130 individuals on the list, 43 came from Alibaba and its affiliate Ant Financial.
Alibaba’s market capitalisation is now $473 billion, while Tencent’s is at $428 billion. By comparison, Exxon Mobil is valued around $350 billion.
Last year’s Hurun list leader, Wang Jianlin, dropped to fifth after declines in the share price of his Wanda Group saw his family’s net worth slump 28 percent to $23 billion. Wang built Dalian Wanda from a real estate developer into a global empire spanning cinema chains, Hollywood studios and Spanish football. But its shares tumbled this year when Beijing authorities instructed banks to stem their lending to acquisitive groups.
Despite their growing wealth, China’s financial elites are beset by explosive economic and social contradictions—an unstable financial system, a superheated property market, massive overcapacity and growing frustration and unrest among working people.
The gulf between the ultra-rich and impoverished masses is the consequence of 40 years of pro-market “reform” since 1978, restoring capitalist property relations. Far from being “communist,” the CCP laid the basis for the swift rise of billionaires through cheap state credit, subsidised infrastructure projects, widespread privatisation of state enterprises and above all, ruthless police-state repression of a huge and expanding working class.

Hamas reaches agreement with Fatah

Jean Shaoul 

The Egyptian military junta, working secretly with Israel, has imposed a “reconciliation” agreement on Fatah and Hamas. The rival Palestinian factions control the West Bank and Gaza respectively.
By accepting the new arrangements, Hamas is signalling that it is ready to join Fatah in policing the Palestinians in collusion with Egypt and other Arab bourgeois regimes, provided that it is allowed to do so by Israel and its imperialist sponsors and allies.
The Islamists have been brought to the negotiating table in large measure by Israel’s economic blockade, imposed on Gaza more than 10 years ago to cripple the Hamas-led regime. With little electricity or water due to power cuts, people are forced to buy water at exorbitant prices. Conditions are wretched: nearly 50 percent are unemployed, more than 65 percent of Gazans live in poverty, 72 percent are food-insecure, and 80 percent are dependent on international aid.
The proposed settlement is part of a broader effort by Egypt to strengthen the Sunni Arab axis, which includes Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and neutralise Qatar, Turkey and Iran. It follows several previous attempts by Egypt to broker a national unity government, the last in 2014, which Israel scuppered by launching a war on Hamas.
Azzam Al-Ahmed, head of the Fatah delegation, and Saleh Alarury, representing Hamas, signed the agreement while praising Egypt’s role and welcoming the prospect of an end to the bitter divisions between the two factions. Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas said that the deal constituted “a declaration of the end to division and a return to national Palestinian unity.”
The agreement follows a series of failed moves by Hamas to break the ever-tightening siege imposed by Israel, with the collusion of Abbas. Egypt too has largely kept its border with Gaza closed, particularly following the seizure of power in 2013 by General Abdul Fattah el-Sisi, who views Hamas as a politically hostile offshoot of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood, whose government he overthrew. Cairo has destroyed the underground tunnels between Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula that provided an economic lifeline for the enclave.
In response, Hamas agreed earlier this year on a new charter, stressing its role as a national liberation movement but omitting any mention of the Muslim Brotherhood and effectively repudiating its links with it. Hamas’s officials also left Qatar in June, after the Saudi-led alliance imposed its embargo on the country, accusing it of supporting terrorism.
Last month, Hamas agreed to hand over civilian authority in Gaza to the West Bank government controlled by Abbas’ Fatah faction. Last week, Abbas’s prime minister, Rami Hamdallah, went to Gaza to hold a symbolic cabinet meeting.
Of particular significance was the presence at the Cairo talks of Palestinian millionaire and strongman Mohammed Dahlan, who serves as security adviser to the UAE’s crown prince, Shaykh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The former PA security chief, who fought a civil war with Hamas in 2006, is widely viewed as an Israeli agent. Abbas expelled Dahlan from Fatah in 2011, alleging his involvement in corruption and the murder of PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. With close ties to Israel and the US, Dahlan is their preferred candidate to succeed the 82-year old Abbas.
In the months leading up to the talks, both the UAE and Egypt pressed Hamas to accept a leadership position for Dahlan, sugared with a pledge by the UAE, which seems set to take over Qatar’s role as Hamas’ patron, of $100 million for a power plant and other humanitarian aid.
These developments paved the way for talks at Egypt’s General Intelligence Services headquarters. Hamas, coming under heavy pressure from Egypt, agreed:
* Fatah would take full control of the Gaza Strip by December via an interim unity government with Hamas, made up of “technocrats.”
* Abbas’ presidential guards would police Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt beginning November 1, under the supervision of the European Union border agency EUBAM.
* Gaza’s police forces would be restructured, with an additional 3,000 Fatah security officers joining the police.
* In return, Abbas would end the sanctions on fuel imposed by his government last spring, which cut Gaza’s electricity supplies to just two hours a day.
Egypt’s intelligence services will police the arrangements, in collaboration with Israel, which sent a delegation to Cairo while the talks were under way. This will enable Egypt to control the movement of Jihadi groups operating in the Sinai Peninsula into and out of Gaza.
According to the London-based Sharq Al-Awsat, Hamas also agreed to avoid any action that could trigger retaliation from Israel.
Palestinian leaders will meet again in Cairo next month to discuss the arrangements for presidential and legislative elections to be held within a year. If a deal is implemented, Abbas will visit Gaza for the first time since Hamas won the last legislative elections in 2006, on the basis of its opposition to Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Fatah refused to accept the vote, precipitating civil war between the two factions and the political uncoupling of the West Bank and Gaza.
Since then, hostility to Abbas and Fatah has only increased. By siding with Israel against Hamas at the expense of the Palestinians in Gaza, most notably during Israel’s murderous assaults on the strip in 2008-9, 2012 and 2014, Abbas lost any last semblance of political legitimacy. The PA’s security apparatus is widely hated for its increasingly draconian actions on behalf of Israel.
Hence, without any assurance that Fatah will win a majority in a future election, the PA will simply postpone elections yet again and allow some unelected “interim government,” effectively imposed by Egypt, the UAE and Israel, to continue.
Several thorny issues still outstanding could yet blow up the fragile agreement. These include the jobs of 40,000-50,000 Hamas government employees, hired after 2007; the integration of Hamas into the PA administration; and the disbanding of Hamas’s 25,000-strong armed forces and decommissioning of its weapons. This is one of the three conditions set by the Middle East Quartet (US, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations), along with Hamas recognizing Israel and accepting previous agreements between the PA and Israel.
El-Sisi has sought to use Hamas’ isolation and the appalling humanitarian crisis to resolve Egypt’s own political problems and prevent Islamist groups, including some affiliated to the Islamic State that are challenging his rule in the Sinai Peninsula, from seeking safe haven in Gaza.
He also fears that the continuation of Egypt’s blockade of Gaza could precipitate a new war between Israel and Hamas that would highlight his own role as Israel’s accomplice, under conditions where Egypt too is seething with discontent.
The response of the Palestinians in Gaza to the reconciliation deal was muted. A few hundred gathered in the main square, calling on the new government to provide jobs and end the humanitarian crisis.
Washington welcomed “efforts to create the conditions for the Palestinian Authority to fully assume its responsibilities in Gaza” as key to improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Despite Israel’s covert involvement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has played to his right-wing support base and publicly rejected the new arrangement, saying that Israel would not accept “bogus reconciliations” conducted “at the expense of our existence.” He demanded that the unity government disband Hamas’ military wing and insisted on Hamas cutting its ties to Iran.